If you wanna knock a brick through the red wall pay wall, copy/paste ^ into google, then click through.
Alternatively, if you want to help pay Seb’s rent, get an ft sub.
Personally, I’m a tight bastard.
Personally, I'm a lazy bastard. And tight!
If citing a story behind a paywall, I like to include a brief summary of the gist so that others can decide IF they think they need to actually seek it from the horse's mouth (or other end as case may be).
Summary: Tory Mayor popular, signs are that Tories ahead in Hartlepool and more widely the red wall - though only anedotal, plus a gloomy assessment from a Shadow cabinet minister.
No mention of a Northern Independence Party surge? And to think, Ladbrokes opened the betting on them at 4/5 to lose their deposit!
Man arrested in the streets of London.... simply for preaching Christianity (though, apparently, some of the less gay-friendly passages eg marriage is only for "men and women")
Meanwhile, professional football matches stop for the breaking of the Ramadan fast: because, "respect"
One of the things that is disturbing (and Cyclefree has written about this) is that some police officers seem completely ignorant of the laws which they were meant to be enforcing.
It would help if we were to abolish the notion of recording "hate incidents". Something is either a crime or it is not, and the police should only be concerned with the former.
I have. A policeman who does not understand the laws he or she is meant to be enforcing is simply not fit for purpose.
To her credit Patel is proposing that "hate incidents" are no longer recorded. The phrase "hate incidents" is utterly meaningless in any case. If something is a crime record it (I'm looking at you, Greater Manchester Police). If it isn't, the police have no business recording it. Indeed, doing so is deeply sinister, given the consequences for individuals - see here: https://www2.politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2021/03/13/here-we-go-again-2/.
If you wanna knock a brick through the red wall pay wall, copy/paste ^ into google, then click through.
Alternatively, if you want to help pay Seb’s rent, get an ft sub.
Personally, I’m a tight bastard.
Personally, I'm a lazy bastard. And tight!
If citing a story behind a paywall, I like to include a brief summary of the gist so that others can decide IF they think they need to actually seek it from the horse's mouth (or other end as case may be).
You can usually read FT articles by putting them through Google.
Election Maps UK @ElectionMapsUK · 3m Conservative lead falls from 10pts to just 2pts with @RedfieldWilton ahead of this Thursday's elections: Quote Tweet Redfield & Wilton Strategies @RedfieldWilton · 3m Westminster Voting Intention (3 May):
Conservative 40% (-4) Labour 38% (+4) Liberal Democrat 7% (-1) SNP 4% (-1) Green 5% (+1) Reform UK 3% (–)
Man arrested in the streets of London.... simply for preaching Christianity (though, apparently, some of the less gay-friendly passages eg marriage is only for "men and women")
Meanwhile, professional football matches stop for the breaking of the Ramadan fast: because, "respect"
People have had just about enough of this sort of thing.
Not enough of them have, particularly in the professional classes and metropolitan elites. Indeed, many still defend it - vociferously.
It's going to get worse.
Yes, it is going to get much worse before it gets better (tho it will, one day, get better)
The Chinese surely, cannot believe their luck. Just as they ascend to power, the West decides to unilaterally disarm, throwing away one of its greatest assets: the principle of Free Speech, the essence of the Enlightenment
Look at the way the preacher is grilled by the cops:
"Mr Sherwood [the preacher] said officers grilled him over his attitude to gay people. "
They are literally seeking out thought-crime. Do you have bad thoughts???
We are no better than the Chinese, in many ways - no freer in our minds - and at least the Chinese are militantly proud of their own culture, and would never let it be warped or degraded in this fashion.
In short, We're fucked
I'm leaving this thread now.
Don't let Leon cancel you! Resist!
Not scared of him. Completely autonomous decision. I'm watching the snooker.
So snookering out, are you? Typical wokeist behavoir!
- It's a good match.
Popping back quickly with this thought -
This "Enlightenment" that the softhead antiwokerati keep referring to with great reverence - and which the modern metro left are supposedly bringing to an end - strikes me as self-congratulatory bollox. Unless "enlightenment" involves black people being routinely treated like cattle.
The true Enlightenment was 1945/51 - the creation of the welfare state under the Attlee government.
A summary: "“The largest of the many problems in the industry is the broken business model that promotes a race to the bottom in standards. Taken together that is a toxic equation.”
From an initial reading it sounds very similar to what happened in finance - the obsession with making money to the exclusion of all else has resulted in appalling risk management and a poor culture and nothing will change until the industry realises it has to change. Forcing it to pay up for Grenfell might have kickstarted that change. Instead it has been let off the hook.
Police The construction industry Finance The Post Office The NHS The press Charities Churches
All of these and others have suffered repeated scandals over the years, in some cases, over decades. All of them have to a greater or lesser extent been in denial of the extent of the problems and what is really needed to effect real change for the better.
We are far too complacent, far too ready to accept the second and third rate, far too willing to pat ourselves on the back for past glories, far too willing to entrust our governance to fundamentally frivolous and unserious individuals, far too willing to sneer at the incompetences and failings of others instead of addressing the beams in our own eyes. Until we do, nothing much will change for the better.
Not very reliable although astonishing given how things were in the NE. Maybe we will see some differential swing. Either way it is annoying that Boris has made such an error over such an issue. I never thought he'd last to the next election.
Man arrested in the streets of London.... simply for preaching Christianity (though, apparently, some of the less gay-friendly passages eg marriage is only for "men and women")
Meanwhile, professional football matches stop for the breaking of the Ramadan fast: because, "respect"
People have had just about enough of this sort of thing.
Not enough of them have, particularly in the professional classes and metropolitan elites. Indeed, many still defend it - vociferously.
It's going to get worse.
Yes, it is going to get much worse before it gets better (tho it will, one day, get better)
The Chinese surely, cannot believe their luck. Just as they ascend to power, the West decides to unilaterally disarm, throwing away one of its greatest assets: the principle of Free Speech, the essence of the Enlightenment
Look at the way the preacher is grilled by the cops:
"Mr Sherwood [the preacher] said officers grilled him over his attitude to gay people. "
They are literally seeking out thought-crime. Do you have bad thoughts???
We are no better than the Chinese, in many ways - no freer in our minds - and at least the Chinese are militantly proud of their own culture, and would never let it be warped or degraded in this fashion.
In short, We're fucked
I'm leaving this thread now.
Don't let Leon cancel you! Resist!
Not scared of him. Completely autonomous decision. I'm watching the snooker.
So snookering out, are you? Typical wokeist behavoir!
- It's a good match.
Popping back quickly with this thought -
This "Enlightenment" that the softhead antiwokerati keep referring to with great reverence - and which the modern metro left are supposedly bringing to an end - strikes me as self-congratulatory bollox. Unless "enlightenment" involves black people being routinely treated like cattle.
The true Enlightenment was 1945/51 - the creation of the welfare state under the Attlee government.
Historically illiterate shite. You're a fucking accountant. That's all. And sometimes, it really shows
But the Scots Tories are right. Sturgeon has now said she will call a referendum no matter what the UKG decides in the Commons. A wildcat vote, an illegal vote, an advisory vote, that is what she will do - in her own words
I am not convinced by the poll shifts we are seeing. If you look at the below the line numbers, Johnson's own favourability levels have hardly dropped at all (except with Opinium). That says to me that we are not hearing anything other than a bit of mood music. All the political fundamentals heavily favour the Tories: the vaccine roll-out trucking, lockdown easing, house prices rising, economic confidence soaring, the triple lock as firm as ever. Nothing has really changed. We could well be back to double digit Tory leads pretty quickly.
Man arrested in the streets of London.... simply for preaching Christianity (though, apparently, some of the less gay-friendly passages eg marriage is only for "men and women")
Meanwhile, professional football matches stop for the breaking of the Ramadan fast: because, "respect"
People have had just about enough of this sort of thing.
Not enough of them have, particularly in the professional classes and metropolitan elites. Indeed, many still defend it - vociferously.
It's going to get worse.
Yes, it is going to get much worse before it gets better (tho it will, one day, get better)
The Chinese surely, cannot believe their luck. Just as they ascend to power, the West decides to unilaterally disarm, throwing away one of its greatest assets: the principle of Free Speech, the essence of the Enlightenment
Look at the way the preacher is grilled by the cops:
"Mr Sherwood [the preacher] said officers grilled him over his attitude to gay people. "
They are literally seeking out thought-crime. Do you have bad thoughts???
We are no better than the Chinese, in many ways - no freer in our minds - and at least the Chinese are militantly proud of their own culture, and would never let it be warped or degraded in this fashion.
In short, We're fucked
I'm leaving this thread now.
Don't let Leon cancel you! Resist!
Not scared of him. Completely autonomous decision. I'm watching the snooker.
So snookering out, are you? Typical wokeist behavoir!
- It's a good match.
Popping back quickly with this thought -
This "Enlightenment" that the softhead antiwokerati keep referring to with great reverence - and which the modern metro left are supposedly bringing to an end - strikes me as self-congratulatory bollox. Unless "enlightenment" involves black people being routinely treated like cattle.
The true Enlightenment was 1945/51 - the creation of the welfare state under the Attlee government.
Historically illiterate shite. You're a fucking accountant. That's all. And sometimes, it really shows
The word you're looking for is "insightful". And I don't charge a penny.
But you carry on churning out the hackneyed, parochial, reactionary groupthink, using those above average prose skills of yours.
Man arrested in the streets of London.... simply for preaching Christianity (though, apparently, some of the less gay-friendly passages eg marriage is only for "men and women")
Meanwhile, professional football matches stop for the breaking of the Ramadan fast: because, "respect"
People have had just about enough of this sort of thing.
Not enough of them have, particularly in the professional classes and metropolitan elites. Indeed, many still defend it - vociferously.
It's going to get worse.
Yes, it is going to get much worse before it gets better (tho it will, one day, get better)
The Chinese surely, cannot believe their luck. Just as they ascend to power, the West decides to unilaterally disarm, throwing away one of its greatest assets: the principle of Free Speech, the essence of the Enlightenment
Look at the way the preacher is grilled by the cops:
"Mr Sherwood [the preacher] said officers grilled him over his attitude to gay people. "
They are literally seeking out thought-crime. Do you have bad thoughts???
We are no better than the Chinese, in many ways - no freer in our minds - and at least the Chinese are militantly proud of their own culture, and would never let it be warped or degraded in this fashion.
In short, We're fucked
I'm leaving this thread now.
Don't let Leon cancel you! Resist!
Not scared of him. Completely autonomous decision. I'm watching the snooker.
So snookering out, are you? Typical wokeist behavoir!
- It's a good match.
Popping back quickly with this thought -
This "Enlightenment" that the softhead antiwokerati keep referring to with great reverence - and which the modern metro left are supposedly bringing to an end - strikes me as self-congratulatory bollox. Unless "enlightenment" involves black people being routinely treated like cattle.
The true Enlightenment was 1945/51 - the creation of the welfare state under the Attlee government.
Historically illiterate shite. You're a fucking accountant. That's all. And sometimes, it really shows
The word you're looking for is "insightful". And I don't charge a penny.
But you carry on churning out the hackneyed, parochial, reactionary groupthink using those above average prose skills of yours.
Sorry, I forgot. A fucking RETIRED accountant. Is all that you are. Forgot that.
Politico.com - Dems get locked out of Texas special election Republicans placed first and second in the Texas 6th District primary, which means Democrats will miss the runoff.
Interesting report on yesterday's special election for US House in Texas 6th congressional district.
Personally am feeling pretty pissed off at my fellow Democrats.
Not surprising that Republicans had 11 candidates in this race is not a surprise, given that it's been in GOP hands since Phil Gramm (remember him?) switched parties in the 1980s and also that they've got more than their fair share of nuts & grifters (these days).
But fact that 10 Democrats ran, including four who each got 10% or more of the combined Democratic vote, suggests what you might call a "problematic" situation on our side.
Note that > votes cast for yesterday's special election = 76% of March 2020 primary and 23% of November 2020 general election; turnout is almost always much lower for special than regular elections, but so low suggests lack of serious GOTV by Democrats. > share of total vote cast for Democrats = 37% compared with 46% in 2020 primary and 44% in 2020 general election; result of low turnout esp. by Democrats > Jana Lynne Sanchez, establishment Democratic favorite, got 36% of the total Democratic vote cast. > Shawn Lassiter, endorsed by Bernie Sanders, took 24% of the total Dem vote, in a district about where a Democratic Socialist is less likely to win election than say Alba in Chesham & Amersham; but if a Bernie Bro (or Gal) was inevitably gonna make the race, what about . . . > Fact that Dem endorsed by Tarrant Co Labor Council & other unions took 10% of the Democratic vote, and two (as far as I can tell) nothing Black candidates together another 20% of the Dems? To me this seems proof positive of lack of Democratic focus, organization AND leadership.
To me, looks like another circular Democratic firing squad.
As a son of this part of the country (just across the Red River in Oklahoma) said years ago,
"I do not belong to any organized political party - I am a Democrat."
A summary: "“The largest of the many problems in the industry is the broken business model that promotes a race to the bottom in standards. Taken together that is a toxic equation.”
From an initial reading it sounds very similar to what happened in finance - the obsession with making money to the exclusion of all else has resulted in appalling risk management and a poor culture and nothing will change until the industry realises it has to change. Forcing it to pay up for Grenfell might have kickstarted that change. Instead it has been let off the hook.
Police The construction industry Finance The Post Office The NHS The press Charities Churches
All of these and others have suffered repeated scandals over the years, in some cases, over decades. All of them have to a greater or lesser extent been in denial of the extent of the problems and what is really needed to effect real change for the better.
We are far too complacent, far too ready to accept the second and third rate, far too willing to pat ourselves on the back for past glories, far too willing to entrust our governance to fundamentally frivolous and unserious individuals, far too willing to sneer at the incompetences and failings of others instead of addressing the beams in our own eyes. Until we do, nothing much will change for the better.
The problem I saw regarding the cladding at Grenfell is that the official information looked fine. For me the comparison is VW emissions. The systems for design of buildings is now so complicated that detailed analysis need to be done by engineers. If the information they are using is wrong - design error, product fraud, incompatible designs - then the end result will not be correct. Even those employed to supervise these sort of standards for investors, and I used to work for such a consultant years ago, are reliant on the professional competence of others.
The best people to speak to are the site foremen. I remember my first time on a building site on work experience and the site foreman got into a row with the surveyor I was with because the drawings whilst attractive, were impossible to build!
I am not convinced by the poll shifts we are seeing. If you look at the below the line numbers, Johnson's own favourability levels have hardly dropped at all (except with Opinium). That says to me that we are not hearing anything other than a bit of mood music. All the political fundamentals heavily favour the Tories: the vaccine roll-out trucking, lockdown easing, house prices rising, economic confidence soaring, the triple lock as firm as ever. Nothing has really changed. We could well be back to double digit Tory leads pretty quickly.
The recent polls showing a considerable narrowing of the lead all seem to confirm Boris leading substantially on the economy and other indicators and clearly shown in this poll tonight
They do seem to be contradictory but they do make this week's elections very interesting
Edit - Cicero warned the Roman Republic against Carthage. Pitt the Elder warned Britain against France and Pitt the Younger against the French Revolution. Winston Churchill warned the world against Bolshevism and Nazism.
It is my historic role, to warn PBers against the dangers of extreme Cornish Nationalism.
I am not convinced by the poll shifts we are seeing. If you look at the below the line numbers, Johnson's own favourability levels have hardly dropped at all (except with Opinium). That says to me that we are not hearing anything other than a bit of mood music. All the political fundamentals heavily favour the Tories: the vaccine roll-out trucking, lockdown easing, house prices rising, economic confidence soaring, the triple lock as firm as ever. Nothing has really changed. We could well be back to double digit Tory leads pretty quickly.
Possibly.
But its a warning to Boris.
His slack personal management causes him problems and the Carrie Antoinette stuff does rile voters.
If he's sensible (yes, I know) and learns from events then he's been given another piece of luck.
I am not convinced by the poll shifts we are seeing. If you look at the below the line numbers, Johnson's own favourability levels have hardly dropped at all (except with Opinium). That says to me that we are not hearing anything other than a bit of mood music. All the political fundamentals heavily favour the Tories: the vaccine roll-out trucking, lockdown easing, house prices rising, economic confidence soaring, the triple lock as firm as ever. Nothing has really changed. We could well be back to double digit Tory leads pretty quickly.
The recent polls showing a considerable narrowing of the lead all seem to confirm Boris leading substantially on the economy and other indicators and clearly shown in this poll tonight
They do seem to be contradictory but they do make this week's elections very interesting
From this poll
The Government’s Net Competency Rating stands at -6% in this week’s poll, 4% lower than last week and 8% lower than two weeks ago. Altogether, 35% find the Government incompetent (up 1%), 29% find the Government competent (down 3%), and 28% find the Government neither incompetent nor competent (up 2%).
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s net approval rating has remained positive for the thirteenth week in a row and currently stands at +6%. However, this rating is a three-point decrease from last week and a nine-point decrease in the past two weeks. This week’s poll finds 42% approving of his overall job performance (down 2%), against 36% disapproving (up 1%).
I am not convinced by the poll shifts we are seeing. If you look at the below the line numbers, Johnson's own favourability levels have hardly dropped at all (except with Opinium). That says to me that we are not hearing anything other than a bit of mood music. All the political fundamentals heavily favour the Tories: the vaccine roll-out trucking, lockdown easing, house prices rising, economic confidence soaring, the triple lock as firm as ever. Nothing has really changed. We could well be back to double digit Tory leads pretty quickly.
The recent polls showing a considerable narrowing of the lead all seem to confirm Boris leading substantially on the economy and other indicators and clearly shown in this poll tonight
They do seem to be contradictory but they do make this week's elections very interesting
From this poll
The Government’s Net Competency Rating stands at -6% in this week’s poll, 4% lower than last week and 8% lower than two weeks ago. Altogether, 35% find the Government incompetent (up 1%), 29% find the Government competent (down 3%), and 28% find the Government neither incompetent nor competent (up 2%).
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s net approval rating has remained positive for the thirteenth week in a row and currently stands at +6%. However, this rating is a three-point decrease from last week and a nine-point decrease in the past two weeks. This week’s poll finds 42% approving of his overall job performance (down 2%), against 36% disapproving (up 1%).
Not great for the blues
Most PM’s and governments would be quite content with those numbers in mid-term.
Man arrested in the streets of London.... simply for preaching Christianity (though, apparently, some of the less gay-friendly passages eg marriage is only for "men and women")
Meanwhile, professional football matches stop for the breaking of the Ramadan fast: because, "respect"
People have had just about enough of this sort of thing.
Not enough of them have, particularly in the professional classes and metropolitan elites. Indeed, many still defend it - vociferously.
It's going to get worse.
Yes, it is going to get much worse before it gets better (tho it will, one day, get better)
The Chinese surely, cannot believe their luck. Just as they ascend to power, the West decides to unilaterally disarm, throwing away one of its greatest assets: the principle of Free Speech, the essence of the Enlightenment
Look at the way the preacher is grilled by the cops:
"Mr Sherwood [the preacher] said officers grilled him over his attitude to gay people. "
They are literally seeking out thought-crime. Do you have bad thoughts???
We are no better than the Chinese, in many ways - no freer in our minds - and at least the Chinese are militantly proud of their own culture, and would never let it be warped or degraded in this fashion.
In short, We're fucked
I'm leaving this thread now.
Don't let Leon cancel you! Resist!
Not scared of him. Completely autonomous decision. I'm watching the snooker.
So snookering out, are you? Typical wokeist behavoir!
- It's a good match.
Popping back quickly with this thought -
This "Enlightenment" that the softhead antiwokerati keep referring to with great reverence - and which the modern metro left are supposedly bringing to an end - strikes me as self-congratulatory bollox. Unless "enlightenment" involves black people being routinely treated like cattle.
The true Enlightenment was 1945/51 - the creation of the welfare state under the Attlee government.
Historically illiterate shite. You're a fucking accountant. That's all. And sometimes, it really shows
Oh and it's a "chartered" accountant, thank you very much. ACA.
A summary: "“The largest of the many problems in the industry is the broken business model that promotes a race to the bottom in standards. Taken together that is a toxic equation.”
From an initial reading it sounds very similar to what happened in finance - the obsession with making money to the exclusion of all else has resulted in appalling risk management and a poor culture and nothing will change until the industry realises it has to change. Forcing it to pay up for Grenfell might have kickstarted that change. Instead it has been let off the hook.
Police The construction industry Finance The Post Office The NHS The press Charities Churches
All of these and others have suffered repeated scandals over the years, in some cases, over decades. All of them have to a greater or lesser extent been in denial of the extent of the problems and what is really needed to effect real change for the better.
We are far too complacent, far too ready to accept the second and third rate, far too willing to pat ourselves on the back for past glories, far too willing to entrust our governance to fundamentally frivolous and unserious individuals, far too willing to sneer at the incompetences and failings of others instead of addressing the beams in our own eyes. Until we do, nothing much will change for the better.
My hope is - after Grenfell - we get proper regulations, properly enforced.
Our nations housing stock should be of high and increasing quality. The race to the bottom is a scandal.
Sadly, there are few votes in it and the ‘bonfire of the regulations’ brigade still seem to hold sway.
I am not convinced by the poll shifts we are seeing. If you look at the below the line numbers, Johnson's own favourability levels have hardly dropped at all (except with Opinium). That says to me that we are not hearing anything other than a bit of mood music. All the political fundamentals heavily favour the Tories: the vaccine roll-out trucking, lockdown easing, house prices rising, economic confidence soaring, the triple lock as firm as ever. Nothing has really changed. We could well be back to double digit Tory leads pretty quickly.
The recent polls showing a considerable narrowing of the lead all seem to confirm Boris leading substantially on the economy and other indicators and clearly shown in this poll tonight
They do seem to be contradictory but they do make this week's elections very interesting
From this poll
The Government’s Net Competency Rating stands at -6% in this week’s poll, 4% lower than last week and 8% lower than two weeks ago. Altogether, 35% find the Government incompetent (up 1%), 29% find the Government competent (down 3%), and 28% find the Government neither incompetent nor competent (up 2%).
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s net approval rating has remained positive for the thirteenth week in a row and currently stands at +6%. However, this rating is a three-point decrease from last week and a nine-point decrease in the past two weeks. This week’s poll finds 42% approving of his overall job performance (down 2%), against 36% disapproving (up 1%).
I am not convinced by the poll shifts we are seeing. If you look at the below the line numbers, Johnson's own favourability levels have hardly dropped at all (except with Opinium). That says to me that we are not hearing anything other than a bit of mood music. All the political fundamentals heavily favour the Tories: the vaccine roll-out trucking, lockdown easing, house prices rising, economic confidence soaring, the triple lock as firm as ever. Nothing has really changed. We could well be back to double digit Tory leads pretty quickly.
Possibly.
But its a warning to Boris.
His slack personal management causes him problems and the Carrie Antoinette stuff does rile voters.
If he's sensible (yes, I know) and learns from events then he's been given another piece of luck.
Yes, what seems to have registered for my friends is the "why does she need a nanny?" stuff more than the wallpaper but it does all seem to be adding up. Boris has that "man of the people" mystique as part of his wider appeal and this is undoing that quite quickly. He needs to put Carrie in her place a bit or make her go out and get a job if she wants a nanny and £100k wallpaper.
I am not convinced by the poll shifts we are seeing. If you look at the below the line numbers, Johnson's own favourability levels have hardly dropped at all (except with Opinium). That says to me that we are not hearing anything other than a bit of mood music. All the political fundamentals heavily favour the Tories: the vaccine roll-out trucking, lockdown easing, house prices rising, economic confidence soaring, the triple lock as firm as ever. Nothing has really changed. We could well be back to double digit Tory leads pretty quickly.
The recent polls showing a considerable narrowing of the lead all seem to confirm Boris leading substantially on the economy and other indicators and clearly shown in this poll tonight
They do seem to be contradictory but they do make this week's elections very interesting
From this poll
The Government’s Net Competency Rating stands at -6% in this week’s poll, 4% lower than last week and 8% lower than two weeks ago. Altogether, 35% find the Government incompetent (up 1%), 29% find the Government competent (down 3%), and 28% find the Government neither incompetent nor competent (up 2%).
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s net approval rating has remained positive for the thirteenth week in a row and currently stands at +6%. However, this rating is a three-point decrease from last week and a nine-point decrease in the past two weeks. This week’s poll finds 42% approving of his overall job performance (down 2%), against 36% disapproving (up 1%).
Not great for the blues
Indeed but this also Boris v Starmer
Best PM 45/30
Build a strong economy 45/29
Put UK interests first 45/31
Tackle covid 46/25
Best PM v Rishi Sunak 41/31
Yes. It’s rather confusing.
People increasingly want to vote Labour, but are less and less impressed by Starmer?
A summary: "“The largest of the many problems in the industry is the broken business model that promotes a race to the bottom in standards. Taken together that is a toxic equation.”
From an initial reading it sounds very similar to what happened in finance - the obsession with making money to the exclusion of all else has resulted in appalling risk management and a poor culture and nothing will change until the industry realises it has to change. Forcing it to pay up for Grenfell might have kickstarted that change. Instead it has been let off the hook.
Police The construction industry Finance The Post Office The NHS The press Charities Churches
All of these and others have suffered repeated scandals over the years, in some cases, over decades. All of them have to a greater or lesser extent been in denial of the extent of the problems and what is really needed to effect real change for the better.
We are far too complacent, far too ready to accept the second and third rate, far too willing to pat ourselves on the back for past glories, far too willing to entrust our governance to fundamentally frivolous and unserious individuals, far too willing to sneer at the incompetences and failings of others instead of addressing the beams in our own eyes. Until we do, nothing much will change for the better.
The problem I saw regarding the cladding at Grenfell is that the official information looked fine. For me the comparison is VW emissions. The systems for design of buildings is now so complicated that detailed analysis need to be done by engineers. If the information they are using is wrong - design error, product fraud, incompatible designs - then the end result will not be correct. Even those employed to supervise these sort of standards for investors, and I used to work for such a consultant years ago, are reliant on the professional competence of others.
The best people to speak to are the site foremen. I remember my first time on a building site on work experience and the site foreman got into a row with the surveyor I was with because the drawings whilst attractive, were impossible to build!
I am quite interested in construction, partly as a result of building a house for the last few years, partly because one of my children's godparents was a builder who taught me quite a lot about how houses work, materials, how to build things etc and partly because of much husband's profession. The builder learnt the old-fashioned way, through a proper apprenticeship and his big beef was that too many people called themselves builders but simply did not have the skills to build houses properly. His other beef was with clients who concentrated on the look and decoration but did not want to spend money on stuff like roofs, plumbing, proper insulation - all the stuff you can't see but which makes a house work well. He said that meant they tended to go for cheap quotes and also made them prey to every type of conman going.
Having stripped two houses back to the bare bones, it is fascinating to see how they are built and when you see what is involved you realise why it costs - if you want to do it properly. But, curiously, for a property-mad country, we focus too much on the superficial - kitchens and wallpaper - and not enough on the structural stuff. It might even serve as a metaphor for our attitude to many other things as well.
I am not convinced by the poll shifts we are seeing. If you look at the below the line numbers, Johnson's own favourability levels have hardly dropped at all (except with Opinium). That says to me that we are not hearing anything other than a bit of mood music. All the political fundamentals heavily favour the Tories: the vaccine roll-out trucking, lockdown easing, house prices rising, economic confidence soaring, the triple lock as firm as ever. Nothing has really changed. We could well be back to double digit Tory leads pretty quickly.
Possibly.
But its a warning to Boris.
His slack personal management causes him problems and the Carrie Antoinette stuff does rile voters.
If he's sensible (yes, I know) and learns from events then he's been given another piece of luck.
Is there evidence that he's learnt from any of his previous lessons?
I am not convinced by the poll shifts we are seeing. If you look at the below the line numbers, Johnson's own favourability levels have hardly dropped at all (except with Opinium). That says to me that we are not hearing anything other than a bit of mood music. All the political fundamentals heavily favour the Tories: the vaccine roll-out trucking, lockdown easing, house prices rising, economic confidence soaring, the triple lock as firm as ever. Nothing has really changed. We could well be back to double digit Tory leads pretty quickly.
Possibly.
But its a warning to Boris.
His slack personal management causes him problems and the Carrie Antoinette stuff does rile voters.
If he's sensible (yes, I know) and learns from events then he's been given another piece of luck.
I couldn't really care less about his wife or his wallpaper. I'm more concerned that he is reverse ferreting on the end of restrictions on June 21st.
I’m laying the tories for small stakes in Hartlepool. May increase my stakes over the next few days.
Are we expecting another constituency poll?
I'm not changing my call - Cons for Hartlepool - but I've closed my exchange bet and taken the available profit.
I've gone from "virtually certain" the Cons will win it to a "fairly sure".
And of course if I win our bet you'll be claiming that as a stunning victory for Labour rather than admitting you were wrong, I was right, and that it wasn't a likely gain while in office.
A summary: "“The largest of the many problems in the industry is the broken business model that promotes a race to the bottom in standards. Taken together that is a toxic equation.”
From an initial reading it sounds very similar to what happened in finance - the obsession with making money to the exclusion of all else has resulted in appalling risk management and a poor culture and nothing will change until the industry realises it has to change. Forcing it to pay up for Grenfell might have kickstarted that change. Instead it has been let off the hook.
Police The construction industry Finance The Post Office The NHS The press Charities Churches
All of these and others have suffered repeated scandals over the years, in some cases, over decades. All of them have to a greater or lesser extent been in denial of the extent of the problems and what is really needed to effect real change for the better.
We are far too complacent, far too ready to accept the second and third rate, far too willing to pat ourselves on the back for past glories, far too willing to entrust our governance to fundamentally frivolous and unserious individuals, far too willing to sneer at the incompetences and failings of others instead of addressing the beams in our own eyes. Until we do, nothing much will change for the better.
My hope is - after Grenfell - we get proper regulations, properly enforced.
Our nations housing stock should be of high and increasing quality. The race to the bottom is a scandal.
Sadly, there are few votes in it and the ‘bonfire of the regulations’ brigade still seem to hold sway.
I don’t see that changing.
Meanwhile one of the sectors where Britain really does have a lot of talent and "soft power" and services which people all round the world want and value is getting shafted by the government - https://twitter.com/wearethemu/status/1388124434071003138?s=21
Summary: the government is proposing a 50% cut in funding for the arts, including music, in Higher Education.
So we won't need to wear masks in theatres because at this rate there won't be any left and not much to see in them anyway.
Man arrested in the streets of London.... simply for preaching Christianity (though, apparently, some of the less gay-friendly passages eg marriage is only for "men and women")
Meanwhile, professional football matches stop for the breaking of the Ramadan fast: because, "respect"
People have had just about enough of this sort of thing.
Not enough of them have, particularly in the professional classes and metropolitan elites. Indeed, many still defend it - vociferously.
It's going to get worse.
Yes, it is going to get much worse before it gets better (tho it will, one day, get better)
The Chinese surely, cannot believe their luck. Just as they ascend to power, the West decides to unilaterally disarm, throwing away one of its greatest assets: the principle of Free Speech, the essence of the Enlightenment
Look at the way the preacher is grilled by the cops:
"Mr Sherwood [the preacher] said officers grilled him over his attitude to gay people. "
They are literally seeking out thought-crime. Do you have bad thoughts???
We are no better than the Chinese, in many ways - no freer in our minds - and at least the Chinese are militantly proud of their own culture, and would never let it be warped or degraded in this fashion.
In short, We're fucked
I'm leaving this thread now.
Don't let Leon cancel you! Resist!
Not scared of him. Completely autonomous decision. I'm watching the snooker.
So snookering out, are you? Typical wokeist behavoir!
- It's a good match.
Popping back quickly with this thought -
This "Enlightenment" that the softhead antiwokerati keep referring to with great reverence - and which the modern metro left are supposedly bringing to an end - strikes me as self-congratulatory bollox. Unless "enlightenment" involves black people being routinely treated like cattle.
The true Enlightenment was 1945/51 - the creation of the welfare state under the Attlee government.
Historically illiterate shite. You're a fucking accountant. That's all. And sometimes, it really shows
The word you're looking for is "insightful". And I don't charge a penny.
But you carry on churning out the hackneyed, parochial, reactionary groupthink using those above average prose skills of yours.
Sorry, I forgot. A fucking RETIRED accountant. Is all that you are. Forgot that.
You're welcome
I'm a fucking retired CHARTERED accountant. Please.
And a fucking retired bond trader. And a fucking retired bullshitting management consultant. And a fucking retired warehouse worker in fact. Etc.
Bottom line - I'm fucking retired.
I do this now. Seek to win hearts & minds on here.
I am not convinced by the poll shifts we are seeing. If you look at the below the line numbers, Johnson's own favourability levels have hardly dropped at all (except with Opinium). That says to me that we are not hearing anything other than a bit of mood music. All the political fundamentals heavily favour the Tories: the vaccine roll-out trucking, lockdown easing, house prices rising, economic confidence soaring, the triple lock as firm as ever. Nothing has really changed. We could well be back to double digit Tory leads pretty quickly.
Possibly.
But its a warning to Boris.
His slack personal management causes him problems and the Carrie Antoinette stuff does rile voters.
If he's sensible (yes, I know) and learns from events then he's been given another piece of luck.
Is there evidence that he's learnt from any of his previous lessons?
Yes, he's learned from his previous lessons.
Unfortunately, what he learned was that he's indestructible.
The trouble with teaching... What they learn isn't always what you might expect, or wish.
I am not convinced by the poll shifts we are seeing. If you look at the below the line numbers, Johnson's own favourability levels have hardly dropped at all (except with Opinium). That says to me that we are not hearing anything other than a bit of mood music. All the political fundamentals heavily favour the Tories: the vaccine roll-out trucking, lockdown easing, house prices rising, economic confidence soaring, the triple lock as firm as ever. Nothing has really changed. We could well be back to double digit Tory leads pretty quickly.
It is not a move to Labour, it is a move from Tory to Can't Be Arsed Party that is in the polling.
The UK has recorded one Covid death within 28 days of a positive test across all settings in the latest 24-hour period, official figures show.
This is the first time since August 30 - also a Bank Holiday weekend - that just one death has been reported.
It comes as a further 1,649 people tested positive for the virus.
34,588,600 Britons have had at least one dose of the vaccine, with 15,500,949 now fully vaccinated.
Telegraph
Still not on the daily summary yet.
But a fall in both cases and deaths though there might be a bank holiday factor involved.
Yes, and we're still going to get stuck with facemasks indefinitely.
I am not going to wear one. I am exempt because of my asthma but while the pandemic was raging I wore one if out, anyway. But now that the pandemic is all but over in this country I am damned if I'm going to wear one just because some scientist wants to stop me or someone else catching flu. Or just because they love the idea of micro-managing everyone's lives. Enough.
Man arrested in the streets of London.... simply for preaching Christianity (though, apparently, some of the less gay-friendly passages eg marriage is only for "men and women")
Meanwhile, professional football matches stop for the breaking of the Ramadan fast: because, "respect"
People have had just about enough of this sort of thing.
Not enough of them have, particularly in the professional classes and metropolitan elites. Indeed, many still defend it - vociferously.
It's going to get worse.
Yes, it is going to get much worse before it gets better (tho it will, one day, get better)
The Chinese surely, cannot believe their luck. Just as they ascend to power, the West decides to unilaterally disarm, throwing away one of its greatest assets: the principle of Free Speech, the essence of the Enlightenment
Look at the way the preacher is grilled by the cops:
"Mr Sherwood [the preacher] said officers grilled him over his attitude to gay people. "
They are literally seeking out thought-crime. Do you have bad thoughts???
We are no better than the Chinese, in many ways - no freer in our minds - and at least the Chinese are militantly proud of their own culture, and would never let it be warped or degraded in this fashion.
In short, We're fucked
I'm leaving this thread now.
Don't let Leon cancel you! Resist!
Not scared of him. Completely autonomous decision. I'm watching the snooker.
So snookering out, are you? Typical wokeist behavoir!
- It's a good match.
Popping back quickly with this thought -
This "Enlightenment" that the softhead antiwokerati keep referring to with great reverence - and which the modern metro left are supposedly bringing to an end - strikes me as self-congratulatory bollox. Unless "enlightenment" involves black people being routinely treated like cattle.
The true Enlightenment was 1945/51 - the creation of the welfare state under the Attlee government.
Historically illiterate shite. You're a fucking accountant. That's all. And sometimes, it really shows
The word you're looking for is "insightful". And I don't charge a penny.
But you carry on churning out the hackneyed, parochial, reactionary groupthink using those above average prose skills of yours.
Sorry, I forgot. A fucking RETIRED accountant. Is all that you are. Forgot that.
You're welcome
I'm a fucking retired CHARTERED accountant. Please.
And a fucking retired bond trader. And a fucking retired bullshitting management consultant. And a fucking retired warehouse worker in fact. Etc.
Bottom line - I'm fucking retired.
I do this now. Seek to win hearts & minds on here.
I think you need 50k posts to be considered a Chartered PBer...
The UK has recorded one Covid death within 28 days of a positive test across all settings in the latest 24-hour period, official figures show.
This is the first time since August 30 - also a Bank Holiday weekend - that just one death has been reported.
It comes as a further 1,649 people tested positive for the virus.
34,588,600 Britons have had at least one dose of the vaccine, with 15,500,949 now fully vaccinated.
Telegraph
Still not on the daily summary yet.
But a fall in both cases and deaths though there might be a bank holiday factor involved.
Yes, and we're still going to get stuck with facemasks indefinitely.
I don't think we are, simply because people will rebel.
When we're down to a few hundred cases a day, a handful of deaths, the NHS is untroubled (by Covid) on one will wear masks, except the really worried well
I'll never wear one unless it is legally and practically enforced. ie I am told on pain of a fine, there and then, put it on. There will be millions like me. Fuck the masks
I am not convinced by the poll shifts we are seeing. If you look at the below the line numbers, Johnson's own favourability levels have hardly dropped at all (except with Opinium). That says to me that we are not hearing anything other than a bit of mood music. All the political fundamentals heavily favour the Tories: the vaccine roll-out trucking, lockdown easing, house prices rising, economic confidence soaring, the triple lock as firm as ever. Nothing has really changed. We could well be back to double digit Tory leads pretty quickly.
Possibly.
But its a warning to Boris.
His slack personal management causes him problems and the Carrie Antoinette stuff does rile voters.
If he's sensible (yes, I know) and learns from events then he's been given another piece of luck.
Yes, what seems to have registered for my friends is the "why does she need a nanny?" stuff more than the wallpaper but it does all seem to be adding up. Boris has that "man of the people" mystique as part of his wider appeal and this is undoing that quite quickly. He needs to put Carrie in her place a bit or make her go out and get a job if she wants a nanny and £100k wallpaper.
Carrie using the 'I have exquisite taste' defence was pretty nauseating.
Boris not being able to control self-entitled extravagance at home doesn't give suggest that he's able to control things in the country.
It makes him look weak and that's something no prime minister can survive.
Man arrested in the streets of London.... simply for preaching Christianity (though, apparently, some of the less gay-friendly passages eg marriage is only for "men and women")
Meanwhile, professional football matches stop for the breaking of the Ramadan fast: because, "respect"
People have had just about enough of this sort of thing.
Not enough of them have, particularly in the professional classes and metropolitan elites. Indeed, many still defend it - vociferously.
It's going to get worse.
Yes, it is going to get much worse before it gets better (tho it will, one day, get better)
The Chinese surely, cannot believe their luck. Just as they ascend to power, the West decides to unilaterally disarm, throwing away one of its greatest assets: the principle of Free Speech, the essence of the Enlightenment
Look at the way the preacher is grilled by the cops:
"Mr Sherwood [the preacher] said officers grilled him over his attitude to gay people. "
They are literally seeking out thought-crime. Do you have bad thoughts???
We are no better than the Chinese, in many ways - no freer in our minds - and at least the Chinese are militantly proud of their own culture, and would never let it be warped or degraded in this fashion.
In short, We're fucked
I'm leaving this thread now.
Don't let Leon cancel you! Resist!
Not scared of him. Completely autonomous decision. I'm watching the snooker.
So snookering out, are you? Typical wokeist behavoir!
- It's a good match.
Popping back quickly with this thought -
This "Enlightenment" that the softhead antiwokerati keep referring to with great reverence - and which the modern metro left are supposedly bringing to an end - strikes me as self-congratulatory bollox. Unless "enlightenment" involves black people being routinely treated like cattle.
The true Enlightenment was 1945/51 - the creation of the welfare state under the Attlee government.
Historically illiterate shite. You're a fucking accountant. That's all. And sometimes, it really shows
The word you're looking for is "insightful". And I don't charge a penny.
But you carry on churning out the hackneyed, parochial, reactionary groupthink using those above average prose skills of yours.
Sorry, I forgot. A fucking RETIRED accountant. Is all that you are. Forgot that.
You're welcome
I'm a fucking retired CHARTERED accountant. Please.
And a fucking retired bond trader. And a fucking retired bullshitting management consultant. And a fucking retired warehouse worker in fact. Etc.
Bottom line - I'm fucking retired.
I do this now. Seek to win hearts & minds on here.
I think you need 50k posts to be considered a Chartered PBer...
I am not convinced by the poll shifts we are seeing. If you look at the below the line numbers, Johnson's own favourability levels have hardly dropped at all (except with Opinium). That says to me that we are not hearing anything other than a bit of mood music. All the political fundamentals heavily favour the Tories: the vaccine roll-out trucking, lockdown easing, house prices rising, economic confidence soaring, the triple lock as firm as ever. Nothing has really changed. We could well be back to double digit Tory leads pretty quickly.
It is not a move to Labour, it is a move from Tory to Can't Be Arsed Party that is in the polling.
And even that, not very much.
Not just Con to CBA, though that's definitely a factor. The other thing is that lefties disappointed in Starmer will have seen him kipper the PM reasonably effectively for the first time in a while. So a different pool of CBA will have shifted to Lab.
I am not convinced by the poll shifts we are seeing. If you look at the below the line numbers, Johnson's own favourability levels have hardly dropped at all (except with Opinium). That says to me that we are not hearing anything other than a bit of mood music. All the political fundamentals heavily favour the Tories: the vaccine roll-out trucking, lockdown easing, house prices rising, economic confidence soaring, the triple lock as firm as ever. Nothing has really changed. We could well be back to double digit Tory leads pretty quickly.
Possibly.
But its a warning to Boris.
His slack personal management causes him problems and the Carrie Antoinette stuff does rile voters.
If he's sensible (yes, I know) and learns from events then he's been given another piece of luck.
Even soft Tories might think about giving the government a kicking this Thursday. The country needs a check on three more years of Tory hubris.
I am not convinced by the poll shifts we are seeing. If you look at the below the line numbers, Johnson's own favourability levels have hardly dropped at all (except with Opinium). That says to me that we are not hearing anything other than a bit of mood music. All the political fundamentals heavily favour the Tories: the vaccine roll-out trucking, lockdown easing, house prices rising, economic confidence soaring, the triple lock as firm as ever. Nothing has really changed. We could well be back to double digit Tory leads pretty quickly.
Possibly.
But its a warning to Boris.
His slack personal management causes him problems and the Carrie Antoinette stuff does rile voters.
If he's sensible (yes, I know) and learns from events then he's been given another piece of luck.
I couldn't really care less about his wife or his wallpaper. I'm more concerned that he is reverse ferreting on the end of restrictions on June 21st.
I think if he'd brought forward the May 17th restriction ending by one week it would have given some space for keeping other restrictions in July.
But it seems that restrictions can only be changed in one direction.
I’m laying the tories for small stakes in Hartlepool. May increase my stakes over the next few days.
Are we expecting another constituency poll?
I'm not changing my call - Cons for Hartlepool - but I've closed my exchange bet and taken the available profit.
I've gone from "virtually certain" the Cons will win it to a "fairly sure".
And of course if I win our bet you'll be claiming that as a stunning victory for Labour rather than admitting you were wrong, I was right, and that it wasn't a likely gain while in office.
There's no need to be spoiling for a fight in advance. If Labour win, my call will have been a bad one and yours a good one. We bet at even money so it's "pure". How we interpret the result (for long range GE betting purposes) will be down to each of us individually. But one thing you won't be hearing from me is "stunning victory" unless the margin is something special.
In any case, n/a - the blues are winning it for the reasons I've explained till my own face is of similar hue.
I am not convinced by the poll shifts we are seeing. If you look at the below the line numbers, Johnson's own favourability levels have hardly dropped at all (except with Opinium). That says to me that we are not hearing anything other than a bit of mood music. All the political fundamentals heavily favour the Tories: the vaccine roll-out trucking, lockdown easing, house prices rising, economic confidence soaring, the triple lock as firm as ever. Nothing has really changed. We could well be back to double digit Tory leads pretty quickly.
Possibly.
But its a warning to Boris.
His slack personal management causes him problems and the Carrie Antoinette stuff does rile voters.
If he's sensible (yes, I know) and learns from events then he's been given another piece of luck.
Yes, what seems to have registered for my friends is the "why does she need a nanny?" stuff more than the wallpaper but it does all seem to be adding up. Boris has that "man of the people" mystique as part of his wider appeal and this is undoing that quite quickly. He needs to put Carrie in her place a bit or make her go out and get a job if she wants a nanny and £100k wallpaper.
Carrie using the 'I have exquisite taste' defence was pretty nauseating.
Boris not being able to control self-entitled extravagance at home doesn't give suggest that he's able to control things in the country.
It makes him look weak and that's something no prime minister can survive.
The extravagance is not the issue. If you can afford it, buy whatever you like. It's Johnson thinking he does not have to pay for it that will grate. Other people have to buy their wallpaper and child care. Why not him?
I am not convinced by the poll shifts we are seeing. If you look at the below the line numbers, Johnson's own favourability levels have hardly dropped at all (except with Opinium). That says to me that we are not hearing anything other than a bit of mood music. All the political fundamentals heavily favour the Tories: the vaccine roll-out trucking, lockdown easing, house prices rising, economic confidence soaring, the triple lock as firm as ever. Nothing has really changed. We could well be back to double digit Tory leads pretty quickly.
Except Opinium is the gold standard for approval polling and the most recent
Edit - Cicero warned the Roman Republic against Carthage. Pitt the Elder warned Britain against France and Pitt the Younger against the French Revolution. Winston Churchill warned the world against Bolshevism and Nazism.
It is my historic role, to warn PBers against the dangers of extreme Cornish Nationalism.
I would have warned against Carthage, but Carthage was already destroyed in 146BC (according to your barbarous calender) which was 40 years before I was born.
It was M.P. Cato the Elder, great grandfather of my friend M.P. Cato "the Younger", who was quite keen on the demolition of the Punic Capital... "Carthago delenda est" and all that.
I wouldn´t wish to claim credit where none was due.
I am not convinced by the poll shifts we are seeing. If you look at the below the line numbers, Johnson's own favourability levels have hardly dropped at all (except with Opinium). That says to me that we are not hearing anything other than a bit of mood music. All the political fundamentals heavily favour the Tories: the vaccine roll-out trucking, lockdown easing, house prices rising, economic confidence soaring, the triple lock as firm as ever. Nothing has really changed. We could well be back to double digit Tory leads pretty quickly.
Possibly.
But its a warning to Boris.
His slack personal management causes him problems and the Carrie Antoinette stuff does rile voters.
If he's sensible (yes, I know) and learns from events then he's been given another piece of luck.
Yes, what seems to have registered for my friends is the "why does she need a nanny?" stuff more than the wallpaper but it does all seem to be adding up. Boris has that "man of the people" mystique as part of his wider appeal and this is undoing that quite quickly. He needs to put Carrie in her place a bit or make her go out and get a job if she wants a nanny and £100k wallpaper.
Also, those of us who have been bored and actually saved money during the pandemic forget that there is a whole swathe of people for whom the pandemic has been massively difficult, and there will be a long overhang of debt, unemployment, bankruptcy and eviction. Carrie Antoinette chose the worst possible time to be going about her conspicuous consumption.
Man arrested in the streets of London.... simply for preaching Christianity (though, apparently, some of the less gay-friendly passages eg marriage is only for "men and women")
Meanwhile, professional football matches stop for the breaking of the Ramadan fast: because, "respect"
People have had just about enough of this sort of thing.
Not enough of them have, particularly in the professional classes and metropolitan elites. Indeed, many still defend it - vociferously.
It's going to get worse.
Yes, it is going to get much worse before it gets better (tho it will, one day, get better)
The Chinese surely, cannot believe their luck. Just as they ascend to power, the West decides to unilaterally disarm, throwing away one of its greatest assets: the principle of Free Speech, the essence of the Enlightenment
Look at the way the preacher is grilled by the cops:
"Mr Sherwood [the preacher] said officers grilled him over his attitude to gay people. "
They are literally seeking out thought-crime. Do you have bad thoughts???
We are no better than the Chinese, in many ways - no freer in our minds - and at least the Chinese are militantly proud of their own culture, and would never let it be warped or degraded in this fashion.
In short, We're fucked
I'm leaving this thread now.
Don't let Leon cancel you! Resist!
Not scared of him. Completely autonomous decision. I'm watching the snooker.
So snookering out, are you? Typical wokeist behavoir!
- It's a good match.
Popping back quickly with this thought -
This "Enlightenment" that the softhead antiwokerati keep referring to with great reverence - and which the modern metro left are supposedly bringing to an end - strikes me as self-congratulatory bollox. Unless "enlightenment" involves black people being routinely treated like cattle.
The true Enlightenment was 1945/51 - the creation of the welfare state under the Attlee government.
Historically illiterate shite. You're a fucking accountant. That's all. And sometimes, it really shows
The word you're looking for is "insightful". And I don't charge a penny.
But you carry on churning out the hackneyed, parochial, reactionary groupthink using those above average prose skills of yours.
Sorry, I forgot. A fucking RETIRED accountant. Is all that you are. Forgot that.
You're welcome
I'm a fucking retired CHARTERED accountant. Please.
And a fucking retired bond trader. And a fucking retired bullshitting management consultant. And a fucking retired warehouse worker in fact. Etc.
Bottom line - I'm fucking retired.
I do this now. Seek to win hearts & minds on here.
I think you need 50k posts to be considered a Chartered PBer...
Ha. Like that. But I think 20k gets Chartered status. 50k is Fellow.
I am not convinced by the poll shifts we are seeing. If you look at the below the line numbers, Johnson's own favourability levels have hardly dropped at all (except with Opinium). That says to me that we are not hearing anything other than a bit of mood music. All the political fundamentals heavily favour the Tories: the vaccine roll-out trucking, lockdown easing, house prices rising, economic confidence soaring, the triple lock as firm as ever. Nothing has really changed. We could well be back to double digit Tory leads pretty quickly.
Possibly.
But its a warning to Boris.
His slack personal management causes him problems and the Carrie Antoinette stuff does rile voters.
If he's sensible (yes, I know) and learns from events then he's been given another piece of luck.
I couldn't really care less about his wife or his wallpaper. I'm more concerned that he is reverse ferreting on the end of restrictions on June 21st.
I think if he'd brought forward the May 17th restriction ending by one week it would have given some space for keeping other restrictions in July.
But it seems that restrictions can only be changed in one direction.
If journalists were doing their job properly, they would be asking Ministers this: if any restrictions continue beyond June, will the support for business affected by those restrictions continue getting support? And if there is no support then surely there should be no restrictions. You cannot have one without the other.
Masks in pubs and restaurants is not normal. They have to go and if they don't such businesses cannot stand on their own two feet.
So which is it: normality and no support or continuing restrictions and continuing support?
Masks, wallpaper, restrictions, nannies. You can see from the tiny subsample on here that it is a number of things annoying a relatively small number of folk each that is adding up.
The video doesn't show what he was saying before the police arrest him following what they can be heard to describe as 'Complaints from members of the public that [you] have caused them harm and distress by making [homophobic statements]'. Since we don't hear what he said, I really don't see how we can conclude if their behaviour is justified.
There's a longer video (I'll try and link) where you can hear him preaching that marriage is for "a man and a woman only"
This is basic Christian doctrine, I believe? Besides, this is a matter of opinion, and he is entitled to his opinion and entitled to speak it. He does not stir up hatred or violence
Absolutely. It may seem strange to modern and younger ears but marriage is for life and only between one man and one woman is the basic doctrine of Anglicans, Roman Catholics, the Orthodox churches, Methodists, Baptists and lots of others. Most of these people are tolerant, ordinary members of the public. Many of them are MPs.
I am not convinced by the poll shifts we are seeing. If you look at the below the line numbers, Johnson's own favourability levels have hardly dropped at all (except with Opinium). That says to me that we are not hearing anything other than a bit of mood music. All the political fundamentals heavily favour the Tories: the vaccine roll-out trucking, lockdown easing, house prices rising, economic confidence soaring, the triple lock as firm as ever. Nothing has really changed. We could well be back to double digit Tory leads pretty quickly.
Possibly.
But its a warning to Boris.
His slack personal management causes him problems and the Carrie Antoinette stuff does rile voters.
If he's sensible (yes, I know) and learns from events then he's been given another piece of luck.
Yes, what seems to have registered for my friends is the "why does she need a nanny?" stuff more than the wallpaper but it does all seem to be adding up. Boris has that "man of the people" mystique as part of his wider appeal and this is undoing that quite quickly. He needs to put Carrie in her place a bit or make her go out and get a job if she wants a nanny and £100k wallpaper.
Carrie using the 'I have exquisite taste' defence was pretty nauseating.
Boris not being able to control self-entitled extravagance at home doesn't give suggest that he's able to control things in the country.
It makes him look weak and that's something no prime minister can survive.
The extravagance is not the issue. If you can afford it, buy whatever you like. It's Johnson thinking he does not have to pay for it that will grate. Other people have to buy their wallpaper and child care. Why not him?
Because people like him have all the emotional maturity of a spoilt 3-year old. I want therefore I get.
This country still hasn't got over the Brexit wars. About half the population see Boris as the man who fought against the odds and delivered Brexit despite the opposition of the liberal-establishment masters. That's a heady accomplishment. No amount of harrumphing over wallpaper will shift that kind of devotion.
It was only a war because the losing side of a referendum mobilised to undo the result.
It was more like the Russian Revolution, with the vote itself being the analogue to the February Revolution, followed by the Hard Brexiters effeectively staging a coup to overthrow any potential compromise. The jury is still out about what happens next, but it is probably not good for the Tories long term. Eventually the country will make some kind of peace with itself, and the extremists will get the kind of treatment that Trump is now facing.
Be sure your sins will find you out, whether bad taste in decoration or giving Cummings the key to the sweetie shop.
If the analogy is extended so that they remain in power until 2093, I am sure they will find a way to live with it.
Comments
To her credit Patel is proposing that "hate incidents" are no longer recorded. The phrase "hate incidents" is utterly meaningless in any case. If something is a crime record it (I'm looking at you, Greater Manchester Police). If it isn't, the police have no business recording it. Indeed, doing so is deeply sinister, given the consequences for individuals - see here: https://www2.politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2021/03/13/here-we-go-again-2/.
Are we expecting another constituency poll?
C40 L 38
https://twitter.com/RedfieldWilton/status/1389248422100733959?s=19
Conservative 40% (-4)
Labour 38% (+4)
Liberal Democrat 7% (-1)
SNP 4% (-1)
Green 5% (+1)
Reform UK 3% (–)
Changes +/- 26 April
Follow @redfieldwilton to see our weekly VI first.
https://redfieldandwiltonstrategies.com/latest-gb-voting-intention-3-may-2021/ https://twitter.com/RedfieldWilton/status/1389248422100733959/photo/1
@ElectionMapsUK
·
3m
Conservative lead falls from 10pts to just 2pts with @RedfieldWilton
ahead of this Thursday's elections:
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Redfield & Wilton Strategies
@RedfieldWilton
· 3m
Westminster Voting Intention (3 May):
Conservative 40% (-4)
Labour 38% (+4)
Liberal Democrat 7% (-1)
SNP 4% (-1)
Green 5% (+1)
Reform UK 3% (–)
Changes +/- 26 April
Follow @redfieldwilton to see our weekly VI first.
https://redfieldandwiltonstrategies.com/latest-gb-voti
Surely both Hartlepool and WM must be very iffy now.
Now for Thursday
Great job Labour.
Teesside
Teesside
Middlesbrough is not Middlesborough
Teesside is not Teeside
And I think the Tories will win the seat.
31% con
31% lab
Popping back quickly with this thought -
This "Enlightenment" that the softhead antiwokerati keep referring to with great reverence - and which the modern metro left are supposedly bringing to an end - strikes me as self-congratulatory bollox. Unless "enlightenment" involves black people being routinely treated like cattle.
The true Enlightenment was 1945/51 - the creation of the welfare state under the Attlee government.
Scots Tories did not get the memo from HYUFD.
A summary: "“The largest of the many problems in the industry is the broken business model that promotes a race to the bottom in standards. Taken together that is a toxic equation.”
From an initial reading it sounds very similar to what happened in finance - the obsession with making money to the exclusion of all else has resulted in appalling risk management and a poor culture and nothing will change until the industry realises it has to change. Forcing it to pay up for Grenfell might have kickstarted that change. Instead it has been let off the hook.
Police
The construction industry
Finance
The Post Office
The NHS
The press
Charities
Churches
All of these and others have suffered repeated scandals over the years, in some cases, over decades. All of them have to a greater or lesser extent been in denial of the extent of the problems and what is really needed to effect real change for the better.
We are far too complacent, far too ready to accept the second and third rate, far too willing to pat ourselves on the back for past glories, far too willing to entrust our governance to fundamentally frivolous and unserious individuals, far too willing to sneer at the incompetences and failings of others instead of addressing the beams in our own eyes. Until we do, nothing much will change for the better.
Is the country waking up?
C 40 (-4) L 38 (+4)
Beginning of end for Johnson
But not good for the Tories
If this is all dependent on Boris they can still eject him and get Rishi or Liz, maybe.....
I've gone from "virtually certain" the Cons will win it to a "fairly sure".
Predictions?
This is the first time since August 30 - also a Bank Holiday weekend - that just one death has been reported.
It comes as a further 1,649 people tested positive for the virus.
34,588,600 Britons have had at least one dose of the vaccine, with 15,500,949 now fully vaccinated.
Telegraph
Is that a full poll?
I’m cancelling my unmatched bets!
3 % Ref
0 (!) % LD.
Rest DK/ won't say.
Starting with no more self-pitying whining about money.
The pandemic, at least in the UK, is no longer all pervasive.
But you carry on churning out the hackneyed, parochial, reactionary groupthink, using those above average prose skills of yours.
You're welcome
Republicans placed first and second in the Texas 6th District primary, which means Democrats will miss the runoff.
Interesting report on yesterday's special election for US House in Texas 6th congressional district.
Personally am feeling pretty pissed off at my fellow Democrats.
Not surprising that Republicans had 11 candidates in this race is not a surprise, given that it's been in GOP hands since Phil Gramm (remember him?) switched parties in the 1980s and also that they've got more than their fair share of nuts & grifters (these days).
But fact that 10 Democrats ran, including four who each got 10% or more of the combined Democratic vote, suggests what you might call a "problematic" situation on our side.
Note that
> votes cast for yesterday's special election = 76% of March 2020 primary and 23% of November 2020 general election; turnout is almost always much lower for special than regular elections, but so low suggests lack of serious GOTV by Democrats.
> share of total vote cast for Democrats = 37% compared with 46% in 2020 primary and 44% in 2020 general election; result of low turnout esp. by Democrats
> Jana Lynne Sanchez, establishment Democratic favorite, got 36% of the total Democratic vote cast.
> Shawn Lassiter, endorsed by Bernie Sanders, took 24% of the total Dem vote, in a district about where a Democratic Socialist is less likely to win election than say Alba in Chesham & Amersham; but if a Bernie Bro (or Gal) was inevitably gonna make the race, what about . . .
> Fact that Dem endorsed by Tarrant Co Labor Council & other unions took 10% of the Democratic vote, and two (as far as I can tell) nothing Black candidates together another 20% of the Dems? To me this seems proof positive of lack of Democratic focus, organization AND leadership.
To me, looks like another circular Democratic firing squad.
As a son of this part of the country (just across the Red River in Oklahoma) said years ago,
"I do not belong to any organized political party - I am a Democrat."
The best people to speak to are the site foremen. I remember my first time on a building site on work experience and the site foreman got into a row with the surveyor I was with because the drawings whilst attractive, were impossible to build!
They do seem to be contradictory but they do make this week's elections very interesting
Edit - Cicero warned the Roman Republic against Carthage. Pitt the Elder warned Britain against France and Pitt the Younger against the French Revolution. Winston Churchill warned the world against Bolshevism and Nazism.
It is my historic role, to warn PBers against the dangers of extreme Cornish Nationalism.
But its a warning to Boris.
His slack personal management causes him problems and the Carrie Antoinette stuff does rile voters.
If he's sensible (yes, I know) and learns from events then he's been given another piece of luck.
The Government’s Net Competency Rating stands at -6% in this week’s poll, 4% lower than last week and 8% lower than two weeks ago. Altogether, 35% find the Government incompetent (up 1%), 29% find the Government competent (down 3%), and 28% find the Government neither incompetent nor competent (up 2%).
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s net approval rating has remained positive for the thirteenth week in a row and currently stands at +6%. However, this rating is a three-point decrease from last week and a nine-point decrease in the past two weeks. This week’s poll finds 42% approving of his overall job performance (down 2%), against 36% disapproving (up 1%).
Not great for the blues
But a fall in both cases and deaths though there might be a bank holiday factor involved.
And that cheerful insouciance is why we love him, but it's also what will destroy him.
AN Othertory means you lose the positives as well as the negatives.
Heating on, and up
That can quite happily co-incide with something else being true - this being the beginning of the slide for the Cons and the recovery of Labour.
Or it would be if I still paid the subs.
Our nations housing stock should be of high and increasing quality. The race to the bottom is a scandal.
Sadly, there are few votes in it and the ‘bonfire of the regulations’ brigade still seem to hold sway.
I don’t see that changing.
Best PM 45/30
Build a strong economy 45/29
Put UK interests first 45/31
Tackle covid 46/25
Best PM v Rishi Sunak 41/31
People increasingly want to vote Labour, but are less and less impressed by Starmer?
Doesn’t make sense to me.
Having stripped two houses back to the bare bones, it is fascinating to see how they are built and when you see what is involved you realise why it costs - if you want to do it properly. But, curiously, for a property-mad country, we focus too much on the superficial - kitchens and wallpaper - and not enough on the structural stuff. It might even serve as a metaphor for our attitude to many other things as well.
Summary: the government is proposing a 50% cut in funding for the arts, including music, in Higher Education.
So we won't need to wear masks in theatres because at this rate there won't be any left and not much to see in them anyway.
And a fucking retired bond trader. And a fucking retired bullshitting management consultant. And a fucking retired warehouse worker in fact. Etc.
Bottom line - I'm fucking retired.
I do this now. Seek to win hearts & minds on here.
You see the same polling drop as happened after Cummings, he has learned nothing.
Unfortunately, what he learned was that he's indestructible.
The trouble with teaching... What they learn isn't always what you might expect, or wish.
And even that, not very much.
Premier League to setup new charter that all owners have to sign with serious sanctions for breaches
When we're down to a few hundred cases a day, a handful of deaths, the NHS is untroubled (by Covid) on one will wear masks, except the really worried well
I'll never wear one unless it is legally and practically enforced. ie I am told on pain of a fine, there and then, put it on. There will be millions like me. Fuck the masks
Boris not being able to control self-entitled extravagance at home doesn't give suggest that he's able to control things in the country.
It makes him look weak and that's something no prime minister can survive.
And in lots of elections, that's enough.
But it seems that restrictions can only be changed in one direction.
Tricky market which I'm largely avoiding, though I have small stakes on Labour just due to the odds on offer.
In any case, n/a - the blues are winning it for the reasons I've explained till my own face is of similar hue.
It was M.P. Cato the Elder, great grandfather of my friend M.P. Cato "the Younger", who was quite keen on the demolition of the Punic Capital... "Carthago delenda est" and all that.
I wouldn´t wish to claim credit where none was due.
Now we have the boxing ring photos for the next poll.
Masks in pubs and restaurants is not normal. They have to go and if they don't such businesses cannot stand on their own two feet.
So which is it: normality and no support or continuing restrictions and continuing support?
Albeit God help the rest of us.