I have a slight fear that the HS2 enquiry will result in no change (look who is leading it), but I suppose it will be politically influenced really, and if Boris wants some of that money for other projects, he will plunder it. Wouldn't be the first time the right decision has been made for the wrong reasons.
I don't think the UK is as bothered as Ireland by a hard border.
A plausible scenario is:
Hard border = resurgence of terrorist activity = need for British troops to protect border posts and officials.
At the height of Op Banner there were 40,000-odd forces on the ground sent by the UK government (HMF, plus UDR plus RUC).
Those days are gone. The army is now around 80,000 strong so to replicate the Op Banner manning would take the entire British army. Leaving no wiggle room for quelling any troublesome middle Eastern dictators or a pesky Russia for example.
We simply could not cope.
In fact it's worse than that because as there is no longer a UDR the British army would need to make up those numbers. So with preparing to go, being there, and leave after going there aren't even the numbers to police a hard border if the UK wanted the army to do that and nothing else at all.
In fact it's worst than that because there is no way the RAF could reconstitute SHFNI which would be needed to fly the bin bags out of Crossmaglen.
Hopefully no go. Improving rail links from Hull to Liverpool should be the government priority.
Why not both?
Cost and time. Improving rail links across the North would have a wider impact IMO than improving connections to London from the North. Hull to Liverpool is around the same distance as London to Birmingham yet suffers from an inadequate, slow, overpriced rail service. I'd sooner a Northern powerhouse than further increase the brain drain to London.
Actually, investing in proper metros for the Top 12 (minus London) cities would have the biggest boost on growth.
Economic growth in 2019 is largely about urban growth.
Urban growth is highly correlated with labour catchment.
Labour catchment is largely about effective metro systems.
Like Eisenhower’s Highways Act, we need a Johnson Modern Metros Bill.
My quick take on the Kantar poll: 1. The Tory vote share is way higher than it has been in any other poll. However ... 2. The broad No Deal/anti-No Deal bloc sizes are in line with all other polls (slightly higher for No Deal, but only slightly). So ... 3. It is a perfectly credible poll.
I don't think the UK is as bothered as Ireland by a hard border.
A plausible scenario is:
Hard border = resurgence of terrorist activity = need for British troops to protect border posts and officials.
At the height of Op Banner there were 40,000-odd forces on the ground sent by the UK government (HMF, plus UDR plus RUC).
Those days are gone. The army is now around 80,000 strong so to replicate the Op Banner manning would take the entire British army. Leaving no wiggle room for quelling any troublesome middle Eastern dictators or a pesky Russia for example.
We simply could not cope.
The proposed border installations and personnel would be Republic of Ireland border installations and personnel. Whilst I am sure we would be supportive in any way we could, the responsibility to protect them would be the Republic's.
You’d hand over policing responsibility in Northern Ireland to Ireland?
Apparently new Kantar poll (fieldwork 15-19 Aug) showing:
Cons 42!! Lab 28 LDs 15 Brexit 5 SNP 5 Green 3
That's horribly believable. The gung ho No Deal talk from Johnson is designed to win over the Brexit Party support. It looks like it might be working. And indeed, why shouldn't it?
My quick take on the Kantar poll: 1. The Tory vote share is way higher than it has been in any other poll. However ... 2. The broad No Deal/anti-No Deal bloc sizes are in line with all other polls (slightly higher for No Deal, but only slightly). So ... 3. It is a perfectly credible poll.
Agreed, but the Brexit number looks ridiculous when comparing with historic UKIP performance.
I don't think the UK is as bothered as Ireland by a hard border.
A plausible scenario is:
Hard border = resurgence of terrorist activity = need for British troops to protect border posts and officials.
At the height of Op Banner there were 40,000-odd forces on the ground sent by the UK government (HMF, plus UDR plus RUC).
Those days are gone. The army is now around 80,000 strong so to replicate the Op Banner manning would take the entire British army. Leaving no wiggle room for quelling any troublesome middle Eastern dictators or a pesky Russia for example.
We simply could not cope.
The proposed border installations and personnel would be Republic of Ireland border installations and personnel. Whilst I am sure we would be supportive in any way we could, the responsibility to protect them would be the Republic's.
You’d hand over policing responsibility in Northern Ireland to Ireland?
I would hand over protecting Republic of Ireland property and personnel on Republic of Ireland land to the Republic of Ireland. Call me old fashioned.
My parents live in Wigan. Ignoring price, how to they get to Glasgow, Birmingham or London quickly and efficiently? Train every time. To Liverpool, Leeds or Hull? Car no question. It is why the M62 is creaking to breaking point. A cross Pennine fast rail link is decades overdue.
My quick take on the Kantar poll: 1. The Tory vote share is way higher than it has been in any other poll. However ... 2. The broad No Deal/anti-No Deal bloc sizes are in line with all other polls (slightly higher for No Deal, but only slightly). So ... 3. It is a perfectly credible poll.
Agreed, but the Brexit number looks ridiculous when comparing with historic UKIP performance.
Actually, I’d forgotten how badly UKIP did in 2017.
My parents live in Wigan. Ignoring price, how to they get to Glasgow, Birmingham or London quickly and efficiently? Train every time. To Liverpool, Leeds or Hull? Car no question. It is why the M62 is creaking to breaking point. A cross Pennine fast rail link is decades overdue.
Not disagreeing with the idea of improved transpennine rail links, surely the M62 isn't too much of a problem if your parents are still choosing the car.
Apparently new Kantar poll (fieldwork 15-19 Aug) showing:
Cons 42!! Lab 28 LDs 15 Brexit 5 SNP 5 Green 3
That's horribly believable. The gung ho No Deal talk from Johnson is designed to win over the Brexit Party support. It looks like it might be working. And indeed, why shouldn't it?
Extraordinary. Perhaps Boris has indeed tapped into something deep and ancient within the British psyche. Was SeanT correct when he speculated, under Theresa's regime, that the Tories would become the ANC of British politics - in power for ever as reward for the sense of liberty they bequeathed a nation?
My parents live in Wigan. Ignoring price, how to they get to Glasgow, Birmingham or London quickly and efficiently? Train every time. To Liverpool, Leeds or Hull? Car no question. It is why the M62 is creaking to breaking point. A cross Pennine fast rail link is decades overdue.
Now is the time to build it. Government can borrow via gilts are silly low rate.
I don't think the UK is as bothered as Ireland by a hard border.
A plausible scenario is:
Hard border = resurgence of terrorist activity = need for British troops to protect border posts and officials.
At the height of Op Banner there were 40,000-odd forces on the ground sent by the UK government (HMF, plus UDR plus RUC).
Those days are gone. The army is now around 80,000 strong so to replicate the Op Banner manning would take the entire British army. Leaving no wiggle room for quelling any troublesome middle Eastern dictators or a pesky Russia for example.
We simply could not cope.
The proposed border installations and personnel would be Republic of Ireland border installations and personnel. Whilst I am sure we would be supportive in any way we could, the responsibility to protect them would be the Republic's.
You’d hand over policing responsibility in Northern Ireland to Ireland?
The Kantar poll might be accurate. No particular reason to assume it isn't. However, it's worth noting that it uniquely has Labour + Conservatives at 70%, while every other pollster has that combination in the 50s at present (this is also true even before allowing for their adjustments for false recall of vote at the last election). This suggests that their sample looks quite different from other pollsters'.
My parents live in Wigan. Ignoring price, how to they get to Glasgow, Birmingham or London quickly and efficiently? Train every time. To Liverpool, Leeds or Hull? Car no question. It is why the M62 is creaking to breaking point. A cross Pennine fast rail link is decades overdue.
Not disagreeing with the idea of improved transpennine rail links, surely the M62 isn't too much of a problem if your parents are still choosing the car.
No. It is purely the hideously antiquated state of the alternative.
Apparently new Kantar poll (fieldwork 15-19 Aug) showing:
Cons 42!! Lab 28 LDs 15 Brexit 5 SNP 5 Green 3
That's horribly believable. The gung ho No Deal talk from Johnson is designed to win over the Brexit Party support. It looks like it might be working. And indeed, why shouldn't it?
It rose quickly, could fall quickly, then could rise quickly again. Expect increasingly strident words from Boris as his 'negotiations' do not work, to keep the BXP on side.
The Kantar poll might be accurate. No particular reason to assume it isn't. However, it's worth noting that it uniquely has Labour + Conservatives at 70%, while every other pollster has that combination in the 50s at present (this is also true even before allowing for their adjustments for false recall of vote at the last election). This suggests that their sample looks quite different from other pollsters'.
They didn't prompt BXP or Green, so they would have had to write in Other and then write in BXP or Green. That to me presents an issue in comparing it to polls that do prompt. Maybe Kantar is correct and the field is wrong, as we know their are issues with prompting, but *shrug*
The UK is due to leave the EU on 29 March 2019 [sic]. There are a number of actions which people might take ahead of this date. Have you already or are you likely to... - Stockpile food or medicine
The UK is due to leave the EU on 29 March 2019 [sic]. There are a number of actions which people might take ahead of this date. Have you already or are you likely to... - Stockpile food or medicine
I've pointed out repeatedly that a united Brexit party (Be it Farage or Johnson's) is stronger on a FPTP basis than remain would be compared to a referendum. Outwith Scotland of course.
The remain pools are overly concentrated in London and the major cities which are strongly for Labour (The who knows party) anyway.
I don't think the UK is as bothered as Ireland by a hard border.
A plausible scenario is:
Hard border = resurgence of terrorist activity = need for British troops to protect border posts and officials.
At the height of Op Banner there were 40,000-odd forces on the ground sent by the UK government (HMF, plus UDR plus RUC).
Those days are gone. The army is now around 80,000 strong so to replicate the Op Banner manning would take the entire British army. Leaving no wiggle room for quelling any troublesome middle Eastern dictators or a pesky Russia for example.
We simply could not cope.
The proposed border installations and personnel would be Republic of Ireland border installations and personnel. Whilst I am sure we would be supportive in any way we could, the responsibility to protect them would be the Republic's.
You’d hand over policing responsibility in Northern Ireland to Ireland?
Hopefully no go. Improving rail links from Hull to Liverpool should be the government priority.
Even most Londers want the government to invest more in northern rail improvements.
We can do all these projects. At gilt rates this low even for long debt, the social and economic benefits of these projects far outweigh the debt costs.
My parents live in Wigan. Ignoring price, how to they get to Glasgow, Birmingham or London quickly and efficiently? Train every time. To Liverpool, Leeds or Hull? Car no question. It is why the M62 is creaking to breaking point. A cross Pennine fast rail link is decades overdue.
Not disagreeing with the idea of improved transpennine rail links, surely the M62 isn't too much of a problem if your parents are still choosing the car.
No. It is purely the hideously antiquated state of the alternative.
I suppose the question for a Transpennine HS route is, which places would be served? I'd suggest Wigan would not be.
Boris needs to strike while the iron's hot here. He may never get this amount of political capital again. Prorogue parliament, tell the EU to stick its trading links, call a GE, promise Trump he'll assist with any US armed takeover of Greenland. Boris's place in history would be assured.
I don't think the UK is as bothered as Ireland by a hard border.
A plausible scenario is:
Hard border = resurgence of terrorist activity = need for British troops to protect border posts and officials.
At the height of Op Banner there were 40,000-odd forces on the ground sent by the UK government (HMF, plus UDR plus RUC).
Those days are gone. The army is now around 80,000 strong so to replicate the Op Banner manning would take the entire British army. Leaving no wiggle room for quelling any troublesome middle Eastern dictators or a pesky Russia for example.
We simply could not cope.
The proposed border installations and personnel would be Republic of Ireland border installations and personnel. Whilst I am sure we would be supportive in any way we could, the responsibility to protect them would be the Republic's.
You’d hand over policing responsibility in Northern Ireland to Ireland?
I would hand over protecting Republic of Ireland property and personnel on Republic of Ireland land to the Republic of Ireland. Call me old fashioned.
Extraordinary. Perhaps Boris has indeed tapped into something deep and ancient within the British psyche. Was SeanT correct when he speculated, under Theresa's regime, that the Tories would become the ANC of British politics - in power for ever as reward for the sense of liberty they bequeathed a nation?
Which of the following scenarios do you favour most? Leave No Deal: 23 Leave TM Deal: 9 Leave but stay in SM/CU: 13 Remain/Revoke A50: 33 DK: 22
Should the final deal be put to public vote: Yes: 52 No: 29 DK: 19
How likely Leave by Oct 31? Net Likely: 46 Net Unlikely: 35 DK: 19
Those are very interesting. I am trying to reconcile them with the headline voting figures. The only way I can do is with the idea that for a lot of voters a Corbyn government is worse than No Deal.
My parents live in Wigan. Ignoring price, how to they get to Glasgow, Birmingham or London quickly and efficiently? Train every time. To Liverpool, Leeds or Hull? Car no question. It is why the M62 is creaking to breaking point. A cross Pennine fast rail link is decades overdue.
Not disagreeing with the idea of improved transpennine rail links, surely the M62 isn't too much of a problem if your parents are still choosing the car.
No. It is purely the hideously antiquated state of the alternative.
I suppose the question for a Transpennine HS route is, which places would be served? I'd suggest Wigan would not be.
That is a point. However, either Wigan or Warrington would have to be, to connect with the London to Glasgow main line.
My parents live in Wigan. Ignoring price, how to they get to Glasgow, Birmingham or London quickly and efficiently? Train every time. To Liverpool, Leeds or Hull? Car no question. It is why the M62 is creaking to breaking point. A cross Pennine fast rail link is decades overdue.
Not disagreeing with the idea of improved transpennine rail links, surely the M62 isn't too much of a problem if your parents are still choosing the car.
No. It is purely the hideously antiquated state of the alternative.
I suppose the question for a Transpennine HS route is, which places would be served? I'd suggest Wigan would not be.
So the good news on the GERS figures is that the deficit is down just over £1bn from last year to this.
The bad news is even current expenditure remains in deficit with no provision for capex. To put that in perspective the UK overall fiscal balance remains a deficit of 1.1% of GDP but the current figure is actually in surplus by 0.8% of GDP. Scotland has a deficit in excess of 4%.
More good news is that revenues have risen quite fast this last year, faster than for the UK as a whole (5.1% vs 4.5%). This no doubt reflects the higher taxes charged by Nicola's government on HRTs. Whether that will be sustainable in the medium term remains to be seen.
Overall these figures show a modest improvement in Scotland's fiscal balance and a very modest step towards sustainability. In the last few months we have seen 2 significant gas fields come online in the north sea. I think that is likely to at least offset the long term decline of north sea income for a while.
I do not want independence. I will never want independence. I am British and proudly so. But if Scotland is going to go the route of independence they will need a series of better years to get even close to some sort of sustainability. From a desperately poor base this is a small step in that direction.
‘Shipping containers used to house homeless children’
The Children's Commissioner for England says that as well as the 124,000 children officially homeless, a further 90,000 are estimated to be "sofa-surfing".
Her report tells of families housed in repurposed shipping containers and office blocks, and whole families living in tiny spaces.
Which of the following scenarios do you favour most? Leave No Deal: 23 Leave TM Deal: 9 Leave but stay in SM/CU: 13 Remain/Revoke A50: 33 DK: 22
Should the final deal be put to public vote: Yes: 52 No: 29 DK: 19
How likely Leave by Oct 31? Net Likely: 46 Net Unlikely: 35 DK: 19
Those are very interesting. I am trying to reconcile them with the headline voting figures. The only way I can do is with the idea that for a lot of voters a Corbyn government is worse than No Deal.
Perhaps the sheer force of Boris's charisma, audacity and spunk transcends Brexit, nay transcends even politics itself. In him the public sees the personification of everything they crave in life but have always been too timid or mediocre to achieve, and are just compelled to reward him for it.
My parents live in Wigan. Ignoring price, how to they get to Glasgow, Birmingham or London quickly and efficiently? Train every time. To Liverpool, Leeds or Hull? Car no question. It is why the M62 is creaking to breaking point. A cross Pennine fast rail link is decades overdue.
Not disagreeing with the idea of improved transpennine rail links, surely the M62 isn't too much of a problem if your parents are still choosing the car.
No. It is purely the hideously antiquated state of the alternative.
I suppose the question for a Transpennine HS route is, which places would be served? I'd suggest Wigan would not be.
Leeds -> Manchester
That would be a start. Far too unambitious though. And, neither of those cities are on either the West or East Coast main lines. Wigan or Warrington to York stopping and Mcr and Leeds. If you are doing that add Liverpool and Hull.
Which of the following scenarios do you favour most? Leave No Deal: 23 Leave TM Deal: 9 Leave but stay in SM/CU: 13 Remain/Revoke A50: 33 DK: 22
Should the final deal be put to public vote: Yes: 52 No: 29 DK: 19
How likely Leave by Oct 31? Net Likely: 46 Net Unlikely: 35 DK: 19
Those are very interesting. I am trying to reconcile them with the headline voting figures. The only way I can do is with the idea that for a lot of voters a Corbyn government is worse than No Deal.
Perhaps the sheer force of Boris's charisma, audacity and spunk transcends Brexit, nay transcends even politics itself. In him the public sees the personification of everything they crave in life but have always been too timid or mediocre to achieve, and are just compelled to reward him for it.
Which of the following scenarios do you favour most? Leave No Deal: 23 Leave TM Deal: 9 Leave but stay in SM/CU: 13 Remain/Revoke A50: 33 DK: 22
Should the final deal be put to public vote: Yes: 52 No: 29 DK: 19
How likely Leave by Oct 31? Net Likely: 46 Net Unlikely: 35 DK: 19
Those are very interesting. I am trying to reconcile them with the headline voting figures. The only way I can do is with the idea that for a lot of voters a Corbyn government is worse than No Deal.
Or a lot of voters don't believe that Johnson is going to leave without a deal. After all, he said himself it's a million to one chance.
Apparently new Kantar poll (fieldwork 15-19 Aug) showing:
Cons 42!! Lab 28 LDs 15 Brexit 5 SNP 5 Green 3
Amazing. Very low LD, Green and Brexit numbers.
Mor3e like amazingly high LD numbers, they are going nowhere apart from getting a few protest votes , most will stick with Cons or Lab or sit on their hands.
Former HS2 Ltd chairman Douglas Oakervee will lead the inquiry, with Lord Berkeley - a long-term critic of the high-speed railway scheme - acting as his deputy.
Oakervee's role was already known. However, Lord Berkeley's appointment seems to me to be highly significant, heralding an enquiry whose conclusion cannot be predicted and must mean that the government is doing more than just going through the motions.
Politically, it will also play well with Johnson's bid to win back Brexit Party supporters.
The Kantar poll might be accurate. No particular reason to assume it isn't. However, it's worth noting that it uniquely has Labour + Conservatives at 70%, while every other pollster has that combination in the 50s at present (this is also true even before allowing for their adjustments for false recall of vote at the last election). This suggests that their sample looks quite different from other pollsters'.
Anthony Wells is always telling us that a surprising poll result is more often than not an outlier, and we should wait for other poll results before putting too much weight on it. This btw is what we should be doing with all voting intention polls, taking a mental average over the last 2 to 4 weeks of polls.
I suppose you could call it the "Union Dividend"......
LOL, another set of rigged numbers, get a life.
Rigged in what way, may I ask? I dont know how it is calculated but given any conclusion alone does not prove a rigging, what have they done to rig that conclusion?
They just look at overall numbers and have no idea how to split but always manage to make Scotland borrowing most of the money whilst rUK borrows almost zero. They are just made up bollox as it is purely a made up split of the total numbers , used to try and promote how munificent the union is to Scotland. Complete and utter lies and not bearing any resemblance of how Scotland would be if independent. It suits halfwitted rabid unionists like Carlotta that want to crow about how bad Scotland is , nothing else. Scottish Government are given a set of rigged numbers and have to get on with it as there are no other numbers.
Q: Who produces GERS?
A: GERS is produced by Scottish Government statisticians. It is designated as a National Statistics product, which means that it is produced independently of Scottish Ministers and has been assessed by the UK Statistics Authority as being produced in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics. This means the statistics have been found to meet user needs, to be methodologically sound, explained well and produced free of political interference.
YAWN YAWN YAWN , it is taken from rigged numbers supplied by UK, they have no other option as UK costs are not split out anywhere. It is the UK guess of where money goes and it is very convenient that Scotland at 8% has most of the UK deficit, who would have imagined that with UK making up the numbers.
Which of the following scenarios do you favour most? Leave No Deal: 23 Leave TM Deal: 9 Leave but stay in SM/CU: 13 Remain/Revoke A50: 33 DK: 22
Should the final deal be put to public vote: Yes: 52 No: 29 DK: 19
How likely Leave by Oct 31? Net Likely: 46 Net Unlikely: 35 DK: 19
No Deal at just 23%.
If BoZo does this then the Tories are crippled for a generation.
Yep - I think he'll be the last Tory PM to win a national election in my lifetime.
Surely it depends what actually happens in the event of No Deal?
The bar has been set very, very, very high for complete and total catastrophe
Anything short of End Of Days and the sky falling in won't be viewed as being too bad in the circumstances?
On the other hand, there are plenty of others who expect their particular hobby horse to be miraculously solved overnight. Everything from no foreign languages on buses, through to a hefty rise in benefits, libraries staying open, and, of course, the handball rule.
Which of the following scenarios do you favour most? Leave No Deal: 23 Leave TM Deal: 9 Leave but stay in SM/CU: 13 Remain/Revoke A50: 33 DK: 22
Should the final deal be put to public vote: Yes: 52 No: 29 DK: 19
How likely Leave by Oct 31? Net Likely: 46 Net Unlikely: 35 DK: 19
Those are very interesting. I am trying to reconcile them with the headline voting figures. The only way I can do is with the idea that for a lot of voters a Corbyn government is worse than No Deal.
Perhaps the sheer force of Boris's charisma, audacity and spunk transcends Brexit, nay transcends even politics itself. In him the public sees the personification of everything they crave in life but have always been too timid or mediocre to achieve, and are just compelled to reward him for it.
Boris’s spunk.
It has come to this.
He's spaffing it liberally in the face of a grateful nation it would seem.
Politically, it will also play well with Johnson's bid to win back Brexit Party supporters.
All that matters to Boris IMO... to hell with the country, vote for Boris!!
Boris should also scrap the Heathrow expansion while he's at it. Yes, profound and difficult questions concerning the country's vital infrastructure and long-term prospects will be binned, but think of the short-term publicity!
Politically, it will also play well with Johnson's bid to win back Brexit Party supporters.
All that matters to Boris IMO... to hell with the country, vote for Boris!!
Boris should also scrap the Heathrow expansion while he's at it. Yes, profound and difficult questions concerning the country's vital infrastructure and long-term prospects will be binned, but think of the short-term publicity!
Which of the following scenarios do you favour most? Leave No Deal: 23 Leave TM Deal: 9 Leave but stay in SM/CU: 13 Remain/Revoke A50: 33 DK: 22
Should the final deal be put to public vote: Yes: 52 No: 29 DK: 19
How likely Leave by Oct 31? Net Likely: 46 Net Unlikely: 35 DK: 19
Those are very interesting. I am trying to reconcile them with the headline voting figures. The only way I can do is with the idea that for a lot of voters a Corbyn government is worse than No Deal.
Perhaps the sheer force of Boris's charisma, audacity and spunk transcends Brexit, nay transcends even politics itself. In him the public sees the personification of everything they crave in life but have always been too timid or mediocre to achieve, and are just compelled to reward him for it.
Boris’s spunk.
It has come to this.
He's spaffing it liberally in the face of a grateful nation it would seem.
The health outcomes of this spending is the biggest increase in HIV in Glasgow since the '80s.
More bollox from unionist arseholes. The Scottish NHS numbers are far superior to NHS England. Using a handlful of junkies getting HIV from dirty needles is pretty pathetic even for the unionists on here. Look at the state of your NHS in England before putting your foot in your big mouth.
Comments
Economic growth in 2019 is largely about urban growth.
Urban growth is highly correlated with labour catchment.
Labour catchment is largely about effective metro systems.
Like Eisenhower’s Highways Act, we need a Johnson Modern Metros Bill.
Which of the following scenarios do you favour most?
Leave No Deal: 23
Leave TM Deal: 9
Leave but stay in SM/CU: 13
Remain/Revoke A50: 33
DK: 22
Should the final deal be put to public vote:
Yes: 52
No: 29
DK: 19
How likely Leave by Oct 31?
Net Likely: 46
Net Unlikely: 35
DK: 19
1. The Tory vote share is way higher than it has been in any other poll. However ...
2. The broad No Deal/anti-No Deal bloc sizes are in line with all other polls (slightly higher for No Deal, but only slightly). So ...
3. It is a perfectly credible poll.
EFTA+/May’s Deal 22
No Deal 23
As we see, Leaving with a Deal is probably the median opinion, but Leaving with a Deal is also the least favourite option.
To Liverpool, Leeds or Hull? Car no question. It is why the M62 is creaking to breaking point. A cross Pennine fast rail link is decades overdue.
https://twitter.com/whatukthinks/status/1164107999880851456?s=20
I tend to take these numbers as thematic rather than biblical.
Leave: 45
Remain: 33
However the last polling I saw on that was a few months ago.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/aug/21/eu-to-blame-football-new-handball-rule-ian-holloway
In my view grouping as you have done is not helpful.
Polling has been relatively stable:
Most people think the vote to Brexit was a mistake.
But most people also think that having voted to Brexit, we should do so.
Where “most” means narrow majorities.
Boris really *is* May in fast forward.
Can anyone reminds me what comes next?
The UK is due to leave the EU on 29 March 2019 [sic]. There are a number of actions which people might take ahead of this date. Have you already or are you likely to... - Stockpile food or medicine
EuRef Vote:
Have done/ Likely / Won't / Not Sure
Leave: 6 / 14 / 63 / 8
Remain: 5 / 20 / 46 / 19
So it looks like "Project Fear" is mainly scaring Remainers.
One that medium to long term will be a great one to lose...
If BoZo does this then the Tories are crippled for a generation.
The remain pools are overly concentrated in London and the major cities which are strongly for Labour (The who knows party) anyway.
Johnson is treading a very fine line, but for now it is working beautifully.
The bad news is even current expenditure remains in deficit with no provision for capex. To put that in perspective the UK overall fiscal balance remains a deficit of 1.1% of GDP but the current figure is actually in surplus by 0.8% of GDP. Scotland has a deficit in excess of 4%.
More good news is that revenues have risen quite fast this last year, faster than for the UK as a whole (5.1% vs 4.5%). This no doubt reflects the higher taxes charged by Nicola's government on HRTs. Whether that will be sustainable in the medium term remains to be seen.
Overall these figures show a modest improvement in Scotland's fiscal balance and a very modest step towards sustainability. In the last few months we have seen 2 significant gas fields come online in the north sea. I think that is likely to at least offset the long term decline of north sea income for a while.
I do not want independence. I will never want independence. I am British and proudly so. But if Scotland is going to go the route of independence they will need a series of better years to get even close to some sort of sustainability. From a desperately poor base this is a small step in that direction.
‘Shipping containers used to house homeless children’
The Children's Commissioner for England says that as well as the 124,000 children officially homeless, a further 90,000 are estimated to be "sofa-surfing".
Her report tells of families housed in repurposed shipping containers and office blocks, and whole families living in tiny spaces.
https://www.bbc.com/news/education-49412835
And, neither of those cities are on either the West or East Coast main lines. Wigan or Warrington to York stopping and Mcr and Leeds.
If you are doing that add Liverpool and Hull.
It has come to this.
The bar has been set very, very, very high for complete and total catastrophe
Anything short of End Of Days and the sky falling in won't be viewed as being too bad in the circumstances?
Former HS2 Ltd chairman Douglas Oakervee will lead the inquiry, with Lord Berkeley - a long-term critic of the high-speed railway scheme - acting as his deputy.
Oakervee's role was already known. However, Lord Berkeley's appointment seems to me to be highly significant, heralding an enquiry whose conclusion cannot be predicted and must mean that the government is doing more than just going through the motions.
Politically, it will also play well with Johnson's bid to win back Brexit Party supporters.
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=ghostbusters+end+of+the+world&view=detail&mid=BD7ECB58926AEADAA51DBD7ECB58926AEADAA51D&FORM=VIRE
Everything from no foreign languages on buses, through to a hefty rise in benefits, libraries staying open, and, of course, the handball rule.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-49418751
Voters get a low more antsy about something actually happening, rather than theoretically happening.
And that's setting aside that the UK's Chief Clown has assured said voters that it will be plain (plane?) sailing.
Look at the state of your NHS in England before putting your foot in your big mouth.