What I remain a little surprised by is how weak the Labour front bench has been since Gordon's killing fields all those years ago.
Gove kicked his oppos all over the HoC, May ate Cooper, Hunt ate Burnham, Ozzie mostly ate Balls who just got points for being annoying.
I honestly can't recall the last time a Labour frontbencher won a scalp in an argument. It's been years. It's so different to how it used to be. That Cameron is very reluctant to reshuffle also really made a big difference to how effective a SoS can be.
I heard Chris Leslie on the radio yesterday. I know he is new in the job but dear me.
The Treasury was "panicking" he said. Why? Because they had introduced in year cuts. The same Chancellor had made his budget in March he said (rather ignoring the Coalition).
It was put to him that the Tories had been crystal clear during the election that they were going to cut faster and harder than anybody else and had been given a majority to do so (a rather unBBC question I thought).
Yes in general but not these specific cuts he said. Labour supports sensible cuts but not these cuts.
I presume this is a work in progress from someone new in the job but it rather showed how much work Labour has to do before they are going to get a hearing. Unless he has got hidden talents Osborne is going to walk all over Leslie.
Leslie just shows how empty Labour's economic arguments are. Really they have nothing in the pot bar spend more and name calling.
Osborne's in for an easy ride. His main challenge will come from the right and business. It's not as if he doesn't have some major weak points in his approach, but Labour aren't the people to stick them to him.
The pause in global warming's wrong because it conflicts with the theory. Said before that some remind me of the Church a millennium ago, claiming the sun orbited the Earth.
Put up or Shut up...harsh words from the usually polite Osborne..he came out of his corner fighting yesterday..put that loudmouthed Scot in his place..
If only he had the courage of his words. Time for Osborne to let the Scottish Government decide how much money it is prepared to pay for English train sets and English fiscal extravagance. Osborne needs to put up or shut up.
June 2014 - we can have new finance arrangements in place within 18 months
June 2015 - FFA will take years and years
#fearties
It's becoming harder and harder to tell whether the Loyalist argument is based on mischief of ignorance. I still err on the side of mischief but it's becoming more difficult to continue to give Loyalists the benefit of the doubt.
Could you have answer the question I asked you below about how you defined 'posh'? (If indeed you were the person who drew that list up)?
Labour can only win by taking Conservative seats. The only battle that matters is the one with the Tories. 86% of their top 100 targets (on current boundaries) are Conservative-held. 84% of their own 100 most vulnerable seats (on current boundaries) have a Conservative as the nearest challenger. Any boundary changes are not going to alter those numbers very much.
Everything else is a distraction. Yvette Cooper is being distracted.
You are right of course but I think you are underestimating the extent to which the Scottish disaster has ripped the heart out of the Labour movement. If the most left wing segment of the UK population has rejected them their whole raison d'etre is thrown into question.
The SNP seats look very hard to get back but no prospective Labour leader can ignore the challenge. Ironically, as usual, they are going to need a lot of help from Osborne and Cameron in their determination to bring some budgetary reality into Scottish politics.
Labour can only win by taking Conservative seats. The only battle that matters is the one with the Tories. 86% of their top 100 targets (on current boundaries) are Conservative-held. 84% of their own 100 most vulnerable seats (on current boundaries) have a Conservative as the nearest challenger. Any boundary changes are not going to alter those numbers very much.
Everything else is a distraction. Yvette Cooper is being distracted.
Of course Labour has to take Tory seats, but that means that voters need to believe that voting Labour is 'safe'. If Labour can only govern with the support of the SNP then many potential Labour voters in England will think that voting for them is not the safe option. Labour have to neutralise the SNP threat as a pre-requisite. England will not consider a Labour government in hock to the SNP.
The pause in global warming's wrong because it conflicts with the theory. Said before that some remind me of the Church a millennium ago, claiming the sun orbited the Earth."
The most worrying thing about the article is this quote ... "This means natural variability in the climate system or other external factors has still had an influence and it's important we continue research to fully understand all the processes at work,"
This is science speak for "the results aren't behaving as they should because we're not sure what's going on."
That's the problem; with so many variables, some known and some unknown, we seem to make the facts fit the theory, rather the the other way round.
It's well known to be a common fault and it's why outdated theories persist
It might be right, and it might eventually be proven to be right, but it's not science.
Mr. Sandpit, hard for me to take that credibly, given this is episode 371 of a tedious soap opera. It might happen, but "Tonight, Alexis calls Angela a slag, and reveals he's been having an affair with Vladimir" is hard to take seriously.
Perhaps, but they just failed to pay the IMF back yesterday. No developed country has ever failed to pay the IMF, so there will have to be consequences - it's not something that can they can be seen to get away with as no-one would ever pay them back again!
The Greeks appear to have invoked a little-used protocol to combine all sums due to the IMF in June and (effectively) set the due date to the end of the month. It also appears unilateral, so whether the IMF accept the validity of this will be an interesting question. It's not *quite* refusing to pay, though... The game of chicken continues.
Global warming comes across to me as more a religious than scientific view, with a touch of self-interest thrown in (can't get research grants if you deny The Consensus). The only thing that makes me doubt that is that some intelligent people do believe it. But then, I trust my own judgement more than that of others, and I'm not about to contract out of critical faculties to people who seem to be driven by ideology rather than scepticism (the foundation of scientific inquiry).
As Huxley said: "The great tragedy of Science — the slaying of a beautiful hypothesis by an ugly fact."
What I remain a little surprised by is how weak the Labour front bench has been since Gordon's killing fields all those years ago.
Gove kicked his oppos all over the HoC, May ate Cooper, Hunt ate Burnham, Ozzie mostly ate Balls who just got points for being annoying.
I honestly can't recall the last time a Labour frontbencher won a scalp in an argument. It's been years. It's so different to how it used to be. That Cameron is very reluctant to reshuffle also really made a big difference to how effective a SoS can be.
I wonder if the problem was that Labour's front-bench team really believed in what they were saying. At times they seemed to have little or no faith in their own arguments.
The pause in global warming's wrong because it conflicts with the theory. Said before that some remind me of the Church a millennium ago, claiming the sun orbited the Earth."
The most worrying thing about the article is this quote ... "This means natural variability in the climate system or other external factors has still had an influence and it's important we continue research to fully understand all the processes at work,"
This is science speak for "the results aren't behaving as they should because we're not sure what's going on."
That's the problem; with so many variables, some known and some unknown, we seem to make the facts fit the theory, rather the the other way round.
It's well known to be a common fault and it's why outdated theories persist
It might be right, and it might eventually be proven to be right, but it's not science.
The article says : "US researchers say new evidence casts doubt on the idea that global warming has "slowed" in recent years. A US government laboratory says the much talked about "pause" is an illusion caused by inaccurate data. Updated observations show temperatures did not plateau, say National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) scientists."
The operative words are 'evidence' and 'observations'. What's wrong with continuing to gather data to find out what is happening, that's how science works.
All the interesting Labour people are going for deputy leader
Edit: should rephrase that: the deputy leadership election is going to be more interesting for Labour's long-term survival than the leadership election (cos they will be gone within 5 years)
Mr. Song, temperature modifications tend to be upwards. And are they trying to reassess with such urgency the period that indicated some warming, or is it only the Pause of Evil which must be discredited?
Instead of modifying their theories to account for facts they're seeking to modify facts to account for their theories. And that is not how science works.
I'm a little fuzzy on which was a worst night for Labour - was it 1983, 2010 or 2015?
I'm still almost expecting to wake up and discover the last month didn't happen. We used to be gobsmacked when the Tories gained a huge number of council seats that cut right against the received wisdom - for a Party of HMG to increase MP seats is surely almost unprecedented?
Labour can only win by taking Conservative seats. The only battle that matters is the one with the Tories. 86% of their top 100 targets (on current boundaries) are Conservative-held. 84% of their own 100 most vulnerable seats (on current boundaries) have a Conservative as the nearest challenger. Any boundary changes are not going to alter those numbers very much.
Everything else is a distraction. Yvette Cooper is being distracted.
You are right of course but I think you are underestimating the extent to which the Scottish disaster has ripped the heart out of the Labour movement. If the most left wing segment of the UK population has rejected them their whole raison d'etre is thrown into question.
The SNP seats look very hard to get back but no prospective Labour leader can ignore the challenge. Ironically, as usual, they are going to need a lot of help from Osborne and Cameron in their determination to bring some budgetary reality into Scottish politics.
Labour's Current Shadow Cabinet going by WIki entries. Family background generally derived from parental occupation or school listed on Wiki. Feel free to correct any errors and/or fill in the Unknowns. (ignoring the Peers in cabinet)
Harriet Harperson. Posh Londoner. Chris Leslie. Unknown Northerner. Hilary Benn. Posh Londoner. Northern Seat. Yvette Cooper. Posh Home Counties. Northern Seat. Rosie Winterton. Posh Northerner. Andy Burnham. Posh Northerner. Chuka Umunna. Posh Londoner. Rachel Reeves. Posh Londoner. Northern Seat. Tristram Hunt. Posh Titled Home Counties. Northern Seat. Vernon Coaker. Posh Londoner. Northern Seat. Emma Reynolds. Posh Midlander. Caroline Flint. Posh Londoner. Northern Seat. Angela Eagle. Working Class Northerner. Michael Dugger. Unknown Northerner. Ivan Lewis. Posh Northerner. Mary Creagh. Working Class Midlander. Ian Murray. Working Class Edinbugger. Owen Smith. Unknown Northerner. Maria Eagle. Working Class Northerner. Lucy Powell. Unknown Northerner. Jon Trickett. Unknown Northerner. Gloria Del Piero. Working Class Northerner. Shabana Mahmood. Posh Midlander. Chris Bryan. Posh Home Counties. Welsh Seat (was born there). Liz Kendall. Posh Home counties. Midlands Seat.
So out of 25 Labour MPs in their cabinet, at least 15 are from well off backgrounds, 5 uncertain and 5 Working Class (although I'm not convinced about the Eagle twins, in fact any of them other than Murray are open to question).
Of the 25, there are 10 from posh London/Home Counties backgrounds of which 6 are parachuted into Northern Seats, one into a safe Midlands Seat and one into a safe Welsh Seat albeit he was born in Wales but brought up in the Home Counties.
This does not look like the profile you would excpect of a Labour Party.
Liz Kendalls mum was a school teacher, her dad left school at 16, before working for the Bank of England and taking occupational qualifications. She went to a non selective school .
Andy Burnham's father was a telephone engineer and his mum a receptionist, he went to a Catholic Comprehensive.
Etc etc
Only in La- La land of the SNP are those "posh backgrounds". Perhaps having a job at all makes you posh in Dairs world...
My mum was a school teacher; my father left school at 17 with only a couple of O levels.
Miss Plato, Thatcher did it in 1983. I believe Cameron's the first chap for ages (maybe since Lord Palmerston) to increase an incumbent party's share of the vote.
Global warming comes across to me as more a religious than scientific view, with a touch of self-interest thrown in (can't get research grants if you deny The Consensus). The only thing that makes me doubt that is that some intelligent people do believe it. But then, I trust my own judgement more than that of others, and I'm not about to contract out of critical faculties to people who seem to be driven by ideology rather than scepticism (the foundation of scientific inquiry).
As Huxley said: "The great tragedy of Science — the slaying of a beautiful hypothesis by an ugly fact."
All the interesting Labour people are going for deputy leader
Edit: should rephrase that: the deputy leadership election is going to be more interesting for Labour's long-term survival than the leadership election (cos they will be gone within 5 years)
Which of the main Labour leader candidates will the Labour Left and the Unions think will be most pliable and receptive of their demands (notwithstanding what the candidates say before their election) - Burham or Cooper?
BTW - thought Creagh made a fool of herself last night on QT - and could not relate to the audience.
Gathering evidence depends on where you look. To test a theory, you look to disprove it. This smacks to me of concentrating on trying to disprove evidence against the theory. A normal reaction but not true science.
As Huxley said. "The great tragedy of science - the slaying of a beautiful hypothesis by an ugly fact."
Charles.. I have often been called posh on here by some PBers..Left school at 14..went into a steel mill at fifteen and down a coalmine at 16..Quite the opposite of posh methinks
Wow, we spent £35 million on investigating journalists, the most expensive investigation is history. Some poor buggers were on bail for more than two years. Thank God for the jury system that acquitted the vast majority of them, for the State to hound those seeking to expose its secrets is surely not acceptable in a democracy? Excellent article by Fraser Nelson in the DT today on the challenges facing the Justice department. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/11652532/The-Andy-Coulson-farce-proves-the-justice-system-needs-urgent-reform.html
Spent this week visiting various friends up country , who coincidentally happen to be very politically savvy - and all well left in their political leanings.
They feel really angry with Labour for having allowed the Tories back in with a majority. None of them see any of the current candidates as improving the party's fortunes. Yvette not the answer, expressed with some vehemence.
Interestingly, the only name that was offered as a possible route to salvation for the Party was Keir Starmer.
@ Plato The signs were there in the subtexts all the time and became increasingly clear as election day approached. It was just that the pollsters ignored them and did not ask why these signs did not correlate with the polling VI.
When EdM approached Brand and then produced his EdStone all in the last fortnight, it was very strong evidence that he knew he was in real trouble - both were things that any sensible politician would have run miles from.
My current concern is the potential Grexit as it is not easy to foresee where the Euro will go in the next 12 months.
I'm a little fuzzy on which was a worst night for Labour - was it 1983, 2010 or 2015?
I'm still almost expecting to wake up and discover the last month didn't happen. We used to be gobsmacked when the Tories gained a huge number of council seats that cut right against the received wisdom - for a Party of HMG to increase MP seats is surely almost unprecedented?
Labour can only win by taking Conservative seats. The only battle that matters is the one with the Tories. 86% of their top 100 targets (on current boundaries) are Conservative-held. 84% of their own 100 most vulnerable seats (on current boundaries) have a Conservative as the nearest challenger. Any boundary changes are not going to alter those numbers very much.
Everything else is a distraction. Yvette Cooper is being distracted.
You are right of course but I think you are underestimating the extent to which the Scottish disaster has ripped the heart out of the Labour movement. If the most left wing segment of the UK population has rejected them their whole raison d'etre is thrown into question.
The SNP seats look very hard to get back but no prospective Labour leader can ignore the challenge. Ironically, as usual, they are going to need a lot of help from Osborne and Cameron in their determination to bring some budgetary reality into Scottish politics.
For what it is worth as a fairly recent convert to the SNP and as someone who has been cautious about another early referendum there now must be one in the manifesto next year and held as quickly as possible.
Reasons can be summed up it two signs 1) Osborne and austerity 2) attitude of contributors to this site. It is time to part hopefully as friends but part none the less.
I'm in The Boy Who Cried Wolf mode re Grexit - we've been supposedly so close so many times, I just expect another Fudgit to put off the evil day yet again.
The EU simply can't take the loss of face no matter how many knots it ties them in.
@ Plato The signs were there in the subtexts all the time and became increasingly clear as election day approached. It was just that the pollsters ignored them and did not ask why these signs did not correlate with the polling VI.
When EdM approached Brand and then produced his EdStone all in the last fortnight, it was very strong evidence that he knew he was in real trouble - both were things that any sensible politician would have run miles from.
My current concern is the potential Grexit as it is not easy to foresee where the Euro will go in the next 12 months.
I'm a little fuzzy on which was a worst night for Labour - was it 1983, 2010 or 2015?
I'm still almost expecting to wake up and discover the last month didn't happen. We used to be gobsmacked when the Tories gained a huge number of council seats that cut right against the received wisdom - for a Party of HMG to increase MP seats is surely almost unprecedented?
Labour can only win by taking Conservative seats. The only battle that matters is the one with the Tories. 86% of their top 100 targets (on current boundaries) are Conservative-held. 84% of their own 100 most vulnerable seats (on current boundaries) have a Conservative as the nearest challenger. Any boundary changes are not going to alter those numbers very much.
Everything else is a distraction. Yvette Cooper is being distracted.
You are right of course but I think you are underestimating the extent to which the Scottish disaster has ripped the heart out of the Labour movement. If the most left wing segment of the UK population has rejected them their whole raison d'etre is thrown into question.
The SNP seats look very hard to get back but no prospective Labour leader can ignore the challenge. Ironically, as usual, they are going to need a lot of help from Osborne and Cameron in their determination to bring some budgetary reality into Scottish politics.
For what it is worth as a fairly recent convert to the SNP and as someone who has been cautious about another early referendum there now must be one in the manifesto next year and held as quickly as possible.
Reasons can be summed up it two signs 1) Osborne and austerity 2) attitude of contributors to this site. It is time to part hopefully as friends but part none the less.
You should have a referendum because of PB Tories? Are you having a laugh? LOL
Charles.. I have often been called posh on here by some PBers..Left school at 14..went into a steel mill at fifteen and down a coalmine at 16..Quite the opposite of posh methinks
For what it is worth as a fairly recent convert to the SNP and as someone who has been cautious about another early referendum there now must be one in the manifesto next year and held as quickly as possible.
Reasons can be summed up it two signs 1) Osborne and austerity 2) attitude of contributors to this site. It is time to part hopefully as friends but part none the less.
If you lose that referendum, will you then be campaigning for a further referendum in the 2020 manifesto on the basis that you've had a bad hair day and because Scotland had failed to qualify for the European Championship?
Labour's Current Shadow Cabinet going by WIki entries. Family background generally derived from parental occupation or school listed on Wiki. Feel free to correct any errors and/or fill in the Unknowns. (ignoring the Peers in cabinet)
Harriet Harperson. Posh Londoner. Chris Leslie. Unknown Northerner. Hilary Benn. Posh Londoner. Northern Seat. Yvette Cooper. Posh Home Counties. Northern Seat. Rosie Winterton. Posh Northerner. Andy Burnham. Posh Northerner. Chuka Umunna. Posh Londoner. Rachel Reeves. Posh Londoner. Northern Seat. Tristram Hunt. Posh Titled Home Counties. Northern Seat. Vernon Coaker. Posh Londoner. Northern Seat. Emma Reynolds. Posh Midlander. Caroline Flint. Posh Londoner. Northern Seat. Angela Eagle. Working Class Northerner. Michael Dugger. Unknown Northerner. Ivan Lewis. Posh Northerner. Mary Creagh. Working Class Midlander. Ian Murray. Working Class Edinbugger. Owen Smith. Unknown Northerner. Maria Eagle. Working Class Northerner. Lucy Powell. Unknown Northerner. Jon Trickett. Unknown Northerner. Gloria Del Piero. Working Class Northerner. Shabana Mahmood. Posh Midlander. Chris Bryan. Posh Home Counties. Welsh Seat (was born there). Liz Kendall. Posh Home counties. Midlands Seat.
So out of 25 Labour MPs in their cabinet, at least 15 are from well off backgrounds, 5 uncertain and 5 Working Class (although I'm not convinced about the Eagle twins, in fact any of them other than Murray are open to question).
Of the 25, there are 10 from posh London/Home Counties backgrounds of which 6 are parachuted into Northern Seats, one into a safe Midlands Seat and one into a safe Welsh Seat albeit he was born in Wales but brought up in the Home Counties.
This does not look like the profile you would excpect of a Labour Party.
Liz Kendalls mum was a school teacher, her dad left school at 16, before working for the Bank of England and taking occupational qualifications. She went to a non selective school .
Andy Burnham's father was a telephone engineer and his mum a receptionist, he went to a Catholic Comprehensive.
Etc etc
Only in La- La land of the SNP are those "posh backgrounds". Perhaps having a job at all makes you posh in Dairs world...
My mum was a school teacher; my father left school at 17 with only a couple of O levels.
What conclusions would you like to draw about me?
Did you go to a non selective state school?
There is a world of difference between being brought up on an Estate and being brought up on an estate!
Spent this week visiting various friends up country , who coincidentally happen to be very politically savvy - and all well left in their political leanings.
They feel really angry with Labour for having allowed the Tories back in with a majority. None of them see any of the current candidates as improving the party's fortunes. Yvette not the answer, expressed with some vehemence.
Interestingly, the only name that was offered as a possible route to salvation for the Party was Keir Starmer.
Put up or Shut up...harsh words from the usually polite Osborne..he came out of his corner fighting yesterday..put that loudmouthed Scot in his place..
If only he had the courage of his words. Time for Osborne to let the Scottish Government decide how much money it is prepared to pay for English train sets and English fiscal extravagance. Osborne needs to put up or shut up.
June 2014 - we can have new finance arrangements in place within 18 months
June 2015 - FFA will take years and years
#fearties
It's becoming harder and harder to tell whether the Loyalist argument is based on mischief of ignorance. I still err on the side of mischief but it's becoming more difficult to continue to give Loyalists the benefit of the doubt.
Could you have answer the question I asked you below about how you defined 'posh'? (If indeed you were the person who drew that list up)?
It's used as an opposite to working class, a brief description. If you read it as a pejorative, which appears to be what some have done, that's really your fault.
@Financier and other history buffs - nice series on BBC4 about Castles:Britain's Fortified History. It's just started and Ep 2 was on last night so should be on iPlayer - it's about Welsh Marches castles.
For what it is worth as a fairly recent convert to the SNP and as someone who has been cautious about another early referendum there now must be one in the manifesto next year and held as quickly as possible.
Reasons can be summed up it two signs 1) Osborne and austerity 2) attitude of contributors to this site. It is time to part hopefully as friends but part none the less.
You should have a referendum because of PB Tories? Are you having a laugh? LOL
But, but, but PB Tories are wise & representative & farseeing & influential & have their hands firmly round the throat of the zeitgeist. Or so you keep telling each other.
BREAKING NEWS: 68 people including two pregnant woman have been found locked in a container at Harwich International Port in Essex thought to have come from Holland
Giles Young, senior officer with Border Force at Harwich International Port, told Chelmsford Coroners' Court: 'We see a lot of these particular cases and the same people will turn up two or three times.
'We have individuals this year who are already on their second attempt and it is only March.
'The Dutch sometimes release them into Holland and they try again. It's a carousel system.'
I managed to solve it after dredging my mind for knowledge last used 30 years ago with no great difficulty. If such knowledge wasn't on the curriculum, I'd have sympathy with the children being tested (though I would want to know why it wasn't).
For what it is worth as a fairly recent convert to the SNP and as someone who has been cautious about another early referendum there now must be one in the manifesto next year and held as quickly as possible.
Reasons can be summed up it two signs 1) Osborne and austerity 2) attitude of contributors to this site. It is time to part hopefully as friends but part none the less.
You should have a referendum because of PB Tories? Are you having a laugh? LOL
But, but, but PB Tories are wise & representative & farseeing & influential & have their hands firmly round the throat of the zeitgeist. Or so you keep telling each other.
We may be all those things, but we aren't pushing for a referendum
I managed to solve it after dredging my mind for knowledge last used 30 years ago with no great difficulty. If such knowledge wasn't on the curriculum, I'd have sympathy with the children being tested (though I would want to know why it wasn't).
What are the remainder of the questions? That would probably explain why the top part has nothing much to do with the a) question.
I visited 40 forts in India a few years ago - just brilliant. To see the spikey fortifications to stop the main doors being downed by elephants was epic!
Reasons can be summed up it two signs 1) Osborne and austerity 2) attitude of contributors to this site.
1) It is within the Scottish government's gift to close the yawning chasm 0.6% cut in Scottish Government spending by increasing taxes - why won't they? 2) Seriously? The SNP should put something in their manifesto because of what people write on an internet website?
For what it is worth as a fairly recent convert to the SNP and as someone who has been cautious about another early referendum there now must be one in the manifesto next year and held as quickly as possible.
Reasons can be summed up it two signs 1) Osborne and austerity 2) attitude of contributors to this site. It is time to part hopefully as friends but part none the less.
If you lose that referendum, will you then be campaigning for a further referendum in the 2020 manifesto on the basis that you've had a bad hair day and because Scotland had failed to qualify for the European Championship?
At least one of those is nigh on a certainty......
Reasons can be summed up it two signs 1) Osborne and austerity 2) attitude of contributors to this site.
1) It is within the Scottish government's gift to close the yawning chasm 0.6% cut in Scottish Government spending by increasing taxes - why won't they? 2) Seriously? The SNP should put something in their manifesto because of what people write on an internet website?
The Nobel prize winner, Richard Feynman, always had the bets quotes.
For the AGW enthusiasts ... "“Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt.” and "If you thought that science was certain - well, that is just an error on your part." and of course ... “We are trying to prove ourselves wrong as quickly as possible, because only in that way can we find progress.”
Labour's Current Shadow Cabinet going by WIki entries. Family background generally derived from parental occupation or school listed on Wiki. Feel free to correct any errors and/or fill in the Unknowns. (ignoring the Peers in cabinet)
Harriet Harperson. Posh Londoner. Chris Leslie. Unknown Northerner. Hilary Benn. Posh Londoner. Northern Seat. Yvette Cooper. Posh Home Counties. Northern Seat. Rosie Winterton. Posh Northerner. Andy Burnham. Posh Northerner. Chuka Umunna. Posh Londoner. Rachel Reeves. Posh Londoner. Northern Seat. Tristram Hunt. Posh Titled Home Counties. Northern Seat. Vernon Coaker. Posh Londoner. Northern Seat. Emma Reynolds. Posh Midlander. Caroline Flint. Posh Londoner. Northern Seat. Angela Eagle. Working Class Northerner. Michael Dugger. Unknown Northerner. Ivan Lewis. Posh Northerner. Mary Creagh. Working Class Midlander. Ian Murray. Working Class Edinbugger. Owen Smith. Unknown Northerner. Maria Eagle. Working Class Northerner. Lucy Powell. Unknown Northerner. Jon Trickett. Unknown Northerner. Gloria Del Piero. Working Class Northerner. Shabana Mahmood. Posh Midlander. Chris Bryan. Posh Home Counties. Welsh Seat (was born there). Liz Kendall. Posh Home counties. Midlands Seat.
So out of 25 Labour MPs in their cabinet, at least 15 are from well off backgrounds, 5 uncertain and 5 Working Class (although I'm not convinced about the Eagle twins, in fact any of them other than Murray are open to question).
Of the 25, there are 10 from posh London/Home Counties backgrounds of which 6 are parachuted into Northern Seats, one into a safe Midlands Seat and one into a safe Welsh Seat albeit he was born in Wales but brought up in the Home Counties.
This does not look like the profile you would excpect of a Labour Party.
Liz Kendalls mum was a school teacher, her dad left school at 16, before working for the Bank of England and taking occupational qualifications. She went to a non selective school .
Andy Burnham's father was a telephone engineer and his mum a receptionist, he went to a Catholic Comprehensive.
Etc etc
Only in La- La land of the SNP are those "posh backgrounds". Perhaps having a job at all makes you posh in Dairs world...
My mum was a school teacher; my father left school at 17 with only a couple of O levels.
What conclusions would you like to draw about me?
Did you go to a non selective state school?
There is a world of difference between being brought up on an Estate and being brought up on an estate!
I managed to solve it after dredging my mind for knowledge last used 30 years ago with no great difficulty. If such knowledge wasn't on the curriculum, I'd have sympathy with the children being tested (though I would want to know why it wasn't).
What are the remainder of the questions? That would probably explain why the top part has nothing much to do with the a) question.
It has everything to do with the (a) question, but it is worded badly and, well, escalates quickly.
I managed to solve it after dredging my mind for knowledge last used 30 years ago with no great difficulty. If such knowledge wasn't on the curriculum, I'd have sympathy with the children being tested (though I would want to know why it wasn't).
When I read this article this morning, it showed me how far maths standards have regressed over the last 40 odd years - the problem is not the children, it is the teachers, and educationalists.
Also they should be taught that past papers are no indication of the next paper. Anyway if the schools were awake, such problems and difficulties should have been picked up in the 'mocks' - or are those not done any more?
@Financier and other history buffs - nice series on BBC4 about Castles:Britain's Fortified History. It's just started and Ep 2 was on last night so should be on iPlayer - it's about Welsh Marches castles.
I managed to solve it after dredging my mind for knowledge last used 30 years ago with no great difficulty. If such knowledge wasn't on the curriculum, I'd have sympathy with the children being tested (though I would want to know why it wasn't).
Why was that supposed to be difficult? n^2-n-90=0 n^2-n=90 so n is obviously 10
with 6 orange sweets, and 4 others, the probability of an orange sweet first is 6/10 and an orange sweet again second time is 5/9. multiply together to give 30/90, or 1/3.
Reasons can be summed up it two signs 1) Osborne and austerity 2) attitude of contributors to this site.
1) It is within the Scottish government's gift to close the yawning chasm 0.6% cut in Scottish Government spending by increasing taxes - why won't they? 2) Seriously? The SNP should put something in their manifesto because of what people write on an internet website?
Higher taxes are bad and Scotland already pays to subsidise England. End the English subsidy and the money is there to either spend or cut taxes.
I heard Chris Leslie on the radio yesterday. I know he is new in the job but dear me.
The Treasury was "panicking" he said. Why? Because they had introduced in year cuts. The same Chancellor had made his budget in March he said (rather ignoring the Coalition).
It was put to him that the Tories had been crystal clear during the election that they were going to cut faster and harder than anybody else and had been given a majority to do so (a rather unBBC question I thought).
Yes in general but not these specific cuts he said. Labour supports sensible cuts but not these cuts.
I presume this is a work in progress from someone new in the job but it rather showed how much work Labour has to do before they are going to get a hearing. Unless he has got hidden talents Osborne is going to walk all over Leslie.
Leslie just shows how empty Labour's economic arguments are. Really they have nothing in the pot bar spend more and name calling.
Osborne's in for an easy ride. His main challenge will come from the right and business. It's not as if he doesn't have some major weak points in his approach, but Labour aren't the people to stick them to him.
The trickier part of his job this time around is going to be to accelerate the cuts in the deficit without bringing the economy grinding to a halt.
I think he recognises that the deterioration in the World economy situation over the last year makes cutting the deficit more urgent. We simply cannot go into the next economic downturn with a starting point of anywhere like where we are right now.
More cuts in current spending to allow more capital spending on infrastructure would also be welcome but there is very little money to play with.
The trickier part of his job is to do what he failed to do last time ie economic rebalancing and structural reform. Those two items willactually allow us to create wealth and create it faster.
Like last time he needs to do it in the first 18 months since some of it will be painful and the gains not seen until 3-4 years hence.
I can't say I'm optimistic he'll grasp the nettle.
I managed to solve it after dredging my mind for knowledge last used 30 years ago with no great difficulty. If such knowledge wasn't on the curriculum, I'd have sympathy with the children being tested (though I would want to know why it wasn't).
It really isn't difficult. Having gone through GCSEs and A Levels between 2001 and 2005 I know that Labour dumbed down our education system - especially maths. The past papers I used to look at were much more challenging.
@Financier and other history buffs - nice series on BBC4 about Castles:Britain's Fortified History. It's just started and Ep 2 was on last night so should be on iPlayer - it's about Welsh Marches castles.
My first year Chemistry/Chemical Engineering paper on Basic Thermodynamics is being sat today. The main thing that has struck me is the over-reliance on past papers. We allow the students to see back three years, so back to 2012. When a completely different person set the exam.
I've tried to set mocks (no-one turns up as there is no credit for it) and problem sheets that go a bit deeper into the subject ("ah, but its so hard"). Still I get emails "sir, in the 2012 paper, Q2, b, ii, they asked this, will this be in the exam?"
Reasons can be summed up it two signs 1) Osborne and austerity 2) attitude of contributors to this site.
1) It is within the Scottish government's gift to close the yawning chasm 0.6% cut in Scottish Government spending by increasing taxes - why won't they? 2) Seriously? The SNP should put something in their manifesto because of what people write on an internet website?
Higher taxes are bad and Scotland already pays to subsidise England. End the English subsidy and the money is there to either spend or cut taxes.
You can keep saying it, but endless repetition doesn't make nonsense truer.
I managed to solve it after dredging my mind for knowledge last used 30 years ago with no great difficulty. If such knowledge wasn't on the curriculum, I'd have sympathy with the children being tested (though I would want to know why it wasn't).
Why was that supposed to be difficult? n^2-n-90=0 n^2-n=90 so n is obviously 10
with 6 orange sweets, and 4 others, the probability of an orange sweet first is 6/10 and an orange sweet again second time is 5/9. multiply together to give 30/90, or 1/3.
Part (a) is asking you to set that expression up.
So n sweets, 6 are orange, n-6 are yellow.
P(orange) = 6/n
After one orange sweet eaten, n-1 sweets, 5 are orange, n-6 are yellow.
P(orange) is now 5/n-1
The probability of eating two orange sweets is 1/3
For what it is worth as a fairly recent convert to the SNP and as someone who has been cautious about another early referendum there now must be one in the manifesto next year and held as quickly as possible.
Reasons can be summed up it two signs 1) Osborne and austerity 2) attitude of contributors to this site. It is time to part hopefully as friends but part none the less.
As a recent convert to independence you must have a clear idea of what currency you will use?
Labour's Current Shadow Cabinet going by WIki entries. Family background generally derived from parental occupation or school listed on Wiki. Feel free to correct any errors and/or fill in the Unknowns. (ignoring the Peers in cabinet)
H
So out of 25 Labour MPs in their cabinet, at least 15 are from well off backgrounds, 5 uncertain and 5 Working Class (although I'm not convinced about the Eagle twins, in fact any of them other than Murray are open to question).
Of the 25, there are 10 from posh London/Home Counties backgrounds of which 6 are parachuted into Northern Seats, one into a safe Midlands Seat and one into a safe Welsh Seat albeit he was born in Wales but brought up in the Home Counties.
This does not look like the profile you would excpect of a Labour Party.
Liz Kendalls mum was a school teacher, her dad left school at 16, before working for the Bank of England and taking occupational qualifications. She went to a non selective school .
Andy Burnham's father was a telephone engineer and his mum a receptionist, he went to a Catholic Comprehensive.
Etc etc
Only in La- La land of the SNP are those "posh backgrounds". Perhaps having a job at all makes you posh in Dairs world...
My mum was a school teacher; my father left school at 17 with only a couple of O levels.
What conclusions would you like to draw about me?
Did you go to a non selective state school?
There is a world of difference between being brought up on an Estate and being brought up on an estate!
A non-academically selective foundation school
Social class is an interesting cocktail. School and Parents being important, and of course money. To a certain extent it is also self assessed.
I come from solid middle class stock on both sides. The shadow cabinet in large part do too, as indeed do most of the Conservative bench.
Dair's conception that these are "posh" backgrounds is rather perverse, unless you consider the UK to be majority posh. It is rather curious that the MP that the SNP have chosen as their target is the oldest and most working class Labour MP. It shows their character.
My first year Chemistry/Chemical Engineering paper on Basic Thermodynamics is being sat today. The main thing that has struck me is the over-reliance on past papers. We allow the students to see back three years, so back to 2012. When a completely different person set the exam.
I've tried to set mocks (no-one turns up as there is no credit for it) and problem sheets that go a bit deeper into the subject ("ah, but its so hard"). Still I get emails "sir, in the 2012 paper, Q2, b, ii, they asked this, will this be in the exam?"
Thanks for that - can you describe what sort of school/college is your base?
I managed to solve it after dredging my mind for knowledge last used 30 years ago with no great difficulty. If such knowledge wasn't on the curriculum, I'd have sympathy with the children being tested (though I would want to know why it wasn't).
What are the remainder of the questions? That would probably explain why the top part has nothing much to do with the a) question.
Seems a decent enough question for a GCSE. Probability is very important !
6 over n multiplied by 5 over n-1 = 30 over n2 - n [which must also be 90 because 30/90 is a third, the chance of two orange sweets in a row]. Therefore n2 - n - 90 = 0?
I do have a Maths A-level [which a mildly comical grade]. I've said before that Maths was massively variable as a A-level. Decision, which I never did, was reportedly super easy. Statistics was ok and had lots of formulae included with the exams. Mechanics was similar to A-level physics, and Pure was trickiest of all. Six modules were put together for an A-level, when I did it (one Stats, two Mechanics and three Pure, I think).
A Large, flat, pink rubber coin used as galactic currency. As described by Douglas Adams in 'The Resteraunt at the end of the Universe' "The exchange rate of 8 Ningys to one Galactic PU is simple enough. However, since a Ningy is a triangular rubber-coin ,6800 miles along each side, no one has ever collected enough to own one PU. Besides which, if you did ever own enough, you would have a great deal of trouble exchanging them, as most banks refuse to deal in small change."
For what it is worth as a fairly recent convert to the SNP and as someone who has been cautious about another early referendum there now must be one in the manifesto next year and held as quickly as possible.
Reasons can be summed up it two signs 1) Osborne and austerity 2) attitude of contributors to this site. It is time to part hopefully as friends but part none the less.
As a recent convert to independence you must have a clear idea of what currency you will use?
Put up or Shut up...harsh words from the usually polite Osborne..he came out of his corner fighting yesterday..put that loudmouthed Scot in his place..
If only he had the courage of his words. Time for Osborne to let the Scottish Government decide how much money it is prepared to pay for English train sets and English fiscal extravagance. Osborne needs to put up or shut up.
June 2014 - we can have new finance arrangements in place within 18 months
June 2015 - FFA will take years and years
#fearties
It's becoming harder and harder to tell whether the Loyalist argument is based on mischief of ignorance. I still err on the side of mischief but it's becoming more difficult to continue to give Loyalists the benefit of the doubt.
Could you have answer the question I asked you below about how you defined 'posh'? (If indeed you were the person who drew that list up)?
It's used as an opposite to working class, a brief description. If you read it as a pejorative, which appears to be what some have done, that's really your fault.
I don't see either 'working class' or 'posh' as pejorative: I've known too many nice and nasty people in both categories to realise it's meaningless nonsense.
The fact that the list (you still have not said if you produced it) mentions it shows that you think it is of import.
I just found your list rather oddly broken. In fact, ridiculously broken.
My first year Chemistry/Chemical Engineering paper on Basic Thermodynamics is being sat today. The main thing that has struck me is the over-reliance on past papers. We allow the students to see back three years, so back to 2012. When a completely different person set the exam.
I've tried to set mocks (no-one turns up as there is no credit for it) and problem sheets that go a bit deeper into the subject ("ah, but its so hard"). Still I get emails "sir, in the 2012 paper, Q2, b, ii, they asked this, will this be in the exam?"
Thanks for that - can you describe what sort of school/college is your base?
It is something like 90 % state school and 50-60 % BAME.
Morris_Dancer: yes, that's the correct solution. The difficulty in the question is having the wherewithal to spot you need to do this rather than the manipulations, which are trivial.
Most of the kids moaning on twitter have omitted the part in the question sating the probability of 1/3, which of course is key to answering the question.
It's a pity there isn't more focus on Decision Maths at A Level - in a world of big data and "data scientists" its very relevant to the modern workplace.
I'm a little fuzzy on which was a worst night for Labour - was it 1983, 2010 or 2015?
I'm still almost expecting to wake up and discover the last month didn't happen. We used to be gobsmacked when the Tories gained a huge number of council seats that cut right against the received wisdom - for a Party of HMG to increase MP seats is surely almost unprecedented?
Labour can only win by taking Conservative seats. The only battle that matters is the one with the Tories. 86% of their top 100 targets (on current boundaries) are Conservative-held. 84% of their own 100 most vulnerable seats (on current boundaries) have a Conservative as the nearest challenger. Any boundary changes are not going to alter those numbers very much.
Everything else is a distraction. Yvette Cooper is being distracted.
You are right of course but I think you are underestimating the extent to which the Scottish disaster has ripped the heart out of the Labour movement. If the most left wing segment of the UK population has rejected them their whole raison d'etre is thrown into question.
The SNP seats look very hard to get back but no prospective Labour leader can ignore the challenge. Ironically, as usual, they are going to need a lot of help from Osborne and Cameron in their determination to bring some budgetary reality into Scottish politics.
Probably 2015. I doubt Labour had any serious expectation of being in government ahead of 1983 and 2010. Not so 2015, according to the Guardian article.
Reasons can be summed up it two signs 1) Osborne and austerity 2) attitude of contributors to this site.
1) It is within the Scottish government's gift to close the yawning chasm 0.6% cut in Scottish Government spending by increasing taxes - why won't they? 2) Seriously? The SNP should put something in their manifesto because of what people write on an internet website?
Higher taxes are bad and Scotland already pays to subsidise England. End the English subsidy and the money is there to either spend or cut taxes.
Mr Dair, you keep going on about this English Subsidy without showing any evidence for it. Furthermore when offered control over tax and spending rates you say this will take years to implement, yet full independence could have somehow been achieved in months.
If this English Subsidy did in fact exist, surely control over your own tax and spending rates would eliminate this, with the Scottish government contributing only a proportional share of agreed spending on Reserved matters such as defence, international aid and debt interest?
I did rather poorly at Maths. Felt like there was a huge gulf between GCSE and A-level, and the Mechanics wasn't helped by me being almost the only person taking Maths but not Physics. Some more intelligence and a better work ethic would've helped too
I can't help feeling it can be largely split into those who want to aspire/have some gumption and those who are either happy with their lot or want to cruise along relying on others.
One can be well off and lazy, poor off and lazy. It doesn't make either superior to the other. I dislike inverted snobbery as much as I dislike common or garden snobbery. But the self-righteousness and name calling of people as Posh just makes my hackles rise. It's a social culture tax on aspiration, which is poisonous and insidious.
Labour's Current Shadow Cabinet going by WIki entries. Family background generally derived from parental occupation or school listed on Wiki. Feel free to correct any errors and/or fill in the Unknowns. (ignoring the Peers in cabinet)
H
So out of 25 Labour MPs in their cabinet, at least 15 are from well off backgrounds, 5 uncertain and 5 Working Class (although I'm not convinced about the Eagle twins, in fact any of them other than Murray are open to question).
Of the 25, there are 10 from posh London/Home Counties backgrounds of which 6 are parachuted into Northern Seats, one into a safe Midlands Seat and one into a safe Welsh Seat albeit he was born in Wales but brought up in the Home Counties.
This does not look like the profile you would excpect of a Labour Party.
snip
My mum was a school teacher; my father left school at 17 with only a couple of O levels.
What conclusions would you like to draw about me?
Did you go to a non selective state school?
There is a world of difference between being brought up on an Estate and being brought up on an estate!
A non-academically selective foundation school
Social class is an interesting cocktail. School and Parents being important, and of course money. To a certain extent it is also self assessed.
I come from solid middle class stock on both sides. The shadow cabinet in large part do too, as indeed do most of the Conservative bench.
Dair's conception that these are "posh" backgrounds is rather perverse, unless you consider the UK to be majority posh. It is rather curious that the MP that the SNP have chosen as their target is the oldest and most working class Labour MP. It shows their character.
For what it is worth as a fairly recent convert to the SNP and as someone who has been cautious about another early referendum there now must be one in the manifesto next year and held as quickly as possible.
Reasons can be summed up it two signs 1) Osborne and austerity 2) attitude of contributors to this site. It is time to part hopefully as friends but part none the less.
You should have a referendum because of PB Tories? Are you having a laugh? LOL
But, but, but PB Tories are wise & representative & farseeing & influential & have their hands firmly round the throat of the zeitgeist. Or so you keep telling each other.
We may be all those things, but we aren't pushing for a referendum
PB reaction is, in its tiny, noisome way, symptomatic of a greater reaction abroad in the (Eng)land, as evinced in the GE. Causation is not the same as willfully pushing for something.
My first year Chemistry/Chemical Engineering paper on Basic Thermodynamics is being sat today. The main thing that has struck me is the over-reliance on past papers. We allow the students to see back three years, so back to 2012. When a completely different person set the exam.
I've tried to set mocks (no-one turns up as there is no credit for it) and problem sheets that go a bit deeper into the subject ("ah, but its so hard"). Still I get emails "sir, in the 2012 paper, Q2, b, ii, they asked this, will this be in the exam?"
Thanks for that - can you describe what sort of school/college is your base?
It is something like 90 % state school and 50-60 % BAME.
That is interesting - do you find that the parents are aspirational for their children or are there too many single parent families where the lone parent is too busy to get involved/be interested/unable to help children with their homework.?
Labour's Current Shadow Cabinet going by WIki entries. Family background generally derived from parental occupation or school listed on Wiki. Feel free to correct any errors and/or fill in the Unknowns. (ignoring the Peers in cabinet)
H
So out of 25 Labour MPs in their cabinet, at least 15 are from well off backgrounds, 5 uncertain and 5 Working Class (although I'm not convinced about the Eagle twins, in fact any of them other than Murray are open to question).
Of the 25, there are 10 from posh London/Home Counties backgrounds of which 6 are parachuted into Northern Seats, one into a safe Midlands Seat and one into a safe Welsh Seat albeit he was born in Wales but brought up in the Home Counties.
This does not look like the profile you would excpect of a Labour Party.
Liz Kendalls mum was a school teacher, her dad left school at 16, before working for the Bank of England and taking occupational qualifications. She went to a non selective school .
Andy Burnham's father was a telephone engineer and his mum a receptionist, he went to a Catholic Comprehensive.
Etc etc
Only in La- La land of the SNP are those "posh backgrounds". Perhaps having a job at all makes you posh in Dairs world...
My mum was a school teacher; my father left school at 17 with only a couple of O levels.
What conclusions would you like to draw about me?
Did you go to a non selective state school?
There is a world of difference between being brought up on an Estate and being brought up on an estate!
A non-academically selective foundation school
Social class is an interesting cocktail. School and Parents being important, and of course money. To a certain extent it is also self assessed.
I come from solid middle class stock on both sides. The shadow cabinet in large part do too, as indeed do most of the Conservative bench.
Dair's conception that these are "posh" backgrounds is rather perverse, unless you consider the UK to be majority posh. It is rather curious that the MP that the SNP have chosen as their target is the oldest and most working class Labour MP. It shows their character.
The definition of poshness is simple. It's nothing to do with background or education: it's whether you hold, or attend, four or more dinner parties a month. Soiree's earn double points.
My first year Chemistry/Chemical Engineering paper on Basic Thermodynamics is being sat today. The main thing that has struck me is the over-reliance on past papers. We allow the students to see back three years, so back to 2012. When a completely different person set the exam.
I've tried to set mocks (no-one turns up as there is no credit for it) and problem sheets that go a bit deeper into the subject ("ah, but its so hard"). Still I get emails "sir, in the 2012 paper, Q2, b, ii, they asked this, will this be in the exam?"
Thanks for that - can you describe what sort of school/college is your base?
It is something like 90 % state school and 50-60 % BAME.
That is interesting - do you find that the parents are aspirational for their children or are there too many single parent families where the lone parent is too busy to get involved/be interested/unable to help children with their homework.?
@Plato Often I just wonder if the social security/benefits culture has in some areas removed the need to be aspirational? It is strange because in the poor village where I went to primary school, any pupil success was a source of pride to the village.
The same today happens in many Asian and some African cultures. However, when many of them come to the UK, do some lose part of that aspiration which was a vital function for them in the homeland?
Has the all-must-win prizes attitude removed the love of striving for success and a natural curiosity for knowledge?
I can't help feeling it can be largely split into those who want to aspire/have some gumption and those who are either happy with their lot or want to cruise along relying on others.
One can be well off and lazy, poor off and lazy. It doesn't make either superior to the other. I dislike inverted snobbery as much as I dislike common or garden snobbery. But the self-righteousness and name calling of people as Posh just makes my hackles rise. It's a social culture tax on aspiration, which is poisonous and insidious.
Labour's Current Shadow Cabinet going by WIki entries. Family background generally derived from parental occupation or school listed on Wiki. Feel free to correct any errors and/or fill in the Unknowns. (ignoring the Peers in cabinet)
H
snip
This does not look like the profile you would excpect of a Labour Party.
snip
My mum was a school teacher; my father left school at 17 with only a couple of O levels.
What conclusions would you like to draw about me?
Did you go to a non selective state school?
There is a world of difference between being brought up on an Estate and being brought up on an estate!
A non-academically selective foundation school
Social class is an interesting cocktail. School and Parents being important, and of course money. To a certain extent it is also self assessed.
I come from solid middle class stock on both sides. The shadow cabinet in large part do too, as indeed do most of the Conservative bench.
Dair's conception that these are "posh" backgrounds is rather perverse, unless you consider the UK to be majority posh. It is rather curious that the MP that the SNP have chosen as their target is the oldest and most working class Labour MP. It shows their character.
My first serious beau got 4% in his A Level Stats mock exam... and went on to get a O... I have no idea how he managed it. He did well enough in Physics, Pure Maths et al to go to Leeds Uni and become an architect!
I did Chemistry/Biology A Levels with Maths as a sidebar - and was the only one who didn't do Physics. I'm totally crap at Physics and dropped in before my O Levels. I can honestly say that I didn't have a clue what was being taught and glazed over during lessons. I had to drop it before anyone noticed!
If I can't visual a problem, I can't solve it. Bit of bugger with Physics...
I did rather poorly at Maths. Felt like there was a huge gulf between GCSE and A-level, and the Mechanics wasn't helped by me being almost the only person taking Maths but not Physics. Some more intelligence and a better work ethic would've helped too
Labour's Current Shadow Cabinet going by WIki entries. Family background generally derived from parental occupation or school listed on Wiki. Feel free to correct any errors and/or fill in the Unknowns. (ignoring the Peers in cabinet)
H
So out of 25 Labour MPs in their cabinet, at least 15 are from well off backgrounds, 5 uncertain and 5 Working Class (although I'm not convinced about the Eagle twins, in fact any of them other than Murray are open to question).
Of the 25, there are 10 from posh London/Home Counties backgrounds of which 6 are parachuted into Northern Seats, one into a safe Midlands Seat and one into a safe Welsh Seat albeit he was born in Wales but brought up in the Home Counties.
This does not look like the profile you would excpect of a Labour Party.
Liz Kendalls mum was a school teacher, her dad left school at 16, before working for the Bank of England and taking occupational qualifications. She went to a non selective school .
Andy Burnham's father was a telephone engineer and his mum a receptionist, he went to a Catholic Comprehensive.
Etc etc
Only in La- La land of the SNP are those "posh backgrounds". Perhaps having a job at all makes you posh in Dairs world...
My mum was a school teacher; my father left school at 17 with only a couple of O levels.
What conclusions would you like to draw about me?
Did you go to a non selective state school?
There is a world of difference between being brought up on an Estate and being brought up on an estate!
A non-academically selective foundation school
Social class is an interesting cocktail. School and Parents being important, and of course money. To a certain extent it is also self assessed.
I come from solid middle class stock on both sides. The shadow cabinet in large part do too, as indeed do most of the Conservative bench.
Dair's conception that these are "posh" backgrounds is rather perverse, unless you consider the UK to be majority posh. It is rather curious that the MP that the SNP have chosen as their target is the oldest and most working class Labour MP. It shows their character.
The definition of poshness is simple. It's nothing to do with background or education: it's whether you hold, or attend, four or more dinner parties a month. Soiree's earn double points.
;-)
Oh dear! It seems that I am in the relegation zone.
Though I am going to the WI BBQ tonight. Does that count as posh?
arguing that the Nationalists do not have to implement the cuts in Scotland, Mr Osborne said: “The Scottish National Party in Holyrood has the power to increase taxes to increase spending.
"They've got the power to increase income tax already, they're getting more powers next year to do so, so it is time for the SNP – when it comes to complaints about public expenditure – to put up or shut up, in my view."
Morning! Yes, the SNP need to understand the link between taxes and spending. Up until now Scotland has been responsible for spending the money but not for raising it. If they want to keep all their freebies then they have to be paid for somehow. Expect Osborne to devolve more taxes to Scotland in the next couple of years, to drive the point home.
But its not fair!
Scotland's population is 8.3% of total UK......and her share of the cuts 5.9%.......but thats not a point the SNP have been making......
The solution is simple. Impose Full Fiscal Autonomy on Scotland and let the Scottish Government decide if it wants to spend its budget on investment and services or continue to remit £12bn per annum for English train sets and English debt driven spending sprees.
Interesting that Cameron is cool on FFA, but Sturgeon is almost as cautious. Perhaps neither of them knows the true fiscal impact? The Scottish Tories were all for full devolution of income tax last year.
Labour's Current Shadow Cabinet going by WIki entries. Family background generally derived from parental occupation or school listed on Wiki. Feel free to correct any errors and/or fill in the Unknowns. (ignoring the Peers in cabinet)
Harriet Harperson. Posh Londoner. Chris Leslie. Unknown Northerner. Hilary Benn. Posh Londoner. Northern Seat. Yvette Cooper. Posh Home Counties. Northern Seat. Rosie Winterton. Posh Northerner. Andy Burnham. Posh Northerner. Chuka Umunna. Posh Londoner. Rachel Reeves. Posh Londoner. Northern Seat. Tristram Hunt. Posh Titled Home Counties. Northern Seat. Vernon Coaker. Posh Londoner. Northern Seat. Emma Reynolds. Posh Midlander. Caroline Flint. Posh Londoner. Northern Seat. Angela Eagle. Working Class Northerner. Michael Dugger. Unknown Northerner. Ivan Lewis. Posh Northerner. Mary Creagh. Working Class Midlander. Ian Murray. Working Class Edinbugger. Owen Smith. Unknown Northerner. Maria Eagle. Working Class Northerner. Lucy Powell. Unknown Northerner. Jon Trickett. Unknown Northerner. Gloria Del Piero. Working Class Northerner. Shabana Mahmood. Posh Midlander. Chris Bryan. Posh Home Counties. Welsh Seat (was born there). Liz Kendall. Posh Home counties. Midlands Seat.
So out of 25 Labour MPs in their cabinet, at least 15 are from well off backgrounds, 5 uncertain and 5 Working Class (although I'm not convinced about the Eagle twins, in fact any of them other than Murray are open to question).
Of the 25, there are 10 from posh London/Home Counties backgrounds of which 6 are parachuted into Northern Seats, one into a safe Midlands Seat and one into a safe Welsh Seat albeit he was born in Wales but brought up in the Home Counties.
This does not look like the profile you would excpect of a Labour Party.
Liz Kendalls mum was a school teacher, her dad left school at 16, before working for the Bank of England and taking occupational qualifications. She went to a non selective school .
Andy Burnham's father was a telephone engineer and his mum a receptionist, he went to a Catholic Comprehensive.
Etc etc
Only in La- La land of the SNP are those "posh backgrounds". Perhaps having a job at all makes you posh in Dairs world...
My mum was a school teacher; my father left school at 17 with only a couple of O levels.
What conclusions would you like to draw about me?
Did you go to a non selective state school?
There is a world of difference between being brought up on an Estate and being brought up on an estate!
Labour can only win by taking Conservative seats. The only battle that matters is the one with the Tories. 86% of their top 100 targets (on current boundaries) are Conservative-held. 84% of their own 100 most vulnerable seats (on current boundaries) have a Conservative as the nearest challenger. Any boundary changes are not going to alter those numbers very much.
Everything else is a distraction. Yvette Cooper is being distracted.
I am not going to judge the true intentions of Labour leadership contenders vis-a-vis the General Election by their words in this contest. They have to win this first.
For what it is worth as a fairly recent convert to the SNP and as someone who has been cautious about another early referendum there now must be one in the manifesto next year and held as quickly as possible.
Reasons can be summed up it two signs 1) Osborne and austerity 2) attitude of contributors to this site. It is time to part hopefully as friends but part none the less.
You should have a referendum because of PB Tories? Are you having a laugh? LOL
But, but, but PB Tories are wise & representative & farseeing & influential & have their hands firmly round the throat of the zeitgeist. Or so you keep telling each other.
Funny thing is though, if you're casting back for a good prediction of the 2015 GE, then the PB Tories were pretty much bang on, when everyone else (including me, you, and all the pollsters) was completely wrong.
Indeed the more rightwing and partisan the PB Tory (e.g. audreyanne, widow of this parish) the more likely it is that they called the GE correctly.
We have to accept the bizarre fact that the PB Tories might just have a collective wisdom about English politics equivalent to the Nats understanding of Scotland.
Was Audreyanne a particularly right wing Tory? She was a Cameroonian pom pom girl as I remember it.
Miss Plato, I fully deserved the rubbish Maths grade, but the low (C) one I got for Religious Studies pissed me off. I was graded something stupid like D and E for two first year exams, and resat them [because the grades were utter bollocks] and got a B and C [I think]. I got similarly low grades in the second year, but because I'd left school I couldn't really resit them.
For what it is worth as a fairly recent convert to the SNP and as someone who has been cautious about another early referendum there now must be one in the manifesto next year and held as quickly as possible.
Reasons can be summed up it two signs 1) Osborne and austerity 2) attitude of contributors to this site. It is time to part hopefully as friends but part none the less.
You should have a referendum because of PB Tories? Are you having a laugh? LOL
But, but, but PB Tories are wise & representative & farseeing & influential & have their hands firmly round the throat of the zeitgeist. Or so you keep telling each other.
You seem to be obsessed with the PB Tories - piqued because they called the referendum result right? and in many cases the election?
Labour's Current Shadow Cabinet going by WIki entries. Family background generally derived from parental occupation or school listed on Wiki. Feel free to correct any errors and/or fill in the Unknowns. (ignoring the Peers in cabinet)
H
So out of 25 Labour MPs in their cabinet, at least 15 are from well off backgrounds, 5 uncertain and 5 Working Class (although I'm not convinced about the Eagle twins, in fact any of them other than Murray are open to question).
Of the 25, there are 10 from posh London/Home Counties backgrounds of which 6 are parachuted into Northern Seats, one into a safe Midlands Seat and one into a safe Welsh Seat albeit he was born in Wales but brought up in the Home Counties.
This does not look like the profile you would excpect of a Labour Party.
Liz Kendalls mum was a school teacher, her dad left school at 16, before working for the Bank of England and taking occupational qualifications. She went to a non selective school .
Andy Burnham's father was a telephone engineer and his mum a receptionist, he went to a Catholic Comprehensive.
Etc etc
Only in La- La land of the SNP are those "posh backgrounds". Perhaps having a job at all makes you posh in Dairs world...
My mum was a school teacher; my father left school at 17 with only a couple of O levels.
What conclusions would you like to draw about me?
Did you go to a non selective state school?
There is a world of difference between being brought up on an Estate and being brought up on an estate!
A non-academically selective foundation school
Social class is an interesting cocktail. School and Parents being important, and of course money. To a certain extent it is also self assessed.
I come from solid middle class stock on both sides. The shadow cabinet in large part do too, as indeed do most of the Conservative bench.
Dair's conception that these are "posh" backgrounds is rather perverse, unless you consider the UK to be majority posh. It is rather curious that the MP that the SNP have chosen as their target is the oldest and most working class Labour MP. It shows their character.
The definition of poshness is simple. It's nothing to do with background or education: it's whether you hold, or attend, four or more dinner parties a month. Soiree's earn double points.
;-)
Oh dear! It seems that I am in the relegation zone.
Though I am going to the WI BBQ tonight. Does that count as posh?
Labour's Current Shadow Cabinet going by WIki entries. Family background generally derived from parental occupation or school listed on Wiki. Feel free to correct any errors and/or fill in the Unknowns. (ignoring the Peers in cabinet)
H
So out of 25 Labour MPs in their cabinet, at least 15 are from well off backgrounds, 5 uncertain and 5 Working Class (although I'm not convinced about the Eagle twins, in fact any of them other than Murray are open to question).
Of the 25, there are 10 from posh London/Home Counties backgrounds of which 6 are parachuted into Northern Seats, one into a safe Midlands Seat and one into a safe Welsh Seat albeit he was born in Wales but brought up in the Home Counties.
This does not look like the profile you would excpect of a Labour Party.
Liz Kendalls mum was a school teacher, her dad left school at 16, before working for the Bank of England and taking occupational qualifications. She went to a non selective school .
Andy Burnham's father was a telephone engineer and his mum a receptionist, he went to a Catholic Comprehensive.
Etc etc
Only in La- La land of the SNP are those "posh backgrounds". Perhaps having a job at all makes you posh in Dairs world...
My mum was a school teacher; my father left school at 17 with only a couple of O levels.
What conclusions would you like to draw about me?
Did you go to a non selective state school?
There is a world of difference between being brought up on an Estate and being brought up on an estate!
A non-academically selective foundation school
Social class is an interesting cocktail. School and Parents being important, and of course money. To a certain extent it is also self assessed.
I come from solid middle class stock on both sides. The shadow cabinet in large part do too, as indeed do most of the Conservative bench.
Dair's conception that these are "posh" backgrounds is rather perverse, unless you consider the UK to be majority posh. It is rather curious that the MP that the SNP have chosen as their target is the oldest and most working class Labour MP. It shows their character.
The definition of poshness is simple. It's nothing to do with background or education: it's whether you hold, or attend, four or more dinner parties a month. Soiree's earn double points.
;-)
Funny thing with dinner parties - people have them at tea time rather than dinner time.
For what it is worth as a fairly recent convert to the SNP and as someone who has been cautious about another early referendum there now must be one in the manifesto next year and held as quickly as possible.
Reasons can be summed up it two signs 1) Osborne and austerity 2) attitude of contributors to this site. It is time to part hopefully as friends but part none the less.
You should have a referendum because of PB Tories? Are you having a laugh? LOL
But, but, but PB Tories are wise & representative & farseeing & influential & have their hands firmly round the throat of the zeitgeist. Or so you keep telling each other.
Funny thing is though, if you're casting back for a good prediction of the 2015 GE, then the PB Tories were pretty much bang on, when everyone else (including me, you, and all the pollsters) was completely wrong.
Indeed the more rightwing and partisan the PB Tory (e.g. audreyanne, widow of this parish) the more likely it is that they called the GE correctly.
We have to accept the bizarre fact that the PB Tories might just have a collective wisdom about English politics equivalent to the Nats understanding of Scotland.
pb Tories have a pretty sound understanding of how things will pan out in Scotland too. We said the Referendum would get closer, but would ultimately be lost because the SNP did not have the answers to basic questions on the currency, jobs, the role of the Queen etc. Some of us (ahem...) said the SNP would poll 50%. (In the end it was 49.9%. So sue me.)
Comments
Gove kicked his oppos all over the HoC, May ate Cooper, Hunt ate Burnham, Ozzie mostly ate Balls who just got points for being annoying.
I honestly can't recall the last time a Labour frontbencher won a scalp in an argument. It's been years. It's so different to how it used to be. That Cameron is very reluctant to reshuffle also really made a big difference to how effective a SoS can be.
Our friends in Kiev up to no good again.
The SNP seats look very hard to get back but no prospective Labour leader can ignore the challenge. Ironically, as usual, they are going to need a lot of help from Osborne and Cameron in their determination to bring some budgetary reality into Scottish politics.
Labour have to neutralise the SNP threat as a pre-requisite. England will not consider a Labour government in hock to the SNP.
Mr Dancer,
"Science: when data disagrees with you, it's the data that's wrong, damn it:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-33006179
The pause in global warming's wrong because it conflicts with the theory. Said before that some remind me of the Church a millennium ago, claiming the sun orbited the Earth."
The most worrying thing about the article is this quote ... "This means natural variability in the climate system or other external factors has still had an influence and it's important we continue research to fully understand all the processes at work,"
This is science speak for "the results aren't behaving as they should because we're not sure what's going on."
That's the problem; with so many variables, some known and some unknown, we seem to make the facts fit the theory, rather the the other way round.
It's well known to be a common fault and it's why outdated theories persist
It might be right, and it might eventually be proven to be right, but it's not science.
Global warming comes across to me as more a religious than scientific view, with a touch of self-interest thrown in (can't get research grants if you deny The Consensus). The only thing that makes me doubt that is that some intelligent people do believe it. But then, I trust my own judgement more than that of others, and I'm not about to contract out of critical faculties to people who seem to be driven by ideology rather than scepticism (the foundation of scientific inquiry).
As Huxley said:
"The great tragedy of Science — the slaying of a beautiful hypothesis by an ugly fact."
"US researchers say new evidence casts doubt on the idea that global warming has "slowed" in recent years.
A US government laboratory says the much talked about "pause" is an illusion caused by inaccurate data.
Updated observations show temperatures did not plateau, say National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) scientists."
The operative words are 'evidence' and 'observations'.
What's wrong with continuing to gather data to find out what is happening, that's how science works.
Edit: should rephrase that: the deputy leadership election is going to be more interesting for Labour's long-term survival than the leadership election (cos they will be gone within 5 years)
Instead of modifying their theories to account for facts they're seeking to modify facts to account for their theories. And that is not how science works.
I'm still almost expecting to wake up and discover the last month didn't happen. We used to be gobsmacked when the Tories gained a huge number of council seats that cut right against the received wisdom - for a Party of HMG to increase MP seats is surely almost unprecedented?
What conclusions would you like to draw about me?
BTW - thought Creagh made a fool of herself last night on QT - and could not relate to the audience.
Gathering evidence depends on where you look. To test a theory, you look to disprove it. This smacks to me of concentrating on trying to disprove evidence against the theory. A normal reaction but not true science.
As Huxley said. "The great tragedy of science - the slaying of a beautiful hypothesis by an ugly fact."
Thank God for the jury system that acquitted the vast majority of them, for the State to hound those seeking to expose its secrets is surely not acceptable in a democracy?
Excellent article by Fraser Nelson in the DT today on the challenges facing the Justice department.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/11652532/The-Andy-Coulson-farce-proves-the-justice-system-needs-urgent-reform.html
They feel really angry with Labour for having allowed the Tories back in with a majority. None of them see any of the current candidates as improving the party's fortunes. Yvette not the answer, expressed with some vehemence.
Interestingly, the only name that was offered as a possible route to salvation for the Party was Keir Starmer.
The signs were there in the subtexts all the time and became increasingly clear as election day approached. It was just that the pollsters ignored them and did not ask why these signs did not correlate with the polling VI.
When EdM approached Brand and then produced his EdStone all in the last fortnight, it was very strong evidence that he knew he was in real trouble - both were things that any sensible politician would have run miles from.
My current concern is the potential Grexit as it is not easy to foresee where the Euro will go in the next 12 months.
Reasons can be summed up it two signs 1) Osborne and austerity 2) attitude of contributors to this site. It is time to part hopefully as friends but part none the less.
The EU simply can't take the loss of face no matter how many knots it ties them in.
There is a world of difference between being brought up on an Estate and being brought up on an estate!
You beat me to it.
BREAKING NEWS: 68 people including two pregnant woman have been found locked in a container at Harwich International Port in Essex thought to have come from Holland
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CGr2laRWQAAvdKc.jpg
I managed to solve it after dredging my mind for knowledge last used 30 years ago with no great difficulty. If such knowledge wasn't on the curriculum, I'd have sympathy with the children being tested (though I would want to know why it wasn't).
2) Seriously? The SNP should put something in their manifesto because of what people write on an internet website?
The Nobel prize winner, Richard Feynman, always had the bets quotes.
For the AGW enthusiasts ... "“Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt.” and "If you thought that science was certain - well, that is just an error on your part." and of course ... “We are trying to prove ourselves wrong as quickly as possible, because only in that way can we find progress.”
Also they should be taught that past papers are no indication of the next paper. Anyway if the schools were awake, such problems and difficulties should have been picked up in the 'mocks' - or are those not done any more?
n^2-n-90=0
n^2-n=90
so n is obviously 10
with 6 orange sweets, and 4 others, the probability of an orange sweet first is 6/10 and an orange sweet again second time is 5/9. multiply together to give 30/90, or 1/3.
Like last time he needs to do it in the first 18 months since some of it will be painful and the gains not seen until 3-4 years hence.
I can't say I'm optimistic he'll grasp the nettle.
My first year Chemistry/Chemical Engineering paper on Basic Thermodynamics is being sat today. The main thing that has struck me is the over-reliance on past papers. We allow the students to see back three years, so back to 2012. When a completely different person set the exam.
I've tried to set mocks (no-one turns up as there is no credit for it) and problem sheets that go a bit deeper into the subject ("ah, but its so hard"). Still I get emails "sir, in the 2012 paper, Q2, b, ii, they asked this, will this be in the exam?"
Although I did go to state primary and middle schools as well for a while. I'm an everyman, me.
So n sweets, 6 are orange, n-6 are yellow.
P(orange) = 6/n
After one orange sweet eaten, n-1 sweets, 5 are orange, n-6 are yellow.
P(orange) is now 5/n-1
The probability of eating two orange sweets is 1/3
(6/n)*(5/n-1) = 1/3
And expand that to get the quadratic equation.
I come from solid middle class stock on both sides. The shadow cabinet in large part do too, as indeed do most of the Conservative bench.
Dair's conception that these are "posh" backgrounds is rather perverse, unless you consider the UK to be majority posh. It is rather curious that the MP that the SNP have chosen as their target is the oldest and most working class Labour MP. It shows their character.
https://twitter.com/TSEofPB/status/606747530605559808
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6 over n multiplied by 5 over n-1 = 30 over n2 - n [which must also be 90 because 30/90 is a third, the chance of two orange sweets in a row]. Therefore n2 - n - 90 = 0?
I do have a Maths A-level [which a mildly comical grade]. I've said before that Maths was massively variable as a A-level. Decision, which I never did, was reportedly super easy. Statistics was ok and had lots of formulae included with the exams. Mechanics was similar to A-level physics, and Pure was trickiest of all. Six modules were put together for an A-level, when I did it (one Stats, two Mechanics and three Pure, I think).
Edited extra bit: with* not which.
The fact that the list (you still have not said if you produced it) mentions it shows that you think it is of import.
I just found your list rather oddly broken. In fact, ridiculously broken.
Most of the kids moaning on twitter have omitted the part in the question sating the probability of 1/3, which of course is key to answering the question.
It's a pity there isn't more focus on Decision Maths at A Level - in a world of big data and "data scientists" its very relevant to the modern workplace.
If this English Subsidy did in fact exist, surely control over your own tax and spending rates would eliminate this, with the Scottish government contributing only a proportional share of agreed spending on Reserved matters such as defence, international aid and debt interest?
I did rather poorly at Maths. Felt like there was a huge gulf between GCSE and A-level, and the Mechanics wasn't helped by me being almost the only person taking Maths but not Physics. Some more intelligence and a better work ethic would've helped too
One can be well off and lazy, poor off and lazy. It doesn't make either superior to the other. I dislike inverted snobbery as much as I dislike common or garden snobbery. But the self-righteousness and name calling of people as Posh just makes my hackles rise. It's a social culture tax on aspiration, which is poisonous and insidious.
;-)
Often I just wonder if the social security/benefits culture has in some areas removed the need to be aspirational? It is strange because in the poor village where I went to primary school, any pupil success was a source of pride to the village.
The same today happens in many Asian and some African cultures. However, when many of them come to the UK, do some lose part of that aspiration which was a vital function for them in the homeland?
Has the all-must-win prizes attitude removed the love of striving for success and a natural curiosity for knowledge?
St Urgeon the patron saint of Fibs has a negative rating.
It's a unionist media conspiracy.
I did Chemistry/Biology A Levels with Maths as a sidebar - and was the only one who didn't do Physics. I'm totally crap at Physics and dropped in before my O Levels. I can honestly say that I didn't have a clue what was being taught and glazed over during lessons. I had to drop it before anyone noticed!
If I can't visual a problem, I can't solve it. Bit of bugger with Physics...
Though I am going to the WI BBQ tonight. Does that count as posh?