But, will these leads hold for another three years?
Next year, and 2019, will be pivotal years. But, even if Labour chuck out Corbyn post-Brexit one wonders whether they can claw this deficit back inside 12 months.
You can't fatten a pig on market day.
I expect the Conservatives want to be going into GE2020 with the deficit 2-4 years away from flipping to an absolute surplus, a few wins on Brexit already banked (blue passports, a few nice trade deals in the pipeline, and some extra migration controls) and ask the electorate if they want Labour to ruin it all again.
I got my new drivers licence the other day. Super impressed it has a union flag on it. It expires in 2019. Can't wait to get one sans the European Union flag.
I insisted to the dealership that the numberplate for my new Jaguar came without an EU flag on it.
And it didn't.
It did come with customised Union flag wheel badges, which I specifically ordered.
I have to renew my passport next year. I am genuinely intrigued to know what it will look like. They surely can't keep printing the old EU passports, which will be obsolete a year later.
But, will these leads hold for another three years?
Next year, and 2019, will be pivotal years. But, even if Labour chuck out Corbyn post-Brexit one wonders whether they can claw this deficit back inside 12 months.
You can't fatten a pig on market day.
I expect the Conservatives want to be going into GE2020 with the deficit 2-4 years away from flipping to an absolute surplus, a few wins on Brexit already banked (blue passports, a few nice trade deals in the pipeline, and some extra migration controls) and ask the electorate if they want Labour to ruin it all again.
I got my new drivers licence the other day. Super impressed it has a union flag on it. It expires in 2019. Can't wait to get one sans the European Union flag.
I insisted to the dealership that the numberplate for my new Jaguar came without an EU flag on it.
And it didn't.
It did come with customised Union flag wheel badges, which I specifically ordered.
I have to renew my passport next year. I am genuinely intrigued to know what it will look like. They surely can't keep printing the old EU passports, which will be obsolete a year later.
The design of passports (in terms of size, features, layout, RFID) is set internationally, so that will likely not change at all. The European Union is only mentioned in two places: on the front cover in a smaller font than UNITED KINGDOM, and on page three (again in relatively small font). I would expect that your passport will lose those two references to the EU next year.
Now, will it go black? Of course, there is nothing to stop the UK having a black passport now. Croatia, for example, is in the EU and has very dark blue passport. My guess is that by 2020 we'll probably return to black, but otherwise the design (other than losing the words "European Union") will be absolutely the same as it is now.
It will also - at some point - lose all the foreign translations of the words - German to Maltese to Polish, and go back to just English, with perhaps Welsh, and Scots Gaelic? Maybe French (I hope not)
They'll also presumably get rid of all that foreign muck on the front and have the words: "Evil be to those who think evil of it", and "God and my right" instead. Right?
But, will these leads hold for another three years?
Next year, and 2019, will be pivotal years. But, even if Labour chuck out Corbyn post-Brexit one wonders whether they can claw this deficit back inside 12 months.
You can't fatten a pig on market day.
I expect the Conservatives want to be going into GE2020 with the deficit 2-4 years away from flipping to an absolute surplus, a few wins on Brexit already banked (blue passports, a few nice trade deals in the pipeline, and some extra migration controls) and ask the electorate if they want Labour to ruin it all again.
I got my new drivers licence the other day. Super impressed it has a union flag on it. It expires in 2019. Can't wait to get one sans the European Union flag.
I insisted to the dealership that the numberplate for my new Jaguar came without an EU flag on it.
And it didn't.
It did come with customised Union flag wheel badges, which I specifically ordered.
I have to renew my passport next year. I am genuinely intrigued to know what it will look like. They surely can't keep printing the old EU passports, which will be obsolete a year later.
The design of passports (in terms of size, features, layout, RFID) is set internationally, so that will likely not change at all. The European Union is only mentioned in two places: on the front cover in a smaller font than UNITED KINGDOM, and on page three (again in relatively small font). I would expect that your passport will lose those two references to the EU next year.
Now, will it go black? Of course, there is nothing to stop the UK having a black passport now. Croatia, for example, is in the EU and has very dark blue passport. My guess is that by 2020 we'll probably return to black, but otherwise the design (other than losing the words "European Union") will be absolutely the same as it is now.
It will also - at some point - lose all the foreign translations of the words - German to Maltese to Polish, and go back to just English, with perhaps Welsh, and Scots Gaelic? Maybe French (I hope not)
The old British passport had French translations in, presumably as it was the lingua franca in the old days.
Now that English is the 'language of the Franks' we should probably start translating that phrase just to rub it in.
Passports? Who needs passports? We are the United Kingdom. We don't need no stinking passports. Certainly not when we were landing on the beaches of Normandy, to bail Europe out from itself....
That's terminal, I think. Has any major party ever come back from national polling that low?
Unless the SNP split over a lost referendum, or SLAB suddenly find an incredible, inspirational leader, Labour are finished north of the Border.
Sub sample old bean.
There's enough proper polling from Scotland showing Labour are buggered.
Of course. But as you say, proper polling is almost as grim.
Makes you wonder, if Corbyn/Labour is polling that badly in Scotland, where you think Corbynism would be the most popular, just how badly Corbyn is polling in England, especially in the marginals.
Inner London surely is where Corbynism is expected to be most popular?
London is about the least Corbyn friendly part of the country in terms of the membership. The North West is where he is most popular.
"Inner" London, as I said, or London as a whole?
I rather meant where his leadership of the party will lose least votes. How do you decipher the membership stats?
Passports? Who needs passports? We are the United Kingdom. We don't need no stinking passports. Certainly not when we were landing on the beaches of Normandy, to bail Europe out from itself....
Passports? Who needs passports? We are the United Kingdom. We don't need no stinking passports. Certainly not when we were landing on the beaches of Normandy, to bail Europe out from itself....
Reading too much US-centric history about the world wars has clearly addled your brain. We are part of that Europe.
That's terminal, I think. Has any major party ever come back from national polling that low?
Unless the SNP split over a lost referendum, or SLAB suddenly find an incredible, inspirational leader, Labour are finished north of the Border.
Sub sample old bean.
There's enough proper polling from Scotland showing Labour are buggered.
Of course. But as you say, proper polling is almost as grim.
Makes you wonder, if Corbyn/Labour is polling that badly in Scotland, where you think Corbynism would be the most popular, just how badly Corbyn is polling in England, especially in the marginals.
The regional breakdowns from today's ICM (other than Scotland, which has already been discussed):
Lots of people appear to want the old style passports back.
But they can't decide if they were blue or black.
I'm hoping for the word "Republic" to appear on my passport before I'm too old to use one. But I'm not hopeful.
The International Civil Aviation Organization sets the standards for passports worldwide. The result is that there will be no return to the big hardbacked passports we used to have. We might change the colour, but truth be told, we could have done that before.
We will definitely remove the words "EUROPEAN UNION" from pages 1 and 3.
That's terminal, I think. Has any major party ever come back from national polling that low?
Unless the SNP split over a lost referendum, or SLAB suddenly find an incredible, inspirational leader, Labour are finished north of the Border.
Sub sample old bean.
There's enough proper polling from Scotland showing Labour are buggered.
Of course. But as you say, proper polling is almost as grim.
Makes you wonder, if Corbyn/Labour is polling that badly in Scotland, where you think Corbynism would be the most popular, just how badly Corbyn is polling in England, especially in the marginals.
The regional breakdowns from today's ICM (other than Scotland, which has already been discussed):
Wales
Con 38 Lab 27 Plaid 16 UKIP 9 Grn 5 LD 3
North of England (derived)
Con 40 Lab 36 LD 11 UKIP 11 Grn 3
Midlands (derived)
Con 56 (!!!) Lab 23 UKIP 11 LD 7 Grn 3
South
Con 49 Lab 23 LD 12 UKIP 12 Grn 3
I've long posited that the West Midlands will be an utter bloodbath for a Corbyn led Labour party.
Those past IRA connections and the memories of the pub bombings might lead to an utter shellacking.
But, will these leads hold for another three years?
Next year, and 2019, will be pivotal years. But, even if Labour chuck out Corbyn post-Brexit one wonders whether they can claw this deficit back inside 12 months.
You can't fatten a pig on market day.
I expect the Conservatives want to be going into GE2020 with the deficit 2-4 years away from flipping to an absolute surplus, a few wins on Brexit already banked (blue passports, a few nice trade deals in the pipeline, and some extra migration controls) and ask the electorate if they want Labour to ruin it all again.
I got my new drivers licence the other day. Super impressed it has a union flag on it. It expires in 2019. Can't wait to get one sans the European Union flag.
I insisted to the dealership that the numberplate for my new Jaguar came without an EU flag on it.
And it didn't.
It did come with customised Union flag wheel badges, which I specifically ordered.
I have to renew my passport next year. I am genuinely intrigued to know what it will look like. They surely can't keep printing the old EU passports, which will be obsolete a year later.
The design of passports (in terms of size, features, layout, RFID) is set internationally, so that will likely not change at all. The European Union is only mentioned in two places: on the front cover in a smaller font than UNITED KINGDOM, and on page three (again in relatively small font). I would expect that your passport will lose those two references to the EU next year.
Now, will it go black? Of course, there is nothing to stop the UK having a black passport now. Croatia, for example, is in the EU and has very dark blue passport. My guess is that by 2020 we'll probably return to black, but otherwise the design (other than losing the words "European Union") will be absolutely the same as it is now.
That's put a bit of a downer on it really. On PB this very morning, someone was citing the return of the Great British blue passports as one of the great prizes of Brexit.
The passports are a microcosm of the harsh reality of Brexit - we think we've now got the ability to do what we like, but in practice we'll have to follow the rules that everyone else follows and won't necessarily have a say in them.
But, will these leads hold for another three years?
Next year, and 2019, will be pivotal years. But, even if Labour chuck out Corbyn post-Brexit one wonders whether they can claw this deficit back inside 12 months.
You can't fatten a pig on market day.
I expect the Conservatives want to be going into GE2020 with the deficit 2-4 years away from flipping to an absolute surplus, a few wins on Brexit already banked (blue passports, a few nice trade deals in the pipeline, and some extra migration controls) and ask the electorate if they want Labour to ruin it all again.
I got my new drivers licence the other day. Super impressed it has a union flag on it. It expires in 2019. Can't wait to get one sans the European Union flag.
I insisted to the dealership that the numberplate for my new Jaguar came without an EU flag on it.
And it didn't.
It did come with customised Union flag wheel badges, which I specifically ordered.
I have to renew my passport next year. I am genuinely intrigued to know what it will look like. They surely can't keep printing the old EU passports, which will be obsolete a year later.
The design of passports (in terms of size, features, layout, RFID) is set internationally, so that will likely not change at all. The European Union is only mentioned in two places: on the front cover in a smaller font than UNITED KINGDOM, and on page three (again in relatively small font). I would expect that your passport will lose those two references to the EU next year.
Now, will it go black? Of course, there is nothing to stop the UK having a black passport now. Croatia, for example, is in the EU and has very dark blue passport. My guess is that by 2020 we'll probably return to black, but otherwise the design (other than losing the words "European Union") will be absolutely the same as it is now.
It will also - at some point - lose all the foreign translations of the words - German to Maltese to Polish, and go back to just English, with perhaps Welsh, and Scots Gaelic? Maybe French (I hope not)
I think the international standard mandates that all passports have English and French transaltions
Things I learned today: "When applying for a passport or a national ID card, all Pakistanis are required to sign an oath declaring Mirza Ghulam Ahmad to be an impostor prophet and all Ahmadis to be non-Muslims."
A question to which SLab are currently ramming their fingers into their ears and going LALALALA.
Obviously the usual reason of being the Tories biaches during the last kerfuffle. Personally I think their inability to keep a consistent and clearly expressed position on anything also has something to do with it, eg Europe, Devo, Trident, the Constitution.
I'm hoping for the word "Republic" to appear on my passport before I'm too old to use one. But I'm not hopeful.
I have a premonition that in a future referendum campaign you'll be pushing leaflets through people's doors saying, "The monarchy costs us £xxx million a week. Let's spend it on the NHS instead."
That's terminal, I think. Has any major party ever come back from national polling that low?
Unless the SNP split over a lost referendum, or SLAB suddenly find an incredible, inspirational leader, Labour are finished north of the Border.
Sub sample old bean.
There's enough proper polling from Scotland showing Labour are buggered.
Of course. But as you say, proper polling is almost as grim.
Makes you wonder, if Corbyn/Labour is polling that badly in Scotland, where you think Corbynism would be the most popular, just how badly Corbyn is polling in England, especially in the marginals.
Inner London surely is where Corbynism is expected to be most popular?
London is about the least Corbyn friendly part of the country in terms of the membership. The North West is where he is most popular.
"Inner" London, as I said, or London as a whole?
I rather meant where his leadership of the party will lose least votes. How do you decipher the membership stats?
It'll be a mixed picture for Labour in inner London. South of the river I suspect that seats may go or at least turn very marginal, ditto in the west. In the north and east Labour will do better; though Hampstead, which is inner and outer, is just about a nailed on Tory gain.
In terms of member views, the recent opinion polls have shown backing for Corbyn collapsing in London.
That's terminal, I think. Has any major party ever come back from national polling that low?
Unless the SNP split over a lost referendum, or SLAB suddenly find an incredible, inspirational leader, Labour are finished north of the Border.
Sub sample old bean.
There's enough proper polling from Scotland showing Labour are buggered.
Of course. But as you say, proper polling is almost as grim.
Makes you wonder, if Corbyn/Labour is polling that badly in Scotland, where you think Corbynism would be the most popular, just how badly Corbyn is polling in England, especially in the marginals.
The regional breakdowns from today's ICM (other than Scotland, which has already been discussed):
Wales
Con 38 Lab 27 Plaid 16 UKIP 9 Grn 5 LD 3
North of England (derived)
Con 40 Lab 36 LD 11 UKIP 11 Grn 3
Midlands (derived)
Con 56 (!!!) Lab 23 UKIP 11 LD 7 Grn 3
South
Con 49 Lab 23 LD 12 UKIP 12 Grn 3
I've long posited that the West Midlands will be an utter bloodbath for a Corbyn led Labour party.
Those past IRA connections and the memories of the pub bombings might lead to an utter shellacking.
But, will these leads hold for another three years?
Next year, and 2019, will be pivotal years. But, even if Labour chuck out Corbyn post-Brexit one wonders whether they can claw this deficit back inside 12 months.
You can't fatten a pig on market day.
I expect the Conservatives want to be going into GE2020 with the deficit 2-4 years away from flipping to an absolute surplus, a few wins on Brexit already banked (blue passports, a few nice trade deals in the pipeline, and some extra migration controls) and ask the electorate if they want Labour to ruin it all again.
I got my new drivers licence the other day. Super impressed it has a union flag on it. It expires in 2019. Can't wait to get one sans the European Union flag.
I insisted to the dealership that the numberplate for my new Jaguar came without an EU flag on it.
And it didn't.
It did come with customised Union flag wheel badges, which I specifically ordered.
I have to renew my passport next year. I am genuinely intrigued to know what it will look like. They surely can't keep printing the old EU passports, which will be obsolete a year later.
The design of passports (in terms of size, features, layout, RFID) is set internationally, so that will likely not change at all. The European Union is only mentioned in two places: on the front cover in a smaller font than UNITED KINGDOM, and on page three (again in relatively small font). I would expect that your passport will lose those two references to the EU next year.
Now, will it go black? Of course, there is nothing to stop the UK having a black passport now. Croatia, for example, is in the EU and has very dark blue passport. My guess is that by 2020 we'll probably return to black, but otherwise the design (other than losing the words "European Union") will be absolutely the same as it is now.
It will also - at some point - lose all the foreign translations of the words - German to Maltese to Polish, and go back to just English, with perhaps Welsh, and Scots Gaelic? Maybe French (I hope not)
I think the international standard mandates that all passports have English and French transaltions
It is an ICAO recommendation, but not an absolute requirement.
Mr. Rentool, don't talk rot. For a start, it's only the South that's a People's Republic. And when we were last independent it was with King Erik Bloodaxe as king of York.
A question to which SLab are currently ramming their fingers into their ears and going LALALALA. Obviously the usual reason of being the Tories biaches during the last kerfuffle. Personally I think their inability to keep a consistent and clearly expressed position on anything also has something to do with it, eg Europe, Devo, Trident, the Constitution.
And they're turnips..
Devo? Strange band. Saw them on The Clash Remote Control tour and a skinhead got up on stage and attacked them.
Never mind that, though it's remarkable enough. Look a little to the left in the table: Con at 48% with voters who backed No and at 41% (ahead of SNP) with those who didn't vote.
But, will these leads hold for another three years?
Next year, and 2019, will be pivotal years. But, even if Labour chuck out Corbyn post-Brexit one wonders whether they can claw this deficit back inside 12 months.
You can't fatten a pig on market day.
I expect the Conservatives want to be going into GE2020 with the deficit 2-4 years away from flipping to an absolute surplus, a few wins on Brexit already banked (blue passports, a few nice trade deals in the pipeline, and some extra migration controls) and ask the electorate if they want Labour to ruin it all again.
I got my new drivers licence the other day. Super impressed it has a union flag on it. It expires in 2019. Can't wait to get one sans the European Union flag.
I insisted to the dealership that the numberplate for my new Jaguar came without an EU flag on it.
And it didn't.
It did come with customised Union flag wheel badges, which I specifically ordered.
I have to renew my passport next year. I am genuinely intrigued to know what it will look like. They surely can't keep printing the old EU passports, which will be obsolete a year later.
The design of passports (in terms of size, features, layout, RFID) is set internationally, so that will likely not change at all. The European Union is only mentioned in two places: on the front cover in a smaller font than UNITED KINGDOM, and on page three (again in relatively small font). I would expect that your passport will lose those two references to the EU next year.
Now, will it go black? Of course, there is nothing to stop the UK having a black passport now. Croatia, for example, is in the EU and has very dark blue passport. My guess is that by 2020 we'll probably return to black, but otherwise the design (other than losing the words "European Union") will be absolutely the same as it is now.
It will also - at some point - lose all the foreign translations of the words - German to Maltese to Polish, and go back to just English, with perhaps Welsh, and Scots Gaelic? Maybe French (I hope not)
The old British passport had French translations in, presumably as it was the lingua franca in the old days.
I'm hoping for the word "Republic" to appear on my passport before I'm too old to use one. But I'm not hopeful.
I have a premonition that in a future referendum campaign you'll be pushing leaflets through people's doors saying, "The monarchy costs us £xxx million a week. Let's spend it on the NHS instead."
Things I learned today: "When applying for a passport or a national ID card, all Pakistanis are required to sign an oath declaring Mirza Ghulam Ahmad to be an impostor prophet and all Ahmadis to be non-Muslims."
Do you need to tell them what you consider to be the appropriate punishment for blasphemy?
But, will these leads hold for another three years?
Next year, and 2019, will be pivotal years. But, even if Labour chuck out Corbyn post-Brexit one wonders whether they can claw this deficit back inside 12 months.
You can't fatten a pig on market day.
I expect the Conservatives want to be going into GE2020 with the deficit 2-4 years away from flipping to an absolute surplus, a few wins on Brexit already banked (blue passports, a few nice trade deals in the pipeline, and some extra migration controls) and ask the electorate if they want Labour to ruin it all again.
I got my new drivers licence the other day. Super impressed it has a union flag on it. It expires in 2019. Can't wait to get one sans the European Union flag.
I insisted to the dealership that the numberplate for my new Jaguar came without an EU flag on it.
And it didn't.
It did come with customised Union flag wheel badges, which I specifically ordered.
I have to renew my passport next year. I am genuinely intrigued to know what it will look like. They surely can't keep printing the old EU passports, which will be obsolete a year later.
.
That's put a bit of a downer on it really. On PB this very morning, someone was citing the return of the Great British blue passports as one of the great prizes of Brexit.
The passports are a microcosm of the harsh reality of Brexit - we think we've now got the ability to do what we like, but in practice we'll have to follow the rules that everyone else follows and won't necessarily have a say in them.
Some would say we never seemed to have any say in them anyway.
That said, of all my niggles about the EU, the passport comes a long way down the list. I actually rather like it. I certainly prefer the size of it - which fits into a trouser pocket - to its British predecessor - which didn't. I can also happily report that the EU-style passport can survive being accidentally left in a trouser pocket as the trousers in question are put through the wash.
I actually haven't had a passport since 2014, and I can't see myself needing one any time soon. Since having children - or, more specifically, since having school-age children - abroad is effectively financially unreachable.
Never mind that, though it's remarkable enough. Look a little to the left in the table: Con at 48% with voters who backed No and at 41% (ahead of SNP) with those who didn't vote.
Pretty much all of those who didn't vote in the 2014 indyref also won't vote in a GE.
That's terminal, I think. Has any major party ever come back from national polling that low?
Unless the SNP split over a lost referendum, or SLAB suddenly find an incredible, inspirational leader, Labour are finished north of the Border.
Sub sample old bean.
There's enough proper polling from Scotland showing Labour are buggered.
Of course. But as you say, proper polling is almost as grim.
Makes you wonder, if Corbyn/Labour is polling that badly in Scotland, where you think Corbynism would be the most popular, just how badly Corbyn is polling in England, especially in the marginals.
Inner London surely is where Corbynism is expected to be most popular?
London is about the least Corbyn friendly part of the country in terms of the membership. The North West is where he is most popular.
"Inner" London, as I said, or London as a whole?
I rather meant where his leadership of the party will lose least votes. How do you decipher the membership stats?
It'll be a mixed picture for Labour in inner London. South of the river I suspect that seats may go or at least turn very marginal, ditto in the west. In the north and east Labour will do better; though Hampstead, which is inner and outer, is just about a nailed on Tory gain.
In terms of member views, the recent opinion polls have shown backing for Corbyn collapsing in London.
This will sound like after timing, but in my original post I was going to say "North and East Inner London", but thought that was too specific.
A question to which SLab are currently ramming their fingers into their ears and going LALALALA.
Obviously the usual reason of being the Tories biaches during the last kerfuffle. Personally I think their inability to keep a consistent and clearly expressed position on anything also has something to do with it, eg Europe, Devo, Trident, the Constitution.
And they're turnips.
A few weeks ago I spoke to a politics professor about Scottish Labour, he thinks Labour are unlucky in some respects, he said people like Donald Dewar, John Smith, and Robin Cook had their lives cruelly robbed short.
They might have ensured a much healthier victory for No in 2014 as well as being better equipped to deal with the aftermath of the result as well as mentoring the new generation of SLAB.
A question to which SLab are currently ramming their fingers into their ears and going LALALALA. Obviously the usual reason of being the Tories biaches during the last kerfuffle. Personally I think their inability to keep a consistent and clearly expressed position on anything also has something to do with it, eg Europe, Devo, Trident, the Constitution.
And they're turnips..
Devo? Strange band. Saw them with The Clash Remote Control tour and a skinhead got up on stage and attacked them.
I would like to say I'd seen Europe in concert, but..
A question to which SLab are currently ramming their fingers into their ears and going LALALALA. Obviously the usual reason of being the Tories biaches during the last kerfuffle. Personally I think their inability to keep a consistent and clearly expressed position on anything also has something to do with it, eg Europe, Devo, Trident, the Constitution.
And they're turnips..
Devo? Strange band. Saw them with The Clash Remote Control tour and a skinhead got up on stage and attacked them.
I would like to say I'd seen Europe in concert, but..
I've asked Mike if I can do the thread next Wednesday on the triggering of Article 50.
The headline will be 'Brexit: Europe, The Final Countdown'
A question to which SLab are currently ramming their fingers into their ears and going LALALALA.
Obviously the usual reason of being the Tories biaches during the last kerfuffle. Personally I think their inability to keep a consistent and clearly expressed position on anything also has something to do with it, eg Europe, Devo, Trident, the Constitution.
And they're turnips.
A few weeks ago I spoke to a politics professor about Scottish Labour, he thinks Labour are unlucky in some respects, he said people like Donald Dewar, John Smith, and Robin Cook had their lives cruelly robbed short.
They might have ensured a much healthier victory for No in 2014 as well as being better equipped to deal with the aftermath of the result as well as mentoring the new generation of SLAB.
Instead we get the likes of Iain Gray.
Yeah, that's a factor, though Gordon's survival hasn't helped that much. A decent chance Cookie would have been on the Yes side.
Things I learned today: "When applying for a passport or a national ID card, all Pakistanis are required to sign an oath declaring Mirza Ghulam Ahmad to be an impostor prophet and all Ahmadis to be non-Muslims."
Do you need to tell them what you consider to be the appropriate punishment for blasphemy?
Things I learned today: "When applying for a passport or a national ID card, all Pakistanis are required to sign an oath declaring Mirza Ghulam Ahmad to be an impostor prophet and all Ahmadis to be non-Muslims."
A lot of Muslims tend to view Ahmadis in the same way I view Mark Reckless.
A question to which SLab are currently ramming their fingers into their ears and going LALALALA. Obviously the usual reason of being the Tories biaches during the last kerfuffle. Personally I think their inability to keep a consistent and clearly expressed position on anything also has something to do with it, eg Europe, Devo, Trident, the Constitution.
And they're turnips..
Devo? Strange band. Saw them with The Clash Remote Control tour and a skinhead got up on stage and attacked them.
I would like to say I'd seen Europe in concert, but..
I've asked Mike if I can do the thread next Wednesday on the triggering of Article 50.
The headline will be 'Brexit: Europe, The Final Countdown'
I'm still sulking that no one acknowledged my A Day, B Day gag.
But, will these leads hold for another three years?
Next year, and 2019, will be pivotal years. But, even if Labour chuck out Corbyn post-Brexit one wonders whether they can claw this deficit back inside 12 months.
You can't fatten a pig on market day.
I expect the Conservatives want to be going into GE2020 with the deficit 2-4 years away from flipping to an absolute surplus, a few wins on Brexit already banked (blue passports, a few nice trade deals in the pipeline, and some extra migration controls) and ask the electorate if they want Labour to ruin it all again.
I got my new drivers licence the other day. Super impressed it has a union flag on it. It expires in 2019. Can't wait to get one sans the European Union flag.
I insisted to the dealership that the numberplate for my new Jaguar came without an EU flag on it.
And it didn't.
It did come with customised Union flag wheel badges, which I specifically ordered.
I have to renew my passport next year. I am genuinely intrigued to know what it will look like. They surely can't keep printing the old EU passports, which will be obsolete a year later.
The design of passports (in terms of size, features, layout, RFID) is set internationally, so that will likely not change at all. The European Union is only mentioned in two places: on the front cover in a smaller font than UNITED KINGDOM, and on page three (again in relatively small font). I would expect that your passport will lose those two references to the EU next year.
Now, will it go black? Of course, there is nothing to stop the UK having a black passport now. Croatia, for example, is in the EU and has very dark blue passport. My guess is that by 2020 we'll probably return to black, but otherwise the design (other than losing the words "European Union") will be absolutely the same as it is now.
It will also - at some point - lose all the foreign translations of the words - German to Maltese to Polish, and go back to just English, with perhaps Welsh, and Scots Gaelic? Maybe French (I hope not)
The old British passport had French translations in, presumably as it was the lingua franca in the old days.
Wasn't French the language used in diplomacy?
Yes. Up until 1918/19, universally so. The first major breach came - irony of ironies - at Versailles, though that was as much due to Woodrow Wilson as to British influence.
Assuming Scotland votes for independence (and at this stage I think it less than 50%, but I said the same about Brexit, so what do I know?) and Northern Ireland is frozen forever as the Transdniester of North West Europe, what do people think the residual country will be called? Candidates:
United Kingdom would be a joke. Foreigners and others would say the two words slowly and laugh. Britain with or without the embarrassing adjective of "Great" is inaccurate in its geography as it refers to the whole island. England and Wales is a bit like Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. There's a reason why serious countries don't have a conjunction. Plain old England is perhaps the reality but the Welsh might be miffed. Blighty has its attractions and can mean whatever you want it to mean, but outsiders wouldn't get the reference. My preferred option, South Britain has a neat parallelism with the imperial designations of West Britain (Ireland) and North Britain (Scotland). The faint overtones of East Germany and North Korea (nuclear armed rogue state, bearing a grudge) can be dismissed.
A question to which SLab are currently ramming their fingers into their ears and going LALALALA.
Obviously the usual reason of being the Tories biaches during the last kerfuffle. Personally I think their inability to keep a consistent and clearly expressed position on anything also has something to do with it, eg Europe, Devo, Trident, the Constitution.
And they're turnips.
A few weeks ago I spoke to a politics professor about Scottish Labour, he thinks Labour are unlucky in some respects, he said people like Donald Dewar, John Smith, and Robin Cook had their lives cruelly robbed short.
They might have ensured a much healthier victory for No in 2014 as well as being better equipped to deal with the aftermath of the result as well as mentoring the new generation of SLAB.
Instead we get the likes of Iain Gray.
Yeah, that's a factor, though Gordon's survival hasn't helped that much. A decent chance Cookie would have been on the Yes side.
It was said his ultimate political ambition was to be the first Prime Minister of an independent Scotland, so possible.
A question to which SLab are currently ramming their fingers into their ears and going LALALALA. Obviously the usual reason of being the Tories biaches during the last kerfuffle. Personally I think their inability to keep a consistent and clearly expressed position on anything also has something to do with it, eg Europe, Devo, Trident, the Constitution.
And they're turnips..
Devo? Strange band. Saw them with The Clash Remote Control tour and a skinhead got up on stage and attacked them.
I would like to say I'd seen Europe in concert, but..
I've asked Mike if I can do the thread next Wednesday on the triggering of Article 50.
The headline will be 'Brexit: Europe, The Final Countdown'
I'm still sulking that no one acknowledged my A Day, B Day gag.
Assuming Scotland votes for independence (and at this stage I think it less than 50%, but I said the same about Brexit, so what do I know?) and Northern Ireland is frozen forever as the Transdniester of North West Europe, what do people think the residual country will be called? Candidates:
United Kingdom would be a joke. Foreigners and others would say the two words slowly and laugh. Britain with or without the embarrassing adjective of "Great" is inaccurate in its geography as it refers to the whole island. England and Wales is a bit like Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. There's a reason why serious countries don't have a conjunction. Plain old England is perhaps the reality but the Welsh might be miffed. Blighty has its attractions and can mean whatever you want it to mean, but outsiders wouldn't get the reference. My preferred option, South Britain has a neat parallelism with the imperial designations of West Britain (Ireland) and North Britain (Scotland). The faint overtones of East Germany and North Korea (nuclear armed rogue state, bearing a grudge) can be dismissed.
It will continue to be called the United Kingdom, of course.
A question to which SLab are currently ramming their fingers into their ears and going LALALALA.
Obviously the usual reason of being the Tories biaches during the last kerfuffle. Personally I think their inability to keep a consistent and clearly expressed position on anything also has something to do with it, eg Europe, Devo, Trident, the Constitution.
And they're turnips.
A few weeks ago I spoke to a politics professor about Scottish Labour, he thinks Labour are unlucky in some respects, he said people like Donald Dewar, John Smith, and Robin Cook had their lives cruelly robbed short.
They might have ensured a much healthier victory for No in 2014 as well as being better equipped to deal with the aftermath of the result as well as mentoring the new generation of SLAB.
Instead we get the likes of Iain Gray.
Thanks TSE seems a good observation .However when Hugh Gaitskell died they had an election winner in Harold Wilson the same with John Smith followed by Tony Blair.However as you say to lose so much experience from Scotland has not helped.
Assuming Scotland votes for independence (and at this stage I think it less than 50%, but I said the same about Brexit, so what do I know?) and Northern Ireland is frozen forever as the Transdniester of North West Europe, what do people think the residual country will be called? Candidates:
United Kingdom would be a joke. Foreigners and others would say the two words slowly and laugh. Britain with or without the embarrassing adjective of "Great" is inaccurate in its geography as it refers to the whole island. England and Wales is a bit like Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. There's a reason why serious countries don't have a conjunction. Plain old England is perhaps the reality but the Welsh might be miffed. Blighty has its attractions and can mean whatever you want it to mean, but outsiders wouldn't get the reference. My preferred option, South Britain has a neat parallelism with the imperial designations of West Britain (Ireland) and North Britain (Scotland). The faint overtones of East Germany and North Korea (nuclear armed rogue state, bearing a grudge) can be dismissed.
Never mind that, though it's remarkable enough. Look a little to the left in the table: Con at 48% with voters who backed No and at 41% (ahead of SNP) with those who didn't vote.
Pretty much all of those who didn't vote in the 2014 indyref also won't vote in a GE.
Basically, what they think doesn't matter.
Shocking poll for Slab though. Truly awful.
Yes, that'd be my view too. If you don't vote in an 85% turnout, you won't vote in a 65% one.
Only exceptions will be those who are 'new to electoral roll', but there'll be virtually no 18+ as 16/17 had a vote, so it's only these last six months that there'd be youngsters coming on who didn't have the chance to vote. Others will be people who've moved in to Scotland. But no subgroup of non-IndyRef1 voters can be expected to vote in numbers yet.
Things I learned today: "When applying for a passport or a national ID card, all Pakistanis are required to sign an oath declaring Mirza Ghulam Ahmad to be an impostor prophet and all Ahmadis to be non-Muslims."
Do you need to tell them what you consider to be the appropriate punishment for blasphemy?
The BBC were asking that question the other day
And then trying to weasel out of it by saying it was 'poorly worded'.
A question to which SLab are currently ramming their fingers into their ears and going LALALALA.
Obviously the usual reason of being the Tories biaches during the last kerfuffle. Personally I think their inability to keep a consistent and clearly expressed position on anything also has something to do with it, eg Europe, Devo, Trident, the Constitution.
And they're turnips.
The same fate awaits the Nats.
'My name is SLab, king of Scotland: Look on my works, ye Tories and despair!'
A question to which SLab are currently ramming their fingers into their ears and going LALALALA.
Obviously the usual reason of being the Tories biaches during the last kerfuffle. Personally I think their inability to keep a consistent and clearly expressed position on anything also has something to do with it, eg Europe, Devo, Trident, the Constitution.
And they're turnips.
A few weeks ago I spoke to a politics professor about Scottish Labour, he thinks Labour are unlucky in some respects, he said people like Donald Dewar, John Smith, and Robin Cook had their lives cruelly robbed short.
They might have ensured a much healthier victory for No in 2014 as well as being better equipped to deal with the aftermath of the result as well as mentoring the new generation of SLAB.
Instead we get the likes of Iain Gray.
Thanks TSE seems a good observation .However when Hugh Gaitskell died they had an election winner in Harold Wilson the same with John Smith followed by Tony Blair.However as you say to lose so much experience from Scotland has not helped.
It's a shame Jack McConnell didn;t hang around longer after the 2007 election really. Not in the league of Dewar or Cook, but a very solid first minister from memory.
A question to which SLab are currently ramming their fingers into their ears and going LALALALA. Obviously the usual reason of being the Tories biaches during the last kerfuffle. Personally I think their inability to keep a consistent and clearly expressed position on anything also has something to do with it, eg Europe, Devo, Trident, the Constitution.
And they're turnips..
Devo? Strange band. Saw them with The Clash Remote Control tour and a skinhead got up on stage and attacked them.
I would like to say I'd seen Europe in concert, but..
I've asked Mike if I can do the thread next Wednesday on the triggering of Article 50.
The headline will be 'Brexit: Europe, The Final Countdown'
I'm still sulking that no one acknowledged my A Day, B Day gag.
B Day - isn't that one of those things they provide in hotels that you can use as either a foot spa or as an ice bucket?
Assuming Scotland votes for independence (and at this stage I think it less than 50%, but I said the same about Brexit, so what do I know?) and Northern Ireland is frozen forever as the Transdniester of North West Europe, what do people think the residual country will be called? Candidates:
United Kingdom would be a joke. Foreigners and others would say the two words slowly and laugh. Britain with or without the embarrassing adjective of "Great" is inaccurate in its geography as it refers to the whole island. England and Wales is a bit like Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. There's a reason why serious countries don't have a conjunction. Plain old England is perhaps the reality but the Welsh might be miffed. Blighty has its attractions and can mean whatever you want it to mean, but outsiders wouldn't get the reference. My preferred option, South Britain has a neat parallelism with the imperial designations of West Britain (Ireland) and North Britain (Scotland). The faint overtones of East Germany and North Korea (nuclear armed rogue state, bearing a grudge) can be dismissed.
Quite a stunning poll, especially given how much the Conservatives have floundered recently with entirely avoidable problems.
Until Britain has an opposition, it seems that the Conservatives can do as they please.
The only people that cared about the NIC changes were Tory backbenchers and journalists. Noone else could give a tinker's cuss. The reporting on it was Westminster naval gazing at its finest.
Assuming Scotland votes for independence (and at this stage I think it less than 50%, but I said the same about Brexit, so what do I know?) and Northern Ireland is frozen forever as the Transdniester of North West Europe, what do people think the residual country will be called? Candidates:
United Kingdom would be a joke. Foreigners and others would say the two words slowly and laugh. Britain with or without the embarrassing adjective of "Great" is inaccurate in its geography as it refers to the whole island. England and Wales is a bit like Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. There's a reason why serious countries don't have a conjunction. Plain old England is perhaps the reality but the Welsh might be miffed. Blighty has its attractions and can mean whatever you want it to mean, but outsiders wouldn't get the reference. My preferred option, South Britain has a neat parallelism with the imperial designations of West Britain (Ireland) and North Britain (Scotland). The faint overtones of East Germany and North Korea (nuclear armed rogue state, bearing a grudge) can be dismissed.
Ingrowing Britain
I'm using rUK for the next 50 years if there is a split.
Assuming Scotland votes for independence (and at this stage I think it less than 50%, but I said the same about Brexit, so what do I know?) and Northern Ireland is frozen forever as the Transdniester of North West Europe, what do people think the residual country will be called? Candidates:
United Kingdom would be a joke. Foreigners and others would say the two words slowly and laugh. Britain with or without the embarrassing adjective of "Great" is inaccurate in its geography as it refers to the whole island. England and Wales is a bit like Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. There's a reason why serious countries don't have a conjunction. Plain old England is perhaps the reality but the Welsh might be miffed. Blighty has its attractions and can mean whatever you want it to mean, but outsiders wouldn't get the reference. My preferred option, South Britain has a neat parallelism with the imperial designations of West Britain (Ireland) and North Britain (Scotland). The faint overtones of East Germany and North Korea (nuclear armed rogue state, bearing a grudge) can be dismissed.
How about Little Britain?
I thought it was already decided as Empire 2.0, with the Empire being Wales shaped.
Passport fact of the day. Only one country has a genuinely black passport. Said country is in Europe.
Can anyone name it?
Vatican City?
Exactly right. Did you Google?
No - but wouldn't have got it if you hadn't said 'Leichtenstien was good, but not right' - made me think of all the micro-states and which one was likely to he allowed to get away with being 'different' because 'history'.
Is Labour yet sufficiently unpopular that Andy Burnham is in any danger in Greater Manchester. We've discussed in the past how Corbynism maybe isn't the turn-off in Manchester that it is elsewhere, but Manchester <> Greater Manchester. To my mind, if Jane Brophy (LD) can get into the second round against Andy Burnham, she could win, as more Conservative votes will transfer to her than to him. But the reverse is not necessarily true - i.e. if Sean Anstee gets into the final two against Andy Burnham then Jane Brophy's votes don't necessarily transfer to him. UKIP further complicates matters; Central Manchester isn't particularly strong UKIP territory, but outside the M60 they're a non-negligible presence, and make vote transfers in a two-round system complicated.
But, will these leads hold for another three years?
Next year, and 2019, will be pivotal years. But, even if Labour chuck out Corbyn post-Brexit one wonders whether they can claw this deficit back inside 12 months.
You can't fatten a pig on market day.
I expect the Conservatives want to be going into GE2020 with the deficit 2-4 years away from flipping to an absolute surplus, a few wins on Brexit already banked (blue passports, a few nice trade deals in the pipeline, and some extra migration controls) and ask the electorate if they want Labour to ruin it all again.
I got my new drivers licence the other day. Super impressed it has a union flag on it. It expires in 2019. Can't wait to get one sans the European Union flag.
I insisted to the dealership that the numberplate for my new Jaguar came without an EU flag on it.
And it didn't.
It did come with customised Union flag wheel badges, which I specifically ordered.
Why would you buy in ahead of the initial depreciation?
Because I wanted a brand new Jaguar customised exactly as I wanted it.
But, will these leads hold for another three years?
Next year, and 2019, will be pivotal years. But, even if Labour chuck out Corbyn post-Brexit one wonders whether they can claw this deficit back inside 12 months.
You can't fatten a pig on market day.
I expect the Conservatives want to be going into GE2020 with the deficit 2-4 years away from flipping to an absolute surplus, a few wins on Brexit already banked (blue passports, a few nice trade deals in the pipeline, and some extra migration controls) and ask the electorate if they want Labour to ruin it all again.
I got my new drivers licence the other day. Super impressed it has a union flag on it. It expires in 2019. Can't wait to get one sans the European Union flag.
I insisted to the dealership that the numberplate for my new Jaguar came without an EU flag on it.
And it didn't.
It did come with customised Union flag wheel badges, which I specifically ordered.
I have to renew my passport next year. I am genuinely intrigued to know what it will look like. They surely can't keep printing the old EU passports, which will be obsolete a year later.
.
That's put a bit of a downer on it really. On PB this very morning, someone was citing the return of the Great British blue passports as one of the great prizes of Brexit.
The passports are a microcosm of the harsh reality of Brexit - we think we've now got the ability to do what we like, but in practice we'll have to follow the rules that everyone else follows and won't necessarily have a say in them.
Some would say we never seemed to have any say in them anyway.
That said, of all my niggles about the EU, the passport comes a long way down the list. I actually rather like it. I certainly prefer the size of it - which fits into a trouser pocket - to its British predecessor - which didn't. I can also happily report that the EU-style passport can survive being accidentally left in a trouser pocket as the trousers in question are put through the wash.
I actually haven't had a passport since 2014, and I can't see myself needing one any time soon. Since having children - or, more specifically, since having school-age children - abroad is effectively financially unreachable.
Indeed, I don't think many people would seriously want the old size passport back, with the possible exception of Daily Mail readers who never travel.
Passport fact of the day. Only one country has a genuinely black passport. Said country is in Europe.
Can anyone name it?
Vatican City?
Exactly right. Did you Google?
No - but wouldn't have got it if you hadn't said 'Leichtenstien was good, but not right' - made me think of all the micro-states and which one was likely to he allowed to get away with being 'different' because 'history'.
But, will these leads hold for another three years?
Next year, and 2019, will be pivotal years. But, even if Labour chuck out Corbyn post-Brexit one wonders whether they can claw this deficit back inside 12 months.
You can't fatten a pig on market day.
I expect the Conservatives want to be going into GE2020 with the deficit 2-4 years away from flipping to an absolute surplus, a few wins on Brexit already banked (blue passports, a few nice trade deals in the pipeline, and some extra migration controls) and ask the electorate if they want Labour to ruin it all again.
I got my new drivers licence the other day. Super impressed it has a union flag on it. It expires in 2019. Can't wait to get one sans the European Union flag.
I insisted to the dealership that the numberplate for my new Jaguar came without an EU flag on it.
And it didn't.
It did come with customised Union flag wheel badges, which I specifically ordered.
I have to renew my passport next year. I am genuinely intrigued to know what it will look like. They surely can't keep printing the old EU passports, which will be obsolete a year later.
The design of passports (in terms of size, features, layout, RFID) is set internationally, so that will likely not change at all. The European Union is only mentioned in two places: on the front cover in a smaller font than UNITED KINGDOM, and on page three (again in relatively small font). I would expect that your passport will lose those two references to the EU next year.
Now, will it go black? Of course, there is nothing to stop the UK having a black passport now. Croatia, for example, is in the EU and has very dark blue passport. My guess is that by 2020 we'll probably return to black, but otherwise the design (other than losing the words "European Union") will be absolutely the same as it is now.
Perhaps the Government will call it FREE STATE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM.
I think they'll probably just lose the two words "EUROPEAN" and "UNION", but you may be right.
Jersey offer (or did) identical passports with and without EUROPEAN UNION on them - you choose.
Passport fact of the day. Only one country has a genuinely black passport. Said country is in Europe.
Can anyone name it?
Vatican City?
Exactly right. Did you Google?
No - but wouldn't have got it if you hadn't said 'Leichtenstien was good, but not right' - made me think of all the micro-states and which one was likely to he allowed to get away with being 'different' because 'history'.
Apart from (presumably) His Holiness, how many people actually carry Vatican City passports? Not a lot I imagine.
Assuming Scotland votes for independence (and at this stage I think it less than 50%, but I said the same about Brexit, so what do I know?) and Northern Ireland is frozen forever as the Transdniester of North West Europe, what do people think the residual country will be called? Candidates:
United Kingdom would be a joke. Foreigners and others would say the two words slowly and laugh. Britain with or without the embarrassing adjective of "Great" is inaccurate in its geography as it refers to the whole island. England and Wales is a bit like Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. There's a reason why serious countries don't have a conjunction. Plain old England is perhaps the reality but the Welsh might be miffed. Blighty has its attractions and can mean whatever you want it to mean, but outsiders wouldn't get the reference. My preferred option, South Britain has a neat parallelism with the imperial designations of West Britain (Ireland) and North Britain (Scotland). The faint overtones of East Germany and North Korea (nuclear armed rogue state, bearing a grudge) can be dismissed.
Ingrowing Britain
I'm using rUK for the next 50 years if there is a split.
With my Unionist sympathies, I quite like that. It implies this madness can be overturned. A sort of United Kingdom in exile or Taiwan calling itself the Republic of China.
But, will these leads hold for another three years?
Next year, and 2019, will be pivotal years. But, even if Labour chuck out Corbyn post-Brexit one wonders whether they can claw this deficit back inside 12 months.
You can't fatten a pig on market day.
I expect the Conservatives want to be going into GE2020 with the deficit 2-4 years away from flipping to an absolute surplus, a few wins on Brexit already banked (blue passports, a few nice trade deals in the pipeline, and some extra migration controls) and ask the electorate if they want Labour to ruin it all again.
I got my new drivers licence the other day. Super impressed it has a union flag on it. It expires in 2019. Can't wait to get one sans the European Union flag.
I insisted to the dealership that the numberplate for my new Jaguar came without an EU flag on it.
And it didn't.
It did come with customised Union flag wheel badges, which I specifically ordered.
Why would you buy in ahead of the initial depreciation?
Because I wanted a brand new Jaguar customised exactly as I wanted it.
A car is a consumable to me, not an investment.
It's just a very expensive first 6 months!
Having a car with a horn which instead of honking plays Land of Hope and Glory instead is worth every penny.
A question to which SLab are currently ramming their fingers into their ears and going LALALALA.
Obviously the usual reason of being the Tories biaches during the last kerfuffle. Personally I think their inability to keep a consistent and clearly expressed position on anything also has something to do with it, eg Europe, Devo, Trident, the Constitution.
And they're turnips.
A few weeks ago I spoke to a politics professor about Scottish Labour, he thinks Labour are unlucky in some respects, he said people like Donald Dewar, John Smith, and Robin Cook had their lives cruelly robbed short.
They might have ensured a much healthier victory for No in 2014 as well as being better equipped to deal with the aftermath of the result as well as mentoring the new generation of SLAB.
Instead we get the likes of Iain Gray.
Thanks TSE seems a good observation .However when Hugh Gaitskell died they had an election winner in Harold Wilson the same with John Smith followed by Tony Blair.However as you say to lose so much experience from Scotland has not helped.
But they would have lost it anyway. John Smith would be 78 now, Robin Cook would be 71 and Donald Dewar would be 79. Even if they'd lived, they'd all be retired some time ago. Perhaps they would have done more to bring through another generation but in reality, the next generation was not short of talent: Brown, Darling, Reid and Robertson, for example. It was the one after that - which the Brown-era Scottish Labour should have brought on - which is so disastrously short of talent.
But, will these leads hold for another three years?
Next year, and 2019, will be pivotal years. But, even if Labour chuck out Corbyn post-Brexit one wonders whether they can claw this deficit back inside 12 months.
You can't fatten a pig on market day.
I expect the Conservatives want to be going into GE2020 with the deficit 2-4 years away from flipping to an absolute surplus, a few wins on Brexit already banked (blue passports, a few nice trade deals in the pipeline, and some extra migration controls) and ask the electorate if they want Labour to ruin it all again.
I got my new drivers licence the other day. Super impressed it has a union flag on it. It expires in 2019. Can't wait to get one sans the European Union flag.
I insisted to the dealership that the numberplate for my new Jaguar came without an EU flag on it.
And it didn't.
It did come with customised Union flag wheel badges, which I specifically ordered.
I have to renew my passport next year. I am genuinely intrigued to know what it will look like. They surely can't keep printing the old EU passports, which will be obsolete a year later.
The design of passports (in terms of size, features, layout, RFID) is set internationally, so that will likely not change at all. The European Union is only mentioned in two places: on the front cover in a smaller font than UNITED KINGDOM, and on page three (again in relatively small font). I would expect that your passport will lose those two references to the EU next year.
Now, will it go black? Of course, there is nothing to stop the UK having a black passport now. Croatia, for example, is in the EU and has very dark blue passport. My guess is that by 2020 we'll probably return to black, but otherwise the design (other than losing the words "European Union") will be absolutely the same as it is now.
It will also - at some point - lose all the foreign translations of the words - German to Maltese to Polish, and go back to just English, with perhaps Welsh, and Scots Gaelic? Maybe French (I hope not)
I think the international standard mandates that all passports have English and French transaltions
It is an ICAO recommendation, but not an absolute requirement.
I am always amused by the French insistence that the official abbreviation of the "world organisation for animal health" is OIE.
But, will these leads hold for another three years?
Next year, and 2019, will be pivotal years. But, even if Labour chuck out Corbyn post-Brexit one wonders whether they can claw this deficit back inside 12 months.
You can't fatten a pig on market day.
I expect the Conservatives want to be going into GE2020 with the deficit 2-4 years away from flipping to an absolute surplus, a few wins on Brexit already banked (blue passports, a few nice trade deals in the pipeline, and some extra migration controls) and ask the electorate if they want Labour to ruin it all again.
I got my new drivers licence the other day. Super impressed it has a union flag on it. It expires in 2019. Can't wait to get one sans the European Union flag.
I insisted to the dealership that the numberplate for my new Jaguar came without an EU flag on it.
And it didn't.
It did come with customised Union flag wheel badges, which I specifically ordered.
I have to renew my passport next year. I am genuinely intrigued to know what it will look like. They surely can't keep printing the old EU passports, which will be obsolete a year later.
The design of passports (in terms of size, features, layout, RFID) is set internationally, so that will likely not change at all. The European Union is only mentioned in two places: on the front cover in a smaller font than UNITED KINGDOM, and on page three (again in relatively small font). I would expect that your passport will lose those two references to the EU next year.
Now, will it go black? Of course, there is nothing to stop the UK having a black passport now. Croatia, for example, is in the EU and has very dark blue passport. My guess is that by 2020 we'll probably return to black, but otherwise the design (other than losing the words "European Union") will be absolutely the same as it is now.
It will also - at some point - lose all the foreign translations of the words - German to Maltese to Polish, and go back to just English, with perhaps Welsh, and Scots Gaelic? Maybe French (I hope not)
I think the international standard mandates that all passports have English and French transaltions
It is an ICAO recommendation, but not an absolute requirement.
I am always amused by the French insistence that the official abbreviation of the "world organisation for animal health" is OIE.
Assuming Scotland votes for independence (and at this stage I think it less than 50%, but I said the same about Brexit, so what do I know?) and Northern Ireland is frozen forever as the Transdniester of North West Europe, what do people think the residual country will be called? Candidates:
United Kingdom would be a joke. Foreigners and others would say the two words slowly and laugh. Britain with or without the embarrassing adjective of "Great" is inaccurate in its geography as it refers to the whole island. England and Wales is a bit like Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. There's a reason why serious countries don't have a conjunction. Plain old England is perhaps the reality but the Welsh might be miffed. Blighty has its attractions and can mean whatever you want it to mean, but outsiders wouldn't get the reference. My preferred option, South Britain has a neat parallelism with the imperial designations of West Britain (Ireland) and North Britain (Scotland). The faint overtones of East Germany and North Korea (nuclear armed rogue state, bearing a grudge) can be dismissed.
Just "the UK".
Doesn't have to stand for anything.
Like when Swiss Bank Corporation merged with Union Bank of Switzerland the resulting company was called UBS.
Assuming Scotland votes for independence (and at this stage I think it less than 50%, but I said the same about Brexit, so what do I know?) and Northern Ireland is frozen forever as the Transdniester of North West Europe, what do people think the residual country will be called? Candidates:
United Kingdom would be a joke. Foreigners and others would say the two words slowly and laugh. Britain with or without the embarrassing adjective of "Great" is inaccurate in its geography as it refers to the whole island. England and Wales is a bit like Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. There's a reason why serious countries don't have a conjunction. Plain old England is perhaps the reality but the Welsh might be miffed. Blighty has its attractions and can mean whatever you want it to mean, but outsiders wouldn't get the reference. My preferred option, South Britain has a neat parallelism with the imperial designations of West Britain (Ireland) and North Britain (Scotland). The faint overtones of East Germany and North Korea (nuclear armed rogue state, bearing a grudge) can be dismissed.
Assuming Scotland votes for independence (and at this stage I think it less than 50%, but I said the same about Brexit, so what do I know?) and Northern Ireland is frozen forever as the Transdniester of North West Europe, what do people think the residual country will be called? Candidates:
United Kingdom would be a joke. Foreigners and others would say the two words slowly and laugh. Britain with or without the embarrassing adjective of "Great" is inaccurate in its geography as it refers to the whole island. England and Wales is a bit like Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. There's a reason why serious countries don't have a conjunction. Plain old England is perhaps the reality but the Welsh might be miffed. Blighty has its attractions and can mean whatever you want it to mean, but outsiders wouldn't get the reference. My preferred option, South Britain has a neat parallelism with the imperial designations of West Britain (Ireland) and North Britain (Scotland). The faint overtones of East Germany and North Korea (nuclear armed rogue state, bearing a grudge) can be dismissed.
Just "the UK".
Doesn't have to stand for anything.
Like when Swiss Bank Corporation merged with Union Bank of Switzerland the resulting company was called UBS.
But it definitely didn't stand for anything.
At various times over the years, it stood for "Unemployed By Spring" or "Utter Bull Sh*t".
Assuming Scotland votes for independence (and at this stage I think it less than 50%, but I said the same about Brexit, so what do I know?) and Northern Ireland is frozen forever as the Transdniester of North West Europe, what do people think the residual country will be called? Candidates:
United Kingdom would be a joke. Foreigners and others would say the two words slowly and laugh. Britain with or without the embarrassing adjective of "Great" is inaccurate in its geography as it refers to the whole island. England and Wales is a bit like Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. There's a reason why serious countries don't have a conjunction. Plain old England is perhaps the reality but the Welsh might be miffed. Blighty has its attractions and can mean whatever you want it to mean, but outsiders wouldn't get the reference. My preferred option, South Britain has a neat parallelism with the imperial designations of West Britain (Ireland) and North Britain (Scotland). The faint overtones of East Germany and North Korea (nuclear armed rogue state, bearing a grudge) can be dismissed.
The Holy Roman Empire was notably neither holy, Roman nor an empire. So the UK will do fine.
Edit: and "Great" in GB means physically bigger than Ireland, or than Brittany, depending whom you believe.
Passport fact of the day. Only one country has a genuinely black passport. Said country is in Europe.
Can anyone name it?
Vatican City?
Exactly right. Did you Google?
No - but wouldn't have got it if you hadn't said 'Leichtenstien was good, but not right' - made me think of all the micro-states and which one was likely to he allowed to get away with being 'different' because 'history'.
Apart from (presumably) His Holiness, how many people actually carry Vatican City passports? Not a lot I imagine.
Is Labour yet sufficiently unpopular that Andy Burnham is in any danger in Greater Manchester. We've discussed in the past how Corbynism maybe isn't the turn-off in Manchester that it is elsewhere, but Manchester <> Greater Manchester. To my mind, if Jane Brophy (LD) can get into the second round against Andy Burnham, she could win, as more Conservative votes will transfer to her than to him. But the reverse is not necessarily true - i.e. if Sean Anstee gets into the final two against Andy Burnham then Jane Brophy's votes don't necessarily transfer to him. UKIP further complicates matters; Central Manchester isn't particularly strong UKIP territory, but outside the M60 they're a non-negligible presence, and make vote transfers in a two-round system complicated.
Rough numbers for GtMan at GE2015 give:
CON 30 LAB 41 LD 9 UKIP 16 OTH 4
So, falls to Tories with 5.5% swing, and today's polls indicate UNS of around 6% from Labour since GE2015.
I think there are some straws in favour of Labour: swing resilient Labour heartlands, local government election, Burnham name recognition: to keep Labour the favourite, but you wouldn't like to guarantee it, especially with the Kipper inclined transfers in the almost certain Lab/Con second round.
Never mind that, though it's remarkable enough. Look a little to the left in the table: Con at 48% with voters who backed No and at 41% (ahead of SNP) with those who didn't vote.
By one respondent out of seventeen - wonder what the MoE is on that!
What is surprising to me is this: over the last few months there have been various announcements by companies of investment (in some cases sizeable investment) in the UK. Now I cannot believe that these companies have not looked at the possibility of relocation elsewhere in Europe to take advantage of the Single Market and/or have not been wooed by the governments of other countries.
They knew when Article 50 would be triggered and the timing. They have heard what the PM has said about being out of the Single Market. They've heard what the EU Commission and various European leaders have said about no cherry picking / about the UK being a "third country" / about WTO and customs duties and the rest of it.
They may have been given some private assurances by the UK government but how much reliance can they place on these?
But despite all of this there seems to be no Gadarene rush for the doors to the exit from the UK. So what the hell is going on?
Is it:
1. Everyone is being impossibly naïve about what can be agreed in 2 years and what it will mean?
2. Everyone believes (or has been told) that the UK's opening position is a gambit only and that the likely outcome is something broadly similar to what we have now?
3. The UK is such a good place to do business that companies will stay regardless of hard Brexit and WTO rules and customs checks? Would be nice but seems a tad unlikely.
4. There have been private soundings with EU governments which have reassured these companies.
5. Companies hope that by staying in the UK they will effectively force the UK government to do a deal which favours them because the alternative is likely to be so horrendous. A high risk strategy.
And if not any of the above, what might be the reason or reasons?
What is surprising to me is this: over the last few months there have been various announcements by companies of investment (in some cases sizeable investment) in the UK. Now I cannot believe that these companies have not looked at the possibility of relocation elsewhere in Europe to take advantage of the Single Market and/or have not been wooed by the governments of other countries.
They knew when Article 50 would be triggered and the timing. They have heard what the PM has said about being out of the Single Market. They've heard what the EU Commission and various European leaders have said about no cherry picking / about the UK being a "third country" / about WTO and customs duties and the rest of it.
They may have been given some private assurances by the UK government but how much reliance can they place on these?
But despite all of this there seems to be no Gadarene rush for the doors to the exit from the UK. So what the hell is going on?
Is it:
1. Everyone is being impossibly naïve about what can be agreed in 2 years and what it will mean?
2. Everyone believes (or has been told) that the UK's opening position is a gambit only and that the likely outcome is something broadly similar to what we have now?
3. The UK is such a good place to do business that companies will stay regardless of hard Brexit and WTO rules and customs checks? Would be nice but seems a tad unlikely.
4. There have been private soundings with EU governments which have reassured these companies.
5. Companies hope that by staying in the UK they will effectively force the UK government to do a deal which favours them because the alternative is likely to be so horrendous. A high risk strategy.
And if not any of the above, what might be the reason or reasons?
The big downward move in Sterling will have played a role.
What is surprising to me is this: over the last few months there have been various announcements by companies of investment (in some cases sizeable investment) in the UK. Now I cannot believe that these companies have not looked at the possibility of relocation elsewhere in Europe to take advantage of the Single Market and/or have not been wooed by the governments of other countries.
They knew when Article 50 would be triggered and the timing. They have heard what the PM has said about being out of the Single Market. They've heard what the EU Commission and various European leaders have said about no cherry picking / about the UK being a "third country" / about WTO and customs duties and the rest of it.
They may have been given some private assurances by the UK government but how much reliance can they place on these?
But despite all of this there seems to be no Gadarene rush for the doors to the exit from the UK. So what the hell is going on?
Is it:
1. Everyone is being impossibly naïve about what can be agreed in 2 years and what it will mean?
2. Everyone believes (or has been told) that the UK's opening position is a gambit only and that the likely outcome is something broadly similar to what we have now?
3. The UK is such a good place to do business that companies will stay regardless of hard Brexit and WTO rules and customs checks? Would be nice but seems a tad unlikely.
4. There have been private soundings with EU governments which have reassured these companies.
5. Companies hope that by staying in the UK they will effectively force the UK government to do a deal which favours them because the alternative is likely to be so horrendous. A high risk strategy.
And if not any of the above, what might be the reason or reasons?
The one you label "unlikely" is the only one of your candidates that makes sense.
Comments
https://twitter.com/owenjbennett/status/843856411134255104
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDXtVlG2VW0
The urgent question is over. The Conservative Michael Fabricant uses a point of order to thank Labour for united Tory MPs behind George Osborne.
I rather meant where his leadership of the party will lose least votes. How do you decipher the membership stats?
But they can't decide if they were blue or black.
I'm hoping for the word "Republic" to appear on my passport before I'm too old to use one. But I'm not hopeful.
Wales
Con 38
Lab 27
Plaid 16
UKIP 9
Grn 5
LD 3
North of England (derived)
Con 40
Lab 36
LD 11
UKIP 11
Grn 3
Midlands (derived)
Con 56 (!!!)
Lab 23
UKIP 11
LD 7
Grn 3
South
Con 49
Lab 23
LD 12
UKIP 12
Grn 3
We will definitely remove the words "EUROPEAN UNION" from pages 1 and 3.
Those past IRA connections and the memories of the pub bombings might lead to an utter shellacking.
Assuming they don't bring their own monarchy back.
Obviously the usual reason of being the Tories biaches during the last kerfuffle. Personally I think their inability to keep a consistent and clearly expressed position on anything also has something to do with it, eg Europe, Devo, Trident, the Constitution.
And they're turnips.
In terms of member views, the recent opinion polls have shown backing for Corbyn collapsing in London.
http://www.vogue.com/article/british-prime-minister-theresa-may-interview-brexit-political-views
That said, of all my niggles about the EU, the passport comes a long way down the list. I actually rather like it. I certainly prefer the size of it - which fits into a trouser pocket - to its British predecessor - which didn't.
I can also happily report that the EU-style passport can survive being accidentally left in a trouser pocket as the trousers in question are put through the wash.
I actually haven't had a passport since 2014, and I can't see myself needing one any time soon. Since having children - or, more specifically, since having school-age children - abroad is effectively financially unreachable.
Basically, what they think doesn't matter.
Shocking poll for Slab though. Truly awful.
Map of momentum groups
https://groups.peoplesmomentum.com/
They might have ensured a much healthier victory for No in 2014 as well as being better equipped to deal with the aftermath of the result as well as mentoring the new generation of SLAB.
Instead we get the likes of Iain Gray.
Until Britain has an opposition, it seems that the Conservatives can do as they please.
The headline will be 'Brexit: Europe, The Final Countdown'
A decent chance Cookie would have been on the Yes side.
United Kingdom would be a joke. Foreigners and others would say the two words slowly and laugh.
Britain with or without the embarrassing adjective of "Great" is inaccurate in its geography as it refers to the whole island.
England and Wales is a bit like Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. There's a reason why serious countries don't have a conjunction.
Plain old England is perhaps the reality but the Welsh might be miffed.
Blighty has its attractions and can mean whatever you want it to mean, but outsiders wouldn't get the reference.
My preferred option, South Britain has a neat parallelism with the imperial designations of West Britain (Ireland) and North Britain (Scotland). The faint overtones of East Germany and North Korea (nuclear armed rogue state, bearing a grudge) can be dismissed.
Only exceptions will be those who are 'new to electoral roll', but there'll be virtually no 18+ as 16/17 had a vote, so it's only these last six months that there'd be youngsters coming on who didn't have the chance to vote. Others will be people who've moved in to Scotland. But no subgroup of non-IndyRef1 voters can be expected to vote in numbers yet.
'My name is SLab, king of Scotland:
Look on my works, ye Tories and despair!'
To my mind, if Jane Brophy (LD) can get into the second round against Andy Burnham, she could win, as more Conservative votes will transfer to her than to him. But the reverse is not necessarily true - i.e. if Sean Anstee gets into the final two against Andy Burnham then Jane Brophy's votes don't necessarily transfer to him.
UKIP further complicates matters; Central Manchester isn't particularly strong UKIP territory, but outside the M60 they're a non-negligible presence, and make vote transfers in a two-round system complicated.
The United Kingdom of England, Wales & Northern Ireland.
Doesn't have to stand for anything.
Like when Swiss Bank Corporation merged with Union Bank of Switzerland the resulting company was called UBS.
But it definitely didn't stand for anything.
Edit: and "Great" in GB means physically bigger than Ireland, or than Brittany, depending whom you believe.
CON 30
LAB 41
LD 9
UKIP 16
OTH 4
So, falls to Tories with 5.5% swing, and today's polls indicate UNS of around 6% from Labour since GE2015.
I think there are some straws in favour of Labour: swing resilient Labour heartlands, local government election, Burnham name recognition: to keep Labour the favourite, but you wouldn't like to guarantee it, especially with the Kipper inclined transfers in the almost certain Lab/Con second round.
In one, Fillon's lead over Le Pen drops to just 12 points. In the other, Macron's increases to 26 points.
Meanwhile Marine Le Pen continues to drift, last matched at 4.7.
They knew when Article 50 would be triggered and the timing. They have heard what the PM has said about being out of the Single Market. They've heard what the EU Commission and various European leaders have said about no cherry picking / about the UK being a "third country" / about WTO and customs duties and the rest of it.
They may have been given some private assurances by the UK government but how much reliance can they place on these?
But despite all of this there seems to be no Gadarene rush for the doors to the exit from the UK. So what the hell is going on?
Is it:
1. Everyone is being impossibly naïve about what can be agreed in 2 years and what it will mean?
2. Everyone believes (or has been told) that the UK's opening position is a gambit only and that the likely outcome is something broadly similar to what we have now?
3. The UK is such a good place to do business that companies will stay regardless of hard Brexit and WTO rules and customs checks? Would be nice but seems a tad unlikely.
4. There have been private soundings with EU governments which have reassured these companies.
5. Companies hope that by staying in the UK they will effectively force the UK government to do a deal which favours them because the alternative is likely to be so horrendous. A high risk strategy.
And if not any of the above, what might be the reason or reasons?