But a major media platform should not be preventing one of two serious candidates in an election from advertising as they see fit. Provided the ads are legal and within the electoral rules they should be permitted.
Otherwise - at best - You create a narrative of “he would have won but”
All major media platforms spouted non-stop Better Together propaganda during the 6 months leading up to the independence referendum in 2014.
Scotland would have won but for that.
Scottish independence wasn't torpedoed by the dastardly MSM, it was undone by money - primarily the Barnett subsidy, and secondarily the lack of a convincing plan for what currency Scotland was going to use. Your floating voters broke for No because they thought independence would hit them hard in their wallets (possibly through major cuts to public services, so that goodies like free prescriptions, university tuition fees and elderly social care would have to go; more likely through hefty tax rises.)
There are some committed Unionists out there, but I'm convinced that the main thing holding the UK together now is cash. If Scotland were a net contributor to the UK Treasury, rather than a net beneficiary of it, then the 2014 vote would probably have gone the other way.
I don't like it but I accept that's probably true.
You could argue of course that is what led to the creation of the Union in the first place.
Boris lies and I'm still waiting for him to finish a sentence. All politicians twist the truth, it goes with the territory. But in my list of stereotypes, journalists go below them.. I think it's their two main characteristics ... ignorance and arrogance. A perfect storm.
BoZo is of course a "journalist" first, politician second
Why didnt they test the alternative app like they did their preferred one on the IoW? Surely a parallel trial somewhere else would have happened if we were backing both horses.
Even now, cant we just take one of the apps like the German one, and translate it? Couldnt that be done in less than a week?
Boris Johnson’s Team Is Broken by the Virus and Losing Faith: The British handling of the pandemic is raising critical questions within the governing Conservative Party.
Inside Boris Johnson’s government, senior officials are exhausted, demoralized and starting to despair.
“I don’t know why we are doing what we are doing any more,” one Tory confided. Johnson’s team inside Downing Street are “running on empty,” said another. “There is a lot of unhappiness in the party,” said a third. “People are less and less impressed with Number 10.”
Boris lies and I'm still waiting for him to finish a sentence. All politicians twist the truth, it goes with the territory. But in my list of stereotypes, journalists go below them.. I think it's their two main characteristics ... ignorance and arrogance. A perfect storm.
Can we ban questions that begin with 'Can you guarantee?' and "Why won't you say sorry for?" The first is impossible - I can't guarantee the world will exist tomorrow, and the second isn't a question..
Journalists are best treated as mardy six-year-olds. And most of the questions are self-serving. They are not 'great' or 'superb' or' 'brilliant'.
Indeed, and as pointed out elsewhere, Boris was a journalist. To add to your point, nor is something made in Uk necessarily 'world beating'.
LOL! Is it the line about Vasquez thinking they meant illegal alien, and signing up?
Because that actually happened. The actress turned up to the auditions assuming Aliens was actually a movie about illegal immigrants in the United States and had dressed accordingly.
“I had seen Alien,” Jenette Goldstein told Starlog magazine, “but I had no idea this was a sequel. It had been so long ago, it didn’t even occur to me. I thought it was about actual aliens, you know, immigrants to a country … I actually came in wearing high heels and lots of makeup, and I had waist-length hair.”
what a bunch of joyless bennies.
Anyway, the upside of all this nonsense is that someone will buy up the 'banned' material and that will be the movie channel/streaming service any sane person will watch. See Talking Pictures for an example.
That's what I assumed as well.
It's pathetic. And risks undermining the more important message about fairness, because this is ludicrous.
Australians can forget about overseas travel until at least next year, the Morrison Government has warned. As borders remained locked down to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham has again urged Australians to consider a holiday at home.
Despite talk of a "travel bubble" with New Zealand or other countries that have few coronavirus cases, Senator Birmingham warned travellers not to get their hopes up.
Boris Johnson’s Team Is Broken by the Virus and Losing Faith: The British handling of the pandemic is raising critical questions within the governing Conservative Party.
Inside Boris Johnson’s government, senior officials are exhausted, demoralized and starting to despair.
“I don’t know why we are doing what we are doing any more,” one Tory confided. Johnson’s team inside Downing Street are “running on empty,” said another. “There is a lot of unhappiness in the party,” said a third. “People are less and less impressed with Number 10.”
I thought officials weren't supposed to comment on the government?
Boris Johnson’s Team Is Broken by the Virus and Losing Faith: The British handling of the pandemic is raising critical questions within the governing Conservative Party.
Inside Boris Johnson’s government, senior officials are exhausted, demoralized and starting to despair.
“I don’t know why we are doing what we are doing any more,” one Tory confided. Johnson’s team inside Downing Street are “running on empty,” said another. “There is a lot of unhappiness in the party,” said a third. “People are less and less impressed with Number 10.”
I thought officials weren't supposed to comment on the government?
That's my fault for not putting snip between the two extracts
All that shows is the epidemic gradually moving into the interior - nothing about the gross numbers of cases in any given locality, rate of transmission, proportion of the population infected or anything else is revealed. It's not "astounding." It's not even noteworthy. There's an entire wood full of sticks with which to beat Trump, but this ain't one of them.
Thre pandemic stick would be that he could have done much to mitigate the disaster but didn't. The same could be said of our lot of course, but with Johnson and pals the problem was incompetence and a certain amount of bad luck. In Trump's case, pigheadedness played a big part.
An interesting point is I think it used to be the case that if, say, someone falsely accused another person of being a criminal while sitting in a pub after drinking a lot of alcohol, they wouldn't usually be sued for libel by the person concerned even if they found out about it. It was only if you published it something like a newspaper, magazine, TV show or radio show that it was taken seriously. The problem is that a lot of people post on online forums in the same sort of way that they used to talk in pubs when drunk in the past. But they can get sued because officially it's in writing, although in spirit it's more like chat. Twitter especially.
Yes, this is one of our biggest problems.
I don't know what the solution is. Perhaps to make the default private to a much smaller group and delete all messages after 7 days.
... or maybe people should take responsibility if they publish dangerous lies?
Try reading the previous discussion before commenting.
Social media can cause wholly disproportionate consequences for people who use it. Not everyone can walk on eggshells the whole time (not even you) and it's not human nature anyway, so a more understanding solution is needed.
Boris Johnson’s Team Is Broken by the Virus and Losing Faith: The British handling of the pandemic is raising critical questions within the governing Conservative Party.
Inside Boris Johnson’s government, senior officials are exhausted, demoralized and starting to despair.
“I don’t know why we are doing what we are doing any more,” one Tory confided. Johnson’s team inside Downing Street are “running on empty,” said another. “There is a lot of unhappiness in the party,” said a third. “People are less and less impressed with Number 10.”
I thought officials weren't supposed to comment on the government?
It's a distraction, it takes attention away from the Bolton China story, which destroys what was supposed to be his main campaign theme.
It's not even a *dead* cat, just a very silly one, and that's all it takes to distract the media, who can't resist talking about themselves. This is Trump's campaigning superpower: There may be a million bad stories to tell about him, but once he sees one that might actually hurt him he can change the subject on a whim.
All that shows is the epidemic gradually moving into the interior - nothing about the gross numbers of cases in any given locality, rate of transmission, proportion of the population infected or anything else is revealed. It's not "astounding." It's not even noteworthy. There's an entire wood full of sticks with which to beat Trump, but this ain't one of them.
I dont think it even "shows" that. The format of the graph is of the day's new cases being split into two categories with the total always adding up to 100%. It would be possible for cases to be falling everywhere yet still produce the same graph.
Boris Johnson’s Team Is Broken by the Virus and Losing Faith: The British handling of the pandemic is raising critical questions within the governing Conservative Party.
Inside Boris Johnson’s government, senior officials are exhausted, demoralized and starting to despair.
“I don’t know why we are doing what we are doing any more,” one Tory confided. Johnson’s team inside Downing Street are “running on empty,” said another. “There is a lot of unhappiness in the party,” said a third. “People are less and less impressed with Number 10.”
I thought officials weren't supposed to comment on the government?
I assume these are SPADs or political appointees.
No, I think the first extract is the reporter's view (presumably based on off the record conversations and anecdote) and the second extract is based on unattributed conversations with Tory MPs. In the article there were a few paragraphs in between.
It's a distraction, it takes attention away from the Bolton China story, which destroys what was supposed to be his main campaign theme.
It's not even a *dead* cat, just a very silly one, and that's all it takes to distract the media, who can't resist talking about themselves. This is Trump's campaigning superpower: There may be a million bad stories to tell about him, but once he sees one that might actually hurt him he can change the subject on a whim.
This makes sense. But only because Trump has a solid base that will support him no matter how morally corrupt or incompetent he might be.
Phil Collins column in the Times today suggests that BoZo is going to try and blame the chancellor for the economic fallout, and in fact that briefing has already started.
Also note another story that Collins is about to be axed from the Times because Dom doesn't like his reporting
Is that astounding? It seems entirely predictable - and I suspect something similar would be shown here with remain/leave.
I suspect it wouldn't. The persistent outbreaks are in Leicester, and Northants and parts of the North, so fairly evenly spread.
I think the significance in both graphs (indeed counties may be more significant) is that Dem areas are coming out of it while support measures are in place, while red counties are yet to get the worst of it and with less support. Much closer to election day too, and making health care and paying for it a central issue. For a betting site that matters.
Why didnt they test the alternative app like they did their preferred one on the IoW? Surely a parallel trial somewhere else would have happened if we were backing both horses.
Even now, cant we just take one of the apps like the German one, and translate it? Couldnt that be done in less than a week?
Yes it could. The code for the German app is open source.
Phil Collins column in the Times today suggests that BoZo is going to try and blame the chancellor for the economic fallout, and in fact that briefing has already started.
Also note another story that Collins is about to be axed from the Times because Dom doesn't like his reporting
Do you think Phil Collins will survive against all odds?
Phil Collins column in the Times today suggests that BoZo is going to try and blame the chancellor for the economic fallout, and in fact that briefing has already started.
Also note another story that Collins is about to be axed from the Times because Dom doesn't like his reporting
Do you think Phil Collins will survive against all odds?
I don’t know, but I can feel it coming in the air tonight.
It's a distraction, it takes attention away from the Bolton China story, which destroys what was supposed to be his main campaign theme.
It's not even a *dead* cat, just a very silly one, and that's all it takes to distract the media, who can't resist talking about themselves. This is Trump's campaigning superpower: There may be a million bad stories to tell about him, but once he sees one that might actually hurt him he can change the subject on a whim.
This makes sense. But only because Trump has a solid base that will support him no matter how morally corrupt or incompetent he might be.
The same applies to an extent to Johnson.
It's not just his solid base though, it's people who don't particularly care about his scrap with CNN, but think he's a tough businessman looking after the economy and standing up against foreigners who take the piss. His base will support him no matter what, but the extra voters he needs to win do care about some of the negative stories, but are mainly swayed by the ones that affect his USP.
I don't see any way the Conservatives are going to get out of this fiscal hole in the next 4 years.
Printing. Yesterday paid for the furlough scheme in its entirety without a penny of extra tax. Magic. Until it isn't of course.
Absolutely!
Plus the £200bn earlier this year that was printed. The BoE has magically found £300bn to splash around this year already and there's every chance there will be more to come.
Phil Collins column in the Times today suggests that BoZo is going to try and blame the chancellor for the economic fallout, and in fact that briefing has already started.
Also note another story that Collins is about to be axed from the Times because Dom doesn't like his reporting
That might be our fault for suggesting that Rishi Sunak's popularity removes Boris's USP on that front, removing the risk in backbenchers defenestrating the Prime Minister. The Chancellor might come to appreciate the irony in gaining promotion only because The Saj could foresee the danger in having Treasury SpAds reporting directly to Dominic Cummings.
Phil Collins column in the Times today suggests that BoZo is going to try and blame the chancellor for the economic fallout, and in fact that briefing has already started.
Also note another story that Collins is about to be axed from the Times because Dom doesn't like his reporting
Do you think Phil Collins will survive against all odds?
I think he and the Times may end up needing to live separate lives.
Why didnt they test the alternative app like they did their preferred one on the IoW? Surely a parallel trial somewhere else would have happened if we were backing both horses.
Even now, cant we just take one of the apps like the German one, and translate it? Couldnt that be done in less than a week?
Yes it could. The code for the German app is open source.
ok while the app looks like another shambles, I have a couple of questions that maybe people on here can answer:
1) Why are Google/Apple insisting that the data stays with the user? As I understand it Google and Apple themselves collect tons of data from users - just to make money, whereas here if the data could be collected it would have a public health benefit?
2) Could this set a precedent? I think I would be in favour of a law that said that data generated on a user's phone stays with the user? I wouldn't mind if this destroys the business model of firms like Google and Facebook (if it would?), I think that vast private quasi-monopolies having such enormous power is anyway bad. I mean they could hardly complain, if they insist governments can't collect data to prevent a deadly pandemic, then governments can surely insist that they can't collect data just to make more money?
That cartoon is so badly drawn I was wondering what Barack Obama had said to upset Steve Bell.
He’s got barely more artistic talent than I have.
That's Peter Brookes. He's basically just a funny as Steve Bell. Definitely someone who hasn't recovered from June 2016.
Without wishing to defend either or indeed any cartoonist, we should remember that some see their role as satire rather than humour, to illustrate rather than amuse.
Why didnt they test the alternative app like they did their preferred one on the IoW? Surely a parallel trial somewhere else would have happened if we were backing both horses.
Even now, cant we just take one of the apps like the German one, and translate it? Couldnt that be done in less than a week?
They have tested it. They went into great detail yesterday explaining that they tested it and have been working on it for months but it doesn't work as it doesn't measure distance accurately.
I will perhaps be a bit controversial here. (who me?? )
I think Labour under Starmer has an excellent chance of winning the next election. I certainly don't want them to as personally I am not a fan and don't believe they will be good for the country. But Starmer is portraying himself (and may well be for all know) as a reasonable, centre left politician who can offer a real alternative to the Tories. Johnson is not a great leader or PM. I don't think he is even a very good leader or PM although I certainly don't think he is as bad as some make out.
But in the end I think his problem is that he is just not that bright. At least politically. He can't recognise the things that reflect badly on his party. He has handled Covid poorly. If he had just been mediocre he would probably have come out of it well but he has made some really basic errors that were warned about and which have subsequently happened. Blind optimism and a harkening to a core vote will get you so far but it won't get you through 4 years of tough times if you lack the ability and determination to make things work.
As I said before I want Cummings to succeed in his attempts to reshape our institutions. I thin given the chance a lot of that reshaping might even be in ways that those on the left might like, breaking the power of the old elites. But he won't succeed in it with Johnson as his figurehead.
So I am already kind of resigned to Starmer winning in 2024. I know a lot can happen in 4 years - 'events dear boy' and all that - but I think you have to have the right person in place to take advantage of those 'events'. I just don't think that person is Johnson.
It was Boris who won you the referendum in 2016 and then got the majority you needed to deliver Brexit in 2019, theirs gratitude for you!
Starmer may become PM, I cannot see him winning a majority.
It was Cummings that won us the referendum. I will admit Johnson got us the majority to see it through but he was also part of the problem preventing it from passing far earlier under May.
Besides why should we show gratitude to politicians? They show none to us.
Cummings without Boris would not have won the referendum or the election, he was Rove to Boris' Dubya, both needed the other to win
I disagree. Yes Boris helped of course but he was not vital - not in the way Cummings was.
And as I said that is all immaterial. I owe no gratitude to politicians and the public at large are fickle and have short memories. Based on present performance Johnson is toast if he is facing even a moderately competent LOTO
Depending on whether BJ is there for the GE. I suspect he won't be.
Retiral due to ill-health.
The obesity, confusion, hangover and comic-character dishevelment can be carried off when you’re in your forties, but combined with his recent brush with death, the act has lost Suspension of Disbelief as he nears sixty. He comes across as a daft, fat, smelly, irresponsible, repugnant old arse. And one who has allowed a lot of people to die due to gross incompetence. And who has moreover created mass unemployment and a collapse in international trade.
Ill-health is his get-out clause. The eternal public schoolboy’s excuse for the mountain of homework eaten by the dog.
No it isn't, because public schoolboys don't live at home with dogs. And there's plenty of unfit fatties in their 70s still going strong, just look at Donald Trump. It's not that I have any huge affection for him but I hope he hangs in there long enough for Raab and Patel no longer to be front runners for the succession.
Dog point taken. Patel and Raab point taken. Patel has long been a road crash, promoted long over her abilities; but that Raab is so rubbish has probably come as a shock to members and backbenchers.
Preparing an index is very much *not* an objective activity. You have to ask why the tweeter can't be arsed to read the (also non objective) actual book.
So this time Trump looks to be on the wrong side of Twitter, Fox, and now Facebook. It's not going well.
How on earth does any campaign come to do something as idiotic as using a point-down coloured equilateral triangle to represent a political danger that it is calling on "all Americans" to come together to stamp out?
This is the image that CNN have published of one of the Trump ads. Practically anybody who knows anything about politics could have told Trump what it looks like. This is so stupid that one has to wonder whether the campaign was set up.
When I read today that one of the allegations in the Bolton book is that Trump helped Erdogan breach sanctions against Iran the idea fleetingly occurred to me that Trump may shift to full-on anti-Semitism.
Let's see how much of his foot he can stuff in his mouth at Saturday's superspreader disgrace rally.
This will have come straight from the desk of Stephen Miller
But a major media platform should not be preventing one of two serious candidates in an election from advertising as they see fit. Provided the ads are legal and within the electoral rules they should be permitted.
Otherwise - at best - You create a narrative of “he would have won but”
Facebook also has its terms of service, you have a right to publish whatever you like but you don't have a right to publish it on their platform.
Worrying too much about post-election "narratives" are what got Trump elected in the first place. Comey gave him a huge free gift and Hillary spent money trying to win the popular vote instead of swing states. It's nice if everyone feels fairly treated, but the Trump people are going to make up a betrayal story regardless. What really matters is who has the actual power.
I don’t like Facebook being able to restrict the ability of one candidate to compete as they see fit.
In many ways the likes of Facebook and Google have become public utilities and should be regulated as such.
But they are not restricting one candidate. They are removing one ad that they consider oversteps their redlines. If Trump's team upload an acceptable ad it will be published. Most of media works this way.
Indeed. Bizarre argument really.
No. The redlines should be “is it legal” and “is it within the electoral rules”
Facebook has no right to decide to take down political advertising based on its own subjective criteria.
I would say that’s as bad as the Koch brothers pouring money into SuperPACs to try and distort the political landscape
Why? Literally every media outlet I have ever dealt with has its own content guidelines. Why should Facebook be any different? Absolutely bizarre discussion.
Old white man in position of Establishment power == Charles will Stan for you.
That cartoon is so badly drawn I was wondering what Barack Obama had said to upset Steve Bell.
He’s got barely more artistic talent than I have.
That's Peter Brookes. He's basically just a funny as Steve Bell. Definitely someone who hasn't recovered from June 2016.
Without wishing to defend either or indeed any cartoonist, we should remember that some see their role as satire rather than humour, to illustrate rather than amuse.
Sure, but that one didn't work on any metric. I'm afraid he's just not very good.
Fake news once you take into account "debt" to the Bank of England the reality is very different.
That entire months borrowing was paid for by the BoE yesterday.
Weird how we can suddenly lend money to ourselves after so long being told it was impossible and we would be saddling our grandchildren with debt. Tory economics folks
It's a distraction, it takes attention away from the Bolton China story, which destroys what was supposed to be his main campaign theme.
It's not even a *dead* cat, just a very silly one, and that's all it takes to distract the media, who can't resist talking about themselves. This is Trump's campaigning superpower: There may be a million bad stories to tell about him, but once he sees one that might actually hurt him he can change the subject on a whim.
Yes and Trump posted it without comment so can legitimately claim that it was obviously intended as satire, making fun of how CNN reports things. CNN knows this but they love Trump, they are totally complicit - he's great for ratings.
The likes of CNN have a massive financial interest in re-electing Trump - expect them to find excuses to focus relentlessly on some minor misdemeanor by Biden (anyone still remember or care about Clinton's use of a private email server?), and report different clickbait trivia every day about Trump mis-spelling the capital of Greenland or whatever.
Economy definitely bouncing back. It feels better already. Just need Boris to man up a d reduce the distancing to 1m and open up the pubs.
Are you being serious?
The economy won't bounce back for years, wait until the furlough finishes and people realise that tourism, hospitality, sport and leisure are decimated.
It's a distraction, it takes attention away from the Bolton China story, which destroys what was supposed to be his main campaign theme.
It's not even a *dead* cat, just a very silly one, and that's all it takes to distract the media, who can't resist talking about themselves. This is Trump's campaigning superpower: There may be a million bad stories to tell about him, but once he sees one that might actually hurt him he can change the subject on a whim.
Both the Trump campaign and Boris/Leave worked out how to 'hack' the media. The media's image of itself is, it seems, trivially easily to be used to manipulate them.
A comment in the Labour 2019 post mortem -'“No major party has ever increased their number of MPs by over 60%, which is what Labour would need to do to win in 2024.” That is simply not true. In 1945 Labour went from 154 seats to 393.In 1929 the party went from 151 seats to 287. In 1931 the Tories went from 260 seats to 475 - and in 1924 from 258 seats to 412. Why show such ignorance of readily available information?
If the Guardian report is correct, their use of statistics is shaky in other ways as well. For example, they claim 27 seats where no central resources were allocated were lost to the Tories by fewer than 700 votes, including Blyth Valley.
In fact, Labour lost just 8 seats by fewer than 700 votes - Bury North, Kensington, Bury South, Bolton North East, High Peak, Gedling, Haywood and Middleton and Stoke on Trent Central. There were two other seats where the majority was below 1000, Blyth Valley (712) and Delyn (865).
Seats 27 (Peterborough) and above on their target list in terms of swing all have majorities of 2,500+.
Again, this is readily available online. Very careless not to have picked up on it.
That said, the broad thrust of the report’s conclusions as reported make sense. In 2017 they clung on to a lot of formerly very safe seats by very narrow margins, and 2019 gave the push to a tottering edifice.
Kinabalu will be narked at that comment about their private schools non-policy though
It should be noted that Labour clung onto a lot of formerly very safe seats by narrow margins in 2019.
A less narrow focus by the Conservatives on the likes of Bassetlaw, Bolsover, Don Valley, Rother Valley, Wakefield and Scunthorpe could have seen several other Labour seats at risk.
It was understandable tactics from the Conservatives - when you're targeting seats never won before then looking beyond them at a further level of gains (which wouldn't have been needed in any case) would have been a very brave move.
But in 2024 the likes of Hemsworth and Wentworth will likely get more Conservative attention.
De Gaulle was a deeply flawed individual, who made many mistakes, but like Churchill rose to the occasion when needed. Neither was a saint by any means, but both deserve garlands for what they did in the war, as well as the brickbats for some of their other actions.
Economy definitely bouncing back. It feels better already. Just need Boris to man up a d reduce the distancing to 1m and open up the pubs.
Are you being serious?
The economy won't bounce back for years, wait until the furlough finishes and people realise that tourism, hospitality, sport and leisure are decimated.
Well they aren't going to start to improve if this buffoon doesn't allow the pubs, bars and restaurants to open anytime soon.
The way this govt has handled this pandemic has been shockingly bad.
Economy definitely bouncing back. It feels better already. Just need Boris to man up a d reduce the distancing to 1m and open up the pubs.
Are you being serious?
The economy won't bounce back for years, wait until the furlough finishes and people realise that tourism, hospitality, sport and leisure are decimated.
To be fair it is hard for cartoonists to create a caricature of Raab, when a photo is already 90% of the way there.
If you speak to cartoonists, they will tell you that some politicians are much more difficult to do than others. Cameron was notoriously difficult. Have a look at a picture of him; it's a very bland face with no distinguishing characteristic.
Economy definitely bouncing back. It feels better already. Just need Boris to man up a d reduce the distancing to 1m and open up the pubs.
Are you being serious?
The economy won't bounce back for years, wait until the furlough finishes and people realise that tourism, hospitality, sport and leisure are decimated.
Well they aren't going to start to improve if this buffoon doesn't allow the pubs, bars and restaurants to open anytime soon.
The way this govt has handled this pandemic has been shockingly bad.
Correct but that's only a part of it. Cinemas, theatres, hotels, football grounds etc etc.
Anybody saying the economy is bouncing back is deluded
Economy definitely bouncing back. It feels better already. Just need Boris to man up a d reduce the distancing to 1m and open up the pubs.
Are you being serious?
The economy won't bounce back for years, wait until the furlough finishes and people realise that tourism, hospitality, sport and leisure are decimated.
I haven't said it's bounced back, I said it's bouncing back. There's a huge difference.
But a major media platform should not be preventing one of two serious candidates in an election from advertising as they see fit. Provided the ads are legal and within the electoral rules they should be permitted.
Otherwise - at best - You create a narrative of “he would have won but”
Ooh, an 'I'm no fan of Trump but' by any other name.
Meaning what? It seems that people suggest that means the person actually supports Trump, and while there will be examples of that in existence, most 'I'm no fan of X but' comments really are from people who are not fans of X and the old adage of 'ignore everything before the but' really does not work.
We could all very easily I'm sure find personal examples of using such a phrase either in praise, reluctant mitigation or nuance about someone or something we dont like.
It's a distraction, it takes attention away from the Bolton China story, which destroys what was supposed to be his main campaign theme.
It's not even a *dead* cat, just a very silly one, and that's all it takes to distract the media, who can't resist talking about themselves. This is Trump's campaigning superpower: There may be a million bad stories to tell about him, but once he sees one that might actually hurt him he can change the subject on a whim.
Both the Trump campaign and Boris/Leave worked out how to 'hack' the media. The media's image of itself is, it seems, trivially easily to be used to manipulate them.
It's a mutually beneficial relationship. Trump gives CNN free publicity, CNN gives Trump free publicity. If the media is being manipulated, they are more than willing participants in the manipulation.
Economy definitely bouncing back. It feels better already. Just need Boris to man up a d reduce the distancing to 1m and open up the pubs.
Are you being serious?
The economy won't bounce back for years, wait until the furlough finishes and people realise that tourism, hospitality, sport and leisure are decimated.
Well they aren't going to start to improve if this buffoon doesn't allow the pubs, bars and restaurants to open anytime soon.
The way this govt has handled this pandemic has been shockingly bad.
Correct but that's only a part of it. Cinemas, theatres, hotels, football grounds etc etc.
Anybody saying the economy is bouncing back is deluded
Yes, bouncing back is far too optimistic.
It is certainly getting a little better but these are small steps from a catastrophic slump. We don't know what form the recovery will take. Either a V or a Tick, or it may not recover.
Economy definitely bouncing back. It feels better already. Just need Boris to man up a d reduce the distancing to 1m and open up the pubs.
Premature cheery optimism this early in the morning. You must be Boris Johnson!
Retail up 12% in May on April
June will be interesting since easing in England and more shops opening in Scotland and Wales next week.
On my first venture out of 12 weeks lockdown yesterday to B & Q I was impressed how organised it was and there did seem to be as many shoppers as normal times
Economy definitely bouncing back. It feels better already. Just need Boris to man up a d reduce the distancing to 1m and open up the pubs.
Premature cheery optimism this early in the morning. You must be Boris Johnson!
No, just some data we got in this morning on order book values. It's much more positive than it was last month, plus just a sense that people are more confident than they were last month.
The mad lefties can stop blaming Starmer for the defeat now.
The truth is, we should never have allowed a GE.
Very true. Johnson's election will perhaps serve you well. Corbyn has been ejected, his henchmen (and women) are dropping like flies. And with the benefit of six months of hindsight this might have been a election not to win.
The flip side to this is Johnson has almost four years to turn it around.
De Gaulle was a deeply flawed individual, who made many mistakes, but like Churchill rose to the occasion when needed. Neither was a saint by any means, but both deserve garlands for what they did in the war, as well as the brickbats for some of their other actions.
Just as well we never fell into the hands of a flawed individual who buggered it up when the occasion came along, then.
To be fair it is hard for cartoonists to create a caricature of Raab, when a photo is already 90% of the way there.
If you speak to cartoonists, they will tell you that some politicians are much more difficult to do than others. Cameron was notoriously difficult. Have a look at a picture of him; it's a very bland face with no distinguishing characteristic.
De Gaulle was a deeply flawed individual, who made many mistakes, but like Churchill rose to the occasion when needed. Neither was a saint by any means, but both deserve garlands for what they did in the war, as well as the brickbats for some of their other actions.
Not sure DG's war record stands a great deal of scrutiny. He was reluctant to work with anyone who might detract from his own grandeur.
I will perhaps be a bit controversial here. (who me?? )
I think Labour under Starmer has an excellent chance of winning the next election. I certainly don't want them to as personally I am not a fan and don't believe they will be good for the country. But Starmer is portraying himself (and may well be for all know) as a reasonable, centre left politician who can offer a real alternative to the Tories. Johnson is not a great leader or PM. I don't think he is even a very good leader or PM although I certainly don't think he is as bad as some make out.
But in the end I think his problem is that he is just not that bright. At least politically. He can't recognise the things that reflect badly on his party. He has handled Covid poorly. If he had just been mediocre he would probably have come out of it well but he has made some really basic errors that were warned about and which have subsequently happened. Blind optimism and a harkening to a core vote will get you so far but it won't get you through 4 years of tough times if you lack the ability and determination to make things work.
As I said before I want Cummings to succeed in his attempts to reshape our institutions. I thin given the chance a lot of that reshaping might even be in ways that those on the left might like, breaking the power of the old elites. But he won't succeed in it with Johnson as his figurehead.
So I am already kind of resigned to Starmer winning in 2024. I know a lot can happen in 4 years - 'events dear boy' and all that - but I think you have to have the right person in place to take advantage of those 'events'. I just don't think that person is Johnson.
Johnson reaches parts other Tories do not reach. I don't know why, perhaps people like bumbling incompetence. But whether you or I like it or not, a vast swathe of blue collar Britain love the guy. They will not feel the same about Sunak or Raab.
But I suspect the truth of Johnson being a compulsive - and incompetent - liar will become so obvious that only the most ignorant or partisan will be able to deny it. The scales are already falling away from the eyes of many who voted for him.
I think thats your hope's talking. Many people will have claimed we were in that position already last year, and were either wrong or people didnt care.
I suspect his decline will be less about more accepting such a truth and more just the inevitable consequence of becoming less effective over time.
Economy definitely bouncing back. It feels better already. Just need Boris to man up a d reduce the distancing to 1m and open up the pubs.
Are you being serious?
The economy won't bounce back for years, wait until the furlough finishes and people realise that tourism, hospitality, sport and leisure are decimated.
I haven't said it's bounced back, I said it's bouncing back. There's a huge difference.
We should place bets on when a minister says "green shoots".
Economy definitely bouncing back. It feels better already. Just need Boris to man up a d reduce the distancing to 1m and open up the pubs.
Are you being serious?
The economy won't bounce back for years, wait until the furlough finishes and people realise that tourism, hospitality, sport and leisure are decimated.
I haven't said it's bounced back, I said it's bouncing back. There's a huge difference.
I see that Labour report on the election apparently says they spent too much time talking to themselves. Isnt that the sort of thing all parties know they do anyway but pretend they dont know? It's a tradition like getting excited about applications to register to vote numbers and queues outside polling stations
Comments
You could argue of course that is what led to the creation of the Union in the first place.
https://twitter.com/danbloom1/status/1273656923431239684
Even now, cant we just take one of the apps like the German one, and translate it? Couldnt that be done in less than a week?
Boris Johnson’s Team Is Broken by the Virus and Losing Faith: The British handling of the pandemic is raising critical questions within the governing Conservative Party.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-06-12/coronavirus-uk-boris-johnson-s-team-is-broken-and-losing-faith
Inside Boris Johnson’s government, senior officials are exhausted, demoralized and starting to despair.
“I don’t know why we are doing what we are doing any more,” one Tory confided. Johnson’s team inside Downing Street are “running on empty,” said another. “There is a lot of unhappiness in the party,” said a third. “People are less and less impressed with Number 10.”
It's pathetic. And risks undermining the more important message about fairness, because this is ludicrous.
As borders remained locked down to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham has again urged Australians to consider a holiday at home.
Despite talk of a "travel bubble" with New Zealand or other countries that have few coronavirus cases, Senator Birmingham warned travellers not to get their hopes up.
https://m.dalbyherald.com.au/news/no-overseas-travel-until-at-least-2021/4038928/
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1273770669214490626
CNN response:(they also know how to spell "toddler")
https://twitter.com/CNNPR/status/1273811991031840770
Social media can cause wholly disproportionate consequences for people who use it. Not everyone can walk on eggshells the whole time (not even you) and it's not human nature anyway, so a more understanding solution is needed.
https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-uk-borrowing-soars-to-record-103-7bn-in-a-month-12010125
It's not even a *dead* cat, just a very silly one, and that's all it takes to distract the media, who can't resist talking about themselves. This is Trump's campaigning superpower: There may be a million bad stories to tell about him, but once he sees one that might actually hurt him he can change the subject on a whim.
So the revolution needs to be subtly directed to eat its own children for this madness to end.
The same applies to an extent to Johnson.
Also note another story that Collins is about to be axed from the Times because Dom doesn't like his reporting
I think the significance in both graphs (indeed counties may be more significant) is that Dem areas are coming out of it while support measures are in place, while red counties are yet to get the worst of it and with less support. Much closer to election day too, and making health care and paying for it a central issue. For a betting site that matters.
Oh, wait, no jacket required...
Plus the £200bn earlier this year that was printed. The BoE has magically found £300bn to splash around this year already and there's every chance there will be more to come.
That entire months borrowing was paid for by the BoE yesterday.
It helps that it's targeted at the middle class too, and not the east/west coast affluents.
1) Why are Google/Apple insisting that the data stays with the user? As I understand it Google and Apple themselves collect tons of data from users - just to make money, whereas here if the data could be collected it would have a public health benefit?
2) Could this set a precedent? I think I would be in favour of a law that said that data generated on a user's phone stays with the user? I wouldn't mind if this destroys the business model of firms like Google and Facebook (if it would?), I think that vast private quasi-monopolies having such enormous power is anyway bad. I mean they could hardly complain, if they insist governments can't collect data to prevent a deadly pandemic, then governments can surely insist that they can't collect data just to make more money?
https://twitter.com/Swag_Catholic/status/1273799590546796544
Index in a biography of De Gaulle.
https://twitter.com/paulwaugh/status/1273879087778578432
Patel and Raab point taken. Patel has long been a road crash, promoted long over her abilities; but that Raab is so rubbish has probably come as a shock to members and backbenchers.
They are fortunate in that Starmer will be clueless
https://twitter.com/CharlieCooper8/status/1273879219404226560
It's only taken 3 months.
The likes of CNN have a massive financial interest in re-electing Trump - expect them to find excuses to focus relentlessly on some minor misdemeanor by Biden (anyone still remember or care about Clinton's use of a private email server?), and report different clickbait trivia every day about Trump mis-spelling the capital of Greenland or whatever.
The economy won't bounce back for years, wait until the furlough finishes and people realise that tourism, hospitality, sport and leisure are decimated.
A less narrow focus by the Conservatives on the likes of Bassetlaw, Bolsover, Don Valley, Rother Valley, Wakefield and Scunthorpe could have seen several other Labour seats at risk.
It was understandable tactics from the Conservatives - when you're targeting seats never won before then looking beyond them at a further level of gains (which wouldn't have been needed in any case) would have been a very brave move.
But in 2024 the likes of Hemsworth and Wentworth will likely get more Conservative attention.
The mad lefties can stop blaming Starmer for the defeat now.
The truth is, we should never have allowed a GE.
The way this govt has handled this pandemic has been shockingly bad.
I should say Raab presents a similar problem.
Anybody saying the economy is bouncing back is deluded
We could all very easily I'm sure find personal examples of using such a phrase either in praise, reluctant mitigation or nuance about someone or something we dont like.
It is certainly getting a little better but these are small steps from a catastrophic slump. We don't know what form the recovery will take. Either a V or a Tick, or it may not recover.
far too early to say.
June will be interesting since easing in England and more shops opening in Scotland and Wales next week.
On my first venture out of 12 weeks lockdown yesterday to B & Q I was impressed how organised it was and there did seem to be as many shoppers as normal times
The flip side to this is Johnson has almost four years to turn it around.
I suspect his decline will be less about more accepting such a truth and more just the inevitable consequence of becoming less effective over time.