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Back to British politics for a change and a possible threat to Boris – politicalbetting.com

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  • Options
    FlannerFlanner Posts: 407
    For crying out loud, Mike: stop pandering to the loonies

    The issue's clear. The country seems to love Johnson: but only like it loved Churchill in Jan 45. So the instant that threat's gone, they'll kick the fuckwit out.

    This time's different, though. Johnson's stopped food arriving in Britain because - well, who the fuck knows? He promised the day after the Referendum he'd stay in the Single Market, even though only Commie dickheads supported the EU. And since then, not a single fucking deal he's negotiated gives us any kind of advantage we didn't have before.

    So the instant we stop worrying about the thousands of unnecessary deaths his fuckwit chums have dumped on us, he'll be out - like the fuckwits who joined him in the fuckwittery of leaving the Single Market.

    That's all anyone needs to know.

    Johnson's obsession with never telling the truth if he can invent a lie is all well and good. But only fuckwits leave the Single Market: even the fucking Norwegians want to stay in, in spite of being both the thickest and richest people in Europe.

    So we'll be back in the Single Market the moment we're not distracted by the biggest death toll in human memory

    Something even the peabrained actuaries who infest this site would realise if they switched their pea brains on for a second.

    SO STOP FUCKING HUMOURING THEM
  • Options
    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,937
    Carnyx said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    Scott_xP said:

    HYUFD said:

    any referendum without UK government and Westminster consent would be illegal

    That is not true

    And you know it
    No it is true.

    Our constitution is based on the sovereignty of Crown in Parliament, even Holyrood is merely a creation of Westminster, Westminster remains supreme.
    Our constitution is fungible and based on respect of the people who elect our Parliaments.

    We are a democracy not a Franco dictatorship.
    Our entire unwritten constitution is based on the supremacy of the elected Westminster Parliament and the statutes it passes and the Queen signs
    A load of shite. If the constitution isn't written it doesn't exist, except in your fantasies and those of Mr Rees-Mogg.
    It does exist, through common law made by judges and through statute passed by Parliament and signed by the Monarch.

    The latter supreme over the former if in conflict
  • Options
    HYUFD said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    FF43 said:

    Scott_xP said:
    I guess that's it chaps, Brexit's over! Well done, Scott - what will you be wearing on Reunification Day next week?
    This is the point. The bridges are burnt; the boats are burnt. There is no way back. So the fishermen, for example, are utterly screwed. There is nothing the Johnson government can do for them, beyond tossing them some cash, and they don't seem to be too much up for that.
    Funny how you lot suddenly care about fishermen.
    Because, what, nobody would *really* care about other peoples' businesses being destroyed? I don't know whether it is you or HYUFD strengthens my resolve never ever to vote Conservative again more. We are well beyond the "see the back of Johnson and think again" stage.
    Did you vote Tory in 2019 when the Tories won a majority of 80? If not, I could not care less
    Why do you go on and on and on and on and on and on and on about it if you could not care less?
  • Options
    RazedabodeRazedabode Posts: 2,976
    HYUFD said:

    Carnyx said:

    HYUFD said:

    Alistair said:

    Mortimer said:

    Scott_xP said:

    Mortimer said:

    The Boris paradox for the Sturge is every day he is PM, support for Indy remains, but she won't get an IndyRef whilst he remains.

    BoZo can't stop her holding a referendum with the same legal weight as the Brexit vote.
    You mean one legislated for in the only parliament with power to do so? Errr, F- in constitutional politics for you Scotty.
    What Law would the Scottish Government be breaking by holding an advisory referendum on an arbitrary topic?
    Potentially the Scotland Act but that question would no doubt end up in the Supreme Court.

    If the Supreme Court rules that an advisory referendum is legal (it could but no guarantee of that) the idea that can be just ignored is ridiculous. Heck if the SNP win a majority it would be ridiculous not to have a referendum and it seems Boris and Gove know that deep down too.
    By definition the SC cannot ignore statute and the Scotland Act 1998 which reserves Union matters to Westminster
    Bujt it gives priority to Scots law on matters handed up from the Scottish courts, as ytou should remember full well from the attempts of your party to close down democracy in the UK. And that matter is still untested.
    No, the SC also confirmed Holyrood has no legal power to stop Brexit, only Westminster can do that.

    That is why Boris was impotent with no Westminster majority, now with a Westminster majority of 80 Boris is all powerful
    I’m not sure “Boris is all powerful” is a great argument if I’m honest
  • Options
    BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 31,560
    Never mind Brexit or Scottish independence, there is only one topic of importance at the moment...

    Vaccinations - what's the latest?
  • Options
    justin124justin124 Posts: 11,527

    Advisory referendums are legal. As demonstrated in 2016.

    If Scotland holds such a referendum, and votes for Independence, we then get to enjoy English Tories telling us why the opinion of voters to leave can be discarded and ignored.

    Should be a laugh.

    But an advisory referendum boycotted by the pro-Union parties which produces a 75% - 80% Yes vote on a 45% turnout will carry little weight at all.
  • Options
    solarflaresolarflare Posts: 3,623

    Never mind Brexit or Scottish independence, there is only one topic of importance at the moment...

    Vaccinations - what's the latest?

    The daily updates failed to go the distance of a week?
  • Options
    FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 76,274
    edited January 2021

    Never mind Brexit or Scottish independence, there is only one topic of importance at the moment...

    Vaccinations - what's the latest?

    Good...roughly 285k done yesterday. Over 3 million total.

    3.8 million new doses ready for next week. 23 million ready for bottling.

    All oldies in care hones should have had their first doses in next few days.

    I would hope come end of next week be doing more than 350k+ / day.
  • Options
    tlg86tlg86 Posts: 25,187
    justin124 said:

    Advisory referendums are legal. As demonstrated in 2016.

    If Scotland holds such a referendum, and votes for Independence, we then get to enjoy English Tories telling us why the opinion of voters to leave can be discarded and ignored.

    Should be a laugh.

    But an advisory referendum boycotted by the pro-Union parties which produces a 75% - 80% Yes vote on a 45% turnout will carry little weight at all.
    I think in such a situation, the benchmark for Yes would be to get more votes than No received in 2014.
  • Options
    eekeek Posts: 24,932
    Leon said:

    Scott_xP said:

    HYUFD said:

    any referendum without UK government and Westminster consent would be illegal

    That is not true

    And you know it
    Christ. You're desperate for a Scots indyref2 so they vote YES so you can blame the break-up of the Union on Brexit.

    This is pathological. There are treatments available.
    We left the EU as the result of a none binding advisory referendum.
  • Options
    geoffwgeoffw Posts: 8,134

    geoffw said:

    geoffw said:

    Alistair said:

    Mortimer said:

    Scott_xP said:

    Mortimer said:

    The Boris paradox for the Sturge is every day he is PM, support for Indy remains, but she won't get an IndyRef whilst he remains.

    BoZo can't stop her holding a referendum with the same legal weight as the Brexit vote.
    You mean one legislated for in the only parliament with power to do so? Errr, F- in constitutional politics for you Scotty.
    What Law would the Scottish Government be breaking by holding an advisory referendum on an arbitrary topic?
    Probably not breaking any law. But pointless since (i) unionists would boycott it, (ii) the UK government would ignore it, and (iii) if a "victory" denied went to the law courts they would throw it out as ultra vires.

    It's like @Richard_Tyndall said down thread, Nippy wins the PR war, Nippy wins Independence, perhaps not immediately, but it's in the bag.
    Or not, as the case may be.

    If you think that, you are mistaken, and you could well wind up commanding one of HYUFD's tank squadrons in the forthcoming invasion.
    Will you be there? Crossing the Rio Grande?

  • Options
    LeonLeon Posts: 46,747

    FF43 said:

    Scott_xP said:
    I guess that's it chaps, Brexit's over! Well done, Scott - what will you be wearing on Reunification Day next week?
    This is the point. The bridges are burnt; the boats are burnt. There is no way back. So the fishermen, for example, are utterly screwed. There is nothing the Johnson government can do for them, beyond tossing them some cash, and they don't seem to be too much up for that.
    Funny how you lot suddenly care about fishermen.
    Yeah, well I've been warning of the threat to the seafood guys on here for a while. I also thought there would be probs for the demersal and pelagic boys as well but I didn't think BJ and his merry men would fuck it up quite so comprehensively.

    From 'you lot' I think I prefer the 'tough luck, suck it up' argument over the 'these people just don't realise what a GREEEAAAT deal they have' one, at least it's cutting out the bullshit.
    "probs for the demersal and pelagic boys"

    Where the fuck do you get this faux-laddish, I'm-down-with-the-kidz-yet-also-highbrow patois. Jesus FC.

    CRINGE
  • Options
    Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 32,848
    Leon said:

    You're desperate for a Scots indyref2 so they vote YES so you can blame the break-up of the Union on Brexit.

    I am merely chronicling the current state of affairs.

    Nobody would be happier than me if BoZo and Nippy both fucked off right now and sanity returned to the Conservative and Unionist Party

    But here we are...
  • Options
    solarflaresolarflare Posts: 3,623
    justin124 said:

    Advisory referendums are legal. As demonstrated in 2016.

    If Scotland holds such a referendum, and votes for Independence, we then get to enjoy English Tories telling us why the opinion of voters to leave can be discarded and ignored.

    Should be a laugh.

    But an advisory referendum boycotted by the pro-Union parties which produces a 75% - 80% Yes vote on a 45% turnout will carry little weight at all.
    Even if the pro-Union parties boycott it, how confident are you that pro-Union *voters* will boycott it in such significant numbers?
  • Options
    rpjsrpjs Posts: 3,787
    Scott_xP said:

    Alistair said:

    What Law would the Scottish Government be breaking by holding an advisory referendum on an arbitrary topic?

    Exactly
    Presumably the argument would be that the constitution is a reserved matter and so even an advisory referendum would be ultra vires for the Scottish Parliament. Clearly the Scottish Parliament cannot legislate for Scottish independence, with or without a confirming referendum, unilaterally. The question is whether it is legal for the Scottish Parliament to authorize the expenditure of public money on an advisory referendum on a subject reserved to Westminster.
  • Options
    Flanner said:

    For crying out loud, Mike: stop pandering to the loonies

    The issue's clear. The country seems to love Johnson: but only like it loved Churchill in Jan 45. So the instant that threat's gone, they'll kick the fuckwit out.

    This time's different, though. Johnson's stopped food arriving in Britain because - well, who the fuck knows? He promised the day after the Referendum he'd stay in the Single Market, even though only Commie dickheads supported the EU. And since then, not a single fucking deal he's negotiated gives us any kind of advantage we didn't have before.

    So the instant we stop worrying about the thousands of unnecessary deaths his fuckwit chums have dumped on us, he'll be out - like the fuckwits who joined him in the fuckwittery of leaving the Single Market.

    That's all anyone needs to know.

    Johnson's obsession with never telling the truth if he can invent a lie is all well and good. But only fuckwits leave the Single Market: even the fucking Norwegians want to stay in, in spite of being both the thickest and richest people in Europe.

    So we'll be back in the Single Market the moment we're not distracted by the biggest death toll in human memory

    Something even the peabrained actuaries who infest this site would realise if they switched their pea brains on for a second.

    SO STOP FUCKING HUMOURING THEM

    Just a wee point on your post

    We have a weekly Asda delivery and recently, as we do not go out, much bigger including more fruit and veg and we have not had anything missing from the orders, including this morning

    So food shortages are not obvious to us at present
  • Options
    TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 114,280
    edited January 2021
    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    Scott_xP said:

    HYUFD said:

    any referendum without UK government and Westminster consent would be illegal

    That is not true

    And you know it
    No it is true.

    Our constitution is based on the sovereignty of Crown in Parliament, even Holyrood is merely a creation of Westminster, Westminster remains supreme.
    Our constitution is fungible and based on respect of the people who elect our Parliaments.

    We are a democracy not a Franco dictatorship.
    Our entire unwritten constitution is based on the supremacy of the elected Westminster Parliament and the statutes it passes and the Queen signs
    Because Parliament is elected and power belongs in the people through their elected representatives.

    The idea that you can ignore a segment of the population that votes to leave and keep them prisoners, in chains to the British state indefinitely, is pure poppycock.
    Constitutionally it is not.

    What Westminster says goes
    You mean like the 2019 prorogation controversy?
  • Options
    justin124justin124 Posts: 11,527
    Scott_xP said:

    Brexit went through Parliament

    Spectacular whataboutery

    What legal weight did the Brexit referendum have?

    None.
    Scott_xP said:

    Brexit went through Parliament

    Spectacular whataboutery

    What legal weight did the Brexit referendum have?

    None.
    Legally the Brexit Referendum result could have been ignored, but the political willl to do that did not exist. An advisory Referendum held in defiance of Westminster would be a very different matter.
  • Options
    Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 32,848
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    MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 25,043
    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    Scott_xP said:

    Mortimer said:

    The Boris paradox for the Sturge is every day he is PM, support for Indy remains, but she won't get an IndyRef whilst he remains.

    BoZo can't stop her holding a referendum with the same legal weight as the Brexit vote.
    Of course he can, any referendum without UK government and Westminster consent would be illegal and irrelevant as Madrid proved when it ignored the illegal referendum held by the Catalan government
    I am not sure you are correct.

    Don't forget the Brexit vote was advisory rather than binding.

    I would imagine Nippy can do pretty much as she likes regarding plebiscite arrangements. Where she is hamstrung is that she can't legally declare UDI on the result.
    s30 of the Scotland Act 1998 specifically reserves matters affecting the Union to be decided by Westminster and Westminster's approval alone is required for such matters.
    No one is denying that. If Nippy calls a Referendum and wins, Johnson is perfectly entitled to reject it. However it would look bad!
  • Options
    BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 31,560

    Never mind Brexit or Scottish independence, there is only one topic of importance at the moment...

    Vaccinations - what's the latest?

    Good...roughly 285k done yesterday. Over 3 million total.

    3.8 million new doses ready for next week. 23 million ready for bottling.

    All oldies in care hones should have had their first doses in next few days.

    I would hope come end of next week be doing more than 350k+ / day.
    Ok thanks for that, sounds good. Where did you get the data? It's not showing here:

    https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk
  • Options
    geoffwgeoffw Posts: 8,134

    Never mind Brexit or Scottish independence, there is only one topic of importance at the moment...

    Vaccinations - what's the latest?

    Like the pilgrims in the Canterbury Tales we are joshing in the face of the plague so as not to think about it.

  • Options
    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    FF43 said:

    It is impressive that the explosion in support for independence is so closely aligned with Boris Johnson's premiership.



    I do not doubt than Boris is a big factor and it is why when covid is on the wain I would like to see Rishi as PM
    But it used to be he should go when he'd delivered Brexit.

    This is starting to feel a bit like a journey towards the horizon.
    Considering he's got a deal, multiple vaccines and is doing well in his job now why should he go imminently?
    "doing well"?!

    How do you define this??

    I find the Boris-hating Remainers and lefties quite tedious, but I would also struggle to pinpoint anything Boris has done "well".

    It's a hideous plague. No one in the Western world, absent the antipodes, has done "well". The best that can be said for Boris is that he's not as boring as Starmer. That's it, really.
    Over 3 million vaccinated and ramping up fast. We're weeks away from turning the tide on this plague.
  • Options
    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,937
    edited January 2021

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    Scott_xP said:

    HYUFD said:

    any referendum without UK government and Westminster consent would be illegal

    That is not true

    And you know it
    No it is true.

    Our constitution is based on the sovereignty of Crown in Parliament, even Holyrood is merely a creation of Westminster, Westminster remains supreme.
    Our constitution is fungible and based on respect of the people who elect our Parliaments.

    We are a democracy not a Franco dictatorship.
    Our entire unwritten constitution is based on the supremacy of the elected Westminster Parliament and the statutes it passes and the Queen signs
    Because Parliament is elected and power belongs in the people through their elected representatives.

    The idea that you can ignore a segment of the population that votes to leave and keep them prisoners, in chains to the British state indefinitely, is pure poppycock.
    Constitutionally it is not.

    What Westminster says goes
    You mean like the 2019 prorogation controversy?
    Absolutely, Westminster's will at the time not to pass the Withdrawal Agreement or leave with No Deal was upheld by the Courts.

    Only once Boris had a Tory majority was Brexit delivered and the WA passed by Westminster.
  • Options
    FF43FF43 Posts: 15,691
    To be fair this guy appears to accept there is a sudden crisis in fishing. He doesn't have any solutions. That's because there aren't any.


    https://twitter.com/Douglas4Moray/status/1349727673040347139
  • Options
    Leon said:

    FF43 said:

    Scott_xP said:
    I guess that's it chaps, Brexit's over! Well done, Scott - what will you be wearing on Reunification Day next week?
    This is the point. The bridges are burnt; the boats are burnt. There is no way back. So the fishermen, for example, are utterly screwed. There is nothing the Johnson government can do for them, beyond tossing them some cash, and they don't seem to be too much up for that.
    Funny how you lot suddenly care about fishermen.
    Yeah, well I've been warning of the threat to the seafood guys on here for a while. I also thought there would be probs for the demersal and pelagic boys as well but I didn't think BJ and his merry men would fuck it up quite so comprehensively.

    From 'you lot' I think I prefer the 'tough luck, suck it up' argument over the 'these people just don't realise what a GREEEAAAT deal they have' one, at least it's cutting out the bullshit.
    "probs for the demersal and pelagic boys"

    Where the fuck do you get this faux-laddish, I'm-down-with-the-kidz-yet-also-highbrow patois. Jesus FC.

    CRINGE
    Ooh, smarting from some previous dig are we?

    Stick to chipping away at your mediocre 'products', Mr Joined December 2020 Man.
  • Options
    justin124justin124 Posts: 11,527

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    Scott_xP said:

    HYUFD said:

    any referendum without UK government and Westminster consent would be illegal

    That is not true

    And you know it
    No it is true.

    Our constitution is based on the sovereignty of Crown in Parliament, even Holyrood is merely a creation of Westminster, Westminster remains supreme.
    Our constitution is fungible and based on respect of the people who elect our Parliaments.

    We are a democracy not a Franco dictatorship.
    Our entire unwritten constitution is based on the supremacy of the elected Westminster Parliament and the statutes it passes and the Queen signs
    Because Parliament is elected and power belongs in the people through their elected representatives.

    The idea that you can ignore a segment of the population that votes to leave and keep them prisoners, in chains to the British state indefinitely, is pure poppycock.
    Westminster has the right - if no present intent - to repeal the 1997 Devolution Acts and to revert to the Status Quo Ante.
  • Options
    FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,504

    FF43 said:

    It is impressive that the explosion in support for independence is so closely aligned with Boris Johnson's premiership. It really takes off in the summer of 2019 and doesn't look back.



    The liftoff in Yes support clearly begins in the autumn of 2017 and continues from there.
    How does that fit with Ruthin resigning. Cause or effect?
  • Options
    Scott_xP said:

    Brexit went through Parliament

    Spectacular whataboutery

    What legal weight did the Brexit referendum have?

    None.
    I would have loved to have seen the reaction of some remainers if the vote had been 48/52 the other way, and then a Tory government decided to leave the EU anyway since the referendum was just "advisory" not binding.
  • Options
    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,937

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    Scott_xP said:

    Mortimer said:

    The Boris paradox for the Sturge is every day he is PM, support for Indy remains, but she won't get an IndyRef whilst he remains.

    BoZo can't stop her holding a referendum with the same legal weight as the Brexit vote.
    Of course he can, any referendum without UK government and Westminster consent would be illegal and irrelevant as Madrid proved when it ignored the illegal referendum held by the Catalan government
    I am not sure you are correct.

    Don't forget the Brexit vote was advisory rather than binding.

    I would imagine Nippy can do pretty much as she likes regarding plebiscite arrangements. Where she is hamstrung is that she can't legally declare UDI on the result.
    s30 of the Scotland Act 1998 specifically reserves matters affecting the Union to be decided by Westminster and Westminster's approval alone is required for such matters.
    No one is denying that. If Nippy calls a Referendum and wins, Johnson is perfectly entitled to reject it. However it would look bad!
    Boris would not give a shit, it would look far worse for him if he allowed a referendum that risked him being the PM who lost the Union and he only has 6 Scottish MPs anyway.

  • Options
    LeonLeon Posts: 46,747

    Leon said:

    FF43 said:

    Scott_xP said:
    I guess that's it chaps, Brexit's over! Well done, Scott - what will you be wearing on Reunification Day next week?
    This is the point. The bridges are burnt; the boats are burnt. There is no way back. So the fishermen, for example, are utterly screwed. There is nothing the Johnson government can do for them, beyond tossing them some cash, and they don't seem to be too much up for that.
    Funny how you lot suddenly care about fishermen.
    Yeah, well I've been warning of the threat to the seafood guys on here for a while. I also thought there would be probs for the demersal and pelagic boys as well but I didn't think BJ and his merry men would fuck it up quite so comprehensively.

    From 'you lot' I think I prefer the 'tough luck, suck it up' argument over the 'these people just don't realise what a GREEEAAAT deal they have' one, at least it's cutting out the bullshit.
    "probs for the demersal and pelagic boys"

    Where the fuck do you get this faux-laddish, I'm-down-with-the-kidz-yet-also-highbrow patois. Jesus FC.

    CRINGE
    Ooh, smarting from some previous dig are we?

    Stick to chipping away at your mediocre 'products', Mr Joined December 2020 Man.
    If you stop being so embarrassing I actually, physically wince at your comments, you have a deal
  • Options
    LeonLeon Posts: 46,747
    PROBS FOR THE DEMERSAL AND PELAGIC BOYS
  • Options
    Scott_xP said:
    Another non story
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    LeonLeon Posts: 46,747
    LOL
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    Flanner said:

    For crying out loud, Mike: stop pandering to the loonies

    The issue's clear. The country seems to love Johnson: but only like it loved Churchill in Jan 45. So the instant that threat's gone, they'll kick the fuckwit out.

    This time's different, though. Johnson's stopped food arriving in Britain because - well, who the fuck knows? He promised the day after the Referendum he'd stay in the Single Market, even though only Commie dickheads supported the EU. And since then, not a single fucking deal he's negotiated gives us any kind of advantage we didn't have before.

    So the instant we stop worrying about the thousands of unnecessary deaths his fuckwit chums have dumped on us, he'll be out - like the fuckwits who joined him in the fuckwittery of leaving the Single Market.

    That's all anyone needs to know.

    Johnson's obsession with never telling the truth if he can invent a lie is all well and good. But only fuckwits leave the Single Market: even the fucking Norwegians want to stay in, in spite of being both the thickest and richest people in Europe.

    So we'll be back in the Single Market the moment we're not distracted by the biggest death toll in human memory

    Something even the peabrained actuaries who infest this site would realise if they switched their pea brains on for a second.

    SO STOP FUCKING HUMOURING THEM

    Just a wee point on your post

    We have a weekly Asda delivery and recently, as we do not go out, much bigger including more fruit and veg and we have not had anything missing from the orders, including this morning

    So food shortages are not obvious to us at present
    Never mind Brexit, Asda have been incapable of having whatever I want actually in stock for a Long Time. So if they're fulfilling your orders thats pretty much miraculous.
  • Options
    MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 25,043
    geoffw said:

    geoffw said:

    geoffw said:

    Alistair said:

    Mortimer said:

    Scott_xP said:

    Mortimer said:

    The Boris paradox for the Sturge is every day he is PM, support for Indy remains, but she won't get an IndyRef whilst he remains.

    BoZo can't stop her holding a referendum with the same legal weight as the Brexit vote.
    You mean one legislated for in the only parliament with power to do so? Errr, F- in constitutional politics for you Scotty.
    What Law would the Scottish Government be breaking by holding an advisory referendum on an arbitrary topic?
    Probably not breaking any law. But pointless since (i) unionists would boycott it, (ii) the UK government would ignore it, and (iii) if a "victory" denied went to the law courts they would throw it out as ultra vires.

    It's like @Richard_Tyndall said down thread, Nippy wins the PR war, Nippy wins Independence, perhaps not immediately, but it's in the bag.
    Or not, as the case may be.

    If you think that, you are mistaken, and you could well wind up commanding one of HYUFD's tank squadrons in the forthcoming invasion.
    Will you be there? Crossing the Rio Grande?

    Crossing the Tweed.
  • Options
    FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 76,274
    edited January 2021

    Never mind Brexit or Scottish independence, there is only one topic of importance at the moment...

    Vaccinations - what's the latest?

    Good...roughly 285k done yesterday. Over 3 million total.

    3.8 million new doses ready for next week. 23 million ready for bottling.

    All oldies in care hones should have had their first doses in next few days.

    I would hope come end of next week be doing more than 350k+ / day.
    Ok thanks for that, sounds good. Where did you get the data? It's not showing here:

    https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk
    We have cobbled it together from the regional announcements. Tweets / links on previous thread. England was 250k.
  • Options
    FF43 said:

    To be fair this guy appears to accept there is a sudden crisis in fishing. He doesn't have any solutions. That's because there aren't any.


    https://twitter.com/Douglas4Moray/status/1349727673040347139

    First reply

    https://twitter.com/Zarkwan/status/1349756695518588928?s=20
  • Options
    FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 76,274
    edited January 2021
  • Options
    Leon said:

    kinabalu said:

    FF43 said:

    It is impressive that the explosion in support for independence is so closely aligned with Boris Johnson's premiership.



    I do not doubt than Boris is a big factor and it is why when covid is on the wain I would like to see Rishi as PM
    But it used to be he should go when he'd delivered Brexit.

    This is starting to feel a bit like a journey towards the horizon.
    Considering he's got a deal, multiple vaccines and is doing well in his job now why should he go imminently?
    "doing well"?!

    How do you define this??

    I find the Boris-hating Remainers and lefties quite tedious, but I would also struggle to pinpoint anything Boris has done "well".

    It's a hideous plague. No one in the Western world, absent the antipodes, has done "well". The best that can be said for Boris is that he's not as boring as Starmer. That's it, really.
    Slightly unfair. Boris has done two things very well;

    1 Undermine and scatter rivals for the crown over several years.

    2 Whip up a storm in the Constipated Parliament of 2017-9, before triumphantly selling himself as the flax seeds the nation needs.

    Both pretty tangental to running the country well. I'll give him the vaccine buying, though the focus on that doesn't excuse the number of dead people in the meantime. But he does politics well. Shame he's so useless at government.
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    justin124 said:

    Scott_xP said:

    Brexit went through Parliament

    Spectacular whataboutery

    What legal weight did the Brexit referendum have?

    None.
    Scott_xP said:

    Brexit went through Parliament

    Spectacular whataboutery

    What legal weight did the Brexit referendum have?

    None.
    Legally the Brexit Referendum result could have been ignored, but the political willl to do that did not exist. An advisory Referendum held in defiance of Westminster would be a very different matter.
    Might be different in England. Would be in Scotland
  • Options
    geoffwgeoffw Posts: 8,134

    geoffw said:

    geoffw said:

    geoffw said:

    Alistair said:

    Mortimer said:

    Scott_xP said:

    Mortimer said:

    The Boris paradox for the Sturge is every day he is PM, support for Indy remains, but she won't get an IndyRef whilst he remains.

    BoZo can't stop her holding a referendum with the same legal weight as the Brexit vote.
    You mean one legislated for in the only parliament with power to do so? Errr, F- in constitutional politics for you Scotty.
    What Law would the Scottish Government be breaking by holding an advisory referendum on an arbitrary topic?
    Probably not breaking any law. But pointless since (i) unionists would boycott it, (ii) the UK government would ignore it, and (iii) if a "victory" denied went to the law courts they would throw it out as ultra vires.

    It's like @Richard_Tyndall said down thread, Nippy wins the PR war, Nippy wins Independence, perhaps not immediately, but it's in the bag.
    Or not, as the case may be.

    If you think that, you are mistaken, and you could well wind up commanding one of HYUFD's tank squadrons in the forthcoming invasion.
    Will you be there? Crossing the Rio Grande?

    Crossing the Tweed.
    Referencing Eskimo Nell, Mexican Pete!

  • Options
    justin124 said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    Scott_xP said:

    HYUFD said:

    any referendum without UK government and Westminster consent would be illegal

    That is not true

    And you know it
    No it is true.

    Our constitution is based on the sovereignty of Crown in Parliament, even Holyrood is merely a creation of Westminster, Westminster remains supreme.
    Our constitution is fungible and based on respect of the people who elect our Parliaments.

    We are a democracy not a Franco dictatorship.
    Our entire unwritten constitution is based on the supremacy of the elected Westminster Parliament and the statutes it passes and the Queen signs
    Because Parliament is elected and power belongs in the people through their elected representatives.

    The idea that you can ignore a segment of the population that votes to leave and keep them prisoners, in chains to the British state indefinitely, is pure poppycock.
    Westminster has the right - if no present intent - to repeal the 1997 Devolution Acts and to revert to the Status Quo Ante.
    In theory. In theory Westminster has the power to not just repeal the Fixed Term Parliament Act but to extend this current Parliament to being a Long Parliament that lasts twenty years.

    Scrapping elections, especially scrapping elections because you think you'll lose them, is a very murky area.

    If Westminster did that many would think the Scots justified to do a UDI at that point.
  • Options
  • Options

    Flanner said:

    For crying out loud, Mike: stop pandering to the loonies

    The issue's clear. The country seems to love Johnson: but only like it loved Churchill in Jan 45. So the instant that threat's gone, they'll kick the fuckwit out.

    This time's different, though. Johnson's stopped food arriving in Britain because - well, who the fuck knows? He promised the day after the Referendum he'd stay in the Single Market, even though only Commie dickheads supported the EU. And since then, not a single fucking deal he's negotiated gives us any kind of advantage we didn't have before.

    So the instant we stop worrying about the thousands of unnecessary deaths his fuckwit chums have dumped on us, he'll be out - like the fuckwits who joined him in the fuckwittery of leaving the Single Market.

    That's all anyone needs to know.

    Johnson's obsession with never telling the truth if he can invent a lie is all well and good. But only fuckwits leave the Single Market: even the fucking Norwegians want to stay in, in spite of being both the thickest and richest people in Europe.

    So we'll be back in the Single Market the moment we're not distracted by the biggest death toll in human memory

    Something even the peabrained actuaries who infest this site would realise if they switched their pea brains on for a second.

    SO STOP FUCKING HUMOURING THEM

    Just a wee point on your post

    We have a weekly Asda delivery and recently, as we do not go out, much bigger including more fruit and veg and we have not had anything missing from the orders, including this morning

    So food shortages are not obvious to us at present
    Never mind Brexit, Asda have been incapable of having whatever I want actually in stock for a Long Time. So if they're fulfilling your orders thats pretty much miraculous.
    Not political or point scoring but Asda have been exceptional throughout and certainly over the last six weeks have fulfilled our orders 100 %
  • Options
    FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,504
    FF43 said:

    FF43 said:

    Scott_xP said:
    I guess that's it chaps, Brexit's over! Well done, Scott - what will you be wearing on Reunification Day next week?
    This is the point. The bridges are burnt; the boats are burnt. There is no way back. So the fishermen, for example, are utterly screwed. There is nothing the Johnson government can do for them, beyond tossing them some cash, and they don't seem to be too much up for that.
    Funny how you lot suddenly care about fishermen.
    Despite your snide comment, I do actually care for them. Losing your livelihood is devastating. The fact some fishermen were part-actors in their own destruction doesn't make that destruction any less tragic. It's worse than I was expecting and I never thought much of Brexit. These guys bought into the dream. Being taken for fools will make them feel even worse.
    First of many suckers to realise that they have been conned. Up there with everyone in Norn.

    What we need is for the Government to have a marketing campaign South of the border.

    Cheap Langstone and scallops works for me, though may need restaurants to re open, as I don't think many would cook at home.
  • Options
    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    Scott_xP said:

    Mortimer said:

    The Boris paradox for the Sturge is every day he is PM, support for Indy remains, but she won't get an IndyRef whilst he remains.

    BoZo can't stop her holding a referendum with the same legal weight as the Brexit vote.
    Of course he can, any referendum without UK government and Westminster consent would be illegal and irrelevant as Madrid proved when it ignored the illegal referendum held by the Catalan government
    I am not sure you are correct.

    Don't forget the Brexit vote was advisory rather than binding.

    I would imagine Nippy can do pretty much as she likes regarding plebiscite arrangements. Where she is hamstrung is that she can't legally declare UDI on the result.
    s30 of the Scotland Act 1998 specifically reserves matters affecting the Union to be decided by Westminster and Westminster's approval alone is required for such matters.
    No one is denying that. If Nippy calls a Referendum and wins, Johnson is perfectly entitled to reject it. However it would look bad!
    Boris would not give a shit, it would look far worse for him if he allowed a referendum that risked him being the PM who lost the Union and he only has 6 Scottish MPs anyway.

    Earlier tonight you were praising Boris for getting as many as 6.
  • Options
    LeonLeon Posts: 46,747
    eek said:

    Leon said:

    Scott_xP said:

    HYUFD said:

    any referendum without UK government and Westminster consent would be illegal

    That is not true

    And you know it
    Christ. You're desperate for a Scots indyref2 so they vote YES so you can blame the break-up of the Union on Brexit.

    This is pathological. There are treatments available.
    We left the EU as the result of a none binding advisory referendum.
    Of all the many many lame-arse arguments that Remoaners trot out, so they can - or could - hope to avoid the biggest democratic vote in British political history, this is the worst.

    The government explicitly promised, in a letter sent to EVERYONE, that the vote would be final and decisive. YOUR vote, YOUR choice. ONCE in a generation.

    Just to make things clear, the prime minister of the country said the same, in a speech.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Z2dEe7N3SA

    "It will be your decision whether we remain in the EU, or whether we leave. It will be the FINAL DECISION. You, the British people, will decide. NOT politicians, NOT PARLIAMENT... Just YOU! And it will be the FINAL DECISION. The EU referendum will be a ONCE in a generation choice. An IN or OUT referendum. When the British people speak, their voice WILL be respected – NOT ignored. There will NOT BE another renegotiation and another referendum. Think very carefully, because THIS CHOICE CANNOT BE UNDONE. If you think we should leave – and LEAVE MEANS LEAVE – then campaign for that and vote for it..


    The idea we could just ignore this vote, not enact it, demand that people vote again so they make the choice the elite want, is positively Trumpian. It is surreally stupid. It would have caused actual civil strife if the Remoaners had prevailed.
  • Options
    BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 31,560

    Never mind Brexit or Scottish independence, there is only one topic of importance at the moment...

    Vaccinations - what's the latest?

    Good...roughly 285k done yesterday. Over 3 million total.

    3.8 million new doses ready for next week. 23 million ready for bottling.

    All oldies in care hones should have had their first doses in next few days.

    I would hope come end of next week be doing more than 350k+ / day.
    Ok thanks for that, sounds good. Where did you get the data? It's not showing here:

    https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk
    We have cobbled it together from the regional announcements. Tweets / links on previous thread. England was 250k.
    Ok thanks.

    Is it too much to expect somebody in the government / civil service to collate those figures and update their website? Yes, apparently 😳
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    LeonLeon Posts: 46,747
    Do it. Good.
  • Options
    Yay, finally BBC Scotland has been forced to notice the fishing 'problem'. Third of Scottish fishing boats forced to tie up at the moment.

    Aberdeen Angus having serious problems also.
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    LeonLeon Posts: 46,747
    Foxy said:

    FF43 said:

    FF43 said:

    Scott_xP said:
    I guess that's it chaps, Brexit's over! Well done, Scott - what will you be wearing on Reunification Day next week?
    This is the point. The bridges are burnt; the boats are burnt. There is no way back. So the fishermen, for example, are utterly screwed. There is nothing the Johnson government can do for them, beyond tossing them some cash, and they don't seem to be too much up for that.
    Funny how you lot suddenly care about fishermen.
    Despite your snide comment, I do actually care for them. Losing your livelihood is devastating. The fact some fishermen were part-actors in their own destruction doesn't make that destruction any less tragic. It's worse than I was expecting and I never thought much of Brexit. These guys bought into the dream. Being taken for fools will make them feel even worse.
    First of many suckers to realise that they have been conned. Up there with everyone in Norn.

    What we need is for the Government to have a marketing campaign South of the border.

    Cheap Langstone and scallops works for me, though may need restaurants to re open, as I don't think many would cook at home.
    Norn? No. Eventually they will realise they are in the ultimate sweet spot. In the EU Single Market but ALSO in the UK Single Market. They will soon prosper thereby. And violence will not return.

    Brexit actually makes Irish reunification less likely because it massively favour Ulster.
  • Options
    RazedabodeRazedabode Posts: 2,976

    justin124 said:

    Advisory referendums are legal. As demonstrated in 2016.

    If Scotland holds such a referendum, and votes for Independence, we then get to enjoy English Tories telling us why the opinion of voters to leave can be discarded and ignored.

    Should be a laugh.

    But an advisory referendum boycotted by the pro-Union parties which produces a 75% - 80% Yes vote on a 45% turnout will carry little weight at all.
    Even if the pro-Union parties boycott it, how confident are you that pro-Union *voters* will boycott it in such significant numbers?
    What’s stopping UK nations having continual referendums? Presumably we can wake up tomorrow and Scotland can hold a referendum on rejoining the EU. Or Wales on employment law. Or Northern Ireland on rejecting the NI brexit protocol. All fine, because advisory etc.

    Where’s the end point here?
  • Options
    FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 76,274
    edited January 2021
    I don't know if Zahawi, Hancock (and sure those who were part of the vaccine planning), but interesting the difference between this and many other government programmes...we see a decent jump in capacity and immediately its pushing for the next increased target, no let up, no resting on laurels and loads of data making it clear how different regions / arms of programme are doing.
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    stodgestodge Posts: 12,822


    Over 3 million vaccinated and ramping up fast. We're weeks away from turning the tide on this plague.

    To clarify, 2.9 million vaccinations have been provided from December 8th to the end of yesterday - 2.1 million people have received one dose of vaccine, 400,000 people have received two doses of vaccine.

    Yesterday, 248,000 vaccinations were administered - 240,000 were first vaccinations and 8,000 or so second vaccinations.
  • Options
    FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 76,274
    edited January 2021
    stodge said:


    Over 3 million vaccinated and ramping up fast. We're weeks away from turning the tide on this plague.

    To clarify, 2.9 million vaccinations have been provided from December 8th to the end of yesterday - 2.1 million people have received one dose of vaccine, 400,000 people have received two doses of vaccine.

    Yesterday, 248,000 vaccinations were administered - 240,000 were first vaccinations and 8,000 or so second vaccinations.
    248k in England..another 16k in Scotland, 14k in Wales.
  • Options
    justin124justin124 Posts: 11,527
    edited January 2021

    justin124 said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    Scott_xP said:

    HYUFD said:

    any referendum without UK government and Westminster consent would be illegal

    That is not true

    And you know it
    No it is true.

    Our constitution is based on the sovereignty of Crown in Parliament, even Holyrood is merely a creation of Westminster, Westminster remains supreme.
    Our constitution is fungible and based on respect of the people who elect our Parliaments.

    We are a democracy not a Franco dictatorship.
    Our entire unwritten constitution is based on the supremacy of the elected Westminster Parliament and the statutes it passes and the Queen signs
    Because Parliament is elected and power belongs in the people through their elected representatives.

    The idea that you can ignore a segment of the population that votes to leave and keep them prisoners, in chains to the British state indefinitely, is pure poppycock.
    Westminster has the right - if no present intent - to repeal the 1997 Devolution Acts and to revert to the Status Quo Ante.
    In theory. In theory Westminster has the power to not just repeal the Fixed Term Parliament Act but to extend this current Parliament to being a Long Parliament that lasts twenty years.

    Scrapping elections, especially scrapping elections because you think you'll lose them, is a very murky area.

    If Westminster did that many would think the Scots justified to do a UDI at that point.

    justin124 said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    Scott_xP said:

    HYUFD said:

    any referendum without UK government and Westminster consent would be illegal

    That is not true

    And you know it
    No it is true.

    Our constitution is based on the sovereignty of Crown in Parliament, even Holyrood is merely a creation of Westminster, Westminster remains supreme.
    Our constitution is fungible and based on respect of the people who elect our Parliaments.

    We are a democracy not a Franco dictatorship.
    Our entire unwritten constitution is based on the supremacy of the elected Westminster Parliament and the statutes it passes and the Queen signs
    Because Parliament is elected and power belongs in the people through their elected representatives.

    The idea that you can ignore a segment of the population that votes to leave and keep them prisoners, in chains to the British state indefinitely, is pure poppycock.
    Westminster has the right - if no present intent - to repeal the 1997 Devolution Acts and to revert to the Status Quo Ante.
    In theory. In theory Westminster has the power to not just repeal the Fixed Term Parliament Act but to extend this current Parliament to being a Long Parliament that lasts twenty years.

    Scrapping elections, especially scrapping elections because you think you'll lose them, is a very murky area.

    If Westminster did that many would think the Scots justified to do a UDI at that point.
    Reverting to the arrangements which operated over a period of almost 300 years would hardly be that revolutionary - though it does not appear to be contemplated at present.That ,in itself, does not rule it out as an option under extreme circumstances in the future. Some of us do remember the Heath Government imposing Direct Rule by suspending Stormont in Spring 1972.
    As for UDI, were the SNP to do that . the pro-Union population would cease to accept the writ of Holyrood and would continue to follow Westminster. Administrative and civil chaos would ensue.
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    Foxy said:

    FF43 said:

    FF43 said:

    Scott_xP said:
    I guess that's it chaps, Brexit's over! Well done, Scott - what will you be wearing on Reunification Day next week?
    This is the point. The bridges are burnt; the boats are burnt. There is no way back. So the fishermen, for example, are utterly screwed. There is nothing the Johnson government can do for them, beyond tossing them some cash, and they don't seem to be too much up for that.
    Funny how you lot suddenly care about fishermen.
    Despite your snide comment, I do actually care for them. Losing your livelihood is devastating. The fact some fishermen were part-actors in their own destruction doesn't make that destruction any less tragic. It's worse than I was expecting and I never thought much of Brexit. These guys bought into the dream. Being taken for fools will make them feel even worse.
    First of many suckers to realise that they have been conned. Up there with everyone in Norn.

    What we need is for the Government to have a marketing campaign South of the border.

    Cheap Langstone and scallops works for me, though may need restaurants to re open, as I don't think many would cook at home.
    On one hand, it clearly is a con. The UK electorate was promised something for nothing (£350 million a week with no real downsides, because blockchain and German car makers) and is getting nothing (tangible) for something.

    But the trouble with cons is that victims are incredibly reluctant to acknowledge that they have been conned. Which is why cons work.
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    FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 76,274
    edited January 2021

    Never mind Brexit or Scottish independence, there is only one topic of importance at the moment...

    Vaccinations - what's the latest?

    Good...roughly 285k done yesterday. Over 3 million total.

    3.8 million new doses ready for next week. 23 million ready for bottling.

    All oldies in care hones should have had their first doses in next few days.

    I would hope come end of next week be doing more than 350k+ / day.
    Ok thanks for that, sounds good. Where did you get the data? It's not showing here:

    https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk
    We have cobbled it together from the regional announcements. Tweets / links on previous thread. England was 250k.
    Ok thanks.

    Is it too much to expect somebody in the government / civil service to collate those figures and update their website? Yes, apparently 😳
    Problem with the death data today. That's why no update to that site
  • Options
    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,937

    justin124 said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    Scott_xP said:

    HYUFD said:

    any referendum without UK government and Westminster consent would be illegal

    That is not true

    And you know it
    No it is true.

    Our constitution is based on the sovereignty of Crown in Parliament, even Holyrood is merely a creation of Westminster, Westminster remains supreme.
    Our constitution is fungible and based on respect of the people who elect our Parliaments.

    We are a democracy not a Franco dictatorship.
    Our entire unwritten constitution is based on the supremacy of the elected Westminster Parliament and the statutes it passes and the Queen signs
    Because Parliament is elected and power belongs in the people through their elected representatives.

    The idea that you can ignore a segment of the population that votes to leave and keep them prisoners, in chains to the British state indefinitely, is pure poppycock.
    Westminster has the right - if no present intent - to repeal the 1997 Devolution Acts and to revert to the Status Quo Ante.
    In theory. In theory Westminster has the power to not just repeal the Fixed Term Parliament Act but to extend this current Parliament to being a Long Parliament that lasts twenty years.

    Scrapping elections, especially scrapping elections because you think you'll lose them, is a very murky area.

    If Westminster did that many would think the Scots justified to do a UDI at that point.
    A UDI which would still be illegal without Westminster consent as it relates to the Union.

    See the Catalan UDI in 2017 too
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    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,937
    Scott_xP said:
    Risky though, could see much of the Red Wall return to Labour now Brexit is done if the Tories repeal the 48 hour week
  • Options
    Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 32,848
    Leon said:

    Eventually they will realise they are in the ultimate sweet spot. In the EU Single Market but ALSO in the UK Single Market.

    The one we were in before you voted it away...
  • Options
    HYUFD said:

    justin124 said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    Scott_xP said:

    HYUFD said:

    any referendum without UK government and Westminster consent would be illegal

    That is not true

    And you know it
    No it is true.

    Our constitution is based on the sovereignty of Crown in Parliament, even Holyrood is merely a creation of Westminster, Westminster remains supreme.
    Our constitution is fungible and based on respect of the people who elect our Parliaments.

    We are a democracy not a Franco dictatorship.
    Our entire unwritten constitution is based on the supremacy of the elected Westminster Parliament and the statutes it passes and the Queen signs
    Because Parliament is elected and power belongs in the people through their elected representatives.

    The idea that you can ignore a segment of the population that votes to leave and keep them prisoners, in chains to the British state indefinitely, is pure poppycock.
    Westminster has the right - if no present intent - to repeal the 1997 Devolution Acts and to revert to the Status Quo Ante.
    In theory. In theory Westminster has the power to not just repeal the Fixed Term Parliament Act but to extend this current Parliament to being a Long Parliament that lasts twenty years.

    Scrapping elections, especially scrapping elections because you think you'll lose them, is a very murky area.

    If Westminster did that many would think the Scots justified to do a UDI at that point.
    A UDI which would still be illegal without Westminster consent as it relates to the Union.

    See the Catalan UDI in 2017 too
    Was the circa 1775 UDI also illegal? Did Westminster consent to that?
  • Options
    BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 31,560
    edited January 2021
    stodge said:


    Over 3 million vaccinated and ramping up fast. We're weeks away from turning the tide on this plague.

    To clarify, 2.9 million vaccinations have been provided from December 8th to the end of yesterday - 2.1 million people have received one dose of vaccine, 400,000 people have received two doses of vaccine.

    Yesterday, 248,000 vaccinations were administered - 240,000 were first vaccinations and 8,000 or so second vaccinations.
    Er...

    Even the out of date government website is showing 2,639,309 first dose + 428,232 second dose = 3,067,541 total by 12th January.

    https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/healthcare

    I am looking for the 13th January update.
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    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,937

    HYUFD said:

    justin124 said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    Scott_xP said:

    HYUFD said:

    any referendum without UK government and Westminster consent would be illegal

    That is not true

    And you know it
    No it is true.

    Our constitution is based on the sovereignty of Crown in Parliament, even Holyrood is merely a creation of Westminster, Westminster remains supreme.
    Our constitution is fungible and based on respect of the people who elect our Parliaments.

    We are a democracy not a Franco dictatorship.
    Our entire unwritten constitution is based on the supremacy of the elected Westminster Parliament and the statutes it passes and the Queen signs
    Because Parliament is elected and power belongs in the people through their elected representatives.

    The idea that you can ignore a segment of the population that votes to leave and keep them prisoners, in chains to the British state indefinitely, is pure poppycock.
    Westminster has the right - if no present intent - to repeal the 1997 Devolution Acts and to revert to the Status Quo Ante.
    In theory. In theory Westminster has the power to not just repeal the Fixed Term Parliament Act but to extend this current Parliament to being a Long Parliament that lasts twenty years.

    Scrapping elections, especially scrapping elections because you think you'll lose them, is a very murky area.

    If Westminster did that many would think the Scots justified to do a UDI at that point.
    A UDI which would still be illegal without Westminster consent as it relates to the Union.

    See the Catalan UDI in 2017 too
    Was the circa 1775 UDI also illegal? Did Westminster consent to that?
    No, it even fought a war to stop it and the American colonies were far larger than Scotland
  • Options
    Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 55,261
    Contrary view: I don't agree with Steve Baker on this (I think he's only read the tabloid headline of what Jonathan Van-Tam said, and not the very nuanced detail) but I'm glad that an opposing argument is being put up from the libertarian right by him, and the likes of Toby Young, on this. Even if it is a bit barking.

    SAGE are ultra-conservative in their risk appetite and Boris Johnson is lazy.

    Without this political pressure Boris might not ask the balanced questions and simply let too many measures drift on the statue books for too long, blind to the economic and political harm they are doing. Also it's good to have all the evidence tested from all angles. If all the libertarian right can come out with is easily dismissed claims then we know it's robust and just born of frustration but that tells us something too.

    So like a barrister defending a hopeless case it's a necessary part of the system.
  • Options

    stodge said:


    Over 3 million vaccinated and ramping up fast. We're weeks away from turning the tide on this plague.

    To clarify, 2.9 million vaccinations have been provided from December 8th to the end of yesterday - 2.1 million people have received one dose of vaccine, 400,000 people have received two doses of vaccine.

    Yesterday, 248,000 vaccinations were administered - 240,000 were first vaccinations and 8,000 or so second vaccinations.
    Er...

    Even the out of date government website is showing 2,639,309 first dose + 428,232 second dose = 3,067,541 total by 12th January.

    https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/healthcare

    I am looking for the 13th January update.
    Stodge stats are referring to just England.
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    FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,504

    Flanner said:

    For crying out loud, Mike: stop pandering to the loonies

    The issue's clear. The country seems to love Johnson: but only like it loved Churchill in Jan 45. So the instant that threat's gone, they'll kick the fuckwit out.

    This time's different, though. Johnson's stopped food arriving in Britain because - well, who the fuck knows? He promised the day after the Referendum he'd stay in the Single Market, even though only Commie dickheads supported the EU. And since then, not a single fucking deal he's negotiated gives us any kind of advantage we didn't have before.

    So the instant we stop worrying about the thousands of unnecessary deaths his fuckwit chums have dumped on us, he'll be out - like the fuckwits who joined him in the fuckwittery of leaving the Single Market.

    That's all anyone needs to know.

    Johnson's obsession with never telling the truth if he can invent a lie is all well and good. But only fuckwits leave the Single Market: even the fucking Norwegians want to stay in, in spite of being both the thickest and richest people in Europe.

    So we'll be back in the Single Market the moment we're not distracted by the biggest death toll in human memory

    Something even the peabrained actuaries who infest this site would realise if they switched their pea brains on for a second.

    SO STOP FUCKING HUMOURING THEM

    Just a wee point on your post

    We have a weekly Asda delivery and recently, as we do not go out, much bigger including more fruit and veg and we have not had anything missing from the orders, including this morning

    So food shortages are not obvious to us at present
    Never mind Brexit, Asda have been incapable of having whatever I want actually in stock for a Long Time. So if they're fulfilling your orders thats pretty much miraculous.
    I have just had a sortie to Waitrose in Market Harborough. Well stocked, good social distancing and the whole town as quiet as it gets.

    Mrs Foxy has been redeployed again to covid ICU next week, I am still on the non-covid side, working on some of the nasty stuff that is now coming out of the woodwork from postponed appointments. It is good to be well stocked as quite likely to need to isolate again at some point...
  • Options
    IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830
    Pfizer vaccine causes death by acute immune thrombocytopenia

    https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/12/health/covid-vaccine-death.html
  • Options
    LeonLeon Posts: 46,747

    I don't know if Zahawi, Hancock (and sure those who were part of the vaccine planning), but interesting the difference between this and many other government programmes...we see a decent jump in capacity and immediately its pushing for the next increased target, no let up, no resting on laurels and loads of data making it clear how different regions / arms of programme are doing.

    Zahawi looks confident and plausible, and talks clearly and effectively. It may be bluster but he could be a Man to Watch.

    If he nails the vaccine roll-out (and so far, so good) then.... who knows?

    From a brutal Iraqi refugee background, he became a hugely successful and wealthy businessman. He also studied Chemical Engineering at UCL which does give one modest hope that he know his STEM-shit with this virus.

    Hmm.....
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    BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 31,560
    My 88 year old father-in-law got his first jab today in Somerset, having has a previous appointment for 22nd Dec cancelled due to supply issues.

    Things are clearly gearing up.

    As I said earlier, the vaccination roll-out is the only topic of importance at the moment.
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    AlistairAlistair Posts: 23,670
    Wait, need to rewind a bit. Is Alex Salmond's position really that it was all a baseless witch hunt against him but also simultanepusly he wants to reveal activity so depraved by himself that he needs immunity from prosecution?

    That's a bold strategy.
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    FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,504
    Scott_xP said:
    Of course they will be happier! No nets to avoid soon, they can swim freely...
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    rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 58,152

    Contrary view: I don't agree with Steve Baker on this (I think he's only read the tabloid headline of what Jonathan Van-Tam said, and not the very nuanced detail) but I'm glad that an opposing argument is being put up from the libertarian right by him, and the likes of Toby Young, on this. Even if it is a bit barking.

    SAGE are ultra-conservative in their risk appetite and Boris Johnson is lazy.

    Without this political pressure Boris might not ask the balanced questions and simply let too many measures drift on the statue books for too long, blind to the economic and political harm they are doing. Also it's good to have all the evidence tested from all angles. If all the libertarian right can come out with is easily dismissed claims then we know it's robust and just born of frustration but that tells us something too.

    So like a barrister defending a hopeless case it's a necessary part of the system.

    I agree. :+1:
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    geoffwgeoffw Posts: 8,134
    IshmaelZ said:

    Pfizer vaccine causes death by acute immune thrombocytopenia

    https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/12/health/covid-vaccine-death.html

    "It is not yet known if the shot is linked to the illness."

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    TresTres Posts: 2,208
    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    Scott_xP said:

    Mortimer said:

    The Boris paradox for the Sturge is every day he is PM, support for Indy remains, but she won't get an IndyRef whilst he remains.

    BoZo can't stop her holding a referendum with the same legal weight as the Brexit vote.
    Of course he can, any referendum without UK government and Westminster consent would be illegal and irrelevant as Madrid proved when it ignored the illegal referendum held by the Catalan government
    I am not sure you are correct.

    Don't forget the Brexit vote was advisory rather than binding.

    I would imagine Nippy can do pretty much as she likes regarding plebiscite arrangements. Where she is hamstrung is that she can't legally declare UDI on the result.
    s30 of the Scotland Act 1998 specifically reserves matters affecting the Union to be decided by Westminster and Westminster's approval alone is required for such matters.
    No one is denying that. If Nippy calls a Referendum and wins, Johnson is perfectly entitled to reject it. However it would look bad!
    Boris would not give a shit, it would look far worse for him if he allowed a referendum that risked him being the PM who lost the Union and he only has 6 Scottish MPs anyway.

    He will be the PM who lost the Union. No hiding place.
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    BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 31,560

    stodge said:


    Over 3 million vaccinated and ramping up fast. We're weeks away from turning the tide on this plague.

    To clarify, 2.9 million vaccinations have been provided from December 8th to the end of yesterday - 2.1 million people have received one dose of vaccine, 400,000 people have received two doses of vaccine.

    Yesterday, 248,000 vaccinations were administered - 240,000 were first vaccinations and 8,000 or so second vaccinations.
    Er...

    Even the out of date government website is showing 2,639,309 first dose + 428,232 second dose = 3,067,541 total by 12th January.

    https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/healthcare

    I am looking for the 13th January update.
    Stodge stats are referring to just England.
    Ah, ok, makes sense. Thanks
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    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,920
    edited January 2021

    Never mind Brexit or Scottish independence, there is only one topic of importance at the moment...

    Vaccinations - what's the latest?

    Good...roughly 285k done yesterday. Over 3 million total.

    3.8 million new doses ready for next week. 23 million ready for bottling.

    All oldies in care hones should have had their first doses in next few days.

    I would hope come end of next week be doing more than 350k+ / day.
    As I've said, it's a slow ramp up. Every day, the number vaccinated will increase a little bit as we get better and better. Before you know it, we'll have half a million vaccinated in a day.

    I wouldn't be surprised if - sometime in March - we hit the magic million number.

    (Also worth remembering, we could well have Johnson & Johnson results next week, and Novavax a few weeks later.)
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    MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 50,095
    geoffw said:

    Never mind Brexit or Scottish independence, there is only one topic of importance at the moment...

    Vaccinations - what's the latest?

    Like the pilgrims in the Canterbury Tales we are joshing in the face of the plague so as not to think about it.

    Next up - cuckolds and loud rasping farts.....
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    FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,504

    My 88 year old father-in-law got his first jab today in Somerset, having has a previous appointment for 22nd Dec cancelled due to supply issues.

    Things are clearly gearing up.

    As I said earlier, the vaccination roll-out is the only topic of importance at the moment.

    Not much to discuss about it really, at least until the end of Feb, when we can assess if it has worked, or not.
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    justin124 said:

    Advisory referendums are legal. As demonstrated in 2016.

    If Scotland holds such a referendum, and votes for Independence, we then get to enjoy English Tories telling us why the opinion of voters to leave can be discarded and ignored.

    Should be a laugh.

    But an advisory referendum boycotted by the pro-Union parties which produces a 75% - 80% Yes vote on a 45% turnout will carry little weight at all.
    Even if the pro-Union parties boycott it, how confident are you that pro-Union *voters* will boycott it in such significant numbers?
    What’s stopping UK nations having continual referendums? Presumably we can wake up tomorrow and Scotland can hold a referendum on rejoining the EU. Or Wales on employment law. Or Northern Ireland on rejecting the NI brexit protocol. All fine, because advisory etc.

    Where’s the end point here?
    Ideally a situation like Switzerland who do have regular referendums accommodated - and in many cases mandated - by the constitution.

    https://www.eda.admin.ch/aboutswitzerland/en/home/politik/uebersicht/direkte-demokratie.html

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    FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 76,274
    edited January 2021
    rcs1000 said:

    Never mind Brexit or Scottish independence, there is only one topic of importance at the moment...

    Vaccinations - what's the latest?

    Good...roughly 285k done yesterday. Over 3 million total.

    3.8 million new doses ready for next week. 23 million ready for bottling.

    All oldies in care hones should have had their first doses in next few days.

    I would hope come end of next week be doing more than 350k+ / day.
    As I've said, it's a slow ramp up. Every day, the number vaccinated will increase a little bit as we get better and better. Before you know it, we'll have half a million vaccinated in a day.

    I wouldn't be surprised if - sometime in March - we hit the magic million number.
    See link below, the push now to hit 500k / day by next week.
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    IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830
    geoffw said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    Pfizer vaccine causes death by acute immune thrombocytopenia

    https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/12/health/covid-vaccine-death.html

    "It is not yet known if the shot is linked to the illness."

    "Dr. Jerry L. Spivak, an expert on blood disorders at Johns Hopkins University, who was not involved in Dr. Michael’s care, said that based on Ms. Neckelmann’s description, “I think it is a medical certainty that the vaccine was related.”

    “This is going to be very rare,” said Dr. Spivak, an emeritus professor of medicine. But he added, “It happened and it could happen again.” "
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    LeonLeon Posts: 46,747
    Tres said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    Scott_xP said:

    Mortimer said:

    The Boris paradox for the Sturge is every day he is PM, support for Indy remains, but she won't get an IndyRef whilst he remains.

    BoZo can't stop her holding a referendum with the same legal weight as the Brexit vote.
    Of course he can, any referendum without UK government and Westminster consent would be illegal and irrelevant as Madrid proved when it ignored the illegal referendum held by the Catalan government
    I am not sure you are correct.

    Don't forget the Brexit vote was advisory rather than binding.

    I would imagine Nippy can do pretty much as she likes regarding plebiscite arrangements. Where she is hamstrung is that she can't legally declare UDI on the result.
    s30 of the Scotland Act 1998 specifically reserves matters affecting the Union to be decided by Westminster and Westminster's approval alone is required for such matters.
    No one is denying that. If Nippy calls a Referendum and wins, Johnson is perfectly entitled to reject it. However it would look bad!
    Boris would not give a shit, it would look far worse for him if he allowed a referendum that risked him being the PM who lost the Union and he only has 6 Scottish MPs anyway.

    He will be the PM who lost the Union. No hiding place.
    Which is why he will refuse a vote. Until he departs Number 10. Everyone knows this.

    The worst that can happen, as a result of this, is a constitutional crisis.... which he will happily hand over to his successor
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    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,937
    edited January 2021
    Tres said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    Scott_xP said:

    Mortimer said:

    The Boris paradox for the Sturge is every day he is PM, support for Indy remains, but she won't get an IndyRef whilst he remains.

    BoZo can't stop her holding a referendum with the same legal weight as the Brexit vote.
    Of course he can, any referendum without UK government and Westminster consent would be illegal and irrelevant as Madrid proved when it ignored the illegal referendum held by the Catalan government
    I am not sure you are correct.

    Don't forget the Brexit vote was advisory rather than binding.

    I would imagine Nippy can do pretty much as she likes regarding plebiscite arrangements. Where she is hamstrung is that she can't legally declare UDI on the result.
    s30 of the Scotland Act 1998 specifically reserves matters affecting the Union to be decided by Westminster and Westminster's approval alone is required for such matters.
    No one is denying that. If Nippy calls a Referendum and wins, Johnson is perfectly entitled to reject it. However it would look bad!
    Boris would not give a shit, it would look far worse for him if he allowed a referendum that risked him being the PM who lost the Union and he only has 6 Scottish MPs anyway.

    He will be the PM who lost the Union. No hiding place.
    He won't if he refuses a legal indyref as long as he is PM or he will pass the ball to Starmer in 2024 who if he needs SNP support to become PM may have to concede with a devomax offer to try and win it
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    rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 58,152
    HYUFD said:

    Scott_xP said:
    Risky though, could see much of the Red Wall return to Labour now Brexit is done if the Tories repeal the 48 hour week
    I am shocked I tell you, shocked to my core to find that within days of finally leaving the EU the social chapter stuff is being ripped up even though I seem to recall Johnson desperately telling Barnier he had no intention of lowering social and environmental standards and so why was the EU so worried about unfair competition across the Single Market?

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    FF43FF43 Posts: 15,691
    edited January 2021
    Leon said:

    Foxy said:

    FF43 said:

    FF43 said:

    Scott_xP said:
    I guess that's it chaps, Brexit's over! Well done, Scott - what will you be wearing on Reunification Day next week?
    This is the point. The bridges are burnt; the boats are burnt. There is no way back. So the fishermen, for example, are utterly screwed. There is nothing the Johnson government can do for them, beyond tossing them some cash, and they don't seem to be too much up for that.
    Funny how you lot suddenly care about fishermen.
    Despite your snide comment, I do actually care for them. Losing your livelihood is devastating. The fact some fishermen were part-actors in their own destruction doesn't make that destruction any less tragic. It's worse than I was expecting and I never thought much of Brexit. These guys bought into the dream. Being taken for fools will make them feel even worse.
    First of many suckers to realise that they have been conned. Up there with everyone in Norn.

    What we need is for the Government to have a marketing campaign South of the border.

    Cheap Langstone and scallops works for me, though may need restaurants to re open, as I don't think many would cook at home.
    Norn? No. Eventually they will realise they are in the ultimate sweet spot. In the EU Single Market but ALSO in the UK Single Market. They will soon prosper thereby. And violence will not return.

    Brexit actually makes Irish reunification less likely because it massively favour Ulster.
    Northern Ireland is aligning fast with the rest of Ireland and the EU, There is big disruption at the moment but there is a viable path for them if Ireland continues to be successful. I don't think there will be a sudden reunification but decisions taken in Dublin and Brussels will matter more in Belfast than what happens in London. Given Northern Ireland is a basket case under British rule, it may even be an improvement

    Unionists will rightly feel they have no agency over what's happening to them, but hopefully they will accept it. That's the relatively benign scenario.
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    williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 48,011
    What happened to today’s Covid stats?
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    IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830
    Leon said:

    eek said:

    Leon said:

    Scott_xP said:

    HYUFD said:

    any referendum without UK government and Westminster consent would be illegal

    That is not true

    And you know it
    Christ. You're desperate for a Scots indyref2 so they vote YES so you can blame the break-up of the Union on Brexit.

    This is pathological. There are treatments available.
    We left the EU as the result of a none binding advisory referendum.
    Of all the many many lame-arse arguments that Remoaners trot out, so they can - or could - hope to avoid the biggest democratic vote in British political history, this is the worst.

    The government explicitly promised, in a letter sent to EVERYONE, that the vote would be final and decisive. YOUR vote, YOUR choice. ONCE in a generation.

    Just to make things clear, the prime minister of the country said the same, in a speech.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Z2dEe7N3SA

    "It will be your decision whether we remain in the EU, or whether we leave. It will be the FINAL DECISION. You, the British people, will decide. NOT politicians, NOT PARLIAMENT... Just YOU! And it will be the FINAL DECISION. The EU referendum will be a ONCE in a generation choice. An IN or OUT referendum. When the British people speak, their voice WILL be respected – NOT ignored. There will NOT BE another renegotiation and another referendum. Think very carefully, because THIS CHOICE CANNOT BE UNDONE. If you think we should leave – and LEAVE MEANS LEAVE – then campaign for that and vote for it..


    The idea we could just ignore this vote, not enact it, demand that people vote again so they make the choice the elite want, is positively Trumpian. It is surreally stupid. It would have caused actual civil strife if the Remoaners had prevailed.
    Not that it matters any more, but that is just evidence that Cameron was a smarmy grandstanding creep. He had no authority to say that, it is completely at odds with the law and a complete denial of the doctrine of parliamentary SOVRANTEE.
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    Leon said:

    eek said:

    Leon said:

    Scott_xP said:

    HYUFD said:

    any referendum without UK government and Westminster consent would be illegal

    That is not true

    And you know it
    Christ. You're desperate for a Scots indyref2 so they vote YES so you can blame the break-up of the Union on Brexit.

    This is pathological. There are treatments available.
    We left the EU as the result of a none binding advisory referendum.
    Of all the many many lame-arse arguments that Remoaners trot out, so they can - or could - hope to avoid the biggest democratic vote in British political history, this is the worst.

    The government explicitly promised, in a letter sent to EVERYONE, that the vote would be final and decisive. YOUR vote, YOUR choice. ONCE in a generation.

    Just to make things clear, the prime minister of the country said the same, in a speech.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Z2dEe7N3SA

    "It will be your decision whether we remain in the EU, or whether we leave. It will be the FINAL DECISION. You, the British people, will decide. NOT politicians, NOT PARLIAMENT... Just YOU! And it will be the FINAL DECISION. The EU referendum will be a ONCE in a generation choice. An IN or OUT referendum. When the British people speak, their voice WILL be respected – NOT ignored. There will NOT BE another renegotiation and another referendum. Think very carefully, because THIS CHOICE CANNOT BE UNDONE. If you think we should leave – and LEAVE MEANS LEAVE – then campaign for that and vote for it..


    The idea we could just ignore this vote, not enact it, demand that people vote again so they make the choice the elite want, is positively Trumpian. It is surreally stupid. It would have caused actual civil strife if the Remoaners had prevailed.
    That was a political decision. Not a legal one.
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    What happened to today’s Covid stats?

    Apparently problem with the death numbers

    https://twitter.com/PHE_uk/status/1349772301533925376?s=19
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    stodgestodge Posts: 12,822

    stodge said:


    Over 3 million vaccinated and ramping up fast. We're weeks away from turning the tide on this plague.

    To clarify, 2.9 million vaccinations have been provided from December 8th to the end of yesterday - 2.1 million people have received one dose of vaccine, 400,000 people have received two doses of vaccine.

    Yesterday, 248,000 vaccinations were administered - 240,000 were first vaccinations and 8,000 or so second vaccinations.
    Er...

    Even the out of date government website is showing 2,639,309 first dose + 428,232 second dose = 3,067,541 total by 12th January.

    https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/healthcare

    I am looking for the 13th January update.
    The figure for yesterday seems to be 278,000 nationally.

    The point is that isn't 3 million people vaccinated - 428,000 have had both doses of vaccine and 2.2 million have had a single dose so it's 2.6 million who have actually been vaccinated.

    As we have decided (apparently), the Pfizer vaccine doesn't need to be administered twice within three weeks, the figures of those deemed to have been fully vaccinated will go up.

    I must admit I thought the other vaccines achieved maximum efficacy after two vaccinations but apparently I was either a) wrong or b) those manufacturing the vaccine are wrong or c) it's been deemed "better" to get some immunity for as many people as possible as quickly as possible.

    I am still confused, however.

    Does anyone know for long these vaccinations will bestow immunity? The flu vaccination is administered every year so will we have to go through the same with the Covid-19 vaccination?

    I imagine in time the vaccines will be improved to provide longer-lasting and more effective immunity with a single vaccination which is all to the good so perhaps the next vaccination will provide two or three years protection.

    I'm also wondering if Covid-19 will become the dominant virus strain in the future supplanting older viruses.
This discussion has been closed.