Away from Brexit, going drinking today in the wealthy Northumberland town of Ponteland where Newcastle’s well-to-do reside. The borders conveniently drawn so that they don’t have to pay council tax to the great unwashed in the city.
A special shout out to all the PBers who don't know how to pronounce Ponteland.
After the Tories have revoked A50 and told us it was all a big mistake, they should proclaim we are still going to change our passports back to blue - since we can.
I would be happy with that concession to the dwindling band of Leave supporters.
Next Con leader? Gove for me. His not resigning was crucial and I sense there will be a reward once Brexit is delivered. I think May will appoint him Chancellor with strategic oversight of the FTA talks, leaving her to concentrate on other matters such as stopping people coming here. They will almost be twin PMs. Given such a platform I believe that MG’s undoubted ability will run riot and by 2021 when TM steps down he will be a slam dunk to replace her. He will be odds on by then, not the 12/1 shot that he is now. Fill your boots.
Looking further ahead, I find it interesting that Gove has a son. Now I don’t know the boy, therefore this is pure unbridled speculation, but I would wager that he is just as bright as his dad and has a keen interest in politics and, in particular, the Conservative Party. Political dynasties are not something that we in this country are comfortable with, but one can imagine (if one tries extremely hard) how that might change under these circumstances. Not a betting proposition, I hasten to add, more of a glimpse into a possible future.
If Gove is the next Conservative leader, I would vote for the anti-Semite.
Perhaps he could be moved back to education? Unfinished business.
Strikingly, there appears to be no original policy thinking in the broader swathes of the Tory party: not on the backbenches, not in the thinktanks.
All is consumed by the “creation science” of Brexitism, trying to prove the the co-existence of Adam and Dinosaurs etc. None of this is going to make the country fit for the 2020s, let alone the Tory party.
Which makes it all the more depressing that insofar as Labour have any policy other than 'the Tories are evil, vote for us because as supporters of mass murderers we're much nicer,' they veer from the unworkable to the unoriginal to the actively dishonest.
While I obviously don't agree with your characterisation of Labour, I'd be interested to know - as a sample of all those who think little of either major party at the moment - why you aren't enthusiastically backing the LibDems. I am not a fan - they seem preoccupied with Brexit too, to an unhealthy degree, and I've not forgiven them for the coalition
That reasoning alternately fascinates and puzzles me.
For a centre-left voter like me (broadly Lib Dem / Co-operative / Green), the coalition was anathema. Like many others, I left the Lib Dems over the policies that Clegg and Alexander were gleefully introducing or at the least enabling. (For me, Gove's gutting of the education system made me sick, and Alexander's boast of "the largest programme of investment in our roads for half a century", the direct opposite of the Lib Dem manifesto, was the last straw.)
But that was then. It was only, in the grand scheme of things, a few years after Labour supported the invasion of Iraq. Or introduced academies. Or voted to introduce ID cards. Or (contd. p94). If you won't forgive the Lib Dems for the coalition, why should anyone ever forgive Labour for those?
I'm starting to think that the Lib Dems should enter a formal electoral pact with the Greens at the next election - not so much for the electoral gain, though that clearly worked in Oxford West & Abingdon and might help elsewhere - but to detoxify the Lib Dems in the eyes of the progressive left.
If the Lib Dem’s want some attention they need to dump Cable, renounce the university fees disaster (the logic of which is unravelling anyway), and find some eyecatching ideas that are liberal and address the inequalities that have sprung up over the past 25 yrs. Things like:
Legalisation of marijuana Abolition of hospital carparking fees Proper taxation of Google, Facebook, Amazon etc and offshore financial centres. Business rate abolition. Etc
The only thing I’ve seen Layla Moran talk about is identity politics, which is not a platform for regaining relevance. However she at least looks like the future and seems feistier than Swinson. It also too late for Lamb. So Moran it is.
Swinson is a lot more "identity politics" than Moran tbh. Nominally Swinson is spokesperson on foreign affairs but you'd be hard-pushed to tell - her recent book was "Equal Power: And How You Can Make It Happen", for example. I think Moran has a much greater chance of cutting through to the average voter than Swinson does, but frankly they'd both be beacons of light compared to Low-Voltage Cable.
(But please no to abolishing hospital car-parking fees. It's a subsidy to drivers and therefore a tax on the poor. It's exactly the sort of glib regressive populism that Corbyn likes but not something the Lib Dems should go anywhere near. Provide free buses to hospitals if you really want to make a difference.)
Next Con leader? Gove for me. His not resigning was crucial and I sense there will be a reward once Brexit is delivered. I think May will appoint him Chancellor with strategic oversight of the FTA talks, leaving her to concentrate on other matters such as stopping people coming here. They will almost be twin PMs. Given such a platform I believe that MG’s undoubted ability will run riot and by 2021 when TM steps down he will be a slam dunk to replace her. He will be odds on by then, not the 12/1 shot that he is now. Fill your boots.
Looking further ahead, I find it interesting that Gove has a son. Now I don’t know the boy, therefore this is pure unbridled speculation, but I would wager that he is just as bright as his dad and has a keen interest in politics and, in particular, the Conservative Party. Political dynasties are not something that we in this country are comfortable with, but one can imagine (if one tries extremely hard) how that might change under these circumstances. Not a betting proposition, I hasten to add, more of a glimpse into a possible future.
If Gove is the next Conservative leader, I would vote for the anti-Semite.
Perhaps he could be moved back to education? Unfinished business.
You mean one truly epic clusterfuck with exam reform wasn't quite enough?
Strikingly, there appears to be no original policy thinking in the broader swathes of the Tory party: not on the backbenches, not in the thinktanks.
All is consumed by the “creation science” of Brexitism, trying to prove the the co-existence of Adam and Dinosaurs etc. None of this is going to make the country fit for the 2020s, let alone the Tory party.
Which makes it all the more depressing that insofar as Labour have any policy other than 'the Tories are evil, vote for us because as supporters of mass murderers we're much nicer,' they veer from the unworkable to the unoriginal to the actively dishonest.
While I obviously don't agree with your characterisation of Labour, I'd be interested to know - as a sample of all those who think little of either major party at the moment - why you aren't enthusiastically backing the LibDems. I am not a fan - they seem preoccupied with Brexit too, to an unhealthy degree, and I've not forgiven them for the coalition
That reasoning alternately fascinates and puzzles me.
For a centre-left voter like me (broadly Lib Dem / Co-operative / Green), the coalition was anathema. Like many others, I left the Lib Dems over the policies that Clegg and Alexander were gleefully introducing or at the least enabling. (For me, Gove's gutting of the education system made me sick, and Alexander's boast of "the largest programme of investment in our roads for half a century", the direct opposite of the Lib Dem manifesto, was the last straw.)
But that was then. It was only, in the grand scheme of things, a few years after Labour supported the invasion of Iraq. Or introduced academies. Or voted to introduce ID cards. Or (contd. p94). If you won't forgive the Lib Dems for the coalition, why should anyone ever forgive Labour for those?
I'm starting to think that the Lib Dems should enter a formal electoral pact with the Greens at the next election - not so much for the electoral gain, though that clearly worked in Oxford West & Abingdon and might help elsewhere - but to detoxify the Lib Dems in the eyes of the progressive left.
An interesting idea, certainly, and while that might make them less appealing to some I do think you hit the point very clearly about the illogic of some of the 'forgiveness' talk around the LD time in coalition. It seems to me to place an additional barrier people don't put on the big two. That you were not a fan of the coalition I think makes your point stronger as well.
If the Lib Dem’s want some attention they need to dump Cable, renounce the university fees disaster (the logic of which is unravelling anyway), and find some eyecatching ideas that are liberal and address the inequalities that have sprung up over the past 25 yrs. Things like:
Legalisation of marijuana Abolition of hospital carparking fees Proper taxation of Google, Facebook, Amazon etc and offshore financial centres. Business rate abolition. Etc
The only thing I’ve seen Layla Moran talk about is identity politics, which is not a platform for regaining relevance. However she at least looks like the future and seems feistier than Swinson. It also too late for Lamb. So Moran it is.
The problem of free hospital car parking is that is abused by commuters. Even without these queues and patients being tardy for appointments as a result of not being able to get a space was a nightmare at my hospital, until the CEO spent a couple of million quid on a new multistorey carpark. He braced himself for abuse along the lines of "how could you when people are dying of X?" but ithas been his most popular legacy. The queue has gone and feedback very positive, despite the charges.
My 82 year old mum is currently at the General about to have her shattered hip repaired after a seemingly minor fall on Boxing Day. I'll get a second mortgage for the car parking fees! On a semi related note, I've just spent 4 quid- 4 fecking quid! for 30 seconds to drop my lad off at Gatwick this morning!
You mean you handed over 4 quid to an effective natural monopoly which is now controlled by a French company.
DOH Go and park at the smaller Premier Inn for a few secs whilst he gets out.. They will soon bee steering you to car parks where you cannot avoid payment so you cannot do this but do it whilst you can
If the Lib Dem’s want some attention they need to dump Cable, renounce the university fees disaster (the logic of which is unravelling anyway), and find some eyecatching ideas that are liberal and address the inequalities that have sprung up over the past 25 yrs. Things like:
Legalisation of marijuana Abolition of hospital carparking fees Proper taxation of Google, Facebook, Amazon etc and offshore financial centres. Business rate abolition. Etc
The only thing I’ve seen Layla Moran talk about is identity politics, which is not a platform for regaining relevance. However she at least looks like the future and seems feistier than Swinson. It also too late for Lamb. So Moran it is.
The problem of free hospital car parking is that is abused by commuters. Even without these queues and patients being tardy for appointments as a result of not being able to get a space was a nightmare at my hospital, until the CEO spent a couple of million quid on a new multistorey carpark. He braced himself for abuse along the lines of "how could you when people are dying of X?" but ithas been his most popular legacy. The queue has gone and feedback very positive, despite the charges.
My 82 year old mum is currently at the General about to have her shattered hip repaired after a seemingly minor fall on Boxing Day. I'll get a second mortgage for the car parking fees! On a semi related note, I've just spent 4 quid- 4 fecking quid! for 30 seconds to drop my lad off at Gatwick this morning!
Best wishes for your mum, sounds nasty. The LGH has always had more spaces and fewer commuters than the LRI, so could be cheaper.
Early mobilisation and plenty of physio asap after the op is the key,
If the Lib Dem’s want some attention they need to dump Cable, renounce the university fees disaster (the logic of which is unravelling anyway), and find some eyecatching ideas that are liberal and address the inequalities that have sprung up over the past 25 yrs. Things like:
Legalisation of marijuana Abolition of hospital carparking fees Proper taxation of Google, Facebook, Amazon etc and offshore financial centres. Business rate abolition. Etc
The only thing I’ve seen Layla Moran talk about is identity politics, which is not a platform for regaining relevance. However she at least looks like the future and seems feistier than Swinson. It also too late for Lamb. So Moran it is.
The problem of free hospital car parking is that is abused by commuters. Even without these queues and patients being tardy for appointments as a result of not being able to get a space was a nightmare at my hospital, until the CEO spent a couple of million quid on a new multistorey carpark. He braced himself for abuse along the lines of "how could you when people are dying of X?" but ithas been his most popular legacy. The queue has gone and feedback very positive, despite the charges.
My 82 year old mum is currently at the General about to have her shattered hip repaired after a seemingly minor fall on Boxing Day. I'll get a second mortgage for the car parking fees! On a semi related note, I've just spent 4 quid- 4 fecking quid! for 30 seconds to drop my lad off at Gatwick this morning!
Best wishes for your mum, sounds nasty. The LGH has always had more spaces and fewer commuters than the LRI, so could be cheaper.
Early mobilisation and plenty of physio asap after the op is the key,
Next Con leader? Gove for me. His not resigning was crucial and I sense there will be a reward once Brexit is delivered. I think May will appoint him Chancellor with strategic oversight of the FTA talks, leaving her to concentrate on other matters such as stopping people coming here. They will almost be twin PMs. Given such a platform I believe that MG’s undoubted ability will run riot and by 2021 when TM steps down he will be a slam dunk to replace her. He will be odds on by then, not the 12/1 shot that he is now. Fill your boots.
Looking further ahead, I find it interesting that Gove has a son. Now I don’t know the boy, therefore this is pure unbridled speculation, but I would wager that he is just as bright as his dad and has a keen interest in politics and, in particular, the Conservative Party. Political dynasties are not something that we in this country are comfortable with, but one can imagine (if one tries extremely hard) how that might change under these circumstances. Not a betting proposition, I hasten to add, more of a glimpse into a possible future.
If Gove is the next Conservative leader, I would vote for the anti-Semite.
Perhaps he could be moved back to education? Unfinished business.
You mean one truly epic clusterfuck with exam reform wasn't quite enough?
I was really just trying to determine where your line was re Tory support. Gove as leader crosses it, but how about your preferred leader, whoever that is, but Gove at education or chancellor say, woukd that cancel out the leader?
Next Con leader? Gove for me. His not resigning was crucial and I sense there will be a reward once Brexit is delivered. I think May will appoint him Chancellor with strategic oversight of the FTA talks, leaving her to concentrate on other matters such as stopping people coming here. They will almost be twin PMs. Given such a platform I believe that MG’s undoubted ability will run riot and by 2021 when TM steps down he will be a slam dunk to replace her. He will be odds on by then, not the 12/1 shot that he is now. Fill your boots.
Looking further ahead, I find it interesting that Gove has a son. Now I don’t know the boy, therefore this is pure unbridled speculation, but I would wager that he is just as bright as his dad and has a keen interest in politics and, in particular, the Conservative Party. Political dynasties are not something that we in this country are comfortable with, but one can imagine (if one tries extremely hard) how that might change under these circumstances. Not a betting proposition, I hasten to add, more of a glimpse into a possible future.
If Gove is the next Conservative leader, I would vote for the anti-Semite.
Perhaps he could be moved back to education? Unfinished business.
You mean one truly epic clusterfuck with exam reform wasn't quite enough?
I was really just trying to determine where your line was re Tory support. Gove as leader crosses it, but how about your preferred leader, whoever that is, but Gove at education or chancellor say, woukd that cancel out the leader?
Yes.
To be blunt, I'd be happier to see him, Spielman, Morgan and Wormald (who are the guiltiest in these disasters) kicked out and banned from public service for the future, as Cummings effectively has been.
But given he is fairly intelligent with all his faults and we're not blessed with a plethora of competent figures in either party, I'll settle for him working somewhere a good long way from education - for now.
Away from Brexit, going drinking today in the wealthy Northumberland town of Ponteland where Newcastle’s well-to-do reside. The borders conveniently drawn so that they don’t have to pay council tax to the great unwashed in the city.
A special shout out to all the PBers who don't know how to pronounce Ponteland.
Well a lot of people peddle fantasy on here, but this at least is a pleasant one.
Except for teachers or Boris Johnson!
Actually only the 2nd para was flight of fancy. 1st para was straight as a die. I do think May will last to 2021 and I do think that Gove will get a massive promo in 2019 as his reward for sticking with her. Then assuming he performs he's the likely next leader IMO.
I think he might even have a hold on her. Not blackmail, nothing sordid like that, but I sense that TM is in thrall to his charm and intellect.
Did you notice, when she was doing that difficult speech to the House after Chequers, that she kept flicking glances over at him, to where he was standing, seeking his approval? And that he was nodding his encouragement, even winking at her at one point?
Away from Brexit, going drinking today in the wealthy Northumberland town of Ponteland where Newcastle’s well-to-do reside. The borders conveniently drawn so that they don’t have to pay council tax to the great unwashed in the city.
A special shout out to all the PBers who don't know how to pronounce Ponteland.
Strikingly, there appears to be no original policy thinking in the broader swathes of the Tory party: not on the backbenches, not in the thinktanks.
All is consumed by the “creation science” of Brexitism, trying to prove the the co-existence of Adam and Dinosaurs etc. None of this is going to make the country fit for the 2020s, let alone the Tory party.
Which makes it all the more depressing that insofar as Labour have any policy other than 'the Tories are evil, vote for us because as supporters of mass murderers we're much nicer,' they veer from the unworkable to the unoriginal to the actively dishonest.
While I obviously don't agree with your characterisation of Labour, I'd be interested to know - as a sample of all those who think little of either major party at the moment - why you aren't enthusiastically backing the LibDems. I am not a fan - they seem preoccupied with Brexit too, to an unhealthy degree, and I've not forgiven them for the coalition and think they are too ready to shift around the spectrum for political gain - but I'm genuinely puzzled that they're not doing better in the current climate. If millions of people are anti-Tory and anti-Labour and anti-Brexit, why aren't they seen as a natural home?
A very long standing but very pertinent question. Though I think you meant pro brexit there?
I think it does show something good, in a way, in that it proves push factors alone are not enough, parties need pull factors. That can be as simple, unfortunately, as 'best placed to beat those I hate' which is why labour and the Tories are holding up, but the LDs just don't have many pull factors.
Want to be green? Vote Green. Liberal but pro brexit? Lds exist who support it but from their words the party sees that as akin to heresy. Anti Tory? Like Corbyn or not he's the only option to beat them. Love the EU? If we are to remain labour have to lead on it as lds lack the numbers.
They can still have good ideas, but all they seem to care about is stopping brexit and even though labour officially back brexit only labour can help stop it.
Excepting Macron's short-lived surge of personal popularity, where in the developed west are centre parties doing well? Perhaps the LDs difficulties are part of a bigger picture rather than being down to UK or personality-specific matters?
Trudeau's Liberals are pretty centrist and still lead most Canadian polls, Merkel's CDU is still ahead even if the AfD and Greens are on the rise and the Spanish Citizens' party is competitive
Away from Brexit, going drinking today in the wealthy Northumberland town of Ponteland where Newcastle’s well-to-do reside. The borders conveniently drawn so that they don’t have to pay council tax to the great unwashed in the city.
A special shout out to all the PBers who don't know how to pronounce Ponteland.
Is the Irish Poundland?
technically the wealth live in Darras Hall not Ponteland but I think there is only a single pub there. Mind you I thought a lot had moved to Wynyard when the Hall's bought Wynyard Hall...
Well a lot of people peddle fantasy on here, but this at least is a pleasant one.
Except for teachers or Boris Johnson!
Actually only the 2nd para was flight of fancy. 1st para was straight as a die. I do think May will last to 2021 and I do think that Gove will get a massive promo in 2019 as his reward for sticking with her. Then assuming he performs he's the likely next leader IMO.
I think he might even have a hold on her. Not blackmail, nothing sordid like that, but I sense that TM is in thrall to his charm and intellect.
Did you notice, when she was doing that difficult speech to the House after Chequers, that she kept flicking glances over at him, to where he was standing, seeking his approval? And that he was nodding his encouragement, even winking at her at one point?
I did, and I thought it telling.
Gove may be an able Cabinet Minister but he needs to improve his abysmal poll rating before Tory MPs and members consider making him leader
If Gove is the next Conservative leader, I would vote for the anti-Semite.
Am I in the presence of that rarest of birds, a conservative voting teacher?
In 2010 more teachers voted Conservative than Labour, iirc. That is to say, Michael Gove started with the support of the profession. That Gove managed to alienate them is remarkable.
The men were incompetent and evil in equal measure.
Unfair Sean.
Yes, they were mind bendingly incompetent. But what they did was seriously evil.
Talking about evil,the murder of the 2 young women tourists in Morocco was also seriously evil,seen the footage of one of beheadings this morning and I wish I hadn't.( Just Horrible)
If Gove is the next Conservative leader, I would vote for the anti-Semite.
Am I in the presence of that rarest of birds, a conservative voting teacher?
In 2010 more teachers voted Conservative than Labour, iirc. That is to say, Michael Gove started with the support of the profession. That Gove managed to alienate them is remarkable.
More teachers voted LD then, they just went back to Labour after the Coalition.
Even most independent or grammar school teachers do not vote Tory, let alone those in comprehensives or academies
If Gove is the next Conservative leader, I would vote for the anti-Semite.
Am I in the presence of that rarest of birds, a conservative voting teacher?
In 2010 more teachers voted Conservative than Labour, iirc. That is to say, Michael Gove started with the support of the profession. That Gove managed to alienate them is remarkable.
More teachers voted LD then, they just went back to Labour after the Coalition.
Even most independent or grammar school teachers do not vote Tory, let alone those in comprehensives or academies
Well a lot of people peddle fantasy on here, but this at least is a pleasant one.
Except for teachers or Boris Johnson!
Actually only the 2nd para was flight of fancy. 1st para was straight as a die. I do think May will last to 2021 and I do think that Gove will get a massive promo in 2019 as his reward for sticking with her. Then assuming he performs he's the likely next leader IMO.
I think he might even have a hold on her. Not blackmail, nothing sordid like that, but I sense that TM is in thrall to his charm and intellect.
Did you notice, when she was doing that difficult speech to the House after Chequers, that she kept flicking glances over at him, to where he was standing, seeking his approval? And that he was nodding his encouragement, even winking at her at one point?
I did, and I thought it telling.
Gove may be an able Cabinet Minister but he needs to improve his abysmal poll rating before Tory MPs and members consider making him leader
You sometimes need to ignore the polls and follow your gut.
If Gove is the next Conservative leader, I would vote for the anti-Semite.
Am I in the presence of that rarest of birds, a conservative voting teacher?
In 2010 more teachers voted Conservative than Labour, iirc. That is to say, Michael Gove started with the support of the profession. That Gove managed to alienate them is remarkable.
More teachers voted LD then, they just went back to Labour after the Coalition.
Even most independent or grammar school teachers do not vote Tory, let alone those in comprehensives or academies
evidence?
In 2010 25% of teachers intended to vote Labour, 18% Tory and 14% LD
If Gove is the next Conservative leader, I would vote for the anti-Semite.
Am I in the presence of that rarest of birds, a conservative voting teacher?
In 2010 more teachers voted Conservative than Labour, iirc. That is to say, Michael Gove started with the support of the profession. That Gove managed to alienate them is remarkable.
More teachers voted LD then, they just went back to Labour after the Coalition.
Even most independent or grammar school teachers do not vote Tory, let alone those in comprehensives or academies
evidence?
In 2010 25% of teachers intended to vote Labour, 16% Tory and 14% LD
If the Lib Dem’s want some attention they need to dump Cable, renounce the university fees disaster (the logic of which is unravelling anyway), and find some eyecatching ideas that are liberal and address the inequalities that have sprung up over the past 25 yrs. Things like:
Legalisation of marijuana Abolition of hospital carparking fees Proper taxation of Google, Facebook, Amazon etc and offshore financial centres. Business rate abolition. Etc
The only thing I’ve seen Layla Moran talk about is identity politics, which is not a platform for regaining relevance. However she at least looks like the future and seems feistier than Swinson. It also too late for Lamb. So Moran it is.
The problem of free hospital car parking is that is abused by commuters. Even without these queues and patients being tardy for appointments as a result of not being able to get a space was a nightmare at my hospital, until the CEO spent a couple of million quid on a new multistorey carpark. He braced himself for abuse along the lines of "how could you when people are dying of X?" but ithas been his most popular legacy. The queue has gone and feedback very positive, despite the charges.
My 82 year old mum is currently at the General about to have her shattered hip repaired after a seemingly minor fall on Boxing Day. I'll get a second mortgage for the car parking fees! On a semi related note, I've just spent 4 quid- 4 fecking quid! for 30 seconds to drop my lad off at Gatwick this morning!
You mean you handed over 4 quid to an effective natural monopoly which is now controlled by a French company.
That's the free market for you.
Twisted could always have dropped his son off at another airport.
Well a lot of people peddle fantasy on here, but this at least is a pleasant one.
Except for teachers or Boris Johnson!
Actually only the 2nd para was flight of fancy. 1st para was straight as a die. I do think May will last to 2021 and I do think that Gove will get a massive promo in 2019 as his reward for sticking with her. Then assuming he performs he's the likely next leader IMO.
I think he might even have a hold on her. Not blackmail, nothing sordid like that, but I sense that TM is in thrall to his charm and intellect.
Did you notice, when she was doing that difficult speech to the House after Chequers, that she kept flicking glances over at him, to where he was standing, seeking his approval? And that he was nodding his encouragement, even winking at her at one point?
I did, and I thought it telling.
Gove may be an able Cabinet Minister but he needs to improve his abysmal poll rating before Tory MPs and members consider making him leader
You sometimes need to ignore the polls and follow your gut.
If Gove is the next Conservative leader, I would vote for the anti-Semite.
Am I in the presence of that rarest of birds, a conservative voting teacher?
In 2010 more teachers voted Conservative than Labour, iirc. That is to say, Michael Gove started with the support of the profession. That Gove managed to alienate them is remarkable.
More teachers voted LD then, they just went back to Labour after the Coalition.
Even most independent or grammar school teachers do not vote Tory, let alone those in comprehensives or academies
evidence?
In 2010 25% of teachers intended to vote Labour, 16% Tory and 14% LD
Well a lot of people peddle fantasy on here, but this at least is a pleasant one.
Except for teachers or Boris Johnson!
Actually only the 2nd para was flight of fancy. 1st para was straight as a die. I do think May will last to 2021 and I do think that Gove will get a massive promo in 2019 as his reward for sticking with her. Then assuming he performs he's the likely next leader IMO.
I think he might even have a hold on her. Not blackmail, nothing sordid like that, but I sense that TM is in thrall to his charm and intellect.
Did you notice, when she was doing that difficult speech to the House after Chequers, that she kept flicking glances over at him, to where he was standing, seeking his approval? And that he was nodding his encouragement, even winking at her at one point?
I did, and I thought it telling.
Gove may be an able Cabinet Minister but he needs to improve his abysmal poll rating before Tory MPs and members consider making him leader
You sometimes need to ignore the polls and follow your gut.
If the Lib Dem’s want some attention they need to dump Cable, renounce the university fees disaster (the logic of which is unravelling anyway), and find some eyecatching ideas that are liberal and address the inequalities that have sprung up over the past 25 yrs. Things like:
Legalisation of marijuana Abolition of hospital carparking fees Proper taxation of Google, Facebook, Amazon etc and offshore financial centres. Business rate abolition. Etc
The only thing I’ve seen Layla Moran talk about is identity politics, which is not a platform for regaining relevance. However she at least looks like the future and seems feistier than Swinson. It also too late for Lamb. So Moran it is.
Abolish car parking fees at hospital and you will be unable to find a space to park
Google etc are currently taxed on their profits - it's just that their economic activity ois p[rimarily not carried out in the UK. Companies should be taxed in heir profits and in the countries where their economic activity is carried out.
No buisness rates means no council services for businesses.
Happy to legalise marijuana.
Layla Moran speaks well, as you would expect from a former Roedean school pupil.
If Gove is the next Conservative leader, I would vote for the anti-Semite.
Am I in the presence of that rarest of birds, a conservative voting teacher?
In 2010 more teachers voted Conservative than Labour, iirc. That is to say, Michael Gove started with the support of the profession. That Gove managed to alienate them is remarkable.
More teachers voted LD then, they just went back to Labour after the Coalition.
Even most independent or grammar school teachers do not vote Tory, let alone those in comprehensives or academies
evidence?
In 2010 25% of teachers intended to vote Labour, 18% Tory and 14% LD
Well a lot of people peddle fantasy on here, but this at least is a pleasant one.
Except for teachers or Boris Johnson!
Actually only the 2nd para was flight of fancy. 1st para was straight as a die. I do think May will last to 2021 and I do think that Gove will get a massive promo in 2019 as his reward for sticking with her. Then assuming he performs he's the likely next leader IMO.
I think he might even have a hold on her. Not blackmail, nothing sordid like that, but I sense that TM is in thrall to his charm and intellect.
Did you notice, when she was doing that difficult speech to the House after Chequers, that she kept flicking glances over at him, to where he was standing, seeking his approval? And that he was nodding his encouragement, even winking at her at one point?
I did, and I thought it telling.
Gove may be an able Cabinet Minister but he needs to improve his abysmal poll rating before Tory MPs and members consider making him leader
You sometimes need to ignore the polls and follow your gut.
My gut is Corbyn would beat Gove
Best to follow it then.
As a Tory member I will, I would vote for Boris, Rudd, Raab, Javid, Davis, Mogg, even Hunt over Gove.
I would he very happy if Gove was Chancellor though or in charge of negotiating a FTA with the EU
If Gove is the next Conservative leader, I would vote for the anti-Semite.
Am I in the presence of that rarest of birds, a conservative voting teacher?
In 2010 more teachers voted Conservative than Labour, iirc. That is to say, Michael Gove started with the support of the profession. That Gove managed to alienate them is remarkable.
More teachers voted LD then, they just went back to Labour after the Coalition.
Even most independent or grammar school teachers do not vote Tory, let alone those in comprehensives or academies
evidence?
In 2010 25% of teachers intended to vote Labour, 18% Tory and 14% LD
Public sector workers voting for an easier life and more pay.
Though as I also said even most independent school teachers in my experience are not Tories, though more are Liberals than Labour unlike in the state sector
Well a lot of people peddle fantasy on here, but this at least is a pleasant one.
Except for teachers or Boris Johnson!
Actually only the 2nd para was flight of fancy. 1st para was straight as a die. I do think May will last to 2021 and I do think that Gove will get a massive promo in 2019 as his reward for sticking with her. Then assuming he performs he's the likely next leader IMO.
I think he might even have a hold on her. Not blackmail, nothing sordid like that, but I sense that TM is in thrall to his charm and intellect.
Did you notice, when she was doing that difficult speech to the House after Chequers, that she kept flicking glances over at him, to where he was standing, seeking his approval? And that he was nodding his encouragement, even winking at her at one point?
I did, and I thought it telling.
Gove may be an able Cabinet Minister but he needs to improve his abysmal poll rating before Tory MPs and members consider making him leader
If May can last until 2021, then pigs might fly... and Gove would still be rather unlikely as leader. Teaching a party to love Mandleson is one thing; Gove quite another.
Next Con leader? Gove for me. His not resigning was crucial and I sense there will be a reward once Brexit is delivered. I think May will appoint him Chancellor with strategic oversight of the FTA talks, leaving her to concentrate on other matters such as stopping people coming here. They will almost be twin PMs. Given such a platform I believe that MG’s undoubted ability will run riot and by 2021 when TM steps down he will be a slam dunk to replace her. He will be odds on by then, not the 12/1 shot that he is now. Fill your boots.
Looking further ahead, I find it interesting that Gove has a son. Now I don’t know the boy, therefore this is pure unbridled speculation, but I would wager that he is just as bright as his dad and has a keen interest in politics and, in particular, the Conservative Party. Political dynasties are not something that we in this country are comfortable with, but one can imagine (if one tries extremely hard) how that might change under these circumstances. Not a betting proposition, I hasten to add, more of a glimpse into a possible future.
If Gove is the next Conservative leader, I would vote for the anti-Semite.
Perhaps he could be moved back to education? Unfinished business.
You mean one truly epic clusterfuck with exam reform wasn't quite enough?
I was really just trying to determine where your line was re Tory support. Gove as leader crosses it, but how about your preferred leader, whoever that is, but Gove at education or chancellor say, woukd that cancel out the leader?
Yes.
To be blunt, I'd be happier to see him, Spielman, Morgan and Wormald (who are the guiltiest in these disasters) kicked out and banned from public service for the future, as Cummings effectively has been.
But given he is fairly intelligent with all his faults and we're not blessed with a plethora of competent figures in either party, I'll settle for him working somewhere a good long way from education - for now.
A not unreasonable assessment. Who is going to teach him judgment, though ?
Away from Brexit, going drinking today in the wealthy Northumberland town of Ponteland where Newcastle’s well-to-do reside. The borders conveniently drawn so that they don’t have to pay council tax to the great unwashed in the city.
A special shout out to all the PBers who don't know how to pronounce Ponteland.
Well a lot of people peddle fantasy on here, but this at least is a pleasant one.
Except for teachers or Boris Johnson!
Actually only the 2nd para was flight of fancy. 1st para was straight as a die. I do think May will last to 2021 and I do think that Gove will get a massive promo in 2019 as his reward for sticking with her. Then assuming he performs he's the likely next leader IMO.
I think he might even have a hold on her. Not blackmail, nothing sordid like that, but I sense that TM is in thrall to his charm and intellect.
Did you notice, when she was doing that difficult speech to the House after Chequers, that she kept flicking glances over at him, to where he was standing, seeking his approval? And that he was nodding his encouragement, even winking at her at one point?
I did, and I thought it telling.
Gove may be an able Cabinet Minister but he needs to improve his abysmal poll rating before Tory MPs and members consider making him leader
If May can last until 2021, then pigs might fly... and Gove would still be rather unlikely as leader. Teaching a party to love Mandleson is one thing; Gove quite another.
Gove and Mandelson are both born backroom schemers, not frontman leaders
Ah, the 'it's not malicious, just being crap' defence, the twin to the 'I'm not a criminal just really stupid' defence people use as a last resort when on trial like Onasanya.
Ah, the 'it's not malicious, just being crap' defence, the twin to the 'I'm not a criminal just really stupid' defence people use as a last resort when on trial like Onasanya.
"Crappiness Crappiness The greatest flaw That I possess"
If the Lib Dem’s want some attention they need to dump Cable, renounce the university fees disaster (the logic of which is unravelling anyway), and find some eyecatching ideas that are liberal and address the inequalities that have sprung up over the past 25 yrs. Things like:
Legalisation of marijuana Abolition of hospital carparking fees Proper taxation of Google, Facebook, Amazon etc and offshore financial centres. Business rate abolition. Etc
The only thing I’ve seen Layla Moran talk about is identity politics, which is not a platform for regaining relevance. However she at least looks like the future and seems feistier than Swinson. It also too late for Lamb. So Moran it is.
Abolish car parking fees at hospital and you will be unable to find a space to park
Google etc are currently taxed on their profits - it's just that their economic activity ois p[rimarily not carried out in the UK. Companies should be taxed in heir profits and in the countries where their economic activity is carried out.
No buisness rates means no council services for businesses.
Happy to legalise marijuana.
Layla Moran speaks well, as you would expect from a former Roedean school pupil.
Totally right about Google/Facebook. If I advertise with either of them in my home county a service, say plumbing which is only displayed in my home county to people who live in my home county in the UK and they charge me £2k in advertising costs, its is monstrous that they can offload that to Ireland or whoever is offering them the lowest costs of running a business.
If i spent £2k advertising in my local newspaper, and assuming it wasnt owned by the tax dodging Guardian subsidiary residing in the Cayman islands, any profits would be taxed here in the UK.
Away from Brexit, going drinking today in the wealthy Northumberland town of Ponteland where Newcastle’s well-to-do reside. The borders conveniently drawn so that they don’t have to pay council tax to the great unwashed in the city.
A special shout out to all the PBers who don't know how to pronounce Ponteland.
If the Lib Dem’s want some attention they need to dump Cable, renounce the university fees disaster (the logic of which is unravelling anyway), and find some eyecatching ideas that are liberal and address the inequalities that have sprung up over the past 25 yrs. Things like:
Legalisation of marijuana Abolition of hospital carparking fees Proper taxation of Google, Facebook, Amazon etc and offshore financial centres. Business rate abolition. Etc
The only thing I’ve seen Layla Moran talk about is identity politics, which is not a platform for regaining relevance. However she at least looks like the future and seems feistier than Swinson. It also too late for Lamb. So Moran it is.
The problem of free hospital car parking is that is abused by commuters. Even without these queues and patients being tardy for appointments as a result of not being able to get a space was a nightmare at my hospital, until the CEO spent a couple of million quid on a new multistorey carpark. He braced himself for abuse along the lines of "how could you when people are dying of X?" but ithas been his most popular legacy. The queue has gone and feedback very positive, despite the charges.
My 82 year old mum is currently at the General about to have her shattered hip repaired after a seemingly minor fall on Boxing Day. I'll get a second mortgage for the car parking fees! On a semi related note, I've just spent 4 quid- 4 fecking quid! for 30 seconds to drop my lad off at Gatwick this morning!
You mean you handed over 4 quid to an effective natural monopoly which is now controlled by a French company.
That's the free market for you.
Twisted could always have dropped his son off at another airport.
If the Lib Dem’s want some attention they need to dump Cable, renounce the university fees disaster (the logic of which is unravelling anyway), and find some eyecatching ideas that are liberal and address the inequalities that have sprung up over the past 25 yrs. Things like:
Legalisation of marijuana Abolition of hospital carparking fees Proper taxation of Google, Facebook, Amazon etc and offshore financial centres. Business rate abolition. Etc
The only thing I’ve seen Layla Moran talk about is identity politics, which is not a platform for regaining relevance. However she at least looks like the future and seems feistier than Swinson. It also too late for Lamb. So Moran it is.
Abolish car parking fees at hospital and you will be unable to find a space to park
Google etc are currently taxed on their profits - it's just that their economic activity ois p[rimarily not carried out in the UK. Companies should be taxed in heir profits and in the countries where their economic activity is carried out.
No buisness rates means no council services for businesses.
Happy to legalise marijuana.
Layla Moran speaks well, as you would expect from a former Roedean school pupil.
Businesses are all taxed on their profits but business rates mean even unprofitable or only marginally profitable businesses get heavily taxed based on their location and provide an incentive to not have a location.
Why should small, struggling businesses be expected to pay both business rates and taxes on profits - yet large multinational conglomerates they compete with face no or negligible business rates?
Council services needs a new scheme to be funded but business rates should be abolished.
Away from Brexit, going drinking today in the wealthy Northumberland town of Ponteland where Newcastle’s well-to-do reside. The borders conveniently drawn so that they don’t have to pay council tax to the great unwashed in the city.
A special shout out to all the PBers who don't know how to pronounce Ponteland.
Strikingly, there appears to be no original policy thinking in the broader swathes of the Tory party: not on the backbenches, not in the thinktanks.
All is consumed by the “creation science” of Brexitism, trying to prove the the co-existence of Adam and Dinosaurs etc. None of this is going to make the country fit for the 2020s, let alone the Tory party.
Which makes it all the more depressing that insofar as Labour have any policy other than 'the Tories are evil, vote for us because as supporters of mass murderers we're much nicer,' they veer from the unworkable to the unoriginal to the actively dishonest.
While I obviously don't agree with your characterisation of Labour, I'd be interested to know - as a sample of all those who think little of either major party at the moment - why you aren't enthusiastically backing the LibDems. I am not a fan - they seem preoccupied with Brexit too, to an unhealthy degree, and I've not forgiven them for the coalition
. (For me, Gove's gutting of the education system made me sick, and Alexander's boast of "the largest programme of investment in our roads for half a century", the direct opposite of the Lib Dem manifesto, was the last straw.)
.
What gutting was that? Education has had more money thrown at it than a wh*re has had jism thrown in a bukkake.
Its only over the last 24 months has there even been a tightening on the education budget, probably the first since the mid nineties. Schools have more middle management than an NHS trust.
Away from Brexit, going drinking today in the wealthy Northumberland town of Ponteland where Newcastle’s well-to-do reside. The borders conveniently drawn so that they don’t have to pay council tax to the great unwashed in the city.
A special shout out to all the PBers who don't know how to pronounce Ponteland.
"Elon Musk is fighting a libel claim from a British rescue diver he accused of paedophilia, arguing that his statement was obviously flippant because it was made on Twitter."
"Elon Musk is fighting a libel claim from a British rescue diver he accused of paedophilia, arguing that his statement was obviously flippant because it was made on Twitter."
I don't know how the American legal system works but if that succeeds it sounds very stupid, not least because he is a public figure who people will take seriously and, even more notably, he made the accusation several times with time in between, so not exactly off the cuff.
Away from Brexit, going drinking today in the wealthy Northumberland town of Ponteland where Newcastle’s well-to-do reside. The borders conveniently drawn so that they don’t have to pay council tax to the great unwashed in the city.
A special shout out to all the PBers who don't know how to pronounce Ponteland.
Strikingly, there appears to be no original policy thinking in the broader swathes of the Tory party: not on the backbenches, not in the thinktanks.
All is consumed by the “creation science” of Brexitism, trying to prove the the co-existence of Adam and Dinosaurs etc. None of this is going to make the country fit for the 2020s, let alone the Tory party.
Which makes it all the more depressing that insofar as Labour have any policy other than 'the Tories are evil, vote for us because as supporters of mass murderers we're much nicer,' they veer from the unworkable to the unoriginal to the actively dishonest.
While I obviously don't agree with your characterisation of Labour, I'd be interested to know - as a sample of all those who think little of either major party at the moment - why you aren't enthusiastically backing the LibDems. I am not a fan - they seem preoccupied with Brexit too, to an unhealthy degree, and I've not forgiven them for the coalition
. (For me, Gove's gutting of the education system made me sick, and Alexander's boast of "the largest programme of investment in our roads for half a century", the direct opposite of the Lib Dem manifesto, was the last straw.)
.
What gutting was that? Education has had more money thrown at it than a wh*re has had jism thrown in a bukkake.
But it didn't keep pace with rising pupil numbers.
Mr. kle4, reaching the top two requires not being something, rather than being something.
Mordaunt's neither a Grievance Remainer nor a Borisian Leaver. She isn't too old. She isn't inexperienced in ministerial terms (handy, when the leader becomes PM right away). She doesn't have baggage of a personal or political nature (the longer Javid's at Home, the longer the odds of something just going wrong, whether his doing or not).
She is, however, a shameless and proven liar.
She also conspicuously displays a military qualification badge to which she is 100% not entitled.
Mr. kle4, reaching the top two requires not being something, rather than being something.
Mordaunt's neither a Grievance Remainer nor a Borisian Leaver. She isn't too old. She isn't inexperienced in ministerial terms (handy, when the leader becomes PM right away). She doesn't have baggage of a personal or political nature (the longer Javid's at Home, the longer the odds of something just going wrong, whether his doing or not).
She is, however, a shameless and proven liar.
She also conspicuously displays a military qualification badge to which she is 100% not entitled.
So she could be Shadow Foreign Secretary then, like 'Colonel' Emily Thornberry?
If the Lib Dem’s want some attention they need to dump Cable, renounce the university fees disaster (the logic of which is unravelling anyway), and find some eyecatching ideas that are liberal and address the inequalities that have sprung up over the past 25 yrs. Things like:
Legalisation of marijuana Abolition of hospital carparking fees Proper taxation of Google, Facebook, Amazon etc and offshore financial centres. Business rate abolition. Etc
The only thing I’ve seen Layla Moran talk about is identity politics, which is not a platform for regaining relevance. However she at least looks like the future and seems feistier than Swinson. It also too late for Lamb. So Moran it is.
The problem of free hospital car parking is that is abused by commuters. Even without these queues and patients being tardy for appointments as a result of not being able to get a space was a nightmare at my hospital, until the CEO spent a couple of million quid on a new multistorey carpark. He braced himself for abuse along the lines of "how could you when people are dying of X?" but ithas been his most popular legacy. The queue has gone and feedback very positive, despite the charges.
The point of the policy is to make tories look (more) like twats for opposing it. Whether or not it will actually work or is even possible doesn't matter.
Away from Brexit, going drinking today in the wealthy Northumberland town of Ponteland where Newcastle’s well-to-do reside. The borders conveniently drawn so that they don’t have to pay council tax to the great unwashed in the city.
A special shout out to all the PBers who don't know how to pronounce Ponteland.
Is the Irish Poundland?
Top marks for originality, but way off the mark.
Presumably in the same way as Pontefract?
That is the more usual way to get it wrong!
Pon-TEE-land
Chester-la-Rue
You mean Chesley Street?
"La rue" instead of "le street"
Street comes from ancien français via the Normans anyway - l'estrée.
Next Con leader? Gove for me. His not resigning was crucial and I sense there will be a reward once Brexit is delivered. I think May will appoint him Chancellor with strategic oversight of the FTA talks, leaving her to concentrate on other matters such as stopping people coming here. They will almost be twin PMs. Given such a platform I believe that MG’s undoubted ability will run riot and by 2021 when TM steps down he will be a slam dunk to replace her. He will be odds on by then, not the 12/1 shot that he is now. Fill your boots.
Looking further ahead, I find it interesting that Gove has a son. Now I don’t know the boy, therefore this is pure unbridled speculation, but I would wager that he is just as bright as his dad and has a keen interest in politics and, in particular, the Conservative Party. Political dynasties are not something that we in this country are comfortable with, but one can imagine (if one tries extremely hard) how that might change under these circumstances. Not a betting proposition, I hasten to add, more of a glimpse into a possible future.
If Gove is the next Conservative leader, I would vote for the anti-Semite.
Perhaps he could be moved back to education? Unfinished business.
And totally get rid of the teachers' Tory vote
Just as Hunt totally got rid of the doctors’ Tory vote.
"Elon Musk is fighting a libel claim from a British rescue diver he accused of paedophilia, arguing that his statement was obviously flippant because it was made on Twitter."
I don't know how the American legal system works but if that succeeds it sounds very stupid, not least because he is a public figure who people will take seriously and, even more notably, he made the accusation several times with time in between, so not exactly off the cuff.
The pub landlord wasn't going to take the risk of them not drinking Beetle Juice......
Though the Landlord may get himself in trouble as there is a legal case that veganism may well be a religion, and therefore a protected characteristic in law.
The pub landlord wasn't going to take the risk of them not drinking Beetle Juice......
Though the Landlord may get himself in trouble as there is a legal case that veganism may well be a religion, and therefore a protected characteristic in law.
Next Con leader? Gove for me. His not resigning was crucial and I sense there will be a reward once Brexit is delivered. I think May will appoint him Chancellor with strategic oversight of the FTA talks, leaving her to concentrate on other matters such as stopping people coming here. They will almost be twin PMs. Given such a platform I believe that MG’s undoubted ability will run riot and by 2021 when TM steps down he will be a slam dunk to replace her. He will be odds on by then, not the 12/1 shot that he is now. Fill your boots.
Looking further ahead, I find it interesting that Gove has a son. Now I don’t know the boy, therefore this is pure unbridled speculation, but I would wager that he is just as bright as his dad and has a keen interest in politics and, in particular, the Conservative Party. Political dynasties are not something that we in this country are comfortable with, but one can imagine (if one tries extremely hard) how that might change under these circumstances. Not a betting proposition, I hasten to add, more of a glimpse into a possible future.
If Gove is the next Conservative leader, I would vote for the anti-Semite.
Perhaps he could be moved back to education? Unfinished business.
And totally get rid of the teachers' Tory vote
Just as Hunt totally got rid of the doctors’ Tory vote.
Nah, plenty of my colleagues vote Tory. Indeed, I have great fun winding up one of my colleagues about how Corbyn will ban his private practice.
Away from Brexit, going drinking today in the wealthy Northumberland town of Ponteland where Newcastle’s well-to-do reside. The borders conveniently drawn so that they don’t have to pay council tax to the great unwashed in the city.
A special shout out to all the PBers who don't know how to pronounce Ponteland.
Is the Irish Poundland?
Top marks for originality, but way off the mark.
Presumably in the same way as Pontefract?
That is the more usual way to get it wrong!
Pon-TEE-land
Chester-la-Rue
You mean Chesley Street?
"La rue" instead of "le street"
Street comes from ancien français via the Normans anyway - l'estrée.
The pub landlord wasn't going to take the risk of them not drinking Beetle Juice......
Though the Landlord may get himself in trouble as there is a legal case that veganism may well be a religion, and therefore a protected characteristic in law.
Mr. kle4, reaching the top two requires not being something, rather than being something.
Mordaunt's neither a Grievance Remainer nor a Borisian Leaver. She isn't too old. She isn't inexperienced in ministerial terms (handy, when the leader becomes PM right away). She doesn't have baggage of a personal or political nature (the longer Javid's at Home, the longer the odds of something just going wrong, whether his doing or not).
She is, however, a shameless and proven liar.
She also conspicuously displays a military qualification badge to which she is 100% not entitled.
So she could be Shadow Foreign Secretary then, like 'Colonel' Emily Thornberry?
It could still happen. The MoD hands out honorary commissions like ballpoint pens these days. They made the head of the Institute of Directors a Commander in the RN - a rank which would normally take 20 years of service to achieve. It's become a sort of parallel honours system that the government can use to dispense favour to its political allies at very little cost.
Next Con leader? Gove for me. His not resigning was crucial and I sense there will be a reward once Brexit is delivered. I think May will appoint him Chancellor with strategic oversight of the FTA talks, leaving her to concentrate on other matters such as stopping people coming here. They will almost be twin PMs. Given such a platform I believe that MG’s undoubted ability will run riot and by 2021 when TM steps down he will be a slam dunk to replace her. He will be odds on by then, not the 12/1 shot that he is now. Fill your boots.
Looking further ahead, I find it interesting that Gove has a son. Now I don’t know the boy, therefore this is pure unbridled speculation, but I would wager that he is just as bright as his dad and has a keen interest in politics and, in particular, the Conservative Party. Political dynasties are not something that we in this country are comfortable with, but one can imagine (if one tries extremely hard) how that might change under these circumstances. Not a betting proposition, I hasten to add, more of a glimpse into a possible future.
If Gove is the next Conservative leader, I would vote for the anti-Semite.
Perhaps he could be moved back to education? Unfinished business.
And totally get rid of the teachers' Tory vote
Just as Hunt totally got rid of the doctors’ Tory vote.
Nah, plenty of my colleagues vote Tory. Indeed, I have great fun winding up one of my colleagues about how Corbyn will ban his private practice.
There are 9 doctors in my family and that of my sister. 2015 8 voted Tory I voted LibDem. Next election 8 will vote Labour and I won’t bother voting. All of 8 proudly profess that nine oftheir colleagues will vote Tory and are really angry that locus earm more working 2 days a week that they do for keeping their full time jobs. The Hunt effect. I think the Tories are needlessly sacrificing the public sector vote.
"Elon Musk is fighting a libel claim from a British rescue diver he accused of paedophilia, arguing that his statement was obviously flippant because it was made on Twitter."
Next Con leader? Gove for me. His not resigning was crucial and I sense there will be a reward once Brexit is delivered. I think May will appoint him Chancellor with strategic oversight of the FTA talks, leaving her to concentrate on other matters such as stopping people coming here. They will almost be twin PMs. Given such a platform I believe that MG’s undoubted ability will run riot and by 2021 when TM steps down he will be a slam dunk to replace her. He will be odds on by then, not the 12/1 shot that he is now. Fill your boots.
Looking further ahead, I find it interesting that Gove has a son. Now I don’t know the boy, therefore this is pure unbridled speculation, but I would wager that he is just as bright as his dad and has a keen interest in politics and, in particular, the Conservative Party. Political dynasties are not something that we in this country are comfortable with, but one can imagine (if one tries extremely hard) how that might change under these circumstances. Not a betting proposition, I hasten to add, more of a glimpse into a possible future.
If Gove is the next Conservative leader, I would vote for the anti-Semite.
Perhaps he could be moved back to education? Unfinished business.
And totally get rid of the teachers' Tory vote
Just as Hunt totally got rid of the doctors’ Tory vote.
Nah, plenty of my colleagues vote Tory. Indeed, I have great fun winding up one of my colleagues about how Corbyn will ban his private practice.
There are 9 doctors in my family and that of my sister. 2015 8 voted Tory I voted LibDem. Next election 8 will vote Labour and I won’t bother voting. All of 8 proudly profess that nine oftheir colleagues will vote Tory and are really angry that locus earm more working 2 days a week that they do for keeping their full time jobs. The Hunt effect. I think the Tories are needlessly sacrificing the public sector vote.
Yes, agency locums do get paid well. It is a feature, not a bug, of Brexit to drive up wages of sturdy British yeomen like yours truly
+++++BREAKING NEWS+++++ We have a wren in the house that has defied all attempts to re-locate it outdoors.
It is currently hiding in the Christmas tree.....
aww bless it. I love wrens (and i dont mean the female sailors). good luck with the rescue.
When I was first commissioned they were known by the charming sobriquet of "splits". A fatwa was issued from the Admiralty banning this term so they were then rebranded as Wasas (was a split). They were disbanded shortly after which was a shame as they were useful for those sailors who were too lazy to have a wank.
Next Con leader? Gove for me. His not resigning was crucial and I sense there will be a reward once Brexit is delivered. I think May will appoint him Chancellor with strategic oversight of the FTA talks, leaving her to concentrate on other matters such as stopping people coming here. They will almost be twin PMs. Given such a platform I believe that MG’s undoubted ability will run riot and by 2021 when TM steps down he will be a slam dunk to replace her. He will be odds on by then, not the 12/1 shot that he is now. Fill your boots.
Looking further ahead, I find it interesting that Gove has a son. Now I don’t know the boy, therefore this is pure unbridled speculation, but I would wager that he is just as bright as his dad and has a keen interest in politics and, in particular, the Conservative Party. Political dynasties are not something that we in this country are comfortable with, but one can imagine (if one tries extremely hard) how that might change under these circumstances. Not a betting proposition, I hasten to add, more of a glimpse into a possible future.
If Gove is the next Conservative leader, I would vote for the anti-Semite.
Perhaps he could be moved back to education? Unfinished business.
And totally get rid of the teachers' Tory vote
Just as Hunt totally got rid of the doctors’ Tory vote.
Nah, plenty of my colleagues vote Tory. Indeed, I have great fun winding up one of my colleagues about how Corbyn will ban his private practice.
There are 9 doctors in my family and that of my sister. 2015 8 voted Tory I voted LibDem. Next election 8 will vote Labour and I won’t bother voting. All of 8 proudly profess that nine oftheir colleagues will vote Tory and are really angry that locus earm more working 2 days a week that they do for keeping their full time jobs. The Hunt effect. I think the Tories are needlessly sacrificing the public sector vote.
Yes, agency locums do get paid well. It is a feature, not a bug, of Brexit to drive up wages of sturdy British yeomen like yours truly
I think it’s a function of seeing so many British trained newly qualified’s go to Australia, NZ, Canada etc myself. This was still a major problem even when freedom of movement was allowing large numbers of EU doctors in to staff the NHS. Brexit hasn’t changed that.
+++++BREAKING NEWS+++++ We have a wren in the house that has defied all attempts to re-locate it outdoors.
It is currently hiding in the Christmas tree.....
Hmmm. From Wikipedia so.... 'The wren is an active little bird, and so its symbolic Celtic meanings include activity, vibrancy, alertness and efficiency.'
Javid has no chance. His immigration policy has been rightly ridiculed by Migration Watch and the escalating problem of Iranians illegally crossing the Channel is not being dealt with at all. How on earth May and her merry band of thumb twiddlers expect to be able to patrol and enforce our fishing grounds is beyond me. I doubt the electorate put any faith in them either.
+++++BREAKING NEWS+++++ We have a wren in the house that has defied all attempts to re-locate it outdoors.
It is currently hiding in the Christmas tree.....
aww bless it. I love wrens (and i dont mean the female sailors). good luck with the rescue.
When I was first commissioned they were known by the charming sobriquet of "splits". A fatwa was issued from the Admiralty banning this term so they were then rebranded as Wasas (was a split). They were disbanded shortly after which was a shame as they were useful for those sailors who were too lazy to have a wank.
One of my cousins spent the war in the Wrens. She said her first few weeks in barracks were an education.
+++++BREAKING NEWS+++++ We have a wren in the house that has defied all attempts to re-locate it outdoors.
It is currently hiding in the Christmas tree.....
aww bless it. I love wrens (and i dont mean the female sailors). good luck with the rescue.
When I was first commissioned they were known by the charming sobriquet of "splits". A fatwa was issued from the Admiralty banning this term so they were then rebranded as Wasas (was a split). They were disbanded shortly after which was a shame as they were useful for those sailors who were too lazy to have a wank.
There was a famous occasion in 1939 when a female peer made a celebrated double entendre over delays in uniforms. The Minister said WRNS would get their uniforms when all seamen on active service had:
'Is my right hon. Friend saying WRNS' skirts must be held up until all sailors have been satisfied?'
Next Con leader? Gove for me. His not resigning was crucial and I sense there will be a reward once Brexit is delivered. I think May will appoint him Chancellor with strategic oversight of the FTA talks, leaving her to concentrate on other matters such as stopping people coming here. They will almost be twin PMs. Given such a platform I believe that MG’s undoubted ability will run riot and by 2021 when TM steps down he will be a slam dunk to replace her. He will be odds on by then, not the 12/1 shot that he is now. Fill your boots.
Looking further ahead, I find it interesting that Gove has a son. Now I don’t know the boy, therefore this is pure unbridled speculation, but I would wager that he is just as bright as his dad and has a keen interest in politics and, in particular, the Conservative Party. Political dynasties are not something that we in this country are comfortable with, but one can imagine (if one tries extremely hard) how that might change under these circumstances. Not a betting proposition, I hasten to add, more of a glimpse into a possible future.
If Gove is the next Conservative leader, I would vote for the anti-Semite.
Perhaps he could be moved back to education? Unfinished business.
And totally get rid of the teachers' Tory vote
Just as Hunt totally got rid of the doctors’ Tory vote.
Nah, plenty of my colleagues vote Tory. Indeed, I have great fun winding up one of my colleagues about how Corbyn will ban his private practice.
There are 9 doctors in my family and that of my sister. 2015 8 voted Tory I voted LibDem. Next election 8 will vote Labour and I won’t bother voting. All of 8 proudly profess that nine oftheir colleagues will vote Tory and are really angry that locus earm more working 2 days a week that they do for keeping their full time jobs. The Hunt effect. I think the Tories are needlessly sacrificing the public sector vote.
Yes, agency locums do get paid well. It is a feature, not a bug, of Brexit to drive up wages of sturdy British yeomen like yours truly
Locums in most professions get paid 'better' than regular staff. They do not, though, get paid holidays or pensions. And if by mischance they fall sick the time they spend off is unremunerated.
Next Con leader? Gove for me. His not resigning was crucial and I sense there will be a reward once Brexit is delivered. I think May will appoint him Chancellor with strategic oversight of the FTA talks, leaving her to concentrate on other matters such as stopping people coming here. They will almost be twin PMs. Given such a platform I believe that MG’s undoubted ability will run riot and by 2021 when TM steps down he will be a slam dunk to replace her. He will be odds on by then, not the 12/1 shot that he is now. Fill your boots.
Looking further ahead, I find it interesting that Gove has a son. Now I don’t know the boy, therefore this is pure unbridled speculation, but I would wager that he is just as bright as his dad and has a keen interest in politics and, in particular, the Conservative Party. Political dynasties are not something that we in this country are comfortable with, but one can imagine (if one tries extremely hard) how that might change under these circumstances. Not a betting proposition, I hasten to add, more of a glimpse into a possible future.
If Gove is the next Conservative leader, I would vote for the anti-Semite.
Perhaps he could be moved back to education? Unfinished business.
And totally get rid of the teachers' Tory vote
Just as Hunt totally got rid of the doctors’ Tory vote.
Nah, plenty of my colleagues vote Tory. Indeed, I have great fun winding up one of my colleagues about how Corbyn will ban his private practice.
There are 9 doctors in my family and that of my sister. 2015 8 voted Tory I voted LibDem. Next election 8 will vote Labour and I won’t bother voting. All of 8 proudly profess that nine oftheir colleagues will vote Tory and are really angry that locus earm more working 2 days a week that they do for keeping their full time jobs. The Hunt effect. I think the Tories are needlessly sacrificing the public sector vote.
Yes, agency locums do get paid well. It is a feature, not a bug, of Brexit to drive up wages of sturdy British yeomen like yours truly
Locums in most professions get paid 'better' than regular staff. They do not, though, get paid holidays or pensions. And if by mischance they fall sick the time they spend off is unremunerated.
NHS locums are still entitled NHS pensions on their locum earnings if they opt in and continue to pay into the scheme
Strikingly, there appears to be no original policy thinking in the broader swathes of the Tory party: not on the backbenches, not in the thinktanks.
All is consumed by the “creation science” of Brexitism, trying to prove the the co-existence of Adam and Dinosaurs etc. None of this is going to make the country fit for the 2020s, let alone the Tory party.
Which makes it all the more depressing that insofar as Labour have any policy other than 'the Tories are evil, vote for us because as supporters of mass murderers we're much nicer,' they veer from the unworkable to the unoriginal to the actively dishonest.
While I obviously don't agree with your characterisation of Labour, I'd be interested to know - as a sample of all those who think little of either major party at the moment - why you aren't enthusiastically backing the LibDems. I am not a fan - they seem preoccupied with Brexit too, to an unhealthy degree, and I've not forgiven them for the coalition
. (For me, Gove's gutting of the education system made me sick, and Alexander's boast of "the largest programme of investment in our roads for half a century", the direct opposite of the Lib Dem manifesto, was the last straw.)
.
What gutting was that? Education has had more money thrown at it than a wh*re has had jism thrown in a bukkake.
But it didn't keep pace with rising pupil numbers.
There's a pupil bubble working its way through the system. The very first time, and post Gove, that education funding has in any way not had an over inflationary increase.
If the Lib Dem’s want some attention they need to dump Cable, renounce the university fees disaster (the logic of which is unravelling anyway), and find some eyecatching ideas that are liberal and address the inequalities that have sprung up over the past 25 yrs. Things like:
Legalisation of marijuana Abolition of hospital carparking fees Proper taxation of Google, Facebook, Amazon etc and offshore financial centres. Business rate abolition. Etc
The only thing I’ve seen Layla Moran talk about is identity politics, which is not a platform for regaining relevance. However she at least looks like the future and seems feistier than Swinson. It also too late for Lamb. So Moran it is.
The problem of free hospital car parking is that is abused by commuters. Even without these queues and patients being tardy for appointments as a result of not being able to get a space was a nightmare at my hospital, until the CEO spent a couple of million quid on a new multistorey carpark. He braced himself for abuse along the lines of "how could you when people are dying of X?" but ithas been his most popular legacy. The queue has gone and feedback very positive, despite the charges.
The point of the policy is to make tories look (more) like twats for opposing it. Whether or not it will actually work or is even possible doesn't matter.
And indeed if it is unworkable that is a problem for a future Labour government to worry about.
The pub landlord wasn't going to take the risk of them not drinking Beetle Juice......
Though the Landlord may get himself in trouble as there is a legal case that veganism may well be a religion, and therefore a protected characteristic in law.
Next Con leader? Gove for me. His not resigning was crucial and I sense there will be a reward once Brexit is delivered. I think May will appoint him Chancellor with strategic oversight of the FTA talks, leaving her to concentrate on other matters such as stopping people coming here. They will almost be twin PMs. Given such a platform I believe that MG’s undoubted ability will run riot and by 2021 when TM steps down he will be a slam dunk to replace her. He will be odds on by then, not the 12/1 shot that he is now. Fill your boots.
Looking further ahead, I find it interesting that Gove has a son. Now I don’t know the boy, therefore this is pure unbridled speculation, but I would wager that he is just as bright as his dad and has a keen interest in politics and, in particular, the Conservative Party. Political dynasties are not something that we in this country are comfortable with, but one can imagine (if one tries extremely hard) how that might change under these circumstances. Not a betting proposition, I hasten to add, more of a glimpse into a possible future.
If Gove is the next Conservative leader, I would vote for the anti-Semite.
Perhaps he could be moved back to education? Unfinished business.
And totally get rid of the teachers' Tory vote
Just as Hunt totally got rid of the doctors’ Tory vote.
Nah, plenty of my colleagues vote Tory. Indeed, I have great fun winding up one of my colleagues about how Corbyn will ban his private practice.
. The Hunt effect. I think the Tories are needlessly sacrificing the public sector vote.
Yes, agency locums do get paid well. It is a feature, not a bug, of Brexit to drive up wages of sturdy British yeomen like yours truly
Locums in most professions get paid 'better' than regular staff. They do not, though, get paid holidays or pensions. And if by mischance they fall sick the time they spend off is unremunerated.
NHS locums are still entitled NHS pensions on their locum earnings if they opt in and continue to pay into the scheme
When did that come in? Once upon a time, as a pharmacist, I used to locum in hospitals and there was never any question of that. Furthermore I had to be paid though a company, or provide evidence of 'registered' self-employment.
The pub landlord wasn't going to take the risk of them not drinking Beetle Juice......
Though the Landlord may get himself in trouble as there is a legal case that veganism may well be a religion, and therefore a protected characteristic in law.
1) Be ruder to leavers 2) Be ruder about Theresa May 3) Be ruder about Jeremy Corbyn 4) Be ruder about celebrity centrists on twitter 5) Eat more pineapple on pizza
If Gove is the next Conservative leader, I would vote for the anti-Semite.
Perhaps he could be moved back to education? Unfinished business.
And totally get rid of the teachers' Tory vote
Just as Hunt totally got rid of the doctors’ Tory vote.
Nah, plenty of my colleagues vote Tory. Indeed, I have great fun winding up one of my colleagues about how Corbyn will ban his private practice.
There are 9 doctors in my family and that of my sister. 2015 8 voted Tory I voted LibDem. Next election 8 will vote Labour and I won’t bother voting. All of 8 proudly profess that nine oftheir colleagues will vote Tory and are really angry that locus earm more working 2 days a week that they do for keeping their full time jobs. The Hunt effect. I think the Tories are needlessly sacrificing the public sector vote.
Yes, agency locums do get paid well. It is a feature, not a bug, of Brexit to drive up wages of sturdy British yeomen like yours truly
Locums in most professions get paid 'better' than regular staff. They do not, though, get paid holidays or pensions. And if by mischance they fall sick the time they spend off is unremunerated.
Yes that's true. In the IT organisation I worked in we generally reckoned short-term contract staff were payed close to twice the daily rate of permanent employees. Mind you, in our environment permies could also get a performance related annual bonus to add to the benefits of holiday pension, sick-pay and training.
Comments
I would be happy with that concession to the dwindling band of Leave supporters.
"In Victory: Magnanimity" I say.
what with our Tracey not mentioned in the header and all that.
For a centre-left voter like me (broadly Lib Dem / Co-operative / Green), the coalition was anathema. Like many others, I left the Lib Dems over the policies that Clegg and Alexander were gleefully introducing or at the least enabling. (For me, Gove's gutting of the education system made me sick, and Alexander's boast of "the largest programme of investment in our roads for half a century", the direct opposite of the Lib Dem manifesto, was the last straw.)
But that was then. It was only, in the grand scheme of things, a few years after Labour supported the invasion of Iraq. Or introduced academies. Or voted to introduce ID cards. Or (contd. p94). If you won't forgive the Lib Dems for the coalition, why should anyone ever forgive Labour for those?
I'm starting to think that the Lib Dems should enter a formal electoral pact with the Greens at the next election - not so much for the electoral gain, though that clearly worked in Oxford West & Abingdon and might help elsewhere - but to detoxify the Lib Dems in the eyes of the progressive left.
(But please no to abolishing hospital car-parking fees. It's a subsidy to drivers and therefore a tax on the poor. It's exactly the sort of glib regressive populism that Corbyn likes but not something the Lib Dems should go anywhere near. Provide free buses to hospitals if you really want to make a difference.)
Early mobilisation and plenty of physio asap after the op is the key,
There just wouldn't be any who would actually care if Gove were transferred back to education or even worse, to No. 10.
To be blunt, I'd be happier to see him, Spielman, Morgan and Wormald (who are the guiltiest in these disasters) kicked out and banned from public service for the future, as Cummings effectively has been.
But given he is fairly intelligent with all his faults and we're not blessed with a plethora of competent figures in either party, I'll settle for him working somewhere a good long way from education - for now.
I'll get my coat...
Actually only the 2nd para was flight of fancy. 1st para was straight as a die. I do think May will last to 2021 and I do think that Gove will get a massive promo in 2019 as his reward for sticking with her. Then assuming he performs he's the likely next leader IMO.
I think he might even have a hold on her. Not blackmail, nothing sordid like that, but I sense that TM is in thrall to his charm and intellect.
Did you notice, when she was doing that difficult speech to the House after Chequers, that she kept flicking glances over at him, to where he was standing, seeking his approval? And that he was nodding his encouragement, even winking at her at one point?
I did, and I thought it telling.
Those poor girls.
Even most independent or grammar school teachers do not vote Tory, let alone those in comprehensives or academies
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2010/jan/15/teachers-voting-labour-conservatives
By 2014 43% of teachers would vote Labour to 10% Tory and 6% LD
https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2014/01/just-12-teachers-would-vote-conservative
Google etc are currently taxed on their profits - it's just that their economic activity ois p[rimarily not carried out in the UK. Companies should be taxed in heir profits and in the countries where their economic activity is carried out.
No buisness rates means no council services for businesses.
Happy to legalise marijuana.
Layla Moran speaks well, as you would expect from a former Roedean school pupil.
I would he very happy if Gove was Chancellor though or in charge of negotiating a FTA with the EU
Teaching a party to love Mandleson is one thing; Gove quite another.
Who is going to teach him judgment, though ?
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2018/12/28/jeremy-corbyn-failed-tackle-anti-semitism-upset-emily-thornberry/
Crappiness
The greatest flaw
That I possess"
If i spent £2k advertising in my local newspaper, and assuming it wasnt owned by the tax dodging Guardian subsidiary residing in the Cayman islands, any profits would be taxed here in the UK.
Pon-TEE-land
Why should small, struggling businesses be expected to pay both business rates and taxes on profits - yet large multinational conglomerates they compete with face no or negligible business rates?
Council services needs a new scheme to be funded but business rates should be abolished.
Its only over the last 24 months has there even been a tightening on the education budget, probably the first since the mid nineties. Schools have more middle management than an NHS trust.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/twitter-attacks-don-t-count-says-musk-in-paedo-libel-fight-p25dw6vw0
https://twitter.com/foxinsoxuk/status/1078679255163248642?s=19
It is currently hiding in the Christmas tree.....
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2018/12/28/jeremy-corbyn-failed-tackle-anti-semitism-upset-emily-thornberry/
"too upset" lol
Pull the other one Jezbollah
Still some work to do to win them round then......
https://twitter.com/HillelNeuer/status/1078001068712386560
Posted for what it's worth, if anything.
'Is my right hon. Friend saying WRNS' skirts must be held up until all sailors have been satisfied?'
Disclaimer: Only kidding - I'm actually a vegetarian
1) Be ruder to leavers
2) Be ruder about Theresa May
3) Be ruder about Jeremy Corbyn
4) Be ruder about celebrity centrists on twitter
5) Eat more pineapple on pizza