I am not sure you have got the hang of this polling mullarkey.
If responses are taken a day or two before an event, it is unlikely that the responses will be in relation to the event...unless the respondent is psychic...or from the future.
I only poll people from the future, as their responses are more likely to be useful from a betting perspective.
But the future that is certain. It is the past that keeps changing. Surely that is what we need to monitor.
Polling on past events is probably not a bad guide. The disappearance of people who owned up to voting Lib Dem in 2010 was the strongest indicator of their performance in 2015.
My God: you might be onto something. The LibDem performance in 2015 was the consequence of Cameron "disappearing" LibDem voters.
We need an immediate investigation.
Didn't we have one of those in the US when they polled who had voted for Kennedy after he was killed. Rather than one of the closest elections ever it was apparently a landslide!
There's a perception amongst its opponents that this Government is ideological and very right-wing.
In fact, the reason it's polling so well is that it's positioned itself slap-bang in the centre of where public opinion is across the country at large.
That's not the same as the chatterati, but it doesn't make it untrue.
Well said.
The likes of TIGgers etc love to call themselves "centrists" when they're not remotely in the centre. Boris is ruthlessly centrist right now.
Compared to you perhaps. The reality is Boris Johnson will sit in the centre if it suits his ego. He will sit on the far right if that does too, and possibly even on the left. Reality is he is all over the shop because he is a man that lives in a morality vacuum.
Surge testing when there's a localised outbreak will give a slightly distorted impression so I don't think there's any reason to panic.
It may be local but patients admitted up 20% in the last 7 days is not good.
In England we’ve had 28 days in a row of fewer than 100 hospitalisations which IS good.
Sure, these increases are from a very low base and the percentages exaggerate as a result. But it is disappointing.
One thing to note - yes an increase in admissions, but the total in hospital is not rising. Signs of patients going in being less sick than before? I think so.
As of yesterday I believe the total in hospital was under 1,000 and falling nationwide?
There's a perception amongst its opponents that this Government is ideological and very right-wing.
In fact, the reason it's polling so well is that it's positioned itself slap-bang in the centre of where public opinion is across the country at large.
That's not the same as the chatterati, but it doesn't make it untrue.
Ah but they have the 'moral' high ground..... both of them!
Surge testing when there's a localised outbreak will give a slightly distorted impression so I don't think there's any reason to panic.
It may be local but patients admitted up 20% in the last 7 days is not good.
In England we’ve had 28 days in a row of fewer than 100 hospitalisations which IS good.
Sure, these increases are from a very low base and the percentages exaggerate as a result. But it is disappointing.
One thing to note - yes an increase in admissions, but the total in hospital is not rising. Signs of patients going in being less sick than before? I think so.
As of yesterday I believe the total in hospital was under 1,000 and falling nationwide?
There's a perception amongst its opponents that this Government is ideological and very right-wing.
In fact, the reason it's polling so well is that it's positioned itself slap-bang in the centre of where public opinion is across the country at large.
That's not the same as the chatterati, but it doesn't make it untrue.
Bluekip/Blue Labour are what it’s been called, which is economically leftish and culturally rightish - the option that wasn’t really on the table for the last 20 odd years
I don't think it's that leftist (this government doesn't want to raise VAT or personal taxes and believes in fiscal conservatism) but it does recognise people prefer a supportive state rather than a small state.
On cultural issues I think it's slightly right but far closer to the centre than the Left are - who are way off.
There's a perception amongst its opponents that this Government is ideological and very right-wing.
In fact, the reason it's polling so well is that it's positioned itself slap-bang in the centre of where public opinion is across the country at large.
That's not the same as the chatterati, but it doesn't make it untrue.
It is rightwing to wealthy urban Remainers and graduates, it is dead centre for the working class and lower middle class voters who decide elections.
It's right wing to the hard of thinking, the reasoning being: "I am left wing" "I don't like this government" "Therefore this government is right wing" "Actually, I really, really don't like this government" "Therefore this government is really, really right wing"
I remember back in 2007 the similarly hard of thinking decrying any policy they disagreed with as 'neoliberal'.
Oh dear.. is everything's going to be about Boris being an unashamed liar.. its getting very boring and I suspect the electorate are not interested. Boris must be the teflon dead cat that those who dislike him can thrash away at to little or no effect.
Oh dear, another obsequious post from one of the Government's apologists and predictably "liked" by the usual PB Johnsonphile automatons! Ever wondered about being independent of thought? Ever imagined that it might be possible that the government you voted for might have got things wrong? No, of course not. My party right or wrong. The Führerprinzip is a philosophy alive and well among Johnson's faithful and unthinking followers.
He is, however, right that the electorate isn’t, right now at least, remotely interested. I am just back from dog training class and all of the others spent the entire break slagging off Cummings; there wasn’t the slightest interest in whether any of the allegations had any truth in them, at all.
Oh dear.. is everything's going to be about Boris being an unashamed liar.. its getting very boring and I suspect the electorate are not interested. Boris must be the teflon dead cat that those who dislike him can thrash away at to little or no effect.
Oh dear, another obsequious post from one of the Government's apologists and predictably "liked" by the usual PB Johnsonphile automatons! Ever wondered about being independent of thought? Ever imagined that it might be possible that the government you voted for might have got things wrong? No, of course not. My party right or wrong. The Führerprinzip is a philosophy alive and well among Johnson's faithful and unthinking followers.
He is, however, right that the electorate isn’t, right now at least, remotely interested. I am just back from dog training class and all of the others spent the entire break slagging off Cummings; there wasn’t the slightest interest in whether any of the allegations had any truth in them, at all.
You speak dog? Impressive.
Only ruffly, I am sure.
Even that must make you very yappy.....
You are a wag!
Whoops you beat me to that one. You had the lead on me there
Oh dear.. is everything's going to be about Boris being an unashamed liar.. its getting very boring and I suspect the electorate are not interested. Boris must be the teflon dead cat that those who dislike him can thrash away at to little or no effect.
Oh dear, another obsequious post from one of the Government's apologists and predictably "liked" by the usual PB Johnsonphile automatons! Ever wondered about being independent of thought? Ever imagined that it might be possible that the government you voted for might have got things wrong? No, of course not. My party right or wrong. The Führerprinzip is a philosophy alive and well among Johnson's faithful and unthinking followers.
He is, however, right that the electorate isn’t, right now at least, remotely interested. I am just back from dog training class and all of the others spent the entire break slagging off Cummings; there wasn’t the slightest interest in whether any of the allegations had any truth in them, at all.
You speak dog? Impressive.
Only ruffly, I am sure.
That's barking mad.
Can I never learn to stay out of these punfests?
It gets us through the dogday afternoons until the lagershed.
There's a perception amongst its opponents that this Government is ideological and very right-wing.
In fact, the reason it's polling so well is that it's positioned itself slap-bang in the centre of where public opinion is across the country at large.
That's not the same as the chatterati, but it doesn't make it untrue.
Well said.
The likes of TIGgers etc love to call themselves "centrists" when they're not remotely in the centre. Boris is ruthlessly centrist right now.
Compared to you perhaps. The reality is Boris Johnson will sit in the centre if it suits his ego. He will sit on the far right if that does too, and possibly even on the left. Reality is he is all over the shop because he is a man that lives in a morality vacuum.
AKA a politician.
Like Blair.
I'll criticise Boris whenever I don't agree with him and have done so in this thread, but you're more bitter than Boddingtons.
Hey Robert, can update the site so people can only post on PB once they've scanned their Covid-19 vaccine certificate QR code from the NHS app?
And their maths A level certificate.
Yes!
I have two A levels in maths, maths and further maths, both As, when A levels were hard.
Failed a maths AS level *buffs nails*
The school changed exam boards the next year as most people had failed.
My final further maths A Level exam was the most stressful exam of my life, well the consequences.
It was a three hour exam, question 1 worth 50 marks, and question 2 and 3 worth 25 marks each.
So 90 minutes on Q1 and 45 minutes each on Qs 2 and 3.
About 75 minutes in I thought yes I'm on schedule, then a few moments later I finished Q1 and I looked at the clock and there was about 35 minutes left in the exam.
I have never written so fast in my life for qs 2 & 3 and I spent the next two months worrying if I had screwed up my life.
The NHS plans to 'scrape' the medical histories of patients, including sensitive stuff on mental and sexual health, criminal records and abuse, into a database to be shared with third parties. You have less than a month to opt out, if you want to .https://ft.com/content/9fee81"
I couldn't care less what the NHS does with my anonymised data - use it for research, sell it to raise money for patient care, whatever. That's why it's anonymised, duh.
This assumes it can't be de-anonymised by hackers.
There seems to be a few apologists here on here deliberately conflating a “broken promise” and a “lie”.
The first has sadly been endemic in politics since Aristotle.
The second is something which has undoubtedly happened, but was considered until quite recently a resigning offence if publicly caught out.
Practiced deceit seems to have become popular in New Labour and has now metastasised into Stage 3 or 4 thanks to both Boris and Cummings.
It’s not completely the politician’s fault, there is undoubtedly a correlation with 24 hours news media and latterly social media.
I believed most of what Cummings said yesterday but there is no point in his appealing to the truth when he has spent the last several years debasing that currency.
Oh dear.. is everything's going to be about Boris being an unashamed liar.. its getting very boring and I suspect the electorate are not interested. Boris must be the teflon dead cat that those who dislike him can thrash away at to little or no effect.
Oh dear, another obsequious post from one of the Government's apologists and predictably "liked" by the usual PB Johnsonphile automatons! Ever wondered about being independent of thought? Ever imagined that it might be possible that the government you voted for might have got things wrong? No, of course not. My party right or wrong. The Führerprinzip is a philosophy alive and well among Johnson's faithful and unthinking followers.
He is, however, right that the electorate isn’t, right now at least, remotely interested. I am just back from dog training class and all of the others spent the entire break slagging off Cummings; there wasn’t the slightest interest in whether any of the allegations had any truth in them, at all.
You speak dog? Impressive.
Only ruffly, I am sure.
That's barking mad.
Can I never learn to stay out of these punfests?
It gets us through the dogday afternoons until the lagershed.
If you can speak dog, it's best not to do it in public or you might be accused of terrierism.
There's a perception amongst its opponents that this Government is ideological and very right-wing.
In fact, the reason it's polling so well is that it's positioned itself slap-bang in the centre of where public opinion is across the country at large.
That's not the same as the chatterati, but it doesn't make it untrue.
Well said.
The likes of TIGgers etc love to call themselves "centrists" when they're not remotely in the centre. Boris is ruthlessly centrist right now.
Centrist doesn't mean centrist. It means: internationalist, technocratic, elitist, snooty, trendy, socially "progressive", dismissive of British institutions and culture, and self-interested.
The SDP, the Wets and Edward Heath were their forebears.
There's a perception amongst its opponents that this Government is ideological and very right-wing.
In fact, the reason it's polling so well is that it's positioned itself slap-bang in the centre of where public opinion is across the country at large.
That's not the same as the chatterati, but it doesn't make it untrue.
It is rightwing to wealthy urban Remainers and graduates, it is dead centre for the working class and lower middle class voters who decide elections.
It's right wing to the hard of thinking, the reasoning being: "I am left wing" "I don't like this government" "Therefore this government is right wing" "Actually, I really, really don't like this government" "Therefore this government is really, really right wing"
I remember back in 2007 the similarly hard of thinking decrying any policy they disagreed with as 'neoliberal'.
I remember when John Majors government was described as a move to the "extreme right" after the 1997 election.
Oh dear.. is everything's going to be about Boris being an unashamed liar.. its getting very boring and I suspect the electorate are not interested. Boris must be the teflon dead cat that those who dislike him can thrash away at to little or no effect.
Oh dear, another obsequious post from one of the Government's apologists and predictably "liked" by the usual PB Johnsonphile automatons! Ever wondered about being independent of thought? Ever imagined that it might be possible that the government you voted for might have got things wrong? No, of course not. My party right or wrong. The Führerprinzip is a philosophy alive and well among Johnson's faithful and unthinking followers.
He is, however, right that the electorate isn’t, right now at least, remotely interested. I am just back from dog training class and all of the others spent the entire break slagging off Cummings; there wasn’t the slightest interest in whether any of the allegations had any truth in them, at all.
You speak dog? Impressive.
Only ruffly, I am sure.
That's barking mad.
Can I never learn to stay out of these punfests?
It gets us through the dogday afternoons until the lagershed.
Dog watches, to be even more precise: 4 to 6, and 6 to 8 ...
There's a perception amongst its opponents that this Government is ideological and very right-wing.
In fact, the reason it's polling so well is that it's positioned itself slap-bang in the centre of where public opinion is across the country at large.
That's not the same as the chatterati, but it doesn't make it untrue.
Well said.
The likes of TIGgers etc love to call themselves "centrists" when they're not remotely in the centre. Boris is ruthlessly centrist right now.
Centrist doesn't mean centrist. It means: internationalist, technocratic, elitist, snooty, trendy, socially "progressive", dismissive of British institutions and culture, and self-interested.
The SDP, the Wets and Edward Heath were their forebears.
Though the SDP nowadays are almost the exact opposite of that.
Delyn would be a very tricky by-election for the Tories, because it's clear Labour are quite a bit more popular in Wales than England at present. It could be just the boost Starmer needs.
There's a perception amongst its opponents that this Government is ideological and very right-wing.
In fact, the reason it's polling so well is that it's positioned itself slap-bang in the centre of where public opinion is across the country at large.
That's not the same as the chatterati, but it doesn't make it untrue.
Well said.
The likes of TIGgers etc love to call themselves "centrists" when they're not remotely in the centre. Boris is ruthlessly centrist right now.
Compared to you perhaps. The reality is Boris Johnson will sit in the centre if it suits his ego. He will sit on the far right if that does too, and possibly even on the left. Reality is he is all over the shop because he is a man that lives in a morality vacuum.
As we have repeatedly established today already I am now very old but I do remember when we had a word for people like that. It was....pragmatist. Pre Thatcher the broad consensus was that people preferred such people to ideologues by a fairly wide margin. Ideology was regarded as slightly unBritish.
There's a perception amongst its opponents that this Government is ideological and very right-wing.
In fact, the reason it's polling so well is that it's positioned itself slap-bang in the centre of where public opinion is across the country at large.
That's not the same as the chatterati, but it doesn't make it untrue.
Well said.
The likes of TIGgers etc love to call themselves "centrists" when they're not remotely in the centre. Boris is ruthlessly centrist right now.
Centrist doesn't mean centrist. It means: internationalist, technocratic, elitist, snooty, trendy, socially "progressive", dismissive of British institutions and culture, and self-interested.
The SDP, the Wets and Edward Heath were their forebears.
There's a perception amongst its opponents that this Government is ideological and very right-wing.
In fact, the reason it's polling so well is that it's positioned itself slap-bang in the centre of where public opinion is across the country at large.
That's not the same as the chatterati, but it doesn't make it untrue.
Well said.
The likes of TIGgers etc love to call themselves "centrists" when they're not remotely in the centre. Boris is ruthlessly centrist right now.
Compared to you perhaps. The reality is Boris Johnson will sit in the centre if it suits his ego. He will sit on the far right if that does too, and possibly even on the left. Reality is he is all over the shop because he is a man that lives in a morality vacuum.
AKA a politician.
Like Blair.
I'll criticise Boris whenever I don't agree with him and have done so in this thread, but you're more bitter than Boddingtons.
Goodness me. You criticising your idol! Was that suggested by your minder from CCO, or are you hoping it might give you more credibility when you return to your usual obsequiousness? And your wit today Philip! More bitter than Boddingtons! Where do you come up with them from? Do you have a class for 24/7 keyboard warriors, which you squeeze in in short breaks when not on here: "how to do a witty repost"? Nil points.
There seems to be a few apologists here on here deliberately conflating a “broken promise” and a “lie”.
The first has sadly been endemic in politics since Aristotle.
The second is something which has undoubtedly happened, but was considered until quite recently a resigning offence if publicly caught out.
Practiced deceit seems to have been popular in New Labour and has now metastasised into Stage 3 or 4 thanks to both Boris and Cummings.
I believed most of what Cummings said yesterday but there is no point in his appealing to the truth when he has spent the last several years debasing that currency.
Breaking a promise because it becomes impossible to fulfill due to events is a broken promise. Breaking a promise because although it was entirely possible to honour, you had no intention of ever keeping it, is a lie.
Delyn would be a very tricky by-election for the Tories, because it's clear Labour are quite a bit more popular in Wales than England at present. It could be just the boost Starmer needs.
I thought you were talking about the pooch, and was thinking that even that would be a push for the Tories.
There's a perception amongst its opponents that this Government is ideological and very right-wing.
In fact, the reason it's polling so well is that it's positioned itself slap-bang in the centre of where public opinion is across the country at large.
That's not the same as the chatterati, but it doesn't make it untrue.
Well said.
The likes of TIGgers etc love to call themselves "centrists" when they're not remotely in the centre. Boris is ruthlessly centrist right now.
Compared to you perhaps. The reality is Boris Johnson will sit in the centre if it suits his ego. He will sit on the far right if that does too, and possibly even on the left. Reality is he is all over the shop because he is a man that lives in a morality vacuum.
As we have repeatedly established today already I am now very old but I do remember when we had a word for people like that. It was....pragmatist. Pre Thatcher the broad consensus was that people preferred such people to ideologues by a fairly wide margin. Ideology was regarded as slightly unBritish.
To be fair, Boris doesn’t really have an ideology. Or if he does, it’s a primitive kind of narcisstic “boosterism”.
I am not sure you have got the hang of this polling mullarkey.
If responses are taken a day or two before an event, it is unlikely that the responses will be in relation to the event...unless the respondent is psychic...or from the future.
To be fair, the headline quotes were all over the internet, and on the overnight front pages, so those who answer opinion polls would probably have been influenced to some extent.
I suspect you are clutching at straws here, unless opinion poll respondents behave like I do with my tax returns and submit them on the evening of January 31st. Most I would hazard, do not.
I thought they were asked over the period 25-26 May. ie yesterday and the day before, when the Cummings bombshells were all over the media
Most of the survey took place before Cumming's testimony and 50% before any of it had been given, wait until Saturday for Opinium which started polling today to see if there has been any impact
Con Maj has gone 2.02 that’s probably a sign
What was it before? I don't know which direction the movement is in.
There's a perception amongst its opponents that this Government is ideological and very right-wing.
In fact, the reason it's polling so well is that it's positioned itself slap-bang in the centre of where public opinion is across the country at large.
That's not the same as the chatterati, but it doesn't make it untrue.
As an opponent I would tend to agree. It is non-ideological and opportunistically right-wing on issues where it chimes with the majority view.
Oh dear.. is everything's going to be about Boris being an unashamed liar.. its getting very boring and I suspect the electorate are not interested. Boris must be the teflon dead cat that those who dislike him can thrash away at to little or no effect.
Oh dear, another obsequious post from one of the Government's apologists and predictably "liked" by the usual PB Johnsonphile automatons! Ever wondered about being independent of thought? Ever imagined that it might be possible that the government you voted for might have got things wrong? No, of course not. My party right or wrong. The Führerprinzip is a philosophy alive and well among Johnson's faithful and unthinking followers.
He is, however, right that the electorate isn’t, right now at least, remotely interested. I am just back from dog training class and all of the others spent the entire break slagging off Cummings; there wasn’t the slightest interest in whether any of the allegations had any truth in them, at all.
You speak dog? Impressive.
Only ruffly, I am sure.
That's barking mad.
Can I never learn to stay out of these punfests?
It gets us through the dogday afternoons until the lagershed.
Dog watches, to be even more precise: 4 to 6, and 6 to 8 ...
There seems to be a few apologists here on here deliberately conflating a “broken promise” and a “lie”.
The first has sadly been endemic in politics since Aristotle.
The second is something which has undoubtedly happened, but was considered until quite recently a resigning offence if publicly caught out.
Practiced deceit seems to have been popular in New Labour and has now metastasised into Stage 3 or 4 thanks to both Boris and Cummings.
I believed most of what Cummings said yesterday but there is no point in his appealing to the truth when he has spent the last several years debasing that currency.
Breaking a promise because it becomes impossible to fulfill due to events is a broken promise. Breaking a promise because although it was entirely possible to honour, you had no intention of ever keeping it, is a lie.
There's a perception amongst its opponents that this Government is ideological and very right-wing.
In fact, the reason it's polling so well is that it's positioned itself slap-bang in the centre of where public opinion is across the country at large.
That's not the same as the chatterati, but it doesn't make it untrue.
Well said.
The likes of TIGgers etc love to call themselves "centrists" when they're not remotely in the centre. Boris is ruthlessly centrist right now.
Compared to you perhaps. The reality is Boris Johnson will sit in the centre if it suits his ego. He will sit on the far right if that does too, and possibly even on the left. Reality is he is all over the shop because he is a man that lives in a morality vacuum.
As we have repeatedly established today already I am now very old but I do remember when we had a word for people like that. It was....pragmatist. Pre Thatcher the broad consensus was that people preferred such people to ideologues by a fairly wide margin. Ideology was regarded as slightly unBritish.
Pragmatism as a political philosophy is very fine when it is driven by a desire to do what is in the best interests of the country. If the primary motive is the ego of the individual, or to further their career, as is the case with Johnson, that is a bad thing.
There's a perception amongst its opponents that this Government is ideological and very right-wing.
In fact, the reason it's polling so well is that it's positioned itself slap-bang in the centre of where public opinion is across the country at large.
That's not the same as the chatterati, but it doesn't make it untrue.
Excellent post. Very true.
It’s the most leftwing Tory government since the 1970s, and possibly before.
I keep repeating this to my chattering class friends!
Tory is superfluous in that piece. The PM reminds me most of Wilson of all his predecessors. Master of public persona, political tactics and communication. Long term ideas to build a better future? Not so much.
"Microsoft president Brad Smith warns 'life will become like George Orwell's 1984' by 2024 if lawmakers don't protect the public against AI
Speaking to BBC Panorama Brad Smith said laws are needed to control AI Artificial Intelligence can take vast datasets and make predictions and calls An example given in the show was China using it for surveillance on citizens Smith says the world is catching up with science fiction and we must act now"
There's a perception amongst its opponents that this Government is ideological and very right-wing.
In fact, the reason it's polling so well is that it's positioned itself slap-bang in the centre of where public opinion is across the country at large.
That's not the same as the chatterati, but it doesn't make it untrue.
Excellent post. Very true.
It’s the most leftwing Tory government since the 1970s, and possibly before.
I keep repeating this to my chattering class friends!
Tory is superfluous in that piece. The PM reminds me most of Wilson of all his predecessors. Master of public persona, political tactics and communication. Long term ideas to build a better future? Not so much.
Wilson left almost no legacy except a few catchphrases, an iconic image (the pipe, though apparently he did not much smoke in real life), and an unreformed and latently bankrupt British state.
There's a perception amongst its opponents that this Government is ideological and very right-wing.
In fact, the reason it's polling so well is that it's positioned itself slap-bang in the centre of where public opinion is across the country at large.
That's not the same as the chatterati, but it doesn't make it untrue.
Well said.
The likes of TIGgers etc love to call themselves "centrists" when they're not remotely in the centre. Boris is ruthlessly centrist right now.
Centrist doesn't mean centrist. It means: internationalist, technocratic, elitist, snooty, trendy, socially "progressive", dismissive of British institutions and culture, and self-interested.
The SDP, the Wets and Edward Heath were their forebears.
By your definition Thatcher was a centrist.
She was an internationalist, supported the EC and NATO.
Elitist because she smashed grammar schools.
She was trendy because she believed in combating climate change.
Socially progressive because she civilised the Scots and Norn Irish by decriminalising homosexuality.
She was very dismissive of British institutions, remember all those industries she privatised and she smashed the the British trade unions.
There's a perception amongst its opponents that this Government is ideological and very right-wing.
In fact, the reason it's polling so well is that it's positioned itself slap-bang in the centre of where public opinion is across the country at large.
That's not the same as the chatterati, but it doesn't make it untrue.
Well said.
The likes of TIGgers etc love to call themselves "centrists" when they're not remotely in the centre. Boris is ruthlessly centrist right now.
Centrist doesn't mean centrist. It means: internationalist, technocratic, elitist, snooty, trendy, socially "progressive", dismissive of British institutions and culture, and self-interested.
The SDP, the Wets and Edward Heath were their forebears.
Sorry, this is tosh.
It is utter bollocks. Many of the so-called "wets" had done service in khaki in WW2. Most Brexiteers are paper tigers who would shit themselves if they heard a shot fired in anger.
Delyn would be a very tricky by-election for the Tories, because it's clear Labour are quite a bit more popular in Wales than England at present. It could be just the boost Starmer needs.
Also, Delyn is in the venn diagram where Wales meets outer Liverpool.
OTOH, it should be natural Conservative 2021 territory. The largest towns are Mold (pleasant market town), Flint (a bit depressing) and Holywell (blink and you'll miss it). Plus a lot of villages. This is not Guardian reading territory. If it were in England you feel you'd struggle to unearth any Labour voters at all.
There's a perception amongst its opponents that this Government is ideological and very right-wing.
In fact, the reason it's polling so well is that it's positioned itself slap-bang in the centre of where public opinion is across the country at large.
That's not the same as the chatterati, but it doesn't make it untrue.
Well said.
The likes of TIGgers etc love to call themselves "centrists" when they're not remotely in the centre. Boris is ruthlessly centrist right now.
Compared to you perhaps. The reality is Boris Johnson will sit in the centre if it suits his ego. He will sit on the far right if that does too, and possibly even on the left. Reality is he is all over the shop because he is a man that lives in a morality vacuum.
As we have repeatedly established today already I am now very old but I do remember when we had a word for people like that. It was....pragmatist. Pre Thatcher the broad consensus was that people preferred such people to ideologues by a fairly wide margin. Ideology was regarded as slightly unBritish.
To be fair, Boris doesn’t really have an ideology. Or if he does, it’s a primitive kind of narcisstic “boosterism”.
He likes things to go well and for people to like him as a result. How they go well or what direction they go in are really secondary concerns. This doesn't necessarily make him a bad PM but it does make him more than usually dependent on the quality of those doing the steering. And the team is not really optimal in that regard.
Hancock trying to blame the lack of testing capacity in March for the fact that he didnt put a protective ring round care homes as he had previously falsely claimed (lied)
I am not sure you have got the hang of this polling mullarkey.
If responses are taken a day or two before an event, it is unlikely that the responses will be in relation to the event...unless the respondent is psychic...or from the future.
To be fair, the headline quotes were all over the internet, and on the overnight front pages, so those who answer opinion polls would probably have been influenced to some extent.
I suspect you are clutching at straws here, unless opinion poll respondents behave like I do with my tax returns and submit them on the evening of January 31st. Most I would hazard, do not.
I thought they were asked over the period 25-26 May. ie yesterday and the day before, when the Cummings bombshells were all over the media
Most of the survey took place before Cumming's testimony and 50% before any of it had been given, wait until Saturday for Opinium which started polling today to see if there has been any impact
Con Maj has gone 2.02 that’s probably a sign
What was it before? I don't know which direction the movement is in.
There's a perception amongst its opponents that this Government is ideological and very right-wing.
In fact, the reason it's polling so well is that it's positioned itself slap-bang in the centre of where public opinion is across the country at large.
That's not the same as the chatterati, but it doesn't make it untrue.
This was an interesting tweet by a Tory MP recently:
Many would say that the present Government is left of centre on social reform and economic policy while taking full advantage of the freedoms that #Brexit has afforded us. That is why #Boris and the Party is so popular. Except with those who still hanker after the #EU.
"Rob Roberts: Commons leader calls on MP to stand down
Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg has increased the pressure on Conservative MP Rob Roberts to resign. He said it would be "honourable" for the Delyn MP to stand down after an investigation found he sexually harassed an employee."
There's a perception amongst its opponents that this Government is ideological and very right-wing.
In fact, the reason it's polling so well is that it's positioned itself slap-bang in the centre of where public opinion is across the country at large.
That's not the same as the chatterati, but it doesn't make it untrue.
Well said.
The likes of TIGgers etc love to call themselves "centrists" when they're not remotely in the centre. Boris is ruthlessly centrist right now.
Centrist doesn't mean centrist. It means: internationalist, technocratic, elitist, snooty, trendy, socially "progressive", dismissive of British institutions and culture, and self-interested.
The SDP, the Wets and Edward Heath were their forebears.
By your definition Thatcher was a centrist.
She was an internationalist, supported the EC and NATO.
Elitist because she smashed grammar schools.
She was trendy because she believed in combating climate change.
Socially progressive because she civilised the Scots and Norn Irish by decriminalising homosexuality.
She was very dismissive of British institutions, remember all those industries she privatised and she smashed the the British trade unions.
Thatcher would have been very comfortable with today's Conservative Party.
I am not sure you have got the hang of this polling mullarkey.
If responses are taken a day or two before an event, it is unlikely that the responses will be in relation to the event...unless the respondent is psychic...or from the future.
That reminds me of a classic speech from a Conservative councillor the year they had taken control of the council, who rose to her feet after that year’s exam results came out to laud the educational achievements of the new administration, only to have her contribution punctured by the observation that the children had actually sat their exams only days after the election.
Oh dear.. is everything's going to be about Boris being an unashamed liar.. its getting very boring and I suspect the electorate are not interested. Boris must be the teflon dead cat that those who dislike him can thrash away at to little or no effect.
Oh dear, another obsequious post from one of the Government's apologists and predictably "liked" by the usual PB Johnsonphile automatons! Ever wondered about being independent of thought? Ever imagined that it might be possible that the government you voted for might have got things wrong? No, of course not. My party right or wrong. The Führerprinzip is a philosophy alive and well among Johnson's faithful and unthinking followers.
He is, however, right that the electorate isn’t, right now at least, remotely interested. I am just back from dog training class and all of the others spent the entire break slagging off Cummings; there wasn’t the slightest interest in whether any of the allegations had any truth in them, at all.
You speak dog? Impressive.
Only ruffly, I am sure.
That's barking mad.
Can I never learn to stay out of these punfests?
K, 9 minutes in the doghouse for you for that one ...
There's a perception amongst its opponents that this Government is ideological and very right-wing.
In fact, the reason it's polling so well is that it's positioned itself slap-bang in the centre of where public opinion is across the country at large.
That's not the same as the chatterati, but it doesn't make it untrue.
Well said.
The likes of TIGgers etc love to call themselves "centrists" when they're not remotely in the centre. Boris is ruthlessly centrist right now.
Centrist doesn't mean centrist. It means: internationalist, technocratic, elitist, snooty, trendy, socially "progressive", dismissive of British institutions and culture, and self-interested.
The SDP, the Wets and Edward Heath were their forebears.
By your definition Thatcher was a centrist.
She was an internationalist, supported the EC and NATO.
Elitist because she smashed grammar schools.
She was trendy because she believed in combating climate change.
Socially progressive because she civilised the Scots and Norn Irish by decriminalising homosexuality.
She was very dismissive of British institutions, remember all those industries she privatised and she smashed the the British trade unions.
She was a centrist compared to the many swivel eyed nutters and UKIP entryists who have taken over the Tory Party.
There's a perception amongst its opponents that this Government is ideological and very right-wing.
In fact, the reason it's polling so well is that it's positioned itself slap-bang in the centre of where public opinion is across the country at large.
That's not the same as the chatterati, but it doesn't make it untrue.
Excellent post. Very true.
It’s the most leftwing Tory government since the 1970s, and possibly be
There's a perception amongst its opponents that this Government is ideological and very right-wing.
In fact, the reason it's polling so well is that it's positioned itself slap-bang in the centre of where public opinion is across the country at large.
That's not the same as the chatterati, but it doesn't make it untrue.
Well said.
The likes of TIGgers etc love to call themselves "centrists" when they're not remotely in the centre. Boris is ruthlessly centrist right now.
Centrist doesn't mean centrist. It means: internationalist, technocratic, elitist, snooty, trendy, socially "progressive", dismissive of British institutions and culture, and self-interested.
The SDP, the Wets and Edward Heath were their forebears.
Sorry, this is tosh.
That's how I'd define the TIGers and current Lib Dems.
"Microsoft president Brad Smith warns 'life will become like George Orwell's 1984' by 2024 if lawmakers don't protect the public against AI
Speaking to BBC Panorama Brad Smith said laws are needed to control AI Artificial Intelligence can take vast datasets and make predictions and calls An example given in the show was China using it for surveillance on citizens Smith says the world is catching up with science fiction and we must act now"
The NHS plans to 'scrape' the medical histories of patients, including sensitive stuff on mental and sexual health, criminal records and abuse, into a database to be shared with third parties. You have less than a month to opt out, if you want to .https://ft.com/content/9fee81"
I couldn't care less what the NHS does with my anonymised data - use it for research, sell it to raise money for patient care, whatever. That's why it's anonymised, duh.
This assumes it can't be de-anonymised by hackers.
Even in anonymised form, surely by selling NHS patient data we advantage foreign pharmaceutical and AI computing companies, not to mention KGB spies?
Delyn would be a very tricky by-election for the Tories, because it's clear Labour are quite a bit more popular in Wales than England at present. It could be just the boost Starmer needs.
I think that the electors of Amersham & Chesham will give Boris a bloody nose first. Let's see how the Tories will do when they can't threaten the middle classes with Corbyn. Let's also not forget that Boris's seat is just down the road and people opposed to rural house building and HS2 will remember that his anti Heathrow expansion constituents found that when the chips were down, Boris could be found in Afghanistan.
There's a perception amongst its opponents that this Government is ideological and very right-wing.
In fact, the reason it's polling so well is that it's positioned itself slap-bang in the centre of where public opinion is across the country at large.
That's not the same as the chatterati, but it doesn't make it untrue.
Well said.
The likes of TIGgers etc love to call themselves "centrists" when they're not remotely in the centre. Boris is ruthlessly centrist right now.
Centrist doesn't mean centrist. It means: internationalist, technocratic, elitist, snooty, trendy, socially "progressive", dismissive of British institutions and culture, and self-interested.
The SDP, the Wets and Edward Heath were their forebears.
By your definition Thatcher was a centrist.
She was an internationalist, supported the EC and NATO.
Elitist because she smashed grammar schools.
She was trendy because she believed in combating climate change.
Socially progressive because she civilised the Scots and Norn Irish by decriminalising homosexuality.
She was very dismissive of British institutions, remember all those industries she privatised and she smashed the the British trade unions.
Thatcher would have been very comfortable with today's Conservative Party.
You clearly know very little about Margaret Thatcher. She would have despised Johnson. He is everything she hated
There's a perception amongst its opponents that this Government is ideological and very right-wing.
In fact, the reason it's polling so well is that it's positioned itself slap-bang in the centre of where public opinion is across the country at large.
That's not the same as the chatterati, but it doesn't make it untrue.
Well said.
The likes of TIGgers etc love to call themselves "centrists" when they're not remotely in the centre. Boris is ruthlessly centrist right now.
Centrist doesn't mean centrist. It means: internationalist, technocratic, elitist, snooty, trendy, socially "progressive", dismissive of British institutions and culture, and self-interested.
The SDP, the Wets and Edward Heath were their forebears.
Sorry, this is tosh.
That's how I'd define the TIGers and current Lib Dems.
Remind me how well they're polling?
Badly.
But what’s that got to do with your nonsensical premise?
The NHS plans to 'scrape' the medical histories of patients, including sensitive stuff on mental and sexual health, criminal records and abuse, into a database to be shared with third parties. You have less than a month to opt out, if you want to .https://ft.com/content/9fee81"
I couldn't care less what the NHS does with my anonymised data - use it for research, sell it to raise money for patient care, whatever. That's why it's anonymised, duh.
This assumes it can't be de-anonymised by hackers.
Even in anonymised form, surely by selling NHS patient data we advantage foreign pharmaceutical and AI computing companies, not to mention KGB spies?
That's the whole point (apart from bona fide UK researchers).
Left vs right, and thus centre, already only works in very broad terms at best, and is bollocks at worst. Trying to figure out if someone is broadly centrist because they are electorally successful and so in the centre of public opinion, or if there is some objective left or right definition that overrides that, strikes me as a lot of wasted effort.
There's a perception amongst its opponents that this Government is ideological and very right-wing.
In fact, the reason it's polling so well is that it's positioned itself slap-bang in the centre of where public opinion is across the country at large.
That's not the same as the chatterati, but it doesn't make it untrue.
Well said.
The likes of TIGgers etc love to call themselves "centrists" when they're not remotely in the centre. Boris is ruthlessly centrist right now.
Centrist doesn't mean centrist. It means: internationalist, technocratic, elitist, snooty, trendy, socially "progressive", dismissive of British institutions and culture, and self-interested.
The SDP, the Wets and Edward Heath were their forebears.
Good to see nothing in your post that could be viewed as snooty or dismissive.....
There's a perception amongst its opponents that this Government is ideological and very right-wing.
In fact, the reason it's polling so well is that it's positioned itself slap-bang in the centre of where public opinion is across the country at large.
That's not the same as the chatterati, but it doesn't make it untrue.
Well said.
The likes of TIGgers etc love to call themselves "centrists" when they're not remotely in the centre. Boris is ruthlessly centrist right now.
Centrist doesn't mean centrist. It means: internationalist, technocratic, elitist, snooty, trendy, socially "progressive", dismissive of British institutions and culture, and self-interested.
The SDP, the Wets and Edward Heath were their forebears.
By your definition Thatcher was a centrist.
She was an internationalist, supported the EC and NATO.
Elitist because she smashed grammar schools.
She was trendy because she believed in combating climate change.
Socially progressive because she civilised the Scots and Norn Irish by decriminalising homosexuality.
She was very dismissive of British institutions, remember all those industries she privatised and she smashed the the British trade unions.
Thatcher would have been very comfortable with today's Conservative Party.
I highly doubt this.
Well, maybe the senile version, but not the young, intellectually vigorous, patriotic version.
Delyn would be a very tricky by-election for the Tories, because it's clear Labour are quite a bit more popular in Wales than England at present. It could be just the boost Starmer needs.
I think that the electors of Amersham & Chesham will give Boris a bloody nose first. Let's see how the Tories will do when they can't threaten the middle classes with Corbyn. Let's also not forget that Boris's seat is just down the road and people opposed to rural house building and HS2 will remember that his anti Heathrow expansion constituents found that when the chips were down, Boris could be found in Afghanistan.
Yep, he's definitely doomed this time. Wylie Coyote was just telling me so. He's going to catch that roadrunner and then finish off Boris. Its a sure thing.
There's a perception amongst its opponents that this Government is ideological and very right-wing.
In fact, the reason it's polling so well is that it's positioned itself slap-bang in the centre of where public opinion is across the country at large.
That's not the same as the chatterati, but it doesn't make it untrue.
Well said.
The likes of TIGgers etc love to call themselves "centrists" when they're not remotely in the centre. Boris is ruthlessly centrist right now.
Centrist doesn't mean centrist. It means: internationalist, technocratic, elitist, snooty, trendy, socially "progressive", dismissive of British institutions and culture, and self-interested.
The SDP, the Wets and Edward Heath were their forebears.
By your definition Thatcher was a centrist.
She was an internationalist, supported the EC and NATO.
Elitist because she smashed grammar schools.
She was trendy because she believed in combating climate change.
Socially progressive because she civilised the Scots and Norn Irish by decriminalising homosexuality.
She was very dismissive of British institutions, remember all those industries she privatised and she smashed the the British trade unions.
Thatcher would have been very comfortable with today's Conservative Party.
I think she'd have been very comfortable with its policy platform, but unimpressed by Boris (or Hancock, for that matter).
(Come to mention it, I'm not sure she'd have been happy by the deficit spending, but that's another story.)
There's a perception amongst its opponents that this Government is ideological and very right-wing.
In fact, the reason it's polling so well is that it's positioned itself slap-bang in the centre of where public opinion is across the country at large.
That's not the same as the chatterati, but it doesn't make it untrue.
Excellent post. Very true.
It’s the most leftwing Tory government since the 1970s, and possibly before.
I keep repeating this to my chattering class friends!
Tory is superfluous in that piece. The PM reminds me most of Wilson of all his predecessors. Master of public persona, political tactics and communication. Long term ideas to build a better future? Not so much.
Wilson left almost no legacy except a few catchphrases, an iconic image (the pipe, though apparently he did not much smoke in real life), and an unreformed and latently bankrupt British state.
There's a perception amongst its opponents that this Government is ideological and very right-wing.
In fact, the reason it's polling so well is that it's positioned itself slap-bang in the centre of where public opinion is across the country at large.
That's not the same as the chatterati, but it doesn't make it untrue.
Excellent post. Very true.
It’s the most leftwing Tory government since the 1970s, and possibly before.
I keep repeating this to my chattering class friends!
Tory is superfluous in that piece. The PM reminds me most of Wilson of all his predecessors. Master of public persona, political tactics and communication. Long term ideas to build a better future? Not so much.
Wilson left almost no legacy except a few catchphrases, an iconic image (the pipe, though apparently he did not much smoke in real life), and an unreformed and latently bankrupt British state.
What's Harold Wilson ever done for us? Open University, legalised abortions, decriminalised homosexuality, abolished hanging.
There's a perception amongst its opponents that this Government is ideological and very right-wing.
In fact, the reason it's polling so well is that it's positioned itself slap-bang in the centre of where public opinion is across the country at large.
That's not the same as the chatterati, but it doesn't make it untrue.
Well said.
The likes of TIGgers etc love to call themselves "centrists" when they're not remotely in the centre. Boris is ruthlessly centrist right now.
Centrist doesn't mean centrist. It means: internationalist, technocratic, elitist, snooty, trendy, socially "progressive", dismissive of British institutions and culture, and self-interested.
The SDP, the Wets and Edward Heath were their forebears.
By your definition Thatcher was a centrist.
She was an internationalist, supported the EC and NATO.
Elitist because she smashed grammar schools.
She was trendy because she believed in combating climate change.
Socially progressive because she civilised the Scots and Norn Irish by decriminalising homosexuality.
She was very dismissive of British institutions, remember all those industries she privatised and she smashed the the British trade unions.
Thatcher would have been very comfortable with today's Conservative Party.
I highly doubt this.
Well, maybe the senile version, but not the young, intellectually vigorous, patriotic version.
She would have seen Johnson for what he is: an opportunistic fool with a sense of entitlement and no eye for detail. He is the sort of Tory that she would have ensured never made it above PPS.
Hancock trying to blame the lack of testing capacity in March for the fact that he didnt put a protective ring round care homes as he had previously falsely claimed (lied)
Let's see the Cabinet minutes.
Seems to me that Cummings claims he came away from Cabinet in March sure that Hancock had said that care home incoming residents would be tested on their way in from hospital.
And not what Hancock claims, that he said all incoming residents would be tested when the tests become available
Oh dear.. is everything's going to be about Boris being an unashamed liar.. its getting very boring and I suspect the electorate are not interested. Boris must be the teflon dead cat that those who dislike him can thrash away at to little or no effect.
Oh dear, another obsequious post from one of the Government's apologists and predictably "liked" by the usual PB Johnsonphile automatons! Ever wondered about being independent of thought? Ever imagined that it might be possible that the government you voted for might have got things wrong? No, of course not. My party right or wrong. The Führerprinzip is a philosophy alive and well among Johnson's faithful and unthinking followers.
He is, however, right that the electorate isn’t, right now at least, remotely interested. I am just back from dog training class and all of the others spent the entire break slagging off Cummings; there wasn’t the slightest interest in whether any of the allegations had any truth in them, at all.
It's weird - you and the entire liberal commentariat trashed Cummings week in week out over the Covid breach and you're now puzzled that the public don't believe him when he trashes the government. If I was clever I'd probably say you've been hoisted by your own petard but I'm just a dumbass BFb! Oh well. Never mind.
So long as Cummings himself isn’t sitting at home surprised that what people choose to believe in politics has very little to do with what might actually be true.
There's a perception amongst its opponents that this Government is ideological and very right-wing.
In fact, the reason it's polling so well is that it's positioned itself slap-bang in the centre of where public opinion is across the country at large.
That's not the same as the chatterati, but it doesn't make it untrue.
Well said.
The likes of TIGgers etc love to call themselves "centrists" when they're not remotely in the centre. Boris is ruthlessly centrist right now.
Centrist doesn't mean centrist. It means: internationalist, technocratic, elitist, snooty, trendy, socially "progressive", dismissive of British institutions and culture, and self-interested.
The SDP, the Wets and Edward Heath were their forebears.
Sorry, this is tosh.
That's how I'd define the TIGers and current Lib Dems.
Remind me how well they're polling?
Badly.
But what’s that got to do with your nonsensical premise?
I've described the policy positions and attitudes of those who most frequently describe themselves as centrists; my point being the centre isn't where they think it is.
If you think I've got that wrong then I'd be interested in hearing your take.
There's a perception amongst its opponents that this Government is ideological and very right-wing.
In fact, the reason it's polling so well is that it's positioned itself slap-bang in the centre of where public opinion is across the country at large.
That's not the same as the chatterati, but it doesn't make it untrue.
Well said.
The likes of TIGgers etc love to call themselves "centrists" when they're not remotely in the centre. Boris is ruthlessly centrist right now.
Centrist doesn't mean centrist. It means: internationalist, technocratic, elitist, snooty, trendy, socially "progressive", dismissive of British institutions and culture, and self-interested.
The SDP, the Wets and Edward Heath were their forebears.
By your definition Thatcher was a centrist.
She was an internationalist, supported the EC and NATO.
Elitist because she smashed grammar schools.
She was trendy because she believed in combating climate change.
Socially progressive because she civilised the Scots and Norn Irish by decriminalising homosexuality.
She was very dismissive of British institutions, remember all those industries she privatised and she smashed the the British trade unions.
Thatcher would have been very comfortable with today's Conservative Party.
No she wouldn't, she'd have been very uncomfortable with
1) The threat of violating international agreements with things like the internal market bill
2) She would have been disgusted with the fuck business agenda
3) The government's plan for increasing state aid has her spinning in her grave
4) The attacks of the judiciary and legal profession would not only offend her personally but as a democrat
5) The weakening of the Union thanks to various policies
There's many many other reasons but that's just the start.
It wasn't possible at the start to test everyone going from hospitals to care homes as there wasn't the testing capacity.
Plus subsidiary point: most of increase in virus in care homes came from workers going in and out; not people coming from hospitals.
Indeed that is clear by Hancock’s statement just now
If there wasn't the testing capacity, the discharge plan should have been amended to "anywhere but a care home"
Jenny Harries has just affirmed there was a small number of hospital transfers and the main reason for the deaths in homes was due to carers and others coming into the buildings
There's a perception amongst its opponents that this Government is ideological and very right-wing.
In fact, the reason it's polling so well is that it's positioned itself slap-bang in the centre of where public opinion is across the country at large.
That's not the same as the chatterati, but it doesn't make it untrue.
Well said.
The likes of TIGgers etc love to call themselves "centrists" when they're not remotely in the centre. Boris is ruthlessly centrist right now.
Compared to you perhaps. The reality is Boris Johnson will sit in the centre if it suits his ego. He will sit on the far right if that does too, and possibly even on the left. Reality is he is all over the shop because he is a man that lives in a morality vacuum.
As we have repeatedly established today already I am now very old but I do remember when we had a word for people like that. It was....pragmatist. Pre Thatcher the broad consensus was that people preferred such people to ideologues by a fairly wide margin. Ideology was regarded as slightly unBritish.
To be fair, Boris doesn’t really have an ideology. Or if he does, it’s a primitive kind of narcisstic “boosterism”.
Is boosterism the portmanteau for Wooster and Boris?
Hancock trying to blame the lack of testing capacity in March for the fact that he didnt put a protective ring round care homes as he had previously falsely claimed (lied)
Let's see the Cabinet minutes.
Seems to me that Cummings claims he came away from Cabinet in March sure that Hancock had said that care home incoming residents would be tested on their way in from hospital.
And not what Hancock claims, that he said all incoming residents would be tested when the tests become available
There's a perception amongst its opponents that this Government is ideological and very right-wing.
In fact, the reason it's polling so well is that it's positioned itself slap-bang in the centre of where public opinion is across the country at large.
That's not the same as the chatterati, but it doesn't make it untrue.
Excellent post. Very true.
It’s the most leftwing Tory government since the 1970s, and possibly before.
I keep repeating this to my chattering class friends!
Tory is superfluous in that piece. The PM reminds me most of Wilson of all his predecessors. Master of public persona, political tactics and communication. Long term ideas to build a better future? Not so much.
Wilson left almost no legacy except a few catchphrases, an iconic image (the pipe, though apparently he did not much smoke in real life), and an unreformed and latently bankrupt British state.
What's Harold Wilson ever done for us? Open University, legalised abortions, decriminalised homosexuality, abolished hanging.
There's a perception amongst its opponents that this Government is ideological and very right-wing.
In fact, the reason it's polling so well is that it's positioned itself slap-bang in the centre of where public opinion is across the country at large.
That's not the same as the chatterati, but it doesn't make it untrue.
Well said.
The likes of TIGgers etc love to call themselves "centrists" when they're not remotely in the centre. Boris is ruthlessly centrist right now.
Compared to you perhaps. The reality is Boris Johnson will sit in the centre if it suits his ego. He will sit on the far right if that does too, and possibly even on the left. Reality is he is all over the shop because he is a man that lives in a morality vacuum.
As we have repeatedly established today already I am now very old but I do remember when we had a word for people like that. It was....pragmatist. Pre Thatcher the broad consensus was that people preferred such people to ideologues by a fairly wide margin. Ideology was regarded as slightly unBritish.
To be fair, Boris doesn’t really have an ideology. Or if he does, it’s a primitive kind of narcisstic “boosterism”.
Is boosterism the portmanteau for Wooster and Boris?
An interesting fact is that Batley and Spen has never been won by the Conservatives by more than 2.3%, because they won it 3 times in 1983, 1987 and 1992 by 1.6%, 2.3% and 2.3% again with Elizabeth Peacock as candidate/MP.
There's a perception amongst its opponents that this Government is ideological and very right-wing.
In fact, the reason it's polling so well is that it's positioned itself slap-bang in the centre of where public opinion is across the country at large.
That's not the same as the chatterati, but it doesn't make it untrue.
Well said.
The likes of TIGgers etc love to call themselves "centrists" when they're not remotely in the centre. Boris is ruthlessly centrist right now.
Centrist doesn't mean centrist. It means: internationalist, technocratic, elitist, snooty, trendy, socially "progressive", dismissive of British institutions and culture, and self-interested.
The SDP, the Wets and Edward Heath were their forebears.
By your definition Thatcher was a centrist.
She was an internationalist, supported the EC and NATO.
Elitist because she smashed grammar schools.
She was trendy because she believed in combating climate change.
Socially progressive because she civilised the Scots and Norn Irish by decriminalising homosexuality.
She was very dismissive of British institutions, remember all those industries she privatised and she smashed the the British trade unions.
Thatcher would have been very comfortable with today's Conservative Party.
You clearly know very little about Margaret Thatcher. She would have despised Johnson. He is everything she hated
She hated crushing the left in epic landslides? A novel take on the Iron lady.
Classic case of language ambiguity - saying something will be done (and ending sentence there) is not the same as saying something will be done effective from this minute.
If timescale is not stated then you are left with ambiguity and impossible to say Hancock was lying.
Delyn would be a very tricky by-election for the Tories, because it's clear Labour are quite a bit more popular in Wales than England at present. It could be just the boost Starmer needs.
I think that the electors of Amersham & Chesham will give Boris a bloody nose first. Let's see how the Tories will do when they can't threaten the middle classes with Corbyn. Let's also not forget that Boris's seat is just down the road and people opposed to rural house building and HS2 will remember that his anti Heathrow expansion constituents found that when the chips were down, Boris could be found in Afghanistan.
Yep, he's definitely doomed this time. Wylie Coyote was just telling me so. He's going to catch that roadrunner and then finish off Boris. Its a sure thing.
Nothing is certain in Politics. But the straw that breaks the camel's back is coming soon to a by election near you... Time Boris got a bloody nose. The interesting point will be how he reacts to it.
There's a perception amongst its opponents that this Government is ideological and very right-wing.
In fact, the reason it's polling so well is that it's positioned itself slap-bang in the centre of where public opinion is across the country at large.
That's not the same as the chatterati, but it doesn't make it untrue.
Excellent post. Very true.
It’s the most leftwing Tory government since the 1970s, and possibly before.
I keep repeating this to my chattering class friends!
Tory is superfluous in that piece. The PM reminds me most of Wilson of all his predecessors. Master of public persona, political tactics and communication. Long term ideas to build a better future? Not so much.
Wilson left almost no legacy except a few catchphrases, an iconic image (the pipe, though apparently he did not much smoke in real life), and an unreformed and latently bankrupt British state.
What's Harold Wilson ever done for us? Open University, legalised abortions, decriminalised homosexuality, abolished hanging.
I think that you can make a case for Roy Jenkins being our finest Home Secretary since the war. I really wouldn't want to choose between Mrs May and Priti Patel but they are both seriously near the worst.
There's a perception amongst its opponents that this Government is ideological and very right-wing.
In fact, the reason it's polling so well is that it's positioned itself slap-bang in the centre of where public opinion is across the country at large.
That's not the same as the chatterati, but it doesn't make it untrue.
Well said.
The likes of TIGgers etc love to call themselves "centrists" when they're not remotely in the centre. Boris is ruthlessly centrist right now.
Centrist doesn't mean centrist. It means: internationalist, technocratic, elitist, snooty, trendy, socially "progressive", dismissive of British institutions and culture, and self-interested.
The SDP, the Wets and Edward Heath were their forebears.
Sorry, this is tosh.
That's how I'd define the TIGers and current Lib Dems.
Remind me how well they're polling?
Badly.
But what’s that got to do with your nonsensical premise?
I've described the policy positions and attitudes of those who most frequently describe themselves as centrists; my point being the centre isn't where they think it is.
If you think I've got that wrong then I'd be interested in hearing your take.
Yes, yes, we know you view Nigel Farage as a centrist. Or perhaps you see him as a bit of a lefty?
Comments
On cultural issues I think it's slightly right but far closer to the centre than the Left are - who are way off.
"I am left wing"
"I don't like this government"
"Therefore this government is right wing"
"Actually, I really, really don't like this government"
"Therefore this government is really, really right wing"
I remember back in 2007 the similarly hard of thinking decrying any policy they disagreed with as 'neoliberal'.
Like Blair.
I'll criticise Boris whenever I don't agree with him and have done so in this thread, but you're more bitter than Boddingtons.
It was a three hour exam, question 1 worth 50 marks, and question 2 and 3 worth 25 marks each.
So 90 minutes on Q1 and 45 minutes each on Qs 2 and 3.
About 75 minutes in I thought yes I'm on schedule, then a few moments later I finished Q1 and I looked at the clock and there was about 35 minutes left in the exam.
I have never written so fast in my life for qs 2 & 3 and I spent the next two months worrying if I had screwed up my life.
The first has sadly been endemic in politics since Aristotle.
The second is something which has undoubtedly happened, but was considered until quite recently a resigning offence if publicly caught out.
Practiced deceit seems to have become popular in New Labour and has now metastasised into Stage 3 or 4 thanks to both Boris and Cummings.
It’s not completely the politician’s fault, there is undoubtedly a correlation with 24 hours news media and latterly social media.
I believed most of what Cummings said yesterday but there is no point in his appealing to the truth when he has spent the last several years debasing that currency.
Another lie to add to his very long list of lies.
The SDP, the Wets and Edward Heath were their forebears.
The table could be clearer, tbh.
Breaking a promise because although it was entirely possible to honour, you had no intention of ever keeping it, is a lie.
Or if he does, it’s a primitive kind of narcisstic “boosterism”.
It is non-ideological and opportunistically right-wing on issues where it chimes with the majority view.
The PM reminds me most of Wilson of all his predecessors.
Master of public persona, political tactics and communication.
Long term ideas to build a better future?
Not so much.
"Microsoft president Brad Smith warns 'life will become like George Orwell's 1984' by 2024 if lawmakers don't protect the public against AI
Speaking to BBC Panorama Brad Smith said laws are needed to control AI
Artificial Intelligence can take vast datasets and make predictions and calls
An example given in the show was China using it for surveillance on citizens
Smith says the world is catching up with science fiction and we must act now"
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-9625719/Microsoft-president-Brad-Smith-warns-life-like-Orwells-1984-2024.html
She was an internationalist, supported the EC and NATO.
Elitist because she smashed grammar schools.
She was trendy because she believed in combating climate change.
Socially progressive because she civilised the Scots and Norn Irish by decriminalising homosexuality.
She was very dismissive of British institutions, remember all those industries she privatised and she smashed the the British trade unions.
It wasn't possible at the start to test everyone going from hospitals to care homes as there wasn't the testing capacity.
Plus subsidiary point: most of increase in virus in care homes came from workers going in and out; not people coming from hospitals.
OTOH, it should be natural Conservative 2021 territory. The largest towns are Mold (pleasant market town), Flint (a bit depressing) and Holywell (blink and you'll miss it). Plus a lot of villages. This is not Guardian reading territory. If it were in England you feel you'd struggle to unearth any Labour voters at all.
"@Mike_Fabricant
Many would say that the present Government is left of centre on social reform and economic policy while taking full advantage of the freedoms that #Brexit has afforded us.
That is why #Boris and the Party is so popular. Except with those who still hanker after the #EU.
9:14 AM · May 25, 2021"
https://twitter.com/Mike_Fabricant/status/1397103664586792962
It’s the most leftwing Tory government since the 1970s, and possibly be Peak definitely over in Bolton now.
Blackburn is where all the action is.
Remind me how well they're polling?
We have both the early-adopter thing, but also a state apparatus able, on a good day, to make sensible policy.
But I think it also requires an inspired minister to drive it and they are in short supply.
Straight answer too on the going into care homes: the testing capacity wasn't there, he pledge to get it, got it and put the policy into place.
But what’s that got to do with your nonsensical premise?
Cases and hospital admissions continue to rise. Both are in the non-vaccinated groups, it seems
Well, maybe the senile version, but not the young, intellectually vigorous, patriotic version.
Could they have delayed hospital discharges until testing capacity was in place?
ie Would there have been the capacity in hospitals to do that?
If Answer to above is "No" then debate ends and Govt are 100% in the clear.
(Guess what - no journalist asked the above - they just repeated original question and then moved to human interest examples).
If there wasn't the testing capacity, the discharge plan should have been amended to "anywhere but a care home"
(Come to mention it, I'm not sure she'd have been happy by the deficit spending, but that's another story.)
Seems to me that Cummings claims he came away from Cabinet in March sure that Hancock had said that care home incoming residents would be tested on their way in from hospital.
And not what Hancock claims, that he said all incoming residents would be tested when the tests become available
Now that would be worrying.
If you think I've got that wrong then I'd be interested in hearing your take.
1) The threat of violating international agreements with things like the internal market bill
2) She would have been disgusted with the fuck business agenda
3) The government's plan for increasing state aid has her spinning in her grave
4) The attacks of the judiciary and legal profession would not only offend her personally but as a democrat
5) The weakening of the Union thanks to various policies
There's many many other reasons but that's just the start.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boosterism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batley_and_Spen_(UK_Parliament_constituency)
If timescale is not stated then you are left with ambiguity and impossible to say Hancock was lying.