I'm flying out to Greece on Friday. Looks like there's a chance the rising case rate in Greece might make the govt put Greece on the quarantine list (maybe not this week, but more probably next week).
If HMG pulls down the shutters next week when I am sunning myself by the Aegean what is to stop me, when I want to return, simply crossing a border - to Bulgaria or Turkey, and flying back from there, where there is, as yet, no need to self isolate on return?
You can. But you'll be asked to declare any countries you've been in in the previous 14 days - so you can commit a criminal offence and lie, or tell the truth and have wasted your trip to Turkey
This is all very brave when compared to some people who holed themselves up in a Penarth safe house to hide from the 'rona.
Re sex in government offices, which is apparently quite permissible for MPs, is not entirely unknown to Members of Congress (pun semi-intended).
This story was told to me years ago, by the chief aide to Mike Lowry, former US Representative from Seattle (he was from near-suburban Renton) who went on to serve one term as Gov of WA:
Lowry had a meeting scheduled with then US Rep. Mickey Leland (D-Houston TX) in Leland's congressional office. When Lowry and his aide arrived, the receptionist said that Leland was still in a meeting, but would be with them shortly, and would they please wait in an anteroom.
After about ten minutes, Lowry (never known for patience) got antsy. "Where is this guy? - Let's go find him!" Then he yanked open a door to an adjoining room. Where he and the aide were surprised - to put it mildly - to see Congressman Leland fucking a woman on a desk.
Thinking quickly, Lowry closed the door. And after a further short wait, the receptionist arrived and told them, "the Congressman will see you now."
Which they did. And nobody said a word about the previous "meating".
Do not assume a Nationalist majority is inevitable.
I think it increasingly likely all Unionist parties will combine under 1 Unionist Alliance ticket led by Ruth Davidson, just standing one Unionist candidate at constituency level at Holyrood against the SNP, with the Unionist parties only standing separately against each other as Tories, Labour and LD on the Holyrood list.
Thus maximising the number of Unionist MSPs to stop a Nationalist SNP or SNP and Green majority
I really cannot see Labour agreeing to that. It would play into the hands of the SNP by effectively repeating the 2014 mistake of combining in the Better Together campaign.
The same Better Together campaign that won the 2014 referendum by a comfortable 55% to 45% margin?
BUT point is, Labour took a political hit for the cause of preserving the union.
Is YOUR party ready and willing (to say nothing of able) to do the same, for a cause (allegedly) so central to its own existence?
Of course, political parties exist to do good (as they see it) AND also to maintain their existence. SO can forgive Labour, CUP, LDs AND SNP (and even Cornish Nats) for neither forgetting nor foregoing the 2nd imperative.
It is fairly simple, the Tories stand down and allow Labour a free run in the central belt seats next year, Labour stand down and give the Tories a free run in the Borders and rural Aberdeenshire and both stand down and give the LDs a free run in the Highlands, Orkney and Shetland and Edinburgh West.
They can still stand against each other on the list anyway
The Labour Party giving the Tories a free run.
Just think about that for a moment.
We won't even stand aside for the Greens in local elections.
Technically not correct, they would all stand as Unionist Alliance at the constituency level they would only stand as Tories, Labour or LD on the list where they would still compete against each other
I am crying
You will be if Scotland goes and England is left as almost a One Party Tory state with just the occasional Blairite in between
You have made some irrational, sweeping statements tonight, but on this point you are absolutely right.
My hope is that by the time Johnson has finished being World King, the Tory brand will have been trashed to the point where I shall see my days out with non-Conservative governments. The tipping point hasn't happened yet, but it will.
Nope, out of the 21 general elections since WW2 Labpur has only won a majority in them 5 teams in England, 1945, 1966, 1997, 2001 and 2005 ie 3 of them under Blair.
If Scotland goes say bye bye to there ever being a Labour government again for any significant length of time unless under a Blairite.
Those are the stakes for Labour, Boris for example currently has a Tory majority of over 150 in England alone
I agreed with your general assertion.
My expectation however is by, hopefully 2024, but if not by 2028, Johnson's utter incompetence will catch up with him and the Conservative Party.
It won't without Scotland unless Labour has a Blairite leader.
If Labour are so stubborn they refuse to do a Unionist Alliance with the Tories in Scotland they deserve a 1000 year Tory Reich in England and an 1000 year SNP Reich in Scotland.
Labour will have to console itself with Wales, assuming Plaid don't get ideas above their station
Do not assume a Nationalist majority is inevitable.
I think it increasingly likely all Unionist parties will combine under 1 Unionist Alliance ticket led by Ruth Davidson, just standing one Unionist candidate at constituency level at Holyrood against the SNP, with the Unionist parties only standing separately against each other as Tories, Labour and LD on the Holyrood list.
Thus maximising the number of Unionist MSPs to stop a Nationalist SNP or SNP and Green majority
I really cannot see Labour agreeing to that. It would play into the hands of the SNP by effectively repeating the 2014 mistake of combining in the Better Together campaign.
The same Better Together campaign that won the 2014 referendum by a comfortable 55% to 45% margin?
BUT point is, Labour took a political hit for the cause of preserving the union.
Is YOUR party ready and willing (to say nothing of able) to do the same, for a cause (allegedly) so central to its own existence?
Of course, political parties exist to do good (as they see it) AND also to maintain their existence. SO can forgive Labour, CUP, LDs AND SNP (and even Cornish Nats) for neither forgetting nor foregoing the 2nd imperative.
It is fairly simple, the Tories stand down and allow Labour a free run in the central belt seats next year, Labour stand down and give the Tories a free run in the Borders and rural Aberdeenshire and both stand down and give the LDs a free run in the Highlands, Orkney and Shetland and Edinburgh West.
They can still stand against each other on the list anyway
The Labour Party giving the Tories a free run.
Just think about that for a moment.
We won't even stand aside for the Greens in local elections.
Technically not correct, they would all stand as Unionist Alliance at the constituency level they would only stand as Tories, Labour or LD on the list where they would still compete against each other
I am crying
You will be if Scotland goes and England is left as almost a One Party Tory state with just the occasional Blairite in between
You have made some irrational, sweeping statements tonight, but on this point you are absolutely right.
My hope is that by the time Johnson has finished being World King, the Tory brand will have been trashed to the point where I shall see my days out with non-Conservative governments. The tipping point hasn't happened yet, but it will.
Nope, out of the 21 general elections since WW2 Labpur has only won a majority in them 5 teams in England, 1945, 1966, 1997, 2001 and 2005 ie 3 of them under Blair.
If Scotland goes say bye bye to there ever being a Labour government again for any significant length of time unless under a Blairite.
Those are the stakes for Labour, Boris for example currently has a Tory majority of over 150 in England alone
I agreed with your general assertion.
My expectation however is by, hopefully 2024, but if not by 2028, Johnson's utter incompetence will catch up with him and the Conservative Party.
The curious thing is that some Conservatives recognise that Johnson is a duffer, but are confident of dumping him at some point in the future and starting again with a clean sheet.
I can see why, given the experience of Thatcher to Major, or even May to Johnson.
But given how thoroughly Johnsoned the party has become, it could be a lot harder than they think.
Do not assume a Nationalist majority is inevitable.
I think it increasingly likely all Unionist parties will combine under 1 Unionist Alliance ticket led by Ruth Davidson, just standing one Unionist candidate at constituency level at Holyrood against the SNP, with the Unionist parties only standing separately against each other as Tories, Labour and LD on the Holyrood list.
Thus maximising the number of Unionist MSPs to stop a Nationalist SNP or SNP and Green majority
I really cannot see Labour agreeing to that. It would play into the hands of the SNP by effectively repeating the 2014 mistake of combining in the Better Together campaign.
The same Better Together campaign that won the 2014 referendum by a comfortable 55% to 45% margin?
BUT point is, Labour took a political hit for the cause of preserving the union.
Is YOUR party ready and willing (to say nothing of able) to do the same, for a cause (allegedly) so central to its own existence?
Of course, political parties exist to do good (as they see it) AND also to maintain their existence. SO can forgive Labour, CUP, LDs AND SNP (and even Cornish Nats) for neither forgetting nor foregoing the 2nd imperative.
It is fairly simple, the Tories stand down and allow Labour a free run in the central belt seats next year, Labour stand down and give the Tories a free run in the Borders and rural Aberdeenshire and both stand down and give the LDs a free run in the Highlands, Orkney and Shetland and Edinburgh West.
They can still stand against each other on the list anyway
The Labour Party giving the Tories a free run.
Just think about that for a moment.
We won't even stand aside for the Greens in local elections.
Technically not correct, they would all stand as Unionist Alliance at the constituency level they would only stand as Tories, Labour or LD on the list where they would still compete against each other
I am crying
You will be if Scotland goes and England is left as almost a One Party Tory state with just the occasional Blairite in between
You have made some irrational, sweeping statements tonight, but on this point you are absolutely right.
My hope is that by the time Johnson has finished being World King, the Tory brand will have been trashed to the point where I shall see my days out with non-Conservative governments. The tipping point hasn't happened yet, but it will.
Nope, out of the 21 general elections since WW2 Labpur has only won a majority in them 5 teams in England, 1945, 1966, 1997, 2001 and 2005 ie 3 of them under Blair.
If Scotland goes say bye bye to there ever being a Labour government again for any significant length of time unless under a Blairite.
Those are the stakes for Labour, Boris for example currently has a Tory majority of over 150 in England alone
I agreed with your general assertion.
My expectation however is by, hopefully 2024, but if not by 2028, Johnson's utter incompetence will catch up with him and the Conservative Party.
The curious thing is that some Conservatives recognise that Johnson is a duffer, but are confident of dumping him at some point in the future and starting again with a clean sheet.
I can see why, given the experience of Thatcher to Major, or even May to Johnson.
But given how thoroughly Johnsoned the party has become, it could be a lot harder than they think.
"thoroughly Johnsoned"
Congrats on you unexpected fluency in American slang!
Do not assume a Nationalist majority is inevitable.
I think it increasingly likely all Unionist parties will combine under 1 Unionist Alliance ticket led by Ruth Davidson, just standing one Unionist candidate at constituency level at Holyrood against the SNP, with the Unionist parties only standing separately against each other as Tories, Labour and LD on the Holyrood list.
Thus maximising the number of Unionist MSPs to stop a Nationalist SNP or SNP and Green majority
I really cannot see Labour agreeing to that. It would play into the hands of the SNP by effectively repeating the 2014 mistake of combining in the Better Together campaign.
The same Better Together campaign that won the 2014 referendum by a comfortable 55% to 45% margin?
BUT point is, Labour took a political hit for the cause of preserving the union.
Is YOUR party ready and willing (to say nothing of able) to do the same, for a cause (allegedly) so central to its own existence?
Of course, political parties exist to do good (as they see it) AND also to maintain their existence. SO can forgive Labour, CUP, LDs AND SNP (and even Cornish Nats) for neither forgetting nor foregoing the 2nd imperative.
It is fairly simple, the Tories stand down and allow Labour a free run in the central belt seats next year, Labour stand down and give the Tories a free run in the Borders and rural Aberdeenshire and both stand down and give the LDs a free run in the Highlands, Orkney and Shetland and Edinburgh West.
They can still stand against each other on the list anyway
The Labour Party giving the Tories a free run.
Just think about that for a moment.
We won't even stand aside for the Greens in local elections.
Technically not correct, they would all stand as Unionist Alliance at the constituency level they would only stand as Tories, Labour or LD on the list where they would still compete against each other
I am crying
You will be if Scotland goes and England is left as almost a One Party Tory state with just the occasional Blairite in between
You have made some irrational, sweeping statements tonight, but on this point you are absolutely right.
My hope is that by the time Johnson has finished being World King, the Tory brand will have been trashed to the point where I shall see my days out with non-Conservative governments. The tipping point hasn't happened yet, but it will.
Nope, out of the 21 general elections since WW2 Labpur has only won a majority in them 5 teams in England, 1945, 1966, 1997, 2001 and 2005 ie 3 of them under Blair.
If Scotland goes say bye bye to there ever being a Labour government again for any significant length of time unless under a Blairite.
Those are the stakes for Labour, Boris for example currently has a Tory majority of over 150 in England alone
I agreed with your general assertion.
My expectation however is by, hopefully 2024, but if not by 2028, Johnson's utter incompetence will catch up with him and the Conservative Party.
The curious thing is that some Conservatives recognise that Johnson is a duffer, but are confident of dumping him at some point in the future and starting again with a clean sheet.
I can see why, given the experience of Thatcher to Major, or even May to Johnson.
But given how thoroughly Johnsoned the party has become, it could be a lot harder than they think.
She is a genuine free market conservative who believes in free trade and makes the case for it very well. She understands what she is talking about and is not just jumping on a bandwagon. She is a perfect person to be in control of the International Trade department.
She has achieved more in a year at International Trade than Fox was able to achieve in three years. Fox was loud and obnoxious and grandiose and incompetent, full of grand promises but he got nothing done. Truss is quietly and routinely getting on with the job.
She was a LibDem - priot to becoming a Tory Trollop!
Do not assume a Nationalist majority is inevitable.
I think it increasingly likely all Unionist parties will combine under 1 Unionist Alliance ticket led by Ruth Davidson, just standing one Unionist candidate at constituency level at Holyrood against the SNP, with the Unionist parties only standing separately against each other as Tories, Labour and LD on the Holyrood list.
Thus maximising the number of Unionist MSPs to stop a Nationalist SNP or SNP and Green majority
Lol. Weren't you promoting the idea of Swinson running for Holyrood and leading the Unionist fight back a few months ago? That's not quite as loonball as an alliance led by Baroness Line in The Sand spending most of her time in London in an effort to bring 'democracy' to the HoL (and incidentally pocket the £300 a day expenses).
Those PB’ers who backed their life savings on HY’s firm assurances that Chuka will be our next PM after Boris might be starting to wonder precisely how this will come about?
If Boris won a majority again in 2024 and Labour elected say Long Bailey to replace Starmer and Umunna then became LD leader anything could happen.
Even if Starmer becomes PM he is unlikely to win a majority so you could end up with a Labour and LD coalition government and Umunna as Foreign Secretary and heir apparent
Is Chuka even interested in a political career now ? Thought that ship had sailed.
Cities of London and Westminster is now only 14th on the Liberal Democrats target list, so certainly winnable in 2024
Very unlikely - Labour will be back as themain anti-Tory contender in 2024.
I think your credibility just fell through the floor though
As Black Rock correctly states if Scotland goes so goes the chance of Labour ever forming a Government again without a Blairite leader.
A Unionist Alliance is also the only way to prevent a Nationalist majority at Holyrood next year.
That is just fact, not losing credibility
Labour needs to win back voters who have switched to the SNP. That will not be achieved by teaming up with the Tories! Labour needs to maximise the difference with the Tories.
Williamson is the most useless Cabinet Minister in the history of the known cosmos. He has no ideas, no brains, no charisma, he can't talk, he can barely use a spoon. Why not just sacrifice him? Chuck him to the wolves, and keep them quiet?
Then, more importantly, they can actually appoint someone with a brain, or at least a rudimentary nervous system.
In advisors, Boris wants brains, because they have to do as they are told.
In politicians, Boris fears people with genuine ability. Quite why is left as an exercise for the reader.
He's got many in his Cabinet with genuine ability: Sunak, Patel, Truss etc
For politicians he doesn't seem to suffer fools gladly. People who wish to conspire and work against him, he has no time for. After what happened under May its rather refreshing - and for people like Hunt who want to do their own thing they can be critics on the outside rather than unreliable on the inside.
Patel? Truss?
My god, that is desperate stuff.
Both very good.
Truss is one of the most underrated Cabinet Ministers of the last decade. She doesn't get a lot of attention but I have a lot of respect for her.
At least we are now down to Sunak and Truss.
I am guessing you like cheese?
Sunak’s test will come when he starts trying to pay off his bills.
I do like cheese. And pork.
She gets laughed at, but she is very good.
Wasn’t she caught having sex with one of her advisors in her office?
I don't know and couldn't care less. People have sex, don't be a prude.
She had an affair with her mentor, Mark Field. Doesn’t matter a jot.
Some people assert that moral failings like committing adultery would be an indication of poor character and leadership as a decision maker. I think there are too many examples of crap leaders who might be morally unimpeachable, and good leaders who are morally compromises, to think that matters of sexual relationships matter a jot so long as no laws were broken.
I'd put in one step down from Justin's dislike of bastards.
To correct you- I have nothing against'bastards' at all and never have done.
Comments
This story was told to me years ago, by the chief aide to Mike Lowry, former US Representative from Seattle (he was from near-suburban Renton) who went on to serve one term as Gov of WA:
Lowry had a meeting scheduled with then US Rep. Mickey Leland (D-Houston TX) in Leland's congressional office. When Lowry and his aide arrived, the receptionist said that Leland was still in a meeting, but would be with them shortly, and would they please wait in an anteroom.
After about ten minutes, Lowry (never known for patience) got antsy. "Where is this guy? - Let's go find him!" Then he yanked open a door to an adjoining room. Where he and the aide were surprised - to put it mildly - to see Congressman Leland fucking a woman on a desk.
Thinking quickly, Lowry closed the door. And after a further short wait, the receptionist arrived and told them, "the Congressman will see you now."
Which they did. And nobody said a word about the previous "meating".
If Labour are so stubborn they refuse to do a Unionist Alliance with the Tories in Scotland they deserve a 1000 year Tory Reich in England and an 1000 year SNP Reich in Scotland.
Labour will have to console itself with Wales, assuming Plaid don't get ideas above their station
Lots of hard left getting nervous on here 0200 UK time 04 Nov...
I can see why, given the experience of Thatcher to Major, or even May to Johnson.
But given how thoroughly Johnsoned the party has become, it could be a lot harder than they think.
Surely given how horrible CON have been during COVID, LAB must be 60% clear?
Or is that Hindsight?
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/08/18/ed-markey-ad-youth-vote-kennedy-397351
Congrats on you unexpected fluency in American slang!
😊😊😊