I wish people would stop calling a holiday in the U.K. a “staycation”. A staycation is when you stay at home on your time off but take day trips in your local area but a leisure trip to the Lake District for a week is a holiday in the Lake District for a week. I didn’t leave the shores of Great Britain until I was 10 (something true of many pre-Millenials) but did have holidays before that, largely in Cornwall and the Isle of Wight. They weren’t staycations.
Anyway, weather’s looking a bit better next week according to the Met Office app.
Outstanding post.
It is a mark of how ridiculous the level of "must have two foreign holidays a year and a ski trip" has become.
Her indoors is not happy if she gets fewer than five. One year we managed nine! She swears I miscounted, but I’m damn sure of my facts. She’s a child of her generation. The youngsters are much more sensible, and infinitely more boring.
Mr. 86, aye, I was just referring to the general reverence when he did exactly the same thing as Schumacher did but Senna was almost always portrayed in a good light/as a true racer, and Schumacher, to an extent, vilified.
Ironically, Hamilton, who does exalt Senna, appears to be a better character (Verstappen crash was not deliberate, I think, unlike when Senna struck Prost).
The very worst of the worst was that arrogant cheating bastard Schumacher. You name it, he did it and usually got banned for it. Yet people think he was somehow a role model driver.
Members of the government’s expert committee on vaccination remain largely opposed to extending Covid jabs to younger teenagers, despite politicians having signalled they would like to see a shift in the guidance, the Guardian has been told.
Several members of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) said the mainstream sentiment on the body is still extremely cautious about expanding the programme to 12- to 15-year-olds, even though a deputy chief medical officer has suggested that outcome is high probable and politicians have said they would like the issue to remain under review.
What are we putting the Clown "I'm not self-isolating" decision down to? Its only a few weeks since his last attempt to dodge his own rules was rapidly reversed, and yet this time he appears to be sticking to the dodge.
Is it "we're about to drop this requirement so what does it matter" Or "I've just had to self isolate and I'm not doing it again" Or even "I'm the bloody Prime Minister, I'm not doing that"
The 'rules don't apply to me' is not a good look. I know that Clown apologists like @squareroot2 think leadership is not leading, responsibility is not taking responsibility, but its a pretty sad lookout for a party that used to think rules and duty were virtues.
I’m going to go with ‘because he’s a bloody fool.’
TBF, he shouldn’t have to self isolate, there isn’t a good reason now to keep that rule. But since he made the decision to go with dates not data, that’s his own fault.
The one bonus is I imagine 95% of the remaining track and trace apps were suddenly deleted yesterday.
imho he's refusing to isolate because he's clearly not at Chequers and to get there now would look a bit obvious.
It would look like “running away” from Jockland after his Margaret Thunberg gaffe. Bad optics.
But as ydoethur says, he did make the rules! (Except he didn’t, cos he was under Scottish jurisdiction, but our rules are similar.)
Mr. 86, aye, I was just referring to the general reverence when he did exactly the same thing as Schumacher did but Senna was almost always portrayed in a good light/as a true racer, and Schumacher, to an extent, vilified.
Ironically, Hamilton, who does exalt Senna, appears to be a better character (Verstappen crash was not deliberate, I think, unlike when Senna struck Prost).
As bad as what Senna did in 1990 was, what went on the night before was utterly shameful. Jean Marie Balestre was an utter ****.
Biden will certainly run for re election health permitting.
Not least because his approval ratings are significantly higher than Harris' are and he is the best shot the Democrats have of keeping Trump out of the Oval office again in 2024
The vote swing in the Scottish byelection in Livingston was interesting.
Not the vote swing from 2017 but from 2012:
SCON +18.2% SLAB -21.8%
That's not tactical voting as its a traditional SLAB area and even in 2017 SLAB were ahead of SCON.
Now we know that SLAB have problems but I'll suggest that Scots found the Cameron-Osborne gang detestable in a way they no longer do.
I tend to agree.
I am very aware of the pitfalls of complacency, but I am starting to think that Scottish Labour really have passed the point of no return. The Richard Leonard error was probably the coup de grâce.
The age profile of their remaining voters is worrying.
About 40% of their voters are pro-independence, which is astonishing as nearly everybody had assumed that they’d lost all their independence supporters back in 2015.
They have zero talent. Murray and Sarwar are a weak pass, but behind them it is a desert.
They are lazy. They never were very good at canvassing, streetwork etc, even when they had hegemony. Now they are totally invisible.
Folk are now ashamed to admit that they vote Labour to their workmates and pals.
They have no policies, or at least not a single one the general population have heard of. Apart of course from British Unionism, but you can’t out-Tory the Tories.
On the constitution, they keep trying to fire up the ignition on federalism, about every three months. They’ve been doing that for half a century now. That motor ain’t never going to start; the technology is obsolete.
Maybe all this SLab to SCon and SLD to SCon “tactical voting” is a mirage? Maybe those voters are lost for good? The SLab to SNP and SLab to SGP voters don’t look like they’re ever going “home”.
There’s simply no space for them in Scotland.
The SNP have become the main left wing party. (With the Greens of you are even more left wing, although my knowledge of the Scottish Greens is admittedly zero).
Agreed. Market positioning is dealt with in chapter one of Marketing for Dummies, but no one in Scottish Labour seems to understand marketing, certainly not the wholesale magnate.
Not that I’m convinced that left-right plays much role in modern Scottish electoral behaviour. After all, who would ever have imagined that the Tories would champion high spending, high tax and high debt?
"Left" and "Right" in politics are not ever fixed marks. Remember that in 1959 Harold MacMillan campaigned on the record how how many hundreds of thousands of council houses had been built by his Conservative government.
The anti-semitic wazzocks on Twitter bang on about "socialist policies" - its not that some of the policies aren't capable of winning support. Its labelling them "socialist". People will not vote for socialism.
Mr. 86, aye, I was just referring to the general reverence when he did exactly the same thing as Schumacher did but Senna was almost always portrayed in a good light/as a true racer, and Schumacher, to an extent, vilified.
Ironically, Hamilton, who does exalt Senna, appears to be a better character (Verstappen crash was not deliberate, I think, unlike when Senna struck Prost).
As bad as what Senna did in 1990 was, what went on the night before was utterly shameful. Jean Marie Balestre was an utter ****.
Why? What went on the night before? Pole was always on that side of the track.
Mr. 86, aye, I was just referring to the general reverence when he did exactly the same thing as Schumacher did but Senna was almost always portrayed in a good light/as a true racer, and Schumacher, to an extent, vilified.
Ironically, Hamilton, who does exalt Senna, appears to be a better character (Verstappen crash was not deliberate, I think, unlike when Senna struck Prost).
As bad as what Senna did in 1990 was, what went on the night before was utterly shameful. Jean Marie Balestre was an utter ****.
Why? What went on the night before? Pole was always on that side of the track.
The CoE has come out against the 'Rogers' of this parish! Archbishop of york has finally WOKEn up!
‘The most senior leader in the Church of England.’
Has something happened to Justin Welby without my noticing?
Currently taking a sabbatical. So describing Stevey-baby (as we used to call him in the pews of Chelmsford Diocese) as the most senior leader in the C of E is more justified than many things in the Daily Mail.
Worth noting that he comes out in favour of English Regions, so something to annoy everyone there.
Cottrell is a state school and central London polytechnic educated Archbishop of York, so would be a significantly less elite choice for the top job than Welby who is Eton and Trinity College Cambridge educated.
Cottrell also is clearly trying to move the C of E away from the FBPE crowd and recognising that most of England voted for Brexit. He is also sensibly suggesting England deserves the same level of devolution as Scotland and Wales have.
Note too there are some theological differences between Cottrell and Welby too. Welby is more on the evangelical wing of the Anglican church, Cottrell is closer to the high church, Anglo Catholic wing (although sensibly accepts women priests and is not anti gay either, reflecting the England of the 21st century)
Mr. 86, aye, I was just referring to the general reverence when he did exactly the same thing as Schumacher did but Senna was almost always portrayed in a good light/as a true racer, and Schumacher, to an extent, vilified.
Ironically, Hamilton, who does exalt Senna, appears to be a better character (Verstappen crash was not deliberate, I think, unlike when Senna struck Prost).
As bad as what Senna did in 1990 was, what went on the night before was utterly shameful. Jean Marie Balestre was an utter ****.
Why? What went on the night before? Pole was always on that side of the track.
Though curiously it was changed at some point after (certainly by 1996). Also, interesting that Senna got away with it. Shows what a different culture it was back then.
The vote swing in the Scottish byelection in Livingston was interesting.
Not the vote swing from 2017 but from 2012:
SCON +18.2% SLAB -21.8%
That's not tactical voting as its a traditional SLAB area and even in 2017 SLAB were ahead of SCON.
Now we know that SLAB have problems but I'll suggest that Scots found the Cameron-Osborne gang detestable in a way they no longer do.
I tend to agree.
I am very aware of the pitfalls of complacency, but I am starting to think that Scottish Labour really have passed the point of no return. The Richard Leonard error was probably the coup de grâce.
The age profile of their remaining voters is worrying.
About 40% of their voters are pro-independence, which is astonishing as nearly everybody had assumed that they’d lost all their independence supporters back in 2015.
They have zero talent. Murray and Sarwar are a weak pass, but behind them it is a desert.
They are lazy. They never were very good at canvassing, streetwork etc, even when they had hegemony. Now they are totally invisible.
Folk are now ashamed to admit that they vote Labour to their workmates and pals.
They have no policies, or at least not a single one the general population have heard of. Apart of course from British Unionism, but you can’t out-Tory the Tories.
On the constitution, they keep trying to fire up the ignition on federalism, about every three months. They’ve been doing that for half a century now. That motor ain’t never going to start; the technology is obsolete.
Maybe all this SLab to SCon and SLD to SCon “tactical voting” is a mirage? Maybe those voters are lost for good? The SLab to SNP and SLab to SGP voters don’t look like they’re ever going “home”.
There’s simply no space for them in Scotland.
The SNP have become the main left wing party. (With the Greens of you are even more left wing, although my knowledge of the Scottish Greens is admittedly zero).
Until we get an indyref2 and No wins again, dealing a potentially fatal blow to the SNP, or Yes wins and SLab can position itself to be the main centre left party again in an independent Scotland, then SLab is not really going anywhere.
Hence it is in the Tories interest to keep denying indyref2 as long as they are in power at Westminster as it ensures they continue to benefit from most of the Unionist vote in Scotland while the SNP take most of the Nationalist and leftwing vote
Mr. 86, aye, I was just referring to the general reverence when he did exactly the same thing as Schumacher did but Senna was almost always portrayed in a good light/as a true racer, and Schumacher, to an extent, vilified.
Ironically, Hamilton, who does exalt Senna, appears to be a better character (Verstappen crash was not deliberate, I think, unlike when Senna struck Prost).
As bad as what Senna did in 1990 was, what went on the night before was utterly shameful. Jean Marie Balestre was an utter ****.
Why? What went on the night before? Pole was always on that side of the track.
Though curiously it was changed at some point after (certainly by 1996). Also, interesting that Senna got away with it. Shows what a different culture it was back then.
Prost was far enough left to make Senna's send it up the inside manoeuvre not completely insane. Prost cut back across Senna and they crashed.
What was beautiful about those two is how such a deep and bitter rivalry utterly dissipated at the end and became a firm friendship for the final month's of Senna's life.
The vote swing in the Scottish byelection in Livingston was interesting.
Not the vote swing from 2017 but from 2012:
SCON +18.2% SLAB -21.8%
That's not tactical voting as its a traditional SLAB area and even in 2017 SLAB were ahead of SCON.
Now we know that SLAB have problems but I'll suggest that Scots found the Cameron-Osborne gang detestable in a way they no longer do.
I tend to agree.
I am very aware of the pitfalls of complacency, but I am starting to think that Scottish Labour really have passed the point of no return. The Richard Leonard error was probably the coup de grâce.
The age profile of their remaining voters is worrying.
About 40% of their voters are pro-independence, which is astonishing as nearly everybody had assumed that they’d lost all their independence supporters back in 2015.
They have zero talent. Murray and Sarwar are a weak pass, but behind them it is a desert.
They are lazy. They never were very good at canvassing, streetwork etc, even when they had hegemony. Now they are totally invisible.
Folk are now ashamed to admit that they vote Labour to their workmates and pals.
They have no policies, or at least not a single one the general population have heard of. Apart of course from British Unionism, but you can’t out-Tory the Tories.
On the constitution, they keep trying to fire up the ignition on federalism, about every three months. They’ve been doing that for half a century now. That motor ain’t never going to start; the technology is obsolete.
Maybe all this SLab to SCon and SLD to SCon “tactical voting” is a mirage? Maybe those voters are lost for good? The SLab to SNP and SLab to SGP voters don’t look like they’re ever going “home”.
There’s simply no space for them in Scotland.
The SNP have become the main left wing party. (With the Greens of you are even more left wing, although my knowledge of the Scottish Greens is admittedly zero).
Until we get an indyref2 and No wins again, dealing a potentially fatal blow to the SNP, or Yes wins and SLab can position itself to be the main centre left party again in an independent Scotland, then SLab is not really going anywhere.
Hence it is in the Tories interest to keep denying indyref2 as long as they are in power at Westminster as it ensures they continue to benefit from most of the Unionist vote in Scotland while the SNP take most of the Nationalist and leftwing vote
Out of interest, have you ever considered that your party should govern for the best interests of the country? All you ever give us is what is best for the Conservative Party which isn't the same thing at all.
The vote swing in the Scottish byelection in Livingston was interesting.
Not the vote swing from 2017 but from 2012:
SCON +18.2% SLAB -21.8%
That's not tactical voting as its a traditional SLAB area and even in 2017 SLAB were ahead of SCON.
Now we know that SLAB have problems but I'll suggest that Scots found the Cameron-Osborne gang detestable in a way they no longer do.
I tend to agree.
I am very aware of the pitfalls of complacency, but I am starting to think that Scottish Labour really have passed the point of no return. The Richard Leonard error was probably the coup de grâce.
The age profile of their remaining voters is worrying.
About 40% of their voters are pro-independence, which is astonishing as nearly everybody had assumed that they’d lost all their independence supporters back in 2015.
They have zero talent. Murray and Sarwar are a weak pass, but behind them it is a desert.
They are lazy. They never were very good at canvassing, streetwork etc, even when they had hegemony. Now they are totally invisible.
Folk are now ashamed to admit that they vote Labour to their workmates and pals.
They have no policies, or at least not a single one the general population have heard of. Apart of course from British Unionism, but you can’t out-Tory the Tories.
On the constitution, they keep trying to fire up the ignition on federalism, about every three months. They’ve been doing that for half a century now. That motor ain’t never going to start; the technology is obsolete.
Maybe all this SLab to SCon and SLD to SCon “tactical voting” is a mirage? Maybe those voters are lost for good? The SLab to SNP and SLab to SGP voters don’t look like they’re ever going “home”.
There’s simply no space for them in Scotland.
The SNP have become the main left wing party. (With the Greens of you are even more left wing, although my knowledge of the Scottish Greens is admittedly zero).
Until we get an indyref2 and No wins again, dealing a potentially fatal blow to the SNP, or Yes wins and SLab can position itself to be the main centre left party again in an independent Scotland, then SLab is not really going anywhere.
Hence it is in the Tories interest to keep denying indyref2 as long as they are in power at Westminster as it ensures they continue to benefit from most of the Unionist vote in Scotland while the SNP take most of the Nationalist and leftwing vote
Out of interest, have you ever considered that your party should govern for the best interests of the country? All you ever give us is what is best for the Conservative Party which isn't the same thing at all.
Of course, I happen to believe the best interests of the country come from policies being pursued by a Conservative government
On topic... this is a great bet. Biden is going exactly nowhere unless he is hit with the 25th. And what're the odds of that? Very, very low.
Agreed. With the "death = void" caveat this bet should be 0.25 - and 0.33 at the absolute most - so 0.6 is value. People just do not give up positions of great power and spotlight voluntarily. Last one to do it that I can recall was Kevin Keegan and that wasn't in politics.
I wish people would stop calling a holiday in the U.K. a “staycation”. A staycation is when you stay at home on your time off but take day trips in your local area but a leisure trip to the Lake District for a week is a holiday in the Lake District for a week. I didn’t leave the shores of Great Britain until I was 10 (something true of many pre-Millenials) but did have holidays before that, largely in Cornwall and the Isle of Wight. They weren’t staycations.
Anyway, weather’s looking a bit better next week according to the Met Office app.
I disliked the word staycation in the first place, because it's an ugly portmanteau, but at least it used to mean something relatively distinct.
There's no need to distinguish between a holiday within your own country and one abroad. What I particularly dislike about it's current usage is the implication that taking a holiday within your own country is in some way slumming it - "Hey guys, a staycation doesn't have to be miserable and lame! Look at our great ideas for not appearing to be a saddo to your mates!"
I guess that view made some sense when it was about staying in your own home, which inevitably has the air of not being able to afford to do otherwise, but I'm sure it's possible to spend a lot of money taking a holiday within the UK.
The CoE has come out against the 'Rogers' of this parish! Archbishop of york has finally WOKEn up!
‘The most senior leader in the Church of England.’
Has something happened to Justin Welby without my noticing?
Currently taking a sabbatical. So describing Stevey-baby (as we used to call him in the pews of Chelmsford Diocese) as the most senior leader in the C of E is more justified than many things in the Daily Mail.
Worth noting that he comes out in favour of English Regions, so something to annoy everyone there.
Cottrell is a state school and central London polytechnic educated Archbishop of York, so would be a significantly less elite choice for the top job than Welby who is Eton and Trinity College Cambridge educated.
Cottrell also is clearly trying to move the C of E away from the FBPE crowd and recognising that most of England voted for Brexit. He is also sensibly suggesting England deserves the same level of devolution as Scotland and Wales have.
Note too there are some theological differences between Cottrell and Welby too. Welby is more on the evangelical wing of the Anglican church, Cottrell is closer to the high church, Anglo Catholic wing (although sensibly accepts women priests and is not anti gay either, reflecting the England of the 21st century)
Perhaps if Stevie baby rescinded from sitting unelected in a big hoose in that London with his frocked mates from the Church of Engerland overseeing laws for the whole of the UK, he might not come over as a mouthy opportunist.
On topic... this is a great bet. Biden is going exactly nowhere unless he is hit with the 25th. And what're the odds of that? Very, very low.
If they didn’t use it for Donald Trump when he was wittering on about drinking bleach, it seems unlikely it will ever be used for a president who isn’t actually comatose.
Yes, I do think whenever people post a clip on Twitter of Biden stumbling over his words as the reason he will 'inevitably step down': "Did you ever see the last guy?!"
I wish people would stop calling a holiday in the U.K. a “staycation”. A staycation is when you stay at home on your time off but take day trips in your local area but a leisure trip to the Lake District for a week is a holiday in the Lake District for a week. I didn’t leave the shores of Great Britain until I was 10 (something true of many pre-Millenials) but did have holidays before that, largely in Cornwall and the Isle of Wight. They weren’t staycations.
Anyway, weather’s looking a bit better next week according to the Met Office app.
I disliked the word staycation in the first place, because it's an ugly portmanteau, but at least it used to mean something relatively distinct.
There's no need to distinguish between a holiday within your own country and one abroad. What I particularly dislike about it's current usage is the implication that taking a holiday within your own country is in some way slumming it - "Hey guys, a staycation doesn't have to be miserable and lame! Look at our great ideas for not appearing to be a saddo to your mates!"
I guess that view made some sense when it was about staying in your own home, which inevitably has the air of not being able to afford to do otherwise, but I'm sure it's possible to spend a lot of money taking a holiday within the UK.
Well put. It's judgy.
Almost feels like a linguistic shift designed purely to benefit travel companies by making people feel bad for perhaps choosing not to holiday overseas!
The vote swing in the Scottish byelection in Livingston was interesting.
Not the vote swing from 2017 but from 2012:
SCON +18.2% SLAB -21.8%
That's not tactical voting as its a traditional SLAB area and even in 2017 SLAB were ahead of SCON.
Now we know that SLAB have problems but I'll suggest that Scots found the Cameron-Osborne gang detestable in a way they no longer do.
I tend to agree.
I am very aware of the pitfalls of complacency, but I am starting to think that Scottish Labour really have passed the point of no return. The Richard Leonard error was probably the coup de grâce.
The age profile of their remaining voters is worrying.
About 40% of their voters are pro-independence, which is astonishing as nearly everybody had assumed that they’d lost all their independence supporters back in 2015.
They have zero talent. Murray and Sarwar are a weak pass, but behind them it is a desert.
They are lazy. They never were very good at canvassing, streetwork etc, even when they had hegemony. Now they are totally invisible.
Folk are now ashamed to admit that they vote Labour to their workmates and pals.
They have no policies, or at least not a single one the general population have heard of. Apart of course from British Unionism, but you can’t out-Tory the Tories.
On the constitution, they keep trying to fire up the ignition on federalism, about every three months. They’ve been doing that for half a century now. That motor ain’t never going to start; the technology is obsolete.
Maybe all this SLab to SCon and SLD to SCon “tactical voting” is a mirage? Maybe those voters are lost for good? The SLab to SNP and SLab to SGP voters don’t look like they’re ever going “home”.
There’s simply no space for them in Scotland.
The SNP have become the main left wing party. (With the Greens of you are even more left wing, although my knowledge of the Scottish Greens is admittedly zero).
Until we get an indyref2 and No wins again, dealing a potentially fatal blow to the SNP, or Yes wins and SLab can position itself to be the main centre left party again in an independent Scotland, then SLab is not really going anywhere.
Hence it is in the Tories interest to keep denying indyref2 as long as they are in power at Westminster as it ensures they continue to benefit from most of the Unionist vote in Scotland while the SNP take most of the Nationalist and leftwing vote
Out of interest, have you ever considered that your party should govern for the best interests of the country? All you ever give us is what is best for the Conservative Party which isn't the same thing at all.
Of course, I happen to believe the best interests of the country come from policies being pursued by a Conservative government
Regardless of what those policies are or how laughably contradictory they are both with what they said yesterday or with Conservative Party ideology. If Labour were in power doing these policies you would be howling at the moon about how bad these policies are.
Mr. Richard, Rusedski reached the US Open final that year.
And lost.
Henman reached the semis of every Grand Slam except the Aussie Open.
And lost.
Rusedski also had an unfair advantage, in that he has a personality.
Tim Henman, a lovely tennis player whose best surface was grass, never won Queens and never made a final at Wimbledon. It was a good career - a very good career - but one which ultimately fell short.
after all that discussion, there's the narrow chance of 65 total hoving into view.
boxing - nailed on 2 x cycling possibles, 1 a bit less likely modern pentathlon team jumping possible
Overall medals seems on par with the last 2 Games, Golds down quite a bit, but a great result to get 4th place especially considering the home team ahead of us.
I’m just going to preempt the PB pendants to clarify that I am aware that going to the Isle of Wight is technically leaving the shores of Great Britain. I was attempting to indicate that my childhood travelling did not extend beyond England, Scotland and Wales.
Mr. Richard, Rusedski reached the US Open final that year.
And lost.
Henman reached the semis of every Grand Slam except the Aussie Open.
And lost.
Rusedski also had an unfair advantage, in that he has a personality.
Tim Henman, a lovely tennis player whose best surface was grass, never won Queens and never made a final at Wimbledon. It was a good career - a very good career - but one which ultimately fell short.
If someone was the fourth best footballer in the world (Neymar, Mbappe level?) have they fallen short? If someone was the fourth best politician in the world have they fallen short? If someone was the fourth best teacher in the world have they fallen short?
I wish people would stop calling a holiday in the U.K. a “staycation”. A staycation is when you stay at home on your time off but take day trips in your local area but a leisure trip to the Lake District for a week is a holiday in the Lake District for a week. I didn’t leave the shores of Great Britain until I was 10 (something true of many pre-Millenials) but did have holidays before that, largely in Cornwall and the Isle of Wight. They weren’t staycations.
Too late, Doug, I'm afraid. It's out of the bottle.
Mr. Richard, Rusedski reached the US Open final that year.
And lost.
Henman reached the semis of every Grand Slam except the Aussie Open.
And lost.
Rusedski also had an unfair advantage, in that he has a personality.
Tim Henman, a lovely tennis player whose best surface was grass, never won Queens and never made a final at Wimbledon. It was a good career - a very good career - but one which ultimately fell short.
If someone was the fourth best footballer in the world (Neymar, Mbappe level?) have they fallen short? If someone was the fourth best politician in the world have they fallen short? If someone was the fourth best teacher in the world have they fallen short?
I wish people would stop calling a holiday in the U.K. a “staycation”. A staycation is when you stay at home on your time off but take day trips in your local area but a leisure trip to the Lake District for a week is a holiday in the Lake District for a week. I didn’t leave the shores of Great Britain until I was 10 (something true of many pre-Millenials) but did have holidays before that, largely in Cornwall and the Isle of Wight. They weren’t staycations.
Anyway, weather’s looking a bit better next week according to the Met Office app.
I disliked the word staycation in the first place, because it's an ugly portmanteau, but at least it used to mean something relatively distinct.
There's no need to distinguish between a holiday within your own country and one abroad. What I particularly dislike about it's current usage is the implication that taking a holiday within your own country is in some way slumming it - "Hey guys, a staycation doesn't have to be miserable and lame! Look at our great ideas for not appearing to be a saddo to your mates!"
I guess that view made some sense when it was about staying in your own home, which inevitably has the air of not being able to afford to do otherwise, but I'm sure it's possible to spend a lot of money taking a holiday within the UK.
Well put. It's judgy.
Almost feels like a linguistic shift designed purely to benefit travel companies by making people feel bad for perhaps choosing not to overseas!
Well, we're definitely* having a week's holiday in the NE in September. If the weather's good...... and it's drier than the NW (!) ..... should be good. Plan to visit friends and relatives in Yorkshire & Lancashire, en route, too.
*Assuming neither of us 80+'s are unfit to travel!
I wish people would stop calling a holiday in the U.K. a “staycation”. A staycation is when you stay at home on your time off but take day trips in your local area but a leisure trip to the Lake District for a week is a holiday in the Lake District for a week. I didn’t leave the shores of Great Britain until I was 10 (something true of many pre-Millenials) but did have holidays before that, largely in Cornwall and the Isle of Wight. They weren’t staycations.
Too late, Doug, I'm afraid. It's out of the bottle.
I wish people would stop calling a holiday in the U.K. a “staycation”. A staycation is when you stay at home on your time off but take day trips in your local area but a leisure trip to the Lake District for a week is a holiday in the Lake District for a week. I didn’t leave the shores of Great Britain until I was 10 (something true of many pre-Millenials) but did have holidays before that, largely in Cornwall and the Isle of Wight. They weren’t staycations.
Anyway, weather’s looking a bit better next week according to the Met Office app.
I disliked the word staycation in the first place, because it's an ugly portmanteau, but at least it used to mean something relatively distinct.
There's no need to distinguish between a holiday within your own country and one abroad. What I particularly dislike about it's current usage is the implication that taking a holiday within your own country is in some way slumming it - "Hey guys, a staycation doesn't have to be miserable and lame! Look at our great ideas for not appearing to be a saddo to your mates!"
I guess that view made some sense when it was about staying in your own home, which inevitably has the air of not being able to afford to do otherwise, but I'm sure it's possible to spend a lot of money taking a holiday within the UK.
Well put. It's judgy.
Almost feels like a linguistic shift designed purely to benefit travel companies by making people feel bad for perhaps choosing not to overseas!
I might add that going south in the summertime is simply vulgar. It was once considered obligatory to leave the 'Continent' before the end of May to avoid the heady cocktail of pestilence that bubbles up every summer. Plus ça change as they say.
I wish people would stop calling a holiday in the U.K. a “staycation”. A staycation is when you stay at home on your time off but take day trips in your local area but a leisure trip to the Lake District for a week is a holiday in the Lake District for a week. I didn’t leave the shores of Great Britain until I was 10 (something true of many pre-Millenials) but did have holidays before that, largely in Cornwall and the Isle of Wight. They weren’t staycations.
Too late, Doug, I'm afraid. It's out of the bottle.
after all that discussion, there's the narrow chance of 65 total hoving into view.
boxing - nailed on 2 x cycling possibles, 1 a bit less likely modern pentathlon team jumping possible
Overall medals seems on par with the last 2 Games, Golds down quite a bit, but a great result to get 4th place especially considering the home team ahead of us.
after all that discussion, there's the narrow chance of 65 total hoving into view.
boxing - nailed on 2 x cycling possibles, 1 a bit less likely modern pentathlon team jumping possible
Overall medals seems on par with the last 2 Games, Golds down quite a bit, but a great result to get 4th place especially considering the home team ahead of us.
I wish people would stop calling a holiday in the U.K. a “staycation”. A staycation is when you stay at home on your time off but take day trips in your local area but a leisure trip to the Lake District for a week is a holiday in the Lake District for a week. I didn’t leave the shores of Great Britain until I was 10 (something true of many pre-Millenials) but did have holidays before that, largely in Cornwall and the Isle of Wight. They weren’t staycations.
Anyway, weather’s looking a bit better next week according to the Met Office app.
I’m totally with you in this, but I fear the (linguistic) horse has bolted. The original use was indeed staying your own home and doing day trips, but it has been so bastardised now that few remember that. It does annoy me, far more than it should...
The vote swing in the Scottish byelection in Livingston was interesting.
Not the vote swing from 2017 but from 2012:
SCON +18.2% SLAB -21.8%
That's not tactical voting as its a traditional SLAB area and even in 2017 SLAB were ahead of SCON.
Now we know that SLAB have problems but I'll suggest that Scots found the Cameron-Osborne gang detestable in a way they no longer do.
I tend to agree.
I am very aware of the pitfalls of complacency, but I am starting to think that Scottish Labour really have passed the point of no return. The Richard Leonard error was probably the coup de grâce.
The age profile of their remaining voters is worrying.
About 40% of their voters are pro-independence, which is astonishing as nearly everybody had assumed that they’d lost all their independence supporters back in 2015.
They have zero talent. Murray and Sarwar are a weak pass, but behind them it is a desert.
They are lazy. They never were very good at canvassing, streetwork etc, even when they had hegemony. Now they are totally invisible.
Folk are now ashamed to admit that they vote Labour to their workmates and pals.
They have no policies, or at least not a single one the general population have heard of. Apart of course from British Unionism, but you can’t out-Tory the Tories.
On the constitution, they keep trying to fire up the ignition on federalism, about every three months. They’ve been doing that for half a century now. That motor ain’t never going to start; the technology is obsolete.
Maybe all this SLab to SCon and SLD to SCon “tactical voting” is a mirage? Maybe those voters are lost for good? The SLab to SNP and SLab to SGP voters don’t look like they’re ever going “home”.
There’s simply no space for them in Scotland.
The SNP have become the main left wing party. (With the Greens of you are even more left wing, although my knowledge of the Scottish Greens is admittedly zero).
Until we get an indyref2 and No wins again, dealing a potentially fatal blow to the SNP, or Yes wins and SLab can position itself to be the main centre left party again in an independent Scotland, then SLab is not really going anywhere.
Hence it is in the Tories interest to keep denying indyref2 as long as they are in power at Westminster as it ensures they continue to benefit from most of the Unionist vote in Scotland while the SNP take most of the Nationalist and leftwing vote
Out of interest, have you ever considered that your party should govern for the best interests of the country? All you ever give us is what is best for the Conservative Party which isn't the same thing at all.
Of course, I happen to believe the best interests of the country come from policies being pursued by a Conservative government
Regardless of what those policies are or how laughably contradictory they are both with what they said yesterday or with Conservative Party ideology. If Labour were in power doing these policies you would be howling at the moon about how bad these policies are.
While @HYUFD and I disagree at times the policies today are heavily influenced by covid and would not have been followed if covid had not happened
We are where we are and as times change so do policies and I expect many more charges to come that would not follow previous conservative ideas
Indeed a lot of conservative successes is due to their ability to change
Mr. Richard, Rusedski reached the US Open final that year.
And lost.
Henman reached the semis of every Grand Slam except the Aussie Open.
And lost.
Rusedski also had an unfair advantage, in that he has a personality.
Tim Henman, a lovely tennis player whose best surface was grass, never won Queens and never made a final at Wimbledon. It was a good career - a very good career - but one which ultimately fell short.
The CoE has come out against the 'Rogers' of this parish! Archbishop of york has finally WOKEn up!
‘The most senior leader in the Church of England.’
Has something happened to Justin Welby without my noticing?
Currently taking a sabbatical. So describing Stevey-baby (as we used to call him in the pews of Chelmsford Diocese) as the most senior leader in the C of E is more justified than many things in the Daily Mail.
Worth noting that he comes out in favour of English Regions, so something to annoy everyone there.
Cottrell is a state school and central London polytechnic educated Archbishop of York, so would be a significantly less elite choice for the top job than Welby who is Eton and Trinity College Cambridge educated.
Cottrell also is clearly trying to move the C of E away from the FBPE crowd and recognising that most of England voted for Brexit. He is also sensibly suggesting England deserves the same level of devolution as Scotland and Wales have.
Note too there are some theological differences between Cottrell and Welby too. Welby is more on the evangelical wing of the Anglican church, Cottrell is closer to the high church, Anglo Catholic wing (although sensibly accepts women priests and is not anti gay either, reflecting the England of the 21st century)
Perhaps if Stevie baby rescinded from sitting unelected in a big hoose in that London with his frocked mates from the Church of Engerland overseeing laws for the whole of the UK, he might not come over as a mouthy opportunist.
Why should he not? The whole House of Lords is unelected and as long as it continues to be unelected there is no problem with having 26 bishops as peers out of 792 Lords in total ie less than 5%. Most Bishops have experience in their communities, have been parish clergy too at some some point and have a lot to offer. The Lords can only delay legislation anyway not block it outright.
I would have a few more Catholic bishops (although the Vatican currently is opposed) and rabbis too and add some imams as well.
Remember before the Reformation most members of the House of Lords were Bishops and Abbotts, so the number of Bishops in the Lords is now only a fraction of what it once was
Mr. Richard, Rusedski reached the US Open final that year.
And lost.
Henman reached the semis of every Grand Slam except the Aussie Open.
And lost.
Rusedski also had an unfair advantage, in that he has a personality.
Tim Henman, a lovely tennis player whose best surface was grass, never won Queens and never made a final at Wimbledon. It was a good career - a very good career - but one which ultimately fell short.
If someone was the fourth best footballer in the world (Neymar, Mbappe level?) have they fallen short? If someone was the fourth best politician in the world have they fallen short? If someone was the fourth best teacher in the world have they fallen short?
No. But Tim's grass court pedigree was such that he should have won at least a Queens and made at least a Wimbo final. So he underachieved in this sense. I think he would feel that himself.
after all that discussion, there's the narrow chance of 65 total hoving into view.
boxing - nailed on 2 x cycling possibles, 1 a bit less likely modern pentathlon team jumping possible
Overall medals seems on par with the last 2 Games, Golds down quite a bit, but a great result to get 4th place especially considering the home team ahead of us.
Rowing was the most disappointing.
Public schools & Oxbridge letting us down?
Most of the Boat Race peeps are overseas “students” these days I think.
I’m just going to preempt the PB pendants to clarify that I am aware that going to the Isle of Wight is technically leaving the shores of Great Britain. I was attempting to indicate that my childhood travelling did not extend beyond England, Scotland and Wales.
I think preempting pedantry is a violation of PB terms of service.
I wish people would stop calling a holiday in the U.K. a “staycation”. A staycation is when you stay at home on your time off but take day trips in your local area but a leisure trip to the Lake District for a week is a holiday in the Lake District for a week. I didn’t leave the shores of Great Britain until I was 10 (something true of many pre-Millenials) but did have holidays before that, largely in Cornwall and the Isle of Wight. They weren’t staycations.
Anyway, weather’s looking a bit better next week according to the Met Office app.
I’m totally with you in this, but I fear the (linguistic) horse has bolted. The original use was indeed staying your own home and doing day trips, but it has been so bastardised now that few remember that. It does annoy me, far more than it should...
I’ve just recalled hearing Nihal from radio 5, currently getting an all expenses jolly on us, sorry the bbc, being incredulous that the current use of staycation was not the original. For many, many people it just means a U.K. holiday. Which is a really sad thing.
after all that discussion, there's the narrow chance of 65 total hoving into view.
boxing - nailed on 2 x cycling possibles, 1 a bit less likely modern pentathlon team jumping possible
Overall medals seems on par with the last 2 Games, Golds down quite a bit, but a great result to get 4th place especially considering the home team ahead of us.
Rowing was the most disappointing.
Public schools & Oxbridge letting us down?
Most of the Boat Race peeps are overseas “students” these days I think.
Just public schools then!
Must confess to a limited experience; the only member of my extended family interested in rowing attends a fee paying school!
I did grow up in an area with Olympic standards sailors though!
Amazed by this. Our vaccine advisory group is out of line with current evidence on this, and CDC, AAP, + US, Canada, most European countries. We've done a quantitative assessment of this, and the benefits vs risks are v. clear. How do they justify this?
I’m just going to preempt the PB pendants to clarify that I am aware that going to the Isle of Wight is technically leaving the shores of Great Britain. I was attempting to indicate that my childhood travelling did not extend beyond England, Scotland and Wales.
I think preempting pedantry is a violation of PB terms of service.
Mr. Richard, Rusedski reached the US Open final that year.
And lost.
Henman reached the semis of every Grand Slam except the Aussie Open.
And lost.
Rusedski also had an unfair advantage, in that he has a personality.
Tim Henman, a lovely tennis player whose best surface was grass, never won Queens and never made a final at Wimbledon. It was a good career - a very good career - but one which ultimately fell short.
If someone was the fourth best footballer in the world (Neymar, Mbappe level?) have they fallen short? If someone was the fourth best politician in the world have they fallen short? If someone was the fourth best teacher in the world have they fallen short?
No. But Tim's grass court pedigree was such that he should have won at least a Queens and made at least a Wimbo final. So he underachieved in this sense. I think he would feel that himself.
Only the Ivanisevic game which might have been different without the rain delays. Otherwise he lost his grand slam semi finals to world number 1s Sampras x2, Federer, Hewitt, and Coria world number 3 on clay.
I wish people would stop calling a holiday in the U.K. a “staycation”. A staycation is when you stay at home on your time off but take day trips in your local area but a leisure trip to the Lake District for a week is a holiday in the Lake District for a week. I didn’t leave the shores of Great Britain until I was 10 (something true of many pre-Millenials) but did have holidays before that, largely in Cornwall and the Isle of Wight. They weren’t staycations.
Anyway, weather’s looking a bit better next week according to the Met Office app.
I’m totally with you in this, but I fear the (linguistic) horse has bolted. The original use was indeed staying your own home and doing day trips, but it has been so bastardised now that few remember that. It does annoy me, far more than it should...
I’ve just recalled hearing Nihal from radio 5, currently getting an all expenses jolly on us, sorry the bbc, being incredulous that the current use of staycation was not the original. For many, many people it just means a U.K. holiday. Which is a really sad thing.
As I indicated earlier, up until about the mid 60's 'foreign holidays' were the preserve of the brave or the rich. One could only take a limited amount of money out of the country, too.
Mr. Richard, Rusedski reached the US Open final that year.
And lost.
Henman reached the semis of every Grand Slam except the Aussie Open.
And lost.
Rusedski also had an unfair advantage, in that he has a personality.
Tim Henman, a lovely tennis player whose best surface was grass, never won Queens and never made a final at Wimbledon. It was a good career - a very good career - but one which ultimately fell short.
If someone was the fourth best footballer in the world (Neymar, Mbappe level?) have they fallen short? If someone was the fourth best politician in the world have they fallen short? If someone was the fourth best teacher in the world have they fallen short?
No. But Tim's grass court pedigree was such that he should have won at least a Queens and made at least a Wimbo final. So he underachieved in this sense. I think he would feel that himself.
I think anyone good enough to to reach slam semi finals, but not go on, would always feel that they could have done. Herman’s best shot was probably undone by the weather against Goran ivanisevic, as he had the momentum. I guess time mellows so he may well look back on a good but not stellar career. Murray would definitely have underachieved if he hadn’t won a slam, even up against the big three, as he was for a time up there at the same level.
Mr. Richard, Rusedski reached the US Open final that year.
And lost.
Henman reached the semis of every Grand Slam except the Aussie Open.
And lost.
Rusedski also had an unfair advantage, in that he has a personality.
Tim Henman, a lovely tennis player whose best surface was grass, never won Queens and never made a final at Wimbledon. It was a good career - a very good career - but one which ultimately fell short.
If someone was the fourth best footballer in the world (Neymar, Mbappe level?) have they fallen short? If someone was the fourth best politician in the world have they fallen short? If someone was the fourth best teacher in the world have they fallen short?
wrt 1500m, the lad who won his heat was not even the fastest GB finalist.
Will be honest, it's not a distance I know too much about.
With the last relay, its something GB have medalled in before. Goes down to who as strength in depth.
A slower semi final is an advantage if anything. Fancy a medal in this one and wouldnt put anyone off backing Wightman gold around 25s in a potentially tactical race.
Amazed by this. Our vaccine advisory group is out of line with current evidence on this, and CDC, AAP, + US, Canada, most European countries. We've done a quantitative assessment of this, and the benefits vs risks are v. clear. How do they justify this?
I saw a post on one of these twitter accounts that admitted it’s fair to disagree. I really think is a finely balanced decision, and while we may not agree with it, it is being made in good faith, based on how these scientists see the data at the time.
Staycation, meaning “stuck in Britain”, is here to - er - stay. Sorry, PB pedants.
And who, in their right mind, would spend all of summer in the U.K.?
It’s still torrential here in East London.
People who can’t afford foreign holidays? I don’t feel my parents were particularly out of their minds when they took us to Ventnor for two weeks every year between 1981 and 1983.
after all that discussion, there's the narrow chance of 65 total hoving into view.
boxing - nailed on 2 x cycling possibles, 1 a bit less likely modern pentathlon team jumping possible
Overall medals seems on par with the last 2 Games, Golds down quite a bit, but a great result to get 4th place especially considering the home team ahead of us.
Rowing was the most disappointing.
Public schools & Oxbridge letting us down?
Most of the Boat Race peeps are overseas “students” these days I think.
Just public schools then!
Must confess to a limited experience; the only member of my extended family interested in rowing attends a fee paying school!
I did grow up in an area with Olympic standards sailors though!
Steve Redgrave went to Great Marlowe School: a secondary modern. Also one of the strongest rowing schools around (mostly due to the proximity to the river Thames).
Trying to control Afghanistan from outside has been a damnfool idea from day 1. If I'm not mistaken Alexander the Great came a bit of a cropper there, and no-one else has come closer.
Staycation, meaning “stuck in Britain”, is here to - er - stay. Sorry, PB pedants.
And who, in their right mind, would spend all of summer in the U.K.?
It’s still torrential here in East London.
People who can’t afford foreign holidays? I don’t feel my parents were particularly out of their minds when they took us to Ventnor for two weeks every year between 1981 and 1983.
Yes. But that was in the dark ages.
I would argue that the top 80% income deciles can easily afford a foreign holiday once a year.
after all that discussion, there's the narrow chance of 65 total hoving into view.
boxing - nailed on 2 x cycling possibles, 1 a bit less likely modern pentathlon team jumping possible
Overall medals seems on par with the last 2 Games, Golds down quite a bit, but a great result to get 4th place especially considering the home team ahead of us.
Rowing was the most disappointing.
Public schools & Oxbridge letting us down?
Most of the Boat Race peeps are overseas “students” these days I think.
Just public schools then!
Must confess to a limited experience; the only member of my extended family interested in rowing attends a fee paying school!
I did grow up in an area with Olympic standards sailors though!
Steve Redgrave went to Great Marlowe School: a secondary modern. Also one of the strongest rowing schools around (mostly due to the proximity to the river Thames).
Exception proving the rule? Or am I a) clutching at straws? b) defending the indefensible?
after all that discussion, there's the narrow chance of 65 total hoving into view.
boxing - nailed on 2 x cycling possibles, 1 a bit less likely modern pentathlon team jumping possible
Overall medals seems on par with the last 2 Games, Golds down quite a bit, but a great result to get 4th place especially considering the home team ahead of us.
Rowing was the most disappointing.
Public schools & Oxbridge letting us down?
Most of the Boat Race peeps are overseas “students” these days I think.
Just public schools then!
Must confess to a limited experience; the only member of my extended family interested in rowing attends a fee paying school!
I did grow up in an area with Olympic standards sailors though!
Steve Redgrave went to Great Marlowe School: a secondary modern. Also one of the strongest rowing schools around (mostly due to the proximity to the river Thames).
Equestrian and maybe sailing are probably more posh and public school than rowing now
I wish people would stop calling a holiday in the U.K. a “staycation”. A staycation is when you stay at home on your time off but take day trips in your local area but a leisure trip to the Lake District for a week is a holiday in the Lake District for a week. I didn’t leave the shores of Great Britain until I was 10 (something true of many pre-Millenials) but did have holidays before that, largely in Cornwall and the Isle of Wight. They weren’t staycations.
Anyway, weather’s looking a bit better next week according to the Met Office app.
I disliked the word staycation in the first place, because it's an ugly portmanteau, but at least it used to mean something relatively distinct.
There's no need to distinguish between a holiday within your own country and one abroad. What I particularly dislike about it's current usage is the implication that taking a holiday within your own country is in some way slumming it - "Hey guys, a staycation doesn't have to be miserable and lame! Look at our great ideas for not appearing to be a saddo to your mates!"
I guess that view made some sense when it was about staying in your own home, which inevitably has the air of not being able to afford to do otherwise, but I'm sure it's possible to spend a lot of money taking a holiday within the UK.
Well put. It's judgy.
Almost feels like a linguistic shift designed purely to benefit travel companies by making people feel bad for perhaps choosing not to holiday overseas!
I dislike the change in use too, but had the opposite interpretation - I assumed it was a commercial wheeze by domestic hotel chains to get you to feel that if you'd decided to stay at home actually you'd be better off spending money with them.
The unpredictability of British weather does make event organisation difficult - friends who had put on a big music festival near here have just had to cancel as the fields are literally under water. They'd thought August would be pretty safe but...
Amazed by this. Our vaccine advisory group is out of line with current evidence on this, and CDC, AAP, + US, Canada, most European countries. We've done a quantitative assessment of this, and the benefits vs risks are v. clear. How do they justify this?
I saw a post on one of these twitter accounts that admitted it’s fair to disagree. I really think is a finely balanced decision, and while we may not agree with it, it is being made in good faith, based on how these scientists see the data at the time.
I agree. The science is finely balanced. The benefits to the community are clear, to the individual teens, much less so. What I don't respect are the absolutists like Gurdasani who are 100% certain they are 100% right when they have so often been wrong in the past, yet rarely if ever admit it.
Trying to control Afghanistan from outside has been a damnfool idea from day 1. If I'm not mistaken Alexander the Great came a bit of a cropper there, and no-one else has come closer.
We did not invade to colonise Afghanistan, the Taliban took control of it in 1996 and we left them in power for 5 years.
We only invaded in 2001 because 9\11 was launched by Bin Laden from Afghanistan and the Taliban refused to hand him over.
Bin Laden is now dead but we will have to do a deal with the Taliban to give them some of rural Afghanistan in return for not allowing Al Qaeda back in
The vote swing in the Scottish byelection in Livingston was interesting.
Not the vote swing from 2017 but from 2012:
SCON +18.2% SLAB -21.8%
That's not tactical voting as its a traditional SLAB area and even in 2017 SLAB were ahead of SCON.
Now we know that SLAB have problems but I'll suggest that Scots found the Cameron-Osborne gang detestable in a way they no longer do.
I tend to agree.
I am very aware of the pitfalls of complacency, but I am starting to think that Scottish Labour really have passed the point of no return. The Richard Leonard error was probably the coup de grâce.
The age profile of their remaining voters is worrying.
About 40% of their voters are pro-independence, which is astonishing as nearly everybody had assumed that they’d lost all their independence supporters back in 2015.
They have zero talent. Murray and Sarwar are a weak pass, but behind them it is a desert.
They are lazy. They never were very good at canvassing, streetwork etc, even when they had hegemony. Now they are totally invisible.
Folk are now ashamed to admit that they vote Labour to their workmates and pals.
They have no policies, or at least not a single one the general population have heard of. Apart of course from British Unionism, but you can’t out-Tory the Tories.
On the constitution, they keep trying to fire up the ignition on federalism, about every three months. They’ve been doing that for half a century now. That motor ain’t never going to start; the technology is obsolete.
Maybe all this SLab to SCon and SLD to SCon “tactical voting” is a mirage? Maybe those voters are lost for good? The SLab to SNP and SLab to SGP voters don’t look like they’re ever going “home”.
There’s simply no space for them in Scotland.
The SNP have become the main left wing party. (With the Greens of you are even more left wing, although my knowledge of the Scottish Greens is admittedly zero).
Until we get an indyref2 and No wins again, dealing a potentially fatal blow to the SNP, or Yes wins and SLab can position itself to be the main centre left party again in an independent Scotland, then SLab is not really going anywhere.
Hence it is in the Tories interest to keep denying indyref2 as long as they are in power at Westminster as it ensures they continue to benefit from most of the Unionist vote in Scotland while the SNP take most of the Nationalist and leftwing vote
Glad we cleared that up. Boris Johnson is not acting in the best interest of the Union but in the best interests of his party.
Staycation, meaning “stuck in Britain”, is here to - er - stay. Sorry, PB pedants.
And who, in their right mind, would spend all of summer in the U.K.?
It’s still torrential here in East London.
People who can’t afford foreign holidays? I don’t feel my parents were particularly out of their minds when they took us to Ventnor for two weeks every year between 1981 and 1983.
Yes. But that was in the dark ages.
I would argue that the top 80% income deciles can easily afford a foreign holiday once a year.
A typical flight to Europe in 1982 would have been over a weeks wages. Nowadays they are more typically a days wages and available for a few hours wages.
A train ticket from London to the Lake District or Cornwall (or vice versa) often costs more than a flight to the med, and costs are much cheaper once you get to the med.
I wish people would stop calling a holiday in the U.K. a “staycation”. A staycation is when you stay at home on your time off but take day trips in your local area but a leisure trip to the Lake District for a week is a holiday in the Lake District for a week. I didn’t leave the shores of Great Britain until I was 10 (something true of many pre-Millenials) but did have holidays before that, largely in Cornwall and the Isle of Wight. They weren’t staycations.
Too late, Doug, I'm afraid. It's out of the bottle.
Mr. Richard, Rusedski reached the US Open final that year.
And lost.
Henman reached the semis of every Grand Slam except the Aussie Open.
And lost.
Rusedski also had an unfair advantage, in that he has a personality.
Tim Henman, a lovely tennis player whose best surface was grass, never won Queens and never made a final at Wimbledon. It was a good career - a very good career - but one which ultimately fell short.
If someone was the fourth best footballer in the world (Neymar, Mbappe level?) have they fallen short? If someone was the fourth best politician in the world have they fallen short? If someone was the fourth best teacher in the world have they fallen short?
Staycation, meaning “stuck in Britain”, is here to - er - stay. Sorry, PB pedants.
And who, in their right mind, would spend all of summer in the U.K.?
It’s still torrential here in East London.
People who can’t afford foreign holidays? I don’t feel my parents were particularly out of their minds when they took us to Ventnor for two weeks every year between 1981 and 1983.
Yes. But that was in the dark ages.
I would argue that the top 80% income deciles can easily afford a foreign holiday once a year.
In Spain or Greece maybe (and indeed sometimes they are cheaper than booking a hotel or cottage in Cornwall or Devon or the Cotswolds).
However it is only the rich who can afford to go to the Maldives or Caribbean in the winter and indeed North America is not somewhere the average Brit can afford to go to every year either
The vote swing in the Scottish byelection in Livingston was interesting.
Not the vote swing from 2017 but from 2012:
SCON +18.2% SLAB -21.8%
That's not tactical voting as its a traditional SLAB area and even in 2017 SLAB were ahead of SCON.
Now we know that SLAB have problems but I'll suggest that Scots found the Cameron-Osborne gang detestable in a way they no longer do.
I tend to agree.
I am very aware of the pitfalls of complacency, but I am starting to think that Scottish Labour really have passed the point of no return. The Richard Leonard error was probably the coup de grâce.
The age profile of their remaining voters is worrying.
About 40% of their voters are pro-independence, which is astonishing as nearly everybody had assumed that they’d lost all their independence supporters back in 2015.
They have zero talent. Murray and Sarwar are a weak pass, but behind them it is a desert.
They are lazy. They never were very good at canvassing, streetwork etc, even when they had hegemony. Now they are totally invisible.
Folk are now ashamed to admit that they vote Labour to their workmates and pals.
They have no policies, or at least not a single one the general population have heard of. Apart of course from British Unionism, but you can’t out-Tory the Tories.
On the constitution, they keep trying to fire up the ignition on federalism, about every three months. They’ve been doing that for half a century now. That motor ain’t never going to start; the technology is obsolete.
Maybe all this SLab to SCon and SLD to SCon “tactical voting” is a mirage? Maybe those voters are lost for good? The SLab to SNP and SLab to SGP voters don’t look like they’re ever going “home”.
There’s simply no space for them in Scotland.
The SNP have become the main left wing party. (With the Greens of you are even more left wing, although my knowledge of the Scottish Greens is admittedly zero).
Until we get an indyref2 and No wins again, dealing a potentially fatal blow to the SNP, or Yes wins and SLab can position itself to be the main centre left party again in an independent Scotland, then SLab is not really going anywhere.
Hence it is in the Tories interest to keep denying indyref2 as long as they are in power at Westminster as it ensures they continue to benefit from most of the Unionist vote in Scotland while the SNP take most of the Nationalist and leftwing vote
Glad we cleared that up. Boris Johnson is not acting in the best interest of the Union but in the best interests of his party.
He is acting in the best interests of both and respecting the once in a generation 2014 vote
Staycation, meaning “stuck in Britain”, is here to - er - stay. Sorry, PB pedants.
And who, in their right mind, would spend all of summer in the U.K.?
It’s still torrential here in East London.
People who can’t afford foreign holidays? I don’t feel my parents were particularly out of their minds when they took us to Ventnor for two weeks every year between 1981 and 1983.
Yes. But that was in the dark ages.
I would argue that the top 80% income deciles can easily afford a foreign holiday once a year.
In Spain or Greece maybe (and indeed sometimes they are cheaper than booking a hotel or cottage in Cornwall or Devon or the Cotswolds).
However it is only the rich who can afford to go to the Maldives or Caribbean in the winter and indeed North America is not somewhere the average Brit can afford to go to every year either
Nobody was talking about the Maldives or the Caribbean though, were they?
Yesterday it was the racist German cycle coach been sent home, today....
A German coach has been thrown out of the Olympics for appearing to punch a horse who was refusing to jump or trot during the modern pentathlon.
That horse is the MVP of the Olympics. He refuses to accept the human/horse master/slave power axis,
Technically he wasn't not accepting his human master - the riders he's been rejecting were lent to him so to speak. I think he was the nag some of us were discussing, as a particular example of the problems of not bringing your own nag to the party but having to rely on the equine equivalent of Algerian U-bootstoff or whatever else someone had brought to the party.
Wine man thread. TLDR, it’s still a nightmare to import wine into the U.K. due to a failing logistics industry and complicated, country-by-country paperwork.
Staycation, meaning “stuck in Britain”, is here to - er - stay. Sorry, PB pedants.
And who, in their right mind, would spend all of summer in the U.K.?
It’s still torrential here in East London.
It's one of the most interminable arguments as well. No, staycation doesn't mean staying in my house, it means staying in my home country. Deal with it.
Staycation, meaning “stuck in Britain”, is here to - er - stay. Sorry, PB pedants.
And who, in their right mind, would spend all of summer in the U.K.?
It’s still torrential here in East London.
The only time I went to Greece was in 2006 - and we missed two of the hottest weeks in British history.
I can understand going on holiday to somewhere warmer in the colder, wetter, half of the British year, but I don't understand doing so at the time of year when we have the best chance of good weather. A bit of a waste really.
Wine man thread. TLDR, it’s still a nightmare to import wine into the U.K. due to a failing logistics industry and complicated, country-by-country paperwork.
Comments
Several members of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) said the mainstream sentiment on the body is still extremely cautious about expanding the programme to 12- to 15-year-olds, even though a deputy chief medical officer has suggested that outcome is high probable and politicians have said they would like the issue to remain under review.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/aug/07/jcvi-largely-opposed-to-covid-vaccination-for-children-under-16
This leads Conhome this morning
https://twitter.com/HCH_Hill/status/1423924502807859200?s=19
Not least because his approval ratings are significantly higher than Harris' are and he is the best shot the Democrats have of keeping Trump out of the Oval office again in 2024
The anti-semitic wazzocks on Twitter bang on about "socialist policies" - its not that some of the policies aren't capable of winning support. Its labelling them "socialist". People will not vote for socialism.
Cottrell also is clearly trying to move the C of E away from the FBPE crowd and recognising that most of England voted for Brexit. He is also sensibly suggesting England deserves the same level of devolution as Scotland and Wales have.
Note too there are some theological differences between Cottrell and Welby too. Welby is more on the evangelical wing of the Anglican church, Cottrell is closer to the high church, Anglo Catholic wing (although sensibly accepts women priests and is not anti gay either, reflecting the England of the 21st century)
Hence it is in the Tories interest to keep denying indyref2 as long as they are in power at Westminster as it ensures they continue to benefit from most of the Unionist vote in Scotland while the SNP take most of the Nationalist and leftwing vote
What was beautiful about those two is how such a deep and bitter rivalry utterly dissipated at the end and became a firm friendship for the final month's of Senna's life.
Pity they didn't make the big charge a few laps earlier.
They did look on their last legs before though.
There's no need to distinguish between a holiday within your own country and one abroad. What I particularly dislike about it's current usage is the implication that taking a holiday within your own country is in some way slumming it - "Hey guys, a staycation doesn't have to be miserable and lame! Look at our great ideas for not appearing to be a saddo to your mates!"
I guess that view made some sense when it was about staying in your own home, which inevitably has the air of not being able to afford to do otherwise, but I'm sure it's possible to spend a lot of money taking a holiday within the UK.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9871009/Billionaire-Google-founder-NZ-resident-admits-government-amid-anger-special-waiver-son.html
boxing - nailed on
2 x cycling possibles, 1 a bit less likely
modern pentathlon
team jumping possible
Almost feels like a linguistic shift designed purely to benefit travel companies by making people feel bad for perhaps choosing not to holiday overseas!
I think list above the more likely but happy to be surprised!
If someone was the fourth best politician in the world have they fallen short?
If someone was the fourth best teacher in the world have they fallen short?
Depends on personal ambition though.
*Assuming neither of us 80+'s are unfit to travel!
Will be honest, it's not a distance I know too much about.
With the last relay, its something GB have medalled in before. Goes down to who as strength in depth.
We are where we are and as times change so do policies and I expect many more charges to come that would not follow previous conservative ideas
Indeed a lot of conservative successes is due to their ability to change
I would have a few more Catholic bishops (although the Vatican currently is opposed) and rabbis too and add some imams as well.
Remember before the Reformation most members of the House of Lords were Bishops and Abbotts, so the number of Bishops in the Lords is now only a fraction of what it once was
Must confess to a limited experience; the only member of my extended family interested in rowing attends a fee paying school!
I did grow up in an area with Olympic standards sailors though!
Amazed by this. Our vaccine advisory group is out of line with current evidence on this, and CDC, AAP, + US, Canada, most European countries. We've done a quantitative assessment of this, and the benefits vs risks are v. clear. How do they justify this?
https://twitter.com/dgurdasani1/status/1423938134035865602?s=20
"Looking at the science" would be my guess.....
Follow the money, as they say.
And who, in their right mind, would spend all of summer in the U.K.?
It’s still torrential here in East London.
I guess time mellows so he may well look back on a good but not stellar career. Murray would definitely have underachieved if he hadn’t won a slam, even up against the big three, as he was for a time up there at the same level.
A German coach has been thrown out of the Olympics for appearing to punch a horse who was refusing to jump or trot during the modern pentathlon.
BBC News - Afghanistan war: Taliban say jail captured and prisoners freed
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-58127407
1st with just the laser quest / running lark to go.
Nicer weather in the former, but the latter had castles.
I would argue that the top 80% income deciles can easily afford a foreign holiday once a year.
a) clutching at straws?
b) defending the indefensible?
You may as well complain about the internet on the grounds that a first class stamp worked perfectly well for your parents.
The unpredictability of British weather does make event organisation difficult - friends who had put on a big music festival near here have just had to cancel as the fields are literally under water. They'd thought August would be pretty safe but...
We only invaded in 2001 because 9\11 was launched by Bin Laden from Afghanistan and the Taliban refused to hand him over.
Bin Laden is now dead but we will have to do a deal with the Taliban to give them some of rural Afghanistan in return for not allowing Al Qaeda back in
A train ticket from London to the Lake District or Cornwall (or vice versa) often costs more than a flight to the med, and costs are much cheaper once you get to the med.
However it is only the rich who can afford to go to the Maldives or Caribbean in the winter and indeed North America is not somewhere the average Brit can afford to go to every year either
https://twitter.com/daniellambert29/status/1423915344264114182?s=21
Supply chains. Who needs ‘em?
I can understand going on holiday to somewhere warmer in the colder, wetter, half of the British year, but I don't understand doing so at the time of year when we have the best chance of good weather. A bit of a waste really.
Nearly concussed myself.