malcolmg/Theuniondivvie - Cameron was complacent in 2014 and allowed the SNP to implement a non-standard electoral franchise which was in *their* favour. That mistake should not be repeated.
It's not non-standard in Scotland, it's just 'the electoral franchise'.
I am quite relaxed about 16-18 year olds but EU citizens' voting rights ended yesterday and keeping them on the franchise for this would be unacceptable.
Afaik EU citizens will be voting in the May election.
Edit: I hope we can all agree that it's ok for 18 year olds to vote!
They are not voting as EU citizens however, they are voting under the Sctottish Electoral \System as residents of Scotland meeting the criteria to have the franchise.
Yep, that's more accurate.
I think the governing sentiment is if you live in Scotland you're Scottish and have a vote. There might well be a partisan motive there - bet there is - but it does serve another rather more elevated purpose. It lends credence to the claim that the SNP political project is nationalism of the "civic" not "blood and soil" kind.
malcolmg/Theuniondivvie - Cameron was complacent in 2014 and allowed the SNP to implement a non-standard electoral franchise which was in *their* favour. That mistake should not be repeated.
It's not non-standard in Scotland, it's just 'the electoral franchise'.
I am quite relaxed about 16-18 year olds but EU citizens' voting rights ended yesterday and keeping them on the franchise for this would be unacceptable.
Afaik EU citizens will be voting in the May election.
No need to guess how the Tories will try to discredit the result of the May elections...
Will twitter be flagging @Douglas4Moray's tweets with warnings that the claims are disputed and might be misleading?
As I understand it, can EU citizens not apply to be UK citizens? In which case it would be extremely unjust to prevent them from voting, even if confirmation is pending.
Of course, if they are not UK citizens, and have no intention of becoming so, that's something entirely different.
Yep that would seem reasonable to me. If you have applied then you get to vote.
But again this should be a matter for the Scottish Government not Westminster
Let’s try and keep away from Scottish referendum debate it’s been pleasant not having it so far today. Police turning back day trippers to Snowdonia from all over the country, what is wrong with people do they not take in any news? The UK is on the verge of a health crisis which could hit anyone and still they ignore it. The bottom line I suppose is that there just aren’t enough police to do the job properly and the need to ‘police by consent’.
Policing by consent has always been the British way even when there were ,many more police. I certainly wouldn't want to see that change.
BBC says that EuroMillions: Jackpot of more than £39m has been won by UK ticket-holder.
Will we still be able to buy EuroMillions tickets?
I got a lucky dip win
One Sunday morning, many years ago, I woke up to nine first dividends on the pools. Unfortunately there had been around 25 score draws on the usual Saturday slate of 46 matches so every bloke and his whippet had the same. Still hurts to think about it.
There was a time in the late ‘90s that numbers 1 and 7 both got drawn in the national lottery. 120ish people got all six numbers that night, good for something like £16k each of a £2m jackpot.
No doubt many of them called their boss when slightly the worse for wear that night, saying exactly where they could stuff their job, before the computer did its thing and they realised they weren’t quite as rich as they thought they were!
(I’ll try and look up the exact details, I was working part time in a convenience store at the time).
Edit: possibly this one: Back on Saturday 14th January 1995, a staggering 133 players shared a Lotto jackpot of £16.2 million after matching the numbers 7, 17, 23, 32, 38 and 42. Why did so many ticket holders pick the same, apparently-random numbers? It was discovered that they were all printed in the central columns of the playslip, and so each winner had to be content with receiving a £122,510 payout. https://www.national-lottery.com/news/what-are-the-most-unusual-lotto-results-ever
Not a bad win, but not tell-your-boss-to-f***-his-job money either.
wonder how many had to eat humble pie next day at work
The only question now is whether Williamson's inevitable announcement that schools aren't going back on Monday will come today or on Sunday. To save face, he ought to announce it now to maintain the facade that the decision is still in his hands.
"The National Education Union (NEU), which represents the majority of teachers and more than 450,000 school staff in the UK, will inform its members that it is not safe for them to return to school until mid-January at the earliest. It expects most of its members will follow its advice, forcing most schools to switch to online learning for the majority of their pupils. The union will provide its members with a template letter to send to their headteachers, explaining that they are refusing to go into work because their workplace is unsafe, a right enshrined in law by section 44 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. Staff should still be prepared to work remotely, the union says, and should volunteer to look after vulnerable pupils and the children of key workers on school premises."
None of this was necessary if the government had been a little more thoughtful and flexible.
They were instead like Arthur Scargill on speed. With worse manners.
Yes. And it turns out that having previously threatened legal action to enforce their will, their own hand is now being forced in the face of legal action by the teaching unions.
It's a nice touch that the NEU are using a Conservative act of parliament to assert the right not to work in an unsafe environment.
GMB (one of the support staff unions) now invoking section 44 as well. Gavin might be surrounded by 5pm. Tricky to open schools if you don't have any staff.
To put it mildly, the whole thing is utter fucking chaos.
It's worse than the last week of term, and that was an omnishambles. I'd be astonished if it wasn't Williamson. He is incredibly stupid, and it appears no-one is in charge at No.10 either.
You are all making far too much of attacking government on schools. Government hides its motive behind the education loss of the poor kids, but truth is we all must appreciate like the government does schools open = child care = people going to work. Unlike the government you are ignoring the important child care angle here, aren’t you?
In Ireland one of the reasons for closing the schools in March was precisely to force parents to stay home from work.
It seems with Cockney Covid that we may need to keep all non-essential workers at home to control the spread. So closing schools (except for the children of essential workers) would seem to be the sensible approach.
malcolmg/Theuniondivvie - Cameron was complacent in 2014 and allowed the SNP to implement a non-standard electoral franchise which was in *their* favour. That mistake should not be repeated.
It's not non-standard in Scotland, it's just 'the electoral franchise'.
I am quite relaxed about 16-18 year olds but EU citizens' voting rights ended yesterday and keeping them on the franchise for this would be unacceptable.
If they are resident in the country and meet requirements for the Scottish electoral voting system then why would they not be allowed to vote.
Because this is a decision for Scots. If they feel sufficiently affiliated to this country to take out UK citizenship, fine, no problem. But if they remain French or Spanish or whatever they do not have a right to decide our future.
Clearly the vast majority of EU citizens would vote for Independence in the hope that an independent Scotland would once again join the EU. But would even the SNP want to taint any result in this way?
I have said several times that I suspect Boris will leave office probably this year and I hope Rishi Sunak will replace him. Probably my only prediction. My current frustration lies mainly with the slow vaccine rollout in the EU combined with surprise at the high levels of scepticism I hear about having the jab here in Spain. We continue to be badly hit but one of the wealthiest blocs in the world seems to be dithering. I don't get it.
Dithering is unfair, I think
It’s inevitable that any complex organisation moves at the pace of the slowest
malcolmg/Theuniondivvie - Cameron was complacent in 2014 and allowed the SNP to implement a non-standard electoral franchise which was in *their* favour. That mistake should not be repeated.
It's not non-standard in Scotland, it's just 'the electoral franchise'.
I am quite relaxed about 16-18 year olds but EU citizens' voting rights ended yesterday and keeping them on the franchise for this would be unacceptable.
If they are resident in the country and meet requirements for the Scottish electoral voting system then why would they not be allowed to vote.
Because this is a decision for Scots. If they feel sufficiently affiliated to this country to take out UK citizenship, fine, no problem. But if they remain French or Spanish or whatever they do not have a right to decide our future.
Clearly the vast majority of EU citizens would vote for Independence in the hope that an independent Scotland would once again join the EU. But would even the SNP want to taint any result in this way?
I believe a majority of EU citizens voted No in 2014 (presumably because they were told it would secure EU membership). Was the result tainted?
malcolmg/Theuniondivvie - Cameron was complacent in 2014 and allowed the SNP to implement a non-standard electoral franchise which was in *their* favour. That mistake should not be repeated.
It's not non-standard in Scotland, it's just 'the electoral franchise'.
I am quite relaxed about 16-18 year olds but EU citizens' voting rights ended yesterday and keeping them on the franchise for this would be unacceptable.
Afaik EU citizens will be voting in the May election.
Edit: I hope we can all agree that it's ok for 18 year olds to vote!
They are not voting as EU citizens however, they are voting under the Sctottish Electoral \System as residents of Scotland meeting the criteria to have the franchise.
Surely it is for the Scottish Government to decide what the franchise is and take whatever political fallout that might come from it. Personally - to take the only example I have concerns about - I think giving 16 year olds the vote is a bloody stupid idea but if that is what the Scots decide is their legal position then it is for them to decide that for elections that they call not Westminster.
I also think that in England for local elections we should modify the franchise so it is based on legal residency not on nationality. If you are a Dutchman (like the godfather of my kids) and have lived here for 30 years then you have a right to take part in deciding who runs the local services. Same if you are an American, Japanese or Nigerian.
General Elections and referendums I would prefer to see kept for UK nationals only. If you want to take part in deciding the future of the country then become a citizen.
But as I say I don't think Westminster have the right to impose that view on Scotland when dealing with purely Scottish matters.
A decision to leave the UK is not a purely Scottish matter. It is a decision that the Scots are entitled to take but the rest of the UK have a very distinct interest in ensuring that will is properly reflected in any vote.
The only question now is whether Williamson's inevitable announcement that schools aren't going back on Monday will come today or on Sunday. To save face, he ought to announce it now to maintain the facade that the decision is still in his hands.
"The National Education Union (NEU), which represents the majority of teachers and more than 450,000 school staff in the UK, will inform its members that it is not safe for them to return to school until mid-January at the earliest. It expects most of its members will follow its advice, forcing most schools to switch to online learning for the majority of their pupils. The union will provide its members with a template letter to send to their headteachers, explaining that they are refusing to go into work because their workplace is unsafe, a right enshrined in law by section 44 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. Staff should still be prepared to work remotely, the union says, and should volunteer to look after vulnerable pupils and the children of key workers on school premises."
None of this was necessary if the government had been a little more thoughtful and flexible.
They were instead like Arthur Scargill on speed. With worse manners.
Yes. And it turns out that having previously threatened legal action to enforce their will, their own hand is now being forced in the face of legal action by the teaching unions.
It's a nice touch that the NEU are using a Conservative act of parliament to assert the right not to work in an unsafe environment.
GMB (one of the support staff unions) now invoking section 44 as well. Gavin might be surrounded by 5pm. Tricky to open schools if you don't have any staff.
To put it mildly, the whole thing is utter fucking chaos.
If it does turn out that the new strain is more contagious because children are more susceptible, the government would be in deep doodoo. So they have to cave, as you say.
Morning all and thank you David H for interesting Header. Strikes me I haven’t posted any serious predictions myself for 21 and so to quickly put that right -
Dems do the double in Georgia and gain control of the senate. Joe Biden becomes a popular uniting figure. Donald Trump leaves the White House in a horizontal position and thereafter fades away. So does Brexit. It still features but without the heat. Near term Covid meets the worse case scenario. The NHS collapses in many places. Nevertheless by August it’s all over and we’re back to normal. Except we’re not because the public finances are utterly wrecked. This problem will not be faced up to by the Johnson government. Neither will the need for Sindy2. But in better news for Scotland, Andy Murray has a big Wimbledon.
5 correct 5 wrong.
You don't think Andy is going to win Wimbo?
No, he should switch to doubles where he could be a force for another 10 years.
A dream team with his Bro maybe. But, ok, let's see. I'm not quite predicting he will win SW19 - although I'll be backing him for a couple of quid if I can get a juicy enough price - but I am predicting a run that will become a big story.
The only question now is whether Williamson's inevitable announcement that schools aren't going back on Monday will come today or on Sunday. To save face, he ought to announce it now to maintain the facade that the decision is still in his hands.
"The National Education Union (NEU), which represents the majority of teachers and more than 450,000 school staff in the UK, will inform its members that it is not safe for them to return to school until mid-January at the earliest. It expects most of its members will follow its advice, forcing most schools to switch to online learning for the majority of their pupils. The union will provide its members with a template letter to send to their headteachers, explaining that they are refusing to go into work because their workplace is unsafe, a right enshrined in law by section 44 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. Staff should still be prepared to work remotely, the union says, and should volunteer to look after vulnerable pupils and the children of key workers on school premises."
None of this was necessary if the government had been a little more thoughtful and flexible.
They were instead like Arthur Scargill on speed. With worse manners.
Yes. And it turns out that having previously threatened legal action to enforce their will, their own hand is now being forced in the face of legal action by the teaching unions.
It's a nice touch that the NEU are using a Conservative act of parliament to assert the right not to work in an unsafe environment.
GMB (one of the support staff unions) now invoking section 44 as well. Gavin might be surrounded by 5pm. Tricky to open schools if you don't have any staff.
To put it mildly, the whole thing is utter fucking chaos.
It's worse than the last week of term, and that was an omnishambles. I'd be astonished if it wasn't Williamson. He is incredibly stupid, and it appears no-one is in charge at No.10 either.
You are all making far too much of attacking government on schools. Government hides its motive behind the education loss of the poor kids, but truth is we all must appreciate like the government does schools open = child care = people going to work. Unlike the government you are ignoring the important child care angle here, aren’t you?
In Ireland one of the reasons for closing the schools in March was precisely to force parents to stay home from work.
It seems with Cockney Covid that we may need to keep all non-essential workers at home to control the spread. So closing schools (except for the children of essential workers) would seem to be the sensible approach.
Yeah. And what about the economy?
The thinking behind your post was simply about fighting covid. Downing Street quite rightly have higher ambitions than you, beating covid and protecting the economy at the same time. Hence schools must stay open. Even if they close in your borough the kids still travel to neighbouring borough to school.
The only question now is whether Williamson's inevitable announcement that schools aren't going back on Monday will come today or on Sunday. To save face, he ought to announce it now to maintain the facade that the decision is still in his hands.
"The National Education Union (NEU), which represents the majority of teachers and more than 450,000 school staff in the UK, will inform its members that it is not safe for them to return to school until mid-January at the earliest. It expects most of its members will follow its advice, forcing most schools to switch to online learning for the majority of their pupils. The union will provide its members with a template letter to send to their headteachers, explaining that they are refusing to go into work because their workplace is unsafe, a right enshrined in law by section 44 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. Staff should still be prepared to work remotely, the union says, and should volunteer to look after vulnerable pupils and the children of key workers on school premises."
None of this was necessary if the government had been a little more thoughtful and flexible.
They were instead like Arthur Scargill on speed. With worse manners.
Yes. And it turns out that having previously threatened legal action to enforce their will, their own hand is now being forced in the face of legal action by the teaching unions.
It's a nice touch that the NEU are using a Conservative act of parliament to assert the right not to work in an unsafe environment.
GMB (one of the support staff unions) now invoking section 44 as well. Gavin might be surrounded by 5pm. Tricky to open schools if you don't have any staff.
To put it mildly, the whole thing is utter fucking chaos.
Hate to say it, but this might be what the government was hoping for.
Schools closed, but not the government's fault. In fact, another front in the culture war.
Appalling government, but potentially excellent populist politics.
But it is their fault. The NAHT would not be preparing to sue on the off-chance. They clearly believe they’ve found a breach of the law.
Its more likely a judgment call: can the employers provide a safe system of work? They might argue yes but others may well disagree.
Good morning everyone. And thanks Mr H for your forecast. However, I'm inclined to agree with Mr Clipp; the Government looks as though it may well be in serious chaos by the end of the year. The question has to arise; who is to replace anyone who leaves the Government. There doesn't seem to be a wealth of talent on the Conservative benches.
I’m afraid that’s what happens when candidates are selected for ‘outside’ bets to win, you don’t get the cream of aspiring politicians and end up with a lot of dead wood or even worse unpredictable self motivated individuals. When you’ve already sacked the A team and appointed theB team based on loyalty to brexit leaves you little room for maneuver and any quality left will be seen as a threat to the incumbent.
Indeed; and there's little chance of a by election bringing anyone else in. It has to be said, tough, that Labour doesn't appear to have a group of whizz-kids ready to challenge either. Although maybe the opportunity hasn't 't yet arisen, but, for example, I can't recall who leads for Labour on Education. Maybe, of course, I haven't been paying attention.
Kate Green - notable fior 'wokeness' I'm afraid and anti-monarchism.
Thanks; should I try to remember?
On Dr F's point, AIUI the 'Family Doctor' system that we have in the UK is, I understand, unusual. While it has it's disadvantages...... no-one can be expert in everything ....... it does mean that there's are local reference points where everyones records are held.
I thought that’s what computers were for everything in one place accessible from multiple points including by the patient, doesn’t every modern health service have this facility?
No.
And it’s much more difficult that you glibly imply
Interesting set of predictions from David H, hopefully by Spring the vaccinations will be well under way.
In May I expect the Tories to make some losses in the county elections to Labour where they had an 11% lead in 2017 but do better in the district elections which were neck and neck in 2016. In London Labour will do well but less so in Wales.
In Scotland if Sturgeon fails to win an SNP majority and can only continue with the support of the Greens that would be a major blow to her authority and lead to calls for a leadership challenge from the SNP as well as enabling Boris to easily dismiss any calls for indyref2.
Biden I think will be a pragmatic President and probably the most centrist incoming President since Bush Snr, that will lead to some murmurings on the left of the Democrats but relative calm for the rest of the country with Trump murmuring resistance from Florida on occasion. I think the likeliest outcome on Tuesday in Georgia is Warnock wins and Purdue wins, both were ahead in the first round and the Senate ends up 51 - 49 with Collins or Romney having the casting vote again reflecting a shift in the US to the centre isolating the Trumpite right and the AOC left.
In Germany if Merz or Soder end up the CDU/CSU chancellor candidate for September's Federal elections that would see a clear shift to the right for the Union from Merkel
Don't the Scottish Greens support independence?
They do, so if Boris tried to prevent a referendum on the grounds of the SNP alone not having a majority it would look like trying to wiggle out on a technicality. The right thing would be to allow a referendum in 2022, but for Westminster to insist on a sensible voting franchise (i.e. not allowing children or EU citizens to vote, some provision for Scots elsewhere in the UK/abroad). With a Brexit deal now done, I don't think a 'Yes' vote is as inevitable as the SNP clearly do.
Well, the SNP would, publicly anyway, wouldn't they? And why should 'children'...... 16 year olds not vote? It's their future.
16 and 17 year olds should not be allowed to vote because we've quite sensibly judged they're not mature enough to. Why not extend this logic to enfranchising 4 year olds? And it's lots of people's future, including everyone else in the UK, but I wouldn't suggest I should get a vote.
You blathering idiot , you are talking about England. In civilised countries , ie like Scotland , they can vote in elections.
When Scotland is part of a UK election, no they can't and rightly so. It's a hallmark of corrupt, lazy politicians to adjust the voting franchise purely to suit their own short-term political objectives.
Are you suggesting that the whole UK should vote on it?
No, but as this is a UK constitutional matter, not a council by-election in Dundee, I think it's reasonable that the franchise should be based on the UK one.
LOL, you cannot hide your stupidity and ignorance. 16 and 17 years olds have the vote in Scottish elections you dummy. If you are going to make a fool of yourself , try at least to read up on your topic before putting your foot in your mouth.
I'm well aware of that, but as a legal secession referendum can only happen with the approval of the Westminster government, it seems quite appropriate to use the UK franchise, which has remained unchanged for decades, rather than one the SNP have recently invented for their own advantage.
On a related note, I haven't been on here much lately and I'd forgotten how rude and unpleasant you can be. Take a chill pill.
Looking forward to that point when a UK gov suggests another EU referendum and chilled out Brexiteers being totally fine with them fiddling about with the franchise of the 2016 referendum to help out that government's desired outcome.
I don't support franchises being fiddled about with to support short-term political objectives, whether or not I share those objectives. Simple as that.
The Sindyref Franchise is just the Scottish franchise. It included EU citizens who, as a group, were massively against independence.
That was some pretty shit fiddling by the SNP there.
malcolmg/Theuniondivvie - Cameron was complacent in 2014 and allowed the SNP to implement a non-standard electoral franchise which was in *their* favour. That mistake should not be repeated.
It's not non-standard in Scotland, it's just 'the electoral franchise'.
I am quite relaxed about 16-18 year olds but EU citizens' voting rights ended yesterday and keeping them on the franchise for this would be unacceptable.
Funny that, Spain has kept voting rights for locals for Brits as long as it stays reciprocal.
I can see the argument for local elections when you are a resident and paying towards them. I can't for referendums. Am I right in understanding that in Spain foreigners cannot vote in the national elections?
I have said several times that I suspect Boris will leave office probably this year and I hope Rishi Sunak will replace him. Probably my only prediction. My current frustration lies mainly with the slow vaccine rollout in the EU combined with surprise at the high levels of scepticism I hear about having the jab here in Spain. We continue to be badly hit but one of the wealthiest blocs in the world seems to be dithering. I don't get it.
Dithering is unfair, I think
It’s inevitable that any complex organisation moves at the pace of the slowest
On the contrary, dithering is verging on being complimentary.
Lol. The best camp is the camp where the participants are totally unaware of their campness.
Hahaha that's brilliant. What on earth is the bit where the 'military hardware' is just two cars towing Sunseeker yachts with the requisite action man figures?
malcolmg/Theuniondivvie - Cameron was complacent in 2014 and allowed the SNP to implement a non-standard electoral franchise which was in *their* favour. That mistake should not be repeated.
It's not non-standard in Scotland, it's just 'the electoral franchise'.
I am quite relaxed about 16-18 year olds but EU citizens' voting rights ended yesterday and keeping them on the franchise for this would be unacceptable.
Funny that, Spain has kept voting rights for locals for Brits as long as it stays reciprocal.
I can see the argument for local elections when you are a resident and paying towards them. I can't for referendums. Am I right in understanding that in Spain foreigners cannot vote in the national elections?
At the risk of whataboutery, what's the rationale for Irish citizens having a vote in UK elections? Or indeed Commonwealth citizens? I know the UK is a member of the Commonwealth, but it seems irrelevant to who gets the vote. Commonwealth citizenship doesn't give the right to visit the UK even. The Scottish franchise, which is offered to anyone who is permanently resident and is a stakeholder in the democratic process, seems non-discriminatory and has a solid rationale.
The only question now is whether Williamson's inevitable announcement that schools aren't going back on Monday will come today or on Sunday. To save face, he ought to announce it now to maintain the facade that the decision is still in his hands.
"The National Education Union (NEU), which represents the majority of teachers and more than 450,000 school staff in the UK, will inform its members that it is not safe for them to return to school until mid-January at the earliest. It expects most of its members will follow its advice, forcing most schools to switch to online learning for the majority of their pupils. The union will provide its members with a template letter to send to their headteachers, explaining that they are refusing to go into work because their workplace is unsafe, a right enshrined in law by section 44 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. Staff should still be prepared to work remotely, the union says, and should volunteer to look after vulnerable pupils and the children of key workers on school premises."
None of this was necessary if the government had been a little more thoughtful and flexible.
They were instead like Arthur Scargill on speed. With worse manners.
Yes. And it turns out that having previously threatened legal action to enforce their will, their own hand is now being forced in the face of legal action by the teaching unions.
It's a nice touch that the NEU are using a Conservative act of parliament to assert the right not to work in an unsafe environment.
GMB (one of the support staff unions) now invoking section 44 as well. Gavin might be surrounded by 5pm. Tricky to open schools if you don't have any staff.
To put it mildly, the whole thing is utter fucking chaos.
Hate to say it, but this might be what the government was hoping for.
Schools closed, but not the government's fault. In fact, another front in the culture war.
Appalling government, but potentially excellent populist politics.
But it is their fault. The NAHT would not be preparing to sue on the off-chance. They clearly believe they’ve found a breach of the law.
Its more likely a judgment call: can the employers provide a safe system of work? They might argue yes but others may well disagree.
More that they have assumed the government is withholding information:
I have said several times that I suspect Boris will leave office probably this year and I hope Rishi Sunak will replace him. Probably my only prediction. My current frustration lies mainly with the slow vaccine rollout in the EU combined with surprise at the high levels of scepticism I hear about having the jab here in Spain. We continue to be badly hit but one of the wealthiest blocs in the world seems to be dithering. I don't get it.
I have twice over the past fortnight heard people who earn their money by reporting political things to large companies state that Boris is likely to be heading off about April time - to earn some proper money.
The only question now is whether Williamson's inevitable announcement that schools aren't going back on Monday will come today or on Sunday. To save face, he ought to announce it now to maintain the facade that the decision is still in his hands.
"The National Education Union (NEU), which represents the majority of teachers and more than 450,000 school staff in the UK, will inform its members that it is not safe for them to return to school until mid-January at the earliest. It expects most of its members will follow its advice, forcing most schools to switch to online learning for the majority of their pupils. The union will provide its members with a template letter to send to their headteachers, explaining that they are refusing to go into work because their workplace is unsafe, a right enshrined in law by section 44 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. Staff should still be prepared to work remotely, the union says, and should volunteer to look after vulnerable pupils and the children of key workers on school premises."
None of this was necessary if the government had been a little more thoughtful and flexible.
They were instead like Arthur Scargill on speed. With worse manners.
Yes. And it turns out that having previously threatened legal action to enforce their will, their own hand is now being forced in the face of legal action by the teaching unions.
It's a nice touch that the NEU are using a Conservative act of parliament to assert the right not to work in an unsafe environment.
GMB (one of the support staff unions) now invoking section 44 as well. Gavin might be surrounded by 5pm. Tricky to open schools if you don't have any staff.
To put it mildly, the whole thing is utter fucking chaos.
Hate to say it, but this might be what the government was hoping for.
Schools closed, but not the government's fault. In fact, another front in the culture war.
Appalling government, but potentially excellent populist politics.
But it is their fault. The NAHT would not be preparing to sue on the off-chance. They clearly believe they’ve found a breach of the law.
Its more likely a judgment call: can the employers provide a safe system of work? They might argue yes but others may well disagree.
More that they have assumed the government is withholding information:
Let’s try and keep away from Scottish referendum debate it’s been pleasant not having it so far today. Police turning back day trippers to Snowdonia from all over the country, what is wrong with people do they not take in any news? The UK is on the verge of a health crisis which could hit anyone and still they ignore it. The bottom line I suppose is that there just aren’t enough police to do the job properly and the need to ‘police by consent’.
You running the blog now, we will debate independence if we like. We all know from the numbers that down south are nutters, boring hearing yet again about them polluting the country and increasing virus numbers.
I have said several times that I suspect Boris will leave office probably this year and I hope Rishi Sunak will replace him. Probably my only prediction. My current frustration lies mainly with the slow vaccine rollout in the EU combined with surprise at the high levels of scepticism I hear about having the jab here in Spain. We continue to be badly hit but one of the wealthiest blocs in the world seems to be dithering. I don't get it.
I have twice over the past fortnight heard people who earn their money by reporting political things to large companies state that Boris is likely to be heading off about April time - to earn some proper money.
That will hit me in the wallet if it pans out. My biggest politics bet atm is on him still being PM on 1st July 2022.
malcolmg/Theuniondivvie - Cameron was complacent in 2014 and allowed the SNP to implement a non-standard electoral franchise which was in *their* favour. That mistake should not be repeated.
It's not non-standard in Scotland, it's just 'the electoral franchise'.
I am quite relaxed about 16-18 year olds but EU citizens' voting rights ended yesterday and keeping them on the franchise for this would be unacceptable.
Afaik EU citizens will be voting in the May election.
No need to guess how the Tories will try to discredit the result of the May elections...
Will twitter be flagging @Douglas4Moray's tweets with warnings that the claims are disputed and might be misleading?
As I understand it, can EU citizens not apply to be UK citizens? In which case it would be extremely unjust to prevent them from voting, even if confirmation is pending.
Of course, if they are not UK citizens, and have no intention of becoming so, that's something entirely different.
Makes no difference , it will be under Scottish election system and they are therefore valid to vote as long as they meet the requirements of legally living in Scotland and being 16 years old.
malcolmg/Theuniondivvie - Cameron was complacent in 2014 and allowed the SNP to implement a non-standard electoral franchise which was in *their* favour. That mistake should not be repeated.
It's not non-standard in Scotland, it's just 'the electoral franchise'.
I am quite relaxed about 16-18 year olds but EU citizens' voting rights ended yesterday and keeping them on the franchise for this would be unacceptable.
If they are resident in the country and meet requirements for the Scottish electoral voting system then why would they not be allowed to vote.
Because this is a decision for Scots. If they feel sufficiently affiliated to this country to take out UK citizenship, fine, no problem. But if they remain French or Spanish or whatever they do not have a right to decide our future.
Clearly the vast majority of EU citizens would vote for Independence in the hope that an independent Scotland would once again join the EU. But would even the SNP want to taint any result in this way?
So that would rule out Irish , English , Commonwealth etc and all we would hear is that SNP are Nazi's and want to have pure blood referendum. That is an extremely poor choice David. You were happy that they got the vote the last time knowing they would vote NO to stay in EU, now as usual for Tories you want to switch rules to rig vote.
If EU citizens had the vote in the last Scottish referendum, then they should have it in the next one. Presumably the SNP had to accept their inclusion in 2014 even if it worked against them as they presumably think EU citizens should have the vote in all (i.e. including general) elections.
Whether of not EU citizens would switch from No to Yes, I'm not sure.
What is it with moronic sportsmen, every damn day there’s more of them who don’t seem to understand the concept of a pandemic.
Probably all moot by next week though, if cases keep going up they’re probably going to have to either postpone the league or go with the proper bubble approach that F1 did.
I think you are altogether too optimistic about the vaccination programme.
Anyway, yesterday marked the day when I officially became Chair of Trustees of a London primary school. The one I went to in fact. It taught me a lot - not just what you'd expect from a good school but what to aspire to if you want to try to be a good person. So it feels right to be giving something back.
And this morning I have urgent calls with the Headmistress re the plans for online learning.
The mess Gavin Williamson is making of everything does not give me confidence in the vaccination programme or anything else this government touches, frankly. I am not a scientist but the idea of mixing and matching vaccines sounds peculiar. What is the scientific basis for it? What are the risks?
Regarding mixing and matching the vaccines, I imagine that the main driver is to vaccinate as many as possible as quickly as possible - no matter which particular vaccine. Better to go for quick, maximum possible coverage over the supply issues which would come with backing one manufacturer only.
I think it's fine to mix and match amongst the population, but if someone is on Pfizer, they need to stick to pfizer second dose - not have a second Oxford or Moderna dose.
This virologist implies it's OK (subject to confirmation) to prime with Pfizer type vaccines and boost with others, eg AstraZeneca. But maybe not the other way round?
My impression is that due to poorly run trials, we don't have a good handle on the efficacy of the AstraZeneca vaccine, but as long as it's safe, we will jab it in and work out the efficacy later. GIven we are up against it, this makes some sense.
No reason it wouldn’t work the other way round, too. I think her point about the mRNA vaccines (unlike say the Ad5 ones), that they don’t have a vector which the body generates an immune response to in the same way. She was thinking if the situation where you might use a modified vaccine (against a mutated version of the virus) as a booster.
As has been pointed out, there’s no data on mixing and matching the vaccines either way around, but theoretically it ought to work.
malcolmg/Theuniondivvie - Cameron was complacent in 2014 and allowed the SNP to implement a non-standard electoral franchise which was in *their* favour. That mistake should not be repeated.
It's not non-standard in Scotland, it's just 'the electoral franchise'.
I am quite relaxed about 16-18 year olds but EU citizens' voting rights ended yesterday and keeping them on the franchise for this would be unacceptable.
Funny that, Spain has kept voting rights for locals for Brits as long as it stays reciprocal.
I can see the argument for local elections when you are a resident and paying towards them. I can't for referendums. Am I right in understanding that in Spain foreigners cannot vote in the national elections?
At the risk of whataboutery, what's the rationale for Irish citizens having a vote in UK elections? Or indeed Commonwealth citizens? I know the UK is a member of the Commonwealth, but it seems irrelevant to who gets the vote. Commonwealth citizenship doesn't give the right to visit the UK even. The Scottish franchise, which is offered to anyone who is permanently resident and is a stakeholder in the democratic process, seems non-discriminatory and has a solid rationale.
I agree about Irish citizens. I think that they retained the right to vote when Eire went independent but there is no one alive now who had the vote in 1919 and its long past time this anachronism was brought to an end. I wouldn't give the Commonwealth citizens a vote either. None of them, I think, have an automatic right to live here now and they will be on restricted visas of one type or another.
malcolmg/Theuniondivvie - Cameron was complacent in 2014 and allowed the SNP to implement a non-standard electoral franchise which was in *their* favour. That mistake should not be repeated.
It's not non-standard in Scotland, it's just 'the electoral franchise'.
I am quite relaxed about 16-18 year olds but EU citizens' voting rights ended yesterday and keeping them on the franchise for this would be unacceptable.
Funny that, Spain has kept voting rights for locals for Brits as long as it stays reciprocal.
I can see the argument for local elections when you are a resident and paying towards them. I can't for referendums. Am I right in understanding that in Spain foreigners cannot vote in the national elections?
At the risk of whataboutery, what's the rationale for Irish citizens having a vote in UK elections? Or indeed Commonwealth citizens? I know the UK is a member of the Commonwealth, but it seems irrelevant to who gets the vote. Commonwealth citizenship doesn't give the right to visit the UK even. The Scottish franchise, which is offered to anyone who is permanently resident and is a stakeholder in the democratic process, seems non-discriminatory and has a solid rationale.
I agree about Irish citizens. I think that they retained the right to vote when Eire went independent but there is no one alive now who had the vote in 1919 and its long past time this anachronism was brought to an end. I wouldn't give the Commonwealth citizens a vote either. None of them, I think, have an automatic right to live here now and they will be on restricted visas of one type or another.
David, you seem to be ignoring English voters, do you suggest a special case is made for them only.
malcolmg/Theuniondivvie - Cameron was complacent in 2014 and allowed the SNP to implement a non-standard electoral franchise which was in *their* favour. That mistake should not be repeated.
It's not non-standard in Scotland, it's just 'the electoral franchise'.
I am quite relaxed about 16-18 year olds but EU citizens' voting rights ended yesterday and keeping them on the franchise for this would be unacceptable.
If they are resident in the country and meet requirements for the Scottish electoral voting system then why would they not be allowed to vote.
Because this is a decision for Scots. If they feel sufficiently affiliated to this country to take out UK citizenship, fine, no problem. But if they remain French or Spanish or whatever they do not have a right to decide our future.
Clearly the vast majority of EU citizens would vote for Independence in the hope that an independent Scotland would once again join the EU. But would even the SNP want to taint any result in this way?
Wut? So lie like shit to EU nationals in SindyRef1 to get them to vote No then excluded them from the franchise to stop them voting Yes?
malcolmg/Theuniondivvie - Cameron was complacent in 2014 and allowed the SNP to implement a non-standard electoral franchise which was in *their* favour. That mistake should not be repeated.
It's not non-standard in Scotland, it's just 'the electoral franchise'.
I am quite relaxed about 16-18 year olds but EU citizens' voting rights ended yesterday and keeping them on the franchise for this would be unacceptable.
Funny that, Spain has kept voting rights for locals for Brits as long as it stays reciprocal.
I can see the argument for local elections when you are a resident and paying towards them. I can't for referendums. Am I right in understanding that in Spain foreigners cannot vote in the national elections?
At the risk of whataboutery, what's the rationale for Irish citizens having a vote in UK elections? Or indeed Commonwealth citizens? I know the UK is a member of the Commonwealth, but it seems irrelevant to who gets the vote. Commonwealth citizenship doesn't give the right to visit the UK even. The Scottish franchise, which is offered to anyone who is permanently resident and is a stakeholder in the democratic process, seems non-discriminatory and has a solid rationale.
It is a historical holdover from when all the British territories had a common citizenship as “British subjects” and theoretical, if not practical for the vast majority, freedom of movement to the UK. After the Statute of Westminster was enacted in 1931, the “dominions” as they were then known, obtained the right to enact their own citizenships, but the right of their citizens resident in the UK was maintained by simply re-casting the rule so that Commonwealth citizens resident in the UK could vote, even though Commonwealth FOM ended in the late 60s (IIRC).
Ireland is a special case: partly because of the Northern Ireland situation but mostly because of the large numbers of Irish immigrants in Great Britain proper, it was deemed politic to treat Ireland as if it was a Commonwealth country after it became a republic and left the Commonwealth in 1949. The Ireland Act 1949 specifically states that “the Republic of Ireland is not a foreign country for the purposes of any law”. Because of the practicalities of the CTA and the inter-mingling of the British and Irish populations, when Commonwealth immigration started to be restricted nothing was changed with regard to Ireland which resulted in the Irish being more privileged than Commonwealth citizens in terms of being able to reside and vote in Britain despite no longer being in the Commonwealth.
As that law existed before the UK and Ireland joined the EEC / EU, it’s unaffected by Brexit. Ireland extended broadly reciprocal privileges to British citizens and so FOM between the UK and Ireland remains unchanged after Brexit.
If EU citizens had the vote in the last Scottish referendum, then they should have it in the next one. Presumably the SNP had to accept their inclusion in 2014 even if it worked against them as they presumably think EU citizens should have the vote in all (i.e. including general) elections.
Whether of not EU citizens would switch from No to Yes, I'm not sure.
That's a good point, if EU citizens have secure residency now and can vote, they presumably aren't feeling in imminent danger of being made persona non grata.
Cue the old switcheroo from Unionists: No, I've always said that the new outward looking, Globalist Britain should be welcoming to all.
Oh god. That one looks real too. I do hope all this has peaked with Him.
I've been wondering recently whether Trump is going to carry on calling these demonstations after Biden is inaugurated, and whether his appeal with persist strongly enough to carry on drawing similar crowds for his campaign "against fraud" ; if so, Biden and the Democrats will have an ongoing nuisance.
malcolmg/Theuniondivvie - Cameron was complacent in 2014 and allowed the SNP to implement a non-standard electoral franchise which was in *their* favour. That mistake should not be repeated.
It's not non-standard in Scotland, it's just 'the electoral franchise'.
I am quite relaxed about 16-18 year olds but EU citizens' voting rights ended yesterday and keeping them on the franchise for this would be unacceptable.
If they are resident in the country and meet requirements for the Scottish electoral voting system then why would they not be allowed to vote.
Because this is a decision for Scots. If they feel sufficiently affiliated to this country to take out UK citizenship, fine, no problem. But if they remain French or Spanish or whatever they do not have a right to decide our future.
Clearly the vast majority of EU citizens would vote for Independence in the hope that an independent Scotland would once again join the EU. But would even the SNP want to taint any result in this way?
Unionists don't seem to mind their 2014 victory being tainted by promising a No vote meant staying in the EU, and then dragging Scotland out of the EU against its will.
malcolmg/Theuniondivvie - Cameron was complacent in 2014 and allowed the SNP to implement a non-standard electoral franchise which was in *their* favour. That mistake should not be repeated.
It's not non-standard in Scotland, it's just 'the electoral franchise'.
I am quite relaxed about 16-18 year olds but EU citizens' voting rights ended yesterday and keeping them on the franchise for this would be unacceptable.
Funny that, Spain has kept voting rights for locals for Brits as long as it stays reciprocal.
I can see the argument for local elections when you are a resident and paying towards them. I can't for referendums. Am I right in understanding that in Spain foreigners cannot vote in the national elections?
At the risk of whataboutery, what's the rationale for Irish citizens having a vote in UK elections? Or indeed Commonwealth citizens? I know the UK is a member of the Commonwealth, but it seems irrelevant to who gets the vote. Commonwealth citizenship doesn't give the right to visit the UK even. The Scottish franchise, which is offered to anyone who is permanently resident and is a stakeholder in the democratic process, seems non-discriminatory and has a solid rationale.
I agree about Irish citizens. I think that they retained the right to vote when Eire went independent but there is no one alive now who had the vote in 1919 and its long past time this anachronism was brought to an end. I wouldn't give the Commonwealth citizens a vote either. None of them, I think, have an automatic right to live here now and they will be on restricted visas of one type or another.
David, you seem to be ignoring English voters, do you suggest a special case is made for them only.
British people have the right to vote wherever in Britain they reside. We are a single country. If that changes then we would need to decide what voting rights they should be given at that point.
malcolmg/Theuniondivvie - Cameron was complacent in 2014 and allowed the SNP to implement a non-standard electoral franchise which was in *their* favour. That mistake should not be repeated.
It's not non-standard in Scotland, it's just 'the electoral franchise'.
I am quite relaxed about 16-18 year olds but EU citizens' voting rights ended yesterday and keeping them on the franchise for this would be unacceptable.
If they are resident in the country and meet requirements for the Scottish electoral voting system then why would they not be allowed to vote.
Because this is a decision for Scots. If they feel sufficiently affiliated to this country to take out UK citizenship, fine, no problem. But if they remain French or Spanish or whatever they do not have a right to decide our future.
Clearly the vast majority of EU citizens would vote for Independence in the hope that an independent Scotland would once again join the EU. But would even the SNP want to taint any result in this way?
Wut? So lie like shit to EU nationals in SindyRef1 to get them to vote No then excluded them from the franchise to stop them voting Yes?
Nice democracy you've got there.
The only people who lied in 2014 were the SNP spokesmen who claimed that an independent Scotland would have an automatic right to be a part of the EU. No one else.
Oh god. That one looks real too. I do hope all this has peaked with Him.
I've been wondering recently whether Trump is going to carry on calling these demonstations after Biden is inaugurated, and whether his appeal with persist strongly enough to carry on drawing similar crowds for his campaign "against fraud" ; if so, Biden and the Democrats will have an ongoing nuisance.
It depends a lot on whether the media keep covering him, or choose to ignore him.
The problem is that, no matter what he does, he’s box office gold for the rolling news networks.
The only question now is whether Williamson's inevitable announcement that schools aren't going back on Monday will come today or on Sunday. To save face, he ought to announce it now to maintain the facade that the decision is still in his hands.
"The National Education Union (NEU), which represents the majority of teachers and more than 450,000 school staff in the UK, will inform its members that it is not safe for them to return to school until mid-January at the earliest. It expects most of its members will follow its advice, forcing most schools to switch to online learning for the majority of their pupils. The union will provide its members with a template letter to send to their headteachers, explaining that they are refusing to go into work because their workplace is unsafe, a right enshrined in law by section 44 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. Staff should still be prepared to work remotely, the union says, and should volunteer to look after vulnerable pupils and the children of key workers on school premises."
None of this was necessary if the government had been a little more thoughtful and flexible.
They were instead like Arthur Scargill on speed. With worse manners.
Yes. And it turns out that having previously threatened legal action to enforce their will, their own hand is now being forced in the face of legal action by the teaching unions.
It's a nice touch that the NEU are using a Conservative act of parliament to assert the right not to work in an unsafe environment.
GMB (one of the support staff unions) now invoking section 44 as well. Gavin might be surrounded by 5pm. Tricky to open schools if you don't have any staff.
To put it mildly, the whole thing is utter fucking chaos.
I think I've spotted a clear and determined MO for this government in much of their pandemic response -
1. Focus on something that is inevitable for next week. 2. Rather than plan for it, say it's not necessary. 3. Allow 72 hours of debate and confusion. 4. Announce that it's now urgent (!) and is happening tomorrow.
3b. Announce a Johnson Press Conference to take place at 4pm, to which he won't turn up until 6pm.
malcolmg/Theuniondivvie - Cameron was complacent in 2014 and allowed the SNP to implement a non-standard electoral franchise which was in *their* favour. That mistake should not be repeated.
It's not non-standard in Scotland, it's just 'the electoral franchise'.
I am quite relaxed about 16-18 year olds but EU citizens' voting rights ended yesterday and keeping them on the franchise for this would be unacceptable.
If they are resident in the country and meet requirements for the Scottish electoral voting system then why would they not be allowed to vote.
Because this is a decision for Scots. If they feel sufficiently affiliated to this country to take out UK citizenship, fine, no problem. But if they remain French or Spanish or whatever they do not have a right to decide our future.
Clearly the vast majority of EU citizens would vote for Independence in the hope that an independent Scotland would once again join the EU. But would even the SNP want to taint any result in this way?
So that would rule out Irish , English , Commonwealth etc and all we would hear is that SNP are Nazi's and want to have pure blood referendum. That is an extremely poor choice David. You were happy that they got the vote the last time knowing they would vote NO to stay in EU, now as usual for Tories you want to switch rules to rig vote.
To be honest I don't think that it really impinged on my consciousness in 2014. The change in the voting age did (not least because my 16 year old daughter got her first vote) and it got lots of publicity but I don't remember the question of EU citizens voting coming up at all. If it had I would have been opposed to it for the same reasons.
malcolmg/Theuniondivvie - Cameron was complacent in 2014 and allowed the SNP to implement a non-standard electoral franchise which was in *their* favour. That mistake should not be repeated.
It's not non-standard in Scotland, it's just 'the electoral franchise'.
I am quite relaxed about 16-18 year olds but EU citizens' voting rights ended yesterday and keeping them on the franchise for this would be unacceptable.
If they are resident in the country and meet requirements for the Scottish electoral voting system then why would they not be allowed to vote.
Because this is a decision for Scots. If they feel sufficiently affiliated to this country to take out UK citizenship, fine, no problem. But if they remain French or Spanish or whatever they do not have a right to decide our future.
Clearly the vast majority of EU citizens would vote for Independence in the hope that an independent Scotland would once again join the EU. But would even the SNP want to taint any result in this way?
Wut? So lie like shit to EU nationals in SindyRef1 to get them to vote No then excluded them from the franchise to stop them voting Yes?
Nice democracy you've got there.
The only people who lied in 2014 were the SNP spokesmen who claimed that an independent Scotland would have an automatic right to be a part of the EU. No one else.
malcolmg/Theuniondivvie - Cameron was complacent in 2014 and allowed the SNP to implement a non-standard electoral franchise which was in *their* favour. That mistake should not be repeated.
It's not non-standard in Scotland, it's just 'the electoral franchise'.
I am quite relaxed about 16-18 year olds but EU citizens' voting rights ended yesterday and keeping them on the franchise for this would be unacceptable.
Funny that, Spain has kept voting rights for locals for Brits as long as it stays reciprocal.
I can see the argument for local elections when you are a resident and paying towards them. I can't for referendums. Am I right in understanding that in Spain foreigners cannot vote in the national elections?
At the risk of whataboutery, what's the rationale for Irish citizens having a vote in UK elections? Or indeed Commonwealth citizens? I know the UK is a member of the Commonwealth, but it seems irrelevant to who gets the vote. Commonwealth citizenship doesn't give the right to visit the UK even. The Scottish franchise, which is offered to anyone who is permanently resident and is a stakeholder in the democratic process, seems non-discriminatory and has a solid rationale.
It is a historical holdover from when all the British territories had a common citizenship as “British subjects” and theoretical, if not practical for the vast majority, freedom of movement to the UK. After the Statute of Westminster was enacted in 1931, the “dominions” as they were then known, obtained the right to enact their own citizenships, but the right of their citizens resident in the UK was maintained by simply re-casting the rule so that Commonwealth citizens resident in the UK could vote, even though Commonwealth FOM ended in the late 60s (IIRC).
Ireland is a special case: partly because of the Northern Ireland situation but mostly because of the large numbers of Irish immigrants in Great Britain proper, it was deemed politic to treat Ireland as if it was a Commonwealth country after it became a republic and left the Commonwealth in 1949. The Ireland Act 1949 specifically states that “the Republic of Ireland is not a foreign country for the purposes of any law”. Because of the practicalities of the CTA and the inter-mingling of the British and Irish populations, when Commonwealth immigration started to be restricted nothing was changed with regard to Ireland which resulted in the Irish being more privileged than Commonwealth citizens in terms of being able to reside and vote in Britain despite no longer being in the Commonwealth.
As that law existed before the UK and Ireland joined the EEC / EU, it’s unaffected by Brexit. Ireland extended broadly reciprocal privileges to British citizens and so FOM between the UK and Ireland remains unchanged after Brexit.
Yes, that's right.
I don't mind the Irish exception too much, because it's reciprocal and they have a shared history. Same reason I'd extend it to Canada, Australia, NZ and maybe the US if they reciprocated.
malcolmg/Theuniondivvie - Cameron was complacent in 2014 and allowed the SNP to implement a non-standard electoral franchise which was in *their* favour. That mistake should not be repeated.
It's not non-standard in Scotland, it's just 'the electoral franchise'.
I am quite relaxed about 16-18 year olds but EU citizens' voting rights ended yesterday and keeping them on the franchise for this would be unacceptable.
If they are resident in the country and meet requirements for the Scottish electoral voting system then why would they not be allowed to vote.
Because this is a decision for Scots. If they feel sufficiently affiliated to this country to take out UK citizenship, fine, no problem. But if they remain French or Spanish or whatever they do not have a right to decide our future.
Clearly the vast majority of EU citizens would vote for Independence in the hope that an independent Scotland would once again join the EU. But would even the SNP want to taint any result in this way?
Wut? So lie like shit to EU nationals in SindyRef1 to get them to vote No then excluded them from the franchise to stop them voting Yes?
Nice democracy you've got there.
The only people who lied in 2014 were the SNP spokesmen who claimed that an independent Scotland would have an automatic right to be a part of the EU. No one else.
Yes it is. She was correctly stating the correct legal position at the time. Of course the UK subsequently decided to withdraw from the EU but that did not make what was said on the remain side in 2014, when no referendum was promised, let alone determined, untrue.
BBC says that EuroMillions: Jackpot of more than £39m has been won by UK ticket-holder.
Will we still be able to buy EuroMillions tickets?
I got a lucky dip win
One Sunday morning, many years ago, I woke up to nine first dividends on the pools. Unfortunately there had been around 25 score draws on the usual Saturday slate of 46 matches so every bloke and his whippet had the same. Still hurts to think about it.
There was a time in the late ‘90s that numbers 1 and 7 both got drawn in the national lottery. 120ish people got all six numbers that night, good for something like £16k each of a £2m jackpot.
No doubt many of them called their boss when slightly the worse for wear that night, saying exactly where they could stuff their job, before the computer did its thing and they realised they weren’t quite as rich as they thought they were!
(I’ll try and look up the exact details, I was working part time in a convenience store at the time).
Edit: possibly this one: Back on Saturday 14th January 1995, a staggering 133 players shared a Lotto jackpot of £16.2 million after matching the numbers 7, 17, 23, 32, 38 and 42. Why did so many ticket holders pick the same, apparently-random numbers? It was discovered that they were all printed in the central columns of the playslip, and so each winner had to be content with receiving a £122,510 payout. https://www.national-lottery.com/news/what-are-the-most-unusual-lotto-results-ever
Not a bad win, but not tell-your-boss-to-f***-his-job money either.
wonder how many had to eat humble pie next day at work
Surely a Tesco's finest pie with 122 bags
£122,000 must have been at least five times the average salary in 1995 (even more after tax) so while disappointing if you'd expected £16.2 million, you'd not have been crawling to the boss. You might, however, have been walking back your promise to buy houses for your three kids.
malcolmg/Theuniondivvie - Cameron was complacent in 2014 and allowed the SNP to implement a non-standard electoral franchise which was in *their* favour. That mistake should not be repeated.
It's not non-standard in Scotland, it's just 'the electoral franchise'.
I am quite relaxed about 16-18 year olds but EU citizens' voting rights ended yesterday and keeping them on the franchise for this would be unacceptable.
Funny that, Spain has kept voting rights for locals for Brits as long as it stays reciprocal.
I can see the argument for local elections when you are a resident and paying towards them. I can't for referendums. Am I right in understanding that in Spain foreigners cannot vote in the national elections?
At the risk of whataboutery, what's the rationale for Irish citizens having a vote in UK elections? Or indeed Commonwealth citizens? I know the UK is a member of the Commonwealth, but it seems irrelevant to who gets the vote. Commonwealth citizenship doesn't give the right to visit the UK even. The Scottish franchise, which is offered to anyone who is permanently resident and is a stakeholder in the democratic process, seems non-discriminatory and has a solid rationale.
It is a historical holdover from when all the British territories had a common citizenship as “British subjects” and theoretical, if not practical for the vast majority, freedom of movement to the UK. After the Statute of Westminster was enacted in 1931, the “dominions” as they were then known, obtained the right to enact their own citizenships, but the right of their citizens resident in the UK was maintained by simply re-casting the rule so that Commonwealth citizens resident in the UK could vote, even though Commonwealth FOM ended in the late 60s (IIRC).
Ireland is a special case: partly because of the Northern Ireland situation but mostly because of the large numbers of Irish immigrants in Great Britain proper, it was deemed politic to treat Ireland as if it was a Commonwealth country after it became a republic and left the Commonwealth in 1949. The Ireland Act 1949 specifically states that “the Republic of Ireland is not a foreign country for the purposes of any law”. Because of the practicalities of the CTA and the inter-mingling of the British and Irish populations, when Commonwealth immigration started to be restricted nothing was changed with regard to Ireland which resulted in the Irish being more privileged than Commonwealth citizens in terms of being able to reside and vote in Britain despite no longer being in the Commonwealth.
As that law existed before the UK and Ireland joined the EEC / EU, it’s unaffected by Brexit. Ireland extended broadly reciprocal privileges to British citizens and so FOM between the UK and Ireland remains unchanged after Brexit.
As far as historical holdovers go, this is at least a pretty decent one.
malcolmg/Theuniondivvie - Cameron was complacent in 2014 and allowed the SNP to implement a non-standard electoral franchise which was in *their* favour. That mistake should not be repeated.
It's not non-standard in Scotland, it's just 'the electoral franchise'.
I am quite relaxed about 16-18 year olds but EU citizens' voting rights ended yesterday and keeping them on the franchise for this would be unacceptable.
Funny that, Spain has kept voting rights for locals for Brits as long as it stays reciprocal.
I can see the argument for local elections when you are a resident and paying towards them. I can't for referendums. Am I right in understanding that in Spain foreigners cannot vote in the national elections?
At the risk of whataboutery, what's the rationale for Irish citizens having a vote in UK elections? Or indeed Commonwealth citizens? I know the UK is a member of the Commonwealth, but it seems irrelevant to who gets the vote. Commonwealth citizenship doesn't give the right to visit the UK even. The Scottish franchise, which is offered to anyone who is permanently resident and is a stakeholder in the democratic process, seems non-discriminatory and has a solid rationale.
It is a historical holdover from when all the British territories had a common citizenship as “British subjects” and theoretical, if not practical for the vast majority, freedom of movement to the UK. After the Statute of Westminster was enacted in 1931, the “dominions” as they were then known, obtained the right to enact their own citizenships, but the right of their citizens resident in the UK was maintained by simply re-casting the rule so that Commonwealth citizens resident in the UK could vote, even though Commonwealth FOM ended in the late 60s (IIRC).
Ireland is a special case: partly because of the Northern Ireland situation but mostly because of the large numbers of Irish immigrants in Great Britain proper, it was deemed politic to treat Ireland as if it was a Commonwealth country after it became a republic and left the Commonwealth in 1949. The Ireland Act 1949 specifically states that “the Republic of Ireland is not a foreign country for the purposes of any law”. Because of the practicalities of the CTA and the inter-mingling of the British and Irish populations, when Commonwealth immigration started to be restricted nothing was changed with regard to Ireland which resulted in the Irish being more privileged than Commonwealth citizens in terms of being able to reside and vote in Britain despite no longer being in the Commonwealth.
As that law existed before the UK and Ireland joined the EEC / EU, it’s unaffected by Brexit. Ireland extended broadly reciprocal privileges to British citizens and so FOM between the UK and Ireland remains unchanged after Brexit.
Yes, that's right.
I don't mind the Irish exception too much, because it's reciprocal and they have a shared history. Same reason I'd extend it to Canada, Australia, NZ and maybe the US if they reciprocated.
Our period of membership of the EU is presumably to be written out of history as an error?
Mindy Robinson was third of five (very Borg I know) in the Republican Primary to choose the candidate to fight the NV-03 seat.
She got 14% of the vote behind the eventual winner Daniel Rodimer. NV-03 went Democrat in 2016 and in 2018 the current incumbent won by 9 points. This time Rodimer cut the advantage to 3 points - the district voted for Biden over Trump by just 0.2%.
I wonder how many of these primary also-rans will take Ms Robinson's line and leave the GOP for the Patriot Party. It seems Trump and his supporters will hold a valedictory rally on Wednesday next week and perhaps Trump will put down a marker for a 2024 run then and there and it'll be interesting to see if he wants to be a GOP candidate or whether he'll run as a third party candidate.
malcolmg/Theuniondivvie - Cameron was complacent in 2014 and allowed the SNP to implement a non-standard electoral franchise which was in *their* favour. That mistake should not be repeated.
It's not non-standard in Scotland, it's just 'the electoral franchise'.
I am quite relaxed about 16-18 year olds but EU citizens' voting rights ended yesterday and keeping them on the franchise for this would be unacceptable.
Funny that, Spain has kept voting rights for locals for Brits as long as it stays reciprocal.
I can see the argument for local elections when you are a resident and paying towards them. I can't for referendums. Am I right in understanding that in Spain foreigners cannot vote in the national elections?
At the risk of whataboutery, what's the rationale for Irish citizens having a vote in UK elections? Or indeed Commonwealth citizens? I know the UK is a member of the Commonwealth, but it seems irrelevant to who gets the vote. Commonwealth citizenship doesn't give the right to visit the UK even. The Scottish franchise, which is offered to anyone who is permanently resident and is a stakeholder in the democratic process, seems non-discriminatory and has a solid rationale.
It is a historical holdover from when all the British territories had a common citizenship as “British subjects” and theoretical, if not practical for the vast majority, freedom of movement to the UK. After the Statute of Westminster was enacted in 1931, the “dominions” as they were then known, obtained the right to enact their own citizenships, but the right of their citizens resident in the UK was maintained by simply re-casting the rule so that Commonwealth citizens resident in the UK could vote, even though Commonwealth FOM ended in the late 60s (IIRC).
Ireland is a special case: partly because of the Northern Ireland situation but mostly because of the large numbers of Irish immigrants in Great Britain proper, it was deemed politic to treat Ireland as if it was a Commonwealth country after it became a republic and left the Commonwealth in 1949. The Ireland Act 1949 specifically states that “the Republic of Ireland is not a foreign country for the purposes of any law”. Because of the practicalities of the CTA and the inter-mingling of the British and Irish populations, when Commonwealth immigration started to be restricted nothing was changed with regard to Ireland which resulted in the Irish being more privileged than Commonwealth citizens in terms of being able to reside and vote in Britain despite no longer being in the Commonwealth.
As that law existed before the UK and Ireland joined the EEC / EU, it’s unaffected by Brexit. Ireland extended broadly reciprocal privileges to British citizens and so FOM between the UK and Ireland remains unchanged after Brexit.
Yes, that's right.
I don't mind the Irish exception too much, because it's reciprocal and they have a shared history. Same reason I'd extend it to Canada, Australia, NZ and maybe the US if they reciprocated.
What about the West Indies or India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh etc? They were British colonies more recently than the US. Plenty of shared history too.
Oh god. That one looks real too. I do hope all this has peaked with Him.
I've been wondering recently whether Trump is going to carry on calling these demonstations after Biden is inaugurated, and whether his appeal with persist strongly enough to carry on drawing similar crowds for his campaign "against fraud" ; if so, Biden and the Democrats will have an ongoing nuisance.
It depends a lot on whether the media keep covering him, or choose to ignore him.
The problem is that, no matter what he does, he’s box office gold for the rolling news networks.
Yes, he's a permanent media event. That's why I expect his rallies and grassroots appeal to persist in some form, if not always attracting the same numbers.
malcolmg/Theuniondivvie - Cameron was complacent in 2014 and allowed the SNP to implement a non-standard electoral franchise which was in *their* favour. That mistake should not be repeated.
It's not non-standard in Scotland, it's just 'the electoral franchise'.
I am quite relaxed about 16-18 year olds but EU citizens' voting rights ended yesterday and keeping them on the franchise for this would be unacceptable.
Funny that, Spain has kept voting rights for locals for Brits as long as it stays reciprocal.
I can see the argument for local elections when you are a resident and paying towards them. I can't for referendums. Am I right in understanding that in Spain foreigners cannot vote in the national elections?
At the risk of whataboutery, what's the rationale for Irish citizens having a vote in UK elections? Or indeed Commonwealth citizens? I know the UK is a member of the Commonwealth, but it seems irrelevant to who gets the vote. Commonwealth citizenship doesn't give the right to visit the UK even. The Scottish franchise, which is offered to anyone who is permanently resident and is a stakeholder in the democratic process, seems non-discriminatory and has a solid rationale.
I agree about Irish citizens. I think that they retained the right to vote when Eire went independent but there is no one alive now who had the vote in 1919 and its long past time this anachronism was brought to an end. I wouldn't give the Commonwealth citizens a vote either. None of them, I think, have an automatic right to live here now and they will be on restricted visas of one type or another.
David, you seem to be ignoring English voters, do you suggest a special case is made for them only.
British people have the right to vote wherever in Britain they reside. We are a single country. If that changes then we would need to decide what voting rights they should be given at that point.
Yet you advocate that it is only Scots who can get a vote , yet now want to extend it just to the ones you think will help your case and ban only the ones that might harm your case. Strange ideas on democracy there indeed.
Oh god. That one looks real too. I do hope all this has peaked with Him.
I've been wondering recently whether Trump is going to carry on calling these demonstations after Biden is inaugurated, and whether his appeal with persist strongly enough to carry on drawing similar crowds for his campaign "against fraud" ; if so, Biden and the Democrats will have an ongoing nuisance.
It depends a lot on whether the media keep covering him, or choose to ignore him.
The problem is that, no matter what he does, he’s box office gold for the rolling news networks.
Yes, he's a permanent media event. That's why I expect his rallies and grassroots appeal to persist in some form, if not always attracting the same numbers.
I know being rich is not everything (theoretically I know it anyway), but he honestly seems to crave attention more than the pursuit of wealth.
malcolmg/Theuniondivvie - Cameron was complacent in 2014 and allowed the SNP to implement a non-standard electoral franchise which was in *their* favour. That mistake should not be repeated.
It's not non-standard in Scotland, it's just 'the electoral franchise'.
I am quite relaxed about 16-18 year olds but EU citizens' voting rights ended yesterday and keeping them on the franchise for this would be unacceptable.
If they are resident in the country and meet requirements for the Scottish electoral voting system then why would they not be allowed to vote.
Because this is a decision for Scots. If they feel sufficiently affiliated to this country to take out UK citizenship, fine, no problem. But if they remain French or Spanish or whatever they do not have a right to decide our future.
Clearly the vast majority of EU citizens would vote for Independence in the hope that an independent Scotland would once again join the EU. But would even the SNP want to taint any result in this way?
Wut? So lie like shit to EU nationals in SindyRef1 to get them to vote No then excluded them from the franchise to stop them voting Yes?
Nice democracy you've got there.
The only people who lied in 2014 were the SNP spokesmen who claimed that an independent Scotland would have an automatic right to be a part of the EU. No one else.
Yes it is. She was correctly stating the correct legal position at the time. Of course the UK subsequently decided to withdraw from the EU but that did not make what was said on the remain side in 2014, when no referendum was promised, let alone determined, untrue.
So circumstances have changed since 2014. I assume you are OK with having another vote then.
Mindy seems to be quite funny and have a way with a sharp quip, but completely deranged, somewhat like her hero, Trump. She seems to be waving a semi-automatic weapon in a bikini in her "Red, White and F You" picture.
Next stop congress - I see she's already stood for the Republicans.
malcolmg/Theuniondivvie - Cameron was complacent in 2014 and allowed the SNP to implement a non-standard electoral franchise which was in *their* favour. That mistake should not be repeated.
It's not non-standard in Scotland, it's just 'the electoral franchise'.
I am quite relaxed about 16-18 year olds but EU citizens' voting rights ended yesterday and keeping them on the franchise for this would be unacceptable.
Funny that, Spain has kept voting rights for locals for Brits as long as it stays reciprocal.
I can see the argument for local elections when you are a resident and paying towards them. I can't for referendums. Am I right in understanding that in Spain foreigners cannot vote in the national elections?
At the risk of whataboutery, what's the rationale for Irish citizens having a vote in UK elections? Or indeed Commonwealth citizens? I know the UK is a member of the Commonwealth, but it seems irrelevant to who gets the vote. Commonwealth citizenship doesn't give the right to visit the UK even. The Scottish franchise, which is offered to anyone who is permanently resident and is a stakeholder in the democratic process, seems non-discriminatory and has a solid rationale.
I agree about Irish citizens. I think that they retained the right to vote when Eire went independent but there is no one alive now who had the vote in 1919 and its long past time this anachronism was brought to an end. I wouldn't give the Commonwealth citizens a vote either. None of them, I think, have an automatic right to live here now and they will be on restricted visas of one type or another.
David, you seem to be ignoring English voters, do you suggest a special case is made for them only.
British people have the right to vote wherever in Britain they reside. We are a single country. If that changes then we would need to decide what voting rights they should be given at that point.
we are not talking British elections, we are talking Scottish elections and the country is Scotland not Britain or UK or whatever you want to call it. People not living in Scotland have no right to vote in Scottish elections and if you ban all non Scottish born then you exclude the English as well. Why not just say you want the vote rigged in your favoured outcome.
malcolmg/Theuniondivvie - Cameron was complacent in 2014 and allowed the SNP to implement a non-standard electoral franchise which was in *their* favour. That mistake should not be repeated.
It's not non-standard in Scotland, it's just 'the electoral franchise'.
I am quite relaxed about 16-18 year olds but EU citizens' voting rights ended yesterday and keeping them on the franchise for this would be unacceptable.
If they are resident in the country and meet requirements for the Scottish electoral voting system then why would they not be allowed to vote.
Because this is a decision for Scots. If they feel sufficiently affiliated to this country to take out UK citizenship, fine, no problem. But if they remain French or Spanish or whatever they do not have a right to decide our future.
Clearly the vast majority of EU citizens would vote for Independence in the hope that an independent Scotland would once again join the EU. But would even the SNP want to taint any result in this way?
Wut? So lie like shit to EU nationals in SindyRef1 to get them to vote No then excluded them from the franchise to stop them voting Yes?
Nice democracy you've got there.
The only people who lied in 2014 were the SNP spokesmen who claimed that an independent Scotland would have an automatic right to be a part of the EU. No one else.
Yes it is. She was correctly stating the correct legal position at the time. Of course the UK subsequently decided to withdraw from the EU but that did not make what was said on the remain side in 2014, when no referendum was promised, let alone determined, untrue.
So circumstances have changed since 2014. I assume you are OK with having another vote then.
I have said repeatedly that that is a matter for the Scottish people. If an absolute majority of Scots who vote in May vote for a party committed to a second referendum (that is the SNP and the Greens) then, yes, we should have a second referendum. I will of course be voting for a party opposing any such referendum but that is democracy and I may well lose on this occasion.
malcolmg/Theuniondivvie - Cameron was complacent in 2014 and allowed the SNP to implement a non-standard electoral franchise which was in *their* favour. That mistake should not be repeated.
It's not non-standard in Scotland, it's just 'the electoral franchise'.
I am quite relaxed about 16-18 year olds but EU citizens' voting rights ended yesterday and keeping them on the franchise for this would be unacceptable.
Funny that, Spain has kept voting rights for locals for Brits as long as it stays reciprocal.
I can see the argument for local elections when you are a resident and paying towards them. I can't for referendums. Am I right in understanding that in Spain foreigners cannot vote in the national elections?
At the risk of whataboutery, what's the rationale for Irish citizens having a vote in UK elections? Or indeed Commonwealth citizens? I know the UK is a member of the Commonwealth, but it seems irrelevant to who gets the vote. Commonwealth citizenship doesn't give the right to visit the UK even. The Scottish franchise, which is offered to anyone who is permanently resident and is a stakeholder in the democratic process, seems non-discriminatory and has a solid rationale.
I agree about Irish citizens. I think that they retained the right to vote when Eire went independent but there is no one alive now who had the vote in 1919 and its long past time this anachronism was brought to an end. I wouldn't give the Commonwealth citizens a vote either. None of them, I think, have an automatic right to live here now and they will be on restricted visas of one type or another.
David, you seem to be ignoring English voters, do you suggest a special case is made for them only.
British people have the right to vote wherever in Britain they reside. We are a single country. If that changes then we would need to decide what voting rights they should be given at that point.
Yet you advocate that it is only Scots who can get a vote , yet now want to extend it just to the ones you think will help your case and ban only the ones that might harm your case. Strange ideas on democracy there indeed.
Britons who live in Scotland should get the vote. Scots who live in England, for example, shouldn't, even although that would clearly help remain. They have chosen to live elsewhere.
malcolmg/Theuniondivvie - Cameron was complacent in 2014 and allowed the SNP to implement a non-standard electoral franchise which was in *their* favour. That mistake should not be repeated.
It's not non-standard in Scotland, it's just 'the electoral franchise'.
I am quite relaxed about 16-18 year olds but EU citizens' voting rights ended yesterday and keeping them on the franchise for this would be unacceptable.
If they are resident in the country and meet requirements for the Scottish electoral voting system then why would they not be allowed to vote.
Because this is a decision for Scots. If they feel sufficiently affiliated to this country to take out UK citizenship, fine, no problem. But if they remain French or Spanish or whatever they do not have a right to decide our future.
Clearly the vast majority of EU citizens would vote for Independence in the hope that an independent Scotland would once again join the EU. But would even the SNP want to taint any result in this way?
Wut? So lie like shit to EU nationals in SindyRef1 to get them to vote No then excluded them from the franchise to stop them voting Yes?
Nice democracy you've got there.
The only people who lied in 2014 were the SNP spokesmen who claimed that an independent Scotland would have an automatic right to be a part of the EU. No one else.
Yes it is. She was correctly stating the correct legal position at the time. Of course the UK subsequently decided to withdraw from the EU but that did not make what was said on the remain side in 2014, when no referendum was promised, let alone determined, untrue.
So circumstances have changed since 2014. I assume you are OK with having another vote then.
I have said repeatedly that that is a matter for the Scottish people. If an absolute majority of Scots who vote in May vote for a party committed to a second referendum (that is the SNP and the Greens) then, yes, we should have a second referendum. I will of course be voting for a party opposing any such referendum but that is democracy and I may well lose on this occasion.
Glad to hear it. It will be interesting watching Johnson trying to stop it.
Let’s try and keep away from Scottish referendum debate it’s been pleasant not having it so far today. Police turning back day trippers to Snowdonia from all over the country, what is wrong with people do they not take in any news? The UK is on the verge of a health crisis which could hit anyone and still they ignore it. The bottom line I suppose is that there just aren’t enough police to do the job properly and the need to ‘police by consent’.
You running the blog now, we will debate independence if we like. We all know from the numbers that down south are nutters, boring hearing yet again about them polluting the country and increasing virus numbers.
@malcolmg for avoidance of doubt can you confirm if you support a country leaving a larger group of countries to repatriate full governmental and fiscal policy to a national parliament. Yes or no will do
Oh god. That one looks real too. I do hope all this has peaked with Him.
I've been wondering recently whether Trump is going to carry on calling these demonstations after Biden is inaugurated, and whether his appeal with persist strongly enough to carry on drawing similar crowds for his campaign "against fraud" ; if so, Biden and the Democrats will have an ongoing nuisance.
Very much so. My sense is that he will not remain a serious political force for long but perhaps there is a touch of wish being father to the thought there.
malcolmg/Theuniondivvie - Cameron was complacent in 2014 and allowed the SNP to implement a non-standard electoral franchise which was in *their* favour. That mistake should not be repeated.
It's not non-standard in Scotland, it's just 'the electoral franchise'.
I am quite relaxed about 16-18 year olds but EU citizens' voting rights ended yesterday and keeping them on the franchise for this would be unacceptable.
If they are resident in the country and meet requirements for the Scottish electoral voting system then why would they not be allowed to vote.
Because this is a decision for Scots. If they feel sufficiently affiliated to this country to take out UK citizenship, fine, no problem. But if they remain French or Spanish or whatever they do not have a right to decide our future.
Clearly the vast majority of EU citizens would vote for Independence in the hope that an independent Scotland would once again join the EU. But would even the SNP want to taint any result in this way?
Wut? So lie like shit to EU nationals in SindyRef1 to get them to vote No then excluded them from the franchise to stop them voting Yes?
Nice democracy you've got there.
The only people who lied in 2014 were the SNP spokesmen who claimed that an independent Scotland would have an automatic right to be a part of the EU. No one else.
Yes it is. She was correctly stating the correct legal position at the time. Of course the UK subsequently decided to withdraw from the EU but that did not make what was said on the remain side in 2014, when no referendum was promised, let alone determined, untrue.
So circumstances have changed since 2014. I assume you are OK with having another vote then.
I have said repeatedly that that is a matter for the Scottish people. If an absolute majority of Scots who vote in May vote for a party committed to a second referendum (that is the SNP and the Greens) then, yes, we should have a second referendum. I will of course be voting for a party opposing any such referendum but that is democracy and I may well lose on this occasion.
Glad to hear it. It will be interesting watching Johnson trying to stop it.
I really hope he doesn't. It can only make the case for Unionists such as myself more difficult.
The much smarter tactic would be to be clear before May that this will indeed be the position and that anyone who votes for the SNP or the Greens is indeed voting for more division, disinvestment, obsession with the constitutional framework and complete distraction from the horrifically difficult challenge of putting both our economy and our education system back together again after the chaos caused by Covid. But he probably won't. Sadly.
Oh god. That one looks real too. I do hope all this has peaked with Him.
I've been wondering recently whether Trump is going to carry on calling these demonstations after Biden is inaugurated, and whether his appeal with persist strongly enough to carry on drawing similar crowds for his campaign "against fraud" ; if so, Biden and the Democrats will have an ongoing nuisance.
It depends a lot on whether the media keep covering him, or choose to ignore him.
The problem is that, no matter what he does, he’s box office gold for the rolling news networks.
Yes, he's a permanent media event. That's why I expect his rallies and grassroots appeal to persist in some form, if not always attracting the same numbers.
I know being rich is not everything (theoretically I know it anyway), but he honestly seems to crave attention more than the pursuit of wealth.
I think for Trump, the two are inextricable. On his business acumen alone, I doubt he'd be anything more than an unknown bankrupt has-been. His self-asserted wealth seemed to be the basis for his fame, which in turn seems to have generated the greatest part of his wealth.
malcolmg/Theuniondivvie - Cameron was complacent in 2014 and allowed the SNP to implement a non-standard electoral franchise which was in *their* favour. That mistake should not be repeated.
It's not non-standard in Scotland, it's just 'the electoral franchise'.
I am quite relaxed about 16-18 year olds but EU citizens' voting rights ended yesterday and keeping them on the franchise for this would be unacceptable.
If they are resident in the country and meet requirements for the Scottish electoral voting system then why would they not be allowed to vote.
Because this is a decision for Scots. If they feel sufficiently affiliated to this country to take out UK citizenship, fine, no problem. But if they remain French or Spanish or whatever they do not have a right to decide our future.
Clearly the vast majority of EU citizens would vote for Independence in the hope that an independent Scotland would once again join the EU. But would even the SNP want to taint any result in this way?
Wut? So lie like shit to EU nationals in SindyRef1 to get them to vote No then excluded them from the franchise to stop them voting Yes?
Nice democracy you've got there.
The only people who lied in 2014 were the SNP spokesmen who claimed that an independent Scotland would have an automatic right to be a part of the EU. No one else.
Yes it is. She was correctly stating the correct legal position at the time. Of course the UK subsequently decided to withdraw from the EU but that did not make what was said on the remain side in 2014, when no referendum was promised, let alone determined, untrue.
Wrong not lying? Well, I know she a here yesterday shortly to be gone tomorrow pol so I suppose it's good we can finally ignore anything from her and her party, whether on the basis of veracity or not having a fcuking clue.
The only question now is whether Williamson's inevitable announcement that schools aren't going back on Monday will come today or on Sunday. To save face, he ought to announce it now to maintain the facade that the decision is still in his hands.
"The National Education Union (NEU), which represents the majority of teachers and more than 450,000 school staff in the UK, will inform its members that it is not safe for them to return to school until mid-January at the earliest. It expects most of its members will follow its advice, forcing most schools to switch to online learning for the majority of their pupils. The union will provide its members with a template letter to send to their headteachers, explaining that they are refusing to go into work because their workplace is unsafe, a right enshrined in law by section 44 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. Staff should still be prepared to work remotely, the union says, and should volunteer to look after vulnerable pupils and the children of key workers on school premises."
None of this was necessary if the government had been a little more thoughtful and flexible.
They were instead like Arthur Scargill on speed. With worse manners.
Yes. And it turns out that having previously threatened legal action to enforce their will, their own hand is now being forced in the face of legal action by the teaching unions.
It's a nice touch that the NEU are using a Conservative act of parliament to assert the right not to work in an unsafe environment.
GMB (one of the support staff unions) now invoking section 44 as well. Gavin might be surrounded by 5pm. Tricky to open schools if you don't have any staff.
To put it mildly, the whole thing is utter fucking chaos.
It's worse than the last week of term, and that was an omnishambles. I'd be astonished if it wasn't Williamson. He is incredibly stupid, and it appears no-one is in charge at No.10 either.
You are all making far too much of attacking government on schools. Government hides its motive behind the education loss of the poor kids, but truth is we all must appreciate like the government does schools open = child care = people going to work. Unlike the government you are ignoring the important child care angle here, aren’t you?
In Ireland one of the reasons for closing the schools in March was precisely to force parents to stay home from work.
It seems with Cockney Covid that we may need to keep all non-essential workers at home to control the spread. So closing schools (except for the children of essential workers) would seem to be the sensible approach.
Yeah. And what about the economy?
The thinking behind your post was simply about fighting covid. Downing Street quite rightly have higher ambitions than you, beating covid and protecting the economy at the same time. Hence schools must stay open. Even if they close in your borough the kids still travel to neighbouring borough to school.
Keeping Covid under control is a precondition for keeping the economy functioning. We've been through this argument several times. If the hospitals become overwhelmed the economy is down the pan too.
Mindy seems to be quite funny and have a way with a sharp quip, but completely deranged, somewhat like her hero, Trump. She seems to be waving a semi-automatic weapon in a bikini in her "Red, White and F You" picture.
Next stop congress - I see she's already stood for the Republicans.
Most of the prominent Trumpy alt right women seem to share a certain look & feel. Kind of Stepford with malice and decibels. Ghastly. Only thing more ghastly than a Trumpy alt right woman is a Trumpy alt right man.
Think there might be the makings of a decent country music song there.
She was an uptight Trump loving woman. I was a downbeat alt right guy.
malcolmg/Theuniondivvie - Cameron was complacent in 2014 and allowed the SNP to implement a non-standard electoral franchise which was in *their* favour. That mistake should not be repeated.
It's not non-standard in Scotland, it's just 'the electoral franchise'.
I am quite relaxed about 16-18 year olds but EU citizens' voting rights ended yesterday and keeping them on the franchise for this would be unacceptable.
If they are resident in the country and meet requirements for the Scottish electoral voting system then why would they not be allowed to vote.
Because this is a decision for Scots. If they feel sufficiently affiliated to this country to take out UK citizenship, fine, no problem. But if they remain French or Spanish or whatever they do not have a right to decide our future.
Clearly the vast majority of EU citizens would vote for Independence in the hope that an independent Scotland would once again join the EU. But would even the SNP want to taint any result in this way?
Wut? So lie like shit to EU nationals in SindyRef1 to get them to vote No then excluded them from the franchise to stop them voting Yes?
Nice democracy you've got there.
The only people who lied in 2014 were the SNP spokesmen who claimed that an independent Scotland would have an automatic right to be a part of the EU. No one else.
Mother fucker, one of my work colleagues voted No because she had been told she would be deported if Scotland gained independence.
The No campaign sent people round the Polish clubs and the like to spread that lie.
Fuck you, you sanctimonious fucker. Fuck right off.
malcolmg/Theuniondivvie - Cameron was complacent in 2014 and allowed the SNP to implement a non-standard electoral franchise which was in *their* favour. That mistake should not be repeated.
It's not non-standard in Scotland, it's just 'the electoral franchise'.
I am quite relaxed about 16-18 year olds but EU citizens' voting rights ended yesterday and keeping them on the franchise for this would be unacceptable.
Afaik EU citizens will be voting in the May election.
Edit: I hope we can all agree that it's ok for 18 year olds to vote!
They are not voting as EU citizens however, they are voting under the Sctottish Electoral \System as residents of Scotland meeting the criteria to have the franchise.
Surely it is for the Scottish Government to decide what the franchise is and take whatever political fallout that might come from it. Personally - to take the only example I have concerns about - I think giving 16 year olds the vote is a bloody stupid idea but if that is what the Scots decide is their legal position then it is for them to decide that for elections that they call not Westminster.
I also think that in England for local elections we should modify the franchise so it is based on legal residency not on nationality. If you are a Dutchman (like the godfather of my kids) and have lived here for 30 years then you have a right to take part in deciding who runs the local services. Same if you are an American, Japanese or Nigerian.
General Elections and referendums I would prefer to see kept for UK nationals only. If you want to take part in deciding the future of the country then become a citizen.
But as I say I don't think Westminster have the right to impose that view on Scotland when dealing with purely Scottish matters.
A decision to leave the UK is not a purely Scottish matter. It is a decision that the Scots are entitled to take but the rest of the UK have a very distinct interest in ensuring that will is properly reflected in any vote.
I disagree completely. That is like saying that the EU - who surely had a very distinct interest in the 2016 referendum - should have been able to dictate how it was carried out and what the franchise was. They did not and should not.
Mindy seems to be quite funny and have a way with a sharp quip, but completely deranged, somewhat like her hero, Trump. She seems to be waving a semi-automatic weapon in a bikini in her "Red, White and F You" picture.
Next stop congress - I see she's already stood for the Republicans.
Most of the prominent Trumpy alt right women seem to share a certain look & feel. Kind of Stepford with malice and decibels. Ghastly. Only thing more ghastly than a Trumpy alt right woman is a Trumpy alt right man.
Yes, there's a certain bleached-blonde, steely-eyed look of ideological lunacy, but also all with a very modern American, bikini-clad brassiness. Baywatch meets Christian stormtroopers, with some helpings of humour.
malcolmg/Theuniondivvie - Cameron was complacent in 2014 and allowed the SNP to implement a non-standard electoral franchise which was in *their* favour. That mistake should not be repeated.
It's not non-standard in Scotland, it's just 'the electoral franchise'.
I am quite relaxed about 16-18 year olds but EU citizens' voting rights ended yesterday and keeping them on the franchise for this would be unacceptable.
If they are resident in the country and meet requirements for the Scottish electoral voting system then why would they not be allowed to vote.
Because this is a decision for Scots. If they feel sufficiently affiliated to this country to take out UK citizenship, fine, no problem. But if they remain French or Spanish or whatever they do not have a right to decide our future.
Clearly the vast majority of EU citizens would vote for Independence in the hope that an independent Scotland would once again join the EU. But would even the SNP want to taint any result in this way?
Wut? So lie like shit to EU nationals in SindyRef1 to get them to vote No then excluded them from the franchise to stop them voting Yes?
Nice democracy you've got there.
The only people who lied in 2014 were the SNP spokesmen who claimed that an independent Scotland would have an automatic right to be a part of the EU. No one else.
Mother fucker, one of my work colleagues voted No because she had been told she would be deported if Scotland gained independence.
The No campaign sent people round the Polish clubs and the like to spread that lie.
Fuck you, you sanctimonious fucker. Fuck right off.
Don't feel the need to respond to one of my comments again. I will certainly be doing likewise.
malcolmg/Theuniondivvie - Cameron was complacent in 2014 and allowed the SNP to implement a non-standard electoral franchise which was in *their* favour. That mistake should not be repeated.
It's not non-standard in Scotland, it's just 'the electoral franchise'.
I am quite relaxed about 16-18 year olds but EU citizens' voting rights ended yesterday and keeping them on the franchise for this would be unacceptable.
Funny that, Spain has kept voting rights for locals for Brits as long as it stays reciprocal.
I can see the argument for local elections when you are a resident and paying towards them. I can't for referendums. Am I right in understanding that in Spain foreigners cannot vote in the national elections?
At the risk of whataboutery, what's the rationale for Irish citizens having a vote in UK elections? Or indeed Commonwealth citizens? I know the UK is a member of the Commonwealth, but it seems irrelevant to who gets the vote. Commonwealth citizenship doesn't give the right to visit the UK even. The Scottish franchise, which is offered to anyone who is permanently resident and is a stakeholder in the democratic process, seems non-discriminatory and has a solid rationale.
It is a historical holdover from when all the British territories had a common citizenship as “British subjects” and theoretical, if not practical for the vast majority, freedom of movement to the UK. After the Statute of Westminster was enacted in 1931, the “dominions” as they were then known, obtained the right to enact their own citizenships, but the right of their citizens resident in the UK was maintained by simply re-casting the rule so that Commonwealth citizens resident in the UK could vote, even though Commonwealth FOM ended in the late 60s (IIRC).
Ireland is a special case: partly because of the Northern Ireland situation but mostly because of the large numbers of Irish immigrants in Great Britain proper, it was deemed politic to treat Ireland as if it was a Commonwealth country after it became a republic and left the Commonwealth in 1949. The Ireland Act 1949 specifically states that “the Republic of Ireland is not a foreign country for the purposes of any law”. Because of the practicalities of the CTA and the inter-mingling of the British and Irish populations, when Commonwealth immigration started to be restricted nothing was changed with regard to Ireland which resulted in the Irish being more privileged than Commonwealth citizens in terms of being able to reside and vote in Britain despite no longer being in the Commonwealth.
As that law existed before the UK and Ireland joined the EEC / EU, it’s unaffected by Brexit. Ireland extended broadly reciprocal privileges to British citizens and so FOM between the UK and Ireland remains unchanged after Brexit.
One of the quirks of the situation is that Ireland has strict residency requirements for voting in elections. So my Irish wife has the right to vote in UK general elections while we are resident here, but cannot vote in Irish elections.
Were we to move to Ireland we would both be able to vote in Irish elections, but I would retain a vote in UK elections for 15 years (though who knows what happens if Scotland becomes independent - would I retain the right to vote in England?)
One other thing relevant to the present discussion is that I wouldn't have the right to vote in Irish referendums on the constitution. That's reserved for Irish citizens. So there is an example of the franchise for referendums being different to general elections.
I dislike the idea of trying to game the franchise to swing the result.
malcolmg/Theuniondivvie - Cameron was complacent in 2014 and allowed the SNP to implement a non-standard electoral franchise which was in *their* favour. That mistake should not be repeated.
It's not non-standard in Scotland, it's just 'the electoral franchise'.
I am quite relaxed about 16-18 year olds but EU citizens' voting rights ended yesterday and keeping them on the franchise for this would be unacceptable.
Afaik EU citizens will be voting in the May election.
Edit: I hope we can all agree that it's ok for 18 year olds to vote!
They are not voting as EU citizens however, they are voting under the Sctottish Electoral \System as residents of Scotland meeting the criteria to have the franchise.
Surely it is for the Scottish Government to decide what the franchise is and take whatever political fallout that might come from it. Personally - to take the only example I have concerns about - I think giving 16 year olds the vote is a bloody stupid idea but if that is what the Scots decide is their legal position then it is for them to decide that for elections that they call not Westminster.
I also think that in England for local elections we should modify the franchise so it is based on legal residency not on nationality. If you are a Dutchman (like the godfather of my kids) and have lived here for 30 years then you have a right to take part in deciding who runs the local services. Same if you are an American, Japanese or Nigerian.
General Elections and referendums I would prefer to see kept for UK nationals only. If you want to take part in deciding the future of the country then become a citizen.
But as I say I don't think Westminster have the right to impose that view on Scotland when dealing with purely Scottish matters.
A decision to leave the UK is not a purely Scottish matter. It is a decision that the Scots are entitled to take but the rest of the UK have a very distinct interest in ensuring that will is properly reflected in any vote.
I disagree completely. That is like saying that the EU - who surely had a very distinct interest in the 2016 referendum - should have been able to dictate how it was carried out and what the franchise was. They did not and should not.
Whilst I'm not sure how I feel about this now it certainly felt opportunistic when 16 & 17 year olds got the vote for the last referendum.
I also disagree about equating to the EU technically as UK / GB is a country and the EU is not.
What is it with moronic sportsmen, every damn day there’s more of them who don’t seem to understand the concept of a pandemic.
Probably all moot by next week though, if cases keep going up they’re probably going to have to either postpone the league or go with the proper bubble approach that F1 did.
The clubs are literally doing everything for them to stop them having to come into contact with the plebs and yet they can't just help themselves.
Oh god. That one looks real too. I do hope all this has peaked with Him.
I've been wondering recently whether Trump is going to carry on calling these demonstations after Biden is inaugurated, and whether his appeal with persist strongly enough to carry on drawing similar crowds for his campaign "against fraud" ; if so, Biden and the Democrats will have an ongoing nuisance.
It depends a lot on whether the media keep covering him, or choose to ignore him.
The problem is that, no matter what he does, he’s box office gold for the rolling news networks.
Key point. He's a creature of the lamestream media. They made him and they can unmake him. Twitter only goes so far.
Comments
But again this should be a matter for the Scottish Government not Westminster
https://twitter.com/saadbassem/status/1317531648242700290
It seems with Cockney Covid that we may need to keep all non-essential workers at home to control the spread. So closing schools (except for the children of essential workers) would seem to be the sensible approach.
Clearly the vast majority of EU citizens would vote for Independence in the hope that an independent Scotland would once again join the EU. But would even the SNP want to taint any result in this way?
It’s inevitable that any complex organisation moves at the pace of the slowest
The thinking behind your post was simply about fighting covid. Downing Street quite rightly have higher ambitions than you, beating covid and protecting the economy at the same time. Hence schools must stay open. Even if they close in your borough the kids still travel to neighbouring borough to school.
The best camp is the camp where the participants are totally unaware of their campness.
And it’s much more difficult that you glibly imply
BBC News - Tottenham 'extremely disappointed' after three players attend party
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/55515555
BBC News - Fulham v Burnley postponed after further positive coronavirus results
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/55456854
That was some pretty shit fiddling by the SNP there.
https://www.foxsports.com.au/cricket/countries/india/india-vs-australia-test-cricket-2021-new-years-test-restaurant-covid19-bubble-breach-news-latest/news-story/bf48a3e9e588da823c626da9bacbe8c1
oh, wait...
https://www.tes.com/news/exclusive-heads-covid-school-safety-legal-challenge
If they can back that up, the government is in deep, deep shit.
If they can’t, the NAHT are in desperate trouble themselves.
On past form, I think it unlikely the NAHT would move unless they were either very confident or totally, apocalyptically furious.
They’re definitely the latter though, as we all are.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1345351544066240513
I choose to believe there is no such thing as Ukraine.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86NxlmJQT4g
A goddess of civility compared to this loon.
"Red, White and F You"
https://twitter.com/iheartmindy
Whether of not EU citizens would switch from No to Yes, I'm not sure.
Probably all moot by next week though, if cases keep going up they’re probably going to have to either postpone the league or go with the proper bubble approach that F1 did.
I think her point about the mRNA vaccines (unlike say the Ad5 ones), that they don’t have a vector which the body generates an immune response to in the same way. She was thinking if the situation where you might use a modified vaccine (against a mutated version of the virus) as a booster.
As has been pointed out, there’s no data on mixing and matching the vaccines either way around, but theoretically it ought to work.
Btw, she is a scientist of serious reputation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akiko_Iwasaki
Alongside US comic Andrew Schulz’s review “Schulz Saves America”, the funniest thing on Netflix at the moment.
Nice democracy you've got there.
Ireland is a special case: partly because of the Northern Ireland situation but mostly because of the large numbers of Irish immigrants in Great Britain proper, it was deemed politic to treat Ireland as if it was a Commonwealth country after it became a republic and left the Commonwealth in 1949. The Ireland Act 1949 specifically states that “the Republic of Ireland is not a foreign country for the purposes of any law”. Because of the practicalities of the CTA and the inter-mingling of the British and Irish populations, when Commonwealth immigration started to be restricted nothing was changed with regard to Ireland which resulted in the Irish being more privileged than Commonwealth citizens in terms of being able to reside and vote in Britain despite no longer being in the Commonwealth.
As that law existed before the UK and Ireland joined the EEC / EU, it’s unaffected by Brexit. Ireland extended broadly reciprocal privileges to British citizens and so FOM between the UK and Ireland remains unchanged after Brexit.
Cue the old switcheroo from Unionists: No, I've always said that the new outward looking, Globalist Britain should be welcoming to all.
The problem is that, no matter what he does, he’s box office gold for the rolling news networks.
https://twitter.com/EdinburghBobby/status/1335149473488625665?s=20
I don't mind the Irish exception too much, because it's reciprocal and they have a shared history. Same reason I'd extend it to Canada, Australia, NZ and maybe the US if they reciprocated.
https://twitter.com/iheartmindy/status/1345169717812551680
She got 14% of the vote behind the eventual winner Daniel Rodimer. NV-03 went Democrat in 2016 and in 2018 the current incumbent won by 9 points. This time Rodimer cut the advantage to 3 points - the district voted for Biden over Trump by just 0.2%.
I wonder how many of these primary also-rans will take Ms Robinson's line and leave the GOP for the Patriot Party. It seems Trump and his supporters will hold a valedictory rally on Wednesday next week and perhaps Trump will put down a marker for a 2024 run then and there and it'll be interesting to see if he wants to be a GOP candidate or whether he'll run as a third party candidate.
Next stop congress - I see she's already stood for the Republicans.
The much smarter tactic would be to be clear before May that this will indeed be the position and that anyone who votes for the SNP or the Greens is indeed voting for more division, disinvestment, obsession with the constitutional framework and complete distraction from the horrifically difficult challenge of putting both our economy and our education system back together again after the chaos caused by Covid. But he probably won't. Sadly.
Well, I know she a here yesterday shortly to be gone tomorrow pol so I suppose it's good we can finally ignore anything from her and her party, whether on the basis of veracity or not having a fcuking clue.
Think there might be the makings of a decent country music song there.
She was an uptight Trump loving woman. I was a downbeat alt right guy.
The No campaign sent people round the Polish clubs and the like to spread that lie.
Fuck you, you sanctimonious fucker. Fuck right off.
Were we to move to Ireland we would both be able to vote in Irish elections, but I would retain a vote in UK elections for 15 years (though who knows what happens if Scotland becomes independent - would I retain the right to vote in England?)
One other thing relevant to the present discussion is that I wouldn't have the right to vote in Irish referendums on the constitution. That's reserved for Irish citizens. So there is an example of the franchise for referendums being different to general elections.
I dislike the idea of trying to game the franchise to swing the result.
I also disagree about equating to the EU technically as UK / GB is a country and the EU is not.