Tomorrow and Thursday will be awful as Monday and Tuesday are backfilled.
If the lockdown manages to reduce case numbers then I'm expecting Monday 4th to have the highest case numbers by specimen date - boosted by people delaying a test as happened with the 29th.
I was relieved that the backdated reporting of deaths didn't take today's number above 1,000.
Yes, to some degree but I'd wait until tomorrow and Thursday before making any judgements over case levels. Monday will probably be the highest by specimen date. I'm still very aggrieved that the government isn't providing daily statistics on the vaccine programme. That is surely the most important thing it is going to be doing for the next few months so it needs much more transparency. If numbers are low it will create a lot more pressure on public officials and politicians to get their acts together. A weekly update won't do that.
The missing graph from that series is the one on the number of vaccinations conducted.
Why are the Government being so reticent in updating the figures? Is there a problem? Those on the Worldindata site have figures that date back to 27th December, when most other countries are showing data for 3rd or 4th Jan and updating data daily.
Just occurred to me, while my son and I were throwing coloured toy bricks down the stairs, that @Roy_G_Biv was the colours of the rainbow! Did everyone else clock it straight away?
Yes. as a child. I was taught to the remember the order of the colours of the rainbow as
Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain
(Or Roy G Biv for short).
Ahh, school mnemonics.
I wish I knew, the root of two, (1.414) O procure for me, the root of three. (1.732)
Scottish case details are out, with some surprises. Among the worst affected now are Dumfries&Galloway and the Borders with case rates in the 400s and 500s. They had dropped to level 1 a couple weeks before Christmas ...
Stranraer had a massive outbreak just after Christmas. The question is if it has spread to the rest of Dumfreis and Galloway or if it is being tracked and traced in the western edge.
Borders is just fucked though.
Lots of people crossing the Border for non-essential reasons e.g. a colleague telling me about a group of his pals coming up from Tyneside to play golf. Local data shows it's hitting the central Borders where people go for golf/fishing/mountain biking/walking holidays rather than the East coast, where the holiday parks are closed.
A.Moonbeam, your reporter on the ground.
bloody southerners
And you've got Trump coming soon too, probably bringing his American variant.
Could put him in precautionary quarantine for a few... years.
I also read yesterday that non-essential flights into Scotland were suspended under the Covid restrictions. I suppose he may have some form of diplomatic immunity until the 20th, stay on the Presidential plane on the tarmac, and then clear on to Andorra, or wherever else he might want to go without extradition agreements with the US.
With diplomatic immunity I imagine that he can waltz straight past the pollis and off to seclusion at his golf course. Yes we have extradition but (a) the Americans actually have to charge him (b) ask for an extradition (c) win a case in the UK for his extradition.
Were I Trump I would be betting that they may charge me - or try to - but my presence out of the country makes me politically too difficult to go after.
Just occurred to me, while my son and I were throwing coloured toy bricks down the stairs, that @Roy_G_Biv was the colours of the rainbow! Did everyone else clock it straight away?
As a child. I was taught to the remember the order of the colours of the rainbow as
Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain
(Or Roy G Biv for short).
Yes, I was going through that to remember them when I realised it spelt or spelled RoyGBiv.
‘Ruth of York Gave Birth’ was the other one we were taught
IMO there are three things that determine current polling.
1) We are are still in the middle of a crisis, the govt gets the benefit of the doubt and 'rallying round' support. When the crisis ends, the reckoning will begin and questions will be asked about what comes next. Until then politics is suspended.
2) Labour were a loooooong way back in 2019 and the party is still dealing with the aftermath. There is a lot of ground to recover both internally and externally.
3) We are three years from a general election, after two recent elections and a chaotic period there is not yet a huge appetite from change.
I wish you were right. I fear it's more simple than that. I'd say there are two reasons for the current polling
1. 55% of the country feel sour about Brexit. Labour have now totally capitulated. Is there a single ex Labour voter who will be impressed by Starmer's damascene conversion? The man who fought this scourge for four years now appears to be it's most wholehearted supporter. If it's worth doing now why wasn't it when Mrs May suggested it? We could have avoided Johnson.
2. An invisible shadow cabinet. A shadow chancellor who has been given the chance of a lifetime is completely out of her depth and invisible. It all feeds in to the idea that Starmer lacks judgement.
He's got time but he needs advice badly. He could do a lot worse than getting Tony back on board or at least the brighter Milliband.
I'm agree with some of this, but I think it's Ed Miliband who's in fact marginally the brighter Miliband. He demolished Johnson in the Commons a couple of months ago, in the kind of Commons performance his brother didn't put on. His brother is also very bright for a politician and an excellent organiser and motivator, but Ed is probably the more innovative policymaker.
I mentioned David because the only Labour figures I can remember making an impression in the last year have been Blair T and Milliband D. I have a lot of time for Ed's backroom abilities but the public aren't aware of them or him. Labour has become a one man band and a pretty unimpressive one of late. I don't think Starmer gets it. He can be wrong but he has to impress.
For me, Labour must stop pulling punches. The Tories were ruthless in pinning the consequences of the Global Financial Crisis on the presiding Labour government. There is no reason not to return the favour now. The virus is not of this government's making but many aspects of their response have been a disgrace. The latest debacle - schools - yet again showcases the astonishing level of incompetence and lack of consideration. It's an unforgivable carry on. Impossible to defend. Trouble is, they are not really having to. Not from Labour anyway.
If Labour had called for schools not to reopen, and for the government to plan for this inevitability rather than leave it until they had already gone back for a day, they would be in a position to make hay. But they didn't, so they're not. I hope when the next shambles comes - as it surely will - this mistake is not repeated. Forget "national consensus" and "softly softly" we need a New Labour ready and willing to stick it to these bozos whenever the many chances arise.
Time to sharpen up the politics with some new and brutal talking points. Covid shambles = TORY shambles. Johnson can't hack it and he doesn't give a tinker's. Thousands of deaths in this country directly attributable to the mishandling of this crisis. The culprits mustn't get away with it. If we tolerate this god knows what will be next. Blood on their hands. Blood on HIS hands. C'mon. It's the truth so let's not be squeamish about saying it.
Ah, you're missing the Corbynite red meat. Sadly Labour's gone all vegan now, and their tastiest offering is some cold raw tofu, which makes it a bit tricky to compete with 17 stone of solid muscle:
I am a bit today, yes.
Amusing video but I've snipped it from my reply because although I instinctively relate to much of the criticism of Starmer from the Left I am acutely conscious of how it gets used for nefarious purposes by those on the pronounced right of politics for whom ANY manifestation of Labour is beyond the pale and unacceptable.
People like you, I suppose, is who I'm talking about here.
To be honest Starmer can say what he likes but when the one place that has a Labour administration, Wales, is ignoring him and compromising his message it is just so contradictory
Even today Drakeford still has the schools going back on the 18th January and before Boris spoke all primary schools were going back tomorrow
Drakeford. Has there ever been such an underrated politician? I say this not as a supporter of his - I'm not - but as a factual deduction from the posts on here about him. It's as if the bloke gets every single thing wrong, and always has, and while he's going about getting everything terribly terribly wrong he looks and sounds as if he is too. Losing ugly. So he MUST be underrated for the same reason the Beatles are overrated. Even if he's rubbish he's underrated.
It's what Irvine Welsh said about the Scottish government. Whatever fuckups they do, the Johnson government can be copperbottom guaranteed to follow up with the same fuckup at a jaw-droppingly cataclysmic level. Ordinarily incompetent politicians in the other nations are totally covered by Johnson.
IMO there are three things that determine current polling.
1) We are are still in the middle of a crisis, the govt gets the benefit of the doubt and 'rallying round' support. When the crisis ends, the reckoning will begin and questions will be asked about what comes next. Until then politics is suspended.
2) Labour were a loooooong way back in 2019 and the party is still dealing with the aftermath. There is a lot of ground to recover both internally and externally.
3) We are three years from a general election, after two recent elections and a chaotic period there is not yet a huge appetite from change.
I wish you were right. I fear it's more simple than that. I'd say there are two reasons for the current polling
1. 55% of the country feel sour about Brexit. Labour have now totally capitulated. Is there a single ex Labour voter who will be impressed by Starmer's damascene conversion? The man who fought this scourge for four years now appears to be it's most wholehearted supporter. If it's worth doing now why wasn't it when Mrs May suggested it? We could have avoided Johnson.
2. An invisible shadow cabinet. A shadow chancellor who has been given the chance of a lifetime is completely out of her depth and invisible. It all feeds in to the idea that Starmer lacks judgement.
He's got time but he needs advice badly. He could do a lot worse than getting Tony back on board or at least the brighter Milliband.
I'm agree with some of this, but I think it's Ed Miliband who's in fact marginally the brighter Miliband. He demolished Johnson in the Commons a couple of months ago, in the kind of Commons performance his brother didn't put on. His brother is also very bright for a politician and an excellent organiser and motivator, but Ed is probably the more innovative policymaker.
I mentioned David because the only Labour figures I can remember making an impression in the last year have been Blair T and Milliband D. I have a lot of time for Ed's backroom abilities but the public aren't aware of them or him. Labour has become a one man band and a pretty unimpressive one of late. I don't think Starmer gets it. He can be wrong but he has to impress.
For me, Labour must stop pulling punches. The Tories were ruthless in pinning the consequences of the Global Financial Crisis on the presiding Labour government. There is no reason not to return the favour now. The virus is not of this government's making but many aspects of their response have been a disgrace. The latest debacle - schools - yet again showcases the astonishing level of incompetence and lack of consideration. It's an unforgivable carry on. Impossible to defend. Trouble is, they are not really having to. Not from Labour anyway.
If Labour had called for schools not to reopen, and for the government to plan for this inevitability rather than leave it until they had already gone back for a day, they would be in a position to make hay. But they didn't, so they're not. I hope when the next shambles comes - as it surely will - this mistake is not repeated. Forget "national consensus" and "softly softly" we need a New Labour ready and willing to stick it to these bozos whenever the many chances arise.
Time to sharpen up the politics with some new and brutal talking points. Covid shambles = TORY shambles. Johnson can't hack it and he doesn't give a tinker's. Thousands of deaths in this country directly attributable to the mishandling of this crisis. The culprits mustn't get away with it. If we tolerate this god knows what will be next. Blood on their hands. Blood on HIS hands. C'mon. It's the truth so let's not be squeamish about saying it.
Ah, you're missing the Corbynite red meat. Sadly Labour's gone all vegan now, and their tastiest offering is some cold raw tofu, which makes it a bit tricky to compete with 17 stone of solid muscle:
I am a bit today, yes.
Amusing video but I've snipped it from my reply because although I instinctively relate to much of the criticism of Starmer from the Left I am acutely conscious of how it gets used for nefarious purposes by those on the pronounced right of politics for whom ANY manifestation of Labour is beyond the pale and unacceptable.
People like you, I suppose, is who I'm talking about here.
Well, quite - if your opponent exposes his left flank then that's where you've got to hit him.
I do sympathize a little with Starmer's predicament, since he's essentially following the right strategy but that means incurring the wrath of his ultras, much as Boris has on lockdown (though he seems to have won them over surprisingly well with his Deal). Did you see how the Squad are now being attacked as sellouts by their own base, for the crime of not burning down the House as soon as they set foot in it?
Politics and politicians would be the better for having less mercurial supporters. Like me, for example.
There's 2 opposing views in Labour on Starmer - "Keir is on track to win from the centre" and "Keir is drifting into outdated centrism" - and I hold them both. Just that today, fueled by a great Jones video, the 2nd one is dominating. But tomorrow is another day. Perhaps tomorrow I'll catch a great Rachel Reeves video and it will be all change.
See, I'm not mercurial.
The most important thing Labour can possibly do is let go of the past.
A 21st Century party trying to hang on to 19th Century baggage can't go anywhere. I'd prefer to vote for Farage than Labour, but nearly all of the things I hate about Labour are precisely the 19th Century things. Comrade.
Scottish case details are out, with some surprises. Among the worst affected now are Dumfries&Galloway and the Borders with case rates in the 400s and 500s. They had dropped to level 1 a couple weeks before Christmas ...
Stranraer had a massive outbreak just after Christmas. The question is if it has spread to the rest of Dumfreis and Galloway or if it is being tracked and traced in the western edge.
Borders is just fucked though.
Lots of people crossing the Border for non-essential reasons e.g. a colleague telling me about a group of his pals coming up from Tyneside to play golf. Local data shows it's hitting the central Borders where people go for golf/fishing/mountain biking/walking holidays rather than the East coast, where the holiday parks are closed.
A.Moonbeam, your reporter on the ground.
bloody southerners
And you've got Trump coming soon too, probably bringing his American variant.
Could put him in precautionary quarantine for a few... years.
I also read yesterday that non-essential flights into Scotland were suspended under the Covid restrictions. I suppose he may have some form of diplomatic immunity until the 20th, stay on the Presidential plane on the tarmac, and then clear on to Andorra, or wherever else he might want to go without extradition agreements with the US.
With diplomatic immunity I imagine that he can waltz straight past the pollis and off to seclusion at his golf course. Yes we have extradition but (a) the Americans actually have to charge him (b) ask for an extradition (c) win a case in the UK for his extradition.
Were I Trump I would be betting that they may charge me - or try to - but my presence out of the country makes me politically too difficult to go after.
He'd be breaking rhe law the moment he drove out of the airport. Unless her was moving house (!). And presumably his entourage wouldn't all have immunity.
Tomorrow and Thursday will be awful as Monday and Tuesday are backfilled.
If the lockdown manages to reduce case numbers then I'm expecting Monday 4th to have the highest case numbers by specimen date - boosted by people delaying a test as happened with the 29th.
I was relieved that the backdated reporting of deaths didn't take today's number above 1,000.
Yes, to some degree but I'd wait until tomorrow and Thursday before making any judgements over case levels. Monday will probably be the highest by specimen date. I'm still very aggrieved that the government isn't providing daily statistics on the vaccine programme. That is surely the most important thing it is going to be doing for the next few months so it needs much more transparency. If numbers are low it will create a lot more pressure on public officials and politicians to get their acts together. A weekly update won't do that.
IMO there are three things that determine current polling.
1) We are are still in the middle of a crisis, the govt gets the benefit of the doubt and 'rallying round' support. When the crisis ends, the reckoning will begin and questions will be asked about what comes next. Until then politics is suspended.
2) Labour were a loooooong way back in 2019 and the party is still dealing with the aftermath. There is a lot of ground to recover both internally and externally.
3) We are three years from a general election, after two recent elections and a chaotic period there is not yet a huge appetite from change.
I wish you were right. I fear it's more simple than that. I'd say there are two reasons for the current polling
1. 55% of the country feel sour about Brexit. Labour have now totally capitulated. Is there a single ex Labour voter who will be impressed by Starmer's damascene conversion? The man who fought this scourge for four years now appears to be it's most wholehearted supporter. If it's worth doing now why wasn't it when Mrs May suggested it? We could have avoided Johnson.
2. An invisible shadow cabinet. A shadow chancellor who has been given the chance of a lifetime is completely out of her depth and invisible. It all feeds in to the idea that Starmer lacks judgement.
He's got time but he needs advice badly. He could do a lot worse than getting Tony back on board or at least the brighter Milliband.
I'm agree with some of this, but I think it's Ed Miliband who's in fact marginally the brighter Miliband. He demolished Johnson in the Commons a couple of months ago, in the kind of Commons performance his brother didn't put on. His brother is also very bright for a politician and an excellent organiser and motivator, but Ed is probably the more innovative policymaker.
I mentioned David because the only Labour figures I can remember making an impression in the last year have been Blair T and Milliband D. I have a lot of time for Ed's backroom abilities but the public aren't aware of them or him. Labour has become a one man band and a pretty unimpressive one of late. I don't think Starmer gets it. He can be wrong but he has to impress.
For me, Labour must stop pulling punches. The Tories were ruthless in pinning the consequences of the Global Financial Crisis on the presiding Labour government. There is no reason not to return the favour now. The virus is not of this government's making but many aspects of their response have been a disgrace. The latest debacle - schools - yet again showcases the astonishing level of incompetence and lack of consideration. It's an unforgivable carry on. Impossible to defend. Trouble is, they are not really having to. Not from Labour anyway.
If Labour had called for schools not to reopen, and for the government to plan for this inevitability rather than leave it until they had already gone back for a day, they would be in a position to make hay. But they didn't, so they're not. I hope when the next shambles comes - as it surely will - this mistake is not repeated. Forget "national consensus" and "softly softly" we need a New Labour ready and willing to stick it to these bozos whenever the many chances arise.
Time to sharpen up the politics with some new and brutal talking points. Covid shambles = TORY shambles. Johnson can't hack it and he doesn't give a tinker's. Thousands of deaths in this country directly attributable to the mishandling of this crisis. The culprits mustn't get away with it. If we tolerate this god knows what will be next. Blood on their hands. Blood on HIS hands. C'mon. It's the truth so let's not be squeamish about saying it.
Ah, you're missing the Corbynite red meat. Sadly Labour's gone all vegan now, and their tastiest offering is some cold raw tofu, which makes it a bit tricky to compete with 17 stone of solid muscle:
I am a bit today, yes.
Amusing video but I've snipped it from my reply because although I instinctively relate to much of the criticism of Starmer from the Left I am acutely conscious of how it gets used for nefarious purposes by those on the pronounced right of politics for whom ANY manifestation of Labour is beyond the pale and unacceptable.
People like you, I suppose, is who I'm talking about here.
To be honest Starmer can say what he likes but when the one place that has a Labour administration, Wales, is ignoring him and compromising his message it is just so contradictory
Even today Drakeford still has the schools going back on the 18th January and before Boris spoke all primary schools were going back tomorrow
Drakeford. Has there ever been such an underrated politician? I say this not as a supporter of his - I'm not - but as a factual deduction from the posts on here about him. It's as if the bloke gets every single thing wrong, and always has, and while he's going about getting everything terribly terribly wrong he looks and sounds as if he is too. Losing ugly. So he MUST be underrated for the same reason the Beatles are overrated. Even if he's rubbish he's underrated.
Yes, every day the esteemed Big G regales us, rather obsessively, with Drakeford's misdeeds, which are copious in number and as deep as the ocean. Something must be at the root of this, some tale of Drakeford wronging Big G or his family, to merit such frequent rebukes. There must be a story to tell.
Drakeford and labour's handling of the NHS and education in Wales has been a disaster and impacted my family in both fields. Indeed I waited 65 weeks for a hernia operation.
This before covid which he has grossly mishandled and not least when he pronounced he would implement a two week firebreak and then we could all return to normal. The day the firebreak ended I wrote on here the public reacted accordingly with queues of cars going into town (and that is unusual), shops packed and little or no social distancing
I warned at the time we were heading for a nightmare and that warning was very prescient
The missing graph from that series is the one on the number of vaccinations conducted.
Why are the Government being so reticent in updating the figures? Is there a problem? Those on the Worldindata site have figures that date back to 27th December, when most other countries are showing data for 3rd or 4th Jan and updating data daily.
IMO there are three things that determine current polling.
1) We are are still in the middle of a crisis, the govt gets the benefit of the doubt and 'rallying round' support. When the crisis ends, the reckoning will begin and questions will be asked about what comes next. Until then politics is suspended.
2) Labour were a loooooong way back in 2019 and the party is still dealing with the aftermath. There is a lot of ground to recover both internally and externally.
3) We are three years from a general election, after two recent elections and a chaotic period there is not yet a huge appetite from change.
I wish you were right. I fear it's more simple than that. I'd say there are two reasons for the current polling
1. 55% of the country feel sour about Brexit. Labour have now totally capitulated. Is there a single ex Labour voter who will be impressed by Starmer's damascene conversion? The man who fought this scourge for four years now appears to be it's most wholehearted supporter. If it's worth doing now why wasn't it when Mrs May suggested it? We could have avoided Johnson.
2. An invisible shadow cabinet. A shadow chancellor who has been given the chance of a lifetime is completely out of her depth and invisible. It all feeds in to the idea that Starmer lacks judgement.
He's got time but he needs advice badly. He could do a lot worse than getting Tony back on board or at least the brighter Milliband.
I'm agree with some of this, but I think it's Ed Miliband who's in fact marginally the brighter Miliband. He demolished Johnson in the Commons a couple of months ago, in the kind of Commons performance his brother didn't put on. His brother is also very bright for a politician and an excellent organiser and motivator, but Ed is probably the more innovative policymaker.
I mentioned David because the only Labour figures I can remember making an impression in the last year have been Blair T and Milliband D. I have a lot of time for Ed's backroom abilities but the public aren't aware of them or him. Labour has become a one man band and a pretty unimpressive one of late. I don't think Starmer gets it. He can be wrong but he has to impress.
For me, Labour must stop pulling punches. The Tories were ruthless in pinning the consequences of the Global Financial Crisis on the presiding Labour government. There is no reason not to return the favour now. The virus is not of this government's making but many aspects of their response have been a disgrace. The latest debacle - schools - yet again showcases the astonishing level of incompetence and lack of consideration. It's an unforgivable carry on. Impossible to defend. Trouble is, they are not really having to. Not from Labour anyway.
If Labour had called for schools not to reopen, and for the government to plan for this inevitability rather than leave it until they had already gone back for a day, they would be in a position to make hay. But they didn't, so they're not. I hope when the next shambles comes - as it surely will - this mistake is not repeated. Forget "national consensus" and "softly softly" we need a New Labour ready and willing to stick it to these bozos whenever the many chances arise.
Time to sharpen up the politics with some new and brutal talking points. Covid shambles = TORY shambles. Johnson can't hack it and he doesn't give a tinker's. Thousands of deaths in this country directly attributable to the mishandling of this crisis. The culprits mustn't get away with it. If we tolerate this god knows what will be next. Blood on their hands. Blood on HIS hands. C'mon. It's the truth so let's not be squeamish about saying it.
Ah, you're missing the Corbynite red meat. Sadly Labour's gone all vegan now, and their tastiest offering is some cold raw tofu, which makes it a bit tricky to compete with 17 stone of solid muscle:
I am a bit today, yes.
Amusing video but I've snipped it from my reply because although I instinctively relate to much of the criticism of Starmer from the Left I am acutely conscious of how it gets used for nefarious purposes by those on the pronounced right of politics for whom ANY manifestation of Labour is beyond the pale and unacceptable.
People like you, I suppose, is who I'm talking about here.
To be honest Starmer can say what he likes but when the one place that has a Labour administration, Wales, is ignoring him and compromising his message it is just so contradictory
Even today Drakeford still has the schools going back on the 18th January and before Boris spoke all primary schools were going back tomorrow
Drakeford. Has there ever been such an underrated politician? I say this not as a supporter of his - I'm not - but as a factual deduction from the posts on here about him. It's as if the bloke gets every single thing wrong, and always has, and while he's going about getting everything terribly terribly wrong he looks and sounds as if he is too. Losing ugly. So he MUST be underrated for the same reason the Beatles are overrated. Even if he's rubbish he's underrated.
Yes, every day the esteemed Big G regales us, rather obsessively, with Drakeford's misdeeds, which are copious in number and as deep as the ocean. Something must be at the root of this, some tale of Drakeford wronging Big G or his family, to merit such frequent rebukes. There must be a story to tell.
Bound to come out if so. And tbf it's not just G although G yields to no-one in this field. It's every poster in Wales or vicinity. Mexican Pete said something vaguely in his favour - I think it was on 13th November - but I can't recall anything else.
Jeremy Corbyn is slightly shorter odds to be next London mayor than Piers Corbyn, who has of course announced his candidacy.
Brian Rose continues to motor on - he's about 100x as likely to be Mayor as dipstick and dumbleweed.
Didn't you predict Piers C would enter the market at 20s?
I did, but I confess I was just hoping that there were Piers supporters that would try to manipulate his price in the way Rose supporters have.
He's fairly priced at no hope.
(Edit: I of course didn't predict that he would or should enter the market at any such price, merely that his supporters might wish him to - they're smart though - they realise he has no chance)
IMO there are three things that determine current polling.
1) We are are still in the middle of a crisis, the govt gets the benefit of the doubt and 'rallying round' support. When the crisis ends, the reckoning will begin and questions will be asked about what comes next. Until then politics is suspended.
2) Labour were a loooooong way back in 2019 and the party is still dealing with the aftermath. There is a lot of ground to recover both internally and externally.
3) We are three years from a general election, after two recent elections and a chaotic period there is not yet a huge appetite from change.
I wish you were right. I fear it's more simple than that. I'd say there are two reasons for the current polling
1. 55% of the country feel sour about Brexit. Labour have now totally capitulated. Is there a single ex Labour voter who will be impressed by Starmer's damascene conversion? The man who fought this scourge for four years now appears to be it's most wholehearted supporter. If it's worth doing now why wasn't it when Mrs May suggested it? We could have avoided Johnson.
2. An invisible shadow cabinet. A shadow chancellor who has been given the chance of a lifetime is completely out of her depth and invisible. It all feeds in to the idea that Starmer lacks judgement.
He's got time but he needs advice badly. He could do a lot worse than getting Tony back on board or at least the brighter Milliband.
I'm agree with some of this, but I think it's Ed Miliband who's in fact marginally the brighter Miliband. He demolished Johnson in the Commons a couple of months ago, in the kind of Commons performance his brother didn't put on. His brother is also very bright for a politician and an excellent organiser and motivator, but Ed is probably the more innovative policymaker.
I mentioned David because the only Labour figures I can remember making an impression in the last year have been Blair T and Milliband D. I have a lot of time for Ed's backroom abilities but the public aren't aware of them or him. Labour has become a one man band and a pretty unimpressive one of late. I don't think Starmer gets it. He can be wrong but he has to impress.
For me, Labour must stop pulling punches. The Tories were ruthless in pinning the consequences of the Global Financial Crisis on the presiding Labour government. There is no reason not to return the favour now. The virus is not of this government's making but many aspects of their response have been a disgrace. The latest debacle - schools - yet again showcases the astonishing level of incompetence and lack of consideration. It's an unforgivable carry on. Impossible to defend. Trouble is, they are not really having to. Not from Labour anyway.
If Labour had called for schools not to reopen, and for the government to plan for this inevitability rather than leave it until they had already gone back for a day, they would be in a position to make hay. But they didn't, so they're not. I hope when the next shambles comes - as it surely will - this mistake is not repeated. Forget "national consensus" and "softly softly" we need a New Labour ready and willing to stick it to these bozos whenever the many chances arise.
Time to sharpen up the politics with some new and brutal talking points. Covid shambles = TORY shambles. Johnson can't hack it and he doesn't give a tinker's. Thousands of deaths in this country directly attributable to the mishandling of this crisis. The culprits mustn't get away with it. If we tolerate this god knows what will be next. Blood on their hands. Blood on HIS hands. C'mon. It's the truth so let's not be squeamish about saying it.
Ah, you're missing the Corbynite red meat. Sadly Labour's gone all vegan now, and their tastiest offering is some cold raw tofu, which makes it a bit tricky to compete with 17 stone of solid muscle:
I am a bit today, yes.
Amusing video but I've snipped it from my reply because although I instinctively relate to much of the criticism of Starmer from the Left I am acutely conscious of how it gets used for nefarious purposes by those on the pronounced right of politics for whom ANY manifestation of Labour is beyond the pale and unacceptable.
People like you, I suppose, is who I'm talking about here.
To be honest Starmer can say what he likes but when the one place that has a Labour administration, Wales, is ignoring him and compromising his message it is just so contradictory
Even today Drakeford still has the schools going back on the 18th January and before Boris spoke all primary schools were going back tomorrow
Drakeford. Has there ever been such an underrated politician? I say this not as a supporter of his - I'm not - but as a factual deduction from the posts on here about him. It's as if the bloke gets every single thing wrong, and always has, and while he's going about getting everything terribly terribly wrong he looks and sounds as if he is too. Losing ugly. So he MUST be underrated for the same reason the Beatles are overrated. Even if he's rubbish he's underrated.
Yes, every day the esteemed Big G regales us, rather obsessively, with Drakeford's misdeeds, which are copious in number and as deep as the ocean. Something must be at the root of this, some tale of Drakeford wronging Big G or his family, to merit such frequent rebukes. There must be a story to tell.
Bound to come out if so. And tbf it's not just G although G yields to no-one in this field. It's every poster in Wales or vicinity. Mexican Pete said something vaguely in his favour - I think it was on 13th November - but I can't recall anything else.
I said a nice thing about Drakeford once, but am not Welsh and don't know what I am talking about ...
Just occurred to me, while my son and I were throwing coloured toy bricks down the stairs, that @Roy_G_Biv was the colours of the rainbow! Did everyone else clock it straight away?
Only because Captain Holt in Brooklyn Nine Nine reference RoyGBiv in an episode once.
I like the time Captain Holt tries to figure out the Monty Hall problem.
Is there any other nation more obsessed with class than the British?
I find it a bit weird, even my Scottish boss said there's plenty of classism in Scotland, although that's more of an Edinburgh/Glasgow rivalry.
I don't know, nobody would claim that Bearsden was lower class than Wester Hailes. And the Byres Road is every bit as twee as Broughton Street or Newington. It's a geographical thing , like the States - East and West Coast separated by the great plains and arid deserts of West Lothian and Linlithgowshire, inhabited by pink sheep and giant water horses.
My boss is an Posh Jock as he's from Edinburgh, home of classy places like the Caley, the fringe, and the castle.
Glasgow has places like Gorbals and Govan.
You ought to ask him about Craigmillar and Wester Hailes!
I've just texted him that, his reply 'The worst bits of Edinburgh are better than the best bits of Glasgow.'
Is there anywhere in either worse than Cumbernauld? Because I wouldn't want to go there.
Gorbals, before they flattened it a decade or so ago.
I could bet my last pound you will never have seen or been to the Gorbals, you may be looking at wiki from 1940's, this does not look very shabby does it ................arse
Well you’d lose your last pound. My grannie, may she rest in peace, was from Rutherglen.
Wasn't Cumbernauld where Gregor's Girl was set/filmed?
It was indeed and was not so bad in those days, the shopping centre etc did not wear well , there must have been lots of crap architects going about in those days.
Seem to recall it looked ok in a very modern way. Plenty of green spaces. Must watch that again, been years since I've seen it.
Yes was very nice as a new town then , but some parts have not aged well, especially the shopping centre which is horrific
Tomorrow and Thursday will be awful as Monday and Tuesday are backfilled.
If the lockdown manages to reduce case numbers then I'm expecting Monday 4th to have the highest case numbers by specimen date - boosted by people delaying a test as happened with the 29th.
I was relieved that the backdated reporting of deaths didn't take today's number above 1,000.
Will it not be around the 9th-11th that has the highest case numbers (as opposed to the highest implied infection rate)?
There is an enormous spike in the case numbers by specimen date on the 29th - which was the first working day after Christmas Day and the bank holiday for Boxing Day on the 28th.
The 4th is the corresponding next working day after New Year's, so I'm expecting a similar effect, which should be enough to keep ahead of specimen date numbers for subsequent days if the real number of new infections declines weigh the new lockdown.
IMO there are three things that determine current polling.
1) We are are still in the middle of a crisis, the govt gets the benefit of the doubt and 'rallying round' support. When the crisis ends, the reckoning will begin and questions will be asked about what comes next. Until then politics is suspended.
2) Labour were a loooooong way back in 2019 and the party is still dealing with the aftermath. There is a lot of ground to recover both internally and externally.
3) We are three years from a general election, after two recent elections and a chaotic period there is not yet a huge appetite from change.
I wish you were right. I fear it's more simple than that. I'd say there are two reasons for the current polling
1. 55% of the country feel sour about Brexit. Labour have now totally capitulated. Is there a single ex Labour voter who will be impressed by Starmer's damascene conversion? The man who fought this scourge for four years now appears to be it's most wholehearted supporter. If it's worth doing now why wasn't it when Mrs May suggested it? We could have avoided Johnson.
2. An invisible shadow cabinet. A shadow chancellor who has been given the chance of a lifetime is completely out of her depth and invisible. It all feeds in to the idea that Starmer lacks judgement.
He's got time but he needs advice badly. He could do a lot worse than getting Tony back on board or at least the brighter Milliband.
I'm agree with some of this, but I think it's Ed Miliband who's in fact marginally the brighter Miliband. He demolished Johnson in the Commons a couple of months ago, in the kind of Commons performance his brother didn't put on. His brother is also very bright for a politician and an excellent organiser and motivator, but Ed is probably the more innovative policymaker.
I mentioned David because the only Labour figures I can remember making an impression in the last year have been Blair T and Milliband D. I have a lot of time for Ed's backroom abilities but the public aren't aware of them or him. Labour has become a one man band and a pretty unimpressive one of late. I don't think Starmer gets it. He can be wrong but he has to impress.
For me, Labour must stop pulling punches. The Tories were ruthless in pinning the consequences of the Global Financial Crisis on the presiding Labour government. There is no reason not to return the favour now. The virus is not of this government's making but many aspects of their response have been a disgrace. The latest debacle - schools - yet again showcases the astonishing level of incompetence and lack of consideration. It's an unforgivable carry on. Impossible to defend. Trouble is, they are not really having to. Not from Labour anyway.
If Labour had called for schools not to reopen, and for the government to plan for this inevitability rather than leave it until they had already gone back for a day, they would be in a position to make hay. But they didn't, so they're not. I hope when the next shambles comes - as it surely will - this mistake is not repeated. Forget "national consensus" and "softly softly" we need a New Labour ready and willing to stick it to these bozos whenever the many chances arise.
Time to sharpen up the politics with some new and brutal talking points. Covid shambles = TORY shambles. Johnson can't hack it and he doesn't give a tinker's. Thousands of deaths in this country directly attributable to the mishandling of this crisis. The culprits mustn't get away with it. If we tolerate this god knows what will be next. Blood on their hands. Blood on HIS hands. C'mon. It's the truth so let's not be squeamish about saying it.
Ah, you're missing the Corbynite red meat. Sadly Labour's gone all vegan now, and their tastiest offering is some cold raw tofu, which makes it a bit tricky to compete with 17 stone of solid muscle:
I am a bit today, yes.
Amusing video but I've snipped it from my reply because although I instinctively relate to much of the criticism of Starmer from the Left I am acutely conscious of how it gets used for nefarious purposes by those on the pronounced right of politics for whom ANY manifestation of Labour is beyond the pale and unacceptable.
People like you, I suppose, is who I'm talking about here.
To be honest Starmer can say what he likes but when the one place that has a Labour administration, Wales, is ignoring him and compromising his message it is just so contradictory
Even today Drakeford still has the schools going back on the 18th January and before Boris spoke all primary schools were going back tomorrow
Drakeford. Has there ever been such an underrated politician? I say this not as a supporter of his - I'm not - but as a factual deduction from the posts on here about him. It's as if the bloke gets every single thing wrong, and always has, and while he's going about getting everything terribly terribly wrong he looks and sounds as if he is too. Losing ugly. So he MUST be underrated for the same reason the Beatles are overrated. Even if he's rubbish he's underrated.
Yes, every day the esteemed Big G regales us, rather obsessively, with Drakeford's misdeeds, which are copious in number and as deep as the ocean. Something must be at the root of this, some tale of Drakeford wronging Big G or his family, to merit such frequent rebukes. There must be a story to tell.
Bound to come out if so. And tbf it's not just G although G yields to no-one in this field. It's every poster in Wales or vicinity. Mexican Pete said something vaguely in his favour - I think it was on 13th November - but I can't recall anything else.
I can say something nice about Drakeford.
He speaks excellent Welsh.
Does he? So, right, exactly. This never seems to get mentioned. But if his Welsh were mediocre no doubt it would be all over the papers.
Is there any other nation more obsessed with class than the British?
I find it a bit weird, even my Scottish boss said there's plenty of classism in Scotland, although that's more of an Edinburgh/Glasgow rivalry.
I don't know, nobody would claim that Bearsden was lower class than Wester Hailes. And the Byres Road is every bit as twee as Broughton Street or Newington. It's a geographical thing , like the States - East and West Coast separated by the great plains and arid deserts of West Lothian and Linlithgowshire, inhabited by pink sheep and giant water horses.
My boss is an Posh Jock as he's from Edinburgh, home of classy places like the Caley, the fringe, and the castle.
Glasgow has places like Gorbals and Govan.
You ought to ask him about Craigmillar and Wester Hailes!
I've just texted him that, his reply 'The worst bits of Edinburgh are better than the best bits of Glasgow.'
Is there anywhere in either worse than Cumbernauld? Because I wouldn't want to go there.
Gorbals, before they flattened it a decade or so ago.
I could bet my last pound you will never have seen or been to the Gorbals, you may be looking at wiki from 1940's, this does not look very shabby does it ................arse
Well you’d lose your last pound. My grannie, may she rest in peace, was from Rutherglen.
Wasn't Cumbernauld where Gregor's Girl was set/filmed?
It was indeed and was not so bad in those days, the shopping centre etc did not wear well , there must have been lots of crap architects going about in those days.
Aside from Cumbernauld, what I never quite understand driving through the central belt is the preponderance of grey pebbledash.
Why?? At least paint it a slightly more interesting colour!
I know there probably aren't many historic brick manufacturers in Scotland due to the geology but surely it doesn't have to look quite so grim.
Harling is what we call it. Helps to waterproof against the driven rain and to some extent also a sacrificial covering against frost. Or so I see it. For some reason painting is not common unless it is country cottages.
Edit: Lots of bricks in Central Belt and Tayside - a lot of the local bricks are from fireclay seams (ie Coal Measures seatearths) and others from fluvioglacial or glacial marine clays (Quaternary).
I wonder also if there is something about the local bricks. it may be that they are not pretty enough, or that tradition was not to leave exposed brickwork anywhere.
But not just bricks. My grandfather's drapery and house above is Dumfriesshire stone on the front, but cheaper local stone at the sides and back which is harled and always has been.
Many many are not grey any more, it was done as grey in the 50's on social housing , later ones were all white or cream, and roughcast rather than harling. Most private houses will be sandstone if old, and light coloured if roughcast..
IMO there are three things that determine current polling.
1) We are are still in the middle of a crisis, the govt gets the benefit of the doubt and 'rallying round' support. When the crisis ends, the reckoning will begin and questions will be asked about what comes next. Until then politics is suspended.
2) Labour were a loooooong way back in 2019 and the party is still dealing with the aftermath. There is a lot of ground to recover both internally and externally.
3) We are three years from a general election, after two recent elections and a chaotic period there is not yet a huge appetite from change.
I wish you were right. I fear it's more simple than that. I'd say there are two reasons for the current polling
1. 55% of the country feel sour about Brexit. Labour have now totally capitulated. Is there a single ex Labour voter who will be impressed by Starmer's damascene conversion? The man who fought this scourge for four years now appears to be it's most wholehearted supporter. If it's worth doing now why wasn't it when Mrs May suggested it? We could have avoided Johnson.
2. An invisible shadow cabinet. A shadow chancellor who has been given the chance of a lifetime is completely out of her depth and invisible. It all feeds in to the idea that Starmer lacks judgement.
He's got time but he needs advice badly. He could do a lot worse than getting Tony back on board or at least the brighter Milliband.
I'm agree with some of this, but I think it's Ed Miliband who's in fact marginally the brighter Miliband. He demolished Johnson in the Commons a couple of months ago, in the kind of Commons performance his brother didn't put on. His brother is also very bright for a politician and an excellent organiser and motivator, but Ed is probably the more innovative policymaker.
I mentioned David because the only Labour figures I can remember making an impression in the last year have been Blair T and Milliband D. I have a lot of time for Ed's backroom abilities but the public aren't aware of them or him. Labour has become a one man band and a pretty unimpressive one of late. I don't think Starmer gets it. He can be wrong but he has to impress.
For me, Labour must stop pulling punches. The Tories were ruthless in pinning the consequences of the Global Financial Crisis on the presiding Labour government. There is no reason not to return the favour now. The virus is not of this government's making but many aspects of their response have been a disgrace. The latest debacle - schools - yet again showcases the astonishing level of incompetence and lack of consideration. It's an unforgivable carry on. Impossible to defend. Trouble is, they are not really having to. Not from Labour anyway.
If Labour had called for schools not to reopen, and for the government to plan for this inevitability rather than leave it until they had already gone back for a day, they would be in a position to make hay. But they didn't, so they're not. I hope when the next shambles comes - as it surely will - this mistake is not repeated. Forget "national consensus" and "softly softly" we need a New Labour ready and willing to stick it to these bozos whenever the many chances arise.
Time to sharpen up the politics with some new and brutal talking points. Covid shambles = TORY shambles. Johnson can't hack it and he doesn't give a tinker's. Thousands of deaths in this country directly attributable to the mishandling of this crisis. The culprits mustn't get away with it. If we tolerate this god knows what will be next. Blood on their hands. Blood on HIS hands. C'mon. It's the truth so let's not be squeamish about saying it.
Ah, you're missing the Corbynite red meat. Sadly Labour's gone all vegan now, and their tastiest offering is some cold raw tofu, which makes it a bit tricky to compete with 17 stone of solid muscle:
I am a bit today, yes.
Amusing video but I've snipped it from my reply because although I instinctively relate to much of the criticism of Starmer from the Left I am acutely conscious of how it gets used for nefarious purposes by those on the pronounced right of politics for whom ANY manifestation of Labour is beyond the pale and unacceptable.
People like you, I suppose, is who I'm talking about here.
Well, quite - if your opponent exposes his left flank then that's where you've got to hit him.
I do sympathize a little with Starmer's predicament, since he's essentially following the right strategy but that means incurring the wrath of his ultras, much as Boris has on lockdown (though he seems to have won them over surprisingly well with his Deal). Did you see how the Squad are now being attacked as sellouts by their own base, for the crime of not burning down the House as soon as they set foot in it?
Politics and politicians would be the better for having less mercurial supporters. Like me, for example.
There's 2 opposing views in Labour on Starmer - "Keir is on track to win from the centre" and "Keir is drifting into outdated centrism" - and I hold them both. Just that today, fueled by a great Jones video, the 2nd one is dominating. But tomorrow is another day. Perhaps tomorrow I'll catch a great Rachel Reeves video and it will be all change.
See, I'm not mercurial.
You're right to hold them both, because Starmer can only win by driving right between these two views, in a new way. It can't be the 1997 centre, or the 2019 manifesto.
Is there any other nation more obsessed with class than the British?
I find it a bit weird, even my Scottish boss said there's plenty of classism in Scotland, although that's more of an Edinburgh/Glasgow rivalry.
I don't know, nobody would claim that Bearsden was lower class than Wester Hailes. And the Byres Road is every bit as twee as Broughton Street or Newington. It's a geographical thing , like the States - East and West Coast separated by the great plains and arid deserts of West Lothian and Linlithgowshire, inhabited by pink sheep and giant water horses.
My boss is an Posh Jock as he's from Edinburgh, home of classy places like the Caley, the fringe, and the castle.
Glasgow has places like Gorbals and Govan.
You ought to ask him about Craigmillar and Wester Hailes!
I've just texted him that, his reply 'The worst bits of Edinburgh are better than the best bits of Glasgow.'
Is there anywhere in either worse than Cumbernauld? Because I wouldn't want to go there.
Gorbals, before they flattened it a decade or so ago.
I could bet my last pound you will never have seen or been to the Gorbals, you may be looking at wiki from 1940's, this does not look very shabby does it ................arse
Fake news - blue sky in Glasgow - no way!
They had 50 years to wait for it - the relentless rain has meant that these works have been in plan since the 70s.
I think these photos were taken in 2008 when God popped along to give Brown his halo and dispense aircraft carriers all round.
There is nothing better than a bright Scottish morning. Nothing more dismal than a Scottish rainy afternoon. Oddly I feel that these two undoubted facts sum up someone or other..
You
I may not have been referring to you! What presumption!
I was though.
Anyway Mr G, do flash your sunny uplands at us more than exposing your dark glens. (If Malcom turns out to be 17 and female I'll get arrested!)
If only I was 17 , I will be more cheery but the site needs someone to shake them up and be grumpy.
Angela Rayner is a success story the Labour Party should make more of. Left school at 16 with no GCSEs and a baby, became a carer then into the Labour Party via the union route. She talks northern, understands what its like to have nothing but responsibilities and no money. She could cut through to the ex-red wall.
But too many in the party hate her for saying Tony Blair changed her life.
Fair enough but you can walk down any housing estate in the country and find someone who left school at 16 with no GCSEs and had a baby, you can use them in an election broadcast, you do not need to make them your candidate to be PM!
You are really quite the university and qualifications snob aren't you?
Well I would like the PM of the UK representing the country on the world stage and taking difficult decisions to at least have a few GCSEs and A Levels and ideally a degree as well and I would hope most sensible people would too, otherwise you may as well just pick the PM by lottery from people in the street
So no John Major, James Callaghan or Winston Churchill?
Just occurred to me, while my son and I were throwing coloured toy bricks down the stairs, that @Roy_G_Biv was the colours of the rainbow! Did everyone else clock it straight away?
As a child. I was taught to the remember the order of the colours of the rainbow as
Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain
(Or Roy G Biv for short).
Yes, I was going through that to remember them when I realised it spelt or spelled RoyGBiv.
‘Ruth of York Gave Birth’ was the other one we were taught
In Vain?
That has a very sad feel.
In Vatersay (in a very tastefully upgraded blackhouse with midwife and partner present and light aircraft on call at Eoligarry in case of any complications requiring transfer to Glasgow).
The missing graph from that series is the one on the number of vaccinations conducted.
Why are the Government being so reticent in updating the figures? Is there a problem? Those on the Worldindata site have figures that date back to 27th December, when most other countries are showing data for 3rd or 4th Jan and updating data daily.
Just occurred to me, while my son and I were throwing coloured toy bricks down the stairs, that @Roy_G_Biv was the colours of the rainbow! Did everyone else clock it straight away?
Yes. as a child. I was taught to the remember the order of the colours of the rainbow as
Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain
(Or Roy G Biv for short).
Ahh, school mnemonics.
I wish I knew, the root of two, (1.414) O procure for me, the root of three. (1.732)
I wish I knew, the root of two, or a bit extra (1.4142135)
IMO there are three things that determine current polling.
1) We are are still in the middle of a crisis, the govt gets the benefit of the doubt and 'rallying round' support. When the crisis ends, the reckoning will begin and questions will be asked about what comes next. Until then politics is suspended.
2) Labour were a loooooong way back in 2019 and the party is still dealing with the aftermath. There is a lot of ground to recover both internally and externally.
3) We are three years from a general election, after two recent elections and a chaotic period there is not yet a huge appetite from change.
I wish you were right. I fear it's more simple than that. I'd say there are two reasons for the current polling
1. 55% of the country feel sour about Brexit. Labour have now totally capitulated. Is there a single ex Labour voter who will be impressed by Starmer's damascene conversion? The man who fought this scourge for four years now appears to be it's most wholehearted supporter. If it's worth doing now why wasn't it when Mrs May suggested it? We could have avoided Johnson.
2. An invisible shadow cabinet. A shadow chancellor who has been given the chance of a lifetime is completely out of her depth and invisible. It all feeds in to the idea that Starmer lacks judgement.
He's got time but he needs advice badly. He could do a lot worse than getting Tony back on board or at least the brighter Milliband.
I'm agree with some of this, but I think it's Ed Miliband who's in fact marginally the brighter Miliband. He demolished Johnson in the Commons a couple of months ago, in the kind of Commons performance his brother didn't put on. His brother is also very bright for a politician and an excellent organiser and motivator, but Ed is probably the more innovative policymaker.
I mentioned David because the only Labour figures I can remember making an impression in the last year have been Blair T and Milliband D. I have a lot of time for Ed's backroom abilities but the public aren't aware of them or him. Labour has become a one man band and a pretty unimpressive one of late. I don't think Starmer gets it. He can be wrong but he has to impress.
For me, Labour must stop pulling punches. The Tories were ruthless in pinning the consequences of the Global Financial Crisis on the presiding Labour government. There is no reason not to return the favour now. The virus is not of this government's making but many aspects of their response have been a disgrace. The latest debacle - schools - yet again showcases the astonishing level of incompetence and lack of consideration. It's an unforgivable carry on. Impossible to defend. Trouble is, they are not really having to. Not from Labour anyway.
If Labour had called for schools not to reopen, and for the government to plan for this inevitability rather than leave it until they had already gone back for a day, they would be in a position to make hay. But they didn't, so they're not. I hope when the next shambles comes - as it surely will - this mistake is not repeated. Forget "national consensus" and "softly softly" we need a New Labour ready and willing to stick it to these bozos whenever the many chances arise.
Time to sharpen up the politics with some new and brutal talking points. Covid shambles = TORY shambles. Johnson can't hack it and he doesn't give a tinker's. Thousands of deaths in this country directly attributable to the mishandling of this crisis. The culprits mustn't get away with it. If we tolerate this god knows what will be next. Blood on their hands. Blood on HIS hands. C'mon. It's the truth so let's not be squeamish about saying it.
Ah, you're missing the Corbynite red meat. Sadly Labour's gone all vegan now, and their tastiest offering is some cold raw tofu, which makes it a bit tricky to compete with 17 stone of solid muscle:
I am a bit today, yes.
Amusing video but I've snipped it from my reply because although I instinctively relate to much of the criticism of Starmer from the Left I am acutely conscious of how it gets used for nefarious purposes by those on the pronounced right of politics for whom ANY manifestation of Labour is beyond the pale and unacceptable.
People like you, I suppose, is who I'm talking about here.
Well, quite - if your opponent exposes his left flank then that's where you've got to hit him.
I do sympathize a little with Starmer's predicament, since he's essentially following the right strategy but that means incurring the wrath of his ultras, much as Boris has on lockdown (though he seems to have won them over surprisingly well with his Deal). Did you see how the Squad are now being attacked as sellouts by their own base, for the crime of not burning down the House as soon as they set foot in it?
Politics and politicians would be the better for having less mercurial supporters. Like me, for example.
There's 2 opposing views in Labour on Starmer - "Keir is on track to win from the centre" and "Keir is drifting into outdated centrism" - and I hold them both. Just that today, fueled by a great Jones video, the 2nd one is dominating. But tomorrow is another day. Perhaps tomorrow I'll catch a great Rachel Reeves video and it will be all change.
See, I'm not mercurial.
A centrist SeanT ?
Not quite in that league! I can only manage inter-day volatility. He can do intra.
Is there any other nation more obsessed with class than the British?
I find it a bit weird, even my Scottish boss said there's plenty of classism in Scotland, although that's more of an Edinburgh/Glasgow rivalry.
I don't know, nobody would claim that Bearsden was lower class than Wester Hailes. And the Byres Road is every bit as twee as Broughton Street or Newington. It's a geographical thing , like the States - East and West Coast separated by the great plains and arid deserts of West Lothian and Linlithgowshire, inhabited by pink sheep and giant water horses.
My boss is an Posh Jock as he's from Edinburgh, home of classy places like the Caley, the fringe, and the castle.
Glasgow has places like Gorbals and Govan.
You ought to ask him about Craigmillar and Wester Hailes!
I've just texted him that, his reply 'The worst bits of Edinburgh are better than the best bits of Glasgow.'
Is there anywhere in either worse than Cumbernauld? Because I wouldn't want to go there.
Gorbals, before they flattened it a decade or so ago.
I could bet my last pound you will never have seen or been to the Gorbals, you may be looking at wiki from 1940's, this does not look very shabby does it ................arse
Fake news - blue sky in Glasgow - no way!
Sky's been blue in Ayrshire for most of the last couple of weeks other than one day. Given the only thing we can do now (and indeed have been able to do for a while) is go for a walk, this is most welcome.
Chilly and vaguely icy in the non-gritted parts but generally about as decent weather as you can expect for this time of year!
Solarflare , are you in North , south or east
North. Been a decent spell, other than nearly falling arse over elbow on black ice on a walk on Christmas morning
so 3 of us at least in North, fairliered is obviously also there
Is there any other nation more obsessed with class than the British?
I find it a bit weird, even my Scottish boss said there's plenty of classism in Scotland, although that's more of an Edinburgh/Glasgow rivalry.
I don't know, nobody would claim that Bearsden was lower class than Wester Hailes. And the Byres Road is every bit as twee as Broughton Street or Newington. It's a geographical thing , like the States - East and West Coast separated by the great plains and arid deserts of West Lothian and Linlithgowshire, inhabited by pink sheep and giant water horses.
My boss is an Posh Jock as he's from Edinburgh, home of classy places like the Caley, the fringe, and the castle.
Glasgow has places like Gorbals and Govan.
You ought to ask him about Craigmillar and Wester Hailes!
I've just texted him that, his reply 'The worst bits of Edinburgh are better than the best bits of Glasgow.'
Is there anywhere in either worse than Cumbernauld? Because I wouldn't want to go there.
Gorbals, before they flattened it a decade or so ago.
I could bet my last pound you will never have seen or been to the Gorbals, you may be looking at wiki from 1940's, this does not look very shabby does it ................arse
Fake news - blue sky in Glasgow - no way!
They had 50 years to wait for it - the relentless rain has meant that these works have been in plan since the 70s.
I think these photos were taken in 2008 when God popped along to give Brown his halo and dispense aircraft carriers all round.
There is nothing better than a bright Scottish morning. Nothing more dismal than a Scottish rainy afternoon. Oddly I feel that these two undoubted facts sum up someone or other..
You
I may not have been referring to you! What presumption!
I was though.
Anyway Mr G, do flash your sunny uplands at us more than exposing your dark glens. (If Malcom turns out to be 17 and female I'll get arrested!)
If only I was 17 , I will be more cheery but the site needs someone to shake them up and be grumpy.
You might have your birthday on the 29 February ... (as a friend of mine did: fortunately his family allowed him an honorary one on the 28 Feb in intercalary years).
Just occurred to me, while my son and I were throwing coloured toy bricks down the stairs, that @Roy_G_Biv was the colours of the rainbow! Did everyone else clock it straight away?
As a child. I was taught to the remember the order of the colours of the rainbow as
Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain
(Or Roy G Biv for short).
Yes, I was going through that to remember them when I realised it spelt or spelled RoyGBiv.
‘Ruth of York Gave Birth’ was the other one we were taught
We were taught an alternative mnemonic going the other way from violet to red. It probably lodged better in a group of adolescent boys than the other one:
Is there any other nation more obsessed with class than the British?
I find it a bit weird, even my Scottish boss said there's plenty of classism in Scotland, although that's more of an Edinburgh/Glasgow rivalry.
I don't know, nobody would claim that Bearsden was lower class than Wester Hailes. And the Byres Road is every bit as twee as Broughton Street or Newington. It's a geographical thing , like the States - East and West Coast separated by the great plains and arid deserts of West Lothian and Linlithgowshire, inhabited by pink sheep and giant water horses.
My boss is an Posh Jock as he's from Edinburgh, home of classy places like the Caley, the fringe, and the castle.
Glasgow has places like Gorbals and Govan.
You ought to ask him about Craigmillar and Wester Hailes!
I've just texted him that, his reply 'The worst bits of Edinburgh are better than the best bits of Glasgow.'
Is there anywhere in either worse than Cumbernauld? Because I wouldn't want to go there.
Gorbals, before they flattened it a decade or so ago.
I could bet my last pound you will never have seen or been to the Gorbals, you may be looking at wiki from 1940's, this does not look very shabby does it ................arse
Well you’d lose your last pound. My grannie, may she rest in peace, was from Rutherglen.
Wasn't Cumbernauld where Gregor's Girl was set/filmed?
It was indeed and was not so bad in those days, the shopping centre etc did not wear well , there must have been lots of crap architects going about in those days.
Aside from Cumbernauld, what I never quite understand driving through the central belt is the preponderance of grey pebbledash.
Why?? At least paint it a slightly more interesting colour!
I know there probably aren't many historic brick manufacturers in Scotland due to the geology but surely it doesn't have to look quite so grim.
Harling is what we call it. Helps to waterproof against the driven rain and to some extent also a sacrificial covering against frost. Or so I see it. For some reason painting is not common unless it is country cottages.
Edit: Lots of bricks in Central Belt and Tayside - a lot of the local bricks are from fireclay seams (ie Coal Measures seatearths) and others from fluvioglacial or glacial marine clays (Quaternary).
I wonder also if there is something about the local bricks. it may be that they are not pretty enough, or that tradition was not to leave exposed brickwork anywhere.
But not just bricks. My grandfather's drapery and house above is Dumfriesshire stone on the front, but cheaper local stone at the sides and back which is harled and always has been.
I always thought traditional harling was sand & lime rather than pebble based. That's certainly what you find on older buildings. It is the concrete/pebble mixture that looks particularly bad and seems rather unnecessary on modern buildings.
Dumfries stone (assuming you mean the red sandstone and not the grey granite) is definitely worth showing though. You find it in a lot of unexpected places (wasn't it used for the Statue of Liberty?). I had to survey one of the quarries once and it was pretty impressive.
The missing graph from that series is the one on the number of vaccinations conducted.
Why are the Government being so reticent in updating the figures? Is there a problem? Those on the Worldindata site have figures that date back to 27th December, when most other countries are showing data for 3rd or 4th Jan and updating data daily.
What is it that makes people turn absolutely potty? I'm beginning to think there may be some virus that people are contracting that makes them believe the most absurd things.
Very welcome news for the BBC. It might do well to revive some other Reithian or Wilsonian connections with the Open University during the pandemic too.
There has to be some explanation. God knows what it is but as you say the sequence of events is just so bonkers that there must be more to it than we know right now.
That, or Boris is the utterly useless twat we have said he is all along.
The missing graph from that series is the one on the number of vaccinations conducted.
Why are the Government being so reticent in updating the figures? Is there a problem? Those on the Worldindata site have figures that date back to 27th December, when most other countries are showing data for 3rd or 4th Jan and updating data daily.
Watching the presser, Vicky Young is an excellent political correspondent. Much better than LauraK and Peston. Great questions, inadequately answered by Johnson.
Is there any other nation more obsessed with class than the British?
I find it a bit weird, even my Scottish boss said there's plenty of classism in Scotland, although that's more of an Edinburgh/Glasgow rivalry.
I don't know, nobody would claim that Bearsden was lower class than Wester Hailes. And the Byres Road is every bit as twee as Broughton Street or Newington. It's a geographical thing , like the States - East and West Coast separated by the great plains and arid deserts of West Lothian and Linlithgowshire, inhabited by pink sheep and giant water horses.
My boss is an Posh Jock as he's from Edinburgh, home of classy places like the Caley, the fringe, and the castle.
Glasgow has places like Gorbals and Govan.
You ought to ask him about Craigmillar and Wester Hailes!
I've just texted him that, his reply 'The worst bits of Edinburgh are better than the best bits of Glasgow.'
Is there anywhere in either worse than Cumbernauld? Because I wouldn't want to go there.
Gorbals, before they flattened it a decade or so ago.
I could bet my last pound you will never have seen or been to the Gorbals, you may be looking at wiki from 1940's, this does not look very shabby does it ................arse
Well you’d lose your last pound. My grannie, may she rest in peace, was from Rutherglen.
Wasn't Cumbernauld where Gregor's Girl was set/filmed?
It was indeed and was not so bad in those days, the shopping centre etc did not wear well , there must have been lots of crap architects going about in those days.
Aside from Cumbernauld, what I never quite understand driving through the central belt is the preponderance of grey pebbledash.
Why?? At least paint it a slightly more interesting colour!
I know there probably aren't many historic brick manufacturers in Scotland due to the geology but surely it doesn't have to look quite so grim.
Harling is what we call it. Helps to waterproof against the driven rain and to some extent also a sacrificial covering against frost. Or so I see it. For some reason painting is not common unless it is country cottages.
Edit: Lots of bricks in Central Belt and Tayside - a lot of the local bricks are from fireclay seams (ie Coal Measures seatearths) and others from fluvioglacial or glacial marine clays (Quaternary).
I wonder also if there is something about the local bricks. it may be that they are not pretty enough, or that tradition was not to leave exposed brickwork anywhere.
But not just bricks. My grandfather's drapery and house above is Dumfriesshire stone on the front, but cheaper local stone at the sides and back which is harled and always has been.
I always thought traditional harling was sand & lime rather than pebble based. That's certainly what you find on older buildings. It is the concrete/pebble mixture that looks particularly bad and seems rather unnecessary on modern buildings.
Dumfries stone (assuming you mean the red sandstone and not the grey granite) is definitely worth showing though. You find it in a lot of unexpected places (wasn't it used for the Statue of Liberty?). I had to survey one of the quarries once and it was pretty impressive.
Yes, I think it is Permo-Triassic from Corncockle or one of the other quarries in the area - absolutely the right timescale (1880s building) - Caledonian Station Hotel and Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh also of red sandstone IIRC from that area.
Is there any other nation more obsessed with class than the British?
I find it a bit weird, even my Scottish boss said there's plenty of classism in Scotland, although that's more of an Edinburgh/Glasgow rivalry.
I don't know, nobody would claim that Bearsden was lower class than Wester Hailes. And the Byres Road is every bit as twee as Broughton Street or Newington. It's a geographical thing , like the States - East and West Coast separated by the great plains and arid deserts of West Lothian and Linlithgowshire, inhabited by pink sheep and giant water horses.
My boss is an Posh Jock as he's from Edinburgh, home of classy places like the Caley, the fringe, and the castle.
Glasgow has places like Gorbals and Govan.
You ought to ask him about Craigmillar and Wester Hailes!
I've just texted him that, his reply 'The worst bits of Edinburgh are better than the best bits of Glasgow.'
Is there anywhere in either worse than Cumbernauld? Because I wouldn't want to go there.
Gorbals, before they flattened it a decade or so ago.
I could bet my last pound you will never have seen or been to the Gorbals, you may be looking at wiki from 1940's, this does not look very shabby does it ................arse
Fake news - blue sky in Glasgow - no way!
They had 50 years to wait for it - the relentless rain has meant that these works have been in plan since the 70s.
I think these photos were taken in 2008 when God popped along to give Brown his halo and dispense aircraft carriers all round.
There is nothing better than a bright Scottish morning. Nothing more dismal than a Scottish rainy afternoon. Oddly I feel that these two undoubted facts sum up someone or other..
You
I may not have been referring to you! What presumption!
I was though.
Anyway Mr G, do flash your sunny uplands at us more than exposing your dark glens. (If Malcom turns out to be 17 and female I'll get arrested!)
If only I was 17 , I will be more cheery but the site needs someone to shake them up and be grumpy.
You might have your birthday on the 29 February ... (as a friend of mine did: fortunately his family allowed him an honorary one on the 28 Feb in intercalary years).
My birthday is the 29th February and I am 20 in 2024
And my many honorary birthdays have always been on the 28th February but my driving licence was issued for the 1st March
Comments
The missing graph from that series is the one on the number of vaccinations conducted.
Why are the Government being so reticent in updating the figures? Is there a problem? Those on the Worldindata site have figures that date back to 27th December, when most other countries are showing data for 3rd or 4th Jan and updating data daily.
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/covid-vaccination-doses-per-capita?tab=chart&stackMode=absolute&time=earliest..2021-01-05®ion=World
I wish I knew, the root of two, (1.414)
O procure for me, the root of three. (1.732)
Were I Trump I would be betting that they may charge me - or try to - but my presence out of the country makes me politically too difficult to go after.
That has a very sad feel.
A 21st Century party trying to hang on to 19th Century baggage can't go anywhere. I'd prefer to vote for Farage than Labour, but nearly all of the things I hate about Labour are precisely the 19th Century things. Comrade.
This before covid which he has grossly mishandled and not least when he pronounced he would implement a two week firebreak and then we could all return to normal. The day the firebreak ended I wrote on here the public reacted accordingly with queues of cars going into town (and that is unusual), shops packed and little or no social distancing
I warned at the time we were heading for a nightmare and that warning was very prescient
They are being updated weekly - the data to Sunday will be out tomorrow
He speaks excellent Welsh.
https://twitter.com/JamesDelingpole/status/1346389598579154946
He's fairly priced at no hope.
(Edit: I of course didn't predict that he would or should enter the market at any such price, merely that his supporters might wish him to - they're smart though - they realise he has no chance)
Everyone has started reporting again, so lots of backfilling
Turns out the answer is sex.
https://twitter.com/MorganPaulett/status/1346455347129708544
Today
Yesterday
https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1346475895955939328?s=20
1.3 million already vaccinated
Today
Yesterday
From case data
From hospitalisation data
https://twitter.com/s8mb/status/1308346526775865354
https://twitter.com/s8mb/status/1346382429318230017
https://twitter.com/s8mb/status/1346500147145015296
The 4th is the corresponding next working day after New Year's, so I'm expecting a similar effect, which should be enough to keep ahead of specimen date numbers for subsequent days if the real number of new infections declines weigh the new lockdown.
Passing unnoticed is that the 29th of Dec now has over EIGHTY THOUSAND cases.
Plus I'm fairly certain there's plenty of PBers who can relate to Lewis.
Rishi blatently on manoeuvres. Did he snigger as he said it?
https://twitter.com/Annie__McGuire/status/1346503992000602113
Hope that puts your mind at rest
Edit: 944,000 to last Sunday is around 50,000/day including all days.
https://twitter.com/SpiegelPeter/status/1346504646832091143
Christmas Effect....
Virgins In Bed, Get Your Organs Ready
Dumfries stone (assuming you mean the red sandstone and not the grey granite) is definitely worth showing though. You find it in a lot of unexpected places (wasn't it used for the Statue of Liberty?). I had to survey one of the quarries once and it was pretty impressive.
https://twitter.com/PippaCrerar/status/1346506227006763009
I have developed my own 100% reliable Covid Test
Result known in 10 secs
Fart under the covers
Place head under covers
Waft covers
If you cant smell it you have Covid if you can all is well even if it makes you cough
He seems to make it his lifelong mission to act like the biggest penis he can possibly be.
Like that's a virtue.
https://twitter.com/lukemcgee/status/1345377011557138433
That, or Boris is the utterly useless twat we have said he is all along.
We really need daily stats.
https://web.archive.org/web/20130928231124/http://www.artistsfootsteps.co.uk/art_work_large.asp?ID=631 (spot what must be the fossil reptile trackways)
And my many honorary birthdays have always been on the 28th February but my driving licence was issued for the 1st March