I am really looking forward to my holibobs with Jezza in charge if Justin is to be believed. £500 max spend per two weeks while I am there, going to really be able to splash out, not.
Not many of the yuff will be going large in Magaful etc.
That would last me about four days on holiday. We struggle to get through a day on less than £120/day, amazing as that might seem.
I was suggesting £500 per person - so a family of four would have £2000 to play with. Is that so unreasonable?
I see that the Lib Dems would lose nearly 10% of their fairly derisory vote and yet pick up 2 more seats.
Right.
As it happens I think they'd pick up more than two on such figures. Electoral Calculus's model assumes no tactical voting in Scotland. That seems unlikely.
But I also am sceptical about prediction models at present. There seems to be a sorting of voters taking place which doesn't seem to be happening on uniform national lines.
Remind me of how accurate your LibDem predictions were last year?
I did pretty well. I sold and sold and sold when the markets were predicting them to be getting 35 or more seats. I ended up slightly over-pessimistic for them in the end, but the Lib Dems' failure to ignite was my big money earner at the general election.
Whenever an article mentions the 'Empire', I roll my eyes. I'm relatively old - born in 1960, and the Empire was ancient history to my generation. I vaguely remember various flag-lowering ceremonies on the TV, and that's about it. The British Empire is about as relevant to me as phlogiston.
"The Empire strikes back" people are over-represented in the Conservative government. Most Leave voters, I am pretty sure, are what are pejoratively and rather unfairly referred to as "Little Englanders". They don't like the EU much and wish it go away so they can get with their lives, without being told what to do all the time. They have very little interest in what goes on beyond their shores and even less understanding of how trade and international relations work. They are doomed to disappointment, I am afraid.
"They have very little interest in what goes on beyond their shores and even less understanding of how trade and international relations work."
That is pretty much the definition of a Little Englander, surely?
Whenever an article mentions the 'Empire', I roll my eyes. I'm relatively old - born in 1960, and the Empire was ancient history to my generation. I vaguely remember various flag-lowering ceremonies on the TV, and that's about it. The British Empire is about as relevant to me as phlogiston.
"The Empire strikes back" people are over-represented in the Conservative government. Most Leave voters, I am pretty sure, are what are pejoratively and rather unfairly referred to as "Little Englanders". They don't like the EU much and wish it go away so they can get with their lives, without being told what to do all the time. They have very little interest in what goes on beyond their shores and even less understanding of how trade and international relations work. They are doomed to disappointment, I am afraid.
"They have very little interest in what goes on beyond their shores and even less understanding of how trade and international relations work."
That is pretty much the definition of a Little Englander, surely?
I don't think it is an unreasonable point of view, merely an unrealistic one. Sneers are unnecessary.
I see that the Lib Dems would lose nearly 10% of their fairly derisory vote and yet pick up 2 more seats.
Right.
As it happens I think they'd pick up more than two on such figures. Electoral Calculus's model assumes no tactical voting in Scotland. That seems unlikely.
But I also am sceptical about prediction models at present. There seems to be a sorting of voters taking place which doesn't seem to be happening on uniform national lines.
Remind me of how accurate your LibDem predictions were last year?
As it happens, I think you are probably right - with the caveat that there is only realistic LibDem gain in Scotland, Fife NE.
And the reason I think you are right is that the LibDem votes are getting more and more concentrated in leafy Remainia. (By which I mean SW London, some parts of Scotland, and a few other seats.) Were an election to be held now, I think they'd probably grab a couple of seats. (But no more than a couple.)
The two interesting things (to me) about the LibDems are:
1. Will Brexit still be a live issue in 2022? I suspect it will be, in that there will be parts of the country where there are concentrated Brexit losses and therefore residual "cross-ness". And it so happens, that a lot of those seats are LibDem/Conservative fights
2. How will the LibDems do in London in the locals this year? I suspect, based on last year's GE, that they will do well in Kingston and Richmond. But are there going to be other areas of recovery? Right now, I don't see it. But it's something to watch out for.
If anything, they'll probably lose ground in Haringey and Southwark, the only two boroughs outside the South West where they have significant representation. Places like Islington, Lambeth, and Brent, where they were once strong, now look monolithically Labour.
Mr. Mark, silence, heretic! Global warming has always been the Truth.
The fact that it is snowing somewhere up north does not prove global warming theory to be false; just as the fact that it is bright and springlike in London this afternoon does not prove it to be true.
Climate and weather are not the same thing.
I wish you would tell that to all the Global Warming fanatics who jump on every warm day as proof that AGW is real.
I am really looking forward to my holibobs with Jezza in charge if Justin is to be believed. £500 max spend per two weeks while I am there, going to really be able to splash out, not.
Not many of the yuff will be going large in Magaful etc.
That would last me about four days on holiday. We struggle to get through a day on less than £120/day, amazing as that might seem.
I was suggesting £500 per person - so a family of four would have £2000 to play with. Is that so unreasonable?
Yes it bloody well is. It's grade A nuts.
£500 per year? Per trip? Per what? What about foreigners who work here (the 3 odd million), same rules? Well that really will get net migration straight down into the negatives won't it? Who wants to earn in a pretty non convertible currency? Mind the stampede. Christ the Guardian's having apoplexy about manning the NHS "because of Brexit", that will be peanuts in comparison. if they are all to be paid in monopoly money.
What about those who already have a foreign bank account or a foreign source of income (say they rent a flat in Mallorca?). How are you going to deal with them?
All credit cards going to become like most Chinese ones only issued in non convertible currency? Bang goes internet shopping abroad.
Companies: If I want to pay for a steel import from Austria am I going to have to go to the exchange commissar to get approval?
Will Brexit still be a live issue in 2022? I suspect it will be, in that there will be parts of the country where there are concentrated Brexit losses and therefore residual "cross-ness". And it so happens, that a lot of those seats are LibDem/Conservative fights
What do you think the Conservatives' EU policy will be in 2022? Using Boris as a guide, it will likely be in favour of membership, having had a hard Brexit ruled out by reality, and a soft Brexit ruled out by politics.
I am really looking forward to my holibobs with Jezza in charge if Justin is to be believed. £500 max spend per two weeks while I am there, going to really be able to splash out, not.
Not many of the yuff will be going large in Magaful etc.
That would last me about four days on holiday. We struggle to get through a day on less than £120/day, amazing as that might seem.
I was suggesting £500 per person - so a family of four would have £2000 to play with. Is that so unreasonable?
Yes it bloody well is. It's grade A nuts.
£500 per year? Per trip? Per what? What about foreigners who work here (the 3 odd million), same rules? Well that really will get net migration straight down into the negatives won't it? Who wants to earn in a pretty non convertible currency? Mind the stampede. Christ the Guardian's having apoplexy about manning the NHS "because of Brexit", that will be peanuts in comparison. if they are all to be paid in monopoly money.
What about those who already have a foreign bank account or a foreign source of income (say they rent a flat in Mallorca?). How are you going to deal with them?
All credit cards going to become like most Chinese ones only issued in non convertible currency? Bang goes internet shopping abroad.
Companies: If I want to pay for a steel import from Austria am I going to have to go to the exchange commissar to get approval?
Grade A nuts doesn't remotely cover it.
"Labour to stop your foreign holidays" is about as toxic as the tabloids need to go to kill Labour at the next election.
I am really looking forward to my holibobs with Jezza in charge if Justin is to be believed. £500 max spend per two weeks while I am there, going to really be able to splash out, not.
Not many of the yuff will be going large in Magaful etc.
That would last me about four days on holiday. We struggle to get through a day on less than £120/day, amazing as that might seem.
I was suggesting £500 per person - so a family of four would have £2000 to play with. Is that so unreasonable?
Yes it bloody well is. It's grade A nuts.
£500 per year? Per trip? Per what? What about foreigners who work here (the 3 odd million), same rules? Well that really will get net migration straight down into the negatives won't it? Who wants to earn in a pretty non convertible currency? Mind the stampede. Christ the Guardian's having apoplexy about manning the NHS "because of Brexit", that will be peanuts in comparison. if they are all to be paid in monopoly money.
What about those who already have a foreign bank account or a foreign source of income (say they rent a flat in Mallorca?). How are you going to deal with them?
All credit cards going to become like most Chinese ones only issued in non convertible currency? Bang goes internet shopping abroad.
Companies: If I want to pay for a steel import from Austria am I going to have to go to the exchange commissar to get approval?
Going to need a whole new massive government agency....will I need i lneed special permission to take more than that so I can do normal stuff like pay for a clients meal when I am out of the country?
Will Brexit still be a live issue in 2022? I suspect it will be, in that there will be parts of the country where there are concentrated Brexit losses and therefore residual "cross-ness". And it so happens, that a lot of those seats are LibDem/Conservative fights
What do you think the Conservatives' EU policy will be in 2022? Using Boris as a guide, it will likely be in favour of membership, having had a hard Brexit ruled out by reality, and a soft Brexit ruled out by politics.
Whenever an article mentions the 'Empire', I roll my eyes. I'm relatively old - born in 1960, and the Empire was ancient history to my generation. I vaguely remember various flag-lowering ceremonies on the TV, and that's about it. The British Empire is about as relevant to me as phlogiston.
"The Empire strikes back" people are over-represented in the Conservative government. Most Leave voters, I am pretty sure, are what are pejoratively and rather unfairly referred to as "Little Englanders". They don't like the EU much and wish it go away so they can get with their lives, without being told what to do all the time. They have very little interest in what goes on beyond their shores and even less understanding of how trade and international relations work. They are doomed to disappointment, I am afraid.
Indeed - classic demonisation tactics by Europhiles - don't like being governed by unelected beaurocrats ? You must be racist who yearns for the days of the Empire...
I am really looking forward to my holibobs with Jezza in charge if Justin is to be believed. £500 max spend per two weeks while I am there, going to really be able to splash out, not.
Not many of the yuff will be going large in Magaful etc.
That would last me about four days on holiday. We struggle to get through a day on less than £120/day, amazing as that might seem.
I was suggesting £500 per person - so a family of four would have £2000 to play with. Is that so unreasonable?
If you’re debating the level of currency controls then you’re massively losing the argument.
Will Brexit still be a live issue in 2022? I suspect it will be, in that there will be parts of the country where there are concentrated Brexit losses and therefore residual "cross-ness". And it so happens, that a lot of those seats are LibDem/Conservative fights
What do you think the Conservatives' EU policy will be in 2022? Using Boris as a guide, it will likely be in favour of membership, having had a hard Brexit ruled out by reality, and a soft Brexit ruled out by politics.
Hm, I can't see that happening...
Well Boris is saying he'd rather stay in the EU that have a soft Brexit while doubling-down on fantasy rhetoric about a hard Brexit. It's only a matter of time I'd say.
I am really looking forward to my holibobs with Jezza in charge if Justin is to be believed. £500 max spend per two weeks while I am there, going to really be able to splash out, not.
Not many of the yuff will be going large in Magaful etc.
That would last me about four days on holiday. We struggle to get through a day on less than £120/day, amazing as that might seem.
I was suggesting £500 per person - so a family of four would have £2000 to play with. Is that so unreasonable?
Yes it bloody well is. It's grade A nuts.
£500 per year? Per trip? Per what? What about foreigners who work here (the 3 odd million), same rules? Well that really will get net migration straight down into the negatives won't it? Who wants to earn in a pretty non convertible currency? Mind the stampede. Christ the Guardian's having apoplexy about manning the NHS "because of Brexit", that will be peanuts in comparison. if they are all to be paid in monopoly money.
What about those who already have a foreign bank account or a foreign source of income (say they rent a flat in Mallorca?). How are you going to deal with them?
All credit cards going to become like most Chinese ones only issued in non convertible currency? Bang goes internet shopping abroad.
Companies: If I want to pay for a steel import from Austria am I going to have to go to the exchange commissar to get approval?
Going to need a whole new massive government agency....
No opportunities for corruption there are there?
I remember being in East Berlin prior to the Wall coming down in the mid 80's, and the Bulgarian head waiter of the restaurant we were in (the plushest place we could find to try and spend the monopoly £8.50's worth of East German Marks we'd had to exchange at some insane govt rate), sidling up to me full of desperation to exchange more of the worthless bits of paper for real money that could actually be exchanged and buy you real things, or the "tourist" shops in Cuba about 20 years ago full of fancy stuff the locals could only stare at in wonder because they didn't have dollars or "convertible Pesos".
Latest on Paul Mason’s shouty crackers descent into mid-life crisis.
Shelagh Fogarty has just revealed on air that the leather-jacked Corbyn outrider this morning “bellowed” down the phone at a female LBC producer in an “aggressive” manner, leaving the woman feel “intimidated“. Apparently he was ranting that LBC want to destroy Corbyn and the Labour Party, which is a bit odd given the previous show was James O’Brien.
Looks as if he has upset the BBC female presenters - This is not going to end well for Momentum. They are being carried along on their own hubris.
I am really looking forward to my holibobs with Jezza in charge if Justin is to be believed. £500 max spend per two weeks while I am there, going to really be able to splash out, not.
Not many of the yuff will be going large in Magaful etc.
That would last me about four days on holiday. We struggle to get through a day on less than £120/day, amazing as that might seem.
I was suggesting £500 per person - so a family of four would have £2000 to play with. Is that so unreasonable?
If you’re debating the level of currency controls then you’re massively losing the argument.
I had a look through the earlier threads but I couldn't see an argument as to why there should be currency controls. Anyone care to guess?
I am really looking forward to my holibobs with Jezza in charge if Justin is to be believed. £500 max spend per two weeks while I am there, going to really be able to splash out, not.
Not many of the yuff will be going large in Magaful etc.
That would last me about four days on holiday. We struggle to get through a day on less than £120/day, amazing as that might seem.
I was suggesting £500 per person - so a family of four would have £2000 to play with. Is that so unreasonable?
Yes it bloody well is. It's grade A nuts.
£500 per year? Per trip? Per what? What about foreigners who work here (the 3 odd million), same rules? Well that really will get net migration straight down into the negatives won't it? Who wants to earn in a pretty non convertible currency? Mind the stampede. Christ the Guardian's having apoplexy about manning the NHS "because of Brexit", that will be peanuts in comparison. if they are all to be paid in monopoly money.
What about those who already have a foreign bank account or a foreign source of income (say they rent a flat in Mallorca?). How are you going to deal with them?
All credit cards going to become like most Chinese ones only issued in non convertible currency? Bang goes internet shopping abroad.
Companies: If I want to pay for a steel import from Austria am I going to have to go to the exchange commissar to get approval?
Cards like the "Revolut" which can switch pre paid funds between currencies instantly with no fees will blow this 1970s lefty nonsense policy out of the water before it even begins.
I am really looking forward to my holibobs with Jezza in charge if Justin is to be believed. £500 max spend per two weeks while I am there, going to really be able to splash out, not.
Not many of the yuff will be going large in Magaful etc.
That would last me about four days on holiday. We struggle to get through a day on less than £120/day, amazing as that might seem.
I was suggesting £500 per person - so a family of four would have £2000 to play with. Is that so unreasonable?
Yes it bloody well is. It's grade A nuts.
£500 per year? Per trip? Per what? What about foreigners who work here (the 3 odd million), same rules? Well that really will get net migration straight down into the negatives won't it? Who wants to earn in a pretty non convertible currency? Mind the stampede. Christ the Guardian's having apoplexy about manning the NHS "because of Brexit", that will be peanuts in comparison. if they are all to be paid in monopoly money.
What about those who already have a foreign bank account or a foreign source of income (say they rent a flat in Mallorca?). How are you going to deal with them?
All credit cards going to become like most Chinese ones only issued in non convertible currency? Bang goes internet shopping abroad.
Companies: If I want to pay for a steel import from Austria am I going to have to go to the exchange commissar to get approval?
Going to need a whole new massive government agency....
No opportunities for corruption there are there?
I remember being in East Berlin prior to the Wall coming down in the mid 80's, and the Bulgarian head waiter of the restaurant we were in (the plushest place we could find to try and spend the monopoly £8.50's worth of East German Marks we'd had to exchange at some insane govt rate), sidling up to me full of desperation to exchange more of the worthless bits of paper for real money that could actually be exchanged and buy you real things, or the "tourist" shops in Cuba about 20 years ago full of fancy stuff the locals could only stare at in wonder because they didn't have dollars or "convertible Pesos".
Will Brexit still be a live issue in 2022? I suspect it will be, in that there will be parts of the country where there are concentrated Brexit losses and therefore residual "cross-ness". And it so happens, that a lot of those seats are LibDem/Conservative fights
What do you think the Conservatives' EU policy will be in 2022? Using Boris as a guide, it will likely be in favour of membership, having had a hard Brexit ruled out by reality, and a soft Brexit ruled out by politics.
Hm, I can't see that happening...
Well Boris is saying he'd rather stay in the EU that have a soft Brexit while doubling-down on fantasy rhetoric about a hard Brexit. It's only a matter of time I'd say.
Well Boris is saying he'd rather stay in the EU that have a soft Brexit while doubling-down on fantasy rhetoric about a hard Brexit. It's only a matter of time I'd say.
More a movement than a "clique",Labour has already shown how much it can increase vote share during a campaign and with over 500,000 mobilised members differential turnout is likely to be higher than the Tories who,let's not forget are dying off at a rate of 2% a year,as Hezza reminded us,and even it's own MPs refer to its alleged 70,000 members as "an old folks' home". Ideally,the LDs would be biting into the Tory vote but they seem incapable of any progress under Cable.
""Labour to stop your foreign holidays" is about as toxic as the tabloids need to go to kill Labour at the next election."
It won't happen like that.
McDonnell will say absolutely no plans to impose currency controls - it's fake news.
If, when after two weeks in government, they do exactly that, the line will be 'a sensible approach to deter currency speculation which causes austerity. That Farmer Jones is at it again.'
""Labour to stop your foreign holidays" is about as toxic as the tabloids need to go to kill Labour at the next election."
It won't happen like that.
McDonnell will say absolutely no plans to impose currency controls - it's fake news.
If, when after two weeks in government, they do exactly that, the line will be 'a sensible approach to deter currency speculation which causes austerity. That Farmer Jones is at it again.'
Note that Corbyn Labour resorts to exactly the same defence and the same language as Donald Trump to counter anything inconvenient by claiming that it is all "fake news"
More a movement than a "clique",Labour has already shown how much it can increase vote share during a campaign and with over 500,000 mobilised members differential turnout is likely to be higher than the Tories who,let's not forget are dying off at a rate of 2% a year,as Hezza reminded us,and even it's own MPs refer to its alleged 70,000 members as "an old folks' home". Ideally,the LDs would be biting into the Tory vote but they seem incapable of any progress under Cable.
Ah, the old "Tories are dying off" chestnut. How many times has that been used in the past?
State-of the-art electric taxis that London’s transport authorities hope will replace diesel black cabs have yet to enter service on the streets of the capital – because the meter does not work.
More a movement than a "clique",Labour has already shown how much it can increase vote share during a campaign and with over 500,000 mobilised members differential turnout is likely to be higher than the Tories who,let's not forget are dying off at a rate of 2% a year,as Hezza reminded us,and even it's own MPs refer to its alleged 70,000 members as "an old folks' home". Ideally,the LDs would be biting into the Tory vote but they seem incapable of any progress under Cable.
Will Brexit still be a live issue in 2022? I suspect it will be, in that there will be parts of the country where there are concentrated Brexit losses and therefore residual "cross-ness". And it so happens, that a lot of those seats are LibDem/Conservative fights
What do you think the Conservatives' EU policy will be in 2022? Using Boris as a guide, it will likely be in favour of membership, having had a hard Brexit ruled out by reality, and a soft Brexit ruled out by politics.
There won't need to be an EU policy as we will be out already.
I see that the Lib Dems would lose nearly 10% of their fairly derisory vote and yet pick up 2 more seats.
Right.
As it happens I think they'd pick up more than two on such figures. Electoral Calculus's model assumes no tactical voting in Scotland. That seems unlikely.
But I also am sceptical about prediction models at present. There seems to be a sorting of voters taking place which doesn't seem to be happening on uniform national lines.
Remind me of how accurate your LibDem predictions were last year?
I did pretty well. I sold and sold and sold when the markets were predicting them to be getting 35 or more seats. I ended up slightly over-pessimistic for them in the end, but the Lib Dems' failure to ignite was my big money earner at the general election.
I don't think there was a single member of this board who didn't make out like a bandit on the SpreadEx and Sporting Index LibDem seat markets. I was just mildly teasing you about your thread header a few days before the election where - IIRC - you forecast LibDem losses.
My forecast at the start of the campaign had been for 12-14 LibDem seats. By election day I'd cut that to 10-12 seats, as I had expected the LibDem vote share to be several percentage points higher than it ended up.
More a movement than a "clique",Labour has already shown how much it can increase vote share during a campaign and with over 500,000 mobilised members differential turnout is likely to be higher than the Tories who,let's not forget are dying off at a rate of 2% a year,as Hezza reminded us,and even it's own MPs refer to its alleged 70,000 members as "an old folks' home". Ideally,the LDs would be biting into the Tory vote but they seem incapable of any progress under Cable.
And at what rate are Corbyn supporters maturing?
If they follow the pattern of their guru, not at all
I see that the Lib Dems would lose nearly 10% of their fairly derisory vote and yet pick up 2 more seats.
Right.
As it happens I think they'd pick up more than two on such figures. Electoral Calculus's model assumes no tactical voting in Scotland. That seems unlikely.
But I also am sceptical about prediction models at present. There seems to be a sorting of voters taking place which doesn't seem to be happening on uniform national lines.
Remind me of how accurate your LibDem predictions were last year?
As it happens, I think you are probably right - with the caveat that there is only realistic LibDem gain in Scotland, Fife NE.
And the reason I think you are right is that the LibDem votes are getting more and more concentrated in leafy Remainia. (By which I mean SW London, some parts of Scotland, and a few other seats.) Were an election to be held now, I think they'd probably grab a couple of seats. (But no more than a couple.)
The two interesting things (to me) about the LibDems are:
1. Will Brexit still be a live issue in 2022? I suspect it will be, in that there will be parts of the country where there are concentrated Brexit losses and therefore residual "cross-ness". And it so happens, that a lot of those seats are LibDem/Conservative fights
2. How will the LibDems do in London in the locals this year? I suspect, based on last year's GE, that they will do well in Kingston and Richmond. But are there going to be other areas of recovery? Right now, I don't see it. But it's something to watch out for.
If anything, they'll probably lose ground in Haringey and Southwark, the only two boroughs outside the South West where they have significant representation. Places like Islington, Lambeth, and Brent, where they were once strong, now look monolithically Labour.
I think that's probably right.
But I was thinking more of Camden, where (among others) the Hampstead, Primrose Hill and Belsize Park wards are all solidly blue now. They also all voted very heavily Remain, and the LibDems have had good representation there in the recent past.
Will Brexit still be a live issue in 2022? I suspect it will be, in that there will be parts of the country where there are concentrated Brexit losses and therefore residual "cross-ness". And it so happens, that a lot of those seats are LibDem/Conservative fights
What do you think the Conservatives' EU policy will be in 2022? Using Boris as a guide, it will likely be in favour of membership, having had a hard Brexit ruled out by reality, and a soft Brexit ruled out by politics.
I suspect that it will be a little longer than 2022 until EU Accession talks are in the Tory manifesto. Probably 3 GE away.
Mr. Mark, silence, heretic! Global warming has always been the Truth.
The fact that it is snowing somewhere up north does not prove global warming theory to be false; just as the fact that it is bright and springlike in London this afternoon does not prove it to be true.
Climate and weather are not the same thing.
I wish you would tell that to all the Global Warming fanatics who jump on every warm day as proof that AGW is real.
I do. I have an environmentalist friend who considers all mild winter's days to be products of AGW (then ignores it when it snows). Both groups are equally wrong to conflate weather with climate.
Will Brexit still be a live issue in 2022? I suspect it will be, in that there will be parts of the country where there are concentrated Brexit losses and therefore residual "cross-ness". And it so happens, that a lot of those seats are LibDem/Conservative fights
What do you think the Conservatives' EU policy will be in 2022? Using Boris as a guide, it will likely be in favour of membership, having had a hard Brexit ruled out by reality, and a soft Brexit ruled out by politics.
I think it extremely unlikely that either of the main two parties will have "rejoin the EU" as a policy platform in my lifetime. We have made a decision, and we will stick to it.
However, I suspect however "hard" our Brexit is now, that our relationship with the EU will deepen again over time, with us ending up with a relationship with it more like Switzerland or Norway than Canada.
As things stand at the moment, I'd expect Scottish Labour to make quite big gains against the SNP, and the Scottish Conservatives also to gain some seats. However, a lot depends on how Richard Leonard develops as SLAB leader; he's very different from his predecessors. At the moment he looks quite impressive, from afar at least, but I don't really know how Scots see him.
Waiting and watching. Problem is that a lot of the people in the SLP HQ and the executives of the CLP's are not Corbyn supporters, while Momentum is not capturing the members imagination, yet. There are a lot of people who went over to the SNP who now realise that the iRef2, if it takes place, will definitely be No!, and who are thinking of coming back to SLP. They are the activists that the SLP execs fear, who will bring left wing and socialism back in to the party.
""Labour to stop your foreign holidays" is about as toxic as the tabloids need to go to kill Labour at the next election."
It won't happen like that.
McDonnell will say absolutely no plans to impose currency controls - it's fake news.
If, when after two weeks in government, they do exactly that, the line will be 'a sensible approach to deter currency speculation which causes austerity. That Farmer Jones is at it again.'
It is very likely if the polls indicate Corbyn/McDonnell are to win just before the vote the markets will react before they are in power
""Labour to stop your foreign holidays" is about as toxic as the tabloids need to go to kill Labour at the next election."
It won't happen like that.
McDonnell will say absolutely no plans to impose currency controls - it's fake news.
If, when after two weeks in government, they do exactly that, the line will be 'a sensible approach to deter currency speculation which causes austerity. That Farmer Jones is at it again.'
It is very likely if the polls indicate Corbyn/McDonnell are to win just before the vote the markets will react before they are in power
There'll be buttons ready to press to move hundreds of billions on the outcome of the next GE exit poll.
And so it begins. Who'd be a jew in the Labour party?
It needs to be taken out of the labour party's control and an independent body mandated to deal with all sexual harrassment, bullying, racism and anti semitism
Mike Smithson deliberately or accidentally misses the fact that the SNP are effectively Labour seats when it comes to deciding who will become PM and form the government. So while Lab are 1 behind the Tories, Lab+SNP are 35 ahead.
That's without considering the effect of the likes of Plaid and Greens etc
I am not a Tory and I am not a Blairite. I have voted Labour for 40 years.
Anyone who has lived in a house with any kind of infestation, whether it is fleas, or mice or rats, will know how very difficult it is to get rid of the infestation.
The Labour house is currently infested with Momentum. Eventually, this infestation will have to be removed sooner or later. Because it is vile.
"Projections on the proposed new boundaries have the system biased even more to the blue team."
Gerrymandering UK style!
Ah, yet another one who doesn't understand how the boundary reviews work.
Am I to assume it is pure coincidence that the Conservative Party inaugurated this review?
And the reduction of the number of MPs was (I believe) in both the Con and LibDem manifestos for the 2010 election, which is the parliament mandated the reduced numbers. If I am right, that policy actually had a majority of the electorate vote for it. Bloody Gerrymanderers.
This Tory Party Vice Chair Suggested Unemployed People Should Have Vasectomies
Rising star Ben Bradley, appointed to help the party appeal to young voters, made the comment in a now-deleted blog post. He has since apologised after being approached by BuzzFeed News.
Mike Smithson deliberately or accidentally misses the fact that the SNP are effectively Labour seats when it comes to deciding who will become PM and form the government. So while Lab are 1 behind the Tories, Lab+SNP are 35 ahead.
That's without considering the effect of the likes of Plaid and Greens etc
I don’t think that’s the point though, OGH was comparing vote share and seats.
This Tory Party Vice Chair Suggested Unemployed People Should Have Vasectomies
Rising star Ben Bradley, appointed to help the party appeal to young voters, made the comment in a now-deleted blog post. He has since apologised after being approached by BuzzFeed News.
Will Brexit still be a live issue in 2022? I suspect it will be, in that there will be parts of the country where there are concentrated Brexit losses and therefore residual "cross-ness". And it so happens, that a lot of those seats are LibDem/Conservative fights
What do you think the Conservatives' EU policy will be in 2022? Using Boris as a guide, it will likely be in favour of membership, having had a hard Brexit ruled out by reality, and a soft Brexit ruled out by politics.
I think it extremely unlikely that either of the main two parties will have "rejoin the EU" as a policy platform in my lifetime. We have made a decision, and we will stick to it.
However, I suspect however "hard" our Brexit is now, that our relationship with the EU will deepen again over time, with us ending up with a relationship with it more like Switzerland or Norway than Canada.
And you completely discount the possibility of a second referendum?
Mike Smithson deliberately or accidentally misses the fact that the SNP are effectively Labour seats when it comes to deciding who will become PM and form the government. So while Lab are 1 behind the Tories, Lab+SNP are 35 ahead.
That's without considering the effect of the likes of Plaid and Greens etc
I don’t think that’s the point though, OGH was comparing vote share and seats.
But he's claiming that the system is "biased" towards the Tories because of the fact they get 1 extra seat. If the SNP are red seats that's not really the case.
The boundary review was never meant to align vote share and vote seats as that depends upon how people vote, the bias that is meant to be fixed is that some constituencies have a lot more voters than others in. That bias remains even if a lot of formerly-Labour seats now having SNP MPs have changed the arithmetic.
I am not a Tory and I am not a Blairite. I have voted Labour for 40 years.
Anyone who has lived in a house with any kind of infestation, whether it is fleas, or mice or rats, will know how very difficult it is to get rid of the infestation.
The Labour house is currently infested with Momentum. Eventually, this infestation will have to be removed sooner or later. Because it is vile.
Good on you for saying so. I hope your voice becomes a deafening roar.
I don't mind having Labour take periodic control of the reins of Government, if that is what the voters want. But I take grave exception to the idea of our Government being steered by a cabal who are institutionally anti-semitic.
Corbyn is unlikely to complain about FPTP given it got him more seats and a hung parliament last time and remains the best chance of a Labour majority government under his leadership.
If we had PR Labour would almost certainly split with the likes of Umunna forming a new pro single market party of the centre, perhaps joined by a few Remainer Cameroons like Anna Soubry
I am not a Tory and I am not a Blairite. I have voted Labour for 40 years.
Anyone who has lived in a house with any kind of infestation, whether it is fleas, or mice or rats, will know how very difficult it is to get rid of the infestation.
The Labour house is currently infested with Momentum. Eventually, this infestation will have to be removed sooner or later. Because it is vile.
Well if that is the case , you voted Labour in the June 17 GE.
Mike Smithson deliberately or accidentally misses the fact that the SNP are effectively Labour seats when it comes to deciding who will become PM and form the government. So while Lab are 1 behind the Tories, Lab+SNP are 35 ahead.
That's without considering the effect of the likes of Plaid and Greens etc
I don’t think that’s the point though, OGH was comparing vote share and seats.
But he's claiming that the system is "biased" towards the Tories because of the fact they get 1 extra seat. If the SNP are red seats that's not really the case.
The boundary review was never meant to align vote share and vote seats as that depends upon how people vote, the bias that is meant to be fixed is that some constituencies have a lot more voters than others in. That bias remains even if a lot of formerly-Labour seats now having SNP MPs have changed the arithmetic.
I agree with your point about equalising constituencies, but I think he was comparing vote share to seats gained. The SNP don’t really have anything to do with that calculation.
I am really looking forward to my holibobs with Jezza in charge if Justin is to be believed. £500 max spend per two weeks while I am there, going to really be able to splash out, not.
Not many of the yuff will be going large in Magaful etc.
That would last me about four days on holiday. We struggle to get through a day on less than £120/day, amazing as that might seem.
I was suggesting £500 per person - so a family of four would have £2000 to play with. Is that so unreasonable?
Yes it bloody well is. It's grade A nuts.
£500 per year? Per trip? Per what? What about foreigners who work here (the 3 odd million), same rules? Well that really will get net migration straight down into the negatives won't it? Who wants to earn in a pretty non convertible currency? Mind the stampede. Christ the Guardian's having apoplexy about manning the NHS "because of Brexit", that will be peanuts in comparison. if they are all to be paid in monopoly money.
What about those who already have a foreign bank account or a foreign source of income (say they rent a flat in Mallorca?). How are you going to deal with them?
All credit cards going to become like most Chinese ones only issued in non convertible currency? Bang goes internet shopping abroad.
Companies: If I want to pay for a steel import from Austria am I going to have to go to the exchange commissar to get approval?
Grade A nuts doesn't remotely cover it.
"Labour to stop your foreign holidays" is about as toxic as the tabloids need to go to kill Labour at the next election.
But people went on foreign holidays in the 1960s and 1970s - the heyday of Package Holidays!
I am really looking forward to my holibobs with Jezza in charge if Justin is to be believed. £500 max spend per two weeks while I am there, going to really be able to splash out, not.
Not many of the yuff will be going large in Magaful etc.
That would last me about four days on holiday. We struggle to get through a day on less than £120/day, amazing as that might seem.
I was suggesting £500 per person - so a family of four would have £2000 to play with. Is that so unreasonable?
Yes it bloody well is. It's grade A nuts.
£500 per year? Per trip? Per what? What about foreigners who work here (the 3 odd million), same rules? Well that really will get net migration straight down into the negatives won't it? Who wants to earn in a pretty non convertible currency? Mind the stampede. Christ the Guardian's having apoplexy about manning the NHS "because of Brexit", that will be peanuts in comparison. if they are all to be paid in monopoly money.
What about those who already have a foreign bank account or a foreign source of income (say they rent a flat in Mallorca?). How are you going to deal with them?
All credit cards going to become like most Chinese ones only issued in non convertible currency? Bang goes internet shopping abroad.
Companies: If I want to pay for a steel import from Austria am I going to have to go to the exchange commissar to get approval?
Grade A nuts doesn't remotely cover it.
"Labour to stop your foreign holidays" is about as toxic as the tabloids need to go to kill Labour at the next election.
But people went on foreign holidays in the 1960s and 1970s - the heyday of Package Holidays!
Corbyn is unlikely to complain about FPTP given it got him more seats and a hung parliament last time and remains the best chance of a Labour majority government under his leadership.
If we had PR Labour would almost certainly split with the likes of Umunna forming a new pro single market party of the centre, perhaps joined by a few Remainer Cameroons like Anna Soubry
Very true , probably both main parties would split if we had PR.
I am not a Tory and I am not a Blairite. I have voted Labour for 40 years.
Anyone who has lived in a house with any kind of infestation, whether it is fleas, or mice or rats, will know how very difficult it is to get rid of the infestation.
The Labour house is currently infested with Momentum. Eventually, this infestation will have to be removed sooner or later. Because it is vile.
Well if that is the case , you voted Labour in the June 17 GE.
And presumably supported Foot in 83 with a substantially more left wing manifesto than Corbyn.
I am really looking forward to my holibobs with Jezza in charge if Justin is to be believed. £500 max spend per two weeks while I am there, going to really be able to splash out, not.
Not many of the yuff will be going large in Magaful etc.
That would last me about four days on holiday. We struggle to get through a day on less than £120/day, amazing as that might seem.
I was suggesting £500 per person - so a family of four would have £2000 to play with. Is that so unreasonable?
Yes it bloody well is. It's grade A nuts.
£500 per year? Per trip? Per what? What about foreigners who work here (the 3 odd million), same rules? Well that really will get net migration straight down into the negatives won't it? Who wants to earn in a pretty non convertible currency? Mind the stampede. Christ the Guardian's having apoplexy about manning the NHS "because of Brexit", that will be peanuts in comparison. if they are all to be paid in monopoly money.
What about those who already have a foreign bank account or a foreign source of income (say they rent a flat in Mallorca?). How are you going to deal with them?
All credit cards going to become like most Chinese ones only issued in non convertible currency? Bang goes internet shopping abroad.
Companies: If I want to pay for a steel import from Austria am I going to have to go to the exchange commissar to get approval?
Grade A nuts doesn't remotely cover it.
"Labour to stop your foreign holidays" is about as toxic as the tabloids need to go to kill Labour at the next election.
But people went on foreign holidays in the 1960s and 1970s - the heyday of Package Holidays!
Can’t inagine gap years surviving the rather harsh £500 maximum!
As things stand at the moment, I'd expect Scottish Labour to make quite big gains against the SNP, and the Scottish Conservatives also to gain some seats. However, a lot depends on how Richard Leonard develops as SLAB leader; he's very different from his predecessors. At the moment he looks quite impressive, from afar at least, but I don't really know how Scots see him.
Leonard is currently holing himself below the waterline with some utterly bizarre moves.
Will Brexit still be a live issue in 2022? I suspect it will be, in that there will be parts of the country where there are concentrated Brexit losses and therefore residual "cross-ness". And it so happens, that a lot of those seats are LibDem/Conservative fights
What do you think the Conservatives' EU policy will be in 2022? Using Boris as a guide, it will likely be in favour of membership, having had a hard Brexit ruled out by reality, and a soft Brexit ruled out by politics.
I think it extremely unlikely that either of the main two parties will have "rejoin the EU" as a policy platform in my lifetime. We have made a decision, and we will stick to it.
However, I suspect however "hard" our Brexit is now, that our relationship with the EU will deepen again over time, with us ending up with a relationship with it more like Switzerland or Norway than Canada.
On balance I think you are right, but I wouldn't put it at "extremely unlikely". There are reasons why the EU exists and why we were members of it. Those reasons don't disappear just because we ticked a Leave box in a referendum. I don't think there is an outcome acceptable to the UK that doesn't involve a close relationship with the EU, which will be on their terms. Rule taking means giving up our influence and in some sense our sovereignty, which was the whole point of leaving in the first place. I am not sure we are prepared to do that. The EU does work better for us as the tyre hits the road. Against that, there will be a very big inertia against revisiting EU membership. Democracy gives you the ability to do dumb things and people will choose to do dumb things. Mediocrity will carry, I think. It's interesting to see how it plays out.
As things stand at the moment, I'd expect Scottish Labour to make quite big gains against the SNP, and the Scottish Conservatives also to gain some seats. However, a lot depends on how Richard Leonard develops as SLAB leader; he's very different from his predecessors. At the moment he looks quite impressive, from afar at least, but I don't really know how Scots see him.
Leonard is currently holing himself below the waterline with some utterly bizarre moves.
I see that the Lib Dems would lose nearly 10% of their fairly derisory vote and yet pick up 2 more seats.
Right.
As it happens I think they'd pick up more than two on such figures. Electoral Calculus's model assumes no tactical voting in Scotland. That seems unlikely.
But I also am sceptical about prediction models at present. There seems to be a sorting of voters taking place which doesn't seem to be happening on uniform national lines.
The only seat I could see them picking up in Scotland on those sorts of figures is Fife NE and that would require a fall in the SNP vote which the model does not contemplate. There comes a point when you can no longer assume that losing nearly 10% of your vote will only make a difference in seats that don't matter to you.
To have 12 MPs on a FPTP system with 7.6% of the vote is actually pretty remarkable. To suggest it would go up on 7% is, I think, optimistic.
I don't see why you think it's so implausible? After all, the SNP have 35 seats despite just 3% of the UK-wide vote.
Now, obviously, on first glance, that might not seem a valid comparison, since the SNP don't stand in the vast majority of seats - but in fact, the LDs' support in so many seats is so completely, shockingly derisory (losing their deposits in well over half of seats in 2017) that the arithmetical effect isn't that much different to the SNP's case. The LDs' vote is now quite efficiently-distributed, so they will do better than suggested by just voteshare.
I think it is unlikely because the total quantum of votes is falling significantly. As you correctly point out in many constituencies the Lib Dem performance the last time was so atrocious that there are relatively few to lose. If there is a material fall in the Lib Dem overall vote then I think it is likely to come disproportionately from the seats where they do better. That would include some of the seats that they already hold as well as their "target" seats.
The SNP example is not relevant because they have a dominant position over a certain geographical area. In 2015 this gave them spectacular results but 2017 showed how vulnerable they are to a modest fall. The Lib Dems no longer have anything like that.
Modest fall? Their vote went from 50% to 37% of the vote. If that is modest then what is large?
Mike Smithson deliberately or accidentally misses the fact that the SNP are effectively Labour seats when it comes to deciding who will become PM and form the government. So while Lab are 1 behind the Tories, Lab+SNP are 35 ahead.
That's without considering the effect of the likes of Plaid and Greens etc
It is quite likely on this poll though the Tories would win a majority of seats in England but there would be a Labour PM
Corbyn is unlikely to complain about FPTP given it got him more seats and a hung parliament last time and remains the best chance of a Labour majority government under his leadership.
If we had PR Labour would almost certainly split with the likes of Umunna forming a new pro single market party of the centre, perhaps joined by a few Remainer Cameroons like Anna Soubry
Re: Your second paragraph is simply a fiction. Anna Soubry is Tory through and through, she might not like Brexit but she is no Blairite!
Whenever an article mentions the 'Empire', I roll my eyes. I'm relatively old - born in 1960, and the Empire was ancient history to my generation. I vaguely remember various flag-lowering ceremonies on the TV, and that's about it. The British Empire is about as relevant to me as phlogiston.
"The Empire strikes back" people are over-represented in the Conservative government. Most Leave voters, I am pretty sure, are what are pejoratively and rather unfairly referred to as "Little Englanders". They don't like the EU much and wish it go away so they can get with their lives, without being told what to do all the time. They have very little interest in what goes on beyond their shores and even less understanding of how trade and international relations work. They are doomed to disappointment, I am afraid.
Indeed - classic demonisation tactics by Europhiles - don't like being governed by unelected beaurocrats ? You must be racist who yearns for the days of the Empire...
The EU of course wants to create its own Empire challenge the USA and China
Democracy gives you the ability to do dumb things and people will choose to do dumb things. Mediocrity will carry, I think. It's interesting to see how it plays out.
Purely from a position of statecraft, it would be foolish not to give the people one last chance to revoke Article 50, otherwise our current treaty opt-outs will be gone forever. Despite what May says now, I think she'll go for it once it can no longer be said that it undermines our negotiating position.
Corbyn is unlikely to complain about FPTP given it got him more seats and a hung parliament last time and remains the best chance of a Labour majority government under his leadership.
If we had PR Labour would almost certainly split with the likes of Umunna forming a new pro single market party of the centre, perhaps joined by a few Remainer Cameroons like Anna Soubry
Very true , probably both main parties would split if we had PR.
Corbyn is unlikely to complain about FPTP given it got him more seats and a hung parliament last time and remains the best chance of a Labour majority government under his leadership.
If we had PR Labour would almost certainly split with the likes of Umunna forming a new pro single market party of the centre, perhaps joined by a few Remainer Cameroons like Anna Soubry
Re: Your second paragraph is simply a fiction. Anna Soubry is Tory through and through, she might not like Brexit but she is no Blairite!
It is of course equally possible there could be a new pro EU Conservative Party formed under PR
I am really looking forward to my holibobs with Jezza in charge if Justin is to be believed. £500 max spend per two weeks while I am there, going to really be able to splash out, not.
Not many of the yuff will be going large in Magaful etc.
That would last me about four days on holiday. We struggle to get through a day on less than £120/day, amazing as that might seem.
I was suggesting £500 per person - so a family of four would have £2000 to play with. Is that so unreasonable?
Yes it bloody well is. It's grade A nuts.
£500 per year? Per trip? Per what? What about foreigners who work here (the 3 odd million), same rules? Well that really will get net migration straight down into the negatives won't it? Who wants to earn in a pretty non convertible currency? Mind the stampede. Christ the Guardian's having apoplexy about manning the NHS "because of Brexit", that will be peanuts in comparison. if they are all to be paid in monopoly money.
What about those who already have a foreign bank account or a foreign source of income (say they rent a flat in Mallorca?). How are you going to deal with them?
All credit cards going to become like most Chinese ones only issued in non convertible currency? Bang goes internet shopping abroad.
Companies: If I want to pay for a steel import from Austria am I going to have to go to the exchange commissar to get approval?
Grade A nuts doesn't remotely cover it.
"Labour to stop your foreign holidays" is about as toxic as the tabloids need to go to kill Labour at the next election.
But people went on foreign holidays in the 1960s and 1970s - the heyday of Package Holidays!
Can’t inagine gap years surviving the rather harsh £500 maximum!
To even think about imposing capital controls is an admission of failure: if people want to get themselves or their money out of your country, then you having nothing to offer, nothing to be attractive. Such a government cannot survive without destroying democracy and imposing direct rule.
Democracy gives you the ability to do dumb things and people will choose to do dumb things. Mediocrity will carry, I think. It's interesting to see how it plays out.
Purely from a position of statecraft, it would be foolish not to give the people one last chance to revoke Article 50, otherwise our current treaty opt-outs will be gone forever. Despite what May says now, I think she'll go for it once it can no longer be said that it undermines our negotiating position.
They are already gone forever. If we go back begging to be readmitted do you really think they won’t extract some concessions?
I am really looking forward to my holibobs with Jezza in charge if Justin is to be believed. £500 max spend per two weeks while I am there, going to really be able to splash out, not.
Not many of the yuff will be going large in Magaful etc.
That would last me about four days on holiday. We struggle to get through a day on less than £120/day, amazing as that might seem.
I was suggesting £500 per person - so a family of four would have £2000 to play with. Is that so unreasonable?
Yes it bloody well is. It's grade A nuts.
£500 per year? Per trip? Per what? What about foreigners who work here (the 3 odd million), same rules? Well that really will get net migration straight down into the negatives won't it? Who wants to earn in a pretty non convertible currency? Mind the stampede. Christ the Guardian's having apoplexy about manning the NHS "because of Brexit", that will be peanuts in comparison. if they are all to be paid in monopoly money.
What about those who already have a foreign bank account or a foreign source of income (say they rent a flat in Mallorca?). How are you going to deal with them?
All credit cards going to become like most Chinese ones only issued in non convertible currency? Bang goes internet shopping abroad.
Companies: If I want to pay for a steel import from Austria am I going to have to go to the exchange commissar to get approval?
Grade A nuts doesn't remotely cover it.
"Labour to stop your foreign holidays" is about as toxic as the tabloids need to go to kill Labour at the next election.
But people went on foreign holidays in the 1960s and 1970s - the heyday of Package Holidays!
Can’t inagine gap years surviving the rather harsh £500 maximum!
To even think about imposing capital controls is an admission of failure: if people want to get themselves or their money out of your country, then you having nothing to offer, nothing to be attractive. Such a government cannot survive without destroying democracy and imposing direct rule.
So much for the thousand year PB Tory reich, we’re going to have a thousand year Corbyn one
Comments
That is pretty much the definition of a Little Englander, surely?
£500 per year? Per trip? Per what? What about foreigners who work here (the 3 odd million), same rules? Well that really will get net migration straight down into the negatives won't it? Who wants to earn in a pretty non convertible currency? Mind the stampede. Christ the Guardian's having apoplexy about manning the NHS "because of Brexit", that will be peanuts in comparison. if they are all to be paid in monopoly money.
What about those who already have a foreign bank account or a foreign source of income (say they rent a flat in Mallorca?). How are you going to deal with them?
All credit cards going to become like most Chinese ones only issued in non convertible currency? Bang goes internet shopping abroad.
Companies: If I want to pay for a steel import from Austria am I going to have to go to the exchange commissar to get approval?
I bet the non-sugar variants end up at the same price as the full sugar, this in affect non-sugar drinkers are subsidising full sugar drinkers.
"Labour to stop your foreign holidays" is about as toxic as the tabloids need to go to kill Labour at the next election.
How do I pronounce the surname of Robin Thicke?
Is it ‘Thick’ or ‘Thickee’?
I remember being in East Berlin prior to the Wall coming down in the mid 80's, and the Bulgarian head waiter of the restaurant we were in (the plushest place we could find to try and spend the monopoly £8.50's worth of East German Marks we'd had to exchange at some insane govt rate), sidling up to me full of desperation to exchange more of the worthless bits of paper for real money that could actually be exchanged and buy you real things, or the "tourist" shops in Cuba about 20 years ago full of fancy stuff the locals could only stare at in wonder because they didn't have dollars or "convertible Pesos".
Christ!
Latest on Paul Mason’s shouty crackers descent into mid-life crisis.
Shelagh Fogarty has just revealed on air that the leather-jacked Corbyn outrider this morning “bellowed” down the phone at a female LBC producer in an “aggressive” manner, leaving the woman feel “intimidated“. Apparently he was ranting that LBC want to destroy Corbyn and the Labour Party, which is a bit odd given the previous show was James O’Brien.
Looks as if he has upset the BBC female presenters - This is not going to end well for Momentum. They are being carried along on their own hubris.
Where did we see that last year
Ideally,the LDs would be biting into the Tory vote but they seem incapable of any progress under Cable.
""Labour to stop your foreign holidays" is about as toxic as the tabloids need to go to kill Labour at the next election."
It won't happen like that.
McDonnell will say absolutely no plans to impose currency controls - it's fake news.
If, when after two weeks in government, they do exactly that, the line will be 'a sensible approach to deter currency speculation which causes austerity. That Farmer Jones is at it again.'
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/jan/16/flat-fare-dodgy-meter-blocks-rollout-of-londons-electric-cabs
What's the Canadian Liberal Parties USA policy?
My forecast at the start of the campaign had been for 12-14 LibDem seats. By election day I'd cut that to 10-12 seats, as I had expected the LibDem vote share to be several percentage points higher than it ended up.
But I was thinking more of Camden, where (among others) the Hampstead, Primrose Hill and Belsize Park wards are all solidly blue now. They also all voted very heavily Remain, and the LibDems have had good representation there in the recent past.
https://twitter.com/andrewsparrow/status/953302217632768001
Do you imagine we should keep the old boundaries forever?
However, I suspect however "hard" our Brexit is now, that our relationship with the EU will deepen again over time, with us ending up with a relationship with it more like Switzerland or Norway than Canada.
I hope it proves a boon to all other parties on the doorstep.
That's without considering the effect of the likes of Plaid and Greens etc
Anyone who has lived in a house with any kind of infestation, whether it is fleas, or mice or rats, will know how very difficult it is to get rid of the infestation.
The Labour house is currently infested with Momentum. Eventually, this infestation will have to be removed sooner or later. Because it is vile.
Bloody Gerrymanderers.
This Tory Party Vice Chair Suggested Unemployed People Should Have Vasectomies
Rising star Ben Bradley, appointed to help the party appeal to young voters, made the comment in a now-deleted blog post. He has since apologised after being approached by BuzzFeed News.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/alexspence/this-tory-party-vice-chair-suggested-unemployed-people?utm_term=.hnVM1nAwOG#.nvE9D2WpzG
The boundary review was never meant to align vote share and vote seats as that depends upon how people vote, the bias that is meant to be fixed is that some constituencies have a lot more voters than others in. That bias remains even if a lot of formerly-Labour seats now having SNP MPs have changed the arithmetic.
I don't mind having Labour take periodic control of the reins of Government, if that is what the voters want. But I take grave exception to the idea of our Government being steered by a cabal who are institutionally anti-semitic.
If we had PR Labour would almost certainly split with the likes of Umunna forming a new pro single market party of the centre, perhaps joined by a few Remainer Cameroons like Anna Soubry
Also, read this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixth_Periodic_Review_of_Westminster_constituencies
To even think about imposing capital controls is an admission of failure: if people want to get themselves or their money out of your country, then you having nothing to offer, nothing to be attractive. Such a government cannot survive without destroying democracy and imposing direct rule.