By the 1st June, the great bulk of the UK population - and all those at material risk of hospitalisation/death by Covid - will have an effective immunity. The rest following on shortly behind.
Unless we have a variant that sneaks in by the back door, Covid really should be managed by then. Cases, hospitalisation, deaths - a thing of the past.
Boris’ great strength as PM is the very thing that so irritates people like Max Hastings and a few others on here below. He’s a chameleon, perfectly capable of shifting his position for expediency. He’s a pragmatist.
Like Tony Blair before him, there’s almost no substance. A vague centrist social mush and that’s it. It’s to his brilliant advantage that he doesn’t believe in anything. He did the one thing required of him by the people who mattered: he delivered Brexit. They will remember that until they die and also that Starmer was pro EU and tried to get us to remain.
For sure Boris is both insecure and narcissistic but he has a great fiancee who is politically astute. She has shown a deft hand in getting rid of the malign influence of Cummings who utterly dragged down the Government. Cummings is an Opposition man never for government. He’s a reactionary and the last thing you need is one of those in power. He did his job and then, at last, was shown the door. Ever since then Boris and the Conservatives have been cut free from the chain and they are flying high.
Boris has a moral compass that doesn’t point true north but then since when did that matter in a PM? We are electing a politician. Not a vicar.
Blair was and is various things, some better than others, but not a chameleon. His defining characteristic is to make up his mind and go for it with formidable powers of persuasion - Clause 4, the election win, the NHS turnaround, Iraq, private provision of public service. He's sometimes very wrong IMO, and a weakness is an inability to realise it, but he's always interesting.
Boris has considerable charm as well as a ruthless streak, and the combination has got him where he is, but he is rarely interesting in the sense of having any particular ideas on what needs to be done. I agree that he's a pragmatist in the sense you describe, and that he's doing pretty well at the moment, but I'm not convinced that level of pragmatism is a durable asset. We shall see.
i think there is a mistaken assumption that we all want to be "led" . Leadership in this sense of having a vision is vastly overated and not really wanted deep down by the population. People basically just want to get on with their own lives in a fairly reasonable societal framework . CEO's often concentrate too much on this as well and start making grandiose statements about "one vision" or "our people" . People dont sign up to belong to a nation , they just are and want to not be subject to a "vision" by some individual or even party.
Years ago the liberal left knew this - for instance the Ecology Party (now the greens) deliberately did not have a leader .They then (mores the pity) went more mainstream socialist left and become all corporate
Since he and Carrie showed Cummings, Cain and Oliver the door, Boris has become markedly better. He has grown in stature: ending the petulant internal anarchism which was such an Opposition mindset and is now displaying gravitas and sangfroid. He is looking like a genuinely great Prime Minister. And he has parked his bus right on top of Labour’s lawn.
I just can’t see what Labour can do about this. I suspect they will be out of power for at least another decade.
Do they still have a football team in Hartlepool?
The owner is however dodgy and I don't expect them to survive for that long...
He asked about Hartlepool not Liverpool
The Monkey Hangers are third in the National League and so could make a welcome return to League 2, the foot of which they have adorned so often. They beat Barnet 1-0 on Saturday. Other teams' fans love them because it gives them something to say, as in 'Who hung the monkey?'
Matches against Darlington are traditionally lively affairs and they always receive a standing ovation at Brunton Park. Sadly all currently in different leagues.
Morning all. There is no route for Starmer that doesn’t go through Scotland. Above all other places, that’s where he needs to spend his efforts. He also needs to decide whether to prioritise young metropolitans or ‘red wall’ northern seats - the policies that appeal to these two groups are mutually exclusive.
The moron has already pissed off Scotland with his colonial master overtones. They have elected a donkey to the regional sub office leadership, there is only so much self harm they can do to themselves.
Things do look rather hopeless for Starmer in the short term, especially those regional figures. But one thing I'd been wondering about the reported exodus from London since the pandemic started: might this be seeding a new more Labour or Lib-Dem inclined strain of metropolitan types in the home counties? There are a few quite marginal Con-LD seats across Surrey and Hampshire for example where a handful of home working ex-Londoners in their 30s and 40s might swing things.
The same has been happening for years in the US with Texas, Arizona etc. picking up Dems migrating out of the cold.
Interesting article by Rajeev Syal in today's Guardian, under the heading 'Does Boris Johnson stir up team conflict to help make up his mind?"
A quote: 'Those who worked closely with him say Johnson encourages rows and tensions over policies as he considers all sides of the argument and figures out what he will do next.'
Where does one draw the line between stirring up conflict and enabling everyone to speak their views?
It's not a bad way to gather a lot of widely diverging input on a topic. That's one of the reasons I value this site so much. The vigorous debate airs aspects that would never occur to me, which is invaluable in helping me form my own views.
Interesting article by Rajeev Syal in today's Guardian, under the heading 'Does Boris Johnson stir up team conflict to help make up his mind?"
A quote: 'Those who worked closely with him say Johnson encourages rows and tensions over policies as he considers all sides of the argument and figures out what he will do next.'
Isn't that what previous eras would have called "cabinet discussions"?
Interesting article by Rajeev Syal in today's Guardian, under the heading 'Does Boris Johnson stir up team conflict to help make up his mind?"
A quote: 'Those who worked closely with him say Johnson encourages rows and tensions over policies as he considers all sides of the argument and figures out what he will do next.'
Where does one draw the line between stirring up conflict and enabling everyone to speak their views?
It's not a bad way to gather a lot of widely diverging input on a topic. That's one of the reasons I value this site so much. The vigorous debate airs aspects that would never occur to me, which is invaluable in helping me form my own views.
Good morning, everyone.
Completely agree .The worse thing in any management team is groupthink or waiting for the most senior person to say their view and then agree with them. It is one of Boris strong points that he does not want to be imposing his take on things all the time
Do we have the data to compare this with the Boris v Corbyn numbers in 2019?
The London numbers are all the more remarkable when you consider Boris was a reasonably well regarded Mayor of London who won two terms there. Looks like Starmer would have been a good candidate for that job himself. But PM? He's looking like the Labour IDS - a leader who won't get to fight an election.
‘Remarkable’ is code for Londoners having had the advantage (not that it was) of having seen the clown in action closer to hand?
Boris was the perfect front man for London during the Olympics.
And he is always going to be remembered more fondly than the current incumbent London Mayor. Khan has proved to be a blank page - without any crayons.
The olympics is the perfect example - the decisions and leg work were all done, and all he had to do was walk about waving a flag, looking mildly silly whilst not touching anything.
I agree that Khan is deeply unimpressive, even though he has mostly tried to focus on the day job.
It's hard to think of what "achievements" Khan has had in his day job. Can anyone think of any one policy that he has done that has made a meaningful impact on the positive side. As Felix side, his record on knife crime (and crime) is not exactly stellar.
He seems to be copying the style of the big US city mayors and not in a good way. Shy away from tough decisions, go for the photo op and hint at discrimination if people oppose him.
Things are pretty bad in Labour when the likes of Khan are wheeled out as an 'improvement' on Starmer 2 days after SLab choose Sanwar. Desperate stuff.
I make no judgment on whether Khan would be an improvement on Starmer, but I do recognise that Labour's centre of gravity is in London, and if you are looking for a third Labour leader in a row from London then he is an obvious choice.
Third in a row from London ?
It would be fourth in a row, surely. Miliband, Corbyn, Starmer, then Khan.
Because Miliband was born & brought up in London, & apart from 3 years of PPE at Oxford & 1 year at Harvard, worked all his life in London where he has his family home.
Until he accidentally discovered a vacant safe seat in the North.
Ed Miliband is as much a Doncastrian as I am.
That's true enough, but I didn't want to get bogged down into an argument about who qualified as a true Londoner, and then having people argue Corbyn didn't count as he was born in Wiltshire, or that someone else would count because they were a cultural Londoner in their politics, etc.
Since he and Carrie showed Cummings, Cain and Oliver the door, Boris has become markedly better. He has grown in stature: ending the petulant internal anarchism which was such an Opposition mindset and is now displaying gravitas and sangfroid. He is looking like a genuinely great Prime Minister. And he has parked his bus right on top of Labour’s lawn.
I just can’t see what Labour can do about this. I suspect they will be out of power for at least another decade.
Do they still have a football team in Hartlepool?
The owner is however dodgy and I don't expect them to survive for that long...
He asked about Hartlepool not Liverpool
The Monkey Hangers are third in the National League and so could make a welcome return to League 2, the foot of which they have adorned so often. They beat Barnet 1-0 on Saturday. Other teams' fans love them because it gives them something to say, as in 'Who hung the monkey?'
Matches against Darlington are traditionally lively affairs and they always receive a standing ovation at Brunton Park. Sadly all currently in different leagues.
I've been there once I think when both Leeds and Hartlepool were briefly in League One in 2008 or 2009. Their ground is a fucking tip. I remember the announcer taking pains to point out that he was also a driving instructor and then giving his phone number.
It'll be interesting to see how "tight" we run things on second doses, currently we've got an excess of 796,132 as noone should have received their second dose on a 12 week schedule yet. Around 440k look to have been given out on a 3 week schedule.
Boris’ great strength as PM is the very thing that so irritates people like Max Hastings and a few others on here below. He’s a chameleon, perfectly capable of shifting his position for expediency. He’s a pragmatist.
Like Tony Blair before him, there’s almost no substance. A vague centrist social mush and that’s it. It’s to his brilliant advantage that he doesn’t believe in anything. He did the one thing required of him by the people who mattered: he delivered Brexit. They will remember that until they die and also that Starmer was pro EU and tried to get us to remain.
For sure Boris is both insecure and narcissistic but he has a great fiancee who is politically astute. She has shown a deft hand in getting rid of the malign influence of Cummings who utterly dragged down the Government. Cummings is an Opposition man never for government. He’s a reactionary and the last thing you need is one of those in power. He did his job and then, at last, was shown the door. Ever since then Boris and the Conservatives have been cut free from the chain and they are flying high.
Boris has a moral compass that doesn’t point true north but then since when did that matter in a PM? We are electing a politician. Not a vicar.
Blair was and is various things, some better than others, but not a chameleon. His defining characteristic is to make up his mind and go for it with formidable powers of persuasion - Clause 4, the election win, the NHS turnaround, Iraq, private provision of public service. He's sometimes very wrong IMO, and a weakness is an inability to realise it, but he's always interesting.
Boris has considerable charm as well as a ruthless streak, and the combination has got him where he is, but he is rarely interesting in the sense of having any particular ideas on what needs to be done. I agree that he's a pragmatist in the sense you describe, and that he's doing pretty well at the moment, but I'm not convinced that level of pragmatism is a durable asset. We shall see.
Boris is someone most blokes would like to have a pint of beer with and many ladies would like to spend a night with. He’s extremely interesting.
Blair was a vacuous chameleon who, like Boris, was never a good public speaker. He has never said a single interesting thing and he shifted himself and his party for entirely pragmatic grounds.
Blair was a left winger once until he realised it would get him and Labour nowhere so he took the chameleon pathway, reinventing everything that they apparently stood for under a ‘New Labour’ banner. The clue is in the word ‘New.’
Blair’s so called formidable powers of persuasion that you cite were exactly what Boris did with Brexit and he equally ruthlessly expunged those from his cabinet who didn’t believe in Brexit. Boris ruthlessly and brilliantly delivered Brexit. Even though I doubt he actually believed in it. He and Blair are very similar. Perfect pragmatists. Equally empty of real ideology. Which is why Boris is starting to make an excellent PM.
A railway station, the cheery station master apologising to the puzzled girl for being too friendly "on a day like this", the smoke and steam as the train pulls out, the man appearing and the girl running to him, arms outstretched. "Daddy, my Daddy!" Then the perfect freeze frame as they embrace and smile at each other.
Has me in bits every time.
Also the prelude to "Up", Toy Story 3 in the furnace, Dumbo when his mother is taken away. And - yes - another railway station setting: the end of Brief Encounter when he puts his hand on her shoulder briefly and leaves while the annoying friend witters on and they are unable to say goodbye. The singing of La Marseillaise in Casablanca makes the lips tremble a bit too.
Boris’ great strength as PM is the very thing that so irritates people like Max Hastings and a few others on here below. He’s a chameleon, perfectly capable of shifting his position for expediency. He’s a pragmatist.
Like Tony Blair before him, there’s almost no substance. A vague centrist social mush and that’s it. It’s to his brilliant advantage that he doesn’t believe in anything. He did the one thing required of him by the people who mattered: he delivered Brexit. They will remember that until they die and also that Starmer was pro EU and tried to get us to remain.
For sure Boris is both insecure and narcissistic but he has a great fiancee who is politically astute. She has shown a deft hand in getting rid of the malign influence of Cummings who utterly dragged down the Government. Cummings is an Opposition man never for government. He’s a reactionary and the last thing you need is one of those in power. He did his job and then, at last, was shown the door. Ever since then Boris and the Conservatives have been cut free from the chain and they are flying high.
Boris has a moral compass that doesn’t point true north but then since when did that matter in a PM? We are electing a politician. Not a vicar.
Blair was and is various things, some better than others, but not a chameleon. His defining characteristic is to make up his mind and go for it with formidable powers of persuasion - Clause 4, the election win, the NHS turnaround, Iraq, private provision of public service. He's sometimes very wrong IMO, and a weakness is an inability to realise it, but he's always interesting.
Boris has considerable charm as well as a ruthless streak, and the combination has got him where he is, but he is rarely interesting in the sense of having any particular ideas on what needs to be done. I agree that he's a pragmatist in the sense you describe, and that he's doing pretty well at the moment, but I'm not convinced that level of pragmatism is a durable asset. We shall see.
i think there is a mistaken assumption that we all want to be "led" . Leadership in this sense of having a vision is vastly overated and not really wanted deep down by the population. People basically just want to get on with their own lives in a fairly reasonable societal framework . CEO's often concentrate too much on this as well and start making grandiose statements about "one vision" or "our people" . People dont sign up to belong to a nation , they just are and want to not be subject to a "vision" by some individual or even party.
Years ago the liberal left knew this - for instance the Ecology Party (now the greens) deliberately did not have a leader .They then (mores the pity) went more mainstream socialist left and become all corporate
It is possible that SKS's only possible approach is to assume that at some point the wheels will come off the Tories, leaving Labour (in coalition probably) as the only option - a version of what happened between 1992 and 1997.
It has yet to be seen if it is possible for Boris's wheels to come off; but, say, 3.5 million unemployed, 5% and rising base rate, stock market collapse, 10% inflation, the discovery that Covid isn't soluble, return to bad old days in NI, an unpopular and unwinnable war, Scotland, people turning anti Brexit, some tax rises and other unforeseen bad events are all possibles for the Boris in tray and could take the shine off.
I don't think SKS can be PM if Boris can continue with a passable 'good news' narrative - something he is a master of.
Boris’ great strength as PM is the very thing that so irritates people like Max Hastings and a few others on here below. He’s a chameleon, perfectly capable of shifting his position for expediency. He’s a pragmatist.
Like Tony Blair before him, there’s almost no substance. A vague centrist social mush and that’s it. It’s to his brilliant advantage that he doesn’t believe in anything. He did the one thing required of him by the people who mattered: he delivered Brexit. They will remember that until they die and also that Starmer was pro EU and tried to get us to remain.
For sure Boris is both insecure and narcissistic but he has a great fiancee who is politically astute. She has shown a deft hand in getting rid of the malign influence of Cummings who utterly dragged down the Government. Cummings is an Opposition man never for government. He’s a reactionary and the last thing you need is one of those in power. He did his job and then, at last, was shown the door. Ever since then Boris and the Conservatives have been cut free from the chain and they are flying high.
Boris has a moral compass that doesn’t point true north but then since when did that matter in a PM? We are electing a politician. Not a vicar.
Blair was and is various things, some better than others, but not a chameleon. His defining characteristic is to make up his mind and go for it with formidable powers of persuasion - Clause 4, the election win, the NHS turnaround, Iraq, private provision of public service. He's sometimes very wrong IMO, and a weakness is an inability to realise it, but he's always interesting.
Boris has considerable charm as well as a ruthless streak, and the combination has got him where he is, but he is rarely interesting in the sense of having any particular ideas on what needs to be done. I agree that he's a pragmatist in the sense you describe, and that he's doing pretty well at the moment, but I'm not convinced that level of pragmatism is a durable asset. We shall see.
i think there is a mistaken assumption that we all want to be "led" . Leadership in this sense of having a vision is vastly overated and not really wanted deep down by the population. People basically just want to get on with their own lives in a fairly reasonable societal framework . CEO's often concentrate too much on this as well and start making grandiose statements about "one vision" or "our people" . People dont sign up to belong to a nation , they just are and want to not be subject to a "vision" by some individual or even party.
Years ago the liberal left knew this - for instance the Ecology Party (now the greens) deliberately did not have a leader .They then (mores the pity) went more mainstream socialist left and become all corporate
It has been tricky for Labour in m the pandemic, they have, correctly, in my opinion, played it as the loyal opposition, criticising at the margins and supporting the overall effort. Britain has had a worse pandemic than many similar countries, but not too the extent that it is an extreme outlier and geography explains away some of it. The dither and delay line is a reasonable criticism though and should be played. I do not think our success thus far on vaccination can or should whitewash everything, it will claw back some of our outlier status but, with vaccination proceeding in Europe over the less stressed summer months, it will not remove it - we will not magically look like one of the best countries at the end of all this, even if the feel good of breaking COVID and resuming normal life earlier will, reasonably, give the government some bounce.
Labour should be about post-COVID, and they should be striking now. The Beveridge report, iirc, was 1942, after the worst days were over but long before the victory. If Starmer's Labour has developed a vision beyond airy words, now is the time for it. Timing wise @Gardenwalker 's excellent article yesterday demonstrated how it should be done.
The return of BAU is a risk for a government that has had 2 years of constant crisis - we emerge from our cocoons to find that, in practical everyday ways, Brexit is just a little bit shit, and more importantly wider life is just a little bit shit.
The temptation to latch on to or even concoct crisis after crisis after COVID might be strong for the government, but that too carries a danger: as with Trump Vs Biden you might just find the public is worn out with constant drama by 2024.
A railway station, the cheery station master apologising to the puzzled girl for being too friendly "on a day like this", the smoke and steam as the train pulls out, the man appearing and the girl running to him, arms outstretched. "Daddy, my Daddy!" Then the perfect freeze frame as they embrace and smile at each other.
Has me in bits every time.
Also the prelude to "Up", Toy Story 3 in the furnace, Dumbo when his mother is taken away. And - yes - another railway station setting: the end of Brief Encounter when he puts his hand on her shoulder briefly and leaves while the annoying friend witters on and they are unable to say goodbye. The singing of La Marseillaise in Casablanca makes the lips tremble a bit too.
Chariots of Fire - When Abrahams wins gold and Sam is punching his hat from the hotel . Oliver - When Nancy is murdered Memphis Belle - when the plane lands after struggling (for some reason dodgy plane landings get me emotional - same with the film about the Hudson landing ) I Tonya - When Tonya Harding mother insists on the posh ice dance school taking her on as a four year old despite her having no money to pay for lessons - Great spirit
2 Mar - Mercedes, Alpine launch 3 Mar - Aston Martin launch 4 Mar - Haas livery launch 5 Mar - Williams launch 10 Mar - Ferrari launch 12-14 Mar - Testing 19 Mar - Drive to Survive S3 28 Mar - IT'S RACE DAY!!!
Boris’ great strength as PM is the very thing that so irritates people like Max Hastings and a few others on here below. He’s a chameleon, perfectly capable of shifting his position for expediency. He’s a pragmatist.
Like Tony Blair before him, there’s almost no substance. A vague centrist social mush and that’s it. It’s to his brilliant advantage that he doesn’t believe in anything. He did the one thing required of him by the people who mattered: he delivered Brexit. They will remember that until they die and also that Starmer was pro EU and tried to get us to remain.
For sure Boris is both insecure and narcissistic but he has a great fiancee who is politically astute. She has shown a deft hand in getting rid of the malign influence of Cummings who utterly dragged down the Government. Cummings is an Opposition man never for government. He’s a reactionary and the last thing you need is one of those in power. He did his job and then, at last, was shown the door. Ever since then Boris and the Conservatives have been cut free from the chain and they are flying high.
Boris has a moral compass that doesn’t point true north but then since when did that matter in a PM? We are electing a politician. Not a vicar.
Blair was and is various things, some better than others, but not a chameleon. His defining characteristic is to make up his mind and go for it with formidable powers of persuasion - Clause 4, the election win, the NHS turnaround, Iraq, private provision of public service. He's sometimes very wrong IMO, and a weakness is an inability to realise it, but he's always interesting.
Boris has considerable charm as well as a ruthless streak, and the combination has got him where he is, but he is rarely interesting in the sense of having any particular ideas on what needs to be done. I agree that he's a pragmatist in the sense you describe, and that he's doing pretty well at the moment, but I'm not convinced that level of pragmatism is a durable asset. We shall see.
Boris is someone most blokes would like to have a pint of beer with and many ladies would like to spend a night with. He’s extremely interesting.
Blair was a vacuous chameleon who, like Boris, was never a good public speaker. He has never said a single interesting thing and he shifted himself and his party for entirely pragmatic grounds.
Blair was a left winger once until he realised it would get him and Labour nowhere so he took the chameleon pathway, reinventing everything that they apparently stood for under a ‘New Labour’ banner. The clue is in the word ‘New.’
Blair’s so called formidable powers of persuasion that you cite were exactly what Boris did with Brexit and he equally ruthlessly expunged those from his cabinet who didn’t believe in Brexit. Boris ruthlessly and brilliantly delivered Brexit. Even though I doubt he actually believed in it. He and Blair are very similar. Perfect pragmatists. Equally empty of real ideology. Which is why Boris is starting to make an excellent PM.
I can't imagine anything more draining than being cornered in a pub by a boorish oaf like Johnson.
At least with Blair, one could discuss the pros and cons of the War Crimes Tribunal, and why he is in the pub and not incarcerated in the Hague.
Since he and Carrie showed Cummings, Cain and Oliver the door, Boris has become markedly better. He has grown in stature: ending the petulant internal anarchism which was such an Opposition mindset and is now displaying gravitas and sangfroid. He is looking like a genuinely great Prime Minister. And he has parked his bus right on top of Labour’s lawn.
I just can’t see what Labour can do about this. I suspect they will be out of power for at least another decade.
Do they still have a football team in Hartlepool?
The owner is however dodgy and I don't expect them to survive for that long...
He asked about Hartlepool not Liverpool
The Monkey Hangers are third in the National League and so could make a welcome return to League 2, the foot of which they have adorned so often. They beat Barnet 1-0 on Saturday. Other teams' fans love them because it gives them something to say, as in 'Who hung the monkey?'
Matches against Darlington are traditionally lively affairs and they always receive a standing ovation at Brunton Park. Sadly all currently in different leagues.
I've been there once I think when both Leeds and Hartlepool were briefly in League One in 2008 or 2009. Their ground is a fucking tip. I remember the announcer taking pains to point out that he was also a driving instructor and then giving his phone number.
It is true that Hartlepool have spent time in League 1, but this is contrary to the natural order of things. Glad you enjoyed the visit; you capture the culture but not the sheer grace and charm of the Co Durham coast in general and Victoria Park in particular.
I think this is more in line with the way I see things at the moment, with Tories getting some credit and a vaccine bounce, as they are UK wide. Not sure that you can take seat predictions too seriously, as a % here and there will make a big difference. I expect, on these figures for Labour to get a couple more seats than predicted and hopefully Abolish the Senedd, run by people from outside Wales, far less.
The Mail seems to have got eyes on a PHE pre print study showing AZ has got >90% efficacy against hospitalisation after 3 weeks which is confirmation of the Scottish study. Lots of regulators across Europe are going to look extremely stupid.
Since he and Carrie showed Cummings, Cain and Oliver the door, Boris has become markedly better. He has grown in stature: ending the petulant internal anarchism which was such an Opposition mindset and is now displaying gravitas and sangfroid. He is looking like a genuinely great Prime Minister. And he has parked his bus right on top of Labour’s lawn.
I just can’t see what Labour can do about this. I suspect they will be out of power for at least another decade.
Do they still have a football team in Hartlepool?
The owner is however dodgy and I don't expect them to survive for that long...
He asked about Hartlepool not Liverpool
The Monkey Hangers are third in the National League and so could make a welcome return to League 2, the foot of which they have adorned so often. They beat Barnet 1-0 on Saturday. Other teams' fans love them because it gives them something to say, as in 'Who hung the monkey?'
Matches against Darlington are traditionally lively affairs and they always receive a standing ovation at Brunton Park. Sadly all currently in different leagues.
I've been there once I think when both Leeds and Hartlepool were briefly in League One in 2008 or 2009. Their ground is a fucking tip. I remember the announcer taking pains to point out that he was also a driving instructor and then giving his phone number.
It is true that Hartlepool have spent time in League 1, but this is contrary to the natural order of things. Glad you enjoyed the visit; you capture the culture but not the sheer grace and charm of the Co Durham coast in general and Victoria Park in particular.
The fans were pretty genial as I remember. It was nothing like a trip to St Andrew's or Boundary Park with 50p coins bouncing off your skull.
A railway station, the cheery station master apologising to the puzzled girl for being too friendly "on a day like this", the smoke and steam as the train pulls out, the man appearing and the girl running to him, arms outstretched. "Daddy, my Daddy!" Then the perfect freeze frame as they embrace and smile at each other.
Has me in bits every time.
Also the prelude to "Up", Toy Story 3 in the furnace, Dumbo when his mother is taken away. And - yes - another railway station setting: the end of Brief Encounter when he puts his hand on her shoulder briefly and leaves while the annoying friend witters on and they are unable to say goodbye. The singing of La Marseillaise in Casablanca makes the lips tremble a bit too.
Chariots of Fire - When Abrahams wins gold and Sam is punching his hat from the hotel . Oliver - When Nancy is murdered Memphis Belle - when the plane lands after struggling (for some reason dodgy plane landings get me emotional - same with the film about the Hudson landing ) I Tonya - When Tonya Harding mother insists on the posh ice dance school taking her on as a four year old despite her having no money to pay for lessons - Great spirit
I'm with Cyclefree here. "Daddy, my Daddy." Sob. An extra dimension has been added since I had daughters, the oldest of whom has a lot of the Jenny Agutters about her. And Up! My wife and I saw that with said oldest daughter safely ensconsed in her belly after one or two false starts. My God. Thank goodness for 3D glasses. And I'd also add 24 hour party people into the mix - the painful inevitability of Ian Curtis's suicide and Tony Wilson's reaction to it. The best emotional responses are always drawn from comedy. See also the closing scenes of the Royle Family in each of series 1 and 2 and the conclusion to the Office - the joy of each of which is that neither really felt like a narrative until the narrative you didn't know was happening was brought so successfully to a conclusion.
Morning all. There is no route for Starmer that doesn’t go through Scotland. Above all other places, that’s where he needs to spend his efforts. He also needs to decide whether to prioritise young metropolitans or ‘red wall’ northern seats - the policies that appeal to these two groups are mutually exclusive.
The moron has already pissed off Scotland with his colonial master overtones. They have elected a donkey to the regional sub office leadership, there is only so much self harm they can do to themselves.
And of course Scotland has Sturgeon who looks as if she is not very amicable to Salmond at present
It'll be interesting to see how "tight" we run things on second doses, currently we've got an excess of 796,132 as noone should have received their second dose on a 12 week schedule yet. Around 440k look to have been given out on a 3 week schedule.
My wife and I have our second doses next Sunday, six weeks after the first
What we have under Boris is a nominally Tory government which is not afraid of state intervention or of spending the cash in a very big way funded by borrowing. The traditional Labour cry of no more Tory austerity is likely to have very little resonance at the next election in the same way that Blair was able to capture so much Tory turf on law and order, public sector reform and perceived economic competence. This gives Labour the same definitional problems that Blair gave the Tories where they are driven off the middle ground just to be heard and to say something different.
What I expect that we will see in the budget, despite soaring deficits, is a generous package to see people out of lockdown and to kick start the recovery with a particular emphasis on spending in the north and midlands. We will see funds being set aside to kick start other industries in the way that the government did with the vaccines to create the jobs of tomorrow. The Hammond wing of the Tories, in so far as it still exists, are likely to be quietly appalled just as the Labour left were appalled by so much that Blair did but Boris won't care.
SKS will be left looking for small groups that have been overlooked or picking at the edges in a way that seems to endorse the broad thrust of government policy. It is not a good look and repeats the flawed approach he has taken to lockdown and the virus.
Sunak gave an interview yesterday claiming that the average rent for pubs and restaurants was between £14,000 and £20,000 pa. This is so far out, so wrong, as to be laughable. Who the hell is advising him when he comes out with bollocks like that? And why should we believe anything else he says when he or his team cannot do even the most basic research. This is a Chancellor who was taking advice from the discredited Professor Gupta last autumn, for heaven's sake.
Starmer needs a much much better Shadow Chancellor. I know I go against the PB grain but Sunak is overrated. A good Shadow would be picking on his mistakes. A Shadow would be asking how the economy is going to grow - let alone the areas the government claims to care about - when the government's main policy has been one which is harming many exporting businesses. But we have a Labour leadership scared of its own shadow and too many people thinking that a mini-consumer boom when we all go out again will pay the bills. It's naive and dangerous.
The Mail seems to have got eyes on a PHE pre print study showing AZ has got >90% efficacy against hospitalisation after 3 weeks which is confirmation of the Scottish study. Lots of regulators across Europe are going to look extremely stupid.
I get why you say that, but they were surely being cautious? The political leaders were the stupid ones. Macron, whichever German 'high up in the health ministry' etc
Things do look rather hopeless for Starmer in the short term, especially those regional figures. But one thing I'd been wondering about the reported exodus from London since the pandemic started: might this be seeding a new more Labour or Lib-Dem inclined strain of metropolitan types in the home counties? There are a few quite marginal Con-LD seats across Surrey and Hampshire for example where a handful of home working ex-Londoners in their 30s and 40s might swing things.
The same has been happening for years in the US with Texas, Arizona etc. picking up Dems migrating out of the cold.
Just as likely to be Tories leaving the London sinking ship. The trendy lefties hang on to the dream till the bitter end.
A railway station, the cheery station master apologising to the puzzled girl for being too friendly "on a day like this", the smoke and steam as the train pulls out, the man appearing and the girl running to him, arms outstretched. "Daddy, my Daddy!" Then the perfect freeze frame as they embrace and smile at each other.
Has me in bits every time.
Also the prelude to "Up", Toy Story 3 in the furnace, Dumbo when his mother is taken away. And - yes - another railway station setting: the end of Brief Encounter when he puts his hand on her shoulder briefly and leaves while the annoying friend witters on and they are unable to say goodbye. The singing of La Marseillaise in Casablanca makes the lips tremble a bit too.
I rarely watch films but that scene from the Railway Children is very emotional and always have that effect on me
It has been tricky for Labour in m the pandemic, they have, correctly, in my opinion, played it as the loyal opposition, criticising at the margins and supporting the overall effort. Britain has had a worse pandemic than many similar countries, but not too the extent that it is an extreme outlier and geography explains away some of it. The dither and delay line is a reasonable criticism though and should be played. I do not think our success thus far on vaccination can or should whitewash everything, it will claw back some of our outlier status but, with vaccination proceeding in Europe over the less stressed summer months, it will not remove it - we will not magically look like one of the best countries at the end of all this, even if the feel good of breaking COVID and resuming normal life earlier will, reasonably, give the government some bounce.
Labour should be about post-COVID, and they should be striking now. The Beveridge report, iirc, was 1942, after the worst days were over but long before the victory. If Starmer's Labour has developed a vision beyond airy words, now is the time for it. Timing wise @Gardenwalker 's excellent article yesterday demonstrated how it should be done.
The return of BAU is a risk for a government that has had 2 years of constant crisis - we emerge from our cocoons to find that, in practical everyday ways, Brexit is just a little bit shit, and more importantly wider life is just a little bit shit.
The temptation to latch on to or even concoct crisis after crisis after COVID might be strong for the government, but that too carries a danger: as with Trump Vs Biden you might just find the public is worn out with constant drama by 2024.
I think that's spot on, and is a much more balanced and realistic analysis than many on here. I would only add that once (if) the Covid crisis is over, the proportion of the population that have been benefiting from furlough and other aspects of Covid support may not be quite so positive about the government.
One slight disagreement: I agree Starmer has to set out a vision soon, but not quite 'now'. Because of Covid, it won't get air time. But if all goes according to plan, I certainly think he should be doing so by June, not far away, when we have returned to some sort of normality.
A railway station, the cheery station master apologising to the puzzled girl for being too friendly "on a day like this", the smoke and steam as the train pulls out, the man appearing and the girl running to him, arms outstretched. "Daddy, my Daddy!" Then the perfect freeze frame as they embrace and smile at each other.
Has me in bits every time.
Also the prelude to "Up", Toy Story 3 in the furnace, Dumbo when his mother is taken away. And - yes - another railway station setting: the end of Brief Encounter when he puts his hand on her shoulder briefly and leaves while the annoying friend witters on and they are unable to say goodbye. The singing of La Marseillaise in Casablanca makes the lips tremble a bit too.
A railway station, the cheery station master apologising to the puzzled girl for being too friendly "on a day like this", the smoke and steam as the train pulls out, the man appearing and the girl running to him, arms outstretched. "Daddy, my Daddy!" Then the perfect freeze frame as they embrace and smile at each other.
Has me in bits every time.
Also the prelude to "Up", Toy Story 3 in the furnace, Dumbo when his mother is taken away. And - yes - another railway station setting: the end of Brief Encounter when he puts his hand on her shoulder briefly and leaves while the annoying friend witters on and they are unable to say goodbye. The singing of La Marseillaise in Casablanca makes the lips tremble a bit too.
Chariots of Fire - When Abrahams wins gold and Sam is punching his hat from the hotel . Oliver - When Nancy is murdered Memphis Belle - when the plane lands after struggling (for some reason dodgy plane landings get me emotional - same with the film about the Hudson landing ) I Tonya - When Tonya Harding mother insists on the posh ice dance school taking her on as a four year old despite her having no money to pay for lessons - Great spirit
The way to the stars... has a tear jerker at the end..
The Mail seems to have got eyes on a PHE pre print study showing AZ has got >90% efficacy against hospitalisation after 3 weeks which is confirmation of the Scottish study. Lots of regulators across Europe are going to look extremely stupid.
I get why you say that, but they were surely being cautious? The political leaders were the stupid ones. Macron, whichever German 'high up in the health ministry' etc
The EMA approved it in full. No need for caution at that point.
German health authorities on Sunday designated the Moselle region of eastern France as a “high risk” zone because of the prevalence of coronavirus variants, and said tougher border restrictions would be imposed beginning Tuesday.
I think this is more in line with the way I see things at the moment, with Tories getting some credit and a vaccine bounce, as they are UK wide. Not sure that you can take seat predictions too seriously, as a % here and there will make a big difference. I expect, on these figures for Labour to get a couple more seats than predicted and hopefully Abolish the Senedd, run by people from outside Wales, far less.
The divergence between the 2 polls is very striking.
The Mail seems to have got eyes on a PHE pre print study showing AZ has got >90% efficacy against hospitalisation after 3 weeks which is confirmation of the Scottish study. Lots of regulators across Europe are going to look extremely stupid.
I get why you say that, but they were surely being cautious? The political leaders were the stupid ones. Macron, whichever German 'high up in the health ministry' etc
The stupidity was saying "No" rather than "Not yet". Macron et al are in a different class, of course.
In this, the presentation matters.
I have several examples via EU friends, of *doctors* taking their cue, as they see it, from the top and rubbishing AZN.
A railway station, the cheery station master apologising to the puzzled girl for being too friendly "on a day like this", the smoke and steam as the train pulls out, the man appearing and the girl running to him, arms outstretched. "Daddy, my Daddy!" Then the perfect freeze frame as they embrace and smile at each other.
Has me in bits every time.
Also the prelude to "Up", Toy Story 3 in the furnace, Dumbo when his mother is taken away. And - yes - another railway station setting: the end of Brief Encounter when he puts his hand on her shoulder briefly and leaves while the annoying friend witters on and they are unable to say goodbye. The singing of La Marseillaise in Casablanca makes the lips tremble a bit too.
I have a former colleague, just a few years younger than me, who would blub if you just said "Daddy, my daddy..." The single greatest moment of the joy of childhood reunion in cinema history?
Left field one here, but at the end of Stan and Ollie, when you learn that after Ollie's death Stan spent the next 7 years still writing scripts for the pair of them to perform. Pathos gets me every time.
And Field of Dreams. For guys, about saying "goodbye, I loved you" to your father. Rarely covered, but hellish powerful. Even with Kevin Costner. God knows how broken up I'd be if it was somebody sympathetic....
Had a friend who went on a blind date with a chap to see Gorillas in the Mist. By the end of the film, he had a hugely sodden shoulder she had sobbed into.
Several of us went to see The Piano when it came out. One our party ended the film inconsolable.
The Mail seems to have got eyes on a PHE pre print study showing AZ has got >90% efficacy against hospitalisation after 3 weeks which is confirmation of the Scottish study. Lots of regulators across Europe are going to look extremely stupid.
I get why you say that, but they were surely being cautious? The political leaders were the stupid ones. Macron, whichever German 'high up in the health ministry' etc
The EMA approved it in full. No need for caution at that point.
It doesn't really matter, but it did seem likely that the MHRA might approve AZ for under 65 at one point. I understand what you are saying, but it was a reasonable decision by other nations to do what they did. More data suggests it was the wrong decision, but I understand why it was made. The bigger question might be this - if nations in the EU don't trust the EMA, why does is exist at all?
German health authorities on Sunday designated the Moselle region of eastern France as a “high risk” zone because of the prevalence of coronavirus variants, and said tougher border restrictions would be imposed beginning Tuesday.
Boris’ great strength as PM is the very thing that so irritates people like Max Hastings and a few others on here below. He’s a chameleon, perfectly capable of shifting his position for expediency. He’s a pragmatist.
Like Tony Blair before him, there’s almost no substance. A vague centrist social mush and that’s it. It’s to his brilliant advantage that he doesn’t believe in anything. He did the one thing required of him by the people who mattered: he delivered Brexit. They will remember that until they die and also that Starmer was pro EU and tried to get us to remain.
For sure Boris is both insecure and narcissistic but he has a great fiancee who is politically astute. She has shown a deft hand in getting rid of the malign influence of Cummings who utterly dragged down the Government. Cummings is an Opposition man never for government. He’s a reactionary and the last thing you need is one of those in power. He did his job and then, at last, was shown the door. Ever since then Boris and the Conservatives have been cut free from the chain and they are flying high.
Boris has a moral compass that doesn’t point true north but then since when did that matter in a PM? We are electing a politician. Not a vicar.
Blair was and is various things, some better than others, but not a chameleon. His defining characteristic is to make up his mind and go for it with formidable powers of persuasion - Clause 4, the election win, the NHS turnaround, Iraq, private provision of public service. He's sometimes very wrong IMO, and a weakness is an inability to realise it, but he's always interesting.
Boris has considerable charm as well as a ruthless streak, and the combination has got him where he is, but he is rarely interesting in the sense of having any particular ideas on what needs to be done. I agree that he's a pragmatist in the sense you describe, and that he's doing pretty well at the moment, but I'm not convinced that level of pragmatism is a durable asset. We shall see.
Boris is someone most blokes would like to have a pint of beer with and many ladies would like to spend a night with. He’s extremely interesting.
It'll be interesting to see how "tight" we run things on second doses, currently we've got an excess of 796,132 as noone should have received their second dose on a 12 week schedule yet. Around 440k look to have been given out on a 3 week schedule.
My wife and I have our second doses next Sunday, six weeks after the first
Wales is going to fall behind on first doses if a 6 week gap is widespread there.
A railway station, the cheery station master apologising to the puzzled girl for being too friendly "on a day like this", the smoke and steam as the train pulls out, the man appearing and the girl running to him, arms outstretched. "Daddy, my Daddy!" Then the perfect freeze frame as they embrace and smile at each other.
Has me in bits every time.
Also the prelude to "Up", Toy Story 3 in the furnace, Dumbo when his mother is taken away. And - yes - another railway station setting: the end of Brief Encounter when he puts his hand on her shoulder briefly and leaves while the annoying friend witters on and they are unable to say goodbye. The singing of La Marseillaise in Casablanca makes the lips tremble a bit too.
Grave of the Fireflies. Pretty well the whole movie.
Since he and Carrie showed Cummings, Cain and Oliver the door, Boris has become markedly better. He has grown in stature: ending the petulant internal anarchism which was such an Opposition mindset and is now displaying gravitas and sangfroid. He is looking like a genuinely great Prime Minister. And he has parked his bus right on top of Labour’s lawn.
I just can’t see what Labour can do about this. I suspect they will be out of power for at least another decade.
Do they still have a football team in Hartlepool?
The owner is however dodgy and I don't expect them to survive for that long...
He asked about Hartlepool not Liverpool
The Monkey Hangers are third in the National League and so could make a welcome return to League 2, the foot of which they have adorned so often. They beat Barnet 1-0 on Saturday. Other teams' fans love them because it gives them something to say, as in 'Who hung the monkey?'
Matches against Darlington are traditionally lively affairs and they always receive a standing ovation at Brunton Park. Sadly all currently in different leagues.
I've been there once I think when both Leeds and Hartlepool were briefly in League One in 2008 or 2009. Their ground is a fucking tip. I remember the announcer taking pains to point out that he was also a driving instructor and then giving his phone number.
It is true that Hartlepool have spent time in League 1, but this is contrary to the natural order of things. Glad you enjoyed the visit; you capture the culture but not the sheer grace and charm of the Co Durham coast in general and Victoria Park in particular.
The fans were pretty genial as I remember. It was nothing like a trip to St Andrew's or Boundary Park with 50p coins bouncing off your skull.
The Mail seems to have got eyes on a PHE pre print study showing AZ has got >90% efficacy against hospitalisation after 3 weeks which is confirmation of the Scottish study. Lots of regulators across Europe are going to look extremely stupid.
I get why you say that, but they were surely being cautious? The political leaders were the stupid ones. Macron, whichever German 'high up in the health ministry' etc
The EMA approved it in full. No need for caution at that point.
It doesn't really matter, but it did seem likely that the MHRA might approve AZ for under 65 at one point. I understand what you are saying, but it was a reasonable decision by other nations to do what they did. More data suggests it was the wrong decision, but I understand why it was made. The bigger question might be this - if nations in the EU don't trust the EMA, why does is exist at all?
Living in Spain I do disagree. The shenanigans have only served to fuel the vaccine sceptics. In addition the slavish adherence to 'follow the Pfizer guidelines' which is still the case today means only half of the already small supply is actually being used to protect people. Teh absurd rule here only gives AZN to under 55s. Clusterfuck it was and clusterfuck it continues.
German health authorities on Sunday designated the Moselle region of eastern France as a “high risk” zone because of the prevalence of coronavirus variants, and said tougher border restrictions would be imposed beginning Tuesday.
What is it with politicians and giving these preannounced measures every single time ?
Always view something that'll be a bit messy round the edges but fast as inferior to something planned and coordinated but slower. The opposite is true for any measure. At least when Boris closed the schools with his u-turn he did it the next day rather than waiting a week.
Since he and Carrie showed Cummings, Cain and Oliver the door, Boris has become markedly better. He has grown in stature: ending the petulant internal anarchism which was such an Opposition mindset and is now displaying gravitas and sangfroid. He is looking like a genuinely great Prime Minister. And he has parked his bus right on top of Labour’s lawn.
I just can’t see what Labour can do about this. I suspect they will be out of power for at least another decade.
Do they still have a football team in Hartlepool?
The owner is however dodgy and I don't expect them to survive for that long...
He asked about Hartlepool not Liverpool
The Monkey Hangers are third in the National League and so could make a welcome return to League 2, the foot of which they have adorned so often. They beat Barnet 1-0 on Saturday. Other teams' fans love them because it gives them something to say, as in 'Who hung the monkey?'
Matches against Darlington are traditionally lively affairs and they always receive a standing ovation at Brunton Park. Sadly all currently in different leagues.
As I recall the abuse it was 'Who hanged the monkey, then?'
A railway station, the cheery station master apologising to the puzzled girl for being too friendly "on a day like this", the smoke and steam as the train pulls out, the man appearing and the girl running to him, arms outstretched. "Daddy, my Daddy!" Then the perfect freeze frame as they embrace and smile at each other.
Has me in bits every time.
Also the prelude to "Up", Toy Story 3 in the furnace, Dumbo when his mother is taken away. And - yes - another railway station setting: the end of Brief Encounter when he puts his hand on her shoulder briefly and leaves while the annoying friend witters on and they are unable to say goodbye. The singing of La Marseillaise in Casablanca makes the lips tremble a bit too.
Chariots of Fire - When Abrahams wins gold and Sam is punching his hat from the hotel . Oliver - When Nancy is murdered Memphis Belle - when the plane lands after struggling (for some reason dodgy plane landings get me emotional - same with the film about the Hudson landing ) I Tonya - When Tonya Harding mother insists on the posh ice dance school taking her on as a four year old despite her having no money to pay for lessons - Great spirit
The way to the stars... has a tear jerker at the end..
A railway station, the cheery station master apologising to the puzzled girl for being too friendly "on a day like this", the smoke and steam as the train pulls out, the man appearing and the girl running to him, arms outstretched. "Daddy, my Daddy!" Then the perfect freeze frame as they embrace and smile at each other.
Has me in bits every time.
Also the prelude to "Up", Toy Story 3 in the furnace, Dumbo when his mother is taken away. And - yes - another railway station setting: the end of Brief Encounter when he puts his hand on her shoulder briefly and leaves while the annoying friend witters on and they are unable to say goodbye. The singing of La Marseillaise in Casablanca makes the lips tremble a bit too.
I have a former colleague, just a few years younger than me, who would blub if you just said "Daddy, my daddy..." The single greatest moment of the joy of childhood reunion in cinema history?
Left field one here, but at the end of Stan and Ollie, when you learn that after Ollie's death Stan spent the next 7 years still writing scripts for the pair of them to perform. Pathos gets me every time.
And Field of Dreams. For guys, about saying "goodbye, I loved you" to your father. Rarely covered, but hellish powerful. Even with Kevin Costner. God knows how broken up I'd be if it was somebody sympathetic....
Had a friend who went on a blind date with a chap to see Gorillas in the Mist. By the end of the film, he had a hugely sodden shoulder she had sobbed into.
Several of us went to see The Piano when it came out. One our party ended the film inconsolable.
The last scene in "Now Voyager" when Paul Heinreid lights 2 cigarettes and asks Bette Davis "But will you be happy?" "Oh Jerry, why ask for the moon when we have the stars".
There is a film called Pan y Vin I saw as a child about a boy who loses his mother which had me weeping copiously throughout and for days after.
The Wizard of Oz by contrast had me shrieking in terror when they go into the forest, so much so that we had to leave the cinema. To this day I have never seen it the whole way through - and when my children saw it I had to leave the room as I could still remember the terror I felt.
I saw Shadowlands in the theatre with Nigel Hawthorne and that had me in tears too.
Whistle Down the Wind... the look on Hayley Mills face as Alan Bates stands, arms outstretched like the Jesus figure she believes him to be, before being led away... tearing up thinking about it now...
It'll be interesting to see how "tight" we run things on second doses, currently we've got an excess of 796,132 as noone should have received their second dose on a 12 week schedule yet. Around 440k look to have been given out on a 3 week schedule.
My wife and I have our second doses next Sunday, six weeks after the first
Wales is going to fall behind on first doses if a 6 week gap is widespread there.
Boris’ great strength as PM is the very thing that so irritates people like Max Hastings and a few others on here below. He’s a chameleon, perfectly capable of shifting his position for expediency. He’s a pragmatist.
Like Tony Blair before him, there’s almost no substance. A vague centrist social mush and that’s it. It’s to his brilliant advantage that he doesn’t believe in anything. He did the one thing required of him by the people who mattered: he delivered Brexit. They will remember that until they die and also that Starmer was pro EU and tried to get us to remain.
For sure Boris is both insecure and narcissistic but he has a great fiancee who is politically astute. She has shown a deft hand in getting rid of the malign influence of Cummings who utterly dragged down the Government. Cummings is an Opposition man never for government. He’s a reactionary and the last thing you need is one of those in power. He did his job and then, at last, was shown the door. Ever since then Boris and the Conservatives have been cut free from the chain and they are flying high.
Boris has a moral compass that doesn’t point true north but then since when did that matter in a PM? We are electing a politician. Not a vicar.
Blair was and is various things, some better than others, but not a chameleon. His defining characteristic is to make up his mind and go for it with formidable powers of persuasion - Clause 4, the election win, the NHS turnaround, Iraq, private provision of public service. He's sometimes very wrong IMO, and a weakness is an inability to realise it, but he's always interesting.
Boris has considerable charm as well as a ruthless streak, and the combination has got him where he is, but he is rarely interesting in the sense of having any particular ideas on what needs to be done. I agree that he's a pragmatist in the sense you describe, and that he's doing pretty well at the moment, but I'm not convinced that level of pragmatism is a durable asset. We shall see.
Boris is someone most blokes would like to have a pint of beer with and many ladies would like to spend a night with. He’s extremely interesting.
Sounds like a serious case of manlove there.
I don't know about the ladies preferences, but I think the board generally agreed a day or so ago that having a pint or two with Boris would probably mean having to pay for all of them.
The Mail seems to have got eyes on a PHE pre print study showing AZ has got >90% efficacy against hospitalisation after 3 weeks which is confirmation of the Scottish study. Lots of regulators across Europe are going to look extremely stupid.
I get why you say that, but they were surely being cautious? The political leaders were the stupid ones. Macron, whichever German 'high up in the health ministry' etc
The EMA approved it in full. No need for caution at that point.
It doesn't really matter, but it did seem likely that the MHRA might approve AZ for under 65 at one point. I understand what you are saying, but it was a reasonable decision by other nations to do what they did. More data suggests it was the wrong decision, but I understand why it was made. The bigger question might be this - if nations in the EU don't trust the EMA, why does is exist at all?
I don't understand it at all. The UK rollout showed it was safe and at that point the worst that could happen was efficacy slightly lower than hoped for in over 65s. If that turned out to be the case then other vaccines still exist and you're no worse off than before. Agreed on the latter point, why bother with the EMA if national regulators are going to second guess and reverse their decisions.
German health authorities on Sunday designated the Moselle region of eastern France as a “high risk” zone because of the prevalence of coronavirus variants, and said tougher border restrictions would be imposed beginning Tuesday.
I wonder if or when they'll finally twig that other countries reporting their excess Covid deaths as not due to Covid doesn't mean more have died here?
Boris’ great strength as PM is the very thing that so irritates people like Max Hastings and a few others on here below. He’s a chameleon, perfectly capable of shifting his position for expediency. He’s a pragmatist.
Like Tony Blair before him, there’s almost no substance. A vague centrist social mush and that’s it. It’s to his brilliant advantage that he doesn’t believe in anything. He did the one thing required of him by the people who mattered: he delivered Brexit. They will remember that until they die and also that Starmer was pro EU and tried to get us to remain.
For sure Boris is both insecure and narcissistic but he has a great fiancee who is politically astute. She has shown a deft hand in getting rid of the malign influence of Cummings who utterly dragged down the Government. Cummings is an Opposition man never for government. He’s a reactionary and the last thing you need is one of those in power. He did his job and then, at last, was shown the door. Ever since then Boris and the Conservatives have been cut free from the chain and they are flying high.
Boris has a moral compass that doesn’t point true north but then since when did that matter in a PM? We are electing a politician. Not a vicar.
Blair was and is various things, some better than others, but not a chameleon. His defining characteristic is to make up his mind and go for it with formidable powers of persuasion - Clause 4, the election win, the NHS turnaround, Iraq, private provision of public service. He's sometimes very wrong IMO, and a weakness is an inability to realise it, but he's always interesting.
Boris has considerable charm as well as a ruthless streak, and the combination has got him where he is, but he is rarely interesting in the sense of having any particular ideas on what needs to be done. I agree that he's a pragmatist in the sense you describe, and that he's doing pretty well at the moment, but I'm not convinced that level of pragmatism is a durable asset. We shall see.
Boris is someone most blokes would like to have a pint of beer with and many ladies would like to spend a night with. He’s extremely interesting.
Sounds like a serious case of manlove there.
I think it's he who must not be named at it again. I don't know anyone else who uses - 'obvs'.
A railway station, the cheery station master apologising to the puzzled girl for being too friendly "on a day like this", the smoke and steam as the train pulls out, the man appearing and the girl running to him, arms outstretched. "Daddy, my Daddy!" Then the perfect freeze frame as they embrace and smile at each other.
Has me in bits every time.
Also the prelude to "Up", Toy Story 3 in the furnace, Dumbo when his mother is taken away. And - yes - another railway station setting: the end of Brief Encounter when he puts his hand on her shoulder briefly and leaves while the annoying friend witters on and they are unable to say goodbye. The singing of La Marseillaise in Casablanca makes the lips tremble a bit too.
The endings of A.I. and Edward Scissorhands for me.
In some better news for Starmer, the same Opinium poll now has Labour narrowly ahead 44% to 42% in Tory gains in 2019. Labour also has a comfortable 49% to 33% lead in Labour holds in 2019.
Since he and Carrie showed Cummings, Cain and Oliver the door, Boris has become markedly better. He has grown in stature: ending the petulant internal anarchism which was such an Opposition mindset and is now displaying gravitas and sangfroid. He is looking like a genuinely great Prime Minister. And he has parked his bus right on top of Labour’s lawn.
I just can’t see what Labour can do about this. I suspect they will be out of power for at least another decade.
Do they still have a football team in Hartlepool?
The owner is however dodgy and I don't expect them to survive for that long...
He asked about Hartlepool not Liverpool
The Monkey Hangers are third in the National League and so could make a welcome return to League 2, the foot of which they have adorned so often. They beat Barnet 1-0 on Saturday. Other teams' fans love them because it gives them something to say, as in 'Who hung the monkey?'
Matches against Darlington are traditionally lively affairs and they always receive a standing ovation at Brunton Park. Sadly all currently in different leagues.
I've been there once I think when both Leeds and Hartlepool were briefly in League One in 2008 or 2009. Their ground is a fucking tip. I remember the announcer taking pains to point out that he was also a driving instructor and then giving his phone number.
It is true that Hartlepool have spent time in League 1, but this is contrary to the natural order of things. Glad you enjoyed the visit; you capture the culture but not the sheer grace and charm of the Co Durham coast in general and Victoria Park in particular.
The fans were pretty genial as I remember. It was nothing like a trip to St Andrew's or Boundary Park with 50p coins bouncing off your skull.
At least Victoria Park is still there. 'O my Feethams and my Highbury long ago.' To say nothing of Bradford Park Avenue.
Boris’ great strength as PM is the very thing that so irritates people like Max Hastings and a few others on here below. He’s a chameleon, perfectly capable of shifting his position for expediency. He’s a pragmatist.
Like Tony Blair before him, there’s almost no substance. A vague centrist social mush and that’s it. It’s to his brilliant advantage that he doesn’t believe in anything. He did the one thing required of him by the people who mattered: he delivered Brexit. They will remember that until they die and also that Starmer was pro EU and tried to get us to remain.
For sure Boris is both insecure and narcissistic but he has a great fiancee who is politically astute. She has shown a deft hand in getting rid of the malign influence of Cummings who utterly dragged down the Government. Cummings is an Opposition man never for government. He’s a reactionary and the last thing you need is one of those in power. He did his job and then, at last, was shown the door. Ever since then Boris and the Conservatives have been cut free from the chain and they are flying high.
Boris has a moral compass that doesn’t point true north but then since when did that matter in a PM? We are electing a politician. Not a vicar.
Blair was and is various things, some better than others, but not a chameleon. His defining characteristic is to make up his mind and go for it with formidable powers of persuasion - Clause 4, the election win, the NHS turnaround, Iraq, private provision of public service. He's sometimes very wrong IMO, and a weakness is an inability to realise it, but he's always interesting.
Boris has considerable charm as well as a ruthless streak, and the combination has got him where he is, but he is rarely interesting in the sense of having any particular ideas on what needs to be done. I agree that he's a pragmatist in the sense you describe, and that he's doing pretty well at the moment, but I'm not convinced that level of pragmatism is a durable asset. We shall see.
Boris is someone most blokes would like to have a pint of beer with and many ladies would like to spend a night with. He’s extremely interesting.
Blair was a vacuous chameleon who, like Boris, was never a good public speaker. He has never said a single interesting thing and he shifted himself and his party for entirely pragmatic grounds.
Blair was a left winger once until he realised it would get him and Labour nowhere so he took the chameleon pathway, reinventing everything that they apparently stood for under a ‘New Labour’ banner. The clue is in the word ‘New.’
Blair’s so called formidable powers of persuasion that you cite were exactly what Boris did with Brexit and he equally ruthlessly expunged those from his cabinet who didn’t believe in Brexit. Boris ruthlessly and brilliantly delivered Brexit. Even though I doubt he actually believed in it. He and Blair are very similar. Perfect pragmatists. Equally empty of real ideology. Which is why Boris is starting to make an excellent PM.
The importance of likeability cannot be understated. Can you think of any occasion over the last 30 years where the election wasn't one with the leader that voters would most like a drink with? Granted this measure falls down once you get back to the Thatcher era.
People who dislike Boris dislike him a lot. But it blinds them to how - politics aside - surprisingly liked he is. Most politicians are seen primarily as politicians and as vehicles for whichever set of policies they espouse - liking Jeremy Corbyn, for example, overlaps almost completely with liking Jeremy Corbyn's policies. This isn't true of Boris. In a world in which votes are cast for whichever party which has the leader which the voters like best, this is an advantage.
I think this is more in line with the way I see things at the moment, with Tories getting some credit and a vaccine bounce, as they are UK wide. Not sure that you can take seat predictions too seriously, as a % here and there will make a big difference. I expect, on these figures for Labour to get a couple more seats than predicted and hopefully Abolish the Senedd, run by people from outside Wales, far less.
Boris’ great strength as PM is the very thing that so irritates people like Max Hastings and a few others on here below. He’s a chameleon, perfectly capable of shifting his position for expediency. He’s a pragmatist.
Like Tony Blair before him, there’s almost no substance. A vague centrist social mush and that’s it. It’s to his brilliant advantage that he doesn’t believe in anything. He did the one thing required of him by the people who mattered: he delivered Brexit. They will remember that until they die and also that Starmer was pro EU and tried to get us to remain.
For sure Boris is both insecure and narcissistic but he has a great fiancee who is politically astute. She has shown a deft hand in getting rid of the malign influence of Cummings who utterly dragged down the Government. Cummings is an Opposition man never for government. He’s a reactionary and the last thing you need is one of those in power. He did his job and then, at last, was shown the door. Ever since then Boris and the Conservatives have been cut free from the chain and they are flying high.
Boris has a moral compass that doesn’t point true north but then since when did that matter in a PM? We are electing a politician. Not a vicar.
Blair was and is various things, some better than others, but not a chameleon. His defining characteristic is to make up his mind and go for it with formidable powers of persuasion - Clause 4, the election win, the NHS turnaround, Iraq, private provision of public service. He's sometimes very wrong IMO, and a weakness is an inability to realise it, but he's always interesting.
Boris has considerable charm as well as a ruthless streak, and the combination has got him where he is, but he is rarely interesting in the sense of having any particular ideas on what needs to be done. I agree that he's a pragmatist in the sense you describe, and that he's doing pretty well at the moment, but I'm not convinced that level of pragmatism is a durable asset. We shall see.
Boris is someone most blokes would like to have a pint of beer with and many ladies would like to spend a night with. He’s extremely interesting.
Blair was a vacuous chameleon who, like Boris, was never a good public speaker. He has never said a single interesting thing and he shifted himself and his party for entirely pragmatic grounds.
Blair was a left winger once until he realised it would get him and Labour nowhere so he took the chameleon pathway, reinventing everything that they apparently stood for under a ‘New Labour’ banner. The clue is in the word ‘New.’
Blair’s so called formidable powers of persuasion that you cite were exactly what Boris did with Brexit and he equally ruthlessly expunged those from his cabinet who didn’t believe in Brexit. Boris ruthlessly and brilliantly delivered Brexit. Even though I doubt he actually believed in it. He and Blair are very similar. Perfect pragmatists. Equally empty of real ideology. Which is why Boris is starting to make an excellent PM.
The importance of likeability cannot be understated. Can you think of any occasion over the last 30 years where the election wasn't one with the leader that voters would most like a drink with? Granted this measure falls down once you get back to the Thatcher era.
People who dislike Boris dislike him a lot. But it blinds them to how - politics aside - surprisingly liked he is. Most politicians are seen primarily as politicians and as vehicles for whichever set of policies they espouse - liking Jeremy Corbyn, for example, overlaps almost completely with liking Jeremy Corbyn's policies. This isn't true of Boris. In a world in which votes are cast for whichever party which has the leader which the voters like best, this is an advantage.
Can't imagine blokes in hard hats standing by a sign saying "WE ❤ KEIR"
The polling figures also show that Boris is clearly the most popular Tory leader in a generation in the North and Midlands but also ironically probably the least popular Tory leader in a generation in London, despite the fact he was Mayor of the city
The Mail seems to have got eyes on a PHE pre print study showing AZ has got >90% efficacy against hospitalisation after 3 weeks which is confirmation of the Scottish study. Lots of regulators across Europe are going to look extremely stupid.
Lots of regulators across Europe might have been lent on by their governments.
Boris’ great strength as PM is the very thing that so irritates people like Max Hastings and a few others on here below. He’s a chameleon, perfectly capable of shifting his position for expediency. He’s a pragmatist.
Like Tony Blair before him, there’s almost no substance. A vague centrist social mush and that’s it. It’s to his brilliant advantage that he doesn’t believe in anything. He did the one thing required of him by the people who mattered: he delivered Brexit. They will remember that until they die and also that Starmer was pro EU and tried to get us to remain.
For sure Boris is both insecure and narcissistic but he has a great fiancee who is politically astute. She has shown a deft hand in getting rid of the malign influence of Cummings who utterly dragged down the Government. Cummings is an Opposition man never for government. He’s a reactionary and the last thing you need is one of those in power. He did his job and then, at last, was shown the door. Ever since then Boris and the Conservatives have been cut free from the chain and they are flying high.
Boris has a moral compass that doesn’t point true north but then since when did that matter in a PM? We are electing a politician. Not a vicar.
Blair was and is various things, some better than others, but not a chameleon. His defining characteristic is to make up his mind and go for it with formidable powers of persuasion - Clause 4, the election win, the NHS turnaround, Iraq, private provision of public service. He's sometimes very wrong IMO, and a weakness is an inability to realise it, but he's always interesting.
Boris has considerable charm as well as a ruthless streak, and the combination has got him where he is, but he is rarely interesting in the sense of having any particular ideas on what needs to be done. I agree that he's a pragmatist in the sense you describe, and that he's doing pretty well at the moment, but I'm not convinced that level of pragmatism is a durable asset. We shall see.
Boris is someone most blokes would like to have a pint of beer with and many ladies would like to spend a night with. He’s extremely interesting.
Sounds like a serious case of manlove there.
I don't know about the ladies preferences, but I think the board generally agreed a day or so ago that having a pint or two with Boris would probably mean having to pay for all of them.
Quite likely a price to pay for the ladies, too. If history is a guide.
Since he and Carrie showed Cummings, Cain and Oliver the door, Boris has become markedly better. He has grown in stature: ending the petulant internal anarchism which was such an Opposition mindset and is now displaying gravitas and sangfroid. He is looking like a genuinely great Prime Minister. And he has parked his bus right on top of Labour’s lawn.
I just can’t see what Labour can do about this. I suspect they will be out of power for at least another decade.
Do they still have a football team in Hartlepool?
The owner is however dodgy and I don't expect them to survive for that long...
He asked about Hartlepool not Liverpool
The Monkey Hangers are third in the National League and so could make a welcome return to League 2, the foot of which they have adorned so often. They beat Barnet 1-0 on Saturday. Other teams' fans love them because it gives them something to say, as in 'Who hung the monkey?'
Matches against Darlington are traditionally lively affairs and they always receive a standing ovation at Brunton Park. Sadly all currently in different leagues.
I've been there once I think when both Leeds and Hartlepool were briefly in League One in 2008 or 2009. Their ground is a fucking tip. I remember the announcer taking pains to point out that he was also a driving instructor and then giving his phone number.
It is true that Hartlepool have spent time in League 1, but this is contrary to the natural order of things. Glad you enjoyed the visit; you capture the culture but not the sheer grace and charm of the Co Durham coast in general and Victoria Park in particular.
The fans were pretty genial as I remember. It was nothing like a trip to St Andrew's or Boundary Park with 50p coins bouncing off your skull.
At least Victoria Park is still there. 'O my Feethams and my Highbury long ago.' To say nothing of Bradford Park Avenue.
The new Colchester ground is good but soulless, according to those of my acquaintances who still go.
Interstellar. They get back to the ship after the Miller's Planet disaster. Coup realises how much time has gone past. Sits to watch all the video messages sent over the long years. Watches his son grow up. Get married. Have a child. Cutaways to an increasingly distressed Matthew McConaughey And then his daughter comes on, pronounces him dead. Screen cuts and with it the soundtrack.
I think this is more in line with the way I see things at the moment, with Tories getting some credit and a vaccine bounce, as they are UK wide. Not sure that you can take seat predictions too seriously, as a % here and there will make a big difference. I expect, on these figures for Labour to get a couple more seats than predicted and hopefully Abolish the Senedd, run by people from outside Wales, far less.
The divergence between the 2 polls is very striking.
No herding there! One is not going to be close....
A railway station, the cheery station master apologising to the puzzled girl for being too friendly "on a day like this", the smoke and steam as the train pulls out, the man appearing and the girl running to him, arms outstretched. "Daddy, my Daddy!" Then the perfect freeze frame as they embrace and smile at each other.
Has me in bits every time.
Also the prelude to "Up", Toy Story 3 in the furnace, Dumbo when his mother is taken away. And - yes - another railway station setting: the end of Brief Encounter when he puts his hand on her shoulder briefly and leaves while the annoying friend witters on and they are unable to say goodbye. The singing of La Marseillaise in Casablanca makes the lips tremble a bit too.
The endings of A.I. and Edward Scissorhands for me.
I was quite stangely affected by 28 Days Later.
I was living in London at the time and it was all in places I knew well. Provincial GF got slightly narked.
Boris’ great strength as PM is the very thing that so irritates people like Max Hastings and a few others on here below. He’s a chameleon, perfectly capable of shifting his position for expediency. He’s a pragmatist.
Like Tony Blair before him, there’s almost no substance. A vague centrist social mush and that’s it. It’s to his brilliant advantage that he doesn’t believe in anything. He did the one thing required of him by the people who mattered: he delivered Brexit. They will remember that until they die and also that Starmer was pro EU and tried to get us to remain.
For sure Boris is both insecure and narcissistic but he has a great fiancee who is politically astute. She has shown a deft hand in getting rid of the malign influence of Cummings who utterly dragged down the Government. Cummings is an Opposition man never for government. He’s a reactionary and the last thing you need is one of those in power. He did his job and then, at last, was shown the door. Ever since then Boris and the Conservatives have been cut free from the chain and they are flying high.
Boris has a moral compass that doesn’t point true north but then since when did that matter in a PM? We are electing a politician. Not a vicar.
Blair was and is various things, some better than others, but not a chameleon. His defining characteristic is to make up his mind and go for it with formidable powers of persuasion - Clause 4, the election win, the NHS turnaround, Iraq, private provision of public service. He's sometimes very wrong IMO, and a weakness is an inability to realise it, but he's always interesting.
Boris has considerable charm as well as a ruthless streak, and the combination has got him where he is, but he is rarely interesting in the sense of having any particular ideas on what needs to be done. I agree that he's a pragmatist in the sense you describe, and that he's doing pretty well at the moment, but I'm not convinced that level of pragmatism is a durable asset. We shall see.
Boris is someone most blokes would like to have a pint of beer with and many ladies would like to spend a night with. He’s extremely interesting.
Sounds like a serious case of manlove there.
I don't know about the ladies preferences, but I think the board generally agreed a day or so ago that having a pint or two with Boris would probably mean having to pay for all of them.
I'd rather have a cup of tea than get frisky with Boris. Overweight with bad teeth and gives the impression he doesn't wash. It'd be like being pawed over by a boiled potato.
And I've met him. Don't see the charm personally - but that's because I've met and interviewed lots like him so I've rather being vaccinated against the so-called charms of inveterate and amusing liars.
Wales has an average 47 day gap between jabs right now. Noone's really noticed it yet because they're in the lead but if Big G's appointment time is typical, and the data suggests it is then Wales will start to run into an issue with 1st jab numbers relative to the rest of the UK in March.
About two-thirds of the children had taken part in an earlier survey, enabling us to compare their behaviour before and after lockdown. Of this sub-group, 69% had been getting the recommended daily average of at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity before lockdown, but once it began, only 29% - less than half - met that target. And when people fill in questionnaires, they are likely to overestimate physical activity rather than underestimate it.
Children from poorer and ethnic minority backgrounds (and there is a big overlap between the two groups in Bradford) were particularly likely to be getting insufficient exercise.
The polling figures also show that Boris is clearly the most popular Tory leader in a generation in the North and Midlands but also ironically probably the least popular Tory leader in a generation in London, despite the fact he was Mayor of the city
I wonder if or when they'll finally twig that other countries reporting their excess Covid deaths as not due to Covid doesn't mean more have died here?
I was talking about this with a friend of mine yesterday. He expressed bafflement that - apparently uniquely in the world - the British state appears to have been at pains to make its handling of the pandemic appear as bad as possible. I don't know, yet, exactly how bad things have been here compared to elsewhere. But we seem to have been at pains to report as many deaths as possible, as many positives as possible in a way that other countries haven't been. I'm not suggesting everyone else is outright lying, but few other countries seem as keen to make things look as bad as possible as we do. Is this a deliberate policy to try and encourage people to follow lockdown restrictions?
The Mail seems to have got eyes on a PHE pre print study showing AZ has got >90% efficacy against hospitalisation after 3 weeks which is confirmation of the Scottish study. Lots of regulators across Europe are going to look extremely stupid.
Lots of regulators across Europe might have been lent on by their governments.
Lots of governments have put their elderly at greater risk of hospitalisation or even death. The sooner they recant, the less those deaths will be.
I've laid Sunak at an average of 7/2 today, for about £200.
I reckon now's the time to do it. The shine will come off him after the budget, as the decisions he'll be forced to make will polarise opinion of him in the party, and start to tarnish him. I also think there are risks with inflation and the bond markets that could really damage him come 2022/2023, which he isn't in control of.
Full disclosure: I've done something similar with Starmer too, who I also think is too short at 9/2.
About two-thirds of the children had taken part in an earlier survey, enabling us to compare their behaviour before and after lockdown. Of this sub-group, 69% had been getting the recommended daily average of at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity before lockdown, but once it began, only 29% - less than half - met that target. And when people fill in questionnaires, they are likely to overestimate physical activity rather than underestimate it.
Children from poorer and ethnic minority backgrounds (and there is a big overlap between the two groups in Bradford) were particularly likely to be getting insufficient exercise.
I wonder how much this pattern is repeated in adults leading to higher risks from covid.
If I hadn't built my pain cave, I would never have got an hour of exercise a day...and I am obviously very comfortably off. If I lived in a small flat, no chance, especially during December / January.
The polling figures also show that Boris is clearly the most popular Tory leader in a generation in the North and Midlands but also ironically probably the least popular Tory leader in a generation in London, despite the fact he was Mayor of the city
BoJo is good at making himself likeable on first encounter, but bad at maintaining relationships?
About two-thirds of the children had taken part in an earlier survey, enabling us to compare their behaviour before and after lockdown. Of this sub-group, 69% had been getting the recommended daily average of at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity before lockdown, but once it began, only 29% - less than half - met that target. And when people fill in questionnaires, they are likely to overestimate physical activity rather than underestimate it.
Children from poorer and ethnic minority backgrounds (and there is a big overlap between the two groups in Bradford) were particularly likely to be getting insufficient exercise.
German health authorities on Sunday designated the Moselle region of eastern France as a “high risk” zone because of the prevalence of coronavirus variants, and said tougher border restrictions would be imposed beginning Tuesday.
Do you think it wise giving so much notice of the imposition of controls?
Do you think it might be busier today as people seek to avoid them tomorrow?
Probably not much busier. It's just as likely that people who need to cross the border later in the week will simply go via Luxemburg or Bas Rhin rather than last-minute reschedule to cross the border today.
The polling figures also show that Boris is clearly the most popular Tory leader in a generation in the North and Midlands but also ironically probably the least popular Tory leader in a generation in London, despite the fact he was Mayor of the city
Wales has an average 47 day gap between jabs right now. Noone's really noticed it yet because they're in the lead but if Big G's appointment time is typical, and the data suggests it is then Wales will start to run into an issue with 1st jab numbers relative to the rest of the UK in March.
Just to confirm
First vaccination was Saturday 23rd January
Confirmed second is Sunday 7th March
Total 43 days
Both in the Venue Cymru Theatre and Conference Centre on the Promenade in Llandudno
The polling figures also show that Boris is clearly the most popular Tory leader in a generation in the North and Midlands but also ironically probably the least popular Tory leader in a generation in London, despite the fact he was Mayor of the city
BoJo is good at making himself likeable on first encounter, but bad at maintaining relationships?
It is a little noticed fact that the Tories under Boris got an even lower voteshare in London in 2019 at just 32% than the 34.5% Howard got in 2005 and only got 21 seats in the capital to the 28 Howard won, even as Boris achieved the highest Tory voteshare UK wide since 1979 in the same election at 43.6% and the biggest Tory majority since 1987 at 80
But PM? [Keir Starmer] is looking like the Labour IDS - a leader who won't get to fight an election.
What an interesting piece from Mr Smithson. And that’s also an interesting comparison with IDS. I certainly think KS has something of the John Smith about him. Capable, decent, solid.
And uninspiring.
John Smith was also thoroughly Scottish so he had a massive advantage over Starmer there: he could attract Labour support where it was needed.
I can’t see Labour winning a General Election or even (to pick up one of Mr Smithson’s previous posts) preventing an outright Conservative win.
What on earth do Labour do about this? They have leader who seems decent but who is electorally unattractive and uninspiring.
I wpould not put Starmer in the same league as John Smith - he's barely in the same universe.
The main thing PB Tories want in a Labour leader is that he (for it is a he, yes) has been out of office for at least a couple of decades. Dead is best, of course.
Hence all the bollocks now about "Kinnock's bravery", when at the time you would have been behind the Sun's light bulb.
Reflecting on @Gardenwalker 's proposal that we all be allowed to be legally drugged up with Ganja.
I'd want a legally regulated production side. ISTM that Holland may have the worst of both worlds - 5g is allowed on your person by blinf ee enforcement, but it cannot be grown legally.
I like the idea of UK having a cannabis surplus in our trade balance.
Colorado makes 100s of millions in taxes, and Canada's export trade is nearly billions.
I wonder if or when they'll finally twig that other countries reporting their excess Covid deaths as not due to Covid doesn't mean more have died here?
I was talking about this with a friend of mine yesterday. He expressed bafflement that - apparently uniquely in the world - the British state appears to have been at pains to make its handling of the pandemic appear as bad as possible. I don't know, yet, exactly how bad things have been here compared to elsewhere. But we seem to have been at pains to report as many deaths as possible, as many positives as possible in a way that other countries haven't been. I'm not suggesting everyone else is outright lying, but few other countries seem as keen to make things look as bad as possible as we do. Is this a deliberate policy to try and encourage people to follow lockdown restrictions?
Hopefully it is because we are doing the right thing and not manipulating the figures. If it is then credit for not misrepresenting stuff. There was an interesting topic on 'More or Less' a few weeks ago on the UK drop in GDP being greater than elsewhere. In fact we were actually mid table if compared like for like, but our reporting was more accurate. Not good for headlines, but the right thing to do.
Comments
Unless we have a variant that sneaks in by the back door, Covid really should be managed by then. Cases, hospitalisation, deaths - a thing of the past.
Fingers crossed, eh?
Years ago the liberal left knew this - for instance the Ecology Party (now the greens) deliberately did not have a leader .They then (mores the pity) went more mainstream socialist left and become all corporate
Matches against Darlington are traditionally lively affairs and they always receive a standing ovation at Brunton Park. Sadly all currently in different leagues.
The same has been happening for years in the US with Texas, Arizona etc. picking up Dems migrating out of the cold.
It's not a bad way to gather a lot of widely diverging input on a topic. That's one of the reasons I value this site so much. The vigorous debate airs aspects that would never occur to me, which is invaluable in helping me form my own views.
Good morning, everyone.
Blair was a vacuous chameleon who, like Boris, was never a good public speaker. He has never said a single interesting thing and he shifted himself and his party for entirely pragmatic grounds.
Blair was a left winger once until he realised it would get him and Labour nowhere so he took the chameleon pathway, reinventing everything that they apparently stood for under a ‘New Labour’ banner. The clue is in the word ‘New.’
Blair’s so called formidable powers of persuasion that you cite were exactly what Boris did with Brexit and he equally ruthlessly expunged those from his cabinet who didn’t believe in Brexit. Boris ruthlessly and brilliantly delivered Brexit. Even though I doubt he actually believed in it. He and Blair are very similar. Perfect pragmatists. Equally empty of real ideology. Which is why Boris is starting to make an excellent PM.
A railway station, the cheery station master apologising to the puzzled girl for being too friendly "on a day like this", the smoke and steam as the train pulls out, the man appearing and the girl running to him, arms outstretched. "Daddy, my Daddy!" Then the perfect freeze frame as they embrace and smile at each other.
Has me in bits every time.
Also the prelude to "Up", Toy Story 3 in the furnace, Dumbo when his mother is taken away. And - yes - another railway station setting: the end of Brief Encounter when he puts his hand on her shoulder briefly and leaves while the annoying friend witters on and they are unable to say goodbye. The singing of La Marseillaise in Casablanca makes the lips tremble a bit too.
It has yet to be seen if it is possible for Boris's wheels to come off; but, say, 3.5 million unemployed, 5% and rising base rate, stock market collapse, 10% inflation, the discovery that Covid isn't soluble, return to bad old days in NI, an unpopular and unwinnable war, Scotland, people turning anti Brexit, some tax rises and other unforeseen bad events are all possibles for the Boris in tray and could take the shine off.
I don't think SKS can be PM if Boris can continue with a passable 'good news' narrative - something he is a master of.
Labour should be about post-COVID, and they should be striking now. The Beveridge report, iirc, was 1942, after the worst days were over but long before the victory. If Starmer's Labour has developed a vision beyond airy words, now is the time for it. Timing wise @Gardenwalker 's excellent article yesterday demonstrated how it should be done.
The return of BAU is a risk for a government that has had 2 years of constant crisis - we emerge from our cocoons to find that, in practical everyday ways, Brexit is just a little bit shit, and more importantly wider life is just a little bit shit.
The temptation to latch on to or even concoct crisis after crisis after COVID might be strong for the government, but that too carries a danger: as with Trump Vs Biden you might just find the public is worn out with constant drama by 2024.
Oliver - When Nancy is murdered
Memphis Belle - when the plane lands after struggling (for some reason dodgy plane landings get me emotional - same with the film about the Hudson landing )
I Tonya - When Tonya Harding mother insists on the posh ice dance school taking her on as a four year old despite her having no money to pay for lessons - Great spirit
F1 (from the official Twitter account):
THIS MONTH:
2 Mar - Mercedes, Alpine launch
3 Mar - Aston Martin launch
4 Mar - Haas livery launch
5 Mar - Williams launch
10 Mar - Ferrari launch
12-14 Mar - Testing
19 Mar - Drive to Survive S3
28 Mar - IT'S RACE DAY!!!
At least with Blair, one could discuss the pros and cons of the War Crimes Tribunal, and why he is in the pub and not incarcerated in the Hague.
https://twitter.com/BritainElects/status/1366312905927397377?s=19
I think this is more in line with the way I see things at the moment, with Tories getting some credit and a vaccine bounce, as they are UK wide.
Not sure that you can take seat predictions too seriously, as a % here and there will make a big difference. I expect, on these figures for Labour to get a couple more seats than predicted and hopefully Abolish the Senedd, run by people from outside Wales, far less.
https://twitter.com/CeylanWrites/status/1366266273743667200?s=20
And Up! My wife and I saw that with said oldest daughter safely ensconsed in her belly after one or two false starts. My God. Thank goodness for 3D glasses.
And I'd also add 24 hour party people into the mix - the painful inevitability of Ian Curtis's suicide and Tony Wilson's reaction to it.
The best emotional responses are always drawn from comedy. See also the closing scenes of the Royle Family in each of series 1 and 2 and the conclusion to the Office - the joy of each of which is that neither really felt like a narrative until the narrative you didn't know was happening was brought so successfully to a conclusion.
Starmer needs a much much better Shadow Chancellor. I know I go against the PB grain but Sunak is overrated. A good Shadow would be picking on his mistakes. A Shadow would be asking how the economy is going to grow - let alone the areas the government claims to care about - when the government's main policy has been one which is harming many exporting businesses. But we have a Labour leadership scared of its own shadow and too many people thinking that a mini-consumer boom when we all go out again will pay the bills. It's naive and dangerous.
https://twitter.com/HugoGye/status/1366308603511078912?s=19
One slight disagreement: I agree Starmer has to set out a vision soon, but not quite 'now'. Because of Covid, it won't get air time. But if all goes according to plan, I certainly think he should be doing so by June, not far away, when we have returned to some sort of normality.
https://www.politico.eu/article/germany-to-tighten-controls-at-french-border/
I guess the border will be busy today!
In this, the presentation matters.
I have several examples via EU friends, of *doctors* taking their cue, as they see it, from the top and rubbishing AZN.
Now they have to turn that whole ship round.
Left field one here, but at the end of Stan and Ollie, when you learn that after Ollie's death Stan spent the next 7 years still writing scripts for the pair of them to perform. Pathos gets me every time.
And Field of Dreams. For guys, about saying "goodbye, I loved you" to your father. Rarely covered, but hellish powerful. Even with Kevin Costner. God knows how broken up I'd be if it was somebody sympathetic....
Had a friend who went on a blind date with a chap to see Gorillas in the Mist. By the end of the film, he had a hugely sodden shoulder she had sobbed into.
Several of us went to see The Piano when it came out. One our party ended the film inconsolable.
Pretty well the whole movie.
Always view something that'll be a bit messy round the edges but fast as inferior to something planned and coordinated but slower.
The opposite is true for any measure. At least when Boris closed the schools with his u-turn he did it the next day rather than waiting a week.
There is a film called Pan y Vin I saw as a child about a boy who loses his mother which had me weeping copiously throughout and for days after.
The Wizard of Oz by contrast had me shrieking in terror when they go into the forest, so much so that we had to leave the cinema. To this day I have never seen it the whole way through - and when my children saw it I had to leave the room as I could still remember the terror I felt.
I saw Shadowlands in the theatre with Nigel Hawthorne and that had me in tears too.
Do you think it might be busier today as people seek to avoid them tomorrow?
I wonder if or when they'll finally twig that other countries reporting their excess Covid deaths as not due to Covid doesn't mean more have died here?
The Tories have a big lead still in Tory holds in 2019, 51% to 33% and the Tories lead in all seats Labour have lost since 2005 by 45% to 41%
https://www.opinium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/VI-24-02-2021-Observer-Data-Tables-FINAL.xlsx
'O my Feethams and my Highbury long ago.'
To say nothing of Bradford Park Avenue.
People who dislike Boris dislike him a lot. But it blinds them to how - politics aside - surprisingly liked he is. Most politicians are seen primarily as politicians and as vehicles for whichever set of policies they espouse - liking Jeremy Corbyn, for example, overlaps almost completely with liking Jeremy Corbyn's policies. This isn't true of Boris. In a world in which votes are cast for whichever party which has the leader which the voters like best, this is an advantage.
Damn. Gets me every time.
I was living in London at the time and it was all in places I knew well. Provincial GF got slightly narked.
And I've met him. Don't see the charm personally - but that's because I've met and interviewed lots like him so I've rather being vaccinated against the so-called charms of inveterate and amusing liars.
Children from poorer and ethnic minority backgrounds (and there is a big overlap between the two groups in Bradford) were particularly likely to be getting insufficient exercise.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-56222926
I wonder how much this pattern is repeated in adults leading to higher risks from covid.
I don't know, yet, exactly how bad things have been here compared to elsewhere. But we seem to have been at pains to report as many deaths as possible, as many positives as possible in a way that other countries haven't been. I'm not suggesting everyone else is outright lying, but few other countries seem as keen to make things look as bad as possible as we do. Is this a deliberate policy to try and encourage people to follow lockdown restrictions?
I've laid Sunak at an average of 7/2 today, for about £200.
I reckon now's the time to do it. The shine will come off him after the budget, as the decisions he'll be forced to make will polarise opinion of him in the party, and start to tarnish him. I also think there are risks with inflation and the bond markets that could really damage him come 2022/2023, which he isn't in control of.
Full disclosure: I've done something similar with Starmer too, who I also think is too short at 9/2.
First vaccination was Saturday 23rd January
Confirmed second is Sunday 7th March
Total 43 days
Both in the Venue Cymru Theatre and Conference Centre on the Promenade in Llandudno
Hence all the bollocks now about "Kinnock's bravery", when at the time you would have been behind the Sun's light bulb.
PS This is not an endorsement of Neil Kinnock.
I'd want a legally regulated production side. ISTM that Holland may have the worst of both worlds - 5g is allowed on your person by blinf ee enforcement, but it cannot be grown legally.
I like the idea of UK having a cannabis surplus in our trade balance.
Colorado makes 100s of millions in taxes, and Canada's export trade is nearly billions.
Lots of possibilities if properly regulated.