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politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Tories move up 5pc in first full voting intention poll sinc

SystemSystem Posts: 11,700
edited December 2013 in General

politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Tories move up 5pc in first full voting intention poll since the autumn statement

On Friday YouGov was showing a 12% lead from a poll where the fieldwork mostly took place before Osborne’s autumn statement. It was way out of line with previous polls and did look like an outlier.

Read the full story here


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Comments

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    foxinsoxukfoxinsoxuk Posts: 23,548
    First to say MOE!
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    MillsyMillsy Posts: 900
    FPT The Sunday Times YouGov numbers are starting to return to the pre-conference position - government approval up, Cameron "doing well" up and Miliband down.

    They also ask who would make best chancellor for first time since June. Numbers almost unchanged: Osborne 32; Balls 22; DK/none of the above 46.

    Osborne's net good job/bad job is up from -27 in June to -20.

    http://cdn.yougov.com/cumulus_uploads/document/bcuvyc2obh/YG-Archive-Pol-Sunday-Times-results-061213.pdf
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    MillsyMillsy Posts: 900
    Also interesting that Labour appear to be losing the blame game on education as well.

    Who do you think is most responsible for Britain's position in the education league tables?

    Labour 24
    Teachers 21
    Parents 18
    Coalition 17
    Oth/DK 21

    Too soon for Labour to return to power in 2015
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    AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 23,763
    Millsy said:

    Also interesting that Labour appear to be losing the blame game on education as well.

    Who do you think is most responsible for Britain's position in the education league tables?

    Labour 24
    Teachers 21
    Parents 18
    Coalition 17
    Oth/DK 21

    Too soon for Labour to return to power in 2015

    Give it an hour and PBers will be blaming Margaret Thatcher and Nelson Mandela,
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    felixfelix Posts: 15,125
    Very similar numbers to Populus and a return to the status quo ante. Pollsters who draw too much from single YouGov daily polls invariably look silly within a few days. The GE 2015 is still difficult to call with hung parliament probably the most likely outcome - in terms of good for the country would likely be the best result.
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    foxinsoxukfoxinsoxuk Posts: 23,548
    Was there an "all of the above" option?

    I think it will be hard for Labour to gain traction on these issues until they come out with some policies.
    Millsy said:

    Also interesting that Labour appear to be losing the blame game on education as well.

    Who do you think is most responsible for Britain's position in the education league tables?

    Labour 24
    Teachers 21
    Parents 18
    Coalition 17
    Oth/DK 21

    Too soon for Labour to return to power in 2015

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    "The move in the CON vote is outside the margin of error."
    This is a statistical question not a political one, but what's the margin of error for a _change_ in a number with a 3% margin of error? The two polls would be consistent with an unchanged Con share of 31.5%, with -2.5% of statistical noise one day and +2.5% the next. But the probability of two polls in succession being that far out, and in different directions, is obviously lower than the probability of a single one being the same distance out, so you can't just add to two 3%s together and get a 6% margin of error. Can Nick Palmer or AndyJS or someone tell us the right way to do this?
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    This also could be an outlier.
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    antifrank said:

    This also could be an outlier.

    Or indeed last time and this time both within the normal MoE of the real score, like I say. But it looks very plausible as an actual move (if not quite that big); There seem to be a few % of UKIP-curious voters who waver between Con and UKIP depending on which issues are in the news. Absent an unexpected Faragasm during the campaign I think it's fairly safe to assume these people mostly will end up voting Con in 2015.
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    foxinsoxukfoxinsoxuk Posts: 23,548
    In time we will know, and it is not as if there is an election soon.

    The 5% gain is a bit large but interesting that it came from both Labour and UKIP. LDs are down to their base.

    Maybe Osborne is not that toxic.
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    MillsyMillsy Posts: 900

    Was there an "all of the above" option?

    I think it will be hard for Labour to gain traction on these issues until they come out with some policies.


    Millsy said:

    Also interesting that Labour appear to be losing the blame game on education as well.

    Who do you think is most responsible for Britain's position in the education league tables?

    Labour 24
    Teachers 21
    Parents 18
    Coalition 17
    Oth/DK 21

    Too soon for Labour to return to power in 2015

    No there wasn't. I don't think Labour's policies matter much at the moment, most people won't be listening anyway.
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    @EiT the subsidiaries look suspicious to me, given George Osborne's apparent image problem. but I guess we shall see.
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    foxinsoxukfoxinsoxuk Posts: 23,548
    edited December 2013
    Policy launches in December are probably not a good idea. The question is really whether there are any policies in the background, or whether there is a vacuum behind the blank sheet of paper.

    "All of the above" was meant in jest, but would reflect my opinion. Most intractable problems have no easy answer.
    Millsy said:

    Was there an "all of the above" option?

    I think it will be hard for Labour to gain traction on these issues until they come out with some policies.


    Millsy said:

    Also interesting that Labour appear to be losing the blame game on education as well.

    Who do you think is most responsible for Britain's position in the education league tables?

    Labour 24
    Teachers 21
    Parents 18
    Coalition 17
    Oth/DK 21

    Too soon for Labour to return to power in 2015

    No there wasn't. I don't think Labour's policies matter much at the moment, most people won't be listening anyway.
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    Sorry to go off topic, but I need the thread's views on a nice problem to have. As I've said before, I own two flats in the same block and I'm selling one of them. I already have one offer (which is a far higher price than I could have dreamed of but a bit below what the estate agents advise I can currently get, and described as "best and final"). From a viewing yesterday, I'm expecting another offer which may well be higher.

    My problem is that I have more confidence that the first offeror will be a good neighbour than the second offeror, though I have no concrete ground to suspect the second offeror would be a bad neighbour. How much of a premium should I put on this?

    Anyone who wants to play Through The Keyhole can have a look here:

    http://www.daveystone.com/Property/Residential/for-sale/London/Epworth-Street/SH224ES.aspx

    Emily Thornberry is welcome to read out the particulars on the floor of the House if she so wishes.
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    MillsyMillsy Posts: 900
    antifrank said:

    @EiT the subsidiaries look suspicious to me, given George Osborne's apparent image problem. but I guess we shall see.

    We might have ICM and Ipsos Mori polls next week so they may be able to confirm what's going on
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    It's not the autumn statement, it's the weather. The worst storms for thirty years have boosted the government in the same way the floods boosted Gordon Brown (and, ironically, will give Osborne an excuse to boost the economy by building flood defences).

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    OT the air traffic balls-up seems to have gone almost unnoticed by the papers, presumably because it's a fortnight before the media flies off to spend Christmas in the States or on the Med, no-one knows what caused it, and no-one can remember whether air traffic control is nationalised or privatised.
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    Leader ratings (net well):
    Cameron: -15 (+3)
    Miliband: -35 (-2)
    Clegg: -48 (+2)

    Coalition managing economy well (net): -13 (+4)

    Government policy in economy has made things:
    Worse: 30 (-4)
    Helped recovery: 36 (+4)
    No difference: 24 (+1)

    I am wary of ascribing poll shifts to "one off events" which we notice but I suspect the electorate do not - so if these shifts are sustained, I'd put it down more to the general narrative on the economy rather than the Autumn Statement per se. There is one question on the Autumn Statement - but again I suspect it's got more to do with the general narrative and expectations than specifics:

    From what you have heard of Autumn Statement will you personally be:
    Better off: 5
    Worse off: 31
    No difference: 46
    Don't know:18

    That 70% of the 18-24 segment who will now work into their seventies are "no difference" (34) or "don't know" (36) suggests they may not have been paying close attention....



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    foxinsoxukfoxinsoxuk Posts: 23,548
    I would take the firm and final offer from the possible good neighbour. The London market looks to be very bubbly in parts. Time to cash up and get out rather than be greedy.

    Nice flat BTW, but for that money I can buy a grade 2 listed Queen Anne manor house in a village near me with good rail links to London. It is a crazy price for a flat.
    antifrank said:

    Sorry to go off topic, but I need the thread's views on a nice problem to have. As I've said before, I own two flats in the same block and I'm selling one of them. I already have one offer (which is a far higher price than I could have dreamed of but a bit below what the estate agents advise I can currently get, and described as "best and final"). From a viewing yesterday, I'm expecting another offer which may well be higher.

    My problem is that I have more confidence that the first offeror will be a good neighbour than the second offeror, though I have no concrete ground to suspect the second offeror would be a bad neighbour. How much of a premium should I put on this?

    Anyone who wants to play Through The Keyhole can have a look here:

    http://www.daveystone.com/Property/Residential/for-sale/London/Epworth-Street/SH224ES.aspx

    Emily Thornberry is welcome to read out the particulars on the floor of the House if she so wishes.

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    AveryLPAveryLP Posts: 7,815
    antifrank said:

    Sorry to go off topic, but I need the thread's views on a nice problem to have. As I've said before, I own two flats in the same block and I'm selling one of them. I already have one offer (which is a far higher price than I could have dreamed of but a bit below what the estate agents advise I can currently get, and described as "best and final"). From a viewing yesterday, I'm expecting another offer which may well be higher.

    My problem is that I have more confidence that the first offeror will be a good neighbour than the second offeror, though I have no concrete ground to suspect the second offeror would be a bad neighbour. How much of a premium should I put on this?

    Anyone who wants to play Through The Keyhole can have a look here:

    http://www.daveystone.com/Property/Residential/for-sale/London/Epworth-Street/SH224ES.aspx

    Emily Thornberry is welcome to read out the particulars on the floor of the House if she so wishes.

    Good morning, antifrank.

    As every good Tory knows, you should sell on price not sentiment.

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    antifrank said:

    Sorry to go off topic, but I need the thread's views on a nice problem to have. As I've said before, I own two flats in the same block and I'm selling one of them. I already have one offer (which is a far higher price than I could have dreamed of but a bit below what the estate agents advise I can currently get, and described as "best and final"). From a viewing yesterday, I'm expecting another offer which may well be higher.

    My problem is that I have more confidence that the first offeror will be a good neighbour than the second offeror, though I have no concrete ground to suspect the second offeror would be a bad neighbour. How much of a premium should I put on this?

    Anyone who wants to play Through The Keyhole can have a look here:

    http://www.daveystone.com/Property/Residential/for-sale/London/Epworth-Street/SH224ES.aspx

    Emily Thornberry is welcome to read out the particulars on the floor of the House if she so wishes.

    That carpet must add another tenner, at least. Two thoughts: doesn't the market normally slow down this time of year; and isn't there a property lawyer you could sidle up to at the water cooler?
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    @foxinsoxuk what people are buying is time. By living here you can walk to work in the City in minutes. For those working long hours in stressful jobs, that's worth a lot. But I still can't process current valuations.

    @AveryLP I need to decide what price I put on the chance of regular noisy parties disrupting the enjoyment of my other property. Even good Tories would recognise that's not just about sentiment.
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    AveryLPAveryLP Posts: 7,815
    antifrank said:

    Sorry to go off topic, but I need the thread's views on a nice problem to have. As I've said before, I own two flats in the same block and I'm selling one of them. I already have one offer (which is a far higher price than I could have dreamed of but a bit below what the estate agents advise I can currently get, and described as "best and final"). From a viewing yesterday, I'm expecting another offer which may well be higher.

    My problem is that I have more confidence that the first offeror will be a good neighbour than the second offeror, though I have no concrete ground to suspect the second offeror would be a bad neighbour. How much of a premium should I put on this?

    Anyone who wants to play Through The Keyhole can have a look here:

    http://www.daveystone.com/Property/Residential/for-sale/London/Epworth-Street/SH224ES.aspx

    Emily Thornberry is welcome to read out the particulars on the floor of the House if she so wishes.

    antifrank

    In the late 1970s and early 1980s I used to visit your part of town to collect specialist printing plates from a small company in Tabernacle Street. The whole area was full of printing companies or, more specifically, companies providing ancilliary services to the printing industry.

    Your flat (its windows especially) and the large open area reminds me of the firm I visited. Was your building ever part of this former print industry?

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    NickPalmerNickPalmer Posts: 21,360
    I've been predicting a Tory bounce today for some time, but the bounce the other way in the previous poll makes it hard to interpret. If we assume the 12-point lead was an outlier, as I think we all did, then this looks more like a barely detectable shift, which is pretty much what the secondaries suggest. Osborne's rating is unchanged compared with June (presumably when it was last asked), Balls is one point down.

    I'd think that in a few days we'll be back with the holding pattern (Labour lead 6-7 apart from MOE variation) until the New Year at least, and probably until the Budget, the next major event.
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    @AveryLP it was indeed. My father, who was a printer, claims to have visited the building when it was still in business use. The big windows were an essential feature for such businesses, which needed natural light to assess the quality of their work.
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    A tycoon who funded the Scottish Tories has had his bankruptcy extended by a sheriff following claims his court evidence was "extraordinary" and not "credible".

    Malcolm Scott's sequestration will last for another 10 months and he now faces a government watchdog probe into his conduct.

    Until last year, the Fettes-educated businessman donated at least £1.6m to the Conservatives and was the Scottish party's treasurer.

    http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/former-tory-donor-scotts-bankruptcy-extended.22886423
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    compouter1compouter1 Posts: 642
    edited December 2013
    Looking at the Labour percentage of 39%.This will push their overall average up ever so slightly, more of the same really :

    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/96/UK_opinion_polling_2010-2015.png
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    foxinsoxukfoxinsoxuk Posts: 23,548
    I appreciate that there are people who are forced to live in the Great Wen, and have to pay the going rate. Ask them if they want to buy my tulip bulbs.
    antifrank said:

    @foxinsoxuk what people are buying is time. By living here you can walk to work in the City in minutes. For those working long hours in stressful jobs, that's worth a lot. But I still can't process current valuations.

    @AveryLP I need to decide what price I put on the chance of regular noisy parties disrupting the enjoyment of my other property. Even good Tories would recognise that's not just about sentiment.

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    OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 32,047
    Isn't the answer to the polls that Farage doesn't seem to have been on the box lately? Article about him in the Guardian today but I don't suppose that'll influence things a lot. Either way!
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    antifrank said:

    @EiT the subsidiaries look suspicious to me, given George Osborne's apparent image problem. but I guess we shall see.

    The polling data on Osborne's image problem is 10 months old - from when we were heading for Ed Balls much touted "triple dip recession" - while I doubt Osborne's image has improved much, Balls predictive powers now surely rank up there with Danny "5 million unemployed" Blancheflower and our own dear Roger.....

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    @antifrank - that you are now worrying about a neighbour's noisy parties surely answers your own question. Would you have worried about that 10 years ago? What do you think your view will be in 10 years time?
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    NickPalmerNickPalmer Posts: 21,360
    antifrank said:

    @foxinsoxuk what people are buying is time. By living here you can walk to work in the City in minutes. For those working long hours in stressful jobs, that's worth a lot. But I still can't process current valuations.

    @AveryLP I need to decide what price I put on the chance of regular noisy parties disrupting the enjoyment of my other property. Even good Tories would recognise that's not just about sentiment.

    Wasn't quite clear from your original post if the 2nd flat is next door or just somewhere elese in a large block. If the latter, shrug. If the former, I'd think the noise issue quite important. If you sell to the lower offer, you could tell him why you're taking the lower offer, which should make him well-disposed to you for years to come.

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    Selection meeting for Falkirk CLP today. Pam Duncan favourite over Monica Lennon and Karen Whitefield?
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    I don't believe any of these polls matter until the extent of Romanian and Bulgarian immigration is apparent.

    Rioting/civil disturbance seems a distinct possibility in some areas given what has already been reported. The Tories will get the blame.
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    JackWJackW Posts: 14,787
    The latest ARSE 2015 General Election projection, published on Tuesday, gives the Coalition a Commons majority over all other parties of 30 seats.

    Con 301 .. LibDem 39 .. Others 310
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    @NickPalmer it's a block of four flats, and my new flat is directly above the old one (yes I did get removal men in, to the amusement of everyone else).

    @CarlottaVance the second potential offerors are a very nice middle aged couple buying for their daughter who is straight out of uni. I haven't met her and there is nothing about the parents that makes me suspect she will be anything other than delightful and considerate. It's pure ageism on my part.
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    I think OGH is being a little silly with his "outside the MOE" comment.

    Unless the Tories genuinely were on 29% of course? Which they weren't.

    Second question - did anyone in the real world notice the statement and if they did what did they notice? The news agenda on the day was the storms and then became Mandela then the storms. Top of the news agenda it was not, and work until 70 seemed to be the headline that cut through loudly. At least until the following day when we had front page "IFS says Osborne a liar" stories.

    In summary what Tories bounce? Lets see a few more polls shall we?
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    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 54,060
    Swiss_Bob said:

    I don't believe any of these polls matter until the extent of Romanian and Bulgarian immigration is apparent.

    Rioting/civil disturbance seems a distinct possibility in some areas given what has already been reported. The Tories will get the blame.

    I'll give you evens on no rioting or civil disobedience (of any scale worthy enough to make the front page of a newspaper) by end February.

    £100?
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    MikeKMikeK Posts: 9,053
    edited December 2013
    No news is worthwhile at this time while the BBC and the rest of the world has gone a bit potty and is making Saint Mandela, Super-Saint Mandela and even a god.
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    JackWJackW Posts: 14,787
    OMG !!

    Kinnock on the Marr show seems to have aged 20 years .... looking like a very old man indeed !!
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    Swiss_BobSwiss_Bob Posts: 619
    edited December 2013
    rcs1000 said:

    Swiss_Bob said:

    I don't believe any of these polls matter until the extent of Romanian and Bulgarian immigration is apparent.

    Rioting/civil disturbance seems a distinct possibility in some areas given what has already been reported. The Tories will get the blame.

    I'll give you evens on no rioting or civil disobedience (of any scale worthy enough to make the front page of a newspaper) by end February.

    £100?
    I'm not predicting it or wishing for it, it is merely an observation based on how important an issue it appears to be and the reported unrest that already exists.

    ie http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2504472/Fears-civil-unrest-Sheffield-locals-action-Roma-migrants.html

    Update, given the above article about 'street patrols' I think you owe me £100 :-)
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    Scott_PScott_P Posts: 51,453
    antifrank said:

    @EiT the subsidiaries look suspicious to me, given George Osborne's apparent image problem. but I guess we shall see.

    George Osborne's "apparent image problem" was classic PB Kinnock anecdote, trumpeted loudly all day yesterday.

    Now we have polling.
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    AveryLPAveryLP Posts: 7,815
    edited December 2013
    antifrank said:

    @NickPalmer it's a block of four flats, and my new flat is directly above the old one (yes I did get removal men in, to the amusement of everyone else).

    @CarlottaVance the second potential offerors are a very nice middle aged couple buying for their daughter who is straight out of uni. I haven't met her and there is nothing about the parents that makes me suspect she will be anything other than delightful and considerate. It's pure ageism on my part.

    antifrank

    My memories of the area were that it was a somewhat run down enclave of old-fashioned terraced buildings, many specially built or adapted for their commercial use, which adjoined but didn't form part of the City. Because most of the small firms there occupied a single floor the buldings all had open doors at ground rather level like a university college 'staircase'. The other distinguishing feature was that there were very few 'shop fronts' at ground level, making it difficult to tell from a distance whether the streets were residential or commercial. Only the various firms billboards affixed outside at their floor level told you it was commercial. It had a very 1950s feel.

    It would be interesting to hear how it has responded and changed under the influence of conversion to residential use. I hope some of its old unique flavour has been retained.
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    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 54,060
    Swiss_Bob said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Swiss_Bob said:

    I don't believe any of these polls matter until the extent of Romanian and Bulgarian immigration is apparent.

    Rioting/civil disturbance seems a distinct possibility in some areas given what has already been reported. The Tories will get the blame.

    I'll give you evens on no rioting or civil disobedience (of any scale worthy enough to make the front page of a newspaper) by end February.

    £100?
    I'm not predicting it or wishing for it, it is merely an observation based on how important an issue it appears to be and the reported unrest that already exists.

    ie http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2504472/Fears-civil-unrest-Sheffield-locals-action-Roma-migrants.html

    Update, given the above article about 'street patrols' I think you owe me £100 :-)
    Fears of riots != riots

    Residents on patrol != civil disobedience

    I'm offering you a simple bet - reality versus david blunkett. I'm betting no riots. Come on, I;m sure you believe that - in the words of the Daily Mail - the number of aliens entering the country through the back door is a problem.
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    Swiss_Bob said:

    I don't believe any of these polls matter until the extent of Romanian and Bulgarian immigration is apparent.

    Rioting/civil disturbance seems a distinct possibility in some areas given what has already been reported. The Tories will get the blame.

    There will be major problems in years to come if immigration is curtailed simply because the population is getting older and the burden of support falls on a dwindling percentage of those in work.

    Fools who go on about the immigrant "problem" never mention demographic change.

    Our future prosperity depends on more immigration

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    foxinsoxukfoxinsoxuk Posts: 23,548
    The mixed pleasures of trendy London life are well covered here
    http://nosoapradiopolka.co.uk/index.php/2013/02/18/london-adjusting-to-the-great-wen/

    Also some great travel writing, well at least more my taste than SeanT.

    A million pound flat for an ex student to start work seems a bit extravagant.
    antifrank said:

    @NickPalmer it's a block of four flats, and my new flat is directly above the old one (yes I did get removal men in, to the amusement of everyone else).

    @CarlottaVance the second potential offerors are a very nice middle aged couple buying for their daughter who is straight out of uni. I haven't met her and there is nothing about the parents that makes me suspect she will be anything other than delightful and considerate. It's pure ageism on my part.

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    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 54,060

    Fools who go on about the immigrant "problem" never mention demographic change.

    Our future prosperity depends on more immigration

    I take a different view. I think this is a moral issue. I don't believe that just because you were born on this island, you have a right to choose who else lives on this island. I believe in the sovereignty of the individual.

    My views on what the idea state looks like can be best summarized by the introduction to AJP Taylor's The Effects and Origins of the Great War:

    Until August 1914 a sensible, law-abiding Englishman could pass through life and hardly notice the existence of the state, beyond the post office and the policeman. He could live where he liked and as he liked. He had no official number or identity card. He could travel abroad or leave his country for ever without a passport or any sort of official permission. He could exchange his money for any other currency without restriction or limit. He could buy goods from any country in the world on the same terms as he bought goods at home. For that matter, a foreigner could spend his life in this country without permit and without informing the police. Unlike the countries of the European continent, the state did not require its citizens to perform military service. An Englishman could enlist, if he chose, in the regular army, the navy, or the territorials. He could also ignore, if he chose, the demands of national defence. Substantial householders were occasionally called on for jury service. Otherwise, only those helped the state who wished to do so. The Englishman paid taxes on a modest scale: nearly £200 million in 1913-14, or rather less than 8 per cent. of the national income. The state intervened to prevent the citizen from eating adulterated food or contracting certain infectious diseases. It imposed safety rules in factories, and prevented women, and adult males in some industries, from working excessive hours. The state saw to it that children received education up to the age of 13. Since 1 January 1909, it provided a meagre pension for the needy over the age of 70. Since 1911, it helped to insure certain classes of workers against sickness and unemployment. This tendency towards more state action was increasing. Expenditure on the social services had roughly doubled since the Liberals took office in 1905. Still, broadly speaking, the state acted only to help those who could not help themselves. It left the adult citizen alone.
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    "Residents on patrol != civil disobedience"

    In your opinion. In mine 'street patrols' is civil disobedience, they wouldn't be allowed in any other 'community'.

    Bate me all you like but I have no problem with immigration per se, I am one.

    I was merely expressing the opinion that current polls are irellevent and will depend upon events.

    I also note you have changed you tune from "rioting or civil disobedience" to "I'm betting no riots".
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    JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 39,061

    Swiss_Bob said:

    I don't believe any of these polls matter until the extent of Romanian and Bulgarian immigration is apparent.

    Rioting/civil disturbance seems a distinct possibility in some areas given what has already been reported. The Tories will get the blame.

    There will be major problems in years to come if immigration is curtailed simply because the population is getting older and the burden of support falls on a dwindling percentage of those in work.

    Fools who go on about the immigrant "problem" never mention demographic change.

    Our future prosperity depends on more immigration

    But that just shifts the problem into the future: as the immigrants get older, we need more immigrants coming in to provide for the elderly population.

    A simple question: what level of immigration do we need to support the increasing demographic of older people?

    The alternative is a rebalancing to a new demographic. But that holds its own issues and problems.

    It's a sore point for me at the moment. Immigration has made my life hell. Just yesterday an immigrant forced me to go shopping for six hours ...
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    Scott_PScott_P Posts: 51,453
    @politicshome: Lord Kinnock on what he would say to Ed Balls: “I could say to him: don’t worry, son. That wasn’t a bad week in my terms.” #marr

    No comment...
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    Swiss_Bob said:

    I don't believe any of these polls matter until the extent of Romanian and Bulgarian immigration is apparent.

    Rioting/civil disturbance seems a distinct possibility in some areas given what has already been reported. The Tories will get the blame.

    There will be major problems in years to come if immigration is curtailed simply because the population is getting older and the burden of support falls on a dwindling percentage of those in work.

    Fools who go on about the immigrant "problem" never mention demographic change.

    Our future prosperity depends on more immigration

    I'm surprised by your reply Mr Smithson as it does not seem particularly logical. Are you saying that the population must keep increasing ad infinitum?
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    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 54,060
    Swiss_Bob said:

    I also note you have changed you tune from "rioting or civil disobedience" to "I'm betting no riots".

    I said no rioting or civil disobedience that gets on the front page of the newspapers.

    I hold by that.

    Come on - worth a £100, no?
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    rcs1000 said:

    Swiss_Bob said:

    I also note you have changed you tune from "rioting or civil disobedience" to "I'm betting no riots".

    I said no rioting or civil disobedience that gets on the front page of the newspapers.

    I hold by that.

    Come on - worth a £100, no?
    Make it 2-1 and by December 2014 and you're on.

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    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 54,060
    Swiss_Bob said:

    I'm surprised by your reply Mr Smithson as it does not seem particularly logical. Are you saying that the population must keep increasing ad infinitum?

    While I wouldn't want to speak for my father, I guess the point he's making is that the dependency ratio is worsening because we're having many fewer children than we used to. The result of this is that an ever smaller cohort of workers will be paying for ever more retired people. Should you believe in state planning - which I do not - then there are two ways of dealing with this:

    1. Increasing the birth rate through various pro-natal policies.
    2. Increasing the number of workers

    The former is surprisingly difficult, as Singapore has shown. While the latter gets people's back up - especially people who think the state 'owes' them a job.
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    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 54,060
    Swiss_Bob said:


    Make it 2-1 and by December 2014 and you're on.

    3-2 by May. Best and final.
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    rcs1000 said:

    Swiss_Bob said:


    Make it 2-1 and by December 2014 and you're on.

    3-2 by May. Best and final.
    Not good enough, the open door only starts in Jan. and that allows four months, if you're so convinced I don't see the problem with my terms.

    As I said "Rioting/civil disturbance seems a distinct possibility", not probable.
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    I would take the firm and final offer from the possible good neighbour. The London market looks to be very bubbly in parts. Time to cash up and get out rather than be greedy.

    Nice flat BTW, but for that money I can buy a grade 2 listed Queen Anne manor house in a village near me with good rail links to London. It is a crazy price for a flat.

    antifrank said:

    Sorry to go off topic, but I need the thread's views on a nice problem to have. As I've said before, I own two flats in the same block and I'm selling one of them. I already have one offer (which is a far higher price than I could have dreamed of but a bit below what the estate agents advise I can currently get, and described as "best and final"). From a viewing yesterday, I'm expecting another offer which may well be higher.

    My problem is that I have more confidence that the first offeror will be a good neighbour than the second offeror, though I have no concrete ground to suspect the second offeror would be a bad neighbour. How much of a premium should I put on this?

    Anyone who wants to play Through The Keyhole can have a look here:

    http://www.daveystone.com/Property/Residential/for-sale/London/Epworth-Street/SH224ES.aspx

    Emily Thornberry is welcome to read out the particulars on the floor of the House if she so wishes.

    Agree on all points.

    But I'm only curious as to why only two of the three bedrooms are shown.

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    @another_richard it is shown; we used it as a study. It's the room with the desk and the computer.
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    @Antifrank –‘Sorry to go off topic, but I need the thread's views on a nice problem to have.’

    If, money is not your primary concern and you have the option to ‘pick’ your new neighbours, go with your gut instinct. – Great building btw, such big windows must let plenty of light in.
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    R0bertsR0berts Posts: 391
    Surely the last poll was an outlier, and this is just back to roughly where we've been for a long time now?
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    PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 75,986
    Looks like a bit of UKIP -> CON swing to me. Predicted that with the green tax stuff. Labour on 39% is not really a worry for them though.

    A good poll for the conservatives/
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    JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 39,061
    antifrank said:

    @another_richard it is shown; we used it as a study. It's the room with the desk and the computer.

    I explained your problem to Mrs J, who laughed and said: "First World problems!" ;-)

    We then discussed it further, and think we would go with the highest bid, as long as both had the same likelihood of completion.

    (BTW, many ex-industrial buildings have very thick floors. Are you sure noise from one floor to another could be a problem? I lived in a flat once with concrete floors, and the people underneath us could have set off a nuclear bomb without us hearing).
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    Good morning, everyone.

    Soon the Lib Dems will be ahead of UKIP and (relatively) winning here!

    Best of luck with the sale, Mr. Antifrank. I sympathise deeply with your problem. Ahem.
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    Maybe I am imagining things, but the Friday poll aside this looks pretty much like the usual YouGov to me, with Labour and the Tories towards the top end of their ranges.

    In other news I was on Hampstead Heath yesterday and saw fully grown adults playing Quidditch. These people are allowed to vote, I muttered to myself as I walked on by.
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    AveryLP said:

    antifrank said:

    @NickPalmer it's a block of four flats, and my new flat is directly above the old one (yes I did get removal men in, to the amusement of everyone else).

    @CarlottaVance the second potential offerors are a very nice middle aged couple buying for their daughter who is straight out of uni. I haven't met her and there is nothing about the parents that makes me suspect she will be anything other than delightful and considerate. It's pure ageism on my part.

    antifrank

    My memories of the area were that it was a somewhat run down enclave of old-fashioned terraced buildings, many specially built or adapted for their commercial use, which adjoined but didn't form part of the City. Because most of the small firms there occupied a single floor the buldings all had open doors at ground rather level like a university college 'staircase'. The other distinguishing feature was that there were very few 'shop fronts' at ground level, making it difficult to tell from a distance whether the streets were residential or commercial. Only the various firms billboards affixed outside at their floor level told you it was commercial. It had a very 1950s feel.

    It would be interesting to hear how it has responded and changed under the influence of conversion to residential use. I hope some of its old unique flavour has been retained.
    Avery

    You're a nostalgic sentimentalist.

    Perhaps you should join Cousin Seth in Cleethorpes ;-)
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    foxinsoxukfoxinsoxuk Posts: 23,548
    The population time bomb has been greatly exagerated: http://www.bmj.com/content/347/bmj.f6823

    In terms of years of active life ahead of us and dependency ratio, things have been getting better. Working longer is a perfectly viable alternative to mass immigration, particularly unselective low skilled immigration. French bankers and Romanian Doctors yes, but do we need more Bulgarian gangsters or Syrian Jihadists to look after us in our dotage?
    rcs1000 said:

    Swiss_Bob said:

    I'm surprised by your reply Mr Smithson as it does not seem particularly logical. Are you saying that the population must keep increasing ad infinitum?

    While I wouldn't want to speak for my father, I guess the point he's making is that the dependency ratio is worsening because we're having many fewer children than we used to. The result of this is that an ever smaller cohort of workers will be paying for ever more retired people. Should you believe in state planning - which I do not - then there are two ways of dealing with this:

    1. Increasing the birth rate through various pro-natal policies.
    2. Increasing the number of workers

    The former is surprisingly difficult, as Singapore has shown. While the latter gets people's back up - especially people who think the state 'owes' them a job.
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    Swiss_Bob said:

    I don't believe any of these polls matter until the extent of Romanian and Bulgarian immigration is apparent.

    Rioting/civil disturbance seems a distinct possibility in some areas given what has already been reported. The Tories will get the blame.

    There will be major problems in years to come if immigration is curtailed simply because the population is getting older and the burden of support falls on a dwindling percentage of those in work.

    Fools who go on about the immigrant "problem" never mention demographic change.

    Our future prosperity depends on more immigration

    HUMAN PONZI SCHEME ALERT

    What would be your solution for when the next lot of immigrants get old - as those who migrated to Britain in the 1950s and 1960s have now done ?

    Let me guess even more immigration.

    As the economic output and infrastructure of Britain is already unable to support us in the style we think we deserve then I don't see how an ever increasing population is going to improve matters.

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    "then there are two ways of dealing with this"

    There are myriad ways, Britain could always try the French way:
    While fertility rates have dropped in most of Europe as well as in the United States since the Great Recession, France's birth rate has instead climbed to the highest on the European continent, according to France24.com.

    France's institute for demographic studies, INED, released statistics in March that showed the average number of children born to French women rose to 2.01 in 2011 from 1.96 in 2007, surpassing neighboring Belgium, whose rate fell to 1.81 from 1.82, and Germany, where the average fell to 1.36 children, down from 1.37.

    The trend is not attributed solely to the country's renowned penchant for romance. Instead, the French government's generous child care and other family welfare policies have encouraged women to have more children despite the tumultuous economy, according to Olivier Thévenon, an expert on population and social programs for INED. The "surprising" trend can largely be ascribed to two factors: Government programs that include long-term care for children under 3 and cash stipends for families with more than one child, Thévenon said.
    http://news.msn.com/world/why-french-women-are-having-more-babies

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    Mr. Richard is quite correct. Constantly importing foreign workers (and foreign criminals, who we then cannot deport, even to a country like Italy, even if they commit murder) will not work on an economic level, and it certainly won't command the support of the British people.
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    CarolaCarola Posts: 1,805
    Beautiful building Antifrank. Good light was top of my list when looking for a place. Just before 'no plastic windows'. I'd go with your guts on the buyer thing.

    That ed question was 'teachers and headteachers'. Wilshaw's on SP today - be interesting as he's just blamed teachers for the failure of the WWC and is introducing a 'Chinese blueprint' this week where teachers do 'national service' in failing schools.
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    NickPalmerNickPalmer Posts: 21,360
    Scott_P said:

    antifrank said:

    @EiT the subsidiaries look suspicious to me, given George Osborne's apparent image problem. but I guess we shall see.

    George Osborne's "apparent image problem" was classic PB Kinnock anecdote, trumpeted loudly all day yesterday.

    Now we have polling.
    We do indeed. Osborne's rating has failed to improve over 6 months ago. Balls's rating is 1 point different. Basically we have moved another half year and Labour remains set to win. Another three similar periods and we'll have the election.



    Our future prosperity depends on more immigration

    But that just shifts the problem into the future: as the immigrants get older, we need more immigrants coming in to provide for the elderly population.

    A simple question: what level of immigration do we need to support the increasing demographic of older people?

    The alternative is a rebalancing to a new demographic. But that holds its own issues and problems.

    It's a sore point for me at the moment. Immigration has made my life hell. Just yesterday an immigrant forced me to go shopping for six hours ...
    Lol, 6 hours? Nightmare!

    It's worth noting that a lot of immigrants stay for a while, make some money and then return, preferring their previous country for family, weather or other reasons as they approach retirement. Others settle and lose interest in their previous country. I don't think we really know the long-term trend on this, but it's not as simple as assuming that we're simply geting the pensioners of 2050.

    Incidentally, by European standards Britain isn't especially crowded, though central London certainly is. From time to time political parties talk of building new towns, though I've yet to see any details of how they will go about it. But regardless of immigration, I think it's a legitimate Government objective to encourage a shift of emphasis from soaraway London to struggling everywhere else. (I suspect you might say this shows the need for investments like HS2!)

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    taffystaffys Posts: 9,753
    The Mick Philpott case shows the government does sponsor certain types of people to have children....
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    CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    antifrank said:

    Sorry to go off topic, but I need the thread's views on a nice problem to have. As I've said before, I own two flats in the same block and I'm selling one of them. I already have one offer (which is a far higher price than I could have dreamed of but a bit below what the estate agents advise I can currently get, and described as "best and final"). From a viewing yesterday, I'm expecting another offer which may well be higher.

    My problem is that I have more confidence that the first offeror will be a good neighbour than the second offeror, though I have no concrete ground to suspect the second offeror would be a bad neighbour. How much of a premium should I put on this?

    Anyone who wants to play Through The Keyhole can have a look here:

    http://www.daveystone.com/Property/Residential/for-sale/London/Epworth-Street/SH224ES.aspx

    Emily Thornberry is welcome to read out the particulars on the floor of the House if she so wishes.

    It depends what you mean by "bad neighbour".

    If you mean they are not going to throw away the pizza flyers that get put in the communal hall I would live with that and take the higher offer.

    If you mean they are going to play loud music at 4 in the morning mid week then (for me at least) peace and quiet is a huge premium.
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    CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758

    "The move in the CON vote is outside the margin of error."
    This is a statistical question not a political one, but what's the margin of error for a _change_ in a number with a 3% margin of error? The two polls would be consistent with an unchanged Con share of 31.5%, with -2.5% of statistical noise one day and +2.5% the next. But the probability of two polls in succession being that far out, and in different directions, is obviously lower than the probability of a single one being the same distance out, so you can't just add to two 3%s together and get a 6% margin of error. Can Nick Palmer or AndyJS or someone tell us the right way to do this?

    Wouldn't the right way to do it be just to ignore the outlier (which I think most people thought the 12% lead was, although it didn't stop the lefties having their fun, in the same way a few of the more excitable Tories talked about "crossover").

    i.e. we should look at this as a narrowing from the poll before last one? Does anyone have those number. Off the top of my head I would see this as a narrowing from a 7/8 Labour lead to a 5 point lead. Too early to say whether it is noise or real. In any event it is a solid single/double rather than a home run (but that is what, I suspect, they were aiming for)
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    rcs1000 said:

    Fools who go on about the immigrant "problem" never mention demographic change.

    Our future prosperity depends on more immigration

    I take a different view. I think this is a moral issue. I don't believe that just because you were born on this island, you have a right to choose who else lives on this island. I believe in the sovereignty of the individual.

    My views on what the idea state looks like can be best summarized by the introduction to AJP Taylor's The Effects and Origins of the Great War:

    Until August 1914 a sensible, law-abiding Englishman could pass through life and hardly notice the existence of the state, beyond the post office and the policeman. He could live where he liked and as he liked. He had no official number or identity card. He could travel abroad or leave his country for ever without a passport or any sort of official permission. He could exchange his money for any other currency without restriction or limit. He could buy goods from any country in the world on the same terms as he bought goods at home. For that matter, a foreigner could spend his life in this country without permit and without informing the police. Unlike the countries of the European continent, the state did not require its citizens to perform military service. An Englishman could enlist, if he chose, in the regular army, the navy, or the territorials. He could also ignore, if he chose, the demands of national defence. Substantial householders were occasionally called on for jury service. Otherwise, only those helped the state who wished to do so. The Englishman paid taxes on a modest scale: nearly £200 million in 1913-14, or rather less than 8 per cent. of the national income. The state intervened to prevent the citizen from eating adulterated food or contracting certain infectious diseases. It imposed safety rules in factories, and prevented women, and adult males in some industries, from working excessive hours. The state saw to it that children received education up to the age of 13. Since 1 January 1909, it provided a meagre pension for the needy over the age of 70. Since 1911, it helped to insure certain classes of workers against sickness and unemployment. This tendency towards more state action was increasing. Expenditure on the social services had roughly doubled since the Liberals took office in 1905. Still, broadly speaking, the state acted only to help those who could not help themselves. It left the adult citizen alone.
    Bob

    The world has changed and no matter how many times you post that libertarian nostalgia we're not going to get rid of the welfare state or big government in general.

    And have you considered the practical effects of your 'sovereignty of the individual'.

    Millions of people would migrate to this country - after all living in poverty or being in jail here is still far superior to the hellholes many people live in around the world.

    Then what happens ? Doubtless the authorites would ensure they are kept out of the posher areas so instead they would congreate in the poorer neighbourhoods. And without a welfare state they would subsist from charity handouts, unofficial work and crime.

    Not a recipe for either social harmony or economic progress.
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    AveryLPAveryLP Posts: 7,815
    edited December 2013

    AveryLP said:

    antifrank said:

    @NickPalmer it's a block of four flats, and my new flat is directly above the old one (yes I did get removal men in, to the amusement of everyone else).

    @CarlottaVance the second potential offerors are a very nice middle aged couple buying for their daughter who is straight out of uni. I haven't met her and there is nothing about the parents that makes me suspect she will be anything other than delightful and considerate. It's pure ageism on my part.

    antifrank

    My memories of the area were that it was a somewhat run down enclave of old-fashioned terraced buildings, many specially built or adapted for their commercial use, which adjoined but didn't form part of the City. Because most of the small firms there occupied a single floor the buldings all had open doors at ground rather level like a university college 'staircase'. The other distinguishing feature was that there were very few 'shop fronts' at ground level, making it difficult to tell from a distance whether the streets were residential or commercial. Only the various firms billboards affixed outside at their floor level told you it was commercial. It had a very 1950s feel.

    It would be interesting to hear how it has responded and changed under the influence of conversion to residential use. I hope some of its old unique flavour has been retained.
    Avery

    You're a nostalgic sentimentalist.

    Perhaps you should join Cousin Seth in Cleethorpes ;-)
    ar

    I think antifrank is too.

    Buying two flats in a converted semi-industrial print suppliers building seems is very much a subliminal salute to his father's trade.

    And it is a very clever place to live. Take a photograph of the streets and it could be in any large city in the county, yet you are less than four hundred yards away from Finsbury Square.

    I wonder though whether it has gained the 'village' type life that characterise truly distinct areas of London. When I knew the area there were a few pubs but almost no shops or restaurants.

    I am not even sure the area had its own name, though antifrank may put me right on this. Old Street or Clerkenwell are close but not really the same area.

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    CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758

    Swiss_Bob said:

    I don't believe any of these polls matter until the extent of Romanian and Bulgarian immigration is apparent.

    Rioting/civil disturbance seems a distinct possibility in some areas given what has already been reported. The Tories will get the blame.

    There will be major problems in years to come if immigration is curtailed simply because the population is getting older and the burden of support falls on a dwindling percentage of those in work.

    Fools who go on about the immigrant "problem" never mention demographic change.

    Our future prosperity depends on more immigration

    Mike the problem is not immigration per se.

    It's the rate of immigration, the type (i.e. un/semi-skilled), the failings in the education and the welfare system and the multi-culturalism approach.

    A manageable level of immigration, where they integrate into the host community is a great thing. The current situation is one where the education system has failed to prepare our young people to compete effectively in a cutthroat world and the welfare system provides them with a very comfortable long-term place to rest. The result is that we are importing people to do jobs that our own kids could and should do while abandoning them to the personal psychological decay of long-term joblessness.

    Clearly the most critical part is to fix education and welfare. But uncontrolled immigration does not help matters at all. (Personally, I would look at right to claim welfare benefits, at the right to bring family and dependents, strengthening the points system, etc.)
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    To lighten the mood.

    SA v Ind one day you can still get 1.37 on SA, I bet a £5.00 before it started and got 1.66.

    Seems like easy money to me, SA currently 92-0 17th over.

    If Eng manage a draw due to weather I will be severely miffed, it will be totally undeserved and I'll only make a few quid instead of a nice drinky.
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    GrandioseGrandiose Posts: 2,323

    "The move in the CON vote is outside the margin of error."
    This is a statistical question not a political one, but what's the margin of error for a _change_ in a number with a 3% margin of error? The two polls would be consistent with an unchanged Con share of 31.5%, with -2.5% of statistical noise one day and +2.5% the next. But the probability of two polls in succession being that far out, and in different directions, is obviously lower than the probability of a single one being the same distance out, so you can't just add to two 3%s together and get a 6% margin of error. Can Nick Palmer or AndyJS or someone tell us the right way to do this?

    The important thing is to remember what the margin of error means.

    First, it's only a statistical measure, which assumes that the pollster carried out a random selection. It makes no account of whether the margin gets bigger or smaller as a result of the various voting filters, or doesn't get a random sample. The weightings are all based on the assumption that they they don't.

    Secondly, it's the definition of the margin of error that 95% of all samples will fall within the true value +/- the margin of error. Hence one in twenty - once a month, give or take - it will fall outside this range.

    Thirdly, because of the 95% thing, the chance of one poll being +moe% then the next day -moe% is 2.5%*2.5%, i.e. very small. But that doesn't complete the picture, partly because of point 1 - the true moe is bigger than stated - but also it is wise to do something a bit Bayesian and ask well, if that's the chance of it happening by chance, what probability do I place on it happening because of a shift in the underlying Tory vote? Has the rare just happened?
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    CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    @antifrank

    Just an aside: given you are a lawyer, what about putting some covenants into the sale contract. Say "no loud music after 11pm" (although I guess you'd need to define.

    You might even find that the parents are on your side...
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    The population time bomb has been greatly exagerated: http://www.bmj.com/content/347/bmj.f6823

    In terms of years of active life ahead of us and dependency ratio, things have been getting better. Working longer is a perfectly viable alternative to mass immigration, particularly unselective low skilled immigration. French bankers and Romanian Doctors yes, but do we need more Bulgarian gangsters or Syrian Jihadists to look after us in our dotage?

    What Mike and the other pro-immigration posters seem to forget is that it is possible to be fussy about who comes in. We already live here; citizenship and the right to live and work in the UK is a private membership club. Now of course being in the EU in many way curtails this, but freedom of movement is primarily about freedom to work.

    We need people who want to come here, make money, set up their own businesses etc, not come here and claim Income Support, or indeed claim Child Benefit for children who live abroad.

    tim for one seems to think that immigration should be a complete free for all, he is fond of quoting factoids like immigrants are 30% less likely than those born here to claim benefits (I can't actually remember the figure). However if we were fussier, maybe we could make that figure 70%?

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    AveryLP said:


    I am not even sure the area had its own name, though antifrank may put me right on this. Old Street or Clerkenwell are close but not really the same area.

    How about Wesleyville if it needs a name ?

    Or Methodia.

    Perhaps Abolitiontown.

    What would be the effect on property prices if the area was given its own name ?

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    CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758

    AveryLP said:


    I am not even sure the area had its own name, though antifrank may put me right on this. Old Street or Clerkenwell are close but not really the same area.

    How about Wesleyville if it needs a name ?

    Or Methodia.

    Perhaps Abolitiontown.

    What would be the effect on property prices if the area was given its own name ?

    Hah! Now you are sounding like an estate agenda with "Fitzrovia" or "South Chelsea".

    Although my all time favorite has to be the agent who tried to get me to buy a place in "St. Reatham" (Streatham)
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    Deep joy - I have finally and belatedly completed my tax return (online). A weight off my mind and only 500 quid owed to the taxman! First time done electronically and very smooth and easy. Think I'll always do it that way now.

    A deeper question is: How much will technology enable cheaper and better public services? Here in the Netherlands the state is actually quite efficient and all their departments seem to link to a well run central system. In the USA the Obamacare website rollout seems to be an object lesson in 'how not to'. Can we shrink the state but yet achieve a better service for the public by just getting alot smarter and more efficient? Hell YES!
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    Off topic, but that 11% MP payrise is pure madness at the present time. I appreciate that other benefits might change, but now is not the time.

    There is a discussion to be had on what renumeration, pension, expenses and booting-out-of-a-job payoff they get, but, IPSA have lost the plot if they think the general public are going to take the likes of Dorries, Abbott, other no mark back benchers, and the PPE elite on both front benches raking in at least another seven and a half grand lying down.

    I've had 2% in the last 5 years.
    IPSA will do morale for striking public sector workers a power of good, if they carry this out.
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    dr_spyndr_spyn Posts: 11,290
    Plenty of noise on Twitter over impact of letter from Thatcher to Botha on Mandela.

    http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/111650

    Not enough evidence, wicked witch didn't mean a word...
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    Swiss_BobSwiss_Bob Posts: 619
    edited December 2013

    Swiss_Bob said:



    Fools who go on about the immigrant "problem" never mention demographic change.

    "Fools who go on about the immigrant "problem" never mention demographic change. "

    As this was directed at me I feel it only fair to ask Mr Smithson where I have 'gone on' about immigration?

    Check my Disqus account which is easily identifiable, under it I have made over 1,300 comments, even the Labour trolls that inhabit the Spectator have never accused me of that because it is so patently incorrect, and they have checked.

    Haven't edited this particularly well but it should be clear enough.
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    AveryLPAveryLP Posts: 7,815
    edited December 2013
    Charles said:

    @antifrank

    Just an aside: given you are a lawyer, what about putting some covenants into the sale contract. Say "no loud music after 11pm" (although I guess you'd need to define.

    You might even find that the parents are on your side...

    Far better to waive the restrictive covenants and just enjoy the party.

    The area, as another richard has correctly pointed out, demands a party with a nostalgic feel:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nnTSePPCVk
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    CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758

    Off topic, but that 11% MP payrise is pure madness at the present time. I appreciate that other benefits might change, but now is not the time.

    There is a discussion to be had on what renumeration, pension, expenses and booting-out-of-a-job payoff they get, but, IPSA have lost the plot if they think the general public are going to take the likes of Dorries, Abbott, other no mark back benchers, and the PPE elite on both front benches raking in at least another seven and a half grand lying down.

    I've had 2% in the last 5 years.
    IPSA will do morale for striking public sector workers a power of good, if they carry this out.

    I know the convention is that the parties don't whip votes on pay and rations.

    But I think that Cameron should have a 3 line whip against this proposal. It will piss off his backbenchers, and I know that is a risk, but equally I suspect those that will be really upset are the Cameron-haters anyway.

    I suspect that it would look very good to the public.

    (as an aside, WTF haven't they replaced the pension scheme with a direct contribution scheme. It's outrageous that they still have a final salary approach. Don't care how much they have to pay out of wages. The state should not be underwriting a comfortable life for MPs for the rest of their lives).
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    FensterFenster Posts: 2,115
    I like John Rentoul's analysis. I find him shrewd; he has a good antennae for what's popular with the public and what's not.

    But today he suggests replacing Ed Balls with Chuka Umunna (or Stella Creasy).

    Really?

    I don't get the Umunna thing. Young, clever and black, yes. But a bit too slick and gooey for me.

    But with Rentoul mentioning it as a goer, perhaps he would be a popular choice.

    Do Labour supporters think Umunna would work in a top job? Would he be a vote winner?

    Personally I'd stick with Ed Balls if I were Ed Miliband. I know Balls is tainted by the Brown connection and he isn't particularly good in parliament, but he is the cleverest and toughest front-bencher Labour have and I imagine, given his fairly vast experience*, he'll cause problems for Osborne during the GE campaign.

    *An interesting point in the McBride book was made regarding the Treasury and the Budget. McBride commented on the value of experience when it came to avoiding Budget-day pitfalls (the pasty tax for instance): being able to sift out good economic ideas in the knowledge that they could be calamitous in the polls. Balls will certainly know every nook and cranny of the Treasury. Someone new like Umunna or Creasy would be prone to making glaring mistakes. I still don't think - regardless of the polls - that Miliband can take big risks with his top personnel.
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    dr_spyn said:

    Plenty of noise on Twitter over impact of letter from Thatcher to Botha on Mandela.

    http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/111650

    Not enough evidence, wicked witch didn't mean a word...

    It's amazing how clearly you can hear her voice in her written words.
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    surbitonsurbiton Posts: 13,549
    12% lead was an outlier. However, when we are calculating Tory poll growth, we are basing it on the "outlier". No wonder, it looks good.

    Still, even on this superb Tory poll, Labour is at 39% or, in other words, forming a government with a big majority.

    Of course, come the elections, the gap will narrow. The best the Tories can hope for is a CON-LD coalition, the chances of which cannot be ruled out.

    However, even that requires reasonable LD represenatation. But their poll numbers remain stubbornly low and UKIP equally high.
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    Rentoul is stirring the pot. Let him. Balls will stay which is good for both PB Tories and us PB Lefties.

    I would have thought more comment was needed on the leaked "Blairites in board" memo. My colleagues on Labour Left wonder if it's set up for Miliband to reject (there has been some angst amongst Progress types most upset at David M losing the election). For me I want Campbell on board - he is a consummate media operator who won two elections. And he's a loyalist who will communicate the message he's told to communicate. The right hate him not because of what he does but because he did a better job than their people did.
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    dr_spyndr_spyn Posts: 11,290
    Is Balls pushing out a line on drug usage by politicians or have I just misread some tweets by Paul Waugh?
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    Grandiose said:

    "The move in the CON vote is outside the margin of error."
    This is a statistical question not a political one, but what's the margin of error for a _change_ in a number with a 3% margin of error? The two polls would be consistent with an unchanged Con share of 31.5%, with -2.5% of statistical noise one day and +2.5% the next. But the probability of two polls in succession being that far out, and in different directions, is obviously lower than the probability of a single one being the same distance out, so you can't just add to two 3%s together and get a 6% margin of error. Can Nick Palmer or AndyJS or someone tell us the right way to do this?
    The important thing is to remember what the margin of error means.

    First, it's only a statistical measure, which assumes that the pollster carried out a random selection. It makes no account of whether the margin gets bigger or smaller as a result of the various voting filters, or doesn't get a random sample. The weightings are all based on the assumption that they they don't.

    Secondly, it's the definition of the margin of error that 95% of all samples will fall within the true value +/- the margin of error. Hence one in twenty - once a month, give or take - it will fall outside this range.

    Thirdly, because of the 95% thing, the chance of one poll being +moe% then the next day -moe% is 2.5%*2.5%, i.e. very small. But that doesn't complete the picture, partly because of point 1 - the true moe is bigger than stated - but also it is wise to do something a bit Bayesian and ask well, if that's the chance of it happening by chance, what probability do I place on it happening because of a shift in the underlying Tory vote? Has the rare just happened?

    I get your first and second thing, but your third thing isn't what I'm asking. To clarify the question, which is purely about sampling error:
    - A poll is conducted to determine the Con score such that 95% of all samples will fall within 3% of the true value. This gives us a number.
    - Another such poll is conducted on another day, which results in a larger number.
    - What's the difference minimum difference between the two numbers such that in at least 95% of cases where we got it, there had actually been a change, as opposed to the true number being the same and the difference being the result of sampling error?

    Or to ask a slightly different, but related, question:
    - If the true number hadn't really changed, what proportion of samples would show an increase of 5% (like today) purely due to sampling error?
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    EasterrossEasterross Posts: 1,915
    Morning all and evidence if we needed it how irrelevant polls are at present and will remain until after the Euros next year. The only thing which will matter is the voting intentions of the people who actually vote and barring a major event, I expect there to be far fewer of them in 2015 than in 2010. People are simply not interested in politics.

    Surely if in reality Labour was streets ahead in the country, we wouldn't have seen swings away from Labour in almost every council by-election held last Thursday!

    Listened to Balls and he remains in the same fantasy world as his pal Blanchflower who remains a deficit denier and claims the Coalition ruined the economy.
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    surbitonsurbiton Posts: 13,549
    Charles said:

    Off topic, but that 11% MP payrise is pure madness at the present time. I appreciate that other benefits might change, but now is not the time.

    There is a discussion to be had on what renumeration, pension, expenses and booting-out-of-a-job payoff they get, but, IPSA have lost the plot if they think the general public are going to take the likes of Dorries, Abbott, other no mark back benchers, and the PPE elite on both front benches raking in at least another seven and a half grand lying down.

    I've had 2% in the last 5 years.
    IPSA will do morale for striking public sector workers a power of good, if they carry this out.

    I know the convention is that the parties don't whip votes on pay and rations.

    But I think that Cameron should have a 3 line whip against this proposal. It will piss off his backbenchers, and I know that is a risk, but equally I suspect those that will be really upset are the Cameron-haters anyway.

    I suspect that it would look very good to the public.

    (as an aside, WTF haven't they replaced the pension scheme with a direct contribution scheme. It's outrageous that they still have a final salary approach. Don't care how much they have to pay out of wages. The state should not be underwriting a comfortable life for MPs for the rest of their lives).
    The problem with this is that any rise of MP's salaries will be unpopular.

    The expenses scandal arose because in the 80's Thatcher and her Minister, Moore, ducked a similar issue and allowed the Expenses backdoor route. 20 years later it came to bite everyone big time.

    Basically, what we are saying is that unless someone is very rich or is prepared to earn far less than some of them are capable of earning, they should not become an MP.

    What did an MP earn in 1980 vs a GP, say ? What do they earn now ?
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    richardDoddrichardDodd Posts: 5,472
    DS I think Balls is hoping to be sued, in order to create a diversion, and he certainly needs one.
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    SchardsSchards Posts: 210
    Will the Timbots of this world ever learn not to overreact to isolated polls showing a big move. Particularly 16 months out from an election.

    To answer my own question.....no
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