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Arlene Foster, End Of An Era. Who Next? – politicalbetting.com

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  • Taz said:

    tlg86 said:

    ping said:

    Lol @ right wingers getting triggered by Starmer in JL

    It was just a bit of fun

    Made me smile, anyway.

    And the politics are all wrong

    Maybe his advisors need to understand faking an interest in something is not a good look
    It works well enough for Johnson in a hi viz coat or a labcoat, or driving a JCB through some empty boxes.

    You are right it is vacuous nonsense, but what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.
    But Boris acting like the KoolAid character bursting through a wall in a JCB is genuinely funny and is taking the piss out of himself as he mumbles how do you drive this..

    Brittas looking at a roll of wallpaper as a snide dig isn't.
    It’s a mistake, because it undermines the seriousness of the situation. Yes, we’re all having fun talking about JL etc. but Starmer is, quite rightly, concerned with the corruption side of things. This sort of thing undermines that.
    I’m sure Sir Kier is genuinely concerned about corruption but the current political game is more about Johnson’s opponents throwing as much mud as they can in the hope some of it sticks. At the moment there is no corruption, just endless allegations which mostly Peter out.
    Most impartial commentators agree: this is the most whiffy administration since Blair’s. Perhaps worse.
    Most impartial commentators believe their local council is corrupt. However, it is highly unlikely it is.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 49,774

    Just seen Starmer in John Lewis....what a Twat.

    Like Ed Miliband in Greggs....politicians think they are being oh so clever, they get loads of likes and smug nods / winks on twitter and the public think knobhead.
    But we already know that knobheads can sometimes win...
  • TazTaz Posts: 14,162

    Taz said:

    Taz said:

    Just seen Starmer in John Lewis....what a Twat.

    But he got likes and retweets on twitter. It must be effective.
    If retweets were votes, PM Jezza, would have just spent the past year renationalizing every industry in the country.
    So many on twitter were genuinely amazed at the result in December 2019. There were so many comments about how could this be the case. No one they knew, or on social media, would ever vote Tory.
    There is a very boring type of contributor who comes on here and drones on about alleged snowflakes on Twitter.

    I hope you’re not going to be one of those.
    I’ve never used the term in my entire life and wouldn’t. It’s a term that is meaningless to me as different people take different things with it. My point is nothing to do with that.

  • TimTTimT Posts: 6,456
    edited April 2021
    rcs1000 said:

    I told my wife the "my grandfather died in Auschwitz" joke last night.

    She was not impressed.

    I must admit, I chuckled but then thought, who could I ever tell this to?

    Just as blacks are the only ones allowed to use the N word, perhaps this is a joke only Jews can tell.
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,637

    Taz said:

    Taz said:

    Just seen Starmer in John Lewis....what a Twat.

    But he got likes and retweets on twitter. It must be effective.
    If retweets were votes, PM Jezza, would have just spent the past year renationalizing every industry in the country.
    So many on twitter were genuinely amazed at the result in December 2019. There were so many comments about how could this be the case. No one they knew, or on social media, would ever vote Tory.
    There is a very boring type of contributor who comes on here and drones on
    SKS is on PB?
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,637

    ping said:

    Lol @ right wingers getting triggered by Starmer in JL

    It was just a bit of fun

    Made me smile, anyway.

    PB Tories operate in a permanent state of pearl-clutching outrage while, in the background, Boris shags their wife.
    I've not seen any outrage. Outrage is all the handwringing about Boris's cushions I just can't believe Starmer, and presumably his advisers can't see that all he needs to do is just sit back, or as it's campaign season go out and meet some voters.

    I actually think Starmer is growing on me, he certainly is rising up on my down the pub-ometer. He might be a bit earnest talking about some of his human rights work. I imagine I could sit back and relax. If you were down the pub with Boris it would be like being on a night out with Gazza - what next?
    If it was a night out with Boris, he wouldn’t be buying his rounds.

    I’d be exiting pretty sharpish, but I have a low tolerance for conmen.
    I've said that before about Boris - make sure he buys his round early!!! He would be a complete mooch but I know lots of people who would love a night out Boris style! He is more lager and jägerbombs, and Starmer is more a nice red wine or whisky.
    Agree about Boris being lager and jägerbombs, but Starmer strikes me as more of a FairTrade LemonAid.
    London Pride as it has a union flag?
  • LeonLeon Posts: 54,677
    rcs1000 said:

    I told my wife the "my grandfather died in Auschwitz" joke last night.

    She was not impressed.

    It is, nonetheless, a brilliant joke. Subverting expectations and exploding taboos in two perfect lines

    When I first saw it on a TV show the crowd was in shocked silence for about 3 seconds, then they roared with intense laughter

    Got to be used in the right context tho. After someone has just been off-colour about the Holocaust you put on your appalled face - then go for it
  • TimTTimT Posts: 6,456

    ping said:

    Lol @ right wingers getting triggered by Starmer in JL

    It was just a bit of fun

    Made me smile, anyway.

    PB Tories operate in a permanent state of pearl-clutching outrage while, in the background, Boris shags their wife.
    I've not seen any outrage. Outrage is all the handwringing about Boris's cushions I just can't believe Starmer, and presumably his advisers can't see that all he needs to do is just sit back, or as it's campaign season go out and meet some voters.

    I actually think Starmer is growing on me, he certainly is rising up on my down the pub-ometer. He might be a bit earnest talking about some of his human rights work. I imagine I could sit back and relax. If you were down the pub with Boris it would be like being on a night out with Gazza - what next?
    If it was a night out with Boris, he wouldn’t be buying his rounds.

    I’d be exiting pretty sharpish, but I have a low tolerance for conmen.
    I've said that before about Boris - make sure he buys his round early!!! He would be a complete mooch but I know lots of people who would love a night out Boris style! He is more lager and jägerbombs, and Starmer is more a nice red wine or whisky.
    Agree about Boris being lager and jägerbombs, but Starmer strikes me as more of a FairTrade LemonAid.
    London Pride as it has a union flag?
    Too authentic and interesting.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 56,924

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    ACAB (American Cops Are Bastards) Part #18762
    https://twitter.com/JulianCastro/status/1387246117847511043

    Horrible video to go with

    I don't remotely think those cops wanted to kill him. But something is terribly wrong in their training, and their attitude, because how can this possibly KEEP happening?!

    I am sure the ubiquity of guns is an issue. They see the armed citizenry as deadly opponents, because they often are
    The armed citizenry justifies some of the violence, especially eg split second decisions when they think someone is armed.

    Not talking to someone, arresting him, then kneeling on him until he dies before reporting that there was a medical incident following a violent confrontation.
    Yes, I find this case inexplicable, like Floyd.

    Surely you just handcuff a man, make sure he is unarmed, and then that's it? Immediately release him, but guard him; don't pin him to the ground for several long minutes, when this method is known to kill people

    A handcuffed man without weapons can't do anything.

    Am I missing something?
    The most shocking video I've seen is the one @williamglenn linked to of a full swat team being deployed to deal with a homeless guy at a bus stop in Albuquerque.

    He was woken up by their shouting and told to raise his hands. He told them to f--k off (unwise) and then they wasted him after one further warning, and then the leader said "drop him".
    I didn't watch that.

    The one that really shocked me was the policeman whose bodycam showed him planting drugs on a suspect before acting all surprised when he found them.

    One would have hoped that would result in jailtime. He got suspended for two weeks.
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,257
    edited April 2021

    Taz said:

    Taz said:

    Just seen Starmer in John Lewis....what a Twat.

    But he got likes and retweets on twitter. It must be effective.
    If retweets were votes, PM Jezza, would have just spent the past year renationalizing every industry in the country.
    So many on twitter were genuinely amazed at the result in December 2019. There were so many comments about how could this be the case. No one they knew, or on social media, would ever vote Tory.
    There is a very boring type of contributor who comes on here and drones on
    SKS is on PB?
    LOL.
  • ThomasNasheThomasNashe Posts: 5,331
    Leon said:

    ping said:

    Lol @ right wingers getting triggered by Starmer in JL

    It was just a bit of fun

    Made me smile, anyway.

    And the politics are all wrong

    Maybe his advisors need to understand faking an interest in something is not a good look
    It works well enough for Johnson in a hi viz coat or a labcoat, or driving a JCB through some empty boxes.

    You are right it is vacuous nonsense, but what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.
    But Boris acting like the KoolAid character bursting through a wall in a JCB is genuinely funny and is taking the piss out of himself as he mumbles how do you drive this..is all an act, but its all in the tradition of British slap stick.

    Brittas looking at a roll of wallpaper as a snide dig isn't.
    Genuinely funny in a 1970s ITV sitcom kind of way. Whatever floats your boat.

    Personally I think the wallpaper stunt and all of Johnson's stunts look ridiculous.
    Del boy falling through the open bar hatch is regularly voted as one of the funniest moments in tv comedy....its no Stewart Lee or Mark Thomas earnest comedy about Palestinian refugee camps, but its what the public at large find funny.
    Stewart Lee is the opposite of earnest. That’s his genius. Not keen on his politics but you have to admire the comedic skill. The brilliant timing!
    No one else has such ability to riff off and control an audience.
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 35,895
    NEW: Fishing groups decry failure to strike 2021 deal with Norway as a “disgrace” & “disaster”. UK Fisheries group say Government was “unable even to maintain the rights we have had to fish in Norwegian waters for decades”.

    Say Norway will continue to export cod here tariff free

    Defra confirms:

    “We put forward a fair offer on access to UK waters and the exchange of fishing quotas, but we have concluded that our positions remain too far apart to reach an agreement this year.”


    https://twitter.com/faisalislam/status/1387831873628368899
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,257
    edited April 2021
    Leon said:

    rcs1000 said:

    I told my wife the "my grandfather died in Auschwitz" joke last night.

    She was not impressed.

    It is, nonetheless, a brilliant joke. Subverting expectations and exploding taboos in two perfect lines

    When I first saw it on a TV show the crowd was in shocked silence for about 3 seconds, then they roared with intense laughter

    Got to be used in the right context tho. After someone has just been off-colour about the Holocaust you put on your appalled face - then go for it
    I lived in this country for a year when I was 14/15.

    One evening, on late night TV, I discovered Jerry Sadowitz.

    Oh my god. I nearly died laughing.

    Whatever happened to him?
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 81,455
    Covid in "Little India" in London...

    https://youtu.be/FVpaCyO8f5o
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,190

    ping said:

    Lol @ right wingers getting triggered by Starmer in JL

    It was just a bit of fun

    Made me smile, anyway.

    And the politics are all wrong

    Maybe his advisors need to understand faking an interest in something is not a good look
    It works well enough for Johnson in a hi viz coat or a labcoat, or driving a JCB through some empty boxes.

    You are right it is vacuous nonsense, but what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.
    Not really

    It works for Boris but not Starmer

    If the today's Scots, Welsh, and UK polls are to be believed Boris has invented super teflon and looks as if he may win Hartlepool next week, improve conservatives in Wales, and Nicola's dream of independence disappears under the 'very canny' nature of the Scots

    Of course, there may still be some negative reactions to the attacks on Boris but if he does have a good day next Thursday, many of his opponents will need to go back to their drawing board

    I do caveat this with wait and see, I could be wrong
    If you check my posts I have predicted Conservative victories in Hartlepool and Northern and Midland Mayoral Elections. I have even suggested RT could become FM (unlikely, and hopefully a nightmare that will not come to pass) I suspect Labour will do slightly better in Scotland than previously anticipated, and Khan will win London on the second round. I do not necessarily believe this translates into a GE2024 victory for Johnson, although of course it might.

    If Johnson comes out of this week's fiascos unscathed it will be rather startling as to where we might be in the democratic cycle, as it really does suggest he is truly above the law.

    It is interesting that after a quiet Monday the Tory boot boys on here have found their voice. There are a few who make no attempt at analysis but shout down their opponents for being stupid by backing "LOSERS" like Starmer, sorry I forgot, Brittas. It reminds me as a young boy in the 1970s as a Baggies fan in the Trinity Hall Road terrace at Villa Park looking incredulously as the big boys in the Holte End pointed and chanted "You're going to get your ******** heads kicked in" towards the terrace I was standing in. The standard of discourse by one or two on here is barely more sophisticated.

    Time for a rest.

    P.S. BigG. not for one moment am I pointing the finger at you, it was just whilst in response to your point I decided to vent my spleen.
  • felix said:

    FPT:

    Ben Page (Ipsos MORI):

    Boris Johnson’s flat refurb won’t do much damage – polls show voters expect this of politicians
    Until it is proven that something is actually illegal, it may make rather less of a difference than some might expect


    https://inews.co.uk/opinion/boris-johnson-flat-refurb-damage-polls-voters-politicians-978506

    Least surprising news of the decade for those of us outside the bubble.
    Key is this - from the article:

    Partly this reflects the low overall concern about corruption in Britain. While the media obsess about who paid for some curtains, voters do not see personal enrichment of politicians that is almost routine in other countries. In April 2021 some 13 per cent of the British regard political corruption as a key issue – this is well below Poland at 33 per cent and Hungary at 52 per cent – and in fact below both Canada and Germany (both 18 per cent). It is one of the lowest levels of concern anywhere. As a result the scandal so far, such as it is, may have failed to make much impact on voting intention.

    Low overall corruption because it is quite rare.. Lots of innuendo and conflating of different things and shouting loudly about pub landlords and Tory donors etc. But politicians in the UK are not involved in procurement. Any minister who tried to wrestle such an 'operational' matter from their senior civil servants would ordinarily be put in their place.
    Remember, a cabinet minister went to jail for getting his wife to take his speeding points. If there was any corruption dont be under any illusion, the police would be knocking doors down.
    Yes, and that is why Boris got flustered at PMQs. Like Huhne driving too fast, the deed itself was trivial. The risk to Boris is that he has inadvertently got himself tied up in a technical accounting offence. He does not know how to get out of it, and he does not really know how he landed in it in the first place. The trust, the charity, the donor, the party – all his lifeboats have leaks. The risk is not that the public turns against Boris: it is that he gets his collar felt by one of the three inquiries into who paid what for whom and how it was declared.
    That sounds exactly the situation. He should have had people around him to protect him from this kind of stuff.
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 35,895
    The Government prioritised sovereignty over access to EU markets. No one should be surprised that British exporters are paying a price. My piece for @NewStatesman on the early signs of the economic damage caused by Brexit,
    https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/brexit/2021/04/experts-were-right-brexit-doing-economic-damage-uk
  • LeonLeon Posts: 54,677
    TimT said:

    rcs1000 said:

    I told my wife the "my grandfather died in Auschwitz" joke last night.

    She was not impressed.

    I must admit, I chuckled but then thought, who could I ever tell this to?

    Just as blacks are the only ones allowed to use the N word, perhaps this is a joke only Jews can tell.
    My memory is dim but I think I first saw it on a TV show with Jerry Sadowitz. Jewish, natch

    However I have also seen Irvine Welsh use it. So I don’t know who conjured it

    Perhaps it is like ‘the aristocrats’ - a terribly black joke that floats around backstage for many years, only being shown to the public on special holidays, because it is so dangerous

    Like the relic-bones of a demon-slaying Saint
  • ping said:

    Lol @ right wingers getting triggered by Starmer in JL

    It was just a bit of fun

    Made me smile, anyway.

    And the politics are all wrong

    Maybe his advisors need to understand faking an interest in something is not a good look
    It works well enough for Johnson in a hi viz coat or a labcoat, or driving a JCB through some empty boxes.

    You are right it is vacuous nonsense, but what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.
    Not really

    It works for Boris but not Starmer

    If the today's Scots, Welsh, and UK polls are to be believed Boris has invented super teflon and looks as if he may win Hartlepool next week, improve conservatives in Wales, and Nicola's dream of independence disappears under the 'very canny' nature of the Scots

    Of course, there may still be some negative reactions to the attacks on Boris but if he does have a good day next Thursday, many of his opponents will need to go back to their drawing board

    I do caveat this with wait and see, I could be wrong
    If you check my posts I have predicted Conservative victories in Hartlepool and Northern and Midland Mayoral Elections. I have even suggested RT could become FM (unlikely, and hopefully a nightmare that will not come to pass) I suspect Labour will do slightly better in Scotland than previously anticipated, and Khan will win London on the second round. I do not necessarily believe this translates into a GE2024 victory for Johnson, although of course it might.

    If Johnson comes out of this week's fiascos unscathed it will be rather startling as to where we might be in the democratic cycle, as it really does suggest he is truly above the law.

    It is interesting that after a quiet Monday the Tory boot boys on here have found their voice. There are a few who make no attempt at analysis but shout down their opponents for being stupid by backing "LOSERS" like Starmer, sorry I forgot, Brittas. It reminds me as a young boy in the 1970s as a Baggies fan in the Trinity Hall Road terrace at Villa Park looking incredulously as the big boys in the Holte End pointed and chanted "You're going to get your ******** heads kicked in" towards the terrace I was standing in. The standard of discourse by one or two on here is barely more sophisticated.

    Time for a rest.

    P.S. BigG. not for one moment am I pointing the finger at you, it was just whilst in response to your point I decided to vent my spleen.
    I know - thank you

  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,273
    The likeliest combination is Donaldson as Westminster DUP leader and Poots as FM and NI Assembly leader.

    Poots is a hardliner who would be picked to win back voters lost to TUV
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 56,924
    Leon said:

    rcs1000 said:

    I told my wife the "my grandfather died in Auschwitz" joke last night.

    She was not impressed.

    It is, nonetheless, a brilliant joke. Subverting expectations and exploding taboos in two perfect lines

    When I first saw it on a TV show the crowd was in shocked silence for about 3 seconds, then they roared with intense laughter

    Got to be used in the right context tho. After someone has just been off-colour about the Holocaust you put on your appalled face - then go for it
    Did you ever hear the Ricky Gervais joke (and I'm not normally a fan):

    A Jew arrives at the gates of Heaven and says to God:

    "Hey, do you want to hear a holocaust joke?"
    God says "That's not funny."
    "Well, I guess you had to be there."

  • TazTaz Posts: 14,162

    Leon said:

    rcs1000 said:

    I told my wife the "my grandfather died in Auschwitz" joke last night.

    She was not impressed.

    It is, nonetheless, a brilliant joke. Subverting expectations and exploding taboos in two perfect lines

    When I first saw it on a TV show the crowd was in shocked silence for about 3 seconds, then they roared with intense laughter

    Got to be used in the right context tho. After someone has just been off-colour about the Holocaust you put on your appalled face - then go for it
    I lived in this country for a year when I was 14/15.

    One evening, on late night TV, I discovered Jerry Sadowitz.

    Oh my god. I nearly died laughing.

    Whatever happened to him?
    Still going strong, was touring until Covid when he has to cancel his latest tour. He regularly tours with his show playing to medium size arenas.

    I remember a show he did on C4, the people versus Jerry Sadowitz where he had ‘gangster’ Dave Courtney as his Minder.
  • stodgestodge Posts: 13,800
    Looking a the vaccination numbers in my part of the world - among those aged over 70, 14,229 first doses have been administered out of a population estimated by NIMS at 17,801.

    That's basically an 80% take up among the 70+ population.

    Among those over 50, 62,154 first doses have been administered out of an estimated population of 88,137.

    That's a 70.5% take up among the over 50s or, put it another way, nearly 26,000 people in Newham over 50 who are still unprotected against the virus.

    I wonder if it is no coincidence and there are people who, for whatever reason, be it cultural or familial or whatever, cannot take the vaccination offered but are still terrified of the virus. They have to live their lives with that fear so the mask is their only protection and will remain so even if the vaccinated start throwing them away and making snide comments at those who still wear them.

    If the sentiment within a family or community is against the vaccine, how can an individual resist that however worried they might be?

    The road to "freedom" isn't a map or a straight line - for some, it's going to be very difficult.
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,257
    Taz said:

    Leon said:

    rcs1000 said:

    I told my wife the "my grandfather died in Auschwitz" joke last night.

    She was not impressed.

    It is, nonetheless, a brilliant joke. Subverting expectations and exploding taboos in two perfect lines

    When I first saw it on a TV show the crowd was in shocked silence for about 3 seconds, then they roared with intense laughter

    Got to be used in the right context tho. After someone has just been off-colour about the Holocaust you put on your appalled face - then go for it
    I lived in this country for a year when I was 14/15.

    One evening, on late night TV, I discovered Jerry Sadowitz.

    Oh my god. I nearly died laughing.

    Whatever happened to him?
    Still going strong, was touring until Covid when he has to cancel his latest tour. He regularly tours with his show playing to medium size arenas.

    I remember a show he did on C4, the people versus Jerry Sadowitz where he had ‘gangster’ Dave Courtney as his Minder.
    Am genuinely glad to hear.
    His comedy was so dark it can only come from someone with significant demons.
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830
    rcs1000 said:

    Leon said:

    rcs1000 said:

    I told my wife the "my grandfather died in Auschwitz" joke last night.

    She was not impressed.

    It is, nonetheless, a brilliant joke. Subverting expectations and exploding taboos in two perfect lines

    When I first saw it on a TV show the crowd was in shocked silence for about 3 seconds, then they roared with intense laughter

    Got to be used in the right context tho. After someone has just been off-colour about the Holocaust you put on your appalled face - then go for it
    Did you ever hear the Ricky Gervais joke (and I'm not normally a fan):

    A Jew arrives at the gates of Heaven and says to God:

    "Hey, do you want to hear a holocaust joke?"
    God says "That's not funny."
    "Well, I guess you had to be there."

    That is quite frighteningly good.
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,548

    felix said:

    FPT:

    Ben Page (Ipsos MORI):

    Boris Johnson’s flat refurb won’t do much damage – polls show voters expect this of politicians
    Until it is proven that something is actually illegal, it may make rather less of a difference than some might expect


    https://inews.co.uk/opinion/boris-johnson-flat-refurb-damage-polls-voters-politicians-978506

    Least surprising news of the decade for those of us outside the bubble.
    Key is this - from the article:

    Partly this reflects the low overall concern about corruption in Britain. While the media obsess about who paid for some curtains, voters do not see personal enrichment of politicians that is almost routine in other countries. In April 2021 some 13 per cent of the British regard political corruption as a key issue – this is well below Poland at 33 per cent and Hungary at 52 per cent – and in fact below both Canada and Germany (both 18 per cent). It is one of the lowest levels of concern anywhere. As a result the scandal so far, such as it is, may have failed to make much impact on voting intention.

    Low overall corruption because it is quite rare.. Lots of innuendo and conflating of different things and shouting loudly about pub landlords and Tory donors etc. But politicians in the UK are not involved in procurement. Any minister who tried to wrestle such an 'operational' matter from their senior civil servants would ordinarily be put in their place.
    Remember, a cabinet minister went to jail for getting his wife to take his speeding points. If there was any corruption dont be under any illusion, the police would be knocking doors down.
    Yes, and that is why Boris got flustered at PMQs. Like Huhne driving too fast, the deed itself was trivial. The risk to Boris is that he has inadvertently got himself tied up in a technical accounting offence. He does not know how to get out of it, and he does not really know how he landed in it in the first place. The trust, the charity, the donor, the party – all his lifeboats have leaks. The risk is not that the public turns against Boris: it is that he gets his collar felt by one of the three inquiries into who paid what for whom and how it was declared.
    That sounds exactly the situation. He should have had people around him to protect him from this kind of stuff.
    Problem there is that, when it comes to basic loyalty AND brain power, Dilyn is the pick of BoJo's litter.
  • solarflaresolarflare Posts: 3,705
    There's an old Mitchell and Webb sketch which is (from memory) basically a load of toothbrush marketing executives sitting around a table trying to work out their next product and saying "if we can get them to brush their tongues, we can get them to do anything!".

    At some point if the covid restrictions don't drop away as promised, the parallels will start to get a bit uncomfortable.
  • CookieCookie Posts: 13,585

    Leon said:

    THIS could damage the government, badly, not a bunch of stupid curtains

    Five ways that Covid restrictions will remain with us, after June 21

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/04/27/june-21-wont-much-return-normal-thought/?WT.mc_id=e_DM1403673&WT.tsrc=email&etype=Edi_Edi_New_Sub_Digital&utmsource=email&utm_medium=Edi_Edi_New_Sub_Digital20210429&utm_campaign=DM1403673


    No proper gigs, no crowded pubs, masks forever, Covid marshalls, weird distanced restaurants, vaxports are back, on and on

    FUCK THIS SHIT. Really. Fuck it

    Boris said it would all be gone by June 21, and that's why we should stick by the looooooong roadmap. The British public have done their bit, and gone along with it. Superbly, in the main. If the British government now turns around and says "Oh we were lying, life will stay eerie and shit forever", then I will never vote for the Tories again

    I've already decided I won't be voting for the Tories next week. A spoilt ballot for me - both their Covid restriction love and their OTT climate stuff (including the vegan signalling) are yanking my chain.

    I suspect they'll do well where it matters, but not in their core areas - the Lib Dems are trying hard here, for example.
    Yes, I won't be voting for the Tories. Possibly the Lib Dems, who have at least made some vague noises about the importance of liberal democracy. Possibly the anti-lockdown nutters.
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,257
    edited April 2021
    HYUFD said:

    The likeliest combination is Donaldson as Westminster DUP leader and Poots as FM and NI Assembly leader.

    Poots is a hardliner who would be picked to win back voters lost to TUV

    The problem with Poots, as I understand it, is that he is a knuckle-dragging religious loon who is out of kilter with most Unionists.

    I am not at all an expert.

    But as far as I can tell, most Unionists, even the militant ones, are not actually also Presbyterian zealots.

    The religious nutter wing (ie most of them) of the DUP is increasingly estranged from ordinary Unionism.
  • CookieCookie Posts: 13,585
    Leon said:

    From NumberCrunchrPolitics:


    Our latest Westminster voting intention:

    CON 43 (+1)
    LAB 34 (-3)
    GRN 7 (+2)
    LD 5 (-2)
    SNP 5 (=)
    RUK 2 (=)
    PC 1 (=)
    OTH 2 (=)

    Fieldwork 28th-29th April (changes vs 12th-16th March)
    n=1,001

    That's not a very good poll for LAB. SKS fans where are you?! :lol:
    Stuck in John Lewis buying beige wallpaper, obviously! :smile:
    That’s the problem with the John Lewis stunt. It is modestly funny - on Twitter. That’s it. Twitter.

    To everyone else - the vast majority of people who are not on Twitter - it looks facile and pointless. At best a waste of time. Many don’t begin to understand the concept of ‘trolling’.

    Starmer’s USP is ‘I’m the serious guy compared to the Tory joker’. He undermines that. What else is there?
    Any idea what proportion of the electorate twitter reaches?
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,257
    Cookie said:

    Leon said:

    From NumberCrunchrPolitics:


    Our latest Westminster voting intention:

    CON 43 (+1)
    LAB 34 (-3)
    GRN 7 (+2)
    LD 5 (-2)
    SNP 5 (=)
    RUK 2 (=)
    PC 1 (=)
    OTH 2 (=)

    Fieldwork 28th-29th April (changes vs 12th-16th March)
    n=1,001

    That's not a very good poll for LAB. SKS fans where are you?! :lol:
    Stuck in John Lewis buying beige wallpaper, obviously! :smile:
    That’s the problem with the John Lewis stunt. It is modestly funny - on Twitter. That’s it. Twitter.

    To everyone else - the vast majority of people who are not on Twitter - it looks facile and pointless. At best a waste of time. Many don’t begin to understand the concept of ‘trolling’.

    Starmer’s USP is ‘I’m the serious guy compared to the Tory joker’. He undermines that. What else is there?
    Any idea what proportion of the electorate twitter reaches?
    Via lazy and underpaid journalists, more than you think.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,480

    Leon said:

    ydoethur said:

    Westminster voting intention:

    CON: 44% (-)
    LAB: 33% (-1)
    GRN: 7% (-)
    LDEM: 7% (+2)
    REFUK: 3% (+1)

    via
    @YouGov
    , 27 - 28 Apr
    Chgs. w/ 22 Apr

    SKS fans please explain

    Clue he is f****** useless

    I don’t remember you saying that about Jeremy Corbyn, and he had much worse numbers against a weaker albeit much better PM.
    Are you actually claiming Theresa May is a "much better PM" than Boris?

    On what metric? What on earth did she do that makes her "much better"? She spent tortuous post-Brexit years agreeing to everything the EU wanted, so she could bring home a Brexit deal which was so shit she couldn't get it through parliament. This was a result of her own initial howling errors, when she imposed red lines at the start which painted her into a terrible corner. All her own fault. She achieved nothing else in office.

    As an election-winning politician she is *much better* than Boris in the same way that Worksop is "much better" than Paris, ie this is a view so eccentric only one person in the entire world believes it, and it's not even her, it's you.

    Even she knows she is shit at elections, she nearly lost to JEREMY CORBYN

    "much better"

    lol
    She worked far harder, and had a very strong sense of duty (still does) but her people skills were abominable, which is why she proved to be such a poor negotiator, man-manager and political leader amongst the electorate at large. The Home Office was about her level.

    Interestingly, Boris is almost the precise opposite.
    Johnson is certainly a better campaigner, but negotiator and man-manager?

    Johnson negotiated the excreable NI protocol, which Tories now seem to hate.

    When it comes to man-management, he put Dom Cummings at the centre of his government.
  • JonathanJonathan Posts: 21,555
    Saw the SKS JL thing on the news. Made me chuckle.

    Came on PB. See it got under Tory and unreformed Corbynite skins. Made me chuckle more.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 51,320
    Starmer's photographer has been busy today.

    image

    https://twitter.com/AngelaRayner/status/1387826514360737796
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 35,895
    Cookie said:

    Any idea what proportion of the electorate twitter reaches?

    The stunt was aimed at BoZo. Direct hit.
  • Philip_ThompsonPhilip_Thompson Posts: 65,826
    Scott_xP said:

    The Government prioritised sovereignty over access to EU markets. No one should be surprised that British exporters are paying a price. My piece for @NewStatesman on the early signs of the economic damage caused by Brexit,
    https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/brexit/2021/04/experts-were-right-brexit-doing-economic-damage-uk

    And yet exports aren't down macroeconomically. So its just you and die hard Remoaners pissing into the wind.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 81,455
    edited April 2021
    Scott_xP said:

    Cookie said:

    Any idea what proportion of the electorate twitter reaches?

    The stunt was aimed at BoZo. Direct hit.
    While we get 2 more polls with 10 point Tory leads....
  • From another PB.

    In early 2018, the Conservative Campaign Headquarters endured a public roasting after their social channels tweeted out some flashy graphics announcing the details of an important cabinet reshuffle – which were completely and utterly wrong.

    The top brass were furious at how sloppy it made them look, so the director of communications quickly scrabbled to find someone she could throw to the wolves. Her target? The graphics guy.

    Unfortunately for her, colleagues had overheard her explicitly tell this same guy to tweet the incorrect information, so her attempt to frame him was short lived. Bosses kept a much keener eye on Carrie Symonds after that and, a few months later, with some increasingly suspicious expenses claims mounting next to her name, asked her to resign.

    Three years later, she's clearly still struggling to keep her expenses on the up-and-up. But she has at least perfected the art of shunting the blame onto a hapless chump.
  • BluestBlueBluestBlue Posts: 4,556
    edited April 2021
    Scott_xP said:

    Cookie said:

    Any idea what proportion of the electorate twitter reaches?

    The stunt was aimed at BoZo. Direct hit.
    Do you know how to read polls, or did they not cover that in retweeting school?
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,477
    So we are going to end up with yet another hardline religious zealot in charge of NI? Bring back Arlene!
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,273

    HYUFD said:

    The likeliest combination is Donaldson as Westminster DUP leader and Poots as FM and NI Assembly leader.

    Poots is a hardliner who would be picked to win back voters lost to TUV

    The problem with Poots, as I understand it, is that he is a knuckle-dragging religious loon who is out of kilter with most Unionists.

    I am not at all an expert.

    But as far as I can tell, most Unionists, even the militant ones, are not actually also Presbyterian zealots.

    The religious nutter wing (ie most of them) of the DUP is increasingly estranged from ordinary Unionism.
    Lucidtalk published data today showing the DUP has leaked 27% of its 2017 Assembly vote to the TUV but only 10% to the UUP and just 4% to the Alliance.

    So it is hardliners in the TUV the DUP needs to win back and Poots hardline on fighting the Irish Sea border will be key to that, they will not be that bothered by his religious views provided he fights against the NI Protocol

    https://twitter.com/LucidTalk/status/1387838476595470339?s=20
  • @BelfastAgmt: A crowd gathers to listen to First Minister Edwin Poots' reforms to women's healthcare.

    Stormont, 2022



    https://twitter.com/BelfastAgmt/status/1387696175491555328
  • To be fair to Edwin Poots he is a progressive liberal compared to his father.

    Steeped in traditional Paisleyite politics, Mr Poots's father Charlie was a close associate of the former first minister and a founding member of the DUP.

    He died earlier this year aged 90 at the height of the first coronavirus lockdown.

    Charlie Poots was also outspoken, stating at the height of the Troubles in 1975 that he would cut off vital services to Catholic areas if he was in charge.

    “I would cut off all supplies, including water and electricity, to Catholic areas. And I would stop Catholics from getting social security.

    “It is the only way to deal with enemies of the state and to stamp out the present troubles.”

  • ParistondaParistonda Posts: 1,843
    France has opened up vaccinations to any adults obese (BMI 30+) following several days of pressure to widen the criteria with all the unused slots. I’m just under that limit after months of dieting this winter so it’s somewhat frustrating. I’ve decided to book an appointment for a week from now and gain a kilo in the meantime to put me over (I’m 30 so could be waiting months otherwise).
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 56,924
    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    The likeliest combination is Donaldson as Westminster DUP leader and Poots as FM and NI Assembly leader.

    Poots is a hardliner who would be picked to win back voters lost to TUV

    The problem with Poots, as I understand it, is that he is a knuckle-dragging religious loon who is out of kilter with most Unionists.

    I am not at all an expert.

    But as far as I can tell, most Unionists, even the militant ones, are not actually also Presbyterian zealots.

    The religious nutter wing (ie most of them) of the DUP is increasingly estranged from ordinary Unionism.
    Lucidtalk published data today showing the DUP has leaked 27% of its 2017 Assembly vote to the TUV but only 10% to the UUP and just 4% to the Alliance.

    So it is hardliners in the TUV the DUP needs to win back and Poots hardline on fighting the Irish Sea border will be key to that, they will not be that bothered by his religious views provided he fights against the NI Protocol

    https://twitter.com/LucidTalk/status/1387838476595470339?s=20
    Isn't the danger that you bring back the TUV vote, but then you lose a bunch to the Alliance and the UUP?

  • FloaterFloater Posts: 14,207
    https://twitter.com/BNODesk/status/1387824556333834243

    India reports 386,654 new coronavirus cases, by far the biggest one-day increase on record, and 3,501 new deaths
  • CookieCookie Posts: 13,585
    Scott_xP said:

    Cookie said:

    Any idea what proportion of the electorate twitter reaches?

    The stunt was aimed at BoZo. Direct hit.
    But Boris will still, I'm sure, be voting Conservative.
    It was a mildly amusing stunt, so arguably worth doing for its own sake. But it won't change any votes.
    My question was not specifically about this incident, however.
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 21,257

    Scott_xP said:

    The Government prioritised sovereignty over access to EU markets. No one should be surprised that British exporters are paying a price. My piece for @NewStatesman on the early signs of the economic damage caused by Brexit,
    https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/brexit/2021/04/experts-were-right-brexit-doing-economic-damage-uk

    And yet exports aren't down macroeconomically. So its just you and die hard Remoaners pissing into the wind.
    But exports are down much more than imports.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 77,892

    France has opened up vaccinations to any adults obese (BMI 30+) following several days of pressure to widen the criteria with all the unused slots. I’m just under that limit after months of dieting this winter so it’s somewhat frustrating. I’ve decided to book an appointment for a week from now and gain a kilo in the meantime to put me over (I’m 30 so could be waiting months otherwise).

    Quickest way to put weight on is load up on salt and carbs, you'll retain water and smash your target
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,477
    It’s a myth that the falling through the bar is the best OF&H skit. There’s no ostentatious slapstick, but the “why ask?” scene skewers the very heart of the mutual misunderstanding of the sexes.

    https://youtu.be/bxhvflhwzAk
  • Philip_ThompsonPhilip_Thompson Posts: 65,826
    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    The likeliest combination is Donaldson as Westminster DUP leader and Poots as FM and NI Assembly leader.

    Poots is a hardliner who would be picked to win back voters lost to TUV

    The problem with Poots, as I understand it, is that he is a knuckle-dragging religious loon who is out of kilter with most Unionists.

    I am not at all an expert.

    But as far as I can tell, most Unionists, even the militant ones, are not actually also Presbyterian zealots.

    The religious nutter wing (ie most of them) of the DUP is increasingly estranged from ordinary Unionism.
    Lucidtalk published data today showing the DUP has leaked 27% of its 2017 Assembly vote to the TUV but only 10% to the UUP and just 4% to the Alliance.

    So it is hardliners in the TUV the DUP needs to win back and Poots hardline on fighting the Irish Sea border will be key to that, they will not be that bothered by his religious views provided he fights against the NI Protocol

    https://twitter.com/LucidTalk/status/1387838476595470339?s=20
    You always forget that actions have consequences.

    Maybe the DUP can become extremely hardline, maybe they can reclaim the votes they've lost to the TUV. But if they do there's no reason to assume that only 4% will remain lost to the Alliance.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 122,273
    edited April 2021
    rcs1000 said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    The likeliest combination is Donaldson as Westminster DUP leader and Poots as FM and NI Assembly leader.

    Poots is a hardliner who would be picked to win back voters lost to TUV

    The problem with Poots, as I understand it, is that he is a knuckle-dragging religious loon who is out of kilter with most Unionists.

    I am not at all an expert.

    But as far as I can tell, most Unionists, even the militant ones, are not actually also Presbyterian zealots.

    The religious nutter wing (ie most of them) of the DUP is increasingly estranged from ordinary Unionism.
    Lucidtalk published data today showing the DUP has leaked 27% of its 2017 Assembly vote to the TUV but only 10% to the UUP and just 4% to the Alliance.

    So it is hardliners in the TUV the DUP needs to win back and Poots hardline on fighting the Irish Sea border will be key to that, they will not be that bothered by his religious views provided he fights against the NI Protocol

    https://twitter.com/LucidTalk/status/1387838476595470339?s=20
    Isn't the danger that you bring back the TUV vote, but then you lose a bunch to the Alliance and the UUP?

    Only in the way that the danger of picking Boris to succeed May was you may bring back the Brexit Party vote but lose a bunch to the LDs.

    In net terms the Tories regained far more from the Brexit Party than they lost to the LDs. The latest NI poll had the DUP on 19%, SF on 24% and TUV on 10%, the DUP cannot afford not to risk taking a harder line on the NI Protocol to win back TUV voters if they are going to give themselves a chance of regaining first place from SF
  • MattWMattW Posts: 22,703
    edited April 2021

    France has opened up vaccinations to any adults obese (BMI 30+) following several days of pressure to widen the criteria with all the unused slots. I’m just under that limit after months of dieting this winter so it’s somewhat frustrating. I’ve decided to book an appointment for a week from now and gain a kilo in the meantime to put me over (I’m 30 so could be waiting months otherwise).

    They are weighing them in like boxers?

    Put a few tins of pineapple chunks in your pocketses.

    You run the risk of losing your focus if you stock up on a beer-belly.
  • ChameleonChameleon Posts: 4,264

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    The likeliest combination is Donaldson as Westminster DUP leader and Poots as FM and NI Assembly leader.

    Poots is a hardliner who would be picked to win back voters lost to TUV

    The problem with Poots, as I understand it, is that he is a knuckle-dragging religious loon who is out of kilter with most Unionists.

    I am not at all an expert.

    But as far as I can tell, most Unionists, even the militant ones, are not actually also Presbyterian zealots.

    The religious nutter wing (ie most of them) of the DUP is increasingly estranged from ordinary Unionism.
    Lucidtalk published data today showing the DUP has leaked 27% of its 2017 Assembly vote to the TUV but only 10% to the UUP and just 4% to the Alliance.

    So it is hardliners in the TUV the DUP needs to win back and Poots hardline on fighting the Irish Sea border will be key to that, they will not be that bothered by his religious views provided he fights against the NI Protocol

    https://twitter.com/LucidTalk/status/1387838476595470339?s=20
    You always forget that actions have consequences.

    Maybe the DUP can become extremely hardline, maybe they can reclaim the votes they've lost to the TUV. But if they do there's no reason to assume that only 4% will remain lost to the Alliance.
    On the plus side a hardline DUP may mean that the UUP could make a comeback.
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830
    Pulpstar said:

    France has opened up vaccinations to any adults obese (BMI 30+) following several days of pressure to widen the criteria with all the unused slots. I’m just under that limit after months of dieting this winter so it’s somewhat frustrating. I’ve decided to book an appointment for a week from now and gain a kilo in the meantime to put me over (I’m 30 so could be waiting months otherwise).

    Quickest way to put weight on is load up on salt and carbs, you'll retain water and smash your target
    The NHS weigh you in whatever you happen to be wearing at the time, so if France is the same perhaps just pocket a kilo of lead.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 51,320
    MattW said:

    France has opened up vaccinations to any adults obese (BMI 30+) following several days of pressure to widen the criteria with all the unused slots. I’m just under that limit after months of dieting this winter so it’s somewhat frustrating. I’ve decided to book an appointment for a week from now and gain a kilo in the meantime to put me over (I’m 30 so could be waiting months otherwise).

    They are weighing them in like boxers?

    Put a few tins of pineapple chunks in your pocketses.
    There'll be a run on fat suits.
  • ThomasNasheThomasNashe Posts: 5,331
    Off topic, but I finished reading Alan Hollinghurst's 'Line of Beauty' earlier this week. It's a stunning novel that anyone interested in the Thatcher era would want to read. A chilling dissection of the relationships between Oxford, the landed aristocracy and the political establishment.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 56,924
    edited April 2021

    Scott_xP said:

    The Government prioritised sovereignty over access to EU markets. No one should be surprised that British exporters are paying a price. My piece for @NewStatesman on the early signs of the economic damage caused by Brexit,
    https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/brexit/2021/04/experts-were-right-brexit-doing-economic-damage-uk

    And yet exports aren't down macroeconomically. So its just you and die hard Remoaners pissing into the wind.
    But exports are down much more than imports.
    The reality is that...

    Until Covid is behind us, nobody knows
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,477
    MaxPB said:

    Leon said:

    THIS could damage the government, badly, not a bunch of stupid curtains

    Five ways that Covid restrictions will remain with us, after June 21

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/04/27/june-21-wont-much-return-normal-thought/?WT.mc_id=e_DM1403673&WT.tsrc=email&etype=Edi_Edi_New_Sub_Digital&utmsource=email&utm_medium=Edi_Edi_New_Sub_Digital20210429&utm_campaign=DM1403673


    No proper gigs, no crowded pubs, masks forever, Covid marshalls, weird distanced restaurants, vaxports are back, on and on

    FUCK THIS SHIT. Really. Fuck it

    Boris said it would all be gone by June 21, and that's why we should stick by the looooooong roadmap. The British public have done their bit, and gone along with it. Superbly, in the main. If the British government now turns around and says "Oh we were lying, life will stay eerie and shit forever", then I will never vote for the Tories again

    This is all Gove IMO. He needs to be shown the door asap, he's untrustworthy and will betray anyone if he thinks it will help him become PM. Even though he would be the most unpopular PM since Eden and would lose to anyone Labour put up.
    I’m hoping for Rosena vs Gove. The Beauty and the Geek headlines are trite of course but would nevertheless write themselves.
  • ThomasNasheThomasNashe Posts: 5,331

    Starmer's photographer has been busy today.

    image

    https://twitter.com/AngelaRayner/status/1387826514360737796

    Somehow Angela appears to have accessorized Manchester.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 54,677
    rcs1000 said:

    Leon said:

    rcs1000 said:

    I told my wife the "my grandfather died in Auschwitz" joke last night.

    She was not impressed.

    It is, nonetheless, a brilliant joke. Subverting expectations and exploding taboos in two perfect lines

    When I first saw it on a TV show the crowd was in shocked silence for about 3 seconds, then they roared with intense laughter

    Got to be used in the right context tho. After someone has just been off-colour about the Holocaust you put on your appalled face - then go for it
    Did you ever hear the Ricky Gervais joke (and I'm not normally a fan):

    A Jew arrives at the gates of Heaven and says to God:

    "Hey, do you want to hear a holocaust joke?"
    God says "That's not funny."
    "Well, I guess you had to be there."

    That's not very funny, but it is very clever
  • Philip_ThompsonPhilip_Thompson Posts: 65,826

    Scott_xP said:

    The Government prioritised sovereignty over access to EU markets. No one should be surprised that British exporters are paying a price. My piece for @NewStatesman on the early signs of the economic damage caused by Brexit,
    https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/brexit/2021/04/experts-were-right-brexit-doing-economic-damage-uk

    And yet exports aren't down macroeconomically. So its just you and die hard Remoaners pissing into the wind.
    But exports are down much more than imports.
    Wrong. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56729631

    Facts are available so why would you make up falsehoods?
    image
  • ChameleonChameleon Posts: 4,264
    edited April 2021
    I don't think that it's been remarked on much, but Italy are going to overtake us in terms of total deaths by re-opening at 300 deaths per day. They're only 7,000 behind at the moment. Sadly it was blindsided by the first wave, but ever since the politicians have handled it atrociously.
  • SlackbladderSlackbladder Posts: 9,767

    Starmer's photographer has been busy today.

    image

    https://twitter.com/AngelaRayner/status/1387826514360737796

    Somehow Angela appears to have accessorized Manchester.
    Is Angela higher than Kier? Is he a short arse?
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,477
    ping said:

    Stocky said:

    Why is @isam banned? I've looked at his last few posts and can't see anything obvious.

    It’s a shame. He can be a bit of an arse, and his politics and my politics are pretty opposite, but he’s one of the few decent punters on the site.
    I didn’t realise he’d been banned. He’s mellowed a fair bit since becoming a father. What was he banned for?
  • MattWMattW Posts: 22,703
    edited April 2021
    IshmaelZ said:

    Pulpstar said:

    France has opened up vaccinations to any adults obese (BMI 30+) following several days of pressure to widen the criteria with all the unused slots. I’m just under that limit after months of dieting this winter so it’s somewhat frustrating. I’ve decided to book an appointment for a week from now and gain a kilo in the meantime to put me over (I’m 30 so could be waiting months otherwise).

    Quickest way to put weight on is load up on salt and carbs, you'll retain water and smash your target
    The NHS weigh you in whatever you happen to be wearing at the time, so if France is the same perhaps just pocket a kilo of lead.
    Or wear one of those sand in trousers bags from The Great Escape !

    Or a pork pie hat with a 1kg pork pie hidden inside.

    This could be fun.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 54,677

    Starmer's photographer has been busy today.

    image

    https://twitter.com/AngelaRayner/status/1387826514360737796

    Jesus. How big is Angela Rayner? Or is Starmer a mini-Rishi?
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,637
    Good timing methinks Roma +2
    1.61
    £379.56 stake
    £231.53 potential profit

    Matched: 20:32 29-Apr-21
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 49,774

    Starmer's photographer has been busy today.

    image

    https://twitter.com/AngelaRayner/status/1387826514360737796

    She’s taller than him?
  • I've been in the same carriage of the London Euston to Manchester Piccadilly train as Angela Rayner, she didn't seem overly tall.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 51,578
    Chameleon said:

    HYUFD said:

    HYUFD said:

    The likeliest combination is Donaldson as Westminster DUP leader and Poots as FM and NI Assembly leader.

    Poots is a hardliner who would be picked to win back voters lost to TUV

    The problem with Poots, as I understand it, is that he is a knuckle-dragging religious loon who is out of kilter with most Unionists.

    I am not at all an expert.

    But as far as I can tell, most Unionists, even the militant ones, are not actually also Presbyterian zealots.

    The religious nutter wing (ie most of them) of the DUP is increasingly estranged from ordinary Unionism.
    Lucidtalk published data today showing the DUP has leaked 27% of its 2017 Assembly vote to the TUV but only 10% to the UUP and just 4% to the Alliance.

    So it is hardliners in the TUV the DUP needs to win back and Poots hardline on fighting the Irish Sea border will be key to that, they will not be that bothered by his religious views provided he fights against the NI Protocol

    https://twitter.com/LucidTalk/status/1387838476595470339?s=20
    You always forget that actions have consequences.

    Maybe the DUP can become extremely hardline, maybe they can reclaim the votes they've lost to the TUV. But if they do there's no reason to assume that only 4% will remain lost to the Alliance.
    On the plus side a hardline DUP may mean that the UUP could make a comeback.
    Come back, UCUNF! All is forgiven!
  • LeonLeon Posts: 54,677
    IanB2 said:

    Starmer's photographer has been busy today.

    image

    https://twitter.com/AngelaRayner/status/1387826514360737796

    She’s taller than him?
    She looks like she's the female of a different SPECIES of hominid
  • ChameleonChameleon Posts: 4,264
    Leon said:

    Starmer's photographer has been busy today.

    image

    https://twitter.com/AngelaRayner/status/1387826514360737796

    Jesus. How big is Angela Rayner? Or is Starmer a mini-Rishi?
    Isn't rule one of political framing 'don't make your male leader look like a midget'?
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 51,578

    To be fair to Edwin Poots he is a progressive liberal compared to his father.

    Steeped in traditional Paisleyite politics, Mr Poots's father Charlie was a close associate of the former first minister and a founding member of the DUP.

    He died earlier this year aged 90 at the height of the first coronavirus lockdown.

    Charlie Poots was also outspoken, stating at the height of the Troubles in 1975 that he would cut off vital services to Catholic areas if he was in charge.

    “I would cut off all supplies, including water and electricity, to Catholic areas. And I would stop Catholics from getting social security.

    “It is the only way to deal with enemies of the state and to stamp out the present troubles.”

    "Poots"? Wahey! That sounds incredibly rude!
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 59,994
    rcs1000 said:

    I told my wife the "my grandfather died in Auschwitz" joke last night.

    She was not impressed.

    That's nothing. I made my wife watch 1984 last night, with John Hurt, Suzanna Hamilton and Richard Burton (plus Rab C. Nesbitt, strangely) and she said it was the most disturbing, dark and deeply depressing thing she's ever seen.

    Afterwards, however, she conceded it was thought-provoking and rather profound.
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 38,528
    Leon said:

    MaxPB said:

    Leon said:

    THIS could damage the government, badly, not a bunch of stupid curtains

    Five ways that Covid restrictions will remain with us, after June 21

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/04/27/june-21-wont-much-return-normal-thought/?WT.mc_id=e_DM1403673&WT.tsrc=email&etype=Edi_Edi_New_Sub_Digital&utmsource=email&utm_medium=Edi_Edi_New_Sub_Digital20210429&utm_campaign=DM1403673


    No proper gigs, no crowded pubs, masks forever, Covid marshalls, weird distanced restaurants, vaxports are back, on and on

    FUCK THIS SHIT. Really. Fuck it

    Boris said it would all be gone by June 21, and that's why we should stick by the looooooong roadmap. The British public have done their bit, and gone along with it. Superbly, in the main. If the British government now turns around and says "Oh we were lying, life will stay eerie and shit forever", then I will never vote for the Tories again

    This is all Gove IMO. He needs to be shown the door asap, he's untrustworthy and will betray anyone if he thinks it will help him become PM. Even though he would be the most unpopular PM since Eden and would lose to anyone Labour put up.
    I find it hard to believe Gove is this stupid. He will never be PM. Tory MPS can see a vote-loser. Gove must know this. He said it himself: I don't have the face for it

    Lady Macbeth whispers in his ear about it every so often. Charles can probably expand but I'm told she's extremely jealous of the Cameron and Boris clans and believes that her husband is why both finally made it to the top spot and is very bitter that Michael hasn't been able to ascend despite ample opportunity.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 54,677
    Ah, Starmer is another short-arse, like Boris

    5 foot 8

    https://www.celebheights.com/s/Sir-Keir-Starmer-52247.html
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 56,924

    Scott_xP said:

    The Government prioritised sovereignty over access to EU markets. No one should be surprised that British exporters are paying a price. My piece for @NewStatesman on the early signs of the economic damage caused by Brexit,
    https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/brexit/2021/04/experts-were-right-brexit-doing-economic-damage-uk

    And yet exports aren't down macroeconomically. So its just you and die hard Remoaners pissing into the wind.
    But exports are down much more than imports.
    Wrong. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56729631

    Facts are available so why would you make up falsehoods?
    image
    Percentage-wise, I think that is a bigger drop.

    BUT ITS ALSO IRRELEVANT RIGHT NOW BECAUSE:

    (a) There will have been lots of stockpiling, which will take six months to work out the system
    and
    (b) There's a pandemic going on, so demand for goods in the EU will not exactly be at normal levels (plus there are lots more shipping delays than normal, which will encourage people not to source from further afield)
  • LeonLeon Posts: 54,677
    MaxPB said:

    Leon said:

    MaxPB said:

    Leon said:

    THIS could damage the government, badly, not a bunch of stupid curtains

    Five ways that Covid restrictions will remain with us, after June 21

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/04/27/june-21-wont-much-return-normal-thought/?WT.mc_id=e_DM1403673&WT.tsrc=email&etype=Edi_Edi_New_Sub_Digital&utmsource=email&utm_medium=Edi_Edi_New_Sub_Digital20210429&utm_campaign=DM1403673


    No proper gigs, no crowded pubs, masks forever, Covid marshalls, weird distanced restaurants, vaxports are back, on and on

    FUCK THIS SHIT. Really. Fuck it

    Boris said it would all be gone by June 21, and that's why we should stick by the looooooong roadmap. The British public have done their bit, and gone along with it. Superbly, in the main. If the British government now turns around and says "Oh we were lying, life will stay eerie and shit forever", then I will never vote for the Tories again

    This is all Gove IMO. He needs to be shown the door asap, he's untrustworthy and will betray anyone if he thinks it will help him become PM. Even though he would be the most unpopular PM since Eden and would lose to anyone Labour put up.
    I find it hard to believe Gove is this stupid. He will never be PM. Tory MPS can see a vote-loser. Gove must know this. He said it himself: I don't have the face for it

    Lady Macbeth whispers in his ear about it every so often. Charles can probably expand but I'm told she's extremely jealous of the Cameron and Boris clans and believes that her husband is why both finally made it to the top spot and is very bitter that Michael hasn't been able to ascend despite ample opportunity.
    I genuinely don't understand the point you are making, however

    (the fault is mine not yours)

    Are you saying Gove is leaking this kind of true or invented stuff to make Boris look bad (if it is invented who invented it?), or he is actually PLANNING continued restrictions (how? when?) or...... something else?
  • TazTaz Posts: 14,162
    Leon said:

    Starmer's photographer has been busy today.

    image

    https://twitter.com/AngelaRayner/status/1387826514360737796

    Jesus. How big is Angela Rayner? Or is Starmer a mini-Rishi?
    She is quite tall but her trainers have quite a thick sole.
  • solarflaresolarflare Posts: 3,705

    Starmer's photographer has been busy today.

    image

    https://twitter.com/AngelaRayner/status/1387826514360737796

    Somehow Angela appears to have accessorized Manchester.
    Did they block off the street for their PR purposes, or is that just the new normal level of general public activity?
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,301
    edited April 2021
    rcs1000 said:

    I told my wife the "my grandfather died in Auschwitz" joke last night.

    She was not impressed.

    I once asked the other half

    'What makes a suicide bomber tick?'

    She told me she hated me for making her laugh at racist jokes.
  • MortimerMortimer Posts: 14,114

    There's an old Mitchell and Webb sketch which is (from memory) basically a load of toothbrush marketing executives sitting around a table trying to work out their next product and saying "if we can get them to brush their tongues, we can get them to do anything!".

    At some point if the covid restrictions don't drop away as promised, the parallels will start to get a bit uncomfortable.

    To be honest almost no-one I know is paying a blind bit of notice to the rules anymore. Hugs, 'quick cups of tea' that last a few hours and sunday lunches are happening everywhere.

    It isn't even taboo anymore.
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,477

    Starmer's photographer has been busy today.

    image

    https://twitter.com/AngelaRayner/status/1387826514360737796

    Somehow Angela appears to have accessorized Manchester.
    I quite like Angela, she was on Marr on Sunday and just looked like she was taking the piss out of Marr/Boris/The Establishment the whole time. She has a cheeky smile.

    Can’t imagine her as leader: too northern and working class and probably a bit brassy for metro liberals down here. But she seems like a good laugh. Passes the pub test with flying colours.
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,637

    rcs1000 said:

    I told my wife the "my grandfather died in Auschwitz" joke last night.

    She was not impressed.

    I once asked the other half

    'What makes a suicide bomber tick?'

    She told me she hated me for making laughing at racist jokes.
    "For making laughing"
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830
    IanB2 said:

    Starmer's photographer has been busy today.

    image

    https://twitter.com/AngelaRayner/status/1387826514360737796

    She’s taller than him?
    Fractionally by the look of it

    https://labourlist.org/2020/01/starmer-and-rayner-win-labour-business-leadership-nominations/
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 23,477
    IanB2 said:

    Starmer's photographer has been busy today.

    image

    https://twitter.com/AngelaRayner/status/1387826514360737796

    She’s taller than him?
    Never knowingly wears heels lower than 4” - she freely admits to having a thing about shoes.
  • FF43FF43 Posts: 17,208

    Scott_xP said:

    The Government prioritised sovereignty over access to EU markets. No one should be surprised that British exporters are paying a price. My piece for @NewStatesman on the early signs of the economic damage caused by Brexit,
    https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/brexit/2021/04/experts-were-right-brexit-doing-economic-damage-uk

    And yet exports aren't down macroeconomically. So its just you and die hard Remoaners pissing into the wind.
    Exports to the EU fell 15% on ONS figures and 32% on Eurostat figures between Dec and Feb and similar yoy, while world and European trade is doing fine right now.

    Which is what you would expect when you insert significant and specific trade barriers, which are known to be problematic.

    But maybe not a "macroeconomic fall" in exports (no idea what that means). So perhaps you are right.

    Incidentally, the UK seems to have changed the way it measures exports to the EU in December, while the EU didn't. The numbers do match on imports, which the UK didn't change. It looks the UK figures aren't apples to apples.

    https://twitter.com/thom_sampson/status/1384052894224187392
  • LeonLeon Posts: 54,677

    Starmer's photographer has been busy today.

    image

    https://twitter.com/AngelaRayner/status/1387826514360737796

    Somehow Angela appears to have accessorized Manchester.
    Did they block off the street for their PR purposes, or is that just the new normal level of general public activity?
    Much of central London is similar, still

    I get the sense provincial PBers do not understand the calamity that has befallen our great cities, London especially. This is one reason I am hesitant about declaring a Roaring Twenties type Covid-aftermath (tho I yearn for it)

    London and the other cities motor the UK economy. If they are fucked, we are fucked, no matter how many beer gardens we book and fill
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 119,301
    edited April 2021

    rcs1000 said:

    I told my wife the "my grandfather died in Auschwitz" joke last night.

    She was not impressed.

    I once asked the other half

    'What makes a suicide bomber tick?'

    She told me she hated me for making laughing at racist jokes.
    "For making laughing"
    I can't blame autocorrect for that as I'm on the laptop.

    I'll blame tiredness, fixed it now.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 56,924
    edited April 2021

    France has opened up vaccinations to any adults obese (BMI 30+) following several days of pressure to widen the criteria with all the unused slots. I’m just under that limit after months of dieting this winter so it’s somewhat frustrating. I’ve decided to book an appointment for a week from now and gain a kilo in the meantime to put me over (I’m 30 so could be waiting months otherwise).

    I know the story is that France has loads of unused appointments, but if you look at "proportion of doses received that have been administered", then they are ahead of almost every other EU country:
                Rcvd        Administered    % used
    France 22,335 19,644 88%
    Germany 29,645 25,489 86%
    Poland 12,901 10,986 85%
    Sweden 3,632 3,017 83%
    Italy 22,795 18,722 82%
    Netherlands 6,357 5,176 81%
    Which is exactly the opposite of what you'd expect if they were struggling to find people to vaccinate.

    France is also above the EU average for vaccinations (26.7% at least one dose vs 26.5%). The real laggards are Latvia and Greece.

    Edit to add: all the numbers are in thousands. So, 22,335 means 22.335 million
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 48,480

    Starmer's photographer has been busy today.

    image

    https://twitter.com/AngelaRayner/status/1387826514360737796

    Our next PM, and Keir Starmer...

    She would be so much better.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 28,190

    ping said:

    Lol @ right wingers getting triggered by Starmer in JL

    It was just a bit of fun

    Made me smile, anyway.

    And the politics are all wrong

    Maybe his advisors need to understand faking an interest in something is not a good look
    It works well enough for Johnson in a hi viz coat or a labcoat, or driving a JCB through some empty boxes.

    You are right it is vacuous nonsense, but what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.
    But Boris acting like the KoolAid character bursting through a wall in a JCB is genuinely funny and is taking the piss out of himself as he mumbles how do you drive this..is all an act, but its all in the tradition of British slap stick.

    Brittas looking at a roll of wallpaper as a snide dig isn't.
    Genuinely funny in a 1970s ITV sitcom kind of way. Whatever floats your boat.

    Personally I think the wallpaper stunt and all of Johnson's stunts look ridiculous.
    Del boy falling through the open bar hatch is regularly voted as one of the funniest moments in tv comedy....its no Stewart Lee or Mark Thomas earnest comedy about Palestinian refugee camps, but its what the public at large find funny.
    Benny Hill springs to mind. He was popular too, back in the day. Not with me, but then neither is Stuart Lee.
  • FloaterFloater Posts: 14,207

    France has opened up vaccinations to any adults obese (BMI 30+) following several days of pressure to widen the criteria with all the unused slots. I’m just under that limit after months of dieting this winter so it’s somewhat frustrating. I’ve decided to book an appointment for a week from now and gain a kilo in the meantime to put me over (I’m 30 so could be waiting months otherwise).

    Hmmm - now why on earth would they have so many unused slots ...........

  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 17,177
    Mortimer said:

    There's an old Mitchell and Webb sketch which is (from memory) basically a load of toothbrush marketing executives sitting around a table trying to work out their next product and saying "if we can get them to brush their tongues, we can get them to do anything!".

    At some point if the covid restrictions don't drop away as promised, the parallels will start to get a bit uncomfortable.

    To be honest almost no-one I know is paying a blind bit of notice to the rules anymore. Hugs, 'quick cups of tea' that last a few hours and sunday lunches are happening everywhere.

    It isn't even taboo anymore.
    And with barely over a hundred people admitted to hospital with Covid each day, it shouldn’t be taboo, it should be legal again.
  • ThomasNasheThomasNashe Posts: 5,331

    Starmer's photographer has been busy today.

    image

    https://twitter.com/AngelaRayner/status/1387826514360737796

    Somehow Angela appears to have accessorized Manchester.
    I quite like Angela, she was on Marr on Sunday and just looked like she was taking the piss out of Marr/Boris/The Establishment the whole time. She has a cheeky smile.

    Can’t imagine her as leader: too northern and working class and probably a bit brassy for metro liberals down here. But she seems like a good laugh. Passes the pub test with flying colours.
    I have warmed to her. I think Labour probably would be doing better with one of the women in charge: either her, Nandy or Phillips.
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758

    Off topic, but I finished reading Alan Hollinghurst's 'Line of Beauty' earlier this week. It's a stunning novel that anyone interested in the Thatcher era would want to read. A chilling dissection of the relationships between Oxford, the landed aristocracy and the political establishment.

    The BBC did a great adaptation of it a few years ago

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Line_of_Beauty_(TV_series)
This discussion has been closed.