There's little chance of me voting Labour at the next election. That may surprise many on here given that I generally attack the coalition from the left. Given I live in a safe Labour seat that hardly matters. However if Ed Miliband were to get up in PMQs and bring up the phone hacking issue again with special reference to The Mirror and their indiscretions I'd have new found respect for him and might, just might, consider putting the X in their box.
Does Miliband have any ex-Mirror hacks on his staff ?
His spin doctor Bob Roberts.
He has all the scandal hit papers covered with his advisors...Mirror, News International, Telegraph.
Maybe he believes everyone deserves a second chance?
There are going to be a lot of lefties in the House of Commons after May.
Not if people realise what is going on and vote Tory.
This leftward lurch of the SNP, driven that way by the exodus of lefty labourites post referendum, is surely significant. Was the only purpose behind the Scottish Independence Movement the far left anti nuclear campaign? A lot of people must have had different motives than that but since the referendum was still lost, well do they happily go along with the new improved washes lefter than left SNP?
Scotland, as Northern Ireland has been, is going to be considering an existential question over the next 20 years or so (though hopefully minus the Semtex).
The lesson from Northern Ireland is that support moves away from the centrist parties towards those who take the harder line.
Therefore - brave prediction: by 2025 or 2030, the general election in Scotland [if it's still in the UK] will be largely fought between the SNP and the Tories. During this process the Tories will actually take some of the seats the SNP currently have (where they gained them as "Tartan Tories" e.g. Perth, Banff & Buchan etc.).
There's little chance of me voting Labour at the next election. That may surprise many on here given that I generally attack the coalition from the left. Given I live in a safe Labour seat that hardly matters. However if Ed Miliband were to get up in PMQs and bring up the phone hacking issue again with special reference to The Mirror and their indiscretions I'd have new found respect for him and might, just might, consider putting the X in their box.
Does Miliband have any ex-Mirror hacks on his staff ?
His spin doctor Bob Roberts.
He has all the scandal hit papers covered with his advisors...Mirror, News International, Telegraph.
Meet Team Miliband – the 'poisonous and dysfunctional' political pack behind Ed's campaign for No.10 http://specc.ie/1iPjNMF
Dr. Spyn, nothing wrong with feeling bloody-minded.
Let us know what reply you get.
I refer you to Janesh's article: "feeling vaguely cussed (in other words, British)"
Janan Ganesh, Esq. (@JGaneshEsq) 03/03/2015 07:45 Thesaurus and chai latte at the ready. Time to put quill to parchment. I feel a column coming on.
I admit that his modus operandi may be, shall we say, unusual
But it doesn't make him wrong.
Anyway, I rather like chai latte
Janan Ganesh, Esq. (@JGaneshEsq) 10/02/2015 13:44 Always use the pretentious alternative. For example, instead of saying “I have a hangover”, try “J’ai la gueule de bois”. #GaneshStyleTips
Do you think that, just possibly, "#GaneshStyleTips" is tongue in cheek?
p.s. are you really wasting your time scanning through a random journalist's twitter feed for bon mots?
There's little chance of me voting Labour at the next election. That may surprise many on here given that I generally attack the coalition from the left. Given I live in a safe Labour seat that hardly matters. However if Ed Miliband were to get up in PMQs and bring up the phone hacking issue again with special reference to The Mirror and their indiscretions I'd have new found respect for him and might, just might, consider putting the X in their box.
Does Miliband have any ex-Mirror hacks on his staff ?
His spin doctor Bob Roberts.
He has all the scandal hit papers covered with his advisors...Mirror, News International, Telegraph.
Meet Team Miliband – the 'poisonous and dysfunctional' political pack behind Ed's campaign for No.10 http://specc.ie/1iPjNMF
What about Lord Ashcroft's mate Mr Baldwin ?
I have to say I am very surprised it hasn't been brought up to be honest. Ashcroft has all that material in his book. I bet if Bad Al was a Tory, the stories would have been all over the media by now.
Dr. Spyn, nothing wrong with feeling bloody-minded.
Let us know what reply you get.
I refer you to Janesh's article: "feeling vaguely cussed (in other words, British)"
Janan Ganesh, Esq. (@JGaneshEsq) 03/03/2015 07:45 Thesaurus and chai latte at the ready. Time to put quill to parchment. I feel a column coming on.
I admit that his modus operandi may be, shall we say, unusual
But it doesn't make him wrong.
Anyway, I rather like chai latte
Janan Ganesh, Esq. (@JGaneshEsq) 10/02/2015 13:44 Always use the pretentious alternative. For example, instead of saying “I have a hangover”, try “J’ai la gueule de bois”. #GaneshStyleTips
Do you think that, just possibly, "#GaneshStyleTips" is tongue in cheek?
p.s. are you really wasting your time scanning through a random journalist's twitter feed for bon mots?
I am quite sure it is a piss take as I am quoting a parody account
There are going to be a lot of lefties in the House of Commons after May.
Not if people realise what is going on and vote Tory.
This leftward lurch of the SNP, driven that way by the exodus of lefty labourites post referendum, is surely significant. Was the only purpose behind the Scottish Independence Movement the far left anti nuclear campaign? A lot of people must have had different motives than that but since the referendum was still lost, well do they happily go along with the new improved washes lefter than left SNP?
Scotland, as Northern Ireland has been, is going to be considering an existential question over the next 20 years or so (though hopefully minus the Semtex).
The lesson from Northern Ireland is that support moves away from the centrist parties towards those who take the harder line.
Therefore - brave prediction: by 2025 or 2030, the general election in Scotland [if it's still in the UK] will be largely fought between the SNP and the Tories. During this process the Tories will actually take some of the seats the SNP currently have (where they gained them as "Tartan Tories" e.g. Perth, Banff & Buchan etc.).
The Tory vote has appeared remarkably impervious to th Nats assault... it does appear to be dieing off slightly in the SNP-Labour battlegrounds as it is presumably squeezed by both sides. The corollary is that its probably holding up very nicely in the borders and Scottish Tory gains can't be ruled out. Longer term I agree the picture is rosy for them.
There's little chance of me voting Labour at the next election. That may surprise many on here given that I generally attack the coalition from the left. Given I live in a safe Labour seat that hardly matters. However if Ed Miliband were to get up in PMQs and bring up the phone hacking issue again with special reference to The Mirror and their indiscretions I'd have new found respect for him and might, just might, consider putting the X in their box.
I am just about resigned to voting Labour. Not because I have even the vaguest enthusiasm for them - I don't; they are unprepared, complacent and have a truly abysmal leader - but because I live in what is possibly a Tory marginal (though probably is not) and I do not want a Tory majority government in the next Parliament as I fundamentally do not share the Tory belief in an ever-smaller state. And in the end that is the most important issue for me. I just wish there was a positive vote I could cast. But there isn't.
Rolf Harris has been stripped of his CBE according to BBC ticker.
Oh noes. Who will command the British Empire now?
Plato, yes a stunning image. Green woodpeckers are the ones that have the call that sounds like they are laughing. This chap could have gone up to a hundred feet and done a barrel roll - that would have given him the last laugh for sure!
Rolf Harris has been stripped of his CBE according to BBC ticker.
Oh noes. Who will command the British Empire now?
Plato, yes a stunning image. Green woodpeckers are the ones that have the call that sounds like they are laughing. This chap could have gone up to a hundred feet and done a barrel roll - that would have given him the last laugh for sure!
That photo was taken 200 yards from where I grew up, on the old Hornchurch Airfield where we played as kids
We should have it in England. Scotland could well go its own way in the next decade or two.
Most are in Scotland, who (as you say) could go their own way and take the spaceport with them.
Perhaps we should choose the Welsh one. Hmmm. What if they decide to go independent?
Perhaps its safest to pick the English one. Cornwall. Is Cornwall safe?
'Spaceport'? Is this serious? 'low cost rocket planes' ?? Yes we have heard all that before. Tell that to Richard Branson. Low cost, with all the options in the far extremes of the country?
Since the 'spaceport' will be no more than a glorified converted RAF runway I do not think there is much for Scotland to take away should it choose. I've been to Stornaway, the Outer Hebrides have some lovely windswept beaches. Is anyone at all seriously suggesting we launch rockets or 'rocket planes' from there?
You will be telling me next there is an election looming.
If it is Campbeltown, it will be RAF Macrihanish.
An interesting place. The runway is absolutely vast. Was rumoured to be a stop-off point for the top-secret Aurora spy plane. Also B-2 stealth bombers went through there after 9/11. And plenty of special forces training around and abouts.
The tin-foil hat brigade linked the Mull of Kintyre Chinook disaster to activities at Macrihanish. Who knows. If it is being put forward as a space port, that rather suggests its military status may have been downgraded.
Given there's an absolutely splendid and much-used links at the end of the runway, the tin-foil hat brigade are being whackier then usual. The UK is not like the Mid-West, where you can put a runway in the centre of a thousand square miles of desert.
We should have it in England. Scotland could well go its own way in the next decade or two.
Most are in Scotland, who (as you say) could go their own way and take the spaceport with them.
Perhaps we should choose the Welsh one. Hmmm. What if they decide to go independent?
Perhaps its safest to pick the English one. Cornwall. Is Cornwall safe?
'Spaceport'? Is this serious? 'low cost rocket planes' ?? Yes we have heard all that before. Tell that to Richard Branson. Low cost, with all the options in the far extremes of the country?
Since the 'spaceport' will be no more than a glorified converted RAF runway I do not think there is much for Scotland to take away should it choose. I've been to Stornaway, the Outer Hebrides have some lovely windswept beaches. Is anyone at all seriously suggesting we launch rockets or 'rocket planes' from there?
You will be telling me next there is an election looming.
If it is Campbeltown, it will be RAF Macrihanish.
An interesting place. The runway is absolutely vast. Was rumoured to be a stop-off point for the top-secret Aurora spy plane. Also B-2 stealth bombers went through there after 9/11. And plenty of special forces training around and abouts.
The tin-foil hat brigade linked the Mull of Kintyre Chinook disaster to activities at Macrihanish. Who knows. If it is being put forward as a space port, that rather suggests its military status may have been downgraded.
Given there's an absolutely splendid and much-used links at the end of the runway, the tin-foil hat brigade are being whackier then usual. The UK is not like the Mid-West, where you can put a runway in the centre of a thousand square miles of desert.
There are said to be some golfers with interesting tales to tell after they went looking for their ball in the rough there...!
There's little chance of me voting Labour at the next election. That may surprise many on here given that I generally attack the coalition from the left. Given I live in a safe Labour seat that hardly matters. However if Ed Miliband were to get up in PMQs and bring up the phone hacking issue again with special reference to The Mirror and their indiscretions I'd have new found respect for him and might, just might, consider putting the X in their box.
I am just about resigned to voting Labour. Not because I have even the vaguest enthusiasm for them - I don't; they are unprepared, complacent and have a truly abysmal leader - but because I live in what is possibly a Tory marginal (though probably is not) and I do not want a Tory majority government in the next Parliament as I fundamentally do not share the Tory belief in an ever-smaller state. And in the end that is the most important issue for me. I just wish there was a positive vote I could cast. But there isn't.
You've given a lot of thought to your vote, which is more than 95% of the electorate do. Good for you, wherever the cross ends up.
Mr. Price, not betting, but I'd go for the NHS, probably, with Tax Avoidance as second choice.
Mr. Observer, spot on about boys. Cameron needs a slap. Hundreds of victims in Rotherham were boys. Not unlike domestic abuse, the pretence, despite all evidence to the contrary, that boys or husbands cannot be victims is damaging and makes it harder for justice to be had.
We should have it in England. Scotland could well go its own way in the next decade or two.
Most are in Scotland, who (as you say) could go their own way and take the spaceport with them.
Perhaps we should choose the Welsh one. Hmmm. What if they decide to go independent?
Perhaps its safest to pick the English one. Cornwall. Is Cornwall safe?
'Spaceport'? Is this serious? 'low cost rocket planes' ?? Yes we have heard all that before. Tell that to Richard Branson. Low cost, with all the options in the far extremes of the country?
Since the 'spaceport' will be no more than a glorified converted RAF runway I do not think there is much for Scotland to take away should it choose. I've been to Stornaway, the Outer Hebrides have some lovely windswept beaches. Is anyone at all seriously suggesting we launch rockets or 'rocket planes' from there?
You will be telling me next there is an election looming.
If it is Campbeltown, it will be RAF Macrihanish.
An interesting place. The runway is absolutely vast. Was rumoured to be a stop-off point for the top-secret Aurora spy plane. Also B-2 stealth bombers went through there after 9/11. And plenty of special forces training around and abouts.
The tin-foil hat brigade linked the Mull of Kintyre Chinook disaster to activities at Macrihanish. Who knows. If it is being put forward as a space port, that rather suggests its military status may have been downgraded.
It may be a logical place for a military airport, or an experimental rocket base that might blast liquid oxygen everywhere at any moment. But do any of these places gel as a commercial space venture? The Chinook crashed in bad weather. I mean is that a good omen?
There's little chance of me voting Labour at the next election. That may surprise many on here given that I generally attack the coalition from the left. Given I live in a safe Labour seat that hardly matters. However if Ed Miliband were to get up in PMQs and bring up the phone hacking issue again with special reference to The Mirror and their indiscretions I'd have new found respect for him and might, just might, consider putting the X in their box.
I am just about resigned to voting Labour. Not because I have even the vaguest enthusiasm for them - I don't; they are unprepared, complacent and have a truly abysmal leader - but because I live in what is possibly a Tory marginal (though probably is not) and I do not want a Tory majority government in the next Parliament as I fundamentally do not share the Tory belief in an ever-smaller state. And in the end that is the most important issue for me. I just wish there was a positive vote I could cast. But there isn't.
5 years ago I was optimistic about the possibility of change in this country. I'm now pretty much resigned to disappointment. Post the crash we should have had a re-evaluation of how we make our economy and society work. Although I don't live in a marginal I have had a few pieces of literature through the letterbox of late from two different parties. Both related to a dispute about whether my local road is going to be turned into a bus only lane. 2 months from a general election and this is all they can come up with? No sense of national mission or where we are going. It's no wonder the SNP are doing so well in Scotland. they alarm me a little but they have a clear sense of who they are and what they want. The Olympics felt like it might be a moment like that but it's just a distant memory now.
Rolf Harris has been stripped of his CBE according to BBC ticker.
Oh noes. Who will command the British Empire now?
Plato, yes a stunning image. Green woodpeckers are the ones that have the call that sounds like they are laughing. This chap could have gone up to a hundred feet and done a barrel roll - that would have given him the last laugh for sure!
To be a nerd: a barrel roll would just keep the weasel in place. You can barrel roll a plane (including Concorde) without spilling your coffee if done right. A snap roll or an outside loop would be the order of the day.
Mr. Price, not betting, but I'd go for the NHS, probably, with Tax Avoidance as second choice.
Mr. Observer, spot on about boys. Cameron needs a slap. Hundreds of victims in Rotherham were boys. Not unlike domestic abuse, the pretence, despite all evidence to the contrary, that boys or husbands cannot be victims is damaging and makes it harder for justice to be had.
I'm giving witness testimony in court on a domestic abuse case in the next couple of weeks - the victim is male and suffers from a severe mental illness. I've reported his ex girlfriend to the police at least a dozen times for intimidation and anti-social behaviour.
I'm not this man's friend - we've only spoken twice, but what he's endured is appalling - and that's just her behaviour when I've been at home and heard it.
Mr. Price, not betting, but I'd go for the NHS, probably, with Tax Avoidance as second choice.
Mr. Observer, spot on about boys. Cameron needs a slap. Hundreds of victims in Rotherham were boys. Not unlike domestic abuse, the pretence, despite all evidence to the contrary, that boys or husbands cannot be victims is damaging and makes it harder for justice to be had.
We should have it in England. Scotland could well go its own way in the next decade or two.
Most are in Scotland, who (as you say) could go their own way and take the spaceport with them.
Perhaps we should choose the Welsh one. Hmmm. What if they decide to go independent?
Perhaps its safest to pick the English one. Cornwall. Is Cornwall safe?
'Spaceport'? Is this serious? 'low cost rocket planes' ?? Yes we have heard all that before. Tell that to Richard Branson. Low cost, with all the options in the far extremes of the country?
Since the 'spaceport' will be no more than a glorified converted RAF runway I do not think there is much for Scotland to take away should it choose. I've been to Stornaway, the Outer Hebrides have some lovely windswept beaches. Is anyone at all seriously suggesting we launch rockets or 'rocket planes' from there?
You will be telling me next there is an election looming.
If it is Campbeltown, it will be RAF Macrihanish.
An interesting place. The runway is absolutely vast. Was rumoured to be a stop-off point for the top-secret Aurora spy plane. Also B-2 stealth bombers went through there after 9/11. And plenty of special forces training around and abouts.
The tin-foil hat brigade linked the Mull of Kintyre Chinook disaster to activities at Macrihanish. Who knows. If it is being put forward as a space port, that rather suggests its military status may have been downgraded.
Given there's an absolutely splendid and much-used links at the end of the runway, the tin-foil hat brigade are being whackier then usual. The UK is not like the Mid-West, where you can put a runway in the centre of a thousand square miles of desert.
There are said to be some golfers with interesting tales to tell after they went looking for their ball in the rough there...!
Afternoon all. I know Martin Baxter tends to live a month in arrears but there was a certain irony him writing that rubbish 24 hours after Crossover has taken place and the Tories now appear to be ahead in the polls.
We know the Tories haven't managed more than 3 consecutive YouGov leads in years. Who knows what this week will bring?
Jim Murphy is getting into a right mess in Scotland. He has announced Labour's support for no student fees for Scots in Scotland but Scots studying in England and English students studying in Scotland will still pay fees.
Has Kevin Maguire apologised yet for the wholesale phone hacking at the Mirror yet? He was one of the shoutiest mouths against NOTW and today in court a QC said what happened at NOTW was a mere sideshow compared to what happened at the Mirror.
We should have it in England. Scotland could well go its own way in the next decade or two.
Most are in Scotland, who (as you say) could go their own way and take the spaceport with them.
Perhaps we should choose the Welsh one. Hmmm. What if they decide to go independent?
Perhaps its safest to pick the English one. Cornwall. Is Cornwall safe?
'Spaceport'? Is this serious? 'low cost rocket planes' ?? Yes we have heard all that before. Tell that to Richard Branson. Low cost, with all the options in the far extremes of the country?
Since the 'spaceport' will be no more than a glorified converted RAF runway I do not think there is much for Scotland to take away should it choose. I've been to Stornaway, the Outer Hebrides have some lovely windswept beaches. Is anyone at all seriously suggesting we launch rockets or 'rocket planes' from there?
You will be telling me next there is an election looming.
If it is Campbeltown, it will be RAF Macrihanish.
An interesting place. The runway is absolutely vast. Was rumoured to be a stop-off point for the top-secret Aurora spy plane. Also B-2 stealth bombers went through there after 9/11. And plenty of special forces training around and abouts.
The tin-foil hat brigade linked the Mull of Kintyre Chinook disaster to activities at Macrihanish. Who knows. If it is being put forward as a space port, that rather suggests its military status may have been downgraded.
Given there's an absolutely splendid and much-used links at the end of the runway, the tin-foil hat brigade are being whackier then usual. The UK is not like the Mid-West, where you can put a runway in the centre of a thousand square miles of desert.
Leuchars is right next to a not too shabby links course as well.. Did they just pick the airbase sites for the golf nearby?
Rolf Harris has been stripped of his CBE according to BBC ticker.
Oh noes. Who will command the British Empire now?
Plato, yes a stunning image. Green woodpeckers are the ones that have the call that sounds like they are laughing. This chap could have gone up to a hundred feet and done a barrel roll - that would have given him the last laugh for sure!
To be a nerd: a barrel roll would just keep the weasel in place. You can barrel roll a plane (including Concorde) without spilling your coffee if done right. A snap roll or an outside loop would be the order of the day.
His tuition fee policy is £6,000 maximum. They're free in Scotland.What's his policy in Scotland? Is he increasing fees to align with England? If not, why is he expecting England to pay more?
This is where devolution leaves him, and Labour, in no-man's land.
Rolf Harris has been stripped of his CBE according to BBC ticker.
Oh noes. Who will command the British Empire now?
Plato, yes a stunning image. Green woodpeckers are the ones that have the call that sounds like they are laughing. This chap could have gone up to a hundred feet and done a barrel roll - that would have given him the last laugh for sure!
To be a nerd: a barrel roll would just keep the weasel in place. You can barrel roll a plane (including Concorde) without spilling your coffee if done right. A snap roll or an outside loop would be the order of the day.
This is why I love this place. Where else on the net are you going to get, as an aside from the reason we are all here, an informed discussion of the precise type of roll a green woodpecker needs to undertake to dislodge a weasel off its back?
We should have it in England. Scotland could well go its own way in the next decade or two.
Most are in Scotland, who (as you say) could go their own way and take the spaceport with them.
Perhaps we should choose the Welsh one. Hmmm. What if they decide to go independent?
Perhaps its safest to pick the English one. Cornwall. Is Cornwall safe?
'Spaceport'? Is this serious? 'low cost rocket planes' ?? Yes we have heard all that before. Tell that to Richard Branson. Low cost, with all the options in the far extremes of the country?
Since the 'spaceport' will be no more than a glorified converted RAF runway I do not think there is much for Scotland to take away should it choose. I've been to Stornaway, the Outer Hebrides have some lovely windswept beaches. Is anyone at all seriously suggesting we launch rockets or 'rocket planes' from there?
You will be telling me next there is an election looming.
If it is Campbeltown, it will be RAF Macrihanish.
An interesting place. The runway is absolutely vast. Was rumoured to be a stop-off point for the top-secret Aurora spy plane. Also B-2 stealth bombers went through there after 9/11. And plenty of special forces training around and abouts.
The tin-foil hat brigade linked the Mull of Kintyre Chinook disaster to activities at Macrihanish. Who knows. If it is being put forward as a space port, that rather suggests its military status may have been downgraded.
Given there's an absolutely splendid and much-used links at the end of the runway, the tin-foil hat brigade are being whackier then usual. The UK is not like the Mid-West, where you can put a runway in the centre of a thousand square miles of desert.
Leuchars is right next to a not too shabby links course as well.. Did they just pick the airbase sites for the golf nearby?
We should have it in England. Scotland could well go its own way in the next decade or two.
Most are in Scotland, who (as you say) could go their own way and take the spaceport with them.
Perhaps we should choose the Welsh one. Hmmm. What if they decide to go independent?
Perhaps its safest to pick the English one. Cornwall. Is Cornwall safe?
'Spaceport'? Is this serious? 'low cost rocket planes' ?? Yes we have heard all that before. Tell that to Richard Branson. Low cost, with all the options in the far extremes of the country?
Since the 'spaceport' will be no more than a glorified converted RAF runway I do not think there is much for Scotland to take away should it choose. I've been to Stornaway, the Outer Hebrides have some lovely windswept beaches. Is anyone at all seriously suggesting we launch rockets or 'rocket planes' from there?
You will be telling me next there is an election looming.
If it is Campbeltown, it will be RAF Macrihanish.
An interesting place. The runway is absolutely vast. Was rumoured to be a stop-off point for the top-secret Aurora spy plane. Also B-2 stealth bombers went through there after 9/11. And plenty of special forces training around and abouts.
The tin-foil hat brigade linked the Mull of Kintyre Chinook disaster to activities at Macrihanish. Who knows. If it is being put forward as a space port, that rather suggests its military status may have been downgraded.
Given there's an absolutely splendid and much-used links at the end of the runway, the tin-foil hat brigade are being whackier then usual. The UK is not like the Mid-West, where you can put a runway in the centre of a thousand square miles of desert.
There are said to be some golfers with interesting tales to tell after they went looking for their ball in the rough there...!
Balls deep in the rough, perhaps?
I couldn't possibly say.
Although TSE could....
EDIT: he would probably have said balls deep in a bit of rough
Re the woodpecker photo, when I saw it I immediately thought poor bu99er, having a weasel trying to bite through your spinal cord and all you can do is try to fly away. I'm really glad the weasel was frightened off by people being present or I think the bird would be dinner.
Discovering we had two or three experts of E. Coli re Killer Cucumbers was my personal favourite. And an Iraq weapons inspector blew my mind.
There really isn't anything we can't answer. Who was the guy who wanted to disprove the 1molecule of water displacement theory - and conducted an experiment in his kitchen sink? That was epic.
Rolf Harris has been stripped of his CBE according to BBC ticker.
Oh noes. Who will command the British Empire now?
Plato, yes a stunning image. Green woodpeckers are the ones that have the call that sounds like they are laughing. This chap could have gone up to a hundred feet and done a barrel roll - that would have given him the last laugh for sure!
To be a nerd: a barrel roll would just keep the weasel in place. You can barrel roll a plane (including Concorde) without spilling your coffee if done right. A snap roll or an outside loop would be the order of the day.
This is why I love this place. Where else on the net are you going to get, as an aside from the reason we are all here, an informed discussion of the precise type of roll a green woodpecker needs to undertake to dislodge a weasel off its back?
Both models leave the country in absolute no mans land as to the next Gov't. Although PM Ed on May 2015's calc, Dave remains on ElectionForecast I think.
Has Kevin Maguire apologised yet for the wholesale phone hacking at the Mirror yet? He was one of the shoutiest mouths against NOTW and today in court a QC said what happened at NOTW was a mere sideshow compared to what happened at the Mirror.
Ahhh Kevin, how does he have a job full stop...Can you imagine many employers being happy with their most public face doing a bit of moonlighting by attending meetings to plan to set up a smear website?
I am 100% certain Kevin didn't know anything about phone hacking though...the reason, he is never at the bloody Mirror as he is always on R5 and Sky.
Participant Danny Alexander Participant Humza Yousaf Participant Ruth Davidson Participant Kezia Dugdale Participant Toby Young Participant Val McDermid
Makes you wonder doesn't it....John Lydon in 1978 outed Jimmy Saville, but that section of the interview was cut, but now is available.
If you go back through YouTube there are plenty of other clips which could either be unfortunate gags or a sly dig...Bernard Manning on Rolf's famous songs is another example (Alien vs Predator there).
Discovering we had two or three experts of E. Coli re Killer Cucumbers was my personal favourite. And an Iraq weapons inspector blew my mind.
There really isn't anything we can't answer. Who was the guy who wanted to disprove the 1molecule of water displacement theory - and conducted an experiment in his kitchen sink? That was epic.
Rolf Harris has been stripped of his CBE according to BBC ticker.
Oh noes. Who will command the British Empire now?
Plato, yes a stunning image. Green woodpeckers are the ones that have the call that sounds like they are laughing. This chap could have gone up to a hundred feet and done a barrel roll - that would have given him the last laugh for sure!
To be a nerd: a barrel roll would just keep the weasel in place. You can barrel roll a plane (including Concorde) without spilling your coffee if done right. A snap roll or an outside loop would be the order of the day.
This is why I love this place. Where else on the net are you going to get, as an aside from the reason we are all here, an informed discussion of the precise type of roll a green woodpecker needs to undertake to dislodge a weasel off its back?
I think the pb collective would actually make a very good advisory body to a democratically-elected dictator. If only we knew of such a person....
This is why I love this place. Where else on the net are you going to get, as an aside from the reason we are all here, an informed discussion of the precise type of roll a green woodpecker needs to undertake to dislodge a weasel off its back?
Might come in handy...
@ScottyNational: Politics: FM denies SNP would ever do a deal with Conservative against a minority Lab gov - "It's as likely as a weasel riding a woodpecker'
Participant Danny Alexander Participant Humza Yousaf Participant Ruth Davidson Participant Kezia Dugdale Participant Toby Young Participant Val McDermid
Danny's last appearance before he's an Ex-Lib-Dem politician...
Rolf Harris has been stripped of his CBE according to BBC ticker.
Oh noes. Who will command the British Empire now?
Plato, yes a stunning image. Green woodpeckers are the ones that have the call that sounds like they are laughing. This chap could have gone up to a hundred feet and done a barrel roll - that would have given him the last laugh for sure!
To be a nerd: a barrel roll would just keep the weasel in place. You can barrel roll a plane (including Concorde) without spilling your coffee if done right. A snap roll or an outside loop would be the order of the day.
Yes a bird can stall, a gliding bird's wing functions just like a plane's. What's pretty cool is how quickly they get themselves out of it by pure instinct. Then again, I suppose a hundred million years of evolving out any bird which couldn't made that inevitable
Afternoon all. I know Martin Baxter tends to live a month in arrears but there was a certain irony him writing that rubbish 24 hours after Crossover has taken place and the Tories now appear to be ahead in the polls.
I don't know any more than you, but I think you're a bit premature in your rejoicings. We've had 4 months of deadlock and one day with two polls pointing one way and one pointing the other. You might be right, but perhaps wait a few days...
Participant Danny Alexander Participant Humza Yousaf Participant Ruth Davidson Participant Kezia Dugdale Participant Toby Young Participant Val McDermid
Danny's last appearance before he's an Ex-Lib-Dem politician...
As much as I think Danny is an excellent politician I'm afraid he must go for the greater good.
We should have it in England. Scotland could well go its own way in the next decade or two.
Most are in Scotland, who (as you say) could go their own way and take the spaceport with them.
Perhaps we should choose the Welsh one. Hmmm. What if they decide to go independent?
Perhaps its safest to pick the English one. Cornwall. Is Cornwall safe?
'Spaceport'? Is this serious? 'low cost rocket planes' ?? Yes we have heard all that before. Tell that to Richard Branson. Low cost, with all the options in the far extremes of the country?
Since the 'spaceport' will be no more than a glorified converted RAF runway I do not think there is much for Scotland to take away should it choose. I've been to Stornaway, the Outer Hebrides have some lovely windswept beaches. Is anyone at all seriously suggesting we launch rockets or 'rocket planes' from there?
You will be telling me next there is an election looming.
If it is Campbeltown, it will be RAF Macrihanish.
An interesting place. The runway is absolutely vast. Was rumoured to be a stop-off point for the top-secret Aurora spy plane. Also B-2 stealth bombers went through there after 9/11. And plenty of special forces training around and abouts.
The tin-foil hat brigade linked the Mull of Kintyre Chinook disaster to activities at Macrihanish. Who knows. If it is being put forward as a space port, that rather suggests its military status may have been downgraded.
I talked to a few locals in Campeltown when I was walking through there a few years back. They laughed at the stories about the Aurora - it's a reasonably remote area, but not that remote, and locals worked at the base.
I *think* (but might be wrong) that the airport was there as it is the first landfall on one of the cross-Atlantic great circle routes (although I would have thought NI would have been better), and, topically, it was also potentially an emergency Shuttle landing strip.
There's lots of aircraft remains on the hills between Machrihanish and the Mull. RIP.
(Edit: and the areas's well worth a visit - if you do, go to the churches to see the engraved grave slabs, although sadly I can't remember which church).
Afternoon all. I know Martin Baxter tends to live a month in arrears but there was a certain irony him writing that rubbish 24 hours after Crossover has taken place and the Tories now appear to be ahead in the polls.
I don't know any more than you, but I think you're a bit premature in your rejoicings. We've had 4 months of deadlock and one day with two polls pointing one way and one pointing the other. You might be right, but perhaps wait a few days...
The next 3-4 YouGov's are going to be the most important of this Parliament...
Just looking at Shadsy's GE specials and my eye is caught by;
"Exact vote tie in any seat 33/1"
It doesn't specify that it means a dead heat for first place. Does that mean if any two parties tie for votes anywhere in the list for any seat, then the vote is a winner?
If so that sounds like value, though I haven't given it any statistical analysis..
It would be incredibly good value IMHO. If there are 4 or 5 'independent' candidates chasing a seat in Sheffield, Doncaster, Witney, or Thanet then there are 6 or 10 permutations. If they get less than 300 votes each then the odds look very reasonable - and there are 600+ seats!. Of course if you have to specify the seat then the odds look a lot worse.
Although it doesn't mean anything, last time UKIP got the same number of votes in two constituencies several times. (e.g the Wrekin and Romford - 2050)
(If there is an exact tie after several re-counts then lots are drawn by a pre-defined method e.g. toss of a coin)
It is a virtual certainty that two candidates standing in the UK will get the same number of votes. But not guaranteed of course to be in the same constituency. Last election 4150 candidates stood for election (of whom nearly half lost their deposits). Call the average 6, remove CON,LAB,LD,UKIP and that leaves 2 independents. So you have 600 competitions where each candidate has less than 600 votes. (Even excluding marginals)
Afternoon all. I know Martin Baxter tends to live a month in arrears but there was a certain irony him writing that rubbish 24 hours after Crossover has taken place and the Tories now appear to be ahead in the polls.
I don't know any more than you, but I think you're a bit premature in your rejoicings. We've had 4 months of deadlock and one day with two polls pointing one way and one pointing the other. You might be right, but perhaps wait a few days...
Quite right Nick. We need one more poll to be SURE. That's how it works, right?
Afternoon all. I know Martin Baxter tends to live a month in arrears but there was a certain irony him writing that rubbish 24 hours after Crossover has taken place and the Tories now appear to be ahead in the polls.
I don't know any more than you, but I think you're a bit premature in your rejoicings. We've had 4 months of deadlock and one day with two polls pointing one way and one pointing the other. You might be right, but perhaps wait a few days...
Nick, the good news is that even if Labour have a miserable night you are, by all the models likely to get back in.
73% chance according to Electionforecast, also in on May2015 and Jack's ARSE.
There's little chance of me voting Labour at the next election. That may surprise many on here given that I generally attack the coalition from the left. Given I live in a safe Labour seat that hardly matters. However if Ed Miliband were to get up in PMQs and bring up the phone hacking issue again with special reference to The Mirror and their indiscretions I'd have new found respect for him and might, just might, consider putting the X in their box.
Did you see this tweet:
Josh Halliday ✔ @JoshHalliday Follow "The mass industrial scale on which [hacking] was done [at MGN] makes the NotW look like a cottage industry and a small one at that" - court
Am currently examining the tea leave and hanging out the sea weed for inspiration Re. tonight's YG...
Back in the 80's my mum used to have one of those ornaments that changed colour with the weather (Blue when it was going to rain, white when it snowed, etc...)
Participant Danny Alexander Participant Humza Yousaf Participant Ruth Davidson Participant Kezia Dugdale Participant Toby Young Participant Val McDermid
Danny's last appearance before he's an Ex-Lib-Dem politician...
As much as I think Danny is an excellent politician I'm afraid he must go for the greater good.
Dr. Spyn, nothing wrong with feeling bloody-minded.
Let us know what reply you get.
I refer you to Janesh's article: "feeling vaguely cussed (in other words, British)"
Janan Ganesh, Esq. (@JGaneshEsq) 03/03/2015 07:45 Thesaurus and chai latte at the ready. Time to put quill to parchment. I feel a column coming on.
I admit that his modus operandi may be, shall we say, unusual
But it doesn't make him wrong.
Anyway, I rather like chai latte
Janan Ganesh, Esq. (@JGaneshEsq) 10/02/2015 13:44 Always use the pretentious alternative. For example, instead of saying “I have a hangover”, try “J’ai la gueule de bois”. #GaneshStyleTips
Do you think that, just possibly, "#GaneshStyleTips" is tongue in cheek?
p.s. are you really wasting your time scanning through a random journalist's twitter feed for bon mots?
I am quite sure it is a piss take as I am quoting a parody account
So why are you posting someone else's not very funny jokes? Isn't that a complete waste of your time?
There's little chance of me voting Labour at the next election. That may surprise many on here given that I generally attack the coalition from the left. Given I live in a safe Labour seat that hardly matters. However if Ed Miliband were to get up in PMQs and bring up the phone hacking issue again with special reference to The Mirror and their indiscretions I'd have new found respect for him and might, just might, consider putting the X in their box.
Did you see this tweet:
Josh Halliday ✔ @JoshHalliday Follow "The mass industrial scale on which [hacking] was done [at MGN] makes the NotW look like a cottage industry and a small one at that" - court
I remember hearing Matthew Wright openly admit on his C5 tv show, that basically lots of people's jobs at the Mirror was to every few hours do a sweep of 100's of peoples answering phones. In all the bluster of the NOTW, that admission seem to get lost.
Cool. I didn't do enough flying hours to get my pilot's license - but it was the bestest 18th birthday prezzie from my mum. Unfortunately all my lessons were on Saturday mornings and I had killer hangovers to endure.
Urgh. I feel white and pale just recalling some of them.
Rolf Harris has been stripped of his CBE according to BBC ticker.
Oh noes. Who will command the British Empire now?
Plato, yes a stunning image. Green woodpeckers are the ones that have the call that sounds like they are laughing. This chap could have gone up to a hundred feet and done a barrel roll - that would have given him the last laugh for sure!
To be a nerd: a barrel roll would just keep the weasel in place. You can barrel roll a plane (including Concorde) without spilling your coffee if done right. A snap roll or an outside loop would be the order of the day.
Yes a bird can stall, a gliding bird's wing functions just like a plane's. What's pretty cool is how quickly they get themselves out of it by pure instinct. Then again, I suppose a hundred million years of evolving out any bird which couldn't made that inevitable
We should have it in England. Scotland could well go its own way in the next decade or two.
Most are in Scotland, who (as you say) could go their own way and take the spaceport with them.
Perhaps we should choose the Welsh one. Hmmm. What if they decide to go independent?
Perhaps its safest to pick the English one. Cornwall. Is Cornwall safe?
'Spaceport'? Is this serious? 'low cost rocket planes' ?? Yes we have heard all that before. Tell that to Richard Branson. Low cost, with all the options in the far extremes of the country?
Since the 'spaceport' will be no more than a glorified converted RAF runway I do not think there is much for Scotland to take away should it choose. I've been to Stornaway, the Outer Hebrides have some lovely windswept beaches. Is anyone at all seriously suggesting we launch rockets or 'rocket planes' from there?
You will be telling me next there is an election looming.
The Outer Hebrides rocket range, out on the machair, was where British military land-based rockets were tested for many years - even Corporal and the like IIRC - and may still be for all I know. That's why a radar station was based on St Kilda, to track the rockets downrange.
It's a bit sick for a Labour supporter to suggest that.
After all, men don't get abused, do they? If so, then why did Ed appoint a 'Shadow Minister for Preventing Violence Against Women and Girls' but not one for men?
I noticed that Malcolm was also in Dangerous Liaison as John Malcovitch's valet. He's great in that role but it's really hard to see him as both characters - and that's without Dr Who.
Am currently examining the tea leave and hanging out the sea weed for inspiration Re. tonight's YG...
Feel free to call on my divining of the intestines of small animals for the purpose of predicting poll outcomes, also known as the Blatantly Unreliable Marquee Mark Entrails Reader......
We should have it in England. Scotland could well go its own way in the next decade or two.
Most are in Scotland, who (as you say) could go their own way and take the spaceport with them.
Perhaps we should choose the Welsh one. Hmmm. What if they decide to go independent?
Perhaps its safest to pick the English one. Cornwall. Is Cornwall safe?
'Spaceport'? Is this serious? 'low cost rocket planes' ?? Yes we have heard all that before. Tell that to Richard Branson. Low cost, with all the options in the far extremes of the country?
Since the 'spaceport' will be no more than a glorified converted RAF runway I do not think there is much for Scotland to take away should it choose. I've been to Stornaway, the Outer Hebrides have some lovely windswept beaches. Is anyone at all seriously suggesting we launch rockets or 'rocket planes' from there?
You will be telling me next there is an election looming.
If it is Campbeltown, it will be RAF Macrihanish.
An interesting place. The runway is absolutely vast. Was rumoured to be a stop-off point for the top-secret Aurora spy plane. Also B-2 stealth bombers went through there after 9/11. And plenty of special forces training around and abouts.
The tin-foil hat brigade linked the Mull of Kintyre Chinook disaster to activities at Macrihanish. Who knows. If it is being put forward as a space port, that rather suggests its military status may have been downgraded.
It may be a logical place for a military airport, or an experimental rocket base that might blast liquid oxygen everywhere at any moment. But do any of these places gel as a commercial space venture? The Chinook crashed in bad weather. I mean is that a good omen?
The Chinook did not crash because of bad weather: but because it carried on its flight into local cloud and fog which happened to have a hill in it. (Why it did is the key question, and I'm not going to get into that.)
Am currently examining the tea leave and hanging out the sea weed for inspiration Re. tonight's YG...
Feel free to call on my divining of the intestines of small animals for the purpose of predicting poll outcomes, also known as the Blatantly Unreliable Marquee Mark Entrails Reader......
TSE I have doubts about this sort of question in general. I think the answers given are to a different question, which is "what do you see as the biggest problem that needs addressing right now?" Now that is still relevant as to what issues parties should campaign on, in order to demonstrate how they would address issues which the public have identified as problems. But it is very different from the question of what people think are the most important issues to vote on. Just because the economy is now not seen as an imminent problem which no longer needs fixing, does not mean that people do not recognize that proper stewardship of that issue going forward is an important issue with which to inform their vote.
I listened to the whole McCrystal speech thingy and he was epically inspiring. I was spellbound. IIRC he was un PC off the record to a Rolling Stone reporter and professionally hung for it.
Afternoon all. I know Martin Baxter tends to live a month in arrears but there was a certain irony him writing that rubbish 24 hours after Crossover has taken place and the Tories now appear to be ahead in the polls.
I don't know any more than you, but I think you're a bit premature in your rejoicings. We've had 4 months of deadlock and one day with two polls pointing one way and one pointing the other. You might be right, but perhaps wait a few days...
Quite right Nick. We need one more poll to be SURE. That's how it works, right?
Half a dozen polls to be sure, I think. It *looks* as though something interesting may be underway (with four Conservative leads, four ties, and five Labour leads over the past week), but we can't yet be sure whether it's just a blip, and if the Conservatives are pulling ahead, how big their lead will be.
This data (on most important issue=NHS respondents) reinforces data from a few weeks ago that went mostly unnoticed (except on here) which, IIRC, showed that people with VI stated as Tory were more concerned about the NHS than VI Labour.
Musing on this in combination with apparent average polling crossover and constituency data showing SE as a high population density Tory stronghold (the odd the poorer constituencies on Essex/Kent border, Hants coast and London excepted) I'm pretty buoyed by it, because it means that NHS is considered the biggest issue by voters who are
- otherwise natural Tory voters, and therefore are going to have to be swung not from apathy to Labour, but Tory to Labour - which is harder to do by a party peddling the politics of envy rather than embarking on a prawn cocktail campaign
- unlikely to be made in a marginal
- generally older*
*Although I think the NHS is a great institution in theory, and often in practice, I'm pleased that my own generation doesn't see it as the talisman topic on which all politics has to be judged on
If I were in EdM's strategy team, I would be terrified given that the NHS is seemingly the only positive policy topic they have, and that it isn't the most significant issue for the voters Labour need to attract to not remain in opposition.
I wonder if Hillary will be charged with mishandling classified materials for having exclusively used her personal email for all her State Department work? Not! Double standards.
We should have it in England. Scotland could well go its own way in the next decade or two.
Most are in Scotland, who (as you say) could go their own way and take the spaceport with them.
Perhaps we should choose the Welsh one. Hmmm. What if they decide to go independent?
Perhaps its safest to pick the English one. Cornwall. Is Cornwall safe?
'Spaceport'? Is this serious? 'low cost rocket planes' ?? Yes we have heard all that before. Tell that to Richard Branson. Low cost, with all the options in the far extremes of the country?
Since the 'spaceport' will be no more than a glorified converted RAF runway I do not think there is much for Scotland to take away should it choose. I've been to Stornaway, the Outer Hebrides have some lovely windswept beaches. Is anyone at all seriously suggesting we launch rockets or 'rocket planes' from there?
You will be telling me next there is an election looming.
The Outer Hebrides rocket range, out on the machair, was where British military land-based rockets were tested for many years - even Corporal and the like IIRC - and may still be for all I know. That's why a radar station was based on St Kilda, to track the rockets downrange.
PS Here's a Corporal being launched in 1961. IIRC those were training firings rather than r & d - must have been quite an outing for the gunners.
I'll add a comment to my earlier comment. In the 2010 election in Luton South, 6 candidates scored 463 or fewer seats. The probability of there being a match there comes out at 3.2% or 31.25/1. The same happened in Hackney. Assuming the results were independent then that gives a 6.4% chance of either of the two happening. Pile on!
In this election it is expected that there will be a higher turnout (bad news), but in many seats the LD vote will approximate an independent (good news)
I wonder if Hillary will be charged with mishandling classified materials for having exclusively used her personal email for all her State Department work? Not! Double standards.
I'm absolutely amazed that this broke during the Netanyahu speech.
IIRC you mentioned in the past being on a Grand Jury - I''m only familiar with them as TV show scenarios - do they tend to indite or not? The Good Wife series claims that for example Chicago ones would indite a ham sandwich.
I wonder if Hillary will be charged with mishandling classified materials for having exclusively used her personal email for all her State Department work? Not! Double standards.
Tonight's Yougov feels absolutely critical to me. Along with his Lordship's polling tommorow.
Feels 'bigger' for Labour than the Tories too...
Tonight's YouGov is big, but tomorrow and Thursday's possibly even bigger.
I saw an interesting post on UKPR pointing out that all previous Con leads with YouGov have been on Monday's and Tuesday's but have never been maintained to Wed, Thu and Sat...
Dr. Spyn, nothing wrong with feeling bloody-minded.
Let us know what reply you get.
I refer you to Janesh's article: "feeling vaguely cussed (in other words, British)"
Janan Ganesh, Esq. (@JGaneshEsq) 03/03/2015 07:45 Thesaurus and chai latte at the ready. Time to put quill to parchment. I feel a column coming on.
I admit that his modus operandi may be, shall we say, unusual
But it doesn't make him wrong.
Anyway, I rather like chai latte
Janan Ganesh, Esq. (@JGaneshEsq) 10/02/2015 13:44 Always use the pretentious alternative. For example, instead of saying “I have a hangover”, try “J’ai la gueule de bois”. #GaneshStyleTips
Do you think that, just possibly, "#GaneshStyleTips" is tongue in cheek?
p.s. are you really wasting your time scanning through a random journalist's twitter feed for bon mots?
I am quite sure it is a piss take as I am quoting a parody account
So why are you posting someone else's not very funny jokes? Isn't that a complete waste of your time?
Oooh touchy!
If I had known falling for it would have upset you so much, I wouldn't have posted them
Tonight's Yougov feels absolutely critical to me. Along with his Lordship's polling tommorow.
Feels 'bigger' for Labour than the Tories too...
Tonight's YouGov is big, but tomorrow and Thursday's possibly even bigger.
I saw an interesting post on UKPR pointing out that all previous Con leads with YouGov have been on Monday's and Tuesday's but have never been maintained to Wed, Thu and Sat...
The CON lead in last night's Yougov was as a result of weightings too - yes yes I know, I know. We all live in awe, fear and slight apprehension of what the good Lord will bring tommorow though.
Tonight's Yougov feels absolutely critical to me. Along with his Lordship's polling tommorow.
Feels 'bigger' for Labour than the Tories too...
Tonight's YouGov is big, but tomorrow and Thursday's possibly even bigger.
I saw an interesting post on UKPR pointing out that all previous Con leads with YouGov have been on Monday's and Tuesday's but have never been maintained to Wed, Thu and Sat...
That's not true. The first Tory lead last year was on a Thursday.
Dr. Spyn, nothing wrong with feeling bloody-minded.
Let us know what reply you get.
I refer you to Janesh's article: "feeling vaguely cussed (in other words, British)"
Janan Ganesh, Esq. (@JGaneshEsq) 03/03/2015 07:45 Thesaurus and chai latte at the ready. Time to put quill to parchment. I feel a column coming on.
I admit that his modus operandi may be, shall we say, unusual
But it doesn't make him wrong.
Anyway, I rather like chai latte
Janan Ganesh, Esq. (@JGaneshEsq) 10/02/2015 13:44 Always use the pretentious alternative. For example, instead of saying “I have a hangover”, try “J’ai la gueule de bois”. #GaneshStyleTips
Do you think that, just possibly, "#GaneshStyleTips" is tongue in cheek?
p.s. are you really wasting your time scanning through a random journalist's twitter feed for bon mots?
I am quite sure it is a piss take as I am quoting a parody account
So why are you posting someone else's not very funny jokes? Isn't that a complete waste of your time?
Oooh touchy!
If I had known falling for it would have upset you so much, I wouldn't have posted them
Dr. Spyn, nothing wrong with feeling bloody-minded.
Let us know what reply you get.
I refer you to Janesh's article: "feeling vaguely cussed (in other words, British)"
Janan Ganesh, Esq. (@JGaneshEsq) 03/03/2015 07:45 Thesaurus and chai latte at the ready. Time to put quill to parchment. I feel a column coming on.
I admit that his modus operandi may be, shall we say, unusual
But it doesn't make him wrong.
Anyway, I rather like chai latte
Janan Ganesh, Esq. (@JGaneshEsq) 10/02/2015 13:44 Always use the pretentious alternative. For example, instead of saying “I have a hangover”, try “J’ai la gueule de bois”. #GaneshStyleTips
Do you think that, just possibly, "#GaneshStyleTips" is tongue in cheek?
p.s. are you really wasting your time scanning through a random journalist's twitter feed for bon mots?
I am quite sure it is a piss take as I am quoting a parody account
So why are you posting someone else's not very funny jokes? Isn't that a complete waste of your time?
Oooh touchy!
If I had known falling for it would have upset you so much, I wouldn't have posted them
My most sincere contrafibularities
Actually I don't really care. They were mildly amusing, and plausible, but that's about it.
We should have it in England. Scotland could well go its own way in the next decade or two.
Most are in Scotland, who (as you say) could go their own way and take the spaceport with them.
Perhaps we should choose the Welsh one. Hmmm. What if they decide to go independent?
Perhaps its safest to pick the English one. Cornwall. Is Cornwall safe?
'Spaceport'? Is this serious? 'low cost rocket planes' ?? Yes we have heard all that before. Tell that to Richard Branson. Low cost, with all the options in the far extremes of the country?
Since the 'spaceport' will be no more than a glorified converted RAF runway I do not think there is much for Scotland to take away should it choose. I've been to Stornaway, the Outer Hebrides have some lovely windswept beaches. Is anyone at all seriously suggesting we launch rockets or 'rocket planes' from there?
You will be telling me next there is an election looming.
If it is Campbeltown, it will be RAF Macrihanish.
An interesting place. The runway is absolutely vast. Was rumoured to be a stop-off point for the top-secret Aurora spy plane. Also B-2 stealth bombers went through there after 9/11. And plenty of special forces training around and abouts.
The tin-foil hat brigade linked the Mull of Kintyre Chinook disaster to activities at Macrihanish. Who knows. If it is being put forward as a space port, that rather suggests its military status may have been downgraded.
Given there's an absolutely splendid and much-used links at the end of the runway, the tin-foil hat brigade are being whackier then usual. The UK is not like the Mid-West, where you can put a runway in the centre of a thousand square miles of desert.
Pedant time - the Midwest comprises Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin - mostly pretty good farmland.
Bit of a stretch to call the Great Plains and prairie desert, but I get your drift - no big open spaces.
Tonight's Yougov feels absolutely critical to me. Along with his Lordship's polling tommorow.
Feels 'bigger' for Labour than the Tories too...
Tonight's YouGov is big, but tomorrow and Thursday's possibly even bigger.
I saw an interesting post on UKPR pointing out that all previous Con leads with YouGov have been on Monday's and Tuesday's but have never been maintained to Wed, Thu and Sat...
That's not true. The first Tory lead last year was on a Thursday.
You need to get on UKPR and tell the commentators to stop peddling cr*p.
I'll add a comment to my earlier comment. In the 2010 election in Luton South, 6 candidates scored 463 or fewer seats. The probability of there being a match there comes out at 3.2% or 31.25/1. The same happened in Hackney. Assuming the results were independent then that gives a 6.4% chance of either of the two happening. Pile on!
In this election it is expected that there will be a higher turnout (bad news), but in many seats the LD vote will approximate an independent (good news)
As discussed earlier the 33/1 is for a tie for 1st. Shadsy might wish to make this clearer.
Dr. Spyn, nothing wrong with feeling bloody-minded.
Let us know what reply you get.
I refer you to Janesh's article: "feeling vaguely cussed (in other words, British)"
Janan Ganesh, Esq. (@JGaneshEsq) 03/03/2015 07:45 Thesaurus and chai latte at the ready. Time to put quill to parchment. I feel a column coming on.
I admit that his modus operandi may be, shall we say, unusual
But it doesn't make him wrong.
Anyway, I rather like chai latte
Janan Ganesh, Esq. (@JGaneshEsq) 10/02/2015 13:44 Always use the pretentious alternative. For example, instead of saying “I have a hangover”, try “J’ai la gueule de bois”. #GaneshStyleTips
Do you think that, just possibly, "#GaneshStyleTips" is tongue in cheek?
p.s. are you really wasting your time scanning through a random journalist's twitter feed for bon mots?
I am quite sure it is a piss take as I am quoting a parody account
So why are you posting someone else's not very funny jokes? Isn't that a complete waste of your time?
Oooh touchy!
If I had known falling for it would have upset you so much, I wouldn't have posted them
My most sincere contrafibularities
Actually I don't really care. They were mildly amusing, and plausible, but that's about it.
But I still don't understand why you bothered.
You posted
"I refer you to Janesh's article: "feeling vaguely cussed (in other words, British)"
Comments
The lesson from Northern Ireland is that support moves away from the centrist parties towards those who take the harder line.
Therefore - brave prediction: by 2025 or 2030, the general election in Scotland [if it's still in the UK] will be largely fought between the SNP and the Tories. During this process the Tories will actually take some of the seats the SNP currently have (where they gained them as "Tartan Tories" e.g. Perth, Banff & Buchan etc.).
p.s. are you really wasting your time scanning through a random journalist's twitter feed for bon mots?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2875158/The-plane-fly-four-hours-space-just-15-minutes.html
Can we finally hold on to a truly revolutionary piece of engineering we design?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-31691061
Children's issues 4/1
MP's Second Jobs 6/1
Terrorism 6/1
Housing 8/1
Immigration 8/1
NHS 8/1
Phone Hacking 10/1
Russia 10/1
Cost of living/Living wage 12/1
Unemployment 12/1
Corporate Tax Avoidance 14/1
Local Government 14/1
Scottish Oil 18/1
Greece 20/1
Condition of House of Parliament Buildings 25/1
Corporal punishment 33/1
It's surely too late in the day to be doing all the grave nod-along-with-me stuff, so back to tax avoidance or 2nd jobs?
Mr. Observer, spot on about boys. Cameron needs a slap. Hundreds of victims in Rotherham were boys. Not unlike domestic abuse, the pretence, despite all evidence to the contrary, that boys or husbands cannot be victims is damaging and makes it harder for justice to be had.
The Chinook crashed in bad weather. I mean is that a good omen?
I'm not this man's friend - we've only spoken twice, but what he's endured is appalling - and that's just her behaviour when I've been at home and heard it.
We know the Tories haven't managed more than 3 consecutive YouGov leads in years. Who knows what this week will bring?
Jim Murphy is getting into a right mess in Scotland. He has announced Labour's support for no student fees for Scots in Scotland but Scots studying in England and English students studying in Scotland will still pay fees.
Has Kevin Maguire apologised yet for the wholesale phone hacking at the Mirror yet? He was one of the shoutiest mouths against NOTW and today in court a QC said what happened at NOTW was a mere sideshow compared to what happened at the Mirror.
EDIT can a bird stall?
http://www.electionforecast.co.uk/
Con 287
Lab 275
SNP 39
Lib Dem 26
UKip 1
His tuition fee policy is £6,000 maximum. They're free in Scotland.What's his policy in Scotland? Is he increasing fees to align with England? If not, why is he expecting England to pay more?
This is where devolution leaves him, and Labour, in no-man's land.
Miss Plato, let's hope justice is done.
http://may2015.com/category/seat-calculator/
Con 275
Lab 267
LD 25
UKIP 4
SNP 56
Although TSE could....
EDIT: he would probably have said balls deep in a bit of rough
There really isn't anything we can't answer. Who was the guy who wanted to disprove the 1molecule of water displacement theory - and conducted an experiment in his kitchen sink? That was epic.
I am 100% certain Kevin didn't know anything about phone hacking though...the reason, he is never at the bloody Mirror as he is always on R5 and Sky.
It is a stunning photograph, did wonder about photoshop for some reason.
Participant Danny Alexander
Participant Humza Yousaf
Participant Ruth Davidson
Participant Kezia Dugdale
Participant Toby Young
Participant Val McDermid
If you go back through YouTube there are plenty of other clips which could either be unfortunate gags or a sly dig...Bernard Manning on Rolf's famous songs is another example (Alien vs Predator there).
@ScottyNational: Politics: FM denies SNP would ever do a deal with Conservative against a minority Lab gov - "It's as likely as a weasel riding a woodpecker'
I *think* (but might be wrong) that the airport was there as it is the first landfall on one of the cross-Atlantic great circle routes (although I would have thought NI would have been better), and, topically, it was also potentially an emergency Shuttle landing strip.
There's lots of aircraft remains on the hills between Machrihanish and the Mull. RIP.
(Edit: and the areas's well worth a visit - if you do, go to the churches to see the engraved grave slabs, although sadly I can't remember which church).
a1gifts.co.uk/gifts/29cm-Storm-Glass-Barometer-with-Wooden-Base.aspx
Although it doesn't mean anything, last time UKIP got the same number of votes in two constituencies several times. (e.g the Wrekin and Romford - 2050)
(If there is an exact tie after several re-counts then lots are drawn by a pre-defined method e.g. toss of a coin)
It is a virtual certainty that two candidates standing in the UK will get the same number of votes. But not guaranteed of course to be in the same constituency. Last election 4150 candidates stood for election (of whom nearly half lost their deposits). Call the average 6, remove CON,LAB,LD,UKIP and that leaves 2 independents. So you have 600 competitions where each candidate has less than 600 votes. (Even excluding marginals)
http://order-order.com/2015/03/03/dr-no-majority/
73% chance according to Electionforecast, also in on May2015 and Jack's ARSE.
Josh Halliday ✔ @JoshHalliday
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"The mass industrial scale on which [hacking] was done [at MGN] makes the NotW look like a cottage industry and a small one at that" - court
Former CIA director General David Petraeus pleads guilty to mishandling classified materials, US government says
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-31716031
Actually seemed to work as well...
Nothing more.
Urgh. I feel white and pale just recalling some of them.
After all, men don't get abused, do they? If so, then why did Ed appoint a 'Shadow Minister for Preventing Violence Against Women and Girls' but not one for men?
Perhaps the misandric Labour Party you support would like to read the following:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-28935733
http://www.barnardos.org.uk/16144_su_cse_rapid_evidence_report_v5.pdf
Never misunderestimate the stupidity of a man when sex is involved.
Obviously, His Lordship uses it.
(Joke, His Lordship's lawyers!)
TSE I have doubts about this sort of question in general. I think the answers given are to a different question, which is "what do you see as the biggest problem that needs addressing right now?" Now that is still relevant as to what issues parties should campaign on, in order to demonstrate how they would address issues which the public have identified as problems. But it is very different from the question of what people think are the most important issues to vote on. Just because the economy is now not seen as an imminent problem which no longer needs fixing, does not mean that people do not recognize that proper stewardship of that issue going forward is an important issue with which to inform their vote.
Is that a quadruple negative in my last sentence?
Some inspiring guys are roadkill.
Musing on this in combination with apparent average polling crossover and constituency data showing SE as a high population density Tory stronghold (the odd the poorer constituencies on Essex/Kent border, Hants coast and London excepted) I'm pretty buoyed by it, because it means that NHS is considered the biggest issue by voters who are
- otherwise natural Tory voters, and therefore are going to have to be swung not from apathy to Labour, but Tory to Labour - which is harder to do by a party peddling the politics of envy rather than embarking on a prawn cocktail campaign
- unlikely to be made in a marginal
- generally older*
*Although I think the NHS is a great institution in theory, and often in practice, I'm pleased that my own generation doesn't see it as the talisman topic on which all politics has to be judged on
If I were in EdM's strategy team, I would be terrified given that the NHS is seemingly the only positive policy topic they have, and that it isn't the most significant issue for the voters Labour need to attract to not remain in opposition.
http://www.britishpathe.com/video/missile-firing
Feels 'bigger' for Labour than the Tories too...
In Bethnal Green http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethnal_Green_and_Bow_(UK_Parliament_constituency) there actually WAS a tie.
In this election it is expected that there will be a higher turnout (bad news), but in many seats the LD vote will approximate an independent (good news)
Shocked I tell you
I saw an interesting post on UKPR pointing out that all previous Con leads with YouGov have been on Monday's and Tuesday's but have never been maintained to Wed, Thu and Sat...
If I had known falling for it would have upset you so much, I wouldn't have posted them
My most sincere contrafibularities
But I still don't understand why you bothered.
Bit of a stretch to call the Great Plains and prairie desert, but I get your drift - no big open spaces.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midwestern_United_States#Physical_geography
https://www.betfair.com/exchange/politics/market?id=1.116239998
"I refer you to Janesh's article: "feeling vaguely cussed (in other words, British)"
Which reminded me of the parody account.
Should be clear as crystal now Chas me ol' muckah