@Thescreamingeagles I don't think the SC will take the case, and if they do I expect Trump will get eviscorated again.
The SC will not take an appeal on a no hope case just to eviscerate it a second time.
Unless the conservative justices intend a genuine attempt to fix the election - which seems extraordinarily unlikely - they won’t accept any request for review.
Not a lawyer so genuine question here.
Haven't we got to the point where Trump can be cited as a vexatious litigant? The penalties are, I believe, quite severe.
One thing more - I strongly echo Mystiose's point about wearing masks by reminding folk that if you hate wearing them - and I do - you gonna find the ventilator in the ICU wards much worse!
Currently there are 1421 ventilated patients in the UK out of 66 million residents. I can only assume mask wearing is being universally observed, or else it’s not as important as you say it is.
You miss the fact that fewer patients are being ventilated now compared to April as we know more about how to treat the disease before it gets to that stage to hopefully avoid it getting there.
Will not change him/her from continuing to spout moonshine, selfish dumb halfwit.
I am of course aware that ventilation is not used as often now, because it was killing patients in the spring. No doubt so is the OP. So running around chastising people to wear a mask or they’ll be ventilated is itself witless.
I have been dutifully wearing a mask in order to make those around me in public feel better about life, despite it exacerbating my chronic breathing difficulties and no one being able to provide compelling evidence that it’s making much difference. I’ve self isolated for a fortnight on three occasions now in 2020 for the sole benefit of others.
I am also able to contextualise the covid crisis in a way some of the characters here seemingly cannot.
So how about you fuck off back to your stable of moral high horses rather than cast about baseless insults.
On the subject of Nando's. I've never been, but Wor Lass went once, taken by our niece. Not being familiar with the whole Nando's 'thing' she ordered lamb.
Niece found this quite amusing.
We've had the real deal in Portugal, and it was nice.
I have some sympathy with the argument that a proper statistical analysis is needed, and it is true that the respective performances of the countries of the UK does change with time ... but since Oct, Wales has been at the top almost every week in the death league (normalised according to population size)
AIso, I see Cyclefree has been complaining about lobbyists (possibly rightly).
There is a register for lobbyists for Westminster ..... and for the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh ... and even for Stormont in Northern Ireland. In these countries, there is at least some (possibly minimal) regulation.
There is a country missing. There is no statutory register of lobbyists whatsoever in Wales.
And we have been through a one off fire breaker (Drakeford's words) and it seems by the activity around town that most think covid is over
Twenty-year delay to Leeds leg ‘could derail HS2 in the north’
A proposal to build the rail link in phases has led to fears the project will be scaled back and may never reach Yorkshire.
The eastern leg of the government’s high-speed rail scheme HS2 is at risk of being delayed by up to 20 years, leading to fears it will be scrapped altogether.
North of England and Midlands leaders are fighting with the government behind the scenes on what they believe will be a “phased delivery” of the 120-mile eastern leg between Birmingham and Leeds.
This is expected to be one of the recommendations in an upcoming report by Sir John Armitt, who has been reviewing plans for the line for the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC).
One option would be to build the HS2 line from Birmingham to East Midlands Parkway as a “first phase” with the rest of the line through Chesterfield and Sheffield to Leeds to be built at a later date. It is understood that this could delay the scheme by up to 20 years, with construction unlikely to start on the eastern leg before 2040, if it goes ahead at all.
“The government is on the record saying it’s full speed ahead with the eastern leg of HS2, but there is a growing concern they will go for a phased approach, which essentially means kicking Sheffield and Leeds’s sections into the long grass,” said one northern leader.
Earlier this month, the government confirmed legislation for the HS2 eastern leg, part of phase 2b of the project, will be split into a second parliamentary bill, separate from that for the western leg of phase 2b from Crewe to Manchester.
Lord Adonis, who unveiled the HS2 project in 2010 while secretary of state for transport, said recently there was a risk that splitting phase 2b into separate bills could delay the eastern leg or, at worst, cancel it.
Dan Jarvis, mayor of the Sheffield City Region, said “watering down or cancelling the project would be unforgivable”. He added: “HS2 is more than journey times to London ... Levelling up will not happen with half-measures.
“The track cannot stop short at Birmingham or Manchester. It must come all the way to Yorkshire and beyond. It’s time for the government to stop the dither and delay, put its money where its mouth is and deliver on its promises.”
The eastern leg of the government’s high-speed rail scheme HS2 is at risk of being delayed by up to 20 years, leading to fears it will be scrapped altogether.
North of England and Midlands leaders are fighting with the government behind the scenes on what they believe will be a “phased delivery” of the 120-mile eastern leg between Birmingham and Leeds.
This is expected to be one of the recommendations in an upcoming report by Sir John Armitt, who has been reviewing plans for the line for the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC).
One option would be to build the HS2 line from Birmingham to East Midlands Parkway as a “first phase” with the rest of the line through Chesterfield and Sheffield to Leeds to be built at a later date. It is understood that this could delay the scheme by up to 20 years, with construction unlikely to start on the eastern leg before 2040, if it goes ahead at all.
“The government is on the record saying it’s full speed ahead with the eastern leg of HS2, but there is a growing concern they will go for a phased approach, which essentially means kicking Sheffield and Leeds’s sections into the long grass,” said one northern leader.
Earlier this month, the government confirmed legislation for the HS2 eastern leg, part of phase 2b of the project, will be split into a second parliamentary bill, separate from that for the western leg of phase 2b from Crewe to Manchester.
Lord Adonis, who unveiled the HS2 project in 2010 while secretary of state for transport, said recently there was a risk that splitting phase 2b into separate bills could delay the eastern leg or, at worst, cancel it.
Dan Jarvis, mayor of the Sheffield City Region, said “watering down or cancelling the project would be unforgivable”. He added: “HS2 is more than journey times to London ... Levelling up will not happen with half-measures.
“The track cannot stop short at Birmingham or Manchester. It must come all the way to Yorkshire and beyond. It’s time for the government to stop the dither and delay, put its money where its mouth is and deliver on its promises.”
I have just had a strange dry coughing fit. I do sometimes cough on getting up in the early mornings. However, I have now been awake for five hours. It is not usual for me to be coughing at this time of day.
It's not continuous, and it didn't last an hour. But I did have one yesterday too that I couldn't account for.
Normally, I'd just be annoyed, drink some water and carry on. Certainly I feel fine, apart from very tired and strained, and I wouldn't normally even be considering whether to contact the school. However, it occurs to me that if I go in tomorrow and again have a strange coughing fit, I will not be Mr Popular if it turns out to be Covid.
Does anyone know whether under the government guidance on 'a new, continuous cough' this should be enough to book a test? Because I will admit at this moment I am very conflicted as to what to do.
Just book one!
All my mates had one with no symptoms at all when we had been knocking about with someone who had tested positive - I didn't realise there were people so conscientious about!
One thing more - I strongly echo Mystiose's point about wearing masks by reminding folk that if you hate wearing them - and I do - you gonna find the ventilator in the ICU wards much worse!
Currently there are 1421 ventilated patients in the UK out of 66 million residents. I can only assume mask wearing is being universally observed, or else it’s not as important as you say it is.
You miss the fact that fewer patients are being ventilated now compared to April as we know more about how to treat the disease before it gets to that stage to hopefully avoid it getting there.
Will not change him/her from continuing to spout moonshine, selfish dumb halfwit.
I am of course aware that ventilation is not used as often now, because it was killing patients in the spring. No doubt so is the OP. So running around chastising people to wear a mask or they’ll be ventilated is itself witless.
I have been dutifully wearing a mask in order to make those around me in public feel better about life, despite it exacerbating my chronic breathing difficulties and no one being able to provide compelling evidence that it’s making much difference. I’ve self isolated for a fortnight on three occasions now in 2020 for the sole benefit of others.
I am also able to contextualise the covid crisis in a way some of the characters here seemingly cannot.
So how about you fuck off back to your stable of moral high horses rather than cast about baseless insults.
OOOH don't like justified criticism then. If all wore masks it would reduce risk , only a moron would think it was useless. Worst case it will provide some protection and therefore reduce risk.
Scottish Labour once again likely to get squeezed next year outside Glasgow and central Scotland, with Nationalists voting SNP and Unionists voting Tory
You are still conflating the concepts 'Pro-independence', 'Nationalist' and 'SNP voter' in your desperate anxiety. And quite deliberately. Because it helps you create your narrative that only SNP voters would vote for Yes.
Are the LibDems still a thing in Scotland?
Bumping along the bottom and fighting the Greens for, um let me think, 4th/5th place, pretty much.
But what's left of them are the more right-wing ones - shy Tories, or with some specific local factor such as the ancient crofting/LD linkage, though that seems to have evaporated except in the Northern Isles.
In terms of the indyref vote, I'd say a bit for yes and a bit for no. Depends how many are reluctant Yes after the full impact of Brexit. I think @DavidL had some comments on changing attitudes in the professional classes and the like. t.
The LDs are only really a force in Scotland in Edinburgh West, North East Fife, Dunbartonshire East and the Highlands and Orkney and Shetland.
However they are very good at getting out their vote where it matters, hence the LDs have 4 Scottish MPs now and Scottish Labour only have 1.
The Scottish LDs also have more constituency MSPs than Scottish Labour, 4 to 3 and it is not inconceivable they could pick up Caithness, Sutherland and Ross (which has a LD MP) and Argyle and Bute next year where they are second behind the SNP if they get tactical votes from the Tories and Labour.
If we get a trade deal with the EU the Brexit impact will be reduced
The Lib Dems would have had a reasonable chance in Argyll & Bute if the SNP had chosen Rhiannon Spear as their candidate. Having chosen a local candidate, the SNP are much more likely to retain the seat.
I have some sympathy with the argument that a proper statistical analysis is needed, and it is true that the respective performances of the countries of the UK does change with time ... but since Oct, Wales has been at the top almost every week in the death league (normalised according to population size)
AIso, I see Cyclefree has been complaining about lobbyists (possibly rightly).
There is a register for lobbyists for Westminster ..... and for the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh ... and even for Stormont in Northern Ireland. In these countries, there is at least some (possibly minimal) regulation.
There is a country missing. There is no statutory register of lobbyists whatsoever in Wales.
And we have been through a one off fire breaker (Drakeford's words) and it seems by the activity around town that most think covid is over
It feels to me like coping with Covid on a national level is like going downhill on a bike. If you never touch the brakes you'll wipe out, thousands in hospital and dying. if you brake too late you have to jam them on harder to slow yourself down enough. or maybe you could brake little and often (not quite sure how this works in the real world). you would hope that when you lift off the brake you would only accelerate gently. but human behaviour being what it is it looks like the moment we come off the brake someone has also floored the accelerator.
Worthy of note in relation to both the betting markets and Trump's long term squatting in the White House is that over the next two days AZ, PA and MI will effectively certify their results and officially push Biden past 270.
Tick tock ....
Florida did that back in 2000 but the Bush v Gore impasse continued for several weeks beyond it.
I have just had a strange dry coughing fit. I do sometimes cough on getting up in the early mornings. However, I have now been awake for five hours. It is not usual for me to be coughing at this time of day.
It's not continuous, and it didn't last an hour. But I did have one yesterday too that I couldn't account for.
Normally, I'd just be annoyed, drink some water and carry on. Certainly I feel fine, apart from very tired and strained, and I wouldn't normally even be considering whether to contact the school. However, it occurs to me that if I go in tomorrow and again have a strange coughing fit, I will not be Mr Popular if it turns out to be Covid.
Does anyone know whether under the government guidance on 'a new, continuous cough' this should be enough to book a test? Because I will admit at this moment I am very conflicted as to what to do.
Just book one!
All my mates had one with no symptoms at all when we had been knocking about with someone who had tested positive - I didn't realise there were people so conscientious about!
I have just had a strange dry coughing fit. I do sometimes cough on getting up in the early mornings. However, I have now been awake for five hours. It is not usual for me to be coughing at this time of day.
It's not continuous, and it didn't last an hour. But I did have one yesterday too that I couldn't account for.
Normally, I'd just be annoyed, drink some water and carry on. Certainly I feel fine, apart from very tired and strained, and I wouldn't normally even be considering whether to contact the school. However, it occurs to me that if I go in tomorrow and again have a strange coughing fit, I will not be Mr Popular if it turns out to be Covid.
Does anyone know whether under the government guidance on 'a new, continuous cough' this should be enough to book a test? Because I will admit at this moment I am very conflicted as to what to do.
Just book one!
All my mates had one with no symptoms at all when we had been knocking about with someone who had tested positive - I didn't realise there were people so conscientious about!
I have just had a strange dry coughing fit. I do sometimes cough on getting up in the early mornings. However, I have now been awake for five hours. It is not usual for me to be coughing at this time of day.
It's not continuous, and it didn't last an hour. But I did have one yesterday too that I couldn't account for.
Normally, I'd just be annoyed, drink some water and carry on. Certainly I feel fine, apart from very tired and strained, and I wouldn't normally even be considering whether to contact the school. However, it occurs to me that if I go in tomorrow and again have a strange coughing fit, I will not be Mr Popular if it turns out to be Covid.
Does anyone know whether under the government guidance on 'a new, continuous cough' this should be enough to book a test? Because I will admit at this moment I am very conflicted as to what to do.
Just book one!
All my mates had one with no symptoms at all when we had been knocking about with someone who had tested positive - I didn't realise there were people so conscientious about!
Dunno where yd lives but in most parts tests are not being rationed, there’s far more capacity than demand. I booked one at 6am this morning for my wife who had developed fatigue and a cough last night and we could have had any time we wanted today from 8am onwards.
For the benefit of the sanctimonious pricks here (we know who they are), we did not arrange this test because either of us is remotely scared for ourselves but out of good citizenship.
I have some sympathy with the argument that a proper statistical analysis is needed, and it is true that the respective performances of the countries of the UK does change with time ... but since Oct, Wales has been at the top almost every week in the death league (normalised according to population size)
AIso, I see Cyclefree has been complaining about lobbyists (possibly rightly).
There is a register for lobbyists for Westminster ..... and for the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh ... and even for Stormont in Northern Ireland. In these countries, there is at least some (possibly minimal) regulation.
There is a country missing. There is no statutory register of lobbyists whatsoever in Wales.
And we have been through a one off fire breaker (Drakeford's words) and it seems by the activity around town that most think covid is over
It feels to me like coping with Covid on a national level is like going downhill on a bike. If you never touch the brakes you'll wipe out, thousands in hospital and dying. if you brake too late you have to jam them on harder to slow yourself down enough. or maybe you could brake little and often (not quite sure how this works in the real world). you would hope that when you lift off the brake you would only accelerate gently. but human behaviour being what it is it looks like the moment we come off the brake someone has also floored the accelerator.
I could understand it if there was no end in sight, no vaccine etc. But another 10-12 weeks and very least granny will be safe, who make up the vast bulk of those at risk of dying.
IDS now positioning himself as a leading backbench rebel against PM Boris on both a deal with the EU and lockdown, much as he was a leading rebel against Major's government in the early 1990s
On topic I'm not going to pretend to have my finger on the pulse of the British family but I wonder if this isn't exaggerating how desperately everybody loves Christmas. I mean kids love the presents, but they can still get their presents. If the government calmly and reasonably says, "this disease is very bad, the vaccine will just be a few more months and then you can get together with your family", is everyone really going to say "fuck everything, we do this every year, I want to see the grandparents *now* and I don't care if their immune system is eating their lungs in January"?
The kids don't want to see the oldies but the oldies want to see the kids.
Scottish Labour once again likely to get squeezed next year outside Glasgow and central Scotland, with Nationalists voting SNP and Unionists voting Tory
You are still conflating the concepts 'Pro-independence', 'Nationalist' and 'SNP voter' in your desperate anxiety. And quite deliberately. Because it helps you create your narrative that only SNP voters would vote for Yes.
Are the LibDems still a thing in Scotland?
Bumping along the bottom and fighting the Greens for, um let me think, 4th/5th place, pretty much.
But what's left of them are the more right-wing ones - shy Tories, or with some specific local factor such as the ancient crofting/LD linkage, though that seems to have evaporated except in the Northern Isles.
In terms of the indyref vote, I'd say a bit for yes and a bit for no. Depends how many are reluctant Yes after the full impact of Brexit. I think @DavidL had some comments on changing attitudes in the professional classes and the like. t.
The LDs are only really a force in Scotland in Edinburgh West, North East Fife, Dunbartonshire East and the Highlands and Orkney and Shetland.
However they are very good at getting out their vote where it matters, hence the LDs have 4 Scottish MPs now and Scottish Labour only have 1.
The Scottish LDs also have more constituency MSPs than Scottish Labour, 4 to 3 and it is not inconceivable they could pick up Caithness, Sutherland and Ross (which has a LD MP) and Argyle and Bute next year where they are second behind the SNP if they get tactical votes from the Tories and Labour.
If we get a trade deal with the EU the Brexit impact will be reduced
The Lib Dems would have had a reasonable chance in Argyll & Bute if the SNP had chosen Rhiannon Spear as their candidate. Having chosen a local candidate, the SNP are much more likely to retain the seat.
Depends how much Tory and Labour tactical voting there is, though I agree Caithnesss, Sutherland and Ross is the more likely LD gain from the SNP
IDS now positioning himself as a leading backbench rebel against PM Boris on both a deal with the EU and lockdown, much as he was a leading rebel against Major's government in the early 1990s
Mr. Doethur, victory wine is a great line, reads like a skaldic kenning.
He's trying to Klingon to his victory.
Did you see yesterday that a Labour MP compared Jeremy Corbyn to Hannibal, finally some Corbynites have realised a couple of lucky victories in battle ain't worth shit if you lose war so badly you get wiped out.
I'm honestly not sure that the point Lewis is making is the one he thinks he is making. To me it shows the value of not giving an opponent another chance.
Corbyn has repeatedly failed to do what was required of him and at each stage has raised the stakes so that what would have been sufficient from him before is now no longer enough. Corbyn has on two occasions over the past month left Starmer with the choice of losing all credibility with the wider public or acting in response to his actions. More generally, for the whole of 2020 we've seen continual coordinated attempts to undermine Starmer by a far left unwilling to come to terms with his leadership.
I think Corbyn is incapable of the actions that will be necessary for him to regain the Labour whip.
I think his problem, and why Starmer's action was, though surprising, smart, is that Corbyn has always said what he thinks and then, as Leader and now ex-Leader, had to pretend he thinks something else when there is criticism (going from 'dramatically exagerrated' to pretending he didn't mean that it was exaggerated), then returning to what he actually thinks later. Starmer clearly knows that's how Corbyn operates, so is either expecting him to say something to justify not restoring the whip, or is providing a warning to Corbyn what will happen if he does say what he thinks.
I think Lewis's point is that the decent thing to do would have been to exile Corbyn to Elba.
Actually I think he already has been. I think Starmer is going to refuse to reinstate the whip and just ride out the tantrums.
Scottish Labour once again likely to get squeezed next year outside Glasgow and central Scotland, with Nationalists voting SNP and Unionists voting Tory
You are still conflating the concepts 'Pro-independence', 'Nationalist' and 'SNP voter' in your desperate anxiety. And quite deliberately. Because it helps you create your narrative that only SNP voters would vote for Yes.
Are the LibDems still a thing in Scotland?
The Lib Dems currently have 4x as many Westminster MPs in Scotland as the Labour party.
Which is, it is a little unkind to point out, a bit like saying the toddler next door is 5x as fast as my tortoise.
On the other hand, only 5 out of 129 MSPs at Holyrood. Interestingly, mostly constituency - not usual for small parties.
The efficiency of the Lib Dem vote in Scotland must make them seriously wonder about the merits of PR!
It does seem that their previous stronghold in the borders, David Steel country, has now completely vanished. Where they lose they seem to disappear fairly quickly.
Quite so. Not just David Steel and his Borders colleagues. John Robertson in East Lothian too ... I had an old friend in Hawick who was very active in the LDs. He died some years back - I wonder what he would have said about today.
Isn't their vote in NE Fife due in substantial part to St Andrews University?
Scottish Labour once again likely to get squeezed next year outside Glasgow and central Scotland, with Nationalists voting SNP and Unionists voting Tory
You are still conflating the concepts 'Pro-independence', 'Nationalist' and 'SNP voter' in your desperate anxiety. And quite deliberately. Because it helps you create your narrative that only SNP voters would vote for Yes.
Are the LibDems still a thing in Scotland?
The Lib Dems currently have 4x as many Westminster MPs in Scotland as the Labour party.
Which is, it is a little unkind to point out, a bit like saying the toddler next door is 5x as fast as my tortoise.
On the other hand, only 5 out of 129 MSPs at Holyrood. Interestingly, mostly constituency - not usual for small parties.
The efficiency of the Lib Dem vote in Scotland must make them seriously wonder about the merits of PR!
It does seem that their previous stronghold in the borders, David Steel country, has now completely vanished. Where they lose they seem to disappear fairly quickly.
Quite so. Not just David Steel and his Borders colleagues. John Robertson in East Lothian too ... I had an old friend in Hawick who was very active in the LDs. He died some years back - I wonder what he would have said about today.
Isn't their vote in NE Fife due in substantial part to St Andrews University?
@Thescreamingeagles I don't think the SC will take the case, and if they do I expect Trump will get eviscorated again.
The SC will not take an appeal on a no hope case just to eviscerate it a second time.
Unless the conservative justices intend a genuine attempt to fix the election - which seems extraordinarily unlikely - they won’t accept any request for review.
Not a lawyer so genuine question here.
Haven't we got to the point where Trump can be cited as a vexatious litigant? The penalties are, I believe, quite severe.
I am not an American lawyer but my understanding is that when a case is dismissed with prejudice it means that the parties are not allowed to raise the same point again in any other proceedings. One of the parties to this fiasco in Penn was the Donald Trump campaign so they are effectively barred, at least in Penn, from trying again on the same or very similar grounds. If this is being in other states as well he will gradually run out of options.
Scottish Labour once again likely to get squeezed next year outside Glasgow and central Scotland, with Nationalists voting SNP and Unionists voting Tory
You are still conflating the concepts 'Pro-independence', 'Nationalist' and 'SNP voter' in your desperate anxiety. And quite deliberately. Because it helps you create your narrative that only SNP voters would vote for Yes.
Are the LibDems still a thing in Scotland?
Bumping along the bottom and fighting the Greens for, um let me think, 4th/5th place, pretty much.
But what's left of them are the more right-wing ones - shy Tories, or with some specific local factor such as the ancient crofting/LD linkage, though that seems to have evaporated except in the Northern Isles.
In terms of the indyref vote, I'd say a bit for yes and a bit for no. Depends how many are reluctant Yes after the full impact of Brexit. I think @DavidL had some comments on changing attitudes in the professional classes and the like. t.
The LDs are only really a force in Scotland in Edinburgh West, North East Fife, Dunbartonshire East and the Highlands and Orkney and Shetland.
However they are very good at getting out their vote where it matters, hence the LDs have 4 Scottish MPs now and Scottish Labour only have 1.
The Scottish LDs also have more constituency MSPs than Scottish Labour, 4 to 3 and it is not inconceivable they could pick up Caithness, Sutherland and Ross (which has a LD MP) and Argyle and Bute next year where they are second behind the SNP if they get tactical votes from the Tories and Labour.
If we get a trade deal with the EU the Brexit impact will be reduced
The Lib Dems would have had a reasonable chance in Argyll & Bute if the SNP had chosen Rhiannon Spear as their candidate. Having chosen a local candidate, the SNP are much more likely to retain the seat.
So hard to collect just 2kg of stuff from the moon, and that's mainly about the delivery being earth-based.
For me though the main interest in the article was the appearance of James Burke. He's such a good guy. I've recently re-watched the 'Connections' series and thoroughly enjoyed it. What strikes you though along the way is the swish attire of Mr Burke - he was or thought himself a superstar of the time.
I can't work out quite how it was that he faded away so.
Anyway hat's off to Mr Burke, and a small recommendation to others to his works.
One thing more - I strongly echo Mystiose's point about wearing masks by reminding folk that if you hate wearing them - and I do - you gonna find the ventilator in the ICU wards much worse!
Currently there are 1421 ventilated patients in the UK out of 66 million residents. I can only assume mask wearing is being universally observed, or else it’s not as important as you say it is.
You miss the fact that fewer patients are being ventilated now compared to April as we know more about how to treat the disease before it gets to that stage to hopefully avoid it getting there.
Will not change him/her from continuing to spout moonshine, selfish dumb halfwit.
I am of course aware that ventilation is not used as often now, because it was killing patients in the spring. No doubt so is the OP. So running around chastising people to wear a mask or they’ll be ventilated is itself witless.
I have been dutifully wearing a mask in order to make those around me in public feel better about life, despite it exacerbating my chronic breathing difficulties and no one being able to provide compelling evidence that it’s making much difference. I’ve self isolated for a fortnight on three occasions now in 2020 for the sole benefit of others.
I am also able to contextualise the covid crisis in a way some of the characters here seemingly cannot.
So how about you fuck off back to your stable of moral high horses rather than cast about baseless insults.
I'm generally on the more risk-averse side of the debate, but well said, and well done.
I also think you haven't received the substantial credit you deserve for passing on (without revealing sources) the information you had about the likely efficacy and timetable of the vaccines back in September, when many of us were all angst and aporia. Both seem to be turning out very close to what you predicted.
IDS now positioning himself as a leading backbench rebel against PM Boris on both a deal with the EU and lockdown, much as he was a leading rebel against Major's government in the early 1990s
I have just had a strange dry coughing fit. I do sometimes cough on getting up in the early mornings. However, I have now been awake for five hours. It is not usual for me to be coughing at this time of day.
It's not continuous, and it didn't last an hour. But I did have one yesterday too that I couldn't account for.
Normally, I'd just be annoyed, drink some water and carry on. Certainly I feel fine, apart from very tired and strained, and I wouldn't normally even be considering whether to contact the school. However, it occurs to me that if I go in tomorrow and again have a strange coughing fit, I will not be Mr Popular if it turns out to be Covid.
Does anyone know whether under the government guidance on 'a new, continuous cough' this should be enough to book a test? Because I will admit at this moment I am very conflicted as to what to do.
Just book one!
All my mates had one with no symptoms at all when we had been knocking about with someone who had tested positive - I didn't realise there were people so conscientious about!
Dunno where yd lives but in most parts tests are not being rationed, there’s far more capacity than demand. I booked one at 6am this morning for my wife who had developed fatigue and a cough last night and we could have had any time we wanted today from 8am onwards.
For the benefit of the sanctimonious pricks here (we know who they are), we did not arrange this test because either of us is remotely scared for ourselves but out of good citizenship.
Full of the milk of human kindness as ever, you know how to endear yourself to people. Should have worn a mask methinks
As he will remind anyone 43 seconds into any interview. Paddy Ashdown was a bit the same with regard to being a marine/in the SBS, though tbf it was often the hackneyed hack interviewing him that would bring it up.
In fairness he could run the best part of 400m in that time!
He was also a very competent QC specialising in licensing law.
But he was no Jo Swinson...er...Ed Davey...er...
He was better than either and he wasn't a good leader. Came much too late for him I think.
One thing more - I strongly echo Mystiose's point about wearing masks by reminding folk that if you hate wearing them - and I do - you gonna find the ventilator in the ICU wards much worse!
Currently there are 1421 ventilated patients in the UK out of 66 million residents. I can only assume mask wearing is being universally observed, or else it’s not as important as you say it is.
You miss the fact that fewer patients are being ventilated now compared to April as we know more about how to treat the disease before it gets to that stage to hopefully avoid it getting there.
Will not change him/her from continuing to spout moonshine, selfish dumb halfwit.
I am of course aware that ventilation is not used as often now, because it was killing patients in the spring. No doubt so is the OP. So running around chastising people to wear a mask or they’ll be ventilated is itself witless.
I have been dutifully wearing a mask in order to make those around me in public feel better about life, despite it exacerbating my chronic breathing difficulties and no one being able to provide compelling evidence that it’s making much difference. I’ve self isolated for a fortnight on three occasions now in 2020 for the sole benefit of others.
I am also able to contextualise the covid crisis in a way some of the characters here seemingly cannot.
So how about you fuck off back to your stable of moral high horses rather than cast about baseless insults.
OOOH don't like justified criticism then. If all wore masks it would reduce risk , only a moron would think it was useless. Worst case it will provide some protection and therefore reduce risk.
I come here to learn from others better informed than me and for entertainment. Go on, inform me. Why are you so confident that the benefit of mass public mask wearing on covid risk outweighs broader risks / negative effects. Social impact on children and reduced quality of air intake for those with high blood pressure to name two. Or even in the specific arena of covid, increased risk taking while wearing a (probably ill fitted) mask?
I am aware of the theories on viral load, reduced face touching etc... Some balanced evidence would be appreciated this far into the experiment. Or you could just go around with ad hom attacks which I doubt entertain or inform anyone but yourself.
Sad news in Leicester. Tony Gershlick who was the first British cardiologist to implant a coronary artery stent, and a genuine titan of the profession died the other of covid in the Glenfield Hospital where he still worked. These numbers are more than statistics.
One thing more - I strongly echo Mystiose's point about wearing masks by reminding folk that if you hate wearing them - and I do - you gonna find the ventilator in the ICU wards much worse!
Currently there are 1421 ventilated patients in the UK out of 66 million residents. I can only assume mask wearing is being universally observed, or else it’s not as important as you say it is.
You miss the fact that fewer patients are being ventilated now compared to April as we know more about how to treat the disease before it gets to that stage to hopefully avoid it getting there.
Will not change him/her from continuing to spout moonshine, selfish dumb halfwit.
I am of course aware that ventilation is not used as often now, because it was killing patients in the spring. No doubt so is the OP. So running around chastising people to wear a mask or they’ll be ventilated is itself witless.
I have been dutifully wearing a mask in order to make those around me in public feel better about life, despite it exacerbating my chronic breathing difficulties and no one being able to provide compelling evidence that it’s making much difference. I’ve self isolated for a fortnight on three occasions now in 2020 for the sole benefit of others.
I am also able to contextualise the covid crisis in a way some of the characters here seemingly cannot.
So how about you fuck off back to your stable of moral high horses rather than cast about baseless insults.
OOOH don't like justified criticism then. If all wore masks it would reduce risk , only a moron would think it was useless. Worst case it will provide some protection and therefore reduce risk.
I come here to learn from others better informed than me and for entertainment. Go on, inform me. Why are you so confident that the benefit of mass public mask wearing on covid risk outweighs broader risks / negative effects. Social impact on children and reduced quality of air intake for those with high blood pressure to name two. Or even in the specific arena of covid, increased risk taking while wearing a (probably ill fitted) mask?
I am aware of the theories on viral load, reduced face touching etc... Some balanced evidence would be appreciated this far into the experiment. Or you could just go around with ad hom attacks which I doubt entertain or inform anyone but yourself.
Any fool would know that anything that stops you spraying covid in someones face direct can only reduce the chances of spreading it. It does not take a rocket scientist to work that out. Only brain dead morons would think that spraying their spittle on peoples faces is less likely to infect them rather than them spraying it into a mask. Is that simple enough.
Having been (fairly) pulled up for having gone too sarcastic and harsh in my responses, I will try to respond as levelly and objectively as I can.
Sumption's main thrust, as I read it, is that it is immoral for people to have their choices made for them; that people should be able to choose for themselves.
I would say his argument collapses with the inextricable issue that in a pandemic, and with infectious disease control, people cannot simply make choices for themselves but inevitably choose to inflict the outcome of their own choices onto others - regardless of the choice they themselves made (and therefore causes the exact issue he rails against).
I do not believe that anyone has deliberately chosen to infect others. Yet millions of people in this country alone have been infected. Tens of thousands are being infected every day - and therefore tens of thousands are infecting others every day; millions have infected others.
Say, then, that I'm willing to take the chance on my own behalf. Let's be honest, my chances are pretty good. I'm 47, healthy, not even overweight, no known co-morbidities... and if I take that chance, I'm taking it also for my wife, both my daughters, and my severely autistic son.
Again, they're all pretty healthy, but taking five spins on the roulette wheel instead of one makes the odds shift less nicely. And we're also taking that chance for all the kids at The Lad's school - a special school packed full of children with dsabilities, co-morbidites, and learning difficulties (noticing that people with learning disabilities have a six-fold worse chance of dying than those without doesn't give me a comfortable feeling with risking The Lad to start with).
This thing gets in to that school and despite their younger status, I would expect at least one child to die. And that would be on me. That would be down to my choice on taking the risk; I would have ended up, completely without wanting to, taking away the entire life choices of someone else.
As he will remind anyone 43 seconds into any interview. Paddy Ashdown was a bit the same with regard to being a marine/in the SBS, though tbf it was often the hackneyed hack interviewing him that would bring it up.
In fairness he could run the best part of 400m in that time!
He was also a very competent QC specialising in licensing law.
But he was no Jo Swinson...er...Ed Davey...er...
He was better than either and he wasn't a good leader. Came much too late for him I think.
Exceedingly low bar mind you David, though does not preclude him being interesting to talk to, but as you say a crap leader.
A 52 year old local woman has been killed while attempting to photograph Gwrych Castle (where Celebrity is being filmed) by the middle gate while standing in the road. A 24 year old driver was involved.
My daughter who lives by the Castle says that the public are ignoring warning notices and coned areas and doing almost anything to get photos of the venue
@Thescreamingeagles I don't think the SC will take the case, and if they do I expect Trump will get eviscorated again.
The SC will not take an appeal on a no hope case just to eviscerate it a second time.
Unless the conservative justices intend a genuine attempt to fix the election - which seems extraordinarily unlikely - they won’t accept any request for review.
Not a lawyer so genuine question here.
Haven't we got to the point where Trump can be cited as a vexatious litigant? The penalties are, I believe, quite severe.
I am not an American lawyer but my understanding is that when a case is dismissed with prejudice it means that the parties are not allowed to raise the same point again in any other proceedings. One of the parties to this fiasco in Penn was the Donald Trump campaign so they are effectively barred, at least in Penn, from trying again on the same or very similar grounds. If this is being in other states as well he will gradually run out of options.
Noted with thanks, David.
I did notice the 'with prejudice' bit and wondered if it had any significance beyond indicating how pissed off he was.
Scottish Labour once again likely to get squeezed next year outside Glasgow and central Scotland, with Nationalists voting SNP and Unionists voting Tory
You are still conflating the concepts 'Pro-independence', 'Nationalist' and 'SNP voter' in your desperate anxiety. And quite deliberately. Because it helps you create your narrative that only SNP voters would vote for Yes.
Are the LibDems still a thing in Scotland?
Bumping along the bottom and fighting the Greens for, um let me think, 4th/5th place, pretty much.
But what's left of them are the more right-wing ones - shy Tories, or with some specific local factor such as the ancient crofting/LD linkage, though that seems to have evaporated except in the Northern Isles.
In terms of the indyref vote, I'd say a bit for yes and a bit for no. Depends how many are reluctant Yes after the full impact of Brexit. I think @DavidL had some comments on changing attitudes in the professional classes and the like. t.
The LDs are only really a force in Scotland in Edinburgh West, North East Fife, Dunbartonshire East and the Highlands and Orkney and Shetland.
However they are very good at getting out their vote where it matters, hence the LDs have 4 Scottish MPs now and Scottish Labour only have 1.
The Scottish LDs also have more constituency MSPs than Scottish Labour, 4 to 3 and it is not inconceivable they could pick up Caithness, Sutherland and Ross (which has a LD MP) and Argyle and Bute next year where they are second behind the SNP if they get tactical votes from the Tories and Labour.
If we get a trade deal with the EU the Brexit impact will be reduced
The Lib Dems would have had a reasonable chance in Argyll & Bute if the SNP had chosen Rhiannon Spear as their candidate. Having chosen a local candidate, the SNP are much more likely to retain the seat.
SNP dodged a bullet there
Rhiannon Spear sounds more like a character from Game of Thrones than a politician.
Having been (fairly) pulled up for having gone too sarcastic and harsh in my responses, I will try to respond as levelly and objectively as I can.
Sumption's main thrust, as I read it, is that it is immoral for people to have their choices made for them; that people should be able to choose for themselves.
I would say his argument collapses with the inextricable issue that in a pandemic, and with infectious disease control, people cannot simply make choices for themselves but inevitably choose to inflict the outcome of their own choices onto others - regardless of the choice they themselves made (and therefore causes the exact issue he rails against).
I do not believe that anyone has deliberately chosen to infect others. Yet millions of people in this country alone have been infected. Tens of thousands are being infected every day - and therefore tens of thousands are infecting others every day; millions have infected others.
Say, then, that I'm willing to take the chance on my own behalf. Let's be honest, my chances are pretty good. I'm 47, healthy, not even overweight, no known co-morbidities... and if I take that chance, I'm taking it also for my wife, both my daughters, and my severely autistic son.
Again, they're all pretty healthy, but taking five spins on the roulette wheel instead of one makes the odds shift less nicely. And we're also taking that chance for all the kids at The Lad's school - a special school packed full of children with dsabilities, co-morbidites, and learning difficulties (noticing that people with learning disabilities have a six-fold worse chance of dying than those without doesn't give me a comfortable feeling with risking The Lad to start with).
This thing gets in to that school and despite their younger status, I would expect at least one child to die. And that would be on me. That would be down to my choice on taking the risk; I would have ended up, completely without wanting to, taking away the entire life choices of someone else.
I am generally a bit of a fan of Sumption and often agree with him but I don't on this. Of course people should have the right to run risks for themselves. A grandparent can choose to hug their grandchildren in the knowledge that if that grandchild inadvertently transmits the virus to them they may become seriously ill. They are entitled to find the risk worth it.
What they don't have the right to do is run that risk for others whether in their care home, their church, their coffee morning etc having taken that risk. That is not a matter of personal choice: it is simply selfish and irresponsible.
@Thescreamingeagles I don't think the SC will take the case, and if they do I expect Trump will get eviscorated again.
The SC will not take an appeal on a no hope case just to eviscerate it a second time.
Unless the conservative justices intend a genuine attempt to fix the election - which seems extraordinarily unlikely - they won’t accept any request for review.
Not a lawyer so genuine question here.
Haven't we got to the point where Trump can be cited as a vexatious litigant? The penalties are, I believe, quite severe.
I am not an American lawyer but my understanding is that when a case is dismissed with prejudice it means that the parties are not allowed to raise the same point again in any other proceedings. One of the parties to this fiasco in Penn was the Donald Trump campaign so they are effectively barred, at least in Penn, from trying again on the same or very similar grounds. If this is being in other states as well he will gradually run out of options.
Noted with thanks, David.
I did notice the 'with prejudice' bit and wondered if it had any significance beyond indicating how pissed off he was.
I don't think that there is any doubt about the latter point! He clearly felt that he had been left to try and find the semblance of an argument in the cases he had been referred to since the petitioners had failed to do so and that it proved a serious waste of his time.
I know Giuliani is beyond embarrassment but, ouch.
IDS now positioning himself as a leading backbench rebel against PM Boris on both a deal with the EU and lockdown, much as he was a leading rebel against Major's government in the early 1990s
I have some sympathy with the argument that a proper statistical analysis is needed, and it is true that the respective performances of the countries of the UK does change with time ... but since Oct, Wales has been at the top almost every week in the death league (normalised according to population size)
AIso, I see Cyclefree has been complaining about lobbyists (possibly rightly).
There is a register for lobbyists for Westminster ..... and for the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh ... and even for Stormont in Northern Ireland. In these countries, there is at least some (possibly minimal) regulation.
There is a country missing. There is no statutory register of lobbyists whatsoever in Wales.
And we have been through a one off fire breaker (Drakeford's words) and it seems by the activity around town that most think covid is over
It feels to me like coping with Covid on a national level is like going downhill on a bike. If you never touch the brakes you'll wipe out, thousands in hospital and dying. if you brake too late you have to jam them on harder to slow yourself down enough. or maybe you could brake little and often (not quite sure how this works in the real world). you would hope that when you lift off the brake you would only accelerate gently. but human behaviour being what it is it looks like the moment we come off the brake someone has also floored the accelerator.
IDS now positioning himself as a leading backbench rebel against PM Boris on both a deal with the EU and lockdown, much as he was a leading rebel against Major's government in the early 1990s
Having been (fairly) pulled up for having gone too sarcastic and harsh in my responses, I will try to respond as levelly and objectively as I can.
Sumption's main thrust, as I read it, is that it is immoral for people to have their choices made for them; that people should be able to choose for themselves.
I would say his argument collapses with the inextricable issue that in a pandemic, and with infectious disease control, people cannot simply make choices for themselves but inevitably choose to inflict the outcome of their own choices onto others - regardless of the choice they themselves made (and therefore causes the exact issue he rails against).
I do not believe that anyone has deliberately chosen to infect others. Yet millions of people in this country alone have been infected. Tens of thousands are being infected every day - and therefore tens of thousands are infecting others every day; millions have infected others.
Say, then, that I'm willing to take the chance on my own behalf. Let's be honest, my chances are pretty good. I'm 47, healthy, not even overweight, no known co-morbidities... and if I take that chance, I'm taking it also for my wife, both my daughters, and my severely autistic son.
Again, they're all pretty healthy, but taking five spins on the roulette wheel instead of one makes the odds shift less nicely. And we're also taking that chance for all the kids at The Lad's school - a special school packed full of children with dsabilities, co-morbidites, and learning difficulties (noticing that people with learning disabilities have a six-fold worse chance of dying than those without doesn't give me a comfortable feeling with risking The Lad to start with).
This thing gets in to that school and despite their younger status, I would expect at least one child to die. And that would be on me. That would be down to my choice on taking the risk; I would have ended up, completely without wanting to, taking away the entire life choices of someone else.
I am generally a bit of a fan of Sumption and often agree with him but I don't on this. Of course people should have the right to run risks for themselves. A grandparent can choose to hug their grandchildren in the knowledge that if that grandchild inadvertently transmits the virus to them they may become seriously ill. They are entitled to find the risk worth it.
What they don't have the right to do is run that risk for others whether in their care home, their church, their coffee morning etc having taken that risk. That is not a matter of personal choice: it is simply selfish and irresponsible.
I think that is a fair position. I have a lot of sympathy with the thrust of his views, but in squaring the principal with the circumstances of the crisis I think while many might give too little weight to the former, he might give too much to it.
IDS now positioning himself as a leading backbench rebel against PM Boris on both a deal with the EU and lockdown, much as he was a leading rebel against Major's government in the early 1990s
Having been (fairly) pulled up for having gone too sarcastic and harsh in my responses, I will try to respond as levelly and objectively as I can.
Sumption's main thrust, as I read it, is that it is immoral for people to have their choices made for them; that people should be able to choose for themselves.
I would say his argument collapses with the inextricable issue that in a pandemic, and with infectious disease control, people cannot simply make choices for themselves but inevitably choose to inflict the outcome of their own choices onto others - regardless of the choice they themselves made (and therefore causes the exact issue he rails against).
I do not believe that anyone has deliberately chosen to infect others. Yet millions of people in this country alone have been infected. Tens of thousands are being infected every day - and therefore tens of thousands are infecting others every day; millions have infected others.
Say, then, that I'm willing to take the chance on my own behalf. Let's be honest, my chances are pretty good. I'm 47, healthy, not even overweight, no known co-morbidities... and if I take that chance, I'm taking it also for my wife, both my daughters, and my severely autistic son.
Again, they're all pretty healthy, but taking five spins on the roulette wheel instead of one makes the odds shift less nicely. And we're also taking that chance for all the kids at The Lad's school - a special school packed full of children with dsabilities, co-morbidites, and learning difficulties (noticing that people with learning disabilities have a six-fold worse chance of dying than those without doesn't give me a comfortable feeling with risking The Lad to start with).
This thing gets in to that school and despite their younger status, I would expect at least one child to die. And that would be on me. That would be down to my choice on taking the risk; I would have ended up, completely without wanting to, taking away the entire life choices of someone else.
I am generally a bit of a fan of Sumption and often agree with him but I don't on this. Of course people should have the right to run risks for themselves. A grandparent can choose to hug their grandchildren in the knowledge that if that grandchild inadvertently transmits the virus to them they may become seriously ill. They are entitled to find the risk worth it.
What they don't have the right to do is run that risk for others whether in their care home, their church, their coffee morning etc having taken that risk. That is not a matter of personal choice: it is simply selfish and irresponsible.
I think that is a fair position. I have a lot of sympathy with the thrust of his views, but in squaring the principal with the circumstances of the crisis I think while many might give too little weight to the former, he might give too much to it.
In a talk I did last year (when we still did these things in person) I said: "My principle focus for this is the decision of Lord Sumption in the case of Hughes-Holland-v-BPE Solicitors and another , a judgment with which all the other Justices, including Lord Hodge, agreed. At the risk of bringing on deep feelings of inadequacy and insecurity I would commend a careful reading of the whole judgment. It is a magisterial piece of work."
It really is brilliant but I can't help thinking that the legal rules of causation and foreseeability that he dealt with so skilfully in that judgment have influenced his thinking about the extent of our moral responsibilities. They are different.
I was looking at the stuff that Sidney Powell and Ricky Wiles have been saying.
When you think some of these people are as mad as a box of frogs and you then find out there are another lot attacking them who are even madder, you wonder where this is going.
When Tucker Carlson appears to now be in the pizza peodophile cannibal cabal because he orders pizza from a restaurant with a similar name to the Clinton pizza house conspiracy (I think it has the word pizza in it!) this is apparently too much of a coincidence.
And the Republicans in Georgia are in with the Democrats and the CIA on making money out of the Dominion m/c and fixing the election.
And according to Wikipedia RW ran a story on the Queen having Diana killed because she was going to expose the Royal family of being lizard people who worship Satan amongst other nutty claims.
I do wonder if the Republicans are going to split between the sane ones, the loonies and the really barking mad ones.
When Tucker Carlson doesn't qualify as being in the barking mad camp you have to wonder.
So hard to collect just 2kg of stuff from the moon, and that's mainly about the delivery being earth-based.
For me though the main interest in the article was the appearance of James Burke. He's such a good guy. I've recently re-watched the 'Connections' series and thoroughly enjoyed it. What strikes you though along the way is the swish attire of Mr Burke - he was or thought himself a superstar of the time.
I can't work out quite how it was that he faded away so.
Anyway hat's off to Mr Burke, and a small recommendation to others to his works.
I know mass is a big deal, but I had no idea just how little moon rocks we had collected previously.
@Thescreamingeagles I don't think the SC will take the case, and if they do I expect Trump will get eviscorated again.
The SC will not take an appeal on a no hope case just to eviscerate it a second time.
Unless the conservative justices intend a genuine attempt to fix the election - which seems extraordinarily unlikely - they won’t accept any request for review.
Not a lawyer so genuine question here.
Haven't we got to the point where Trump can be cited as a vexatious litigant? The penalties are, I believe, quite severe.
I am not an American lawyer but my understanding is that when a case is dismissed with prejudice it means that the parties are not allowed to raise the same point again in any other proceedings. One of the parties to this fiasco in Penn was the Donald Trump campaign so they are effectively barred, at least in Penn, from trying again on the same or very similar grounds. If this is being in other states as well he will gradually run out of options.
Noted with thanks, David.
I did notice the 'with prejudice' bit and wondered if it had any significance beyond indicating how pissed off he was.
I don't think that there is any doubt about the latter point! He clearly felt that he had been left to try and find the semblance of an argument in the cases he had been referred to since the petitioners had failed to do so and that it proved a serious waste of his time.
I know Giuliani is beyond embarrassment but, ouch.
My reading of the decision is that Brann was particularly unimpressed by Giuliani & co's repeated attempts to amend their pleadings, and Rudy's bizarre efforts to argue points that had in fact been removed. He suspected this may be a tactic rather than pure incompetence. So the "with prejudice" was to underline that going again with new grounds was out of the question - it was all just fundamentally misconceived and beyond saving, and ends here.
IDS now positioning himself as a leading backbench rebel against PM Boris on both a deal with the EU and lockdown, much as he was a leading rebel against Major's government in the early 1990s
So his career has gone nowhere in 30 years?
He belongs with the dinosaurs
Or the Jeremies.
I am just trying to imagine a general election where the choice was between IDS and Corbyn. It would make the choice between Trump and Biden look good, it really would.
IDS now positioning himself as a leading backbench rebel against PM Boris on both a deal with the EU and lockdown, much as he was a leading rebel against Major's government in the early 1990s
So his career has gone nowhere in 30 years?
He had a brief interlude as party leader when the main party rebels were key figures in the Major Cabinet like Portillo and Ken Clarke as well as Francis Maude before returning to being a leading rebel again to successor leaders like Cameron, May and now it seems Boris
Its a 'moral and ethical achievement' which other countries have not themselves obliged to follow the UK in doing.
Well we can set our own morals on that regardless of what they do. There's nothing magical about a figure of 0.7%, but if it is to be reduced or eliminated hopefully it would be with eyes opens about its positives and negatives, and not merely a politcally cheap way of gaining some billions.
IDS now positioning himself as a leading backbench rebel against PM Boris on both a deal with the EU and lockdown, much as he was a leading rebel against Major's government in the early 1990s
So his career has gone nowhere in 30 years?
He belongs with the dinosaurs
Or the Jeremies.
I am just trying to imagine a general election where the choice was between IDS and Corbyn. It would make the choice between Trump and Biden look good, it really would.
What are the differences between Farage and IDS one must now ask? I cannot think of one. IDS now seems closer to Farage than Boris
IDS now positioning himself as a leading backbench rebel against PM Boris on both a deal with the EU and lockdown, much as he was a leading rebel against Major's government in the early 1990s
So his career has gone nowhere in 30 years?
He had a brief interlude as party leader when the main party rebels were key figures in the Major Cabinet like Portillo and Ken Clarke as well as Francis Maude before returning to being a leading rebel again to successor leaders like Cameron, May and now it seems Boris
Have you really forgotten his six year tenure in the cabinet?
@Thescreamingeagles I don't think the SC will take the case, and if they do I expect Trump will get eviscorated again.
The SC will not take an appeal on a no hope case just to eviscerate it a second time.
Unless the conservative justices intend a genuine attempt to fix the election - which seems extraordinarily unlikely - they won’t accept any request for review.
Not a lawyer so genuine question here.
Haven't we got to the point where Trump can be cited as a vexatious litigant? The penalties are, I believe, quite severe.
I am not an American lawyer but my understanding is that when a case is dismissed with prejudice it means that the parties are not allowed to raise the same point again in any other proceedings. One of the parties to this fiasco in Penn was the Donald Trump campaign so they are effectively barred, at least in Penn, from trying again on the same or very similar grounds. If this is being in other states as well he will gradually run out of options.
Noted with thanks, David.
I did notice the 'with prejudice' bit and wondered if it had any significance beyond indicating how pissed off he was.
I don't think that there is any doubt about the latter point! He clearly felt that he had been left to try and find the semblance of an argument in the cases he had been referred to since the petitioners had failed to do so and that it proved a serious waste of his time.
I know Giuliani is beyond embarrassment but, ouch.
My reading of the decision is that Brann was particularly unimpressed by Giuliani & co's repeated attempts to amend their pleadings, and Rudy's bizarre efforts to argue points that had in fact been removed. He suspected this may be a tactic rather than pure incompetence. So the "with prejudice" was to underline that going again with new grounds was out of the question - it was all just fundamentally misconceived and beyond saving, and ends here.
A combination of factors.
Lack of time until certification.
Previously amended pleadings.
That Trump would likely need new claimants and/or defendants.
IDS now positioning himself as a leading backbench rebel against PM Boris on both a deal with the EU and lockdown, much as he was a leading rebel against Major's government in the early 1990s
Whats the old saying? Those who can do, those who can't whinge from the backbenches?
There are backbenchers and then there are backbenchers. There are those who don't wish to climb the greasy pole and who focus on other things, and those who would dearly love to climb it but for reasons of temperament and intellect either never get the chance or are disastrous when they did get the chance.
IDS now positioning himself as a leading backbench rebel against PM Boris on both a deal with the EU and lockdown, much as he was a leading rebel against Major's government in the early 1990s
So his career has gone nowhere in 30 years?
He belongs with the dinosaurs
Or the Jeremies.
I am just trying to imagine a general election where the choice was between IDS and Corbyn. It would make the choice between Trump and Biden look good, it really would.
What are the differences between Farage and IDS one must now ask? I cannot think of one. IDS now seems closer to Farage than Boris
It only took IDS two attempts to become an MP, whereas with Farage it is what seven and counting?
IDS now positioning himself as a leading backbench rebel against PM Boris on both a deal with the EU and lockdown, much as he was a leading rebel against Major's government in the early 1990s
So his career has gone nowhere in 30 years?
He had a brief interlude as party leader when the main party rebels were key figures in the Major Cabinet like Portillo and Ken Clarke as well as Francis Maude before returning to being a leading rebel again to successor leaders like Cameron, May and now it seems Boris
Have you really forgotten his six year tenure in the cabinet?
Oh yes there was that but he ended up leaving the Cabinet too after Osborne refused to listen to his demands regarding Universal Credit
IDS now positioning himself as a leading backbench rebel against PM Boris on both a deal with the EU and lockdown, much as he was a leading rebel against Major's government in the early 1990s
So his career has gone nowhere in 30 years?
He had a brief interlude as party leader when the main party rebels were key figures in the Major Cabinet like Portillo and Ken Clarke as well as Francis Maude before returning to being a leading rebel again to successor leaders like Cameron, May and now it seems Boris
Have you really forgotten his six year tenure in the cabinet?
IDS now positioning himself as a leading backbench rebel against PM Boris on both a deal with the EU and lockdown, much as he was a leading rebel against Major's government in the early 1990s
So his career has gone nowhere in 30 years?
He belongs with the dinosaurs
Or the Jeremies.
I am just trying to imagine a general election where the choice was between IDS and Corbyn. It would make the choice between Trump and Biden look good, it really would.
Couldn’t they just set up their own party given they both agree they hate everybody except themselves?
They could call it ‘Principled Losers, Opportunists, Nincompoops, Kareless Experienced Ratters System.’
Twenty-year delay to Leeds leg ‘could derail HS2 in the north’
A proposal to build the rail link in phases has led to fears the project will be scaled back and may never reach Yorkshire.
The eastern leg of the government’s high-speed rail scheme HS2 is at risk of being delayed by up to 20 years, leading to fears it will be scrapped altogether.
North of England and Midlands leaders are fighting with the government behind the scenes on what they believe will be a “phased delivery” of the 120-mile eastern leg between Birmingham and Leeds.
This is expected to be one of the recommendations in an upcoming report by Sir John Armitt, who has been reviewing plans for the line for the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC).
One option would be to build the HS2 line from Birmingham to East Midlands Parkway as a “first phase” with the rest of the line through Chesterfield and Sheffield to Leeds to be built at a later date. It is understood that this could delay the scheme by up to 20 years, with construction unlikely to start on the eastern leg before 2040, if it goes ahead at all.
“The government is on the record saying it’s full speed ahead with the eastern leg of HS2, but there is a growing concern they will go for a phased approach, which essentially means kicking Sheffield and Leeds’s sections into the long grass,” said one northern leader.
Earlier this month, the government confirmed legislation for the HS2 eastern leg, part of phase 2b of the project, will be split into a second parliamentary bill, separate from that for the western leg of phase 2b from Crewe to Manchester.
Lord Adonis, who unveiled the HS2 project in 2010 while secretary of state for transport, said recently there was a risk that splitting phase 2b into separate bills could delay the eastern leg or, at worst, cancel it.
Dan Jarvis, mayor of the Sheffield City Region, said “watering down or cancelling the project would be unforgivable”. He added: “HS2 is more than journey times to London ... Levelling up will not happen with half-measures.
“The track cannot stop short at Birmingham or Manchester. It must come all the way to Yorkshire and beyond. It’s time for the government to stop the dither and delay, put its money where its mouth is and deliver on its promises.”
Its a 'moral and ethical achievement' which other countries have not themselves obliged to follow the UK in doing.
Well we can set our own morals on that regardless of what they do. There's nothing magical about a figure of 0.7%, but if it is to be reduced or eliminated hopefully it would be with eyes opens about its positives and negatives, and not merely a politcally cheap way of gaining some billions.
Its certainly time for an audit of how much a success increased foreign aid has been.
For me there is nothing moral and ethical about borrowing money to give away so that various politicians and religious types can fell good about themselves.
And its certainly not an example to be setting to third world countries.
Maybe Sumption should leave a bit more space between his pieces to increase his impact. He still has the final volume of his Hundred Years War work to complete.
To offset the gloom, my 76 year old cancer surviving uncle, my girlfriends 60s something type 1 diabetic uncle and his cancer survivng wife, plus daughter who is on a lot of medication, and my other uncles missus have all tested positive for Covid in the last 2-3 weeks, as well as three of my mates, and all recovered without having to go to hospital
I see Kelly Loeffler has tested positive for Covid. I'd not fancied the Dems in the Georgia run-offs but this might make a difference, depending on how bad it is.
Apparently she was out campaigning with Perdue and Pence so presumably they are vulnerable too.
Having been (fairly) pulled up for having gone too sarcastic and harsh in my responses, I will try to respond as levelly and objectively as I can.
Sumption's main thrust, as I read it, is that it is immoral for people to have their choices made for them; that people should be able to choose for themselves.
I would say his argument collapses with the inextricable issue that in a pandemic, and with infectious disease control, people cannot simply make choices for themselves but inevitably choose to inflict the outcome of their own choices onto others - regardless of the choice they themselves made (and therefore causes the exact issue he rails against).
I do not believe that anyone has deliberately chosen to infect others. Yet millions of people in this country alone have been infected. Tens of thousands are being infected every day - and therefore tens of thousands are infecting others every day; millions have infected others.
Say, then, that I'm willing to take the chance on my own behalf. Let's be honest, my chances are pretty good. I'm 47, healthy, not even overweight, no known co-morbidities... and if I take that chance, I'm taking it also for my wife, both my daughters, and my severely autistic son.
Again, they're all pretty healthy, but taking five spins on the roulette wheel instead of one makes the odds shift less nicely. And we're also taking that chance for all the kids at The Lad's school - a special school packed full of children with dsabilities, co-morbidites, and learning difficulties (noticing that people with learning disabilities have a six-fold worse chance of dying than those without doesn't give me a comfortable feeling with risking The Lad to start with).
This thing gets in to that school and despite their younger status, I would expect at least one child to die. And that would be on me. That would be down to my choice on taking the risk; I would have ended up, completely without wanting to, taking away the entire life choices of someone else.
Hats off to you. We need a few tens of millions more buying into that attitude.
Instead, we have people thinking their only change in behaviour needs to be clapping for the NHS on a Thursday evening - blithely unaware that their own selfish actions are putting those same NHS key workers they profess to care for at risk.
To offset the gloom, my 76 year old cancer surviving uncle, my girlfriends 60s something type 1 diabetic uncle and his cancer survivng wife, plus daughter who is on a lot of medication, and my other uncles missus have all tested positive for Covid in the last 2-3 weeks, as well as three of my mates, and all recovered without having to go to hospital
Probably bocked my chances now
I still only know one person who has deffo had it.
Maybe Sumption should leave a bit more space between his pieces to increase his impact. He still has the final volume of his Hundred Years War work to complete.
On topic I'm not going to pretend to have my finger on the pulse of the British family but I wonder if this isn't exaggerating how desperately everybody loves Christmas. I mean kids love the presents, but they can still get their presents. If the government calmly and reasonably says, "this disease is very bad, the vaccine will just be a few more months and then you can get together with your family", is everyone really going to say "fuck everything, we do this every year, I want to see the grandparents *now* and I don't care if their immune system is eating their lungs in January"?
The kids don't want to see the oldies but the oldies want to see the kids.
And oldies vote.
Or the opposite. Kids pressurizing elderly parents to partake of the family Christmas because of feeling bad about them being on their own when the parents themselves are actually quite cool about it. I'm seeing more of that.
Why did Ian Duncan-Smith add an extra 'i' to his first name later in life?
Seems a bit odd to me. Maybe @isam can shed some light?!
I know the answer to this.
His father was a Scot and wanted to use the Scottish spelling of Iain, but the person filling in the birth certificate used the English spelling, but nobody seemed to notice the spelling mistake, because his first name was George.
When IDS was older he decided to honour his father and use the intended Scottish spelling.
Why did Ian Duncan-Smith add an extra 'i' to his first name later in life?
Seems a bit odd to me. Maybe @isam can shed some light?!
I added an 'i' to mine (not in real life of course) because I couldn't login to PB on my iPad, so created a new account to use on there, and isam seemed to be appropriate
I don't know why IDS did so, I doubt it was for the same reason
Maybe Sumption should leave a bit more space between his pieces to increase his impact. He still has the final volume of his Hundred Years War work to complete.
What's he not been allowed to say this time?
The thing is, people are just going to make their own decisons anyway. They already are
Imagine the govt said "It's alright, we have decided there are no restrictions needed anymore - go out and do what you want" - would people do that, or would most tiptoe cautiously outside in self imposed stages?
Its a 'moral and ethical achievement' which other countries have not themselves obliged to follow the UK in doing.
Well we can set our own morals on that regardless of what they do. There's nothing magical about a figure of 0.7%, but if it is to be reduced or eliminated hopefully it would be with eyes opens about its positives and negatives, and not merely a politcally cheap way of gaining some billions.
Its certainly time for an audit of how much a success increased foreign aid has been.
For me there is nothing moral and ethical about borrowing money to give away so that various politicians and religious types can fell good about themselves.
And its certainly not an example to be setting to third world countries.
Sense there'd be little resistance from you if that 0.7% came down quite significantly.
On the Priti Ugli behaviour at the Home Office, if it's revealed that Sir Philip Rutnam, Knight Commander of the Bath, leaked untrue stories to the press that Ms Patel was not trusted by MI5 chiefs to get full security briefings, would that make him a bully?
IDS now positioning himself as a leading backbench rebel against PM Boris on both a deal with the EU and lockdown, much as he was a leading rebel against Major's government in the early 1990s
So his career has gone nowhere in 30 years?
He belongs with the dinosaurs
Or the Jeremies.
I am just trying to imagine a general election where the choice was between IDS and Corbyn. It would make the choice between Trump and Biden look good, it really would.
Not much worse than the choice we were actually faced with a year ago. Compared with Trump, Johnson, IDS, and Corbyn, Biden is an absolute Titan.
On the Priti Ugli behaviour at the Home Office, if it's revealed that Sir Philip Rutnam, Knight Commander of the Bath, leaked untrue stories to the press that Ms Patel was not trusted by MI5 chiefs to get full security briefings, would that make him a bully?
No, you can understand why MI5 was reluctant to give Priti Patel full security briefings considering she had to resign in disgrace from the cabinet in the past for being a national security risk.
Twenty-year delay to Leeds leg ‘could derail HS2 in the north’
A proposal to build the rail link in phases has led to fears the project will be scaled back and may never reach Yorkshire.
The eastern leg of the government’s high-speed rail scheme HS2 is at risk of being delayed by up to 20 years, leading to fears it will be scrapped altogether.
North of England and Midlands leaders are fighting with the government behind the scenes on what they believe will be a “phased delivery” of the 120-mile eastern leg between Birmingham and Leeds.
This is expected to be one of the recommendations in an upcoming report by Sir John Armitt, who has been reviewing plans for the line for the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC).
One option would be to build the HS2 line from Birmingham to East Midlands Parkway as a “first phase” with the rest of the line through Chesterfield and Sheffield to Leeds to be built at a later date. It is understood that this could delay the scheme by up to 20 years, with construction unlikely to start on the eastern leg before 2040, if it goes ahead at all.
“The government is on the record saying it’s full speed ahead with the eastern leg of HS2, but there is a growing concern they will go for a phased approach, which essentially means kicking Sheffield and Leeds’s sections into the long grass,” said one northern leader.
Earlier this month, the government confirmed legislation for the HS2 eastern leg, part of phase 2b of the project, will be split into a second parliamentary bill, separate from that for the western leg of phase 2b from Crewe to Manchester.
Lord Adonis, who unveiled the HS2 project in 2010 while secretary of state for transport, said recently there was a risk that splitting phase 2b into separate bills could delay the eastern leg or, at worst, cancel it.
Dan Jarvis, mayor of the Sheffield City Region, said “watering down or cancelling the project would be unforgivable”. He added: “HS2 is more than journey times to London ... Levelling up will not happen with half-measures.
“The track cannot stop short at Birmingham or Manchester. It must come all the way to Yorkshire and beyond. It’s time for the government to stop the dither and delay, put its money where its mouth is and deliver on its promises.”
On the Priti Ugli behaviour at the Home Office, if it's revealed that Sir Philip Rutnam, Knight Commander of the Bath, leaked untrue stories to the press that Ms Patel was not trusted by MI5 chiefs to get full security briefings, would that make him a bully?
Any such reports would be a fairly obvious attempt at deflection.
On the Priti Ugli behaviour at the Home Office, if it's revealed that Sir Philip Rutnam, Knight Commander of the Bath, leaked untrue stories to the press that Ms Patel was not trusted by MI5 chiefs to get full security briefings, would that make him a bully?
IDS now positioning himself as a leading backbench rebel against PM Boris on both a deal with the EU and lockdown, much as he was a leading rebel against Major's government in the early 1990s
So his career has gone nowhere in 30 years?
He belongs with the dinosaurs
Or the Jeremies.
I am just trying to imagine a general election where the choice was between IDS and Corbyn. It would make the choice between Trump and Biden look good, it really would.
What are the differences between Farage and IDS one must now ask? I cannot think of one. IDS now seems closer to Farage than Boris
Farage has some charisma (sadly). IDS has a charisma bypass.
IDS now positioning himself as a leading backbench rebel against PM Boris on both a deal with the EU and lockdown, much as he was a leading rebel against Major's government in the early 1990s
So his career has gone nowhere in 30 years?
He belongs with the dinosaurs
Or the Jeremies.
I am just trying to imagine a general election where the choice was between IDS and Corbyn. It would make the choice between Trump and Biden look good, it really would.
What are the differences between Farage and IDS one must now ask? I cannot think of one. IDS now seems closer to Farage than Boris
Farage has some charisma (sadly). IDS has a charisma bypass.
He had so much charisma it was obstructing things to the point it needed bypassing?
To offset the gloom, my 76 year old cancer surviving uncle, my girlfriends 60s something type 1 diabetic uncle and his cancer survivng wife, plus daughter who is on a lot of medication, and my other uncles missus have all tested positive for Covid in the last 2-3 weeks, as well as three of my mates, and all recovered without having to go to hospital
Probably bocked my chances now
I still only know one person who has deffo had it.
I know three personally.
Two of my brothers-in-law and my eldest daughter's ex-boyfriend.
Brother-in-law 1 caught it in India. He's late thirties, ultra-fit (he's in training for a round-the-world expedition). He ended up in an ICU, but fortunately pulled through. This was March; he still complains of "being very phlegmy; it's really getting on [his] nerves." It has not, though, stopped him from a walking expedition in the Scottish Highlands this last summer, though, I should add (even if it did slow him down a bit).
Brother-in-law 2 caught it more recently (about seven weeks ago) in Poland. He's late forties and in good shape. He has yet to recover, although hasn't needed hospitalisation (continued coughing fits, waves of lassitude and fatigue - he complains that he needs to go to bed mid-afternoon for a couple of hours every day, uncharacteristically)
Eldest Daughter's ex-boyfriend (who had departed the household prior to catching it, fortunately). Mid-twenties, and fit enough to have run a marathon last year (albeit I reckon he'll run to fat in a decade or so when his metabolism slows down). Still in touch with us, reported being "sick as a dog for weeks." Also did not need hospitalisation, but has complained about breathlessness ever since when trying to sustain exercise (he's the captain of a local tennis club; he can't do long matches any more).
Its a 'moral and ethical achievement' which other countries have not themselves obliged to follow the UK in doing.
Well we can set our own morals on that regardless of what they do. There's nothing magical about a figure of 0.7%, but if it is to be reduced or eliminated hopefully it would be with eyes opens about its positives and negatives, and not merely a politcally cheap way of gaining some billions.
Its certainly time for an audit of how much a success increased foreign aid has been.
For me there is nothing moral and ethical about borrowing money to give away so that various politicians and religious types can fell good about themselves.
And its certainly not an example to be setting to third world countries.
Sense there'd be little resistance from you if that 0.7% came down quite significantly.
As I said I'd like to see a proper audit as to what the increased foreign aid spending has achieved.
I'm against arbitrary spending targets but I would see no problem in spending more than the European average provided value for money was achieved.
To offset the gloom, my 76 year old cancer surviving uncle, my girlfriends 60s something type 1 diabetic uncle and his cancer survivng wife, plus daughter who is on a lot of medication, and my other uncles missus have all tested positive for Covid in the last 2-3 weeks, as well as three of my mates, and all recovered without having to go to hospital
Probably bocked my chances now
I still only know one person who has deffo had it.
I know three personally.
Two of my brothers-in-law and my eldest daughter's ex-boyfriend.
Brother-in-law 1 caught it in India. He's late thirties, ultra-fit (he's in training for a round-the-world expedition). He ended up in an ICU, but fortunately pulled through. This was March; he still complains of "being very phlegmy; it's really getting on [his] nerves." It has not, though, stopped him from a walking expedition in the Scottish Highlands this last summer, though, I should add (even if it did slow him down a bit).
Brother-in-law 2 caught it more recently (about seven weeks ago) in Poland. He's late forties and in good shape. He has yet to recover, although hasn't needed hospitalisation (continued coughing fits, waves of lassitude and fatigue - he complains that he needs to go to bed mid-afternoon for a couple of hours every day, uncharacteristically)
Eldest Daughter's ex-boyfriend (who had departed the household prior to catching it, fortunately). Mid-twenties, and fit enough to have run a marathon last year (albeit I reckon he'll run to fat in a decade or so when his metabolism slows down). Still in touch with us, reported being "sick as a dog for weeks." Also did not need hospitalisation, but has complained about breathlessness ever since when trying to sustain exercise (he's the captain of a local tennis club; he can't do long matches any more).
Maybe this is why we seem to see Covid through different prisms - you know three super fit people who have had it and suffered badly, I know about ten unfit people, about half of whom have been previously very ill, who have had it, and barely suffered at all
To offset the gloom, my 76 year old cancer surviving uncle, my girlfriends 60s something type 1 diabetic uncle and his cancer survivng wife, plus daughter who is on a lot of medication, and my other uncles missus have all tested positive for Covid in the last 2-3 weeks, as well as three of my mates, and all recovered without having to go to hospital
Probably bocked my chances now
I still only know one person who has deffo had it.
I know three personally.
Two of my brothers-in-law and my eldest daughter's ex-boyfriend.
Brother-in-law 1 caught it in India. He's late thirties, ultra-fit (he's in training for a round-the-world expedition). He ended up in an ICU, but fortunately pulled through. This was March; he still complains of "being very phlegmy; it's really getting on [his] nerves." It has not, though, stopped him from a walking expedition in the Scottish Highlands this last summer, though, I should add (even if it did slow him down a bit).
Brother-in-law 2 caught it more recently (about seven weeks ago) in Poland. He's late forties and in good shape. He has yet to recover, although hasn't needed hospitalisation (continued coughing fits, waves of lassitude and fatigue - he complains that he needs to go to bed mid-afternoon for a couple of hours every day, uncharacteristically)
Eldest Daughter's ex-boyfriend (who had departed the household prior to catching it, fortunately). Mid-twenties, and fit enough to have run a marathon last year (albeit I reckon he'll run to fat in a decade or so when his metabolism slows down). Still in touch with us, reported being "sick as a dog for weeks." Also did not need hospitalisation, but has complained about breathlessness ever since when trying to sustain exercise (he's the captain of a local tennis club; he can't do long matches any more).
It's stories like that that make you worry that 10-15% of the NHS budget for the next decade could be taken up dealing with long-term Covid effects.
IDS now positioning himself as a leading backbench rebel against PM Boris on both a deal with the EU and lockdown, much as he was a leading rebel against Major's government in the early 1990s
So his career has gone nowhere in 30 years?
He belongs with the dinosaurs
Or the Jeremies.
I am just trying to imagine a general election where the choice was between IDS and Corbyn. It would make the choice between Trump and Biden look good, it really would.
What are the differences between Farage and IDS one must now ask? I cannot think of one. IDS now seems closer to Farage than Boris
I have to say I'm unable to work out whether you think that's a positive or not.
On the Priti Ugli behaviour at the Home Office, if it's revealed that Sir Philip Rutnam, Knight Commander of the Bath, leaked untrue stories to the press that Ms Patel was not trusted by MI5 chiefs to get full security briefings, would that make him a bully?
Any such reports would be a fairly obvious attempt at deflection.
If Labour had won the last election, Diane Abbott had ended up at the Home Office, and two months later it has said this in The Times "Officers in the security service have reduced the volume of intelligence they show to the home secretary and regularly “roll their eyes” at her interventions in meetings, it was claimed.", would there be people claiming that misogynist racists were bullying her?
On the Priti Ugli behaviour at the Home Office, if it's revealed that Sir Philip Rutnam, Knight Commander of the Bath, leaked untrue stories to the press that Ms Patel was not trusted by MI5 chiefs to get full security briefings, would that make him a bully?
It should certainly have made him an ex-civil servant.
Twenty-year delay to Leeds leg ‘could derail HS2 in the north’
A proposal to build the rail link in phases has led to fears the project will be scaled back and may never reach Yorkshire.
The eastern leg of the government’s high-speed rail scheme HS2 is at risk of being delayed by up to 20 years, leading to fears it will be scrapped altogether.
North of England and Midlands leaders are fighting with the government behind the scenes on what they believe will be a “phased delivery” of the 120-mile eastern leg between Birmingham and Leeds.
This is expected to be one of the recommendations in an upcoming report by Sir John Armitt, who has been reviewing plans for the line for the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC).
One option would be to build the HS2 line from Birmingham to East Midlands Parkway as a “first phase” with the rest of the line through Chesterfield and Sheffield to Leeds to be built at a later date. It is understood that this could delay the scheme by up to 20 years, with construction unlikely to start on the eastern leg before 2040, if it goes ahead at all.
“The government is on the record saying it’s full speed ahead with the eastern leg of HS2, but there is a growing concern they will go for a phased approach, which essentially means kicking Sheffield and Leeds’s sections into the long grass,” said one northern leader.
Earlier this month, the government confirmed legislation for the HS2 eastern leg, part of phase 2b of the project, will be split into a second parliamentary bill, separate from that for the western leg of phase 2b from Crewe to Manchester.
Lord Adonis, who unveiled the HS2 project in 2010 while secretary of state for transport, said recently there was a risk that splitting phase 2b into separate bills could delay the eastern leg or, at worst, cancel it.
Dan Jarvis, mayor of the Sheffield City Region, said “watering down or cancelling the project would be unforgivable”. He added: “HS2 is more than journey times to London ... Levelling up will not happen with half-measures.
“The track cannot stop short at Birmingham or Manchester. It must come all the way to Yorkshire and beyond. It’s time for the government to stop the dither and delay, put its money where its mouth is and deliver on its promises.”
Having been (fairly) pulled up for having gone too sarcastic and harsh in my responses, I will try to respond as levelly and objectively as I can.
Sumption's main thrust, as I read it, is that it is immoral for people to have their choices made for them; that people should be able to choose for themselves.
I would say his argument collapses with the inextricable issue that in a pandemic, and with infectious disease control, people cannot simply make choices for themselves but inevitably choose to inflict the outcome of their own choices onto others - regardless of the choice they themselves made (and therefore causes the exact issue he rails against).
I do not believe that anyone has deliberately chosen to infect others. Yet millions of people in this country alone have been infected. Tens of thousands are being infected every day - and therefore tens of thousands are infecting others every day; millions have infected others.
Say, then, that I'm willing to take the chance on my own behalf. Let's be honest, my chances are pretty good. I'm 47, healthy, not even overweight, no known co-morbidities... and if I take that chance, I'm taking it also for my wife, both my daughters, and my severely autistic son.
Again, they're all pretty healthy, but taking five spins on the roulette wheel instead of one makes the odds shift less nicely. And we're also taking that chance for all the kids at The Lad's school - a special school packed full of children with dsabilities, co-morbidites, and learning difficulties (noticing that people with learning disabilities have a six-fold worse chance of dying than those without doesn't give me a comfortable feeling with risking The Lad to start with).
This thing gets in to that school and despite their younger status, I would expect at least one child to die. And that would be on me. That would be down to my choice on taking the risk; I would have ended up, completely without wanting to, taking away the entire life choices of someone else.
Good post and I agree. But I think there is a false binary in much of this debate. The idea that we either (i) leave the choice to people or (ii) enforce a (non) choice upon them is not the reality of the situation. Rules and guidelines notwithstanding, we are actually doing (i). The distancing regime works on trust. Nobody is going to police a diktat that says you can't visit Aunt Agatha at her cottage in Little Hootham Tootham. Rather we hope and expect, given the situation, that you won't.
Having been (fairly) pulled up for having gone too sarcastic and harsh in my responses, I will try to respond as levelly and objectively as I can.
Sumption's main thrust, as I read it, is that it is immoral for people to have their choices made for them; that people should be able to choose for themselves.
I would say his argument collapses with the inextricable issue that in a pandemic, and with infectious disease control, people cannot simply make choices for themselves but inevitably choose to inflict the outcome of their own choices onto others - regardless of the choice they themselves made (and therefore causes the exact issue he rails against).
I do not believe that anyone has deliberately chosen to infect others. Yet millions of people in this country alone have been infected. Tens of thousands are being infected every day - and therefore tens of thousands are infecting others every day; millions have infected others.
Say, then, that I'm willing to take the chance on my own behalf. Let's be honest, my chances are pretty good. I'm 47, healthy, not even overweight, no known co-morbidities... and if I take that chance, I'm taking it also for my wife, both my daughters, and my severely autistic son.
Again, they're all pretty healthy, but taking five spins on the roulette wheel instead of one makes the odds shift less nicely. And we're also taking that chance for all the kids at The Lad's school - a special school packed full of children with dsabilities, co-morbidites, and learning difficulties (noticing that people with learning disabilities have a six-fold worse chance of dying than those without doesn't give me a comfortable feeling with risking The Lad to start with).
This thing gets in to that school and despite their younger status, I would expect at least one child to die. And that would be on me. That would be down to my choice on taking the risk; I would have ended up, completely without wanting to, taking away the entire life choices of someone else.
Good post and I agree with it. But I think there is a false binary in much of this debate. The idea that we either (i) leave the choice to people or (ii) enforce a (non) choice upon them is not the reality of the situation. Rules and guidelines notwithstanding, we are actually doing (i). The distancing regime works on trust. Nobody is going to police a diktat that says you can't visit Aunt Agatha at her cottage in Little Hootham Tootham. Rather we hope and expect, given the situation, that you won't.
Have to say I agree with you. If Boris said "Everything is open, go out and do what you want" people would manage that to their own judgement as they are now with visiting/having friends over
Comments
Haven't we got to the point where Trump can be cited as a vexatious litigant? The penalties are, I believe, quite severe.
I have been dutifully wearing a mask in order to make those around me in public feel better about life, despite it exacerbating my chronic breathing difficulties and no one being able to provide compelling evidence that it’s making much difference. I’ve self isolated for a fortnight on three occasions now in 2020 for the sole benefit of others.
I am also able to contextualise the covid crisis in a way some of the characters here seemingly cannot.
So how about you fuck off back to your stable of moral high horses rather than cast about baseless insults.
Niece found this quite amusing.
We've had the real deal in Portugal, and it was nice.
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/whats-on/shopping/cardiff-absolutely-rammed-christmas-shoppers-19322598
Twenty-year delay to Leeds leg ‘could derail HS2 in the north’
A proposal to build the rail link in phases has led to fears the project will be scaled back and may never reach Yorkshire.
The eastern leg of the government’s high-speed rail scheme HS2 is at risk of being delayed by up to 20 years, leading to fears it will be scrapped altogether.
North of England and Midlands leaders are fighting with the government behind the scenes on what they believe will be a “phased delivery” of the 120-mile eastern leg between Birmingham and Leeds.
This is expected to be one of the recommendations in an upcoming report by Sir John Armitt, who has been reviewing plans for the line for the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC).
One option would be to build the HS2 line from Birmingham to East Midlands Parkway as a “first phase” with the rest of the line through Chesterfield and Sheffield to Leeds to be built at a later date. It is understood that this could delay the scheme by up to 20 years, with construction unlikely to start on the eastern leg before 2040, if it goes ahead at all.
“The government is on the record saying it’s full speed ahead with the eastern leg of HS2, but there is a growing concern they will go for a phased approach, which essentially means kicking Sheffield and Leeds’s sections into the long grass,” said one northern leader.
Earlier this month, the government confirmed legislation for the HS2 eastern leg, part of phase 2b of the project, will be split into a second parliamentary bill, separate from that for the western leg of phase 2b from Crewe to Manchester.
Lord Adonis, who unveiled the HS2 project in 2010 while secretary of state for transport, said recently there was a risk that splitting phase 2b into separate bills could delay the eastern leg or, at worst, cancel it.
Dan Jarvis, mayor of the Sheffield City Region, said “watering down or cancelling the project would be unforgivable”. He added: “HS2 is more than journey times to London ... Levelling up will not happen with half-measures.
“The track cannot stop short at Birmingham or Manchester. It must come all the way to Yorkshire and beyond. It’s time for the government to stop the dither and delay, put its money where its mouth is and deliver on its promises.”
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/twenty-year-delay-to-leeds-leg-could-derail-hs2-in-the-north-bxlzn8603
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/uknews/13265168/families-friends-unable-mix-easter-lockdown-tiers-2/
All my mates had one with no symptoms at all when we had been knocking about with someone who had tested positive - I didn't realise there were people so conscientious about!
For the benefit of the sanctimonious pricks here (we know who they are), we did not arrange this test because either of us is remotely scared for ourselves but out of good citizenship.
https://twitter.com/MPIainDS/status/1330488272422887426?s=20
And oldies vote.
If this is being in other states as well he will gradually run out of options.
The BBC have this article, which I thought was interesting.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-55033875
So hard to collect just 2kg of stuff from the moon, and that's mainly about the delivery being earth-based.
For me though the main interest in the article was the appearance of James Burke. He's such a good guy. I've recently re-watched the 'Connections' series and thoroughly enjoyed it. What strikes you though along the way is the swish attire of Mr Burke - he was or thought himself a superstar of the time.
I can't work out quite how it was that he faded away so.
Anyway hat's off to Mr Burke, and a small recommendation to others to his works.
I'm generally on the more risk-averse side of the debate, but well said, and well done.
I also think you haven't received the substantial credit you deserve for passing on (without revealing sources) the information you had about the likely efficacy and timetable of the vaccines back in September, when many of us were all angst and aporia. Both seem to be turning out very close to what you predicted.
Oh wait.....
I am aware of the theories on viral load, reduced face touching etc... Some balanced evidence would be appreciated this far into the experiment. Or you could just go around with ad hom attacks which I doubt entertain or inform anyone but yourself.
https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/talented-dedicated-much-loved-leicester-4722917
Just in time for the new "leave the house" tax and "meet a friend" levy.
Is that simple enough.
Sumption's main thrust, as I read it, is that it is immoral for people to have their choices made for them; that people should be able to choose for themselves.
I would say his argument collapses with the inextricable issue that in a pandemic, and with infectious disease control, people cannot simply make choices for themselves but inevitably choose to inflict the outcome of their own choices onto others - regardless of the choice they themselves made (and therefore causes the exact issue he rails against).
I do not believe that anyone has deliberately chosen to infect others. Yet millions of people in this country alone have been infected. Tens of thousands are being infected every day - and therefore tens of thousands are infecting others every day; millions have infected others.
Say, then, that I'm willing to take the chance on my own behalf. Let's be honest, my chances are pretty good. I'm 47, healthy, not even overweight, no known co-morbidities... and if I take that chance, I'm taking it also for my wife, both my daughters, and my severely autistic son.
Again, they're all pretty healthy, but taking five spins on the roulette wheel instead of one makes the odds shift less nicely. And we're also taking that chance for all the kids at The Lad's school - a special school packed full of children with dsabilities, co-morbidites, and learning difficulties (noticing that people with learning disabilities have a six-fold worse chance of dying than those without doesn't give me a comfortable feeling with risking The Lad to start with).
This thing gets in to that school and despite their younger status, I would expect at least one child to die. And that would be on me. That would be down to my choice on taking the risk; I would have ended up, completely without wanting to, taking away the entire life choices of someone else.
https://twitter.com/montie/status/1330494013909192704?s=20
A 52 year old local woman has been killed while attempting to photograph Gwrych Castle (where Celebrity is being filmed) by the middle gate while standing in the road. A 24 year old driver was involved.
My daughter who lives by the Castle says that the public are ignoring warning notices and coned areas and doing almost anything to get photos of the venue
I did notice the 'with prejudice' bit and wondered if it had any significance beyond indicating how pissed off he was.
What they don't have the right to do is run that risk for others whether in their care home, their church, their coffee morning etc having taken that risk. That is not a matter of personal choice: it is simply selfish and irresponsible.
I know Giuliani is beyond embarrassment but, ouch.
"My principle focus for this is the decision of Lord Sumption in the case of Hughes-Holland-v-BPE Solicitors and another , a judgment with which all the other Justices, including Lord Hodge, agreed. At the risk of bringing on deep feelings of inadequacy and insecurity I would commend a careful reading of the whole judgment. It is a magisterial piece of work."
It really is brilliant but I can't help thinking that the legal rules of causation and foreseeability that he dealt with so skilfully in that judgment have influenced his thinking about the extent of our moral responsibilities. They are different.
When you think some of these people are as mad as a box of frogs and you then find out there are another lot attacking them who are even madder, you wonder where this is going.
When Tucker Carlson appears to now be in the pizza peodophile cannibal cabal because he orders pizza from a restaurant with a similar name to the Clinton pizza house conspiracy (I think it has the word pizza in it!) this is apparently too much of a coincidence.
And the Republicans in Georgia are in with the Democrats and the CIA on making money out of the Dominion m/c and fixing the election.
And according to Wikipedia RW ran a story on the Queen having Diana killed because she was going to expose the Royal family of being lizard people who worship Satan amongst other nutty claims.
I do wonder if the Republicans are going to split between the sane ones, the loonies and the really barking mad ones.
When Tucker Carlson doesn't qualify as being in the barking mad camp you have to wonder.
Lack of time until certification.
Previously amended pleadings.
That Trump would likely need new claimants and/or defendants.
They could call it ‘Principled Losers, Opportunists, Nincompoops, Kareless Experienced Ratters System.’
PLONKERS for short.
Will they feel let down enough to sweep away the new Tory seats in the North by 2024?
We shall see. But I see that Rotherham is not to get the new hospital promised by the Tory in order to win in 2019. So he's toast for a start.
For me there is nothing moral and ethical about borrowing money to give away so that various politicians and religious types can fell good about themselves.
And its certainly not an example to be setting to third world countries.
Probably bocked my chances now
Apparently she was out campaigning with Perdue and Pence so presumably they are vulnerable too.
Seems a bit odd to me. Maybe @isam can shed some light?!
Instead, we have people thinking their only change in behaviour needs to be clapping for the NHS on a Thursday evening - blithely unaware that their own selfish actions are putting those same NHS key workers they profess to care for at risk.
His father was a Scot and wanted to use the Scottish spelling of Iain, but the person filling in the birth certificate used the English spelling, but nobody seemed to notice the spelling mistake, because his first name was George.
When IDS was older he decided to honour his father and use the intended Scottish spelling.
I don't know why IDS did so, I doubt it was for the same reason
Imagine the govt said "It's alright, we have decided there are no restrictions needed anymore - go out and do what you want" - would people do that, or would most tiptoe cautiously outside in self imposed stages?
Two of my brothers-in-law and my eldest daughter's ex-boyfriend.
Brother-in-law 1 caught it in India. He's late thirties, ultra-fit (he's in training for a round-the-world expedition). He ended up in an ICU, but fortunately pulled through. This was March; he still complains of "being very phlegmy; it's really getting on [his] nerves." It has not, though, stopped him from a walking expedition in the Scottish Highlands this last summer, though, I should add (even if it did slow him down a bit).
Brother-in-law 2 caught it more recently (about seven weeks ago) in Poland. He's late forties and in good shape. He has yet to recover, although hasn't needed hospitalisation (continued coughing fits, waves of lassitude and fatigue - he complains that he needs to go to bed mid-afternoon for a couple of hours every day, uncharacteristically)
Eldest Daughter's ex-boyfriend (who had departed the household prior to catching it, fortunately). Mid-twenties, and fit enough to have run a marathon last year (albeit I reckon he'll run to fat in a decade or so when his metabolism slows down). Still in touch with us, reported being "sick as a dog for weeks." Also did not need hospitalisation, but has complained about breathlessness ever since when trying to sustain exercise (he's the captain of a local tennis club; he can't do long matches any more).
I'm against arbitrary spending targets but I would see no problem in spending more than the European average provided value for money was achieved.