Gove enlists old enemies to help save the Union Talks held with rivals including George Galloway
Michael Gove has held private talks with senior figures from across the political spectrum - including George Galloway - in an attempt to find a way to save the Union in the face of rising support for independence. Discussions have taken place with a wide range of notable names including Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale, the former Scottish Labour first minister, and Danny Alexander, the former Liberal Democrat chief secretary to the Treasury. George Galloway, the socialist firebrand who is planning to run for Holyrood, has also been sounded out.
Obviously Gove reads my PB posts....
Or possibly, he's just an idiot. 🤔
No, he knows to beat the SNP divided Unionists fall, united Unionists win, certainly at the Holyrood constituency level
You are making the assumption that among unionists, voting for a generic unionist candidate is more important than voting on a range of other issues. In fact, that they are the simple opposite of Nationalists who will vote for the SNP regardless.
I would gently suggest that this is a very bold assumption.
In the current scenario I would suggest most Unionists would happily vote for 1 sole Unionist Alliance candidate at the Holyrood constituency level and then for Scottish Labour, the Scottish Tories, the Scottish LDs or Galloway's new party on the Holyrood top up list
You're welcome to suggest it, but you're wrong. If that was the case, we would see it reflected in the polls.
A more likely effect of such a scenario is that the remaining chunk of Labour Sindy supporters would peal off to the SNP and magnify their victory.
Wrong not one poll has had only one Unionist Alliance Party at the constituency level up against the SNP.
I am sick to death of whinging like yours which plays into Nationalist hands and keeps Unionists divided, this is an election where the country must come first and that means a Unionist Alliance. In seats formally held by Labour the Unionist Alliance candidate would come from Labour and the Tories and LDs would stand down in their favour giving the Unionist Alliance an excellent chance to win a seat the SNP win with under 50% of the vote, even if a few Scottish Labour voters went SNP.
End of conversation
But, given the recent history, no sane party leader is going to want to get into bed with the Tories. Shafted the LibDems when they were in Coalition, threw the Democratic Unionists under a bus over Brexit. Especially when the party leader has the track record on honesty that the present one does.
It is not getting into bed with the Tories, there will be no Tory government at Holyrood next year almost certainly, it is about an Alliance to save the Union.
And if Scotland goes it is Armageddon for Labour, as the current polls show without Scottish MPs supporting him Starmer has near zero chance of becoming PM in 2024, the Tories will comfortably win a majority again
Not really, the current polls are not a good guide to what will happen in 3-4 years. It's perfectly possible for Labour to win a majority without Scotland, as it did in 1997 and 2001. If Johnson presides over a bad Brexit, fucks up Covid and then loses the Northern colony then I'm not sure the Tories will prosper in 2024.
Only with a Blairite leader and Starmer may not be Corbyn but he is no Blairite either.
If Scotland goes the Tories will be re elected whatever happens against Starmer in 2024
Your over-confidence is gratifying.
Not over confidence, fact.
If Scotland went it would be the final nail in the coffin for non Blairite Labour after the loss of the Red Wall, only twice since WW2 in 1945 and 1966 have Labour won a majority in England without Blair, the Tories would have won in 1964 and February 1974 without Scotland and Cameron in 2010 and May in 2017 would have won Tory majorities without Scottish MPs at Westminster
Wales has been pretty important for red labour too, but the boundary re-draw and its hegemony at the Senedd under the spectacularly awful Drakeford is taking care of that.
Gove enlists old enemies to help save the Union Talks held with rivals including George Galloway
Michael Gove has held private talks with senior figures from across the political spectrum - including George Galloway - in an attempt to find a way to save the Union in the face of rising support for independence. Discussions have taken place with a wide range of notable names including Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale, the former Scottish Labour first minister, and Danny Alexander, the former Liberal Democrat chief secretary to the Treasury. George Galloway, the socialist firebrand who is planning to run for Holyrood, has also been sounded out.
Obviously Gove reads my PB posts....
Or possibly, he's just an idiot. 🤔
No, he knows to beat the SNP divided Unionists fall, united Unionists win, certainly at the Holyrood constituency level
You are making the assumption that among unionists, voting for a generic unionist candidate is more important than voting on a range of other issues. In fact, that they are the simple opposite of Nationalists who will vote for the SNP regardless.
I would gently suggest that this is a very bold assumption.
In the current scenario I would suggest most Unionists would happily vote for 1 sole Unionist Alliance candidate at the Holyrood constituency level and then for Scottish Labour, the Scottish Tories, the Scottish LDs or Galloway's new party on the Holyrood top up list
You're welcome to suggest it, but you're wrong. If that was the case, we would see it reflected in the polls.
A more likely effect of such a scenario is that the remaining chunk of Labour Sindy supporters would peal off to the SNP and magnify their victory.
Wrong not one poll has had only one Unionist Alliance Party at the constituency level up against the SNP.
I am sick to death of whinging like yours which plays into Nationalist hands and keeps Unionists divided, this is an election where the country must come first and that means a Unionist Alliance. In seats formally held by Labour the Unionist Alliance candidate would come from Labour and the Tories and LDs would stand down in their favour giving the Unionist Alliance an excellent chance to win a seat the SNP win with under 50% of the vote, even if a few Scottish Labour voters went SNP.
End of conversation
But, given the recent history, no sane party leader is going to want to get into bed with the Tories. Shafted the LibDems when they were in Coalition, threw the Democratic Unionists under a bus over Brexit. Especially when the party leader has the track record on honesty that the present one does.
It is not getting into bed with the Tories, there will be no Tory government at Holyrood next year almost certainly, it is about an Alliance to save the Union.
And if Scotland goes it is Armageddon for Labour, as the current polls show without Scottish MPs supporting him Starmer has near zero chance of becoming PM in 2024, the Tories will comfortably win a majority again
Not really, the current polls are not a good guide to what will happen in 3-4 years. It's perfectly possible for Labour to win a majority without Scotland, as it did in 1997 and 2001. If Johnson presides over a bad Brexit, fucks up Covid and then loses the Northern colony then I'm not sure the Tories will prosper in 2024.
Only with a Blairite leader and Starmer may not be Corbyn but he is no Blairite either.
If Scotland goes the Tories will be re elected whatever happens against Starmer in 2024
Your over-confidence is gratifying.
Not over confidence, fact.
If Scotland went it would be the final nail in the coffin for non Blairite Labour after the loss of the Red Wall, only twice since WW2 in 1945 and 1966 have Labour won a majority in England without Blair, the Tories would have won in 1964 and February 1974 without Scotland and Cameron in 2010 and May in 2017 would have won Tory majorities without Scottish MPs at Westminster
You’re talking tosh as usual.
Yes it’s likely that a Tory majority would be returned post Scottish Independence but its far from “certain” and certainly not “fact”.
Things can change and change quickly, especially if your party continues to be sh*t at governing.
Gove enlists old enemies to help save the Union Talks held with rivals including George Galloway
Michael Gove has held private talks with senior figures from across the political spectrum - including George Galloway - in an attempt to find a way to save the Union in the face of rising support for independence. Discussions have taken place with a wide range of notable names including Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale, the former Scottish Labour first minister, and Danny Alexander, the former Liberal Democrat chief secretary to the Treasury. George Galloway, the socialist firebrand who is planning to run for Holyrood, has also been sounded out.
Obviously Gove reads my PB posts....
Or possibly, he's just an idiot. 🤔
No, he knows to beat the SNP divided Unionists fall, united Unionists win, certainly at the Holyrood constituency level
You are making the assumption that among unionists, voting for a generic unionist candidate is more important than voting on a range of other issues. In fact, that they are the simple opposite of Nationalists who will vote for the SNP regardless.
I would gently suggest that this is a very bold assumption.
In the current scenario I would suggest most Unionists would happily vote for 1 sole Unionist Alliance candidate at the Holyrood constituency level and then for Scottish Labour, the Scottish Tories, the Scottish LDs or Galloway's new party on the Holyrood top up list
You're welcome to suggest it, but you're wrong. If that was the case, we would see it reflected in the polls.
A more likely effect of such a scenario is that the remaining chunk of Labour Sindy supporters would peal off to the SNP and magnify their victory.
Wrong not one poll has had only one Unionist Alliance Party at the constituency level up against the SNP.
I am sick to death of whinging like yours which plays into Nationalist hands and keeps Unionists divided, this is an election where the country must come first and that means a Unionist Alliance. In seats formally held by Labour the Unionist Alliance candidate would come from Labour and the Tories and LDs would stand down in their favour giving the Unionist Alliance an excellent chance to win a seat the SNP win with under 50% of the vote, even if a few Scottish Labour voters went SNP.
End of conversation
"the country".
And "seats form[er]ly held by Labour".
How far back do you want to go?
Also - what would you put on the electoral paper? You can't stand under two different names for the same party in the same election.
The Alliance for the Union would be a different party set up solely for Holyrood next year registered separately.
It would be the Unionist equivalent of the SNP on the constituency vote while the different current Unionist parties would all stand separately on the list against each other as different Nationalist parties will also stand separately on the list against the SNP
Think about the funding and the Electoral Commission.
You are saying the SNP does not receive any of the same donors as the Scottish Greens or the Nationalist parties that will be standing on the list next year? In any case legally provided it is registered as a separate party it is legal
Not talking about donors but about the fact that it cannot be an alliance of existing parties. Which is what you have been going on about.
It would not be an alliance of existing parties but a completely new Unionist party. The existing parties would compete on the top up list.
I would prefer to beat the SNP democratically at Holyrood next year before having to go down the Madrid in Catalonia route given Boris has ruled out indyref2 as long as he is PM
I was going to say what I think about your utterly and hideously thoughtless comment but on reflection it is superfluous.
Let's hope the convention and well-received final speeches give a boost.
The only really weak polls for Biden there are Trafalgar and Rasmussen - they're both very heavily pro-GOP pollsters (eg Rasmussen has Trump's approval on 51%, way ahead of everyone else). There was another GOP pollster recently also getting very strong Trump numbers in swing states, and it turned out to be a couple of weeks old, and they'd sat on it until now. So there has to be the suspicion that even if the polls Trafalgar etc released are legit, they sat on any state polls they might have done that didn't help put a damper on Biden's conference.
Rasmussen had Hillary's popular vote lead as 2% in 2016 in its final poll, that was the result.
Trafalgar Group were the only pollster in 2016 who forecast Trump would win Michigan and Pennsylvania
Gove enlists old enemies to help save the Union Talks held with rivals including George Galloway
Michael Gove has held private talks with senior figures from across the political spectrum - including George Galloway - in an attempt to find a way to save the Union in the face of rising support for independence. Discussions have taken place with a wide range of notable names including Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale, the former Scottish Labour first minister, and Danny Alexander, the former Liberal Democrat chief secretary to the Treasury. George Galloway, the socialist firebrand who is planning to run for Holyrood, has also been sounded out.
Obviously Gove reads my PB posts....
Or possibly, he's just an idiot. 🤔
No, he knows to beat the SNP divided Unionists fall, united Unionists win, certainly at the Holyrood constituency level
You are making the assumption that among unionists, voting for a generic unionist candidate is more important than voting on a range of other issues. In fact, that they are the simple opposite of Nationalists who will vote for the SNP regardless.
I would gently suggest that this is a very bold assumption.
In the current scenario I would suggest most Unionists would happily vote for 1 sole Unionist Alliance candidate at the Holyrood constituency level and then for Scottish Labour, the Scottish Tories, the Scottish LDs or Galloway's new party on the Holyrood top up list
You're welcome to suggest it, but you're wrong. If that was the case, we would see it reflected in the polls.
A more likely effect of such a scenario is that the remaining chunk of Labour Sindy supporters would peal off to the SNP and magnify their victory.
Wrong not one poll has had only one Unionist Alliance Party at the constituency level up against the SNP.
I am sick to death of whinging like yours which plays into Nationalist hands and keeps Unionists divided, this is an election where the country must come first and that means a Unionist Alliance. In seats formally held by Labour the Unionist Alliance candidate would come from Labour and the Tories and LDs would stand down in their favour giving the Unionist Alliance an excellent chance to win a seat the SNP win with under 50% of the vote, even if a few Scottish Labour voters went SNP.
End of conversation
But, given the recent history, no sane party leader is going to want to get into bed with the Tories. Shafted the LibDems when they were in Coalition, threw the Democratic Unionists under a bus over Brexit. Especially when the party leader has the track record on honesty that the present one does.
It is not getting into bed with the Tories, there will be no Tory government at Holyrood next year almost certainly, it is about an Alliance to save the Union.
And if Scotland goes it is Armageddon for Labour, as the current polls show without Scottish MPs supporting him Starmer has near zero chance of becoming PM in 2024, the Tories will comfortably win a majority again
Not really, the current polls are not a good guide to what will happen in 3-4 years. It's perfectly possible for Labour to win a majority without Scotland, as it did in 1997 and 2001. If Johnson presides over a bad Brexit, fucks up Covid and then loses the Northern colony then I'm not sure the Tories will prosper in 2024.
Only with a Blairite leader and Starmer may not be Corbyn but he is no Blairite either.
If Scotland goes the Tories will be re elected whatever happens against Starmer in 2024
Your over-confidence is gratifying.
Not over confidence, fact.
If Scotland went it would be the final nail in the coffin for non Blairite Labour after the loss of the Red Wall, only twice since WW2 in 1945 and 1966 have Labour won a majority in England without Blair, the Tories would have won in 1964 and February 1974 without Scotland and Cameron in 2010 and May in 2017 would have won Tory majorities without Scottish MPs at Westminster
Wales has been pretty important for red labour too, but the boundary re-draw and its hegemony at the Senedd under the spectacularly awful Drakeford is taking care of that.
Yes Wales is Labour's last bastion, lose that and it has lost all the home nations
Gove enlists old enemies to help save the Union Talks held with rivals including George Galloway
Michael Gove has held private talks with senior figures from across the political spectrum - including George Galloway - in an attempt to find a way to save the Union in the face of rising support for independence. Discussions have taken place with a wide range of notable names including Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale, the former Scottish Labour first minister, and Danny Alexander, the former Liberal Democrat chief secretary to the Treasury. George Galloway, the socialist firebrand who is planning to run for Holyrood, has also been sounded out.
Obviously Gove reads my PB posts....
Or possibly, he's just an idiot. 🤔
No, he knows to beat the SNP divided Unionists fall, united Unionists win, certainly at the Holyrood constituency level
You are making the assumption that among unionists, voting for a generic unionist candidate is more important than voting on a range of other issues. In fact, that they are the simple opposite of Nationalists who will vote for the SNP regardless.
I would gently suggest that this is a very bold assumption.
In the current scenario I would suggest most Unionists would happily vote for 1 sole Unionist Alliance candidate at the Holyrood constituency level and then for Scottish Labour, the Scottish Tories, the Scottish LDs or Galloway's new party on the Holyrood top up list
You're welcome to suggest it, but you're wrong. If that was the case, we would see it reflected in the polls.
A more likely effect of such a scenario is that the remaining chunk of Labour Sindy supporters would peal off to the SNP and magnify their victory.
Wrong not one poll has had only one Unionist Alliance Party at the constituency level up against the SNP.
I am sick to death of whinging like yours which plays into Nationalist hands and keeps Unionists divided, this is an election where the country must come first and that means a Unionist Alliance. In seats formally held by Labour the Unionist Alliance candidate would come from Labour and the Tories and LDs would stand down in their favour giving the Unionist Alliance an excellent chance to win a seat the SNP win with under 50% of the vote, even if a few Scottish Labour voters went SNP.
End of conversation
But, given the recent history, no sane party leader is going to want to get into bed with the Tories. Shafted the LibDems when they were in Coalition, threw the Democratic Unionists under a bus over Brexit. Especially when the party leader has the track record on honesty that the present one does.
It is not getting into bed with the Tories, there will be no Tory government at Holyrood next year almost certainly, it is about an Alliance to save the Union.
And if Scotland goes it is Armageddon for Labour, as the current polls show without Scottish MPs supporting him Starmer has near zero chance of becoming PM in 2024, the Tories will comfortably win a majority again
Not really, the current polls are not a good guide to what will happen in 3-4 years. It's perfectly possible for Labour to win a majority without Scotland, as it did in 1997 and 2001. If Johnson presides over a bad Brexit, fucks up Covid and then loses the Northern colony then I'm not sure the Tories will prosper in 2024.
Only with a Blairite leader and Starmer may not be Corbyn but he is no Blairite either.
If Scotland goes the Tories will be re elected whatever happens against Starmer in 2024
Your over-confidence is gratifying.
Not over confidence, fact.
If Scotland went it would be the final nail in the coffin for non Blairite Labour after the loss of the Red Wall, only twice since WW2 in 1945 and 1966 have Labour won a majority in England without Blair, the Tories would have won in 1964 and February 1974 without Scotland and Cameron in 2010 and May in 2017 would have won Tory majorities without Scottish MPs at Westminster
You’re talking tosh as usual.
Yes it’s likely that a Tory majority would be returned post Scottish Independence but its far from “certain” and certainly not “fact”.
Things can change and change quickly, especially if your party continues to be sh*t at governing.
If Scotland goes it is likely the Tories would win again in 2024 against Starmer and Labour would have to then elect a Blairite leader to ever win again
Have to say that he has been a major improvement in our negotiating team.
Only if you actually want a 'No Deal' Brexit.
Not so. One of the complaints from the EU (which you don't hear any longer) was that we didn't seem to know what we wanted. In my work negotiating with someone who is clear about their objectives is a lot easier than negotiating with someone all over the place. The time we wasted with David Davies...
In just over 4 months the transition period ends and no-one has any idea what is to replace it and precious little time to prepare for it - or any last-minute deal, if there is one.
That does not strike me as an optimal situation to be in, especially since we were repeatedly told about “oven-ready deals” and “getting Brexit done”.
There will, unless things change, be a leap into the unknown just after the end of furlough (and whatever that brings), let alone whatever other unknown unknowns life will throw at us.
I think that by far the most likely outcome in the short term is that no progress is made until the very, very last minute (beginning of October), at which point the EU will present Boris with a 400-page document prepared by EU lawyers, and tell him to take it or leave it. If they are smart they'll include something minor but unacceptable which he can insist on being removed, to save face a bit, before he caves in.
On past form, neither Boris nor any other Brexiteers will read it properly anyway, they'll just skim through it.
Of course the text will be highly favourable to the EU. They are not daft, they don't owe us any favours, they know our negotiating position is incredibly weak, and Boris has with exceptional stupidity boxed himself in completely.
Following the end of the transition there will be a period of massive disruption anyway, irrespective of whether there is a deal or not, simply because there will no time for businesses and governments to put in place systems to deal with all the new red tape.
Once we've got past all that, and taken the entirely self-inflicted hit to the economy, things will settle down a bit but with reduced prosperity for the UK.
We'll then spend 10 to 15 years, hopefully with saner governments, trying to claw back a bit of the lost ground by reaching agreements with the EU on a whole range of issues from cabotage to security cooperation. The EU won't much like that, because it will lead to a fragmented and complex relationship rather like that they have with Switzerland, so I expect progress to be slow.
And all that's even without factoring in IndyRef2 and the Northern Ireland headache.
What an unholy mess.
I think that's broadly correct.
I think fish is a political decision (so needs heads of government to unlock) and state aid I think the UK will present a domestic regime that agrees limited boundaries of movement with the EU, all under governance of the overall FTA.
Neither is something that's going to sink the deal.
Gove enlists old enemies to help save the Union Talks held with rivals including George Galloway
Michael Gove has held private talks with senior figures from across the political spectrum - including George Galloway - in an attempt to find a way to save the Union in the face of rising support for independence. Discussions have taken place with a wide range of notable names including Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale, the former Scottish Labour first minister, and Danny Alexander, the former Liberal Democrat chief secretary to the Treasury. George Galloway, the socialist firebrand who is planning to run for Holyrood, has also been sounded out.
Obviously Gove reads my PB posts....
Or possibly, he's just an idiot. 🤔
No, he knows to beat the SNP divided Unionists fall, united Unionists win, certainly at the Holyrood constituency level
You are making the assumption that among unionists, voting for a generic unionist candidate is more important than voting on a range of other issues. In fact, that they are the simple opposite of Nationalists who will vote for the SNP regardless.
I would gently suggest that this is a very bold assumption.
In the current scenario I would suggest most Unionists would happily vote for 1 sole Unionist Alliance candidate at the Holyrood constituency level and then for Scottish Labour, the Scottish Tories, the Scottish LDs or Galloway's new party on the Holyrood top up list
You're welcome to suggest it, but you're wrong. If that was the case, we would see it reflected in the polls.
A more likely effect of such a scenario is that the remaining chunk of Labour Sindy supporters would peal off to the SNP and magnify their victory.
Wrong not one poll has had only one Unionist Alliance Party at the constituency level up against the SNP.
I am sick to death of whinging like yours which plays into Nationalist hands and keeps Unionists divided, this is an election where the country must come first and that means a Unionist Alliance. In seats formally held by Labour the Unionist Alliance candidate would come from Labour and the Tories and LDs would stand down in their favour giving the Unionist Alliance an excellent chance to win a seat the SNP win with under 50% of the vote, even if a few Scottish Labour voters went SNP.
End of conversation
But, given the recent history, no sane party leader is going to want to get into bed with the Tories. Shafted the LibDems when they were in Coalition, threw the Democratic Unionists under a bus over Brexit. Especially when the party leader has the track record on honesty that the present one does.
It is not getting into bed with the Tories, there will be no Tory government at Holyrood next year almost certainly, it is about an Alliance to save the Union.
And if Scotland goes it is Armageddon for Labour, as the current polls show without Scottish MPs supporting him Starmer has near zero chance of becoming PM in 2024, the Tories will comfortably win a majority again
Not really, the current polls are not a good guide to what will happen in 3-4 years. It's perfectly possible for Labour to win a majority without Scotland, as it did in 1997 and 2001. If Johnson presides over a bad Brexit, fucks up Covid and then loses the Northern colony then I'm not sure the Tories will prosper in 2024.
Only with a Blairite leader and Starmer may not be Corbyn but he is no Blairite either.
If Scotland goes the Tories will be re elected whatever happens against Starmer in 2024
Your over-confidence is gratifying.
Not over confidence, fact.
If Scotland went it would be the final nail in the coffin for non Blairite Labour after the loss of the Red Wall, only twice since WW2 in 1945 and 1966 have Labour won a majority in England without Blair, the Tories would have won in 1964 and February 1974 without Scotland and Cameron in 2010 and May in 2017 would have won Tory majorities without Scottish MPs at Westminster
You’re talking tosh as usual.
Yes it’s likely that a Tory majority would be returned post Scottish Independence but its far from “certain” and certainly not “fact”.
Things can change and change quickly, especially if your party continues to be sh*t at governing.
If Scotland goes it is likely the Tories would win again in 2024 against Starmer and Labour would have to then elect a Blairite leader to ever win again
Yes likely, but not definite, as you always seem to default to.
Gove enlists old enemies to help save the Union Talks held with rivals including George Galloway
Michael Gove has held private talks with senior figures from across the political spectrum - including George Galloway - in an attempt to find a way to save the Union in the face of rising support for independence. Discussions have taken place with a wide range of notable names including Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale, the former Scottish Labour first minister, and Danny Alexander, the former Liberal Democrat chief secretary to the Treasury. George Galloway, the socialist firebrand who is planning to run for Holyrood, has also been sounded out.
Obviously Gove reads my PB posts....
Or possibly, he's just an idiot. 🤔
No, he knows to beat the SNP divided Unionists fall, united Unionists win, certainly at the Holyrood constituency level
You are making the assumption that among unionists, voting for a generic unionist candidate is more important than voting on a range of other issues. In fact, that they are the simple opposite of Nationalists who will vote for the SNP regardless.
I would gently suggest that this is a very bold assumption.
In the current scenario I would suggest most Unionists would happily vote for 1 sole Unionist Alliance candidate at the Holyrood constituency level and then for Scottish Labour, the Scottish Tories, the Scottish LDs or Galloway's new party on the Holyrood top up list
You're welcome to suggest it, but you're wrong. If that was the case, we would see it reflected in the polls.
A more likely effect of such a scenario is that the remaining chunk of Labour Sindy supporters would peal off to the SNP and magnify their victory.
Wrong not one poll has had only one Unionist Alliance Party at the constituency level up against the SNP.
I am sick to death of whinging like yours which plays into Nationalist hands and keeps Unionists divided, this is an election where the country must come first and that means a Unionist Alliance. In seats formally held by Labour the Unionist Alliance candidate would come from Labour and the Tories and LDs would stand down in their favour giving the Unionist Alliance an excellent chance to win a seat the SNP win with under 50% of the vote, even if a few Scottish Labour voters went SNP.
End of conversation
But, given the recent history, no sane party leader is going to want to get into bed with the Tories. Shafted the LibDems when they were in Coalition, threw the Democratic Unionists under a bus over Brexit. Especially when the party leader has the track record on honesty that the present one does.
It is not getting into bed with the Tories, there will be no Tory government at Holyrood next year almost certainly, it is about an Alliance to save the Union.
And if Scotland goes it is Armageddon for Labour, as the current polls show without Scottish MPs supporting him Starmer has near zero chance of becoming PM in 2024, the Tories will comfortably win a majority again
Not really, the current polls are not a good guide to what will happen in 3-4 years. It's perfectly possible for Labour to win a majority without Scotland, as it did in 1997 and 2001. If Johnson presides over a bad Brexit, fucks up Covid and then loses the Northern colony then I'm not sure the Tories will prosper in 2024.
Only with a Blairite leader and Starmer may not be Corbyn but he is no Blairite either.
If Scotland goes the Tories will be re elected whatever happens against Starmer in 2024
Your over-confidence is gratifying.
Not over confidence, fact.
If Scotland went it would be the final nail in the coffin for non Blairite Labour after the loss of the Red Wall, only twice since WW2 in 1945 and 1966 have Labour won a majority in England without Blair, the Tories would have won in 1964 and February 1974 without Scotland and Cameron in 2010 and May in 2017 would have won Tory majorities without Scottish MPs at Westminster
You’re talking tosh as usual.
Yes it’s likely that a Tory majority would be returned post Scottish Independence but its far from “certain” and certainly not “fact”.
Things can change and change quickly, especially if your party continues to be sh*t at governing.
If Scotland goes it is likely the Tories would win again in 2024 against Starmer and Labour would have to then elect a Blairite leader to ever win again
If Boris loses Scotland before the 2024 election whatever mob Farage puts together for the election will be in with a wonderful shout of siphoning off gallons of Tory voters.
Thankfully the new trains on the Heathrow route indicate that some, at least, of the problems are now sorted...
Yes, that's Stage 2B and the train-running out from Paddington to Heathrow under ETCS was well-managed as a mini-programme. It was just a question of completing all the dynamic testing, particularly in the Heathrow branch itself.
It was however much simpler than completing the whole central operating section and integrating it to the east and west.
Guardian reports the housing market in London is absolutely collapsing
Interesting. And welcome? do you have the link mr CHB?
It sounds welcome, but is it? Is it demand, is it prices?
On thread, how much can you get on at 1/7?
Off thread: Reading doctor reports on the alleged poisoning of Russian opposition figure Alex Navalny. If it is poisoning it sounds like good old organo- phosphate.
Never mind, Merkel will lead the EU into doing nothing whilst the Kremlin laughs at how subservient Germany and much of the EU is.
Gove enlists old enemies to help save the Union Talks held with rivals including George Galloway
Michael Gove has held private talks with senior figures from across the political spectrum - including George Galloway - in an attempt to find a way to save the Union in the face of rising support for independence. Discussions have taken place with a wide range of notable names including Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale, the former Scottish Labour first minister, and Danny Alexander, the former Liberal Democrat chief secretary to the Treasury. George Galloway, the socialist firebrand who is planning to run for Holyrood, has also been sounded out.
Obviously Gove reads my PB posts....
Or possibly, he's just an idiot. 🤔
No, he knows to beat the SNP divided Unionists fall, united Unionists win, certainly at the Holyrood constituency level
You are making the assumption that among unionists, voting for a generic unionist candidate is more important than voting on a range of other issues. In fact, that they are the simple opposite of Nationalists who will vote for the SNP regardless.
I would gently suggest that this is a very bold assumption.
In the current scenario I would suggest most Unionists would happily vote for 1 sole Unionist Alliance candidate at the Holyrood constituency level and then for Scottish Labour, the Scottish Tories, the Scottish LDs or Galloway's new party on the Holyrood top up list
You're welcome to suggest it, but you're wrong. If that was the case, we would see it reflected in the polls.
A more likely effect of such a scenario is that the remaining chunk of Labour Sindy supporters would peal off to the SNP and magnify their victory.
Wrong not one poll has had only one Unionist Alliance Party at the constituency level up against the SNP.
I am sick to death of whinging like yours which plays into Nationalist hands and keeps Unionists divided, this is an election where the country must come first and that means a Unionist Alliance. In seats formally held by Labour the Unionist Alliance candidate would come from Labour and the Tories and LDs would stand down in their favour giving the Unionist Alliance an excellent chance to win a seat the SNP win with under 50% of the vote, even if a few Scottish Labour voters went SNP.
End of conversation
But, given the recent history, no sane party leader is going to want to get into bed with the Tories. Shafted the LibDems when they were in Coalition, threw the Democratic Unionists under a bus over Brexit. Especially when the party leader has the track record on honesty that the present one does.
It is not getting into bed with the Tories, there will be no Tory government at Holyrood next year almost certainly, it is about an Alliance to save the Union.
And if Scotland goes it is Armageddon for Labour, as the current polls show without Scottish MPs supporting him Starmer has near zero chance of becoming PM in 2024, the Tories will comfortably win a majority again
Not really, the current polls are not a good guide to what will happen in 3-4 years. It's perfectly possible for Labour to win a majority without Scotland, as it did in 1997 and 2001. If Johnson presides over a bad Brexit, fucks up Covid and then loses the Northern colony then I'm not sure the Tories will prosper in 2024.
Only with a Blairite leader and Starmer may not be Corbyn but he is no Blairite either.
If Scotland goes the Tories will be re elected whatever happens against Starmer in 2024
Your over-confidence is gratifying.
Not over confidence, fact.
If Scotland went it would be the final nail in the coffin for non Blairite Labour after the loss of the Red Wall, only twice since WW2 in 1945 and 1966 have Labour won a majority in England without Blair, the Tories would have won in 1964 and February 1974 without Scotland and Cameron in 2010 and May in 2017 would have won Tory majorities without Scottish MPs at Westminster
Wales has been pretty important for red labour too, but the boundary re-draw and its hegemony at the Senedd under the spectacularly awful Drakeford is taking care of that.
Don't write Wales off for Labour yet. There are major changes underway, but some could yet stall or reverse.
Remember, Labour has topped the poll in every election held in Wales since the Coupon won in 1918. Even in 1931 they were the largest party although they didn't have an overall majority.
Gove enlists old enemies to help save the Union Talks held with rivals including George Galloway
Michael Gove has held private talks with senior figures from across the political spectrum - including George Galloway - in an attempt to find a way to save the Union in the face of rising support for independence. Discussions have taken place with a wide range of notable names including Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale, the former Scottish Labour first minister, and Danny Alexander, the former Liberal Democrat chief secretary to the Treasury. George Galloway, the socialist firebrand who is planning to run for Holyrood, has also been sounded out.
McConnell's the most hilarious one. The 'incapable of wearing a kilt properly' demographic may be a large one, but I don't think there are many votes in it.
Gove enlists old enemies to help save the Union Talks held with rivals including George Galloway
Michael Gove has held private talks with senior figures from across the political spectrum - including George Galloway - in an attempt to find a way to save the Union in the face of rising support for independence. Discussions have taken place with a wide range of notable names including Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale, the former Scottish Labour first minister, and Danny Alexander, the former Liberal Democrat chief secretary to the Treasury. George Galloway, the socialist firebrand who is planning to run for Holyrood, has also been sounded out.
Obviously Gove reads my PB posts....
Or possibly, he's just an idiot. 🤔
No, he knows to beat the SNP divided Unionists fall, united Unionists win, certainly at the Holyrood constituency level
You are making the assumption that among unionists, voting for a generic unionist candidate is more important than voting on a range of other issues. In fact, that they are the simple opposite of Nationalists who will vote for the SNP regardless.
I would gently suggest that this is a very bold assumption.
In the current scenario I would suggest most Unionists would happily vote for 1 sole Unionist Alliance candidate at the Holyrood constituency level and then for Scottish Labour, the Scottish Tories, the Scottish LDs or Galloway's new party on the Holyrood top up list
You're welcome to suggest it, but you're wrong. If that was the case, we would see it reflected in the polls.
A more likely effect of such a scenario is that the remaining chunk of Labour Sindy supporters would peal off to the SNP and magnify their victory.
Wrong not one poll has had only one Unionist Alliance Party at the constituency level up against the SNP.
I am sick to death of whinging like yours which plays into Nationalist hands and keeps Unionists divided, this is an election where the country must come first and that means a Unionist Alliance. In seats formally held by Labour the Unionist Alliance candidate would come from Labour and the Tories and LDs would stand down in their favour giving the Unionist Alliance an excellent chance to win a seat the SNP win with under 50% of the vote, even if a few Scottish Labour voters went SNP.
End of conversation
But, given the recent history, no sane party leader is going to want to get into bed with the Tories. Shafted the LibDems when they were in Coalition, threw the Democratic Unionists under a bus over Brexit. Especially when the party leader has the track record on honesty that the present one does.
It is not getting into bed with the Tories, there will be no Tory government at Holyrood next year almost certainly, it is about an Alliance to save the Union.
And if Scotland goes it is Armageddon for Labour, as the current polls show without Scottish MPs supporting him Starmer has near zero chance of becoming PM in 2024, the Tories will comfortably win a majority again
Not really, the current polls are not a good guide to what will happen in 3-4 years. It's perfectly possible for Labour to win a majority without Scotland, as it did in 1997 and 2001. If Johnson presides over a bad Brexit, fucks up Covid and then loses the Northern colony then I'm not sure the Tories will prosper in 2024.
Only with a Blairite leader and Starmer may not be Corbyn but he is no Blairite either.
If Scotland goes the Tories will be re elected whatever happens against Starmer in 2024
Your over-confidence is gratifying.
Not over confidence, fact.
If Scotland went it would be the final nail in the coffin for non Blairite Labour after the loss of the Red Wall, only twice since WW2 in 1945 and 1966 have Labour won a majority in England without Blair, the Tories would have won in 1964 and February 1974 without Scotland and Cameron in 2010 and May in 2017 would have won Tory majorities without Scottish MPs at Westminster
You’re talking tosh as usual.
Yes it’s likely that a Tory majority would be returned post Scottish Independence but its far from “certain” and certainly not “fact”.
Things can change and change quickly, especially if your party continues to be sh*t at governing.
If Scotland goes it is likely the Tories would win again in 2024 against Starmer and Labour would have to then elect a Blairite leader to ever win again
If Boris loses Scotland before the 2024 election whatever mob Farage puts together for the election will be in with a wonderful shout of siphoning off gallons of Tory voters.
Oh no, in that case Farage's mob would be fully behind Boris to deliver hard Brexit and screw the SNP in the independence and trade talks
Gove enlists old enemies to help save the Union Talks held with rivals including George Galloway
Michael Gove has held private talks with senior figures from across the political spectrum - including George Galloway - in an attempt to find a way to save the Union in the face of rising support for independence. Discussions have taken place with a wide range of notable names including Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale, the former Scottish Labour first minister, and Danny Alexander, the former Liberal Democrat chief secretary to the Treasury. George Galloway, the socialist firebrand who is planning to run for Holyrood, has also been sounded out.
Obviously Gove reads my PB posts....
Or possibly, he's just an idiot. 🤔
No, he knows to beat the SNP divided Unionists fall, united Unionists win, certainly at the Holyrood constituency level
You are making the assumption that among unionists, voting for a generic unionist candidate is more important than voting on a range of other issues. In fact, that they are the simple opposite of Nationalists who will vote for the SNP regardless.
I would gently suggest that this is a very bold assumption.
In the current scenario I would suggest most Unionists would happily vote for 1 sole Unionist Alliance candidate at the Holyrood constituency level and then for Scottish Labour, the Scottish Tories, the Scottish LDs or Galloway's new party on the Holyrood top up list
You're welcome to suggest it, but you're wrong. If that was the case, we would see it reflected in the polls.
A more likely effect of such a scenario is that the remaining chunk of Labour Sindy supporters would peal off to the SNP and magnify their victory.
Wrong not one poll has had only one Unionist Alliance Party at the constituency level up against the SNP.
I am sick to death of whinging like yours which plays into Nationalist hands and keeps Unionists divided, this is an election where the country must come first and that means a Unionist Alliance. In seats formally held by Labour the Unionist Alliance candidate would come from Labour and the Tories and LDs would stand down in their favour giving the Unionist Alliance an excellent chance to win a seat the SNP win with under 50% of the vote, even if a few Scottish Labour voters went SNP.
End of conversation
But, given the recent history, no sane party leader is going to want to get into bed with the Tories. Shafted the LibDems when they were in Coalition, threw the Democratic Unionists under a bus over Brexit. Especially when the party leader has the track record on honesty that the present one does.
It is not getting into bed with the Tories, there will be no Tory government at Holyrood next year almost certainly, it is about an Alliance to save the Union.
And if Scotland goes it is Armageddon for Labour, as the current polls show without Scottish MPs supporting him Starmer has near zero chance of becoming PM in 2024, the Tories will comfortably win a majority again
Not really, the current polls are not a good guide to what will happen in 3-4 years. It's perfectly possible for Labour to win a majority without Scotland, as it did in 1997 and 2001. If Johnson presides over a bad Brexit, fucks up Covid and then loses the Northern colony then I'm not sure the Tories will prosper in 2024.
Only with a Blairite leader and Starmer may not be Corbyn but he is no Blairite either.
If Scotland goes the Tories will be re elected whatever happens against Starmer in 2024
Your over-confidence is gratifying.
Not over confidence, fact.
If Scotland went it would be the final nail in the coffin for non Blairite Labour after the loss of the Red Wall, only twice since WW2 in 1945 and 1966 have Labour won a majority in England without Blair, the Tories would have won in 1964 and February 1974 without Scotland and Cameron in 2010 and May in 2017 would have won Tory majorities without Scottish MPs at Westminster
Wales has been pretty important for red labour too, but the boundary re-draw and its hegemony at the Senedd under the spectacularly awful Drakeford is taking care of that.
Don't write Wales off for Labour yet. There are major changes underway, but some could yet stall or reverse.
Remember, Labour has topped the poll in every election held in Wales since the Coupon won in 1918. Even in 1931 they were the largest party although they didn't have an overall majority.
If they topped the poll even with Corbyn, surely Starmer will do better
Just seen this in the Guardian. "On Friday the central Spanish region of Castilla-La Mancha is expected to go further by shutting a sector that has slipped through the cracks to remain open: strip clubs and brothels.
The move comes after a brothel in the region reported an outbreak of eight positive cases among its staff, according to the news website ElDiario.es. Amid difficulties in tracking down patrons, government officials are urging them to get tested."
Just imagine the excuses!
Spanish brothels are fucking grim even for the battle tested libertine.
I posted news of this last night, one of the better early covid stories was that 54 people had to remain isolated in a ‘club’ for two weeks as several of the staff had tested positive, whilst brothels are an accepted part of Spanish life, seen as a form of birth control, it meant their visits were brought out in the open.
Gove enlists old enemies to help save the Union Talks held with rivals including George Galloway
Michael Gove has held private talks with senior figures from across the political spectrum - including George Galloway - in an attempt to find a way to save the Union in the face of rising support for independence. Discussions have taken place with a wide range of notable names including Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale, the former Scottish Labour first minister, and Danny Alexander, the former Liberal Democrat chief secretary to the Treasury. George Galloway, the socialist firebrand who is planning to run for Holyrood, has also been sounded out.
Obviously Gove reads my PB posts....
Or possibly, he's just an idiot. 🤔
No, he knows to beat the SNP divided Unionists fall, united Unionists win, certainly at the Holyrood constituency level
You are making the assumption that among unionists, voting for a generic unionist candidate is more important than voting on a range of other issues. In fact, that they are the simple opposite of Nationalists who will vote for the SNP regardless.
I would gently suggest that this is a very bold assumption.
In the current scenario I would suggest most Unionists would happily vote for 1 sole Unionist Alliance candidate at the Holyrood constituency level and then for Scottish Labour, the Scottish Tories, the Scottish LDs or Galloway's new party on the Holyrood top up list
You're welcome to suggest it, but you're wrong. If that was the case, we would see it reflected in the polls.
A more likely effect of such a scenario is that the remaining chunk of Labour Sindy supporters would peal off to the SNP and magnify their victory.
Wrong not one poll has had only one Unionist Alliance Party at the constituency level up against the SNP.
I am sick to death of whinging like yours which plays into Nationalist hands and keeps Unionists divided, this is an election where the country must come first and that means a Unionist Alliance. In seats formally held by Labour the Unionist Alliance candidate would come from Labour and the Tories and LDs would stand down in their favour giving the Unionist Alliance an excellent chance to win a seat the SNP win with under 50% of the vote, even if a few Scottish Labour voters went SNP.
End of conversation
But, given the recent history, no sane party leader is going to want to get into bed with the Tories. Shafted the LibDems when they were in Coalition, threw the Democratic Unionists under a bus over Brexit. Especially when the party leader has the track record on honesty that the present one does.
It is not getting into bed with the Tories, there will be no Tory government at Holyrood next year almost certainly, it is about an Alliance to save the Union.
And if Scotland goes it is Armageddon for Labour, as the current polls show without Scottish MPs supporting him Starmer has near zero chance of becoming PM in 2024, the Tories will comfortably win a majority again
Not really, the current polls are not a good guide to what will happen in 3-4 years. It's perfectly possible for Labour to win a majority without Scotland, as it did in 1997 and 2001. If Johnson presides over a bad Brexit, fucks up Covid and then loses the Northern colony then I'm not sure the Tories will prosper in 2024.
Only with a Blairite leader and Starmer may not be Corbyn but he is no Blairite either.
If Scotland goes the Tories will be re elected whatever happens against Starmer in 2024
Your over-confidence is gratifying.
Not over confidence, fact.
If Scotland went it would be the final nail in the coffin for non Blairite Labour after the loss of the Red Wall, only twice since WW2 in 1945 and 1966 have Labour won a majority in England without Blair, the Tories would have won in 1964 and February 1974 without Scotland and Cameron in 2010 and May in 2017 would have won Tory majorities without Scottish MPs at Westminster
You’re talking tosh as usual.
Yes it’s likely that a Tory majority would be returned post Scottish Independence but its far from “certain” and certainly not “fact”.
Things can change and change quickly, especially if your party continues to be sh*t at governing.
If Scotland goes it is likely the Tories would win again in 2024 against Starmer and Labour would have to then elect a Blairite leader to ever win again
If Boris loses Scotland before the 2024 election whatever mob Farage puts together for the election will be in with a wonderful shout of siphoning off gallons of Tory voters.
Oh no, in that case Farage's mob would be fully behind Boris to deliver hard Brexit and screw the SNP in the independence and trade talks
In just over 4 months the transition period ends and no-one has any idea what is to replace it and precious little time to prepare for it - or any last-minute deal, if there is one.
That does not strike me as an optimal situation to be in, especially since we were repeatedly told about “oven-ready deals” and “getting Brexit done”.
There will, unless things change, be a leap into the unknown just after the end of furlough (and whatever that brings), let alone whatever other unknown unknowns life will throw at us.
I think that by far the most likely outcome in the short term is that no progress is made until the very, very last minute (beginning of October), at which point the EU will present Boris with a 400-page document prepared by EU lawyers, and tell him to take it or leave it. If they are smart they'll include something minor but unacceptable which he can insist on being removed, to save face a bit, before he caves in.
On past form, neither Boris nor any other Brexiteers will read it properly anyway, they'll just skim through it.
Of course the text will be highly favourable to the EU. They are not daft, they don't owe us any favours, they know our negotiating position is incredibly weak, and Boris has with exceptional stupidity boxed himself in completely.
Following the end of the transition there will be a period of massive disruption anyway, irrespective of whether there is a deal or not, simply because there will no time for businesses and governments to put in place systems to deal with all the new red tape.
Once we've got past all that, and taken the entirely self-inflicted hit to the economy, things will settle down a bit but with reduced prosperity for the UK.
We'll then spend 10 to 15 years, hopefully with saner governments, trying to claw back a bit of the lost ground by reaching agreements with the EU on a whole range of issues from cabotage to security cooperation. The EU won't much like that, because it will lead to a fragmented and complex relationship rather like that they have with Switzerland, so I expect progress to be slow.
And all that's even without factoring in IndyRef2 and the Northern Ireland headache.
What an unholy mess.
I think that's broadly correct.
I think fish is a political decision (so needs heads of government to unlock) and state aid I think the UK will present a domestic regime that agrees limited boundaries of movement with the EU, all under governance of the overall FTA.
Neither is something that's going to sink the deal.
Is not part of the fishing issue that we eat the sort of fish which swims in EU (and Norwegian) waters and many of our EU neighbours eat that which swims (or scuttles about on the bottom of) ours?
Gove enlists old enemies to help save the Union Talks held with rivals including George Galloway
Michael Gove has held private talks with senior figures from across the political spectrum - including George Galloway - in an attempt to find a way to save the Union in the face of rising support for independence. Discussions have taken place with a wide range of notable names including Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale, the former Scottish Labour first minister, and Danny Alexander, the former Liberal Democrat chief secretary to the Treasury. George Galloway, the socialist firebrand who is planning to run for Holyrood, has also been sounded out.
Obviously Gove reads my PB posts....
Or possibly, he's just an idiot. 🤔
No, he knows to beat the SNP divided Unionists fall, united Unionists win, certainly at the Holyrood constituency level
You are making the assumption that among unionists, voting for a generic unionist candidate is more important than voting on a range of other issues. In fact, that they are the simple opposite of Nationalists who will vote for the SNP regardless.
I would gently suggest that this is a very bold assumption.
In the current scenario I would suggest most Unionists would happily vote for 1 sole Unionist Alliance candidate at the Holyrood constituency level and then for Scottish Labour, the Scottish Tories, the Scottish LDs or Galloway's new party on the Holyrood top up list
You're welcome to suggest it, but you're wrong. If that was the case, we would see it reflected in the polls.
A more likely effect of such a scenario is that the remaining chunk of Labour Sindy supporters would peal off to the SNP and magnify their victory.
Wrong not one poll has had only one Unionist Alliance Party at the constituency level up against the SNP.
I am sick to death of whinging like yours which plays into Nationalist hands and keeps Unionists divided, this is an election where the country must come first and that means a Unionist Alliance. In seats formally held by Labour the Unionist Alliance candidate would come from Labour and the Tories and LDs would stand down in their favour giving the Unionist Alliance an excellent chance to win a seat the SNP win with under 50% of the vote, even if a few Scottish Labour voters went SNP.
End of conversation
But, given the recent history, no sane party leader is going to want to get into bed with the Tories. Shafted the LibDems when they were in Coalition, threw the Democratic Unionists under a bus over Brexit. Especially when the party leader has the track record on honesty that the present one does.
It is not getting into bed with the Tories, there will be no Tory government at Holyrood next year almost certainly, it is about an Alliance to save the Union.
And if Scotland goes it is Armageddon for Labour, as the current polls show without Scottish MPs supporting him Starmer has near zero chance of becoming PM in 2024, the Tories will comfortably win a majority again
Not really, the current polls are not a good guide to what will happen in 3-4 years. It's perfectly possible for Labour to win a majority without Scotland, as it did in 1997 and 2001. If Johnson presides over a bad Brexit, fucks up Covid and then loses the Northern colony then I'm not sure the Tories will prosper in 2024.
Only with a Blairite leader and Starmer may not be Corbyn but he is no Blairite either.
If Scotland goes the Tories will be re elected whatever happens against Starmer in 2024
Your over-confidence is gratifying.
Not over confidence, fact.
If Scotland went it would be the final nail in the coffin for non Blairite Labour after the loss of the Red Wall, only twice since WW2 in 1945 and 1966 have Labour won a majority in England without Blair, the Tories would have won in 1964 and February 1974 without Scotland and Cameron in 2010 and May in 2017 would have won Tory majorities without Scottish MPs at Westminster
You’re talking tosh as usual.
Yes it’s likely that a Tory majority would be returned post Scottish Independence but its far from “certain” and certainly not “fact”.
Things can change and change quickly, especially if your party continues to be sh*t at governing.
If Scotland goes it is likely the Tories would win again in 2024 against Starmer and Labour would have to then elect a Blairite leader to ever win again
If Boris loses Scotland before the 2024 election whatever mob Farage puts together for the election will be in with a wonderful shout of siphoning off gallons of Tory voters.
Oh no, in that case Farage's mob would be fully behind Boris to deliver hard Brexit and screw the SNP in the independence and trade talks
A nights rest has not made you any nicer sadly
The suggestion it would is definitely the triumph of hope over experience!
Now I have cooled down I will thank the moderation team for not banning me and I would like to apologise again for my swearing yesterday. Hope you will accept my apology and I am trying my best to not lash out.
Now I have cooled down I will thank the moderation team for not banning me and I would like to apologise again for my swearing yesterday. Hope you will accept my apology and I am trying my best to not lash out.
We all need to let off some steam now and again. Just put a few asterisk's in next time.
Gove enlists old enemies to help save the Union Talks held with rivals including George Galloway
Michael Gove has held private talks with senior figures from across the political spectrum - including George Galloway - in an attempt to find a way to save the Union in the face of rising support for independence. Discussions have taken place with a wide range of notable names including Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale, the former Scottish Labour first minister, and Danny Alexander, the former Liberal Democrat chief secretary to the Treasury. George Galloway, the socialist firebrand who is planning to run for Holyrood, has also been sounded out.
Obviously Gove reads my PB posts....
Or possibly, he's just an idiot. 🤔
No, he knows to beat the SNP divided Unionists fall, united Unionists win, certainly at the Holyrood constituency level
You are making the assumption that among unionists, voting for a generic unionist candidate is more important than voting on a range of other issues. In fact, that they are the simple opposite of Nationalists who will vote for the SNP regardless.
I would gently suggest that this is a very bold assumption.
In the current scenario I would suggest most Unionists would happily vote for 1 sole Unionist Alliance candidate at the Holyrood constituency level and then for Scottish Labour, the Scottish Tories, the Scottish LDs or Galloway's new party on the Holyrood top up list
You're welcome to suggest it, but you're wrong. If that was the case, we would see it reflected in the polls.
A more likely effect of such a scenario is that the remaining chunk of Labour Sindy supporters would peal off to the SNP and magnify their victory.
Wrong not one poll has had only one Unionist Alliance Party at the constituency level up against the SNP.
I am sick to death of whinging like yours which plays into Nationalist hands and keeps Unionists divided, this is an election where the country must come first and that means a Unionist Alliance. In seats formally held by Labour the Unionist Alliance candidate would come from Labour and the Tories and LDs would stand down in their favour giving the Unionist Alliance an excellent chance to win a seat the SNP win with under 50% of the vote, even if a few Scottish Labour voters went SNP.
End of conversation
But, given the recent history, no sane party leader is going to want to get into bed with the Tories. Shafted the LibDems when they were in Coalition, threw the Democratic Unionists under a bus over Brexit. Especially when the party leader has the track record on honesty that the present one does.
It is not getting into bed with the Tories, there will be no Tory government at Holyrood next year almost certainly, it is about an Alliance to save the Union.
And if Scotland goes it is Armageddon for Labour, as the current polls show without Scottish MPs supporting him Starmer has near zero chance of becoming PM in 2024, the Tories will comfortably win a majority again
Not really, the current polls are not a good guide to what will happen in 3-4 years. It's perfectly possible for Labour to win a majority without Scotland, as it did in 1997 and 2001. If Johnson presides over a bad Brexit, fucks up Covid and then loses the Northern colony then I'm not sure the Tories will prosper in 2024.
Only with a Blairite leader and Starmer may not be Corbyn but he is no Blairite either.
If Scotland goes the Tories will be re elected whatever happens against Starmer in 2024
Your over-confidence is gratifying.
Not over confidence, fact.
If Scotland went it would be the final nail in the coffin for non Blairite Labour after the loss of the Red Wall, only twice since WW2 in 1945 and 1966 have Labour won a majority in England without Blair, the Tories would have won in 1964 and February 1974 without Scotland and Cameron in 2010 and May in 2017 would have won Tory majorities without Scottish MPs at Westminster
We'll see what happens. The Tories will have presided over the loss of the country they were elected to govern. It will be an epic humiliation that will have significant - but unknowable - domestic and international implications. The idea that it will just be business as normal in England is a sweet one, but somewhat naive, IMO.
What the feck is "maintaining access to UK fishing waters" if not "Cherry Picking"?
Quite. I really do not understand why any comments from the EU on negotiations is treated as gospel truth or automatically to be taken at face value - I wouldn't trust negotiators playing the media game from either side to tell the unvarnished truth, because they are negotiators. If agreements eventually get signed without all the movement from whichever side said was essential, they don't stand up and say 'Sorry, we were wrong'.
No - negotiators talk bullcrap whilst negotiations are going on. We should stop listening to the whole lot of them, from both sides.
EU good, UK bad. That's all you need to know.
It's never been good/bad, or nice/nasty. It's always been about power (and that's true on both sides; remember "we hold all the cards"?)
If the EU are of the view that a deal with the UK is a nice thing to have, but not worth contaminating their single market for, they have the sovereign freedom to choose that course. They may be chumps and ninnies for that (though they're probably not) but it's their choice, and ultimately there's a low limit on what the UK can do about that.
UK cannot imagine that someone may have principles and want to stick to them even if they can make more money being unprincipled venal creeps.
Malc, do you even think about what you're posting sometimes? Do you think the image of the SM is more important than the livelihoods of the much lampooned 'prosecco and carmakers' of the EU? I don't think you believe that for a second - you're doing what you constantly accuse others of doing to the Scottish Government - anything that comes from a UK perspective, you instantly put the boot in.
Now I have cooled down I will thank the moderation team for not banning me and I would like to apologise again for my swearing yesterday. Hope you will accept my apology and I am trying my best to not lash out.
Some were discharged on the same day and told to isolate at home?
63 admitted to hospital but only 61in hospital. Even if everyone with Covid was discharged the previous day, that still means that more people were admitted to hospital than were actually in hospital.
The daily Wales hospital admission figures have been nuts for weeks.
Now I have cooled down I will thank the moderation team for not banning me and I would like to apologise again for my swearing yesterday. Hope you will accept my apology and I am trying my best to not lash out.
You are fine.
You have apologised several times and just put it behind you
Now I have cooled down I will thank the moderation team for not banning me and I would like to apologise again for my swearing yesterday. Hope you will accept my apology and I am trying my best to not lash out.
Let he who hasn't spent time in the PB sin bin cast the first stone...
I think we should decriminalise weed as it happens
It is; the statistics, and the improvements from this abysmal level are astonishing: ...Researchers studied six of the participants over 29 weeks in the programme, who prior to the scheme had been responsible for at least 541 crimes at an estimated cost to the public purse of £2.1m....
Gove enlists old enemies to help save the Union Talks held with rivals including George Galloway
Michael Gove has held private talks with senior figures from across the political spectrum - including George Galloway - in an attempt to find a way to save the Union in the face of rising support for independence. Discussions have taken place with a wide range of notable names including Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale, the former Scottish Labour first minister, and Danny Alexander, the former Liberal Democrat chief secretary to the Treasury. George Galloway, the socialist firebrand who is planning to run for Holyrood, has also been sounded out.
Obviously Gove reads my PB posts....
Or possibly, he's just an idiot. 🤔
No, he knows to beat the SNP divided Unionists fall, united Unionists win, certainly at the Holyrood constituency level
You are making the assumption that among unionists, voting for a generic unionist candidate is more important than voting on a range of other issues. In fact, that they are the simple opposite of Nationalists who will vote for the SNP regardless.
I would gently suggest that this is a very bold assumption.
In the current scenario I would suggest most Unionists would happily vote for 1 sole Unionist Alliance candidate at the Holyrood constituency level and then for Scottish Labour, the Scottish Tories, the Scottish LDs or Galloway's new party on the Holyrood top up list
You're welcome to suggest it, but you're wrong. If that was the case, we would see it reflected in the polls.
A more likely effect of such a scenario is that the remaining chunk of Labour Sindy supporters would peal off to the SNP and magnify their victory.
Wrong not one poll has had only one Unionist Alliance Party at the constituency level up against the SNP.
I am sick to death of whinging like yours which plays into Nationalist hands and keeps Unionists divided, this is an election where the country must come first and that means a Unionist Alliance. In seats formally held by Labour the Unionist Alliance candidate would come from Labour and the Tories and LDs would stand down in their favour giving the Unionist Alliance an excellent chance to win a seat the SNP win with under 50% of the vote, even if a few Scottish Labour voters went SNP.
End of conversation
But, given the recent history, no sane party leader is going to want to get into bed with the Tories. Shafted the LibDems when they were in Coalition, threw the Democratic Unionists under a bus over Brexit. Especially when the party leader has the track record on honesty that the present one does.
It is not getting into bed with the Tories, there will be no Tory government at Holyrood next year almost certainly, it is about an Alliance to save the Union.
And if Scotland goes it is Armageddon for Labour, as the current polls show without Scottish MPs supporting him Starmer has near zero chance of becoming PM in 2024, the Tories will comfortably win a majority again
Not really, the current polls are not a good guide to what will happen in 3-4 years. It's perfectly possible for Labour to win a majority without Scotland, as it did in 1997 and 2001. If Johnson presides over a bad Brexit, fucks up Covid and then loses the Northern colony then I'm not sure the Tories will prosper in 2024.
Only with a Blairite leader and Starmer may not be Corbyn but he is no Blairite either.
If Scotland goes the Tories will be re elected whatever happens against Starmer in 2024
Your over-confidence is gratifying.
Not over confidence, fact.
If Scotland went it would be the final nail in the coffin for non Blairite Labour after the loss of the Red Wall, only twice since WW2 in 1945 and 1966 have Labour won a majority in England without Blair, the Tories would have won in 1964 and February 1974 without Scotland and Cameron in 2010 and May in 2017 would have won Tory majorities without Scottish MPs at Westminster
We'll see what happens. The Tories will have presided over the loss of the country they were elected to govern. It will be an epic humiliation that will have significant - but unknowable - domestic and international implications. The idea that it will just be business as normal in England is a sweet one, but somewhat naive, IMO.
The evidence from Russia after the USSR broke up is it would lead to a Nationalist backlash in England, just entrenching the Tories even more especially as English voters would want Westminster to take as tough a line with Edinburgh as Brussels is now taking with London
I see the Tories have now got us in £2 trillion of debt with the Tory recession still to come.
Yet still they are getting my grandchildren to pay for my half price McDonalds for the next xx number of years
Can you imagine the frothing, if this was a Labour Government, from PB Tories
You forget that the Tories have a divine right to govern so can be excused all sins, while every minute of Labour government is an affront to the natural order.
Gauke is correct, of course. However, blaming the EU gets you into 2021. The government then has to actually mitigate the effects of its failure to secure the deal it promised. Having said No Deal is no problem, the government has to manage the reality. That will be the interesting bit.
Now I have cooled down I will thank the moderation team for not banning me and I would like to apologise again for my swearing yesterday. Hope you will accept my apology and I am trying my best to not lash out.
Let he who hasn't spent time in the PB sin bin cast the first stone...
The problem with state aid is going to be the exceptions. Right now state aid is being utilised by nearly all EU governments and the UK on a totally unprecedented scale to avert a tsunami of unemployment. These are exceptional times but how long do they remain exceptional, who determines that they are not and what is permitted in "normal" times? These are tricky questions to which a government pretty unsure how the economy is going to bounce will be reluctant to give definite answers.
What the feck is "maintaining access to UK fishing waters" if not "Cherry Picking"?
Quite. I really do not understand why any comments from the EU on negotiations is treated as gospel truth or automatically to be taken at face value - I wouldn't trust negotiators playing the media game from either side to tell the unvarnished truth, because they are negotiators. If agreements eventually get signed without all the movement from whichever side said was essential, they don't stand up and say 'Sorry, we were wrong'.
No - negotiators talk bullcrap whilst negotiations are going on. We should stop listening to the whole lot of them, from both sides.
EU good, UK bad. That's all you need to know.
It's never been good/bad, or nice/nasty. It's always been about power (and that's true on both sides; remember "we hold all the cards"?)
If the EU are of the view that a deal with the UK is a nice thing to have, but not worth contaminating their single market for, they have the sovereign freedom to choose that course. They may be chumps and ninnies for that (though they're probably not) but it's their choice, and ultimately there's a low limit on what the UK can do about that.
UK cannot imagine that someone may have principles and want to stick to them even if they can make more money being unprincipled venal creeps.
Malc, do you even think about what you're posting sometimes? Do you think the image of the SM is more important than the livelihoods of the much lampooned 'prosecco and carmakers' of the EU? I don't think you believe that for a second - you're doing what you constantly accuse others of doing to the Scottish Government - anything that comes from a UK perspective, you instantly put the boot in.
Lucky, the UK pulled out of the EU, now they expect the EU to bend over and give them everything they want. They have been told the EU will not compromise on certain things but they are so up themselves and arrogant that EU will bend over backwards for anything they want. We know they are a venal cheating lying bunch of creeps. The EU are likely to stick to their principles and look after the EU, not their job to look after the UK. UK was desperate to get sovereignty back and forever castigated the EU, so why should they change their rules just to suit the UK. Fine having agreements but some points have been stated as non negotiable. PS: they also have good chance to pick up business in EU rather than import from outside EU.
At what point do we say that for all Burns’ many sterling qualities, actually Crawley and Sibley are an excellent, complimentary batting partnership and should be opening together?
Maybe when Crawley gets a hundred, but if he bats like this that’s probably a matter of time, albeit probably not in this test.
Edit - ooops. I did try to negate the hex, and I suppose it sort of worked for Crawley.
Gove enlists old enemies to help save the Union Talks held with rivals including George Galloway
Michael Gove has held private talks with senior figures from across the political spectrum - including George Galloway - in an attempt to find a way to save the Union in the face of rising support for independence. Discussions have taken place with a wide range of notable names including Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale, the former Scottish Labour first minister, and Danny Alexander, the former Liberal Democrat chief secretary to the Treasury. George Galloway, the socialist firebrand who is planning to run for Holyrood, has also been sounded out.
Obviously Gove reads my PB posts....
Or possibly, he's just an idiot. 🤔
No, he knows to beat the SNP divided Unionists fall, united Unionists win, certainly at the Holyrood constituency level
You are making the assumption that among unionists, voting for a generic unionist candidate is more important than voting on a range of other issues. In fact, that they are the simple opposite of Nationalists who will vote for the SNP regardless.
I would gently suggest that this is a very bold assumption.
In the current scenario I would suggest most Unionists would happily vote for 1 sole Unionist Alliance candidate at the Holyrood constituency level and then for Scottish Labour, the Scottish Tories, the Scottish LDs or Galloway's new party on the Holyrood top up list
You're welcome to suggest it, but you're wrong. If that was the case, we would see it reflected in the polls.
A more likely effect of such a scenario is that the remaining chunk of Labour Sindy supporters would peal off to the SNP and magnify their victory.
Wrong not one poll has had only one Unionist Alliance Party at the constituency level up against the SNP.
I am sick to death of whinging like yours which plays into Nationalist hands and keeps Unionists divided, this is an election where the country must come first and that means a Unionist Alliance. In seats formally held by Labour the Unionist Alliance candidate would come from Labour and the Tories and LDs would stand down in their favour giving the Unionist Alliance an excellent chance to win a seat the SNP win with under 50% of the vote, even if a few Scottish Labour voters went SNP.
End of conversation
But, given the recent history, no sane party leader is going to want to get into bed with the Tories. Shafted the LibDems when they were in Coalition, threw the Democratic Unionists under a bus over Brexit. Especially when the party leader has the track record on honesty that the present one does.
It is not getting into bed with the Tories, there will be no Tory government at Holyrood next year almost certainly, it is about an Alliance to save the Union.
And if Scotland goes it is Armageddon for Labour, as the current polls show without Scottish MPs supporting him Starmer has near zero chance of becoming PM in 2024, the Tories will comfortably win a majority again
Not really, the current polls are not a good guide to what will happen in 3-4 years. It's perfectly possible for Labour to win a majority without Scotland, as it did in 1997 and 2001. If Johnson presides over a bad Brexit, fucks up Covid and then loses the Northern colony then I'm not sure the Tories will prosper in 2024.
Only with a Blairite leader and Starmer may not be Corbyn but he is no Blairite either.
If Scotland goes the Tories will be re elected whatever happens against Starmer in 2024
Your over-confidence is gratifying.
Not over confidence, fact.
If Scotland went it would be the final nail in the coffin for non Blairite Labour after the loss of the Red Wall, only twice since WW2 in 1945 and 1966 have Labour won a majority in England without Blair, the Tories would have won in 1964 and February 1974 without Scotland and Cameron in 2010 and May in 2017 would have won Tory majorities without Scottish MPs at Westminster
We'll see what happens. The Tories will have presided over the loss of the country they were elected to govern. It will be an epic humiliation that will have significant - but unknowable - domestic and international implications. The idea that it will just be business as normal in England is a sweet one, but somewhat naive, IMO.
The evidence from Russia after the USSR broke up is it would lead to a Nationalist backlash in England, just entrenching the Tories even more especially as English voters would want Westminster to take as tough a line with Edinburgh as Brussels is now taking with London
The evidence from Russia is also that the ruling elite who presided over the USSR's break-up lost power and influence, and were hated by Russians for the humiliation inflicted on them and their country.
I see the Tories have now got us in £2 trillion of debt with the Tory recession still to come.
Yet still they are getting my grandchildren to pay for my half price McDonalds for the next xx number of years
Can you imagine the frothing, if this was a Labour Government, from PB Tories
You forget that the Tories have a divine right to govern so can be excused all sins, while every minute of Labour government is an affront to the natural order.
You have to earn the right to govern and apart from Blair, labour have been a spectacular failure topped off with the toxic Corbyn
At what point do we say that for all Burns’ many sterling qualities, actually Crawley and Sibley are an excellent, complimentary batting partnership and should be opening together?
Maybe when Crawley gets a hundred, but if he bats like this that’s probably a matter of time, albeit probably not in this test.
Edit - ooops. I did try to negate the hex, and I suppose it sort of worked for Crawley.
The main point still stands though.
I've really liked the positivity of England's batting this morning, especially from Crawley. If Root comes out and plays busily he will probably do better than he has with his ultra cautious approach in recent games.
At what point do we say that for all Burns’ many sterling qualities, actually Crawley and Sibley are an excellent, complimentary batting partnership and should be opening together?
Maybe when Crawley gets a hundred, but if he bats like this that’s probably a matter of time, albeit probably not in this test.
Edit - ooops. I did try to negate the hex, and I suppose it sort of worked for Crawley.
The main point still stands though.
I've really liked the positivity of England's batting this morning, especially from Crawley. If Root comes out and plays busily he will probably do better than he has with his ultra cautious approach in recent games.
Gauke is correct, of course. However, blaming the EU gets you into 2021. The government then has to actually mitigate the effects of its failure to secure the deal it promised. Having said No Deal is no problem, the government has to manage the reality. That will be the interesting bit.
The new factor in this is covid and the effect it is having on economies and quarantine restrictions. I expect we will still be focused on it rather than brexit come new year
Can somebody explain something to me, am I right TfL now technically runs trains to Reading, which isn't London
Yes. It is London commuter belt, so in the pre-Covid world it makes sense (though it's creating problems for the London Underground Map).
Not sure that the boundaries of Greater London are on the right place.
But my parents live in the commuter belt and they're SWR
My general impression is that TfL have done a better job running trains - e.g. The London Overground - then the various commuter belt franchises.
So perhaps there's a future in TfL running all the commuter services.
To be fair it's easier to run an urban metro under a city authority than it is for a long-distance commuter railway with mixed passenger units, speeds, signals and freight types.
TfL will run Crossrail end to end because those services (and just those services) span into and out of their central tunnels, so are fully integrated with them.
Gauke is correct, of course. However, blaming the EU gets you into 2021. The government then has to actually mitigate the effects of its failure to secure the deal it promised. Having said No Deal is no problem, the government has to manage the reality. That will be the interesting bit.
Gove enlists old enemies to help save the Union Talks held with rivals including George Galloway
Michael Gove has held private talks with senior figures from across the political spectrum - including George Galloway - in an attempt to find a way to save the Union in the face of rising support for independence. Discussions have taken place with a wide range of notable names including Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale, the former Scottish Labour first minister, and Danny Alexander, the former Liberal Democrat chief secretary to the Treasury. George Galloway, the socialist firebrand who is planning to run for Holyrood, has also been sounded out.
Obviously Gove reads my PB posts....
Or possibly, he's just an idiot. 🤔
No, he knows to beat the SNP divided Unionists fall, united Unionists win, certainly at the Holyrood constituency level
You are making the assumption that among unionists, voting for a generic unionist candidate is more important than voting on a range of other issues. In fact, that they are the simple opposite of Nationalists who will vote for the SNP regardless.
I would gently suggest that this is a very bold assumption.
In the current scenario I would suggest most Unionists would happily vote for 1 sole Unionist Alliance candidate at the Holyrood constituency level and then for Scottish Labour, the Scottish Tories, the Scottish LDs or Galloway's new party on the Holyrood top up list
You're welcome to suggest it, but you're wrong. If that was the case, we would see it reflected in the polls.
A more likely effect of such a scenario is that the remaining chunk of Labour Sindy supporters would peal off to the SNP and magnify their victory.
Wrong not one poll has had only one Unionist Alliance Party at the constituency level up against the SNP.
I am sick to death of whinging like yours which plays into Nationalist hands and keeps Unionists divided, this is an election where the country must come first and that means a Unionist Alliance. In seats formally held by Labour the Unionist Alliance candidate would come from Labour and the Tories and LDs would stand down in their favour giving the Unionist Alliance an excellent chance to win a seat the SNP win with under 50% of the vote, even if a few Scottish Labour voters went SNP.
End of conversation
But, given the recent history, no sane party leader is going to want to get into bed with the Tories. Shafted the LibDems when they were in Coalition, threw the Democratic Unionists under a bus over Brexit. Especially when the party leader has the track record on honesty that the present one does.
It is not getting into bed with the Tories, there will be no Tory government at Holyrood next year almost certainly, it is about an Alliance to save the Union.
And if Scotland goes it is Armageddon for Labour, as the current polls show without Scottish MPs supporting him Starmer has near zero chance of becoming PM in 2024, the Tories will comfortably win a majority again
Not really, the current polls are not a good guide to what will happen in 3-4 years. It's perfectly possible for Labour to win a majority without Scotland, as it did in 1997 and 2001. If Johnson presides over a bad Brexit, fucks up Covid and then loses the Northern colony then I'm not sure the Tories will prosper in 2024.
Only with a Blairite leader and Starmer may not be Corbyn but he is no Blairite either.
If Scotland goes the Tories will be re elected whatever happens against Starmer in 2024
Your over-confidence is gratifying.
Not over confidence, fact.
If Scotland went it would be the final nail in the coffin for non Blairite Labour after the loss of the Red Wall, only twice since WW2 in 1945 and 1966 have Labour won a majority in England without Blair, the Tories would have won in 1964 and February 1974 without Scotland and Cameron in 2010 and May in 2017 would have won Tory majorities without Scottish MPs at Westminster
You’re talking tosh as usual.
Yes it’s likely that a Tory majority would be returned post Scottish Independence but its far from “certain” and certainly not “fact”.
Things can change and change quickly, especially if your party continues to be sh*t at governing.
If Scotland goes it is likely the Tories would win again in 2024 against Starmer and Labour would have to then elect a Blairite leader to ever win again
If Boris loses Scotland before the 2024 election whatever mob Farage puts together for the election will be in with a wonderful shout of siphoning off gallons of Tory voters.
Oh no, in that case Farage's mob would be fully behind Boris to deliver hard Brexit and screw the SNP in the independence and trade talks
At that point Farage will be involved in a titanic struggle with Galloway over TBP leadership once GG realises where the real grift is. I believe I read somewhere that TBP had received £2m in donations this year; there's a whole load of money swilling about out there for the right message.
Gove enlists old enemies to help save the Union Talks held with rivals including George Galloway
Michael Gove has held private talks with senior figures from across the political spectrum - including George Galloway - in an attempt to find a way to save the Union in the face of rising support for independence. Discussions have taken place with a wide range of notable names including Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale, the former Scottish Labour first minister, and Danny Alexander, the former Liberal Democrat chief secretary to the Treasury. George Galloway, the socialist firebrand who is planning to run for Holyrood, has also been sounded out.
Obviously Gove reads my PB posts....
Or possibly, he's just an idiot. 🤔
No, he knows to beat the SNP divided Unionists fall, united Unionists win, certainly at the Holyrood constituency level
You are making the assumption that among unionists, voting for a generic unionist candidate is more important than voting on a range of other issues. In fact, that they are the simple opposite of Nationalists who will vote for the SNP regardless.
I would gently suggest that this is a very bold assumption.
In the current scenario I would suggest most Unionists would happily vote for 1 sole Unionist Alliance candidate at the Holyrood constituency level and then for Scottish Labour, the Scottish Tories, the Scottish LDs or Galloway's new party on the Holyrood top up list
You're welcome to suggest it, but you're wrong. If that was the case, we would see it reflected in the polls.
A more likely effect of such a scenario is that the remaining chunk of Labour Sindy supporters would peal off to the SNP and magnify their victory.
Wrong not one poll has had only one Unionist Alliance Party at the constituency level up against the SNP.
I am sick to death of whinging like yours which plays into Nationalist hands and keeps Unionists divided, this is an election where the country must come first and that means a Unionist Alliance. In seats formally held by Labour the Unionist Alliance candidate would come from Labour and the Tories and LDs would stand down in their favour giving the Unionist Alliance an excellent chance to win a seat the SNP win with under 50% of the vote, even if a few Scottish Labour voters went SNP.
End of conversation
But, given the recent history, no sane party leader is going to want to get into bed with the Tories. Shafted the LibDems when they were in Coalition, threw the Democratic Unionists under a bus over Brexit. Especially when the party leader has the track record on honesty that the present one does.
It is not getting into bed with the Tories, there will be no Tory government at Holyrood next year almost certainly, it is about an Alliance to save the Union.
And if Scotland goes it is Armageddon for Labour, as the current polls show without Scottish MPs supporting him Starmer has near zero chance of becoming PM in 2024, the Tories will comfortably win a majority again
Not really, the current polls are not a good guide to what will happen in 3-4 years. It's perfectly possible for Labour to win a majority without Scotland, as it did in 1997 and 2001. If Johnson presides over a bad Brexit, fucks up Covid and then loses the Northern colony then I'm not sure the Tories will prosper in 2024.
Only with a Blairite leader and Starmer may not be Corbyn but he is no Blairite either.
If Scotland goes the Tories will be re elected whatever happens against Starmer in 2024
Your over-confidence is gratifying.
Not over confidence, fact.
If Scotland went it would be the final nail in the coffin for non Blairite Labour after the loss of the Red Wall, only twice since WW2 in 1945 and 1966 have Labour won a majority in England without Blair, the Tories would have won in 1964 and February 1974 without Scotland and Cameron in 2010 and May in 2017 would have won Tory majorities without Scottish MPs at Westminster
We'll see what happens. The Tories will have presided over the loss of the country they were elected to govern. It will be an epic humiliation that will have significant - but unknowable - domestic and international implications. The idea that it will just be business as normal in England is a sweet one, but somewhat naive, IMO.
The evidence from Russia after the USSR broke up is it would lead to a Nationalist backlash in England, just entrenching the Tories even more especially as English voters would want Westminster to take as tough a line with Edinburgh as Brussels is now taking with London
The evidence from Russia is also that the ruling elite who presided over the USSR's break-up lost power and influence, and were hated by Russians for the humiliation inflicted on them and their country.
In the sense that Gorbachev ultimately led to Putin, in which case we could even end up with a Farage premiership in England on the same trend
Possibly so - possibly even slightly more than half England's 55 million people Though remember: opinion polls show that 55% of Britons think leaving the EU has been a mistake. Among the Scots and Northern Irish: it'll be Johnson's fault
Among the ONLY people who matter to the EU - its 460 million population - it's a reasonable guess that the overwhelming majority will blame the British.
And will continue to do so, long after even the least informed English will; see that the suffering is largely one-sided.
At what point do we say that for all Burns’ many sterling qualities, actually Crawley and Sibley are an excellent, complimentary batting partnership and should be opening together?
Maybe when Crawley gets a hundred, but if he bats like this that’s probably a matter of time, albeit probably not in this test.
Edit - ooops. I did try to negate the hex, and I suppose it sort of worked for Crawley.
The main point still stands though.
Would you shift Burns down to number three, or drop him from the team entirely?
The problem with state aid is going to be the exceptions. Right now state aid is being utilised by nearly all EU governments and the UK on a totally unprecedented scale to avert a tsunami of unemployment. These are exceptional times but how long do they remain exceptional, who determines that they are not and what is permitted in "normal" times? These are tricky questions to which a government pretty unsure how the economy is going to bounce will be reluctant to give definite answers.
The other hypocrisy is "level playing field" - on eg cabotage - how is the UK haulage industry competing on a "level playing field" with Polish or Bulgarian hauliers whose wages are a fraction of the UK's?
I would have sworn OFQUAL couldn’t have fucked this up more than they have.
I should have had more faith.
What it does do is underline, even more than last week, is how stupid and inaccurate this algorithm is.
It appears so and an urgent enquiry is needed to prevent it ever happening again
TBH, BigG, that isn’t a problem as this isn’t likely to happen again.
What we do need is an enquiry into the whole system of assessments and quality control, which it’s becoming painfully obvious we can place no reliance on whatsoever.
I would have sworn OFQUAL couldn’t have fucked this up more than they have.
I should have had more faith.
What it does do is underline, even more than last week, is how stupid and inaccurate this algorithm is.
Doesn’t it show the stupidity of having an algorithm at all when you are trying to deal with individual outcomes? Use of an algorithm is a category error.
Comments
Yes it’s likely that a Tory majority would be returned post Scottish Independence but its far from “certain” and certainly not “fact”.
Things can change and change quickly, especially if your party continues to be sh*t at governing.
https://www.rte.ie/news/politics/2020/0821/1160425-politics-dara-calleary/
I had no confidence in the new CEO.
So how many of these will go to his friends?
I think fish is a political decision (so needs heads of government to unlock) and state aid I think the UK will present a domestic regime that agrees limited boundaries of movement with the EU, all under governance of the overall FTA.
Neither is something that's going to sink the deal.
This is superb news, whatever side you sit on.
I think we should decriminalise weed as it happens
My apologies I saw the Tweet today but it's not a new article. It also refers to renting so my apologies for the confusion.
It was however much simpler than completing the whole central operating section and integrating it to the east and west.
On thread, how much can you get on at 1/7?
Off thread: Reading doctor reports on the alleged poisoning of Russian opposition figure Alex Navalny. If it is poisoning it sounds like good old organo- phosphate.
Never mind, Merkel will lead the EU into doing nothing whilst the Kremlin laughs at how subservient Germany and much of the EU is.
Remember, Labour has topped the poll in every election held in Wales since the Coupon won in 1918. Even in 1931 they were the largest party although they didn't have an overall majority.
On the 18th August there were 61 patients in Hospital in Wales suffering with Covid
Work that one out!
https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/healthcare
Not sure that the boundaries of Greater London are in the right place.
Yet still they are getting my grandchildren to pay for my half price McDonalds for the next xx number of years
Can you imagine the frothing, if this was a Labour Government, from PB Tories
I think the UK wide dashboard is reporting only confirmed, currently symptomatic cases.
https://gov.wales/nhs-activity-and-capacity-during-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic-6-august-2020-html
The Welsh dashboard has almost 400 confirmed, suspected or recovering Covid patients.
There is no combination or subset of Welsh figures that match the data on the UK dashboard.
The daily Wales hospital admission figures have been nuts for weeks.
You have apologised several times and just put it behind you
So perhaps there's a future in TfL running all the commuter services.
...Researchers studied six of the participants over 29 weeks in the programme, who prior to the scheme had been responsible for at least 541 crimes at an estimated cost to the public purse of £2.1m....
SWT were fine, I hope that TfL will run all services on the Alton line which my parents are on
God knows how, mind.
I mean yes it’s true, but it doesn’t exactly give the full picture.
PS: they also have good chance to pick up business in EU rather than import from outside EU.
But I do hope SWR lose the franchise
It will be a failure by both parties but the publics perception is likely to blame the EU for their intransgience
Maybe when Crawley gets a hundred, but if he bats like this that’s probably a matter of time, albeit probably not in this test.
Edit - ooops. I did try to negate the hex, and I suppose it sort of worked for Crawley.
The main point still stands though.
At least labour have a chance with Starmer
Crossrail (end to end) will run services from Reading to Shenfield so it will all ultimately come under the purview of TfL.
What you're seeing is the early surface stages.
I should have had more faith.
What it does do is underline, even more than last week, is how stupid and inaccurate this algorithm is.
TfL will run Crossrail end to end because those services (and just those services) span into and out of their central tunnels, so are fully integrated with them.
Among the ONLY people who matter to the EU - its 460 million population - it's a reasonable guess that the overwhelming majority will blame the British.
And will continue to do so, long after even the least informed English will; see that the suffering is largely one-sided.
all western economies are struggling from the effects of COVID and lockdown. It doesn;t look like that's going to change that much anywhere soon.
Meanwhile remainers applaud as the government effectively seals off travel to ever more parts of the Europe they love so much.
When we get part COVID, movement after we;ve left with no deal is going to be freer than it is now!
What we do need is an enquiry into the whole system of assessments and quality control, which it’s becoming painfully obvious we can place no reliance on whatsoever.