'The Scottish Tory leader said people should “look at their individual constituency and vote for the strongest candidate” capable of defeating the SNP, even if that was not a Tory.
The Tory leader stressed that it was crucial for pro-Union supporters to back his party with their regional list votes, arguing this could prevent an SNP majority.'
SLab and SLDs: We totes agree that people should vote SLab/SLD. Thanks Doogie!
I'm quite a fan of the politicsforall twitter handle (and it's rare for me to praise anything on twitter except Hugo Gye) but sometimes I think that account was created by someone cunning at Tory HQ to rebalance the left wing news slant on Twitter. No chance was it created by some mysterious teenager as suggested. Election Maps is run by a teenager and you can tell.
It has a very clear centre-right bias for me. Quite remarkable how it grew so quickly, and gained so much legitimacy out of nowhere...
I am very suspicious of any of these out of nowhere accounts. The only thing is he asks for money under the guise of being a poor student. If whoever is behind this isn't, then they will be committing fraud will they not?
Normally the website / accounts that are "professionally" backed don't go near such things.
That doesn't mean this "poor student" isn't well connected. It could be that like Greta, mummy and daddy know all the right people.
I'm not sure Sturgeon will hold it. She knows that a botched wildcat referendum is a probable and potential disaster. It will be boycotted by unionists, ignored by Westminster, and then what? Her party looks inept and clueless and the idea of a THIRD referendum recedes further into the distance
If Salmond holds the balance of power, however, he might be able to force her. But the polls show Alba is cratering
She gets her mandate, demands a referendum, is refused, and thus gets a wonderful new grievance to exploit. Much better than actually holding a referendum.
Quite. However she does have a problem with malcolmg militants in her own party, not just Alba. The hardcore will demand a vote. And if she refuses there is a serious risk the SNP splits wide open, rather than just splintering, as now
This, of course, must be Boris' strategic aim
Since when has Johnson had a strategy beyond his own self-aggrandisement?
For a man who apparently has no strategic sense, according to all his opponents, Boris does seem to wallop those opponents rather often, with a winning strategy. Odd.
Winning elections and plebiscites and governing successfully are two different things.
In what way is he governing unsuccessfully?
Brexit was always going to be painful, a global plague is not a cakewalk.
He's made some terrible decisions, esp early in Covid, but he's also made some great decisions - eg the vaccine task force. His party is outpolling the opposition, after a decade in power, and he is more popular than the opposition leader.
At a time of intense chaos he is doing OK. It is too early to decide whether he is "successful" or not
Boris-haters, usually Remainers, are foolishly blinded by their hatred.
Well he said this awesome Brexit Withdrawal deal was brilliant and oven ready, within a few months he realised he screwed up and tried to pass the Internal Markets Bill.
He said EU trade deal was brilliant and within weeks he's trying to undo that mistake, as the violence in Northern Ireland shows, because you may have missed him past comments about putting a border in the Irish sea.
Those terrible decisions regarding early Covid-19 I've often said I could give him a pass on those given the circumstances, but he repeatedly made those mistakes later on, have a look at this chart, and see where most of the deaths took place, not early in Covid-19 but much later on.
Brexit and Covid are so enormous and sui generis we won't be able to judge whether he handled them "successfully" for several years, maybe many years, possibly never
Brexit and Covid are so enormous and sui generis we won't be able to judge whether he handled them "successfully" for several years, maybe many years, possibly never
150,000 people know he fucked up Covid, and many. many former business people know he fucked up Brexit.
I'm quite a fan of the politicsforall twitter handle (and it's rare for me to praise anything on twitter except Hugo Gye) but sometimes I think that account was created by someone cunning at Tory HQ to rebalance the left wing news slant on Twitter. No chance was it created by some mysterious teenager as suggested. Election Maps is run by a teenager and you can tell.
It has a very clear centre-right bias for me. Quite remarkable how it grew so quickly, and gained so much legitimacy out of nowhere...
It is an interesting thought. Sponsoring a Twitter account on the sly, and helping it become popular is quite a lot cost way of gaining influence if you can pull it off, compared to old fashioned advertising anyway. Though I suppose the place to really be is tictoc or whatever else is popular with young folk that I don’t understand.
I'm quite a fan of the politicsforall twitter handle (and it's rare for me to praise anything on twitter except Hugo Gye) but sometimes I think that account was created by someone cunning at Tory HQ to rebalance the left wing news slant on Twitter. No chance was it created by some mysterious teenager as suggested. Election Maps is run by a teenager and you can tell.
The EU will just wait out the Johnson project at this point I think. They'll deal with whomever comes after on the basis that they almost certainly won't be a conceited shit surrendered by a coterie of brainfucked ball garglers.
Not quite the terminology I would use, but you are spot-on. Quite apart from anything else, Boris has rubbished and reneged on both agreements he's signed, within weeks of signing and hailing them as triumphs, so they'd have to be out of their minds to want to deal with him any further if they can avoid it.
Whereas the EU has proved to be totally trustworthy ... oh
So ok - I do now get your comment earlier about Labour choosing a miscalculating Remainer as leader.
But they had to, I think. It's a strongly Remain party. Pretending otherwise wouldn't wash.
Strategy is to leave the issue behind now. Good chance of working.
At the time, many of us hated Mrs May's deal. It was awful. Had we had the luxury of crystal ball gazing so we were able to see Johnson, Cummings, and Frost crash the country with their deal, I daresay we would have taken Mrs May's deal.
Yeah, well, some of us pointed this out at the time...
Indeed you did, as did Alastair Meeks.
But neither of them were LABOUR remainers.
Indeed. Labour Remainers put defeating Theresa May as more important than having a softer deal with Europe than what we got.
Thanks. 👍
I'm not sure that is true. I think some of us were just foolhardy enough to hold out for the second referendum.
Yes the most committed of Remainers with moderate politics - of which I recall you being one - genuinely went for the dream of Ref2 and Remain. A miscalculation but they should feel no guilt. It was a noble enough cause.
It was utterly, utterly ignoble. Ignore a nationwide vote, the biggest in British history, a vote that you solemnly promised to uphold, just because you don't like the result?
Howlingly disgraceful. It would have rendered our democracy null and void. No point in voting any more, they just ignore it, and make you vote again til you get it right. Turnout in general elections would have cratered. Some Leavers might have reacted with violent protest.
It was a terrible path to choose and, moreover, it was strategically stupid. If Remainers had simply accepted the result and got behind a very soft Brexit - EEA? - then that is what would have happened. Instead, in all their arrogance and idiocy, they sought to overturn it. The Hard Brexit we have now is the true harvest of their myopic immorality.
I'm not sure Sturgeon will hold it. She knows that a botched wildcat referendum is a probable and potential disaster. It will be boycotted by unionists, ignored by Westminster, and then what? Her party looks inept and clueless and the idea of a THIRD referendum recedes further into the distance
If Salmond holds the balance of power, however, he might be able to force her. But the polls show Alba is cratering
She gets her mandate, demands a referendum, is refused, and thus gets a wonderful new grievance to exploit. Much better than actually holding a referendum.
Quite. However she does have a problem with malcolmg militants in her own party, not just Alba. The hardcore will demand a vote. And if she refuses there is a serious risk the SNP splits wide open, rather than just splintering, as now
This, of course, must be Boris' strategic aim
Since when has Johnson had a strategy beyond his own self-aggrandisement?
For a man who apparently has no strategic sense, according to all his opponents, Boris does seem to wallop those opponents rather often, with a winning strategy. Odd.
Winning elections and plebiscites and governing successfully are two different things.
In what way is he governing unsuccessfully?
Brexit was always going to be painful, a global plague is not a cakewalk.
He's made some terrible decisions, esp early in Covid, but he's also made some great decisions - eg the vaccine task force. His party is outpolling the opposition, after a decade in power, and he is more popular than the opposition leader.
At a time of intense chaos he is doing OK. It is too early to decide whether he is "successful" or not
Boris-haters, usually Remainers, are foolishly blinded by their hatred.
Well he said this awesome Brexit Withdrawal deal was brilliant and oven ready, within a few months he realised he screwed up and tried to pass the Internal Markets Bill.
He said EU trade deal was brilliant and within weeks he's trying to undo that mistake, as the violence in Northern Ireland shows, because you may have missed him past comments about putting a border in the Irish sea.
Those terrible decisions regarding early Covid-19 I've often said I could give him a pass on those given the circumstances, but he repeatedly made those mistakes later on, have a look at this chart, and see where most of the deaths took place, not early in Covid-19 but much later on.
Brexit and Covid are so enormous and sui generis we won't be able to judge whether he handled them "successfully" for several years, maybe many years, possibly never
Stats still looking very good. I'm expecting some daily case numbers under 2K in the next week.
Hospital admission figures are particularly encouraging. Last six Thursdays are: 757, 532, 426, 354, 274, 220.
Not sure what the stats say on this but if a new hospitalisation has, say, a 5% chance of death then we are looking at around 10 per day from 200 ish admissions.
The current rolling seven day figure for deaths, coupled with the rate of decline in deaths (which seems to have been pretty consistent for a long time now) suggests that we're quite likely to be averaging less than ten Covid fatalities per day by the end of the month. There's a decent chance of a single figure reporting day happening as soon as this weekend, and we haven't seen a large number of backdated deaths being reported after the four-day weekend either. It looks very positive, as do the cases which are in very steep decline (and yes, I know the schools are off, but even so.)
If we're lucky then suggestions starting to emerge that the UK is nearing the herd immunity threshold may be true.
Brexit and Covid are so enormous and sui generis we won't be able to judge whether he handled them "successfully" for several years, maybe many years, possibly never
150,000 people know he fucked up Covid, and many. many former business people know he fucked up Brexit.
And all those EU countries have done so well in comparison
The EU will just wait out the Johnson project at this point I think. They'll deal with whomever comes after on the basis that they almost certainly won't be a conceited shit surrendered by a coterie of brainfucked ball garglers.
Not quite the terminology I would use, but you are spot-on. Quite apart from anything else, Boris has rubbished and reneged on both agreements he's signed, within weeks of signing and hailing them as triumphs, so they'd have to be out of their minds to want to deal with him any further if they can avoid it.
Whereas the EU has proved to be totally trustworthy ... oh
So ok - I do now get your comment earlier about Labour choosing a miscalculating Remainer as leader.
But they had to, I think. It's a strongly Remain party. Pretending otherwise wouldn't wash.
Strategy is to leave the issue behind now. Good chance of working.
At the time, many of us hated Mrs May's deal. It was awful. Had we had the luxury of crystal ball gazing so we were able to see Johnson, Cummings, and Frost crash the country with their deal, I daresay we would have taken Mrs May's deal.
Yeah, well, some of us pointed this out at the time...
Indeed you did, as did Alastair Meeks.
But neither of them were LABOUR remainers.
Indeed. Labour Remainers put defeating Theresa May as more important than having a softer deal with Europe than what we got.
Thanks. 👍
Not me though - so you can take that taunting thumb out of my face, thank you very much.
I thoroughly object to the politics4all account A) ripping of other people's stories without credit 2) failing to link to sources when they do credit Z) posting made up inflammatory bullshit.
I put the below chart together to demonstrate the vaccine impact. This shows the % fall from the individual peaks for cases, hospital admissions and deaths by the number of days past the peak (7 day rolling averages). What this shows is cases and deaths fell in close alignment until about 30 days after the peak. Since then deaths have fallen further than cases - the yellow highlight is this vaccine impact.
Admissions doesn't seem to be aligned because from the peak the numbers initially only fell a little before accelerating. Even given that though admissions have now fallen below the line for cases.
I'm not sure Sturgeon will hold it. She knows that a botched wildcat referendum is a probable and potential disaster. It will be boycotted by unionists, ignored by Westminster, and then what? Her party looks inept and clueless and the idea of a THIRD referendum recedes further into the distance
If Salmond holds the balance of power, however, he might be able to force her. But the polls show Alba is cratering
She gets her mandate, demands a referendum, is refused, and thus gets a wonderful new grievance to exploit. Much better than actually holding a referendum.
It's not better than holding and WINNING a (legal) referendum.
Not sure about that. Winning with a tiny majority ain't great.
Scotland after a narrow YES win might be an appalling place. 20-30% of Scots would feel that their identity has been stripped away. Many more would feel aggrieved and distressed by the turmoil. Entire chunks of the country would be in a rebellious mood. The Borders?
Meanwhile the awful economic consequences of indy would rapidly unfold, the country would likely default, the currency and banking system would be a mess, EU membership would be 10-20 years away (if ever). Hideous negotiations would have to begin, splitting the UK in an acrimonious divorce.
It would be Brexit times a million. I can foresee civil strife, in the worst case scenario. Scotland has a history of sectarian bitterness, edging towards violence. England and rUK would be pulled into the vortex of chaos.
This, indeed, is one reason why Boris is entirely justified in denying a vote: for the political and economic wellbeing of the whole UK, including Scotland.
Referendums on huge constitutional issues are horribly destabilising. They must, for that reason, remain extremely rare. Once in a generation - 15-20 years - is about right
Never mind Eck would ask his good mate Vlad if he'd like to hire some naval bases and all would be well.
The EU will just wait out the Johnson project at this point I think. They'll deal with whomever comes after on the basis that they almost certainly won't be a conceited shit surrendered by a coterie of brainfucked ball garglers.
Not quite the terminology I would use, but you are spot-on. Quite apart from anything else, Boris has rubbished and reneged on both agreements he's signed, within weeks of signing and hailing them as triumphs, so they'd have to be out of their minds to want to deal with him any further if they can avoid it.
Whereas the EU has proved to be totally trustworthy ... oh
So ok - I do now get your comment earlier about Labour choosing a miscalculating Remainer as leader.
But they had to, I think. It's a strongly Remain party. Pretending otherwise wouldn't wash.
Strategy is to leave the issue behind now. Good chance of working.
At the time, many of us hated Mrs May's deal. It was awful. Had we had the luxury of crystal ball gazing so we were able to see Johnson, Cummings, and Frost crash the country with their deal, I daresay we would have taken Mrs May's deal.
Yeah, well, some of us pointed this out at the time...
Indeed you did, as did Alastair Meeks.
But neither of them were LABOUR remainers.
Indeed. Labour Remainers put defeating Theresa May as more important than having a softer deal with Europe than what we got.
Thanks. 👍
I'm not sure that is true. I think some of us were just foolhardy enough to hold out for the second referendum.
Yes the most committed of Remainers with moderate politics - of which I recall you being one - genuinely went for the dream of Ref2 and Remain. A miscalculation but they should feel no guilt. It was a noble enough cause.
It was utterly, utterly ignoble. Ignore a nationwide vote, the biggest in British history, a vote that you solemnly promised to uphold, just because you don't like the result?
Howlingly disgraceful. It would have rendered our democracy null and void. No point in voting any more, they just ignore it, and make you vote again til you get it right. Turnout in general elections would have cratered. Some Leavers might have reacted with violent protest.
It was a terrible path to choose and, moreover, it was strategically stupid. If Remainers had simply accepted the result and got behind a very soft Brexit - EEA? - then that is what would have happened. Instead, in all their arrogance and idiocy, they sought to overturn it. The Hard Brexit we have now is the true harvest of their myopic immorality.
Well nobody was more opposed to a Ref2 than me. But there's much hyperbole here.
The EU will just wait out the Johnson project at this point I think. They'll deal with whomever comes after on the basis that they almost certainly won't be a conceited shit surrendered by a coterie of brainfucked ball garglers.
Not quite the terminology I would use, but you are spot-on. Quite apart from anything else, Boris has rubbished and reneged on both agreements he's signed, within weeks of signing and hailing them as triumphs, so they'd have to be out of their minds to want to deal with him any further if they can avoid it.
Whereas the EU has proved to be totally trustworthy ... oh
So ok - I do now get your comment earlier about Labour choosing a miscalculating Remainer as leader.
But they had to, I think. It's a strongly Remain party. Pretending otherwise wouldn't wash.
Strategy is to leave the issue behind now. Good chance of working.
At the time, many of us hated Mrs May's deal. It was awful. Had we had the luxury of crystal ball gazing so we were able to see Johnson, Cummings, and Frost crash the country with their deal, I daresay we would have taken Mrs May's deal.
The EU will just wait out the Johnson project at this point I think. They'll deal with whomever comes after on the basis that they almost certainly won't be a conceited shit surrendered by a coterie of brainfucked ball garglers.
Not quite the terminology I would use, but you are spot-on. Quite apart from anything else, Boris has rubbished and reneged on both agreements he's signed, within weeks of signing and hailing them as triumphs, so they'd have to be out of their minds to want to deal with him any further if they can avoid it.
Whereas the EU has proved to be totally trustworthy ... oh
So ok - I do now get your comment earlier about Labour choosing a miscalculating Remainer as leader.
But they had to, I think. It's a strongly Remain party. Pretending otherwise wouldn't wash.
Strategy is to leave the issue behind now. Good chance of working.
At the time, many of us hated Mrs May's deal. It was awful. Had we had the luxury of crystal ball gazing so we were able to see Johnson, Cummings, and Frost crash the country with their deal, I daresay we would have taken Mrs May's deal.
Yeah, well, some of us pointed this out at the time...
The EU will just wait out the Johnson project at this point I think. They'll deal with whomever comes after on the basis that they almost certainly won't be a conceited shit surrendered by a coterie of brainfucked ball garglers.
Not quite the terminology I would use, but you are spot-on. Quite apart from anything else, Boris has rubbished and reneged on both agreements he's signed, within weeks of signing and hailing them as triumphs, so they'd have to be out of their minds to want to deal with him any further if they can avoid it.
Whereas the EU has proved to be totally trustworthy ... oh
So ok - I do now get your comment earlier about Labour choosing a miscalculating Remainer as leader.
But they had to, I think. It's a strongly Remain party. Pretending otherwise wouldn't wash.
Strategy is to leave the issue behind now. Good chance of working.
At the time, many of us hated Mrs May's deal. It was awful. Had we had the luxury of crystal ball gazing so we were able to see Johnson, Cummings, and Frost crash the country with their deal, I daresay we would have taken Mrs May's deal.
Yeah, well, some of us pointed this out at the time...
Indeed you did, as did Alastair Meeks.
But neither of them were LABOUR remainers.
Indeed. Labour Remainers put defeating Theresa May as more important than having a softer deal with Europe than what we got.
Thanks. 👍
I'm not sure that is true. I think some of us were just foolhardy enough to hold out for the second referendum.
A second referendum was the one thing that was never going to happen. (Wouldn't have bothered me personally because I like to have as many elections and referendums as possible).
The EU will just wait out the Johnson project at this point I think. They'll deal with whomever comes after on the basis that they almost certainly won't be a conceited shit surrendered by a coterie of brainfucked ball garglers.
Not quite the terminology I would use, but you are spot-on. Quite apart from anything else, Boris has rubbished and reneged on both agreements he's signed, within weeks of signing and hailing them as triumphs, so they'd have to be out of their minds to want to deal with him any further if they can avoid it.
Whereas the EU has proved to be totally trustworthy ... oh
So ok - I do now get your comment earlier about Labour choosing a miscalculating Remainer as leader.
But they had to, I think. It's a strongly Remain party. Pretending otherwise wouldn't wash.
Strategy is to leave the issue behind now. Good chance of working.
At the time, many of us hated Mrs May's deal. It was awful. Had we had the luxury of crystal ball gazing so we were able to see Johnson, Cummings, and Frost crash the country with their deal, I daresay we would have taken Mrs May's deal.
The EU will just wait out the Johnson project at this point I think. They'll deal with whomever comes after on the basis that they almost certainly won't be a conceited shit surrendered by a coterie of brainfucked ball garglers.
Not quite the terminology I would use, but you are spot-on. Quite apart from anything else, Boris has rubbished and reneged on both agreements he's signed, within weeks of signing and hailing them as triumphs, so they'd have to be out of their minds to want to deal with him any further if they can avoid it.
Whereas the EU has proved to be totally trustworthy ... oh
So ok - I do now get your comment earlier about Labour choosing a miscalculating Remainer as leader.
But they had to, I think. It's a strongly Remain party. Pretending otherwise wouldn't wash.
Strategy is to leave the issue behind now. Good chance of working.
At the time, many of us hated Mrs May's deal. It was awful. Had we had the luxury of crystal ball gazing so we were able to see Johnson, Cummings, and Frost crash the country with their deal, I daresay we would have taken Mrs May's deal.
Yeah, well, some of us pointed this out at the time...
'The Scottish Tory leader said people should “look at their individual constituency and vote for the strongest candidate” capable of defeating the SNP, even if that was not a Tory.
The Tory leader stressed that it was crucial for pro-Union supporters to back his party with their regional list votes, arguing this could prevent an SNP majority.'
I hope his plan is successful, nobody votes Tory, and the Tories win zero seats.
I'm not sure Sturgeon will hold it. She knows that a botched wildcat referendum is a probable and potential disaster. It will be boycotted by unionists, ignored by Westminster, and then what? Her party looks inept and clueless and the idea of a THIRD referendum recedes further into the distance
If Salmond holds the balance of power, however, he might be able to force her. But the polls show Alba is cratering
She gets her mandate, demands a referendum, is refused, and thus gets a wonderful new grievance to exploit. Much better than actually holding a referendum.
It's not better than holding and WINNING a (legal) referendum.
Not sure about that. Winning with a tiny majority ain't great.
Scotland after a narrow YES win might be an appalling place. 20-30% of Scots would feel that their identity has been stripped away. Many more would feel aggrieved and distressed by the turmoil. Entire chunks of the country would be in a rebellious mood. The Borders?
Meanwhile the awful economic consequences of indy would rapidly unfold, the country would likely default, the currency and banking system would be a mess, EU membership would be 10-20 years away (if ever). Hideous negotiations would have to begin, splitting the UK in an acrimonious divorce.
It would be Brexit times a million. I can foresee civil strife, in the worst case scenario. Scotland has a history of sectarian bitterness, edging towards violence. England and rUK would be pulled into the vortex of chaos.
This, indeed, is one reason why Boris is entirely justified in denying a vote: for the political and economic wellbeing of the whole UK, including Scotland.
Referendums on huge constitutional issues are horribly destabilising. They must, for that reason, remain extremely rare. Once in a generation - 15-20 years - is about right
Never mind Eck would ask his good mate Vlad if he'd like to hire some naval bases and all would be well.
He makes it sound like we would nearly be as bad as England, hard to imagine. Will Boris beg Putin a la Cameron.
'The Scottish Tory leader said people should “look at their individual constituency and vote for the strongest candidate” capable of defeating the SNP, even if that was not a Tory.
The Tory leader stressed that it was crucial for pro-Union supporters to back his party with their regional list votes, arguing this could prevent an SNP majority.'
I hope his plan is successful, nobody votes Tory, and the Tories win zero seats.
Would be a hoot if DROSS did not even make list and had to force the lone Tory list MSP to resign.
Comments
Normally the website / accounts that are "professionally" backed don't go near such things.
That doesn't mean this "poor student" isn't well connected. It could be that like Greta, mummy and daddy know all the right people.
Howlingly disgraceful. It would have rendered our democracy null and void. No point in voting any more, they just ignore it, and make you vote again til you get it right. Turnout in general elections would have cratered. Some Leavers might have reacted with violent protest.
It was a terrible path to choose and, moreover, it was strategically stupid. If Remainers had simply accepted the result and got behind a very soft Brexit - EEA? - then that is what would have happened. Instead, in all their arrogance and idiocy, they sought to overturn it. The Hard Brexit we have now is the true harvest of their myopic immorality.
from case data
from hospitalisations
CROSSOVER KLAXON!
CFR for 85+ and 75-84 have merged and are still heading down
If we're lucky then suggestions starting to emerge that the UK is nearing the herd immunity threshold may be true.
NEW THREAD
A) ripping of other people's stories without credit
2) failing to link to sources when they do credit
Z) posting made up inflammatory bullshit.
Get a grip me.
I might have mentioned it once or twice.
I wonder if he would have still said it if he knew he was going to lose?