The biggest pool of voters that Lib Dems could fish in to get switchers are Conservative remainers.
So it is strange that Lib Dems are going out of their way to alienate these votes by forming a 'Progressive Alliance' with Corbyn Labour and the only party to the left of Corbyn, the Greens.
Correct - I'm one such Con remainer and it's a strong repellant. Mind you doesn't matter anyway here in the paradise of the Bercow republic.
I'm looking forward to Bercow being ousted as Speaker after the GE
I have a special bottle ready for opening if the nonce finder general gets the Ed balls treatment.
I think the vintage Champagne might need to be ordered by the case for this election. My very special bottle would be for Alex Salmond.
If Tories tactically vote LD in Gordon and LDs tactically vote Tory in Moray they could get rid of Salmond and Robertson
I fear we'll just miss out as people don't vote tactically or get confused as to the best option to vote tactically, but it's a nice dream, though Robertson generally cones across as a very sensible, reasonable chap.
Re facebook, the general assumption among my friends is that everyone is not-a-tory and certainly a Remain voter.
There is not a lot of extreme stuff really more a left-liberal consensus by default. Groupthink bubble. And about 80% of people never mention politics to be fair.
I would not dare post anything vaguely reflective of my moderate and sensible centre right views :-)
The biggest pool of voters that Lib Dems could fish in to get switchers are Conservative remainers.
So it is strange that Lib Dems are going out of their way to alienate these votes by forming a 'Progressive Alliance' with Corbyn Labour and the only party to the left of Corbyn, the Greens.
Correct - I'm one such Con remainer and it's a strong repellant. Mind you doesn't matter anyway here in the paradise of the Bercow republic.
I'm looking forward to Bercow being ousted as Speaker after the GE
Given speakers generally go straight to the lords after retirement, bit much asking yet another election for Buckinghamshire. A shame the LDs backed down, first saying it wasn't right to not oppose, then suddenly believing the convention needed to be followed.
I have a special bottle ready for opening if the nonce finder general gets the Ed balls treatment.
I think the vintage Champagne might need to be ordered by the case for this election. My very special bottle would be for Alex Salmond.
If Tories tactically vote LD in Gordon and LDs tactically vote Tory in Moray they could get rid of Salmond and Robertson
I fear we'll just miss out as people don't vote tactically or get confused as to the best option to vote tactically, but it's a nice dream, though Robertson generally cones across as a very sensible, reasonable chap.
I think Salmond will hold on but on current Scottish polls the SNP to Tory swing could see Robertson out, a few LD barcharts would be useful in Gordon
The breaking WIND news is that the JNN is pleased to announce that in association with ARSE a new political award is to be instituted to be exclusively announced through the an(n)als of PB.
This hugely prestigious prize will be awarded as required to an individual politician, party, activist or adviser who by their spoken or written word shows an outstanding ability in rendering the political class in the light to which the public has become accustomed.
Introducing :
PISS-TAKE
Political Inexactitude Spreading Shite - Truth Avoiding Knavish Effrontery
The breaking WIND news is that the JNN is pleased to announce that in association with ARSE a new political award is to be instituted to be exclusively announced through the an(n)als of PB.
This hugely prestigious prize will be awarded as required to an individual politician, party, activist or adviser who by their spoken or written word shows an outstanding ability in rendering the political class in the light to which the public has become accustomed.
Introducing :
PISS-TAKE
Political Inexactitude Spreading Shite - Truth Avoiding Knavish Effrontery
Sell UKIP vote share! They're going to be lucky to field candidates in 10% of the seats at this rate.
It messes up the polls too - it looks hard how they'd get, say, the 8 seen in some polls, when they're not standing in many places, so either that vote stays home or goes somewhere else no matter the polls.
Plus many of the places they're not standing are where they're naturally stronger too. North Norfolk was an above-average constituency for them in 2015 as were many others they've stood down in.
The breaking WIND news is that the JNN is pleased to announce that in association with ARSE a new political award is to be instituted to be exclusively announced through the an(n)als of PB.
This hugely prestigious prize will be awarded as required to an individual politician, party, activist or adviser who by their spoken or written word shows an outstanding ability in rendering the political class in the light to which the public has become accustomed.
Introducing :
PISS-TAKE
Political Inexactitude Spreading Shite - Truth Avoiding Knavish Effrontery
The breaking WIND news is that the JNN is pleased to announce that in association with ARSE a new political award is to be instituted to be exclusively announced through the an(n)als of PB.
This hugely prestigious prize will be awarded as required to an individual politician, party, activist or adviser who by their spoken or written word shows an outstanding ability in rendering the political class in the light to which the public has become accustomed.
Introducing :
PISS-TAKE
Political Inexactitude Spreading Shite - Truth Avoiding Knavish Effrontery
FPT.OT. When I was an assistant photographer I had to take something to Red Star which was a parcel service run by British Rail.
I walked into a scruffy office with a counter and on the other side was a man in uniform sitting on a wooden chair reading a newspaper. He glanced up and saw me with my parcel and went back to his fag and his newspaper. After several minutes he carefully folded his paper stood up and said "Is this what you're sending....."
I was an ardent lefty back then and I loathed the Tories but I don't want to go back to those days and I'm afraid that's what Corbyn spells to me and many who were alive in the 70's.
His time has gone and though I sympathise with his ideals the thought of service and the related problems with the unions in those days makes me shiver.
Is this the first Right Wing thing you've ever said, Roger?
Nick P had written a piece on why the McDonnell amendment was worth voting for and it made me reflect on why Corbyn is unelectable even for a lefty.
You could never call the CONSERVATIVE party progressive but in spite of them we've moved on since Corbyn's nirvana.
Nick's piece was well written, but the only reason the McDonnell amendment is proposed is to make sure there's always a hard-left Corbynite on the leadership ballot, for the hard-left Corbynite £3 members to vote for, over the wishes of the Parliamentary Labour Party.
I agree. The point I think he overlooked is that the hard left candidate would always win because of the new rules and more importantly it's essential that whoever is chosen has the support of their MPs
"The point I think he overlooked is that the hard left candidate would always win"
Overlooked? Or liked?
Isn't this the object of the exercise? To keep a hard left grip on the leadership for ever and ever, amen.
The breaking WIND news is that the JNN is pleased to announce that in association with ARSE a new political award is to be instituted to be exclusively announced through the an(n)als of PB.
This hugely prestigious prize will be awarded as required to an individual politician, party, activist or adviser who by their spoken or written word shows an outstanding ability in rendering the political class in the light to which the public has become accustomed.
Introducing :
PISS-TAKE
Political Inexactitude Spreading Shite - Truth Avoiding Knavish Effrontery
I just booked a few days in Majorca so I'll miss the election. Not that my vote counts for much in super-safe Caerphilly.
Re fox-hunting. As rubbish as the law is, May has shown poor-judgement in bringing it up. Fox hunting is not popular.
But it's massively popular among the Countryside Alliance, which is one of the biggest Tory-supporting groups in the country. They'll provide thousands of volunteers to deliver leaflets, knock doors and help get the vote out on the day. The price of a couple of bad social media headlines among the Corbynista is easily worth the support from the CA.
The trouble with Facebook is the 'cult of the Amateur' (the title of a brilliant book written by Andrew Keen ten years ago). Have a Facebook or Twitter account and a few followers? Then your opinion matters! (I appreciate the irony of that last statement, btw...)
It's a short step to posting images of your family, to posting political diatribes when something easily upsets you. These posts can be picked up and amplified very easily. Because they tend to from the heart (with little or no reflection) the Internet becomes awash with emotion. Couple that with a desire to have *definite* positions on things (heaven forbid there might be grey areas, or things you can agree to disagree on) and things quickly polarise.
An example might be the burqa ban. I think a lot of people (like me) feel extremely uncomfortable from a feminist and cultural point of view about women who cover themselves completely (or, more importantly, are compelled by their religion or menfolk). I think you could argue - rationally and in a non-rascist way - that in public a niqab is fine (because you can see people's eyes) and a burqa isn't, and that's fair and reasonable, and part and parcel of allowing interactions between people in a polite society. After all, we have similar concerns about crash helmets and teenagers in hoodies when we *cannot see the face*.
But there is no way to join in a sensible discussion about this online, because I'd never in a million years want to be associated with UKIP, and the fact, for UKIP, the 'burqa ban' comes from a rascist motivation. You'd more likely finding me marching in support of burquas once UKIP become involved, so rational discussion ends.
One of the reasons I like PB is because I feel it *is* a 'safe space' to have grown up discussions about politics (yep, you can laugh, but I find it very stimulating). The standard is high (certainly enlightening). I think this is because everything is filtered through the lens of gambling, so there is a degree of separation from raw emotion that political allegiances can generate.
This may be too naive and idealistic, but I appreciate it when people of all political opinions post their thoughts and feelings on here. Christ, I desperately want to break out of my liberal echo chamber, because I never want to feel the sense of shock and desolation that I did after the referendum last year. I genuinely mean that - there are too many massive problems facing us at the moment, (and I don't mean Brexit, I mean a collapsing ecosystem and ocean acidification - things that threaten our species with extinction).
We're going to have all work together to solve these problems very soon. Whilst nothing can take the place of getting out and talking to people in the real world, as far as the Internet is concerned, PB is the place I come to to expand my political consciousness.
I just booked a few days in Majorca so I'll miss the election. Not that my vote counts for much in super-safe Caerphilly.
Re fox-hunting. As rubbish as the law is, May has shown poor-judgement in bringing it up. Fox hunting is not popular.
+1
Politically she could easily have gone for a free vote next parliament without bringing it in now.
This will probably help the LibDems in some shire seats, since in the countryside there are small numbers of people who feel strongly about the issue. Whereas most people who are strong supporters of killing animals for fun already vote Tory.
If anybody is interested in a Eurovision tip - consider the 5/4 (Betfair Sportsbook) on the UK to score a top 10 finish on Saturday. Lucie Jones' entry is getting a very good reception in rehearsals (available on YouTube) in what is already a relatively weak year. She is in to 7th favourite to win now (which is at 33-1 but isn't going to happen). Top 10 looks like a decent bet though.
For what it is worth I don't buy into the Brexit effect at all and find a nul points finish very unlikely. It is quite difficult to achieve these days anyway in the era of double jury / national televote scoring.
Great news. Labour to spend £5 billion extra on education with the money coming from corporation tax and an extra 10.000 police with the money coming from higher rate tax on Paul Pogba's salary.
On FB, the Tories keep very quiet (almost universally) but I have 6-8 friends who post Left wing political stuff fairly regularly, and a few apolitical 'centrists' who live in London who certainly dress to the Left, with lots of criticism of the Tories and the NHS etc.
There is nothing more tedious. Except perhaps babies.
Yes I have a number of very left wing friends who post all sorts of extreme stuff. There is absolutely no point commenting as I have a few times, as you will then be subject to abuse a bit like the momentum bunch - you either agree or you must be a Tory or UKIP. There are also the public sector bores who incessantly post that their part of the public sector does not receive enough money, aside from that I don't see any real political comments, and I must assume that if the opinion polls are right then rest are voting conservative in large numbers.
I am not on Facebook, so don't totally understand how it works; but if people are posting a load of stuff that you don't want to read and are also abusive, can't you just unfollow them?
Most of Facebook tends to be photos of family and holidays, trips out etc political posting is a minority and on Instagram (also Facebook owned) virtually non existent. It is Twitter where most of the political posts take place
TBH I think that is what annoys me most about people using Facebook for politics. - I read PB for a range of opinions.
This is why it is a struggle for left of centre to cut through on social media. They cut ties with anyone who doesn't think like them, and therefore they are eternally surprised to find out a large part of the population doesn't care about their issues or agree with them.
Agreed totally. I have a friend who is convinced via his social media interaction that a hard left progressive movement is about to sweep all before it.
I have intelligent friends, some young, some older, whose judgement I value really highly, who argue vociferously for Corbyn. I live in South Wales so there may be an element of visceral Tory hatred (and that's understandable given many had relatives who worked in the mines), but what's surprising is the hatred of Blair.
I think a meme takes hold and it's impossible to shake. Blair is seen as the embodiment of evil and Corbyn the cleanser of that evil. I made a strong case on FB -hopefully cogently, and from a position of devil's advocate - for the early Blair/Brown government, of the redistribution and investment they made etc, and was castigated as someone who has fallen for propaganda and fake news. Basically I was laughed at.
The biggest pool of voters that Lib Dems could fish in to get switchers are Conservative remainers.
So it is strange that Lib Dems are going out of their way to alienate these votes by forming a 'Progressive Alliance' with Corbyn Labour and the only party to the left of Corbyn, the Greens.
They aren't. The Lib Dems have stood down for Caroline Lucas and there might be one or two "campaign less hard than we would otherwise" places, but in general they're resisting attempts for alliances - so much so that the Greens have now given up asking them on the national level.
TBH I think this is pretty shortsighted. Oxfordshire CC will be a Conservative+Independent coalition this time, same as it has been for the last four years. If the Lib Dems and Labour had focused their campaigning a bit more smartly we would be looking at an LD+Labour coalition right now, but there were several divisions (such as Chipping Norton) where they campaigned against each other, letting the Conservatives through.
Oxfordshire CC was the only English county where Tories did not gain seats last week. Worth noting for constituency bets.
FPT.OT. When I was an assistant photographer I had to take something to Red Star which was a parcel service run by British Rail.
I walked into a scruffy office with a counter and on the other side was a man in uniform sitting on a wooden chair reading a newspaper. He glanced up and saw me with my parcel and went back to his fag and his newspaper. After several minutes he carefully folded his paper stood up and said "Is this what you're sending....."
I was an ardent lefty back then and I loathed the Tories but I don't want to go back to those days and I'm afraid that's what Corbyn spells to me and many who were alive in the 70's.
His time has gone and though I sympathise with his ideals the thought of service and the related problems with the unions in those days makes me shiver.
Is this the first Right Wing thing you've ever said, Roger?
Nick P had written a piece on why the McDonnell amendment was worth voting for and it made me reflect on why Corbyn is unelectable even for a lefty.
You could never call the CONSERVATIVE party progressive but in spite of them we've moved on since Corbyn's nirvana.
Nick's piece was well written, but the only reason the McDonnell amendment is proposed is to make sure there's always a hard-left Corbynite on the leadership ballot, for the hard-left Corbynite £3 members to vote for, over the wishes of the Parliamentary Labour Party.
I agree. The point I think he overlooked is that the hard left candidate would always win because of the new rules and more importantly it's essential that whoever is chosen has the support of their MPs
"The point I think he overlooked is that the hard left candidate would always win"
Overlooked? Or liked?
Isn't this the object of the exercise? To keep a hard left grip on the leadership for ever and ever, amen.
Yes, and as I've argued before, it's a poor and defeatist mechanism, created out of weakness. It admits that the hard left will never (or rarely) have 15% of the (E)PLP. They would be far better switching the nominating bodies to CLPs, where they could easily command that number and which would also be more in line with a 'members'' movement.
The trouble with Facebook is the 'cult of the Amateur' (the title of a brilliant book written by Andrew Keen ten years ago). Have a Facebook or Twitter account and a few followers? Then your opinion matters! (I appreciate the irony of that last statement, btw...)
It's a short step to posting images of your family, to posting political diatribes when something easily upsets you. These posts can be picked up and amplified very easily. Because they tend to from the heart (with little or no reflection) the Internet becomes awash with emotion. Couple that with a desire to have *definite* positions on things (heaven forbid there might be grey areas, or things you can agree to disagree on) and things quickly polarise.
An example might be the burqa ban. I think a lot of people (like me) feel extremely uncomfortable from a feminist and cultural point of view about women who cover themselves completely (or, more importantly, are compelled by their religion or menfolk). After all, we have similar concerns about crash helmets and teenagers in hoodies when we *cannot see the face*.
But there is no way to join in a sensible discussion about this online, because I'd never in a million years want to be associated with UKIP, and the fact, for UKIP, the 'burqa ban' comes from a rascist motivation. You'd more likely finding me marching in support of burquas once UKIP become involved, so rational discussion ends.
One of the reasons I like PB is because I feel it *is* a 'safe space' to have grown up discussions about politics (yep, you can laugh, but I find it very stimulating). The standard is high (certainly enlightening). I think this is because everything is filtered through the lens of gambling, so there is a degree of separation from raw emotion that political allegiances can generate.
This may be too naive and idealistic, but I appreciate it when people of all political opinions post their thoughts and feelings on here. Christ, I desperately want to break out of my liberal echo chamber, because I never want to feel the sense of shock and desolation that I did after the referendum last year. I genuinely mean that - there are too many massive problems facing us at the moment, (and I don't mean Brexit, I mean a collapsing ecosystem and ocean acidification - things that threaten our species with extinction).
We're going to have all work together to solve these problems very soon. Whilst nothing can take the place of getting out and talking to people in the real world, as far as the Internet is concerned, PB is the place I come to to expand my political consciousness.
I think the point about a certain distance due to a focus on gambling is very apt. Easier to not get too emotional. Why Brexit is still raw, not much interest in betting on things to do with that.
In fairness I should say that the PISS-TAKE award is active from today and will not take into account previous transgressions as this would be completely unfair on Dianne Abbott, to name but the most obvious beneficiary.
I just booked a few days in Majorca so I'll miss the election. Not that my vote counts for much in super-safe Caerphilly.
Re fox-hunting. As rubbish as the law is, May has shown poor-judgement in bringing it up. Fox hunting is not popular.
The best thing that could happen is for there to be a free vote in a Tory-dominated Commons and for the existing law to be confirmed. That would put the issue to bed for once and for all.
I just booked a few days in Majorca so I'll miss the election. Not that my vote counts for much in super-safe Caerphilly.
Re fox-hunting. As rubbish as the law is, May has shown poor-judgement in bringing it up. Fox hunting is not popular.
If you get a chance, dine at Olivera at Castell Son Claret (or the full 2 Michelin Star blow-out if you wish!)
Thank you! Though I'll be the other side of the island. The wife and me are escaping for five days (12th anniversary). My seven year old boy is evil at us!
Great news. Labour to spend £5 billion extra on education with the money coming from corporation tax and an extra 10.000 police with the money coming from higher rate tax on Paul Pogba's salary.
Labour can claim what they like - they will not be in a position to implement.
"Lamb slaughtered" or "Lamb chopped" are surely the putative Norfolk North go-to headlines.
Does Farron stand down if they have a nightmare election? Lamb is Fav to be next leader but he won't even be an MP. Tom Brake is 3rd Fav but I think he's gone too.
Great news. Labour to spend £5 billion extra on education with the money coming from corporation tax and an extra 10.000 police with the money coming from higher rate tax on Paul Pogba's salary.
My dear Roger, there is one eensy weensy difficulty with your profound explosion of joy ....
However I shall refrain from discussing the problem as I have no wish to spoil the moment for you.
...a collapsing ecosystem and ocean acidification - things that threaten our species with extinction...
!!! Merde on stilts. I think you'll find that NPP is notably higher in this period of elevated CO2 levels. We will experience some climate change and some environmental challenges for sure - but 'extinction'? That's a ridiculous, moonbatty level of overblowing a non-trivial but non-dangerous trend.
Today's Daily Telegraph: "Labour faces a historic split after the election with as many as 100 of the party's MPs set to walk out and form their own breakaway group in an attempt to force out Jeremy Corbyn, The Telegraph can disclose.
Moderate Labour candidates are already in talks with potential donors about a new “Progressives” group forming in Parliament if Mr Corbyn stays on as leader after a Tory landslide.
One potential scenario is for the MPs to resign the Labour whip and become independents grouped together in the Commons under the Progressives banner."
Precisely as I have predicted over recent days, although such plans do of course assume that there will be as many as 100 moderate Labour MPs ready and willing to form such a group. The number IS important, since together with the LibDems, although probably without that of the SNP, they might well become H.M's Official Opposition.
I just booked a few days in Majorca so I'll miss the election. Not that my vote counts for much in super-safe Caerphilly.
Re fox-hunting. As rubbish as the law is, May has shown poor-judgement in bringing it up. Fox hunting is not popular.
But it's massively popular among the Countryside Alliance, which is one of the biggest Tory-supporting groups in the country. They'll provide thousands of volunteers to deliver leaflets, knock doors and help get the vote out on the day. The price of a couple of bad social media headlines among the Corbynista is easily worth the support from the CA.
Including in rural Scotland and on the Borders where the Tories main Scottish target seats are
PB is the best place to read about politics. Full of amateurs, yes (and some pros), but illuminating in a way other sites aren't.
It's why I like SeanT. He's willing to throw a hand-grenade on the table and (extremely articulately) shoot the shit over it. He tends to inspire emotions and polarised opinions, and no little anger, but the ensuing discussion often shines a light on areas it is otherwise to tricky to politically venture in to.
The biggest pool of voters that Lib Dems could fish in to get switchers are Conservative remainers.
So it is strange that Lib Dems are going out of their way to alienate these votes by forming a 'Progressive Alliance' with Corbyn Labour and the only party to the left of Corbyn, the Greens.
They aren't. The Lib Dems have stood down for Caroline Lucas and there might be one or two "campaign less hard than we would otherwise" places, but in general they're resisting attempts for alliances - so much so that the Greens have now given up asking them on the national level.
TBH I think this is pretty shortsighted. Oxfordshire CC will be a Conservative+Independent coalition this time, same as it has been for the last four years. If the Lib Dems and Labour had focused their campaigning a bit more smartly we would be looking at an LD+Labour coalition right now, but there were several divisions (such as Chipping Norton) where they campaigned against each other, letting the Conservatives through.
Oxfordshire CC was the only English county where Tories did not gain seats last week. Worth noting for constituency bets.
Communist Party (Marxist Leninist) gain Witney ?!?
The biggest pool of voters that Lib Dems could fish in to get switchers are Conservative remainers.
So it is strange that Lib Dems are going out of their way to alienate these votes by forming a 'Progressive Alliance' with Corbyn Labour and the only party to the left of Corbyn, the Greens.
Correct - I'm one such Con remainer and it's a strong repellant. Mind you doesn't matter anyway here in the paradise of the Bercow republic.
I'm looking forward to Bercow being ousted as Speaker after the GE
Given speakers generally go straight to the lords after retirement, bit much asking yet another election for Buckinghamshire. A shame the LDs backed down, first saying it wasn't right to not oppose, then suddenly believing the convention needed to be followed.
The local Buckingham Constituency Lib Dem party is still seeking to stand a candidate as it is entitled to do under the Lib Dem party constitution. HQ is only entitled to reject individual candidates on valid grounds but not to instruct a local party not to stand a candidate.
In February the President, Chief Whip, Chair of the English Party and the Chair of the Region had approved the selection of a candidate for Buckingham under the snap election process now in operation.
It is a cabal of individuals in HQ who have used their official positions to "remove" the candidate put forward by the Region, Sarah Lowes, and are blocking the Region from putting forward a replacement candidate.
"Delighted to be @BucksLibDems Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Buckingham, offering voters a strong voice in Parliament"
"Convention disenfranchises voters. We supported it before whilst seeking reform but now we want to offer a genuine alternative to Buckingham."
and
"I will be standing regardless [of any Speaker convention]"
On 26 April Before Sarah had made any announcement, Lib Dem Voice was brief by someone in the party to announce:
"Today, Sarah Lowes took the decision to stand down in accordance with the convention that the main political parties do not oppose the Speaker."
Between times Sarah had been spoken to by the Chair of the English Candidate Committee and according to that officer's own admission, Sarah had been "removed".
I just booked a few days in Majorca so I'll miss the election. Not that my vote counts for much in super-safe Caerphilly.
Re fox-hunting. As rubbish as the law is, May has shown poor-judgement in bringing it up. Fox hunting is not popular.
If you get a chance, dine at Olivera at Castell Son Claret (or the full 2 Michelin Star blow-out if you wish!)
Thank you! Though I'll be the other side of the island. The wife and me are escaping for five days (12th anniversary). My seven year old boy is evil at us!
And you can apply for a postal vote online and there is still plenty of time. For only a few days away it'll arrive well before you leave.
"Lamb slaughtered" or "Lamb chopped" are surely the putative Norfolk North go-to headlines.
Does Farron stand down if they have a nightmare election? Lamb is Fav to be next leader but he won't even be an MP. Tom Brake is 3rd Fav but I think he's gone too.
I am thinking that LD are now a Woolworth's party in the sense that if they did not exist, you cannot see any reason for inventing them. Farron's Faggoto Haram moment was lethal not for its religious or homophobic content, repulsive though both are, but because it destroyed in one stroke any general sense anyone had of what the party is about cuddly niceness, beards and sandals, and cast iron guaranteed to take the progressive and liberal view on everything.
The letter recommending Comey's firing from Rosenstein is spectacular.
Wow. You weren't kidding. Thank you @JosiasJessop for the link.
That being said:
(1) I think Comey was in an impossible situation where there was no 'good' choice;
(2) No matter what he had or had not done, and separately from the question of whether the actual decision was right, Trump's method of firing him - by a note through a third party - was utterly wrong and completely reprehensible. It should have been in a personal meeting. If that was the way he ran his businesses no wonder they kept getting into trouble.
The letter is pretty stupid in that any principled case for firing the FBI director ought also to address the issues that to do so is almost without precedent, and fire one who is in the process of conducting an investigation into the president's associates utterly beyond any political norms. That it doesn't even consider these issues, let alone provide a rationale renders its appeal to "regaining the public trust" utterly ridiculous.
Actually the letter claimed Coney was fired for unnecessarily explaining why the investigation into Clinton was dropped last summer....
And goes on to say: Compounding the error, the Director ignored another longstanding principle: we do not hold press conferences to release derogatory information about the subject of a declined criminal investigation. Derogatory information sometimes is disclosed in the course of criminal investigations and prosecutions, but we never release it gratuitously. The Director laid out his version of the facts for the news media as if it were a closing argument, but without a trial. It is a textbook example of what federal prosecutors and agents are taught not to do. ... The point stands.
No one is disputing that Comey behaved egregiously over the Clinton investigation, but that's really not what's at issue here. It's just a convenient If it were, Trump would have replaced him when he became president, rather than publicly praising him for his handling of the Clinton matter. To claim that this action might restore public faith in the FBI, and therefore justifies firing a man conducting an investigation into the administration is simply ludicrous.
The biggest pool of voters that Lib Dems could fish in to get switchers are Conservative remainers.
So it is strange that Lib Dems are going out of their way to alienate these votes by forming a 'Progressive Alliance' with Corbyn Labour and the only party to the left of Corbyn, the Greens.
Correct - I'm one such Con remainer and it's a strong repellant. Mind you doesn't matter anyway here in the paradise of the Bercow republic.
I'm looking forward to Bercow being ousted as Speaker after the GE
People were looking forward to that 2 years ago, though.
Great news. Labour to spend £5 billion extra on education with the money coming from corporation tax and an extra 10.000 police with the money coming from higher rate tax on Paul Pogba's salary.
My dear Roger, there is one eensy weensy difficulty with your profound explosion of joy ....
However I shall refrain from discussing the problem as I have no wish to spoil the moment for you.
Great news. Labour to spend £5 billion extra on education with the money coming from corporation tax and an extra 10.000 police with the money coming from higher rate tax on Paul Pogba's salary.
Corbyn promising to cut Corporation Tax? I haven't seen that in the news.
"Lamb slaughtered" or "Lamb chopped" are surely the putative Norfolk North go-to headlines.
Does Farron stand down if they have a nightmare election? Lamb is Fav to be next leader but he won't even be an MP. Tom Brake is 3rd Fav but I think he's gone too.
I am thinking that LD are now a Woolworth's party in the sense that if they did not exist, you cannot see any reason for inventing them. Farron's Faggoto Haram moment was lethal not for its religious or homophobic content, repulsive though both are, but because it destroyed in one stroke any general sense anyone had of what the party is about cuddly niceness, beards and sandals, and cast iron guaranteed to take the progressive and liberal view on everything.
That doesn't make sense. The potential outcome is a consequence of our voting system, not the relevance of liberal philosophy to politics. When the Labour Party is socialist there will always be a space for liberal thinking, and Brexit isn't the only policy area where there is plenty of space for the LibDems. And despite all the gloomy seat forecasts, every single forecast I have seen expects the LibDems to get more votes than last time.
The polls and recent local election results may paint a different picture, but on Facebook, Jeremy Corbyn dwarfs his political rivals.
His official page has more than twice as many likes as Theresa May (860,000, compared to 360,000), and nearly 30 times as many as Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron.
But the scale of Facebook operations mounted by pro-Corbyn supporters is what really stands out. They organise to hit out at the Conservatives and Tony Blair, game online opinion polls to bolster the apparent popularity of the Labour leader, and remain relentlessly positive about his chances on 8 June.
The breaking WIND news is that the JNN is pleased to announce that in association with ARSE a new political award is to be instituted to be exclusively announced through the an(n)als of PB.
This hugely prestigious prize will be awarded as required to an individual politician, party, activist or adviser who by their spoken or written word shows an outstanding ability in rendering the political class in the light to which the public has become accustomed.
Introducing :
PISS-TAKE
Political Inexactitude Spreading Shite - Truth Avoiding Knavish Effrontery
"Lamb slaughtered" or "Lamb chopped" are surely the putative Norfolk North go-to headlines.
Does Farron stand down if they have a nightmare election? Lamb is Fav to be next leader but he won't even be an MP. Tom Brake is 3rd Fav but I think he's gone too.
I am thinking that LD are now a Woolworth's party in the sense that if they did not exist, you cannot see any reason for inventing them. Farron's Faggoto Haram moment was lethal not for its religious or homophobic content, repulsive though both are, but because it destroyed in one stroke any general sense anyone had of what the party is about cuddly niceness, beards and sandals, and cast iron guaranteed to take the progressive and liberal view on everything.
I can think of two good reasons.
1. We don't want an effective one party democracy. 2. Selfish gastronomy.
I just booked a few days in Majorca so I'll miss the election. Not that my vote counts for much in super-safe Caerphilly.
Re fox-hunting. As rubbish as the law is, May has shown poor-judgement in bringing it up. Fox hunting is not popular.
If you get a chance, dine at Olivera at Castell Son Claret (or the full 2 Michelin Star blow-out if you wish!)
Thank you! Though I'll be the other side of the island. The wife and me are escaping for five days (12th anniversary). My seven year old boy is evil at us!
Have a great time. There's a reason Mallorca is so popular - it's still largely bloody lovely!
Off topic but re the Labour announcement about tax rises to pay for education.
Do the tories not need to come up with something more than the mantra that "education spending is at record levels"? It's sounding less and less convincing
Our local paper has stuff about education cuts, equivalent to 5 full time teachers at a local school.
I am not saying I agree with jacking up business taxes - especially with Brexit looming - but the tories just burying their heads in the sand about education funding and not even bothering to sensibly engage with the argument is pretty rubbish.
given today is conspiracy theory day thanks to our friend Mr Trump - are they in fact aiming for a nice 70-80 majority and no more, to try and keep Corbyn in place? Worried they might be doing too well, winning too easily, so are being deliberately piss poor for a bit?
Have you seen the staff lists at schools now. My daughter is going to the same Primary School I left 20 odd years ago. It had 8 staff when I was there, now there are over 40!!
Well even that is a better argument than the tories lame defence
It's true that schools seem extremely well funded from what I have seen - laptops, i-pads, electronic interactive whiteboards, sound and vision equipment galore, and my daughter's school just had a full set of new double glazing even, but from a political viewpoint all the running on this issue, which is emotive to many, is being made by the opposition parties.
That was my point really. And more generally the tories are just passing it across the back 4 waiting for the final whistle. It's just a bit...underwhelming :-/
If anybody is interested in a Eurovision tip - consider the 5/4 (Betfair Sportsbook) on the UK to score a top 10 finish on Saturday. Lucie Jones' entry is getting a very good reception in rehearsals (available on YouTube) in what is already a relatively weak year. She is in to 7th favourite to win now (which is at 33-1 but isn't going to happen). Top 10 looks like a decent bet though.
For what it is worth I don't buy into the Brexit effect at all and find a nul points finish very unlikely. It is quite difficult to achieve these days anyway in the era of double jury / national televote scoring.
thank typo. Portugal has shortened drastically after last night's semifinal so they and italy are taking a huge chunk out of the book with some tasty prices for the rest. I'm on Bulgaria e/w. they've still to get through tonight's semi but I think they will and the price will come in. Tempted by Moldova e/w too. a bit bonkers so could be top 4 or bottom 4. Portugal's song isn't sung in English and I think that's a negative for them even post-A50.
It's interesting to note that, presumably pending the anticipated CPS announcement this morning, Sporting appear to have suspended all their GE markets. Spreadex to their credit have not, at least not as yet suspended their quotes, and for example their mid-spread price for Tory seats remains rock steady at 399 seats.
"Lamb slaughtered" or "Lamb chopped" are surely the putative Norfolk North go-to headlines.
Does Farron stand down if they have a nightmare election? Lamb is Fav to be next leader but he won't even be an MP. Tom Brake is 3rd Fav but I think he's gone too.
I am thinking that LD are now a Woolworth's party in the sense that if they did not exist, you cannot see any reason for inventing them. Farron's Faggoto Haram moment was lethal not for its religious or homophobic content, repulsive though both are, but because it destroyed in one stroke any general sense anyone had of what the party is about cuddly niceness, beards and sandals, and cast iron guaranteed to take the progressive and liberal view on everything.
That doesn't make sense. The potential outcome is a consequence of our voting system, not the relevance of liberal philosophy to politics. When the Labour Party is socialist there will always be a space for liberal thinking, and Brexit isn't the only policy area where there is plenty of space for the LibDems. And despite all the gloomy seat forecasts, every single forecast I have seen expects the LibDems to get more votes than last time.
My point was that liberal thinking is the bee's knees and is exactly what one does look to the LDs for these days; the clue is very much not in the name.
The biggest pool of voters that Lib Dems could fish in to get switchers are Conservative remainers.
So it is strange that Lib Dems are going out of their way to alienate these votes by forming a 'Progressive Alliance' with Corbyn Labour and the only party to the left of Corbyn, the Greens.
Correct - I'm one such Con remainer and it's a strong repellant. Mind you doesn't matter anyway here in the paradise of the Bercow republic.
I'm looking forward to Bercow being ousted as Speaker after the GE
Given speakers generally go straight to the lords after retirement, bit much asking yet another election for Buckinghamshire. A shame the LDs backed down, first saying it wasn't right to not oppose, then suddenly believing the convention needed to be followed.
As he's broken so many conventions already, perhaps he can be on the receiving end of another broken convention!
"Lamb slaughtered" or "Lamb chopped" are surely the putative Norfolk North go-to headlines.
Does Farron stand down if they have a nightmare election? Lamb is Fav to be next leader but he won't even be an MP. Tom Brake is 3rd Fav but I think he's gone too.
I am thinking that LD are now a Woolworth's party in the sense that if they did not exist, you cannot see any reason for inventing them. Farron's Faggoto Haram moment was lethal not for its religious or homophobic content, repulsive though both are, but because it destroyed in one stroke any general sense anyone had of what the party is about cuddly niceness, beards and sandals, and cast iron guaranteed to take the progressive and liberal view on everything.
I can think of two good reasons.
1. We don't want an effective one party democracy. 2. Selfish gastronomy.
"Lamb slaughtered" or "Lamb chopped" are surely the putative Norfolk North go-to headlines.
Does Farron stand down if they have a nightmare election? Lamb is Fav to be next leader but he won't even be an MP. Tom Brake is 3rd Fav but I think he's gone too.
I am thinking that LD are now a Woolworth's party in the sense that if they did not exist, you cannot see any reason for inventing them. Farron's Faggoto Haram moment was lethal not for its religious or homophobic content, repulsive though both are, but because it destroyed in one stroke any general sense anyone had of what the party is about cuddly niceness, beards and sandals, and cast iron guaranteed to take the progressive and liberal view on everything.
To be fair to Farron, isn't believing something is wrong, but tolerating it a good thing? That is quite liberal I think, that's what tolerance is.
The intolerance is from people who can't accept those who disagree with them even holding their views
In CNN breaking news style.....BREAKING NEWS....BREAKING NEWS.....CPS ANNOUNCEMENT EXPECTED IMMINENTLY*.....AFTER THESE MESSAGES FROM YOUR LOCAL STATION.....
* in CNN language that means less than an hour to go.
FPT.OT. When I was an assistant photographer I had to take something to Red Star which was a parcel service run by British Rail.
I walked into a scruffy office with a counter and on the other side was a man in uniform sitting on a wooden chair reading a newspaper. He glanced up and saw me with my parcel and went back to his fag and his newspaper. After several minutes he carefully folded his paper stood up and said "Is this what you're sending....."
I was an ardent lefty back then and I loathed the Tories but I don't want to go back to those days and I'm afraid that's what Corbyn spells to me and many who were alive in the 70's.
His time has gone and though I sympathise with his ideals the thought of service and the related problems with the unions in those days makes me shiver.
Is this the first Right Wing thing you've ever said, Roger?
Nick P had written a piece on why the McDonnell amendment was worth voting for and it made me reflect on why Corbyn is unelectable even for a lefty.
You could never call the CONSERVATIVE party progressive but in spite of them we've moved on since Corbyn's nirvana.
Nick's piece was well written, but the only reason the McDonnell amendment is proposed is to make sure there's always a hard-left Corbynite on the leadership ballot, for the hard-left Corbynite £3 members to vote for, over the wishes of the Parliamentary Labour Party.
I agree. The point I think he overlooked is that the hard left candidate would always win because of the new rules and more importantly it's essential that whoever is chosen has the support of their MPs
"The point I think he overlooked is that the hard left candidate would always win"
Overlooked? Or liked?
Nick was a Blairite who even supported Iraq. I wouldn't call him hard left
He can call his autobiography "Fallujah to Momentum: My Ideological Journey"
Off topic but re the Labour announcement about tax rises to pay for education.
Do the tories not need to come up with something more than the mantra that "education spending is at record levels"? It's sounding less and less convincing
Our local paper has stuff about education cuts, equivalent to 5 full time teachers at a local school.
I am not saying I agree with jacking up business taxes - especially with Brexit looming - but the tories just burying their heads in the sand about education funding and not even bothering to sensibly engage with the argument is pretty rubbish.
given today is conspiracy theory day thanks to our friend Mr Trump - are they in fact aiming for a nice 70-80 majority and no more, to try and keep Corbyn in place? Worried they might be doing too well, winning too easily, so are being deliberately piss poor for a bit?
Have you seen the staff lists at schools now. My daughter is going to the same Primary School I left 20 odd years ago. It had 8 staff when I was there, now there are over 40!!
This prompted me to look at my old Primary School. When I was there 50 years ago it had around 300 pupils and 12 staff excluding dinner ladies and caretakers - the head, 10 teachers and a secretary. It has grown and now has 750 pupils plus a nursery catering for 39 pupils in the morning and another 39 in the afternoon. It has a head, a deputy head, 5 assistant heads, a business manager, 29 teachers, 34 assorted teaching assistants, 7 nursery nurses, 3 specialist staff for EAL/EMA, 4 specialist sports teachers, 3 administrators, a physiotherapist(!), 2 welfare officers, 2 finance officers, a speech & language assistant, 2 swimming instructors, a CAF officer, an Education Welfare officer, a network manager, an educational psychologist and a speech therapist. I make that 100 staff. Even if some of them are not full time that is a huge increase and well out of proportion to the growth in pupil numbers.
"Lamb slaughtered" or "Lamb chopped" are surely the putative Norfolk North go-to headlines.
Does Farron stand down if they have a nightmare election? Lamb is Fav to be next leader but he won't even be an MP. Tom Brake is 3rd Fav but I think he's gone too.
I am thinking that LD are now a Woolworth's party in the sense that if they did not exist, you cannot see any reason for inventing them. Farron's Faggoto Haram moment was lethal not for its religious or homophobic content, repulsive though both are, but because it destroyed in one stroke any general sense anyone had of what the party is about cuddly niceness, beards and sandals, and cast iron guaranteed to take the progressive and liberal view on everything.
The LDs did have a distinctive political philosophy they articulated in The Orange Book. This set the party out as socially liberal, and relatively economically sensible. At a time when the Labour Party and Conservative Party were both socially conservative (pre-Cameron when they went all liberal), this was a relatively attractive pitch.
Now Farron is the leader, their pitch has changed. Farron is more socially conservative than most LD leaders have been in recent times. And their policies on most things (except Europe) are pretty unclear.
But there is a trend across the developed world towards political fragmentation, and away from monolithic blocks. I suspect the LDs will find a niche, as they have done before. I suspect it won't be a 25% niche, but I would be staggered if they didn't find a pitch that appealed to 12-15% of the electorate on a five year view.
...a collapsing ecosystem and ocean acidification - things that threaten our species with extinction...
!!! Merde on stilts. I think you'll find that NPP is notably higher in this period of elevated CO2 levels. We will experience some climate change and some environmental challenges for sure - but 'extinction'? That's a ridiculous, moonbatty level of overblowing a non-trivial but non-dangerous trend.
It's not really moonbatty, but it isn't non-dangerous. Scientific consensus is that extinction rates are happening at 100 times faster than normal rates in the past due to human action. (It's actually 114 times - if you google "Has the Earth’s sixth mass extinction already arrived?" you can read the journal paper and study).
The big problem here is timescales - all of this is rapid extinction wrt geological timescales (we humans are notoriously bad at dealing with timescales which span over generations). You and I won't see the blowback from current species loss, but it's possible our grandchildren and great grandchildren will. And you think current politicians are bad at kicking the can down the road...
On the same day we were discussing the perils of social media and over sharing information online.
The internet has no delete button, David Cameron's maxim about Twitter will be taught in politics classes long after Twitter itself has gone to the big bankrupt sky cloud.
The biggest pool of voters that Lib Dems could fish in to get switchers are Conservative remainers.
So it is strange that Lib Dems are going out of their way to alienate these votes by forming a 'Progressive Alliance' with Corbyn Labour and the only party to the left of Corbyn, the Greens.
Correct - I'm one such Con remainer and it's a strong repellant. Mind you doesn't matter anyway here in the paradise of the Bercow republic.
I'm looking forward to Bercow being ousted as Speaker after the GE
Given speakers generally go straight to the lords after retirement, bit much asking yet another election for Buckinghamshire. A shame the LDs backed down, first saying it wasn't right to not oppose, then suddenly believing the convention needed to be followed.
As he's broken so many conventions already, perhaps he can be on the receiving end of another broken convention!
My dad lives in Buckingham. I would say that even if all the main parties (including the Tories) put a candidate up against him, Bercow would still win. He's enormously popular locally and, because his role gives him speedy access to ministers etc, he has a reputation for getting things sorted in the constituency.
"Lamb slaughtered" or "Lamb chopped" are surely the putative Norfolk North go-to headlines.
Does Farron stand down if they have a nightmare election? Lamb is Fav to be next leader but he won't even be an MP. Tom Brake is 3rd Fav but I think he's gone too.
I am thinking that LD are now a Woolworth's party in the sense that if they did not exist, you cannot see any reason for inventing them. Farron's Faggoto Haram moment was lethal not for its religious or homophobic content, repulsive though both are, but because it destroyed in one stroke any general sense anyone had of what the party is about cuddly niceness, beards and sandals, and cast iron guaranteed to take the progressive and liberal view on everything.
To be fair to Farron, isn't believing something is wrong, but tolerating it a good thing? That is quite liberal I think, that's what tolerance is.
The intolerance is from people who can't accept those who disagree with them even holding their views
I am just uneasy with people who have access to an all-powerful being which issues arbitrary and unappealable diktats about moral issues, and the "tolerance" doesn't altogether allay the uneasiness. Sort of like being told in 60s London that Ronnie and Reggie have got their eye on you, but that's fine because they have no current intention of sending the boys round.
If anybody is interested in a Eurovision tip - consider the 5/4 (Betfair Sportsbook) on the UK to score a top 10 finish on Saturday. Lucie Jones' entry is getting a very good reception in rehearsals (available on YouTube) in what is already a relatively weak year. She is in to 7th favourite to win now (which is at 33-1 but isn't going to happen). Top 10 looks like a decent bet though.
For what it is worth I don't buy into the Brexit effect at all and find a nul points finish very unlikely. It is quite difficult to achieve these days anyway in the era of double jury / national televote scoring.
thank typo. Portugal has shortened drastically after last night's semifinal so they and italy are taking a huge chunk out of the book with some tasty prices for the rest. I'm on Bulgaria e/w. they've still to get through tonight's semi but I think they will and the price will come in. Tempted by Moldova e/w too. a bit bonkers so could be top 4 or bottom 4. Portugal's song isn't sung in English and I think that's a negative for them even post-A50.
Portugal does have the sense of a 'moment' about it (particularly after last night's semi-final) much in the same way Austria did in 2014 where it gained momentum during the week in the run up to the Saturday final. It will take a whole lot of momentum to overcome Italy though.
"Lamb slaughtered" or "Lamb chopped" are surely the putative Norfolk North go-to headlines.
Does Farron stand down if they have a nightmare election? Lamb is Fav to be next leader but he won't even be an MP. Tom Brake is 3rd Fav but I think he's gone too.
I am thinking that LD are now a Woolworth's party in the sense that if they did not exist, you cannot see any reason for inventing them. Farron's Faggoto Haram moment was lethal not for its religious or homophobic content, repulsive though both are, but because it destroyed in one stroke any general sense anyone had of what the party is about cuddly niceness, beards and sandals, and cast iron guaranteed to take the progressive and liberal view on everything.
That doesn't make sense. The potential outcome is a consequence of our voting system, not the relevance of liberal philosophy to politics. When the Labour Party is socialist there will always be a space for liberal thinking, and Brexit isn't the only policy area where there is plenty of space for the LibDems. And despite all the gloomy seat forecasts, every single forecast I have seen expects the LibDems to get more votes than last time.
I think you're right about the number of votes. I think it could be as much 50% up on last time but that might translate into just 10 seats (ideally). But if they do OK then I doubt Farron is going to stand down. In which case I'm not interested in the next leader market.
"Lamb slaughtered" or "Lamb chopped" are surely the putative Norfolk North go-to headlines.
Does Farron stand down if they have a nightmare election? Lamb is Fav to be next leader but he won't even be an MP. Tom Brake is 3rd Fav but I think he's gone too.
Lamb will certainly still be an MP after June 8th . Look at the vote changes in Melton Constable which the Lib Dems gained from UKIP from 4th place last week . The UKIP vote moved 2 to 1 in Lib Dems favour over the Conservatives who had won the seat in 2009
PB is the best place to read about politics. Full of amateurs, yes (and some pros), but illuminating in a way other sites aren't.
It's why I like SeanT. He's willing to throw a hand-grenade on the table and (extremely articulately) shoot the shit over it. He tends to inspire emotions and polarised opinions, and no little anger, but the ensuing discussion often shines a light on areas it is otherwise to tricky to politically venture in to.
Yes, I appreciate Sean T. I've even started following him on Twitter :-)
"Lamb slaughtered" or "Lamb chopped" are surely the putative Norfolk North go-to headlines.
Does Farron stand down if they have a nightmare election? Lamb is Fav to be next leader but he won't even be an MP. Tom Brake is 3rd Fav but I think he's gone too.
I am thinking that LD are now a Woolworth's party in the sense that if they did not exist, you cannot see any reason for inventing them. Farron's Faggoto Haram moment was lethal not for its religious or homophobic content, repulsive though both are, but because it destroyed in one stroke any general sense anyone had of what the party is about cuddly niceness, beards and sandals, and cast iron guaranteed to take the progressive and liberal view on everything.
To be fair to Farron, isn't believing something is wrong, but tolerating it a good thing? That is quite liberal I think, that's what tolerance is.
The intolerance is from people who can't accept those who disagree with them even holding their views
I am just uneasy with people who have access to an all-powerful being which issues arbitrary and unappealable diktats about moral issues, and the "tolerance" doesn't altogether allay the uneasiness. Sort of like being told in 60s London that Ronnie and Reggie have got their eye on you, but that's fine because they have no current intention of sending the boys round.
Besides, the term 'tolerate' indicates the tolerartor feels the behaviour is intrinsically wrong and that they are, in some way, deigning to permit it unmolested. Such people, where they seek public office, should be judged on their beliefs and what that says about them as a human being.
If anybody is interested in a Eurovision tip - consider the 5/4 (Betfair Sportsbook) on the UK to score a top 10 finish on Saturday. Lucie Jones' entry is getting a very good reception in rehearsals (available on YouTube) in what is already a relatively weak year. She is in to 7th favourite to win now (which is at 33-1 but isn't going to happen). Top 10 looks like a decent bet though.
For what it is worth I don't buy into the Brexit effect at all and find a nul points finish very unlikely. It is quite difficult to achieve these days anyway in the era of double jury / national televote scoring.
thank typo. Portugal has shortened drastically after last night's semifinal so they and italy are taking a huge chunk out of the book with some tasty prices for the rest. I'm on Bulgaria e/w. they've still to get through tonight's semi but I think they will and the price will come in. Tempted by Moldova e/w too. a bit bonkers so could be top 4 or bottom 4. Portugal's song isn't sung in English and I think that's a negative for them even post-A50.
Portugal does have the sense of a 'moment' about it (particularly after last night's semi-final) much in the same way Austria did in 2014 where it gained momentum during the week in the run up to the Saturday final. It will take a whole lot of momentum to overcome Italy though.
I know. Has there ever been such a short priced Fav for Eurovision? I think even Portugal are shorter now than most Favs have been. I couldn't back anything that short in a contest like this. that's why I'm trying to find a top four song from outside the front two.
Wow. You weren't kidding. Thank you @JosiasJessop for the link.
That being said:
(2) No matter what he had or had not done, and separately from the question of whether the actual decision was right, Trump's method of firing him - by a note through a third party - was utterly wrong and completely reprehensible. It should have been in a personal meeting. If that was the way he ran his businesses no wonder they kept getting into trouble.
The letter is pretty stupid in that any principled case for firing the FBI director ought also to address the issues that to do so is almost without precedent, and fire one who is in the process of conducting an investigation into the president's associates utterly beyond any political norms. That it doesn't even consider these issues, let alone provide a rationale renders its appeal to "regaining the public trust" utterly ridiculous.
Actually the letter claimed Coney was fired for unnecessarily explaining why the investigation into Clinton was dropped last summer....
And goes on to say: Compounding the error, the Director ignored another longstanding principle: we do not hold press conferences to release derogatory information about the subject of a declined criminal investigation. Derogatory information sometimes is disclosed in the course of criminal investigations and prosecutions, but we never release it gratuitously. The Director laid out his version of the facts for the news media as if it were a closing argument, but without a trial. It is a textbook example of what federal prosecutors and agents are taught not to do. ... The point stands.
No one is disputing that Comey behaved egregiously over the Clinton investigation, but that's really not what's at issue here. It's just a convenient If it were, Trump would have replaced him when he became president, rather than publicly praising him for his handling of the Clinton matter. To claim that this action might restore public faith in the FBI, and therefore justifies firing a man conducting an investigation into the administration is simply ludicrous.
The new Director-designate will have to be asked whether he (for convenience, but very probably 'he' going by Trump's other nominations), would continue the Russia investigation. And he would have to answer 'yes', because any other answer would imply he was Trump's lapdog (among other reasons). Question is: what does Trump do then?
Physics question for the day: Is the fact that you weigh more in Scotland than you do in London evidence that Scots are denser than English?
Your point being that Scottish Indy could reduce the average weight of the population, as well as increasing our country's average temperature and reducing annual total rainfall? What's not to like?
Physics question for the day: Is the fact that you weigh more in Scotland than you do in London evidence that Scots are denser than English?
Your point being that Scottish Indy could reduce the average weight of the population, as well as increasing our country's average temperature and reducing annual total rainfall? What's not to like?
"Lamb slaughtered" or "Lamb chopped" are surely the putative Norfolk North go-to headlines.
Does Farron stand down if they have a nightmare election? Lamb is Fav to be next leader but he won't even be an MP. Tom Brake is 3rd Fav but I think he's gone too.
I am thinking that LD are now a Woolworth's party in the sense that if they did not exist, you cannot see any reason for inventing them. Farron's Faggoto Haram moment was lethal not for its religious or homophobic content, repulsive though both are, but because it destroyed in one stroke any general sense anyone had of what the party is about cuddly niceness, beards and sandals, and cast iron guaranteed to take the progressive and liberal view on everything.
To be fair to Farron, isn't believing something is wrong, but tolerating it a good thing? That is quite liberal I think, that's what tolerance is.
The intolerance is from people who can't accept those who disagree with them even holding their views
I am just uneasy with people who have access to an all-powerful being which issues arbitrary and unappealable diktats about moral issues, and the "tolerance" doesn't altogether allay the uneasiness. Sort of like being told in 60s London that Ronnie and Reggie have got their eye on you, but that's fine because they have no current intention of sending the boys round.
Besides, the term 'tolerate' indicates the tolerartor feels the behaviour is intrinsically wrong and that they are, in some way, deigning to permit it unmolested. Such people, where they seek public office, should be judged on their beliefs and what that says about them as a human being.
"Lamb slaughtered" or "Lamb chopped" are surely the putative Norfolk North go-to headlines.
Does Farron stand down if they have a nightmare election? Lamb is Fav to be next leader but he won't even be an MP. Tom Brake is 3rd Fav but I think he's gone too.
Lamb will certainly still be an MP after June 8th . Look at the vote changes in Melton Constable which the Lib Dems gained from UKIP from 4th place last week . The UKIP vote moved 2 to 1 in Lib Dems favour over the Conservatives who had won the seat in 2009
I'lll have a look thanks. Norfolk council do have a much nicer results page than all the others I've looked at recently.
If Lamb keeps his seat it's probably been an OK night for the LibDems so there's no election contest for Lamb to win.
"Lamb slaughtered" or "Lamb chopped" are surely the putative Norfolk North go-to headlines.
Does Farron stand down if they have a nightmare election? Lamb is Fav to be next leader but he won't even be an MP. Tom Brake is 3rd Fav but I think he's gone too.
If he survives, I think the Lib Dems will crown Lamb.
"Lamb slaughtered" or "Lamb chopped" are surely the putative Norfolk North go-to headlines.
Does Farron stand down if they have a nightmare election? Lamb is Fav to be next leader but he won't even be an MP. Tom Brake is 3rd Fav but I think he's gone too.
I am thinking that LD are now a Woolworth's party in the sense that if they did not exist, you cannot see any reason for inventing them. Farron's Faggoto Haram moment was lethal not for its religious or homophobic content, repulsive though both are, but because it destroyed in one stroke any general sense anyone had of what the party is about cuddly niceness, beards and sandals, and cast iron guaranteed to take the progressive and liberal view on everything.
To be fair to Farron, isn't believing something is wrong, but tolerating it a good thing? That is quite liberal I think, that's what tolerance is.
The intolerance is from people who can't accept those who disagree with them even holding their views
I am just uneasy with people who have access to an all-powerful being which issues arbitrary and unappealable diktats about moral issues, and the "tolerance" doesn't altogether allay the uneasiness. Sort of like being told in 60s London that Ronnie and Reggie have got their eye on you, but that's fine because they have no current intention of sending the boys round.
Besides, the term 'tolerate' indicates the tolerartor feels the behaviour is intrinsically wrong and that they are, in some way, deigning to permit it unmolested. Such people, where they seek public office, should be judged on their beliefs and what that says about them as a human being.
Well, yes.... that's what tolerating is!
I guess so, and it is on that basis I judge Farron's quality as a human being.
Comments
https://twitter.com/Bill_Esterson/status/862203330415775744
There is not a lot of extreme stuff really more a left-liberal consensus by default. Groupthink bubble. And about 80% of people never mention politics to be fair.
I would not dare post anything vaguely reflective of my moderate and sensible centre right views :-)
The breaking WIND news is that the JNN is pleased to announce that in association with ARSE a new political award is to be instituted to be exclusively announced through the an(n)als of PB.
This hugely prestigious prize will be awarded as required to an individual politician, party, activist or adviser who by their spoken or written word shows an outstanding ability in rendering the political class in the light to which the public has become accustomed.
Introducing :
PISS-TAKE
Political Inexactitude Spreading Shite - Truth Avoiding Knavish Effrontery
.........................................................................................................
JNN - Jacobite News Network
ARSE - Anonymous Random Selection of Electors
WIND - Whimsical Independent News Division
PISS-TAKE - Political Inexactitude Spreading Shite - Truth Avoiding Knavish Effrontery
'Balls deep in trouble'
And
'It's Ajockalypse Now for Labour'
Nothing will ever top those I think.
Re fox-hunting. As rubbish as the law is, May has shown poor-judgement in bringing it up. Fox hunting is not popular.
I nominate May for claiming that her energy price cap is not Marxist but Ed Miliband's energy price cap is Marxist.
To keep a hard left grip on the leadership for ever and ever, amen.
It's a short step to posting images of your family, to posting political diatribes when something easily upsets you. These posts can be picked up and amplified very easily. Because they tend to from the heart (with little or no reflection) the Internet becomes awash with emotion. Couple that with a desire to have *definite* positions on things (heaven forbid there might be grey areas, or things you can agree to disagree on) and things quickly polarise.
An example might be the burqa ban. I think a lot of people (like me) feel extremely uncomfortable from a feminist and cultural point of view about women who cover themselves completely (or, more importantly, are compelled by their religion or menfolk). I think you could argue - rationally and in a non-rascist way - that in public a niqab is fine (because you can see people's eyes) and a burqa isn't, and that's fair and reasonable, and part and parcel of allowing interactions between people in a polite society. After all, we have similar concerns about crash helmets and teenagers in hoodies when we *cannot see the face*.
But there is no way to join in a sensible discussion about this online, because I'd never in a million years want to be associated with UKIP, and the fact, for UKIP, the 'burqa ban' comes from a rascist motivation. You'd more likely finding me marching in support of burquas once UKIP become involved, so rational discussion ends.
One of the reasons I like PB is because I feel it *is* a 'safe space' to have grown up discussions about politics (yep, you can laugh, but I find it very stimulating). The standard is high (certainly enlightening). I think this is because everything is filtered through the lens of gambling, so there is a degree of separation from raw emotion that political allegiances can generate.
This may be too naive and idealistic, but I appreciate it when people of all political opinions post their thoughts and feelings on here. Christ, I desperately want to break out of my liberal echo chamber, because I never want to feel the sense of shock and desolation that I did after the referendum last year. I genuinely mean that - there are too many massive problems facing us at the moment, (and I don't mean Brexit, I mean a collapsing ecosystem and ocean acidification - things that threaten our species with extinction).
We're going to have all work together to solve these problems very soon. Whilst nothing can take the place of getting out and talking to people in the real world, as far as the Internet is concerned, PB is the place I come to to expand my political consciousness.
Politically she could easily have gone for a free vote next parliament without bringing it in now.
This will probably help the LibDems in some shire seats, since in the countryside there are small numbers of people who feel strongly about the issue. Whereas most people who are strong supporters of killing animals for fun already vote Tory.
For what it is worth I don't buy into the Brexit effect at all and find a nul points finish very unlikely. It is quite difficult to achieve these days anyway in the era of double jury / national televote scoring.
I think a meme takes hold and it's impossible to shake. Blair is seen as the embodiment of evil and Corbyn the cleanser of that evil. I made a strong case on FB -hopefully cogently, and from a position of devil's advocate - for the early Blair/Brown government, of the redistribution and investment they made etc, and was castigated as someone who has fallen for propaganda and fake news. Basically I was laughed at.
Daft to make an election issue of it, though.
However I shall refrain from discussing the problem as I have no wish to spoil the moment for you.
"Labour faces a historic split after the election with as many as 100 of the party's MPs set to walk out and form their own breakaway group in an attempt to force out Jeremy Corbyn, The Telegraph can disclose.
Moderate Labour candidates are already in talks with potential donors about a new “Progressives” group forming in Parliament if Mr Corbyn stays on as leader after a Tory landslide.
One potential scenario is for the MPs to resign the Labour whip and become independents grouped together in the Commons under the Progressives banner."
Precisely as I have predicted over recent days, although such plans do of course assume that there will be as many as 100 moderate Labour MPs ready and willing to form such a group. The number IS important, since together with the LibDems, although probably without that of the SNP, they might well become H.M's Official Opposition.
PB is the best place to read about politics. Full of amateurs, yes (and some pros), but illuminating in a way other sites aren't.
It's why I like SeanT. He's willing to throw a hand-grenade on the table and (extremely articulately) shoot the shit over it. He tends to inspire emotions and polarised opinions, and no little anger, but the ensuing discussion often shines a light on areas it is otherwise to tricky to politically venture in to.
The local Buckingham Constituency Lib Dem party is still seeking to stand a candidate as it is entitled to do under the Lib Dem party constitution. HQ is only entitled to reject individual candidates on valid grounds but not to instruct a local party not to stand a candidate.
In February the President, Chief Whip, Chair of the English Party and the Chair of the Region had approved the selection of a candidate for Buckingham under the snap election process now in operation.
It is a cabal of individuals in HQ who have used their official positions to "remove" the candidate put forward by the Region, Sarah Lowes, and are blocking the Region from putting forward a replacement candidate.
On 23 April @SarahLowesLD tweeted at https://mobile.twitter.com/SarahLowesLD/status/856220472110972930?p=v
"Delighted to be @BucksLibDems Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Buckingham, offering voters a strong voice in Parliament"
"Convention disenfranchises voters. We supported it before whilst seeking reform but now we want to offer a genuine alternative to Buckingham."
and
"I will be standing regardless [of any Speaker convention]"
On 26 April Before Sarah had made any announcement, Lib Dem Voice was brief by someone in the party to announce:
"Today, Sarah Lowes took the decision to stand down in accordance with the convention that the main political parties do not oppose the Speaker."
Between times Sarah had been spoken to by the Chair of the English Candidate Committee and according to that officer's own admission, Sarah had been "removed".
Compounding the error, the Director ignored another longstanding principle: we do not hold press conferences to release derogatory information about the subject of a declined criminal investigation. Derogatory information sometimes is disclosed in the course of criminal investigations and prosecutions, but we never release it gratuitously. The Director laid out his version of the facts for the news media as if it were a closing argument, but without a trial. It is a textbook example of what federal prosecutors and agents are taught not to do. ...
The point stands.
No one is disputing that Comey behaved egregiously over the Clinton investigation, but that's really not what's at issue here. It's just a convenient
If it were, Trump would have replaced him when he became president, rather than publicly praising him for his handling of the Clinton matter.
To claim that this action might restore public faith in the FBI, and therefore justifies firing a man conducting an investigation into the administration is simply ludicrous.
His official page has more than twice as many likes as Theresa May (860,000, compared to 360,000), and nearly 30 times as many as Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron.
But the scale of Facebook operations mounted by pro-Corbyn supporters is what really stands out. They organise to hit out at the Conservatives and Tony Blair, game online opinion polls to bolster the apparent popularity of the Labour leader, and remain relentlessly positive about his chances on 8 June.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-39856464
1. We don't want an effective one party democracy.
2. Selfish gastronomy.
Edit ....
3. Bar Chart Comedy.
https://twitter.com/dailymailuk/status/862220425413177344
It's true that schools seem extremely well funded from what I have seen - laptops, i-pads, electronic interactive whiteboards, sound and vision equipment galore, and my daughter's school just had a full set of new double glazing even, but from a political viewpoint all the running on this issue, which is emotive to many, is being made by the opposition parties.
That was my point really. And more generally the tories are just passing it across the back 4 waiting for the final whistle. It's just a bit...underwhelming :-/
Spreadex to their credit have not, at least not as yet suspended their quotes, and for example their mid-spread price for Tory seats remains rock steady at 399 seats.
The intolerance is from people who can't accept those who disagree with them even holding their views
* in CNN language that means less than an hour to go.
Now Farron is the leader, their pitch has changed. Farron is more socially conservative than most LD leaders have been in recent times. And their policies on most things (except Europe) are pretty unclear.
But there is a trend across the developed world towards political fragmentation, and away from monolithic blocks. I suspect the LDs will find a niche, as they have done before. I suspect it won't be a 25% niche, but I would be staggered if they didn't find a pitch that appealed to 12-15% of the electorate on a five year view.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-4490362/Mr-Corbyn-remind-Californian-cult.html
The big problem here is timescales - all of this is rapid extinction wrt geological timescales (we humans are notoriously bad at dealing with timescales which span over generations). You and I won't see the blowback from current species loss, but it's possible our grandchildren and great grandchildren will. And you think current politicians are bad at kicking the can down the road...
https://twitter.com/MammothWhale/status/862207915356286976
Is there something in the Stirlingshire water?
The internet has no delete button, David Cameron's maxim about Twitter will be taught in politics classes long after Twitter itself has gone to the big bankrupt sky cloud.
On the other hand, we did also get this one from the lovely young Conservative candidate in Vauxhall:
https://twitter.com/dollytheis/status/860163025428520960/video/1
https://twitter.com/bakerm11/status/862219876634681344
The Green Party will stand in Hampstead & Kilburn unless Labour agrees to pull out candidates in Brighton & Isle of Wight by noon tomorrow.
Progressive alliance going well....
If Lamb keeps his seat it's probably been an OK night for the LibDems so there's no election contest for Lamb to win.