The Mail has been told that at one North London hospital, refusal among BAME nurses is so prevalent, vaccines prepared for the day are having to be thrown away when these frontline staff fail to turn up for their appointments.
And yet black and Asian NHS staff have accounted for 63 per cent of Covid deaths, despite making up only 21 per cent of the workforce.
One senior nurse at a London NHS practice told us: ‘Vaccine fear is a huge problem among my black British staff. More than half of my small group of nurses won’t have it, even though they are on the front line of the vaccine roll-out and should be role models to encourage uptake in their communities.
The Mail has been told that at one North London hospital, refusal among BAME nurses is so prevalent, vaccines prepared for the day are having to be thrown away when these frontline staff fail to turn up for their appointments.
And yet black and Asian NHS staff have accounted for 63 per cent of Covid deaths, despite making up only 21 per cent of the workforce.
One senior nurse at a London NHS practice told us: ‘Vaccine fear is a huge problem among my black British staff. More than half of my small group of nurses won’t have it, even though they are on the front line of the vaccine roll-out and should be role models to encourage uptake in their communities.
Every 7/11 in Taiwan has several scotches, so I get that. But I have visited France many times and never seen Scotch drunk. Which part of french society drinks Scotch?
No doubt some do.
But also 170-400k Brits live in France, that could help it, plus tourists etc might too
Every 7/11 in Taiwan has several scotches, so I get that. But I have visited France many times and never seen Scotch drunk. Which part of french society drinks Scotch?
I have given Scotch as a present a few times in France and it seemed to go down pretty well. They may just have been diplomatic, but then again they were French, so perhaps not...
It does sound a little like a Mother telling a small child to be grateful for a plate of horrid greens, because the starving babies in Africa don't get any.
I'm really not sure that telling European voters that they should shut up and be grateful for having almost no jabs to go around, because people in Chad have none at all, is going to work.
A question for our friends in the North. Is the coverage of this being muted by
- What the fuck? What The Actual Fuck!? - Legal reasons.
??
I am wondering if it is the first - it is so insane that it can't get past reality filters.
Some of the other stuff that is going on as well - The one about prosecutors admitting malicious prosecution? Why? What?
The mainstream media seem to be holding their fire at the moment, possibly for a decisive strike when it’s too close to the election to limit the damage to the SNP.
In related news,
1. Mark Hirst (look him up) is intending to bring a malicious prosecution case against the Crown Office (them again!) following the judge’s ruling of ‘no case to answer’ in his prosecution.
2. The SNP National Executive Committee today voted to against strong legal reservations to ensure a BAME candidate would be placed as top of their regional list in half the regions, and a disabled candidate in the other half. Self-declaration of the candidate status to be accepted in each case without inquiry. Two committee members declared they would qualify as such and were seeking a nomination, but voted despite their self-interest, while one (white, male, able bodied) also declared he was seeking a nomination and recused himself. Result of the vote - a tie, change approved on the chair’s casting vote.
You couldn’t make it up, but it happened - see Wings for the details.
FPT: Less than a million over 75s still to do, out of nearly 6 million. There's about 6.7m in 65-75 tranche, so with 9m jabs done, we must be making good inroads into those too.
My 74/72 year old parents have not been contacted yet. Hoping we hear something next week.
I'm not that old, but I am clinically extremely vulnerable, and I still haven't heard anything either. I think I am supposed to be done with the 70-74 year olds.
Try the online booking site.
You need to have had a letter, text, or email, and I haven't had one yet.
You can still try it with your NHS number. A relative was a bit OCD about this, and from the beginning kept entering it and it would say No, No, and then yes that's fine. Their letter didn't arrive until a week after that.
Is that cheating the system? I don't know, they are in a priority group, so not exactly queue jumping.
I might give that a go: I had a Christmas present arrive in the post a couple of weeks ago, so it is possible the vaccine one has got lost...
I've been trying to book since Friday, but I'm stuck in the "wrong link" glitch.
Need to wait for a new letter.
Have you tried this? You don't need your special link. Those links as far as I know are to send you to a specific vaccine centre that you have been assigned to. This link allows you to select from a range of ones (more than likely a bit further apart / a mega one).
Good that Alastair Meeks recognises the achievement. He can put it on the plus side of the ledger he started a couple of years ago to balance all the extra deaths that he said Brexit would give rise to.
Every 7/11 in Taiwan has several scotches, so I get that. But I have visited France many times and never seen Scotch drunk. Which part of french society drinks Scotch?
I have given Scotch as a present a few times in France and it seemed to go down pretty well. They may just have been diplomatic, but then again they were French, so perhaps not...
Thanks. Another fun I learned in Porto is that, whilst the biggest export markets by value are the US and UK, the largest by value are Belgium and France. Apparently they drink cheap Tawny over ice for an apperitif. Again, I have never seen this in person whilst in those countries.
It does sound a little like a Mother telling a small child to be grateful for a plate of horrid greens, because the starving babies in Africa don't get any.
I'm really not sure that telling European voters that they should shut up and be grateful for having almost no jabs to go around, because people in Chad have none at all, is going to work.
This guy is known for his arrogance and pugnacity. He was called "the monster of the Berlaymont".
Now he asks for *humility*, after sending a tweet that was either monumentally tone deaf, or actively cruel.
Puke.
The EU has clearly decided to put on a gaudy, vulgar pantomime called Why The UK Did Brexit, with two performances a day, for three weeks over winter. Starring Ursula Ver Der Vaccines? And some German off Allo Allo Afrika.
FPT: Less than a million over 75s still to do, out of nearly 6 million. There's about 6.7m in 65-75 tranche, so with 9m jabs done, we must be making good inroads into those too.
My 74/72 year old parents have not been contacted yet. Hoping we hear something next week.
I'm not that old, but I am clinically extremely vulnerable, and I still haven't heard anything either. I think I am supposed to be done with the 70-74 year olds.
Try the online booking site.
You need to have had a letter, text, or email, and I haven't had one yet.
You can still try it with your NHS number. A relative was a bit OCD about this, and from the beginning kept entering it and it would say No, No, and then yes that's fine. Their letter didn't arrive until a week after that.
Is that cheating the system? I don't know, they are in a priority group, so not exactly queue jumping.
I might give that a go: I had a Christmas present arrive in the post a couple of weeks ago, so it is possible the vaccine one has got lost...
I've been trying to book since Friday, but I'm stuck in the "wrong link" glitch.
Need to wait for a new letter.
Have you tried this? You don't need your special link. Those links as far as I know are to send you to a specific vaccine centre that you have been assigned to. This link allows you to select from a range of ones (more than likely a bit further apart / a mega one).
Thank-you. Booked for Tuesday and Late April, 3 miles away.
Was offered a huge range of options. This is a former Wickes Store.
That seems to be definite then: if anyone else is in Tiers 3 or 4 and hasn't had a letter yet, try the link above and put your NHS number and DoB in. It can't hurt and two of us have just got though on it.
So if the UK has got up to 600000 vaccines a day what do we think the ceiling will be?
I don't see any reason why we can't do a million a day with enough supply. At the moment most centres are 8am-8pm and if they are giving Pfizer you have all that 15 mins wait afterwards. We could easily do 6am to 11pm and with the J&J single shot vaccine we could easily operate a drive through system.
Re Sturgeon, I read today that the SNP is "planning" an indyref2 before Xmas 2021.
Now, I know this is just Sturgeon (menaced by Salmondgate) playing to her Tartaned jihadis in the cheap seats, but surely this is such a ludicrous proposition it will backfire?
Setting aside the 99.9% likelihood she will get snubbed by Westminster, there is simply no way a referendum could be legislated and organised and held during a hideous pandemic, which will still, very much, be with us - either at home or abroad or probably both - til the end of the year.
I know the Nats are keen on empty gestures, but surely this is so empty it makes them look absurd? Perhaps theuniondivvie, when he stops being disgusted with everyone, can explain
With the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow on 1 – 12 November 2021? Not a chance a vote will happen.
So if the UK has got up to 600000 vaccines a day what do we think the ceiling will be?
Probably around double that once the under 50s are allowed into the scheme. I expect it will be done by queuing so all of the daily capacity gets used and we manage to do it in double quick time.
I got my 2020 moth records in this month - over 6,300 of them, written up, reviewed and accepted.
Who receives them?
A shadowy organisation headed by the County Moth Recorder.
They then feed into a network of datasets.
Gives "them" the ability to track the movements of every moth in the country. Day or night...
Is there a 20 year atlas published for moths like there is for plants? I had to deal with the best part of a million plant records for our county for the last period. Kept me busy in the first lockdown...
There's obviously a few amateur naturalists out there still but not as many as there used to be. All this campaigning about climate change and yet very few new recorders actually monitoring what is out there...
This is the recent (2019) atlas for the macro moths - a fabulous resource. Distribution records down to a 10km grid, showing historic, recnet and modern records to allow trends to be mapped:
I actually think a million a day should be the new stretch target. If we could build that capacity, when we get to under 50s, we can do the whole of that population in 2 months (even less if plenty of J&J jabs).
So if the UK has got up to 600000 vaccines a day what do we think the ceiling will be?
Probably around double that once the under 50s are allowed into the scheme. I expect it will be done by queuing so all of the daily capacity gets used and we manage to do it in double quick time.
Agreed. I don't think there's a limit to rollout capacity. Once we reach the point where there's a rollout capacity limit then just open drive thru centres. Can even once we're done with the at-risk groups make it first-come, first-served for everyone else as we sprint to finish this.
It does sound a little like a Mother telling a small child to be grateful for a plate of horrid greens, because the starving babies in Africa don't get any.
I'm really not sure that telling European voters that they should shut up and be grateful for having almost no jabs to go around, because people in Chad have none at all, is going to work.
This guy is known for his arrogance and pugnacity. He was called "the monster of the Berlaymont".
Now he asks for *humility*, after sending a tweet that was either monumentally tone deaf, or actively cruel.
Puke.
The EU has clearly decided to put on a gaudy, vulgar pantomime called Why The UK Did Brexit, with two performances a day, for three weeks over winter. Starring Ursula Ver Der Vaccines? And some German off Allo Allo Afrika.
If the SNP get a majority in May and Boris refuses a legal indyref2 then the SNP tensions will come to a head over what to do next.
If more reports damaging to Sturgeon come out over the Salmond affair then she will be in difficulty
Honestly, this attitude is appalling. And I speak as an Englishman and a Unionist (who insists on calling it “the Scottish Assembly” just to wind up the SNP). Self determination matters. It’s why I voted leave. An involuntary Union isn’t a Union, it’s an empire, and we don’t want that.
Thanks. Another fun I learned in Porto is that, whilst the biggest export markets by value are the US and UK, the largest by value are Belgium and France. Apparently they drink cheap Tawny over ice for an apperitif. Again, I have never seen this in person whilst in those countries.
It is indeed very common in France (also white port, also as an apéritif). It's an abomination of a habit, proof that the French aren't always reliable in matters of taste.
I got my 2020 moth records in this month - over 6,300 of them, written up, reviewed and accepted.
Who receives them?
A shadowy organisation headed by the County Moth Recorder.
They then feed into a network of datasets.
Gives "them" the ability to track the movements of every moth in the country. Day or night...
Is there a 20 year atlas published for moths like there is for plants? I had to deal with the best part of a million plant records for our county for the last period. Kept me busy in the first lockdown...
There's obviously a few amateur naturalists out there still but not as many as there used to be. All this campaigning about climate change and yet very few new recorders actually monitoring what is out there...
This is the recent (2019) atlas for the macro Moths - a fabulous resource. Distribution records down to a 10km grid, showing historic, rrecnet and modern records to allow trends to be mapped:
Ah, yes, that's very similar to the BSBI plant atlas, thanks. That might well go on the shopping list.
There's some discussion now as to whether such an atlas should be printed or just be released as an online database but there's a lot to be said for a nice shiny book after all the effort put in. Besides, it won't go in the Bodleian if it isn't printed...
Re Sturgeon, I read today that the SNP is "planning" an indyref2 before Xmas 2021.
Now, I know this is just Sturgeon (menaced by Salmondgate) playing to her Tartaned jihadis in the cheap seats, but surely this is such a ludicrous proposition it will backfire?
Setting aside the 99.9% likelihood she will get snubbed by Westminster, there is simply no way a referendum could be legislated and organised and held during a hideous pandemic, which will still, very much, be with us - either at home or abroad or probably both - til the end of the year.
I know the Nats are keen on empty gestures, but surely this is so empty it makes them look absurd? Perhaps theuniondivvie, when he stops being disgusted with everyone, can explain
With the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow on 1 – 12 November 2021? Not a chance a vote will happen.
Thankyou for your candour! It is good to have an honest Nat perspective.
If you and I are right, then why do you think Sturgeon has made this mad promise? It smacks of desperation, which makes me wonder if OGH might be wrong in the header. Perhaps she is in more trouble than we realise.
Every Scot with an IQ over 50 will know there is no chance of a vote this year. So this makes her look silly.
After all the talk about focusing on care homes, have England beaten them to it?
I'm pretty sure that Scotland was already reporting that 95% of the care home residents had been jabbed some days ago. For the general population, however, they are lagging a bit. Scotland's performance in terms of overall doses per capita is on a par with that of London, and some distance behind the figures for Wales, Northern Ireland and England as a whole.
Fair enough - you aren't vaxxed, and I withdraw my chortling.
I still think your policy is both naive and actively dangerous. A half-vaxxed UK will end up back in the pandemic toilet very quick, with a ruined economy, and in a position to help no-one, for a decade. Silly idea
Some confusion. There was a view in circulation that I was 85. Think I did once say that yonks ago but it was a joke. I'm a child of the sixties. Apologies to all those misled, especially if you have been treating me with kid gloves on account of my great age.
Anyway, a half-vaxxed UK is NOT my "policy". Hilton Valentine of The Animals has passed away today and I'm reminded of one of their best lyrics. "I'm just a soul whose intentions are good. Oh lord, please don't let me be misunderstood." Which is what has happened. People are just so suffused with pleasure in this moment of UK vaccine heaven combined with EU vaccine hell (and having just done Brexit too) that anything oblique to that is not appreciated. I get it. I totally do.
So I will not be raising this matter again until we've got our critical mass to substantially reopen done. I predict the perspective I've put will have more salience then and my end of these exchanges will age quite well.
Every 7/11 in Taiwan has several scotches, so I get that. But I have visited France many times and never seen Scotch drunk. Which part of french society drinks Scotch?
I have given Scotch as a present a few times in France and it seemed to go down pretty well. They may just have been diplomatic, but then again they were French, so perhaps not...
Have you tasted the... interesting.... brandy like... material that every vineyard seems to make?
If you haven't. Don't. It's not brandy. It's.... other.....
A bottle of moderately good Scotch would be a river of sweet gold compared to that.
Second question. Do people think we did appropriate due diligence before approving the vaccines?
How would most of us know what constitutes due diligence? That's why we have regulators after all. Although some others have taken different decisions, there doesn't seem to be a suggestion the regulator here is not sound and reliable.
Fair enough - you aren't vaxxed, and I withdraw my chortling.
I still think your policy is both naive and actively dangerous. A half-vaxxed UK will end up back in the pandemic toilet very quick, with a ruined economy, and in a position to help no-one, for a decade. Silly idea
Some confusion. There was a view in circulation that I was 85. Think I did once say that yonks ago but it was a joke. I'm a child of the sixties. Apologies to all those misled, especially if you have been treating me with kid gloves on account of my great age.
Anyway, a half-vaxxed UK is NOT my "policy". Hilton Valentine of The Animals has passed away today and I'm reminded of one of their best lyrics. "I'm just a soul whose intentions are good. Oh lord, please don't let me be misunderstood." Which is what has happened. People are just so suffused with pleasure in this moment of UK vaccine heaven combined with EU vaccine hell (and having just done Brexit too) that anything oblique to that is not appreciated. I get it. I totally do.
So I will not be raising this matter again until we've got our critical mass to substantially reopen done. I predict the perspective I've put will have more salience then and my end of these exchanges will age quite well.
Do you want to deny me my right to have a vaccine once the older generations are done getting theirs?
Second question. Do people think we did appropriate due diligence before approving the vaccines?
There's no reason to suppose not. The MHRA have explained in some detail how they were able to shorten the length of time of their usual approval process, and other regulators have similarly found vaccines that we have approved to be safe and effective.
The only difference of opinion is the well-documented one over the limited direct evidence of efficacy for the AZ jab in older recipients, but its safety hasn't been questioned and, from the layman's POV, the reasoning behind the MHRA approving it for use in all adults appears sound (and, indeed, the equivalent EU body has followed suit.)
FPT: Less than a million over 75s still to do, out of nearly 6 million. There's about 6.7m in 65-75 tranche, so with 9m jabs done, we must be making good inroads into those too.
My 74/72 year old parents have not been contacted yet. Hoping we hear something next week.
If we can maintain 600k a day during the coming week, that looks likely to be quite soon. Depending on vaccine delivery, of course.
The SAS are launching the regular operation to siphon supplies from the Pfizer and AZ facilities on the content as we speak.
Rene's cafe in Brussels still the rendezvous point I guess.
Will they smuggle them out in rolled up copies of the "Fallen Madonna with the big boobies"?
I'll get my coat....
Yes, probably.
Though Rene's Cafe would be in France once a month.
Protestors in Russia have been waving golden toilet brushes and they chant about aqua disco...brilliant.
There’s a tipping point isn’t there, when people start making fun of you and your power no longer looks inevitable?. Whisper it quietly but maybe, just maybe, we might see Putin get there.
For twenty years we’ve been longing for the good old days of Yeltsin, where the only risk of nuclear war was him using his nuclear button as a bottle opener.
Fair enough - you aren't vaxxed, and I withdraw my chortling.
I still think your policy is both naive and actively dangerous. A half-vaxxed UK will end up back in the pandemic toilet very quick, with a ruined economy, and in a position to help no-one, for a decade. Silly idea
Some confusion. There was a view in circulation that I was 85. Think I did once say that yonks ago but it was a joke. I'm a child of the sixties. Apologies to all those misled, especially if you have been treating me with kid gloves on account of my great age.
Anyway, a half-vaxxed UK is NOT my "policy". Hilton Valentine of The Animals has passed away today and I'm reminded of one of their best lyrics. "I'm just a soul whose intentions are good. Oh lord, please don't let me be misunderstood." Which is what has happened. People are just so suffused with pleasure in this moment of UK vaccine heaven combined with EU vaccine hell (and having just done Brexit too) that anything oblique to that is not appreciated. I get it. I totally do.
So I will not be raising this matter again until we've got our critical mass to substantially reopen done. I predict the perspective I've put will have more salience then and my end of these exchanges will age quite well.
Fair.
I am more-than-happy with MaxPB's analysis (fpt), which says that by early summer the UK should have so many vaccines we can be confident of immunising our entire adult population (and maybe teens, like Israel) and we can therefore afford to give jabs away to our less fortunate human brethren.
If Max is right (and he seems well informed) then of course we should take pains to hand them out. But to Africa, and south Asia, the 3rd world poor.
Fuck the EU, frankly. Apart from the Danes, the Portuguese, and maybe the Irish (but they seem to be doing OK anyway)
Every 7/11 in Taiwan has several scotches, so I get that. But I have visited France many times and never seen Scotch drunk. Which part of french society drinks Scotch?
I have given Scotch as a present a few times in France and it seemed to go down pretty well. They may just have been diplomatic, but then again they were French, so perhaps not...
Have you tasted the... interesting.... brandy like... material that every vineyard seems to make?
If you haven't. Don't. It's not brandy. It's.... other.....
A bottle of moderately good Scotch would be a river of sweet gold compared to that.
I have had it yes.
In France there are traveling distilleries that go round the countryside distilling whatever the locals want them to distil for a fairly small price. This means that the equivalent of home brew in France is a lot stronger, but not necessarily any better, than your aunt's elderberry wine.
Protestors in Russia have been waving golden toilet brushes and they chant about aqua disco...brilliant.
There’s a tipping point isn’t there, when people start making fun of you and your power no longer look inevitable. Whisper it quietly but maybe, just maybe, we might see Putin get there.
For twenty years we’ve been longing for the good old days of Yeltsin, where the only risk of nuclear war was him using his nuclear button as a bottle opener.
Navalny was brilliant in his delivery in that documentary. Aping John Oliver style piss taking.
Fair enough - you aren't vaxxed, and I withdraw my chortling.
I still think your policy is both naive and actively dangerous. A half-vaxxed UK will end up back in the pandemic toilet very quick, with a ruined economy, and in a position to help no-one, for a decade. Silly idea
Some confusion. There was a view in circulation that I was 85. Think I did once say that yonks ago but it was a joke. I'm a child of the sixties. Apologies to all those misled, especially if you have been treating me with kid gloves on account of my great age.
Anyway, a half-vaxxed UK is NOT my "policy". Hilton Valentine of The Animals has passed away today and I'm reminded of one of their best lyrics. "I'm just a soul whose intentions are good. Oh lord, please don't let me be misunderstood." Which is what has happened. People are just so suffused with pleasure in this moment of UK vaccine heaven combined with EU vaccine hell (and having just done Brexit too) that anything oblique to that is not appreciated. I get it. I totally do.
So I will not be raising this matter again until we've got our critical mass to substantially reopen done. I predict the perspective I've put will have more salience then and my end of these exchanges will age quite well.
Do you want to deny me my right to have a vaccine once the older generations are done getting theirs?
I think the important point is that that will not happen, even if we do choose to start helping out and pump priming others.
Fair enough - you aren't vaxxed, and I withdraw my chortling.
I still think your policy is both naive and actively dangerous. A half-vaxxed UK will end up back in the pandemic toilet very quick, with a ruined economy, and in a position to help no-one, for a decade. Silly idea
Some confusion. There was a view in circulation that I was 85. Think I did once say that yonks ago but it was a joke. I'm a child of the sixties. Apologies to all those misled, especially if you have been treating me with kid gloves on account of my great age.
Anyway, a half-vaxxed UK is NOT my "policy". Hilton Valentine of The Animals has passed away today and I'm reminded of one of their best lyrics. "I'm just a soul whose intentions are good. Oh lord, please don't let me be misunderstood." Which is what has happened. People are just so suffused with pleasure in this moment of UK vaccine heaven combined with EU vaccine hell (and having just done Brexit too) that anything oblique to that is not appreciated. I get it. I totally do.
So I will not be raising this matter again until we've got our critical mass to substantially reopen done. I predict the perspective I've put will have more salience then and my end of these exchanges will age quite well.
Do you want to deny me my right to have a vaccine once the older generations are done getting theirs?
I can't help noticing how your trademark insouciance disappears when your own interests are in issue. I am sure if you are not vaccinated you can compensate with strict mask discipline and lashings of vitamin D, just like those Scottish fishermen who can switch to selling frozen product if they can't get fresh to market.
Fair enough - you aren't vaxxed, and I withdraw my chortling.
I still think your policy is both naive and actively dangerous. A half-vaxxed UK will end up back in the pandemic toilet very quick, with a ruined economy, and in a position to help no-one, for a decade. Silly idea
Some confusion. There was a view in circulation that I was 85. Think I did once say that yonks ago but it was a joke. I'm a child of the sixties. Apologies to all those misled, especially if you have been treating me with kid gloves on account of my great age.
Anyway, a half-vaxxed UK is NOT my "policy". Hilton Valentine of The Animals has passed away today and I'm reminded of one of their best lyrics. "I'm just a soul whose intentions are good. Oh lord, please don't let me be misunderstood." Which is what has happened. People are just so suffused with pleasure in this moment of UK vaccine heaven combined with EU vaccine hell (and having just done Brexit too) that anything oblique to that is not appreciated. I get it. I totally do.
So I will not be raising this matter again until we've got our critical mass to substantially reopen done. I predict the perspective I've put will have more salience then and my end of these exchanges will age quite well.
Do you want to deny me my right to have a vaccine once the older generations are done getting theirs?
Second question. Do people think we did appropriate due diligence before approving the vaccines?
Yes. No one has shown that any of these vaccines do any harm. Many millions have already been injected, the bad reactions are infinitely tiny in proportion.
Even if they have minimal efficacy it was worth a shot. But the best guess is that all the ones we have approved do some good things, maybe major good things.
Protestors in Russia have been waving golden toilet brushes and they chant about aqua disco...brilliant.
There’s a tipping point isn’t there, when people start making fun of you and your power no longer look inevitable. Whisper it quietly but maybe, just maybe, we might see Putin get there.
For twenty years we’ve been longing for the good old days of Yeltsin, where the only risk of nuclear war was him using his nuclear button as a bottle opener.
Navalny was brilliant in his delivery in that documentary. Aping John Oliver style piss taking.
I haven’t seen it actually. Was it a notional theatrical release and now downloadable?
Every 7/11 in Taiwan has several scotches, so I get that. But I have visited France many times and never seen Scotch drunk. Which part of french society drinks Scotch?
I have given Scotch as a present a few times in France and it seemed to go down pretty well. They may just have been diplomatic, but then again they were French, so perhaps not...
Thanks. Another fun I learned in Porto is that, whilst the biggest export markets by value are the US and UK, the largest by value are Belgium and France. Apparently they drink cheap Tawny over ice for an apperitif. Again, I have never seen this in person whilst in those countries.
France is a huge Scotch market - v big for malts. They drink more Whisky than Cognac, and it's one of the few countries outside the UK that supports a monthly Whisky Magazine.
Fair enough - you aren't vaxxed, and I withdraw my chortling.
I still think your policy is both naive and actively dangerous. A half-vaxxed UK will end up back in the pandemic toilet very quick, with a ruined economy, and in a position to help no-one, for a decade. Silly idea
Some confusion. There was a view in circulation that I was 85. Think I did once say that yonks ago but it was a joke. I'm a child of the sixties. Apologies to all those misled, especially if you have been treating me with kid gloves on account of my great age.
Anyway, a half-vaxxed UK is NOT my "policy". Hilton Valentine of The Animals has passed away today and I'm reminded of one of their best lyrics. "I'm just a soul whose intentions are good. Oh lord, please don't let me be misunderstood." Which is what has happened. People are just so suffused with pleasure in this moment of UK vaccine heaven combined with EU vaccine hell (and having just done Brexit too) that anything oblique to that is not appreciated. I get it. I totally do.
So I will not be raising this matter again until we've got our critical mass to substantially reopen done. I predict the perspective I've put will have more salience then and my end of these exchanges will age quite well.
Do you want to deny me my right to have a vaccine once the older generations are done getting theirs?
I think the important point is that that will not happen, even if we do choose to start helping out and pump priming others.
It shouldn't, but he was suggesting it should the other day but then obfuscating when it came to specifics.
I want to know if he wishes to deny me my vaccine?
It does sound a little like a Mother telling a small child to be grateful for a plate of horrid greens, because the starving babies in Africa don't get any.
I'm really not sure that telling European voters that they should shut up and be grateful for having almost no jabs to go around, because people in Chad have none at all, is going to work.
Fair enough - you aren't vaxxed, and I withdraw my chortling.
I still think your policy is both naive and actively dangerous. A half-vaxxed UK will end up back in the pandemic toilet very quick, with a ruined economy, and in a position to help no-one, for a decade. Silly idea
Some confusion. There was a view in circulation that I was 85. Think I did once say that yonks ago but it was a joke. I'm a child of the sixties. Apologies to all those misled, especially if you have been treating me with kid gloves on account of my great age.
Anyway, a half-vaxxed UK is NOT my "policy". Hilton Valentine of The Animals has passed away today and I'm reminded of one of their best lyrics. "I'm just a soul whose intentions are good. Oh lord, please don't let me be misunderstood." Which is what has happened. People are just so suffused with pleasure in this moment of UK vaccine heaven combined with EU vaccine hell (and having just done Brexit too) that anything oblique to that is not appreciated. I get it. I totally do.
So I will not be raising this matter again until we've got our critical mass to substantially reopen done. I predict the perspective I've put will have more salience then and my end of these exchanges will age quite well.
Do you want to deny me my right to have a vaccine once the older generations are done getting theirs?
I can't help noticing how your trademark insouciance disappears when your own interests are in issue. I am sure if you are not vaccinated you can compensate with strict mask discipline and lashings of vitamin D, just like those Scottish fishermen who can switch to selling frozen product if they can't get fresh to market.
Its exactly what I've done for the past twelve months, yes. But if we're to get back to normal, then a vaccine will be needed and my taxes have gone towards purchasing it.
Protestors in Russia have been waving golden toilet brushes and they chant about aqua disco...brilliant.
There’s a tipping point isn’t there, when people start making fun of you and your power no longer look inevitable. Whisper it quietly but maybe, just maybe, we might see Putin get there.
For twenty years we’ve been longing for the good old days of Yeltsin, where the only risk of nuclear war was him using his nuclear button as a bottle opener.
Navalny was brilliant in his delivery in that documentary. Aping John Oliver style piss taking.
I haven’t see it actually. Was it a notional theatrical release and now downloadable?
They just put it on YouTube. It is a too long, but he absolutely rips the shit out of Putin (as well as providing incredibly detailed break out of how corrupt Putin is).
Every 7/11 in Taiwan has several scotches, so I get that. But I have visited France many times and never seen Scotch drunk. Which part of french society drinks Scotch?
I have given Scotch as a present a few times in France and it seemed to go down pretty well. They may just have been diplomatic, but then again they were French, so perhaps not...
Thanks. Another fun I learned in Porto is that, whilst the biggest export markets by value are the US and UK, the largest by value are Belgium and France. Apparently they drink cheap Tawny over ice for an apperitif. Again, I have never seen this in person whilst in those countries.
France is a huge Scotch market - v big for malts. They drink more Whisky than Cognac, and it's one of the few countries outside the UK that supports a monthly Whisky Magazine.
I prefer a good Cognac to whisky at times, but a good Cognac (or Armagnac, I'm not fussy) costs a lot more than a good whisky.
Every 7/11 in Taiwan has several scotches, so I get that. But I have visited France many times and never seen Scotch drunk. Which part of french society drinks Scotch?
I have given Scotch as a present a few times in France and it seemed to go down pretty well. They may just have been diplomatic, but then again they were French, so perhaps not...
Have you tasted the... interesting.... brandy like... material that every vineyard seems to make?
If you haven't. Don't. It's not brandy. It's.... other.....
A bottle of moderately good Scotch would be a river of sweet gold compared to that.
I have had it yes.
In France there are traveling distilleries that go round the countryside distilling whatever the locals want them to distil for a fairly small price. This means that the equivalent of home brew in France is a lot stronger, but not necessarily any better, than your aunt's elderberry wine.
The stuff I tried was made by actual, real, professional wine makers.
My theory as to why they make it is either
- a prank on the roastbeefs - a supply of Molotov cocktails for when the Germans try World Tour III
The other alternative is that it is a deliberate crime against humanity. Bit like the Nepalese "Everest" brand of Whisky.
Fair enough - you aren't vaxxed, and I withdraw my chortling.
I still think your policy is both naive and actively dangerous. A half-vaxxed UK will end up back in the pandemic toilet very quick, with a ruined economy, and in a position to help no-one, for a decade. Silly idea
Some confusion. There was a view in circulation that I was 85. Think I did once say that yonks ago but it was a joke. I'm a child of the sixties. Apologies to all those misled, especially if you have been treating me with kid gloves on account of my great age.
Anyway, a half-vaxxed UK is NOT my "policy". Hilton Valentine of The Animals has passed away today and I'm reminded of one of their best lyrics. "I'm just a soul whose intentions are good. Oh lord, please don't let me be misunderstood." Which is what has happened. People are just so suffused with pleasure in this moment of UK vaccine heaven combined with EU vaccine hell (and having just done Brexit too) that anything oblique to that is not appreciated. I get it. I totally do.
So I will not be raising this matter again until we've got our critical mass to substantially reopen done. I predict the perspective I've put will have more salience then and my end of these exchanges will age quite well.
Do you want to deny me my right to have a vaccine once the older generations are done getting theirs?
Don't tempt me, Philip.
Not tempting you, straight question. If you were in charge would you deny me my vaccine so it could go abroad.
Protestors in Russia have been waving golden toilet brushes and they chant about aqua disco...brilliant.
There’s a tipping point isn’t there, when people start making fun of you and your power no longer look inevitable. Whisper it quietly but maybe, just maybe, we might see Putin get there.
For twenty years we’ve been longing for the good old days of Yeltsin, where the only risk of nuclear war was him using his nuclear button as a bottle opener.
Navalny was brilliant in his delivery in that documentary. Aping John Oliver style piss taking.
I haven’t see it actually. Was it a notional theatrical release and now downloadable?
Every 7/11 in Taiwan has several scotches, so I get that. But I have visited France many times and never seen Scotch drunk. Which part of french society drinks Scotch?
I have given Scotch as a present a few times in France and it seemed to go down pretty well. They may just have been diplomatic, but then again they were French, so perhaps not...
Have you tasted the... interesting.... brandy like... material that every vineyard seems to make?
If you haven't. Don't. It's not brandy. It's.... other.....
A bottle of moderately good Scotch would be a river of sweet gold compared to that.
I have had it yes.
In France there are traveling distilleries that go round the countryside distilling whatever the locals want them to distil for a fairly small price. This means that the equivalent of home brew in France is a lot stronger, but not necessarily any better, than your aunt's elderberry wine.
My theory as to why they make it is either
- a prank on the roastbeefs - a supply of Molotov cocktails for when the Germans try World Tour III
The other alternative is that it is a deliberate crime against humanity. Bit like the Nepalese "Everest" brand of Whisky.
It's much simpler than that: it is very cheap.
Have you ever tried the cheapest wines in France? The sort that come in a plastic bottle at under a Euro? Not all French are the sophisticates we uncultured British take them for.
If the SNP get a majority in May and Boris refuses a legal indyref2 then the SNP tensions will come to a head over what to do next.
If more reports damaging to Sturgeon come out over the Salmond affair then she will be in difficulty
Honestly, this attitude is appalling. And I speak as an Englishman and a Unionist (who insists on calling it “the Scottish Assembly” just to wind up the SNP). Self determination matters. It’s why I voted leave. An involuntary Union isn’t a Union, it’s an empire, and we don’t want that.
Setting aside the rights and wrongs of a Westminster Veto, if Sturgeon asks for an immediate Sindyref2 from Boris, after her election, she is giving him the perfect way to refuse without appearing dictatorial.
"I'm sorry, Nicola, but there is a global plague ravaging the world, millions are dying, we probably need to deal with that first, no?"
She will look stupid, he will look sensible. The reverse of the usual position.
If the SNP get a majority in May and Boris refuses a legal indyref2 then the SNP tensions will come to a head over what to do next.
If more reports damaging to Sturgeon come out over the Salmond affair then she will be in difficulty
Honestly, this attitude is appalling. And I speak as an Englishman and a Unionist (who insists on calling it “the Scottish Assembly” just to wind up the SNP). Self determination matters. It’s why I voted leave. An involuntary Union isn’t a Union, it’s an empire, and we don’t want that.
Technically no, Scotland would only be a colony if we abolished Holyrood and expelled Scottish MPs from the House of Commons too.
Scots voted to stay in the UK in 2014 in a once in a generation referendum, they will not get another legal one while we Tories remain in power
Every 7/11 in Taiwan has several scotches, so I get that. But I have visited France many times and never seen Scotch drunk. Which part of french society drinks Scotch?
I have given Scotch as a present a few times in France and it seemed to go down pretty well. They may just have been diplomatic, but then again they were French, so perhaps not...
Thanks. Another fun I learned in Porto is that, whilst the biggest export markets by value are the US and UK, the largest by value are Belgium and France. Apparently they drink cheap Tawny over ice for an apperitif. Again, I have never seen this in person whilst in those countries.
France is a huge Scotch market - v big for malts. They drink more Whisky than Cognac, and it's one of the few countries outside the UK that supports a monthly Whisky Magazine.
I prefer a good Cognac to whisky at times, but a good Cognac (or Armagnac, I'm not fussy) costs a lot more than a good whisky.
I've never really been exposed to very good cognac, only the average stuff. I find it has a slight metallic taste that I don't enjoy. Been lucky enough to taste a lot of excellent Scotch whisky though.
Every 7/11 in Taiwan has several scotches, so I get that. But I have visited France many times and never seen Scotch drunk. Which part of french society drinks Scotch?
I have given Scotch as a present a few times in France and it seemed to go down pretty well. They may just have been diplomatic, but then again they were French, so perhaps not...
Have you tasted the... interesting.... brandy like... material that every vineyard seems to make?
If you haven't. Don't. It's not brandy. It's.... other.....
A bottle of moderately good Scotch would be a river of sweet gold compared to that.
I have had it yes.
In France there are traveling distilleries that go round the countryside distilling whatever the locals want them to distil for a fairly small price. This means that the equivalent of home brew in France is a lot stronger, but not necessarily any better, than your aunt's elderberry wine.
Each frenchman is entitled to have his berry-mush distilled by a mobile distiller up to ten litres per year, without paying duty.
Every 7/11 in Taiwan has several scotches, so I get that. But I have visited France many times and never seen Scotch drunk. Which part of french society drinks Scotch?
I have given Scotch as a present a few times in France and it seemed to go down pretty well. They may just have been diplomatic, but then again they were French, so perhaps not...
Thanks. Another fun I learned in Porto is that, whilst the biggest export markets by value are the US and UK, the largest by value are Belgium and France. Apparently they drink cheap Tawny over ice for an apperitif. Again, I have never seen this in person whilst in those countries.
France is a huge Scotch market - v big for malts. They drink more Whisky than Cognac, and it's one of the few countries outside the UK that supports a monthly Whisky Magazine.
I prefer a good Cognac to whisky at times, but a good Cognac (or Armagnac, I'm not fussy) costs a lot more than a good whisky.
Cognac is in trouble IN France. It is perceived as a drink for reactionary old men.
Vodka and gin are on the up. Bourbon and scotch dominate. It is a real problem for the industry.
If the SNP get a majority in May and Boris refuses a legal indyref2 then the SNP tensions will come to a head over what to do next.
If more reports damaging to Sturgeon come out over the Salmond affair then she will be in difficulty
Honestly, this attitude is appalling. And I speak as an Englishman and a Unionist (who insists on calling it “the Scottish Assembly” just to wind up the SNP). Self determination matters. It’s why I voted leave. An involuntary Union isn’t a Union, it’s an empire, and we don’t want that.
Setting aside the rights and wrongs of a Westminster Veto, if Sturgeon asks for an immediate Sindyref2 from Boris, after her election, she is giving him the perfect way to refuse without appearing dictatorial.
"I'm sorry, Nicola, but there is a global plague ravaging the world, millions are dying, we probably need to deal with that first, no?"
She will look stupid, he will look sensible. The reverse of the usual position.
And when she asks for next year, when gods willing everything will be mostup up and and running even with some additional measures?
Every 7/11 in Taiwan has several scotches, so I get that. But I have visited France many times and never seen Scotch drunk. Which part of french society drinks Scotch?
I have given Scotch as a present a few times in France and it seemed to go down pretty well. They may just have been diplomatic, but then again they were French, so perhaps not...
Have you tasted the... interesting.... brandy like... material that every vineyard seems to make?
If you haven't. Don't. It's not brandy. It's.... other.....
A bottle of moderately good Scotch would be a river of sweet gold compared to that.
I have had it yes.
In France there are traveling distilleries that go round the countryside distilling whatever the locals want them to distil for a fairly small price. This means that the equivalent of home brew in France is a lot stronger, but not necessarily any better, than your aunt's elderberry wine.
Each frenchman is entitled to have his berry-mush distilled by a mobile distiller up to ten litres per year, without paying duty.
Every 7/11 in Taiwan has several scotches, so I get that. But I have visited France many times and never seen Scotch drunk. Which part of french society drinks Scotch?
I have given Scotch as a present a few times in France and it seemed to go down pretty well. They may just have been diplomatic, but then again they were French, so perhaps not...
Thanks. Another fun I learned in Porto is that, whilst the biggest export markets by value are the US and UK, the largest by value are Belgium and France. Apparently they drink cheap Tawny over ice for an apperitif. Again, I have never seen this in person whilst in those countries.
France is a huge Scotch market - v big for malts. They drink more Whisky than Cognac, and it's one of the few countries outside the UK that supports a monthly Whisky Magazine.
I prefer a good Cognac to whisky at times, but a good Cognac (or Armagnac, I'm not fussy) costs a lot more than a good whisky.
I've never really been exposed to very good cognac, only the average stuff. I find it has a slight metallic taste that I don't enjoy. Been lucky enough to taste a lot of excellent Scotch whisky though.
Complex scotch is - I reckon - significantly better than complex cognac, and still cheaper (tho the rarest scotch whisky is quickly catching up, thanks to brilliant branding and salesmanship).
It does sound a little like a Mother telling a small child to be grateful for a plate of horrid greens, because the starving babies in Africa don't get any.
I'm really not sure that telling European voters that they should shut up and be grateful for having almost no jabs to go around, because people in Chad have none at all, is going to work.
"We thus support COVAX....with our best wishes."
Rates of covid are way higher in Europe than Africa though.
If the SNP get a majority in May and Boris refuses a legal indyref2 then the SNP tensions will come to a head over what to do next.
If more reports damaging to Sturgeon come out over the Salmond affair then she will be in difficulty
Honestly, this attitude is appalling. And I speak as an Englishman and a Unionist (who insists on calling it “the Scottish Assembly” just to wind up the SNP). Self determination matters. It’s why I voted leave. An involuntary Union isn’t a Union, it’s an empire, and we don’t want that.
Setting aside the rights and wrongs of a Westminster Veto, if Sturgeon asks for an immediate Sindyref2 from Boris, after her election, she is giving him the perfect way to refuse without appearing dictatorial.
"I'm sorry, Nicola, but there is a global plague ravaging the world, millions are dying, we probably need to deal with that first, no?"
She will look stupid, he will look sensible. The reverse of the usual position.
And when she asks for next year, when gods willing everything will be mostup up and and running even with some additional measures?
Boris will say No, and long-grass it with a Royal Commission on Federalism etc
Cue much hue and cry north of Hadrian's.
However I do think there is a pretty good chance she will be gone by 2022. The Salmond stuff seems to be attacking her from all angles. It doesn't look good. It is arguable that the only reason she has survived, so far, is because Scottish media is supine, and UK media is entirely distracted by Covid
Re Sturgeon, I read today that the SNP is "planning" an indyref2 before Xmas 2021.
Now, I know this is just Sturgeon (menaced by Salmondgate) playing to her Tartaned jihadis in the cheap seats, but surely this is such a ludicrous proposition it will backfire?
Setting aside the 99.9% likelihood she will get snubbed by Westminster, there is simply no way a referendum could be legislated and organised and held during a hideous pandemic, which will still, very much, be with us - either at home or abroad or probably both - til the end of the year.
I know the Nats are keen on empty gestures, but surely this is so empty it makes them look absurd? Perhaps theuniondivvie, when he stops being disgusted with everyone, can explain
With the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow on 1 – 12 November 2021? Not a chance a vote will happen.
Thankyou for your candour! It is good to have an honest Nat perspective.
If you and I are right, then why do you think Sturgeon has made this mad promise? It smacks of desperation, which makes me wonder if OGH might be wrong in the header. Perhaps she is in more trouble than we realise.
Every Scot with an IQ over 50 will know there is no chance of a vote this year. So this makes her look silly.
NS is desperate to keep the troops onside until the election. I am almost convinced she might prefer a minority administration to put Indy on the back burner for another term and wait for a weak Labour administration. We have yet to see the level of ambition of the new ISP standing as a regional list only party, with the wind in their sails they could get 5 or 6 seats for the cost of a couple of SNP losses.
It does sound a little like a Mother telling a small child to be grateful for a plate of horrid greens, because the starving babies in Africa don't get any.
I'm really not sure that telling European voters that they should shut up and be grateful for having almost no jabs to go around, because people in Chad have none at all, is going to work.
"We thus support COVAX....with our best wishes."
Rates of covid are way higher in Europe than Africa though.
If the SNP get a majority in May and Boris refuses a legal indyref2 then the SNP tensions will come to a head over what to do next.
If more reports damaging to Sturgeon come out over the Salmond affair then she will be in difficulty
Honestly, this attitude is appalling. And I speak as an Englishman and a Unionist (who insists on calling it “the Scottish Assembly” just to wind up the SNP). Self determination matters. It’s why I voted leave. An involuntary Union isn’t a Union, it’s an empire, and we don’t want that.
Setting aside the rights and wrongs of a Westminster Veto, if Sturgeon asks for an immediate Sindyref2 from Boris, after her election, she is giving him the perfect way to refuse without appearing dictatorial.
"I'm sorry, Nicola, but there is a global plague ravaging the world, millions are dying, we probably need to deal with that first, no?"
She will look stupid, he will look sensible. The reverse of the usual position.
And when she asks for next year, when gods willing everything will be mostup up and and running even with some additional measures?
It will still be refused, the Union is a matter reserved to Westminster where we have a Tory majority of 80, Sturgeon will be told by Boris to focus on domestic affairs. Legally and constitutionally she cannot do anything about it
Fair enough - you aren't vaxxed, and I withdraw my chortling.
I still think your policy is both naive and actively dangerous. A half-vaxxed UK will end up back in the pandemic toilet very quick, with a ruined economy, and in a position to help no-one, for a decade. Silly idea
Some confusion. There was a view in circulation that I was 85. Think I did once say that yonks ago but it was a joke. I'm a child of the sixties. Apologies to all those misled, especially if you have been treating me with kid gloves on account of my great age.
Anyway, a half-vaxxed UK is NOT my "policy". Hilton Valentine of The Animals has passed away today and I'm reminded of one of their best lyrics. "I'm just a soul whose intentions are good. Oh lord, please don't let me be misunderstood." Which is what has happened. People are just so suffused with pleasure in this moment of UK vaccine heaven combined with EU vaccine hell (and having just done Brexit too) that anything oblique to that is not appreciated. I get it. I totally do.
So I will not be raising this matter again until we've got our critical mass to substantially reopen done. I predict the perspective I've put will have more salience then and my end of these exchanges will age quite well.
Fair.
I am more-than-happy with MaxPB's analysis (fpt), which says that by early summer the UK should have so many vaccines we can be confident of immunising our entire adult population (and maybe teens, like Israel) and we can therefore afford to give jabs away to our less fortunate human brethren.
If Max is right (and he seems well informed) then of course we should take pains to hand them out. But to Africa, and south Asia, the 3rd world poor.
Fuck the EU, frankly. Apart from the Danes, the Portuguese, and maybe the Irish (but they seem to be doing OK anyway)
I'd go for keeping the Irish rollout in step with ours, as I think we will be able to do it.
From a slightly jaundiced soft politics perspective, I quite like the idea of the CTA being the first part of Europe to properly reopen. As a model of how cooperation *can* work. And because there are so many links - I have a dear friend in her 60s who has been courting an Irishman for a few years, and has not seen him since the Christmas before last now.
And SeanT would be able to go and live in a Clochan on Skellig Michael for the summer to make sure he is safe.
If the SNP get a majority in May and Boris refuses a legal indyref2 then the SNP tensions will come to a head over what to do next.
If more reports damaging to Sturgeon come out over the Salmond affair then she will be in difficulty
Honestly, this attitude is appalling. And I speak as an Englishman and a Unionist (who insists on calling it “the Scottish Assembly” just to wind up the SNP). Self determination matters. It’s why I voted leave. An involuntary Union isn’t a Union, it’s an empire, and we don’t want that.
Setting aside the rights and wrongs of a Westminster Veto, if Sturgeon asks for an immediate Sindyref2 from Boris, after her election, she is giving him the perfect way to refuse without appearing dictatorial.
"I'm sorry, Nicola, but there is a global plague ravaging the world, millions are dying, we probably need to deal with that first, no?"
She will look stupid, he will look sensible. The reverse of the usual position.
And when she asks for next year, when gods willing everything will be mostup up and and running even with some additional measures?
It will still be refused, the Union is a matter reserved to Westminster where we have a Tory majority of 80, Sturgeon will be told by Boris to focus on domestic affairs. Legally and constitutionally she cannot do anything about it
I know that is your view, and he might, but this scenario was it being refused because of Covid. If he gives that as a reason, he has to come up with a new one later when that is no barrier.
Re Sturgeon, I read today that the SNP is "planning" an indyref2 before Xmas 2021.
Now, I know this is just Sturgeon (menaced by Salmondgate) playing to her Tartaned jihadis in the cheap seats, but surely this is such a ludicrous proposition it will backfire?
Setting aside the 99.9% likelihood she will get snubbed by Westminster, there is simply no way a referendum could be legislated and organised and held during a hideous pandemic, which will still, very much, be with us - either at home or abroad or probably both - til the end of the year.
I know the Nats are keen on empty gestures, but surely this is so empty it makes them look absurd? Perhaps theuniondivvie, when he stops being disgusted with everyone, can explain
With the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow on 1 – 12 November 2021? Not a chance a vote will happen.
Thankyou for your candour! It is good to have an honest Nat perspective.
If you and I are right, then why do you think Sturgeon has made this mad promise? It smacks of desperation, which makes me wonder if OGH might be wrong in the header. Perhaps she is in more trouble than we realise.
Every Scot with an IQ over 50 will know there is no chance of a vote this year. So this makes her look silly.
NS is desperate to keep the troops onside until the election. I am almost convinced she might prefer a minority administration to put Indy on the back burner for another term and wait for a weak Labour administration. We have yet to see the level of ambition of the new ISP standing as a regional list only party, with the wind in their sails they could get 5 or 6 seats for the cost of a couple of SNP losses.
Is there a possibility that S Gov will delay the Election?
Every 7/11 in Taiwan has several scotches, so I get that. But I have visited France many times and never seen Scotch drunk. Which part of french society drinks Scotch?
I have given Scotch as a present a few times in France and it seemed to go down pretty well. They may just have been diplomatic, but then again they were French, so perhaps not...
Have you tasted the... interesting.... brandy like... material that every vineyard seems to make?
If you haven't. Don't. It's not brandy. It's.... other.....
A bottle of moderately good Scotch would be a river of sweet gold compared to that.
I have had it yes.
In France there are traveling distilleries that go round the countryside distilling whatever the locals want them to distil for a fairly small price. This means that the equivalent of home brew in France is a lot stronger, but not necessarily any better, than your aunt's elderberry wine.
My theory as to why they make it is either
- a prank on the roastbeefs - a supply of Molotov cocktails for when the Germans try World Tour III
The other alternative is that it is a deliberate crime against humanity. Bit like the Nepalese "Everest" brand of Whisky.
It's much simpler than that: it is very cheap.
Have you ever tried the cheapest wines in France? The sort that come in a plastic bottle at under a Euro? Not all French are the sophisticates we uncultured British take them for.
No. Since if you avoid the chateaux with the 15 foot glass walls in their tasting rooms, 8.50 euro can get you quite drinkable wine.....
Yes, I have seen the plastic jug stuff. Not actually opened one, of course... Makes me think of this....
If the SNP get a majority in May and Boris refuses a legal indyref2 then the SNP tensions will come to a head over what to do next.
If more reports damaging to Sturgeon come out over the Salmond affair then she will be in difficulty
Honestly, this attitude is appalling. And I speak as an Englishman and a Unionist (who insists on calling it “the Scottish Assembly” just to wind up the SNP). Self determination matters. It’s why I voted leave. An involuntary Union isn’t a Union, it’s an empire, and we don’t want that.
Setting aside the rights and wrongs of a Westminster Veto, if Sturgeon asks for an immediate Sindyref2 from Boris, after her election, she is giving him the perfect way to refuse without appearing dictatorial.
"I'm sorry, Nicola, but there is a global plague ravaging the world, millions are dying, we probably need to deal with that first, no?"
She will look stupid, he will look sensible. The reverse of the usual position.
Nah, she's saying to deal with the pandemic first and to have Sindyref2 afterwards, probably next year.
Given the vaccine rollout is due to be finished this year, are you suggesting it won't be possible to have a referendum next year? That would be pretty damning.
If the SNP get a majority in May and Boris refuses a legal indyref2 then the SNP tensions will come to a head over what to do next.
If more reports damaging to Sturgeon come out over the Salmond affair then she will be in difficulty
Honestly, this attitude is appalling. And I speak as an Englishman and a Unionist (who insists on calling it “the Scottish Assembly” just to wind up the SNP). Self determination matters. It’s why I voted leave. An involuntary Union isn’t a Union, it’s an empire, and we don’t want that.
Setting aside the rights and wrongs of a Westminster Veto, if Sturgeon asks for an immediate Sindyref2 from Boris, after her election, she is giving him the perfect way to refuse without appearing dictatorial.
"I'm sorry, Nicola, but there is a global plague ravaging the world, millions are dying, we probably need to deal with that first, no?"
She will look stupid, he will look sensible. The reverse of the usual position.
Nah, she's saying to deal with the pandemic first and to have Sindyref2 afterwards, probably next year.
Given the vaccine rollout is due to be finished this year, are you suggesting it won't be possible to have a referendum next year? That would be pretty damning.
It is nonsense, of course. But it is a measure of Sturgeon's desperation - I reckon - that she is allowing this bollocks to be voiced by senior Nats. She's in trouble.
If the SNP get a majority in May and Boris refuses a legal indyref2 then the SNP tensions will come to a head over what to do next.
If more reports damaging to Sturgeon come out over the Salmond affair then she will be in difficulty
Honestly, this attitude is appalling. And I speak as an Englishman and a Unionist (who insists on calling it “the Scottish Assembly” just to wind up the SNP). Self determination matters. It’s why I voted leave. An involuntary Union isn’t a Union, it’s an empire, and we don’t want that.
Setting aside the rights and wrongs of a Westminster Veto, if Sturgeon asks for an immediate Sindyref2 from Boris, after her election, she is giving him the perfect way to refuse without appearing dictatorial.
"I'm sorry, Nicola, but there is a global plague ravaging the world, millions are dying, we probably need to deal with that first, no?"
She will look stupid, he will look sensible. The reverse of the usual position.
And when she asks for next year, when gods willing everything will be mostup up and and running even with some additional measures?
It will still be refused, the Union is a matter reserved to Westminster where we have a Tory majority of 80, Sturgeon will be told by Boris to focus on domestic affairs. Legally and constitutionally she cannot do anything about it
I know that is your view, and he might, but this scenario was it being refused because of Covid. If he gives that as a reason, he has to come up with a new one later when that is no barrier.
He has correctly said from a Tory perspective there should be no indyref2 until 2050, as per the 40 years between the 1975 EEC referendum and the 2016 EU referendum and we Tories will stand by that Covid or no Covid.
There is a Tory majority of 80 at Westminster and will be until 2024 and Sturgeon can do nothing about it until then
Fair enough - you aren't vaxxed, and I withdraw my chortling.
I still think your policy is both naive and actively dangerous. A half-vaxxed UK will end up back in the pandemic toilet very quick, with a ruined economy, and in a position to help no-one, for a decade. Silly idea
Some confusion. There was a view in circulation that I was 85. Think I did once say that yonks ago but it was a joke. I'm a child of the sixties. Apologies to all those misled, especially if you have been treating me with kid gloves on account of my great age.
Anyway, a half-vaxxed UK is NOT my "policy". Hilton Valentine of The Animals has passed away today and I'm reminded of one of their best lyrics. "I'm just a soul whose intentions are good. Oh lord, please don't let me be misunderstood." Which is what has happened. People are just so suffused with pleasure in this moment of UK vaccine heaven combined with EU vaccine hell (and having just done Brexit too) that anything oblique to that is not appreciated. I get it. I totally do.
So I will not be raising this matter again until we've got our critical mass to substantially reopen done. I predict the perspective I've put will have more salience then and my end of these exchanges will age quite well.
Do you want to deny me my right to have a vaccine once the older generations are done getting theirs?
Don't tempt me, Philip.
Not tempting you, straight question. If you were in charge would you deny me my vaccine so it could go abroad.
Second question - Are you Toby Young?
2nd question ignored since it's puerile. 1st question, though, ok, that does deserve a straight answer.
Would I deny YOU, a hard working BRITISH taxpayer, YOUR vaccine so that it could go ABROAD to be used to benefit a FOREIGNER?
Maybe. It would depend on circumstances. Also my mood.
If the SNP get a majority in May and Boris refuses a legal indyref2 then the SNP tensions will come to a head over what to do next.
If more reports damaging to Sturgeon come out over the Salmond affair then she will be in difficulty
Honestly, this attitude is appalling. And I speak as an Englishman and a Unionist (who insists on calling it “the Scottish Assembly” just to wind up the SNP). Self determination matters. It’s why I voted leave. An involuntary Union isn’t a Union, it’s an empire, and we don’t want that.
Setting aside the rights and wrongs of a Westminster Veto, if Sturgeon asks for an immediate Sindyref2 from Boris, after her election, she is giving him the perfect way to refuse without appearing dictatorial.
"I'm sorry, Nicola, but there is a global plague ravaging the world, millions are dying, we probably need to deal with that first, no?"
She will look stupid, he will look sensible. The reverse of the usual position.
And when she asks for next year, when gods willing everything will be mostup up and and running even with some additional measures?
It will still be refused, the Union is a matter reserved to Westminster where we have a Tory majority of 80, Sturgeon will be told by Boris to focus on domestic affairs. Legally and constitutionally she cannot do anything about it
I know that is your view, and he might, but this scenario was it being refused because of Covid. If he gives that as a reason, he has to come up with a new one later when that is no barrier.
He has correctly said from a Tory perspective there should be no indyref2 until 2050, as per the 40 years between the 1975 EEC referendum and the 2016 EU referendum and we Tories will stand by that Covid or no Covid.
There is a Tory majority of 80 at Westminster and will be until 2024 and Sturgeon can do nothing about it until then
Maybe, but you’re quite wrong to take that approach. And a great many of your voters will agree with me. Won’t shift our votes, yet, but it’s one more thing.
You seem not to understand two things which I think are true:
1) Many Brexit voters entirely understand where the SNP is coming from; and
2) I reckon a decent plurality of English voters don’t care one way or the other, and think it’s one for Scotland.
I might be completely out of touch (after all I also don’t see why a British MP should resign if Scotland leaves) but I don’t think I am.
Re Sturgeon, I read today that the SNP is "planning" an indyref2 before Xmas 2021.
Now, I know this is just Sturgeon (menaced by Salmondgate) playing to her Tartaned jihadis in the cheap seats, but surely this is such a ludicrous proposition it will backfire?
Setting aside the 99.9% likelihood she will get snubbed by Westminster, there is simply no way a referendum could be legislated and organised and held during a hideous pandemic, which will still, very much, be with us - either at home or abroad or probably both - til the end of the year.
I know the Nats are keen on empty gestures, but surely this is so empty it makes them look absurd? Perhaps theuniondivvie, when he stops being disgusted with everyone, can explain
With the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow on 1 – 12 November 2021? Not a chance a vote will happen.
Thankyou for your candour! It is good to have an honest Nat perspective.
If you and I are right, then why do you think Sturgeon has made this mad promise? It smacks of desperation, which makes me wonder if OGH might be wrong in the header. Perhaps she is in more trouble than we realise.
Every Scot with an IQ over 50 will know there is no chance of a vote this year. So this makes her look silly.
NS is desperate to keep the troops onside until the election. I am almost convinced she might prefer a minority administration to put Indy on the back burner for another term and wait for a weak Labour administration. We have yet to see the level of ambition of the new ISP standing as a regional list only party, with the wind in their sails they could get 5 or 6 seats for the cost of a couple of SNP losses.
Is there a possibility that S Gov will delay the Election?
That would be seen as kowtowing to Tory/Westminster opinion (or even worse, Daily Express/Mail/ Scotsman opinion). Also, there are too many examples of other countries who have held national elections exist showing it can be done.
Re Sturgeon, I read today that the SNP is "planning" an indyref2 before Xmas 2021.
Now, I know this is just Sturgeon (menaced by Salmondgate) playing to her Tartaned jihadis in the cheap seats, but surely this is such a ludicrous proposition it will backfire?
Setting aside the 99.9% likelihood she will get snubbed by Westminster, there is simply no way a referendum could be legislated and organised and held during a hideous pandemic, which will still, very much, be with us - either at home or abroad or probably both - til the end of the year.
I know the Nats are keen on empty gestures, but surely this is so empty it makes them look absurd? Perhaps theuniondivvie, when he stops being disgusted with everyone, can explain
With the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow on 1 – 12 November 2021? Not a chance a vote will happen.
Thankyou for your candour! It is good to have an honest Nat perspective.
If you and I are right, then why do you think Sturgeon has made this mad promise? It smacks of desperation, which makes me wonder if OGH might be wrong in the header. Perhaps she is in more trouble than we realise.
Every Scot with an IQ over 50 will know there is no chance of a vote this year. So this makes her look silly.
NS is desperate to keep the troops onside until the election. I am almost convinced she might prefer a minority administration to put Indy on the back burner for another term and wait for a weak Labour administration. We have yet to see the level of ambition of the new ISP standing as a regional list only party, with the wind in their sails they could get 5 or 6 seats for the cost of a couple of SNP losses.
Is there a possibility that S Gov will delay the Election?
That would be seen as kowtowing to Tory/Westminster opinion (or even worse, Daily Express/Mail/ Scotsman opinion). Also, there are too many examples of other countries who have held national elections exist showing it can be done.
Doesn’t have the vires does it? If elections are delayed, it’ll be all of them, in consultation with FMs, by Westminster.
Fair enough - you aren't vaxxed, and I withdraw my chortling.
I still think your policy is both naive and actively dangerous. A half-vaxxed UK will end up back in the pandemic toilet very quick, with a ruined economy, and in a position to help no-one, for a decade. Silly idea
Some confusion. There was a view in circulation that I was 85. Think I did once say that yonks ago but it was a joke. I'm a child of the sixties. Apologies to all those misled, especially if you have been treating me with kid gloves on account of my great age.
Anyway, a half-vaxxed UK is NOT my "policy". Hilton Valentine of The Animals has passed away today and I'm reminded of one of their best lyrics. "I'm just a soul whose intentions are good. Oh lord, please don't let me be misunderstood." Which is what has happened. People are just so suffused with pleasure in this moment of UK vaccine heaven combined with EU vaccine hell (and having just done Brexit too) that anything oblique to that is not appreciated. I get it. I totally do.
So I will not be raising this matter again until we've got our critical mass to substantially reopen done. I predict the perspective I've put will have more salience then and my end of these exchanges will age quite well.
Do you want to deny me my right to have a vaccine once the older generations are done getting theirs?
I can't help noticing how your trademark insouciance disappears when your own interests are in issue. I am sure if you are not vaccinated you can compensate with strict mask discipline and lashings of vitamin D, just like those Scottish fishermen who can switch to selling frozen product if they can't get fresh to market.
Its exactly what I've done for the past twelve months, yes. But if we're to get back to normal, then a vaccine will be needed and my taxes have gone towards purchasing it.
Interesting comment. You think your right to a vaccine is greater than someone here who does not pay tax?
I actually think a million a day should be the new stretch target. If we could build that capacity, when we get to under 50s, we can do the whole of that population in 2 months (even less if plenty of J&J jabs).
If the SNP get a majority in May and Boris refuses a legal indyref2 then the SNP tensions will come to a head over what to do next.
If more reports damaging to Sturgeon come out over the Salmond affair then she will be in difficulty
Honestly, this attitude is appalling. And I speak as an Englishman and a Unionist (who insists on calling it “the Scottish Assembly” just to wind up the SNP). Self determination matters. It’s why I voted leave. An involuntary Union isn’t a Union, it’s an empire, and we don’t want that.
Setting aside the rights and wrongs of a Westminster Veto, if Sturgeon asks for an immediate Sindyref2 from Boris, after her election, she is giving him the perfect way to refuse without appearing dictatorial.
"I'm sorry, Nicola, but there is a global plague ravaging the world, millions are dying, we probably need to deal with that first, no?"
She will look stupid, he will look sensible. The reverse of the usual position.
And when she asks for next year, when gods willing everything will be mostup up and and running even with some additional measures?
It will still be refused, the Union is a matter reserved to Westminster where we have a Tory majority of 80, Sturgeon will be told by Boris to focus on domestic affairs. Legally and constitutionally she cannot do anything about it
I know that is your view, and he might, but this scenario was it being refused because of Covid. If he gives that as a reason, he has to come up with a new one later when that is no barrier.
He has correctly said from a Tory perspective there should be no indyref2 until 2050, as per the 40 years between the 1975 EEC referendum and the 2016 EU referendum and we Tories will stand by that Covid or no Covid.
There is a Tory majority of 80 at Westminster and will be until 2024 and Sturgeon can do nothing about it until then
Maybe, but you’re quite wrong to take that approach. And a great many of your voters will agree with me. Won’t shift our votes, yet, but it’s one more thing.
You seem not to understand two things which I think are true:
1) Many Brexit voters entirely understand where the SNP is coming from; and
2) I reckon a decent plurality of English voters don’t care one way or the other, and think it’s one for Scotland.
I might be completely out of touch (after all I also don’t see why a British MP should resign if Scotland leaves) but I don’t think I am.
You will be if Sindyref2 ever happens, because the argument will then focus on the economic realities. After Brexit, no one will be satisfied with airy-fairy promises - we have all surely learned that, whether we are Leavers or Remainers. Breaking up unions is arduous, complex and very expensive, and we need to know what the promised outcome is, on the other side, if the split happens.
Scottish independence will - as any sane person knows - cause a massive recession in the UK (and possibly Depression and Default in Scotland) because of the enormous wrench involved, and Scotland's parlous fiscal position, and lack of an alternative currency, Central Bank, etc.
There won't be EU membership to fall back on for Scots. We are now out. Scotland will have to laboriously renegotiate EU re-entry (if it so wants) - with all the haggles over fishing, debt, Schengen, the English border, OMFG. Five-ten more years of nightmare.
Insouciant English persons like you act like Sindy would not impact rUK. Of course it would impact us. Our reputation for stability would be hammered, once again, perhaps even worse, as a third of the country breaks away. The pound would plummet. Many businesses would instantly flee Scotland, for the EU or London, causing extra chaos. The consequences would be grave, for all Britons.
You can't just wish all this difficult stuff away. After Brexit (and I speak as a Leaver) we all know it is true.
Of course, you might think - as a Scot or a Brit or a neutral - that Scottish independence is worth all of this grief, emotionally, democratically, patriotically. And I entirely respect that.
But this stuff will be the essence of any Sindyref2 campaign, if and when it happens.
Fair enough - you aren't vaxxed, and I withdraw my chortling.
I still think your policy is both naive and actively dangerous. A half-vaxxed UK will end up back in the pandemic toilet very quick, with a ruined economy, and in a position to help no-one, for a decade. Silly idea
Some confusion. There was a view in circulation that I was 85. Think I did once say that yonks ago but it was a joke. I'm a child of the sixties. Apologies to all those misled, especially if you have been treating me with kid gloves on account of my great age.
Anyway, a half-vaxxed UK is NOT my "policy". Hilton Valentine of The Animals has passed away today and I'm reminded of one of their best lyrics. "I'm just a soul whose intentions are good. Oh lord, please don't let me be misunderstood." Which is what has happened. People are just so suffused with pleasure in this moment of UK vaccine heaven combined with EU vaccine hell (and having just done Brexit too) that anything oblique to that is not appreciated. I get it. I totally do.
So I will not be raising this matter again until we've got our critical mass to substantially reopen done. I predict the perspective I've put will have more salience then and my end of these exchanges will age quite well.
Do you want to deny me my right to have a vaccine once the older generations are done getting theirs?
Don't tempt me, Philip.
Not tempting you, straight question. If you were in charge would you deny me my vaccine so it could go abroad.
Second question - Are you Toby Young?
2nd question ignored since it's puerile. 1st question, though, ok, that does deserve a straight answer.
Would I deny YOU, a hard working BRITISH taxpayer, YOUR vaccine so that it could go ABROAD to be used to benefit a FOREIGNER?
Maybe. It would depend on circumstances. Also my mood.
Not sure why you need to shout so much, but Shirley you can't be serious.
Comments
But also 170-400k Brits live in France, that could help it, plus tourists etc might too
I'm really not sure that telling European voters that they should shut up and be grateful for having almost no jabs to go around, because people in Chad have none at all, is going to work.
In related news,
1. Mark Hirst (look him up) is intending to bring a malicious prosecution case against the Crown Office (them again!)
following the judge’s ruling of ‘no case to answer’ in his prosecution.
2. The SNP National Executive Committee today voted to against strong legal reservations to ensure a BAME candidate would be placed as top of their regional list in half the regions, and a disabled candidate in the other half. Self-declaration of the candidate status to be accepted in each case without inquiry. Two committee members declared they would qualify as such and were seeking a nomination, but voted despite their self-interest, while one (white, male, able bodied) also declared he was seeking a nomination and recused himself. Result of the vote - a tie, change approved on the chair’s casting vote.
You couldn’t make it up, but it happened - see Wings for the details.
Was offered a huge range of options. This is a former Wickes Store.
He's the one who looks like a Welsh Dresser, Officer.
Now he asks for *humility*, after sending a tweet that was either monumentally tone deaf, or actively cruel.
Puke.
The EU has clearly decided to put on a gaudy, vulgar pantomime called Why The UK Did Brexit, with two performances a day, for three weeks over winter. Starring Ursula Ver Der Vaccines? And some German off Allo Allo Afrika.
1 – 12 November 2021? Not a chance a vote will happen.
https://www.atroposbooks.co.uk/atlas-of-britain-and-ireland-s-larger-moths
There's some discussion now as to whether such an atlas should be printed or just be released as an online database but there's a lot to be said for a nice shiny book after all the effort put in. Besides, it won't go in the Bodleian if it isn't printed...
If you and I are right, then why do you think Sturgeon has made this mad promise? It smacks of desperation, which makes me wonder if OGH might be wrong in the header. Perhaps she is in more trouble than we realise.
Every Scot with an IQ over 50 will know there is no chance of a vote this year. So this makes her look silly.
Anyway, a half-vaxxed UK is NOT my "policy". Hilton Valentine of The Animals has passed away today and I'm reminded of one of their best lyrics. "I'm just a soul whose intentions are good. Oh lord, please don't let me be misunderstood." Which is what has happened. People are just so suffused with pleasure in this moment of UK vaccine heaven combined with EU vaccine hell (and having just done Brexit too) that anything oblique to that is not appreciated. I get it. I totally do.
So I will not be raising this matter again until we've got our critical mass to substantially reopen done. I predict the perspective I've put will have more salience then and my end of these exchanges will age quite well.
If you haven't. Don't. It's not brandy. It's.... other.....
A bottle of moderately good Scotch would be a river of sweet gold compared to that.
So almost certainly the answer is yes.
The only difference of opinion is the well-documented one over the limited direct evidence of efficacy for the AZ jab in older recipients, but its safety hasn't been questioned and, from the layman's POV, the reasoning behind the MHRA approving it for use in all adults appears sound (and, indeed, the equivalent EU body has followed suit.)
Though Rene's Cafe would be in France once a month.
For twenty years we’ve been longing for the good old days of Yeltsin, where the only risk of nuclear war was him using his nuclear button as a bottle opener.
I am more-than-happy with MaxPB's analysis (fpt), which says that by early summer the UK should have so many vaccines we can be confident of immunising our entire adult population (and maybe teens, like Israel) and we can therefore afford to give jabs away to our less fortunate human brethren.
If Max is right (and he seems well informed) then of course we should take pains to hand them out. But to Africa, and south Asia, the 3rd world poor.
Fuck the EU, frankly. Apart from the Danes, the Portuguese, and maybe the Irish (but they seem to be doing OK anyway)
In France there are traveling distilleries that go round the countryside distilling whatever the locals want them to distil for a fairly small price. This means that the equivalent of home brew in France is a lot stronger, but not necessarily any better, than your aunt's elderberry wine.
Even if they have minimal efficacy it was worth a shot. But the best guess is that all the ones we have approved do some good things, maybe major good things.
I want to know if he wishes to deny me my vaccine?
It seems he's been sipping with Toby Young.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipAnwilMncI
My theory as to why they make it is either
- a prank on the roastbeefs
- a supply of Molotov cocktails for when the Germans try World Tour III
The other alternative is that it is a deliberate crime against humanity. Bit like the Nepalese "Everest" brand of Whisky.
Second question - Are you Toby Young?
Have you ever tried the cheapest wines in France? The sort that come in a plastic bottle at under a Euro? Not all French are the sophisticates we uncultured British take them for.
"I'm sorry, Nicola, but there is a global plague ravaging the world, millions are dying, we probably need to deal with that first, no?"
She will look stupid, he will look sensible. The reverse of the usual position.
Scots voted to stay in the UK in 2014 in a once in a generation referendum, they will not get another legal one while we Tories remain in power
The LHS is from Nov 20, and we have all had similar delays for supply reasons and are behind desired expectations.
Vodka and gin are on the up. Bourbon and scotch dominate. It is a real problem for the industry.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1059832/ranking-five-liquor-preferes-brandindex-france/
I have tried both, quite a lot.
Cue much hue and cry north of Hadrian's.
However I do think there is a pretty good chance she will be gone by 2022. The Salmond stuff seems to be attacking her from all angles. It doesn't look good. It is arguable that the only reason she has survived, so far, is because Scottish media is supine, and UK media is entirely distracted by Covid
From a slightly jaundiced soft politics perspective, I quite like the idea of the CTA being the first part of Europe to properly reopen. As a model of how cooperation *can* work. And because there are so many links - I have a dear friend in her 60s who has been courting an Irishman for a few years, and has not seen him since the Christmas before last now.
And SeanT would be able to go and live in a Clochan on Skellig Michael for the summer to make sure he is safe.
Yes, I have seen the plastic jug stuff. Not actually opened one, of course... Makes me think of this....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQWuTgIycPU
Given the vaccine rollout is due to be finished this year, are you suggesting it won't be possible to have a referendum next year? That would be pretty damning.
Over 600k people die every year typically in the UK.
https://twitter.com/SocialistVoice/status/1355900222900211714?s=20
https://twitter.com/neilbenny/status/1355856526829887491?s=20
It is nonsense, of course. But it is a measure of Sturgeon's desperation - I reckon - that she is allowing this bollocks to be voiced by senior Nats. She's in trouble.
There is a Tory majority of 80 at Westminster and will be until 2024 and Sturgeon can do nothing about it until then
https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/18983239.johnson-stands-ground-indyref2-suggesting-right-sort-gap-put-new-poll-beyond-2050/
"Flu levels have plummeted 95% to their lowest in 130 years, figures suggest"
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/flu-levels-lowest-130-years-190607933.html
Would I deny YOU, a hard working BRITISH taxpayer, YOUR vaccine so that it could go ABROAD to be used to benefit a FOREIGNER?
Maybe. It would depend on circumstances. Also my mood.
You seem not to understand two things which I think are true:
1) Many Brexit voters entirely understand where the SNP is coming from; and
2) I reckon a decent plurality of English voters don’t care one way or the other, and think it’s one for Scotland.
I might be completely out of touch (after all I also don’t see why a British MP should resign if Scotland leaves) but I don’t think I am.
Did you really just say that.
You should get yourself to bed.
When you get up look up the excess death numbers
Lockdown in order to save the lives of the elderly, despite the young largely being immune to the virus.
Pay for it (in order to increase compliance) by increasing the deficit (resulting in the young paying more in the future).
Come out of lockdown when the elderly are vaccinated.
Export vaccines destined for the young to other parts of the world.
The fifth step is presumably wonder why there is intense generational resentment towards the boomers.
Scottish independence will - as any sane person knows - cause a massive recession in the UK (and possibly Depression and Default in Scotland) because of the enormous wrench involved, and Scotland's parlous fiscal position, and lack of an alternative currency, Central Bank, etc.
There won't be EU membership to fall back on for Scots. We are now out. Scotland will have to laboriously renegotiate EU re-entry (if it so wants) - with all the haggles over fishing, debt, Schengen, the English border, OMFG. Five-ten more years of nightmare.
Insouciant English persons like you act like Sindy would not impact rUK. Of course it would impact us. Our reputation for stability would be hammered, once again, perhaps even worse, as a third of the country breaks away. The pound would plummet. Many businesses would instantly flee Scotland, for the EU or London, causing extra chaos. The consequences would be grave, for all Britons.
You can't just wish all this difficult stuff away. After Brexit (and I speak as a Leaver) we all know it is true.
Of course, you might think - as a Scot or a Brit or a neutral - that Scottish independence is worth all of this grief, emotionally, democratically, patriotically. And I entirely respect that.
But this stuff will be the essence of any Sindyref2 campaign, if and when it happens.
And with that, goodnight, PB, goodnight.