I thought the football was shit but it could be ITVs fault
The football is shit and the punditry is even worse. Keane, Wright and Dixon provide bugger all insight into how England should adjust, its all jokey buddy buddy when we played stuff.
Reminds me of the cricket commentators
Sky are thankfully starting to clear them out.
Not a fan of Gower and Botham?
Bumble and Holding can go as well as far as i am concerned.
I could listen to Holding reading a telephone directory. He has a brilliant voice.
I thought the football was shit but it could be ITVs fault
The football is shit and the punditry is even worse. Keane, Wright and Dixon provide bugger all insight into how England should adjust, its all jokey buddy buddy when we played stuff.
Reminds me of the cricket commentators
Sky are thankfully starting to clear them out.
Not a fan of Gower and Botham?
Bumble and Holding can go as well as far as i am concerned.
I could listen to Holding reading a telephone directory. He has a brilliant voice.
But knows bugger all about the state of modern cricket.
I thought the football was shit but it could be ITVs fault
The football is shit and the punditry is even worse. Keane, Wright and Dixon provide bugger all insight into how England should adjust, its all jokey buddy buddy when we played stuff.
Reminds me of the cricket commentators
Sky are thankfully starting to clear them out.
Not a fan of Gower and Botham?
Bumble and Holding can go as well as far as i am concerned.
I thought the football was shit but it could be ITVs fault
The football is shit and the punditry is even worse. Keane, Wright and Dixon provide bugger all insight into how England should adjust, its all jokey buddy buddy when we played stuff.
Reminds me of the cricket commentators
Sky are thankfully starting to clear them out.
Not a fan of Gower and Botham?
Bumble and Holding can go as well as far as i am concerned.
I thought the football was shit but it could be ITVs fault
The football is shit and the punditry is even worse. Keane, Wright and Dixon provide bugger all insight into how England should adjust, its all jokey buddy buddy when we played stuff.
Reminds me of the cricket commentators
Sky are thankfully starting to clear them out.
Not a fan of Gower and Botham?
Bumble and Holding can go as well as far as i am concerned.
I could listen to Holding reading a telephone directory. He has a brilliant voice.
But knows bugger all about the state of modern cricket.
I disagree although he clearly knows a lot more about bowling than batting.
Off topic, but GMP have released a statement confirming the knife attacker has been charged with a terrorism offence.
He was confronted and pursued by two unarmed PCSOs, until backup arrived. Brave people, but demonstrates how stretched our public services are.
It's terrible, I occasionally go shopping in that shopping centre. Mind you I have seen Police with machine guns in the Bluewater shopping centre! Never seen police with machine guns in the Arndale!
My daughter was there but was totally unaware of what had happened until she got back to the office. Having been evacuated in a controlled manner.
Glad she is ok. It is a worry going into any major city these days. I like the city hall building in Manchester but they have had to put knife arches outside it to get into the gardens, especially when a festival is visiting. Intriguingly, I see a car with the number plate "No.10" on it and some official livery on the doors. I cannot make my mind up whether it is Andy Burnham's car or someone else on the council! I don't understand the significance of 10 either!
Dicking around for another 6 months with the chance it goes wrong.
Get on with it..
The British delegation will push for no extension longer than a technical one as part of the tunnel talks, try and shut down any ridiculous traps
I can see an extension of about a month to get necessary regulations in place on both sides of the Channel and of course the Irish Sea. Can’t see that causing Boris any problems at all.
It would probably delay any election to late January or early February.
Just a quick look at the Canadian polling this evening.
A bit more volatility creeping into the national polls. The two non-rolling polls published yesterday had big differences with Angus Reid showing the Conservatives leading 34-29 while Innovative Research had the Liberals four points ahead 35-31.
The most interesting poll was the Leger poll for Quebec which showed Liberals on 31% leading Bloc Quebecois (BQ) by just two points. That's a 7% swing from 2015 and if BQ can pick up 20-25 seats that could make them a key player in the post-election horsetrading if, as seems likely, neither Trudeau's Liberals nor Scheer's Conservatives can deliver a majority.
I thought the football was shit but it could be ITVs fault
The football is shit and the punditry is even worse. Keane, Wright and Dixon provide bugger all insight into how England should adjust, its all jokey buddy buddy when we played stuff.
Reminds me of the cricket commentators
Sky are thankfully starting to clear them out.
Not a fan of Gower and Botham?
Bumble and Holding can go as well as far as i am concerned.
I could listen to Holding reading a telephone directory. He has a brilliant voice.
But knows bugger all about the state of modern cricket.
I disagree although he clearly knows a lot more about bowling than batting.
He really doesn't. Eg He had no idea about who are the up and coming bowlers in english and Australian cricket. He has no idea about modern ODI tactics.
I thought the football was shit but it could be ITVs fault
The football is shit and the punditry is even worse. Keane, Wright and Dixon provide bugger all insight into how England should adjust, its all jokey buddy buddy when we played stuff.
Reminds me of the cricket commentators
Sky are thankfully starting to clear them out.
Not a fan of Gower and Botham?
Bumble and Holding can go as well as far as i am concerned.
I could listen to Holding reading a telephone directory. He has a brilliant voice.
But knows bugger all about the state of modern cricket.
I disagree although he clearly knows a lot more about bowling than batting.
I always thought that the batsmen is Holding the bowlers Willy
I think Mumsnet should have ended their association with Flora. The nasty hydrocarbon that they dye yellow and pour into a tub is unfit to be described as a food, let alone a health food.
It's the Old Mrs Mait is essentially a massive boondoggle to the North. (Buy Belfast property.)
Of course, this also means that Northern Ireland will never reunite with the South. Which, hopefully, the DUP will be smart enough to realise.
It may delay reunification, but it won't stop it - the demographics will see to that. The DUP understands that very well indeed.
I don’t see any reason why unification of Ireland is inevitable.
At some point, those who consider themselves Irish are going to outnumber those who consider themselves British. And that will then be that.
County Antrim is the largest in Noic of Ireland
You can’t split off subsections of subsections until all you are left with is 72.
So what, all the districts within it are still majority Unionist and will never accept being part of the Republic and most Northern Ireland residents still refer to the old counties
Partition is a disaster. Repartition a disaster upon a disaster. Antrim is an integral part of Ireland and should be treated as such. Liverpool elected an Irish Nationalist MP in 1918 but that doesn’t mean it should have been ceded to Ireland.
Utter crap. Forcing Antrim into the Republic against its consent and with direct rule from Dublin will inevitably see a resumption of terrorist violence in Northern Ireland
How is it any different from forcing Derry to stay in Northern Ireland against its will?
As I said I have no problem with Catholic majority counties joining the Republic and indeed for decades the IRA and nationalist terrorist organisations fought a bombing campaign to ensure that against direct rule from London. Only powersharing at Stormont between Protestant and Nationalist settled that, direct rule from Dublin for all of Northern Ireland would start up another terrorist war only this time from the Unionist side and the old loyalist paramilitaries
You do know that the only reason Fermanagh and Tyrone were shoe-horned into NI in the first place was that the Unionists didn't see how a less than six county statelet could be at all viable.
It would be viable as it would be part of a United Kingdom of over 60 million people
Just a quick look at the Canadian polling this evening.
A bit more volatility creeping into the national polls. The two non-rolling polls published yesterday had big differences with Angus Reid showing the Conservatives leading 34-29 while Innovative Research had the Liberals four points ahead 35-31.
The most interesting poll was the Leger poll for Quebec which showed Liberals on 31% leading Bloc Quebecois (BQ) by just two points. That's a 7% swing from 2015 and if BQ can pick up 20-25 seats that could make them a key player in the post-election horsetrading if, as seems likely, neither Trudeau's Liberals nor Scheer's Conservatives can deliver a majority.
It certsinly looks like a hung parliament with the NDP or BQ holding the balance of power
"... a long time ago" .... I thought it was in 2015.
As pointed out acutely by another_richard, Clegg & Cameron & Co said "we were all in it together". That was a justification for austerity, we were all in it together.
We're not all in it together.
I object to Jane Dodds because of her derisory comments about the people of Montgomeryshire who opposed wind farms in the constituency.
I object to the LibDems in mid-Wales because they have a long history of parachuting in people with no connection to Wales as MPs (Lembit Opik and the now no-longer a LibDem Alex Carlile or Lord Carlile of Berriew).
Austerity (if it ever really happened and some on here consistently say it hasn't) is also dead and some of those who were its most enthusiastic supporters in 2010 are now the ones arguing for huge spending splurges.
Does it really matter if a representative or MP has a connection to a constituency? Seriously? My MP was born in Oldham yet he represents an east London constituency. The ambitious politician goes where he or she can and seeks to build a local relationship.
I'd also argue the remit of any MP has by definition to be more than the boundary of their constituency - they are part of the legislative body for the whole United Kingdom. It's possibly disadvantageous to be too parochial./
I don't think the Scots would elect MPs to represent Scotland if they did not have a connection to Scotland. Rightly so.
I don't think the Welsh should elect MPs to represent Wales if they have no connection to Wales. They don't have to be Welsh, but they do have to have lived in the constituency and understood the difficulties of e.g., rural Wales. So that they can fight for Wales with some conviction.
Timms was a Councillor and lived in East London for at least a decade before becoming an MP for East Ham. I have no problem with that. He was local when he was chosen as an MP. And a decade .. that is an eternity in Stodge-speak .. because Nick Clegg was DPM "a long time ago".
What was Lembit Opik's connection with Montgomeryshire before the LibDems parachuted him in?
I strongly disagree. James Callaghan, Michael Foot, Neil Mcbride, Keir Hardie had no obvious Welsh connections until elected. Scotland has had non - Scots such as Winston Churchill, Herbert Asquith, Roy Jenkins , Emrys Hughes & Jeremy Bray.
I think Mumsnet should have ended their association with Flora. The nasty hydrocarbon that they dye yellow and pour into a tub is unfit to be described as a food, let alone a health food.
Flora gives me migraine (and I have the aura with it as well) - no other margerine gives me migraine just Flora.
I think Mumsnet should have ended their association with Flora. The nasty hydrocarbon that they dye yellow and pour into a tub is unfit to be described as a food, let alone a health food.
Flora gives me migraine (and I have the aura with it as well) - no other margerine gives me migraine just Flora.
I think Mumsnet should have ended their association with Flora. The nasty hydrocarbon that they dye yellow and pour into a tub is unfit to be described as a food, let alone a health food.
Flora gives me migraine (and I have the aura with it as well) - no other margerine gives me migraine just Flora.
I think Mumsnet should have ended their association with Flora. The nasty hydrocarbon that they dye yellow and pour into a tub is unfit to be described as a food, let alone a health food.
It's the Old Mrs Mait is essentially a massive boondoggle to the North. (Buy Belfast property.)
Of course, this also means that Northern Ireland will never reunite with the South. Which, hopefully, the DUP will be smart enough to realise.
It may delay reunification, but it won't stop it - the demographics will see to that. The DUP understands that very well indeed.
I don’t see any reason why unification of Ireland is inevitable.
At some point, those who consider themselves Irish are going to outnumber those who consider themselves British. And that will then be that.
County Antrim is the largest in Noic of Ireland
You can’t split off subsections of subsections until all you are left with is 72.
So what, all the districts within it are still majority Unionist and will never accept being part of the Republic and most Northern Ireland residents still refer to the old counties
Partition is a disaster. Repartition a disaster upon a disaster. Antrim is an integral part of Ireland and should be treated as such. Liverpool elected an Irish Nationalist MP in 1918 but that doesn’t mean it should have been ceded to Ireland.
Utter crap. Forcing Antrim into the Republic against its consent and with direct rule from Dublin will inevitably see a resumption of terrorist violence in Northern Ireland
How is it any different from forcing Derry to stay in Northern Ireland against its will?
Unionist side and the old loyalist paramilitaries
You do know that the only reason Fermanagh and Tyrone were shoe-horned into NI in the first place was that the Unionists didn't see how a less than six county statelet could be at all viable.
It would be viable as it would be part of a United Kingdom of over 60 million people
I agree with you on the Northern Ireland viability debate. I cannot see why only a couple of counties would not be viable. Look at Gibraltar! That's viable, it even shares an MEP with one of the Home counties IIRC. Gibraltar does not have any parliamentary representation at Westminster though. Have you been to NI yet?
I think Mumsnet should have ended their association with Flora. The nasty hydrocarbon that they dye yellow and pour into a tub is unfit to be described as a food, let alone a health food.
Flora gives me migraine (and I have the aura with it as well) - no other margerine gives me migraine just Flora.
Btw and completely o/t all credit to the Dundee Courier and Advertiser who have this week run a front page story about the government increasing the Public Services Work Board interest rate by 1% when gilt rates have fallen to their lowest for several hundred years. God knows what percentage of their readers will have the faintest clue what they are talking about but this is a genuinely important story.
Boris has been saying that the government should use low gilts to fund infrastructure spending. He’s right but the Treasury action is completely inconsistent with such a policy and seems designed to discourage capital spending by local authorities. What the hell is going on?
My guess is that this is a centralising move. Up the interest rate for local councils wanting to invest off their own initiative and then you can disburse grants for investment from central government, potentially targeted to marginal constituencies high-priority areas, but in any case allowing central government to claim the political credit for investment (while still trying to offload the blame for cuts in local services onto local councils after cutting their funding).
That’s very cynical so it’s probably true but the bulk of “spade ready” projects are local and they are far more likely to meet a genuine need. It’s incoherent but I’m not sure we can expect anything else. As I said at the start all credit to a local paper picking up on an issue our national press seems to have missed.
Given the media management of the New Labour days it's the sort of thing that I would not have been surprised that they had done. Then you have the recent analysis of recent public spending announcements that seem to be coincidentally concentrated in the marginals (though that might just be because the funding is targeted at towns, rather than cities or rural areas, which hits marginals anyway, so may not be 100% cynical).
I do think that a lot of politics can be understood as trying to take the credit for good things and shift the blame for bad things onto other people. Hence every politician visiting schools and hospitals to announce new spending, while creating organisational structures to deflect accountability (witness criticism from ministers of poorly performing rail franchises, say, when the level of central government direction in the franchise agreements is surprisingly high).
Of course, it could just be that the Treasury is internally quite nervous about the flood of new spending commitments, and so is desperately scrabbling about for all the little ways in which they can raise a bit of extra money so the deterioration in the deficit is not quite so bad.
"... a long time ago" .... I thought it was in 2015.
As pointed out acutely by another_richard, Clegg & Cameron & Co said "we were all in it together". That was a justification for austerity, we were all in it together.
We're not all in it together.
I object to Jane Dodds because of her derisory comments about the people of Montgomeryshire who opposed wind farms in the constituency.
I object to the LibDems in mid-Wales because they have a long history of parachuting in people with no connection to Wales as MPs (Lembit Opik and the now no-longer a LibDem Alex Carlile or Lord Carlile of Berriew).
Austerity (if it ever really happened and some on here consistently say it hasn't) is also dead and some of those who were its most enthusiastic supporters in 2010 are now the ones arguing for huge spending splurges.
Does it really matter if a representative or MP has a connection to a constituency? Seriously? My MP was born in Oldham yet he represents an east London constituency. The ambitious politician goes where he or she can and seeks to build a local relationship.
I'd also argue the remit of any MP has by definition to be more than the boundary of their constituency - they are part of the legislative body for the whole United Kingdom. It's possibly disadvantageous to be too parochial./
I don't think the Scots would elect MPs to represent Scotland if they did not have a connection to Scotland. Rightly so.
I don't think the Welsh should elect MPs to represent Wales if they have no connection to Wales. They don't have to be Welsh, but they do have to have lived in the constituency and understood the difficulties of e.g., rural Wales. So that they can fight for Wales with some conviction.
Timms was a Councillor and lived in East London for at least a decade before becoming an MP for East Ham. I have no problem with that. He was local when he was chosen as an MP. And a decade .. that is an eternity in Stodge-speak .. because Nick Clegg was DPM "a long time ago".
What was Lembit Opik's connection with Montgomeryshire before the LibDems parachuted him in?
I strongly disagree. James Callaghan, Michael Foot, Neil Mcbride, Keir Hardie had no obvious Welsh connections until elected.
It certsinly looks like a hung parliament with the NDP or BQ holding the balance of power
I think it might not be a case of either/or rather than both/and. I can't see either NP or BQ winning enough seats to be the only partner required by either Trudeau or Scheer.
My finger in the air estimate would be Liberals 130, Conservatives 125, NDP 35 BQ 30 Green 10. or something like that.
Good to see PBers of all sides coalescing around Boris vs Remain. I’d rather avoid a referendum, but if there is no choice then fair enough. If Boris’ deal is better than Remain, it should win easily.
I think Mumsnet should have ended their association with Flora. The nasty hydrocarbon that they dye yellow and pour into a tub is unfit to be described as a food, let alone a health food.
Flora gives me migraine (and I have the aura with it as well) - no other margerine gives me migraine just Flora.
Dont eat Flora?
Haven't had it for over ten years... Took many years of narrowing it down though.
It can be diffuclt to avoid sometimes though. For example when buying sandwiches or rolls they often contain Flora rather than butter these days.
Also cakes can sometimes contain Flora rather than butter.
Haven't had a migraine for around 8 years though so I've generally got a system that works for me.
"... a long time ago" .... I thought it was in 2015.
As pointed out acutely by another_richard, Clegg & Cameron & Co said "we were all in it together". That was a justification for austerity, we were all in it together.
We're not all in it together.
I object to Jane Dodds because of her derisory comments about the people of Montgomeryshire who opposed wind farms in the constituency.
I object to the LibDems in mid-Wales because they have a long history of parachuting in people with no connection to Wales as MPs (Lembit Opik and the now no-longer a LibDem Alex Carlile or Lord Carlile of Berriew).
Austerity (if it ever really happened and some on here consistently say it hasn't) is also dead and some of those who were its most enthusiastic supporters in 2010 are now the ones arguing for huge spending splurges.
Does it really matter if a representative or MP has a connection to a constituency? Seriously? My MP was born in Oldham yet he represents an east London constituency. The ambitious politician goes where he or she can and seeks to build a local relationship.
I'd also argue the remit of any MP has by definition to be more than the boundary of their constituency - they are part of the legislative body for the whole United Kingdom. It's possibly disadvantageous to be too parochial./
I don't think the Scots would elect MPs to represent Scotland if they did not have a connection to Scotland. Rightly so.
I don't think the Welsh should elect MPs to represent Wales if they have no connection to Wales. They don't have to be Welsh, but they do have to have lived in the constituency and understood the difficulties of e.g., rural Wales. So that they can fight for Wales with some conviction.
Timms was a Councillor and lived in East London for at least a decade before becoming an MP for East Ham. I have no problem with that. He was local when he was chosen as an MP. And a decade .. that is an eternity in Stodge-speak .. because Nick Clegg was DPM "a long time ago".
What was Lembit Opik's connection with Montgomeryshire before the LibDems parachuted him in?
I strongly disagree. James Callaghan, Michael Foot, Neil Mcbride, Keir Hardie had no obvious Welsh connections until elected.
You missed out Ramsey Macdonald
I am aware he was MP for Aberavon for a few years. Born in Pembrokeshire, I could also mention Desmond Donnelly!
I think Mumsnet should have ended their association with Flora. The nasty hydrocarbon that they dye yellow and pour into a tub is unfit to be described as a food, let alone a health food.
My mother recently apologised for feeding us all margarine as children. Maybe that post is best made on Mumsnet?
I think Mumsnet should have ended their association with Flora. The nasty hydrocarbon that they dye yellow and pour into a tub is unfit to be described as a food, let alone a health food.
Flora gives me migraine (and I have the aura with it as well) - no other margerine gives me migraine just Flora.
It's the Old Mrs Mait is essentially a massive boondoggle to the North. (Buy Belfast property.)
Of course, this also means that Northern Ireland will never reunite with the South. Which, hopefully, the DUP will be smart enough to realise.
It may delay reunification, but it won't stop it - the demographics will see to that. The DUP understands that very well indeed.
I don’t see any reason why unification of Ireland is inevitable.
At some point, those who consider themselves Irish are going to outnumber those who consider themselves British. And that will then be that.
County Antrim is the largest in Noic of Ireland
You can’t split off subsections of subsections until all you are left with is 72.
So what, all the districts within it are still majority Unionist and will never accept being part of the Republic and most Northern Ireland residents still refer to the old counties
Partition is a disaster. Repartition a disaster upon a disaster. Antrim is an integral part of Ireland and should be treated as such. Liverpool elected an Irish Nationalist MP in 1918 but that doesn’t mean it should have been ceded to Ireland.</ Unionist side and the old loyalist paramilitaries</p>
You do know that the only reason Fermanagh and Tyrone were shoe-horned into NI in the first place was that the Unionists didn't see how a less than six county statelet could be at all viable.
It would be viable as it would be part of a United Kingdom of over 60 million people
I agree with you on the Northern Ireland viability debate. I cannot see why only a couple of counties would not be viable. Look at Gibraltar! That's viable, it even shares an MEP with one of the Home counties IIRC. Gibraltar does not have any parliamentary representation at Westminster though. Have you been to NI yet?
Not challenging you but is Gibraltar genuinely viable as a stand alone entity? Has it water, can it deal with its own waste and sewage, could it survive if the Spanish blockaded the Harbour, withdrew ATC support and shut the border? Not sure
"... a long time ago" .... I thought it was in 2015.
As pointed out acutely by another_richard, Clegg & Cameron & Co said "we were all in it together". That was a justification for austerity, we were all in it together.
We're not all in it together.
I object to Jane Dodds because of her derisory comments about the people of Montgomeryshire who opposed wind farms in the constituency.
I object to the LibDems in mid-Wales because they have a long history of parachuting in people with no connection to Wales as MPs (Lembit Opik and the now no-longer a LibDem Alex Carlile or Lord Carlile of Berriew).
Austerity (if it ever really happened and some on here consistently say it hasn't) is also dead and some of those who were its most enthusiastic supporters in 2010 are now the ones arguing for huge spending splurges.
Does it really matter if a representative or MP has a connection to a constituency? Seriously? My MP was born in Oldham yet he represents an east London constituency. The ambitious politician goes where he or she can and seeks to build a local relationship.
I'd also argue the remit of any MP has by definition to be more than the boundary of their constituency - they are part of the legislative body for the whole United Kingdom. It's possibly disadvantageous to be too parochial./
I don't think the Scots would elect MPs to represent Scotland if they did not have a connection to Scotland. Rightly so.
I don't think the Welsh should elect MPs to represent Wales if they have no connection to Wales. They don't have to be Welsh, but they do have to have lived in the constituency and understood the difficulties of e.g., rural Wales. So that they can fight for Wales with some conviction.
Timms was a Councillor and lived in East London for at least a decade before becoming an MP for East Ham. I have no problem with that. He was local when he was chosen as an MP. And a decade .. that is an eternity in Stodge-speak .. because Nick Clegg was DPM "a long time ago".
What was Lembit Opik's connection with Montgomeryshire before the LibDems parachuted him in?
I strongly disagree. James Callaghan, Michael Foot, Neil Mcbride, Keir Hardie had no obvious Welsh connections until elected.
You missed out Ramsey Macdonald
I am aware he was MP for Aberavon for a few years. Born in Pembrokeshire, I could also mention Desmond Donnelly!
Perhaps better not to. He ended up in the Tory party.
Dicking around for another 6 months with the chance it goes wrong.
Get on with it..
Only because that’s what you want
Only those that want to remain want a referendum.
Millions of people believe we are economically better off as a member of the EU, that is not going to change once we are out.
The strongest argument against having a second referendum has always been that the first referendum result should be honoured and that remainers are trying to block "the will of the people". Once Bozo's deal has gone through all that argument simply melts away.
It's the Old Mrs Mait is essentially a massive boondoggle to the North. (Buy Belfast property.)
Of course, this also means that Northern Ireland will never reunite with the South. Which, hopefully, the DUP will be smart enough to realise.
It may delay reunification, but it won't stop it - the demographics will see to that. The DUP understands that very well indeed.
I don’t see any reason why unification of Ireland is inevitable.
At some point, those who consider themselves Irish are going to outnumber those who consider themselves British. And that will then be that.
County Antrim is the largest in Noic of Ireland
You can’t split off subsections of subsections until all you are left with is 72.
So what, all the districts within it are still majority Unionist and will never accept being part of the Republic and most Northern Ireland residents still refer to the old counties
Partition is a disaster. Ireland.
Utter crap. Forcing Antrim into the Republic against its consent and with direct rule from Dublin will inevitably see a resumption of terrorist violence in Northern Ireland
How is it any different from forcing Derry to stay in Northern Ireland against its will?
Unionist side and the old loyalist paramilitaries
You do know that the only reason Fermanagh and Tyrone were shoe-horned into NI in the first place was that the Unionists didn't see how a less than six county statelet could be at all viable.
It would be viable as it would be part of a United Kingdom of over 60 million people
I agree with you on the Northern Ireland viability debate. I cannot see why only a couple of counties would not be viable. Look at Gibraltar! That's viable, it even shares an MEP with one of the Home counties IIRC. Gibraltar does not have any parliamentary representation at Westminster though. Have you been to NI yet?
Indeed, Gibraltar has a population of 32,000, County Antrim has a population of over 600,000.
Gutted about the rugby being cancelled. England / France always a good one.
Not as much as those that flew out for the weekend just to see that game!
That’s a bloody long way to go to watch a game of rugby that would have been on channel four, are they mad?
Good excuse to go to Japan. Intriguing country - not as visited as it should be perhaps. Would love to go myself one day.
Long time since I was there 93 probably no real time to appreciate it but the things i remember are the frequent earth quakes in Tokyo, food I failed to understand and the strange ‘amusement arcades’ where they kept pouring money into machines that spat out ball bearings.
It certsinly looks like a hung parliament with the NDP or BQ holding the balance of power
I think it might not be a case of either/or rather than both/and. I can't see either NP or BQ winning enough seats to be the only partner required by either Trudeau or Scheer.
My finger in the air estimate would be Liberals 130, Conservatives 125, NDP 35 BQ 30 Green 10. or something like that.
If BQ hold the balance of power that puts Quebec separatism on the agenda again, or at least even more money and powers for Quebec
Gutted about the rugby being cancelled. England / France always a good one.
Not as much as those that flew out for the weekend just to see that game!
That’s a bloody long way to go to watch a game of rugby that would have been on channel four, are they mad?
Good excuse to go to Japan. Intriguing country - not as visited as it should be perhaps. Would love to go myself one day.
Long time since I was there 93 probably no real time to appreciate it but the things i remember are the frequent earth quakes in Tokyo, food I failed to understand and the strange ‘amusement arcades’ where they kept pouring money into machines that spat out ball bearings.
It’s probably a misplaced stereotype but Japan intrigues me as being (uniquely) thoroughly westernised but utterly unknowable to the westerner. Unless you really embed yourself if the culture perhaps.
It's the Old Mrs Mait is essentially a massive boondoggle to the North. (Buy Belfast property.)
Of course, this also means that Northern Ireland will never reunite with the South. Which, hopefully, the DUP will be smart enough to realise.
It may delay reunification, but it won't stop it - the demographics will see to that. The DUP understands that very well indeed.
I don’t see any reason why unification of Ireland is inevitable.
At some point, those who consider themselves Irish are going to outnumber those who consider themselves British. And that will then be that.
County Antrim is the largest in Noic of Ireland
You can’t split off subsections of subsections until all you are left with is 72.
So what, all the districts within it are still majority Unionist and will never accept being part of the Republic and most Northern Ireland residents still refer to the old counties
Partition is a disaster. Ireland.
Utter crap. Forcing Antrim into the Republic against its consent and with direct rule from Dublin will inevitably see a resumption of terrorist violence in Northern Ireland
How is it any different from forcing Derry to stay in Northern Ireland against its will?
Unionist side and the old loyalist paramilitaries
You do know that the only reason Fermanagh and Tyrone were shoe-horned into NI in the first place was that the Unionists didn't see how a less than six county statelet could be at all viable.
It would be viable as it would be part of a United Kingdom of over 60 million people
I agree with you on the Northern Ireland viability debate. I cannot see why only a couple of counties would not be viable. Look at Gibraltar! That's viable, it even shares an MEP with one of the Home counties IIRC. Gibraltar does not have any parliamentary representation at Westminster though. Have you been to NI yet?
Indeed, Gibraltar has a population of 32,000, County Antrim has a population of over 600,000.
It's the Old Mrs Mait is essentially a massive boondoggle to the North. (Buy Belfast property.)
Of course, this also means that Northern Ireland will never reunite with the South. Which, hopefully, the DUP will be smart enough to realise.
It may delay reunification, but it won't stop it - the demographics will see to that. The DUP understands that very well indeed.
I don’t see any reason why unification of Ireland is inevitable.
At some point, those who consider themselves Irish are going to outnumber those who consider themselves British. And that will then be that.
County Antrim is the largest in Noic of Ireland
You can’t split off subsections of subsections until all you are left with is 72.
So what, all the districts within it are still majority Unionist and will never accept being part of the Republic and most Northern Ireland residents still refer to the old counties
Partition is a disaster. Ireland.
Utter crap. Forcing Antrim into the Republic against its consent and with direct rule from Dublin will inevitably see a resumption of terrorist violence in Northern Ireland
How is it any different from forcing Derry to stay in Northern Ireland against its will?
Unionist side and the old loyalist paramilitaries
You do know that the only reason Fermanagh and Tyrone were shoe-horned into NI in the first place was that the Unionists didn't see how a less than six county statelet could be at all viable.
It would be viable as it would be part of a United Kingdom of over 60 million people
I agree with you on the Northern Ireland viability debate. I cannot see why only a couple of counties would not be viable. Look at Gibraltar! That's viable, it even shares an MEP with one of the Home counties IIRC. Gibraltar does not have any parliamentary representation at Westminster though. Have you been to NI yet?
Indeed, Gibraltar has a population of 32,000, County Antrim has a population of over 600,000.
What's the joke here? I don't understand the joke. The libertarian running the parody account is criticising a company's right to free association?
Does he think Flora should be forced to advertise on Mumsnet?
WHAT'S THE JOKE
The joke is that Flora is being a bit ridiculous about breaking the association based on a few posts on their website.
That's not a joke though. The guy running the parody account is a libertarian who loves free speech. He now appears annoyed that a company is exercising its free speech.
That's not a joke, that's hypocrisy by the tweeter.
Off topic, but GMP have released a statement confirming the knife attacker has been charged with a terrorism offence.
He was confronted and pursued by two unarmed PCSOs, until backup arrived. Brave people, but demonstrates how stretched our public services are.
Police can't be everywhere - and lets not forget police were called in from across the country to deal with those eco loons.
But bravo to the 2 PCSO's
This is the main shopping centre in central Manchester, directly opposite the Arena.
I'd expect it to be fairly well protected, as if you want to commit this type of attack, it is one of the few places in central Manchester where people are in a relatively confined space.
The fact that police are off dealing with Tarquin and Rainbow blockading the BBC in Salford shouldn't mean that the public aren't adequately protected from acts of terrorism.
The public were adequately protected. PCSO's were on the scene and a response was there quickly. Thankfully nobody died.
We don't live in a Police State and nor should we.
Not "they need us more than we need them" again, surely?
Its not about us more than them since its not a zero sum game.
They need a deal. That means they need to compromise. Hopefully the grown ups have recognised that rather than those who just want to wave willies comparing sizes.
It's the Old Mrs Mait is essentially a massive boondoggle to the North. (Buy Belfast property.)
Of course, this also means that Northern Ireland will never reunite with the South. Which, hopefully, the DUP will be smart enough to realise.
It may delay reunification, but it won't stop it - the demographics will see to that. The DUP understands that very well indeed.
I don’t see any reason why unification of Ireland is inevitable.
At some point, those who consider themselves Irish are going to outnumber those who consider themselves British. And that will then be that.
County Antrim is the largest in Noic of Ireland
You can’t split off subsections of subsections until all you are left with is 72.
So what, all the districts within it are still majority Unionist and will never accept being part of the Republic and most Northern Ireland residents still refer to the old counties
Partition is a disaster. Ireland.
Utter crap. Forcing Antrim into the Republic against its consent and with direct rule from Dublin will inevitably see a resumption of terrorist violence in Northern Ireland
How is it any different from forcing Derry to stay in Northern Ireland against its will?
Unionist side and the old loyalist paramilitaries
You do know that the only reason Fermanagh and Tyrone were shoe-horned into NI in the first place was that the Unionists didn't see how a less than six county statelet could be at all viable.
It would be viable as it would be part of a United Kingdom of over 60 million people
I agree with you on the Northern Ireland viability debate. I cannot see why only a couple of counties would not be viable. Look at Gibraltar! That's viable, it even shares an MEP with one of the Home counties IIRC. Gibraltar does not have any parliamentary representation at Westminster though. Have you been to NI yet?
Indeed, Gibraltar has a population of 32,000, County Antrim has a population of over 600,000.
It's the Old Mrs Mait is essentially a massive boondoggle to the North. (Buy Belfast property.)
Of course, this also means that Northern Ireland will never reunite with the South. Which, hopefully, the DUP will be smart enough to realise.
It may delay reunification, but it won't stop it - the demographics will see to that. The DUP understands that very well indeed.
I don’t see any reason why unification of Ireland is inevitable.
At some point, those who consider themselves Irish are going to outnumber those who consider themselves British. And that will then be that.
County Antrim is the largest in Noic of Ireland
You can’t split off subsections of subsections until all you are left with is 72.
So what, all the districts within it are still majority Unionist and will never accept being part of the Republic and most Northern Ireland residents still refer to the old counties
Partition is a disaster. Ireland.
Utter crap. Forcing Antrim into the Republic against its consent and with direct rule from Dublin will inevitably see a resumption of terrorist violence in Northern Ireland
How is it any different from forcing Derry to stay in Northern Ireland against its will?
Unionist side and the old loyalist paramilitaries
You do know that the only let could be at all viable.
It would be viable as it would be part of a United Kingdom of over 60 million people
I agree with you on the Northern Ireland viability debate. I cannot see why only a couple of counties would not be viable. Look at Gibraltar! That's viable, it even shares an MEP with one of the Home counties IIRC. Gibraltar does not have any parliamentary representation at Westminster though. Have you been to NI yet?
Indeed, Gibraltar has a population of 32,000, County Antrim has a population of over 600,000.
I am in NI now
Have a good time there and a safe trip back.
Thank you got the ferry over to Belfast and staying near Enniskillen
Off topic, but GMP have released a statement confirming the knife attacker has been charged with a terrorism offence.
He was confronted and pursued by two unarmed PCSOs, until backup arrived. Brave people, but demonstrates how stretched our public services are.
It's terrible, I occasionally go shopping in that shopping centre. Mind you I have seen Police with machine guns in the Bluewater shopping centre! Never seen police with machine guns in the Arndale!
I hope we never reach the point where we need to see them in the Arndale or the Trafford Centre.
“Yeah, honest.. I’m chairman and editor-in-chief of the Mail still, so it’s basically totally normal that my main platform for slagging off my successor is, er, by writing letters to another paper”.
Angela Smith: Ex-Labour MP to contest seat for Lib Dems. Mrs Smith will seek to unseat senior Conservative Sir Graham Brady in Altrincham and Sale West.
It's the Old Mrs Mait is essentially a massive boondoggle to the North. (Buy Belfast property.)
Of course, this also means that Northern Ireland will never reunite with the South. Which, hopefully, the DUP will be smart enough to realise.
I don’t see any reason why unification of Ireland is inevitable.
At some point, those who consider themselves Irish are going to outnumber those who consider themselves British. And that will then be that.
County Antrim is the largest in Noic of Ireland
You can’t split off subsections of subsections until all you are left with is 72.
So what, all the districts within it are still majority Unionist and will never accept being part of the Republic and most Northern Ireland residents still refer to the old counties
Partition is a disaster. Ireland.
Utter crap. Forcing Antrim into the Republic against its consent and with direct rule from Dublin will inevitably see a resumption of terrorist violence in Northern Ireland
How is it any different from forcing Derry to stay in Northern Ireland against its will?
Unionist side and the old loyalist paramilitaries
You do know that the only let could be at all viable.
It would be viable as it would be part of a United Kingdom of over 60 million people
I agree with you on the Northern Ireland viability debate. I cannot see why only a couple of counties would not be viable. Look at Gibraltar! That's viable, it even shares an MEP with one of the Home counties IIRC. Gibraltar does not have any parliamentary representation at Westminster though. Have you been to NI yet?
Indeed, Gibraltar has a population of 32,000, County Antrim has a population of over 600,000.
I am in NI now
Have a good time there and a safe trip back.
Thank you got the ferry over to Belfast and staying near Enniskillen
Off topic, but GMP have released a statement confirming the knife attacker has been charged with a terrorism offence.
He was confronted and pursued by two unarmed PCSOs, until backup arrived. Brave people, but demonstrates how stretched our public services are.
It's terrible, I occasionally go shopping in that shopping centre. Mind you I have seen Police with machine guns in the Bluewater shopping centre! Never seen police with machine guns in the Arndale!
I hope we never reach the point where we need to see them in the Arndale or the Trafford Centre.
Still shocks me when I see them in Liverpool street station or walking streets in the city.
It'll dawn on them soon enough the proposed arrangement either cuts NI out of most of most of the proposed trade deals OR means future UK trade deals have to be so restricted as to not threaten NI's alignment with the EU. Boris to his ( sort of ) credit at least grasps NI needs to be cut loose. But that's because he doesn't care about anything or anyone.
Off topic, but GMP have released a statement confirming the knife attacker has been charged with a terrorism offence.
He was confronted and pursued by two unarmed PCSOs, until backup arrived. Brave people, but demonstrates how stretched our public services are.
It's terrible, I occasionally go shopping in that shopping centre. Mind you I have seen Police with machine guns in the Bluewater shopping centre! Never seen police with machine guns in the Arndale!
I hope we never reach the point where we need to see them in the Arndale or the Trafford Centre.
Still shocks me when I see them in Liverpool street station or walking streets in the city.
Angela Smith: Ex-Labour MP to contest seat for Lib Dems. Mrs Smith will seek to unseat senior Conservative Sir Graham Brady in Altrincham and Sale West.
What's the joke here? I don't understand the joke. The libertarian running the parody account is criticising a company's right to free association?
Does he think Flora should be forced to advertise on Mumsnet?
WHAT'S THE JOKE
The joke is that Flora is being a bit ridiculous about breaking the association based on a few posts on their website.
That's not a joke though. The guy running the parody account is a libertarian who loves free speech. He now appears annoyed that a company is exercising its free speech.
That's not a joke, that's hypocrisy by the tweeter.
Not really. Just because you supoort free speech doesn't mean you have to find all speech sensible. He can support Flora's right to free speech while thinking they are being ridiculous.
Off topic, but GMP have released a statement confirming the knife attacker has been charged with a terrorism offence.
He was confronted and pursued by two unarmed PCSOs, until backup arrived. Brave people, but demonstrates how stretched our public services are.
It's terrible, I occasionally go shopping in that shopping centre. Mind you I have seen Police with machine guns in the Bluewater shopping centre! Never seen police with machine guns in the Arndale!
I hope we never reach the point where we need to see them in the Arndale or the Trafford Centre.
I think there is definitely a problem in the Manchester area. Even at the airport, they are much more meticulous about hand luggage compared to say Gatwick. It's not just me whose noticed but other people as well I know as well.
He’s right up there with Steve Baker. Until Boris sends the RAF to bomb Luxembourg (and possibly take the scenic route home to strafe Cork and Waterford), he ain’t gonna sound happy about a deal.
It'll dawn on them soon enough the proposed arrangement either cuts NI out of most of most of the proposed trade deals OR means future UK trade deals have to be so restricted as to not threaten NI's alignment with the EU. Boris to his ( sort of ) credit at least grasps NI needs to be cut loose. But that's because he doesn't care about anything or anyone.
Are Scotland or Wales "cut loose" because they have their own laws? The brilliance of the UK is that it allows all four home nations to have slightly different legal setups, as appropriate for their local context.
Plus Northern Ireland will benefit from the tariff reductions from UK FTAs. It puts them in a great position.
It'll dawn on them soon enough the proposed arrangement either cuts NI out of most of most of the proposed trade deals OR means future UK trade deals have to be so restricted as to not threaten NI's alignment with the EU. Boris to his ( sort of ) credit at least grasps NI needs to be cut loose. But that's because he doesn't care about anything or anyone.
Are Scotland or Wales "cut loose" because they have their own laws? The brilliance of the UK is that it allows all four home nations to have slightly different legal setups, as appropriate for their local context.
Plus Northern Ireland will benefit from the tariff reductions from UK FTAs. It puts them in a great position.
Wales doesn't have its own laws, it essentially part of England
It'll dawn on them soon enough the proposed arrangement either cuts NI out of most of most of the proposed trade deals OR means future UK trade deals have to be so restricted as to not threaten NI's alignment with the EU. Boris to his ( sort of ) credit at least grasps NI needs to be cut loose. But that's because he doesn't care about anything or anyone.
Are Scotland or Wales "cut loose" because they have their own laws? The brilliance of the UK is that it allows all four home nations to have slightly different legal setups, as appropriate for their local context.
Plus Northern Ireland will benefit from the tariff reductions from UK FTAs. It puts them in a great position.
'Hooray, let's cede control of part of the UK, it'll be great!'
It'll dawn on them soon enough the proposed arrangement either cuts NI out of most of most of the proposed trade deals OR means future UK trade deals have to be so restricted as to not threaten NI's alignment with the EU. Boris to his ( sort of ) credit at least grasps NI needs to be cut loose. But that's because he doesn't care about anything or anyone.
Are Scotland or Wales "cut loose" because they have their own laws? The brilliance of the UK is that it allows all four home nations to have slightly different legal setups, as appropriate for their local context.
Plus Northern Ireland will benefit from the tariff reductions from UK FTAs. It puts them in a great position.
Wales doesn't have its own laws, it essentially part of England
Senedd now has the power to pass primary legislation. Wales remains part of a single jurisdiction with England, but perhaps that will have to change in the future if Welsh law diverges sufficiently from English.
I think Mumsnet should have ended their association with Flora. The nasty hydrocarbon that they dye yellow and pour into a tub is unfit to be described as a food, let alone a health food.
My mother recently apologised for feeding us all margarine as children. Maybe that post is best made on Mumsnet?
She isn't to be blamed, because their advertising as a health food is so pervasive. If you leave an open tub of flora out in your garage for months on end, it will not change its state one bit. When even spoilage bacteria aren't interested in eating something, it must be reeaaally bad.
I think Mumsnet should have ended their association with Flora. The nasty hydrocarbon that they dye yellow and pour into a tub is unfit to be described as a food, let alone a health food.
My mother recently apologised for feeding us all margarine as children. Maybe that post is best made on Mumsnet?
She isn't to be blamed, because their advertising as a health food is so pervasive. If you leave an open tub of flora out in your garage for months on end, it will not change its state one bit. When even spoilage bacteria aren't interested in eating something, it must be reeaaally bad.
Thanks to your advice I have lost my taste for a sneaky bowl of rice crispies before going to bed....next you'll be telling me that pot noodles are terrible....
I think Mumsnet should have ended their association with Flora. The nasty hydrocarbon that they dye yellow and pour into a tub is unfit to be described as a food, let alone a health food.
My mother recently apologised for feeding us all margarine as children. Maybe that post is best made on Mumsnet?
She isn't to be blamed, because their advertising as a health food is so pervasive. If you leave an open tub of flora out in your garage for months on end, it will not change its state one bit. When even spoilage bacteria aren't interested in eating something, it must be reeaaally bad.
Thanks to your advice I have lost my taste for a sneaky bowl of rice crispies before going to bed....next you'll be telling me that pot noodles are terrible....
A nice pot noodle (beef and tomato natch) followed by pudding of Pop Tarts (chocolate).
In North Dorset a mobile JobCentre would actually be quite popular - it would save people on Universal Credit having to regularly travel 15 miles to the nearest JobCentre for interviews with their Work Coach (which if they miss causes their UC to be stopped).
Comments
But No = No Deal so effectivley people are asked do you want to leave with a deal or without a deal?
The starting assumption is of course that we're leaving as that's what we decided to do in 2016.
Simples.
A bit more volatility creeping into the national polls. The two non-rolling polls published yesterday had big differences with Angus Reid showing the Conservatives leading 34-29 while Innovative Research had the Liberals four points ahead 35-31.
The most interesting poll was the Leger poll for Quebec which showed Liberals on 31% leading Bloc Quebecois (BQ) by just two points. That's a 7% swing from 2015 and if BQ can pick up 20-25 seats that could make them a key player in the post-election horsetrading if, as seems likely, neither Trudeau's Liberals nor Scheer's Conservatives can deliver a majority.
Apparently.
https://twitter.com/albertonardelli/status/1182749859843117056?s=21
Scotland has had non - Scots such as Winston Churchill, Herbert Asquith, Roy Jenkins , Emrys Hughes & Jeremy Bray.
I do think that a lot of politics can be understood as trying to take the credit for good things and shift the blame for bad things onto other people. Hence every politician visiting schools and hospitals to announce new spending, while creating organisational structures to deflect accountability (witness criticism from ministers of poorly performing rail franchises, say, when the level of central government direction in the franchise agreements is surprisingly high).
Of course, it could just be that the Treasury is internally quite nervous about the flood of new spending commitments, and so is desperately scrabbling about for all the little ways in which they can raise a bit of extra money so the deterioration in the deficit is not quite so bad.
My finger in the air estimate would be Liberals 130, Conservatives 125, NDP 35 BQ 30 Green 10. or something like that.
https://twitter.com/owenpaterson/status/1182750576750268416?s=21
It can be diffuclt to avoid sometimes though. For example when buying sandwiches or rolls they often contain Flora rather than butter these days.
Also cakes can sometimes contain Flora rather than butter.
Haven't had a migraine for around 8 years though so I've generally got a system that works for me.
I think a spell in ConHome is called for.
The strongest argument against having a second referendum has always been that the first referendum result should be honoured and that remainers are trying to block "the will of the people". Once Bozo's deal has gone through all that argument simply melts away.
I am in NI now
That's not a joke, that's hypocrisy by the tweeter.
We don't live in a Police State and nor should we.
They need a deal. That means they need to compromise. Hopefully the grown ups have recognised that rather than those who just want to wave willies comparing sizes.
Whatevs, Pauly...
https://amp.ft.com/content/ee82201e-ec3c-11e9-a240-3b065ef5fc55?__twitter_impression=true
bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-50016017
Plus Northern Ireland will benefit from the tariff reductions from UK FTAs. It puts them in a great position.
We've got fucking Boris Johnson as PM thanks to the Tories....what do you think that says about the Conservatives in 2019...
Comrade...The Conservatives have well and truly lost the claim to the moral high ground...