It is a fact re the Wales issue, that before devolution Wales had above UK average GCSE and A Level results and after about 4 years of devolution was below the UK average and has been slipping behind England year on year. Its an interesting trend and we will probably see a similar trend in this years PISA results. Probably fits into why Wales is seen as a less desirable place to work and bring up a family.
How big of you not to post anything about the Hibs result!
In these dark days for the Famous Heart of Midlothain our neighbours continue to provide a constant source of amusement! Still they did well to keep it below double figures!
Tremendous result for St Johnstone though so not all is lost for Scottish Football.
The Detroit effect would be one of the few upsides of Labour winning in 2015.
The country would be so bankrupt come 2020 that public sector pension haircuts would be financially attractive, popular with voters and probably a key part of the IMF bailout deal.
Dear John, a simple point I asked earlier was for a comparison of decline/improvement in areas controlled by a single party over many years - I suggested 15yrs as a minimum.
Rather than bitch about examples given by those run by your preferred end of politics [Labour and Democrats] - perhaps you'd like to find horror stories in ones run by Tories, GOPers or LDs to counter them.
Leaving aside the passive-aggressive crap, that really is not how causality or data analysis works. Oh look, there are no diamond mines in Guildford and there's been a Tory council since Hereward the Wake. Where does that get us? Can we think of any other factors that might affect the presence of diamond mines besides the colour of the local council? Conversely, if there were diamond mines in Guildford, might the miners perhaps vote for a different party?
It is a fact re the Wales issue, that before devolution Wales had above UK average GCSE and A Level results and after about 4 years of devolution was below the UK average and has been slipping behind England year on year. Its an interesting trend and we will probably see a similar trend in this years PISA results. Probably fits into why Wales is seen as a less desirable place to work and bring up a family.
Tessy - if you are Tessy with the pix @SeanT lusted after - great to see you back here.
Ref Wales, I've generally found it to be far more tolerant of the English / England than Scotland (though it's also played up as panto-villans in both). I was on holiday in Wales during the 2010 world cup and there were far more flags of St George flying than I'd have expected. Perhaps many were 'ex-pats' / tourists but if so, there were a lot. Likewise, in the pub where I watched the England v Germany match (in St Davids), there was only one virulantly anti-English, and he may have been playing it up given the amount of amusement he was causing. The rest were fairly equally split between those supporting the two sides (or more accurately, those supporting England and those opposing them), and those with no strong feeling either way.
We're back on holiday there before too long so I'll see first-hand if it's changed. The only anti-outsider feeling I've noticed is the habit in some Welsh-speaking parts of the country to switch to the local language from English, as soon as an outsider comes within earshot.
Dear John, a simple point I asked earlier was for a comparison of decline/improvement in areas controlled by a single party over many years - I suggested 15yrs as a minimum.
Rather than bitch about examples given by those run by your preferred end of politics [Labour and Democrats] - perhaps you'd like to find horror stories in ones run by Tories, GOPers or LDs to counter them.
Leaving aside the passive-aggressive crap, that really is not how causality or data analysis works. Oh look, there are no diamond mines in Guildford and there's been a Tory council since Hereward the Wake. Where does that get us? Can we think of any other factors that might affect the presence of diamond mines besides the colour of the local council? Conversely, if there were diamond mines in Guildford, might the miners perhaps vote for a different party?
So apart from being rude, what is your evidence that areas other than those cited have failed as a result of being in charge for over 15yrs.
Is every Labour controlled seat or council doomed because it doesn't have a diamond mine?
I really fail to see what your point is here. Tell me an example of a Labour controlled council or seat where prosperity has risen under their control. I assume there are plenty of them.
Sort of on topic, in addition to the Labour lead having fallen a little of recent weeks, the YouGov government approval tracker also looks to have taken a bit of an upwards tick. Four of the last six polls have the rating in the minus twenties (or three of the last four, or the last two, if you prefer). Throughout May and June, the rating was usually well into the minus thirties. Apart from a brief blip in mid-April, these are the best figures since January.
Excellent programme on Falkirk from BBC Radio 4 last night, bears out my view that evidence against Unite pretty thin http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00jkr1q …
On topic - I disagree with Henry. I dislike the coalition, but I'm pleased the LDs are in there and able to act as some kind of restraint on the Tories. In 2015, I'd expect them to highlight things such as the lifting of tax thresholds for the lowest paid and the pupil premium as LD policies turned into government actions, and to say "you may not have liked our decision to go into power with the Tories, but think hoe much worse it could have been without us there to rein them in".
It is a fact re the Wales issue, that before devolution Wales had above UK average GCSE and A Level results and after about 4 years of devolution was below the UK average and has been slipping behind England year on year. Its an interesting trend and we will probably see a similar trend in this years PISA results. Probably fits into why Wales is seen as a less desirable place to work and bring up a family.
Tory controlled areas have fallen behind London in educational achievement though, and the recent research shows rural and coastal areas particularly letting down poor pupils, Tory areas. So it's not that simple.
London is Tory controlled ,Boris Johnson is the mayor.
Sort of on topic, in addition to the Labour lead having fallen a little of recent weeks, the YouGov government approval tracker also looks to have taken a bit of an upwards tick. Four of the last six polls have the rating in the minus twenties (or three of the last four, or the last two, if you prefer). Throughout May and June, the rating was usually well into the minus thirties. Apart from a brief blip in mid-April, these are the best figures since January.
Yes - some examples - unfortunately UKpolling report nor You gov don't appear to track approval on a graph.
Latest YouGov / The Sun results 29th May - CON 30%, LAB 37%, LD 11%, UKIP 14%; APP -36
Latest YouGov / The Sun results 7th May - CON 29%, LAB 39%, LD 9%, UKIP 16%; APP -35
Latest YouGov / The Sun results 5th March - CON 29%, LAB 42%, LD 11%, UKIP 12%; APP -40
Excellent programme on Falkirk from BBC Radio 4 last night, bears out my view that evidence against Unite pretty thin http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00jkr1q …
The list of Non-Stories is growing:
Falkirk and others referred to the Information Commissioner Unite's response which is entirely good for EdM Tax avoidance on donations
And whist this is going on = Labour want to talk about Crosby who is so newsworthy that the Sun didn't publish their own YouGov poll as it wasn't what their readers cared about.
Southam - The Tories didn't win a majority. Lib Dem support has given the Tories the strength to do things they would otherwise have found very difficult. And in the long run the pupil premium is a paltry measure.
It is a fact re the Wales issue, that before devolution Wales had above UK average GCSE and A Level results and after about 4 years of devolution was below the UK average and has been slipping behind England year on year. Its an interesting trend and we will probably see a similar trend in this years PISA results. Probably fits into why Wales is seen as a less desirable place to work and bring up a family.
Tory controlled areas have fallen behind London in educational achievement though, and the recent research shows rural and coastal areas particularly letting down poor pupils, Tory areas. So it's not that simple.
London is Tory controlled ,Boris Johnson is the mayor.
Oh good. We go from PB Tory world series anecdote finals to "How advertising doesn't work" by the PB Tories.
Dear Tim, a product that is not displayed but is instead sold from a store that is effectively out of sight is not advertising itself through its packaging. A person who comes across a cigarette package today will also view all the dire health warnings that the package contains and leave for most people a very bad impression about its visual appeal, Except of course those customers who enjoy the risky appeal of dangerous products which is common in teenagers.
Therefore pushing a higher % of death messages and reducing the glitz of a the brand names etc would be self defeating in that the cigarettes would appear more dangerous and have even more appeal to teenagers.
Therefore pushing a higher % of death messages and reducing the glitz of a the brand names etc would be self defeating in that the cigarettes would appear more dangerous and have even more appeal to teenagers.
I thought we were waiting to see what the evidence was on that.
Tell me an example of a Labour controlled council or seat where prosperity has risen under their control. I assume there are plenty of them.
We have all the fine examples of the Soviet run Eastern Europe to view wealth creation by socialists. But then some may view Sweden as socialist, a land with some schools run for a profit!
Dear John, a simple point I asked earlier was for a comparison of decline/improvement in areas controlled by a single party over many years - I suggested 15yrs as a minimum.
Rather than bitch about examples given by those run by your preferred end of politics [Labour and Democrats] - perhaps you'd like to find horror stories in ones run by Tories, GOPers or LDs to counter them.
Leaving aside the passive-aggressive crap, that really is not how causality or data analysis works. Oh look, there are no diamond mines in Guildford and there's been a Tory council since Hereward the Wake. Where does that get us? Can we think of any other factors that might affect the presence of diamond mines besides the colour of the local council? Conversely, if there were diamond mines in Guildford, might the miners perhaps vote for a different party?
So apart from being rude, what is your evidence that areas other than those cited have failed as a result of being in charge for over 15yrs.
Is every Labour controlled seat or council doomed because it doesn't have a diamond mine?
I really fail to see what your point is here. Tell me an example of a Labour controlled council or seat where prosperity has risen under their control. I assume there are plenty of them.
The point about the diamond mine is that it would be absurd to blame the Conservative council for its absence. HTH.
This bit "as a result of being in charge" is not valid. Correlation is not causation. Post hoc ergo propter hoc, and so on.
All may be fair in love, war and political campaigning but pb ought to be better than this. So no, I'm not going to join in your silly game.
I posted this article on Detroit by Daniel Hannan three days ago. No one mentioned or commented on it then. However the subject has returned below, and I offer it again for discussion. It's well worth perusing slowly:
I do think the Lib Dems are best servd by Clegg stepping down before the GE. He can (Quite rightly) come out with the speech about how he worked with the Conservatives in the national interest but that it is now time for the Liberal Democrats to move forward with a new leader, heading into GE2015. In essence he takes the hit for the coalition personally.
This would make sense to me if I was planning the LD campaign anyway.
Sort of on topic, in addition to the Labour lead having fallen a little of recent weeks, the YouGov government approval tracker also looks to have taken a bit of an upwards tick. Four of the last six polls have the rating in the minus twenties (or three of the last four, or the last two, if you prefer). Throughout May and June, the rating was usually well into the minus thirties. Apart from a brief blip in mid-April, these are the best figures since January.
Wales is of course a great example of how much better a health service runs if under a Labour run Govt for 16+ years. With those poor folk who are "waiting for heart surgery “dying regularly”
The Royal College of Surgeons said that during a visit to Cardiff’s University Hospital of Wales, clinicians said they believed services at the hospital were “dangerous” and of “poor quality”." "The report comes less than a week after the Royal College of Physicians warned that vital NHS Wales services were at risk of collapse because of severe staff shortages."
Dear John, a simple point I asked earlier was for a comparison of decline/improvement in areas controlled by a single party over many years - I suggested 15yrs as a minimum.
Rather than bitch about examples given by those run by your preferred end of politics [Labour and Democrats] - perhaps you'd like to find horror stories in ones run by Tories, GOPers or LDs to counter them.
Leaving aside the passive-aggressive crap, that really is not how causality or data analysis works. Oh look, there are no diamond mines in Guildford and there's been a Tory council since Hereward the Wake. Where does that get us? Can we think of any other factors that might affect the presence of diamond mines besides the colour of the local council? Conversely, if there were diamond mines in Guildford, might the miners perhaps vote for a different party?
So apart from being rude, what is your evidence that areas other than those cited have failed as a result of being in charge for over 15yrs.
Is every Labour controlled seat or council doomed because it doesn't have a diamond mine?
I really fail to see what your point is here. Tell me an example of a Labour controlled council or seat where prosperity has risen under their control. I assume there are plenty of them.
The point about the diamond mine is that it would be absurd to blame the Conservative council for its absence. HTH.
This bit "as a result of being in charge" is not valid. Correlation is not causation. Post hoc ergo propter hoc, and so on.
All may be fair in love, war and political campaigning but pb ought to be better than this. So no, I'm not going to join in your silly game.
Right so in translation - you can't name a single place that under Labour control has become more prosperous. You're now arguing that the absence of diamond mines and anything else isn't a factor.
Come on - you're a dyed in the wool Labour man who I assume has fought for better lives for his own - name me a single seat or council where voting Labour has transformed things.
Surely that's a very simple test of one's own politics? If voting Labour has no effect - why vote for them?
On the coalition, ITV News at Ten had a very rubbish bit last night with Libby Wiener. The programme claimed the Conservatives were in power (they aren't) and then claimed it was inconsistent for Osborne to state the recession had nothing to do with him but the recovery was his.
He wasn't in power during the recession. It's 100% legitimate to assert that he had nothing to do with it.
Southam - The Tories didn't win a majority. Lib Dem support has given the Tories the strength to do things they would otherwise have found very difficult. And in the long run the pupil premium is a paltry measure.
The alternative was a Tory minority government, which would have been disastrous for the country. There'd have been no stability precisely at a time when it was needed. Labour lost in 2010 and for the LDs to have done s deal with them because FPTP did not deliver them the defeat their vote share deserved would have been a travesty
Where the LDs went wrong in my view was to cede the negotiations to Orange Bookers such as Laws, Alexander, Clegg and Huhne, who are all much closer to the Tory view of the world than the average LD member and, as it turns out, to many LD voters. There should have been much more differentiation from the start. Instead the LDs gave the impression of being Tory-lite. A joint Warsi and Huhne press conference that was all about kicking Labour springs to mind from the summer of 2010. It was very foolish of the LDs to get involved in that kind of stunt. They've learned that lesson now, but it has damaged them - as many of us said it would.
Therefore pushing a higher % of death messages and reducing the glitz of a the brand names etc would be self defeating in that the cigarettes would appear more dangerous and have even more appeal to teenagers.
I thought we were waiting to see what the evidence was on that.
Yes we all are waiting to see how this goes. But let us not ignore the law of unintended consequences. I would rather have a campaign targetting how uncool it was to have bad breath, rotten teeth and smelly clothes aimed at teenagers. I am sure that our Roger could knock up an effective advertising campaign with that.
However the national debt was relatively low in historic terms in 2010 as were the borrowing costs for the government and the interest payments on government debt. There was no need for radical fiscal austerity and any sensible government would have realised that the economy needed some government intervention to help it get back on its feet again.
What complete and utter tosh, Mr. Booth.
At the end of Q1 2010, Public Sector Net Debt (PSND) was £2,226 billion,the highest amount ever recorded and a record high of 153.5% of GDP.
Gordon Brown had increased PSND from £311.1 billion at end Q1 2001 (or 30.8% of GDP) to over £2 trillion (153.5%), an increase of 90.8% in nine years.
Why is it that Labour apologists can never accept the real figures and true state of the economy bequeathed to the coalition government?
Therefore pushing a higher % of death messages and reducing the glitz of a the brand names etc would be self defeating in that the cigarettes would appear more dangerous and have even more appeal to teenagers.
I thought we were waiting to see what the evidence was on that.
Yes we all are waiting to see how this goes. But let us not ignore the law of unintended consequences. I would rather have a campaign targetting how uncool it was to have bad breath, rotten teeth and smelly clothes aimed at teenagers. I am sure that our Roger could knock up an effective advertising campaign with that.
I thought the one aimed at impotence was the killer - if a young male isn't frightened off by that - what would scare him?
I can't think of anything more !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Having a floppy moment is surely the ultimate horror for young male and his gossiping conquest?
However the national debt was relatively low in historic terms in 2010 as were the borrowing costs for the government and the interest payments on government debt. There was no need for radical fiscal austerity and any sensible government would have realised that the economy needed some government intervention to help it get back on its feet again.
What complete and utter tosh, Mr. Booth.
At the end of Q1 2010, Public Sector Net Debt (PSND) was £2,226 billion,the highest amount ever recorded and a record high of 153.5% of GDP.
Gordon Brown had increased PSND from £311.1 billion at end Q1 2001 (or 30.8% of GDP) to over £2 trillion, an increase of 90.8% in nine years.
Why is it that Labour apologists can never accept the real figures and true state of the economy bequeathed to the coalition government?
You are including the banks in that are you?
If there was such a public borrowing crisis why were we borrowing at record low rates when the government came into power.
However the national debt was relatively low in historic terms in 2010 as were the borrowing costs for the government and the interest payments on government debt. There was no need for radical fiscal austerity and any sensible government would have realised that the economy needed some government intervention to help it get back on its feet again.
What complete and utter tosh, Mr. Booth.
At the end of Q1 2010, Public Sector Net Debt (PSND) was £2,226 billion,the highest amount ever recorded and a record high of 153.5% of GDP.
Gordon Brown had increased PSND from £311.1 billion at end Q1 2001 (or 30.8% of GDP) to over £2 trillion (153.5%), an increase of 90.8% in nine years.
Why is it that Labour apologists can never accept the real figures and true state of the economy bequeathed to the coalition government?
Killer stats - and they want to Carry On Spending as its buys votes.
Therefore pushing a higher % of death messages and reducing the glitz of a the brand names etc would be self defeating in that the cigarettes would appear more dangerous and have even more appeal to teenagers.
I thought we were waiting to see what the evidence was on that.
Yes we all are waiting to see how this goes. But let us not ignore the law of unintended consequences. I would rather have a campaign targetting how uncool it was to have bad breath, rotten teeth and smelly clothes aimed at teenagers. I am sure that our Roger could knock up an effective advertising campaign with that.
I thought the one aimed at impotence was the killer - if a young male isn't frightened off by that - what would scare him?
I can't think of anything more !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Having a floppy moment is surely the ultimate horror for young male and his gossiping conquest?
@Nigel_Farage Don't tell us, show us! Ford factory closes as jobs go to Turkey on same day as Tory minister wants 'British jobs for British workers'. --------------- Not only does Matthew Hancock look thick, he acts even thicker.
Ref Wales, I've generally found it to be far more tolerant of the English / England than Scotland (though it's also played up as panto-villans in both). I was on holiday in Wales during the 2010 world cup and there were far more flags of St George flying than I'd have expected. Perhaps many were 'ex-pats' / tourists but if so, there were a lot. Likewise, in the pub where I watched the England v Germany match (in St Davids), there was only one virulantly anti-English, and he may have been playing it up given the amount of amusement he was causing. The rest were fairly equally split between those supporting the two sides (or more accurately, those supporting England and those opposing them), and those with no strong feeling either way.
We're back on holiday there before too long so I'll see first-hand if it's changed. The only anti-outsider feeling I've noticed is the habit in some Welsh-speaking parts of the country to switch to the local language from English, as soon as an outsider comes within earshot.
David, I have found that the Welsh usually only watch sporting events that include a Welsh team or person. For instance at my country local/pub, I will watch the rugby intls and the locals do not wait to watch a second game after the Welsh one - the pub just evacuates.
I live in a Welsh speaking community and do not speak the language, but have not found a language bias when I am around. If they are speaking in Welsh then they will switch to English - all are fluently bilingual-but then I am accepted as part of the community.
I almost laughed when Wiener came out with that stupid assertions, suspect the producers of ITN were cringing in embarrassment as it was a blatant howler.
On the coalition, ITV News at Ten had a very rubbish bit last night with Libby Wiener. The programme claimed the Conservatives were in power (they aren't) and then claimed it was inconsistent for Osborne to state the recession had nothing to do with him but the recovery was his.
He wasn't in power during the recession. It's 100% legitimate to assert that he had nothing to do with it.
I almost laughed when Wiener came out with that stupid assertions, suspect the producers of ITN were cringing in embarrassment as it was a blatant howler.
On the coalition, ITV News at Ten had a very rubbish bit last night with Libby Wiener. The programme claimed the Conservatives were in power (they aren't) and then claimed it was inconsistent for Osborne to state the recession had nothing to do with him but the recovery was his.
He wasn't in power during the recession. It's 100% legitimate to assert that he had nothing to do with it.
Come off it. If the Tories are not in power, who is? And every time the figures were bad if was always someone else's fault. Now the figures are ok, by some miracle the politicians start claiming credit.
Comments
How big of you not to post anything about the Hibs result!
Tremendous result for St Johnstone though so not all is lost for Scottish Football.
The country would be so bankrupt come 2020 that public sector pension haircuts would be financially attractive, popular with voters and probably a key part of the IMF bailout deal.
We're back on holiday there before too long so I'll see first-hand if it's changed. The only anti-outsider feeling I've noticed is the habit in some Welsh-speaking parts of the country to switch to the local language from English, as soon as an outsider comes within earshot.
Tessy - if you are Tessy with the pix @SeanT lusted after - great to see you back here.
Is every Labour controlled seat or council doomed because it doesn't have a diamond mine?
I really fail to see what your point is here. Tell me an example of a Labour controlled council or seat where prosperity has risen under their control. I assume there are plenty of them.
Michael Crick @MichaelLCrick 22m
Excellent programme on Falkirk from BBC Radio 4 last night, bears out my view that evidence against Unite pretty thin http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00jkr1q …
Yes - some examples - unfortunately UKpolling report nor You gov don't appear to track approval on a graph.
Latest YouGov / The Sun results 29th May - CON 30%, LAB 37%, LD 11%, UKIP 14%; APP -36
Latest YouGov / The Sun results 7th May - CON 29%, LAB 39%, LD 9%, UKIP 16%; APP -35
Latest YouGov / The Sun results 5th March - CON 29%, LAB 42%, LD 11%, UKIP 12%; APP -40
Falkirk and others referred to the Information Commissioner
Unite's response which is entirely good for EdM
Tax avoidance on donations
And whist this is going on = Labour want to talk about Crosby who is so newsworthy that the Sun didn't publish their own YouGov poll as it wasn't what their readers cared about.
Therefore pushing a higher % of death messages and reducing the glitz of a the brand names etc would be self defeating in that the cigarettes would appear more dangerous and have even more appeal to teenagers.
This bit "as a result of being in charge" is not valid. Correlation is not causation. Post hoc ergo propter hoc, and so on.
All may be fair in love, war and political campaigning but pb ought to be better than this. So no, I'm not going to join in your silly game.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/danielhannan/100227375/obamanomics-is-turning-america-into-detroit-ayn-rands-starnesville-come-to-life/
I do think the Lib Dems are best servd by Clegg stepping down before the GE. He can (Quite rightly) come out with the speech about how he worked with the Conservatives in the national interest but that it is now time for the Liberal Democrats to move forward with a new leader, heading into GE2015. In essence he takes the hit for the coalition personally.
This would make sense to me if I was planning the LD campaign anyway.
(Can't post there...)
http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/w5euy3i1y0/YG-Archives-Pol-Trackers-Approval-240713.pdf
A wee bit of jiggery pokery should be able to turn that into a graph
Did YouGov ask that question *before* the 2010 election?
Is this because NHS Wales have secretly adopted Lansley's reorganisation? Innocent Face.
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/health/university-hospital-wales-branded-dangerous-5325648
"Patients in Wales’ biggest hospital are coming to harm because of increased waiting lists, with those waiting for heart surgery “dying regularly” a damning report has found.
The Royal College of Surgeons said that during a visit to Cardiff’s University Hospital of Wales, clinicians said they believed services at the hospital were “dangerous” and of “poor quality”."
"The report comes less than a week after the Royal College of Physicians warned that vital NHS Wales services were at risk of collapse because of severe staff shortages."
Come on - you're a dyed in the wool Labour man who I assume has fought for better lives for his own - name me a single seat or council where voting Labour has transformed things.
Surely that's a very simple test of one's own politics? If voting Labour has no effect - why vote for them?
He wasn't in power during the recession. It's 100% legitimate to assert that he had nothing to do with it.
Where the LDs went wrong in my view was to cede the negotiations to Orange Bookers such as Laws, Alexander, Clegg and Huhne, who are all much closer to the Tory view of the world than the average LD member and, as it turns out, to many LD voters. There should have been much more differentiation from the start. Instead the LDs gave the impression of being Tory-lite. A joint Warsi and Huhne press conference that was all about kicking Labour springs to mind from the summer of 2010. It was very foolish of the LDs to get involved in that kind of stunt. They've learned that lesson now, but it has damaged them - as many of us said it would.
At the end of Q1 2010, Public Sector Net Debt (PSND) was £2,226 billion,the highest amount ever recorded and a record high of 153.5% of GDP.
Gordon Brown had increased PSND from £311.1 billion at end Q1 2001 (or 30.8% of GDP) to over £2 trillion (153.5%), an increase of 90.8% in nine years.
Why is it that Labour apologists can never accept the real figures and true state of the economy bequeathed to the coalition government?
I can't think of anything more !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Having a floppy moment is surely the ultimate horror for young male and his gossiping conquest?
If there was such a public borrowing crisis why were we borrowing at record low rates when the government came into power.
Don't tell us, show us! Ford factory closes as jobs go to Turkey on same day as Tory minister wants 'British jobs for British workers'.
---------------
Not only does Matthew Hancock look thick, he acts even thicker.
David, I have found that the Welsh usually only watch sporting events that include a Welsh team or person. For instance at my country local/pub, I will watch the rugby intls and the locals do not wait to watch a second game after the Welsh one - the pub just evacuates.
I live in a Welsh speaking community and do not speak the language, but have not found a language bias when I am around. If they are speaking in Welsh then they will switch to English - all are fluently bilingual-but then I am accepted as part of the community.
ITN were cringing in embarrassment as it was a blatant howler.
It is pathetic.