1. One way or another Brexit collapses under its own contradictions and thanks to the antics of its strongest adherents
2. Its legacy is a strongly pro-European sentiment with the memory of the fiasco we are living through providing antidote to previous media and political shyness to be actively positive about the EU
3. The public is bright enough to see that our political system is broken, pressure that leads to long overdue reform
4. Politicians are bright enough to see that their focus needs to change with concerns of 'left behind' people and communities given greater priority (political reform wil help as such areas are rarely marginals where political campaigns are currently focused)
These are in order of decreasing likelihood with the principal concern whether politicians will learn anything worthwhile with regard to 3. and 4.
Alternatively....
1. One way or another Brexit collapses under its own contradictions and thanks to the antics of the majority of Remainer MPs
2. Its legacy is a strongly anti-European sentiment with the memory of the anti-democratic fiasco we are living through providing fuel to voter intent to be actively negative about the EU - which will carry the blame for EVERYTHING that goes wrong in our society
3. The public is bright enough to see that our political system is broken, but that pressure leads to MPs to become more distant, many refusing surgeries or public meetings for fear of unspecified "personal dangers"
4. Politicians are bright enough to ....dream on, friend.
What a miserably negative view of the world you Tories have.
Perhaps MarqueeMark is a realist?
In the short term things very often seem to be getting worse, whereas on any medium to longer term view things have undeniably been getting better for almost everyone. The key is to focus on and work toward the latter.
1. One way or another Brexit collapses under its own contradictions and thanks to the antics of its strongest adherents
2. Its legacy is a strongly pro-European sentiment with the memory of the fiasco we are living through providing antidote to previous media and political shyness to be actively positive about the EU
3. The public is bright enough to see that our political system is broken, pressure that leads to long overdue reform
4. Politicians are bright enough to see that their focus needs to change with concerns of 'left behind' people and communities given greater priority (political reform wil help as such areas are rarely marginals where political campaigns are currently focused)
These are in order of decreasing likelihood with the principal concern whether politicians will learn anything worthwhile with regard to 3. and 4.
Alternatively....
1. One way or another Brexit collapses under its own contradictions and thanks to the antics of the majority of Remainer MPs
2. Its legacy is a strongly anti-European sentiment with the memory of the anti-democratic fiasco we are living through providing fuel to voter intent to be actively negative about the EU - which will carry the blame for EVERYTHING that goes wrong in our society
3. The public is bright enough to see that our political system is broken, but that pressure leads to MPs to become more distant, many refusing surgeries or public meetings for fear of unspecified "personal dangers"
4. Politicians are bright enough to ....dream on, friend.
What a miserably negative view of the world you Tories have.
And you are the ones accusing of us of searching for those Sunlit Uplands.....
Collectively, MPs have failed over Brexit. Individually some have shone.
The government must bear a heavy responsibility for the failure of MPs. It has deliberately made it as hard as possible for a consensus to emerge because that consensus did not look likely to be one it was comfortable with.
1. One way or another Brexit collapses under its own contradictions and thanks to the antics of its strongest adherents
2. Its legacy is a strongly pro-European sentiment with the memory of the fiasco we are living through providing antidote to previous media and political shyness to be actively positive about the EU
3. The public is bright enough to see that our political system is broken, pressure that leads to long overdue reform
4. Politicians are bright enough to see that their focus needs to change with concerns of 'left behind' people and communities given greater priority (political reform wil help as such areas are rarely marginals where political campaigns are currently focused)
These are in order of decreasing likelihood with the principal concern whether politicians will learn anything worthwhile with regard to 3. and 4.
Alternatively....
1. One way or another Brexit collapses under its own contradictions and thanks to the antics of the majority of Remainer MPs
2. Its legacy is a strongly anti-European sentiment with the memory of the anti-democratic fiasco we are living through providing fuel to voter intent to be actively negative about the EU - which will carry the blame for EVERYTHING that goes wrong in our society
3. The public is bright enough to see that our political system is broken, but that pressure leads to MPs to become more distant, many refusing surgeries or public meetings for fear of unspecified "personal dangers"
4. Politicians are bright enough to ....dream on, friend.
The trouble with your version is that point 1 is demonstrably false. Brexit failed as a project because of the specific actions of leaver MPs voting against Brexit. This is an inescapable historical fact, and one that leavers are not going to allow to be forgotten.
1. One way or another Brexit collapses under its own contradictions and thanks to the antics of its strongest adherents
2. Its legacy is a strongly pro-European sentiment with the memory of the fiasco we are living through providing antidote to previous media and political shyness to be actively positive about the EU
3. The public is bright enough to see that our political system is broken, pressure that leads to long overdue reform
4. Politicians are bright enough to see that their focus needs to change with concerns of 'left behind' people and communities given greater priority (political reform wil help as such areas are rarely marginals where political campaigns are currently focused)
These are in order of decreasing likelihood with the principal concern whether politicians will learn anything worthwhile with regard to 3. and 4.
Alternatively....
1. One way or another Brexit collapses under its own contradictions and thanks to the antics of the majority of Remainer MPs
2. Its legacy is a strongly anti-European sentiment with the memory of the anti-democratic fiasco we are living through providing fuel to voter intent to be actively negative about the EU - which will carry the blame for EVERYTHING that goes wrong in our society
3. The public is bright enough to see that our political system is broken, but that pressure leads to MPs to become more distant, many refusing surgeries or public meetings for fear of unspecified "personal dangers"
4. Politicians are bright enough to ....dream on, friend.
The trouble with your version is that point 1 is demonstrably false. Brexit failed as a project because of the specific actions of leaver MPs voting against Brexit. This is an inescapable historical fact, and one that leavers are not going to allow to be forgotten.
Mr. Sandpit, maybe. I'd be interested to know what Vettel's apparent gremlin in Australia was.
Mr. B, Bottas has been close to Hamilton in both qualifying sessions so far, and both also had the same cars on the front row (ie all Mercedes or all Ferrari). We'll see what happens, of course, but I think his odds are out of kilter because his Bahrain performance was a bit iffy.
A good thing is that the season looks closely contested. For now, at least.
Vettel's gremlin was that either he turned his engine down too much and got undercut by Hamilton on fresh tyres, or his team screwed up their strategy and didn't realise the Mercedes could gain four seconds on him in a single lap. The Mercedes race strategy team is a lot better than the Ferrari team.
[Edit - I now see you said Australia rather than Bahrain. The Ferrari issue there was they were scared of an engine failure so turned the cars right down.]
There's also a theory about his spin that the new cars are really bad at running close to alongside each other through a corner, as the crap air now exits sideways rather than immediately behind the car. So a car that's just behind but to the side has to run in the crap air, which reduces downforce around a corner, just where Vettel was when he spun around. That may of course be correct, but doesn't account for the German driver's three other spins in the last 10 races in a completely different car.
1. One way or another Brexit collapses under its own contradictions and thanks to the antics of its strongest adherents
2. Its legacy is a strongly pro-European sentiment with the memory of the fiasco we are living through providing antidote to previous media and political shyness to be actively positive about the EU
3. The public is bright enough to see that our political system is broken, pressure that leads to long overdue reform
4. Politicians are bright enough to see that their focus needs to change with concerns of 'left behind' people and communities given greater priority (political reform wil help as such areas are rarely marginals where political campaigns are currently focused)
These are in order of decreasing likelihood with the principal concern whether politicians will learn anything worthwhile with regard to 3. and 4.
Alternatively....
1. One way or another Brexit collapses under its own contradictions and thanks to the antics of the majority of Remainer MPs
2. Its legacy is a strongly anti-European sentiment with the memory of the anti-democratic fiasco we are living through providing fuel to voter intent to be actively negative about the EU - which will carry the blame for EVERYTHING that goes wrong in our society
3. The public is bright enough to see that our political system is broken, but that pressure leads to MPs to become more distant, many refusing surgeries or public meetings for fear of unspecified "personal dangers"
4. Politicians are bright enough to ....dream on, friend.
The trouble with your version is that point 1 is demonstrably false. Brexit failed as a project because of the specific actions of leaver MPs voting against Brexit. This is an inescapable historical fact, and one that leavers are not going to allow to be forgotten.
If it wasn't for the meaningful vote, the deal would have been signed months ago. A clever ruse by remain MPs.
1. One way or another Brexit collapses under its own contradictions and thanks to the antics of its strongest adherents
2. Its legacy is a strongly pro-European sentiment with the memory of the fiasco we are living through providing antidote to previous media and political shyness to be actively positive about the EU
3. The public is bright enough to see that our political system is broken, pressure that leads to long overdue reform
4. Politicians are bright enough to see that their focus needs to change with concerns of 'left behind' people and communities given greater priority (political reform wil help as such areas are rarely marginals where political campaigns are currently focused)
These are in order of decreasing likelihood with the principal concern whether politicians will learn anything worthwhile with regard to 3. and 4. Experience - especially after the near global financial collapse where after initial shock, things then pretty much returned to how they were before - isn't encouraging.
What is striking about that is that the first two are unrelated to the latter two.
Once Brexit is done and dusted, one way or another, we will still have all the same old problems and nothing will have changed, or at least not for the better.
As with the financial crisis, which - as we lived through it, seemed to demand so much change - I suspect you are probably right. History and lessons, etc.
Well, the financial crisis was different, as it was directly related to the source of the problems we face. The failure to do anything is more to do with a political failure. One can imagine an optimal response that makes things better.
Brexit is pure distraction. Even an optimal Brexit solution is sub-optimal overall because it is preventing any progress on anything else.
1. One way or another Brexit collapses under its own contradictions and thanks to the antics of its strongest adherents
2. Its legacy is a strongly pro-European sentiment with the memory of the fiasco we are living through providing antidote to previous media and political shyness to be actively positive about the EU
3. The public is bright enough to see that our political system is broken, pressure that leads to long overdue reform
4. Politicians are bright enough to see that their focus needs to change with concerns of 'left behind' people and communities given greater priority (political reform wil help as such areas are rarely marginals where political campaigns are currently focused)
These are in order of decreasing likelihood with the principal concern whether politicians will learn anything worthwhile with regard to 3. and 4.
Alternatively....
1. One way or another Brexit collapses under its own contradictions and thanks to the antics of the majority of Remainer MPs
2. Its legacy is a strongly anti-European sentiment with the memory of the anti-democratic fiasco we are living through providing fuel to voter intent to be actively negative about the EU - which will carry the blame for EVERYTHING that goes wrong in our society
3. The public is bright enough to see that our political system is broken, but that pressure leads to MPs to become more distant, many refusing surgeries or public meetings for fear of unspecified "personal dangers"
4. Politicians are bright enough to ....dream on, friend.
What a miserably negative view of the world you Tories have.
And you are the ones accusing of us of searching for those Sunlit Uplands.....
It's all ice and thunderstorms up there. Better stay down here in the warmth and enjoy the view of the sea.
It could be sorted tomorrow. Our MPs have been hapless but the not choosing something so an extension must occur is, haphazardly, what most of them wanted.
Another year at least. Genuinely depressing stuff. Theres nothing about this that requires uncertainty like that.
I just read a rather depressing article by Tim Stanley. He suggests the problem is that MPs' ability to take decisions has simply atrophied, after years of outsourcing legislating to Brussels.
I think there is that but even more it’s the fact that far too many viewed being an MP as a career choice where you graduate with PPE from Oxbridge, do a few years political think-tanking or advising and then become an MP, where all you have to do is take the whip, following broadly centrist policies, and genuflect your rhetoric a bit to take account of currents of public opinion.
Big issues, big decisions and big leadership is something our political class is wholly unprepared for and some of them have even gone so far as to say how unfair it all is.
One could argue that it's all to do with paying people a living wage to be in Parliament; 120 or so years ago one could not be in Parliament without some sort of income from outside, be it lawyer or merchant, mill-owner or landowner.
As Danny Finkelstein points out in this morning’s Times, the criticism of MPs is off point.
That there are some prize pills amongst them is undeniable, but has that not always been the case ?
The reality is that they rather well represent a nation split down the middle, and it is not a surprise that they cannot agree on how to proceed with Brexit, as neither can the electorate.
Point taken. To be fair several of the top prize pillocks have been people who HAVE some experience of life outside politics; Bridgen, Francois for example.
I voted remain but have always accepted the referendum and support leaving the EU. I am content that TM achieved a brexit deal that was agreed by the EU and we were able to leave on the 29th March
However, the brexiters and remainers have created a perfect storm creating the deadlock we now see
I believe TM has done her best and will go down as the PM who agreed brexit that was sabotaged by her own ERG, who by their behaviour provided the perfect get out for labour mps
Over the last few days an element of ERG have gone rogue and displayed the worst excess of an obsessive cult attacking everyone who does not support their own prejeudices and using the most inflamatory language and abuse, not only to their leader, but the EU with the appalling impression it gives to ordinary citizens in Europe and indeed across the World
My wife and I have watched this in utter despair and hope that somehow a softer brexit or remain will emerge out of this national breakdown
TM must surely resign soon but neither my wife or I will remain in the party if Johnson is elected leader
The odd thing is that any realistic alternative to Theresa May looks worse, you're not going to elect Rudd, Hammond or Letwin are you?
Collectively, MPs have failed over Brexit. Individually some have shone.
The government must bear a heavy responsibility for the failure of MPs. It has deliberately made it as hard as possible for a consensus to emerge because that consensus did not look likely to be one it was comfortable with.
Yet every indicative vote option failed from EUref2 to No Deal to Common Market 2.0 too in the indicative votes to get a Commons majority, just as the Deal did, indeed the closest to a majority was simply May's Deal basically but a permanent not temporary Customs Union in the Political Declaration.
The Commons is divided as the country is divided, no poll gives any Brexit option over 50% approval
Collectively, MPs have failed over Brexit. Individually some have shone.
The government must bear a heavy responsibility for the failure of MPs. It has deliberately made it as hard as possible for a consensus to emerge because that consensus did not look likely to be one it was comfortable with.
TM is an appalling negotiator, but the real failure was her inability to negotiate either with parliament or people.
The recent talks with Labour show that her idea of compromise is giving the other side another chance to agree with her.
Collectively, MPs have failed over Brexit. Individually some have shone.
The government must bear a heavy responsibility for the failure of MPs. It has deliberately made it as hard as possible for a consensus to emerge because that consensus did not look likely to be one it was comfortable with.
TM is an appalling negotiator, but the real failure was her inability to negotiate either with parliament or people.
The recent talks with Labour show that her idea of compromise is giving the other side another chance to agree with her.
She will not be remembered well.
A strong argument for PR is that we will get politicians capable of talking to and working with each other.
A consensus of MPs is necessary before a referendum result is honoured? Do the SNP know?
Is there any point then in ever having a referendum on Scottish independence? It's up to Parliament anyway.
Edit: I haven't even brought in the meaningful vote. The Jocks have no chance getting a majority of the of MPs on their side. Why not just try and get a bill through Parliament? That's the way it works now.
Collectively, MPs have failed over Brexit. Individually some have shone.
The government must bear a heavy responsibility for the failure of MPs. It has deliberately made it as hard as possible for a consensus to emerge because that consensus did not look likely to be one it was comfortable with.
Yet every indicative vote option failed from EUref2 to No Deal to Common Market 2.0 too in the indicative votes to get a Commons majority, just as the Deal did, indeed the closest to a majority was simply May's Deal basically but a permanent not temporary Customs Union in the Political Declaration.
The Commons is divided as the country is divided, no poll gives any Brexit option over 50% approval
In large part the indicative votes options failed because the government signalled its opposition to the options. That was a big part of my point. It sought to sabotage the possibility of any consensus emerging.
Yeah, Vettel needs to up his game. The odd mistake happens, but he made a few last year, and Leclerc has caught him in both races so far. On race pace, the Monegasque currently looks faster.
1. One way or another Brexit collapses under its own contradictions and thanks to the antics of its strongest adherents
2. Its legacy is a strongly pro-European sentiment with the memory of the fiasco we are living through providing antidote to previous media and political shyness to be actively positive about the EU
3. The public is bright enough to see that our political system is broken, pressure that leads to long overdue reform
4. Politicians are bright enough to see that their focus needs to change with concerns of 'left behind' people and communities given greater priority (political reform wil help as such areas are rarely marginals where political campaigns are currently focused)
These are in order of decreasing likelihood with the principal concern whether politicians will learn anything worthwhile with regard to 3. and 4.
Alternatively....
1. One way or another Brexit collapses under its own contradictions and thanks to the antics of the majority of Remainer MPs
2. Its legacy is a strongly anti-European sentiment with the memory of the anti-democratic fiasco we are living through providing fuel to voter intent to be actively negative about the EU - which will carry the blame for EVERYTHING that goes wrong in our society
3. The public is bright enough to see that our political system is broken, but that pressure leads to MPs to become more distant, many refusing surgeries or public meetings for fear of unspecified "personal dangers"
4. Politicians are bright enough to ....dream on, friend.
The trouble with your version is that point 1 is demonstrably false. Brexit failed as a project because of the specific actions of leaver MPs voting against Brexit. This is an inescapable historical fact, and one that leavers are not going to allow to be forgotten.
You're forgetting the golden rule. No matter how appallingly or stupidly Leavers have behaved, the things that went wrong as a direct consequence are never ever their responsibility.
I think it's hilarious that the EU are saying that we have to hold the EU elections BUT, our MEP's have to behave themselves!
So, when told we hold our hands up to vote what our betters decide. What a farce.
The 'behaving' provisions are really aimed at the UK government acting in Council, rather than at individual MEPs. A bunch of MEPs who are disruptive is pretty much a given.
Bottom line: Biden remains comfortably ahead, Sanders is in with a good shot, nobody else is getting anywhere. It's 9 months to the first primaries, so that could change, but with everyone except Biden having launched, it's not obvious why it should, unless one of the leaders totally blows up or Biden doesn't run at all, in which case one of the others could pick up the pieces. Warren and Harris in particular seem to be stuck.
Like The Jezziah, I don't think that Biden's touchy-feely stuff is really going to hurt him much - people can tell the difference between a slightly embarrassing habit and a sexual predator. It'll be fun to see Trump having the gall to use it, though.
I voted remain but have always accepted the referendum and support leaving the EU. I am content that TM achieved a brexit deal that was agreed by the EU and we were able to leave on the 29th March
However, the brexiters and remainers have created a perfect storm creating the deadlock we now see
I believe TM has done her best and will go down as the PM who agreed brexit that was sabotaged by her own ERG, who by their behaviour provided the perfect get out for labour mps
Over the last few days an element of ERG have gone rogue and displayed the worst excess of an obsessive cult attacking everyone who does not support their own prejeudices and using the most inflamatory language and abuse, not only to their leader, but the EU with the appalling impression it gives to ordinary citizens in Europe and indeed across the World
My wife and I have watched this in utter despair and hope that somehow a softer brexit or remain will emerge out of this national breakdown
TM must surely resign soon but neither my wife or I will remain in the party if Johnson is elected leader
The odd thing is that any realistic alternative to Theresa May looks worse, you're not going to elect Rudd, Hammond or Letwin are you?
Priced at 44, 85 and 420 on Betfair at the moment.
How long since a sitting CoE was priced so long as next leader of his party?
1. One way or another Brexit collapses under its own contradictions and thanks to the antics of its strongest adherents
2. Its legacy is a strongly pro-European sentiment with the memory of the fiasco we are living through providing antidote to previous media and political shyness to be actively positive about the EU
3. The public is bright enough to see that our political system is broken, pressure that leads to long overdue reform
4. Politicians are bright enough to see that their focus needs to change with concerns of 'left behind' people and communities given greater priority (political reform wil help as such areas are rarely marginals where political campaigns are currently focused)
These are in order of decreasing likelihood with the principal concern whether politicians will learn anything worthwhile with regard to 3. and 4.
Alternatively....
1. One way or another Brexit collapses under its own contradictions and thanks to the antics of the majority of Remainer MPs
2. Its legacy is a strongly anti-European sentiment with the memory of the anti-democratic fiasco we are living through providing fuel to voter intent to be actively negative about the EU - which will carry the blame for EVERYTHING that goes wrong in our society
3. The public is bright enough to see that our political system is broken, but that pressure leads to MPs to become more distant, many refusing surgeries or public meetings for fear of unspecified "personal dangers"
4. Politicians are bright enough to ....dream on, friend.
The trouble with your version is that point 1 is demonstrably false. Brexit failed as a project because of the specific actions of leaver MPs voting against Brexit. This is an inescapable historical fact, and one that leavers are not going to allow to be forgotten.
Brexit failed as a project because of the specific actions of MPs who had told their voters they would implement Brexit voting against Brexit. The small number of ERG idiots are a sideshow compared to the much larger number of remain Labour MPs representing seats that voted to Leave.
I think it's hilarious that the EU are saying that we have to hold the EU elections BUT, our MEP's have to behave themselves!
So, when told we hold our hands up to vote what our betters decide. What a farce.
It'll make campaigning a bit strange.
Voter "So what will you do for us in Europe?"
Candidate " Don't know until I'm told what to vote for."
The “behave ourselves” bit is about our votes in the council. Remember Rees-Mogg suggesting we could veto the budget and generally try to sabotage everything?
I voted remain but have always accepted the referendum and support leaving the EU. I am content that TM achieved a brexit deal that was agreed by the EU and we were able to leave on the 29th March
However, the brexiters and remainers have created a perfect storm creating the deadlock we now see
I believe TM has done her best and will go down as the PM who agreed brexit that was sabotaged by her own ERG, who by their behaviour provided the perfect get out for labour mps
Over the last few days an element of ERG have gone rogue and displayed the worst excess of an obsessive cult attacking everyone who does not support their own prejeudices and using the most inflamatory language and abuse, not only to their leader, but the EU with the appalling impression it gives to ordinary citizens in Europe and indeed across the World
My wife and I have watched this in utter despair and hope that somehow a softer brexit or remain will emerge out of this national breakdown
TM must surely resign soon but neither my wife or I will remain in the party if Johnson is elected leader
My impression is that if May goes and the Tories are still in Government Raab would end up Tory leader and PM as more ERG and Brexiteer MPs would likely vote for him than Boris and he would then win the membership vote. However as Raab would push No Deal and there is no majority in the Commons for that he would likely lose a VONC in the House or call a general election to get a mandate for that anyway.
If Raab wins then it is No Deal and he stays PM, if Corbyn wins enough seats to become PM it is BINO or EUref2 and Boris probably becomes Leader of the Opposition
1. One way or another Brexit collapses under its own contradictions and thanks to the antics of its strongest adherents
2. Its legacy is a strongly pro-European sentiment with the memory of the fiasco we are living through providing antidote to previous media and political shyness to be actively positive about the EU
3. The public is bright enough to see that our political system is broken, pressure that leads to long overdue reform
4. Politicians are bright enough to see that their focus needs to change with concerns of 'left behind' people and communities given greater priority (political reform wil help as such areas are rarely marginals where political campaigns are currently focused)
These are in order of decreasing likelihood with the principal concern whether politicians will learn anything worthwhile with regard to 3. and 4.
Alternatively....
1. One way or another Brexit collapses under its own contradictions and thanks to the antics of the majority of Remainer MPs
2. Its legacy is a strongly anti-European sentiment with the memory of the anti-democratic fiasco we are living through providing fuel to voter intent to be actively negative about the EU - which will carry the blame for EVERYTHING that goes wrong in our society
3. The public is bright enough to see that our political system is broken, but that pressure leads to MPs to become more distant, many refusing surgeries or public meetings for fear of unspecified "personal dangers"
4. Politicians are bright enough to ....dream on, friend.
The trouble with your version is that point 1 is demonstrably false. Brexit failed as a project because of the specific actions of leaver MPs voting against Brexit. This is an inescapable historical fact, and one that leavers are not going to allow to be forgotten.
Brexit failed as a project because of the specific actions of MPs who had told their voters they would implement Brexit voting against Brexit. The small number of ERG idiots are a sideshow compared to the much larger number of remain Labour MPs representing seats that voted to Leave.
As they will discover when we all next vote....
You misunderstand how the antics of the leavers have created space and a free pass for others to switch sides. If the Tory party had united around a sensible and soft approach to Brexit from the beginning it would have sailed through, probably with a chunk of Labour support, as the climate would have been very difficult to oppose.
Mr. Sandpit, maybe. I'd be interested to know what Vettel's apparent gremlin in Australia was.
Mr. B, Bottas has been close to Hamilton in both qualifying sessions so far, and both also had the same cars on the front row (ie all Mercedes or all Ferrari). We'll see what happens, of course, but I think his odds are out of kilter because his Bahrain performance was a bit iffy.
A good thing is that the season looks closely contested. For now, at least.
Vettel's gremlin was that either he turned his engine down too much and got undercut by Hamilton on fresh tyres, or his team screwed up their strategy and didn't realise the Mercedes could gain four seconds on him in a single lap. The Mercedes race strategy team is a lot better than the Ferrari team.
[Edit - I now see you said Australia rather than Bahrain. The Ferrari issue there was they were scared of an engine failure so turned the cars right down.]
There's also a theory about his spin that the new cars are really bad at running close to alongside each other through a corner, as the crap air now exits sideways rather than immediately behind the car. So a car that's just behind but to the side has to run in the crap air, which reduces downforce around a corner, just where Vettel was when he spun around. That may of course be correct, but doesn't account for the German driver's three other spins in the last 10 races in a completely different car.
Also, tyres, the management of which can make a big difference to performance.
The first few race tend to be anomalous, as the teams don't understand at the start of the season how to get the best out of the temperamental rubber, and it's as much a matter of luck as judgment.
Btw, the corner where Vettel spun was a problem for drivers all weekend, as there were intermittent strong gusts of wind. He just made a mistake, and I don't think it was anything to do with the other car.
Bottom line: Biden remains comfortably ahead, Sanders is in with a good shot, nobody else is getting anywhere. It's 9 months to the first primaries, so that could change, but with everyone except Biden having launched, it's not obvious why it should, unless one of the leaders totally blows up or Biden doesn't run at all, in which case one of the others could pick up the pieces. Warren and Harris in particular seem to be stuck.
Like The Jezziah, I don't think that Biden's touchy-feely stuff is really going to hurt him much - people can tell the difference between a slightly embarrassing habit and a sexual predator. It'll be fun to see Trump having the gall to use it, though.
Sanders and Biden are almost tied in Iowa though and it is the early states that create the momemtum
I do hopw the EU sees through this farce of the talks between the Government and Labour. Every single day the message is "constructive talks but no real movement or progress". I assume 20 minutes after any long extension is granted we can finally stop pretending these are going anywhere.
Mr. Sandpit, maybe. I'd be interested to know what Vettel's apparent gremlin in Australia was.
Mr. B, Bottas has been close to Hamilton in both qualifying sessions so far, and both also had the same cars on the front row (ie all Mercedes or all Ferrari). We'll see what happens, of course, but I think his odds are out of kilter because his Bahrain performance was a bit iffy.
A good thing is that the season looks closely contested. For now, at least.
Vettel's gremlin was that either he turned his engine down too much and got undercut by Hamilton on fresh tyres, or his team screwed up their strategy and didn't realise the Mercedes could gain four seconds on him in a single lap. The Mercedes race strategy team is a lot better than the Ferrari team.
[Edit - I now see you said Australia rather than Bahrain. The Ferrari issue there was they were scared of an engine failure so turned the cars right down.]
There's also a theory about his spin that the new cars are really bad at running close to alongside each other through a corner, as the crap air now exits sideways rather than immediately behind the car. So a car that's just behind but to the side has to run in the crap air, which reduces downforce around a corner, just where Vettel was when he spun around. That may of course be correct, but doesn't account for the German driver's three other spins in the last 10 races in a completely different car.
Also, tyres, the management of which can make a big difference to performance.
The first few race tend to be anomalous, as the teams don't understand at the start of the season how to get the best out of the temperamental rubber, and it's as much a matter of luck as judgment.
Btw, the corner where Vettel spun was a problem for drivers all weekend, as there were intermittent strong gusts of wind. He just made a mistake, and I don't think it was anything to do with the other car.
Good point about the wind. It was a seriously windy race and the modern aerodynamic cars can be quite affected by gusts. They're more like planes than cars.
In the messages after the Spurs V Man City game someone had written 'THFC 1 Arabs 0' which was liked by 70 people.
In the box which said ' Moderation Reference: 39134438 about Post 134470189 I believe this post is racist, sexist, homophobic, sexually explicit, abusive or otherwise objectionable for the following reason:
I wrote 'In this context 'Arab' is racist'
The BBC replied. Dear BBC Visitor. 'Further to your complaint about some of the content on a BBC website (reference number P39134442), we have decided that it does not contravene the House Rules and are going to leave it on site.'
I then wrote again in the same box 'Perhaps your moderators don't realise the significance of 'Arab' in this context. It is the same as saying THFC 1 Jews 0'
They then replied. Dear BBC Visitor. 'Further to your complaint about some of the content on a BBC web site (reference number P39134481), we have decided that it does indeed contravene the House Rules and have removed the offending material.'
Spurs weren't very Spursey last night.
Am I the only one thinking that they are a better team without Kane? I suppose we will find out in the next two months.
Possibly. The halo is coming off Guardiola at last. A bizarre team selection. Completely inexplicable. Why he's decided to become the new Tony Pulis is a mystery
Collectively, MPs have failed over Brexit. Individually some have shone.
The government must bear a heavy responsibility for the failure of MPs. It has deliberately made it as hard as possible for a consensus to emerge because that consensus did not look likely to be one it was comfortable with.
Yet every indicative vote option failed from EUref2 to No Deal to Common Market 2.0 too in the indicative votes to get a Commons majority, just as the Deal did, indeed the closest to a majority was simply May's Deal basically but a permanent not temporary Customs Union in the Political Declaration.
The Commons is divided as the country is divided, no poll gives any Brexit option over 50% approval
In large part the indicative votes options failed because the government signalled its opposition to the options. That was a big part of my point. It sought to sabotage the possibility of any consensus emerging.
Even if the Government gets behind Deal plus Customs Union which is closest to the current consensus it would barely scrape past 300 votes due to Tory No Deal rebels and Labour revoke/EUref2 rebels (with the DUP also opposed and backing No Deal and the LDs and SNP opposed and too and backing revoke/EUref2)
I voted remain but have always accepted the referendum and support leaving the EU. I am content that TM achieved a brexit deal that was agreed by the EU and we were able to leave on the 29th March
However, the brexiters and remainers have created a perfect storm creating the deadlock we now see
I believe TM has done her best and will go down as the PM who agreed brexit that was sabotaged by her own ERG, who by their behaviour provided the perfect get out for labour mps
Over the last few days an element of ERG have gone rogue and displayed the worst excess of an obsessive cult attacking everyone who does not support their own prejeudices and using the most inflamatory language and abuse, not only to their leader, but the EU with the appalling impression it gives to ordinary citizens in Europe and indeed across the World
My wife and I have watched this in utter despair and hope that somehow a softer brexit or remain will emerge out of this national breakdown
TM must surely resign soon but neither my wife or I will remain in the party if Johnson is elected leader
The odd thing is that any realistic alternative to Theresa May looks worse, you're not going to elect Rudd, Hammond or Letwin are you?
I have been loyal to TM throughout but she must be in her end days. I see no one better at present but that is not to accept political reality. There are upto 20 possible candidates and when TM fires the gun it will be interesting to see who comes top of the pile, as long as it is not Johnson
Bottom line: Biden remains comfortably ahead, Sanders is in with a good shot, nobody else is getting anywhere. It's 9 months to the first primaries, so that could change, but with everyone except Biden having launched, it's not obvious why it should, unless one of the leaders totally blows up or Biden doesn't run at all, in which case one of the others could pick up the pieces. Warren and Harris in particular seem to be stuck.
Like The Jezziah, I don't think that Biden's touchy-feely stuff is really going to hurt him much - people can tell the difference between a slightly embarrassing habit and a sexual predator. It'll be fun to see Trump having the gall to use it, though.
At this stage of the contest Saunders was polling in single figures last time around.
I think it's way too early to assume that the contest is only between Biden and Saunders. Either is in with a shot, but consider how Buttigieg has gone from 1% to 11% in Iowa polling in the space of a month.
I think it's hilarious that the EU are saying that we have to hold the EU elections BUT, our MEP's have to behave themselves!
So, when told we hold our hands up to vote what our betters decide. What a farce.
It's a great advert for EU "democracy".
You don't want to be in the European Parliament, don't ask for an extension. It's not difficult. If you want to leave, leave. If you want to stay, stay. But arsing around, complaining about the EU, then asking to stay in it a little bit longer, is demeaning.
Comments
[Edit - I now see you said Australia rather than Bahrain. The Ferrari issue there was they were scared of an engine failure so turned the cars right down.]
There's also a theory about his spin that the new cars are really bad at running close to alongside each other through a corner, as the crap air now exits sideways rather than immediately behind the car. So a car that's just behind but to the side has to run in the crap air, which reduces downforce around a corner, just where Vettel was when he spun around. That may of course be correct, but doesn't account for the German driver's three other spins in the last 10 races in a completely different car.
Brexit is pure distraction. Even an optimal Brexit solution is sub-optimal overall because it is preventing any progress on anything else.
The Commons is divided as the country is divided, no poll gives any Brexit option over 50% approval
The recent talks with Labour show that her idea of compromise is giving the other side another chance to agree with her.
She will not be remembered well.
A consensus of MPs is necessary before a referendum result is honoured? Do the SNP know?
Is there any point then in ever having a referendum on Scottish independence? It's up to Parliament anyway.
Edit: I haven't even brought in the meaningful vote. The Jocks have no chance getting a majority of the of MPs on their side. Why not just try and get a bill through Parliament? That's the way it works now.
Yeah, Vettel needs to up his game. The odd mistake happens, but he made a few last year, and Leclerc has caught him in both races so far. On race pace, the Monegasque currently looks faster.
So, when told we hold our hands up to vote what our betters decide. What a farce.
It'll make campaigning a bit strange.
Voter "So what will you do for us in Europe?"
Candidate " Don't know until I'm told what to vote for."
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2020/president/us/2020_democratic_presidential_nomination-6730.html
Bottom line: Biden remains comfortably ahead, Sanders is in with a good shot, nobody else is getting anywhere. It's 9 months to the first primaries, so that could change, but with everyone except Biden having launched, it's not obvious why it should, unless one of the leaders totally blows up or Biden doesn't run at all, in which case one of the others could pick up the pieces. Warren and Harris in particular seem to be stuck.
Like The Jezziah, I don't think that Biden's touchy-feely stuff is really going to hurt him much - people can tell the difference between a slightly embarrassing habit and a sexual predator. It'll be fun to see Trump having the gall to use it, though.
How long since a sitting CoE was priced so long as next leader of his party?
As they will discover when we all next vote....
If Raab wins then it is No Deal and he stays PM, if Corbyn wins enough seats to become PM it is BINO or EUref2 and Boris probably becomes Leader of the Opposition
NEW THREAD
The first few race tend to be anomalous, as the teams don't understand at the start of the season how to get the best out of the temperamental rubber, and it's as much a matter of luck as judgment.
Btw, the corner where Vettel spun was a problem for drivers all weekend, as there were intermittent strong gusts of wind. He just made a mistake, and I don't think it was anything to do with the other car.
Membership confers both costs and benefits, two of the benefits being to elect MEPs and appoint a Commissioner. The major cost being, umm, the cost.
So if we stay in and pay our money, we get to appoint our share of the people who run the club - whether the rest of the members like it or not.
A triumph for the Remainers
One powerpoint slide that just says "MV4?".
A 'sovereign' government can be ordered to behave. I wonder in what part of the third world this is happening?
On you knees, varlet, and obey your rightful Lord.
I think it's way too early to assume that the contest is only between Biden and Saunders.
Either is in with a shot, but consider how Buttigieg has gone from 1% to 11% in Iowa polling in the space of a month.