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politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Two new Scottish referendum polls have the gap getting clo

SystemSystem Posts: 11,730
edited June 2014 in General

politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Two new Scottish referendum polls have the gap getting closer

Two new referendum polls this weekend see the gap between YES and NO getting narrower. ICM for Scotland on Sunday has, after the exclusion of DKs, YES up 3 to 45% with NO down 3 to 55%.

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    fitalassfitalass Posts: 4,279
    edited June 2014
    First.
    Keep Calm and Carry On, Scotland will vote No. And it will be down to the SNP/Yes campaign failing to convince the young and the old, and women voters of all ages.
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    CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 59,876
    Support for a No vote was down three points to 55 per cent.

    This is the same split between Yes and No as ICM recorded in a poll for Scotland on Sunday back in March.


    It will be interesting to see if there are any skews by independence VI on the "divisions" question once the tables are up.
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    fitalassfitalass Posts: 4,279
    Scotland on Sunday - Scots fear division after independence vote

    "ALMOST two fifths of people in Scotland believe the country will be left “badly divided” after the independence referendum, according to the first poll to measure the effect the constitutional debate is having on Scottish society.

    In the ICM poll, conducted for Scotland on Sunday, 38 per cent of those surveyed thought that divisions would remain whatever the outcome of the September 18 poll, compared with 36 per cent who disagreed when asked if Scotland would be left “badly divided”.

    The poll also looked at how the constitutional issue was affecting people’s relationships with their families and friends.

    It found that 42 per cent of families are split over independence, while one fifth of those questioned (21 per cent) admitted that discussions with family and friends about the forthcoming referendum had degenerated into rows."

    Support for a No vote was down three points to 55 per cent.

    This is the same split between Yes and No as ICM recorded in a poll for Scotland on Sunday back in March.


    It will be interesting to see if there are any skews by independence VI on the "divisions" question once the tables are up.

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    Eh_ehm_a_ehEh_ehm_a_eh Posts: 552
    fitalass said:

    First.
    Keep Calm and Carry On, Scotland will vote No. And it will be down to the SNP/Yes campaign failing to convince the young and the old, and women voters of all ages.

    - Scots fear division after independence vote

    According to the survey conducted on 9-12 June, female support for Yes has increased by five percentage points to 32 per cent since last month.

    It's the JK Rowling effect. Death eaters indeed.
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    edmundintokyoedmundintokyo Posts: 17,161
    That's quite a move - can anyone who follows Scottish politics give us a non-tub-thumping explanation of what's driving the ups and downs?
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    fitalassfitalass Posts: 4,279
    edited June 2014
    I think that Claire Lally and JK Rowling speak for many women in Scotland, that JK Rowling knew before hand that the publication of her donation to the No campaign was going to expose her to some pretty negative abuse speaks for itself. The SNP/Yes Campaign have a problem with women, and its going to cost them the Independence Referendum big time as this last week has shown.

    I stated a few months ago on PB that Salmond and the SNP/Yes campaign had a problem with women, they see him and the Yes campaign as acting like a bunch of Glasgow spivs. I also predicted that this Indy Referendum was going to prove extremely divisive among families and friends. But for the betting fraternity here on PB, I still maintain that they should Keep Calm and Carry On, Scotland will vote NO!

    The Cybernat operation online isn't winning over voters, its in fact turning them off and making them go silent in their views on Independence to save a rammy.

    fitalass said:

    First.
    Keep Calm and Carry On, Scotland will vote No. And it will be down to the SNP/Yes campaign failing to convince the young and the old, and women voters of all ages.

    - Scots fear division after independence vote

    According to the survey conducted on 9-12 June, female support for Yes has increased by five percentage points to 32 per cent since last month.

    It's the JK Rowling effect. Death eaters indeed.
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    fitalassfitalass Posts: 4,279
    Quite simple, its margin of error noise.

    That's quite a move - can anyone who follows Scottish politics give us a non-tub-thumping explanation of what's driving the ups and downs?

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    edmundintokyoedmundintokyo Posts: 17,161
    fitalass said:

    Quite simple, its margin of error noise.

    That's quite a move - can anyone who follows Scottish politics give us a non-tub-thumping explanation of what's driving the ups and downs?

    I don't think it is, we had a lot of polls showing a big gap, then a lot more polls showing a small gap, then a decent few showing a bigger gap, then two showing a small gap. The latter may still be noise, but there's some actual shifting backwards and forwards going for some reason or other.
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    old_labourold_labour Posts: 3,238
    Former principals, former chancellors, former PMs, has beens and never will bes. I think I'm seeing a pattern.
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    old_labourold_labour Posts: 3,238
    So far No has used as ammunition

    *Your currency will go
    *Your wean will die of cancer because it won't be treated in London
    *Putin
    *Obama
    *J K Rowling
    *The Pope
    *Hillary Clinton

    but yet the polls are not shifting towards them.
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    JohnLoonyJohnLoony Posts: 1,790
    What does "all in green" mean?
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    edmundintokyoedmundintokyo Posts: 17,161

    So far No has used as ammunition

    *Your currency will go
    *Your wean will die of cancer because it won't be treated in London
    *Putin
    *Obama
    *J K Rowling
    *The Pope
    *Hillary Clinton

    but yet the polls are not shifting towards them.

    Is it just me or does good polling for "yes" tend to follow things that Scottish voters will see as attempts to push them around, the latest one being getting Obama to chip in with a pro-no opinion?

    If that's what's happening we probably shouldn't expect the peak yes scores to hold up in an actual vote, which will be decided by hope vs fear whereas the polls can be swayed by cost-free "Don't tread on me" responses.
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    JohnOJohnO Posts: 4,215
    edited June 2014
    Update: Labour lead at 4- Latest YouGov / Sunday Times results 13th June - Con 33%, Lab 37%, LD 8%, UKIP 13%; APP -20

    And crossover of a sort: 45% think the economy is being managed well against 44% to the contrary.
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    old_labourold_labour Posts: 3,238
    edited June 2014
    IMO, there has been so much negativity and fear mongering that people are beginning to tune out whenever there are negative messages. I think it is down to the ground war and boots on the ground.

    No seem to be talking at people from on high while Yes seem to be talking with voters face to face as equals. The comfortably off will vote no, I suspect whereas those who feel hard done by after 30 years of Toryism/New Labour along with say creative young, greean and liberal types will go for yes.

    I believe we will see odd bed fellows on both the No and Yes sides when the final vote is analysed. In today's Scotsman, the leaders of LibLabCon, to use a phrase, have promised ill-defined powers in the event of a No vote. I'm not sure if that's a good idea if there is an anti-politcs mood and voters believe they are all the same.

    Now we have the No side questioning the legitimacy of the referendum itself because they claim it is splitting families. Oddly, it has not stopped the Tories claiming to promise a referendum on the EU in 2017.

    So far No has used as ammunition

    *Your currency will go
    *Your wean will die of cancer because it won't be treated in London
    *Putin
    *Obama
    *J K Rowling
    *The Pope
    *Hillary Clinton

    but yet the polls are not shifting towards them.

    Is it just me or does good polling for "yes" tend to follow things that Scottish voters will see as attempts to push them around, the latest one being getting Obama to chip in with a pro-no opinion?

    If that's what's happening we probably shouldn't expect the peak yes scores to hold up in an actual vote, which will be decided by hope vs fear whereas the polls can be swayed by cost-free "Don't tread on me" responses.
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    MrJonesMrJones Posts: 3,523
    ToryJim said:
    "The civil war in Syria with its attendant disintegration is having its predictable and malign effect. Iraq is now in mortal danger."

    1) Arming Hague's Hearteaters - the policy that Blair has been cheerleading all along - has had its predictable and malign effect by overspilling into Iraq.

    2) The Shia-Sunni civil war would be maybe 5% of the current scale if it hadn't been for Blair and Iraq.

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    MrJonesMrJones Posts: 3,523
    FPT

    The World Cup for an Englishman is like that amazingly fit girl you meet at uni during freshers week. Every year you build up, expectation rises no matter how much you try to trick yourself into thinking you dont care,secretly you think this year, this year, this year i will make it. And then you see her. She teases, she leads you on, and when you finally get any action its over before it really began. Every other f@cker is having a great time and you are left thinking of what might have been.

    I used to get all worked up and then depressed over it but I don't let it bother me anymore. England are a quarter-final team and that's okay. As long as they play decent, not embarrassing bad and not cheating I'm okay with it and I think the Italy game was decent.
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    old_labourold_labour Posts: 3,238
    That's a big gap between government approval and opinion on economic competency. I don't know if that gap will close or if we are reaching the stage that no matter what the government (Tory party) does it cannot push up its voting intention to win an overall majority.

    As other have said, all the polls make grim reading for the Liberal Democrats.
    JohnO said:

    Update: Labour lead at 4- Latest YouGov / Sunday Times results 13th June - Con 33%, Lab 37%, LD 8%, UKIP 13%; APP -20

    And crossover of a sort: 45% think the economy is being managed well against 44% to the contrary.

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    MrJonesMrJones Posts: 3,523
    I wouldn't be surprised if the football effected the referendum. If England get knocked out early good for no. If England stay in that'll rankle and be good for yes imo.

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    old_labourold_labour Posts: 3,238
    At least they qualify in the first place.
    MrJones said:

    FPT

    The World Cup for an Englishman is like that amazingly fit girl you meet at uni during freshers week. Every year you build up, expectation rises no matter how much you try to trick yourself into thinking you dont care,secretly you think this year, this year, this year i will make it. And then you see her. She teases, she leads you on, and when you finally get any action its over before it really began. Every other f@cker is having a great time and you are left thinking of what might have been.

    I used to get all worked up and then depressed over it but I don't let it bother me anymore. England are a quarter-final team and that's okay. As long as they play decent, not embarrassing bad and not cheating I'm okay with it and I think the Italy game was decent.
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    old_labourold_labour Posts: 3,238
    IMO, it will be a distant memory by Sept 18th unless England actually win the thing then we will hear no end of it.
    MrJones said:

    I wouldn't be surprised if the football effected the referendum. If England get knocked out early good for no. If England stay in that'll rankle and be good for yes imo.

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    MrJonesMrJones Posts: 3,523

    IMO, it will be a distant memory by Sept 18th unless England actually win the thing then we will hear no end of it.

    MrJones said:

    I wouldn't be surprised if the football effected the referendum. If England get knocked out early good for no. If England stay in that'll rankle and be good for yes imo.

    Yeah, "yes" might get a boost while its on and England are still in.
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    MrJonesMrJones Posts: 3,523

    At least they qualify in the first place.

    MrJones said:

    FPT

    The World Cup for an Englishman is like that amazingly fit girl you meet at uni during freshers week. Every year you build up, expectation rises no matter how much you try to trick yourself into thinking you dont care,secretly you think this year, this year, this year i will make it. And then you see her. She teases, she leads you on, and when you finally get any action its over before it really began. Every other f@cker is having a great time and you are left thinking of what might have been.

    I used to get all worked up and then depressed over it but I don't let it bother me anymore. England are a quarter-final team and that's okay. As long as they play decent, not embarrassing bad and not cheating I'm okay with it and I think the Italy game was decent.
    Yeah, exactly. I think somewhere between top 16 and top 8 is pretty good in itself really.
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    SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 38,987
    England looked like the team they are: not bad, not dangerous. It's a pity we don't have that little bit extra as so far it looks like a very open tournament, with no truly outstanding side. I am interested to see how Argentina go.
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    SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 38,987

    So far No has used as ammunition

    *Your currency will go
    *Your wean will die of cancer because it won't be treated in London
    *Putin
    *Obama
    *J K Rowling
    *The Pope
    *Hillary Clinton

    but yet the polls are not shifting towards them.

    Is it just me or does good polling for "yes" tend to follow things that Scottish voters will see as attempts to push them around, the latest one being getting Obama to chip in with a pro-no opinion?

    If that's what's happening we probably shouldn't expect the peak yes scores to hold up in an actual vote, which will be decided by hope vs fear whereas the polls can be swayed by cost-free "Don't tread on me" responses.

    Interesting point. But the softening of the No lead among women looks significant. I still lean to a Yes win and a lot of disappointment subsequently when it turns out what the SNP is promising cannot be delivered.

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    Innocent_AbroadInnocent_Abroad Posts: 3,294
    The upside of a Scottish referendum thread is that it can't be hi-jacked by Scottish Nationalists. The downside is obvious...

    Does anyone know, by the way, how many of the Scottish electorate think of themselves as English? If it turns out that the "no" majority is less than that number, we really will never hear the last of it on either side of the border...
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    edmundintokyoedmundintokyo Posts: 17,161
    edited June 2014
    OT although possibly relevant: We probably shouldn't put too much weight on the Telegraph's reporting since a week ago they were trying to tell us that Juncker was out of the race, but FWIW:
    Senior Conservatives are increasingly concerned that David Cameron will fail to stop Jean-Claude Juncker becoming the next president of the European Union, as tensions over Europe grow inside the party’s high command.

    One leading Tory figure warned that if the Prime minister cannot get his way in blocking Mr Juncker, it will be impossible to convince voters that he can deliver on his promise of significant reform to Britain's relationship with the EU.
    Senior sources are privately demanding that Mr Cameron state that he is ready to pull Britain out of the EU if he does not achieve radical changes to the terms of Britain’s membership.
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10900239/Juncker-row-splits-the-Tory-party-and-piles-pressure-on-Cameron.html
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    DecrepitJohnLDecrepitJohnL Posts: 13,300

    OT although possibly relevant: We probably shouldn't put too much weight on the Telegraph's reporting since a week ago they were trying to tell us that Juncker was out of the race, but FWIW:

    Senior Conservatives are increasingly concerned that David Cameron will fail to stop Jean-Claude Juncker becoming the next president of the European Union, as tensions over Europe grow inside the party’s high command.

    One leading Tory figure warned that if the Prime minister cannot get his way in blocking Mr Juncker, it will be impossible to convince voters that he can deliver on his promise of significant reform to Britain's relationship with the EU.
    Senior sources are privately demanding that Mr Cameron state that he is ready to pull Britain out of the EU if he does not achieve radical changes to the terms of Britain’s membership.
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10900239/Juncker-row-splits-the-Tory-party-and-piles-pressure-on-Cameron.html

    It might not be voters that Cameron needs to convince, so much as his own MPs. As with Ed and The Sun, you have to wonder what Cameron and his team were thinking when they picked this wholly unnecessary fight (presumably that Mrs Merkel would stop him).
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    DavidLDavidL Posts: 51,563
    I have always said that the referendum will be close and disagreed with those like Robert claiming an easy win for no. I tend to agree with Fitalass that the weight of women against Independence will probably just swing it for no but my concern is that it is sufficiently close that some random event could swing it one way or another.

    I suspect that these polls are not much more than statistical noise. As I have said before it is quite some time since I met anyone who has not made their mind up for months now. Neither campaign has any obvious traction. The Yes campaign has been a joke, full of incredible promises and absurd positions. The no campaign looks disorganised and divided which is not surprising given the range of views within it. Labour in particular seem to want to do their own thing more and more which is probably a good idea.

    The good news for no is that the tories are still behind nationally. If the polling swung their way consistently I fear it will become too close to call.
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    DecrepitJohnLDecrepitJohnL Posts: 13,300

    England looked like the team they are: not bad, not dangerous. It's a pity we don't have that little bit extra as so far it looks like a very open tournament, with no truly outstanding side. I am interested to see how Argentina go.

    The main question is about England's preparation given the team was knackered and cramped midway through the second half.
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    DavidLDavidL Posts: 51,563

    England looked like the team they are: not bad, not dangerous. It's a pity we don't have that little bit extra as so far it looks like a very open tournament, with no truly outstanding side. I am interested to see how Argentina go.

    The main question is about England's preparation given the team was knackered and cramped midway through the second half.
    I am afraid that is a consequence of their lack of quality. They do not hold the ball enough. They need to spend too much energy pressing and closing down as a result and in the heat and humidity they suffer for it. I am sure they are as fit as anyone but a pressing game is seriously hard work in these conditions.

    I disagree with Southam about no outstanding team. I was seriously impressed by the Dutch.

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    ThomasNasheThomasNashe Posts: 5,022

    The upside of a Scottish referendum thread is that it can't be hi-jacked by Scottish Nationalists. The downside is obvious...

    Does anyone know, by the way, how many of the Scottish electorate think of themselves as English? If it turns out that the "no" majority is less than that number, we really will never hear the last of it on either side of the border...

    It's not intellectually inconsistent to think of yourself as English and be in favour of Scottish independence.
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    ThomasNasheThomasNashe Posts: 5,022
    DavidL said:

    England looked like the team they are: not bad, not dangerous. It's a pity we don't have that little bit extra as so far it looks like a very open tournament, with no truly outstanding side. I am interested to see how Argentina go.

    The main question is about England's preparation given the team was knackered and cramped midway through the second half.
    I am afraid that is a consequence of their lack of quality. They do not hold the ball enough. They need to spend too much energy pressing and closing down as a result and in the heat and humidity they suffer for it. I am sure they are as fit as anyone but a pressing game is seriously hard work in these conditions.

    I disagree with Southam about no outstanding team. I was seriously impressed by the Dutch.

    Yes, and half the teams (including Argentina and France) haven't played yet.
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    FinancierFinancier Posts: 3,916

    England looked like the team they are: not bad, not dangerous. It's a pity we don't have that little bit extra as so far it looks like a very open tournament, with no truly outstanding side. I am interested to see how Argentina go.

    The main question is about England's preparation given the team was knackered and cramped midway through the second half.
    The only way to acclimatise to a tropical forest climate is to live and work there for at least a month, without air-con. It is quite obvious that the England manager has had no experience of such an energy-sapping environment as he failed to get his players to adjust their game to suit that climate. Also he appears to have failed to get/listen to the proper advice on the subject.
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    PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 76,044
    JohnLoony said:

    What does "all in green" mean?

    Profitable no matter the outcome.
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    ThomasNasheThomasNashe Posts: 5,022
    p.s. My World Cup prediction, which could have political as well as sporting ramifications, is that Brazil will be knocked out in the next round. They could play Spain, Netherlands or Chile: all three teams are well capable of beating them.
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    ThomasNasheThomasNashe Posts: 5,022
    edited June 2014
    Financier said:

    England looked like the team they are: not bad, not dangerous. It's a pity we don't have that little bit extra as so far it looks like a very open tournament, with no truly outstanding side. I am interested to see how Argentina go.

    The main question is about England's preparation given the team was knackered and cramped midway through the second half.
    The only way to acclimatise to a tropical forest climate is to live and work there for at least a month, without air-con. It is quite obvious that the England manager has had no experience of such an energy-sapping environment as he failed to get his players to adjust their game to suit that climate. Also he appears to have failed to get/listen to the proper advice on the subject.
    And yet, the actual conditions yesterday evening, in terms of temperature and humidity, were relatively benign. The reason England lost, as has been pointed out, is that they are not as good as Italy.
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    edmundintokyoedmundintokyo Posts: 17,161

    As with Ed and The Sun, you have to wonder what Cameron and his team were thinking when they picked this wholly unnecessary fight (presumably that Mrs Merkel would stop him).

    Right, my best guess is that at the time when Cameron took the stand Mrs Merkel really did intend to stop him, and would have gone ahead and done it if an unexpected backlash in Germany hadn't knocked her on her arse. She can't have expected to be dealing with tabloid campaigns over a candidate hardly anyone has heard of for a job without much official power.

    The broader point is that this is a great example of how democracy usually actually develops, despite obviously threatening the interests of the people who have the official power to stop it. They allow an election for something fairly minor to keep people quiet, thinking they can override it if it's inconvenient, then the elected person turns out to be harder to block than they expect. Then once the right of the election winner to get the job is established, each occupant leverages their mandate and gradually ratchets up the power of their office...
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    FinancierFinancier Posts: 3,916
    @old_labour

    "That's a big gap between government approval and opinion on economic competency."

    Not really, you have to look at how each party's VI votes. On Government Approval (-19), Labour and UKIP vote against and the LDs split.

    However, on Economic Competence, the LD's split favours the Government and a lot of UKIP also support the Government - even 17% of Labour give their support!

    It is not unusual for a lot of the UKIP VI to support the Government policies - except EU and immigration.

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    MikeLMikeL Posts: 7,322
    Per a post on UKPR there is a different YouGov in the Sun on Sunday (seems odd but the same thing happened 6 weeks ago).

    YouGov (Sun on Sunday):

    Con 33%, Lab 36%, LD 8%, UKIP 14%, Green 5%

    DC doing well / badly :
    -15 to -7

    EM doing well/badly:
    -41 to -44

    Coalition managing economy well/badly:
    -5 to +1

    NB. Not sure what date the comparators are for the above.
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    SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 38,987
    DavidL said:

    England looked like the team they are: not bad, not dangerous. It's a pity we don't have that little bit extra as so far it looks like a very open tournament, with no truly outstanding side. I am interested to see how Argentina go.

    The main question is about England's preparation given the team was knackered and cramped midway through the second half.
    I am afraid that is a consequence of their lack of quality. They do not hold the ball enough. They need to spend too much energy pressing and closing down as a result and in the heat and humidity they suffer for it. I am sure they are as fit as anyone but a pressing game is seriously hard work in these conditions.

    I disagree with Southam about no outstanding team. I was seriously impressed by the Dutch.

    The Dutch were good, but Spain carved out some big chances against them before they collapsed. Like all the teams so far, they look ripe to concede goals. Great teams are strong all over the pitch. I am not sure we have seen any like that, so far. Argentina might change that. The Germans may too. France I am not so sure about.

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    FinancierFinancier Posts: 3,916

    Financier said:

    England looked like the team they are: not bad, not dangerous. It's a pity we don't have that little bit extra as so far it looks like a very open tournament, with no truly outstanding side. I am interested to see how Argentina go.

    The main question is about England's preparation given the team was knackered and cramped midway through the second half.
    The only way to acclimatise to a tropical forest climate is to live and work there for at least a month, without air-con. It is quite obvious that the England manager has had no experience of such an energy-sapping environment as he failed to get his players to adjust their game to suit that climate. Also he appears to have failed to get/listen to the proper advice on the subject.
    And yet, the actual conditions yesterday evening, in terms of temperature and humidity, were relatively benign. The reason England lost, as has been pointed out, is that they are not as good as Italy.
    Figures do not really equate to the real conditions. Unless you have spent time in such conditions - figures are misleading and air-con in hotels does not help acclimatisation.
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    DecrepitJohnLDecrepitJohnL Posts: 13,300

    As with Ed and The Sun, you have to wonder what Cameron and his team were thinking when they picked this wholly unnecessary fight (presumably that Mrs Merkel would stop him).

    Right, my best guess is that at the time when Cameron took the stand Mrs Merkel really did intend to stop him, and would have gone ahead and done it if an unexpected backlash in Germany hadn't knocked her on her arse. She can't have expected to be dealing with tabloid campaigns over a candidate hardly anyone has heard of for a job without much official power.

    The broader point is that this is a great example of how democracy usually actually develops, despite obviously threatening the interests of the people who have the official power to stop it. They allow an election for something fairly minor to keep people quiet, thinking they can override it if it's inconvenient, then the elected person turns out to be harder to block than they expect. Then once the right of the election winner to get the job is established, each occupant leverages their mandate and gradually ratchets up the power of their office...
    Indeed. A London example might be Boris usurping the Home Office's power to decide the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police.
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    TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 40,420
    edited June 2014
    The No side (particularly SLAB) have decided to make this a battle with Salmond and the SNP e.g. 'This referendum is Scotland vs. Alex Salmond'.

    It was posited (possibly on PB) before the 2011 Holyrood election that the disconnect between high SLAB vi polling and the very low personal ratings of Iain Gray (compared to Salmond's) couldn't hold, and thus it proved. Currently Darling, the leader of Better Together, has a satisfaction rating of -16%, the BT campaign of c. -25%. The Yes campaign has generally neutral/positive ratings, while Salmond is the only one of two party leaders to have positive ratings (the other being Green Patrick Harvie, another Yes supporter).

    The Yes campaign is much more than the SNP, and I accept that you can't directly compare GEs and referendums, I just put the comparison out there for consideration. Better Together have chosen the ground they want to fight on, but the polling suggests it's not so far been particularly advantageous to them.
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    ThomasNasheThomasNashe Posts: 5,022
    Financier said:

    Financier said:

    England looked like the team they are: not bad, not dangerous. It's a pity we don't have that little bit extra as so far it looks like a very open tournament, with no truly outstanding side. I am interested to see how Argentina go.

    The main question is about England's preparation given the team was knackered and cramped midway through the second half.
    The only way to acclimatise to a tropical forest climate is to live and work there for at least a month, without air-con. It is quite obvious that the England manager has had no experience of such an energy-sapping environment as he failed to get his players to adjust their game to suit that climate. Also he appears to have failed to get/listen to the proper advice on the subject.
    And yet, the actual conditions yesterday evening, in terms of temperature and humidity, were relatively benign. The reason England lost, as has been pointed out, is that they are not as good as Italy.
    Figures do not really equate to the real conditions. Unless you have spent time in such conditions - figures are misleading and air-con in hotels does not help acclimatisation.
    So, did the Italians spend a month acclimatising etc? Or is it rather that they have players who are better at retaining possession? That consequently England had to expend more energy trying to get the ball back and, therefore, got tired before Italy did.
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    MikeSmithsonMikeSmithson Posts: 7,382
    Does anybody know the pubs in Ilkley?

    The plan is still on to hold a PB gathering in the Yorkshire town of Ilkley on July 7th. I'm there on holiday linked to the TdF start on the Sat/Sun

    I'm looking for a suitable pub that'll be reasonably quiet on a Monday night and is within easy walking distance of the station. The Cow & Calf has been recommended but that is a long way from the station. Any ideas?

    Can you drop me an email at
    mike at politicalbetting dot com

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    NickPalmerNickPalmer Posts: 21,380
    Looks a pretty open outcome to me, though No ought still to be favourite. Glad I'm not the bloke with £400,000 on it.

    DavidL, that's clearly the same YG - the Sun just has the wrong Lab % by 1 point, and everything else is the same. The poll is very positive for the Government in the internals, but it's not helping their share of the vote. I meet people who say yes, the Government's doing OK on the economy, yes, they suppose Cameron looks like a PM, and hell no, of course they wouldn't vote for them. Those of us who are very interested in the details of politics often underestimate the fact that many voters are actually more tribal than we are.
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    foxinsoxukfoxinsoxuk Posts: 23,548
    The Italians aclimatised in a specially constructed and modified sauna:

    http://www.football-italia.net/49519/italy-medic-sauna-and-ice-bath

    You can no more break the rules of biology than you can of physics, salt and fluid loss are inevitable, and no amount of youthful vim is going to make up for that. The Italians were better prepared.

    I think the slightly cooler conditions will be easier in Sao Paolo, but Suarez will be back, and Costa Rica no pushover. 4 points and good goal difference should do it, but I can't see it myself.

    Financier said:

    Financier said:

    England looked like the team they are: not bad, not dangerous. It's a pity we don't have that little bit extra as so far it looks like a very open tournament, with no truly outstanding side. I am interested to see how Argentina go.

    The main question is about England's preparation given the team was knackered and cramped midway through the second half.
    The only way to acclimatise to a tropical forest climate is to live and work there for at least a month, without air-con. It is quite obvious that the England manager has had no experience of such an energy-sapping environment as he failed to get his players to adjust their game to suit that climate. Also he appears to have failed to get/listen to the proper advice on the subject.
    And yet, the actual conditions yesterday evening, in terms of temperature and humidity, were relatively benign. The reason England lost, as has been pointed out, is that they are not as good as Italy.
    Figures do not really equate to the real conditions. Unless you have spent time in such conditions - figures are misleading and air-con in hotels does not help acclimatisation.
    So, did the Italians spend a month acclimatising etc? Or is it rather that they have players who are better at retaining possession? That consequently England had to expend more energy trying to get the ball back and, therefore, got tired before Italy did.
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    anotherDaveanotherDave Posts: 6,746
    JohnO said:

    Update: Labour lead at 4- Latest YouGov / Sunday Times results 13th June - Con 33%, Lab 37%, LD 8%, UKIP 13%; APP -20

    And crossover of a sort: 45% think the economy is being managed well against 44% to the contrary.

    UKIP don't seem to have gained a boost from winning the EU Parliament elections, but the LDs do seem to have taken a hit. Is it that the Greens have gained a post-election boost at the LDs expense?
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    Sean_FSean_F Posts: 36,013

    Looks a pretty open outcome to me, though No ought still to be favourite. Glad I'm not the bloke with £400,000 on it.

    DavidL, that's clearly the same YG - the Sun just has the wrong Lab % by 1 point, and everything else is the same. The poll is very positive for the Government in the internals, but it's not helping their share of the vote. I meet people who say yes, the Government's doing OK on the economy, yes, they suppose Cameron looks like a PM, and hell no, of course they wouldn't vote for them. Those of us who are very interested in the details of politics often underestimate the fact that many voters are actually more tribal than we are.

    The two polls are separate. They're both on Yougov's website. The poll for the Sun has different questions.
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    JohnLilburneJohnLilburne Posts: 6,033
    edited June 2014

    Financier said:

    Financier said:

    England looked like the team they are: not bad, not dangerous. It's a pity we don't have that little bit extra as so far it looks like a very open tournament, with no truly outstanding side. I am interested to see how Argentina go.

    The main question is about England's preparation given the team was knackered and cramped midway through the second half.
    The only way to acclimatise to a tropical forest climate is to live and work there for at least a month, without air-con. It is quite obvious that the England manager has had no experience of such an energy-sapping environment as he failed to get his players to adjust their game to suit that climate. Also he appears to have failed to get/listen to the proper advice on the subject.
    And yet, the actual conditions yesterday evening, in terms of temperature and humidity, were relatively benign. The reason England lost, as has been pointed out, is that they are not as good as Italy.
    Figures do not really equate to the real conditions. Unless you have spent time in such conditions - figures are misleading and air-con in hotels does not help acclimatisation.
    So, did the Italians spend a month acclimatising etc? Or is it rather that they have players who are better at retaining possession? That consequently England had to expend more energy trying to get the ball back and, therefore, got tired before Italy did.
    Well, it's hotter in Italy to start with. I do wonder why we always play the WC in tropical heat. What's wrong with Northern Europe in November? It's supposed to be a winter sport after all. (Having said that, the SA one must have been in their winter but I don't know how cool it actually gets).

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    Sean_FSean_F Posts: 36,013

    JohnO said:

    Update: Labour lead at 4- Latest YouGov / Sunday Times results 13th June - Con 33%, Lab 37%, LD 8%, UKIP 13%; APP -20

    And crossover of a sort: 45% think the economy is being managed well against 44% to the contrary.

    UKIP don't seem to have gained a boost from winning the EU Parliament elections, but the LDs do seem to have taken a hit. Is it that the Greens have gained a post-election boost at the LDs expense?
    The rise in UKIP's support seems to have come in the run up to the EU elections.
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    MikeLMikeL Posts: 7,322
    Sean_F said:

    Looks a pretty open outcome to me, though No ought still to be favourite. Glad I'm not the bloke with £400,000 on it.

    DavidL, that's clearly the same YG - the Sun just has the wrong Lab % by 1 point, and everything else is the same. The poll is very positive for the Government in the internals, but it's not helping their share of the vote. I meet people who say yes, the Government's doing OK on the economy, yes, they suppose Cameron looks like a PM, and hell no, of course they wouldn't vote for them. Those of us who are very interested in the details of politics often underestimate the fact that many voters are actually more tribal than we are.

    The two polls are separate. They're both on Yougov's website. The poll for the Sun has different questions.
    Yes, indeed. Here's another interesting question from the sun on Sunday YouGov:

    Thinking about your own LOCAL area, do you think...
    There are more or fewer jobs available than a year ago?

    More jobs available 21
    Fewer jobs available 30
    No difference 31

    And LibDems are more likely to have gone on holiday abroad than supporters of any other party.
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    MikeLMikeL Posts: 7,322
    edited June 2014
    More Sun on Sunday YouGov:

    Lab supporters favour Tony Blair as President of EU by 43-34.

    84% of Con supporters want Cameron to serve full 2nd term.

    Con supporters next Con leader:
    Boris 37
    May 19
    Osborne 14
    Gove 2
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    JohnLilburneJohnLilburne Posts: 6,033

    JohnO said:

    Update: Labour lead at 4- Latest YouGov / Sunday Times results 13th June - Con 33%, Lab 37%, LD 8%, UKIP 13%; APP -20

    And crossover of a sort: 45% think the economy is being managed well against 44% to the contrary.

    UKIP don't seem to have gained a boost from winning the EU Parliament elections, but the LDs do seem to have taken a hit. Is it that the Greens have gained a post-election boost at the LDs expense?
    Maybe Labour has gained some LDs and some Labour supporters have drifted to the Greens.

    What seems to have happened is that UKIP had a similar gain in opinion poll support to last year, but most of it seems to have happened before the Euro elections rather than after (last year the increase seemed to continue for about a month after the County elections before their polling figures started tailing off). I can think of a number of explanations, not necessarily mutually exclusive:

    * 15% is about a natural cap
    * they got more publicity during the campaign itself, last year it was down to the news of their good showing in the County elections, so after the event
    * the other parties' anti-UKIP campaigning worked
    * Euro elections are seen as a "better" protest vote than locals, so this year people were happier to continue to say they will vote for their usual party in the GE while voting UKIP in the Euros
    * We're getting closer to the GE so people are taking it more seriously
    * They still seem to be a party with more of a smattering of fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists, more palaeo-conservative than libertarian, and moreover still seem deeply incompetent even when it comes to running a political party, let alone potentially a country

    The last point does it for me: I've decided I don't mind voting for them in local elections if there is a suitable candidate, but nothing "bigger".
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    anotherDaveanotherDave Posts: 6,746

    JohnO said:

    Update: Labour lead at 4- Latest YouGov / Sunday Times results 13th June - Con 33%, Lab 37%, LD 8%, UKIP 13%; APP -20

    And crossover of a sort: 45% think the economy is being managed well against 44% to the contrary.

    UKIP don't seem to have gained a boost from winning the EU Parliament elections, but the LDs do seem to have taken a hit. Is it that the Greens have gained a post-election boost at the LDs expense?
    ... and moreover still seem deeply incompetent even when it comes to running a political party, let alone potentially a country

    The last point does it for me: I've decided I don't mind voting for them in local elections if there is a suitable candidate, but nothing "bigger".
    'Competent' is not a word that springs to mind when I look at the current government, or HM opposition.
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    PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 76,044

    Does anybody know the pubs in Ilkley?

    The plan is still on to hold a PB gathering in the Yorkshire town of Ilkley on July 7th. I'm there on holiday linked to the TdF start on the Sat/Sun

    I'm looking for a suitable pub that'll be reasonably quiet on a Monday night and is within easy walking distance of the station. The Cow & Calf has been recommended but that is a long way from the station. Any ideas?

    Can you drop me an email at
    mike at politicalbetting dot com

    Asked my gf - said the Cow and Calf is nice but it's a little way out. Other than that she's not sure. She is from nearby Guiseley.
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    isamisam Posts: 41,118
    "I think we would be a happier country if we had never encouraged mass immigration in the post-war era. The fact that it is almost taboo to say this simple thing is an example of the problems it has caused.

    But I also grasp that the immigration has happened, that we have new neighbours, and that it is our absolute duty to get on with them and befriend them as best as we can.

    And this is why I am so scornful of the windbags and panic-spreaders who now seek to make an issue out of the supposed takeover of some state schools by Muslims.

    What twaddle this is. The Government quite rightly allows Christian schools in the state system – not least because it was the churches who took on the job of educating poor children when politicians couldn’t be bothered to do so.

    Well, now we have a large number of Muslim parents, how can we reasonably deny them the same?"

    http://hitchensblog.mailonsunday.co.uk/
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    isamisam Posts: 41,118
    The Big Questions on BBC1

    "Should the British stop tolerating intolerance?"
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    edmundintokyoedmundintokyo Posts: 17,161
    Polling trivia of the day: Only 27% of the YouGov sample (which is presumably over 80% English) want England to win the World Cup:

    http://cdn.yougov.com/cumulus_uploads/document/v0zlbnvgel/YG-Archive-Pol-Sunday-Times-results-140613.pdf
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    CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758

    OT although possibly relevant: We probably shouldn't put too much weight on the Telegraph's reporting since a week ago they were trying to tell us that Juncker was out of the race, but FWIW:

    Senior Conservatives are increasingly concerned that David Cameron will fail to stop Jean-Claude Juncker becoming the next president of the European Union, as tensions over Europe grow inside the party’s high command.

    One leading Tory figure warned that if the Prime minister cannot get his way in blocking Mr Juncker, it will be impossible to convince voters that he can deliver on his promise of significant reform to Britain's relationship with the EU.
    Senior sources are privately demanding that Mr Cameron state that he is ready to pull Britain out of the EU if he does not achieve radical changes to the terms of Britain’s membership.
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10900239/Juncker-row-splits-the-Tory-party-and-piles-pressure-on-Cameron.html
    It might not be voters that Cameron needs to convince, so much as his own MPs. As with Ed and The Sun, you have to wonder what Cameron and his team were thinking when they picked this wholly unnecessary fight (presumably that Mrs Merkel would stop him).

    I wonder if it was a test run. I recall the diplomat I had lunch with a few weeks ago saying that the veto was unplanned - and viewed by the team in Brussels (ie Cameron and ?Hague) as a failure initially.

    Basically they had pre-agreed a deal with Merkel, but then France called on their longstanding alliance w ith Germany and Merkel broke her side of the bargain. It looks - from newspaper reporting - that Metkel has/will fold under domestic political pressure in the case of Juncker.

    Could it be that Cameron is fighting the Juncker case the test Merkel's reliability ( and susceptibility to the threat of the UK leaving the EU if you believe the German press)?

    If true - and lots of supposition - that's quite canny, but also suggests Cameron May come round to the view that a meaningful renegotiation will be tricky. I wonder if we will see him nuancing towards 'may be we won't get a good deal and will have to leave'?
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    CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 40,167
    edited June 2014

    That's quite a move - can anyone who follows Scottish politics give us a non-tub-thumping explanation of what's driving the ups and downs?

    Whether there are ups and downs and if so why I'm not sure - so much of it is in MoE, while the Scottish newspapers are so bankrupt that polling has been infrequent, especially between comparable surveys by the same company. The crowdsourced polling by Wings over Scotland was very interesting for the range of questions it asked, wich were illuminating in identifying the left-wing Labour voters as a key target group, but it's been some time since Wings did one. So the impact of events such as Mr Osborne's speech gets merged into one overall pattern, and its hard to disentangle things which get the Unionists excited, such as their concocted news stories of late, from more serious matters which they and their chums in the media don't like to talk about, such as the rise of UKIP motivating Labour voters, and of the Tory chance of winning in the UKGE. The recent Survation poll for the Daily Record showed that expectation of a Tory win in 2015 UKGE is a major potential factor in pushing Yes over the finishing line.

    However, there has since the White Paper (when I got some cash down on Yes at 5 to 1) been a general trend towards [edit: not No but] Yes.. I'd like to see a few more polls to see if the current pattern persists, but I've always thought there would be a slow shift to Yes, all other things being equal, simply because

    1. This is not an election but a referendum with two options - one familiar (NO) and the other unfamiliar (YES).
    2. People - ordinary people not PBers - take time to consider the facts (especially when the Unionists do their best to suppress and confuse the facts and terrify people, in their soi-disant Project Fear).
    3. Therefore people will tend to start by intending to vote No if in any doubt.
    4. But there will be a shift to Yes from No and Undecided.
    5. This process will take time as people know they don't have to vote till September.
    6. To say that the gender gap is about women voting against the SNP is to make a double mistake - firstly, the conflation of Mr Salmond = SNP = Yes Campaign (as Mr Divvie said today); and secondly, it fails to appreciate that the question may be the wrong way round, as has been pointed out elsewhere: perhaps it is more useful to ask, why should men be going to Yes earlier than women? It may simply be that the sexes differ in the time they are willing to devote to politics and one sex is simply making its decisions later. This may be wrong, but it is certainly consistent with my overall view.

    I also note two elements in the polling - the shifts in ABC and in Labour voter intentions to Yes: two current holdouts. Very interesting.

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    NickPalmerNickPalmer Posts: 21,380
    Sean_F said:



    The two polls are separate. They're both on Yougov's website. The poll for the Sun has different questions.

    So they are, thanks. I was misled by the Sun poll not being in their main left-hand list of recent polls.

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    edmundintokyoedmundintokyo Posts: 17,161
    edited June 2014
    Charles said:


    I wonder if it was a test run. I recall the diplomat I had lunch with a few weeks ago saying that the veto was unplanned

    ...

    Could it be that Cameron is fighting the Juncker case the test Merkel's reliability ( and susceptibility to the threat of the UK leaving the EU if you believe the German press)?

    Looking at both examples and applying Occam's Razor I think it's more plausible that Cameron has no idea WTF he's doing...
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    SocratesSocrates Posts: 10,322

    Charles said:


    I wonder if it was a test run. I recall the diplomat I had lunch with a few weeks ago saying that the veto was unplanned...

    Could it be that Cameron is fighting the Juncker case the test Merkel's reliability ( and susceptibility to the threat of the UK leaving the EU if you believe the German press)?

    Applying Occam's Razor I think it's more plausible that Cameron has no idea WTF he's doing...
    The simplest explanation is that Cameron doesn't want an arch-federalist so doesn't want Juncker. It's no more complicated than that.
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    JohnLilburneJohnLilburne Posts: 6,033
    edited June 2014
    Sean_F said:

    Looks a pretty open outcome to me, though No ought still to be favourite. Glad I'm not the bloke with £400,000 on it.

    DavidL, that's clearly the same YG - the Sun just has the wrong Lab % by 1 point, and everything else is the same. The poll is very positive for the Government in the internals, but it's not helping their share of the vote. I meet people who say yes, the Government's doing OK on the economy, yes, they suppose Cameron looks like a PM, and hell no, of course they wouldn't vote for them. Those of us who are very interested in the details of politics often underestimate the fact that many voters are actually more tribal than we are.

    The two polls are separate. They're both on Yougov's website. The poll for the Sun has different questions.
    I suppose this illustrates how little attention we should pay to individual polls, or alternatively the concept of "normal margin of error".Both the Sun on Sunday and Friday's Sun polls were carried out by the same polling company, on the same dates (11-12 June) and with a sample size of 2000+:

    Sun Con 32, Lab 28, LD 8, UKIP 12, Lead=6
    SonS Con 33, Lab 36, LD 8, UKIP 14, Lead=3




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    edmundintokyoedmundintokyo Posts: 17,161
    Socrates said:

    Charles said:


    I wonder if it was a test run. I recall the diplomat I had lunch with a few weeks ago saying that the veto was unplanned...

    Could it be that Cameron is fighting the Juncker case the test Merkel's reliability ( and susceptibility to the threat of the UK leaving the EU if you believe the German press)?

    Applying Occam's Razor I think it's more plausible that Cameron has no idea WTF he's doing...
    The simplest explanation is that Cameron doesn't want an arch-federalist so doesn't want Juncker. It's no more complicated than that.
    Out of interest how is an arch-federalist different from a normal federalist?
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    SimonStClareSimonStClare Posts: 7,976
    edited June 2014

    Charles said:


    I wonder if it was a test run. I recall the diplomat I had lunch with a few weeks ago saying that the veto was unplanned

    ...

    Could it be that Cameron is fighting the Juncker case the test Merkel's reliability ( and susceptibility to the threat of the UK leaving the EU if you believe the German press)?

    Looking at both examples and applying Occam's Razor I think it's more plausible that Cameron has no idea WTF he's doing...
    How about just applying common sense, based on what has been said - Cameron doesn't want a self proclaimed arch federalist in the top job.
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    SocratesSocrates Posts: 10,322

    OT although possibly relevant: We probably shouldn't put too much weight on the Telegraph's reporting since a week ago they were trying to tell us that Juncker was out of the race, but FWIW:

    Senior Conservatives are increasingly concerned that David Cameron will fail to stop Jean-Claude Juncker becoming the next president of the European Union, as tensions over Europe grow inside the party’s high command.

    One leading Tory figure warned that if the Prime minister cannot get his way in blocking Mr Juncker, it will be impossible to convince voters that he can deliver on his promise of significant reform to Britain's relationship with the EU.
    Senior sources are privately demanding that Mr Cameron state that he is ready to pull Britain out of the EU if he does not achieve radical changes to the terms of Britain’s membership.
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10900239/Juncker-row-splits-the-Tory-party-and-piles-pressure-on-Cameron.html
    It might not be voters that Cameron needs to convince, so much as his own MPs. As with Ed and The Sun, you have to wonder what Cameron and his team were thinking when they picked this wholly unnecessary fight (presumably that Mrs Merkel would stop him).

    Yes, what was the government thinking - wanting to have influence on the EU of which we are the third largest member.
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    SocratesSocrates Posts: 10,322

    England looked like the team they are: not bad, not dangerous. It's a pity we don't have that little bit extra as so far it looks like a very open tournament, with no truly outstanding side. I am interested to see how Argentina go.

    Rooney was terrible however. It's time he lost his place.
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    isamisam Posts: 41,118
    edited June 2014

    Polling trivia of the day: Only 27% of the YouGov sample (which is presumably over 80% English) want England to win the World Cup:

    http://cdn.yougov.com/cumulus_uploads/document/v0zlbnvgel/YG-Archive-Pol-Sunday-Times-results-140613.pdf

    Labour supporters the least likely to want England to win the World Cup

    UKIP the most

    Not a surprise

    England
    Con 28
    Lab 27
    LD 28
    UKIP 34

    The surprising thing was that posters on here thought that Labour voters being most enthused about the World Cup had anything to do the WWC

    http://cdn.yougov.com/cumulus_uploads/document/v0zlbnvgel/YG-Archive-Pol-Sunday-Times-results-140613.pdf
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    anotherDaveanotherDave Posts: 6,746

    Polling trivia of the day: Only 27% of the YouGov sample (which is presumably over 80% English) want England to win the World Cup:

    http://cdn.yougov.com/cumulus_uploads/document/v0zlbnvgel/YG-Archive-Pol-Sunday-Times-results-140613.pdf

    And the England-to-win by party is:

    28% of Con
    27% of Lab
    28% of LD
    34% of UKIP
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    SocratesSocrates Posts: 10,322
    edited June 2014
    Muslim woman on the Big Questions making up the same conspiracy theories about Ofsted as the Muslim woman on Question Time the other night. They're trying to weaselly-word 'extremism' to mean just violent jihadism, rather all the other extremist views of conservative Islam.

    Muslim Quilliam guy slapping her down appropriately. Thank God we have these guys.
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    JohnLilburneJohnLilburne Posts: 6,033

    JohnO said:

    Update: Labour lead at 4- Latest YouGov / Sunday Times results 13th June - Con 33%, Lab 37%, LD 8%, UKIP 13%; APP -20

    And crossover of a sort: 45% think the economy is being managed well against 44% to the contrary.

    UKIP don't seem to have gained a boost from winning the EU Parliament elections, but the LDs do seem to have taken a hit. Is it that the Greens have gained a post-election boost at the LDs expense?
    ... and moreover still seem deeply incompetent even when it comes to running a political party, let alone potentially a country

    The last point does it for me: I've decided I don't mind voting for them in local elections if there is a suitable candidate, but nothing "bigger".
    'Competent' is not a word that springs to mind when I look at the current government, or HM opposition.
    Maybe "amateurish" would have been a better word to use about UKIP. That might be part of their appeal, but in general when you get elected, you have to be prepared to run stuff.

    And I don't think the Coalition has been that bad at running the country, personally.

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    CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758

    Charles said:


    I wonder if it was a test run. I recall the diplomat I had lunch with a few weeks ago saying that the veto was unplanned

    ...

    Could it be that Cameron is fighting the Juncker case the test Merkel's reliability ( and susceptibility to the threat of the UK leaving the EU if you believe the German press)?

    Looking at both examples and applying Occam's Razor I think it's more plausible that Cameron has no idea WTF he's doing...
    That I doubt. He will be well advised and well informed. (How he actually acts is his judgement of course)
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    CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 40,167

    So far No has used as ammunition

    *Your currency will go
    *Your wean will die of cancer because it won't be treated in London
    *Putin
    *Obama
    *J K Rowling
    *The Pope
    *Hillary Clinton

    but yet the polls are not shifting towards them.

    Is it just me or does good polling for "yes" tend to follow things that Scottish voters will see as attempts to push them around, the latest one being getting Obama to chip in with a pro-no opinion?

    If that's what's happening we probably shouldn't expect the peak yes scores to hold up in an actual vote, which will be decided by hope vs fear whereas the polls can be swayed by cost-free "Don't tread on me" responses.
    Nemo me impune lacessit? Interesting thought, but my gut feelng is that there have been so many such stories (often repeated again and again) that they sort of merge into one.

    BTW my past post - made a stupid slip, amended,

    The upside of a Scottish referendum thread is that it can't be hi-jacked by Scottish Nationalists. The downside is obvious...

    Does anyone know, by the way, how many of the Scottish electorate think of themselves as English? If it turns out that the "no" majority is less than that number, we really will never hear the last of it on either side of the border...

    About 800K residents * - 15-20% on shaky mental arithmetic - are English-born, whatever that means for their identity and politics. So presumably the electorate. In any case the referendum is, contra Mr Darling et al, not about ethnicity but about autonomy for where they live.

    The Sunday Times has already been trying to push a nasty little line of argument of English incomers losing the referendum for Yes as part of whipping up a hysteria about division, and tried to argue for a disproportionate No vote in English incomers. However, the SNP and others on the Yes side vigorously condemned this approach. My own view is that the geographical distribution strongly suggested that that was due in substantial part to their demographics (retirees, ergo elderly, home owners, and so on). Another crude but interesting indicator about English incomers more generally is that the membership of the SNP, and MSPs, show comparable percentages of southern-born folk.

    *http://www.heraldscotland.com/comment/columnists/to-make-no-a-positive-first-resolve-the-english-question.21578171
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    edmundintokyoedmundintokyo Posts: 17,161
    isam said:

    Polling trivia of the day: Only 27% of the YouGov sample (which is presumably over 80% English) want England to win the World Cup:

    http://cdn.yougov.com/cumulus_uploads/document/v0zlbnvgel/YG-Archive-Pol-Sunday-Times-results-140613.pdf

    Labour supporters the least likely to want England to win the World Cup

    UKIP the most

    Not a surprise

    England
    Con 28
    Lab 27
    LD 28
    UKIP 34


    http://cdn.yougov.com/cumulus_uploads/document/v0zlbnvgel/YG-Archive-Pol-Sunday-Times-results-140613.pdf
    Probably not much in it among English residents once you adjust for Scottish and Welsh people, who are presumably even less into an English victory than the English.
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    FluffyThoughtsFluffyThoughts Posts: 2,420
    Why is "Scotland" not on the TfL tube-map? Everyone says it runs from London....

    Is it really that weak; poor and insecure that BoJo's boys obfuscate it? Find out in the next few months....
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    JohnLilburneJohnLilburne Posts: 6,033
    Pulpstar said:

    Does anybody know the pubs in Ilkley?

    The plan is still on to hold a PB gathering in the Yorkshire town of Ilkley on July 7th. I'm there on holiday linked to the TdF start on the Sat/Sun

    I'm looking for a suitable pub that'll be reasonably quiet on a Monday night and is within easy walking distance of the station. The Cow & Calf has been recommended but that is a long way from the station. Any ideas?

    Can you drop me an email at
    mike at politicalbetting dot com

    Asked my gf - said the Cow and Calf is nice but it's a little way out. Other than that she's not sure. She is from nearby Guiseley.
    The two Good Beer Guide pubs are Bar T'At and the Crescent, both near the station. Unfortunately I can't remember having been to either. Worth finding a pub that will sell a good range of local beer rather than just Doom Bar and Bombardier, as there is some good stuff in Yorkshire (the Ilkley brewery is pretty good).

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    TCPoliticalBettingTCPoliticalBetting Posts: 10,819
    edited June 2014
    Charles said:

    OT although possibly relevant: We probably shouldn't put too much weight on the Telegraph's reporting since a week ago they were trying to tell us that Juncker was out of the race, but FWIW:

    Senior Conservatives are increasingly concerned that David Cameron will fail to stop Jean-Claude Juncker becoming the next president of the European Union, as tensions over Europe grow inside the party’s high command.

    One leading Tory figure warned that if the Prime minister cannot get his way in blocking Mr Juncker, it will be impossible to convince voters that he can deliver on his promise of significant reform to Britain's relationship with the EU.
    Senior sources are privately demanding that Mr Cameron state that he is ready to pull Britain out of the EU if he does not achieve radical changes to the terms of Britain’s membership.
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10900239/Juncker-row-splits-the-Tory-party-and-piles-pressure-on-Cameron.html
    It might not be voters that Cameron needs to convince, so much as his own MPs. As with Ed and The Sun, you have to wonder what Cameron and his team were thinking when they picked this wholly unnecessary fight (presumably that Mrs Merkel would stop him).
    ....... If true - and lots of supposition - that's quite canny, but also suggests Cameron may come round to the view that a meaningful renegotiation will be tricky. I wonder if we will see him nuancing towards 'may be we won't get a good deal and will have to leave'?
    The best way to get a deal is if the other side believe that you may leave. If they believe that Cameron will not leave over anything then his negotiating position is weakened. But, the evidence indicates otherwise. The review of EU competencies, have to date, been of list of minor matters which we have to take is a reading of the intention of Cameron to demand very little. Judge a man by his actions.

    The other day Charles you stated the view that Cameron would avoid at all costs splitting his party. The EU competencies indicates that he does not recognise where he will end up in the medium/long term as a result of the actions that he is presiding over. A major strategic gap - and something that last minute swotting does not overcome. But then he could have avoided the EC rebellions in his back bencher if he had made the 2017 pledge earlier. Another strategic blunder.
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    edmundintokyoedmundintokyo Posts: 17,161

    Charles said:


    I wonder if it was a test run. I recall the diplomat I had lunch with a few weeks ago saying that the veto was unplanned

    ...

    Could it be that Cameron is fighting the Juncker case the test Merkel's reliability ( and susceptibility to the threat of the UK leaving the EU if you believe the German press)?

    Looking at both examples and applying Occam's Razor I think it's more plausible that Cameron has no idea WTF he's doing...
    How about just applying common sense, based on what has been said - Cameron doesn't want a self proclaimed arch federalist in the top job.
    Aside from the issue of how the arch federalist is different from the alternatives (a round federalist or a square federalist?), that would explain the opposition, but not the tactics: A threat of withdrawal, and creating a lot of pan-European drama, both have worked to strengthen both Juncker's position and the precedent that Juncker getting the job would set.
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    PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 76,044
    isam said:

    Polling trivia of the day: Only 27% of the YouGov sample (which is presumably over 80% English) want England to win the World Cup:

    http://cdn.yougov.com/cumulus_uploads/document/v0zlbnvgel/YG-Archive-Pol-Sunday-Times-results-140613.pdf

    Labour supporters the least likely to want England to win the World Cup

    UKIP the most

    Not a surprise

    England
    Con 28
    Lab 27
    LD 28
    UKIP 34

    The surprising thing was that posters on here thought that Labour voters being most enthused about the World Cup had anything to do the WWC

    http://cdn.yougov.com/cumulus_uploads/document/v0zlbnvgel/YG-Archive-Pol-Sunday-Times-results-140613.pdf
    Those are really low numbers all round. I'd have expected them to be > 50% ?
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    edmundintokyoedmundintokyo Posts: 17,161

    The best way to get a deal is if the other side believe that you may leave.

    That's only half the problem - the other half is that they have to want you to stay...
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    Topic of the Day. Phil Neville on BBC MOTD last night.
    Was he auditioning for Jamaica Inn?
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    JohnLilburneJohnLilburne Posts: 6,033

    Sean_F said:

    Looks a pretty open outcome to me, though No ought still to be favourite. Glad I'm not the bloke with £400,000 on it.

    DavidL, that's clearly the same YG - the Sun just has the wrong Lab % by 1 point, and everything else is the same. The poll is very positive for the Government in the internals, but it's not helping their share of the vote. I meet people who say yes, the Government's doing OK on the economy, yes, they suppose Cameron looks like a PM, and hell no, of course they wouldn't vote for them. Those of us who are very interested in the details of politics often underestimate the fact that many voters are actually more tribal than we are.

    The two polls are separate. They're both on Yougov's website. The poll for the Sun has different questions.
    I suppose this illustrates how little attention we should pay to individual polls, or alternatively the concept of "normal margin of error".Both the Sun on Sunday and Friday's Sun polls were carried out by the same polling company, on the same dates (11-12 June) and with a sample size of 2000+:

    Sun Con 32, Lab 38, LD 8, UKIP 12, Lead=6
    SonS Con 33, Lab 36, LD 8, UKIP 14, Lead=3
    Oops. Correction in bold.

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    isamisam Posts: 41,118
    edited June 2014
    Pulpstar said:

    isam said:

    Polling trivia of the day: Only 27% of the YouGov sample (which is presumably over 80% English) want England to win the World Cup:

    http://cdn.yougov.com/cumulus_uploads/document/v0zlbnvgel/YG-Archive-Pol-Sunday-Times-results-140613.pdf

    Labour supporters the least likely to want England to win the World Cup

    UKIP the most

    Not a surprise

    England
    Con 28
    Lab 27
    LD 28
    UKIP 34

    The surprising thing was that posters on here thought that Labour voters being most enthused about the World Cup had anything to do the WWC

    http://cdn.yougov.com/cumulus_uploads/document/v0zlbnvgel/YG-Archive-Pol-Sunday-Times-results-140613.pdf
    Those are really low numbers all round. I'd have expected them to be > 50% ?
    You would have thought so.

    My guess is that people are combining who they want with what they expect

    "If your facourite was knocked out who would you want to win?"

    UKIP lowest England, backs up the first point
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    FinancierFinancier Posts: 3,916
    Socrates said:

    Charles said:


    I wonder if it was a test run. I recall the diplomat I had lunch with a few weeks ago saying that the veto was unplanned...

    Could it be that Cameron is fighting the Juncker case the test Merkel's reliability ( and susceptibility to the threat of the UK leaving the EU if you believe the German press)?

    Applying Occam's Razor I think it's more plausible that Cameron has no idea WTF he's doing...
    The simplest explanation is that Cameron doesn't want an arch-federalist so doesn't want Juncker. It's no more complicated than that.
    The EU needs a Leader than is open to Reform and comes from outside the EU bureaucracy - a member of that present system who wants more of the same is the last thing that would be good for the EU>
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    SocratesSocrates Posts: 10,322
    edited June 2014
    This Quilliam guy is brilliant. He is challenging a Muslim cleric who was trying to weasel-word on extremism. IT went something like this:

    Cleric: "It's very wrong to condemn these Muslim schools for extremism. Jews believe the same things as Muslims and would never be criticised in thsi way."
    Quilliam guy: "I will criticise anyone that believes in stoning, whether they are Muslim, Jewish or anything else. Do you believe in stoning?"
    Cleric: "We believe in supporting the existing laws of land, and stoning is not legal, so I wouldn't suport it."
    Quilliam guy: "There's a lot of complexity around Muslim beliefs in an Islamic state that the audience might not be aware of. Would you support stoning under the context of an Islamic state?"
    Cleric: "I think another part of this issue that needs to be addressed..."
    Quilliam guy: "Please answer the question. Do you support stoning under the context of an Islamic state?"
    Cleric: "I think other religions have very..."
    Quilliam guy: "Yes or no, answer the question"
    Cleric: "I can't give a firm yes or no"

    Bam. The ugliness of conservative Islam is portrayed very clearly for everyone. Moderate people of all faiths will be turned away from it, and conservative Muslims will realise that this issue is a liability for them. They will need to react by 'reinterpreting' their views on this, come up with some excuse why it won't be needed ever again, etc. This is what Christianity did. This is what Judaism did. This is what Mormonism did. We need to give them hell over these sort of views until they have to buckle on it. We've been afraid to do it for too long, but the tide is turning.
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    edmundintokyoedmundintokyo Posts: 17,161
    edited June 2014
    isam said:

    Pulpstar said:

    isam said:

    Polling trivia of the day: Only 27% of the YouGov sample (which is presumably over 80% English) want England to win the World Cup:

    http://cdn.yougov.com/cumulus_uploads/document/v0zlbnvgel/YG-Archive-Pol-Sunday-Times-results-140613.pdf

    Labour supporters the least likely to want England to win the World Cup

    UKIP the most

    Not a surprise

    England
    Con 28
    Lab 27
    LD 28
    UKIP 34

    The surprising thing was that posters on here thought that Labour voters being most enthused about the World Cup had anything to do the WWC

    http://cdn.yougov.com/cumulus_uploads/document/v0zlbnvgel/YG-Archive-Pol-Sunday-Times-results-140613.pdf
    Those are really low numbers all round. I'd have expected them to be > 50% ?
    You would have thought so.

    My guess is that people are combining who they want with what they expect

    "If your facourite was knocked out who would you want to win?"

    UKIP lowest England, backs up the first point
    I guess the previous question sort-of leads them that way, by asking what they think the outcome will be. Some of them may be giving an opinion on something more like, "Do you think the England team deserves to win?".
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    SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 38,987

    isam said:

    Polling trivia of the day: Only 27% of the YouGov sample (which is presumably over 80% English) want England to win the World Cup:

    http://cdn.yougov.com/cumulus_uploads/document/v0zlbnvgel/YG-Archive-Pol-Sunday-Times-results-140613.pdf

    Labour supporters the least likely to want England to win the World Cup

    UKIP the most

    Not a surprise

    England
    Con 28
    Lab 27
    LD 28
    UKIP 34


    http://cdn.yougov.com/cumulus_uploads/document/v0zlbnvgel/YG-Archive-Pol-Sunday-Times-results-140613.pdf
    Probably not much in it among English residents once you adjust for Scottish and Welsh people, who are presumably even less into an English victory than the English.

    Indeed - the poll shows only 10% of Scots wanting England to win and the Scottish sub-sample has Labour on 35%.

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    SocratesSocrates Posts: 10,322

    Charles said:


    I wonder if it was a test run. I recall the diplomat I had lunch with a few weeks ago saying that the veto was unplanned

    ...

    Could it be that Cameron is fighting the Juncker case the test Merkel's reliability ( and susceptibility to the threat of the UK leaving the EU if you believe the German press)?

    Looking at both examples and applying Occam's Razor I think it's more plausible that Cameron has no idea WTF he's doing...
    How about just applying common sense, based on what has been said - Cameron doesn't want a self proclaimed arch federalist in the top job.
    Aside from the issue of how the arch federalist is different from the alternatives (a round federalist or a square federalist?), that would explain the opposition, but not the tactics: A threat of withdrawal, and creating a lot of pan-European drama, both have worked to strengthen both Juncker's position and the precedent that Juncker getting the job would set.
    While I appreciate your point, the problem with your view is that it basically means we shouldn't ever fight for any view we believe in unless Germany agrees. That's not European co-operation. That's rule by Germany.
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    FrankBoothFrankBooth Posts: 9,071
    Pulpstar said:

    isam said:

    Polling trivia of the day: Only 27% of the YouGov sample (which is presumably over 80% English) want England to win the World Cup:

    http://cdn.yougov.com/cumulus_uploads/document/v0zlbnvgel/YG-Archive-Pol-Sunday-Times-results-140613.pdf

    Labour supporters the least likely to want England to win the World Cup

    UKIP the most

    Not a surprise

    England
    Con 28
    Lab 27
    LD 28
    UKIP 34

    The surprising thing was that posters on here thought that Labour voters being most enthused about the World Cup had anything to do the WWC

    http://cdn.yougov.com/cumulus_uploads/document/v0zlbnvgel/YG-Archive-Pol-Sunday-Times-results-140613.pdf
    Those are really low numbers all round. I'd have expected them to be > 50% ?
    I wouldn't be surprised if the people most keen on England winning the world cup were 'none of the above'. There's still plenty of them in spite of Ukip.
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    edmundintokyoedmundintokyo Posts: 17,161
    Financier said:

    Socrates said:

    Charles said:


    I wonder if it was a test run. I recall the diplomat I had lunch with a few weeks ago saying that the veto was unplanned...

    Could it be that Cameron is fighting the Juncker case the test Merkel's reliability ( and susceptibility to the threat of the UK leaving the EU if you believe the German press)?

    Applying Occam's Razor I think it's more plausible that Cameron has no idea WTF he's doing...
    The simplest explanation is that Cameron doesn't want an arch-federalist so doesn't want Juncker. It's no more complicated than that.
    The EU needs a Leader than is open to Reform and comes from outside the EU bureaucracy - a member of that present system who wants more of the same is the last thing that would be good for the EU>
    Juncker did a stint at the Euro group, but before that he was a national Prime Minister for a long time, and of a low-tax country with a big financial industry as well. As for "reform" none of the plausible candidates are going to want to compromise on things like freedom of movement, but Juncker was the only candidate to put a deal with the UK in his platform.

    If somebody else had won the election - say Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the socialist Kinnock in-law who wants Denmark to abandon its opt-outs and join the Euro - Juncker would have been exactly the kind of right-wing deal-maker the UK would have been pushing for as their "compromise candidate".
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    Socrates said:

    Charles said:


    I wonder if it was a test run. I recall the diplomat I had lunch with a few weeks ago saying that the veto was unplanned

    ...

    Could it be that Cameron is fighting the Juncker case the test Merkel's reliability ( and susceptibility to the threat of the UK leaving the EU if you believe the German press)?

    Looking at both examples and applying Occam's Razor I think it's more plausible that Cameron has no idea WTF he's doing...
    How about just applying common sense, based on what has been said - Cameron doesn't want a self proclaimed arch federalist in the top job.
    Aside from the issue of how the arch federalist is different from the alternatives (a round federalist or a square federalist?), that would explain the opposition, but not the tactics: A threat of withdrawal, and creating a lot of pan-European drama, both have worked to strengthen both Juncker's position and the precedent that Juncker getting the job would set.
    While I appreciate your point, the problem with your view is that it basically means we shouldn't ever fight for any view we believe in unless Germany agrees. That's not European co-operation. That's rule by Germany.
    Didn't Nick Ridley describe the EU as that a number of years ago?
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    isamisam Posts: 41,118
    edited June 2014
    Waahhey!!! C'mon Labour supporters!!!

    Lets all go dahn the BOOZER in LONDON and support someone other than England to win the World Cup!!!!

    Whats the offside rule again Tarquin? Yes yes the others from the Fabian Society are meeting us there.. GO CHILE!!!!!
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    EasterrossEasterross Posts: 1,915
    Morning all and very much into squeaky bum territory now with the IndyRef polls. Twitter is festooned with photos from both sides and the action groups up and down Scotland. The fact that people within families are falling out over the YES/NO debate does not bode well for Scotland post 18th September. Some of the insults from both sides have gone too far and too deep.
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    The best way to get a deal is if the other side believe that you may leave.

    That's only half the problem - the other half is that they have to want you to stay...
    Well if you are the customer and they are the supplier in terms of cash flows, then they have a greater need for you to stay, than you have to stay.
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    SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 38,987
    edited June 2014
    Not sure if this has been covered on here, but according to a YG poll 69% of Scots expect No to win. That's higher than in any other part of the UK:

    http://yougov.co.uk/news/2014/06/11/63-expect-scotland-remain-uk/

    Not sure it means much, but it's vaguely interesting in the way the ICM Wisdom Index is.

    The very low DK/won't say response in Scotland is also notable.
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    SocratesSocrates Posts: 10,322
    Maajid Nawaz is great. Here's a column from a few years ago having a go at the Islam channel:

    http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2010/mar/26/islam-channel-intolerant-islam

    Exactly what needs to be said. He's apparently standing as a Lib Dem candidate in the next election. I like him on this issue so much he'd be the one Lib Dem I might actually vote for.
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    ThomasNasheThomasNashe Posts: 5,022
    Off topic. Is anyone else becoming concerned about Tony Blair's mental state? He seems to have moved beyond merely delusional to some kind of weird Napoleon complex.
This discussion has been closed.