Is there any convincing evidence (that excludes Twitter of course) that Andy Burnham has not already won the election for Labour leader and all we are talking about is the margins? All of the polling (I know, I know) seems to point in this direction and so do the markets (in so far as they are something different).
It does seem to me that Kendall has failed to make a Cameron like break through to the membership. In fact she has picked up a surprising amount of hostility for someone whose positions are so undeveloped.
Corbyn doesn't even seem to want to win. He simply wants his arguments and perspective to be heard for reasons that completely escape me.
Cooper is just stunningly dull. A compromise candidate at the very best and not a very good compromise at that despite probably being the cleverest of the four.
Burnham is really nothing special but he is so far out in front that I think he is out of sight to the peloton and will remain so.
I frankly wish it was more interesting but it just isn't. Maybe, if Ed had stayed on for 6 months as Lord Bragg was referring to this morning and let Labour think about where they wanted to be led before deciding who was doing the leading it might have been better. But I frankly doubt it.
I think you are right there, all the polling suggests Burnham is ahead whether with yougov polls of All voters or Labour voters or that ORB net favourability poll. I also doubt Labour members will differ that much from Labour voters, as OGH states it would be good if yougov finally got round to doing a Labour members poll, but if a Labour members poll has it Kendall followed by Corbyn I will eat my hat!
"The fact that the leaders of three Greek opposition parties have agreed to back prime minister Alexis Tsipras in the debt negotiations is an important development.
The strong No vote in Sunday’s referendum has strengthened Tsipras’s position, as he heads to Brussels tomorrow.
As well as representing his Syriza-ANEL administration, Tsipras now has the backing of New Democracy, To Potami and Pasok.
That only leaves the KKE communist party on the sidelines, and the extreme right-wing Golden Dawn. "
Record car sales is surely bad for the UK economy when five out of six new cars are imported and increased private borrowing to buy cars is dangerous when interest rates are likely to rise from their record low.
We are producing an ever increasing number of cars ourselves ... mostly for export.
True and that is great but the point still remains that unfortunately we import twice as many cars as we export and that UK production only accounted for 380,000 vehicles out of the 2.5 million bought in 2014.
More than £7 billion of investment into UK production facilities has been announced in the past two or 3 years years. Exports by value doubled over a decade. But maybe we should be more interested in things like 3D printing, something which might eliminate exports altogether (??).
Ironically, it looks like the 1970s union dinosaurs were right -- what the industry needed was more investment and better (in this case, foreign) management.
The official "British Royal Train" is ultimately owned... by the Germans
I see the ex greek finance minister has not yet given up on life completely. He rides his motorbike with a crash helmet, but it has to be said that his wife on pillion does not. (See BBC photo). But this really typifies Greece in a nutshell - flagrant ignoring of law wherever you care to look. They are not worth dealing with. More fool anybody who does. If the Greeks do not care about killing hundreds of young people on the roads, why should we expect them to be sane with money@
(fining all the non helmet wearers would go a long way to clearing their deficit. But the police cannot be bothered)
Ironically, it looks like the 1970s union dinosaurs were right -- what the industry needed was more investment and better (in this case, foreign) management.
Eh?
The 1970s union dinosaurs did everything in their power, including using the most appalling intimidation, to prevent investment and sabotage management.
There were some interesting stats in the last ST Labour Leadership Yougov poll figures, Corbyn for example has 4% overall but 0% amongst UKIP voters and 8% in Scotland. Kendall has 4% overall and actually does worse with Tories at 3%, contrary to expectations, but very well with LDs at 8% (perhaps explains OGH's support). Cooper has 7% overall but does poorly with Tories on 4% but well in Scotland on 10%. Burnham has 10% overall and does very well in the North on 17% but not so well in London on 6%
Record car sales is surely bad for the UK economy when five out of six new cars are imported and increased private borrowing to buy cars is dangerous when interest rates are likely to rise from their record low.
We are producing an ever increasing number of cars ourselves ... mostly for export.
True and that is great but the point still remains that unfortunately we import twice as many cars as we export and that UK production only accounted for 380,000 vehicles out of the 2.5 million bought in 2014.
More than £7 billion of investment into UK production facilities has been announced in the past two or 3 years years. Exports by value doubled over a decade. But maybe we should be more interested in things like 3D printing, something which might eliminate exports altogether (??).
Ironically, it looks like the 1970s union dinosaurs were right -- what the industry needed was more investment and better (in this case, foreign) management.
The official "British Royal Train" is ultimately owned... by the Germans
Record car sales is surely bad for the UK economy when five out of six new cars are imported and increased private borrowing to buy cars is dangerous when interest rates are likely to rise from their record low.
We are producing an ever increasing number of cars ourselves ... mostly for export.
Top Gear did a feature on it and drove all British built vehicles up The Mall. www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmcmqTAu6b8
That was before the Tory-run BBC sacked Jeremy Clarkson, of course.
har har har. Tories do not 'run' the BBC. I wish they did. I'll settle for it being shut down. The present director general started at the BBC as virtually a tea boy and has the typical BBC culture embedded in him. He may be posh but that does not make you a tory.
EU official: Migrant boats also carrying IS fighters
"BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union's top prosecutor said Monday she has been told that smugglers' boats bringing migrants across the Mediterranean to Europe are also carrying Islamic State group fighters. ...
Coninsx said the agency's coordination efforts are ongoing and she couldn't divulge what information EU nations had provided.
She told The Associated Press it isn't yet clear what problem the reported infiltration of Islamic militants may pose for European law enforcement. But she said groups like Islamic State are also using proceeds from people trafficking to fund terrorism."
90mins of almost every album cover you either owned or remember flicking passed. And great stats/trivia. I had no idea that Tapestry was the biggest selling singer/songwriter album of all time until Thriller, Queen's Night At The Opera was the most expensive album ever made at that time, Dark Side Of The Moon spent 14yrs in the Billboard Top 200, Peter Frampton's Alive is the biggest selling live album of all time...
If you're into 60s/70s music - you won't be disappointed.
Is there any convincing evidence (that excludes Twitter of course) that Andy Burnham has not already won the election for Labour leader and all we are talking about is the margins? All of the polling (I know, I know) seems to point in this direction and so do the markets (in so far as they are something different).
It does seem to me that Kendall has failed to make a Cameron like break through to the membership. In fact she has picked up a surprising amount of hostility for someone whose positions are so undeveloped.
Corbyn doesn't even seem to want to win. He simply wants his arguments and perspective to be heard for reasons that completely escape me.
Cooper is just stunningly dull. A compromise candidate at the very best and not a very good compromise at that despite probably being the cleverest of the four.
Burnham is really nothing special but he is so far out in front that I think he is out of sight to the peloton and will remain so.
I frankly wish it was more interesting but it just isn't. Maybe, if Ed had stayed on for 6 months as Lord Bragg was referring to this morning and let Labour think about where they wanted to be led before deciding who was doing the leading it might have been better. But I frankly doubt it.
I think you are right there, all the polling suggests Burnham is ahead whether with yougov polls of All voters or Labour voters or that ORB net favourability poll. I also doubt Labour members will differ that much from Labour voters, as OGH states it would be good if yougov finally got round to doing a Labour members poll, but if a Labour members poll has it Kendall followed by Corbyn I will eat my hat!
Nobody can be said to be out in front because there has been no published poll of those who will vote in the election . We simply don't know.
Is there any convincing evidence (that excludes Twitter of course) that Andy Burnham has not already won the election for Labour leader and all we are talking about is the margins? All of the polling (I know, I know) seems to point in this direction and so do the markets (in so far as they are something different).
It does seem to me that Kendall has failed to make a Cameron like break through to the membership. In fact she has picked up a surprising amount of hostility for someone whose positions are so undeveloped.
Corbyn doesn't even seem to want to win. He simply wants his arguments and perspective to be heard for reasons that completely escape me.
Cooper is just stunningly dull. A compromise candidate at the very best and not a very good compromise at that despite probably being the cleverest of the four.
Burnham is really nothing special but he is so far out in front that I think he is out of sight to the peloton and will remain so.
I frankly wish it was more interesting but it just isn't. Maybe, if Ed had stayed on for 6 months as Lord Bragg was referring to this morning and let Labour think about where they wanted to be led before deciding who was doing the leading it might have been better. But I frankly doubt it.
I think you are right there, all the polling suggests Burnham is ahead whether with yougov polls of All voters or Labour voters or that ORB net favourability poll. I also doubt Labour members will differ that much from Labour voters, as OGH states it would be good if yougov finally got round to doing a Labour members poll, but if a Labour members poll has it Kendall followed by Corbyn I will eat my hat!
Nobody can be said to be out in front because there has been no published poll of those who will vote in the election . We simply don't know.
There has been a poll of Labour voters and while not all Labour voters are Labour members, almost all Labour members are Labour voters
Kendall coming 4th would be as bad a blow for Labour as Corbyn winning.
Kendall coming anything other than first would be a bad blow for Labour.
I agree with you, Mike. I was ar a Burnham hustings on the weekend. very articulate etc, but he was focussing on the low paid, sick and unemployed, the very group who the Tories have successfully attacked for the last 5 years and are continuing to attack, because it knows if they vote at all, which is unlikely, it will not be for the Tories. Labour will not win in 2020 by pandering to that group. It needs to focus on 'middle England'. If it means out Torying the Tories, then so be it. Labour can revert to more socially friendly policies if it wins.
90mins of almost every album cover you either owned or remember flicking passed. And great stats/trivia. I had no idea that Tapestry was the biggest selling singer/songwriter album of all time until Thriller, Queen's Night At The Opera was the most expensive album ever made at that time, Dark Side Of The Moon spent 14yrs in the Billboard Top 200, Peter Frampton's Alive is the biggest selling live album of all time...
If you're into 60s/70s music - you won't be disappointed.
Record car sales is surely bad for the UK economy when five out of six new cars are imported and increased private borrowing to buy cars is dangerous when interest rates are likely to rise from their record low.
We are producing an ever increasing number of cars ourselves ... mostly for export.
True and that is great but the point still remains that unfortunately we import twice as many cars as we export and that UK production only accounted for 380,000 vehicles out of the 2.5 million bought in 2014.
More than £7 billion of investment into UK production facilities has been announced in the past two or 3 years years. Exports by value doubled over a decade. But maybe we should be more interested in things like 3D printing, something which might eliminate exports altogether (??).
Ironically, it looks like the 1970s union dinosaurs were right -- what the industry needed was more investment and better (in this case, foreign) management.
The official "British Royal Train" is ultimately owned... by the Germans
"The fact that the leaders of three Greek opposition parties have agreed to back prime minister Alexis Tsipras in the debt negotiations is an important development.
The strong No vote in Sunday’s referendum has strengthened Tsipras’s position, as he heads to Brussels tomorrow.
As well as representing his Syriza-ANEL administration, Tsipras now has the backing of New Democracy, To Potami and Pasok.
That only leaves the KKE communist party on the sidelines, and the extreme right-wing Golden Dawn. "
Ah, the KKE, who were happy to plunge Greece into Civil War in 1946-49, despite knowing Stalin wouldn't step in to support them (per the "Percentages Agreement" with Churchill).
Kendall coming 4th would be as bad a blow for Labour as Corbyn winning.
Kendall coming anything other than first would be a bad blow for Labour.
I agree with you, Mike. I was ar a Burnham hustings on the weekend. very articulate etc, but he was focussing on the low paid, sick and unemployed, the very group who the Tories have successfully attacked for the last 5 years and are continuing to attack, because it knows if they vote at all, which is unlikely, it will not be for the Tories. Labour will not win in 2020 by pandering to that group. It needs to focus on 'middle England'. If it means out Torying the Tories, then so be it. Labour can revert to more socially friendly policies if it wins.
Don't forget if Labour win back a few seats in Scotland that will also make it easier for them to win a majority without just relying on English and Welsh marginals. Labour also does not want to lose any voters to the Greens even if its main task is winning back floating voters
EU official: Migrant boats also carrying IS fighters
"BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union's top prosecutor said Monday she has been told that smugglers' boats bringing migrants across the Mediterranean to Europe are also carrying Islamic State group fighters. ...
Coninsx said the agency's coordination efforts are ongoing and she couldn't divulge what information EU nations had provided.
She told The Associated Press it isn't yet clear what problem the reported infiltration of Islamic militants may pose for European law enforcement. But she said groups like Islamic State are also using proceeds from people trafficking to fund terrorism."
I'm shocked - someone tell Mr Farron so he can make an even bigger a*** of himself with another article in the Guardian.
''She told The Associated Press it isn't yet clear what problem the reported infiltration of Islamic militants may pose for European law enforcement.''
I see the ex greek finance minister has not yet given up on life completely. He rides his motorbike with a crash helmet, but it has to be said that his wife on pillion does not. (See BBC photo). But this really typifies Greece in a nutshell - flagrant ignoring of law wherever you care to look. They are not worth dealing with. More fool anybody who does.
Yeah: as if there isn't fragrant ignoring of the law in all sorts of other countries, including this one. Let's take laws on not using one's mobile while driving: you can see examples of this every single day. And how many of those drivers are fined?
Greece may or many not be the worst example but the prissy self-righteousness coming out of the Germans and the EU bureaucracy is a bit much frankly.
I see the ex greek finance minister has not yet given up on life completely. He rides his motorbike with a crash helmet, but it has to be said that his wife on pillion does not. (See BBC photo). But this really typifies Greece in a nutshell - flagrant ignoring of law wherever you care to look. They are not worth dealing with. More fool anybody who does.
Yeah: as if there isn't fragrant ignoring of the law in all sorts of other countries, including this one. Let's take laws on not using one's mobile while driving: you can see examples of this every single day. And how many of those drivers are fined?
Greece may or many not be the worst example but the prissy self-righteousness coming out of the Germans and the EU bureaucracy is a bit much frankly.
I agree with your sentiment, but I think the level of tax dodging is clearly on an entirely different level in Greece compared to most other European countries, and that's one of the main reasons why they're in this mess.
I see the ex greek finance minister has not yet given up on life completely. He rides his motorbike with a crash helmet, but it has to be said that his wife on pillion does not. (See BBC photo). But this really typifies Greece in a nutshell - flagrant ignoring of law wherever you care to look. They are not worth dealing with. More fool anybody who does. If the Greeks do not care about killing hundreds of young people on the roads, why should we expect them to be sane with money@
(fining all the non helmet wearers would go a long way to clearing their deficit. But the police cannot be bothered)
Assuming you are not joking that is a ridiculous and petty posting.
Kendall coming 4th would be as bad a blow for Labour as Corbyn winning.
Kendall coming anything other than first would be a bad blow for Labour.
I agree with you, Mike. I was ar a Burnham hustings on the weekend. very articulate etc, but he was focussing on the low paid, sick and unemployed, the very group who the Tories have successfully attacked for the last 5 years and are continuing to attack, because it knows if they vote at all, which is unlikely, it will not be for the Tories. Labour will not win in 2020 by pandering to that group. It needs to focus on 'middle England'. If it means out Torying the Tories, then so be it. Labour can revert to more socially friendly policies if it wins.
In other words you want the party to lie its way back to power. How very revealing.
I see the ex greek finance minister has not yet given up on life completely. He rides his motorbike with a crash helmet, but it has to be said that his wife on pillion does not. (See BBC photo). But this really typifies Greece in a nutshell - flagrant ignoring of law wherever you care to look. They are not worth dealing with. More fool anybody who does.
Yeah: as if there isn't fragrant ignoring of the law in all sorts of other countries, including this one. Let's take laws on not using one's mobile while driving: you can see examples of this every single day. And how many of those drivers are fined?
Greece may or many not be the worst example but the prissy self-righteousness coming out of the Germans and the EU bureaucracy is a bit much frankly.
Lol - while i like the idea of 'fragrantly' breaking the law I think you meant 'flagrant'.
I see the ex greek finance minister has not yet given up on life completely. He rides his motorbike with a crash helmet, but it has to be said that his wife on pillion does not. (See BBC photo). But this really typifies Greece in a nutshell - flagrant ignoring of law wherever you care to look. They are not worth dealing with. More fool anybody who does.
Yeah: as if there isn't fragrant ignoring of the law in all sorts of other countries, including this one. Let's take laws on not using one's mobile while driving: you can see examples of this every single day. And how many of those drivers are fined?
Greece may or many not be the worst example but the prissy self-righteousness coming out of the Germans and the EU bureaucracy is a bit much frankly.
I agree with your sentiment, but I think the level of tax dodging is clearly on an entirely different level in Greece compared to most other European countries, and that's one of the main reasons why they're in this mess.
I think that Greece is a test case for the Laffer curve. The reforms increased taxes by so much that tax evasion increased and revenue fell.
Also I read that the ND party knew 2 days before the referendum than NO will win by a landslide and a prominent ND politician had asked Samaras to resign beforehand, that means that the published greek opinion polls were intentionally misleading and fits with the leak from ND that asked from TV stations to publish fake polls showing YES in the lead.
Record car sales is surely bad for the UK economy when five out of six new cars are imported and increased private borrowing to buy cars is dangerous when interest rates are likely to rise from their record low.
We are producing an ever increasing number of cars ourselves ... mostly for export.
True and that is great but the point still remains that unfortunately we import twice as many cars as we export and that UK production only accounted for 380,000 vehicles out of the 2.5 million bought in 2014.
More than £7 billion of investment into UK production facilities has been announced in the past two or 3 years years. Exports by value doubled over a decade. But maybe we should be more interested in things like 3D printing, something which might eliminate exports altogether (??).
Ironically, it looks like the 1970s union dinosaurs were right -- what the industry needed was more investment and better (in this case, foreign) management.
The official "British Royal Train" is ultimately owned... by the Germans
One of the right wing objections to "selling off the family silver" was that often we just turned British state assets into foreign state assets, with no dynamic, thrusting entrepreneurs in sight.
I see the ex greek finance minister has not yet given up on life completely. He rides his motorbike with a crash helmet, but it has to be said that his wife on pillion does not. (See BBC photo). But this really typifies Greece in a nutshell - flagrant ignoring of law wherever you care to look. They are not worth dealing with. More fool anybody who does.
Yeah: as if there isn't fragrant ignoring of the law in all sorts of other countries, including this one. Let's take laws on not using one's mobile while driving: you can see examples of this every single day. And how many of those drivers are fined?
Greece may or many not be the worst example but the prissy self-righteousness coming out of the Germans and the EU bureaucracy is a bit much frankly.
I agree with your sentiment, but I think the level of tax dodging is clearly on an entirely different level in Greece compared to most other European countries, and that's one of the main reasons why they're in this mess.
I think that Greece is a test case for the Laffer curve. The reforms increased taxes by so much that tax evasion increased and revenue fell.
Also I read that the ND party knew 2 days before the referendum than NO will win by a landslide and a prominent ND politician had asked Samaras to resign beforehand, that means that the published greek opinion polls were intentionally misleading and fits with the leak from ND that asked from TV stations to publish fake polls showing YES in the lead.
Yet half the polls showed No in front, probably more a case for late deciders and don't knows (about 20% in most polls) going for No
Kendall coming 4th would be as bad a blow for Labour as Corbyn winning.
Kendall coming anything other than first would be a bad blow for Labour.
I agree with you, Mike. I was ar a Burnham hustings on the weekend. very articulate etc, but he was focussing on the low paid, sick and unemployed, the very group who the Tories have successfully attacked for the last 5 years and are continuing to attack, because it knows if they vote at all, which is unlikely, it will not be for the Tories. Labour will not win in 2020 by pandering to that group. It needs to focus on 'middle England'. If it means out Torying the Tories, then so be it. Labour can revert to more socially friendly policies if it wins.
Yes, the Conservatives have attacked the unemployed so successfully over the last five years that there are now about 850k fewer of them compared with the recent peak.
As for Kendall, she's lightweight and offers nothing to the left. She runs the risk of failing to capture the centre while the Greens, SNP, Plaid and (under Farron) Lib Dems eat into the ex-core. As a Tory, none of the four worry me particularly but I'd rate both Burnham and Cooper (in that order) ahead of Kendall. Corbyn would, of course, be the jackpot and it's not completely out of the question.
I see the ex greek finance minister has not yet given up on life completely. He rides his motorbike with a crash helmet, but it has to be said that his wife on pillion does not. (See BBC photo). But this really typifies Greece in a nutshell - flagrant ignoring of law wherever you care to look. They are not worth dealing with. More fool anybody who does.
Yeah: as if there isn't fragrant ignoring of the law in all sorts of other countries, including this one. Let's take laws on not using one's mobile while driving: you can see examples of this every single day. And how many of those drivers are fined?
Greece may or many not be the worst example but the prissy self-righteousness coming out of the Germans and the EU bureaucracy is a bit much frankly.
I agree with your sentiment, but I think the level of tax dodging is clearly on an entirely different level in Greece compared to most other European countries, and that's one of the main reasons why they're in this mess.
Hmm.....I have some experience of the Italian tax system. As far as I can tell, paying tax seems to be a largely voluntary activity there also.
Given that Eurocrats do not pay any tax at all, who are they to lecture others on not paying tax?
One of the reasons taxpayers are reluctant to pay tax is that they have absolutely no trust in government, either in theory or practice. It takes time and credibility to build up a trustworthy and broadly competent administration. Neither Greece nor Italy (nor a number of other countries) have much or any experience of that. It's a vicious cycle and difficult to break out of.
Behaving and talking as if the North is competent and has no corruption and the South is incompetent and corrupt does not really help very much. Even Helmut Kohl was found to have been less than ethical in relation to his receipt and use of party funds.
Don't understand why they don't just make the debt cancellation dependent on the implementation of reforms, so for each reform implemented or milestone reached a corresponding amount of debt would be cancelled. If Syriza only implement half arsed reforms then they would get barely sustainable debt cancellation. Would be transparent, accountable and realistic. Both parties need to make concessions and rebuild trust. Maybe this is too obvious or has already been proposed.
I see the ex greek finance minister has not yet given up on life completely. He rides his motorbike with a crash helmet, but it has to be said that his wife on pillion does not. (See BBC photo). But this really typifies Greece in a nutshell - flagrant ignoring of law wherever you care to look. They are not worth dealing with. More fool anybody who does.
Yeah: as if there isn't fragrant ignoring of the law in all sorts of other countries, including this one. Let's take laws on not using one's mobile while driving: you can see examples of this every single day. And how many of those drivers are fined?
Greece may or many not be the worst example but the prissy self-righteousness coming out of the Germans and the EU bureaucracy is a bit much frankly.
Germany has earned the right to be self-righteous.
I see the ex greek finance minister has not yet given up on life completely. He rides his motorbike with a crash helmet, but it has to be said that his wife on pillion does not. (See BBC photo). But this really typifies Greece in a nutshell - flagrant ignoring of law wherever you care to look. They are not worth dealing with. More fool anybody who does.
Yeah: as if there isn't fragrant ignoring of the law in all sorts of other countries, including this one. Let's take laws on not using one's mobile while driving: you can see examples of this every single day. And how many of those drivers are fined?
Greece may or many not be the worst example but the prissy self-righteousness coming out of the Germans and the EU bureaucracy is a bit much frankly.
I agree with your sentiment, but I think the level of tax dodging is clearly on an entirely different level in Greece compared to most other European countries, and that's one of the main reasons why they're in this mess.
I think that Greece is a test case for the Laffer curve. The reforms increased taxes by so much that tax evasion increased and revenue fell.
Also I read that the ND party knew 2 days before the referendum than NO will win by a landslide and a prominent ND politician had asked Samaras to resign beforehand, that means that the published greek opinion polls were intentionally misleading and fits with the leak from ND that asked from TV stations to publish fake polls showing YES in the lead.
Laffer: Greece is a little bit wobbly as a source of stats though isn't it? I presume that there will be a national day of celebration in lieu of the Greeks setting a new gold standard on tax evasion.
Greece has to default, has to leave the Euro, and it will be tough even then. If you want to fill a bathtub, and its emptying then you block the leak rather than form a bucket-chain.
Greece leaving now will place them in a golden spot - everyone thinks that it's their fault. Horrid, awfulness, and blighting the Greeks. If there is a magic money tree then that's it.
Kendall coming 4th would be as bad a blow for Labour as Corbyn winning.
Kendall coming anything other than first would be a bad blow for Labour.
I agree with you, Mike. I was ar a Burnham hustings on the weekend. very articulate etc, but he was focussing on the low paid, sick and unemployed, the very group who the Tories have successfully attacked for the last 5 years and are continuing to attack, because it knows if they vote at all, which is unlikely, it will not be for the Tories. Labour will not win in 2020 by pandering to that group. It needs to focus on 'middle England'. If it means out Torying the Tories, then so be it. Labour can revert to more socially friendly policies if it wins.
Yes, the Conservatives have attacked the unemployed so successfully over the last five years that there are now about 850k fewer of them compared with the recent peak.
As for Kendall, she's lightweight and offers nothing to the left. She runs the risk of failing to capture the centre while the Greens, SNP, Plaid and (under Farron) Lib Dems eat into the ex-core. As a Tory, none of the four worry me particularly but I'd rate both Burnham and Cooper (in that order) ahead of Kendall. Corbyn would, of course, be the jackpot and it's not completely out of the question.
I agree entirely with that and I am no natural Labour voter either
Much loved "favourite" by some on this website , the Met Office,"Scorching summers such as the one in 2003 look set to become more common in England and Wales, a study suggests. And devastating rains such as in Britain's worst winter in 2013-14 may be less likely in the decades ahead. " "the odds of a very cold winter similar to 2009-10 fall to less than 1% over the same period (2100) " BBC hack David Shukman is his usual partial self. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-33417413
Unfortunately, few of us will be alive to laugh at their failures.
I see the ex greek finance minister has not yet given up on life completely. He rides his motorbike with a crash helmet, but it has to be said that his wife on pillion does not. (See BBC photo). But this really typifies Greece in a nutshell - flagrant ignoring of law wherever you care to look. They are not worth dealing with. More fool anybody who does.
Yeah: as if there isn't fragrant ignoring of the law in all sorts of other countries, including this one. Let's take laws on not using one's mobile while driving: you can see examples of this every single day. And how many of those drivers are fined?
Greece may or many not be the worst example but the prissy self-righteousness coming out of the Germans and the EU bureaucracy is a bit much frankly.
Germany has earned the right to be self-righteous.
No they haven't. They have one of the worst default records of the twentieth century and have used the imbalances within the Eurozone to boost their exports and to thrive whilst others suffered. As someone pointed out earlier today they can only have an undervalued currency to help their exports because for other countries in the EU that currency is way overvalued.
The German's made sure the rules of the single currency suited them no matter what the effect on the rest of the Eurozone and now they are hopefully going to pay the price.
Kendall would only be a solution if you think the reason for Labour's defeat was because the public had given a full consideration of Labour's policies, and decided they were too left-wing. I know the Tories want to believe that's the case, but the polling (obvious caveats) and reports from canvassers simply don't back that analysis up.
If on the other hand you think the main reasons for the defeat were that Miliband just didn't come across as a competent leader, and was terrible at actually selling a message, then it's hard to see how Kendall is the answer to either issue (though neither is Corbyn to be fair).
Much loved "favourite" by some on this website , the Met Office,"Scorching summers such as the one in 2003 look set to become more common in England and Wales, a study suggests. And devastating rains such as in Britain's worst winter in 2013-14 may be less likely in the decades ahead. " "the odds of a very cold winter similar to 2009-10 fall to less than 1% over the same period (2100) " BBC hack David Shukman is his usual partial self. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-33417413
Unfortunately, few of us will be alive to laugh at their failures.
Well, the sky has resolutely failed to fall in today contrary to some expectations and if you want stock market angst and anguish, China's the place for you with a big slump on the Shanghai exchange.
This is much less high-stakes poker than it seems - the Greeks don't want to leave the Euro and the Eurozone knows a Grexit will set a precedent the EZ literally cannot afford so on that basis some kind of deal will be done at some point. That the NO vote has immeasurably strengthened Tsipras's hand in the negotiation is undeniable but ultimately he needs a deal as much as the EZ does so a deal will be done.
That the NO vote has immeasurably strengthened Tsipras's hand in the negotiation is undeniable
LOL!
Funny way of strengthening your hand in negotiations: close the banks, break your pledge to re-open them, bring the economy to a complete standstill, accuse the other side of being terrorists, limit your population to pocket-money, bankrupt an increasing number of your businesses, scare off tourists, and sack your finance minister. And have a party.
Kendall would only be a solution if you think the reason for Labour's defeat was because the public had given a full consideration of Labour's policies, and decided they were too left-wing. I know the Tories want to believe that's the case, but the polling (obvious caveats) and reports from canvassers simply don't back that analysis up.
55% of English voters voted Conservative or UKIP, parties avowedly of the right. To win again, Labour needs to win approximately 20% of this vote (that's one fifth, not twenty points). Scotland is a little different, but a case could be made that the SNP is a right-wing party mouthing left-wing platitudes. To quote Lynton Crosby, when you shoot ducks, it helps to go where the ducks are, not where you think they ought to be.
If on the other hand you think the main reasons for the defeat were that Miliband just didn't come across as a competent leader, and was terrible at actually selling a message, then it's hard to see how Kendall is the answer to either issue (though neither is Corbyn to be fair).
Or, for the matter of that, Yvette Cooper (worst TV manner since the late lamented 14th Earl of Home) or Andrew Burnham, who rightly came fourth last time around.
But I don't think it was. I think it really was a fundamental disconnection between Labour and its voters. Labour under Miliband obsessed about a vague equality and diversity agenda, spoke up for the public sector in London and failed to understand the prices and difficulties most of us face every day. That was received very poorly outside the metropolitan areas of southern and central England (cf Scotland). The next leader has to sort that out - and tragically for Labour, not one of them has the least clue what to do about this problem, because they are all cut from the same Miliband cloth.
The Greeks don't want to leave the Euro and the Eurozone knows a Grexit will set a precedent the EZ literally cannot afford so on that basis some kind of deal will be done at some point. That the NO vote has immeasurably strengthened Tsipras's hand in the negotiation is undeniable but ultimately he needs a deal as much as the EZ does so a deal will be done.
I don't think that the European ministers will quite see it that way. Remember, they are still nervous about Spain. Making an example of a small country like Greece is the best way to stop something genuinely expensive/disastrous happening in Iberia.
As for negotiations - what negotiations? The only thing we know so far is that he has made one telephone call that seemed not to lead to any positive result and at the behest of his creditors fired his admittedly barking mad finance minister. Hardly the actions of a man whose hand has been 'immeasurably strengthened.'
Tsipras bluffed on no cards, and unfortunately the Greek electorate have called his bluff for him, something I rather think he wasn't expecting - unless he is genuinely as stupid as he sounds.
That the NO vote has immeasurably strengthened Tsipras's hand in the negotiation is undeniable
LOL!
Funny way of strengthening your hand in negotiations: close the banks, break your pledge to re-open them, bring the economy to a complete standstill, accuse the other side of being terrorists, limit your population to pocket-money, bankrupt an increasing number of your businesses, scare off tourists, and sack your finance minister. And have a party.
A lot of the verbal nonsense is the same posturing we saw in IndyRef last year - what people say publicly and what they say behind the scenes are two different things. Had Scotland voted YES last September, all sides would have acted constructively to make the new state work.
Strange though, for all the suffering you mention, you'd think the Greek people would have turned on Syriza and voted YES. Now, it seems even ND are behind the Government.
Tsipras has played a weak hand well in my view - the deal he will get later this week will be better than the terms had the Greek people voted YES yesterday.
That the NO vote has immeasurably strengthened Tsipras's hand in the negotiation is undeniable
LOL!
Funny way of strengthening your hand in negotiations: close the banks, break your pledge to re-open them, bring the economy to a complete standstill, accuse the other side of being terrorists, limit your population to pocket-money, bankrupt an increasing number of your businesses, scare off tourists, and sack your finance minister. And have a party.
Correct you are. And of course this typifies the way countless PB reputations have gone down the tubes since May 7. A lot of talk but no trousers from far too many self styled internet experts.
I don't think that the European ministers will quite see it that way. Remember, they are still nervous about Spain. Making an example of a small country like Greece is the best way to stop something genuinely expensive/disastrous happening in Iberia.
As for negotiations - what negotiations? The only thing we know so far is that he has made one telephone call that seemed not to lead to any positive result and at the behest of his creditors fired his admittedly barking mad finance minister. Hardly the actions of a man whose hand has been 'immeasurably strengthened.'
Tsipras bluffed on no cards, and unfortunately the Greek electorate have called his bluff for him, something I rather think he wasn't expecting - unless he is genuinely as stupid as he sounds.
Nope, completely wrong, try to take off the partisan "all lefties are always wrong" blinkers for a moment.
"Making an example of" is what would happened had the Greeks voted YES. The EZ now has to decide whether to cut a deal which will be better for the Greeks or risk the ejection of Greece from the EZ and the precedent that will set for Iberia, Italy and anywhere else which, put bluntly, is that once one country leaves the Euro, the spell is broken.
Kendall would only be a solution if you think the reason for Labour's defeat was because the public had given a full consideration of Labour's policies, and decided they were too left-wing. I know the Tories want to believe that's the case, but the polling (obvious caveats) and reports from canvassers simply don't back that analysis up.
55% of English voters voted Conservative or UKIP, parties avowedly of the right. To win again, Labour needs to win approximately 20% of this vote (that's one fifth, not twenty points). Scotland is a little different, but a case could be made that the SNP is a right-wing party mouthing left-wing platitudes. To quote Lynton Crosby, when you shoot ducks, it helps to go where the ducks are, not where you think they ought to be.
If on the other hand you think the main reasons for the defeat were that Miliband just didn't come across as a competent leader, and was terrible at actually selling a message, then it's hard to see how Kendall is the answer to either issue (though neither is Corbyn to be fair).
Or, for the matter of that, Yvette Cooper (worst TV manner since the late lamented 14th Earl of Home) or Andrew Burnham, who rightly came fourth last time around.
But I don't think it was. I think it really was a fundamental disconnection between Labour and its voters. Labour under Miliband obsessed about a vague equality and diversity agenda, spoke up for the public sector in London and failed to understand the prices and difficulties most of us face every day. That was received very poorly outside the metropolitan areas of southern and central England (cf Scotland). The next leader has to sort that out - and tragically for Labour, not one of them has the least clue what to do about this problem, because they are all cut from the same Miliband cloth.
I will repost the figures I posted earlier from yougov, as you can see Burnham does very well in the North and the South, less well in London All voters Tories Labour LDs UKIP
Don't understand why they don't just make the debt cancellation dependent on the implementation of reforms, so for each reform implemented or milestone reached a corresponding amount of debt would be cancelled. If Syriza only implement half arsed reforms then they would get barely sustainable debt cancellation. Would be transparent, accountable and realistic. Both parties need to make concessions and rebuild trust. Maybe this is too obvious or has already been proposed.
Isn't the problem that the creditors don't want to have any debt cancellation at all?
I see the ex greek finance minister has not yet given up on life completely. He rides his motorbike with a crash helmet, but it has to be said that his wife on pillion does not. (See BBC photo). But this really typifies Greece in a nutshell - flagrant ignoring of law wherever you care to look. They are not worth dealing with. More fool anybody who does. If the Greeks do not care about killing hundreds of young people on the roads, why should we expect them to be sane with money@
(fining all the non helmet wearers would go a long way to clearing their deficit. But the police cannot be bothered)
Assuming you are not joking that is a ridiculous and petty posting.
Of course the deficit bit is joking. But there is mass ignoring of the helmet law not least by a leading greek politician. Greece has a nightmarish level of road deaths (3 times the UK rate) including a shocking number of motorbike riders. But they do not care. As I say this typifies the people that 'we' are dealing with. 'typifies'.
And may I suggest this is what everyone is dealing with? http://www.athensguide.com/driving/greek-driving-rules.htm Rule 1 ''You must always keep in mind that you may be the only person on the road who actually took and passed a road test. Many of your fellow drivers rather than go through the inconvenience of taking the test or risk failing it simply bribed the people administering it.'' ''simply bribed''
'Tsipras bluffed on no cards, and unfortunately the Greek electorate have called his bluff for him, something I rather think he wasn't expecting - unless he is genuinely as stupid as he sounds.'
I think Tsipras has played 'no cards' very well,he will get a deal which will be better than the one previously on offer including debt write-off and most likely a third bailout.
The 'no cards' players are the Euro zone whose bluff has now been called twice, first we heard that Greece would be thrown out if they defaulted on the IMF loan and secondly if there was a 'no' in the referendum.
Tsipras knows that he is up against a lunatic idealogy that clearly states that Euro membership is irrevocable and has far more to lose than Greece, when staying in or out of the Euro is a best marginal for them.
Comments
"The fact that the leaders of three Greek opposition parties have agreed to back prime minister Alexis Tsipras in the debt negotiations is an important development.
The strong No vote in Sunday’s referendum has strengthened Tsipras’s position, as he heads to Brussels tomorrow.
As well as representing his Syriza-ANEL administration, Tsipras now has the backing of New Democracy, To Potami and Pasok.
That only leaves the KKE communist party on the sidelines, and the extreme right-wing Golden Dawn. "
http://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2015/jul/06/greek-referendum-eu-leaders-call-crisis-meeting-as-bailout-rejected-live-updates
(fining all the non helmet wearers would go a long way to clearing their deficit. But the police cannot be bothered)
The 1970s union dinosaurs did everything in their power, including using the most appalling intimidation, to prevent investment and sabotage management.
All voters Tories Labour LDs UKIP
Burnham 10% 5% 21% 10% 5%
Cooper 7% 4% 12% 6% 5%
Kendall 4% 3% 5% 8% 5%
Corbyn 4% 1% 8% 3% 0%
London South Midlands/Wales North Scotland
Burnham 6% 10% 7% 17% 9%
Cooper 8% 5% 8% 6% 10%
Kendall 4% 4% 5% 3% 4%
Corbyn 5% 4% 3% 2% 8%
https://yougov.co.uk/publicopinion/archive/?page=5
Tories do not 'run' the BBC. I wish they did. I'll settle for it being shut down.
The present director general started at the BBC as virtually a tea boy and has the typical BBC culture embedded in him. He may be posh but that does not make you a tory.
https://twitter.com/nigel_farage/status/614512450386440193
This is very thing everyone warned about happening v quickly
90mins of almost every album cover you either owned or remember flicking passed. And great stats/trivia. I had no idea that Tapestry was the biggest selling singer/songwriter album of all time until Thriller, Queen's Night At The Opera was the most expensive album ever made at that time, Dark Side Of The Moon spent 14yrs in the Billboard Top 200, Peter Frampton's Alive is the biggest selling live album of all time...
If you're into 60s/70s music - you won't be disappointed.
http://wingsoverscotland.com/making-lemonade/
Labour will not win in 2020 by pandering to that group. It needs to focus on 'middle England'. If it means out Torying the Tories, then so be it. Labour can revert to more socially friendly policies if it wins.
That suggests the most electable are Burnham and Kendall
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/labour-leadership-andy-burnham-considered-the-contender-most-likely-to-improve-partys-general-election-chances-10340208.html
Don't forget if Labour win back a few seats in Scotland that will also make it easier for them to win a majority without just relying on English and Welsh marginals. Labour also does not want to lose any voters to the Greens even if its main task is winning back floating voters
Fly tipping?
Greece may or many not be the worst example but the prissy self-righteousness coming out of the Germans and the EU bureaucracy is a bit much frankly.
Lol - while i like the idea of 'fragrantly' breaking the law I think you meant 'flagrant'.
The reforms increased taxes by so much that tax evasion increased and revenue fell.
Also I read that the ND party knew 2 days before the referendum than NO will win by a landslide and a prominent ND politician had asked Samaras to resign beforehand, that means that the published greek opinion polls were intentionally misleading and fits with the leak from ND that asked from TV stations to publish fake polls showing YES in the lead.
As for Kendall, she's lightweight and offers nothing to the left. She runs the risk of failing to capture the centre while the Greens, SNP, Plaid and (under Farron) Lib Dems eat into the ex-core. As a Tory, none of the four worry me particularly but I'd rate both Burnham and Cooper (in that order) ahead of Kendall. Corbyn would, of course, be the jackpot and it's not completely out of the question.
http://www.conservativehome.com/platform/2015/07/alex-burghart-unites-backing-for-corbyn-threatens-to-disrupt-labours-uncomfortable-coalition.html
'I'm shocked - someone tell Mr Farron so he can make an even bigger a*** of himself with another article in the Guardian.'
It wouldn't make any difference,Farron would do anything for a cheap soundbite,student union style politics.
No doubt this stupidity will be bought to the attention of voters when required, on the other hand as his party is now a sideshow who cares.
Given that Eurocrats do not pay any tax at all, who are they to lecture others on not paying tax?
One of the reasons taxpayers are reluctant to pay tax is that they have absolutely no trust in government, either in theory or practice. It takes time and credibility to build up a trustworthy and broadly competent administration. Neither Greece nor Italy (nor a number of other countries) have much or any experience of that. It's a vicious cycle and difficult to break out of.
Behaving and talking as if the North is competent and has no corruption and the South is incompetent and corrupt does not really help very much. Even Helmut Kohl was found to have been less than ethical in relation to his receipt and use of party funds.
Greece has to default, has to leave the Euro, and it will be tough even then. If you want to fill a bathtub, and its emptying then you block the leak rather than form a bucket-chain.
Greece leaving now will place them in a golden spot - everyone thinks that it's their fault. Horrid, awfulness, and blighting the Greeks. If there is a magic money tree then that's it.
And devastating rains such as in Britain's worst winter in 2013-14 may be less likely in the decades ahead. "
"the odds of a very cold winter similar to 2009-10 fall to less than 1% over the same period (2100) "
BBC hack David Shukman is his usual partial self.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-33417413
Unfortunately, few of us will be alive to laugh at their failures.
The German's made sure the rules of the single currency suited them no matter what the effect on the rest of the Eurozone and now they are hopefully going to pay the price.
If on the other hand you think the main reasons for the defeat were that Miliband just didn't come across as a competent leader, and was terrible at actually selling a message, then it's hard to see how Kendall is the answer to either issue (though neither is Corbyn to be fair).
Well, the sky has resolutely failed to fall in today contrary to some expectations and if you want stock market angst and anguish, China's the place for you with a big slump on the Shanghai exchange.
This is much less high-stakes poker than it seems - the Greeks don't want to leave the Euro and the Eurozone knows a Grexit will set a precedent the EZ literally cannot afford so on that basis some kind of deal will be done at some point. That the NO vote has immeasurably strengthened Tsipras's hand in the negotiation is undeniable but ultimately he needs a deal as much as the EZ does so a deal will be done.
Funny way of strengthening your hand in negotiations: close the banks, break your pledge to re-open them, bring the economy to a complete standstill, accuse the other side of being terrorists, limit your population to pocket-money, bankrupt an increasing number of your businesses, scare off tourists, and sack your finance minister. And have a party.
But I don't think it was. I think it really was a fundamental disconnection between Labour and its voters. Labour under Miliband obsessed about a vague equality and diversity agenda, spoke up for the public sector in London and failed to understand the prices and difficulties most of us face every day. That was received very poorly outside the metropolitan areas of southern and central England (cf Scotland). The next leader has to sort that out - and tragically for Labour, not one of them has the least clue what to do about this problem, because they are all cut from the same Miliband cloth.
As for negotiations - what negotiations? The only thing we know so far is that he has made one telephone call that seemed not to lead to any positive result and at the behest of his creditors fired his admittedly barking mad finance minister. Hardly the actions of a man whose hand has been 'immeasurably strengthened.'
Tsipras bluffed on no cards, and unfortunately the Greek electorate have called his bluff for him, something I rather think he wasn't expecting - unless he is genuinely as stupid as he sounds.
Strange though, for all the suffering you mention, you'd think the Greek people would have turned on Syriza and voted YES. Now, it seems even ND are behind the Government.
Tsipras has played a weak hand well in my view - the deal he will get later this week will be better than the terms had the Greek people voted YES yesterday.
"Making an example of" is what would happened had the Greeks voted YES. The EZ now has to decide whether to cut a deal which will be better for the Greeks or risk the ejection of Greece from the EZ and the precedent that will set for Iberia, Italy and anywhere else which, put bluntly, is that once one country leaves the Euro, the spell is broken.
But I don't think it was. I think it really was a fundamental disconnection between Labour and its voters. Labour under Miliband obsessed about a vague equality and diversity agenda, spoke up for the public sector in London and failed to understand the prices and difficulties most of us face every day. That was received very poorly outside the metropolitan areas of southern and central England (cf Scotland). The next leader has to sort that out - and tragically for Labour, not one of them has the least clue what to do about this problem, because they are all cut from the same Miliband cloth.
I will repost the figures I posted earlier from yougov, as you can see Burnham does very well in the North and the South, less well in London
All voters Tories Labour LDs UKIP
Burnham 10% 5% 21% 10% 5%
Cooper 7% 4% 12% 6% 5%
Kendall 4% 3% 5% 8% 5%
Corbyn 4% 1% 8% 3% 0%
London South Midlands/Wales North Scotland
Burnham 6% 10% 7% 17% 9%
Cooper 8% 5% 8% 6% 10%
Kendall 4% 4% 5% 3% 4%
Corbyn 5% 4% 3% 2% 8%
https://yougov.co.uk/publicopinion/archive/?page=5
And may I suggest this is what everyone is dealing with?
http://www.athensguide.com/driving/greek-driving-rules.htm
Rule 1 ''You must always keep in mind that you may be the only person on the road who actually took and passed a road test. Many of your fellow drivers rather than go through the inconvenience of taking the test or risk failing it simply bribed the people administering it.'' ''simply bribed''
'Tsipras bluffed on no cards, and unfortunately the Greek electorate have called his bluff for him, something I rather think he wasn't expecting - unless he is genuinely as stupid as he sounds.'
I think Tsipras has played 'no cards' very well,he will get a deal which will be better than the one previously on offer including debt write-off and most likely a third bailout.
The 'no cards' players are the Euro zone whose bluff has now been called twice, first we heard that Greece would be thrown out if they defaulted on the IMF loan and secondly if there was a 'no' in the referendum.
Tsipras knows that he is up against a lunatic idealogy that clearly states that Euro membership is irrevocable and has far more to lose than Greece, when staying in or out of the Euro is a best marginal for them.