BREAKING NEWS: Alex Salmond has promised that DEATH, an evil English invention, will no longer stalk the fair land of Caledonia. Also, sniffly colds are Welsh, and henceforth forbidden.
If we are such a "UNITED" Kingdom then why do we have (for example) separate Football teams and leagues (and have had such since the mid-19th century)?
Separation has ALREADY occurred, at least at the international sporting level.
That's just to enable us to compete, safely and without bitterness, against each other in some spheres, for the sake of fun.
BREAKING NEWS: Alex Salmond has promised that DEATH, an evil English invention, will no longer stalk the fair land of Caledonia. Also, sniffly colds are Welsh, and henceforth forbidden.
If we are such a "UNITED" Kingdom then why do we have (for example) separate Football teams and leagues (and have had such since the mid-19th century)?
Separation has ALREADY occurred, at least at the international sporting level.
That's just to enable us to compete, safely and without bitterness, against each other in some spheres, for the sake of fun.
But I was under the impression that we are "BETTER" "TOGETHER"!
@Socrates One of the reasons I am a "no", but the dream is powerful, and if it is a yes, I will shrug my shoulders and make the best of it. Even I can't believe the future in an independent Scotland will be much worse than what we already have.
Was interesting to see Galloway's political tour of Scotland on Newsnight tonight. I couldn't help thinking that he is the Rommel of this Independence campaign - a first rate political orator tragically caught fighting for the wrong side being overwhelmed by events.
Rommel's giving him too much weight. Otto Skorzeny maybe.
If the Guardian report is correct, the political class has yet again managed to plumb new depths, by attempting to call a by-election in Heywood with unseemly haste just so it can coincide with the Clacton election. Maybe the report is wrong. I hope so.
If true, why would that be plumbing any greater depth than UKIP arranging a defection at a time of maximum benefit to them?
Because somebody died and they're not yet buried?
The article says:
It is understood that a senior Labour figure will seek the consent of Dobbin's family before any attempt to begin the process of setting a timetable for a byelection
and also points out that there is a Thursday deadline, otherwise they have to wait until November.
In the overall scheme of things, I think many deeper depths have been plumbed!
It also says...
"The plan to trigger a byelection so soon after an MP's death is unusual and parties normally wait until after the funeral"
But I am not going to pretend to be outraged, I barely know anything about the traditions of these things etc, just linked to the article because it was interesting, not to offer my opinion... and answered your question based on what I read in the article
Could be good tactics, or it might backfire...
I don't know whether its so bad for UKIP, as I said, Clactons in the bag already... I know they were bussing people down from Manchester though to campaign, but cant imagine they will keep doing that until polling day
It's not that they can't fight both, but you can never do two things as well as just one - not in politics. Northern Kipper activists can head to Heywood, or they can be bussed to Clacton. Every day Farage spends in Heywood, he (and the journos and cameras following him) isn't in Clacton. And so on.
If UKIP win big in Clacton and come no-where in Heywood, it will be worth more to them than a more modest win and a creditable second place in Heywood (which is in truth the best they can hope for). It's not a trade-off worth taking in my mind.
You still seem to be thinking of UKIP as a one man band . It's not. Carswell is significant enough a political figure with an exceptional handle on his patch. Farage can take the day off from Clacton and anyway would UKIP want a 'soft southerner' fronting up the campaign in the North West? Surely its far better for Paul Nuttall (Deputy Leader of The Party) to be the senior lead in Heywood with Farage providing support to both? As for activists I'm sure there are enough UKIP activists in Kent, Sussex, Essex and East Anglia (it is their heartlands after all) to allow the Lincolnshire, Yorkshire and the North West UKIP activists to focus on Heywood. By asking for volunteers to travel less of a distance will likely also attract more activists and will allow them to spend more time on the ground because of the lesser travel times and costs involved.
Given the polls, Carswell's apparently excellent constituency data and after Parris's astonishing rant (given his association with the Cameron clique) I think the Tories are definite outsiders to hold Clacton.
Heywood on the other hand sees Labour with only 40% of the vote in 2010 (with large Tory and Libdem votes to plunder) and as such there is an outside chance under the right circumstances that Labour could be challenged in Heywood. They wouldn't be so concerned about moving the writ early if they weren't somewhat worried about the seat. Given all these factors UKIP should try and maintain pressure in Heywood as well. You never know and if in the unlikely circumstance it turned out to be a double whammy then the tremors would be felt all across Westminster.
Dear England, I have tried, really tried,to understand your fixation with money, to the exclusion of all else, your over inflated ego, and your uncaring selfishness. All these things I could perhaps have put up with in the hope you might one day change. What I can't put up with is your lack of basic understanding of anything that offers no financial reward. So....it comes to this England, go and hang out with that slut America, and don't let the door hit your arse on the way out. Bye, Scotland.
James Delingpole @JamesDelingpole 12h I hate all this bribery and grovelling we're doing to keep Scotland in the union. If they hate us that much, better they should fuck off now
@isam If they moved the writ in November, the poll would not really be feasible until mid winter, which is pretty lousy, and spring is too late to be useful. Or it could be a diabolical plot.
Nate Silver is good at predicting elections in the United States, not so much elsewhere. His attempt at forecasting the 2010 general election was a failure IIRC.
Hi Beverley, they are all growing up so fast, hope you are allowed to help your eldest make the move this weekend. Despite being left in charge of organising and buying all student halls essentials, I was banned from helping my eldest make the move to Uni on the day in case I embarrassed him by crying when it came time to leave! Its my middle son who is hoping to go into the military when he finishes Uni, still has another couple of years to go. And it now looks like son No3 will be heading to Uni next year too after he finishes 6th year. Fitaloon is bracing himself in readiness to deal with my looming case of empty nest syndrome too.
Bang on the money with that post Beverley, and great to see you back posting too.
Hi Fitalass - lovely to see you are still here. How are fitalad and the boys doing? I think that the last time I was on here the middle lad had something coming up - army try-out or some such?
At this end my eldest goes to Uni this weekend and all is in chaos here. The younger one is still at college and goes back tomorrow.
This whole referendum thing has me very annoyed The sheer stupidity of the politicians firing up resentment, false expectation and complacency followed by the current panic. What a mess. My friends in Scotland are worried and some of them are considering moving south, others hope it will all come to a halt but my worry is that bad blood has been stoked up too far now.
We could do with a more mature politics. Personally I could probably do with a new mortgage as mine is with Bank of Scotland.
Nate Silver is good at predicting elections in the United States, not so much elsewhere. His attempt at forecasting the 2010 general election was a failure IIRC.
Yesterday I stood on the north bank of a river, looking across an international border to a much more powerful country to the south - but with a worse healthcare system and nuclear weapons. This year Niagara, next year Coldstream?
I've just noticed that this Canadian keyboard is bi-lingual. Does it really need to say 'Fin' on the 'End' key??? That definitely puts me in the 'ditch Quebec' camp!
Nate Silver is good at predicting elections in the United States, not so much elsewhere. His attempt at forecasting the 2010 general election was a failure IIRC.
The Nate Silver quotes are a month old and based on stale polling information. Things have moved on
...Scotland is one of the most prosperous parts of a rather prosperous and enviably stable country, the UK, which has never been invaded or conquered for a thousand years, has not seen violent revolution or civil war for 400 years, and has not known widespread natural disaster - tsunamis, earthquakes - EVER. We also have the global language as our mother tongue, and can travel the world expecting to be understood everywhere...[edited for length]...Yet you paint this Scotland as being a kind of Hobbesian dystopia, a social disaster, a land so wretched it must risk financial chaos to rid itself of evil English overlords....
[rant mode on]
I know this is a bit like that episode where Kirk and the Klingon stand together against the Organians,[1] but I vehemently agree with SeanT.[2]
I've seen data on twenty-year old lepers who look eighty with bleeding rotting stumps for legs. I've been asked to act as an election observer for an African country fighting two civil wars and an Aids epidemic simultaneously. I've stood by the graves of murdered soldiers, drink-driving victims and people who died screaming from cancer. And then I look at the UK, where most people have "the privilege of ordinary heartbreaks"[3] I am sick unto death of people who think if we just changed the voting system, or left Europe, or seceded from the UK, or whatever is the latest Fashionable Big Change, we'd be OK. I just want a government that empties the bins, enforces the law, and promises to Really Try To Fuck Up A Bit Less Tomorrow, Honest. Give me middle-aged men in work coats who are good with their hands or can do proper sums. Enough of these skinny dreamers with burning eyes who Have A Plan.
...Scotland is one of the most prosperous parts of a rather prosperous and enviably stable country, the UK, which has never been invaded or conquered for a thousand years, has not seen violent revolution or civil war for 400 years, and has not known widespread natural disaster - tsunamis, earthquakes - EVER. We also have the global language as our mother tongue, and can travel the world expecting to be understood everywhere...[edited for length]...Yet you paint this Scotland as being a kind of Hobbesian dystopia, a social disaster, a land so wretched it must risk financial chaos to rid itself of evil English overlords....
[rant mode on]
I know this is a bit like that episode where Kirk and the Klingon stand together against the Organians,[1] but I vehemently agree with SeanT.[2]
I've seen data on twenty-year old lepers who look eighty with bleeding rotting stumps for legs. I've been asked to act as an election observer for an African country fighting two civil wars and an Aids epidemic simultaneously. I've stood by the graves of murdered soldiers, drink-driving victims and people who died screaming from cancer. And then I look at the UK, where most people have "the privilege of ordinary heartbreaks"[3] I am sick unto death of people who think if we just changed the voting system, or left Europe, or seceded from the UK, or whatever is the latest Fashionable Big Change, we'd be OK. I just want a government that empties the bins, enforces the law, and promises to Really Try To Fuck Up A Bit Less Tomorrow, Honest. Give me middle-aged men in work coats who are good with their hands or can do proper sums. Enough of these skinny dreamers with burning eyes who Have A Plan.
...Scotland is one of the most prosperous parts of a rather prosperous and enviably stable country, the UK, which has never been invaded or conquered for a thousand years, has not seen violent revolution or civil war for 400 years, and has not known widespread natural disaster - tsunamis, earthquakes - EVER. We also have the global language as our mother tongue, and can travel the world expecting to be understood everywhere...[edited for length]...Yet you paint this Scotland as being a kind of Hobbesian dystopia, a social disaster, a land so wretched it must risk financial chaos to rid itself of evil English overlords....
[rant mode on]
I know this is a bit like that episode where Kirk and the Klingon stand together against the Organians,[1] but I vehemently agree with SeanT.[2]
I've seen data on twenty-year old lepers who look eighty with bleeding rotting stumps for legs. I've been asked to act as an election observer for an African country fighting two civil wars and an Aids epidemic simultaneously. I've stood by the graves of murdered soldiers, drink-driving victims and people who died screaming from cancer. And then I look at the UK, where most people have "the privilege of ordinary heartbreaks"[3] I am sick unto death of people who think if we just changed the voting system, or left Europe, or seceded from the UK, or whatever is the latest Fashionable Big Change, we'd be OK. I just want a government that empties the bins, enforces the law, and promises to Really Try To Fuck Up A Bit Less Tomorrow, Honest. Give me middle-aged men in work coats who are good with their hands or can do proper sums. Enough of these skinny dreamers with burning eyes who Have A Plan.
And I want a government that empties the bins, enforces the law and actually doesn't fuck up quite as much tomorrow instead of just making empty promises..........
Nate Silver is good at predicting elections in the United States, not so much elsewhere. His attempt at forecasting the 2010 general election was a failure IIRC.
What was his prediction?
I think he predicted a small Tory majority. Tried to find the pages the other day but they seem to have disappeared from his archive.
Nothing for 12 hrs after this tweet... Survation @Survation · 12h On Sept 10th @davieclegg pol editor of @daily_record will release #indyref headline figs at 10.30pm.Tables will then be tweeted by us HERE
And then along come two very cryptic tweets posted after 2am in the morning! Survation @Survation 11m Our #indyref figs for @daily_record are VERY interesting @davieclegg will tweet headline numbers first - follow @survation for full info
Damian Lyons Lowe @DamianSurvation 4m Well that was a long day..results of our new #indyref poll Sept 5-9 are just in and they are quite something! @davieclegg will tweet later.
In the meantime, the Record has done a vox pop on the "last minute/panicked/cobbled together" extra powers and predictably found voters singularly unimpressed:
Richard, absolutely agree with your first point, its all gone a bit Corporal Jones in the last week, which is just not British. But you know what, I haven't come across a Scots voter who has suddenly been swayed to vote Yes in the last six weeks. In fact, only know of one voter in recent months who was wavering, and they have now switched from a Yes to a No in recently.
Now back before the Holyrood elections, the swing from Labour to the SNP was very visible on the ground and I posted about it on here at the time. I genuinely have not sensed any new groundswell in support for Yes in recent weeks. But I have seen a few non political shy voters coming out and nailing their support for a No in the last few days as the media have whipped themselves into a frenzied meltdown.
I am still predicting a very high turnout, and one that will almost leave the campaign GOTV operations superfluous to requirements on the day. I am still predicting a comfortable No result delivered by the young, women and over 55's voting overwhelming to stay within the UK.
Well, I agree that the current rush by the Clegg, Miliband and Cameron - in cahoots with Gordon Brown, FFS - is embarrassingly vacuous, and the Saltire nonsense is the tackiest gimmick I've seen for years.
Nothing for 12 hrs after this tweet... Survation @Survation · 12h On Sept 10th @davieclegg pol editor of @daily_record will release #indyref headline figs at 10.30pm.Tables will then be tweeted by us HERE
And then along come two very cryptic tweets posted after 2am in the morning! Survation @Survation 11m Our #indyref figs for @daily_record are VERY interesting @davieclegg will tweet headline numbers first - follow @survation for full info
Damian Lyons Lowe @DamianSurvation 4m Well that was a long day..results of our new #indyref poll Sept 5-9 are just in and they are quite something! @davieclegg will tweet later.
Dear England, I have tried, really tried,to understand your fixation with money, to the exclusion of all else, your over inflated ego, and your uncaring selfishness. All these things I could perhaps have put up with in the hope you might one day change. What I can't put up with is your lack of basic understanding of anything that offers no financial reward. So....it comes to this England, go and hang out with that slut America, and don't let the door hit your arse on the way out. Bye, Scotland.
Comments
Does that "T" in your moniker stand for TWIT?
It also says...
"The plan to trigger a byelection so soon after an MP's death is unusual and parties normally wait until after the funeral"
But I am not going to pretend to be outraged, I barely know anything about the traditions of these things etc, just linked to the article because it was interesting, not to offer my opinion... and answered your question based on what I read in the article
Could be good tactics, or it might backfire...
I don't know whether its so bad for UKIP, as I said, Clactons in the bag already... I know they were bussing people down from Manchester though to campaign, but cant imagine they will keep doing that until polling day
Polling guru Nate Silver (Aug '13) "There's virtually no chance that the 'yes' side will win" http://gu.com/p/3t24p/tw via @guardian <= Oops.
....and oooops again.
You still seem to be thinking of UKIP as a one man band . It's not. Carswell is significant enough a political figure with an exceptional handle on his patch. Farage can take the day off from Clacton and anyway would UKIP want a 'soft southerner' fronting up the campaign in the North West? Surely its far better for Paul Nuttall (Deputy Leader of The Party) to be the senior lead in Heywood with Farage providing support to both? As for activists I'm sure there are enough UKIP activists in Kent, Sussex, Essex and East Anglia (it is their heartlands after all) to allow the Lincolnshire, Yorkshire and the North West UKIP activists to focus on Heywood. By asking for volunteers to travel less of a distance will likely also attract more activists and will allow them to spend more time on the ground because of the lesser travel times and costs involved.
Given the polls, Carswell's apparently excellent constituency data and after Parris's astonishing rant (given his association with the Cameron clique) I think the Tories are definite outsiders to hold Clacton.
Heywood on the other hand sees Labour with only 40% of the vote in 2010 (with large Tory and Libdem votes to plunder) and as such there is an outside chance under the right circumstances that Labour could be challenged in Heywood. They wouldn't be so concerned about moving the writ early if they weren't somewhat worried about the seat. Given all these factors UKIP should try and maintain pressure in Heywood as well. You never know and if in the unlikely circumstance it turned out to be a double whammy then the tremors would be felt all across Westminster.
I hate all this bribery and grovelling we're doing to keep Scotland in the union. If they hate us that much, better they should fuck off now
Researcher who uncovered Rotherham abuse 'feared for life' after police visit http://gu.com/p/4xdq4/tw via @guardian
If they moved the writ in November, the poll would not really be feasible until mid winter, which is pretty lousy, and spring is too late to be useful.
Or it could be a diabolical plot.
Last dear John I send you then, you humourless cnunt!
:-)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-22bv8uFRLI
I apologise.
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/by-election-take-place-february-13-6530800
The writ was moved on Jan 21st, five days after Paul Goggin's funeral
I've just noticed that this Canadian keyboard is bi-lingual. Does it really need to say 'Fin' on the 'End' key??? That definitely puts me in the 'ditch Quebec' camp!
The Nate Silver quotes are a month old and based on stale polling information. Things have moved on
I know this is a bit like that episode where Kirk and the Klingon stand together against the Organians,[1] but I vehemently agree with SeanT.[2]
I've seen data on twenty-year old lepers who look eighty with bleeding rotting stumps for legs. I've been asked to act as an election observer for an African country fighting two civil wars and an Aids epidemic simultaneously. I've stood by the graves of murdered soldiers, drink-driving victims and people who died screaming from cancer. And then I look at the UK, where most people have "the privilege of ordinary heartbreaks"[3] I am sick unto death of people who think if we just changed the voting system, or left Europe, or seceded from the UK, or whatever is the latest Fashionable Big Change, we'd be OK. I just want a government that empties the bins, enforces the law, and promises to Really Try To Fuck Up A Bit Less Tomorrow, Honest. Give me middle-aged men in work coats who are good with their hands or can do proper sums. Enough of these skinny dreamers with burning eyes who Have A Plan.
[rant mode off]
[1] C'mon Sunil, don't let me down
[2] http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/seanthomas/100285753/stupid-david-cameron-and-poisonous-labour-have-let-the-union-wither-and-maybe-die-i-told-you-so/#comment-1580947968
[3] http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/the-privilege-of-ordinary-heartbreaks/
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_Scottish_independence_referendum,_2014#2014
Survation @Survation · 12h
On Sept 10th @davieclegg pol editor of @daily_record will release #indyref headline figs at 10.30pm.Tables will then be tweeted by us HERE
And then along come two very cryptic tweets posted after 2am in the morning!
Survation @Survation 11m
Our #indyref figs for @daily_record are VERY interesting @davieclegg will tweet headline numbers first - follow @survation for full info
Damian Lyons Lowe @DamianSurvation 4m
Well that was a long day..results of our new #indyref poll Sept 5-9 are just in and they are quite something! @davieclegg will tweet later.
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/independence-referendum-voters-not-convinced-4191712?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter