“I have no idea who is really in charge of what any more,” said one government adviser. “It is bloody chaos.” Meanwhile, Michael Gove - Cummings’s close friend – has been effectively demoted from responsibility for Brexit and some in Whitehall are wary that they may be preparing ways to exact revenge together.
Senior Tories believe that the whole row, going back to the first stories about Cameron’s involvement with scandal-hit financier Lex Greensill, is a mess of the party’s own creation. Former advisers to Francis Maude have been blamed for those initial leaks, though the accusation has been denied. Several Tories said they believed the cries of “Tory sleaze” from Labour had been falling flat, but now have purchase.
“I have had one email about the whole Downing Street and Cameron sleaze thing until now,” said one former minister. “I had 500 about Cummings and his trip to Barnard Castle. But I have been out campaigning this morning and there is now chuntering. Our candidates are beginning to say that they are hearing negative things on the doorsteps.”
In the wake of the week’s extraordinary events, it is the predictability of the Cummings backlash that is still puzzling Tory MPs. “I really do not know why anyone is remotely surprised,” said one. “Don’t mess with psychos.” Another senior Tory agreed: “‘Only needle dead enemies’ is a good motto.”
This may mark me out as an idiot but any Independent Financial Adviser who advised anyone to take a Interest Only Mortgage for a non-commerical purchase (i.e. where the ability to 'walk away' doesn't exist for the purchaser as it is their home) where the Fixed Term of the interest rate wasn't fixed for the life of the mortgage is an absolute wanker.
That is just asking for trouble. I have limited sympathy for people taking on interest only mortgages who didn't also have a solid plan for capital repayment given the huge publicity of the disaster of endowment mortgages but if they were advised by an IFA then that's just not on.
I agree. Dunno if many of those ppl taking NR & B&B mortgages took independent financial advice, though. I suspect few if any.
The current mortgage prisoners are people who simply can’t afford the mortgage on the house they currently live in. That’s not the states problem.
Multiple sources claim PM’s Chief of Staff, Dan Rosenfeld gave all clear to ESL plans the Wednesday before...with further “positive noises” from 10 Downing Street on the Saturday before key to the plan to go ahead.
And in the political here and now, no this doesn't matter. But unless No 10 sharpens up its act considerably, this is symptomatic of a government that's bound to blow something up at some point... isn't it?
“I have no idea who is really in charge of what any more,” said one government adviser. “It is bloody chaos.” Meanwhile, Michael Gove - Cummings’s close friend – has been effectively demoted from responsibility for Brexit and some in Whitehall are wary that they may be preparing ways to exact revenge together.
Senior Tories believe that the whole row, going back to the first stories about Cameron’s involvement with scandal-hit financier Lex Greensill, is a mess of the party’s own creation. Former advisers to Francis Maude have been blamed for those initial leaks, though the accusation has been denied. Several Tories said they believed the cries of “Tory sleaze” from Labour had been falling flat, but now have purchase.
“I have had one email about the whole Downing Street and Cameron sleaze thing until now,” said one former minister. “I had 500 about Cummings and his trip to Barnard Castle. But I have been out campaigning this morning and there is now chuntering. Our candidates are beginning to say that they are hearing negative things on the doorsteps.”
In the wake of the week’s extraordinary events, it is the predictability of the Cummings backlash that is still puzzling Tory MPs. “I really do not know why anyone is remotely surprised,” said one. “Don’t mess with psychos.” Another senior Tory agreed: “‘Only needle dead enemies’ is a good motto.”
I get the impression that there are rather too many people with rather too little work to do.
Or perhaps people who prefer to play on their mobile phones rather than doing the work they should be doing.
Edit: that comment wasn't about IanB2 but rather all the 'advisors' etc.
Multiple sources claim PM’s Chief of Staff, Dan Rosenfeld gave all clear to ESL plans the Wednesday before...with further “positive noises” from 10 Downing Street on the Saturday before key to the plan to go ahead.
Naah. Can't be true. Liar is a man of impeccable judgement and would not parade himself as a total hypocrite trying to score popularity points threatening to legally nuke something he had supported just days earlier.
No wonder English clubs were taken by surprise at the threats of legislation - they were given the go-ahead just days before.
Multiple sources claim PM’s Chief of Staff, Dan Rosenfeld gave all clear to ESL plans the Wednesday before...with further “positive noises” from 10 Downing Street on the Saturday before key to the plan to go ahead.
Unfortunately, this is just too good to be true. A real shame, because it would utterly hilarious if the ESL was announced because they thought they had the PM's support.
@Mexicanpete Annoyingly, I wrote a long post in response to yours and then accidentally deleted it when editing it!
But, this has influenced a lot of people in the soft centre/centre left.
Take how Robin DiAngelo, author of White Fragility, has put it: ‘a positive white identity is an impossible goal. White identity is inherently racist; white people do not exist outside the system of white supremacy.'
When racism is viewed in this way, it cannot be challenged through individual white people not being racist; instead, white people must be actively anti-racist. Anti-racism starts with white people acknowledging their own racism and battling the fragility prompted by threats to their privilege. From here, white people must probe deep into their psyches to root out unconscious bias before finally, in seeking to build the world anew, thinking carefully about the new reality constructed with each word uttered.
Critical race theorists have reinvented racism. Only this time around, it is not black people that are considered a problem, but white people.
How is that liberal? Or in accordance with the values of the enlightenment?
Not being funny but WTF is a "positive white identity" meant to be? What's that even mean?
I don't identify as white, I am white but I identify as myself. I share more in common with my politics for instance with Rishi Sunak than I do John McDonnell, so what has race or white identity got to do with it?
I agree that simply not being racist should be enough. But I'm curious why anyone would want a "white identity".
Well you identify as yourself except for when you identify as Mother. 😨
More seriously, you touch on a crux point. You don’t id as white because there's no need to. Nor do I. It's the default. The master key.
This is White Privilege. And White Fragility is a term for how some seem to crumble at the thought. Simply cannot handle it being discussed in this way for some reason.
For me it's an interesting way of looking at things. That's what this "superwokery" is all about imo. That's what I get from it. Some insights that are worth thinking about and can aid understanding.
And no more than that. It doesn't explain the whole of race relations or lead to the promised land. But I do think people short change themselves if they just reject it out of hand cos it sounds all wonky and difficult and not what Proper Blokes should be concerning themselves with.
Nah, I don't identify as white not because its the default, but rather because not being a racist I don't find my skin colour remotely interesting.
I have black hair, does that mean I should have black identity? For my hair colour? Or would you think that is silly?
The key to ending racism is to not think about race at all, to be colourblind, not to make race the be all and end all identity.
Perhaps the most infantile post you have ever launched upon this site. I'm truly shocked (unless you are trolling) by the total lack of intelligence or anything resembling insight demonstrated here. It's kind of a masterpiece of its kind. Three quite stupifyingly vacuous paras one after the other. The last one can just about be forgiven for being pure pollyanna and nothing worse but the rest? Oh my Lord. What a dim dim chap you are.
Sorry, Philip. I have to stop pandering and speak truth to people sometimes.
Multiple sources claim PM’s Chief of Staff, Dan Rosenfeld gave all clear to ESL plans the Wednesday before...with further “positive noises” from 10 Downing Street on the Saturday before key to the plan to go ahead.
Not really sure of the relevance to such a story (and I find it hard to believe 'positive noises' from the UK PM alone among leaders was 'important' to moving ahead, as suggested in one of the tweets, and it is contested whether the topic even came up, even in follow up emails). Who cares whether some flunkey made some positive noises beforehand, or even if the PM himself did (which is not suggested anyway), when the actual provable reaction is what mattered.
“I have no idea who is really in charge of what any more,” said one government adviser. “It is bloody chaos.” Meanwhile, Michael Gove - Cummings’s close friend – has been effectively demoted from responsibility for Brexit and some in Whitehall are wary that they may be preparing ways to exact revenge together.
Senior Tories believe that the whole row, going back to the first stories about Cameron’s involvement with scandal-hit financier Lex Greensill, is a mess of the party’s own creation. Former advisers to Francis Maude have been blamed for those initial leaks, though the accusation has been denied. Several Tories said they believed the cries of “Tory sleaze” from Labour had been falling flat, but now have purchase.
“I have had one email about the whole Downing Street and Cameron sleaze thing until now,” said one former minister. “I had 500 about Cummings and his trip to Barnard Castle. But I have been out campaigning this morning and there is now chuntering. Our candidates are beginning to say that they are hearing negative things on the doorsteps.”
In the wake of the week’s extraordinary events, it is the predictability of the Cummings backlash that is still puzzling Tory MPs. “I really do not know why anyone is remotely surprised,” said one. “Don’t mess with psychos.” Another senior Tory agreed: “‘Only needle dead enemies’ is a good motto.”
I get the impression that there are rather too many people with rather too little work to do.
Or perhaps people who prefer to play on their mobile phones rather than doing the work they should be doing.
“I have no idea who is really in charge of what any more,” said one government adviser. “It is bloody chaos.” Meanwhile, Michael Gove - Cummings’s close friend – has been effectively demoted from responsibility for Brexit and some in Whitehall are wary that they may be preparing ways to exact revenge together.
Senior Tories believe that the whole row, going back to the first stories about Cameron’s involvement with scandal-hit financier Lex Greensill, is a mess of the party’s own creation. Former advisers to Francis Maude have been blamed for those initial leaks, though the accusation has been denied. Several Tories said they believed the cries of “Tory sleaze” from Labour had been falling flat, but now have purchase.
“I have had one email about the whole Downing Street and Cameron sleaze thing until now,” said one former minister. “I had 500 about Cummings and his trip to Barnard Castle. But I have been out campaigning this morning and there is now chuntering. Our candidates are beginning to say that they are hearing negative things on the doorsteps.”
In the wake of the week’s extraordinary events, it is the predictability of the Cummings backlash that is still puzzling Tory MPs. “I really do not know why anyone is remotely surprised,” said one. “Don’t mess with psychos.” Another senior Tory agreed: “‘Only needle dead enemies’ is a good motto.”
I get the impression that there are rather too many people with rather too little work to do.
Or perhaps people who prefer to play on their mobile phones rather than doing the work they should be doing.
I would guess that two thirds of regular posters here are convinced that Johnson is the devil, and that it's only a matter of time before the Sheeple wake up to this fact.
Multiple sources claim PM’s Chief of Staff, Dan Rosenfeld gave all clear to ESL plans the Wednesday before...with further “positive noises” from 10 Downing Street on the Saturday before key to the plan to go ahead.
Multiple sources claim PM’s Chief of Staff, Dan Rosenfeld gave all clear to ESL plans the Wednesday before...with further “positive noises” from 10 Downing Street on the Saturday before key to the plan to go ahead.
“I have no idea who is really in charge of what any more,” said one government adviser. “It is bloody chaos.” Meanwhile, Michael Gove - Cummings’s close friend – has been effectively demoted from responsibility for Brexit and some in Whitehall are wary that they may be preparing ways to exact revenge together.
Senior Tories believe that the whole row, going back to the first stories about Cameron’s involvement with scandal-hit financier Lex Greensill, is a mess of the party’s own creation. Former advisers to Francis Maude have been blamed for those initial leaks, though the accusation has been denied. Several Tories said they believed the cries of “Tory sleaze” from Labour had been falling flat, but now have purchase.
“I have had one email about the whole Downing Street and Cameron sleaze thing until now,” said one former minister. “I had 500 about Cummings and his trip to Barnard Castle. But I have been out campaigning this morning and there is now chuntering. Our candidates are beginning to say that they are hearing negative things on the doorsteps.”
In the wake of the week’s extraordinary events, it is the predictability of the Cummings backlash that is still puzzling Tory MPs. “I really do not know why anyone is remotely surprised,” said one. “Don’t mess with psychos.” Another senior Tory agreed: “‘Only needle dead enemies’ is a good motto.”
I get the impression that there are rather too many people with rather too little work to do.
Or perhaps people who prefer to play on their mobile phones rather than doing the work they should be doing.
I would guess that two thirds of regular posters here are convinced that Johnson is the devil, and that it's only a matter of time before the Sheeple wake up to this fact.
i'm afraid that "ought" is not "is".
I suspect the proportion is even higher among the media.
“I have no idea who is really in charge of what any more,” said one government adviser. “It is bloody chaos.” Meanwhile, Michael Gove - Cummings’s close friend – has been effectively demoted from responsibility for Brexit and some in Whitehall are wary that they may be preparing ways to exact revenge together.
Senior Tories believe that the whole row, going back to the first stories about Cameron’s involvement with scandal-hit financier Lex Greensill, is a mess of the party’s own creation. Former advisers to Francis Maude have been blamed for those initial leaks, though the accusation has been denied. Several Tories said they believed the cries of “Tory sleaze” from Labour had been falling flat, but now have purchase.
“I have had one email about the whole Downing Street and Cameron sleaze thing until now,” said one former minister. “I had 500 about Cummings and his trip to Barnard Castle. But I have been out campaigning this morning and there is now chuntering. Our candidates are beginning to say that they are hearing negative things on the doorsteps.”
In the wake of the week’s extraordinary events, it is the predictability of the Cummings backlash that is still puzzling Tory MPs. “I really do not know why anyone is remotely surprised,” said one. “Don’t mess with psychos.” Another senior Tory agreed: “‘Only needle dead enemies’ is a good motto.”
I get the impression that there are rather too many people with rather too little work to do.
Or perhaps people who prefer to play on their mobile phones rather than doing the work they should be doing.
Edit: that comment wasn't about IanB2 but rather all the 'advisors' etc.
The trouble seems to be that we've moved from Yes, Minister to The Thick Of It.
Playing on mobile phones and personal games of "whose up/whose down" have gone from a thing, via the main thing, to the only thing.
And to our shame, we as voters have endorsed that.
@Mexicanpete Annoyingly, I wrote a long post in response to yours and then accidentally deleted it when editing it!
But, this has influenced a lot of people in the soft centre/centre left.
Take how Robin DiAngelo, author of White Fragility, has put it: ‘a positive white identity is an impossible goal. White identity is inherently racist; white people do not exist outside the system of white supremacy.'
When racism is viewed in this way, it cannot be challenged through individual white people not being racist; instead, white people must be actively anti-racist. Anti-racism starts with white people acknowledging their own racism and battling the fragility prompted by threats to their privilege. From here, white people must probe deep into their psyches to root out unconscious bias before finally, in seeking to build the world anew, thinking carefully about the new reality constructed with each word uttered.
Critical race theorists have reinvented racism. Only this time around, it is not black people that are considered a problem, but white people.
How is that liberal? Or in accordance with the values of the enlightenment?
Not being funny but WTF is a "positive white identity" meant to be? What's that even mean?
I don't identify as white, I am white but I identify as myself. I share more in common with my politics for instance with Rishi Sunak than I do John McDonnell, so what has race or white identity got to do with it?
I agree that simply not being racist should be enough. But I'm curious why anyone would want a "white identity".
Well you identify as yourself except for when you identify as Mother. 😨
More seriously, you touch on a crux point. You don’t id as white because there's no need to. Nor do I. It's the default. The master key.
This is White Privilege. And White Fragility is a term for how some seem to crumble at the thought. Simply cannot handle it being discussed in this way for some reason.
For me it's an interesting way of looking at things. That's what this "superwokery" is all about imo. That's what I get from it. Some insights that are worth thinking about and can aid understanding.
And no more than that. It doesn't explain the whole of race relations or lead to the promised land. But I do think people short change themselves if they just reject it out of hand cos it sounds all wonky and difficult and not what Proper Blokes should be concerning themselves with.
Nah, I don't identify as white not because its the default, but rather because not being a racist I don't find my skin colour remotely interesting.
I have black hair, does that mean I should have black identity? For my hair colour? Or would you think that is silly?
The key to ending racism is to not think about race at all, to be colourblind, not to make race the be all and end all identity.
Perhaps the most infantile post you have ever launched upon this site. I'm truly shocked (unless you are trolling) by the total lack of intelligence or anything resembling insight demonstrated here. It's kind of a masterpiece of its kind. Three quite stupifyingly vacuous paras one after the other. The last one can just about be forgiven for being pure pollyanna and nothing worse but the rest? Oh my Lord. What a dim dim chap you are.
Sorry, Philip. I have to stop pandering and speak truth to people sometimes.
Thank you for speaking truth to power. A truly brave step on your part.
With respect to the Boris the Paperhanger conniption, as an American cannot help but think of times when US presidents have overseen renovations of the White House. Am thinking here of major (and desperately needed) structural reconstruction of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and of course Jackie Kennedy's famous redecoration, which she showcased on national TV.
Which have occasionally generated controversy, but for the most part have been seen by Americans as reasonable & prudent maintenance and upkeep for a national landmark.
Cannot help but thinking, that British PMs would be well advised to take the same approach to No. 10 Downing Street.
By making the project one, not of personal convenience, but rather national significance. Not for the current residents as much as for future ones.
@Mexicanpete Annoyingly, I wrote a long post in response to yours and then accidentally deleted it when editing it!
But, this has influenced a lot of people in the soft centre/centre left.
Take how Robin DiAngelo, author of White Fragility, has put it: ‘a positive white identity is an impossible goal. White identity is inherently racist; white people do not exist outside the system of white supremacy.'
When racism is viewed in this way, it cannot be challenged through individual white people not being racist; instead, white people must be actively anti-racist. Anti-racism starts with white people acknowledging their own racism and battling the fragility prompted by threats to their privilege. From here, white people must probe deep into their psyches to root out unconscious bias before finally, in seeking to build the world anew, thinking carefully about the new reality constructed with each word uttered.
Critical race theorists have reinvented racism. Only this time around, it is not black people that are considered a problem, but white people.
How is that liberal? Or in accordance with the values of the enlightenment?
Not being funny but WTF is a "positive white identity" meant to be? What's that even mean?
I don't identify as white, I am white but I identify as myself. I share more in common with my politics for instance with Rishi Sunak than I do John McDonnell, so what has race or white identity got to do with it?
I agree that simply not being racist should be enough. But I'm curious why anyone would want a "white identity".
Well you identify as yourself except for when you identify as Mother. 😨
More seriously, you touch on a crux point. You don’t id as white because there's no need to. Nor do I. It's the default. The master key.
This is White Privilege. And White Fragility is a term for how some seem to crumble at the thought. Simply cannot handle it being discussed in this way for some reason.
For me it's an interesting way of looking at things. That's what this "superwokery" is all about imo. That's what I get from it. Some insights that are worth thinking about and can aid understanding.
And no more than that. It doesn't explain the whole of race relations or lead to the promised land. But I do think people short change themselves if they just reject it out of hand cos it sounds all wonky and difficult and not what Proper Blokes should be concerning themselves with.
Nah, I don't identify as white not because its the default, but rather because not being a racist I don't find my skin colour remotely interesting.
I have black hair, does that mean I should have black identity? For my hair colour? Or would you think that is silly?
The key to ending racism is to not think about race at all, to be colourblind, not to make race the be all and end all identity.
Perhaps the most infantile post you have ever launched upon this site. I'm truly shocked (unless you are trolling) by the total lack of intelligence or anything resembling insight demonstrated here. It's kind of a masterpiece of its kind. Three quite stupifyingly vacuous paras one after the other. The last one can just about be forgiven for being pure pollyanna and nothing worse but the rest? Oh my Lord. What a dim dim chap you are.
Sorry, Philip. I have to stop pandering and speak truth to people sometimes.
Oh stop being such a pretentious prick.
Maybe for you everything is about skin colour, but its not for me. I was brought up to treat everyone the same regardless of skin colour, and so I do. I couldn't care less and don't think about skin colour. Not because its a "default" or anything, but because its merely a colour it says nothing about who you are. Just like hair or eyes or anything else.
With respect to the Boris the Paperhanger conniption, as an American cannot help but think of times when US presidents have overseen renovations of the White House. Am thinking here of major (and desperately needed) structural reconstruction of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and of course Jackie Kennedy's famous redecoration, which she showcased on national TV.
Which have occasionally generated controversy, but for the most part have been seen by Americans as reasonable & prudent maintenance and upkeep for a national landmark.
Cannot help but thinking, that British PMs would be well advised to take the same approach to No. 10 Downing Street.
By making the project one, not of personal convenience, but rather national significance. Not for the current residents as much as for future ones.
Just saying.
The White House is your answer to Buckingham Palace.
A nearer equivalent would be the money spent on Number One Observatory Circle, which I believe was first outfitted by the Rockefellers at their own expense and has been renovated several times since, most often with the decor paid for by private donations and the fabric paid for by the Navy (I think).
@Mexicanpete Annoyingly, I wrote a long post in response to yours and then accidentally deleted it when editing it!
But, this has influenced a lot of people in the soft centre/centre left.
Take how Robin DiAngelo, author of White Fragility, has put it: ‘a positive white identity is an impossible goal. White identity is inherently racist; white people do not exist outside the system of white supremacy.'
When racism is viewed in this way, it cannot be challenged through individual white people not being racist; instead, white people must be actively anti-racist. Anti-racism starts with white people acknowledging their own racism and battling the fragility prompted by threats to their privilege. From here, white people must probe deep into their psyches to root out unconscious bias before finally, in seeking to build the world anew, thinking carefully about the new reality constructed with each word uttered.
Critical race theorists have reinvented racism. Only this time around, it is not black people that are considered a problem, but white people.
How is that liberal? Or in accordance with the values of the enlightenment?
Not being funny but WTF is a "positive white identity" meant to be? What's that even mean?
I don't identify as white, I am white but I identify as myself. I share more in common with my politics for instance with Rishi Sunak than I do John McDonnell, so what has race or white identity got to do with it?
I agree that simply not being racist should be enough. But I'm curious why anyone would want a "white identity".
Well you identify as yourself except for when you identify as Mother. 😨
More seriously, you touch on a crux point. You don’t id as white because there's no need to. Nor do I. It's the default. The master key.
This is White Privilege. And White Fragility is a term for how some seem to crumble at the thought. Simply cannot handle it being discussed in this way for some reason.
For me it's an interesting way of looking at things. That's what this "superwokery" is all about imo. That's what I get from it. Some insights that are worth thinking about and can aid understanding.
And no more than that. It doesn't explain the whole of race relations or lead to the promised land. But I do think people short change themselves if they just reject it out of hand cos it sounds all wonky and difficult and not what Proper Blokes should be concerning themselves with.
Nah, I don't identify as white not because its the default, but rather because not being a racist I don't find my skin colour remotely interesting.
I have black hair, does that mean I should have black identity? For my hair colour? Or would you think that is silly?
The key to ending racism is to not think about race at all, to be colourblind, not to make race the be all and end all identity.
Perhaps the most infantile post you have ever launched upon this site. I'm truly shocked (unless you are trolling) by the total lack of intelligence or anything resembling insight demonstrated here. It's kind of a masterpiece of its kind. Three quite stupifyingly vacuous paras one after the other. The last one can just about be forgiven for being pure pollyanna and nothing worse but the rest? Oh my Lord. What a dim dim chap you are.
Sorry, Philip. I have to stop pandering and speak truth to people sometimes.
Thank you for speaking truth to power. A truly brave step on your part.
Some might also call it truly deranged but that is for each observer to decide.
The trouble seems to be that we've moved from Yes, Minister to The Thick Of It.
A very early episode of TTOI featured the Minister and SPADs in the back of car dreaming up ludicrous policies for him to announce to the waiting press pack
Armando Iannucci has apologised that 3 of those became real government policies...
The trouble seems to be that we've moved from Yes, Minister to The Thick Of It.
A very early episode of TTOI featured the Minister and SPADs in the back of car dreaming up ludicrous policies for him to announce to the waiting press pack
Armando Iannucci has apologised that 3 of those became real government policies...
The first rule of satire: Don’t Give the Bastards Ideas.
“I have no idea who is really in charge of what any more,” said one government adviser. “It is bloody chaos.” Meanwhile, Michael Gove - Cummings’s close friend – has been effectively demoted from responsibility for Brexit and some in Whitehall are wary that they may be preparing ways to exact revenge together.
Senior Tories believe that the whole row, going back to the first stories about Cameron’s involvement with scandal-hit financier Lex Greensill, is a mess of the party’s own creation. Former advisers to Francis Maude have been blamed for those initial leaks, though the accusation has been denied. Several Tories said they believed the cries of “Tory sleaze” from Labour had been falling flat, but now have purchase.
“I have had one email about the whole Downing Street and Cameron sleaze thing until now,” said one former minister. “I had 500 about Cummings and his trip to Barnard Castle. But I have been out campaigning this morning and there is now chuntering. Our candidates are beginning to say that they are hearing negative things on the doorsteps.”
In the wake of the week’s extraordinary events, it is the predictability of the Cummings backlash that is still puzzling Tory MPs. “I really do not know why anyone is remotely surprised,” said one. “Don’t mess with psychos.” Another senior Tory agreed: “‘Only needle dead enemies’ is a good motto.”
I get the impression that there are rather too many people with rather too little work to do.
Or perhaps people who prefer to play on their mobile phones rather than doing the work they should be doing.
I would guess that two thirds of regular posters here are convinced that Johnson is the devil, and that it's only a matter of time before the Sheeple wake up to this fact.
i'm afraid that "ought" is not "is".
More than two thirds I think.
And they tend to think as well that anyone who doesn't share that opinion must be trolling. Not that you just have a difference of opinion.
“I have no idea who is really in charge of what any more,” said one government adviser. “It is bloody chaos.” Meanwhile, Michael Gove - Cummings’s close friend – has been effectively demoted from responsibility for Brexit and some in Whitehall are wary that they may be preparing ways to exact revenge together.
Senior Tories believe that the whole row, going back to the first stories about Cameron’s involvement with scandal-hit financier Lex Greensill, is a mess of the party’s own creation. Former advisers to Francis Maude have been blamed for those initial leaks, though the accusation has been denied. Several Tories said they believed the cries of “Tory sleaze” from Labour had been falling flat, but now have purchase.
“I have had one email about the whole Downing Street and Cameron sleaze thing until now,” said one former minister. “I had 500 about Cummings and his trip to Barnard Castle. But I have been out campaigning this morning and there is now chuntering. Our candidates are beginning to say that they are hearing negative things on the doorsteps.”
In the wake of the week’s extraordinary events, it is the predictability of the Cummings backlash that is still puzzling Tory MPs. “I really do not know why anyone is remotely surprised,” said one. “Don’t mess with psychos.” Another senior Tory agreed: “‘Only needle dead enemies’ is a good motto.”
I get the impression that there are rather too many people with rather too little work to do.
Or perhaps people who prefer to play on their mobile phones rather than doing the work they should be doing.
I would guess that two thirds of regular posters here are convinced that Johnson is the devil, and that it's only a matter of time before the Sheeple wake up to this fact.
i'm afraid that "ought" is not "is".
More than two thirds I think.
And they tend to think as well that anyone who doesn't share that opinion must be trolling. Not that you just have a difference of opinion.
The thing is I more or less accept that Boris Johnson is not a very pleasant person. But, it's the obsessive hatred, and the conviction that it's only a matter of time before the scales fall from the eyes of the voters that I find hard to fathom. Not to mention, the endless attempts to explain away the fact that he keeps defeating his opponents.
“I have no idea who is really in charge of what any more,” said one government adviser. “It is bloody chaos.” Meanwhile, Michael Gove - Cummings’s close friend – has been effectively demoted from responsibility for Brexit and some in Whitehall are wary that they may be preparing ways to exact revenge together.
Senior Tories believe that the whole row, going back to the first stories about Cameron’s involvement with scandal-hit financier Lex Greensill, is a mess of the party’s own creation. Former advisers to Francis Maude have been blamed for those initial leaks, though the accusation has been denied. Several Tories said they believed the cries of “Tory sleaze” from Labour had been falling flat, but now have purchase.
“I have had one email about the whole Downing Street and Cameron sleaze thing until now,” said one former minister. “I had 500 about Cummings and his trip to Barnard Castle. But I have been out campaigning this morning and there is now chuntering. Our candidates are beginning to say that they are hearing negative things on the doorsteps.”
In the wake of the week’s extraordinary events, it is the predictability of the Cummings backlash that is still puzzling Tory MPs. “I really do not know why anyone is remotely surprised,” said one. “Don’t mess with psychos.” Another senior Tory agreed: “‘Only needle dead enemies’ is a good motto.”
I get the impression that there are rather too many people with rather too little work to do.
Or perhaps people who prefer to play on their mobile phones rather than doing the work they should be doing.
I would guess that two thirds of regular posters here are convinced that Johnson is the devil, and that it's only a matter of time before the Sheeple wake up to this fact.
i'm afraid that "ought" is not "is".
More than two thirds I think.
And they tend to think as well that anyone who doesn't share that opinion must be trolling. Not that you just have a difference of opinion.
The thing is I more or less accept that Boris Johnson is not a very pleasant person. But, it's the obsessive hatred, and the conviction that it's only a matter of time before the scales fall from the eyes of the voters that I find hard to fathom. Not to mention, the endless attempts to explain away the fact that he keeps defeating his opponents.
Agreed. Things like rewriting history to pretend he's only gone against discredited opponents - except when he entered the Mayoral race in 2007 Livingstone was firm favourite to be re-elected and initially ahead of Johnson in the polls. It took months of campaigning to turn that around. Livingstone may be discredited now but he wasn't in 2007/08.
Plus most of the claims about Johnson are either utterly irrelevant nonsense (like his personal life) or simply relate to the fact he's a politician.
“I have no idea who is really in charge of what any more,” said one government adviser. “It is bloody chaos.” Meanwhile, Michael Gove - Cummings’s close friend – has been effectively demoted from responsibility for Brexit and some in Whitehall are wary that they may be preparing ways to exact revenge together.
Senior Tories believe that the whole row, going back to the first stories about Cameron’s involvement with scandal-hit financier Lex Greensill, is a mess of the party’s own creation. Former advisers to Francis Maude have been blamed for those initial leaks, though the accusation has been denied. Several Tories said they believed the cries of “Tory sleaze” from Labour had been falling flat, but now have purchase.
“I have had one email about the whole Downing Street and Cameron sleaze thing until now,” said one former minister. “I had 500 about Cummings and his trip to Barnard Castle. But I have been out campaigning this morning and there is now chuntering. Our candidates are beginning to say that they are hearing negative things on the doorsteps.”
In the wake of the week’s extraordinary events, it is the predictability of the Cummings backlash that is still puzzling Tory MPs. “I really do not know why anyone is remotely surprised,” said one. “Don’t mess with psychos.” Another senior Tory agreed: “‘Only needle dead enemies’ is a good motto.”
I get the impression that there are rather too many people with rather too little work to do.
Or perhaps people who prefer to play on their mobile phones rather than doing the work they should be doing.
I would guess that two thirds of regular posters here are convinced that Johnson is the devil, and that it's only a matter of time before the Sheeple wake up to this fact.
i'm afraid that "ought" is not "is".
More than two thirds I think.
And they tend to think as well that anyone who doesn't share that opinion must be trolling. Not that you just have a difference of opinion.
The thing is I more or less accept that Boris Johnson is not a very pleasant person. But, it's the obsessive hatred, and the conviction that it's only a matter of time before the scales fall from the eyes of the voters that I find hard to fathom. Not to mention, the endless attempts to explain away the fact that he keeps defeating his opponents.
Good post and it seems to be getting more hysterical by the day
I bet Boris sending covid help to India will chime far greater than Cummings and his war
There are two sides to every story, but some on here think that Cummings is now their knight in shining armour to slay the one person that creates angst in their mind every minute of every day
The trouble seems to be that we've moved from Yes, Minister to The Thick Of It.
A very early episode of TTOI featured the Minister and SPADs in the back of car dreaming up ludicrous policies for him to announce to the waiting press pack
Armando Iannucci has apologised that 3 of those became real government policies...
"Brits in their 30s 'will be invited for Covid jabs within days' with officials ‘close to agreeing deal for 40million Pfizer jabs
People in their 30s will start to be invited for vaccines by the end of this week Britain is finalising a deal to buy 40million more Pfizer jabs for autumn booster Officials are debating whether to use AstraZeneca jabs on people aged 30 to 39"
This may mark me out as an idiot but any Independent Financial Adviser who advised anyone to take a Interest Only Mortgage for a non-commerical purchase (i.e. where the ability to 'walk away' doesn't exist for the purchaser as it is their home) where the Fixed Term of the interest rate wasn't fixed for the life of the mortgage is an absolute wanker.
That is just asking for trouble. I have limited sympathy for people taking on interest only mortgages who didn't also have a solid plan for capital repayment given the huge publicity of the disaster of endowment mortgages but if they were advised by an IFA then that's just not on.
I agree. My first house I bought in Maidenhead was for £80000, and i took out an endowment for it. Incredibly expensive and worth bugger all in the end (pardon my french). After 10 years it was worth £9000. I cashed it in then sold the house. Our second house was interest only but we took out a loan with Natwest for the capital. Much better idea. We sold again soon after and just kept the loan going as a death insurance loan, quite cheap, £25 for £110000, still going, though we are now mortgage free.
“I have no idea who is really in charge of what any more,” said one government adviser. “It is bloody chaos.” Meanwhile, Michael Gove - Cummings’s close friend – has been effectively demoted from responsibility for Brexit and some in Whitehall are wary that they may be preparing ways to exact revenge together.
Senior Tories believe that the whole row, going back to the first stories about Cameron’s involvement with scandal-hit financier Lex Greensill, is a mess of the party’s own creation. Former advisers to Francis Maude have been blamed for those initial leaks, though the accusation has been denied. Several Tories said they believed the cries of “Tory sleaze” from Labour had been falling flat, but now have purchase.
“I have had one email about the whole Downing Street and Cameron sleaze thing until now,” said one former minister. “I had 500 about Cummings and his trip to Barnard Castle. But I have been out campaigning this morning and there is now chuntering. Our candidates are beginning to say that they are hearing negative things on the doorsteps.”
In the wake of the week’s extraordinary events, it is the predictability of the Cummings backlash that is still puzzling Tory MPs. “I really do not know why anyone is remotely surprised,” said one. “Don’t mess with psychos.” Another senior Tory agreed: “‘Only needle dead enemies’ is a good motto.”
I get the impression that there are rather too many people with rather too little work to do.
Or perhaps people who prefer to play on their mobile phones rather than doing the work they should be doing.
I would guess that two thirds of regular posters here are convinced that Johnson is the devil, and that it's only a matter of time before the Sheeple wake up to this fact.
i'm afraid that "ought" is not "is".
More than two thirds I think.
And they tend to think as well that anyone who doesn't share that opinion must be trolling. Not that you just have a difference of opinion.
The thing is I more or less accept that Boris Johnson is not a very pleasant person. But, it's the obsessive hatred, and the conviction that it's only a matter of time before the scales fall from the eyes of the voters that I find hard to fathom. Not to mention, the endless attempts to explain away the fact that he keeps defeating his opponents.
Good post and it seems to be getting more hysterical by the day
I bet Boris sending covid help to India will chime far greater than Cummings and his war
There are two sides to every story, but some on here think that Cummings is now their knight in shining armour to slay the one person that creates angst in their mind every minute of every day
Meanwhile the folks who were defending Cumstain last year over his County Durham jaunts are now sticking the boot in.
a) he properly fucks up (inevitable at some stage) b) Labour fully detoxifies from the Corbyn nightmare c) Labour gets a telegenic female leader a la Dr Rosena
“I have no idea who is really in charge of what any more,” said one government adviser. “It is bloody chaos.” Meanwhile, Michael Gove - Cummings’s close friend – has been effectively demoted from responsibility for Brexit and some in Whitehall are wary that they may be preparing ways to exact revenge together.
Senior Tories believe that the whole row, going back to the first stories about Cameron’s involvement with scandal-hit financier Lex Greensill, is a mess of the party’s own creation. Former advisers to Francis Maude have been blamed for those initial leaks, though the accusation has been denied. Several Tories said they believed the cries of “Tory sleaze” from Labour had been falling flat, but now have purchase.
“I have had one email about the whole Downing Street and Cameron sleaze thing until now,” said one former minister. “I had 500 about Cummings and his trip to Barnard Castle. But I have been out campaigning this morning and there is now chuntering. Our candidates are beginning to say that they are hearing negative things on the doorsteps.”
In the wake of the week’s extraordinary events, it is the predictability of the Cummings backlash that is still puzzling Tory MPs. “I really do not know why anyone is remotely surprised,” said one. “Don’t mess with psychos.” Another senior Tory agreed: “‘Only needle dead enemies’ is a good motto.”
I get the impression that there are rather too many people with rather too little work to do.
Or perhaps people who prefer to play on their mobile phones rather than doing the work they should be doing.
I would guess that two thirds of regular posters here are convinced that Johnson is the devil, and that it's only a matter of time before the Sheeple wake up to this fact.
i'm afraid that "ought" is not "is".
More than two thirds I think.
And they tend to think as well that anyone who doesn't share that opinion must be trolling. Not that you just have a difference of opinion.
The thing is I more or less accept that Boris Johnson is not a very pleasant person. But, it's the obsessive hatred, and the conviction that it's only a matter of time before the scales fall from the eyes of the voters that I find hard to fathom. Not to mention, the endless attempts to explain away the fact that he keeps defeating his opponents.
Good post and it seems to be getting more hysterical by the day
I bet Boris sending covid help to India will chime far greater than Cummings and his war
There are two sides to every story, but some on here think that Cummings is now their knight in shining armour to slay the one person that creates angst in their mind every minute of every day
Meanwhile the folks who were defending Cumstain last year over his County Durham jaunts are now sticking the boot in.
“I have no idea who is really in charge of what any more,” said one government adviser. “It is bloody chaos.” Meanwhile, Michael Gove - Cummings’s close friend – has been effectively demoted from responsibility for Brexit and some in Whitehall are wary that they may be preparing ways to exact revenge together.
Senior Tories believe that the whole row, going back to the first stories about Cameron’s involvement with scandal-hit financier Lex Greensill, is a mess of the party’s own creation. Former advisers to Francis Maude have been blamed for those initial leaks, though the accusation has been denied. Several Tories said they believed the cries of “Tory sleaze” from Labour had been falling flat, but now have purchase.
“I have had one email about the whole Downing Street and Cameron sleaze thing until now,” said one former minister. “I had 500 about Cummings and his trip to Barnard Castle. But I have been out campaigning this morning and there is now chuntering. Our candidates are beginning to say that they are hearing negative things on the doorsteps.”
In the wake of the week’s extraordinary events, it is the predictability of the Cummings backlash that is still puzzling Tory MPs. “I really do not know why anyone is remotely surprised,” said one. “Don’t mess with psychos.” Another senior Tory agreed: “‘Only needle dead enemies’ is a good motto.”
I get the impression that there are rather too many people with rather too little work to do.
Or perhaps people who prefer to play on their mobile phones rather than doing the work they should be doing.
I would guess that two thirds of regular posters here are convinced that Johnson is the devil, and that it's only a matter of time before the Sheeple wake up to this fact.
i'm afraid that "ought" is not "is".
More than two thirds I think.
And they tend to think as well that anyone who doesn't share that opinion must be trolling. Not that you just have a difference of opinion.
The thing is I more or less accept that Boris Johnson is not a very pleasant person. But, it's the obsessive hatred, and the conviction that it's only a matter of time before the scales fall from the eyes of the voters that I find hard to fathom. Not to mention, the endless attempts to explain away the fact that he keeps defeating his opponents.
Good post and it seems to be getting more hysterical by the day
I bet Boris sending covid help to India will chime far greater than Cummings and his war
There are two sides to every story, but some on here think that Cummings is now their knight in shining armour to slay the one person that creates angst in their mind every minute of every day
I don't hate Johnson any more than I hate Starmer , Davey or Sturgeon. Nor do I think Johnson is evil in the way I think May was. But I do think he is totally unsuited to high office and, although I absolutely give him credit for some of the decisions leading up to the successful vaccine roll out, I do think he also bears direct responsibility for the unnecessary deaths of many tens of thousands of people and that, remarkably, he is still making the same mistakes now as he made a year ago.
Being 'lucky' is not characteristic arrived at through personal development and growth. It is a random act of chance. Johnson has, in many ways, been lucky but that is no reason to support him or wish to see him continue in his post as PM. His luck will, run out and at that point we could all be in a lot more trouble.
This may mark me out as an idiot but any Independent Financial Adviser who advised anyone to take a Interest Only Mortgage for a non-commerical purchase (i.e. where the ability to 'walk away' doesn't exist for the purchaser as it is their home) where the Fixed Term of the interest rate wasn't fixed for the life of the mortgage is an absolute wanker.
That is just asking for trouble. I have limited sympathy for people taking on interest only mortgages who didn't also have a solid plan for capital repayment given the huge publicity of the disaster of endowment mortgages but if they were advised by an IFA then that's just not on.
I remember looking for a mortgage pre 2010.
I told the guy how much I wanted - he said he could get me however much I wanted and was basically encouraging me to forget the mortgage I was looking for and go for a much bigger one to get that "dream house"
I can't recall if he was offering entirely an interest only mortgage or a mixture.
I do recall saying that the mortgage I was after was plenty big enough and over 3.5 times salary - he just shrugged said he could get me what ever I wanted and basically told me I could "self certify" earnings.
I told him I most definitely didn't want.
You can guess who the lender was - no wonder it went very wrong
the endless attempts to explain away the fact that he keeps defeating his opponents.
He beat Ken Livingstone, a Hitler obsessive
He beat Corbyn. Nuff said.
He ran away from the fight with May. Curious the fanbois don't mention that one much...
I'm not sure what you think that has to do with the issue of people explaining away his defeat of opponents, it rather seems to make the point Sean F was making (Ken's time had clearly come and gone, but if he was so simple to beat as you imply he'd never have been a winner in the first place, for starters).
It's certainly true that he backed down from that contest, presumably as he thought he'd lose. He then ended up holding a Great Office of State for a time, and after contributing to an almighty mess he ended up getting precisely what he wanted out of the mess. He'd probably call it picking his battles.
Boris does not have a political midas touch (or reverse midas touch, since it was a bad thing), he does not command all before him with consumate ease, but I really don't see what benefit there is to those of us who dislike him in explaining his personal political successes in such a way as it having nothing to do with him. How does that help counter him succeeding again?
It's like revisionists explaining away all the causes of a war to the point it should mean it never happened at all.
"Brits in their 30s 'will be invited for Covid jabs within days' with officials ‘close to agreeing deal for 40million Pfizer jabs
People in their 30s will start to be invited for vaccines by the end of this week Britain is finalising a deal to buy 40million more Pfizer jabs for autumn booster Officials are debating whether to use AstraZeneca jabs on people aged 30 to 39"
“I have no idea who is really in charge of what any more,” said one government adviser. “It is bloody chaos.” Meanwhile, Michael Gove - Cummings’s close friend – has been effectively demoted from responsibility for Brexit and some in Whitehall are wary that they may be preparing ways to exact revenge together.
Senior Tories believe that the whole row, going back to the first stories about Cameron’s involvement with scandal-hit financier Lex Greensill, is a mess of the party’s own creation. Former advisers to Francis Maude have been blamed for those initial leaks, though the accusation has been denied. Several Tories said they believed the cries of “Tory sleaze” from Labour had been falling flat, but now have purchase.
“I have had one email about the whole Downing Street and Cameron sleaze thing until now,” said one former minister. “I had 500 about Cummings and his trip to Barnard Castle. But I have been out campaigning this morning and there is now chuntering. Our candidates are beginning to say that they are hearing negative things on the doorsteps.”
In the wake of the week’s extraordinary events, it is the predictability of the Cummings backlash that is still puzzling Tory MPs. “I really do not know why anyone is remotely surprised,” said one. “Don’t mess with psychos.” Another senior Tory agreed: “‘Only needle dead enemies’ is a good motto.”
I get the impression that there are rather too many people with rather too little work to do.
Or perhaps people who prefer to play on their mobile phones rather than doing the work they should be doing.
I would guess that two thirds of regular posters here are convinced that Johnson is the devil, and that it's only a matter of time before the Sheeple wake up to this fact.
i'm afraid that "ought" is not "is".
More than two thirds I think.
And they tend to think as well that anyone who doesn't share that opinion must be trolling. Not that you just have a difference of opinion.
The thing is I more or less accept that Boris Johnson is not a very pleasant person. But, it's the obsessive hatred, and the conviction that it's only a matter of time before the scales fall from the eyes of the voters that I find hard to fathom. Not to mention, the endless attempts to explain away the fact that he keeps defeating his opponents.
Good post and it seems to be getting more hysterical by the day
I bet Boris sending covid help to India will chime far greater than Cummings and his war
There are two sides to every story, but some on here think that Cummings is now their knight in shining armour to slay the one person that creates angst in their mind every minute of every day
Meanwhile the folks who were defending Cumstain last year over his County Durham jaunts are now sticking the boot in.
Funny old game.
Some of us are the other way round. I wrote a thread header last year on why Cummings should resign but now I am hoping (probably in vain I will admit) that he really dos have the emails and other evidence to kick the hornets nest.
@Mexicanpete Annoyingly, I wrote a long post in response to yours and then accidentally deleted it when editing it!
But, this has influenced a lot of people in the soft centre/centre left.
Take how Robin DiAngelo, author of White Fragility, has put it: ‘a positive white identity is an impossible goal. White identity is inherently racist; white people do not exist outside the system of white supremacy.'
When racism is viewed in this way, it cannot be challenged through individual white people not being racist; instead, white people must be actively anti-racist. Anti-racism starts with white people acknowledging their own racism and battling the fragility prompted by threats to their privilege. From here, white people must probe deep into their psyches to root out unconscious bias before finally, in seeking to build the world anew, thinking carefully about the new reality constructed with each word uttered.
Critical race theorists have reinvented racism. Only this time around, it is not black people that are considered a problem, but white people.
How is that liberal? Or in accordance with the values of the enlightenment?
Not being funny but WTF is a "positive white identity" meant to be? What's that even mean?
I don't identify as white, I am white but I identify as myself. I share more in common with my politics for instance with Rishi Sunak than I do John McDonnell, so what has race or white identity got to do with it?
I agree that simply not being racist should be enough. But I'm curious why anyone would want a "white identity".
Well you identify as yourself except for when you identify as Mother. 😨
More seriously, you touch on a crux point. You don’t id as white because there's no need to. Nor do I. It's the default. The master key.
This is White Privilege. And White Fragility is a term for how some seem to crumble at the thought. Simply cannot handle it being discussed in this way for some reason.
For me it's an interesting way of looking at things. That's what this "superwokery" is all about imo. That's what I get from it. Some insights that are worth thinking about and can aid understanding.
And no more than that. It doesn't explain the whole of race relations or lead to the promised land. But I do think people short change themselves if they just reject it out of hand cos it sounds all wonky and difficult and not what Proper Blokes should be concerning themselves with.
The problem is the idea that the colour of my skin endows me with certain attributes.
It neither makes me part of a heritage or a community or means that I have certain values or experiences.
When you start attributing certain characteristics to people with a certain skin colour, you are...
What is...
Oh yes... prejudging people based on their race.
There's a word for that. What is it again?
Ah yes, racism.
There is a really, really serious problem in the US with racism. It permeates the police in certain parts of the country and results in thousands of people dying, and hundreds of thousands (or millions) having pretty shitty life experiences.
You don't solve those problems by attributing certain characteristics to all people with certain skin hues. You solve them by identifying actual prejudice and stamping it out.
Agreed. Things like rewriting history to pretend he's only gone against discredited opponents - except when he entered the Mayoral race in 2007 Livingstone was firm favourite to be re-elected and initially ahead of Johnson in the polls. It took months of campaigning to turn that around. Livingstone may be discredited now but he wasn't in 2007/08.
Plus most of the claims about Johnson are either utterly irrelevant nonsense (like his personal life) or simply relate to the fact he's a politician.
And, as a politician, his career will ultimately end in failure.
The question is only, therefore, what kind of failure will Boris Johnson turn out to be ?
Will he be the type of failure who is removed from office by the electorate? Will he be the type of failure who is removed from office by his own MPs or his own Party? Will he be the type of failure who leaves on his own terms but quickly becomes vilified for what he actually did or didn't do whilst in office?
All we're debating on here is which of those three it's going to be.
a) he properly fucks up (inevitable at some stage) b) Labour fully detoxifies from the Corbyn nightmare c) Labour gets a telegenic female leader a la Dr Rosena
“I have no idea who is really in charge of what any more,” said one government adviser. “It is bloody chaos.” Meanwhile, Michael Gove - Cummings’s close friend – has been effectively demoted from responsibility for Brexit and some in Whitehall are wary that they may be preparing ways to exact revenge together.
Senior Tories believe that the whole row, going back to the first stories about Cameron’s involvement with scandal-hit financier Lex Greensill, is a mess of the party’s own creation. Former advisers to Francis Maude have been blamed for those initial leaks, though the accusation has been denied. Several Tories said they believed the cries of “Tory sleaze” from Labour had been falling flat, but now have purchase.
“I have had one email about the whole Downing Street and Cameron sleaze thing until now,” said one former minister. “I had 500 about Cummings and his trip to Barnard Castle. But I have been out campaigning this morning and there is now chuntering. Our candidates are beginning to say that they are hearing negative things on the doorsteps.”
In the wake of the week’s extraordinary events, it is the predictability of the Cummings backlash that is still puzzling Tory MPs. “I really do not know why anyone is remotely surprised,” said one. “Don’t mess with psychos.” Another senior Tory agreed: “‘Only needle dead enemies’ is a good motto.”
I get the impression that there are rather too many people with rather too little work to do.
Or perhaps people who prefer to play on their mobile phones rather than doing the work they should be doing.
I would guess that two thirds of regular posters here are convinced that Johnson is the devil, and that it's only a matter of time before the Sheeple wake up to this fact.
i'm afraid that "ought" is not "is".
More than two thirds I think.
And they tend to think as well that anyone who doesn't share that opinion must be trolling. Not that you just have a difference of opinion.
The thing is I more or less accept that Boris Johnson is not a very pleasant person. But, it's the obsessive hatred, and the conviction that it's only a matter of time before the scales fall from the eyes of the voters that I find hard to fathom. Not to mention, the endless attempts to explain away the fact that he keeps defeating his opponents.
Good post and it seems to be getting more hysterical by the day
I bet Boris sending covid help to India will chime far greater than Cummings and his war
There are two sides to every story, but some on here think that Cummings is now their knight in shining armour to slay the one person that creates angst in their mind every minute of every day
Meanwhile the folks who were defending Cumstain last year over his County Durham jaunts are now sticking the boot in.
Funny old game.
I never defended Cummings and wanted him sacked
Sorry, I wasn't aiming this at you. Just a general observation.
This may mark me out as an idiot but any Independent Financial Adviser who advised anyone to take a Interest Only Mortgage for a non-commerical purchase (i.e. where the ability to 'walk away' doesn't exist for the purchaser as it is their home) where the Fixed Term of the interest rate wasn't fixed for the life of the mortgage is an absolute wanker.
That is just asking for trouble. I have limited sympathy for people taking on interest only mortgages who didn't also have a solid plan for capital repayment given the huge publicity of the disaster of endowment mortgages but if they were advised by an IFA then that's just not on.
I remember looking for a mortgage pre 2010.
I told the guy how much I wanted - he said he could get me however much I wanted and was basically encouraging me to forget the mortgage I was looking for and go for a much bigger one to get that "dream house"
I can't recall if he was offering entirely an interest only mortgage or a mixture.
I do recall saying that the mortgage I was after was plenty big enough and over 3.5 times salary - he just shrugged said he could get me what ever I wanted and basically told me I could "self certify" earnings.
I told him I most definitely didn't want.
You can guess who the lender was - no wonder it went very wrong
I got on the property ladder in 2003 via a 100% interest only mortgage on a lovely little basement flat in Angel Islington. No deposit, no fixed interest, 4x my earnings, in retrospect I was absolutely mad but I was also very lucky, selling it for quite a tidy sum 3 years later. Probably the biggest risk I ever took but in truth I didn’t realise it at the time.
"Brits in their 30s 'will be invited for Covid jabs within days' with officials ‘close to agreeing deal for 40million Pfizer jabs
People in their 30s will start to be invited for vaccines by the end of this week Britain is finalising a deal to buy 40million more Pfizer jabs for autumn booster Officials are debating whether to use AstraZeneca jabs on people aged 30 to 39"
The Pfizer production increases are quite extraordinary. They'll be at 200 million doses per month of production by the end of May.
How many are the USA hoarding ?
Hoarding is a very ugly word.
That being said... if I was Pfizer I would be concentrating production in countries which are least likely to engage in export bans. So, the UK, Switzerland, Canada, etc.
With respect to the Boris the Paperhanger conniption, as an American cannot help but think of times when US presidents have overseen renovations of the White House. Am thinking here of major (and desperately needed) structural reconstruction of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and of course Jackie Kennedy's famous redecoration, which she showcased on national TV.
Which have occasionally generated controversy, but for the most part have been seen by Americans as reasonable & prudent maintenance and upkeep for a national landmark.
Cannot help but thinking, that British PMs would be well advised to take the same approach to No. 10 Downing Street.
By making the project one, not of personal convenience, but rather national significance. Not for the current residents as much as for future ones.
Just saying.
The White House is your answer to Buckingham Palace.
A nearer equivalent would be the money spent on Number One Observatory Circle, which I believe was first outfitted by the Rockefellers at their own expense and has been renovated several times since, most often with the decor paid for by private donations and the fabric paid for by the Navy (I think).
My point is that British PMs would be better off making refurbishment of No. 10 a PUBLIC matter and not a PRIVATE one.
Yes, of course I realize that Buck House = White House.
BUT do the Great British Public think of No. 10 Downing Street as a private residence, and the wallpaper of whatever as of only private concern to the occupants? Doubt it!
So instead of BoJo & Carrie skulking around and generating yet more bad press for themselves (a skill Carrie has clearly mastered, as did Nancy Reagan before her) make it a PUBLIC deal. Like I said, for future generations etc. etc. etc.
a) he properly fucks up (inevitable at some stage) b) Labour fully detoxifies from the Corbyn nightmare c) Labour gets a telegenic female leader a la Dr Rosena
a) he properly fucks up (inevitable at some stage) b) Labour fully detoxifies from the Corbyn nightmare c) Labour gets a telegenic female leader a la Dr Rosena
"Brits in their 30s 'will be invited for Covid jabs within days' with officials ‘close to agreeing deal for 40million Pfizer jabs
People in their 30s will start to be invited for vaccines by the end of this week Britain is finalising a deal to buy 40million more Pfizer jabs for autumn booster Officials are debating whether to use AstraZeneca jabs on people aged 30 to 39"
The Pfizer production increases are quite extraordinary. They'll be at 200 million doses per month of production by the end of May.
How many are the USA hoarding ?
Hoarding is a very ugly word.
That being said... if I was Pfizer I would be concentrating production in countries which are least likely to engage in export bans. So, the UK, Switzerland, Canada, etc.
The consequences of the USA's hoarding are far uglier.
TBH that reminds me of the inflammatory reports put out last year about 'mass graves in London'. It is mainly media being as shallow and useless as it has been throughout. Too much pandering to prejudices and preconceptions. Not enough reflection.
With respect to the Boris the Paperhanger conniption, as an American cannot help but think of times when US presidents have overseen renovations of the White House. Am thinking here of major (and desperately needed) structural reconstruction of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and of course Jackie Kennedy's famous redecoration, which she showcased on national TV.
Which have occasionally generated controversy, but for the most part have been seen by Americans as reasonable & prudent maintenance and upkeep for a national landmark.
Cannot help but thinking, that British PMs would be well advised to take the same approach to No. 10 Downing Street.
By making the project one, not of personal convenience, but rather national significance. Not for the current residents as much as for future ones.
Just saying.
The White House is your answer to Buckingham Palace.
A nearer equivalent would be the money spent on Number One Observatory Circle, which I believe was first outfitted by the Rockefellers at their own expense and has been renovated several times since, most often with the decor paid for by private donations and the fabric paid for by the Navy (I think).
My point is that British PMs would be better off making refurbishment of No. 10 a PUBLIC matter and not a PRIVATE one.
Yes, of course I realize that Buck House = White House.
BUT do the Great British Public think of No. 10 Downing Street as a private residence, and the wallpaper of whatever as of only private concern to the occupants? Doubt it!
So instead of BoJo & Carrie skulking around and generating yet more bad press for themselves (a skill Carrie has clearly mastered, as did Nancy Reagan before her) make it a PUBLIC deal. Like I said, for future generations etc. etc. etc.
I agree with that.
I think it’s a bit stingy of us British taxpayers not to provide decent living quarters for the PM & his family.
The renovation bill does seem somewhat excessive, though. It can surely be kept to five figures.
"Brits in their 30s 'will be invited for Covid jabs within days' with officials ‘close to agreeing deal for 40million Pfizer jabs
People in their 30s will start to be invited for vaccines by the end of this week Britain is finalising a deal to buy 40million more Pfizer jabs for autumn booster Officials are debating whether to use AstraZeneca jabs on people aged 30 to 39"
The Pfizer production increases are quite extraordinary. They'll be at 200 million doses per month of production by the end of May.
How many are the USA hoarding ?
Hoarding is a very ugly word.
That being said... if I was Pfizer I would be concentrating production in countries which are least likely to engage in export bans. So, the UK, Switzerland, Canada, etc.
I think the original Trump contracts are close to being fulfilled and the new ones signed by Biden allow for doses to be exported.
"Brits in their 30s 'will be invited for Covid jabs within days' with officials ‘close to agreeing deal for 40million Pfizer jabs
People in their 30s will start to be invited for vaccines by the end of this week Britain is finalising a deal to buy 40million more Pfizer jabs for autumn booster Officials are debating whether to use AstraZeneca jabs on people aged 30 to 39"
The Pfizer production increases are quite extraordinary. They'll be at 200 million doses per month of production by the end of May.
How many are the USA hoarding ?
Hoarding is a very ugly word.
That being said... if I was Pfizer I would be concentrating production in countries which are least likely to engage in export bans. So, the UK, Switzerland, Canada, etc.
I think the original Trump contracts are close to being fulfilled and the new ones signed by Biden allow for doses to be exported.
The US still needs to repeal the "Export Allocation Rule on Medical Supplies and Equipment for COVID-19" or at least clarify it once commitments are met. Right now, it needs specific exemptions (as happened with Canada and Mexico) to export.
If someone lived in the colonial era in this country I'd think pretty much everybody benefited from 'colonial era activity' in some way. Even the poor probably derived some positive benefit. So presumably there's something more to it.
I do enjoy reading about mathematicians on wikipedia, as even after reading an explaination of what the transcendental law of homogeneity is, I still haven't the faintest idea.
Boris tenure at no 10 will go when or if he loses the red wall
In just over 10 days we should have indications just how likely that is, or whether Starmer is seen as a failure
No, he will go when a) he looks like a loser AND b) someone else in the Party looks like a winner.
And that's the fascinating thing about where we are.
Most politicians are a mixture of high principles and low cunning. And that's OK. What's interesting about BoJo is how far he takes the ability to win elections and how hollow his agenda to use that victory is. And that the lack of policy detail is what makes him so electorally potent.
He is popular because he's programmed to gain and maintain popularity. But the foulups happen, and will continue to happen, because he has no idea but "what will make me popular today?" (He doesn't, does he?). And the foulups will eventually make him unpopular.
I'd really rather not be living in the country where the experiment is being done, but it is fascinating.
If someone lived in the colonial era in this country I'd think pretty much everybody benefited from 'colonial era activity' in some way. Even the poor probably derived some positive benefit. So presumably there's something more to it.
I do enjoy reading about mathematicians on wikipedia, as even after reading an explaination of what the transcendental law of homogeneity is, I still haven't the faintest idea.
I agree. I feel like a lot of this is a distraction technique from the embarrassing fact that most people in Western countries today have probably benefited from slave labour in places like China and Bangladesh at some time over the last 10 to 15 years.
If someone lived in the colonial era in this country I'd think pretty much everybody benefited from 'colonial era activity' in some way. Even the poor probably derived some positive benefit. So presumably there's something more to it.
I do enjoy reading about mathematicians on wikipedia, as even after reading an explaination of what the transcendental law of homogeneity is, I still haven't the faintest idea.
My brother, entirely uneducated, but a phenomenal auto-didact, and living on a hilltop in Peru, just lectured me about the ‘ontological primitive’
I *studied* Philosophy at one of the best universities in the world but I had no idea what he was talking about, but I went online and turns out he was using the phrase entirely correctly.
"Brits in their 30s 'will be invited for Covid jabs within days' with officials ‘close to agreeing deal for 40million Pfizer jabs
People in their 30s will start to be invited for vaccines by the end of this week Britain is finalising a deal to buy 40million more Pfizer jabs for autumn booster Officials are debating whether to use AstraZeneca jabs on people aged 30 to 39"
The Pfizer production increases are quite extraordinary. They'll be at 200 million doses per month of production by the end of May.
How many are the USA hoarding ?
Hoarding is a very ugly word.
That being said... if I was Pfizer I would be concentrating production in countries which are least likely to engage in export bans. So, the UK, Switzerland, Canada, etc.
I think the original Trump contracts are close to being fulfilled and the new ones signed by Biden allow for doses to be exported.
The US still needs to repeal the "Export Allocation Rule on Medical Supplies and Equipment for COVID-19" or at least clarify it once commitments are met. Right now, it needs specific exemptions (as happened with Canada and Mexico) to export.
The US is about three weeks away from satisfying demand. After that I don't see why they would bother keeping any export restrictions, they can still build a stockpile within the deliveries they expect from Moderna and Pfizer in the first contracts.
You are right in general though, the UK and Switzerland will do very well out of the EU trying to block exports.
Boris tenure at no 10 will go when or if he loses the red wall
In just over 10 days we should have indications just how likely that is, or whether Starmer is seen as a failure
The next fortnight will be very, very bad for Labour in terms of Hartlepool, mayoral elections, and Welsh Elections. They might stand still in the council elections and they might do marginally better (from a dire baseline in Scotland) All this tells us very little for GE2024, other than we are in the midst of very unusual and dynamic political times.
"Brits in their 30s 'will be invited for Covid jabs within days' with officials ‘close to agreeing deal for 40million Pfizer jabs
People in their 30s will start to be invited for vaccines by the end of this week Britain is finalising a deal to buy 40million more Pfizer jabs for autumn booster Officials are debating whether to use AstraZeneca jabs on people aged 30 to 39"
The Pfizer production increases are quite extraordinary. They'll be at 200 million doses per month of production by the end of May.
How many are the USA hoarding ?
Hoarding is a very ugly word.
That being said... if I was Pfizer I would be concentrating production in countries which are least likely to engage in export bans. So, the UK, Switzerland, Canada, etc.
I think the original Trump contracts are close to being fulfilled and the new ones signed by Biden allow for doses to be exported.
The US still needs to repeal the "Export Allocation Rule on Medical Supplies and Equipment for COVID-19" or at least clarify it once commitments are met. Right now, it needs specific exemptions (as happened with Canada and Mexico) to export.
Their rules relating to the rest of the world are all over the place in many respects. They're currently advising against travel to the UK because of our high levels of covid.
On thread: Ten years ago, I'd have probably said no to these proposals. I was pretty keen on most things free market. I was unworried by low wages because I had assumed there would be a floor beneath which wages would not fall. Now, I think I've changed my mind. What's changed? Basically, the infinite labour pool. Wages seem to be stagnating and even falling because the gig economy alllows a steady flow of workers willing to accept lower and lower wages, to the benefit of huge behemoths like Amazon. Being able to order cheap Chinese tat on Amazon doesn't seem to be enough of an upside to justify falling wages and the hollowing out of the High Street. I've rather come to the conclusion that we should either pay people properly or not have the job done at all.
If someone lived in the colonial era in this country I'd think pretty much everybody benefited from 'colonial era activity' in some way. Even the poor probably derived some positive benefit. So presumably there's something more to it.
I do enjoy reading about mathematicians on wikipedia, as even after reading an explaination of what the transcendental law of homogeneity is, I still haven't the faintest idea.
Why on earth should the physics curriculum need overhauling whatever Newton connection to colonial issues? Which one of his laws will be dropped as a gesture to the oppressed? Or maybe calculus has been dropped?
@Mexicanpete Annoyingly, I wrote a long post in response to yours and then accidentally deleted it when editing it!
But, this has influenced a lot of people in the soft centre/centre left.
Take how Robin DiAngelo, author of White Fragility, has put it: ‘a positive white identity is an impossible goal. White identity is inherently racist; white people do not exist outside the system of white supremacy.'
When racism is viewed in this way, it cannot be challenged through individual white people not being racist; instead, white people must be actively anti-racist. Anti-racism starts with white people acknowledging their own racism and battling the fragility prompted by threats to their privilege. From here, white people must probe deep into their psyches to root out unconscious bias before finally, in seeking to build the world anew, thinking carefully about the new reality constructed with each word uttered.
Critical race theorists have reinvented racism. Only this time around, it is not black people that are considered a problem, but white people.
How is that liberal? Or in accordance with the values of the enlightenment?
Not being funny but WTF is a "positive white identity" meant to be? What's that even mean?
I don't identify as white, I am white but I identify as myself. I share more in common with my politics for instance with Rishi Sunak than I do John McDonnell, so what has race or white identity got to do with it?
I agree that simply not being racist should be enough. But I'm curious why anyone would want a "white identity".
Well you identify as yourself except for when you identify as Mother. 😨
More seriously, you touch on a crux point. You don’t id as white because there's no need to. Nor do I. It's the default. The master key.
This is White Privilege. And White Fragility is a term for how some seem to crumble at the thought. Simply cannot handle it being discussed in this way for some reason.
For me it's an interesting way of looking at things. That's what this "superwokery" is all about imo. That's what I get from it. Some insights that are worth thinking about and can aid understanding.
And no more than that. It doesn't explain the whole of race relations or lead to the promised land. But I do think people short change themselves if they just reject it out of hand cos it sounds all wonky and difficult and not what Proper Blokes should be concerning themselves with.
Nah, I don't identify as white not because its the default, but rather because not being a racist I don't find my skin colour remotely interesting.
I have black hair, does that mean I should have black identity? For my hair colour? Or would you think that is silly?
The key to ending racism is to not think about race at all, to be colourblind, not to make race the be all and end all identity.
Perhaps the most infantile post you have ever launched upon this site. I'm truly shocked (unless you are trolling) by the total lack of intelligence or anything resembling insight demonstrated here. It's kind of a masterpiece of its kind. Three quite stupifyingly vacuous paras one after the other. The last one can just about be forgiven for being pure pollyanna and nothing worse but the rest? Oh my Lord. What a dim dim chap you are.
Sorry, Philip. I have to stop pandering and speak truth to people sometimes.
Thank you for speaking truth to power. A truly brave step on your part.
Yes sorry. I was punching down. But honestly, c'mon, give me a break. Severe provocation and I'm not a saint.
If someone lived in the colonial era in this country I'd think pretty much everybody benefited from 'colonial era activity' in some way. Even the poor probably derived some positive benefit. So presumably there's something more to it.
I do enjoy reading about mathematicians on wikipedia, as even after reading an explaination of what the transcendental law of homogeneity is, I still haven't the faintest idea.
Why on earth should the physics curriculum need overhauling whatever Newton connection to colonial issues? Which one of his laws will be dropped as a gesture to the oppressed? Or maybe calculus has been dropped?
Boris tenure at no 10 will go when or if he loses the red wall
In just over 10 days we should have indications just how likely that is, or whether Starmer is seen as a failure
The next fortnight will be very, very bad for Labour in terms of Hartlepool, mayoral elections, and Welsh Elections. They might stand still in the council elections and they might do marginally better (from a dire baseline in Scotland) All this tells us very little for GE2024, other than we are in the midst of very unusual and dynamic political times.
That is very true but I do expect the unexpected May
I assume the laws of motion and calculus aren't being cancelled.
I see from his page the Leibniz was noted for his optimism and that this is the best of all possible worlds that God could have created, so whether calculus is cancelled I don't think he'd have fitted in the modern age very well.
If someone lived in the colonial era in this country I'd think pretty much everybody benefited from 'colonial era activity' in some way. Even the poor probably derived some positive benefit. So presumably there's something more to it.
I do enjoy reading about mathematicians on wikipedia, as even after reading an explaination of what the transcendental law of homogeneity is, I still haven't the faintest idea.
I agree. I feel like a lot of this is a distraction technique from the embarrassing fact that most people in Western countries today have probably benefited from slave labour in places like China and Bangladesh at some time over the last 10 to 15 years.
I fear - as I said some time ago - that Covid19 may take 10,000 a day at its peak in India, even in the official figures. Reality 20-30k? That’s what you see if you extrapolate their horrific exponential curve
As a pudding course, coronavirus will turn on Africa
On thread: Ten years ago, I'd have probably said no to these proposals. I was pretty keen on most things free market. I was unworried by low wages because I had assumed there would be a floor beneath which wages would not fall. Now, I think I've changed my mind. What's changed? Basically, the infinite labour pool. Wages seem to be stagnating and even falling because the gig economy alllows a steady flow of workers willing to accept lower and lower wages, to the benefit of huge behemoths like Amazon. Being able to order cheap Chinese tat on Amazon doesn't seem to be enough of an upside to justify falling wages and the hollowing out of the High Street. I've rather come to the conclusion that we should either pay people properly or not have the job done at all.
I thought the minimum wage was supposed to stop this from happening.
If someone lived in the colonial era in this country I'd think pretty much everybody benefited from 'colonial era activity' in some way. Even the poor probably derived some positive benefit. So presumably there's something more to it.
I do enjoy reading about mathematicians on wikipedia, as even after reading an explaination of what the transcendental law of homogeneity is, I still haven't the faintest idea.
Why on earth should the physics curriculum need overhauling whatever Newton connection to colonial issues? Which one of his laws will be dropped as a gesture to the oppressed? Or maybe calculus has been dropped?
It's why I presume the story must, despite the headline, involve something else, even if it is just something as silly as noting that Newton lived in a time which meant he held views which we would not like today (perhaps around the Philosopher's Stone).
I think the old suggestion of just putting an asterisk next to everyone's name with something like 'People in the past had different views and experiences to today, and were probably racist or sexist as well' should just about cover it.
@Mexicanpete Annoyingly, I wrote a long post in response to yours and then accidentally deleted it when editing it!
But, this has influenced a lot of people in the soft centre/centre left.
Take how Robin DiAngelo, author of White Fragility, has put it: ‘a positive white identity is an impossible goal. White identity is inherently racist; white people do not exist outside the system of white supremacy.'
When racism is viewed in this way, it cannot be challenged through individual white people not being racist; instead, white people must be actively anti-racist. Anti-racism starts with white people acknowledging their own racism and battling the fragility prompted by threats to their privilege. From here, white people must probe deep into their psyches to root out unconscious bias before finally, in seeking to build the world anew, thinking carefully about the new reality constructed with each word uttered.
Critical race theorists have reinvented racism. Only this time around, it is not black people that are considered a problem, but white people.
How is that liberal? Or in accordance with the values of the enlightenment?
Not being funny but WTF is a "positive white identity" meant to be? What's that even mean?
I don't identify as white, I am white but I identify as myself. I share more in common with my politics for instance with Rishi Sunak than I do John McDonnell, so what has race or white identity got to do with it?
I agree that simply not being racist should be enough. But I'm curious why anyone would want a "white identity".
Well you identify as yourself except for when you identify as Mother. 😨
More seriously, you touch on a crux point. You don’t id as white because there's no need to. Nor do I. It's the default. The master key.
This is White Privilege. And White Fragility is a term for how some seem to crumble at the thought. Simply cannot handle it being discussed in this way for some reason.
For me it's an interesting way of looking at things. That's what this "superwokery" is all about imo. That's what I get from it. Some insights that are worth thinking about and can aid understanding.
And no more than that. It doesn't explain the whole of race relations or lead to the promised land. But I do think people short change themselves if they just reject it out of hand cos it sounds all wonky and difficult and not what Proper Blokes should be concerning themselves with.
Nah, I don't identify as white not because its the default, but rather because not being a racist I don't find my skin colour remotely interesting.
I have black hair, does that mean I should have black identity? For my hair colour? Or would you think that is silly?
The key to ending racism is to not think about race at all, to be colourblind, not to make race the be all and end all identity.
Perhaps the most infantile post you have ever launched upon this site. I'm truly shocked (unless you are trolling) by the total lack of intelligence or anything resembling insight demonstrated here. It's kind of a masterpiece of its kind. Three quite stupifyingly vacuous paras one after the other. The last one can just about be forgiven for being pure pollyanna and nothing worse but the rest? Oh my Lord. What a dim dim chap you are.
Sorry, Philip. I have to stop pandering and speak truth to people sometimes.
Thank you for speaking truth to power. A truly brave step on your part.
I'm not a saint.
Let us hope not, for your sake, most of them ended up having a horrible old time.
Boris tenure at no 10 will go when or if he loses the red wall
In just over 10 days we should have indications just how likely that is, or whether Starmer is seen as a failure
The next fortnight will be very, very bad for Labour in terms of Hartlepool, mayoral elections, and Welsh Elections. They might stand still in the council elections and they might do marginally better (from a dire baseline in Scotland) All this tells us very little for GE2024, other than we are in the midst of very unusual and dynamic political times.
That is very true but I do expect the unexpected May
I've said on here before - and I will say it again - that I expect LAB to hold Hartlepool. And I think LAB will do better than some expect in Wales and Scotland. And obviously Sadiq will win, I don't now think he will get the 50% to win outright in the first round.
Not so good for LAB in England local elections outside London.
Boris tenure at no 10 will go when or if he loses the red wall
In just over 10 days we should have indications just how likely that is, or whether Starmer is seen as a failure
The next fortnight will be very, very bad for Labour in terms of Hartlepool, mayoral elections, and Welsh Elections. They might stand still in the council elections and they might do marginally better (from a dire baseline in Scotland) All this tells us very little for GE2024, other than we are in the midst of very unusual and dynamic political times.
That is very true but I do expect the unexpected May
So the Conservatives take Hartlepool and Wales is a given. Are you expecting that they take Scotland, Greater Manchester and London too? Now if that does come to pass I am wrong and it gives us the result of GE2024.
"Brits in their 30s 'will be invited for Covid jabs within days' with officials ‘close to agreeing deal for 40million Pfizer jabs
People in their 30s will start to be invited for vaccines by the end of this week Britain is finalising a deal to buy 40million more Pfizer jabs for autumn booster Officials are debating whether to use AstraZeneca jabs on people aged 30 to 39"
The Pfizer production increases are quite extraordinary. They'll be at 200 million doses per month of production by the end of May.
How many are the USA hoarding ?
Hoarding is a very ugly word.
That being said... if I was Pfizer I would be concentrating production in countries which are least likely to engage in export bans. So, the UK, Switzerland, Canada, etc.
I think the original Trump contracts are close to being fulfilled and the new ones signed by Biden allow for doses to be exported.
The US still needs to repeal the "Export Allocation Rule on Medical Supplies and Equipment for COVID-19" or at least clarify it once commitments are met. Right now, it needs specific exemptions (as happened with Canada and Mexico) to export.
The US is about three weeks away from satisfying demand. After that I don't see why they would bother keeping any export restrictions, they can still build a stockpile within the deliveries they expect from Moderna and Pfizer in the first contracts.
You are right in general though, the UK and Switzerland will do very well out of the EU trying to block exports.
Do you have any info on whether eg there are people setup alongside the Trade Deal activity pitching UK as a good site to invest?
eg Persuading Valneva to consider a move here, whilst keeping a minor foot in the EU, since we have a contract with them already worth nearly 500% of their current turnover? Plus options.
Mons. Macaron would have a fit
Also AFAIK Pfizer still own the Sandwich site. Lab?
On thread: Ten years ago, I'd have probably said no to these proposals. I was pretty keen on most things free market. I was unworried by low wages because I had assumed there would be a floor beneath which wages would not fall. Now, I think I've changed my mind. What's changed? Basically, the infinite labour pool. Wages seem to be stagnating and even falling because the gig economy alllows a steady flow of workers willing to accept lower and lower wages, to the benefit of huge behemoths like Amazon. Being able to order cheap Chinese tat on Amazon doesn't seem to be enough of an upside to justify falling wages and the hollowing out of the High Street. I've rather come to the conclusion that we should either pay people properly or not have the job done at all.
I thought the minimum wage was supposed to stop this from happening.
The problem though is that the gig economy is deliberately constructed to evade the minimum wage and other social protections.
If someone lived in the colonial era in this country I'd think pretty much everybody benefited from 'colonial era activity' in some way. Even the poor probably derived some positive benefit. So presumably there's something more to it.
I do enjoy reading about mathematicians on wikipedia, as even after reading an explaination of what the transcendental law of homogeneity is, I still haven't the faintest idea.
I agree. I feel like a lot of this is a distraction technique from the embarrassing fact that most people in Western countries today have probably benefited from slave labour in places like China and Bangladesh at some time over the last 10 to 15 years.
I used to joke that we should just embrace such things, as I enjoyed the taste of human misery when I had a cup of tea for example. But in truth on things like super cheap clothing, we all know why it is so cheap even if technical slavery is not in operation.
Boris tenure at no 10 will go when or if he loses the red wall
In just over 10 days we should have indications just how likely that is, or whether Starmer is seen as a failure
The next fortnight will be very, very bad for Labour in terms of Hartlepool, mayoral elections, and Welsh Elections. They might stand still in the council elections and they might do marginally better (from a dire baseline in Scotland) All this tells us very little for GE2024, other than we are in the midst of very unusual and dynamic political times.
That is very true but I do expect the unexpected May
I've said on here before - and I will say it again - that I expect LAB to hold Hartlepool. And I think LAB will do better than some expect in Wales and Scotland. And obviously Sadiq will win, I don't now think he will get the 50% to win outright in the first round.
Not so good for LAB in England local elections outside London.
I'm honestly not sure what the general expectation is for Wales. There's been plenty of talk (and some interesting thread headers) on why Labour is due for a poor performance, but also the seemingly standard bolstering of the Labour share in the run up to an election there. So with that general confusion it may be easier for them to have what is deemed an ok night there, especially as they'll still be top.
Time for the BBC to start tossing off over the Oscars.
Same shite every year.
Much worse this year. American movie-making has been entirely captured by Wokery. Racial quotas in screenplays, tech staff, production, everything. It is already paralysed by political correctness, and this is before the White Privilege Laws kick in
Here is a recent guardian article decrying the trend. The guardian!
America might be the first example of a superpower committing cultural suicide. No one will want to watch this shit. Thus ends American supremacy, in the moving arts, just as it ends militarily and economically
Comments
“I have no idea who is really in charge of what any more,” said one government adviser. “It is bloody chaos.” Meanwhile, Michael Gove - Cummings’s close friend – has been effectively demoted from responsibility for Brexit and some in Whitehall are wary that they may be preparing ways to exact revenge together.
Senior Tories believe that the whole row, going back to the first stories about Cameron’s involvement with scandal-hit financier Lex Greensill, is a mess of the party’s own creation. Former advisers to Francis Maude have been blamed for those initial leaks, though the accusation has been denied. Several Tories said they believed the cries of “Tory sleaze” from Labour had been falling flat, but now have purchase.
“I have had one email about the whole Downing Street and Cameron sleaze thing until now,” said one former minister. “I had 500 about Cummings and his trip to Barnard Castle. But I have been out campaigning this morning and there is now chuntering. Our candidates are beginning to say that they are hearing negative things on the doorsteps.”
In the wake of the week’s extraordinary events, it is the predictability of the Cummings backlash that is still puzzling Tory MPs. “I really do not know why anyone is remotely surprised,” said one. “Don’t mess with psychos.” Another senior Tory agreed: “‘Only needle dead enemies’ is a good motto.”
The current mortgage prisoners are people who simply can’t afford the mortgage on the house they currently live in. That’s not the states problem.
I really hope the treasury stands firm.
Multiple sources claim PM’s Chief of Staff, Dan Rosenfeld gave all clear to ESL plans the Wednesday before...with further “positive noises” from 10 Downing Street on the Saturday before key to the plan to go ahead.
https://twitter.com/cazjwheeler/status/1386384935871827970?s=21
https://twitter.com/cazjwheeler/status/1386386096741883906?s=20
And in the political here and now, no this doesn't matter.
But unless No 10 sharpens up its act considerably, this is symptomatic of a government that's bound to blow something up at some point... isn't it?
Or perhaps people who prefer to play on their mobile phones rather than doing the work they should be doing.
Edit: that comment wasn't about IanB2 but rather all the 'advisors' etc.
No wonder English clubs were taken by surprise at the threats of legislation - they were given the go-ahead just days before.
Sorry, Philip. I have to stop pandering and speak truth to people sometimes.
i'm afraid that "ought" is not "is".
And he was up front on the media
And Woodward denied it anyway
Playing on mobile phones and personal games of "whose up/whose down" have gone from a thing, via the main thing, to the only thing.
And to our shame, we as voters have endorsed that.
Which have occasionally generated controversy, but for the most part have been seen by Americans as reasonable & prudent maintenance and upkeep for a national landmark.
Cannot help but thinking, that British PMs would be well advised to take the same approach to No. 10 Downing Street.
By making the project one, not of personal convenience, but rather national significance. Not for the current residents as much as for future ones.
Just saying.
Maybe for you everything is about skin colour, but its not for me. I was brought up to treat everyone the same regardless of skin colour, and so I do. I couldn't care less and don't think about skin colour. Not because its a "default" or anything, but because its merely a colour it says nothing about who you are. Just like hair or eyes or anything else.
A nearer equivalent would be the money spent on Number One Observatory Circle, which I believe was first outfitted by the Rockefellers at their own expense and has been renovated several times since, most often with the decor paid for by private donations and the fabric paid for by the Navy (I think).
Armando Iannucci has apologised that 3 of those became real government policies...
And they tend to think as well that anyone who doesn't share that opinion must be trolling. Not that you just have a difference of opinion.
Plus most of the claims about Johnson are either utterly irrelevant nonsense (like his personal life) or simply relate to the fact he's a politician.
He beat Corbyn. Nuff said.
He ran away from the fight with May. Curious the fanbois don't mention that one much...
I bet Boris sending covid help to India will chime far greater than Cummings and his war
There are two sides to every story, but some on here think that Cummings is now their knight in shining armour to slay the one person that creates angst in their mind every minute of every day
Where does the law and the SPAD code (is there one?) stand on Dom walking away with all these alleged recordings?
He beat May from the backbenches.
You forgot he beat Cameron too.
Funny old game.
Boris will be beaten when...
a) he properly fucks up (inevitable at some stage)
b) Labour fully detoxifies from the Corbyn nightmare
c) Labour gets a telegenic female leader a la Dr Rosena
Being 'lucky' is not characteristic arrived at through personal development and growth. It is a random act of chance. Johnson has, in many ways, been lucky but that is no reason to support him or wish to see him continue in his post as PM. His luck will, run out and at that point we could all be in a lot more trouble.
I told the guy how much I wanted - he said he could get me however much I wanted and was basically encouraging me to forget the mortgage I was looking for and go for a much bigger one to get that "dream house"
I can't recall if he was offering entirely an interest only mortgage or a mixture.
I do recall saying that the mortgage I was after was plenty big enough and over 3.5 times salary - he just shrugged said he could get me what ever I wanted and basically told me I could "self certify" earnings.
I told him I most definitely didn't want.
You can guess who the lender was - no wonder it went very wrong
It's certainly true that he backed down from that contest, presumably as he thought he'd lose. He then ended up holding a Great Office of State for a time, and after contributing to an almighty mess he ended up getting precisely what he wanted out of the mess. He'd probably call it picking his battles.
Boris does not have a political midas touch (or reverse midas touch, since it was a bad thing), he does not command all before him with consumate ease, but I really don't see what benefit there is to those of us who dislike him in explaining his personal political successes in such a way as it having nothing to do with him. How does that help counter him succeeding again?
It's like revisionists explaining away all the causes of a war to the point it should mean it never happened at all.
BREAKING: India reports 354,542 new coronavirus cases, the biggest one-day increase so far, and a record 2,806 new deaths
In just over 10 days we should have indications just how likely that is, or whether Starmer is seen as a failure
It neither makes me part of a heritage or a community or means that I have certain values or experiences.
When you start attributing certain characteristics to people with a certain skin colour, you are...
What is...
Oh yes... prejudging people based on their race.
There's a word for that. What is it again?
Ah yes, racism.
There is a really, really serious problem in the US with racism. It permeates the police in certain parts of the country and results in thousands of people dying, and hundreds of thousands (or millions) having pretty shitty life experiences.
You don't solve those problems by attributing certain characteristics to all people with certain skin hues. You solve them by identifying actual prejudice and stamping it out.
The question is only, therefore, what kind of failure will Boris Johnson turn out to be ?
Will he be the type of failure who is removed from office by the electorate?
Will he be the type of failure who is removed from office by his own MPs or his own Party?
Will he be the type of failure who leaves on his own terms but quickly becomes vilified for what he actually did or didn't do whilst in office?
All we're debating on here is which of those three it's going to be.
https://twitter.com/NicolaCareem/status/1386357371652526082
Be warned.
Remember in 1986 LAB were miles ahead in local elections, didn't help them in 1987. Similarly 1990 and 1992. Long way to go to the GE!
That being said... if I was Pfizer I would be concentrating production in countries which are least likely to engage in export bans. So, the UK, Switzerland, Canada, etc.
Yes, of course I realize that Buck House = White House.
BUT do the Great British Public think of No. 10 Downing Street as a private residence, and the wallpaper of whatever as of only private concern to the occupants? Doubt it!
So instead of BoJo & Carrie skulking around and generating yet more bad press for themselves (a skill Carrie has clearly mastered, as did Nancy Reagan before her) make it a PUBLIC deal. Like I said, for future generations etc. etc. etc.
I think it’s a bit stingy of us British taxpayers not to provide decent living quarters for the PM & his family.
The renovation bill does seem somewhat excessive, though. It can surely be kept to five figures.
Sheffield University said the mathematician may have benefited from "colonial-era activity" as it looks to overhaul its physics curriculum"
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/04/24/isaac-newton-latest-historical-figure-swept-decolonisation-drive/
I do enjoy reading about mathematicians on wikipedia, as even after reading an explaination of what the transcendental law of homogeneity is, I still haven't the faintest idea.
Most politicians are a mixture of high principles and low cunning. And that's OK.
What's interesting about BoJo is how far he takes the ability to win elections and how hollow his agenda to use that victory is. And that the lack of policy detail is what makes him so electorally potent.
He is popular because he's programmed to gain and maintain popularity. But the foulups happen, and will continue to happen, because he has no idea but "what will make me popular today?" (He doesn't, does he?). And the foulups will eventually make him unpopular.
I'd really rather not be living in the country where the experiment is being done, but it is fascinating.
I *studied* Philosophy at one of the best universities in the world but I had no idea what he was talking about, but I went online and turns out he was using the phrase entirely correctly.
AFAIK he hasn’t even got a GCSE
You are right in general though, the UK and Switzerland will do very well out of the EU trying to block exports.
https://twitter.com/BNODesk/status/1385973264053321732?s=19
I think that it will be really hard to avoid major outbreaks in other Asian countries. None have many vaccinated.
I fear - as I said some time ago - that Covid19 may take 10,000 a day at its peak in India, even in the official figures. Reality 20-30k? That’s what you see if you extrapolate their horrific exponential curve
As a pudding course, coronavirus will turn on Africa
I think the old suggestion of just putting an asterisk next to everyone's name with something like 'People in the past had different views and experiences to today, and were probably racist or sexist as well' should just about cover it.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/25/business/covid-vaccines-second-doses.html
Same shite every year.
Not so good for LAB in England local elections outside London.
eg Persuading Valneva to consider a move here, whilst keeping a minor foot in the EU, since we have a contract with them already worth nearly 500% of their current turnover? Plus options.
Mons. Macaron would have a fit
Also AFAIK Pfizer still own the Sandwich site. Lab?
Here is a recent guardian article decrying the trend. The guardian!
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/apr/23/art-v-activism-can-the-oscars-survive-its-identity-crisis?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
America might be the first example of a superpower committing cultural suicide. No one will want to watch this shit. Thus ends American supremacy, in the moving arts, just as it ends militarily and economically
https://twitter.com/NorwichCastle/status/1023543700176154624?s=19
From the 1700s. Part the parcel of the ridiculous woke boycott of slave made products.
Didn't people back then just know that everyone was okay with slavery?