But I though that one of the main selling points of proportional representation would be that it would create more hung parliments, and so 'better' governments.
Indeed. If supporting and practising slavery is to put historical figures beyond the pale, then what about this Mohammed fellow, eh? How appalling for people to look to him as some sort of exemplar. And what about Napoleon? He reintroduced slavery after the French revolution abolished it. And those ancient Greeks: very naughty indeed.
Though not an awful lot of statues of Mohammed to pull down.
But his life is seen as one to emulate. If it's wrong to revere General Lee because of his role in the Confederacy whose reason for existing was slavery, why shouldn't the same be said of Mohammed who also had an equally repellent approach to slavery?
If ever the statue removing came here then with londons/England's fast growing Muslim population, surely the lionheart statue outside parliament must be removed.
I'm in favour of taking down Cœur de Lion's statue.
Why have we got a Frenchman's statue up in the first place? He was buried in France and didn't speak English. He's not English/British.
Why not stick up a statue of Philippe Pétain as well?
Mr Eagles: our Plantagenet kings were French. We owned half of France. I thought you wanted us to still. Aren't you the one always going on about the Treaty of Troyes?
The Treaty of Troyes should be honoured, but until then, no more statues of Cœur de Lion or any other Frenchies.
Tut, tut Mr Eagles. How very jingoistic of you.
We should use our statues to learn about our history not tear them down and sanitise it. We do not suffer from knowing too much history but from too little and too little understanding of its complexities.
Miss Cyclefree, not caring very much about male victims of domestic or sexual violence is, sadly, relatively widespread. Just look at the difference in funding for refuges, or media coverage (a third of Rotherham victims were male), or the gay serial killer (whose name escapes me) whose fourth victim's family believe should've been caught earlier.
For some reason some Labour politicians seem to find it impossible to accept (c). It's as if, deep down, they know that (a) is true, don't like the implications and therefore shout (b) as loudly and as often as possible in order to avoid taking action.
Votes?
You cynic!
I tend to agree though I feel that no decent political party should want to compromise its professed values for the sake of garnering votes from such people. Just as people have asked Trump to disavow the support of the Klu Klux Klan, surely Labour should disavow the support of those who deny or minimise the existence of child abuse within communities which support them.
I think it's something more, though. Some in Labour are so wedded to the doctrines of diversity and multiculturalism and immigration that they refuse to accept that these crimes might suggest failings in these doctrines and force them to rethink whether, for instance, this sort of diversity is worthwhile, whether all cultures are equal, whether immigration from certain groups is desirable etc.
And, to be fair, some worry that the existence of these crimes will be used by those with malicious motives and fear the consequences of giving such malicious groups more cause for complaint. The irony is that their silence creates the very problem they are worried about and prolongs the agony for the victims.
Superb answer, which I entirely agree with, but could never have articulated.
And as for the 'cynic', that what 15 years as a magistrate does to you. :-)
On topic, it really depends how the SNP do. If they continue to get 30+ seats then, combined with the NI 18, yes it will be more difficult for one of the two main parties to get an overall majority. But if they fall back again, then all else being equal it will be easier than it was in the 90s and 2000s with third parties in England and Wales winning only 13 out of 573 seats this time (12 in 2015).
We should use our statues to learn about our history not tear them down and sanitise it. We do not suffer from knowing too much history but from too little and too little understanding of its complexities.
When I become PM one of my policies would be to rename London St Pancras Mers-el-Kébir, now that's jingoistic.
As a student I wrote a piece on which people deserve more statues in this country, most of them were non Brits, one was even born in France.
People like Dwight Eisenhower, Omar Bradley, and Alan Brooke.
They did so much to deliver the freedom and liberties we take for granted.
Just been in the same tube carriage as former Tory MP and Shadow Cabinet Minister Tim Collins who spent most of the journey bidding his head while listening to headphones
On topic, it really depends how the SNP do. If they continue to get 30+ seats then, combined with the NI 18, yes it will be more difficult for one of the two main parties to get an overall majority. But if they fall back again, then all else being equal it will be easier than it was in the 90s and 2000s with third parties in England and Wales winning only 13 out of 573 seats this time (12 in 2015).
Lib Dems and SNP combined 2017 - 48 seats. Hung Parliament.
Lib Dems and SNP combined 2005 - 66 seats. Labour majority 66.
The outcome depends much more on vote share for the two main parties than what happens with the minor parties.
"Gordon Brown is not a popular figure among readers of the Daily Telegraph...Yet to his credit, Brown was also a man of big ideas, an attribute which seems sadly lacking in the mediocrity of today’s political landscape."
I'm puzzled by this comment. What big ideas did Brown have? I can't come up with any.
He did a lot of tinkering around the edges - tax credits spring to mind - but it was Blair who was the more imaginative. Indeed, on things like city academies and NHS reorganisations Brown was the one who blocked things, rather than started them.
I do agree that no current politician has imagination or vision. But that was true in the 1950s and 1960s as well, or indeed the 1880s and 1890s. The bigger issue is that steady as she goes will hardly cut it now.
Forget statues, according to cnn, ESPN reassigned a commentator as his name is Robert Lee (an Asian American) because concerns might be insensitive / offensive.
Forget statues, according to cnn, ESPN reassigned a commentator as his name is Robert Lee (an Asian American) because concerns might be insensitive / offensive.
Sky have a golf commentator/presenter called Robert Lee.
I've also heard the BBC football presenter Mark Chapman say that he wishes he wasn't called Mark Chapman!
"Gordon Brown is not a popular figure among readers of the Daily Telegraph...Yet to his credit, Brown was also a man of big ideas, an attribute which seems sadly lacking in the mediocrity of today’s political landscape."
I'm puzzled by this comment. What big ideas did Brown have? I can't come up with any.
He did a lot of tinkering around the edges - tax credits spring to mind - but it was Blair who was the more imaginative. Indeed, on things like city academies and NHS reorganisations Brown was the one who blocked things, rather than started them.
I do agree that no current politician has imagination or vision. But that was true in the 1950s and 1960s as well, or indeed the 1880s and 1890s. The bigger issue is that steady as she goes will hardly cut it now.
Mastercardo ergo sum Spending is investment Debt is wealth
Forget statues, according to cnn, ESPN reassigned a commentator as his name is Robert Lee (an Asian American) because concerns might be insensitive / offensive.
Forget statues, according to cnn, ESPN reassigned a commentator as his name is Robert Lee (an Asian American) because concerns might be insensitive / offensive.
Sky have a golf commentator/presenter called Robert Lee.
I've also heard the BBC football presenter Mark Chapman say that he wishes he wasn't called Mark Chapman!
Which is bizarre, because his first name is Andrew!
I started a soughdough starter at the w/e with just rye flour and water. Fed it every day so far and yesterday it was volcanic in activity
Added more flour and water and gave it a good stir and it's gone really quiet
Don't know if it's dead!
At risk of outing myself as a mumsnetter - once they have got going they are unkillable. When you are starting your own, you can apparently get an initial burst and then nothing because it's simply the wrong sort of yeast or whatever trying to muscle in. What I did at the outset was buy a starter off ebay while I waited to get my own going. There seems to be lots on offer, and if it costs you a fiver, you have got it in perpetuity thereafter. Or try begging some off your local artisan bakery?
I find plain strong white flour easier than wholemeal or rye in starters. You can make rye bread with a wheat flour starter and vv, though I have to say that all my attempts at rye bread come out like fossilised hedgehogs.
Don't believe much of what you read on US websites, their microorganisms are presumably different from ours.
"Gordon Brown is not a popular figure among readers of the Daily Telegraph...Yet to his credit, Brown was also a man of big ideas, an attribute which seems sadly lacking in the mediocrity of today’s political landscape."
I'm puzzled by this comment. What big ideas did Brown have? I can't come up with any.
He did a lot of tinkering around the edges - tax credits spring to mind - but it was Blair who was the more imaginative. Indeed, on things like city academies and NHS reorganisations Brown was the one who blocked things, rather than started them.
I do agree that no current politician has imagination or vision. But that was true in the 1950s and 1960s as well, or indeed the 1880s and 1890s. The bigger issue is that steady as she goes will hardly cut it now.
He nationalised the banks. This helped resolve the banking crisis, here and in many other countries which followed the basic idea. He managed to persuade the other world leaders (including newly elected Barack Obama) that this was not just a solution, but the only one. He was right, and had he failed to persuade them, the consequences for us alll would have been much more severe,
He was a crap PM, but this one idea stands to his eternal credit. And it certainly qualifies as a big one.
Do you think it would be happening if the Brexit crazies weren't mithering on about foreigners taking our jobs?
So you're saying the Home Office is under the control of 'Brexit crazies'.
Well its a point of view I suppose.
Maybe it was under the control of 'Brexit crazies' in 2014 as well:
' An A-Level student from north London has been removed from the country and has flown back to Mauritius after a last ditch legal challenge failed.
Ms Bageerathi, who was two months away from taking her A-Level exams at Oasis Academy Hadley in Enfield, told the BBC it was unfair to force her to leave.
Speaking from the immigration service van taking her to the airport, the student had said she and her family would be prepared to leave the UK for a "safe place" once she had completed her studies. '
Forget statues, according to cnn, ESPN reassigned a commentator as his name is Robert Lee (an Asian American) because concerns might be insensitive / offensive.
Sky have a golf commentator/presenter called Robert Lee.
I've also heard the BBC football presenter Mark Chapman say that he wishes he wasn't called Mark Chapman!
Which is bizarre, because his first name is Andrew!
I did not know that. Perhaps he said something slightly different, but I've definitely heard him make reference to his name.
Mr. Eagles, he wasn't buried in France. He was buried in Angevin territory. Today that's France, back then it wasn't.
As for not speaking English, it only became the primary tongue of the royal court under Edward III. Do you think we should take down statues of Alfred? Or Constantine?
Edited extra bit: as an aside, Henry II doesn't get enough condemnation for his damned silly approach to continental territories.
I think there's much more worthier people who deserve to have statues than Cœur de Lion, King George VI for starters.
Mr. Rog, alas, I can offer no advice. But I thought some moral support might be appreciated after Mr. Punter's post. Nothing wrong with having a hobby.
Personally I'd like to see a new 60ft statue of Olly Cromwell put up in front of Buckingham Palace.
Just to remind the Monarchy what happens if a Monarch gets too big for their boots and goes on about the divine right of Kings.
And what about us Irish Catholics? What about our feelings????
You can pick whatever statue you'd like to go up in central London.
I'm going to pick:-
1. Napoleon - to show that post-Brexit Britain is not mean-minded and insular; and
2. My great-grandfather: a member of the Fenians but also owner of the general stores in his village, who sold the Fenians the material they used to burn down the local police barracks. He took himself off to France for a bit of exile and acquired many lovely French books which have been passed down the family.
The combination of terrorism/freedom fighter (take your pick) and hard-headed capitalist seems somehow appropriate for these times.
And now I shall stop being provocative and go do something useful.
Mr. Eagles, he wasn't buried in France. He was buried in Angevin territory. Today that's France, back then it wasn't.
As for not speaking English, it only became the primary tongue of the royal court under Edward III. Do you think we should take down statues of Alfred? Or Constantine?
Edited extra bit: as an aside, Henry II doesn't get enough condemnation for his damned silly approach to continental territories.
I think there's much more worthier people who deserve to have statues than Cœur de Lion, King George VI for starters.
Dominic Raab, justice minister, concedes UK will keep 'half an eye' on ECJ after Brexit and brands attacks on 'foreign' judges 'jingoistic'
Why are you Chortling?
Because Raab is proving to be both a hypocrtical tosspot and thick as mince when it comes to the CJEU.
Not what one would expert from a solicitor and a current Justice Minister.
Which previous comments of his justify the hypocrisy charge?
Yet today he's attacking people for attacking foreign judges.
Attacking British Judges is fair game - they can look after themselves - surely he's been outed as a nasty EU-phile - leaping to the defence of foreigners while slamming the home team?
"Gordon Brown is not a popular figure among readers of the Daily Telegraph...Yet to his credit, Brown was also a man of big ideas, an attribute which seems sadly lacking in the mediocrity of today’s political landscape."
I'm puzzled by this comment. What big ideas did Brown have? I can't come up with any.
He did a lot of tinkering around the edges - tax credits spring to mind - but it was Blair who was the more imaginative. Indeed, on things like city academies and NHS reorganisations Brown was the one who blocked things, rather than started them.
I do agree that no current politician has imagination or vision. But that was true in the 1950s and 1960s as well, or indeed the 1880s and 1890s. The bigger issue is that steady as she goes will hardly cut it now.
He nationalised the banks. This helped resolve the banking crisis, here and in many other countries which followed the basic idea. He managed to persuade the other world leaders (including newly elected Barack Obama) that this was not just a solution, but the only one. He was right, and had he failed to persuade them, the consequences for us alll would have been much more severe,
He was a crap PM, but this one idea stands to his eternal credit. And it certainly qualifies as a big one.
Was it his idea though? How much input did the likes of Darling and Vadera have into it?
True, it worked. But if he had forced the Treasury and the Bank of England to work together effectively in the previous five years on banking regulation, it might not have been necessary or at least not on such a scale.
Do you think it would be happening if the Brexit crazies weren't mithering on about foreigners taking our jobs?
So you're saying the Home Office is under the control of 'Brexit crazies'.
Well its a point of view I suppose.
Maybe it was under the control of 'Brexit crazies' in 2014 as well:
' An A-Level student from north London has been removed from the country and has flown back to Mauritius after a last ditch legal challenge failed.
Ms Bageerathi, who was two months away from taking her A-Level exams at Oasis Academy Hadley in Enfield, told the BBC it was unfair to force her to leave.
Speaking from the immigration service van taking her to the airport, the student had said she and her family would be prepared to leave the UK for a "safe place" once she had completed her studies. '
Vote Leave Avoid Responsibility in full effect this morning.
The Mauritian case was tough. This one, however, involves an EU national in employment married to a British national. The Home Office's newfound desire to turf out such undesirables can only be ascribed to the anti-immigration mania fanned by the Leave campaign.
Dominic Raab, justice minister, concedes UK will keep 'half an eye' on ECJ after Brexit and brands attacks on 'foreign' judges 'jingoistic'
Why are you Chortling?
Because Raab is proving to be both a hypocrtical tosspot and thick as mince when it comes to the CJEU.
Not what one would expert from a solicitor and a current Justice Minister.
Which previous comments of his justify the hypocrisy charge?
Yet today he's attacking people for attacking foreign judges.
Attacking British Judges is fair game - they can look after themselves - surely he's been outed as a nasty EU-phile - leaping to the defence of foreigners while slamming the home team?
He was also criticising people who attacked British judges, months after he condemned them.
Mr. Eagles, he wasn't buried in France. He was buried in Angevin territory. Today that's France, back then it wasn't.
As for not speaking English, it only became the primary tongue of the royal court under Edward III. Do you think we should take down statues of Alfred? Or Constantine?
Edited extra bit: as an aside, Henry II doesn't get enough condemnation for his damned silly approach to continental territories.
I think there's much more worthier people who deserve to have statues than Cœur de Lion, King George VI for starters.
We should use our statues to learn about our history not tear them down and sanitise it. We do not suffer from knowing too much history but from too little and too little understanding of its complexities.
When I become PM one of my policies would be to rename London St Pancras Mers-el-Kébir, now that's jingoistic.
As a student I wrote a piece on which people deserve more statues in this country, most of them were non Brits, one was even born in France.
People like Dwight Eisenhower, Omar Bradley, and Alan Brooke.
They did so much to deliver the freedom and liberties we take for granted.
I always found it amusing that the original Eurostar trains went to London Waterloo station.
Do you think it would be happening if the Brexit crazies weren't mithering on about foreigners taking our jobs?
So you're saying the Home Office is under the control of 'Brexit crazies'.
Well its a point of view I suppose.
Maybe it was under the control of 'Brexit crazies' in 2014 as well:
' An A-Level student from north London has been removed from the country and has flown back to Mauritius after a last ditch legal challenge failed.
Ms Bageerathi, who was two months away from taking her A-Level exams at Oasis Academy Hadley in Enfield, told the BBC it was unfair to force her to leave.
Speaking from the immigration service van taking her to the airport, the student had said she and her family would be prepared to leave the UK for a "safe place" once she had completed her studies. '
Vote Leave Avoid Responsibility in full effect this morning.
The Mauritian case was tough. This one, however, involves an EU national in employment married to a British national. The Home Office's newfound desire to turf out such undesirables can only be ascribed to the anti-immigration mania fanned by the Leave campaign.
That's a very strange decision. I looked at both clauses referred to and I cannot for the life of me see how that's justified.
Is it possible that the Home Office, that well known bastion of good administration and rigorous management of processes, have muddled the paperwork with someone else's?
F1: browsing Ladbrokes' markets. Small but helpful change, classified and not classified have been renamed finish and not finish. It is possible for someone to be classified if they DNF late on in the race, so that's a good move that also helps with clarity.
"Gordon Brown is not a popular figure among readers of the Daily Telegraph...Yet to his credit, Brown was also a man of big ideas, an attribute which seems sadly lacking in the mediocrity of today’s political landscape."
I'm puzzled by this comment. What big ideas did Brown have? I can't come up with any.
He did a lot of tinkering around the edges - tax credits spring to mind - but it was Blair who was the more imaginative. Indeed, on things like city academies and NHS reorganisations Brown was the one who blocked things, rather than started them.
I do agree that no current politician has imagination or vision. But that was true in the 1950s and 1960s as well, or indeed the 1880s and 1890s. The bigger issue is that steady as she goes will hardly cut it now.
He nationalised the banks. This helped resolve the banking crisis, here and in many other countries which followed the basic idea. He managed to persuade the other world leaders (including newly elected Barack Obama) that this was not just a solution, but the only one. He was right, and had he failed to persuade them, the consequences for us alll would have been much more severe,
He was a crap PM, but this one idea stands to his eternal credit. And it certainly qualifies as a big one.
In future generations, as this 'Big idea' finds its eventual nemesis, it will be seen as one of the most idiotic policy decisions of modern times.
We should use our statues to learn about our history not tear them down and sanitise it. We do not suffer from knowing too much history but from too little and too little understanding of its complexities.
When I become PM one of my policies would be to rename London St Pancras Mers-el-Kébir, now that's jingoistic.
As a student I wrote a piece on which people deserve more statues in this country, most of them were non Brits, one was even born in France.
People like Dwight Eisenhower, Omar Bradley, and Alan Brooke.
They did so much to deliver the freedom and liberties we take for granted.
I always found it amusing that the original Eurostar trains went to London Waterloo station.
And of course they all came from France or French Belgium. Just to remind them who won. If it had been from Berlin, it would have been better to send them via Victoria - anything other than King's Cross in case it was taken as a reference to the invasion of Hanover.
Do you think it would be happening if the Brexit crazies weren't mithering on about foreigners taking our jobs?
The letter says she has failed to prove her status under the qualified persons programme she's on. Bureaucrats will always be bureaucrats but unfortunately you need to comply with their paperwork requirements if you want something from them
Do you think it would be happening if the Brexit crazies weren't mithering on about foreigners taking our jobs?
So you're saying the Home Office is under the control of 'Brexit crazies'.
Well its a point of view I suppose.
Maybe it was under the control of 'Brexit crazies' in 2014 as well:
' An A-Level student from north London has been removed from the country and has flown back to Mauritius after a last ditch legal challenge failed.
Ms Bageerathi, who was two months away from taking her A-Level exams at Oasis Academy Hadley in Enfield, told the BBC it was unfair to force her to leave.
Speaking from the immigration service van taking her to the airport, the student had said she and her family would be prepared to leave the UK for a "safe place" once she had completed her studies. '
Vote Leave Avoid Responsibility in full effect this morning.
The Mauritian case was tough. This one, however, involves an EU national in employment married to a British national. The Home Office's newfound desire to turf out such undesirables can only be ascribed to the anti-immigration mania fanned by the Leave campaign.
The Home Office's long term idiocy on such cases is a direct consequence of not being able to control immigration from the EU.
Consequently they posture on individual cases like these ones to make it appear they are taking useful action.
Vote Remain Avoid Responsibility in full effect this morning.
"Gordon Brown is not a popular figure among readers of the Daily Telegraph...Yet to his credit, Brown was also a man of big ideas, an attribute which seems sadly lacking in the mediocrity of today’s political landscape."
I'm puzzled by this comment. What big ideas did Brown have? I can't come up with any.
He did a lot of tinkering around the edges - tax credits spring to mind - but it was Blair who was the more imaginative. Indeed, on things like city academies and NHS reorganisations Brown was the one who blocked things, rather than started them.
I do agree that no current politician has imagination or vision. But that was true in the 1950s and 1960s as well, or indeed the 1880s and 1890s. The bigger issue is that steady as she goes will hardly cut it now.
He nationalised the banks. This helped resolve the banking crisis, here and in many other countries which followed the basic idea. He managed to persuade the other world leaders (including newly elected Barack Obama) that this was not just a solution, but the only one. He was right, and had he failed to persuade them, the consequences for us alll would have been much more severe,
He was a crap PM, but this one idea stands to his eternal credit. And it certainly qualifies as a big one.
Sorry: Alistair Darling deserves the credit for saving the banks in 2008 not Brown. Brown dithered and dithered and, arguably, made the problem worse until at the last minute under severe pressure from Darling and advisors and the very real prospect of all banks being closed on the Monday morning he finally agreed to action.
Had the FSA listened to the warnings which were given about RBS (and the ABN Amro deal) since early 2007 the problem would never have got as bad as it did.
Brown was responsible for the big idea of a tripartite regulatory framework and the removal of Bank of England supervision of banks (for which it was lender of last resort) which was wholly unfit for purpose. That was his big idea and we're still paying for it now.
And his role in Northern Rock - the failure to give Lloyds Bank certain limited guarantees for their proposed rescue - resulted in the Northern Rock disaster.
Darling is the hero of 2008. Brown's big idea was to claim the credit for the work of others.
Do you think it would be happening if the Brexit crazies weren't mithering on about foreigners taking our jobs?
So you're saying the Home Office is under the control of 'Brexit crazies'.
Well its a point of view I suppose.
Maybe it was under the control of 'Brexit crazies' in 2014 as well:
' An A-Level student from north London has been removed from the country and has flown back to Mauritius after a last ditch legal challenge failed.
Ms Bageerathi, who was two months away from taking her A-Level exams at Oasis Academy Hadley in Enfield, told the BBC it was unfair to force her to leave.
Speaking from the immigration service van taking her to the airport, the student had said she and her family would be prepared to leave the UK for a "safe place" once she had completed her studies. '
Vote Leave Avoid Responsibility in full effect this morning.
The Mauritian case was tough. This one, however, involves an EU national in employment married to a British national. The Home Office's newfound desire to turf out such undesirables can only be ascribed to the anti-immigration mania fanned by the Leave campaign.
Why is an EU National in work in an EU country being deported? I get the feeling that there’s more to the story than is been reported, as is often the case.
Do you think it would be happening if the Brexit crazies weren't mithering on about foreigners taking our jobs?
So no proof then?
The good news is the UK has said it will no longer apply the EU mandated health insurance requirement that has been tripping a lot of people up.....
How long until the 'Singapore' facts come to the surface? We must be careful with these kinds of stories when referenced by unhappy Remainers after Gina Miller 'black up' gate and Irene Clenell 'ashamed to be British' outrageux... although I trust Alastair not to be as foolish
Do you think it would be happening if the Brexit crazies weren't mithering on about foreigners taking our jobs?
So you're saying the Home Office is under the control of 'Brexit crazies'.
Well its a point of view I suppose.
Maybe it was under the control of 'Brexit crazies' in 2014 as well:
' An A-Level student from north London has been removed from the country and has flown back to Mauritius after a last ditch legal challenge failed.
Ms Bageerathi, who was two months away from taking her A-Level exams at Oasis Academy Hadley in Enfield, told the BBC it was unfair to force her to leave.
Speaking from the immigration service van taking her to the airport, the student had said she and her family would be prepared to leave the UK for a "safe place" once she had completed her studies. '
Do you think it would be happening if the Brexit crazies weren't mithering on about foreigners taking our jobs?
So you're saying the Home Office is under the control of 'Brexit crazies'.
Well its a point of view I suppose.
Maybe it was under the control of 'Brexit crazies' in 2014 as well:
' An A-Level student from north London has been removed from the country and has flown back to Mauritius after a last ditch legal challenge failed.
Ms Bageerathi, who was two months away from taking her A-Level exams at Oasis Academy Hadley in Enfield, told the BBC it was unfair to force her to leave.
Speaking from the immigration service van taking her to the airport, the student had said she and her family would be prepared to leave the UK for a "safe place" once she had completed her studies. '
Vote Leave Avoid Responsibility in full effect this morning.
The Mauritian case was tough. This one, however, involves an EU national in employment married to a British national. The Home Office's newfound desire to turf out such undesirables can only be ascribed to the anti-immigration mania fanned by the Leave campaign.
Why is an EU National in work in an EU country being deported? I get the feeling that there’s more to the story than is been reported, as is often the case.
The other strange thing is we were told by the EC that to stay in the single market we needed to allow free movement from member states.
Yet here we are, still in the single market, not allowing free movement. So either they are wrong - in which case why we are all cocking about with leaving at all I have no idea - or the Home Office is wrong and will get its arse handed to it on a legal challenge - which has of course not been unknown - or there's something very strange going on.
Do you think it would be happening if the Brexit crazies weren't mithering on about foreigners taking our jobs?
So you're saying the Home Office is under the control of 'Brexit crazies'.
Well its a point of view I suppose.
Maybe it was under the control of 'Brexit crazies' in 2014 as well:
' An A-Level student from north London has been removed from the country and has flown back to Mauritius after a last ditch legal challenge failed.
Ms Bageerathi, who was two months away from taking her A-Level exams at Oasis Academy Hadley in Enfield, told the BBC it was unfair to force her to leave.
Speaking from the immigration service van taking her to the airport, the student had said she and her family would be prepared to leave the UK for a "safe place" once she had completed her studies. '
Vote Leave Avoid Responsibility in full effect this morning.
The Mauritian case was tough. This one, however, involves an EU national in employment married to a British national. The Home Office's newfound desire to turf out such undesirables can only be ascribed to the anti-immigration mania fanned by the Leave campaign.
Why is an EU National in work in an EU country being deported? I get the feeling that there’s more to the story than is been reported, as is often the case.
Caroline Lucas... Brighton Uni... this has the makings of a bleeding heart liberal tragedy
Do you think it would be happening if the Brexit crazies weren't mithering on about foreigners taking our jobs?
So you're saying the Home Office is under the control of 'Brexit crazies'.
Well its a point of view I suppose.
Maybe it was under the control of 'Brexit crazies' in 2014 as well:
' An A-Level student from north London has been removed from the country and has flown back to Mauritius after a last ditch legal challenge failed.
Ms Bageerathi, who was two months away from taking her A-Level exams at Oasis Academy Hadley in Enfield, told the BBC it was unfair to force her to leave.
Speaking from the immigration service van taking her to the airport, the student had said she and her family would be prepared to leave the UK for a "safe place" once she had completed her studies. '
I don't think its true that we are doomed to hung parliaments. In 2010 we had one because the required swing to the Tories was historically too great to achieve. In 2017 the election was influenced by the special circumstance of Brexit -the election mirrored the narrow Leave result. Both also prevented the Tories getting a majority because of the bias in the voting system towards Labour. (Blair got a majority of over 60 on 35% of the vote, just three points ahead of the Tories, May did not get a majority on 42%, two points ahead of Labour).
A hung parliament is a strong possibility next time because Corbyn is an electoral liability and is unlikely to get a strong enough plurality.
But times change, and I don't think the current cul de sac will last.
Her LinkedIn says she is currently at Helsinki Uni as and Academy Research fellow studying 'Travel and Self-Description in Seventeenth-Century English Culture, 1.9. 2016-31.8.2021'
Thank you for the piece, Antifrank. I'm not wholly convinced - Hung Parliaments are mathematical accidents caused by a number of factors. They are more likely when the two main parties poll pretty close to each other but so much depends on where the votes are and how the votes of smaller parties are geographically distributed.
As we've seen, a majority of 2 in a constituency gets you an MP, so does a majority of 40,000. That's a constituency based FPTP system for you and as OGH has told us before, it's not one big election but 650 little elections and how the votes are distributed in each seat counts.
It's perfectly possible we'll get a majority Government next time and at the moment it's perfectly possible we won't. The more relevant question becomes how Government functions in such a situation.
Alastair is right in that a Government without a majority means a stronger role for Parliament and for backbench MPs and it becomes more akin to the European situation where legislation is predicated on the construction of a majority to get it through the House. That majority may not come from one Party or indeed solely from parties supporting the Government.
Amendments become of significance as a well-crafted amendment able to attract support from across the House could lead to a Government defeat and so the role of the Whips becomes greater. Parliament becomes at the same time more adversarial and less adversarial as the public shouting matches are balanced by private behind-the-scenes negotiation and deal making to get legislation through.
F1: browsing Ladbrokes' markets. Small but helpful change, classified and not classified have been renamed finish and not finish. It is possible for someone to be classified if they DNF late on in the race, so that's a good move that also helps with clarity.
Sporting regulation 45.2 “Cars having covered less than 90% of the number of laps covered by the winner (rounded down to the nearest whole number of laps), will not be classified.”
It’s possible to be 4-7 laps down and still classified, and it frequently happens. That change in definition by Ladbrokes will affect a number of races, where for example a car outside the points is retired by the team in the closing stages to permit a change of gearbox for the next event.
Personally I'd like to see a new 60ft statue of Olly Cromwell put up in front of Buckingham Palace.
Just to remind the Monarchy what happens if a Monarch gets too big for their boots and goes on about the divine right of Kings.
And what about us Irish Catholics? What about our feelings????
You can pick whatever statue you'd like to go up in central London.
I'm going to pick:-
1. Napoleon - to show that post-Brexit Britain is not mean-minded and insular; and
2. My great-grandfather: a member of the Fenians but also owner of the general stores in his village, who sold the Fenians the material they used to burn down the local police barracks. He took himself off to France for a bit of exile and acquired many lovely French books which have been passed down the family.
The combination of terrorism/freedom fighter (take your pick) and hard-headed capitalist seems somehow appropriate for these times.
And now I shall stop being provocative and go do something useful.
Her LinkedIn says she is currently at Helsinki Uni as and Academy Research fellow studying 'Travel and Self-Description in Seventeenth-Century English Culture, 1.9. 2016-31.8.2021'
The local paper has covered her story - and correct me if I'm mistaken, but that doesn't look like Brighton behind her....
Surely statues need to be placed around the country for all the Brexit greats who gave freedom back to the people.Outside parliament David Davis ,Liam Fox , Boris Johnson .In prominent places around the region's Michael Gove ,Nigel Farage.A bank holiday on every anniversary of the referendum vote.
Her LinkedIn says she is currently at Helsinki Uni as and Academy Research fellow studying 'Travel and Self-Description in Seventeenth-Century English Culture, 1.9. 2016-31.8.2021'
The local paper has covered her story - and correct me if I'm mistaken, but that doesn't look like Brighton behind her....
Interesting article @AlastairMeeks, although I would say that the current hung Parliament situation is caused by a temporary surge of the SNP in Scotland, and before that the LDs - who learned the hard way what happens to junior coalition partners.
In 1999 the Lib Dems were junior coalition partners to Labour in the Scottish parliament, at the next election they... increased their vote share.
They once again were junior coalition partners with Labour - at the next election they... lost 1 one seat (and increased their vote share).
The SNP then took power.
At the next election the Lib Dems lost two thirds of their seats and half their votes.
Being junior partner in a coalition doesn't lead to electoral death - acting against the wishes of your electorate does.
Her LinkedIn says she is currently at Helsinki Uni as and Academy Research fellow studying 'Travel and Self-Description in Seventeenth-Century English Culture, 1.9. 2016-31.8.2021'
The local paper has covered her story - and correct me if I'm mistaken, but that doesn't look like Brighton behind her....
Neither of you are considering the more basic question. Is this really someone who Britain should need or want to deport?
Sorry to be interested in the story, my bad. Good to see you keeping up the division fences on grounds of Brexit vote
The people on your side who whined about Gina Miller blacking up and were ashamed to be British re Irene Clennel are more deserving of your Clouseau and Cato tags #fakenews
Her LinkedIn says she is currently at Helsinki Uni as and Academy Research fellow studying 'Travel and Self-Description in Seventeenth-Century English Culture, 1.9. 2016-31.8.2021'
The local paper has covered her story - and correct me if I'm mistaken, but that doesn't look like Brighton behind her....
Mr. Eagles, he wasn't buried in France. He was buried in Angevin territory. Today that's France, back then it wasn't.
As for not speaking English, it only became the primary tongue of the royal court under Edward III. Do you think we should take down statues of Alfred? Or Constantine?
Edited extra bit: as an aside, Henry II doesn't get enough condemnation for his damned silly approach to continental territories.
I think there's much more worthier people who deserve to have statues than Cœur de Lion, King George VI for starters.
Is that really a good reason to be pulling them down, though ? Sounds akin to some of the Corbynite arguments...
Her LinkedIn says she is currently at Helsinki Uni as and Academy Research fellow studying 'Travel and Self-Description in Seventeenth-Century English Culture, 1.9. 2016-31.8.2021'
The local paper has covered her story - and correct me if I'm mistaken, but that doesn't look like Brighton behind her....
Her LinkedIn says she is currently at Helsinki Uni as and Academy Research fellow studying 'Travel and Self-Description in Seventeenth-Century English Culture, 1.9. 2016-31.8.2021'
The local paper has covered her story - and correct me if I'm mistaken, but that doesn't look like Brighton behind her....
Her LinkedIn says she is currently at Helsinki Uni as and Academy Research fellow studying 'Travel and Self-Description in Seventeenth-Century English Culture, 1.9. 2016-31.8.2021'
The local paper has covered her story - and correct me if I'm mistaken, but that doesn't look like Brighton behind her....
Forget statues, according to cnn, ESPN reassigned a commentator as his name is Robert Lee (an Asian American) because concerns might be insensitive / offensive.
I would have to change my name if I lived in America today.
That does rather ignore the wars over many years Edward I fought in England, France, Wales, and Outremer, as well as Scotland, and that he was an old man at the time of his death.
Of course, if foolish pride requires someone to believe that fear of their personal hero made someone 'shit himself to death', that says plenty about them. Perhaps Vespasian was scared of his cleaner. Perhaps Attila had read a sad story and got the sniffles.
[There are plenty of genuine grounds to criticise Edward I over Scotland. His behaviour was unnecessarily dickish and his conduct of the war, perhaps due to his advanced years, incompetent at least in part. Accusing him of cowardice or shirking war does not bear the burden of scrutiny].
Forget statues, according to cnn, ESPN reassigned a commentator as his name is Robert Lee (an Asian American) because concerns might be insensitive / offensive.
I would have to change my name if I lived in America today.
Mr. Sandpit, really? I know rain's eminently possible but I didn't think it was that likely.
Advantage Verstappen, if so. Maybe handy for Hulkenberg and Alonso too.
Anyway, got some other early bet ideas but I'll have a think about them. Quite content with the 17 each way on Raikkonen to 'win' qualifying. Should be about 6, I think.
Mr. Eagles, reminds me of a pre-2008 election Democrat cartoon skit where every candidate had to say something bad about themselves/make a confession. Clinton refused. Obama said his real name was Hitler Von Jewsarebad.
Her LinkedIn says she is currently at Helsinki Uni as and Academy Research fellow studying 'Travel and Self-Description in Seventeenth-Century English Culture, 1.9. 2016-31.8.2021'
The local paper has covered her story - and correct me if I'm mistaken, but that doesn't look like Brighton behind her....
Neither of you are considering the more basic question. Is this really someone who Britain should need or want to deport?
You see but you do not observe:
Academy of Finland Research Fellow, Visiting Fellow
How can we deport someone who isn't here?
Better get more facts eh?
Or do you prefer a rush to judgment - like in Irene Clennell's case?
"Visiting Fellow" is an academic title. As usual, your reading skills are letting you down.
And well done for ducking the question directly asked of you (which could also be applied to Ms Clennell).
As you're clearly not in possession of all the facts, but seem to subscribe to the 'Hard cases make good laws' and 'Rush to Judgment' schools of thought I'll leave you to your Brexit fantasies.
If only we could turn the clock back a year when the Home Office reached sound decisions based on accurately submitted paperwork, everything would be so much nicer eh?
Her LinkedIn says she is currently at Helsinki Uni as and Academy Research fellow studying 'Travel and Self-Description in Seventeenth-Century English Culture, 1.9. 2016-31.8.2021'
The local paper has covered her story - and correct me if I'm mistaken, but that doesn't look like Brighton behind her....
A slow-down in law-making sounds like a very good idea as we detach ourselves from the EU. We've adopted (or intend to) all present EU legislation in UK law, and a rush to change that would surely add to the difficulties of Brexit.
Also, perhaps the scenario you describe means a change in tactics/strategy for Oppositions too.
For instance, The West’s failure to intervene in Syria in 2013 can be traced directly to the then government’s failure to secure Parliamentary support for the idea.. Was this a good thing or a bad thing? That will no doubt be debated for many years to come. But it flowed from the Parliamentary arithmetic.
Did it really? As I remember it, the 'failure' flowed more from Mr Cameron's unexpected decision to 'respect the will of the House', which took the Opposition completely by surprise. They were expecting he would bring the issue back for another vote, weren't they?
My memory of the Syrian vote is that both sides wanted action but danced on the head of a pin about specifics to the extent that neither motion went through.
That said, I think, in general terms, that consulting Parliament on whether to take military action or not is a nonsense. It should be down to the PM. Also worth recalling that the practice only began with Blair and his 45 minute dossier.
Her LinkedIn says she is currently at Helsinki Uni as and Academy Research fellow studying 'Travel and Self-Description in Seventeenth-Century English Culture, 1.9. 2016-31.8.2021'
The local paper has covered her story - and correct me if I'm mistaken, but that doesn't look like Brighton behind her....
Neither of you are considering the more basic question. Is this really someone who Britain should need or want to deport?
You see but you do not observe:
Academy of Finland Research Fellow, Visiting Fellow
How can we deport someone who isn't here?
Better get more facts eh?
Or do you prefer a rush to judgment - like in Irene Clennell's case?
"Visiting Fellow" is an academic title. As usual, your reading skills are letting you down.
And well done for ducking the question directly asked of you (which could also be applied to Ms Clennell).
As you're clearly not in possession of all the facts, but seem to subscribe to the 'Hard cases make good laws' and 'Rush to Judgment' schools of thought I'll leave you to your Brexit fantasies.
If only we could turn the clock back a year when the Home Office reached sound decisions based on accurately submitted paperwork, everything would be so much nicer eh?
I look forward to all of the facts emerging.....
If only the Home Sec weren't a hardcore Brexiteer this would be ok
Forget statues, according to cnn, ESPN reassigned a commentator as his name is Robert Lee (an Asian American) because concerns might be insensitive / offensive.
I would have to change my name if I lived in America today.
Your name is Abraham Lincoln?
Close - lol ,my name is a hero to the confederasy ;-)
Brexit has caused ructions for many Finns in Britain and Brits in Finland, and on Wednesday HS takes a look at one case in some detail. Researcher Eva Johanna Holmberg received a letter from the Home Office this month telling her that she had no right to be in Britain and had one month to leave the country.
Her mistake, it seems, was to apply via the Home Office website for the status of 'qualified person'--an EU citizen who has lived in the UK for five years and is therefore entitled to 'settled status' and similar rights to British citizens.
This is not yet a necessary step for EU citizens in the UK, but Holmberg decided to do it anyway for peace of mind and to get the admin out of the way. The website looked simple, she tells HS, so she sent in her application. Unfortunately it was rejected and the UK government told her to leave.
She immediately contacted lawyers, who said the removal letter was almost certainly without foundation but difficult to rescind. Her partner contacted the local MP, the Green Party's Caroline Lucas, and she promised to help.
But despite legal eagles and a prominent politician in her corner, Holmberg remains in limbo. Her advocates are unsure why exactly her application was rejected but suspect it might be to do with her employment situation. Although she works for Queen Mary University in London, her employer is technically Helsinki University--and that might not suffice for UK authorities.
Btw if you try Google translate the Helsingin Sanomat article referred to earlier you'll be totally befuddled because Google translate cannot cope with the lack of a distinction between "he" and "she" in Finnish.
That does rather ignore the wars over many years Edward I fought in England, France, Wales, and Outremer, as well as Scotland, and that he was an old man at the time of his death.
Of course, if foolish pride requires someone to believe that fear of their personal hero made someone 'shit himself to death', that says plenty about them. Perhaps Vespasian was scared of his cleaner. Perhaps Attila had read a sad story and got the sniffles.
[There are plenty of genuine grounds to criticise Edward I over Scotland. His behaviour was unnecessarily dickish and his conduct of the war, perhaps due to his advanced years, incompetent at least in part. Accusing him of cowardice or shirking war does not bear the burden of scrutiny].
You've maybe not quite got the hang of this banter thing...
Her LinkedIn says she is currently at Helsinki Uni as and Academy Research fellow studying 'Travel and Self-Description in Seventeenth-Century English Culture, 1.9. 2016-31.8.2021'
The local paper has covered her story - and correct me if I'm mistaken, but that doesn't look like Brighton behind her....
Neither of you are considering the more basic question. Is this really someone who Britain should need or want to deport?
You see but you do not observe:
Academy of Finland Research Fellow, Visiting Fellow
How can we deport someone who isn't here?
Better get more facts eh?
Or do you prefer a rush to judgment - like in Irene Clennell's case?
"Visiting Fellow" is an academic title. As usual, your reading skills are letting you down.
And well done for ducking the question directly asked of you (which could also be applied to Ms Clennell).
As you're clearly not in possession of all the facts, but seem to subscribe to the 'Hard cases make good laws' and 'Rush to Judgment' schools of thought I'll leave you to your Brexit fantasies.
If only we could turn the clock back a year when the Home Office reached sound decisions based on accurately submitted paperwork, everything would be so much nicer eh?
I look forward to all of the facts emerging.....
Well ducked again. One day you'll give a straight answer to a straight question instead of throwing up dust in a too-transparent manner.
Brexit has caused ructions for many Finns in Britain and Brits in Finland, and on Wednesday HS takes a look at one case in some detail. Researcher Eva Johanna Holmberg received a letter from the Home Office this month telling her that she had no right to be in Britain and had one month to leave the country.
Her mistake, it seems, was to apply via the Home Office website for the status of 'qualified person'--an EU citizen who has lived in the UK for five years and is therefore entitled to 'settled status' and similar rights to British citizens.
This is not yet a necessary step for EU citizens in the UK, but Holmberg decided to do it anyway for peace of mind and to get the admin out of the way. The website looked simple, she tells HS, so she sent in her application. Unfortunately it was rejected and the UK government told her to leave.
She immediately contacted lawyers, who said the removal letter was almost certainly without foundation but difficult to rescind. Her partner contacted the local MP, the Green Party's Caroline Lucas, and she promised to help.
But despite legal eagles and a prominent politician in her corner, Holmberg remains in limbo. Her advocates are unsure why exactly her application was rejected but suspect it might be to do with her employment situation. Although she works for Queen Mary University in London, her employer is technically Helsinki University--and that might not suffice for UK authorities.
Btw if you try Google translate the Helsingin Sanomat article referred to earlier you'll be totally befuddled because Google translate cannot cope with the lack of a distinction between "he" and "she" in Finnish.
So it was her fuck up. What a surprise
The best solution would be to let her re-apply w the correct details. Otherwise we could be one academic fellow studying British travel in the 17th century short!
Brexit has caused ructions for many Finns in Britain and Brits in Finland, and on Wednesday HS takes a look at one case in some detail. Researcher Eva Johanna Holmberg received a letter from the Home Office this month telling her that she had no right to be in Britain and had one month to leave the country.
Her mistake, it seems, was to apply via the Home Office website for the status of 'qualified person'--an EU citizen who has lived in the UK for five years and is therefore entitled to 'settled status' and similar rights to British citizens.
This is not yet a necessary step for EU citizens in the UK, but Holmberg decided to do it anyway for peace of mind and to get the admin out of the way. The website looked simple, she tells HS, so she sent in her application. Unfortunately it was rejected and the UK government told her to leave.
She immediately contacted lawyers, who said the removal letter was almost certainly without foundation but difficult to rescind. Her partner contacted the local MP, the Green Party's Caroline Lucas, and she promised to help.
But despite legal eagles and a prominent politician in her corner, Holmberg remains in limbo. Her advocates are unsure why exactly her application was rejected but suspect it might be to do with her employment situation. Although she works for Queen Mary University in London, her employer is technically Helsinki University--and that might not suffice for UK authorities.
Btw if you try Google translate the Helsingin Sanomat article referred to earlier you'll be totally befuddled because Google translate cannot cope with the lack of a distinction between "he" and "she" in Finnish.
So it was her fuck up. What a surprise
The best solution would be to let her re-apply w the correct details. Otherwise we could be one academic fellow studying British travel in the 17th century short!
I'd forgotten that Leavers despise experts. With that in mind, she's lucky she's not being subjected to ordeal by fire.
My memory of the Syrian vote is that both sides wanted action but danced on the head of a pin about specifics to the extent that neither motion went through.
That said, I think, in general terms, that consulting Parliament on whether to take military action or not is a nonsense. It should be down to the PM. Also worth recalling that the practice only began with Blair and his 45 minute dossier.
Blair sought cover fopr his decision to join with the USA in going to war with Iraq. He knew he could manipulate parliament to do what he wanted but then blame parliament if things went wrong - as they did.
Brexit has caused ructions for many Finns in Britain and Brits in Finland, and on Wednesday HS takes a look at one case in some detail. Researcher Eva Johanna Holmberg received a letter from the Home Office this month telling her that she had no right to be in Britain and had one month to leave the country.
Her mistake, it seems, was to apply via the Home Office website for the status of 'qualified person'--an EU citizen who has lived in the UK for five years and is therefore entitled to 'settled status' and similar rights to British citizens.
This is not yet a necessary step for EU citizens in the UK, but Holmberg decided to do it anyway for peace of mind and to get the admin out of the way. The website looked simple, she tells HS, so she sent in her application. Unfortunately it was rejected and the UK government told her to leave.
She immediately contacted lawyers, who said the removal letter was almost certainly without foundation but difficult to rescind. Her partner contacted the local MP, the Green Party's Caroline Lucas, and she promised to help.
But despite legal eagles and a prominent politician in her corner, Holmberg remains in limbo. Her advocates are unsure why exactly her application was rejected but suspect it might be to do with her employment situation. Although she works for Queen Mary University in London, her employer is technically Helsinki University--and that might not suffice for UK authorities.
Btw if you try Google translate the Helsingin Sanomat article referred to earlier you'll be totally befuddled because Google translate cannot cope with the lack of a distinction between "he" and "she" in Finnish.
So it was her fuck up. What a surprise
The best solution would be to let her re-apply w the correct details. Otherwise we could be one academic fellow studying British travel in the 17th century short!
So she applied through a system that doesn't exist yet.
Brexit has caused ructions for many Finns in Britain and Brits in Finland, and on Wednesday HS takes a look at one case in some detail. Researcher Eva Johanna Holmberg received a letter from the Home Office this month telling her that she had no right to be in Britain and had one month to leave the country.
Her mistake, it seems, was to apply via the Home Office website for the status of 'qualified person'--an EU citizen who has lived in the UK for five years and is therefore entitled to 'settled status' and similar rights to British citizens.
This is not yet a necessary step for EU citizens in the UK, but Holmberg decided to do it anyway for peace of mind and to get the admin out of the way. The website looked simple, she tells HS, so she sent in her application. Unfortunately it was rejected and the UK government told her to leave.
She immediately contacted lawyers, who said the removal letter was almost certainly without foundation but difficult to rescind. Her partner contacted the local MP, the Green Party's Caroline Lucas, and she promised to help.
But despite legal eagles and a prominent politician in her corner, Holmberg remains in limbo. Her advocates are unsure why exactly her application was rejected but suspect it might be to do with her employment situation. Although she works for Queen Mary University in London, her employer is technically Helsinki University--and that might not suffice for UK authorities.
Btw if you try Google translate the Helsingin Sanomat article referred to earlier you'll be totally befuddled because Google translate cannot cope with the lack of a distinction between "he" and "she" in Finnish.
So it was her fuck up. What a surprise
The best solution would be to let her re-apply w the correct details. Otherwise we could be one academic fellow studying British travel in the 17th century short!
I'd forgotten that Leavers despise experts. With that in mind, she's lucky she's not being subjected to ordeal by fire.
It is a sad indictment of Britain today that our kids have neither the drive nor the work ethic to go into the fields and pick the 'Travel and Self-Description in Seventeenth-Century English Culture'
Comments
Just to remind the Monarchy what happens if a Monarch gets too big for their boots and goes on about the divine right of Kings.
A case of being careful what you wish for?
We should use our statues to learn about our history not tear them down and sanitise it. We do not suffer from knowing too much history but from too little and too little understanding of its complexities.
And as for the 'cynic', that what 15 years as a magistrate does to you. :-)
As a student I wrote a piece on which people deserve more statues in this country, most of them were non Brits, one was even born in France.
People like Dwight Eisenhower, Omar Bradley, and Alan Brooke.
They did so much to deliver the freedom and liberties we take for granted.
I started a soughdough starter at the w/e with just rye flour and water. Fed it every day so far and yesterday it was volcanic in activity
Added more flour and water and gave it a good stir and it's gone really quiet
Don't know if it's dead!
Lib Dems and SNP combined 2005 - 66 seats. Labour majority 66.
The outcome depends much more on vote share for the two main parties than what happens with the minor parties.
Also on all Scottish pound coins should have 'Malleus Scotorum' on them instead of 'Nemo me impune lacessit.'
Obvs an image of Longshanks on them would be a bonus.
He did a lot of tinkering around the edges - tax credits spring to mind - but it was Blair who was the more imaginative. Indeed, on things like city academies and NHS reorganisations Brown was the one who blocked things, rather than started them.
I do agree that no current politician has imagination or vision. But that was true in the 1950s and 1960s as well, or indeed the 1880s and 1890s. The bigger issue is that steady as she goes will hardly cut it now.
Preferably next to a rubbish dump so there is a ready supply of rotten fruit, veg and eggs. Saves stinking the tube out bringing your own.
I've also heard the BBC football presenter Mark Chapman say that he wishes he wasn't called Mark Chapman!
Spending is investment
Debt is wealth
I find plain strong white flour easier than wholemeal or rye in starters. You can make rye bread with a wheat flour starter and vv, though I have to say that all my attempts at rye bread come out like fossilised hedgehogs.
Don't believe much of what you read on US websites, their microorganisms are presumably different from ours.
He was a crap PM, but this one idea stands to his eternal credit. And it certainly qualifies as a big one.
Well its a point of view I suppose.
Maybe it was under the control of 'Brexit crazies' in 2014 as well:
' An A-Level student from north London has been removed from the country and has flown back to Mauritius after a last ditch legal challenge failed.
Ms Bageerathi, who was two months away from taking her A-Level exams at Oasis Academy Hadley in Enfield, told the BBC it was unfair to force her to leave.
Speaking from the immigration service van taking her to the airport, the student had said she and her family would be prepared to leave the UK for a "safe place" once she had completed her studies. '
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-26856434
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/08/22/hospital-turns-donation-men-wore-demeaning-nurse-costumes/
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:George_VI_-_Statue_-_Carlton_House_Terrace_-_London_-_310504.jpg
The good news is the UK has said it will no longer apply the EU mandated health insurance requirement that has been tripping a lot of people up.....
1. Napoleon - to show that post-Brexit Britain is not mean-minded and insular; and
2. My great-grandfather: a member of the Fenians but also owner of the general stores in his village, who sold the Fenians the material they used to burn down the local police barracks. He took himself off to France for a bit of exile and acquired many lovely French books which have been passed down the family.
The combination of terrorism/freedom fighter (take your pick) and hard-headed capitalist seems somehow appropriate for these times.
And now I shall stop being provocative and go do something useful.
True, it worked. But if he had forced the Treasury and the Bank of England to work together effectively in the previous five years on banking regulation, it might not have been necessary or at least not on such a scale.
The Mauritian case was tough. This one, however, involves an EU national in employment married to a British national. The Home Office's newfound desire to turf out such undesirables can only be ascribed to the anti-immigration mania fanned by the Leave campaign.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_VI_and_Queen_Elizabeth_Memorial#/media/File:George_VI_and_Queen_Elizabeth_Monument_statues.jpg
Is it possible that the Home Office, that well known bastion of good administration and rigorous management of processes, have muddled the paperwork with someone else's?
always be bureaucrats but unfortunately you need to comply with their paperwork requirements if you want something from them
Consequently they posture on individual cases like these ones to make it appear they are taking useful action.
Vote Remain Avoid Responsibility in full effect this morning.
Had the FSA listened to the warnings which were given about RBS (and the ABN Amro deal) since early 2007 the problem would never have got as bad as it did.
Brown was responsible for the big idea of a tripartite regulatory framework and the removal of Bank of England supervision of banks (for which it was lender of last resort) which was wholly unfit for purpose. That was his big idea and we're still paying for it now.
And his role in Northern Rock - the failure to give Lloyds Bank certain limited guarantees for their proposed rescue - resulted in the Northern Rock disaster.
Darling is the hero of 2008. Brown's big idea was to claim the credit for the work of others.
Like that British Singaporean wife who'd spent nearly all her married life in the North East abroad?
Yet here we are, still in the single market, not allowing free movement. So either they are wrong - in which case why we are all cocking about with leaving at all I have no idea - or the Home Office is wrong and will get its arse handed to it on a legal challenge - which has of course not been unknown - or there's something very strange going on.
The whole thing seems very odd.
I don't get it.
Anyway, I have work to do. Have a good morning.
A hung parliament is a strong possibility next time because Corbyn is an electoral liability and is unlikely to get a strong enough plurality.
But times change, and I don't think the current cul de sac will last.
https://www.standard.co.uk/comment/comment/john-kerr-brexit-is-about-foreign-policy-why-is-britain-being-so-silent-a3617336.html
Thank you for the piece, Antifrank. I'm not wholly convinced - Hung Parliaments are mathematical accidents caused by a number of factors. They are more likely when the two main parties poll pretty close to each other but so much depends on where the votes are and how the votes of smaller parties are geographically distributed.
As we've seen, a majority of 2 in a constituency gets you an MP, so does a majority of 40,000. That's a constituency based FPTP system for you and as OGH has told us before, it's not one big election but 650 little elections and how the votes are distributed in each seat counts.
It's perfectly possible we'll get a majority Government next time and at the moment it's perfectly possible we won't. The more relevant question becomes how Government functions in such a situation.
Alastair is right in that a Government without a majority means a stronger role for Parliament and for backbench MPs and it becomes more akin to the European situation where legislation is predicated on the construction of a majority to get it through the House. That majority may not come from one Party or indeed solely from parties supporting the Government.
Amendments become of significance as a well-crafted amendment able to attract support from across the House could lead to a Government defeat and so the role of the Whips becomes greater. Parliament becomes at the same time more adversarial and less adversarial as the public shouting matches are balanced by private behind-the-scenes negotiation and deal making to get legislation through.
It’s possible to be 4-7 laps down and still classified, and it frequently happens. That change in definition by Ladbrokes will affect a number of races, where for example a car outside the points is retired by the team in the closing stages to permit a change of gearbox for the next event.
https://napoleonsgrandarmy.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/retreat.jpg
It is a good move, not least on clarity grounds.
Still pissing it down here. Has been for hours.
http://www.hs.fi/ulkomaat/art-2000005336613.html?share=ae0acaea3dacda415e88e73cd81e20eb
http://www.history.qmul.ac.uk/staff/profile/dr-eva-johanna-holmberg
Neither of you are considering the more basic question. Is this really someone who Britain should need or want to deport?
https://twitter.com/blairmcdougall/status/900277385886564352
https://twitter.com/blairmcdougall/status/900278023748018176
https://twitter.com/blairmcdougall/status/900278606529794048
They once again were junior coalition partners with Labour - at the next election they... lost 1 one seat (and increased their vote share).
The SNP then took power.
At the next election the Lib Dems lost two thirds of their seats and half their votes.
Being junior partner in a coalition doesn't lead to electoral death - acting against the wishes of your electorate does.
The people on your side who whined about Gina Miller blacking up and were ashamed to be British re Irene Clennel are more deserving of your Clouseau and Cato tags #fakenews
Academy of Finland Research Fellow, Visiting Fellow
How can we deport someone who isn't here?
Better get more facts eh?
Or do you prefer a rush to judgment - like in Irene Clennell's case?
Sounds akin to some of the Corbynite arguments...
And well done for ducking the question directly asked of you (which could also be applied to Ms Clennell).
One thing that’s almost certain is that it will rain at some point during the weekend at Spa. It almost always does.
That does rather ignore the wars over many years Edward I fought in England, France, Wales, and Outremer, as well as Scotland, and that he was an old man at the time of his death.
Of course, if foolish pride requires someone to believe that fear of their personal hero made someone 'shit himself to death', that says plenty about them. Perhaps Vespasian was scared of his cleaner. Perhaps Attila had read a sad story and got the sniffles.
[There are plenty of genuine grounds to criticise Edward I over Scotland. His behaviour was unnecessarily dickish and his conduct of the war, perhaps due to his advanced years, incompetent at least in part. Accusing him of cowardice or shirking war does not bear the burden of scrutiny].
Advantage Verstappen, if so. Maybe handy for Hulkenberg and Alonso too.
Anyway, got some other early bet ideas but I'll have a think about them. Quite content with the 17 each way on Raikkonen to 'win' qualifying. Should be about 6, I think.
The WeWantPlates twitter account has me mesmerised.
If only we could turn the clock back a year when the Home Office reached sound decisions based on accurately submitted paperwork, everything would be so much nicer eh?
I look forward to all of the facts emerging.....
Who needs facts when you can shout 'Brexit' and feel morally superior?
Its so much nicer than shouting 'Proles'....
A slow-down in law-making sounds like a very good idea as we detach ourselves from the EU. We've adopted (or intend to) all present EU legislation in UK law, and a rush to change that would surely add to the difficulties of Brexit.
Also, perhaps the scenario you describe means a change in tactics/strategy for Oppositions too.
For instance,
The West’s failure to intervene in Syria in 2013 can be traced directly to the then government’s failure to secure Parliamentary support for the idea.. Was this a good thing or a bad thing? That will no doubt be debated for many years to come. But it flowed from the Parliamentary arithmetic.
Did it really? As I remember it, the 'failure' flowed more from Mr Cameron's unexpected decision to 'respect the will of the House', which took the Opposition completely by surprise. They were expecting he would bring the issue back for another vote, weren't they?
Good morning, everybody.
My memory of the Syrian vote is that both sides wanted action but danced on the head of a pin about specifics to the extent that neither motion went through.
That said, I think, in general terms, that consulting Parliament on whether to take military action or not is a nonsense. It should be down to the PM. Also worth recalling that the practice only began with Blair and his 45 minute dossier.
Also my buy of Everton points at 59.5 is now in profit with a sell price of 60
Brexit has caused ructions for many Finns in Britain and Brits in Finland, and on Wednesday HS takes a look at one case in some detail. Researcher Eva Johanna Holmberg received a letter from the Home Office this month telling her that she had no right to be in Britain and had one month to leave the country.
Her mistake, it seems, was to apply via the Home Office website for the status of 'qualified person'--an EU citizen who has lived in the UK for five years and is therefore entitled to 'settled status' and similar rights to British citizens.
This is not yet a necessary step for EU citizens in the UK, but Holmberg decided to do it anyway for peace of mind and to get the admin out of the way. The website looked simple, she tells HS, so she sent in her application. Unfortunately it was rejected and the UK government told her to leave.
She immediately contacted lawyers, who said the removal letter was almost certainly without foundation but difficult to rescind. Her partner contacted the local MP, the Green Party's Caroline Lucas, and she promised to help.
But despite legal eagles and a prominent politician in her corner, Holmberg remains in limbo. Her advocates are unsure why exactly her application was rejected but suspect it might be to do with her employment situation. Although she works for Queen Mary University in London, her employer is technically Helsinki University--and that might not suffice for UK authorities.
In any case, she has legal bills of 3,800 euros and counting and considerably less peace of mind than she had when she entered the Kafkaesque bureaucracy around Britain's chaotic plans for a life after Brexit.
https://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/wednesdays_papers_turku_stabbing_investigation_brexit_problems_and_johaugs_tears/9792490
Btw if you try Google translate the Helsingin Sanomat article referred to earlier you'll be totally befuddled because Google translate cannot cope with the lack of a distinction between "he" and "she" in Finnish.
edited pps – except that that she jumped the gun with her application for settled status.
The best solution would be to let her re-apply w the correct details. Otherwise we could be one academic fellow studying British travel in the 17th century short!
And she's an academic?