Just me and Nabavi keeping the faith in Corbyn now is it ?
Looks like it.
As always, look at the mechanism, or the lack thereof. There is one, and only one, mechanism, which is for him to go voluntarily. I'd recommend listening to his Today programme interview. It didn't sound to me as though he's going anywhere, irrespective of how much damage he does to the Labour Party.
What's more, I'm far from convinced that Corbyn going - and triggering yet another tedious, divisive, inward-looking leadership contest between political pygmies, whilst the government gets on with governing - would help Labour at the next GE.
He nearly went "voluntarily" under pressure from Watson. I think he would go on the advice of his friends. They may well want the rulebook amending first, of course.
But it's not a certainty either way, maybe 70-30 that he leaves before a 2020 election but of course the election could well be sooner. Evens looks fair but I wouldn't take 4/5.
I agree that Jexit isn't going to help Labour all that much.
I don't understand the furore of the suggestion that "non-urgent" patients may not be seen in A&E in four hours. It was always my thought that A&E was for urgent cases only and that non-urgent cases should go to their GP or a pharmacy or whatever else is appropriate...
snip
During the four hours I was listening to what everyone else came in with as a way to occupy my mind on something other than scary thoughts. Only one got referred (rightly) immediately through, a guy who came in carrying his severed thumb - clearly very urgent. The vast majority of other cases seemed to be non-urgent including someone who'd "stubbed his toe last week and it still hurts". If you've waited over a week why is it now something that needs to be seen in four hours?
I spent several consecutive Friday nights in A&E on orders of my GP [he'd got my bloodwork and thought I was about to drop dead of a heart attack]. The pattern was pretty typical.
...Spent six hours waiting - despite URGENT fax telling them to grab me on arrival. Of the 40 waiting - I was mostly surrounded by what I'd term non-urgent small injury kids with worried parents, drunks and junkies. The two I spent most time chatting that evening with were a guy who'd been savaged by a random dog as he went to his car - pretty torn up on his forearms/shocked, and a young lady who'd appalling abdominal pain that made her faint in front of me. The latter two seemed entirely appropriate candidates for A&E.
I was taken to A&E as a kid c5x. The ones I recall are blue gloss paint blown into my eye when helping paint an outhouse door, stung by a dozen wasps, bust wrist playing Pirates, caught finger in a slammed car door... I took my husband to A&E when he broke his ankle playing 5-a-side. All were on a weekend and the sort of accidents that needed x-rays/plaster/expert advice.
My mum used to joke that social services would take me into care if they knew how accident prone I was. I loved a bit of adventure - far too much cotton wool these days.
I'd guess the WWII comment was just clumsy phrasing.
If Corbyn lasts until 2020, the Tory, Lib Dem and UKIP debate preparation teams will be prepping springboards for Corbyn to go off-message from. His unwillingness to accept collective responsibility and his inclination to speak whatever's on his mind without considering (or even understanding) the consequences of so doing could produce any number of 'clumsy phrasing' moments.
When you wrote 2020 I thought you meant today 8.20pm
HSBC is preparing to move 1,000 workers from London to Paris because of confusion over the UK’s Brexit plans, the bank’s boss told MPs today.
Douglas Flint, group chairman of HSBC, said his company was putting in place plans to shift some activities to the continent if the UK lost so-called passporting rights into the EU.
Business that does business in the single market takes steps to ensure it stays in the single market shock. Hard Brexit will see many more in a wide variety of industries follow HSBC's lead.
But see my comment downthread. They keep threatening this, but they don't do it. The banks were meant to be filling the ferries at Dover before Xmas.
It's all a lot of positioning and maneuvering and doom-mongering, to get the kind of Brexit they want.
I hope you're right. We'll be opening an office in the EU to stay in the Single Market if it does look like we are going to leave it. We could do without the expense, but the alternative is a lot more of a worry.
I'd guess the WWII comment was just clumsy phrasing.
If Corbyn lasts until 2020, the Tory, Lib Dem and UKIP debate preparation teams will be prepping springboards for Corbyn to go off-message from. His unwillingness to accept collective responsibility and his inclination to speak whatever's on his mind without considering (or even understanding) the consequences of so doing could produce any number of 'clumsy phrasing' moments.
When you wrote 2020 I thought you meant today 8.20pm
Very droll.
Another good reason for a 2017 election (vote 4 May on 4 May) is to spare us all the 2020 vision lines.
McDonnell's biggest problem is that he'll never get the nominations. He really would be frying pan to fire stuff compared to Corbyn !
Clive Lewis is the only candidate I can conceivably see being part of the setup to end Corbyn's reign in this scenario I think - McDonnell, Abbott, Burgon - doubtful they'll get 35 noms.
Assuming that the rules aren't changed. Would it not be more democratic - and more in keeping with Corbyn's philosophy and practice - to have CLPs act as the nominating entities rather than MPs?
I'd guess the WWII comment was just clumsy phrasing.
If Corbyn lasts until 2020, the Tory, Lib Dem and UKIP debate preparation teams will be prepping springboards for Corbyn to go off-message from. His unwillingness to accept collective responsibility and his inclination to speak whatever's on his mind without considering (or even understanding) the consequences of so doing could produce any number of 'clumsy phrasing' moments.
When you wrote 2020 I thought you meant today 8.20pm
Very droll.
Another good reason for a 2017 election (vote 4 May on 4 May) is to spare us all the 2020 vision lines.
I can see the Princess Leia mock-ups already. Boris Johnson as Chewbacca?
I'd guess the WWII comment was just clumsy phrasing.
If Corbyn lasts until 2020, the Tory, Lib Dem and UKIP debate preparation teams will be prepping springboards for Corbyn to go off-message from. His unwillingness to accept collective responsibility and his inclination to speak whatever's on his mind without considering (or even understanding) the consequences of so doing could produce any number of 'clumsy phrasing' moments.
When you wrote 2020 I thought you meant today 8.20pm
Very droll.
Another good reason for a 2017 election (vote 4 May on 4 May) is to spare us all the 2020 vision lines.
I'd guess the WWII comment was just clumsy phrasing.
If Corbyn lasts until 2020, the Tory, Lib Dem and UKIP debate preparation teams will be prepping springboards for Corbyn to go off-message from. His unwillingness to accept collective responsibility and his inclination to speak whatever's on his mind without considering (or even understanding) the consequences of so doing could produce any number of 'clumsy phrasing' moments.
When you wrote 2020 I thought you meant today 8.20pm
Very droll.
Another good reason for a 2017 election (vote 4 May on 4 May) is to spare us all the 2020 vision lines.
I can see the Princess Leia mock-ups already. Boris Johnson as Chewbacca?
Farron needs to hone his attacks a bit. Insults need to be vaguely credible to be effective. The number of people who think Corbyn is a Tory is vanishingly small, like the number of people who think the LibDems are seriously progressive. "Labour is still undecided on the key issue of opposing Brexit, unlike us" would be plausible. "Corbyn is right-wing", not so much.
Go to the OECD website (http://stats.oecd.org/). They do not produce stats on gross labour income by decile. They do produce real minimum wage information. They do produce average hourly wages. But they do not produce statistics like the ones quoted.
What they do have is "Decile ratios of gross earnings", but this is merely a measure of income dispersion not growth.
The best measure they have is Average Annual Wages at 2015 Prices, PPP adjusted.
It does link to some OECD analysis and data but I'm afraid I don't have the time or the depth of subject knowledge to go over it right now. Maybe @rcs1000 does?
It doesn't say how he gets from the average wage growth he quotes (which is broadly similar to the data I posted) and the by decile calculations. And clearly the numbers he quotes are contradictory: you can't have Spain achieving 3.4% cumulative real wage growth in the period, but then people in the bottom 10th, the middle 10th and the top 10th all showing massively down incomes (-69%, -30% and -20% respectively)*.
* Well I guess you could, theoretically, if people in the 20th to the 45th percentile saw their income increase massively. But it's staggeringly unlikely.
Apparently all that anti-immigration briefing was nonsense, what he really talking about is exploited foreign workers in the UK.
Eh? You can now come to UK and not be exploited? This will cut the numbers?
But don't dare think about coming here and earn millions...
But you can come here and buy a load of property. Just don't earn anything above say the £140K that Jezza earns which mysteriously will be the starting point for 100% tax.
HSBC is preparing to move 1,000 workers from London to Paris because of confusion over the UK’s Brexit plans, the bank’s boss told MPs today.
Douglas Flint, group chairman of HSBC, said his company was putting in place plans to shift some activities to the continent if the UK lost so-called passporting rights into the EU.
Hmm. I'm beginning to take these warnings with a large pinch of fleur de sel.
Remember this bloodcurdling threat from October last year, courtesy of Anthony Browne, CEO of the British Banking Association.
"Their hands are quivering over the relocate button. Many smaller banks plan to start relocations before Christmas; bigger banks are expected to start in the first quarter of next year.”
How many "smaller banks" actually began "relocating before Christmas"?
As far as I can see, the answer is: Zero.
We've been given contradictory assurances.
We were told David Davis didn't want to do anything hurt the financial services and banking sector, then we were told no transitional deal nor any special protections.
Nonetheless, the threats from Browne were a complete bluff, and a load of hot air, as we now see. "Relocate before Christmas", pff.
Well I'm spending the week after next in Paris getting wooed by the French.
I'll report back on what they say.
I'd definitely choose Paris over Manchester.
But Paris is full of French people and doesn't have a Harvey Nicks or a Selfridges
HSBC is preparing to move 1,000 workers from London to Paris because of confusion over the UK’s Brexit plans, the bank’s boss told MPs today.
Douglas Flint, group chairman of HSBC, said his company was putting in place plans to shift some activities to the continent if the UK lost so-called passporting rights into the EU.
Except that Project Fear was suggesting that projects planned and inward investment could be cancelled if we voted Leave thus opening the door to including projects that are still going ahead along with new investments.
HSBC is preparing to move 1,000 workers from London to Paris because of confusion over the UK’s Brexit plans, the bank’s boss told MPs today.
Douglas Flint, group chairman of HSBC, said his company was putting in place plans to shift some activities to the continent if the UK lost so-called passporting rights into the EU.
Hmm. I'm beginning to take these warnings with a large pinch of fleur de sel.
Remember this bloodcurdling threat from October last year, courtesy of Anthony Browne, CEO of the British Banking Association.
"Their hands are quivering over the relocate button. Many smaller banks plan to start relocations before Christmas; bigger banks are expected to start in the first quarter of next year.”
How many "smaller banks" actually began "relocating before Christmas"?
As far as I can see, the answer is: Zero.
We've been given contradictory assurances.
We were told David Davis didn't want to do anything hurt the financial services and banking sector, then we were told no transitional deal nor any special protections.
Nonetheless, the threats from Browne were a complete bluff, and a load of hot air, as we now see. "Relocate before Christmas", pff.
Well I'm spending the week after next in Paris getting wooed by the French.
I'll report back on what they say.
I'd definitely choose Paris over Manchester.
I did that. Suburban Paris is a pretty dull place to exist, and anyone who can tolerate the metro is a stronger man than me.
McDonnell's biggest problem is that he'll never get the nominations. He really would be frying pan to fire stuff compared to Corbyn !
Clive Lewis is the only candidate I can conceivably see being part of the setup to end Corbyn's reign in this scenario I think - McDonnell, Abbott, Burgon - doubtful they'll get 35 noms.
After Lewis backed Trident he is a non starter with the membership before 2020, Corbyn won't stand down unless he is sure the likes of McDonnell and Abbott will get the 35 nominations but given 40 MPs backed him in the no confidence vote that is not impossible
Farron needs to hone his attacks a bit. Insults need to be vaguely credible to be effective. The number of people who think Corbyn is a Tory is vanishingly small, like the number of people who think the LibDems are seriously progressive. "Labour is still undecided on the key issue of opposing Brexit, unlike us" would be plausible. "Corbyn is right-wing", not so much.
And the number of people who think Corbyn is an incompetent fool without a shred of credibility? My guess is that it's more than the number who have even heard of Tim Farron. In fact, it could be everyone in Britain except you :-D
I'd guess the WWII comment was just clumsy phrasing.
If Corbyn lasts until 2020, the Tory, Lib Dem and UKIP debate preparation teams will be prepping springboards for Corbyn to go off-message from. His unwillingness to accept collective responsibility and his inclination to speak whatever's on his mind without considering (or even understanding) the consequences of so doing could produce any number of 'clumsy phrasing' moments.
When you wrote 2020 I thought you meant today 8.20pm
Very droll.
Another good reason for a 2017 election (vote 4 May on 4 May) is to spare us all the 2020 vision lines.
I can see the Princess Leia mock-ups already. Boris Johnson as Chewbacca?
HSBC is preparing to move 1,000 workers from London to Paris because of confusion over the UK’s Brexit plans, the bank’s boss told MPs today.
Douglas Flint, group chairman of HSBC, said his company was putting in place plans to shift some activities to the continent if the UK lost so-called passporting rights into the EU.
Business that does business in the single market takes steps to ensure it stays in the single market shock. Hard Brexit will see many more in a wide variety of industries follow HSBC's lead.
But see my comment downthread. They keep threatening this, but they don't do it. The banks were meant to be filling the ferries at Dover before Xmas.
It's all a lot of positioning and maneuvering and doom-mongering, to get the kind of Brexit they want.
I hope you're right. We'll be opening an office in the EU to stay in the Single Market if it does look like we are going to leave it. We could do without the expense, but the alternative is a lot more of a worry.
McDonnell's biggest problem is that he'll never get the nominations. He really would be frying pan to fire stuff compared to Corbyn !
Clive Lewis is the only candidate I can conceivably see being part of the setup to end Corbyn's reign in this scenario I think - McDonnell, Abbott, Burgon - doubtful they'll get 35 noms.
What happens if Corbyn tells the PLP
'I'll stand down as leader now if you agree to nominate someone like McDonnell, Burgon, Abbott'
I think they'll agree to it.
As long as the "'someone like' McDonnell, Burgon, Abbott" is Lewis!
I'd guess the WWII comment was just clumsy phrasing.
If Corbyn lasts until 2020, the Tory, Lib Dem and UKIP debate preparation teams will be prepping springboards for Corbyn to go off-message from. His unwillingness to accept collective responsibility and his inclination to speak whatever's on his mind without considering (or even understanding) the consequences of so doing could produce any number of 'clumsy phrasing' moments.
When you wrote 2020 I thought you meant today 8.20pm
HSBC is preparing to move 1,000 workers from London to Paris because of confusion over the UK’s Brexit plans, the bank’s boss told MPs today.
Douglas Flint, group chairman of HSBC, said his company was putting in place plans to shift some activities to the continent if the UK lost so-called passporting rights into the EU.
Business that does business in the single market takes steps to ensure it stays in the single market shock. Hard Brexit will see many more in a wide variety of industries follow HSBC's lead.
But see my comment downthread. They keep threatening this, but they don't do it. The banks were meant to be filling the ferries at Dover before Xmas.
It's all a lot of positioning and maneuvering and doom-mongering, to get the kind of Brexit they want.
I hope you're right. We'll be opening an office in the EU to stay in the Single Market if it does look like we are going to leave it. We could do without the expense, but the alternative is a lot more of a worry.
And where in the EU would you fancy? (curious)
Not my choice. I suspect Amsterdam, though.
Great choice. But very expensive I believe to live in the nice, canal bits.
Except that Project Fear was suggesting that projects planned and inward investment could be cancelled if we voted Leave thus opening the door to including projects that are still going ahead along with new investments.
Desperate spinning there.
If you look at the detail of the projects that were re-announced, they are primarily power and water utility types - ie its our national infrastructure being bought up by Johnny Foreigner and the UK tax payer stuck with paying them over the long term.
The FDI at risk from Brexit is international companies who were going to base themselves in the UK and export to Europe. The Brexiteers argument is that this will be outweighed by companies using Britain as a base to export to say, Indonesia or Argentina.
The shocking lack of knowledge about history in this country is appalling.
When I become PM, I will make history lessons mandatory with the BBC showing 2 hours worth of history lessons daily.
In which case wouldn't it be 'before the second world war'. After we declared war it was a bit late to be an appeaser.
Ooh that gives me an idea for a thread, Nigel Farage is the new Lord Halifax
I see that Nige has been nominated for a knighthood. What do the PB commentariat make of that? Good idea or not? Me - I say Yes, he has been much the most effective politician of recent times (whether you love or hate his objective).
Re: A&E, a significant factor has been the downgrading of the NHS Direct phoneline (now 111). It used to be staffed by qualified nurses and doctors; now to save a bit of cash it's entirely trained monkeys reading out instructions from a computer screen. As soon as someone calls up with symptoms that don't exactly match something on the system, they are referred to A&E to ensure arses are covered.
One of the worst examples of a false economy you will ever see.
Has Corbyn/Labour promised to spend the £350mil on the NHS if they win next election? If not, he should (regardless of whether it actually exists or not).
It could be a great way of getting their Red Brexit position sorted. No free movement, hard brexit, "we will give you the Brexit you voted for, the £350mil you voted for, not the Tories' Banker's Brexit". When the experts/papers/commentators ridicule his spending plans - attack their misleading biased lies etc etc.
If he wants to use the Trump playbook, he will have to commit fully to it. I can't see it working for him, but it's worth a shot at this point I suppose.
HSBC is preparing to move 1,000 workers from London to Paris because of confusion over the UK’s Brexit plans, the bank’s boss told MPs today.
Douglas Flint, group chairman of HSBC, said his company was putting in place plans to shift some activities to the continent if the UK lost so-called passporting rights into the EU.
Business that does business in the single market takes steps to ensure it stays in the single market shock. Hard Brexit will see many more in a wide variety of industries follow HSBC's lead.
But see my comment downthread. They keep threatening this, but they don't do it. The banks were meant to be filling the ferries at Dover before Xmas.
It's all a lot of positioning and maneuvering and doom-mongering, to get the kind of Brexit they want.
I hope you're right. We'll be opening an office in the EU to stay in the Single Market if it does look like we are going to leave it. We could do without the expense, but the alternative is a lot more of a worry.
The shocking lack of knowledge about history in this country is appalling.
When I become PM, I will make history lessons mandatory with the BBC showing 2 hours worth of history lessons daily.
In which case wouldn't it be 'before the second world war'. After we declared war it was a bit late to be an appeaser.
Ooh that gives me an idea for a thread, Nigel Farage is the new Lord Halifax
I see that Nige has been nominated for a knighthood. What do the PB commentariat make of that? Good idea or not? Me - I say Yes, he has been much the most effective politician of recent times (whether you love or hate his objective).
He has? I thought it was just UKIP saying he should have one?
HSBC is preparing to move 1,000 workers from London to Paris because of confusion over the UK’s Brexit plans, the bank’s boss told MPs today.
Douglas Flint, group chairman of HSBC, said his company was putting in place plans to shift some activities to the continent if the UK lost so-called passporting rights into the EU.
Business that does business in the single market takes steps to ensure it stays in the single market shock. Hard Brexit will see many more in a wide variety of industries follow HSBC's lead.
But see my comment downthread. They keep threatening this, but they don't do it. The banks were meant to be filling the ferries at Dover before Xmas.
It's all a lot of positioning and maneuvering and doom-mongering, to get the kind of Brexit they want.
I hope you're right. We'll be opening an office in the EU to stay in the Single Market if it does look like we are going to leave it. We could do without the expense, but the alternative is a lot more of a worry.
McDonnell's biggest problem is that he'll never get the nominations. He really would be frying pan to fire stuff compared to Corbyn !
Clive Lewis is the only candidate I can conceivably see being part of the setup to end Corbyn's reign in this scenario I think - McDonnell, Abbott, Burgon - doubtful they'll get 35 noms.
What happens if Corbyn tells the PLP
'I'll stand down as leader now if you agree to nominate someone like McDonnell, Burgon, Abbott'
I think they'll agree to it.
Without a rules change how does Corbyn guarantee that such a deal would be honoured?
Nominations don't open without a vacancy so it would open him up to resigning and then being betrayed and the nominations not getting honoured. Unless I suppose the PLP launch a challenge and he agrees to stand down once his favoured alternative has been formally nominated.
Re: A&E, a significant factor has been the downgrading of the NHS Direct phoneline (now 111). It used to be staffed by qualified nurses and doctors; now to save a bit of cash it's entirely trained monkeys reading out instructions from a computer screen. As soon as someone calls up with symptoms that don't exactly match something on the system, they are referred to A&E to ensure arses are covered.
One of the worst examples of a false economy you will ever see.
Why can't they just be referred up within 111 to a qualified nurse/doctor?
HSBC is preparing to move 1,000 workers from London to Paris because of confusion over the UK’s Brexit plans, the bank’s boss told MPs today.
Douglas Flint, group chairman of HSBC, said his company was putting in place plans to shift some activities to the continent if the UK lost so-called passporting rights into the EU.
Business that does business in the single market takes steps to ensure it stays in the single market shock. Hard Brexit will see many more in a wide variety of industries follow HSBC's lead.
But see my comment downthread. They keep threatening this, but they don't do it. The banks were meant to be filling the ferries at Dover before Xmas.
It's all a lot of positioning and maneuvering and doom-mongering, to get the kind of Brexit they want.
I hope you're right. We'll be opening an office in the EU to stay in the Single Market if it does look like we are going to leave it. We could do without the expense, but the alternative is a lot more of a worry.
And where in the EU would you fancy? (curious)
Not my choice. I suspect Amsterdam, though.
Great choice. But very expensive I believe to live in the nice, canal bits.
Holland is a tiny country. Only 40 mins from The Hague to Amsterdam on the train. An hour to Rotterdam. You could live anywhere in the general area and get to work in about an hour. Haarlem is nice. The Hague too - but a bit dull. Some pleasant coastal towns like Noordwijk. The Amsterdam catchment area for commuters is more than half the country.
The shocking lack of knowledge about history in this country is appalling.
When I become PM, I will make history lessons mandatory with the BBC showing 2 hours worth of history lessons daily.
In which case wouldn't it be 'before the second world war'. After we declared war it was a bit late to be an appeaser.
Ooh that gives me an idea for a thread, Nigel Farage is the new Lord Halifax
I see that Nige has been nominated for a knighthood. What do the PB commentariat make of that? Good idea or not? Me - I say Yes, he has been much the most effective politician of recent times (whether you love or hate his objective).
He has? I thought it was just UKIP saying he should have one?
That's what I meant by 'nominated'. No decision AFAIK.
The shocking lack of knowledge about history in this country is appalling.
When I become PM, I will make history lessons mandatory with the BBC showing 2 hours worth of history lessons daily.
In which case wouldn't it be 'before the second world war'. After we declared war it was a bit late to be an appeaser.
Ooh that gives me an idea for a thread, Nigel Farage is the new Lord Halifax
I see that Nige has been nominated for a knighthood. What do the PB commentariat make of that? Good idea or not? Me - I say Yes, he has been much the most effective politician of recent times (whether you love or hate his objective).
[edit I thought you meant the Lords] UKIP are badly under-represented, on whatever measure you could think to apply.
Re: A&E, a significant factor has been the downgrading of the NHS Direct phoneline (now 111). It used to be staffed by qualified nurses and doctors; now to save a bit of cash it's entirely trained monkeys reading out instructions from a computer screen. As soon as someone calls up with symptoms that don't exactly match something on the system, they are referred to A&E to ensure arses are covered.
One of the worst examples of a false economy you will ever see.
Why can't they just be referred up within 111 to a qualified nurse/doctor?
When we used it most recently about a month ago (on behalf of the kid), we were given an appointment at an out-of-hours GP, which I'd much rather have than a visit to A&E.
"September 15. The British Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Simon Collis, completed the Hajj after converting to Islam. He is believed to be the first British ambassador to perform the pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of Islam."
Mr. Royale, such is the way of things. Cumberbatch, hardly a fiend of offensiveness, got in a frightful state when he apologised for saying 'coloured person' rather than 'person of colour'.
"September 15. The British Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Simon Collis, completed the Hajj after converting to Islam. He is believed to be the first British ambassador to perform the pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of Islam."
What ? The FO is an interesting place.
The FO's job is, surely, to represent the government and interests of the British to foreigners - not the other way round. In the world today it seems beyond perverse and actually insulting to have a Muslim convert dealing on our behalf with those scumbags. WTF?
@wallaceme: Corbyn's message is hard to decipher but it appears to be "if you're a Continuity Remainer, you should vote Lib Dem."
The Liberals may yet have the last laugh, over a century later...
I've had a plan to write a 'reversing the great Left Realignment' thread for some time, which envisages the party structure of the 2020s (or perhaps 2030s) as the 1910s, with a small left-wing Labour and a larger, centre-left Liberal Party. Problem is that without either PR or a major split within Labour and 50+ MPs heading off to the Lib Dems, I don't really see how it comes about. An exceptionally talented Lib Dem leader might be able to make it happen but Farron is a long way short of that and so is any potential replacement.
HSBC is preparing to move 1,000 workers from London to Paris because of confusion over the UK’s Brexit plans, the bank’s boss told MPs today.
Douglas Flint, group chairman of HSBC, said his company was putting in place plans to shift some activities to the continent if the UK lost so-called passporting rights into the EU.
Business that does business in the single market takes steps to ensure it stays in the single market shock. Hard Brexit will see many more in a wide variety of industries follow HSBC's lead.
But see my comment downthread. They keep threatening this, but they don't do it. The banks were meant to be filling the ferries at Dover before Xmas.
It's all a lot of positioning and maneuvering and doom-mongering, to get the kind of Brexit they want.
I hope you're right. We'll be opening an office in the EU to stay in the Single Market if it does look like we are going to leave it. We could do without the expense, but the alternative is a lot more of a worry.
And where in the EU would you fancy? (curious)
Not my choice. I suspect Amsterdam, though.
Great choice. But very expensive I believe to live in the nice, canal bits.
Holland is a tiny country. Only 40 mins from The Hague to Amsterdam on the train. An hour to Rotterdam. You could live anywhere in the general area and get to work in about an hour. Haarlem is nice. The Hague too - but a bit dull. Some pleasant coastal towns like Noordwijk. The Amsterdam catchment area for commuters is more than half the country.
English speaking plus I think Eurostar are about to launch a direct service to Amsterdam from London.
"September 15. The British Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Simon Collis, completed the Hajj after converting to Islam. He is believed to be the first British ambassador to perform the pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of Islam."
What ? The FO is an interesting place.
The FO's job is, surely, to represent the government and interests of the British to foreigners - not the other way round. In the world today it seems beyond perverse and actually insulting to have a Muslim convert dealing on our behalf with those scumbags. WTF?
The sort of appeasement that got Cam his ace EU deal.
Off-topic, I see the Russian Embassy has been trolling the UK about us trying to disrupt any Russian/US thaw.
It raises an interesting question - what is, and what should be Theresa May's approach to Putin? Historically we have always been hawkish on Russia, always been pretty poor relations. Unlike Trump, May has no ideological reason to like Putin, and unlike France or Germany, we have far less reliance or economic involvement with Russia - hence it was us pushing hard for sanctions. So there isn't really any advantage in the UK seeking a thaw in relations.
Will May try and change British attitudes towards Putin, or Trump's attitude toward's Putin?
Yes. But Brexit Britain will also create jobs and industries, that would not have been created inside the stifling and stagnant EU. It's ludicrous to see Leaving the EU as solely negative. Nothing as dynamic and radical as Brexit can be solely bad (or solely good).
As I said before, Brexit is like having a baby. You're focusing entirely on the nappies, vomit, and sleepless nights. And yes, they will happen. But you're forgetting about that first smile.
I think the banks are mainly agitating to get a better deal.
One thing that is interesting is the response of technology/internet companies to Brexit, a lot of these companies were also said to be very wary of Brexit. Despite the vote the big tech companies are either proceeding as planned or have announced UK expansions. Over the last few months Google, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, and now Snapchat have all announced positive news for the UK. I suppose partly this may be because such businesses are inherently global and the EU is just not that big a deal, but so far at least there's no real sign that leaving the EU will do the internet sector much harm.
Oh and SoftBank bought ARM for a fortune and committed to the UK remaining the HQ.
Off-topic, I see the Russian Embassy has been trolling the UK about us trying to disrupt any Russian/US thaw.
It raises an interesting question - what is, and what should be Theresa May's approach to Putin? Historically we have always been hawkish on Russia, always been pretty poor relations. Unlike Trump, May has no ideological reason to like Putin, and unlike France or Germany, we have far less reliance or economic involvement with Russia - hence it was us pushing hard for sanctions. So there isn't really any advantage in the UK seeking a thaw in relations.
Will May try and change British attitudes towards Putin, or Trump's attitude toward's Putin?
Hawkish? Mostly British foreign policy has been to ally with Russia to prevent the rise of a strong power in between the two territories - whether that was Sweden, France, or Germany.
It's only recently that you've had this crazy talk about the US being too dovish and imagine if Britain had to fight Russia in the Baltic on its own.
Yes. But Brexit Britain will also create jobs and industries, that would not have been created inside the stifling and stagnant EU. It's ludicrous to see Leaving the EU as solely negative. Nothing as dynamic and radical as Brexit can be solely bad (or solely good).
As I said before, Brexit is like having a baby. You're focusing entirely on the nappies, vomit, and sleepless nights. And yes, they will happen. But you're forgetting about that first smile.
I think the banks are mainly agitating to get a better deal.
One thing that is interesting is the response of technology/internet companies to Brexit, a lot of these companies were also said to be very wary or Brexit. Despite the vote the big tech companies are either proceeding as planned or have announced UK expansions. Over the last few months Google, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, and now Snapchat have all announced UK positive news for the UK. I suppose partly this may be because such businesses are inherently global and the EU is just not that big a deal, but so far at least there's no real sign that leaving the EU will do the internet sector much harm.
At PythonAnywhere, they are much more concerned about Mrs May's requirement that customer data is handed over to the security services without so much as a warrant than about Brexit.
McDonnell's biggest problem is that he'll never get the nominations. He really would be frying pan to fire stuff compared to Corbyn !
Clive Lewis is the only candidate I can conceivably see being part of the setup to end Corbyn's reign in this scenario I think - McDonnell, Abbott, Burgon - doubtful they'll get 35 noms.
What happens if Corbyn tells the PLP
'I'll stand down as leader now if you agree to nominate someone like McDonnell, Burgon, Abbott'
I think they'll agree to it.
As long as the "'someone like' McDonnell, Burgon, Abbott" is Lewis!
Lewis backs Trident so is no longer in the same category
Muckguire out and about supporting jezza, claiming he is all for the maximum wage. I am presuming he will only wants it on a per job, as Muckguire hasn't half trousered some money over the years with all that time he spends doing bankers brunches, the new Statesman, sitting on Sky News sofas etc. TBH, I am surprised he finds any time to do his day job at the Mirror
Yes. But Brexit Britain will also create jobs and industries, that would not have been created inside the stifling and stagnant EU. It's ludicrous to see Leaving the EU as solely negative. Nothing as dynamic and radical as Brexit can be solely bad (or solely good).
As I said before, Brexit is like having a baby. You're focusing entirely on the nappies, vomit, and sleepless nights. And yes, they will happen. But you're forgetting about that first smile.
I think the banks are mainly agitating to get a better deal.
One thing that is interesting is the response of technology/internet companies to Brexit, a lot of these companies were also said to be very wary or Brexit. Despite the vote the big tech companies are either proceeding as planned or have announced UK expansions. Over the last few months Google, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, and now Snapchat have all announced UK positive news for the UK. I suppose partly this may be because such businesses are inherently global and the EU is just not that big a deal, but so far at least there's no real sign that leaving the EU will do the internet sector much harm.
At PythonAnywhere, they are much more concerned about Mrs May's requirement that customer data is handed over to the security services without so much as a warrant than about Brexit.
I am still shocked how little push back this has got. Not only handing over so much data, but to whom it can be released to. It is one thing for GCHQ to have it, but some of the agencies like the Food Standards Agency is just plain bonkers.
In comparison ID cards in any form, well that was the end of the world as we knew it. The state hoovering up all your online activity, hardly more than the odd article in the Guardian and some computer related online media.
And obviously it is fundamentally flawed as you don't need to be a genius to sign up for things like a VPN service*.
* Yes we know the spooks can hack into these connections, but they do that already.
"September 15. The British Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Simon Collis, completed the Hajj after converting to Islam. He is believed to be the first British ambassador to perform the pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of Islam."
What ? The FO is an interesting place.
The FO's job is, surely, to represent the government and interests of the British to foreigners - not the other way round. In the world today it seems beyond perverse and actually insulting to have a Muslim convert dealing on our behalf with those scumbags. WTF?
Are all foreigners "scumbags"? Or is it just Muslim ones? Even when they sign billion-pound contracts to buy British weapons? Don't walk along Kensington Palace Gardens: you may burst a blood vessel!
Are you aware that Britain's foreign secretary is a US citizen?
Farron needs to hone his attacks a bit. Insults need to be vaguely credible to be effective. The number of people who think Corbyn is a Tory is vanishingly small, like the number of people who think the LibDems are seriously progressive. "Labour is still undecided on the key issue of opposing Brexit, unlike us" would be plausible. "Corbyn is right-wing", not so much.
And the number of people who think Corbyn is an incompetent fool without a shred of credibility? My guess is that it's more than the number who have even heard of Tim Farron. In fact, it could be everyone in Britain except you :-D
Never mind Nick Palmer, by his antics this morning Corbyn will have finally convinced quite a few of even his core advisers that he is an incompetent fool now past his "use by" date.
Here's how I see today's events. In the build up, a mounting tide of people from all wings of the party had spoken out against the politically suicidal stance that Corbyn was taking on open borders. The penny must have finally dropped and Corbyn's team got their way, and briefed the BBC accordingly. Corbyn then demonstrated in his interview his utter inability to stick with a brief. So the headlines the BBC are running at 12.30 ("Corbyn - I've not changed my mind on immigration") are the polar opposite to the headlines on this morning's radio at 6am ("Jeremy Corbyn is to signal his commitment to the end of the free movement of people in the EU..."). This on the issue that is defining today's political debate and tops the issue of public concerns, especially for the C2DE demographic to which Labour traditionally sought to appeal.
It's gone beyond where you stand on the political spectrum. It's just a case of sheer ineptitude combined with any notion of political nous, a leader who has become a byword for incompetence, the contrast between a Corbyn and a McDonnell.
The only silver lining I take from this is that (a) the public will increasingly pick up on the disconnect between Corbyn's position and that of just about every other Labour MP or union official who comments on EU migration, forming the view that Labour if not Corbyn has changed and (b) having humiliated his own people so comprehensively today, Corbyn's hold on the Labour leadership is significantly weaker today than it was yesterday.
"September 15. The British Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Simon Collis, completed the Hajj after converting to Islam. He is believed to be the first British ambassador to perform the pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of Islam."
What ? The FO is an interesting place.
The FO's job is, surely, to represent the government and interests of the British to foreigners - not the other way round. In the world today it seems beyond perverse and actually insulting to have a Muslim convert dealing on our behalf with those scumbags. WTF?
"September 15. The British Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Simon Collis, completed the Hajj after converting to Islam. He is believed to be the first British ambassador to perform the pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of Islam."
What ? The FO is an interesting place.
The FO's job is, surely, to represent the government and interests of the British to foreigners - not the other way round. In the world today it seems beyond perverse and actually insulting to have a Muslim convert dealing on our behalf with those scumbags. WTF?
Are all foreigners "scumbags"? Or is it just Muslim ones? Even when they sign billion-pound contracts to buy British weapons? Don't walk along Kensington Palace Gardens: you may burst a blood vessel!
Are you aware that Britain's foreign secretary is a US citizen?
Are you suggesting the rulers in Saudi aren't scumbags ?
The shocking lack of knowledge about history in this country is appalling.
When I become PM, I will make history lessons mandatory with the BBC showing 2 hours worth of history lessons daily.
In which case wouldn't it be 'before the second world war'. After we declared war it was a bit late to be an appeaser.
Ooh that gives me an idea for a thread, Nigel Farage is the new Lord Halifax
I see that Nige has been nominated for a knighthood. What do the PB commentariat make of that? Good idea or not? Me - I say Yes, he has been much the most effective politician of recent times (whether you love or hate his objective).
He has? I thought it was just UKIP saying he should have one?
That's what I meant by 'nominated'. No decision AFAIK.
McDonnell's biggest problem is that he'll never get the nominations. He really would be frying pan to fire stuff compared to Corbyn !
Clive Lewis is the only candidate I can conceivably see being part of the setup to end Corbyn's reign in this scenario I think - McDonnell, Abbott, Burgon - doubtful they'll get 35 noms.
What happens if Corbyn tells the PLP
'I'll stand down as leader now if you agree to nominate someone like McDonnell, Burgon, Abbott'
I think they'll agree to it.
As long as the "'someone like' McDonnell, Burgon, Abbott" is Lewis!
Lewis backs Trident so is no longer in the same category
Yes. But Brexit Britain will also create jobs and industries, that would not have been created inside the stifling and stagnant EU. It's ludicrous to see Leaving the EU as solely negative. Nothing as dynamic and radical as Brexit can be solely bad (or solely good).
As I said before, Brexit is like having a baby. You're focusing entirely on the nappies, vomit, and sleepless nights. And yes, they will happen. But you're forgetting about that first smile.
I think the banks are mainly agitating to get a better deal.
One thing that is interesting is the response of technology/internet companies to Brexit, a lot of these companies were also said to be very wary or Brexit. Despite the vote the big tech companies are either proceeding as planned or have announced UK expansions. Over the last few months Google, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, and now Snapchat have all announced UK positive news for the UK. I suppose partly this may be because such businesses are inherently global and the EU is just not that big a deal, but so far at least there's no real sign that leaving the EU will do the internet sector much harm.
At PythonAnywhere, they are much more concerned about Mrs May's requirement that customer data is handed over to the security services without so much as a warrant than about Brexit.
I am still shocked how little push back this has got. Not only handing over so much data, but to whom it can be released to. It is one thing for GCHQ to have it, but some of the agencies like the Food Standards Agency is just plain bonkers.
In comparison ID cards in any form, well that was the end of the world as we knew it. The state hoovering up all your online activity, hardly more than the odd article in the Guardian and some computer related online media.
Why are the Food Standards Agency bonkers? Food poisoning for example being an area under their jurisdiction can cause serious harm and even death. I could understand investigations they do that may justify their requiring such data. Of course I'd also prefer they required a warrant but then the same with other agencies.
"September 15. The British Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Simon Collis, completed the Hajj after converting to Islam. He is believed to be the first British ambassador to perform the pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of Islam."
What ? The FO is an interesting place.
The FO's job is, surely, to represent the government and interests of the British to foreigners - not the other way round. In the world today it seems beyond perverse and actually insulting to have a Muslim convert dealing on our behalf with those scumbags. WTF?
A Muslim cannot be British ? or, vice versa ?
You are MaxPB and I claim my £5.
I tell you what wouldn't be possible - for the Saudi ambassador to convert to Christianity and still be ambassador.
"September 15. The British Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Simon Collis, completed the Hajj after converting to Islam. He is believed to be the first British ambassador to perform the pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of Islam."
What ? The FO is an interesting place.
The FO's job is, surely, to represent the government and interests of the British to foreigners - not the other way round. In the world today it seems beyond perverse and actually insulting to have a Muslim convert dealing on our behalf with those scumbags. WTF?
A Muslim cannot be British ? or, vice versa ?
You are MaxPB and I claim my £5.
I tell you what wouldn't be possible - for the Saudi ambassador to convert to Christianity and still be ambassador.
Because Saudi Arabia is a Muslim country. We are a tolerant one.
McDonnell's biggest problem is that he'll never get the nominations. He really would be frying pan to fire stuff compared to Corbyn !
Clive Lewis is the only candidate I can conceivably see being part of the setup to end Corbyn's reign in this scenario I think - McDonnell, Abbott, Burgon - doubtful they'll get 35 noms.
What happens if Corbyn tells the PLP
'I'll stand down as leader now if you agree to nominate someone like McDonnell, Burgon, Abbott'
I think they'll agree to it.
As long as the "'someone like' McDonnell, Burgon, Abbott" is Lewis!
Lewis backs Trident so is no longer in the same category
Lewis backs party policy. How dare he.
It is not the leadership or membership policy just a compromise to appease MPs
Yes. But Brexit Britain will also create jobs and industries, that would not have been created inside the stifling and stagnant EU. It's ludicrous to see Leaving the EU as solely negative. Nothing as dynamic and radical as Brexit can be solely bad (or solely good).
As I said before, Brexit is like having a baby. You're focusing entirely on the nappies, vomit, and sleepless nights. And yes, they will happen. But you're forgetting about that first smile.
I think the banks are mainly agitating to get a better deal.
One thing that is interesting is the response of technology/internet companies to Brexit, a lot of these companies were also said to be very wary or Brexit. Despite the vote the big tech companies are either proceeding as planned or have announced UK expansions. Over the last few months Google, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, and now Snapchat have all announced UK positive news for the UK. I suppose partly this may be because such businesses are inherently global and the EU is just not that big a deal, but so far at least there's no real sign that leaving the EU will do the internet sector much harm.
At PythonAnywhere, they are much more concerned about Mrs May's requirement that customer data is handed over to the security services without so much as a warrant than about Brexit.
I am still shocked how little push back this has got. Not only handing over so much data, but to whom it can be released to. It is one thing for GCHQ to have it, but some of the agencies like the Food Standards Agency is just plain bonkers.
In comparison ID cards in any form, well that was the end of the world as we knew it. The state hoovering up all your online activity, hardly more than the odd article in the Guardian and some computer related online media.
Why are the Food Standards Agency bonkers? Food poisoning for example being an area under their jurisdiction can cause serious harm and even death. I could understand investigations they do that may justify their requiring such data. Of course I'd also prefer they required a warrant but then the same with other agencies.
Thats the point. There is no need for them to be given access to it in this manner. If as part of a criminal investigation they have a suspect and they need to acquire certain evidence then get a warrant as it is possible now.
The only people I can think who could need real time flow of internet traffic is the spooks. But even then, any half intelligent terrorist / criminal knows about VPNs and secure messaging services, so hoovering up everybodies data stored with ISP is pointless, they have to hack the specific connections.
Off-topic, I see the Russian Embassy has been trolling the UK about us trying to disrupt any Russian/US thaw.
It raises an interesting question - what is, and what should be Theresa May's approach to Putin? Historically we have always been hawkish on Russia, always been pretty poor relations. Unlike Trump, May has no ideological reason to like Putin, and unlike France or Germany, we have far less reliance or economic involvement with Russia - hence it was us pushing hard for sanctions. So there isn't really any advantage in the UK seeking a thaw in relations.
Will May try and change British attitudes towards Putin, or Trump's attitude toward's Putin?
Hawkish? Mostly British foreign policy has been to ally with Russia to prevent the rise of a strong power in between the two territories - whether that was Sweden, France, or Germany.
It's only recently that you've had this crazy talk about the US being too dovish and imagine if Britain had to fight Russia in the Baltic on its own.
The UK is never going to fight Russia on its own, it is on the other side of Europe for starters
Re: A&E, a significant factor has been the downgrading of the NHS Direct phoneline (now 111). It used to be staffed by qualified nurses and doctors; now to save a bit of cash it's entirely trained monkeys reading out instructions from a computer screen. As soon as someone calls up with symptoms that don't exactly match something on the system, they are referred to A&E to ensure arses are covered.
One of the worst examples of a false economy you will ever see.
Why can't they just be referred up within 111 to a qualified nurse/doctor?
When we used it most recently about a month ago (on behalf of the kid), we were given an appointment at an out-of-hours GP, which I'd much rather have than a visit to A&E.
Is that because you would expect to wait for hours at A&E, or because the GP's surgery was nearby and you knew it could provide the medication or other assistance needed, or for some other reason?
I think the GP system stinks. It is typical of how most people in Britain are treated as if they are as thick as two short planks and need some kind of "sir" mediating for them so that they don't waste the time of more active and better-paid "sirs" who don't want to spend too much time dirtying their hands answering stupid questions from Morlocks who shop at Aldi. Curiously a lot of the legal system is organised on the same principle.
Medics shouldn't be allowed to get away with calling themselves "doctors". Hardly any of them have ever done any original research or mastered any part of any field to become more knowledgeable about it than everyone else in the world, which is what is required to get a doctorate. Unfortunately anyone can call themselves "doctor". Like "accountant" and "surveyor", it isn't a protected term.
"September 15. The British Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Simon Collis, completed the Hajj after converting to Islam. He is believed to be the first British ambassador to perform the pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of Islam."
What ? The FO is an interesting place.
The FO's job is, surely, to represent the government and interests of the British to foreigners - not the other way round. In the world today it seems beyond perverse and actually insulting to have a Muslim convert dealing on our behalf with those scumbags. WTF?
A Muslim cannot be British ? or, vice versa ?
You are MaxPB and I claim my £5.
I tell you what wouldn't be possible - for the Saudi ambassador to convert to Christianity and still be ambassador.
I don't think a Saudi could convert at all. I am not 100% sure but definitely 99.9% sure. The sooner they are got rid of [ or, "taken down" ], the better.
Farron needs to hone his attacks a bit. Insults need to be vaguely credible to be effective. The number of people who think Corbyn is a Tory is vanishingly small, like the number of people who think the LibDems are seriously progressive. "Labour is still undecided on the key issue of opposing Brexit, unlike us" would be plausible. "Corbyn is right-wing", not so much.
And the number of people who think Corbyn is an incompetent fool without a shred of credibility? My guess is that it's more than the number who have even heard of Tim Farron. In fact, it could be everyone in Britain except you :-D
Never mind Nick Palmer, by his antics this morning Corbyn will have finally convinced quite a few of even his core advisers that he is an incompetent fool now past his "use by" date.
Here's how I see today's events. In the build up, a mounting tide of people from all wings of the party had spoken out against the politically suicidal stance that Corbyn was taking on open borders. The penny must have finally dropped and Corbyn's team got their way, and briefed the BBC accordingly. Corbyn then demonstrated in his interview his utter inability to stick with a brief. So the headlines the BBC are running at 12.30 ("Corbyn - I've not changed my mind on immigration") are the polar opposite to the headlines on this morning's radio at 6am ("Jeremy Corbyn is to signal his commitment to the end of the free movement of people in the EU..."). This on the issue that is defining today's political debate and tops the issue of public concerns, especially for the C2DE demographic to which Labour traditionally sought to appeal.
It's gone beyond where you stand on the political spectrum. It's just a case of sheer ineptitude combined with any notion of political nous, a leader who has become a byword for incompetence, the contrast between a Corbyn and a McDonnell.
The only silver lining I take from this is that (a) the public will increasingly pick up on the disconnect between Corbyn's position and that of just about every other Labour MP or union official who comments on EU migration, forming the view that Labour if not Corbyn has changed and (b) having humiliated his own people so comprehensively today, Corbyn's hold on the Labour leadership is significantly weaker today than it was yesterday.
Re: A&E, a significant factor has been the downgrading of the NHS Direct phoneline (now 111). It used to be staffed by qualified nurses and doctors; now to save a bit of cash it's entirely trained monkeys reading out instructions from a computer screen. As soon as someone calls up with symptoms that don't exactly match something on the system, they are referred to A&E to ensure arses are covered.
One of the worst examples of a false economy you will ever see.
Why can't they just be referred up within 111 to a qualified nurse/doctor?
When we used it most recently about a month ago (on behalf of the kid), we were given an appointment at an out-of-hours GP, which I'd much rather have than a visit to A&E.
Is that because you would expect to wait for hours at A&E, or because the GP's surgery was nearby and you knew it could provide the medication or other assistance needed, or for some other reason?
I think the GP system stinks. It is typical of how most people in Britain are treated as if they are as thick as two short planks and need some kind of "sir" mediating for them so that they don't waste the time of more active and better-paid "sirs" who don't want to spend too much time dirtying their hands answering stupid questions from Morlocks who shop at Aldi. Curiously a lot of the legal system is organised on the same principle.
Medics shouldn't be allowed to get away with calling themselves "doctors". Hardly any of them have ever done any original research or mastered any part of any field to become more knowledgeable about it than everyone else in the world, which is what is required to get a doctorate. Unfortunately anyone can call themselves "doctor". Like "accountant" and "surveyor", it isn't a protected term.
It is however a criminal offence to practice as a GP without a licence...
Yes. But Brexit Britain will also create jobs and industries, that would not have been created inside the stifling and stagnant EU. It's ludicrous to see Leaving the EU as solely negative. Nothing as dynamic and radical as Brexit can be solely bad (or solely good).
As I said before, Brexit is like having a baby. You're focusing entirely on the nappies, vomit, and sleepless nights. And yes, they will happen. But you're forgetting about that first smile.
I think the banks are mainly agitating to get a better deal.
One thing that is interesting is the response of technology/internet companies to Brexit, a lot of these companies were also said to be very wary of Brexit. Despite the vote the big tech companies are either proceeding as planned or have announced UK expansions. Over the last few months Google, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, and now Snapchat have all announced positive news for the UK. I suppose partly this may be because such businesses are inherently global and the EU is just not that big a deal, but so far at least there's no real sign that leaving the EU will do the internet sector much harm.
Oh and SoftBank bought ARM for a fortune and committed to the UK remaining the HQ.
The main worry for the tech sector was access to skilled staff from the EU (and elsewhere). But the one thing all Brexiteers have said, even the loonies, is that there will be no restrictions on highly skilled immigrants with job offers. So that fear has been allayed.
Indeed post-Brexit the employment situation might even be better, because, in driving down unskilled immigration from the EU, the UK will create room to recruit MORE skilled people, from outside Europe.
Yes. But Brexit Britain will also create jobs and industries, that would not have been created inside the stifling and stagnant EU. It's ludicrous to see Leaving the EU as solely negative. Nothing as dynamic and radical as Brexit can be solely bad (or solely good).
As I said before, Brexit is like having a baby. You're focusing entirely on the nappies, vomit, and sleepless nights. And yes, they will happen. But you're forgetting about that first smile.
I think the banks are mainly agitating to get a better deal.
One thing that is interesting is the response of technology/internet companies to Brexit, a lot of these companies were also said to be very wary of Brexit. Despite the vote the big tech companies are either proceeding as planned or have announced UK expansions. Over the last few months Google, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, and now Snapchat have all announced positive news for the UK. I suppose partly this may be because such businesses are inherently global and the EU is just not that big a deal, but so far at least there's no real sign that leaving the EU will do the internet sector much harm.
Oh and SoftBank bought ARM for a fortune and committed to the UK remaining the HQ.
The main worry for the tech sector was access to skilled staff from the EU (and elsewhere). But the one thing all Brexiteers have said, even the loonies, is that there will be no restrictions on highly skilled immigrants with job offers. So that fear has been allayed.
Indeed post-Brexit the employment situation might even be better, because, in driving down unskilled immigration from the EU, the UK will create room to recruit MORE skilled people, from outside Europe.
Off-topic, I see the Russian Embassy has been trolling the UK about us trying to disrupt any Russian/US thaw.
It raises an interesting question - what is, and what should be Theresa May's approach to Putin? Historically we have always been hawkish on Russia, always been pretty poor relations. Unlike Trump, May has no ideological reason to like Putin, and unlike France or Germany, we have far less reliance or economic involvement with Russia - hence it was us pushing hard for sanctions. So there isn't really any advantage in the UK seeking a thaw in relations.
Will May try and change British attitudes towards Putin, or Trump's attitude toward's Putin?
Hawkish? Mostly British foreign policy has been to ally with Russia to prevent the rise of a strong power in between the two territories - whether that was Sweden, France, or Germany.
It's only recently that you've had this crazy talk about the US being too dovish and imagine if Britain had to fight Russia in the Baltic on its own.
British foreign policy has historically been in British interests.
There was a very strong rivalry with Russia in the 19th Century to prevent it getting a warm water port, and being able to challenge the Royal Navy's dominance in the Med, and to keep its influence as far away from India as possible, hence the interventions in Afghanistan.
Yes. But Brexit Britain will also create jobs and industries, that would not have been created inside the stifling and stagnant EU. It's ludicrous to see Leaving the EU as solely negative. Nothing as dynamic and radical as Brexit can be solely bad (or solely good).
As I said before, Brexit is like having a baby. You're focusing entirely on the nappies, vomit, and sleepless nights. And yes, they will happen. But you're forgetting about that first smile.
I think the banks are mainly agitating to get a better deal.
One thing that is interesting is the response of technology/internet companies to Brexit, a lot of these companies were also said to be very wary of Brexit. Despite the vote the big tech companies are either proceeding as planned or have announced UK expansions. Over the last few months Google, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, and now Snapchat have all announced positive news for the UK. I suppose partly this may be because such businesses are inherently global and the EU is just not that big a deal, but so far at least there's no real sign that leaving the EU will do the internet sector much harm.
Oh and SoftBank bought ARM for a fortune and committed to the UK remaining the HQ.
The main worry for the tech sector was access to skilled staff from the EU (and elsewhere). But the one thing all Brexiteers have said, even the loonies, is that there will be no restrictions on highly skilled immigrants with job offers. So that fear has been allayed.
Indeed post-Brexit the employment situation might even be better, because, in driving down unskilled immigration from the EU, the UK will create room to recruit MORE skilled people, from outside Europe.
Who will do the dirty jobs ?
Robots.
Rather interestingly, computers are actually still rather crap at some human tasks which our society doesn't place much value in e.g. cleaning. They are far better at doing low / mid level admin and clerical work.
For example, asking a computer to identify things in a room that need to be tidied away vs throw away, ML / AI is nowhere near good enough to work out subtle context e.g. just because something is on the floor doesn't mean it is garbage and just because something is on a shelf doesn't mean it isn't.
I would be far more concerned for my job if I was a entry level computer programmer or something to do with data entry / simple number crunching, than some traditional "dirty jobs". The real world is very complex and difficult for computers to learn to make the correct decisions, environments which can be controlled e.g. such as dealing with large sets of data, are where lots of progress is being made.
Re: A&E, a significant factor has been the downgrading of the NHS Direct phoneline (now 111). It used to be staffed by qualified nurses and doctors; now to save a bit of cash it's entirely trained monkeys reading out instructions from a computer screen. As soon as someone calls up with symptoms that don't exactly match something on the system, they are referred to A&E to ensure arses are covered.
One of the worst examples of a false economy you will ever see.
Why can't they just be referred up within 111 to a qualified nurse/doctor?
When we used it most recently about a month ago (on behalf of the kid), we were given an appointment at an out-of-hours GP, which I'd much rather have than a visit to A&E.
Is that because you would expect to wait for hours at A&E, or because the GP's surgery was nearby and you knew it could provide the medication or other assistance needed, or for some other reason?
I think the GP system stinks. It is typical of how most people in Britain are treated as if they are as thick as two short planks and need some kind of "sir" mediating for them so that they don't waste the time of more active and better-paid "sirs" who don't want to spend too much time dirtying their hands answering stupid questions from Morlocks who shop at Aldi. Curiously a lot of the legal system is organised on the same principle.
Medics shouldn't be allowed to get away with calling themselves "doctors". Hardly any of them have ever done any original research or mastered any part of any field to become more knowledgeable about it than everyone else in the world, which is what is required to get a doctorate. Unfortunately anyone can call themselves "doctor". Like "accountant" and "surveyor", it isn't a protected term.
I find doctors and consultants very quickly ask me what I do for a living when I turn up to see them, typically besuited and middle-class sounding.
I do wonder if that's more social than medical, because once they realise I'm not a 'scrote' they talk to me like a fellow professional.
Yes, it's the monumental incompetence which is so striking. It's clear that Corbyn cannot bring himself to utter words that might make him look anything but the most pure-hearted of internationalists. His moral vanity demands this. So even if he agrees to say something sensible and centrist on migration, when it comes to it, he can't and won't say it. He will veer off piste and end up with his skis up his arse.
He is just a bumbling cretin.
Same problem he had with the question about ordering police to shoot rampaging terrorists (not that the PM in practice would make such an order).
Mr. Eagles, unsurprising. A natural reaction to ever more power flowing to everywhere Not-England through devolution and the kickback against multi-culturalism.
Be nice if we got an English Parliament, but I can't see it happening anytime soon.
We don't need an English Parliament.
We already have a de facto English parliament
Indeed, an interesting unintended consequence of SNP winning all but 3 seats in Scotland.
Farron needs to hone his attacks a bit. Insults need to be vaguely credible to be effective. The number of people who think Corbyn is a Tory is vanishingly small, like the number of people who think the LibDems are seriously progressive. "Labour is still undecided on the key issue of opposing Brexit, unlike us" would be plausible. "Corbyn is right-wing", not so much.
And the number of people who think Corbyn is an incompetent fool without a shred of credibility? My guess is that it's more than the number who have even heard of Tim Farron. In fact, it could be everyone in Britain except you :-D
Never mind Nick Palmer, by his antics this morning Corbyn will have finally convinced quite a few of even his core advisers that he is an incompetent fool now past his "use by" date.
Here's how I see today's events. In the build up, a mounting tide of people from all wings of the party had spoken out against the politically suicidal stance that Corbyn was taking on open borders. The penny must have finally dropped and Corbyn's team got their way, and briefed the BBC accordingly. Corbyn then demonstrated in his interview his utter inability to stick with a brief. So the headlines the BBC are running at 12.30 ("Corbyn - I've not changed my mind on immigration") are the polar opposite to the headlines on this morning's radio at 6am ("Jeremy Corbyn is to signal his commitment to the end of the free movement of people in the EU..."). This on the issue that is defining today's political debate and tops the issue of public concerns, especially for the C2DE demographic to which Labour traditionally sought to appeal.
It's gone beyond where you stand on the political spectrum. It's just a case of sheer ineptitude combined with any notion of political nous, a leader who has become a byword for incompetence, the contrast between a Corbyn and a McDonnell.
The only silver lining I take from this is that (a) the public will increasingly pick up on the disconnect between Corbyn's position and that of just about every other Labour MP or union official who comments on EU migration, forming the view that Labour if not Corbyn has changed and (b) having humiliated his own people so comprehensively today, Corbyn's hold on the Labour leadership is significantly weaker today than it was yesterday.
Yes, that fits.
He still needs to choose to walk though.
Indeed and I doubt most of the over 60% of Labour members who reelected him will have changed their mind on him, with this new statement and his proposal for a maximum wage they will say 'his heart is in the right place' even if his head isn't!
Off-topic, I see the Russian Embassy has been trolling the UK about us trying to disrupt any Russian/US thaw.
It raises an interesting question - what is, and what should be Theresa May's approach to Putin? Historically we have always been hawkish on Russia, always been pretty poor relations. Unlike Trump, May has no ideological reason to like Putin, and unlike France or Germany, we have far less reliance or economic involvement with Russia - hence it was us pushing hard for sanctions. So there isn't really any advantage in the UK seeking a thaw in relations.
Will May try and change British attitudes towards Putin, or Trump's attitude toward's Putin?
Hawkish? Mostly British foreign policy has been to ally with Russia to prevent the rise of a strong power in between the two territories - whether that was Sweden, France, or Germany.
It's only recently that you've had this crazy talk about the US being too dovish and imagine if Britain had to fight Russia in the Baltic on its own.
The UK is never going to fight Russia on its own, it is on the other side of Europe for starters
Yes, it was so much easier to get to in 1854, wasn't it?
Comments
But it's not a certainty either way, maybe 70-30 that he leaves before a 2020 election but of course the election could well be sooner. Evens looks fair but I wouldn't take 4/5.
I agree that Jexit isn't going to help Labour all that much.
...Spent six hours waiting - despite URGENT fax telling them to grab me on arrival. Of the 40 waiting - I was mostly surrounded by what I'd term non-urgent small injury kids with worried parents, drunks and junkies. The two I spent most time chatting that evening with were a guy who'd been savaged by a random dog as he went to his car - pretty torn up on his forearms/shocked, and a young lady who'd appalling abdominal pain that made her faint in front of me. The latter two seemed entirely appropriate candidates for A&E.
I was taken to A&E as a kid c5x. The ones I recall are blue gloss paint blown into my eye when helping paint an outhouse door, stung by a dozen wasps, bust wrist playing Pirates, caught finger in a slammed car door... I took my husband to A&E when he broke his ankle playing 5-a-side. All were on a weekend and the sort of accidents that needed x-rays/plaster/expert advice.
My mum used to joke that social services would take me into care if they knew how accident prone I was. I loved a bit of adventure - far too much cotton wool these days.
Jeremy Corbyn: I've not changed mind on immigration
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-38561501
Apparently all that anti-immigration briefing was nonsense, what he really talking about is exploited foreign workers in the UK.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuDbBzTGICA
* Well I guess you could, theoretically, if people in the 20th to the 45th percentile saw their income increase massively. But it's staggeringly unlikely.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-01-09/islamization-britain-2016-more-backwards-some-parts-pakistan-0
I cannot be alone. Surely we need him to stand down so some of us can get on with some work?
"Corbyn calls for max wage law if I was still an adviser I would have told him it's a totally idiotic unworkable idea "
If you look at the detail of the projects that were re-announced, they are primarily power and water utility types - ie its our national infrastructure being bought up by Johnny Foreigner and the UK tax payer stuck with paying them over the long term.
The FDI at risk from Brexit is international companies who were going to base themselves in the UK and export to Europe. The Brexiteers argument is that this will be outweighed by companies using Britain as a base to export to say, Indonesia or Argentina.
@wallaceme: Corbyn's message is hard to decipher but it appears to be "if you're a Continuity Remainer, you should vote Lib Dem."
One of the worst examples of a false economy you will ever see.
It could be a great way of getting their Red Brexit position sorted. No free movement, hard brexit, "we will give you the Brexit you voted for, the £350mil you voted for, not the Tories' Banker's Brexit". When the experts/papers/commentators ridicule his spending plans - attack their misleading biased lies etc etc.
If he wants to use the Trump playbook, he will have to commit fully to it. I can't see it working for him, but it's worth a shot at this point I suppose.
Nominations don't open without a vacancy so it would open him up to resigning and then being betrayed and the nominations not getting honoured. Unless I suppose the PLP launch a challenge and he agrees to stand down once his favoured alternative has been formally nominated.
Why can't they just be referred up within 111 to a qualified nurse/doctor?
[edit I thought you meant the Lords]
UKIP are badly under-represented, on whatever measure you could think to apply.
No reason to turn Farage specifically down.
What ? The FO is an interesting place.
Thought crime.
Edited extra bit: must be off.
It raises an interesting question - what is, and what should be Theresa May's approach to Putin? Historically we have always been hawkish on Russia, always been pretty poor relations. Unlike Trump, May has no ideological reason to like Putin, and unlike France or Germany, we have far less reliance or economic involvement with Russia - hence it was us pushing hard for sanctions. So there isn't really any advantage in the UK seeking a thaw in relations.
Will May try and change British attitudes towards Putin, or Trump's attitude toward's Putin?
One thing that is interesting is the response of technology/internet companies to Brexit, a lot of these companies were also said to be very wary of Brexit. Despite the vote the big tech companies are either proceeding as planned or have announced UK expansions. Over the last few months Google, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, and now Snapchat have all announced positive news for the UK. I suppose partly this may be because such businesses are inherently global and the EU is just not that big a deal, but so far at least there's no real sign that leaving the EU will do the internet sector much harm.
Oh and SoftBank bought ARM for a fortune and committed to the UK remaining the HQ.
It's only recently that you've had this crazy talk about the US being too dovish and imagine if Britain had to fight Russia in the Baltic on its own.
In comparison ID cards in any form, well that was the end of the world as we knew it. The state hoovering up all your online activity, hardly more than the odd article in the Guardian and some computer related online media.
And obviously it is fundamentally flawed as you don't need to be a genius to sign up for things like a VPN service*.
* Yes we know the spooks can hack into these connections, but they do that already.
Are you aware that Britain's foreign secretary is a US citizen?
Here's how I see today's events. In the build up, a mounting tide of people from all wings of the party had spoken out against the politically suicidal stance that Corbyn was taking on open borders. The penny must have finally dropped and Corbyn's team got their way, and briefed the BBC accordingly. Corbyn then demonstrated in his interview his utter inability to stick with a brief. So the headlines the BBC are running at 12.30 ("Corbyn - I've not changed my mind on immigration") are the polar opposite to the headlines on this morning's radio at 6am ("Jeremy Corbyn is to signal his commitment to the end of the free movement of people in the EU..."). This on the issue that is defining today's political debate and tops the issue of public concerns, especially for the C2DE demographic to which Labour traditionally sought to appeal.
It's gone beyond where you stand on the political spectrum. It's just a case of sheer ineptitude combined with any notion of political nous, a leader who has become a byword for incompetence, the contrast between a Corbyn and a McDonnell.
The only silver lining I take from this is that (a) the public will increasingly pick up on the disconnect between Corbyn's position and that of just about every other Labour MP or union official who comments on EU migration, forming the view that Labour if not Corbyn has changed and (b) having humiliated his own people so comprehensively today, Corbyn's hold on the Labour leadership is significantly weaker today than it was yesterday.
You are MaxPB and I claim my £5.
Evidence needed.
https://mobile.twitter.com/GetBritainOut/status/818804604720664580
The only people I can think who could need real time flow of internet traffic is the spooks. But even then, any half intelligent terrorist / criminal knows about VPNs and secure messaging services, so hoovering up everybodies data stored with ISP is pointless, they have to hack the specific connections.
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/drug-that-regenerates-teeth-could-be-end-of-fillings-s5ftdgkzb
I think the GP system stinks. It is typical of how most people in Britain are treated as if they are as thick as two short planks and need some kind of "sir" mediating for them so that they don't waste the time of more active and better-paid "sirs" who don't want to spend too much time dirtying their hands answering stupid questions from Morlocks who shop at Aldi. Curiously a lot of the legal system is organised on the same principle.
Medics shouldn't be allowed to get away with calling themselves "doctors". Hardly any of them have ever done any original research or mastered any part of any field to become more knowledgeable about it than everyone else in the world, which is what is required to get a doctorate. Unfortunately anyone can call themselves "doctor". Like "accountant" and "surveyor", it isn't a protected term.
But our Prime Ministers keep paying homage.
He still needs to choose to walk though.
There was a very strong rivalry with Russia in the 19th Century to prevent it getting a warm water port, and being able to challenge the Royal Navy's dominance in the Med, and to keep its influence as far away from India as possible, hence the interventions in Afghanistan.
It was called The Great Game.
For example, asking a computer to identify things in a room that need to be tidied away vs throw away, ML / AI is nowhere near good enough to work out subtle context e.g. just because something is on the floor doesn't mean it is garbage and just because something is on a shelf doesn't mean it isn't.
I would be far more concerned for my job if I was a entry level computer programmer or something to do with data entry / simple number crunching, than some traditional "dirty jobs". The real world is very complex and difficult for computers to learn to make the correct decisions, environments which can be controlled e.g. such as dealing with large sets of data, are where lots of progress is being made.
I do wonder if that's more social than medical, because once they realise I'm not a 'scrote' they talk to me like a fellow professional.
@BBCNormanS: Firms that agree salary caps cd be exempt from planned rise in corporation tax says @johnmcdonnellMP
So, not only would they forego the income tax from high earners, they would give up corporation tax too...
Are we running out of adjectives for the scale of fuckwittery on show today?
But this is on another f****** scale.
I assume it's the recreation of the main/SME distinction and then you could qualify for the lower rate via a cap.