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politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Three new Scotland polls find Corbyn’s LAB struggling to recov

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  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 51,752
    rcs1000 said:

    So, if the UK had an FTA with the US, it would not be able to have one with China.

    It will be interesting to see if there's a tug of war between China and the USA over Australia.
  • mattmatt Posts: 3,789
    edited October 2018
    The repeated posting of Twitter comments here in the absence of insight from the poster and a quiet period at work made me look at Twitter (yes, yes I know).

    A question. Is everybody who comments on it an obnoxious sh1t or have I been unlucky. I’ve seen evidence to suggest that the rise of aggressive partisanship can be linked to the rise of social media. I’ve always thought that is correlation rather than causation but now I’m not so sure.

    My unhappy conclusion - there’s no way back and Trump (and, ironically, people like Xi) are our future. It’s nothing to do with an new selfishness as postulated above but wholly to do with connectivity and the democratisation of opinion.

    [that one can use keyboard doesn’t mean what emerges is inherently valuable - to be fair, Apple is helping here with their redone iOS12 keyboard....)]
  • BarnesianBarnesian Posts: 8,621
    rcs1000 said:

    Barnesian said:

    Homo Sapiens beat the Neanderthals, not because we were stronger, (we weren't) but because we cooperated better as a species in joint defence, shared development of tools etc.

    Our standard of living today is based on this cooperation - provision of health, education, defence, infrastructure and development of science and technology. Competition is a small tactical component.

    But in the West, there is a massive move to personal selfishness and competition. It is not only financial selfishness (lower taxes and poorer public services) but competition to be the more perfect human being showing off our toned bodies and perfect features on Instagram.

    We are going to be swamped and overtaken by the East who are more collective - unless we wake up and stop the zero-sum games. We in the West are in danger of being the new Neanderthals.

    Have you been reading Blindside again?
    rcs1000 said:

    Barnesian said:

    Homo Sapiens beat the Neanderthals, not because we were stronger, (we weren't) but because we cooperated better as a species in joint defence, shared development of tools etc.

    Our standard of living today is based on this cooperation - provision of health, education, defence, infrastructure and development of science and technology. Competition is a small tactical component.

    But in the West, there is a massive move to personal selfishness and competition. It is not only financial selfishness (lower taxes and poorer public services) but competition to be the more perfect human being showing off our toned bodies and perfect features on Instagram.

    We are going to be swamped and overtaken by the East who are more collective - unless we wake up and stop the zero-sum games. We in the West are in danger of being the new Neanderthals.

    Have you been reading Blindside again?
    Never heard of it but it looks interesting
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,237

    rcs1000 said:

    So, if the UK had an FTA with the US, it would not be able to have one with China.

    It will be interesting to see if there's a tug of war between China and the USA over Australia.
    Probably not, because China does not impose tariffs on the imports of the raw materials it needs.

    For the curious, here's where Australia exports to: https://atlas.media.mit.edu/en/visualize/tree_map/hs92/export/aus/show/all/2016/
  • YBarddCwscYBarddCwsc Posts: 7,172

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    felix said:

    Justin24 will ba along soon to tell us how his bones see big gains for SLab at the expense of both the SCons and the SNats. All polling can therefore be ignored till it agree with him.

    The only way to respect the Scots is to grant them extensive devolution

    Surely most Scots are now in England and Wales or overseas, not in Scotland?

    So devolution is irrelevant to them.
    Only 5 million of us left
    How many of those are English or other non Scot?
    Why
    Because some of the people living in Scotland are not Scots and they have rights too.
    Of course they do and many will be SNP members
    There are many English SNP members
    I would be SNP in Scotland but pro Union

    Just heard the Welsh government saying they will not prevent 12% council tax rises next year. That and monthly bin collections all courtesy of Welsh labour
    Of course, after the SNP killed off SLAB, it left Welsh Labour as the most incompetent & corrupt party in government in Western Europe.

    But, the monthly bin collections that have started in Conwy are surely the responsibility of Conwy Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol (Conwy Borough Council) run by the .... errr, Conservatives & Independents.
  • BarnesianBarnesian Posts: 8,621
    HYUFD said:

    Barnesian said:

    HYUFD said:

    Barnesian said:

    I have put the latest GB polls and the three latest Scottish polls into the EMA and used Electoral Calculus with the Scottish submodel to estimate the number of seats on current polling -and the answer is - static:

    con 302 seats
    lab 269 seats
    LD 17 seats
    SNP 40 seats
    UKIP 0 seats
    PC 3 seats
    Green 1 seat
    NI 18 seats

    Tories 24 short of a majority. Probably minority Lab government.

    Labour needs SNP plus LDs plus PC plus Greens for Corbyn to become PM on those numbers and have a majority of MPs behind him in Parliament
    The Tories would have 312 including the DUP. Labour need more than that to survive a vote of no confidence. SNP plus PC plus Green would give them 313 plus a few NI. As long as the LDs abstained, Lab would survive but it would be very thin. In practice I suspect the LD would a DUP style S&C and hold Labour to policies that the LD support.
    Indeed Corbyn would have to run every single piece of government legislation past Vince Cable first to get it through the Commons
    Yep what's not to like!
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 60,507
    rcs1000 said:

    Fenman said:

    Jonathan said:

    No WTO wtf?
    If true this is the death of Brexit
    There are three fundamental problems with the US as a trading partner right now.

    Firstly, President Trump is simply not a fan of free trade. To his mind, when you and I enter into a voluntary agreement to exchange goods or services for money - well, there's one winner and one loser.

    Secondly, existing agreements mean nothing. Like contracts with subcontractors, they are things to be torn up if you gain a momentary advantage. Treaty says you can't impose tariffs on country with which you have agreement? F*ck it.

    Thirdly, and most fundamentally, other countries are either subordinate to the US, or a threat to it.
    rcs1000 said:

    Fenman said:

    Jonathan said:

    No WTO wtf?
    If true this is the death of Brexit
    There are three fundamental problems with the US as a trading partner right now.

    Firstly, President Trump is simply not a fan of free trade. To his mind, when you and I enter into a voluntary agreement to exchange goods or services for money - well, there's one winner and one loser.

    Secondly, existing agreements mean nothing. Like contracts with subcontractors, they are things to be torn up if you gain a momentary advantage. Treaty says you can't impose tariffs on country with which you have agreement? F*ck it.

    Thirdly, and most fundamentally, other countries are either subordinate to the US, or a threat to it.
    But, Trump won’t be in office forever.
  • JohnO said:

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    felix said:

    Justin24 will ba along soon to tell us how his bones see big gains for SLab at the expense of both the SCons and the SNats. All polling can therefore be ignored till it agree with him.

    The only way to respect the Scots is to grant them extensive devolution

    Surely most Scots are now in England and Wales or overseas, not in Scotland?

    So devolution is irrelevant to them.
    Only 5 million of us left
    How many of those are English or other non Scot?
    Why
    Because some of the people living in Scotland are not Scots and they have rights too.
    Of course they do and many will be SNP members
    There are many English SNP members
    I would be SNP in Scotland but pro Union

    Just heard the Welsh government saying they will not prevent 12% council tax rises next year. That and monthly bin collections all courtesy of Welsh labour
    Why would you be SNP rather than backing Ruth’s Scottish Conservatives? Apologies if I’m missing something.
    I would vote SNP to keep labour out.

    However in a conservative seat I would of course vote for my party

    It is really tactical voting
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,237
    edited October 2018

    rcs1000 said:

    Fenman said:

    Jonathan said:

    No WTO wtf?
    If true this is the death of Brexit
    There are three fundamental problems with the US as a trading partner right now.

    Firstly, President Trump is simply not a fan of free trade. To his mind, when you and I enter into a voluntary agreement to exchange goods or services for money - well, there's one winner and one loser.

    Secondly, existing agreements mean nothing. Like contracts with subcontractors, they are things to be torn up if you gain a momentary advantage. Treaty says you can't impose tariffs on country with which you have agreement? F*ck it.

    Thirdly, and most fundamentally, other countries are either subordinate to the US, or a threat to it.

    But, Trump won’t be in office forever.
    As I said, "right now".

    Hopefully who follow him will be better, but that maybe be more than six years away.
  • mattmatt Posts: 3,789

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    felix said:

    Justin24 will ba along soon to tell us how his bones see big gains for SLab at the expense of both the SCons and the SNats. All polling can therefore be ignored till it agree with him.

    The only way to respect the Scots is to grant them extensive devolution

    Surely most Scots are now in England and Wales or overseas, not in Scotland?

    So devolution is irrelevant to them.
    Only 5 million of us left
    How many of those are English or other non Scot?
    Why
    Because some of the people living in Scotland are not Scots and they have rights too.
    Of course they do and many will be SNP members
    There are many English SNP members
    I would be SNP in Scotland but pro Union

    Just heard the Welsh government saying they will not prevent 12% council tax rises next year. That and monthly bin collections all courtesy of Welsh labour
    Of course, after the SNP killed off SLAB, it left Welsh Labour as the most incompetent & corrupt party in government in Western Europe.

    But, the monthly bin collections that have started in Conwy are surely the responsibility of Conwy Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol (Conwy Borough Council) run by the .... errr, Conservatives & Independents.
    There’s lots of reasons for a rise in CT but fundamentally it’s an ageing population and the huge percentage of council spending that’s allocated to adult social care. You can say that people should take more responsibility and I use as a poster child the area I grew up where they have to have a child tooth care strategy because despite fluoridation (an unambiguously good thing) there’s a significant minority of parents who think that coca-cola is a ideal milk substitute but arse wiping requirements are not reducing.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 43,362
    JohnO said:

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    felix said:

    Justin24 will ba along soon to tell us how his bones see big gains for SLab at the expense of both the SCons and the SNats. All polling can therefore be ignored till it agree with him.

    The only way to respect the Scots is to grant them extensive devolution

    Surely most Scots are now in England and Wales or overseas, not in Scotland?

    So devolution is irrelevant to them.
    Only 5 million of us left
    How many of those are English or other non Scot?
    Why
    Because some of the people living in Scotland are not Scots and they have rights too.
    Of course they do and many will be SNP members
    There are many English SNP members
    I would be SNP in Scotland but pro Union

    Just heard the Welsh government saying they will not prevent 12% council tax rises next year. That and monthly bin collections all courtesy of Welsh labour
    Why would you be SNP rather than backing Ruth’s Scottish Conservatives? Apologies if I’m missing something.
    The sub region branch are deadbeats
  • Wulfrun_PhilWulfrun_Phil Posts: 4,780
    If May really pisses off the DUP, as she is seemingly intent on doing, what chance does she have of getting the boundary changes through?
  • archer101auarcher101au Posts: 1,612
    HYUFD said:

    This is because they are not stupid. 'Regulatory' checks cannot be 'de-dramatised' - they are reflections of a legal reality. The legal reality will be that NI will be in a completely different regulatory environment than GB, ruled by Brussels. Goods from GB may not be imported into NI without complying with EU regulations which will eliminate 'frictionless trade' within the UK. It is a complete nonsense and they are quite right to reject it.

    You can't fudge a customs union, or two different regulatory systems.
    Notice Dodds does not oppose the whole UK staying in the Customs Union as May is proposing, just the latest proposition on regulatory checks in GB from the ERG
    No, May's all-UK backstop is apparently based on NI being in alignment with the Single Market but the UK free to diverge - remember if GB was 'fully aligned' with the SM then it would be impossible to claim that Brexit has actually occurred. So in May's scheme you end up with no customs border but with a regulatory border. Not acceptable to the DUP.
  • archer101auarcher101au Posts: 1,612
    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    So, if the UK had an FTA with the US, it would not be able to have one with China.

    It will be interesting to see if there's a tug of war between China and the USA over Australia.
    Probably not, because China does not impose tariffs on the imports of the raw materials it needs.

    For the curious, here's where Australia exports to: https://atlas.media.mit.edu/en/visualize/tree_map/hs92/export/aus/show/all/2016/
    What is far more worrying is if you look at the chart of WHAT Australia exports - virtually everything is a raw material with almost no value add. A symptom of an economy in which wages have been forced up to such extreme levels, thanks to Labour policies followed by both parties, that it is simply not economic to process any raw material in Australia before exporting it. UK beware.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,181

    If May really pisses off the DUP, as she is seemingly intent on doing, what chance does she have of getting the boundary changes through?
    That has probably been given up on already (regardless of DUP backing), or surely they'd already have voted on it?
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,628

    If May really pisses off the DUP, as she is seemingly intent on doing, what chance does she have of getting the boundary changes through?
    If May really pisses off the DUP, as she is seemingly intent on doing, what chance does she have of getting any Brexit deal other than No Deal through?
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 60,507
    matt said:

    The repeated posting of Twitter comments here in the absence of insight from the poster and a quiet period at work made me look at Twitter (yes, yes I know).

    A question. Is everybody who comments on it an obnoxious sh1t or have I been unlucky. I’ve seen evidence to suggest that the rise of aggressive partisanship can be linked to the rise of social media. I’ve always thought that is correlation rather than causation but now I’m not so sure.

    My unhappy conclusion - there’s no way back and Trump (and, ironically, people like Xi) are our future. It’s nothing to do with an new selfishness as postulated above but wholly to do with connectivity and the democratisation of opinion.

    [that one can use keyboard doesn’t mean what emerges is inherently valuable - to be fair, Apple is helping here with their redone iOS12 keyboard....)]

    I’m afraid I think you’re probably right.

    The thing is the Twitter lynchmobbing works: it gets people sacked and policies changed in the real world. So it will continue.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 123,206

    HYUFD said:

    This is because they are not stupid. 'Regulatory' checks cannot be 'de-dramatised' - they are reflections of a legal reality. The legal reality will be that NI will be in a completely different regulatory environment than GB, ruled by Brussels. Goods from GB may not be imported into NI without complying with EU regulations which will eliminate 'frictionless trade' within the UK. It is a complete nonsense and they are quite right to reject it.

    You can't fudge a customs union, or two different regulatory systems.
    Notice Dodds does not oppose the whole UK staying in the Customs Union as May is proposing, just the latest proposition on regulatory checks in GB from the ERG
    No, May's all-UK backstop is apparently based on NI being in alignment with the Single Market but the UK free to diverge - remember if GB was 'fully aligned' with the SM then it would be impossible to claim that Brexit has actually occurred. So in May's scheme you end up with no customs border but with a regulatory border. Not acceptable to the DUP.
    A hypothetical freedom of the whole UK to 'diverge' from the SM once the transition period has ended is not something the DUP could oppose as it would apply to the whole UK. In reality unless the backstop had ended as a technical solution had been found to the Irish border the whole UK would be staying in the SM and CU
  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 10,781
    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Fenman said:

    Jonathan said:

    No WTO wtf?
    If true this is the death of Brexit
    There are three fundamental problems with the US as a trading partner right now.

    Firstly, President Trump is simply not a fan of free trade. To his mind, when you and I enter into a voluntary agreement to exchange goods or services for money - well, there's one winner and one loser.

    Secondly, existing agreements mean nothing. Like contracts with subcontractors, they are things to be torn up if you gain a momentary advantage. Treaty says you can't impose tariffs on country with which you have agreement? F*ck it.

    Thirdly, and most fundamentally, other countries are either subordinate to the US, or a threat to it.

    But, Trump won’t be in office forever.
    As I said, "right now".

    Hopefully who follow him will be better, but that maybe be more than six years away.
    I wouldn't rule out him trying to change the two-term limit if he gets re-elected.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,181

    If May really pisses off the DUP, as she is seemingly intent on doing, what chance does she have of getting the boundary changes through?
    If May really pisses off the DUP, as she is seemingly intent on doing, what chance does she have of getting any Brexit deal other than No Deal through?
    Pissing of the DUP isn't critical to that. It would probably help get it through (though even that seems unlikely), but unlike the ERG it is at least theoretically possible Labour defections could counteract DUP votes I'd have thought (though would presumably have longer term implications for the government).
  • logical_songlogical_song Posts: 9,914

    If May really pisses off the DUP, as she is seemingly intent on doing, what chance does she have of getting the boundary changes through?
    If May really pisses off the DUP, as she is seemingly intent on doing, what chance does she have of getting any Brexit deal other than No Deal through?
    What would 'No Deal' mean to the NI border, and would the DUP be happy with that?
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 53,892
    AndyJS said:

    "Pc Keith Palmer was let down by a police chief not brave enough to help save him

    Allison Pearson"

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/pc-keith-palmer-let-police-chief-not-brave-enough-help-save/

    That was my instinctive reaction yesterday. "I didn't leave my car because I didn't have my personal protective equipment" when one of his constables was being killed in front of him. I was disgusted.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,181
    edited October 2018
    Omnium said:

    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Fenman said:

    Jonathan said:

    No WTO wtf?
    If true this is the death of Brexit
    There are three fundamental problems with the US as a trading partner right now.

    Firstly, President Trump is simply not a fan of free trade. To his mind, when you and I enter into a voluntary agreement to exchange goods or services for money - well, there's one winner and one loser.

    Secondly, existing agreements mean nothing. Like contracts with subcontractors, they are things to be torn up if you gain a momentary advantage. Treaty says you can't impose tariffs on country with which you have agreement? F*ck it.

    Thirdly, and most fundamentally, other countries are either subordinate to the US, or a threat to it.

    But, Trump won’t be in office forever.
    As I said, "right now".

    Hopefully who follow him will be better, but that maybe be more than six years away.
    I wouldn't rule out him trying to change the two-term limit if he gets re-elected.
    He can be like Evo Morales who, after losing a referendum on changing the rules to allow him to run again, was ever so lucky that the nation's top court said rules on term limits in the constitution that, IIRC, Morales himself brought in, should be scrapped. Just have the Supreme Court say the two term limit is unconstitutional.

    Just a joke of course before anyone starts on about whatever amendment it was which brought in the limit.
  • NormNorm Posts: 1,251
    Barnesian said:

    I have put the latest GB polls and the three latest Scottish polls into the EMA and used Electoral Calculus with the Scottish submodel to estimate the number of seats on current polling -and the answer is - static:

    con 302 seats
    lab 269 seats
    LD 17 seats
    SNP 40 seats
    UKIP 0 seats
    PC 3 seats
    Green 1 seat
    NI 18 seats

    Tories 24 short of a majority. Probably minority Lab government.

    Where are we with the new boundaries and 600 seat HoC? Presumably the changes will be in place before 2022.
  • MortimerMortimer Posts: 14,127
    edited October 2018

    HYUFD said:

    This is because they are not stupid. 'Regulatory' checks cannot be 'de-dramatised' - they are reflections of a legal reality. The legal reality will be that NI will be in a completely different regulatory environment than GB, ruled by Brussels. Goods from GB may not be imported into NI without complying with EU regulations which will eliminate 'frictionless trade' within the UK. It is a complete nonsense and they are quite right to reject it.

    You can't fudge a customs union, or two different regulatory systems.
    Notice Dodds does not oppose the whole UK staying in the Customs Union as May is proposing, just the latest proposition on regulatory checks in GB from the ERG
    No, May's all-UK backstop is apparently based on NI being in alignment with the Single Market but the UK free to diverge - remember if GB was 'fully aligned' with the SM then it would be impossible to claim that Brexit has actually occurred. So in May's scheme you end up with no customs border but with a regulatory border. Not acceptable to the DUP.
    My reading of this morning’s Times was that the solution lies in not checking goods from NI. The UK will be happy to extend equivalence to EU regs, even if the EU are being all stuffy about doing the same.

    To be honest, goods inward to GB must be the lion share.

    As soon as I read it I thought; ah, finally a solution that might get through Parliament.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,181
    Norm said:

    Barnesian said:

    I have put the latest GB polls and the three latest Scottish polls into the EMA and used Electoral Calculus with the Scottish submodel to estimate the number of seats on current polling -and the answer is - static:

    con 302 seats
    lab 269 seats
    LD 17 seats
    SNP 40 seats
    UKIP 0 seats
    PC 3 seats
    Green 1 seat
    NI 18 seats

    Tories 24 short of a majority. Probably minority Lab government.

    Where are we with the new boundaries and 600 seat HoC? Presumably the changes will be in place before 2022.
    I believe the final proposals have been provided to the government and it was presumed a vote would therefore take place imminently, but that was a month ago and so it has probably been parked for a while. But I would think whoever does not get what they want from Brexit among the Tories would have little reason not to vote against the government if the vote is after Brexit, so assume they are not confident on the numbers.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,237
    edited October 2018
    Yay! I've just passed 3,000 subscribers on YouTube

    Next stop 10,000 by Christmas.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 51,752
    Mortimer said:

    My reading of this morning’s Times was that the solution lies in not checking goods from NI. The UK will be happy to extend equivalence to EU regs, even if the EU are being all stuffy about doing the same.

    To be honest, goods inward to GB must be the lion share.

    As soon as I read it I thought; ah, finally a solution that might get through Parliament.

    But that's what paragraph 50 of the joint report said all along: the UK would ensure unfettered access to the rest of the UK for Northern Ireland.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 57,237

    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    So, if the UK had an FTA with the US, it would not be able to have one with China.

    It will be interesting to see if there's a tug of war between China and the USA over Australia.
    Probably not, because China does not impose tariffs on the imports of the raw materials it needs.

    For the curious, here's where Australia exports to: https://atlas.media.mit.edu/en/visualize/tree_map/hs92/export/aus/show/all/2016/
    What is far more worrying is if you look at the chart of WHAT Australia exports - virtually everything is a raw material with almost no value add. A symptom of an economy in which wages have been forced up to such extreme levels, thanks to Labour policies followed by both parties, that it is simply not economic to process any raw material in Australia before exporting it. UK beware.
    Yes, I'd agree with that.
  • JohnOJohnO Posts: 4,291
    edited October 2018
    I see

    JohnO said:

    malcolmg said:

    malcolmg said:

    felix said:

    Justin24 will ba along soon to tell us how his bones see big gains for SLab at the expense of both the SCons and the SNats. All polling can therefore be ignored till it agree with him.

    The only way to respect the Scots is to grant them extensive devolution

    Surely most Scots are now in England and Wales or overseas, not in Scotland?

    So devolution is irrelevant to them.
    Only 5 million of us left
    How many of those are English or other non Scot?
    Why
    Because some of the people living in Scotland are not Scots and they have rights too.
    Of course they do and many will be SNP members
    There are many English SNP members
    I would be SNP in Scotland but pro Union

    Just heard the Welsh government saying they will not prevent 12% council tax rises next year. That and monthly bin collections all courtesy of Welsh labour
    Why would you be SNP rather than backing Ruth’s Scottish Conservatives? Apologies if I’m missing something.
    I would vote SNP to keep labour out.

    However in a conservative seat I would of course vote for my party

    It is really tactical voting
    I see. Thanks.
  • DavidL said:

    AndyJS said:

    "Pc Keith Palmer was let down by a police chief not brave enough to help save him

    Allison Pearson"

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/pc-keith-palmer-let-police-chief-not-brave-enough-help-save/

    That was my instinctive reaction yesterday. "I didn't leave my car because I didn't have my personal protective equipment" when one of his constables was being killed in front of him. I was disgusted.
    Agreed.
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 60,507
    DavidL said:

    AndyJS said:

    "Pc Keith Palmer was let down by a police chief not brave enough to help save him

    Allison Pearson"

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/pc-keith-palmer-let-police-chief-not-brave-enough-help-save/

    That was my instinctive reaction yesterday. "I didn't leave my car because I didn't have my personal protective equipment" when one of his constables was being killed in front of him. I was disgusted.
    I’m very wary of judging anyone through passing comment for either heroism or cowardice in such situations.

    You get zero notice, and have to act instantly. Sometimes you’re just very very unlucky.

    I’m not sure what I’d do, FWIW. That’s different to what I’d like to think I’d do.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 53,892

    DavidL said:

    AndyJS said:

    "Pc Keith Palmer was let down by a police chief not brave enough to help save him

    Allison Pearson"

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/pc-keith-palmer-let-police-chief-not-brave-enough-help-save/

    That was my instinctive reaction yesterday. "I didn't leave my car because I didn't have my personal protective equipment" when one of his constables was being killed in front of him. I was disgusted.
    I’m very wary of judging anyone through passing comment for either heroism or cowardice in such situations.

    You get zero notice, and have to act instantly. Sometimes you’re just very very unlucky.

    I’m not sure what I’d do, FWIW. That’s different to what I’d like to think I’d do.
    A trained senior cop should not freeze in such a scenario. He should have at the least have been a distraction for the murdering thug killing one of his men. I am sorry, but staying in the car was not an option open to him.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 53,892
    Scottish politics is totally dominated by 2 remarkable and imposing women. In fairness Kezia struggled to get a word in edgeways and so does Willie Rennie. I am not saying Labour couldn't have done better than Leonard but it is a tough ask for anyone.
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 60,507
    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    AndyJS said:

    "Pc Keith Palmer was let down by a police chief not brave enough to help save him

    Allison Pearson"

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/pc-keith-palmer-let-police-chief-not-brave-enough-help-save/

    That was my instinctive reaction yesterday. "I didn't leave my car because I didn't have my personal protective equipment" when one of his constables was being killed in front of him. I was disgusted.
    I’m very wary of judging anyone through passing comment for either heroism or cowardice in such situations.

    You get zero notice, and have to act instantly. Sometimes you’re just very very unlucky.

    I’m not sure what I’d do, FWIW. That’s different to what I’d like to think I’d do.
    A trained senior cop should not freeze in such a scenario. He should have at the least have been a distraction for the murdering thug killing one of his men. I am sorry, but staying in the car was not an option open to him.
    I haven’t read the details. He might have been acting under training or protocol.

    I agree it doesn’t look good though.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 49,871
    edited October 2018

    HYUFD said:

    This is because they are not stupid. 'Regulatory' checks cannot be 'de-dramatised' - they are reflections of a legal reality. The legal reality will be that NI will be in a completely different regulatory environment than GB, ruled by Brussels. Goods from GB may not be imported into NI without complying with EU regulations which will eliminate 'frictionless trade' within the UK. It is a complete nonsense and they are quite right to reject it.

    You can't fudge a customs union, or two different regulatory systems.
    Notice Dodds does not oppose the whole UK staying in the Customs Union as May is proposing, just the latest proposition on regulatory checks in GB from the ERG
    No, May's all-UK backstop is apparently based on NI being in alignment with the Single Market but the UK free to diverge - remember if GB was 'fully aligned' with the SM then it would be impossible to claim that Brexit has actually occurred. So in May's scheme you end up with no customs border but with a regulatory border. Not acceptable to the DUP.
    Congratulations, at least, for at last your finally acknowledging that Brexit is a 'you' and not a 'we'
  • archer101auarcher101au Posts: 1,612
    IanB2 said:

    HYUFD said:

    This is because they are not stupid. 'Regulatory' checks cannot be 'de-dramatised' - they are reflections of a legal reality. The legal reality will be that NI will be in a completely different regulatory environment than GB, ruled by Brussels. Goods from GB may not be imported into NI without complying with EU regulations which will eliminate 'frictionless trade' within the UK. It is a complete nonsense and they are quite right to reject it.

    You can't fudge a customs union, or two different regulatory systems.
    Notice Dodds does not oppose the whole UK staying in the Customs Union as May is proposing, just the latest proposition on regulatory checks in GB from the ERG
    No, May's all-UK backstop is apparently based on NI being in alignment with the Single Market but the UK free to diverge - remember if GB was 'fully aligned' with the SM then it would be impossible to claim that Brexit has actually occurred. So in May's scheme you end up with no customs border but with a regulatory border. Not acceptable to the DUP.
    Congratulations, at least, for at last your finally acknowledging that Brexit is a 'you' and not a 'we'
    Nice try. I was referring to May's scheme as 'you' (eg for HYUFD, a Tory) as I don't want to associate it with either myself or the UK, who clearly did not vote for this.
  • Chris_AChris_A Posts: 1,237
    For all you private medicine fans https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0000npw
  • AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    matt said:

    The repeated posting of Twitter comments here in the absence of insight from the poster and a quiet period at work made me look at Twitter (yes, yes I know).

    A question. Is everybody who comments on it an obnoxious sh1t or have I been unlucky. I’ve seen evidence to suggest that the rise of aggressive partisanship can be linked to the rise of social media. I’ve always thought that is correlation rather than causation but now I’m not so sure.

    My unhappy conclusion - there’s no way back and Trump (and, ironically, people like Xi) are our future. It’s nothing to do with an new selfishness as postulated above but wholly to do with connectivity and the democratisation of opinion.

    [that one can use keyboard doesn’t mean what emerges is inherently valuable - to be fair, Apple is helping here with their redone iOS12 keyboard....)]

    I follow nice polite people on Twitter and find Twitter generally a nice polite place. The people I follow include ardent Leavers and fervent Corbynites. One thing all of them have in common is a hinterland.
  • archer101auarcher101au Posts: 1,612
    Mortimer said:

    HYUFD said:

    This is because they are not stupid. 'Regulatory' checks cannot be 'de-dramatised' - they are reflections of a legal reality. The legal reality will be that NI will be in a completely different regulatory environment than GB, ruled by Brussels. Goods from GB may not be imported into NI without complying with EU regulations which will eliminate 'frictionless trade' within the UK. It is a complete nonsense and they are quite right to reject it.

    You can't fudge a customs union, or two different regulatory systems.
    Notice Dodds does not oppose the whole UK staying in the Customs Union as May is proposing, just the latest proposition on regulatory checks in GB from the ERG
    No, May's all-UK backstop is apparently based on NI being in alignment with the Single Market but the UK free to diverge - remember if GB was 'fully aligned' with the SM then it would be impossible to claim that Brexit has actually occurred. So in May's scheme you end up with no customs border but with a regulatory border. Not acceptable to the DUP.
    My reading of this morning’s Times was that the solution lies in not checking goods from NI. The UK will be happy to extend equivalence to EU regs, even if the EU are being all stuffy about doing the same.

    To be honest, goods inward to GB must be the lion share.

    As soon as I read it I thought; ah, finally a solution that might get through Parliament.
    The UK could agree to accept EU regulations without any need for the backstop - this is the solution to the NI border. If there are zero tariffs and the UK accepts EU regs on an equivalence basis, there is no problem at all in our direction. As you say, the issue is that the EU refuse to accept this perfectly obvious solution.

    But I can't see how this solves the backstop issue. I can't read the Times story, but it seems that GB is saying that we will accept inbound goods without interference but that goods going the other way need to be inspected because NI is in a different regulatory environment than GB. The DUP will reject this and so will Parliament.
  • archer101auarcher101au Posts: 1,612
    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    This is because they are not stupid. 'Regulatory' checks cannot be 'de-dramatised' - they are reflections of a legal reality. The legal reality will be that NI will be in a completely different regulatory environment than GB, ruled by Brussels. Goods from GB may not be imported into NI without complying with EU regulations which will eliminate 'frictionless trade' within the UK. It is a complete nonsense and they are quite right to reject it.

    You can't fudge a customs union, or two different regulatory systems.
    Notice Dodds does not oppose the whole UK staying in the Customs Union as May is proposing, just the latest proposition on regulatory checks in GB from the ERG
    No, May's all-UK backstop is apparently based on NI being in alignment with the Single Market but the UK free to diverge - remember if GB was 'fully aligned' with the SM then it would be impossible to claim that Brexit has actually occurred. So in May's scheme you end up with no customs border but with a regulatory border. Not acceptable to the DUP.
    A hypothetical freedom of the whole UK to 'diverge' from the SM once the transition period has ended is not something the DUP could oppose as it would apply to the whole UK. In reality unless the backstop had ended as a technical solution had been found to the Irish border the whole UK would be staying in the SM and CU
    The whole UK staying in the SM/CU until the EU graciously decide to release us is not acceptable and the sooner you Tories realise this the better for your chances of survival. It is not Brexit. How do I know this? Oh yes, because your leader said so.
  • stodgestodge Posts: 13,910

    I’m afraid I think you’re probably right.

    The thing is the Twitter lynchmobbing works: it gets people sacked and policies changed in the real world. So it will continue.

    Tonight's Evening Standard leads with the online trolling of Conservative Mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey. Some of the language (apparently from Labour members and supporters though that's far from clear) is completely unacceptableand depressingly predictable.

    Bailey has been democratically selected as the Conservative candidate and his ethnicity and background are entirely irrelevant to his ability to be Mayor. He has the right to put forward the Conservative case just as I have every right to question, scrutinise and criticise his arguments.

    That's the essence of political debate - it can be a bearpit and if you don't fancy the bearpit you shouldn't argue with the bears - but I have no truck with those who make racial slurs against Bailey. I will criticise his plans, his policies and the Conservative record in London but that's my right as a Londoner in a democratic society.

    As an aside, I've noticed an increase in the number of contributions which simply seem to be what is on someone's Twitter feed. I suppose it's easier to let someone else put forward your point of view than engage in active debate but I don't think it helps democracy and the democratic process to indulge in argument and analysis by proxy.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 49,871

    IanB2 said:

    HYUFD said:

    This is because they are not stupid. 'Regulatory' checks cannot be 'de-dramatised' - they are reflections of a legal reality. The legal reality will be that NI will be in a completely different regulatory environment than GB, ruled by Brussels. Goods from GB may not be imported into NI without complying with EU regulations which will eliminate 'frictionless trade' within the UK. It is a complete nonsense and they are quite right to reject it.

    You can't fudge a customs union, or two different regulatory systems.
    Notice Dodds does not oppose the whole UK staying in the Customs Union as May is proposing, just the latest proposition on regulatory checks in GB from the ERG
    No, May's all-UK backstop is apparently based on NI being in alignment with the Single Market but the UK free to diverge - remember if GB was 'fully aligned' with the SM then it would be impossible to claim that Brexit has actually occurred. So in May's scheme you end up with no customs border but with a regulatory border. Not acceptable to the DUP.
    Congratulations, at least, for at last your finally acknowledging that Brexit is a 'you' and not a 'we'
    Nice try. I was referring to May's scheme as 'you' (eg for HYUFD, a Tory) as I don't want to associate it with either myself or the UK, who clearly did not vote for this.
    Since Brexit clearly will be a 'you' and not a 'we', failing to acknowledge such does you no credit.
  • OblitusSumMeOblitusSumMe Posts: 9,143
    rcs1000 said:

    Yay! I've just passed 3,000 subscribers on YouTube

    Next stop 10,000 by Christmas.

    I have... five different gmail addresses, so I could probably subscribe to your YouTube channel five times. But I haven't.

    I did find it interesting enough to subscribe to once though. Thank you.
  • OblitusSumMeOblitusSumMe Posts: 9,143
    HYUFD said:

    Barnesian said:

    I have put the latest GB polls and the three latest Scottish polls into the EMA and used Electoral Calculus with the Scottish submodel to estimate the number of seats on current polling -and the answer is - static:

    con 302 seats
    lab 269 seats
    LD 17 seats
    SNP 40 seats
    UKIP 0 seats
    PC 3 seats
    Green 1 seat
    NI 18 seats

    Tories 24 short of a majority. Probably minority Lab government.

    Labour needs SNP plus LDs plus PC plus Greens for Corbyn to become PM on those numbers and have a majority of MPs behind him in Parliament
    In the first instance Labour only need those MPs to vote against a Conservative PM. That's a lower bar than having their active support.
  • MortimerMortimer Posts: 14,127
    edited October 2018
    So that settles it.

    The Irish border is just a concocted attempt to force our hand.
  • archer101auarcher101au Posts: 1,612
    IanB2 said:

    IanB2 said:

    HYUFD said:

    This is because they are not stupid. 'Regulatory' checks cannot be 'de-dramatised' - they are reflections of a legal reality. The legal reality will be that NI will be in a completely different regulatory environment than GB, ruled by Brussels. Goods from GB may not be imported into NI without complying with EU regulations which will eliminate 'frictionless trade' within the UK. It is a complete nonsense and they are quite right to reject it.

    You can't fudge a customs union, or two different regulatory systems.
    Notice Dodds does not oppose the whole UK staying in the Customs Union as May is proposing, just the latest proposition on regulatory checks in GB from the ERG
    No, May's all-UK backstop is apparently based on NI being in alignment with the Single Market but the UK free to diverge - remember if GB was 'fully aligned' with the SM then it would be impossible to claim that Brexit has actually occurred. So in May's scheme you end up with no customs border but with a regulatory border. Not acceptable to the DUP.
    Congratulations, at least, for at last your finally acknowledging that Brexit is a 'you' and not a 'we'
    Nice try. I was referring to May's scheme as 'you' (eg for HYUFD, a Tory) as I don't want to associate it with either myself or the UK, who clearly did not vote for this.
    Since Brexit clearly will be a 'you' and not a 'we', failing to acknowledge such does you no credit.
    Actually you will be delighted to know that I have just arrived back in the UK just in time to take charge of the Brexit negotiations.
  • dodradedodrade Posts: 597

    HYUFD said:

    Barnesian said:

    I have put the latest GB polls and the three latest Scottish polls into the EMA and used Electoral Calculus with the Scottish submodel to estimate the number of seats on current polling -and the answer is - static:

    con 302 seats
    lab 269 seats
    LD 17 seats
    SNP 40 seats
    UKIP 0 seats
    PC 3 seats
    Green 1 seat
    NI 18 seats

    Tories 24 short of a majority. Probably minority Lab government.

    Labour needs SNP plus LDs plus PC plus Greens for Corbyn to become PM on those numbers and have a majority of MPs behind him in Parliament
    In the first instance Labour only need those MPs to vote against a Conservative PM. That's a lower bar than having their active support.
    How long would such a government last though? That's too many parties to keep happy at once, Cameron only had the Lib Dems to deal with.
  • stodgestodge Posts: 13,910
    Mortimer said:


    So that settles it.

    The Irish border is just a concocted attempt to force our hand.

    I have to say having seen pictures of the Swiss-German border I did wonder what all the fuss was about but then we aren't trying to get the same kind of relationship with the EU as the Swiss.

  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,216
    German industry warned that Europe risks sinking into chaos and trade will collapse if U.K. and European Union leaders fail to resolve their differences on the future of Britain’s relationship with the bloc, stepping up pressure amid a final push for a deal.

    “The next EU summit in two weeks must bring a breakthrough in the talks,” Joachim Lang, managing director of Germany’s powerful BDI industrial lobby, said Tuesday at a press conference in Berlin. “Otherwise, Europe is in danger of sliding into a disorderly Brexit. The result would be a massive crisis.”

    The fallout of a no-deal Brexit could cause German exports to the U.K. to tumble as much as 57 percent as tariffs and customs barriers impede trade, the IW economic institute in Cologne said in a study published Tuesday. Industries that would be particularly hard hit include logistics, autos, aerospace, pharmaceuticals and chemicals, according to the BDI.


    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-09/german-industry-warns-of-massive-crisis-from-no-deal-brexit
  • Forgive me for being stupid but how does equivalence work with medical device regulations. Is an unlicensed Viagra pill from India equivalent to the real thing ? In our industry it is mostly black or white as people's lives are at risk. In fact the new European mdr closes down the use of equivalence due to its abuse as with metal hip implants
  • MortimerMortimer Posts: 14,127
    edited October 2018

    Forgive me for being stupid but how does equivalence work with medical device regulations. Is an unlicensed Viagra pill from India equivalent to the real thing ? In our industry it is mostly black or white as people's lives are at risk. In fact the new European mdr closes down the use of equivalence due to its abuse as with metal hip implants

    Equivalence is the understanding that something licensed by one competent authority like the EU will be acceptable to another like the UK.

    So no, your example is pretty bad. And it wouldn’t be accepted.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 123,206

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    This is because they are not stupid. 'Regulatory' checks cannot be 'de-dramatised' - they are reflections of a legal reality. The legal reality will be that NI will be in a completely different regulatory environment than GB, ruled by Brussels. Goods from GB may not be imported into NI without complying with EU regulations which will eliminate 'frictionless trade' within the UK. It is a complete nonsense and they are quite right to reject it.

    You can't fudge a customs union, or two different regulatory systems.
    Notice Dodds does not oppose the whole UK staying in the Customs Union as May is proposing, just the latest proposition on regulatory checks in GB from the ERG
    No, May's all-UK backstop is apparently based on NI being in alignment with the Single Market but the UK free to diverge - remember if GB was 'fully aligned' with the SM then it would be impossible to claim that Brexit has actually occurred. So in May's scheme you end up with no customs border but with a regulatory border. Not acceptable to the DUP.
    A hypothetical freedom of the whole UK to 'diverge' from the SM once the transition period has ended is not something the DUP could oppose as it would apply to the whole UK. In reality unless the backstop had ended as a technical solution had been found to the Irish border the whole UK would be staying in the SM and CU
    The whole UK staying in the SM/CU until the EU graciously decide to release us is not acceptable and the sooner you Tories realise this the better for your chances of survival. It is not Brexit. How do I know this? Oh yes, because your leader said so.
    Polling also shows neither British voters nor the Scots accept No Deal, so a backstop is required to get a transition period, otherwise there will likely be EURef2 before March 29th 2019 which Remain would win.

    SM/CU is better than No Brexit at all, though most likely it will be CU with some regulatory alignment for the whole UK until a technical solution is found for the Irish border
  • RobDRobD Posts: 59,936

    German industry warned that Europe risks sinking into chaos and trade will collapse if U.K. and European Union leaders fail to resolve their differences on the future of Britain’s relationship with the bloc, stepping up pressure amid a final push for a deal.

    “The next EU summit in two weeks must bring a breakthrough in the talks,” Joachim Lang, managing director of Germany’s powerful BDI industrial lobby, said Tuesday at a press conference in Berlin. “Otherwise, Europe is in danger of sliding into a disorderly Brexit. The result would be a massive crisis.”

    The fallout of a no-deal Brexit could cause German exports to the U.K. to tumble as much as 57 percent as tariffs and customs barriers impede trade, the IW economic institute in Cologne said in a study published Tuesday. Industries that would be particularly hard hit include logistics, autos, aerospace, pharmaceuticals and chemicals, according to the BDI.


    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-09/german-industry-warns-of-massive-crisis-from-no-deal-brexit

    Time to dig up an old DD tweet? :p
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 78,220
    Looks like noone has changed their mind since GE17 in Scotland to me.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 123,206
    'A Dangerous Dynasty: House of Assad' on BBC2 now
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 52,628

    German industry warned that Europe risks sinking into chaos and trade will collapse if U.K. and European Union leaders fail to resolve their differences on the future of Britain’s relationship with the bloc, stepping up pressure amid a final push for a deal.

    “The next EU summit in two weeks must bring a breakthrough in the talks,” Joachim Lang, managing director of Germany’s powerful BDI industrial lobby, said Tuesday at a press conference in Berlin. “Otherwise, Europe is in danger of sliding into a disorderly Brexit. The result would be a massive crisis.”

    The fallout of a no-deal Brexit could cause German exports to the U.K. to tumble as much as 57 percent as tariffs and customs barriers impede trade, the IW economic institute in Cologne said in a study published Tuesday. Industries that would be particularly hard hit include logistics, autos, aerospace, pharmaceuticals and chemicals, according to the BDI.


    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-09/german-industry-warns-of-massive-crisis-from-no-deal-brexit

    German business tells Brussels: stop being twats and sort this.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 78,220
    Looks like Haley is ruling out a tilt a POTUS in 2020 to me in her letter.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 123,206

    HYUFD said:

    Barnesian said:

    I have put the latest GB polls and the three latest Scottish polls into the EMA and used Electoral Calculus with the Scottish submodel to estimate the number of seats on current polling -and the answer is - static:

    con 302 seats
    lab 269 seats
    LD 17 seats
    SNP 40 seats
    UKIP 0 seats
    PC 3 seats
    Green 1 seat
    NI 18 seats

    Tories 24 short of a majority. Probably minority Lab government.

    Labour needs SNP plus LDs plus PC plus Greens for Corbyn to become PM on those numbers and have a majority of MPs behind him in Parliament
    In the first instance Labour only need those MPs to vote against a Conservative PM. That's a lower bar than having their active support.
    Which they will then need to be able to govern or get any legislation passed
  • rpjsrpjs Posts: 3,787
    kle4 said:

    Omnium said:

    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Fenman said:

    Jonathan said:

    No WTO wtf?
    If true this is the death of Brexit
    There are three fundamental problems with the US as a trading partner right now.

    Firstly, President Trump is simply not a fan of free trade. To his mind, when you and I enter into a voluntary agreement to exchange goods or services for money - well, there's one winner and one loser.

    Secondly, existing agreements mean nothing. Like contracts with subcontractors, they are things to be torn up if you gain a momentary advantage. Treaty says you can't impose tariffs on country with which you have agreement? F*ck it.

    Thirdly, and most fundamentally, other countries are either subordinate to the US, or a threat to it.

    But, Trump won’t be in office forever.
    As I said, "right now".

    Hopefully who follow him will be better, but that maybe be more than six years away.
    I wouldn't rule out him trying to change the two-term limit if he gets re-elected.
    He can be like Evo Morales who, after losing a referendum on changing the rules to allow him to run again, was ever so lucky that the nation's top court said rules on term limits in the constitution that, IIRC, Morales himself brought in, should be scrapped. Just have the Supreme Court say the two term limit is unconstitutional.

    Just a joke of course before anyone starts on about whatever amendment it was which brought in the limit.
    Well quite, the Constitution, as amended, is quite clear that the President is limited to two terms. That said, it's worth noting that there is no actual mechanism for any SCOTUS decision to be enforced, it's purely convention that the executive and states obey. As the most-Trumpian previous President and subject of a popular musical entertainment once said, "[The Chief Justice] has made his decision; now let him enforce it!"
  • Mortimer said:

    Forgive me for being stupid but how does equivalence work with medical device regulations. Is an unlicensed Viagra pill from India equivalent to the real thing ? In our industry it is mostly black or white as people's lives are at risk. In fact the new European mdr closes down the use of equivalence due to its abuse as with metal hip implants

    Equivalence is the understanding that something licensed by one competent authority like the EU will be acceptable to another like the UK.

    So no, your example is pretty bad. And it wouldn’t be accepted.
    The USA and EC have been working on such an agreement for 25 years with no success. In fact there is not one example anywhere in the world. It is great that someone without a clue thinks it will be alright without a shred of evidence. In Africa almost half of all drugs are counterfeit. The annual death rate is massive. So yes the example is relevant.

    There are only 2 options with medicine. Brino or hard brexit. No middle ground.
  • YBarddCwscYBarddCwsc Posts: 7,172
    edited October 2018
    Pulpstar said:

    Looks like noone has changed their mind since GE17 in Scotland to me.

    In practice, & barring a Brexit catastrophe, I'd expect the SNP to lose a fair number of seats to both Tories & Labour (as tactical voting on the Unionist side begins to really bite).

    There were four constituencies decided by less than 100 votes in the 2017 election - & incredibly, the SNP clung on in all four. (Two versus Lab, one versus the Tories, one versus the LibDems)

    That luck won't hold. My guess is that all those seats will fall next time.

    We saw in tactical voting against the Tories in the 1980s and 1990s that it takes a few elections to bite.

    But, when it does, it really bites.

    The SNP may well preserve their vote share, but I think they will lose more seats in the next general election (from a magnificent high water mark, of course).
  • ThomasNasheThomasNashe Posts: 5,331
    Pulpstar said:

    Looks like Haley is ruling out a tilt a POTUS in 2020 to me in her letter.

    She was pretty clear about that in the press conference. Said she would be supporting Trump re-election campaign.
  • ralphmalphralphmalph Posts: 2,201

    Forgive me for being stupid but how does equivalence work with medical device regulations. Is an unlicensed Viagra pill from India equivalent to the real thing ? In our industry it is mostly black or white as people's lives are at risk. In fact the new European mdr closes down the use of equivalence due to its abuse as with metal hip implants

    Viagra is not a medical device.
  • Ah, a Scottish thread! Slumming it in Glasgow for a second week in a row :)

    Trying to capture - on film! - as much of the Central Belt and everything south of there as possible, but Ayr to Stranraer STILL out of commission due to an unstable building next to Ayr station, and the line to Oban is undergoing engineering work for most of this week. Oh well...
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,426
    HYUFD said:

    'A Dangerous Dynasty: House of Assad' on BBC2 now

    House of Assaddo or house of Asadist would have been better titles. But if it's a serious documentary maybe they wouldn't have been appropriate.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,426

    Ah, a Scottish thread! Slumming it in Glasgow for a second week in a row :)

    Trying to capture - on film! - as much of the Central Belt and everything south of there as possible, but Ayr to Stranraer STILL out of commission due to an unstable building next to Ayr station, and the line to Oban is undergoing engineering work for most of this week. Oh well...

    How unstable? Did Malcolm's turnips go a bit off-course?
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 71,426
    edited October 2018

    Pulpstar said:

    Looks like Haley is ruling out a tilt a POTUS in 2020 to me in her letter.

    She was pretty clear about that in the press conference. Said she would be supporting Trump re-election campaign.
    I personally think Haley's departure is a significant blow to Trump. Not only is she female and non-white among a male, stale and pale coterie, she was one of his vanishingly small number of vaguely effective, sane and competent senior figures.

    That said, I expect him to run again - it's fifty years since an eligible President failed to be renominated, and 90 years since one voluntarily withdrew. And if he runs, he has a fair chance of winning.
  • RobDRobD Posts: 59,936

    Mortimer said:

    Forgive me for being stupid but how does equivalence work with medical device regulations. Is an unlicensed Viagra pill from India equivalent to the real thing ? In our industry it is mostly black or white as people's lives are at risk. In fact the new European mdr closes down the use of equivalence due to its abuse as with metal hip implants

    Equivalence is the understanding that something licensed by one competent authority like the EU will be acceptable to another like the UK.

    So no, your example is pretty bad. And it wouldn’t be accepted.
    The USA and EC have been working on such an agreement for 25 years with no success. In fact there is not one example anywhere in the world. It is great that someone without a clue thinks it will be alright without a shred of evidence. In Africa almost half of all drugs are counterfeit. The annual death rate is massive. So yes the example is relevant.

    There are only 2 options with medicine. Brino or hard brexit. No middle ground.
    Given we are in perfect alignment with the EU at the moment, it should be easy.
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,414

    Pulpstar said:

    Looks like noone has changed their mind since GE17 in Scotland to me.

    In practice, & barring a Brexit catastrophe, I'd expect the SNP to lose a fair number of seats to both Tories & Labour (as tactical voting on the Unionist side begins to really bite).

    There were four constituencies decided by less than 100 votes in the 2017 election - & incredibly, the SNP clung on in all four. (Two versus Lab, one versus the Tories, one versus the LibDems)

    That luck won't hold. My guess is that all those seats will fall next time.

    We saw in tactical voting against the Tories in the 1980s and 1990s that it takes a few elections to bite.

    But, when it does, it really bites.

    The SNP may well preserve their vote share, but I think they will lose more seats in the next general election (from a magnificent high water mark, of course).
    But what of the likes of our very own @BigG who would vote SNP to keep out Labour. And a Labour equivalent? How can one measure pro-Union tactical voting against anti-Labour or anti-Tory?
  • ydoethur said:

    Ah, a Scottish thread! Slumming it in Glasgow for a second week in a row :)

    Trying to capture - on film! - as much of the Central Belt and everything south of there as possible, but Ayr to Stranraer STILL out of commission due to an unstable building next to Ayr station, and the line to Oban is undergoing engineering work for most of this week. Oh well...

    How unstable? Did Malcolm's turnips go a bit off-course?
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-45328146

    Contractors found crumbling and exposed roof areas at the former Station Hotel next door.

    Councillors said the problems "present a significant and immediate danger to people and places around the station".

    No services are running between Ayr and Girvan and there is a reduced service between Ayr and Glasgow Central.

    It is unclear how long the rail disruption is expected to continue for.

    ScotRail has refused to comment on reports that the station could be closed completely from Sunday.

    The company has apologised to customers and detailed the changes to services on its website.
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 63,159
    edited October 2018
    Has anyone seen the remastered WWI films into colour.

    Unbelievable, fascinating and bringing it very much alive. Going to be shown in all secondary schools prior to the centenary in November.

    We are so blessed with the proper use of modern technology
  • ralphmalphralphmalph Posts: 2,201

    Has anyone seen the remastered WWI films into colour.

    Unbelievable, fascinating and bringing it very much alive. Going to be shown in all secondary schools prior to the centenary in November.

    We are so blessed with the proper use of modern technology

    Are they on youtube?
  • archer101auarcher101au Posts: 1,612
    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:



    Notice Dodds does not oppose the whole UK staying in the Customs Union as May is proposing, just the latest proposition on regulatory checks in GB from the ERG

    No, May's all-UK backstop is apparently based on NI being in alignment with the Single Market but the UK free to diverge - remember if GB was 'fully aligned' with the SM then it would be impossible to claim that Brexit has actually occurred. So in May's scheme you end up with no customs border but with a regulatory border. Not acceptable to the DUP.
    A hypothetical freedom of the whole UK to 'diverge' from the SM once the transition period has ended is not something the DUP could oppose as it would apply to the whole UK. In reality unless the backstop had ended as a technical solution had been found to the Irish border the whole UK would be staying in the SM and CU
    The whole UK staying in the SM/CU until the EU graciously decide to release us is not acceptable and the sooner you Tories realise this the better for your chances of survival. It is not Brexit. How do I know this? Oh yes, because your leader said so.

    Polling also shows neither British voters nor the Scots accept No Deal, so a backstop is required to get a transition period, otherwise there will likely be EURef2 before March 29th 2019 which Remain would win.

    SM/CU is better than No Brexit at all, though most likely it will be CU with some regulatory alignment for the whole UK until a technical solution is found for the Irish border

    It simply doesn't matter what your polls say about no deal or a second referendum.

    A second referendum will not happen. And most Tory supporters (and the overwhelming majority of members) will find SM/CU unacceptable - and you cannot defend it because your PM is on record saying the same thing. You did not form a Government by getting a majority of votes, you get a majority by getting your own supporters to vote for you. If you try to implement a non-Brexit, you will get destroyed in the next election. But up to you. If you can't get your leader to face reality, get set for 30 years of opposition.
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 63,159
    edited October 2018

    Pulpstar said:

    Looks like noone has changed their mind since GE17 in Scotland to me.

    In practice, & barring a Brexit catastrophe, I'd expect the SNP to lose a fair number of seats to both Tories & Labour (as tactical voting on the Unionist side begins to really bite).

    There were four constituencies decided by less than 100 votes in the 2017 election - & incredibly, the SNP clung on in all four. (Two versus Lab, one versus the Tories, one versus the LibDems)

    That luck won't hold. My guess is that all those seats will fall next time.

    We saw in tactical voting against the Tories in the 1980s and 1990s that it takes a few elections to bite.

    But, when it does, it really bites.

    The SNP may well preserve their vote share, but I think they will lose more seats in the next general election (from a magnificent high water mark, of course).
    Is that based on your knowledge of the Scots , how they see independence, how they view labour today, or wishful thinking

    And if there is a move to the union it will go to Ruth Davidson and the conservatives who are the unionist party in Scotland
  • YBarddCwscYBarddCwsc Posts: 7,172
    dixiedean said:

    Pulpstar said:

    Looks like noone has changed their mind since GE17 in Scotland to me.

    In practice, & barring a Brexit catastrophe, I'd expect the SNP to lose a fair number of seats to both Tories & Labour (as tactical voting on the Unionist side begins to really bite).

    There were four constituencies decided by less than 100 votes in the 2017 election - & incredibly, the SNP clung on in all four. (Two versus Lab, one versus the Tories, one versus the LibDems)

    That luck won't hold. My guess is that all those seats will fall next time.

    We saw in tactical voting against the Tories in the 1980s and 1990s that it takes a few elections to bite.

    But, when it does, it really bites.

    The SNP may well preserve their vote share, but I think they will lose more seats in the next general election (from a magnificent high water mark, of course).
    But what of the likes of our very own @BigG who would vote SNP to keep out Labour. And a Labour equivalent? How can one measure pro-Union tactical voting against anti-Labour or anti-Tory?
    Tactical voting is complicated. But, there are now a lot of Scottish seats with tiny majorities.

    There will for sure be seats changing hands in Scotland at the next general election.
  • Has anyone seen the remastered WWI films into colour.

    Unbelievable, fascinating and bringing it very much alive. Going to be shown in all secondary schools prior to the centenary in November.

    We are so blessed with the proper use of modern technology

    Are they on youtube?
    They have been on Sky and might be on you tube, but they are just wonderful. Indeed anyone with an old photograph could well recognise their family member
  • Pulpstar said:

    Looks like noone has changed their mind since GE17 in Scotland to me.

    In practice, & barring a Brexit catastrophe, I'd expect the SNP to lose a fair number of seats to both Tories & Labour (as tactical voting on the Unionist side begins to really bite).

    There were four constituencies decided by less than 100 votes in the 2017 election - & incredibly, the SNP clung on in all four. (Two versus Lab, one versus the Tories, one versus the LibDems)

    That luck won't hold. My guess is that all those seats will fall next time.

    We saw in tactical voting against the Tories in the 1980s and 1990s that it takes a few elections to bite.

    But, when it does, it really bites.

    The SNP may well preserve their vote share, but I think they will lose more seats in the next general election (from a magnificent high water mark, of course).
    More likely tactical voting will go the other way. The Unionist/Nationalist divide is going to matter less and less as we move further and further away from the independence referendum being an issue. But the Left/Right divide between Labour and Tories will matter more than it has since the 80s. With a close election nobody is going to be casting unionist tactical votes.
  • YBarddCwscYBarddCwsc Posts: 7,172

    Pulpstar said:

    Looks like noone has changed their mind since GE17 in Scotland to me.

    In practice, & barring a Brexit catastrophe, I'd expect the SNP to lose a fair number of seats to both Tories & Labour (as tactical voting on the Unionist side begins to really bite).

    There were four constituencies decided by less than 100 votes in the 2017 election - & incredibly, the SNP clung on in all four. (Two versus Lab, one versus the Tories, one versus the LibDems)

    That luck won't hold. My guess is that all those seats will fall next time.

    We saw in tactical voting against the Tories in the 1980s and 1990s that it takes a few elections to bite.

    But, when it does, it really bites.

    The SNP may well preserve their vote share, but I think they will lose more seats in the next general election (from a magnificent high water mark, of course).
    Is that based on your knowledge of the Scots , how they see independence, how they view labour today, or wishful thinking
    I am making a very obvious point. There are 4 SNP seats with majorities under a 100.

    There are another 8 with a majority of under 500 (now SNP, Tory & Labour).

    There will be seats changing hands at the next general election in Scotland (many more than in Wales).

    There are no longer any safe seats in Scotland (fortunately for the Scots).

    I think it is likely that the the SNP will lose more than they gain simply on statistical grounds. They still have the majority of the seats. They have more to lose!!
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758

    Forgive me for being stupid but how does equivalence work with medical device regulations. Is an unlicensed Viagra pill from India equivalent to the real thing ? In our industry it is mostly black or white as people's lives are at risk. In fact the new European mdr closes down the use of equivalence due to its abuse as with metal hip implants

    I dont know medtech but in pharma, for example, the FDA will accept Health Canada or EMA inspections of facilities so that they have to been seen less frequently by the FDA itself
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758

    Mortimer said:

    Forgive me for being stupid but how does equivalence work with medical device regulations. Is an unlicensed Viagra pill from India equivalent to the real thing ? In our industry it is mostly black or white as people's lives are at risk. In fact the new European mdr closes down the use of equivalence due to its abuse as with metal hip implants

    Equivalence is the understanding that something licensed by one competent authority like the EU will be acceptable to another like the UK.

    So no, your example is pretty bad. And it wouldn’t be accepted.
    The USA and EC have been working on such an agreement for 25 years with no success. In fact there is not one example anywhere in the world. It is great that someone without a clue thinks it will be alright without a shred of evidence. In Africa almost half of all drugs are counterfeit. The annual death rate is massive. So yes the example is relevant.

    There are only 2 options with medicine. Brino or hard brexit. No middle ground.
    Um. No. Sorry.
  • HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:



    Notice Dodds does not oppose the whole UK staying in the Customs Union as May is proposing, just the latest proposition on regulatory checks in GB from the ERG

    No, May's all-UK backstop is apparently based on NI being in alignment with the Single Market but the UK free to diverge - remember if GB was 'fully aligned' with the SM then it would be impossible to claim that Brexit has actually occurred. So in May's scheme you end up with no customs border but with a regulatory border. Not acceptable to the DUP.
    A hypothetical freedom of the whole UK to 'diverge' from the SM once the transition period has ended is not something the DUP could oppose as it would apply to the whole UK. In reality unless the backstop had ended as a technical solution had been found to the Irish border the whole UK would be staying in the SM and CU
    The whole UK staying in the SM/CU until the EU graciously decide to release us is not acceptable and the sooner you Tories realise this the better for your chances of survival. It is not Brexit. How do I know this? Oh yes, because your leader said so.
    Polling also shows neither British voters nor the Scots accept No Deal, so a backstop is required to get a transition period, otherwise there will likely be EURef2 before March 29th 2019 which Remain would win.

    SM/CU is better than No Brexit at all, though most likely it will be CU with some regulatory alignment for the whole UK until a technical solution is found for the Irish border

    It simply doesn't matter what your polls say about no deal or a second referendum.

    A second referendum will not happen. And most Tory supporters (and the overwhelming majority of members) will find SM/CU unacceptable - and you cannot defend it because your PM is on record saying the same thing. You did not form a Government by getting a majority of votes, you get a majority by getting your own supporters to vote for you. If you try to implement a non-Brexit, you will get destroyed in the next election. But up to you. If you can't get your leader to face reality, get set for 30 years of opposition.

    With respect you are losing the plot. You cannot say a second referendum will not happen, as the ERG push harder it becomes more likely.

    And the idea the conservatives will be in opposition for 30 years is hyperbole

    You sound very bitter but that is not uncommon on both sides, sadly
  • dixiedean said:

    Pulpstar said:

    Looks like noone has changed their mind since GE17 in Scotland to me.

    In practice, & barring a Brexit catastrophe, I'd expect the SNP to lose a fair number of seats to both Tories & Labour (as tactical voting on the Unionist side begins to really bite).

    There were four constituencies decided by less than 100 votes in the 2017 election - & incredibly, the SNP clung on in all four. (Two versus Lab, one versus the Tories, one versus the LibDems)

    That luck won't hold. My guess is that all those seats will fall next time.

    We saw in tactical voting against the Tories in the 1980s and 1990s that it takes a few elections to bite.

    But, when it does, it really bites.

    The SNP may well preserve their vote share, but I think they will lose more seats in the next general election (from a magnificent high water mark, of course).
    But what of the likes of our very own @BigG who would vote SNP to keep out Labour. And a Labour equivalent? How can one measure pro-Union tactical voting against anti-Labour or anti-Tory?
    Tactical voting is complicated. But, there are now a lot of Scottish seats with tiny majorities.

    There will for sure be seats changing hands in Scotland at the next general election.
    Yes - away from labour
  • YBarddCwscYBarddCwsc Posts: 7,172

    dixiedean said:

    Pulpstar said:

    Looks like noone has changed their mind since GE17 in Scotland to me.

    In practice, & barring a Brexit catastrophe, I'd expect the SNP to lose a fair number of seats to both Tories & Labour (as tactical voting on the Unionist side begins to really bite).

    There were four constituencies decided by less than 100 votes in the 2017 election - & incredibly, the SNP clung on in all four. (Two versus Lab, one versus the Tories, one versus the LibDems)

    That luck won't hold. My guess is that all those seats will fall next time.

    We saw in tactical voting against the Tories in the 1980s and 1990s that it takes a few elections to bite.

    But, when it does, it really bites.

    The SNP may well preserve their vote share, but I think they will lose more seats in the next general election (from a magnificent high water mark, of course).
    But what of the likes of our very own @BigG who would vote SNP to keep out Labour. And a Labour equivalent? How can one measure pro-Union tactical voting against anti-Labour or anti-Tory?
    Tactical voting is complicated. But, there are now a lot of Scottish seats with tiny majorities.

    There will for sure be seats changing hands in Scotland at the next general election.
    Yes - away from labour
    I am by no means a fan of SLAB (which is worse even than Welsh Labour).

    But, I think Labour will gain a modest number of seats in Scotland at the next election.
  • Pulpstar said:

    Looks like noone has changed their mind since GE17 in Scotland to me.

    In practice, & barring a Brexit catastrophe, I'd expect the SNP to lose a fair number of seats to both Tories & Labour (as tactical voting on the Unionist side begins to really bite).

    There were four constituencies decided by less than 100 votes in the 2017 election - & incredibly, the SNP clung on in all four. (Two versus Lab, one versus the Tories, one versus the LibDems)

    That luck won't hold. My guess is that all those seats will fall next time.

    We saw in tactical voting against the Tories in the 1980s and 1990s that it takes a few elections to bite.

    But, when it does, it really bites.

    The SNP may well preserve their vote share, but I think they will lose more seats in the next general election (from a magnificent high water mark, of course).
    Is that based on your knowledge of the Scots , how they see independence, how they view labour today, or wishful thinking
    I am making a very obvious point. There are 4 SNP seats with majorities under a 100.

    There are another 8 with a majority of under 500 (now SNP, Tory & Labour).

    There will be seats changing hands at the next general election in Scotland (many more than in Wales).

    There are no longer any safe seats in Scotland (fortunately for the Scots).

    I think it is likely that the the SNP will lose more than they gain simply on statistical grounds. They still have the majority of the seats. They have more to lose!!
    With respect you do not know Scotland or its politics.

    The SNP outflank labour on progressive politics, labour is led in Scotland by a Corbyn clone and they are publically fighting each other

    As someone said on here earlier there are only two Scots politicians leading the politics in Scotland, and both are women. Nicola Sturgeon and Ruth Davidson
  • NEW THREAD

  • dixiedean said:

    Pulpstar said:

    Looks like noone has changed their mind since GE17 in Scotland to me.

    In practice, & barring a Brexit catastrophe, I'd expect the SNP to lose a fair number of seats to both Tories & Labour (as tactical voting on the Unionist side begins to really bite).

    There were four constituencies decided by less than 100 votes in the 2017 election - & incredibly, the SNP clung on in all four. (Two versus Lab, one versus the Tories, one versus the LibDems)

    That luck won't hold. My guess is that all those seats will fall next time.

    We saw in tactical voting against the Tories in the 1980s and 1990s that it takes a few elections to bite.

    But, when it does, it really bites.

    The SNP may well preserve their vote share, but I think they will lose more seats in the next general election (from a magnificent high water mark, of course).
    But what of the likes of our very own @BigG who would vote SNP to keep out Labour. And a Labour equivalent? How can one measure pro-Union tactical voting against anti-Labour or anti-Tory?
    Tactical voting is complicated. But, there are now a lot of Scottish seats with tiny majorities.

    There will for sure be seats changing hands in Scotland at the next general election.
    Yes - away from labour
    I am by no means a fan of SLAB (which is worse even than Welsh Labour).

    But, I think Labour will gain a modest number of seats in Scotland at the next election.
    There is no basis for that in present Scots politics. The SNP will continue to be the voice of Scotland. I would say both labour and the conservatives are more likely to lose seats to the SNP than the other way round
  • justin124justin124 Posts: 11,527
    The SNP have pretty consistently underperformed their poll ratings in recent years , and these polls confirm my expectation that they will struggle to reach 35% at the next Westminster election. Labour could well poll 30%.
  • YBarddCwscYBarddCwsc Posts: 7,172



    With respect you do not know Scotland or its politics.

    The SNP outflank labour on progressive politics, labour is led in Scotland by a Corbyn clone and they are publically fighting each other

    As someone said on here earlier there are only two Scots politicians leading the politics in Scotland, and both are women. Nicola Sturgeon and Ruth Davidson

    We should probably agree to defer to our Scots posters in that case.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 123,206

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:



    Notice Dodds does not oppose the whole UK staying in the Customs Union as May is proposing, just the latest proposition on regulatory checks in GB from the ERG

    No, May's all-UK backstop is apparently based on NI being in alignment with the Single Market but the UK free to diverge - remember if GB was 'fully aligned' with the SM then it would be impossible to claim that Brexit has actually occurred. So in May's scheme you end up with no customs border but with a regulatory border. Not acceptable to the DUP.
    A hypothetical freedom of the whole UK to 'diverge' from the SM once the transition period has ended is not something the DUP could oppose as it would apply to the whole UK. In reality unless the backstop had ended as a technical solution had been found to the Irish border the whole UK would be staying in the SM and CU
    The whole UK staying in the SM/CU until the EU graciously decide to release us is not acceptable and the sooner you Tories realise this the better for your chances of survival. It is not Brexit. How do I know this? Oh yes, because your leader said so.
    Polling also shows neither British voters nor the Scots accept No Deal, so a backstop is required to get a transition period, otherwise there will likely be EURef2 before March 29th 2019 which Remain would win.

    SM/CU is better than No Brexit at all, though most likely it will be CU with some regulatory alignment for the whole UK until a technical solution is found for the Irish border

    It simply doesn't matter what your polls say about no deal or a second referendum.

    A second referendum will not happen. And most Tory supporters (and the overwhelming majority of members) will find SM/CU unacceptable - and you cannot defend it because your PM is on record saying the same thing. You did not form a Government by getting a majority of votes, you get a majority by getting your own supporters to vote for you. If you try to implement a non-Brexit, you will get destroyed in the next election. But up to you. If you can't get your leader to face reality, get set for 30 years of opposition.

    I am afraid a second referendum will happen if No Deal, probably before the Brexit date.

    A 10% lead for Remain over No Deal makes No Deal Brexit unsustainable and it will be the voters who reverse it
  • Wulfrun_PhilWulfrun_Phil Posts: 4,780

    German industry warned that Europe risks sinking into chaos and trade will collapse if U.K. and European Union leaders fail to resolve their differences on the future of Britain’s relationship with the bloc, stepping up pressure amid a final push for a deal.

    “The next EU summit in two weeks must bring a breakthrough in the talks,” Joachim Lang, managing director of Germany’s powerful BDI industrial lobby, said Tuesday at a press conference in Berlin. “Otherwise, Europe is in danger of sliding into a disorderly Brexit. The result would be a massive crisis.”

    The fallout of a no-deal Brexit could cause German exports to the U.K. to tumble as much as 57 percent as tariffs and customs barriers impede trade, the IW economic institute in Cologne said in a study published Tuesday. Industries that would be particularly hard hit include logistics, autos, aerospace, pharmaceuticals and chemicals, according to the BDI.


    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-09/german-industry-warns-of-massive-crisis-from-no-deal-brexit

    In 2017, the value of imports to the UK from Germany totalled £84bn, compared to just £37bn of exports from the UK to Germany. Germany's trade surplus with the UK of £47bn was the second largest surplus with any country in the world, just £3bn behind that with the USA of £50bn.

    If leaving on WTO terms really would lead to significant barriers to future trade, the BDI should be worried. The question is, has May the nous to recognise this weakness of the other side's position, and see that the Holy Roman Emperor has no clothes, regardless of all the claims so far to the contrary.


  • With respect you do not know Scotland or its politics.

    The SNP outflank labour on progressive politics, labour is led in Scotland by a Corbyn clone and they are publically fighting each other

    As someone said on here earlier there are only two Scots politicians leading the politics in Scotland, and both are women. Nicola Sturgeon and Ruth Davidson

    We should probably agree to defer to our Scots posters in that case.
    I have a claim to that with my Scottish family and connection with Scotland going back 65 years.

    It is why I do keep an interest in Scottish politics and see it daily through the family whats app and facebook conversations


  • With respect you do not know Scotland or its politics.

    The SNP outflank labour on progressive politics, labour is led in Scotland by a Corbyn clone and they are publically fighting each other

    As someone said on here earlier there are only two Scots politicians leading the politics in Scotland, and both are women. Nicola Sturgeon and Ruth Davidson

    We should probably agree to defer to our Scots posters in that case.
    I have a claim to that with my Scottish family and connection with Scotland going back 65 years.

    It is why I do keep an interest in Scottish politics and see it daily through the family whats app and facebook conversations
  • justin124justin124 Posts: 11,527



    With respect you do not know Scotland or its politics.

    The SNP outflank labour on progressive politics, labour is led in Scotland by a Corbyn clone and they are publically fighting each other

    As someone said on here earlier there are only two Scots politicians leading the politics in Scotland, and both are women. Nicola Sturgeon and Ruth Davidson

    We should probably agree to defer to our Scots posters in that case.
    I have a claim to that with my Scottish family and connection with Scotland going back 65 years.

    It is why I do keep an interest in Scottish politics and see it daily through the family whats app and facebook conversations
    Did you forecast the 2017 outcome in Scotland?
  • justin124 said:



    With respect you do not know Scotland or its politics.

    The SNP outflank labour on progressive politics, labour is led in Scotland by a Corbyn clone and they are publically fighting each other

    As someone said on here earlier there are only two Scots politicians leading the politics in Scotland, and both are women. Nicola Sturgeon and Ruth Davidson

    We should probably agree to defer to our Scots posters in that case.
    I have a claim to that with my Scottish family and connection with Scotland going back 65 years.

    It is why I do keep an interest in Scottish politics and see it daily through the family whats app and facebook conversations
    Did you forecast the 2017 outcome in Scotland?
    Yes
  • justin124 said:



    With respect you do not know Scotland or its politics.

    The SNP outflank labour on progressive politics, labour is led in Scotland by a Corbyn clone and they are publically fighting each other

    As someone said on here earlier there are only two Scots politicians leading the politics in Scotland, and both are women. Nicola Sturgeon and Ruth Davidson

    We should probably agree to defer to our Scots posters in that case.
    I have a claim to that with my Scottish family and connection with Scotland going back 65 years.

    It is why I do keep an interest in Scottish politics and see it daily through the family whats app and facebook conversations
    Did you forecast the 2017 outcome in Scotland?
    Yes
    I normally find BigG is very close to what my friends and colleagues say in Scotland.

    I do note that there is some stirring of thought that the SNP have been in charge for ages and education & health aren't quite as good as we keep being told. I don't know if / when political gravity will set in. I guess it's kept at bay as long as they sell something that Westminster doesn't.

    That said, the public finances up here are mad. 2018 GERS figures; Revenue Inc North Sea share of £59bn (8% of UK), Expenditure £73bn (9% of UK) - deficit of £14bn. Additional govt spend of £1.5k per person over UK average. How is that sustainable?
  • justin124 said:



    With respect you do not know Scotland or its politics.

    The SNP outflank labour on progressive politics, labour is led in Scotland by a Corbyn clone and they are publically fighting each other

    As someone said on here earlier there are only two Scots politicians leading the politics in Scotland, and both are women. Nicola Sturgeon and Ruth Davidson

    We should probably agree to defer to our Scots posters in that case.
    I have a claim to that with my Scottish family and connection with Scotland going back 65 years.

    It is why I do keep an interest in Scottish politics and see it daily through the family whats app and facebook conversations
    Did you forecast the 2017 outcome in Scotland?

    I did. I won the PB prize.
  • HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:



    Notice Dodds does not oppose the whole UK staying in the Customs Union as May is proposing, just the latest proposition on regulatory checks in GB from the ERG

    No, May's all-UK backstop is apparently based on NI being in alignment with the Single Market but the UK free to diverge - remember if GB was 'fully aligned' with the SM then it would be impossible to claim that Brexit has actually occurred. So in May's scheme you end up with no customs border but with a regulatory border. Not acceptable to the DUP.
    A hypothetical freedom of the whole UK to 'diverge' from the SM once the transition period has ended is not something the DUP could oppose as it would apply to the whole UK. In reality unless the backstop had ended as a technical solution had been found to the Irish border the whole UK would be staying in the SM and CU
    The whole UK staying in the SM/CU until the EU graciously decide to release us is not acceptable and the sooner you Tories realise this the better for your chances of survival. It is not Brexit. How do I know this? Oh yes, because your leader said so.
    Polling also shows neither British voters nor the Scots accept No Deal, so a backstop is required to get a transition period, otherwise there will likely be EURef2 before March 29th 2019 which Remain would win.

    SM/CU is better than No Brexit at all, though most likely it will be CU with some regulatory alignment for the whole UK until a technical solution is found for the Irish border
    It simply doesn't matter what your polls say about no deal or a second referendum.

    A second referendum will not happen. And most Tory supporters (and the overwhelming majority of members) will find SM/CU unacceptable - and you cannot defend it because your PM is on record saying the same thing. You did not form a Government by getting a majority of votes, you get a majority by getting your own supporters to vote for you. If you try to implement a non-Brexit, you will get destroyed in the next election. But up to you. If you can't get your leader to face reality, get set for 30 years of opposition.

    I am afraid a second referendum will happen if No Deal, probably before the Brexit date.

    A 10% lead for Remain over No Deal makes No Deal Brexit unsustainable and it will be the voters who reverse it

    Since the first referendumdecide we will leave the EU any second referendum would be about which type of Leave to have ie

    a) WTO plus side agreemets or

    b) whatever the goivernment has negotiated
This discussion has been closed.