On topic, unless Sadiq Khan wants to go back to Westminster (as part of a winning Labour Party presumably) he may as well stay Mayor until 2028 then find a Westminster seat in London (East Ham?) and then be part of the winning Labour Party.
Will he win in 2024?
Bailey did much better than many expected or anticipated including me. He won a Ward in Newham (Custom House) by 789 to 742 and the Conservative candidate in the East Ham Central by election polled a respectable 30%.
The question then becomes - who is the Conservative candidate that can reach the parts even Shaun Bailey couldn't reach? Unless Bailey finds a safe Westminster seat, I'm sure he'll be in the running for another go and there's the thing - he can either have the relatively certainty and obscurity of being a backbench MP or the uncertainty and profile of being London Mayor.
@TSE seems certain he knows the outcome of the next GE - as Richard Hoiles once said of Frankie Dettori after the Nunthorpe "he's sure I'm not".
Iff things generally remain the way they are then I'd expect the Conservatives to win the next election.
But oppositions don't win elections but governments lose them.
As I mentioned to JohnO I can easily see a situation where the blue wall crumbles and the Conservatives lose 50 seats in England & Wales and five seats in Scotland and kaboom, we have a Labour led government because no one will go into coalition/supply and confidence agreement.
I mean the DUP will never back Boris Johnson or the modern day Tories for putting a border down the Irish Sea, I think we can rule out the Lib Dems as well, cannot imagine Sinn Fein breaking their abstentionism to give the Tories a majority and I know climate change is an issue but cannot see hell freezing over and us having a Tory/SNP coalition at Westminster.
Attlee was of the traditional Labour left, the idea of forging consensus around policies that were necessary and useful, he would not today be advocating nationalising large swathes of the economy.
He’s closer to Blair than Corbyn, I know that is hard for some to take
I don't think it at all likely Attlee would have agreed to invade Iraq.
Attlee agreed to invade Iran to secure Iran's oil.
Indeed - a strategic calculation, rather than a strategic blunder.
Nah, Attlee made Mohammad Reza Pahlavi the Shah which turned out be a disaster.
For those PBers still wetting themselves about the extra £4 a week NI
Daily Mail has a £5 off £25 spend at LIDL
First installment covered
Don't shop at Lidl, don't buy the Mail. Other than that, great plan!
Maybe you should, and just for you its also in the Metro which is free so you get a free £5 rather than a net£4.20 if you buy the Daily Mail.
Please feel free to ignore if you are so wealthy that the NI hit barely touches the sides.
I bought 3 Daily Mails yesterday
You were robbed, the internet says it's 65p. So net £4.35.
That's half of a bottle of Lidl's burgundy, mind. TY for the tip.
What on earth are you doing buying wine at Lidl ffs.
Aldi is where you want to be. Their house champagne is extremely decent (I have a bottle of it on me now as I go to visit the aged aunt). They also have a proper Gevrey Chambertin at twenty-five quid which will drink beautifully in a few years. Plus, whisper it, their £4.50 straight AOC claret is perfectly nice also as an everyday drinker.
That said, always happy to have recommendations from Lidl.
+1 - Aldi's wine selection is decent, their ice wine is something we keep an eye out for its arrival as it usually sells out quickly.
They should also have an interesting sparkling red later this month if Aldi are following last years calendar
Well you learn something everyday. I have never heard of ice wine and had to look it up. It all seems pricy. What ball park price region are we talking about at Aldi and how do I identify it please?
My other joy of going to Aldi is for the laughs going down the centre isle. My favourites so far are:
1) Blocks to stop your caravan rolling away 2) Horse bridle 3 Spare wheelbarrow wheel
I mean do they ever sell any of these? Who would go into Aldi on the off chance?
2) Horse bridle 3 Spare wheelbarrow wheel
Those are both useful items. I do actually need to get a barrow wheel. Which ALDI was this ?
Until I replaced it, our loft ladder was from ALDI. Installed prior to us buying the house. Middle aisle special? Hard to imagine: "Let's see, beans, milk, toilet roll... Oh look, a loft ladder, that's a good deal, I'll just pop it in the trolley". And yet, there it was, in our house. Non-living proof.
I will admit I have been tempted a few times; they are so cheap. But I realise that I would then have to buy a horse or a caravan. I do have two wheelbarrows, but they both have wheels surprisingly enough.
For those PBers still wetting themselves about the extra £4 a week NI
Daily Mail has a £5 off £25 spend at LIDL
First installment covered
Don't shop at Lidl, don't buy the Mail. Other than that, great plan!
Maybe you should, and just for you its also in the Metro which is free so you get a free £5 rather than a net£4.20 if you buy the Daily Mail.
Please feel free to ignore if you are so wealthy that the NI hit barely touches the sides.
I bought 3 Daily Mails yesterday
You were robbed, the internet says it's 65p. So net £4.35.
That's half of a bottle of Lidl's burgundy, mind. TY for the tip.
What on earth are you doing buying wine at Lidl ffs.
Aldi is where you want to be. Their house champagne is extremely decent (I have a bottle of it on me now as I go to visit the aged aunt). They also have a proper Gevrey Chambertin at twenty-five quid which will drink beautifully in a few years. Plus, whisper it, their £4.50 straight AOC claret is perfectly nice also as an everyday drinker.
That said, always happy to have recommendations from Lidl.
+1 - Aldi's wine selection is decent, their ice wine is something we keep an eye out for its arrival as it usually sells out quickly.
They should also have an interesting sparkling red later this month if Aldi are following last years calendar
Well you learn something everyday. I have never heard of ice wine and had to look it up. It all seems pricy. What ball park price region are we talking about at Aldi and how do I identify it please?
My other joy of going to Aldi is for the laughs going down the centre isle. My favourites so far are:
1) Blocks to stop your caravan rolling away 2) Horse bridle 3 Spare wheelbarrow wheel
I mean do they ever sell any of these? Who would go into Aldi on the off chance?
2) Horse bridle 3 Spare wheelbarrow wheel
Those are both useful items. I do actually need to get one a barrow wheel. Which ALDI was this ?
Spare wheelbarrow wheels are a thing - just google. I've just been buying spare parts for my inherited Workmate from Tools and Parts Direct so if you have the model number shove it into their website and see if it comes up. But DIY and builders' merchants stock them anyway. No need to bother with Aldi?
Were you able to put down a deposit on a house with your inherited Workmate?
No - old enough to be able to save for it (though mum and dad did speed things up with a gift, it was not essential). Even in 1987 pounds, a few thousand was much more achievable for a singleton than today.
But very pleased to find that even my late dad's ancient Workmate still had rubber feet and other bits available.
It was, of course, harder to get hold of avocados then. Less temptation to fritter away your money
Labour will obviously pleased to see a poll placing it 2% ahead of the Tories - particularly in the context of a 9% Green recorded share which is highly unlikely to be sustained at more than a third of that level in a GE. I also strongly suspect that if GB polls reveal similar findings on a continuing basis that Labour will recover a fair bit of ground in Scotland . Anti-Tory voters there will not wish to 'miss the party' if there is every indication of Labour being the obvious vehicle for ousting them. I have to say though that it has also revived my anger and contempt at Starmer's decision to hold the Hartlepool and Batley& Spen by elections last Spring and early Summer.The Hartlepool MP - deprived of the Labour Whip - could still be sitting as an Independent on the same basis that the Delyn MP is there.At the very earliest, however, no by election writ should have been issued until this week with a view to polling in October. It remains a very serious - and to me- unforgiveable self inflicted wound and failure of political leadership.
“Missing the party”?
More like the missing party.
Ignoring, for the moment, the unionist issue (not unreasonably, as many Labour voters are sympathetic to indy), do you think there are many constituencies in Scotland where voting Labour rather than SNP has a better chance of ejecting the Tories? IIRC every Tory-held Westminster seat is strongly contested by the SNP with Labour and LDs as a very poor 3rd or 4th place. In fact I'd say that voting Labour is more likely to splot the anti-Tory vote.
Tactical voting isn't just for Unionists, however.
Attlee was of the traditional Labour left, the idea of forging consensus around policies that were necessary and useful, he would not today be advocating nationalising large swathes of the economy.
He’s closer to Blair than Corbyn, I know that is hard for some to take
I don't think it at all likely Attlee would have agreed to invade Iraq.
Attlee agreed to invade Iran to secure Iran's oil.
Indeed - a strategic calculation, rather than a strategic blunder.
Anyone else nostalgic for the days when the UK's blunders were at least strategic? Seems so long ago
Attlee was of the traditional Labour left, the idea of forging consensus around policies that were necessary and useful, he would not today be advocating nationalising large swathes of the economy.
He’s closer to Blair than Corbyn, I know that is hard for some to take
I don't think it at all likely Attlee would have agreed to invade Iraq.
Attlee agreed to invade Iran to secure Iran's oil.
Indeed - a strategic calculation, rather than a strategic blunder.
Nah, Attlee made Mohammad Reza Pahlavi the Shah which turned out be a disaster.
On topic, unless Sadiq Khan wants to go back to Westminster (as part of a winning Labour Party presumably) he may as well stay Mayor until 2028 then find a Westminster seat in London (East Ham?) and then be part of the winning Labour Party.
Will he win in 2024?
Bailey did much better than many expected or anticipated including me. He won a Ward in Newham (Custom House) by 789 to 742 and the Conservative candidate in the East Ham Central by election polled a respectable 30%.
The question then becomes - who is the Conservative candidate that can reach the parts even Shaun Bailey couldn't reach? Unless Bailey finds a safe Westminster seat, I'm sure he'll be in the running for another go and there's the thing - he can either have the relatively certainty and obscurity of being a backbench MP or the uncertainty and profile of being London Mayor.
@TSE seems certain he knows the outcome of the next GE - as Richard Hoiles once said of Frankie Dettori after the Nunthorpe "he's sure I'm not".
Iff things generally remain the way they are then I'd expect the Conservatives to win the next election.
But oppositions don't win elections but governments lose them.
As I mentioned to JohnO I can easily see a situation where the blue wall crumbles and the Conservatives lose 50 seats in England & Wales and five seats in Scotland and kaboom, we have a Labour led government because no one will go into coalition/supply and confidence agreement.
I mean the DUP will never back Boris Johnson or the modern day Tories for putting a border down the Irish Sea, I think we can rule out the Lib Dems as well, cannot imagine Sinn Fein breaking their abstentionism to give the Tories a majority and I know climate change is an issue but cannot see hell freezing over and us having a Tory/SNP coalition at Westminster.
Why should anyone in the North vote Tory when the purpose of the party now is apparently to tax people who work in order to redistribute money to those inheriting expensive houses.
If there's an £80k cap on your expenses, with a £100k floor, then if your house in the South is worth £550k then that's worth possibly £370k to you.
If there's an £80k cap on your expenses, with a £100k floor, then if your house in the North is worth £180k then that's worth absolutely nothing to you. Except the higher taxes that came with it.
For those PBers still wetting themselves about the extra £4 a week NI
Daily Mail has a £5 off £25 spend at LIDL
First installment covered
Don't shop at Lidl, don't buy the Mail. Other than that, great plan!
Maybe you should, and just for you its also in the Metro which is free so you get a free £5 rather than a net£4.20 if you buy the Daily Mail.
Please feel free to ignore if you are so wealthy that the NI hit barely touches the sides.
I bought 3 Daily Mails yesterday
You were robbed, the internet says it's 65p. So net £4.35.
That's half of a bottle of Lidl's burgundy, mind. TY for the tip.
What on earth are you doing buying wine at Lidl ffs.
Aldi is where you want to be. Their house champagne is extremely decent (I have a bottle of it on me now as I go to visit the aged aunt). They also have a proper Gevrey Chambertin at twenty-five quid which will drink beautifully in a few years. Plus, whisper it, their £4.50 straight AOC claret is perfectly nice also as an everyday drinker.
That said, always happy to have recommendations from Lidl.
+1 - Aldi's wine selection is decent, their ice wine is something we keep an eye out for its arrival as it usually sells out quickly.
They should also have an interesting sparkling red later this month if Aldi are following last years calendar
Well you learn something everyday. I have never heard of ice wine and had to look it up. It all seems pricy. What ball park price region are we talking about at Aldi and how do I identify it please?
My other joy of going to Aldi is for the laughs going down the centre isle. My favourites so far are:
1) Blocks to stop your caravan rolling away 2) Horse bridle 3 Spare wheelbarrow wheel
I mean do they ever sell any of these? Who would go into Aldi on the off chance?
2) Horse bridle 3 Spare wheelbarrow wheel
Those are both useful items. I do actually need to get one a barrow wheel. Which ALDI was this ?
Spare wheelbarrow wheels are a thing - just google. I've just been buying spare parts for my inherited Workmate from Tools and Parts Direct so if you have the model number shove it into their website and see if it comes up. But DIY and builders' merchants stock them anyway. No need to bother with Aldi?
Were you able to put down a deposit on a house with your inherited Workmate?
No - old enough to be able to save for it (though mum and dad did speed things up with a gift, it was not essential). Even in 1987 pounds, a few thousand was much more achievable for a singleton than today.
But very pleased to find that even my late dad's ancient Workmate still had rubber feet and other bits available.
It was, of course, harder to get hold of avocados then. Less temptation to fritter away your money
Not nearly so many coffee bars, either. We went to the pub at lunchtime instead, mind.
Attlee was of the traditional Labour left, the idea of forging consensus around policies that were necessary and useful, he would not today be advocating nationalising large swathes of the economy.
He’s closer to Blair than Corbyn, I know that is hard for some to take
I don't think it at all likely Attlee would have agreed to invade Iraq.
Attlee agreed to invade Iran to secure Iran's oil.
Indeed - a strategic calculation, rather than a strategic blunder.
Nah, Attlee made Mohammad Reza Pahlavi the Shah which turned out be a disaster.
Attlee wasn't PM in 53.
Nah, he became Shah in 1941 after the Anglo Soviet invasion of Iran.
Attlee was of the traditional Labour left, the idea of forging consensus around policies that were necessary and useful, he would not today be advocating nationalising large swathes of the economy.
He’s closer to Blair than Corbyn, I know that is hard for some to take
I don't think it at all likely Attlee would have agreed to invade Iraq.
Attlee agreed to invade Iran to secure Iran's oil.
Indeed - a strategic calculation, rather than a strategic blunder.
Nah, Attlee made Mohammad Reza Pahlavi the Shah which turned out be a disaster.
Wasn't the Shah doing a pretty good job all things considered - until he got cancer and hid it from the world and kind of lost his mind.
I'm loving the anti-maskers on here today. It's hilarious. Calling people who judge their own risks and choose to wear masks at certain times things like 'moronic' et al.
I am still wearing a mask at certain times. I judge when and where I will wear my mask; it is not always, but whenever I go into a shop, or pick or drop off the little 'un from school. To be frank, it's not much - perhaps twenty or thirty minutes a day, tops. I have judged the risks - as I see them - and made a choice.
It also does f'all harm. to myself or anyone around me - and may even help.
That's not moronic. It's personal choice in a civilised society.
I wonder what the sight of parents wearing masks for no particular reason does to small children. We will I suppose have to wait for any conclusions and those will be hazy at best.
Do you have the same worries about parents wearing scarves or sunglasses? What about a very bushy moustache?
Sozza only looking for non-twattish answers to this.
Why would putting on a mask to go round a supermarket damage children, but wearing sunglasses not? You seem like one of those people who just enjoys judging others, and you get angry if someone asks if you are being entirely consistent.
Sozza x2. You moron.
Masks are in response to a global pandemic which we seem to be in the tail end of. Global pandemics are scary, especially for children but more importantly it is how adults around children behave that will influence the level of anxiety. Wearing masks is the most visible indication of anxiety on behalf of the wearer whether justified or not.
Wearing sunglasses are none of these things and at the risk of repeating myself, you moron.
A week late but finally my "at least 1-in-50" prediction has borne fruit.
Can you predict something a bit more optimistic.
In November I'm spending 8/9 days in Glasgow/Edinburgh seeing Blondie (with Garbage as the warm up) and a week later The Offspring and I'm starting to get worried both will be cancelled.
With the sharp incline in the Scotland hospitalisation and (crucially) Ventilator figures similarly shooting upwards taking us to 50% of the winter peak and no immediate sign of cases declining I'm not in an optimistic mood at the moment.
This time last month I was cheerily optimistic about the autumn but now it looks like the hospital figures are on a 2 week doubling time.
Attlee was of the traditional Labour left, the idea of forging consensus around policies that were necessary and useful, he would not today be advocating nationalising large swathes of the economy.
He’s closer to Blair than Corbyn, I know that is hard for some to take
I strongly disagree. Blair was closer to Thatcher than to Attlee - and well to the right of Tory figures such as Macmillan, Heath, Macleod, Butler , Maudling - indeed even Baldwin.
Attlee closer to Blair than Corbyn. Blair closer to Thatcher than Attlee. These can BOTH be true.
C ............ A ....... B ... T
That is possible though I do not share the view that Attlee was even vaguely close to Blair on the political spectrum. It also implies that many pre-Thatcher Tory politicians were closer to Attlee than to Blair.
I think you're right. Just it got me thinking about the algebra there.
A week late but finally my "at least 1-in-50" prediction has borne fruit.
Can you predict something a bit more optimistic.
In November I'm spending 8/9 days in Glasgow/Edinburgh seeing Blondie (with Garbage as the warm up) and a week later The Offspring and I'm starting to get worried both will be cancelled.
With the sharp incline in the Scotland hospitalisation and (crucially) Ventilator figures similarly shooting upwards taking us to 50% of the winter peak and no immediate sign of cases declining I'm not in an optimistic mood at the moment.
This time last month I was cheerily optimistic about the autumn,
Another weekday-on-weekday rise. Less a peak and more a gently rising plateau.
The England numbers will be interesting later. If they go down again like they were yesterday then it will raise questions as to what the difference in cases in Scotland and England is due to?
My best guess if they are down would be that Scotland had fewer cases earlier in the pandemic and although people are now jabbed they are still getting Covid. Whereas in England many more people have had it previously which is likely the best form of protection against getting it again.
A week late but finally my "at least 1-in-50" prediction has borne fruit.
Can you predict something a bit more optimistic.
In November I'm spending 8/9 days in Glasgow/Edinburgh seeing Blondie (with Garbage as the warm up) and a week later The Offspring and I'm starting to get worried both will be cancelled.
With the sharp incline in the Scotland hospitalisation and (crucially) Ventilator figures similarly shooting upwards taking us to 50% of the winter peak and no immediate sign of cases declining I'm not in an optimistic mood at the moment.
This time last month I was cheerily optimistic about the autumn,
Attlee was of the traditional Labour left, the idea of forging consensus around policies that were necessary and useful, he would not today be advocating nationalising large swathes of the economy.
He’s closer to Blair than Corbyn, I know that is hard for some to take
I strongly disagree. Blair was closer to Thatcher than to Attlee - and well to the right of Tory figures such as Macmillan, Heath, Macleod, Butler , Maudling - indeed even Baldwin.
Attlee closer to Blair than Corbyn. Blair closer to Thatcher than Attlee. These can BOTH be true.
C ............ A ....... B ... T
That is possible though I do not share the view that Attlee was even vaguely close to Blair on the political spectrum. It also implies that many pre-Thatcher Tory politicians were closer to Attlee than to Blair.
I think you're right. Just it got me thinking about the algebra there.
Your Algebra worked and his implication is wrong. Just as its possible to have Attlee closer to Blair than Corbyn, for the same logic its possible to have Wilson closer to Blair than Attlee.
For those PBers still wetting themselves about the extra £4 a week NI
Daily Mail has a £5 off £25 spend at LIDL
First installment covered
Don't shop at Lidl, don't buy the Mail. Other than that, great plan!
Maybe you should, and just for you its also in the Metro which is free so you get a free £5 rather than a net£4.20 if you buy the Daily Mail.
Please feel free to ignore if you are so wealthy that the NI hit barely touches the sides.
I bought 3 Daily Mails yesterday
You were robbed, the internet says it's 65p. So net £4.35.
That's half of a bottle of Lidl's burgundy, mind. TY for the tip.
What on earth are you doing buying wine at Lidl ffs.
Aldi is where you want to be. Their house champagne is extremely decent (I have a bottle of it on me now as I go to visit the aged aunt). They also have a proper Gevrey Chambertin at twenty-five quid which will drink beautifully in a few years. Plus, whisper it, their £4.50 straight AOC claret is perfectly nice also as an everyday drinker.
That said, always happy to have recommendations from Lidl.
+1 - Aldi's wine selection is decent, their ice wine is something we keep an eye out for its arrival as it usually sells out quickly.
They should also have an interesting sparkling red later this month if Aldi are following last years calendar
Well you learn something everyday. I have never heard of ice wine and had to look it up. It all seems pricy. What ball park price region are we talking about at Aldi and how do I identify it please?
My other joy of going to Aldi is for the laughs going down the centre isle. My favourites so far are:
1) Blocks to stop your caravan rolling away 2) Horse bridle 3 Spare wheelbarrow wheel
I mean do they ever sell any of these? Who would go into Aldi on the off chance?
2) Horse bridle 3 Spare wheelbarrow wheel
Those are both useful items. I do actually need to get a barrow wheel. Which ALDI was this ?
Until I replaced it, our loft ladder was from ALDI. Installed prior to us buying the house. Middle aisle special? Hard to imagine: "Let's see, beans, milk, toilet roll... Oh look, a loft ladder, that's a good deal, I'll just pop it in the trolley". And yet, there it was, in our house. Non-living proof.
that was the joke about the shortages during lockdown 1.
Tesco have said they have no dried pasta, Sainsbury's tell us they have no loo roll, and Aldi have confirmed they are all out of Oxy-Acetylene Welding kits.
Labour will obviously pleased to see a poll placing it 2% ahead of the Tories - particularly in the context of a 9% Green recorded share which is highly unlikely to be sustained at more than a third of that level in a GE. I also strongly suspect that if GB polls reveal similar findings on a continuing basis that Labour will recover a fair bit of ground in Scotland . Anti-Tory voters there will not wish to 'miss the party' if there is every indication of Labour being the obvious vehicle for ousting them. I have to say though that it has also revived my anger and contempt at Starmer's decision to hold the Hartlepool and Batley& Spen by elections last Spring and early Summer.The Hartlepool MP - deprived of the Labour Whip - could still be sitting as an Independent on the same basis that the Delyn MP is there.At the very earliest, however, no by election writ should have been issued until this week with a view to polling in October. It remains a very serious - and to me- unforgiveable self inflicted wound and failure of political leadership.
“Missing the party”?
More like the missing party.
Ignoring, for the moment, the unionist issue (not unreasonably, as many Labour voters are sympathetic to indy), do you think there are many constituencies in Scotland where voting Labour rather than SNP has a better chance of ejecting the Tories? IIRC every Tory-held Westminster seat is strongly contested by the SNP with Labour and LDs as a very poor 3rd or 4th place. In fact I'd say that voting Labour is more likely to splot the anti-Tory vote.
Tactical voting isn't just for Unionists, however.
In the context of GB polls pointing to a close GE result it is surely not unreasonable to expect Labour to exceed its 2017 vote share in Scotland.
For those PBers still wetting themselves about the extra £4 a week NI
Daily Mail has a £5 off £25 spend at LIDL
First installment covered
Don't shop at Lidl, don't buy the Mail. Other than that, great plan!
Maybe you should, and just for you its also in the Metro which is free so you get a free £5 rather than a net£4.20 if you buy the Daily Mail.
Please feel free to ignore if you are so wealthy that the NI hit barely touches the sides.
I bought 3 Daily Mails yesterday
You were robbed, the internet says it's 65p. So net £4.35.
That's half of a bottle of Lidl's burgundy, mind. TY for the tip.
What on earth are you doing buying wine at Lidl ffs.
Aldi is where you want to be. Their house champagne is extremely decent (I have a bottle of it on me now as I go to visit the aged aunt). They also have a proper Gevrey Chambertin at twenty-five quid which will drink beautifully in a few years. Plus, whisper it, their £4.50 straight AOC claret is perfectly nice also as an everyday drinker.
That said, always happy to have recommendations from Lidl.
+1 - Aldi's wine selection is decent, their ice wine is something we keep an eye out for its arrival as it usually sells out quickly.
They should also have an interesting sparkling red later this month if Aldi are following last years calendar
Well you learn something everyday. I have never heard of ice wine and had to look it up. It all seems pricy. What ball park price region are we talking about at Aldi and how do I identify it please?
My other joy of going to Aldi is for the laughs going down the centre isle. My favourites so far are:
1) Blocks to stop your caravan rolling away 2) Horse bridle 3 Spare wheelbarrow wheel
I mean do they ever sell any of these? Who would go into Aldi on the off chance?
2) Horse bridle 3 Spare wheelbarrow wheel
Those are both useful items. I do actually need to get a barrow wheel. Which ALDI was this ?
Until I replaced it, our loft ladder was from ALDI. Installed prior to us buying the house. Middle aisle special? Hard to imagine: "Let's see, beans, milk, toilet roll... Oh look, a loft ladder, that's a good deal, I'll just pop it in the trolley". And yet, there it was, in our house. Non-living proof.
that was the joke about the shortages during lockdown 1.
Tesco have said they have no dried pasta, Sainsbury's tell us they have no loo roll, and Aldi have confirmed they are all out of Oxy-Acetylene Welding kits.
The middle at Lidl is an institution.
I would love to be the buyer for that. The sky's the limit.
Attlee was of the traditional Labour left, the idea of forging consensus around policies that were necessary and useful, he would not today be advocating nationalising large swathes of the economy.
He’s closer to Blair than Corbyn, I know that is hard for some to take
I don't think it at all likely Attlee would have agreed to invade Iraq.
Attlee agreed to invade Iran to secure Iran's oil.
Indeed - a strategic calculation, rather than a strategic blunder.
Nah, Attlee made Mohammad Reza Pahlavi the Shah which turned out be a disaster.
Attlee wasn't PM in 53.
Nah, he became Shah in 1941 after the Anglo Soviet invasion of Iran.
Sure, but I don't think you can read that all the way through to the mistake of deposing Mosaddegh (though admittedly the oil boycott which Attlee initiated as PM destabilised him), still less to the disaster the Shah turned out to be in the '70s.
Attlee was of the traditional Labour left, the idea of forging consensus around policies that were necessary and useful, he would not today be advocating nationalising large swathes of the economy.
He’s closer to Blair than Corbyn, I know that is hard for some to take
I don't think it at all likely Attlee would have agreed to invade Iraq.
Attlee agreed to invade Iran to secure Iran's oil.
Churchill was Prime Minister in 1941.
Also, the invasion was to guarantee a secure supply line to the Soviet Union. Britain withdrew by 1945, but the Soviets occupied the north of Iran until 1946.
Attlee was of the traditional Labour left, the idea of forging consensus around policies that were necessary and useful, he would not today be advocating nationalising large swathes of the economy.
He’s closer to Blair than Corbyn, I know that is hard for some to take
I don't think it at all likely Attlee would have agreed to invade Iraq.
Attlee agreed to invade Iran to secure Iran's oil.
Indeed - a strategic calculation, rather than a strategic blunder.
Nah, Attlee made Mohammad Reza Pahlavi the Shah which turned out be a disaster.
Attlee wasn't PM in 53.
Nah, he became Shah in 1941 after the Anglo Soviet invasion of Iran.
Sure, but I don't think you can read that all the way through to the mistake of deposing Mosaddegh (though admittedly the oil boycott which Attlee initiated as PM destabilised him), still less to the disaster the Shah turned out to be in the '70s.
It was the Islamic Revolution in '79 which put a stop to the USAID special and decade-long project to irrigate the Helmand Valley which, had it been successful, might have lead to a hugely different outcome in Afghan these past few years.
A week late but finally my "at least 1-in-50" prediction has borne fruit.
Can you predict something a bit more optimistic.
In November I'm spending 8/9 days in Glasgow/Edinburgh seeing Blondie (with Garbage as the warm up) and a week later The Offspring and I'm starting to get worried both will be cancelled.
With the sharp incline in the Scotland hospitalisation and (crucially) Ventilator figures similarly shooting upwards taking us to 50% of the winter peak and no immediate sign of cases declining I'm not in an optimistic mood at the moment.
This time last month I was cheerily optimistic about the autumn but now it looks like the hospital figures are on a 2 week doubling time.
My work's RTO is 20/9, having moved out of London in lockdown one I think that I've done a masterstroke by signing a 6 week tenancy starting then. By 3-4 weeks in it'll be very clear to what extent we'll be restricted this winter.
Attlee was of the traditional Labour left, the idea of forging consensus around policies that were necessary and useful, he would not today be advocating nationalising large swathes of the economy.
He’s closer to Blair than Corbyn, I know that is hard for some to take
I don't think it at all likely Attlee would have agreed to invade Iraq.
Attlee agreed to invade Iran to secure Iran's oil.
Indeed - a strategic calculation, rather than a strategic blunder.
Nah, Attlee made Mohammad Reza Pahlavi the Shah which turned out be a disaster.
Attlee wasn't PM in 53.
Nah, he became Shah in 1941 after the Anglo Soviet invasion of Iran.
Sure, but I don't think you can read that all the way through to the mistake of deposing Mosaddegh (though admittedly the oil boycott which Attlee initiated as PM destabilised him), still less to the disaster the Shah turned out to be in the '70s.
If the Shah had died in '69 he'd probably be fondly remembered in Iran as one of their greatest leaders of all time.
That's the problem with non-democracies. At his prime he was actually a good leader, but then he got cancer, turned inwards and was unable to react to the world around him. In a democracy he'd have been replaced by then, but as Shah the nation was stuck with him and he was incapable of moving on.
For those PBers still wetting themselves about the extra £4 a week NI
Daily Mail has a £5 off £25 spend at LIDL
First installment covered
Don't shop at Lidl, don't buy the Mail. Other than that, great plan!
Maybe you should, and just for you its also in the Metro which is free so you get a free £5 rather than a net£4.20 if you buy the Daily Mail.
Please feel free to ignore if you are so wealthy that the NI hit barely touches the sides.
I bought 3 Daily Mails yesterday
You were robbed, the internet says it's 65p. So net £4.35.
That's half of a bottle of Lidl's burgundy, mind. TY for the tip.
What on earth are you doing buying wine at Lidl ffs.
Aldi is where you want to be. Their house champagne is extremely decent (I have a bottle of it on me now as I go to visit the aged aunt). They also have a proper Gevrey Chambertin at twenty-five quid which will drink beautifully in a few years. Plus, whisper it, their £4.50 straight AOC claret is perfectly nice also as an everyday drinker.
That said, always happy to have recommendations from Lidl.
+1 - Aldi's wine selection is decent, their ice wine is something we keep an eye out for its arrival as it usually sells out quickly.
They should also have an interesting sparkling red later this month if Aldi are following last years calendar
Well you learn something everyday. I have never heard of ice wine and had to look it up. It all seems pricy. What ball park price region are we talking about at Aldi and how do I identify it please?
My other joy of going to Aldi is for the laughs going down the centre isle. My favourites so far are:
1) Blocks to stop your caravan rolling away 2) Horse bridle 3 Spare wheelbarrow wheel
I mean do they ever sell any of these? Who would go into Aldi on the off chance?
2) Horse bridle 3 Spare wheelbarrow wheel
Those are both useful items. I do actually need to get one a barrow wheel. Which ALDI was this ?
Spare wheelbarrow wheels are a thing - just google. I've just been buying spare parts for my inherited Workmate from Tools and Parts Direct so if you have the model number shove it into their website and see if it comes up. But DIY and builders' merchants stock them anyway. No need to bother with Aldi?
A bloke from a different country starts work on a building site, foreman asks him to go get him a wheelbarrow. Comes back pushing a wheelbarrow with a wheelbarrow in it. Foreman says “why’ve your brought me two?” Bloke says “you didn’t expect me to carry it did you?”
Another weekday-on-weekday rise. Less a peak and more a gently rising plateau.
The England numbers will be interesting later. If they go down again like they were yesterday then it will raise questions as to what the difference in cases in Scotland and England is due to?
My best guess if they are down would be that Scotland had fewer cases earlier in the pandemic and although people are now jabbed they are still getting Covid. Whereas in England many more people have had it previously which is likely the best form of protection against getting it again.
My old Borough of Redridge was one of the hotspots through 2020 into the second wave, now near the bottom of Malmesbury's tables, which makes the point
Another weekday-on-weekday rise. Less a peak and more a gently rising plateau.
The England numbers will be interesting later. If they go down again like they were yesterday then it will raise questions as to what the difference in cases in Scotland and England is due to?
My best guess if they are down would be that Scotland had fewer cases earlier in the pandemic and although people are now jabbed they are still getting Covid. Whereas in England many more people have had it previously which is likely the best form of protection against getting it again.
My old Borough of Redridge was one of the hotspots through 2020 into the second wave, now near the bottom of Malmesbury's tables, which makes the point
For those PBers still wetting themselves about the extra £4 a week NI
Daily Mail has a £5 off £25 spend at LIDL
First installment covered
Don't shop at Lidl, don't buy the Mail. Other than that, great plan!
Maybe you should, and just for you its also in the Metro which is free so you get a free £5 rather than a net£4.20 if you buy the Daily Mail.
Please feel free to ignore if you are so wealthy that the NI hit barely touches the sides.
I bought 3 Daily Mails yesterday
You were robbed, the internet says it's 65p. So net £4.35.
That's half of a bottle of Lidl's burgundy, mind. TY for the tip.
What on earth are you doing buying wine at Lidl ffs.
Aldi is where you want to be. Their house champagne is extremely decent (I have a bottle of it on me now as I go to visit the aged aunt). They also have a proper Gevrey Chambertin at twenty-five quid which will drink beautifully in a few years. Plus, whisper it, their £4.50 straight AOC claret is perfectly nice also as an everyday drinker.
That said, always happy to have recommendations from Lidl.
+1 - Aldi's wine selection is decent, their ice wine is something we keep an eye out for its arrival as it usually sells out quickly.
They should also have an interesting sparkling red later this month if Aldi are following last years calendar
Well you learn something everyday. I have never heard of ice wine and had to look it up. It all seems pricy. What ball park price region are we talking about at Aldi and how do I identify it please?
My other joy of going to Aldi is for the laughs going down the centre isle. My favourites so far are:
1) Blocks to stop your caravan rolling away 2) Horse bridle 3 Spare wheelbarrow wheel
I mean do they ever sell any of these? Who would go into Aldi on the off chance?
2) Horse bridle 3 Spare wheelbarrow wheel
Those are both useful items. I do actually need to get one a barrow wheel. Which ALDI was this ?
Spare wheelbarrow wheels are a thing - just google. I've just been buying spare parts for my inherited Workmate from Tools and Parts Direct so if you have the model number shove it into their website and see if it comes up. But DIY and builders' merchants stock them anyway. No need to bother with Aldi?
Were you able to put down a deposit on a house with your inherited Workmate?
No - old enough to be able to save for it (though mum and dad did speed things up with a gift, it was not essential). Even in 1987 pounds, a few thousand was much more achievable for a singleton than today.
But very pleased to find that even my late dad's ancient Workmate still had rubber feet and other bits available.
It was, of course, harder to get hold of avocados then. Less temptation to fritter away your money
Not nearly so many coffee bars, either. We went to the pub at lunchtime instead, mind.
but didnt the pubs still have to close at 2pm then for the rest of the afternoon?
"Yorkshire care home resident, 100, pleads for end to Covid isolation Frances Heaton says 90,000 people can gather at Leeds Festival but only one of her children can visit her"
Labour will obviously pleased to see a poll placing it 2% ahead of the Tories - particularly in the context of a 9% Green recorded share which is highly unlikely to be sustained at more than a third of that level in a GE. I also strongly suspect that if GB polls reveal similar findings on a continuing basis that Labour will recover a fair bit of ground in Scotland . Anti-Tory voters there will not wish to 'miss the party' if there is every indication of Labour being the obvious vehicle for ousting them. I have to say though that it has also revived my anger and contempt at Starmer's decision to hold the Hartlepool and Batley& Spen by elections last Spring and early Summer.The Hartlepool MP - deprived of the Labour Whip - could still be sitting as an Independent on the same basis that the Delyn MP is there.At the very earliest, however, no by election writ should have been issued until this week with a view to polling in October. It remains a very serious - and to me- unforgiveable self inflicted wound and failure of political leadership.
“Missing the party”?
More like the missing party.
Ignoring, for the moment, the unionist issue (not unreasonably, as many Labour voters are sympathetic to indy), do you think there are many constituencies in Scotland where voting Labour rather than SNP has a better chance of ejecting the Tories? IIRC every Tory-held Westminster seat is strongly contested by the SNP with Labour and LDs as a very poor 3rd or 4th place. In fact I'd say that voting Labour is more likely to splot the anti-Tory vote.
Tactical voting isn't just for Unionists, however.
In the context of GB polls pointing to a close GE result it is surely not unreasonable to expect Labour to exceed its 2017 vote share in Scotland.
You did say 'Anti-Tory voters there will not wish to 'miss the party' if there is every indication of Labour being the obvious vehicle for ousting them.' Not much point in voting Labour in the Tory-held seats, where the existing vote is a fraction of the current SNP one.
Re Labour-SNP marginals, there's better scope - there are 6 Scottish ones to be had off the SNP for a notional 6% swing, but that would yield 66 other (edit: non-Scots) seats anyway off the Tories (mostly) anyway.
Twitter has lost its collective mind over this 2-point Labour lead: you’d think we’re in a system with daily elections. Here’s what the polls looked like for the 2010-15 parliament. The Tories went on to win the next election by seven points.
For those PBers still wetting themselves about the extra £4 a week NI
Daily Mail has a £5 off £25 spend at LIDL
First installment covered
Don't shop at Lidl, don't buy the Mail. Other than that, great plan!
Maybe you should, and just for you its also in the Metro which is free so you get a free £5 rather than a net£4.20 if you buy the Daily Mail.
Please feel free to ignore if you are so wealthy that the NI hit barely touches the sides.
I bought 3 Daily Mails yesterday
You were robbed, the internet says it's 65p. So net £4.35.
That's half of a bottle of Lidl's burgundy, mind. TY for the tip.
What on earth are you doing buying wine at Lidl ffs.
Aldi is where you want to be. Their house champagne is extremely decent (I have a bottle of it on me now as I go to visit the aged aunt). They also have a proper Gevrey Chambertin at twenty-five quid which will drink beautifully in a few years. Plus, whisper it, their £4.50 straight AOC claret is perfectly nice also as an everyday drinker.
That said, always happy to have recommendations from Lidl.
+1 - Aldi's wine selection is decent, their ice wine is something we keep an eye out for its arrival as it usually sells out quickly.
They should also have an interesting sparkling red later this month if Aldi are following last years calendar
Well you learn something everyday. I have never heard of ice wine and had to look it up. It all seems pricy. What ball park price region are we talking about at Aldi and how do I identify it please?
My other joy of going to Aldi is for the laughs going down the centre isle. My favourites so far are:
1) Blocks to stop your caravan rolling away 2) Horse bridle 3 Spare wheelbarrow wheel
I mean do they ever sell any of these? Who would go into Aldi on the off chance?
2) Horse bridle 3 Spare wheelbarrow wheel
Those are both useful items. I do actually need to get one a barrow wheel. Which ALDI was this ?
Spare wheelbarrow wheels are a thing - just google. I've just been buying spare parts for my inherited Workmate from Tools and Parts Direct so if you have the model number shove it into their website and see if it comes up. But DIY and builders' merchants stock them anyway. No need to bother with Aldi?
Were you able to put down a deposit on a house with your inherited Workmate?
No - old enough to be able to save for it (though mum and dad did speed things up with a gift, it was not essential). Even in 1987 pounds, a few thousand was much more achievable for a singleton than today.
But very pleased to find that even my late dad's ancient Workmate still had rubber feet and other bits available.
It was, of course, harder to get hold of avocados then. Less temptation to fritter away your money
Not nearly so many coffee bars, either. We went to the pub at lunchtime instead, mind.
but didnt the pubs still have to close at 2pm then for the rest of the afternoon?
Attlee was of the traditional Labour left, the idea of forging consensus around policies that were necessary and useful, he would not today be advocating nationalising large swathes of the economy.
He’s closer to Blair than Corbyn, I know that is hard for some to take
I strongly disagree. Blair was closer to Thatcher than to Attlee - and well to the right of Tory figures such as Macmillan, Heath, Macleod, Butler , Maudling - indeed even Baldwin.
Attlee closer to Blair than Corbyn. Blair closer to Thatcher than Attlee. These can BOTH be true.
C ............ A ....... B ... T
That is possible though I do not share the view that Attlee was even vaguely close to Blair on the political spectrum. It also implies that many pre-Thatcher Tory politicians were closer to Attlee than to Blair.
I think you're right. Just it got me thinking about the algebra there.
Your Algebra worked and his implication is wrong. Just as its possible to have Attlee closer to Blair than Corbyn, for the same logic its possible to have Wilson closer to Blair than Attlee.
C ............ A .... W ... B ... T
Ooh, can I join in? I'd go:
c..................T.....A.....W...B
I have drawn my axis on radical to consensus. Who wanted to rip up the book and start again and who wanted the main change to be the colour of the tie?
Also, I note that the tone of the conversation above is economic, but there is more to politics than economics. Corbyn's - how can I put it? - internationalism - is quite different from anyone else on the list. On that axis it's:
C......................BWTA
Corbyn was quite, quite different to any major party leader who had come before, except Michael Foot and George Lansbury. Even Michael Foot was a bit of a centrist-pragmatist on the non-economic side when compared to Corbyn.
For those PBers still wetting themselves about the extra £4 a week NI
Daily Mail has a £5 off £25 spend at LIDL
First installment covered
Don't shop at Lidl, don't buy the Mail. Other than that, great plan!
Maybe you should, and just for you its also in the Metro which is free so you get a free £5 rather than a net£4.20 if you buy the Daily Mail.
Please feel free to ignore if you are so wealthy that the NI hit barely touches the sides.
I bought 3 Daily Mails yesterday
You were robbed, the internet says it's 65p. So net £4.35.
That's half of a bottle of Lidl's burgundy, mind. TY for the tip.
What on earth are you doing buying wine at Lidl ffs.
Aldi is where you want to be. Their house champagne is extremely decent (I have a bottle of it on me now as I go to visit the aged aunt). They also have a proper Gevrey Chambertin at twenty-five quid which will drink beautifully in a few years. Plus, whisper it, their £4.50 straight AOC claret is perfectly nice also as an everyday drinker.
That said, always happy to have recommendations from Lidl.
+1 - Aldi's wine selection is decent, their ice wine is something we keep an eye out for its arrival as it usually sells out quickly.
They should also have an interesting sparkling red later this month if Aldi are following last years calendar
Well you learn something everyday. I have never heard of ice wine and had to look it up. It all seems pricy. What ball park price region are we talking about at Aldi and how do I identify it please?
My other joy of going to Aldi is for the laughs going down the centre isle. My favourites so far are:
1) Blocks to stop your caravan rolling away 2) Horse bridle 3 Spare wheelbarrow wheel
I mean do they ever sell any of these? Who would go into Aldi on the off chance?
2) Horse bridle 3 Spare wheelbarrow wheel
Those are both useful items. I do actually need to get one a barrow wheel. Which ALDI was this ?
Spare wheelbarrow wheels are a thing - just google. I've just been buying spare parts for my inherited Workmate from Tools and Parts Direct so if you have the model number shove it into their website and see if it comes up. But DIY and builders' merchants stock them anyway. No need to bother with Aldi?
A bloke from a different country starts work on a building site, foreman asks him to go get him a wheelbarrow. Comes back pushing a wheelbarrow with a wheelbarrow in it. Foreman says “why’ve your brought me two?” Bloke says “you didn’t expect me to carry it did you?”
My gf, in laws, and technically my son, are eligible for Irish citizenship so I needn’t have been so PC really
For those PBers still wetting themselves about the extra £4 a week NI
Daily Mail has a £5 off £25 spend at LIDL
First installment covered
Don't shop at Lidl, don't buy the Mail. Other than that, great plan!
Maybe you should, and just for you its also in the Metro which is free so you get a free £5 rather than a net£4.20 if you buy the Daily Mail.
Please feel free to ignore if you are so wealthy that the NI hit barely touches the sides.
I bought 3 Daily Mails yesterday
You were robbed, the internet says it's 65p. So net £4.35.
That's half of a bottle of Lidl's burgundy, mind. TY for the tip.
What on earth are you doing buying wine at Lidl ffs.
Aldi is where you want to be. Their house champagne is extremely decent (I have a bottle of it on me now as I go to visit the aged aunt). They also have a proper Gevrey Chambertin at twenty-five quid which will drink beautifully in a few years. Plus, whisper it, their £4.50 straight AOC claret is perfectly nice also as an everyday drinker.
That said, always happy to have recommendations from Lidl.
+1 - Aldi's wine selection is decent, their ice wine is something we keep an eye out for its arrival as it usually sells out quickly.
They should also have an interesting sparkling red later this month if Aldi are following last years calendar
Well you learn something everyday. I have never heard of ice wine and had to look it up. It all seems pricy. What ball park price region are we talking about at Aldi and how do I identify it please?
My other joy of going to Aldi is for the laughs going down the centre isle. My favourites so far are:
1) Blocks to stop your caravan rolling away 2) Horse bridle 3 Spare wheelbarrow wheel
I mean do they ever sell any of these? Who would go into Aldi on the off chance?
2) Horse bridle 3 Spare wheelbarrow wheel
Those are both useful items. I do actually need to get one a barrow wheel. Which ALDI was this ?
Spare wheelbarrow wheels are a thing - just google. I've just been buying spare parts for my inherited Workmate from Tools and Parts Direct so if you have the model number shove it into their website and see if it comes up. But DIY and builders' merchants stock them anyway. No need to bother with Aldi?
A bloke from a different country starts work on a building site, foreman asks him to go get him a wheelbarrow. Comes back pushing a wheelbarrow with a wheelbarrow in it. Foreman says “why’ve your brought me two?” Bloke says “you didn’t expect me to carry it did you?”
My gf, in laws, and technically my son, are eligible for Irish citizenship so I needn’t have been so PC really
Twitter has lost its collective mind over this 2-point Labour lead: you’d think we’re in a system with daily elections. Here’s what the polls looked like for the 2010-15 parliament. The Tories went on to win the next election by seven points.
How quickly we forget. This parliament so far has been quite unusual in that the govt has been so popular.
Not as popular as the Blair government was for almost all the 1997 parliament , and less so than the Thatcher government more than 18 months into its third term.In truth, normal party politics has pretty well been on hold for 18 months - only now is there some sense of normal service being resumed.
Just been to one of the greatest small art museums in the world. The Rosengart Collection. Lucerne. Acquired by Swiss Jewish art dealers Siegfried and daughter angela Rosengart from the 1920s.
Now housed in a 1920s bank it has an outstanding collection of Picassos (he painted angela 5 times - personal friends), a phenomenal collection of Klees, plus masterpieces by Cezanne, Bonnard, Dufy, Miro, Monet, Modigliani, Calder, Matisse, Seurat, Signac, You name it. And some superb Chagall
Ten rooms of total genius. It would make a good national gallery of modern European art for an average midsized European country. Like, say, Portugal. Or Finland. I’ve no doubt it’s superior to the equivalent in lubljana or Dublin. Or Australia? Or anywhere in Africa?
I am now getting happily drunk by the fake wooden medieval bridge
I'm loving the anti-maskers on here today. It's hilarious. Calling people who judge their own risks and choose to wear masks at certain times things like 'moronic' et al.
I am still wearing a mask at certain times. I judge when and where I will wear my mask; it is not always, but whenever I go into a shop, or pick or drop off the little 'un from school. To be frank, it's not much - perhaps twenty or thirty minutes a day, tops. I have judged the risks - as I see them - and made a choice.
It also does f'all harm. to myself or anyone around me - and may even help.
That's not moronic. It's personal choice in a civilised society.
I wonder what the sight of parents wearing masks for no particular reason does to small children. We will I suppose have to wait for any conclusions and those will be hazy at best.
Absolutely none at all, would be my guess. Especially as kids will be well aware that there was a reason, and may even know people who have the virus at the moment, or people who are off school because of it.
"Absolutely none"
There you go. My view is that there will be some psychological damage to children to see adults wearing masks when not necessary and yours is that there will be absolutely none. All good as far as it goes.
But let's look at the scenario if we are wrong (perish the thought).
If I am wrong then that is brilliant - no psychological damage. If you are wrong, however, then that is not so good - children do suffer psychological damage from seeing adults wearing masks unnecessarily.
It was common pre-pandemic to see Asian visitors in the UK wearing masks. Did you think children seeing them suffered psychological damage?
Probably yes.
I think children are a heck of a lot more psychologically robust than that.
There's a real danger that your argument can be used for anything 'different': would a child seeing a man with one leg be psychologically damaged by the sight, or realise that people are different, for whatever reason?
Just been out for a walk, where I gave this a little more thought. I'd argue that children mostly suffer psychological damage when adults cause it.
An anecdote: when he was about four, I took the little 'un to a large play centre. Inside, there were two girls - perhaps twins - dressed identically. They looked very similar, except one had no lower arm. The little 'un asked me about her - something like "Why's she only got one arm?"
I said I didn't know: perhaps she was only born with one arm, or perhaps she an accident. But she was running around, doing everything her sister was, and did it matter? People who are disabled can still do amazing things. There are many other ways I could have responded, many negatively.
Perhaps if children see someone with a mask, they'll ask their parents why they're wearing it. How the adult responds may cause psychological damage: not the person wearing it.
I'm loving the anti-maskers on here today. It's hilarious. Calling people who judge their own risks and choose to wear masks at certain times things like 'moronic' et al.
I am still wearing a mask at certain times. I judge when and where I will wear my mask; it is not always, but whenever I go into a shop, or pick or drop off the little 'un from school. To be frank, it's not much - perhaps twenty or thirty minutes a day, tops. I have judged the risks - as I see them - and made a choice.
It also does f'all harm. to myself or anyone around me - and may even help.
That's not moronic. It's personal choice in a civilised society.
I wonder what the sight of parents wearing masks for no particular reason does to small children. We will I suppose have to wait for any conclusions and those will be hazy at best.
Absolutely none at all, would be my guess. Especially as kids will be well aware that there was a reason, and may even know people who have the virus at the moment, or people who are off school because of it.
"Absolutely none"
There you go. My view is that there will be some psychological damage to children to see adults wearing masks when not necessary and yours is that there will be absolutely none. All good as far as it goes.
But let's look at the scenario if we are wrong (perish the thought).
If I am wrong then that is brilliant - no psychological damage. If you are wrong, however, then that is not so good - children do suffer psychological damage from seeing adults wearing masks unnecessarily.
It was common pre-pandemic to see Asian visitors in the UK wearing masks. Did you think children seeing them suffered psychological damage?
Probably yes.
I think children are a heck of a lot more psychologically robust than that.
There's a real danger that your argument can be used for anything 'different': would a child seeing a man with one leg be psychologically damaged by the sight, or realise that people are different, for whatever reason?
Just been out for a walk, where I gave this a little more thought. I'd argue that children mostly suffer psychological damage when adults cause it.
An anecdote: when he was about four, I took the little 'un to a large play centre. Inside, there were two girls - perhaps twins - dressed identically. They looked very similar, except one had no lower arm. The little 'un asked me about her - something like "Why's she only got one arm?"
I said I didn't know: perhaps she was only born with one arm, or perhaps she an accident. But she was running around, doing everything her sister was, and did it matter? People who are disabled can still do amazing things. There are many other ways I could have responded, many negatively.
Perhaps if children see someone with a mask, they'll ask their parents why they're wearing it. How the adult responds may cause psychological damage: not the person wearing it.
On that I actually completely agree with you.
Though if the child is learning to talk, or hard of hearing (which applies to adults too), or for many other reasons it can be a negative still. Not damaging, but definitely a real negative at that moment.
Talking about Iran, @Richard_Nabavi's promoting the Persian chelo method of cooking rice was appreciated in our house where, at a loss what to do when it was my turn to cook, I drew inspiration from this site. Also much appreciated was the mention here by I forget whom that the US Open can be followed on Amazon Prime. Follow Political Betting to improve the quality of life!
Attlee was of the traditional Labour left, the idea of forging consensus around policies that were necessary and useful, he would not today be advocating nationalising large swathes of the economy.
He’s closer to Blair than Corbyn, I know that is hard for some to take
I strongly disagree. Blair was closer to Thatcher than to Attlee - and well to the right of Tory figures such as Macmillan, Heath, Macleod, Butler , Maudling - indeed even Baldwin.
Attlee closer to Blair than Corbyn. Blair closer to Thatcher than Attlee. These can BOTH be true.
C ............ A ....... B ... T
That is possible though I do not share the view that Attlee was even vaguely close to Blair on the political spectrum. It also implies that many pre-Thatcher Tory politicians were closer to Attlee than to Blair.
I think you're right. Just it got me thinking about the algebra there.
Your Algebra worked and his implication is wrong. Just as its possible to have Attlee closer to Blair than Corbyn, for the same logic its possible to have Wilson closer to Blair than Attlee.
C ............ A .... W ... B ... T
Yes. I just meant I agree with Justin that Blair wasn't an Attlee figure. Corbyn is harder to place since he never had the chance to strut his stuff in number 10. I personally think he's the best 'mediocre but nothing like as bad as people feared' PM we never had. But this is hypothetical and will forever remain so.
Another weekday-on-weekday rise. Less a peak and more a gently rising plateau.
The England numbers will be interesting later. If they go down again like they were yesterday then it will raise questions as to what the difference in cases in Scotland and England is due to?
My best guess if they are down would be that Scotland had fewer cases earlier in the pandemic and although people are now jabbed they are still getting Covid. Whereas in England many more people have had it previously which is likely the best form of protection against getting it again.
My old Borough of Redridge was one of the hotspots through 2020 into the second wave, now near the bottom of Malmesbury's tables, which makes the point
Hit a pants wetting weekly rate of 1444 cases per 100k at the turn of the new year.
Currently 255 per 100k.
Glasgow by comparison is currently sitting at 1033 per 100k.
It's better, I think, for people to see faces than not. I might be able to dig something out (if I have the time/inclination this evening) from my old psychology textbooks. Communication is about more than just hearing the words.
A week late but finally my "at least 1-in-50" prediction has borne fruit.
Can you predict something a bit more optimistic.
In November I'm spending 8/9 days in Glasgow/Edinburgh seeing Blondie (with Garbage as the warm up) and a week later The Offspring and I'm starting to get worried both will be cancelled.
With the sharp incline in the Scotland hospitalisation and (crucially) Ventilator figures similarly shooting upwards taking us to 50% of the winter peak and no immediate sign of cases declining I'm not in an optimistic mood at the moment.
This time last month I was cheerily optimistic about the autumn but now it looks like the hospital figures are on a 2 week doubling time.
As I've had 19 months of being told that Scotland was doing better than England - how does the winter peak compare? I.e. was it less bad in Scotland than England, so that 50% is less worrying?
Attlee was of the traditional Labour left, the idea of forging consensus around policies that were necessary and useful, he would not today be advocating nationalising large swathes of the economy.
He’s closer to Blair than Corbyn, I know that is hard for some to take
I strongly disagree. Blair was closer to Thatcher than to Attlee - and well to the right of Tory figures such as Macmillan, Heath, Macleod, Butler , Maudling - indeed even Baldwin.
Attlee closer to Blair than Corbyn. Blair closer to Thatcher than Attlee. These can BOTH be true.
C ............ A ....... B ... T
That is possible though I do not share the view that Attlee was even vaguely close to Blair on the political spectrum. It also implies that many pre-Thatcher Tory politicians were closer to Attlee than to Blair.
I think you're right. Just it got me thinking about the algebra there.
Your Algebra worked and his implication is wrong. Just as its possible to have Attlee closer to Blair than Corbyn, for the same logic its possible to have Wilson closer to Blair than Attlee.
C ............ A .... W ... B ... T
Yes. I just meant I agree with Justin that Blair wasn't an Attlee figure. Corbyn is harder to place since he never had the chance to strut his stuff in number 10. I personally think he's the best 'mediocre but nothing like as bad as people feared' PM we never had. But this is hypothetical and will forever remain so.
My view of Corbyn has fallen into the gutter ever since I completed reading "Left Out". It is evidently clear that he was a stupid idiot with a bad team and a total inability to control even the SCG. He will go down as the worst Labour leader in history.
I strongly think that Blair WAS an Attlee figure. He understood intuitively the public mood and what the public wanted and was able to lead a Labour Party that was ideologically split into winning a landslide.
It's better, I think, for people to see faces than not. I might be able to dig something out (if I have the time/inclination this evening) from my old psychology textbooks. Communication is about more than just hearing the words.
Quite a few people lipread (even if unconsciously) to supplkement their hearing.
Another weekday-on-weekday rise. Less a peak and more a gently rising plateau.
The England numbers will be interesting later. If they go down again like they were yesterday then it will raise questions as to what the difference in cases in Scotland and England is due to?
My best guess if they are down would be that Scotland had fewer cases earlier in the pandemic and although people are now jabbed they are still getting Covid. Whereas in England many more people have had it previously which is likely the best form of protection against getting it again.
The chat yesterday re percentage without antibodies was interesting. Always cautious of overanalysing data (polls anyone) but it suggests a bigger pool of people without antibodies in Scotland than England (proportionally).
Just been to one of the greatest small art museums in the world. The Rosengart Collection. Lucerne. Acquired by Swiss Jewish art dealers Siegfried and daughter angela Rosengart from the 1920s.
Now housed in a 1920s bank it has an outstanding collection of Picassos (he painted angela 5 times - personal friends), a phenomenal collection of Klees, plus masterpieces by Cezanne, Bonnard, Dufy, Miro, Monet, Modigliani, Calder, Matisse, Seurat, Signac, You name it. And some superb Chagall
Ten rooms of total genius. It would make a good national gallery of modern European art for an average midsized European country. Like, say, Portugal. Or Finland. I’ve no doubt it’s superior to the equivalent in lubljana or Dublin. Or Australia? Or anywhere in Africa?
I am now getting happily drunk by the fake wooden medieval bridge
It's probably not quite in the same league but the Musée Marmottan in Paris is also a lovely little jewel devoted to Monet's works. We used to live round the corner in the early 70s.
For those PBers still wetting themselves about the extra £4 a week NI
Daily Mail has a £5 off £25 spend at LIDL
First installment covered
Don't shop at Lidl, don't buy the Mail. Other than that, great plan!
Maybe you should, and just for you its also in the Metro which is free so you get a free £5 rather than a net£4.20 if you buy the Daily Mail.
Please feel free to ignore if you are so wealthy that the NI hit barely touches the sides.
I bought 3 Daily Mails yesterday
You were robbed, the internet says it's 65p. So net £4.35.
That's half of a bottle of Lidl's burgundy, mind. TY for the tip.
What on earth are you doing buying wine at Lidl ffs.
Aldi is where you want to be. Their house champagne is extremely decent (I have a bottle of it on me now as I go to visit the aged aunt). They also have a proper Gevrey Chambertin at twenty-five quid which will drink beautifully in a few years. Plus, whisper it, their £4.50 straight AOC claret is perfectly nice also as an everyday drinker.
That said, always happy to have recommendations from Lidl.
+1 - Aldi's wine selection is decent, their ice wine is something we keep an eye out for its arrival as it usually sells out quickly.
They should also have an interesting sparkling red later this month if Aldi are following last years calendar
Well you learn something everyday. I have never heard of ice wine and had to look it up. It all seems pricy. What ball park price region are we talking about at Aldi and how do I identify it please?
My other joy of going to Aldi is for the laughs going down the centre isle. My favourites so far are:
1) Blocks to stop your caravan rolling away 2) Horse bridle 3 Spare wheelbarrow wheel
I mean do they ever sell any of these? Who would go into Aldi on the off chance?
2) Horse bridle 3 Spare wheelbarrow wheel
Those are both useful items. I do actually need to get one a barrow wheel. Which ALDI was this ?
Spare wheelbarrow wheels are a thing - just google. I've just been buying spare parts for my inherited Workmate from Tools and Parts Direct so if you have the model number shove it into their website and see if it comes up. But DIY and builders' merchants stock them anyway. No need to bother with Aldi?
A bloke from a different country starts work on a building site, foreman asks him to go get him a wheelbarrow. Comes back pushing a wheelbarrow with a wheelbarrow in it. Foreman says “why’ve your brought me two?” Bloke says “you didn’t expect me to carry it did you?”
My gf, in laws, and technically my son, are eligible for Irish citizenship so I needn’t have been so PC really
I loved Irish and Skoda jokes as a teenager.
Now married to an Irish woman with a Skoda Octavia and I cringe at the memory of the Irish jokes.
Attlee was of the traditional Labour left, the idea of forging consensus around policies that were necessary and useful, he would not today be advocating nationalising large swathes of the economy.
He’s closer to Blair than Corbyn, I know that is hard for some to take
I strongly disagree. Blair was closer to Thatcher than to Attlee - and well to the right of Tory figures such as Macmillan, Heath, Macleod, Butler , Maudling - indeed even Baldwin.
Attlee closer to Blair than Corbyn. Blair closer to Thatcher than Attlee. These can BOTH be true.
C ............ A ....... B ... T
That is possible though I do not share the view that Attlee was even vaguely close to Blair on the political spectrum. It also implies that many pre-Thatcher Tory politicians were closer to Attlee than to Blair.
I think you're right. Just it got me thinking about the algebra there.
Your Algebra worked and his implication is wrong. Just as its possible to have Attlee closer to Blair than Corbyn, for the same logic its possible to have Wilson closer to Blair than Attlee.
C ............ A .... W ... B ... T
Yes. I just meant I agree with Justin that Blair wasn't an Attlee figure. Corbyn is harder to place since he never had the chance to strut his stuff in number 10. I personally think he's the best 'mediocre but nothing like as bad as people feared' PM we never had. But this is hypothetical and will forever remain so.
My view of Corbyn has fallen into the gutter ever since I completed reading "Left Out". It is evidently clear that he was a stupid idiot with a bad team and a total inability to control even the SCG. He will go down as the worst Labour leader in history.
I strongly think that Blair WAS an Attlee figure. He understood intuitively the public mood and what the public wanted and was able to lead a Labour Party that was ideologically split into winning a landslide.
I genuinely think they're very, very similar.
I believe that Blair seriously misread the public mood in 1997. By that time people were ready and wanting far more of the Thatcher agenda to be reversed than he was willing to offer. The subsequent disappointment and disillusionment was to be reflected in the turnout collapse in 2001. The electorate would have bought Labour's 1992 Manifesto had it been on offer in 1997.
A week late but finally my "at least 1-in-50" prediction has borne fruit.
Can you predict something a bit more optimistic.
In November I'm spending 8/9 days in Glasgow/Edinburgh seeing Blondie (with Garbage as the warm up) and a week later The Offspring and I'm starting to get worried both will be cancelled.
With the sharp incline in the Scotland hospitalisation and (crucially) Ventilator figures similarly shooting upwards taking us to 50% of the winter peak and no immediate sign of cases declining I'm not in an optimistic mood at the moment.
This time last month I was cheerily optimistic about the autumn but now it looks like the hospital figures are on a 2 week doubling time.
As I've had 19 months of being told that Scotland was doing better than England - how does the winter peak compare? I.e. was it less bad in Scotland than England, so that 50% is less worrying?
Oh, much milder than England's
Scotland peak ventilator numbers over Winter was 161 on Jan 22nd. Population adjusted that would be the equivalent of approx 1660 for England.
The actual England ventilator peak was 3736 on the 24th of Jan.
So Scotland only had 45% the ventilation figure of England.
So yes, that "50% of peak" statement is less worrying than it first may seem.
Labour will obviously pleased to see a poll placing it 2% ahead of the Tories - particularly in the context of a 9% Green recorded share which is highly unlikely to be sustained at more than a third of that level in a GE. I also strongly suspect that if GB polls reveal similar findings on a continuing basis that Labour will recover a fair bit of ground in Scotland . Anti-Tory voters there will not wish to 'miss the party' if there is every indication of Labour being the obvious vehicle for ousting them. I have to say though that it has also revived my anger and contempt at Starmer's decision to hold the Hartlepool and Batley& Spen by elections last Spring and early Summer.The Hartlepool MP - deprived of the Labour Whip - could still be sitting as an Independent on the same basis that the Delyn MP is there.At the very earliest, however, no by election writ should have been issued until this week with a view to polling in October. It remains a very serious - and to me- unforgiveable self inflicted wound and failure of political leadership.
“Missing the party”?
More like the missing party.
Ignoring, for the moment, the unionist issue (not unreasonably, as many Labour voters are sympathetic to indy), do you think there are many constituencies in Scotland where voting Labour rather than SNP has a better chance of ejecting the Tories? IIRC every Tory-held Westminster seat is strongly contested by the SNP with Labour and LDs as a very poor 3rd or 4th place. In fact I'd say that voting Labour is more likely to splot the anti-Tory vote.
Tactical voting isn't just for Unionists, however.
There is not a single constituency in Scotland where voting Labour rather than SNP has a better chance of ousting one of the Tory MPs. Not even close.
I also wonder if what Starmer needs going into Conference is momentum (no not that one) and he’s now got a bit of that off the Tory idiocy.
I really think it’s entirely possible this is where Labour starts to get larger, sustained poll leads.
Swallows and summer and all that.
The wheels haven't fallen off the Conservatives' wagon yet, but the lug nuts are coming loose.
It all rather depends on what Labour's proposals on tax are going to be.
Will they tax more than the Tories? Who will they tax if so?
Will they reverse these changes? If so, how will they pay for the NHS and social care and other stuff?
Will they reduce taxes? Again, what will that mean for public spending?
It is easy to criticise what the Tories are proposing. But - unless I have missed this - I have no idea what Labour's broad proposals are.
Labour have always proposed taxing and spending more. So despite what the Tories have done it may still be possible for them to say at the next GE that they are a lower tax party than Labour.
If Labour does decide to outflank them on that, it will be quite the change. It could happen of course - especially if it is done as part of a shift in the burden of taxation.
But 2 questions:-
1.What in Starmer's career so far suggests that he has the boldness to make such a change? 2. Will he take his party with him?
I am also a little unclear about what the opponents of this Tory policy want.
Would it be OK if the wealthy / pensioners were also taxed ie the tax burden rises on everyone and more on the wealthy?
Or do they want this tax rise to be reversed? In which case we're back to asking how the NHS, social care and much else besides is going to be paid for?
Oppositions can sit on the fence for up to six months before an election. They are the opposition after all.
It clear that the current NHS/ Social Care plans outlined this week will barely scratch the surface. Tax rises are inevitable, irrespective of party in government. The opposition parties can pick and choose the popular and unpopular bits of the Government's proposals and sell them accordingly- like Osborne sold austerity.
So what might be less unpopular than a convoluted NI rise? I'd start with tax avoiding multi national corporations. If someone profitable trades on our turf they pay our taxes.
Labour could do that.
But they have been IMO an empty vessel for so long that I think they should not do that. They should do a lot of hard thinking and come up with well-though through proposals which withstand criticism so that they really do present themselves as a serious alternative government.
At the moment it's all a bit "I wouldn't do it like that" whingeing and not much else besides. That is not enough.
My problem with Labour at the moment is they are doing very little of the "I wouldn't do it like that" whinging anyway. They don't need a fully costed programme for government, although a hint or two that they are more than "not the Tories" might be helpful. Same goes for the LDs.
If any of these parties are as keen to see the back of Johnson as I am, they should be well into the details of anti- Tory electoral pacts on the QT too. FWIW I suspect they are not.
Something has to change! This is something! erm... This is not the something that has to change
Not so sure. With Brexit done and the Tories veering towards Corbynism there is definitely room for a new, low tax, libertarian, low immigration, anti-woke small government patriotic party. With a few charismatic leaders and decent organisation I could see them regularly getting 5-10% of the vote. UKIP managed to frighten the Tories into Brexit with that kind of vote, so it is not meaningless. They would focus Tory minds, fruitfully
They need rigorous vetting and management from the get-go, however. To make sure they keep out the Tommy robinsons and co
On topic I think David Lammy would make an excellent London mayor.
I saw him being interviewed by Matt Forde at a theatre in Victoria when he was in the running to be Labour’s candidate in 2016 - i even had a chat over a pint with him and Forde after in the bar. A pleasant enough chap. He wants to build all over the green belt and sees racism in everything, so he’ll probably go down well in the inner cities. I am no longer a London dweller so won’t have a say in the matter this time. I never once backed the winning candidate when I did live there anyway!
It's better, I think, for people to see faces than not. I might be able to dig something out (if I have the time/inclination this evening) from my old psychology textbooks. Communication is about more than just hearing the words.
Oh, indeed. In normal times I generally wouldn't wear them -unless I was ill and didn't want to spread a cough or cold.
But these are not 'normal' times. Over 100 people are dying every day due to this loathsome lurgy.
Attlee was of the traditional Labour left, the idea of forging consensus around policies that were necessary and useful, he would not today be advocating nationalising large swathes of the economy.
He’s closer to Blair than Corbyn, I know that is hard for some to take
I strongly disagree. Blair was closer to Thatcher than to Attlee - and well to the right of Tory figures such as Macmillan, Heath, Macleod, Butler , Maudling - indeed even Baldwin.
Attlee closer to Blair than Corbyn. Blair closer to Thatcher than Attlee. These can BOTH be true.
C ............ A ....... B ... T
That is possible though I do not share the view that Attlee was even vaguely close to Blair on the political spectrum. It also implies that many pre-Thatcher Tory politicians were closer to Attlee than to Blair.
I think you're right. Just it got me thinking about the algebra there.
Your Algebra worked and his implication is wrong. Just as its possible to have Attlee closer to Blair than Corbyn, for the same logic its possible to have Wilson closer to Blair than Attlee.
C ............ A .... W ... B ... T
Yes. I just meant I agree with Justin that Blair wasn't an Attlee figure. Corbyn is harder to place since he never had the chance to strut his stuff in number 10. I personally think he's the best 'mediocre but nothing like as bad as people feared' PM we never had. But this is hypothetical and will forever remain so.
My view of Corbyn has fallen into the gutter ever since I completed reading "Left Out". It is evidently clear that he was a stupid idiot with a bad team and a total inability to control even the SCG. He will go down as the worst Labour leader in history.
I strongly think that Blair WAS an Attlee figure. He understood intuitively the public mood and what the public wanted and was able to lead a Labour Party that was ideologically split into winning a landslide.
I genuinely think they're very, very similar.
Corbyn wasn't suited for leadership, I agree. He had several personal flaws in this regard and I'd highlight aversion to conflict as the most hampering.
Blair and Attlee? Yep they both won landslides for the party, which is a massive and important similarity. Other than that, though, I don't see much in common.
Attlee was of the traditional Labour left, the idea of forging consensus around policies that were necessary and useful, he would not today be advocating nationalising large swathes of the economy.
He’s closer to Blair than Corbyn, I know that is hard for some to take
I strongly disagree. Blair was closer to Thatcher than to Attlee - and well to the right of Tory figures such as Macmillan, Heath, Macleod, Butler , Maudling - indeed even Baldwin.
Attlee closer to Blair than Corbyn. Blair closer to Thatcher than Attlee. These can BOTH be true.
C ............ A ....... B ... T
That is possible though I do not share the view that Attlee was even vaguely close to Blair on the political spectrum. It also implies that many pre-Thatcher Tory politicians were closer to Attlee than to Blair.
I think you're right. Just it got me thinking about the algebra there.
Your Algebra worked and his implication is wrong. Just as its possible to have Attlee closer to Blair than Corbyn, for the same logic its possible to have Wilson closer to Blair than Attlee.
C ............ A .... W ... B ... T
Yes. I just meant I agree with Justin that Blair wasn't an Attlee figure. Corbyn is harder to place since he never had the chance to strut his stuff in number 10. I personally think he's the best 'mediocre but nothing like as bad as people feared' PM we never had. But this is hypothetical and will forever remain so.
My view of Corbyn has fallen into the gutter ever since I completed reading "Left Out". It is evidently clear that he was a stupid idiot with a bad team and a total inability to control even the SCG. He will go down as the worst Labour leader in history.
I strongly think that Blair WAS an Attlee figure. He understood intuitively the public mood and what the public wanted and was able to lead a Labour Party that was ideologically split into winning a landslide.
I genuinely think they're very, very similar.
Corbyn wasn't suited for leadership, I agree. He had several personal flaws in this regard and I'd highlight aversion to conflict as the most hampering.
Blair and Attlee? Yep they both won landslides for the party, which is a massive and important similarity. Other than that, though, I don't see much in common.
Just been to one of the greatest small art museums in the world. The Rosengart Collection. Lucerne. Acquired by Swiss Jewish art dealers Siegfried and daughter angela Rosengart from the 1920s.
Now housed in a 1920s bank it has an outstanding collection of Picassos (he painted angela 5 times - personal friends), a phenomenal collection of Klees, plus masterpieces by Cezanne, Bonnard, Dufy, Miro, Monet, Modigliani, Calder, Matisse, Seurat, Signac, You name it. And some superb Chagall
Ten rooms of total genius. It would make a good national gallery of modern European art for an average midsized European country. Like, say, Portugal. Or Finland. I’ve no doubt it’s superior to the equivalent in lubljana or Dublin. Or Australia? Or anywhere in Africa?
I am now getting happily drunk by the fake wooden medieval bridge
An author of Airport best sellers also visited there today while writing a Times travel article.
Attlee was of the traditional Labour left, the idea of forging consensus around policies that were necessary and useful, he would not today be advocating nationalising large swathes of the economy.
He’s closer to Blair than Corbyn, I know that is hard for some to take
I don't think it at all likely Attlee would have agreed to invade Iraq.
Attlee agreed to invade Iran to secure Iran's oil.
Indeed - a strategic calculation, rather than a strategic blunder.
Nah, Attlee made Mohammad Reza Pahlavi the Shah which turned out be a disaster.
Attlee wasn't PM in 53.
Nah, he became Shah in 1941 after the Anglo Soviet invasion of Iran.
Sure, but I don't think you can read that all the way through to the mistake of deposing Mosaddegh (though admittedly the oil boycott which Attlee initiated as PM destabilised him), still less to the disaster the Shah turned out to be in the '70s.
If the Shah had died in '69 he'd probably be fondly remembered in Iran as one of their greatest leaders of all time.
That's the problem with non-democracies. At his prime he was actually a good leader, but then he got cancer, turned inwards and was unable to react to the world around him. In a democracy he'd have been replaced by then, but as Shah the nation was stuck with him and he was incapable of moving on.
Looking at the Trump-Biden presidencies I'd question whether democracies have got this totally sorted.
Something has to change! This is something! erm... This is not the something that has to change
Not so sure. With Brexit done and the Tories veering towards Corbynism there is definitely room for a new, low tax, libertarian, low immigration, anti-woke small government patriotic party. With a few charismatic leaders and decent organisation I could see them regularly getting 5-10% of the vote. UKIP managed to frighten the Tories into Brexit with that kind of vote, so it is not meaningless. They would focus Tory minds, fruitfully
They need rigorous vetting and management from the get-go, however. To make sure they keep out the Tommy robinsons and co
I've a lot of time for the SDP. Admittedly, it's the sort of time you can have for a political organisation who never get to power and who you don't know a lot about so you haven't yet come across their halfwits yet. I don't think they're a low tax party though - I think Calvin might me disappointed on that score.
I think Richard Tice is ok, actually.
I'd be alarmed by any party advancing Lawrence Fox though. I enjoy him as Hathaway. And in his broader point that Woke Has Gone Too Far I'd agree. But I'm not convinced he's necessarily the brightest or most thoughtful star in the firmament.
Another weekday-on-weekday rise. Less a peak and more a gently rising plateau.
The England numbers will be interesting later. If they go down again like they were yesterday then it will raise questions as to what the difference in cases in Scotland and England is due to?
My best guess if they are down would be that Scotland had fewer cases earlier in the pandemic and although people are now jabbed they are still getting Covid. Whereas in England many more people have had it previously which is likely the best form of protection against getting it again.
My old Borough of Redridge was one of the hotspots through 2020 into the second wave, now near the bottom of Malmesbury's tables, which makes the point
Redbridge has been my borough for yonks
I know, I remember talking to your mother about her gardening.
Boomers, the group that got to enjoy the Beatles and the Stones, Hair, the Isle of Wight Festival and the hippy trail, have grown old to become synonymous with an aimless and short-term vision of conservatism, locked in a deathly embrace with the Tory Party, the last chapter in the incredible story of a truly lucky group of people.
Just been to one of the greatest small art museums in the world. The Rosengart Collection. Lucerne. Acquired by Swiss Jewish art dealers Siegfried and daughter angela Rosengart from the 1920s.
Now housed in a 1920s bank it has an outstanding collection of Picassos (he painted angela 5 times - personal friends), a phenomenal collection of Klees, plus masterpieces by Cezanne, Bonnard, Dufy, Miro, Monet, Modigliani, Calder, Matisse, Seurat, Signac, You name it. And some superb Chagall
Ten rooms of total genius. It would make a good national gallery of modern European art for an average midsized European country. Like, say, Portugal. Or Finland. I’ve no doubt it’s superior to the equivalent in lubljana or Dublin. Or Australia? Or anywhere in Africa?
I am now getting happily drunk by the fake wooden medieval bridge
It's probably not quite in the same league but the Musée Marmottan in Paris is also a lovely little jewel devoted to Monet's works. We used to live round the corner in the early 70s.
The marmottan is lovely, tho yes this is better I think. And barely visited!
I love small private collections consisting almost entirely of masterpieces, personally chosen
Of course the louvre, national gallery, hermitage are fantastic but boy they are huge and exhausting. It takes you a week to really see them, and they are bloated with filler. One of my favorite national galleries is the Mauritshuis in The Hague, it’s tiny by the standards of the Prada but it just has the best of Dutch golden age art. That’s it
The Getty was so much better when it was that little villa. Now it is a sprawling mess full of dross alongside the great stuff
I strongly recommend the Rosengart. Mind blowingly good and you can properly see all of it in a lazy morning, then have a nice wine-soaked lunch
Something has to change! This is something! erm... This is not the something that has to change
Not so sure. With Brexit done and the Tories veering towards Corbynism there is definitely room for a new, low tax, libertarian, low immigration, anti-woke small government patriotic party. With a few charismatic leaders and decent organisation I could see them regularly getting 5-10% of the vote. UKIP managed to frighten the Tories into Brexit with that kind of vote, so it is not meaningless. They would focus Tory minds, fruitfully
They need rigorous vetting and management from the get-go, however. To make sure they keep out the Tommy robinsons and co
ReformUK are already on 5% on that platform according to Yougov today.
It is the ideal party for the anti lockdown, anti mask, anti tax, low immigration, anti woke, still pro Brexit types
Labour will obviously pleased to see a poll placing it 2% ahead of the Tories - particularly in the context of a 9% Green recorded share which is highly unlikely to be sustained at more than a third of that level in a GE. I also strongly suspect that if GB polls reveal similar findings on a continuing basis that Labour will recover a fair bit of ground in Scotland . Anti-Tory voters there will not wish to 'miss the party' if there is every indication of Labour being the obvious vehicle for ousting them. I have to say though that it has also revived my anger and contempt at Starmer's decision to hold the Hartlepool and Batley& Spen by elections last Spring and early Summer.The Hartlepool MP - deprived of the Labour Whip - could still be sitting as an Independent on the same basis that the Delyn MP is there.At the very earliest, however, no by election writ should have been issued until this week with a view to polling in October. It remains a very serious - and to me- unforgiveable self inflicted wound and failure of political leadership.
“Missing the party”?
More like the missing party.
Ignoring, for the moment, the unionist issue (not unreasonably, as many Labour voters are sympathetic to indy), do you think there are many constituencies in Scotland where voting Labour rather than SNP has a better chance of ejecting the Tories? IIRC every Tory-held Westminster seat is strongly contested by the SNP with Labour and LDs as a very poor 3rd or 4th place. In fact I'd say that voting Labour is more likely to splot the anti-Tory vote.
Tactical voting isn't just for Unionists, however.
In the context of GB polls pointing to a close GE result it is surely not unreasonable to expect Labour to exceed its 2017 vote share in Scotland.
Not necessarily. There are lots of examples where England and Scotland have moved in opposite directions in elections.
But even if we accept your guess, an increase in SLab vote share by itself is insufficient. Labour needs a significant *swing* from the SNP to gain seats. Even a 2% SNP to SLab swing would net your party just one new SLab MP. All recent polling points to the exact opposite happening and an ongoing drift from SLab to SNP.
Reform UK would probably be doing a lot better if Farage was still leader, simply because people know who he is. Most voters have never heard of Richard Tice. Also the new name of the party isn't particularly eye-catching, whereas both UKIP and the Brexit Party were.
Labour will obviously pleased to see a poll placing it 2% ahead of the Tories - particularly in the context of a 9% Green recorded share which is highly unlikely to be sustained at more than a third of that level in a GE. I also strongly suspect that if GB polls reveal similar findings on a continuing basis that Labour will recover a fair bit of ground in Scotland . Anti-Tory voters there will not wish to 'miss the party' if there is every indication of Labour being the obvious vehicle for ousting them. I have to say though that it has also revived my anger and contempt at Starmer's decision to hold the Hartlepool and Batley& Spen by elections last Spring and early Summer.The Hartlepool MP - deprived of the Labour Whip - could still be sitting as an Independent on the same basis that the Delyn MP is there.At the very earliest, however, no by election writ should have been issued until this week with a view to polling in October. It remains a very serious - and to me- unforgiveable self inflicted wound and failure of political leadership.
“Missing the party”?
More like the missing party.
Ignoring, for the moment, the unionist issue (not unreasonably, as many Labour voters are sympathetic to indy), do you think there are many constituencies in Scotland where voting Labour rather than SNP has a better chance of ejecting the Tories? IIRC every Tory-held Westminster seat is strongly contested by the SNP with Labour and LDs as a very poor 3rd or 4th place. In fact I'd say that voting Labour is more likely to splot the anti-Tory vote.
Tactical voting isn't just for Unionists, however.
In the context of GB polls pointing to a close GE result it is surely not unreasonable to expect Labour to exceed its 2017 vote share in Scotland.
Not necessarily. There are lots of examples where England and Scotland have moved in opposite directions in elections.
But even if we accept your guess, an increase in SLab vote share by I itself is insufficient. Labour needs a significant *swing* from the SNP to gain seats. Even a 2% SNP to SLab swing would net your party just one new SLab MP. All recent polling points to the exact opposite happening and an ongoing drift from SLab to SNP.
And there aren't many Con/Lab or LD/Lab marginals in Scotland these days. In fact I'm struggling to think of any.
Just been to one of the greatest small art museums in the world. The Rosengart Collection. Lucerne. Acquired by Swiss Jewish art dealers Siegfried and daughter angela Rosengart from the 1920s.
Now housed in a 1920s bank it has an outstanding collection of Picassos (he painted angela 5 times - personal friends), a phenomenal collection of Klees, plus masterpieces by Cezanne, Bonnard, Dufy, Miro, Monet, Modigliani, Calder, Matisse, Seurat, Signac, You name it. And some superb Chagall
Ten rooms of total genius. It would make a good national gallery of modern European art for an average midsized European country. Like, say, Portugal. Or Finland. I’ve no doubt it’s superior to the equivalent in lubljana or Dublin. Or Australia? Or anywhere in Africa?
I am now getting happily drunk by the fake wooden medieval bridge
It's probably not quite in the same league but the Musée Marmottan in Paris is also a lovely little jewel devoted to Monet's works. We used to live round the corner in the early 70s.
The marmottan is lovely, tho yes this is better I think. And barely visited!
I love small private collections consisting almost entirely of masterpieces, personally chosen
Of course the louvre, national gallery, hermitage are fantastic but boy they are huge and exhausting. It takes you a week to really see them, and they are bloated with filler. One of my favorite national galleries is the Mauritshuis in The Hague, it’s tiny by the standards of the Prada but it just has the best of Dutch golden age art. That’s it
The Getty was so much better when it was that little villa. Now it is a sprawling mess full of dross alongside the great stuff
I strongly recommend the Rosengart. Mind blowingly good and you can properly see all of it in a lazy morning, then have a nice wine-soaked lunch
Hitler's Eagle's nest in the German Alps (not that he went there very much, being afraid of heights) can't really compete in the cultural stakes
Labour will obviously pleased to see a poll placing it 2% ahead of the Tories - particularly in the context of a 9% Green recorded share which is highly unlikely to be sustained at more than a third of that level in a GE. I also strongly suspect that if GB polls reveal similar findings on a continuing basis that Labour will recover a fair bit of ground in Scotland . Anti-Tory voters there will not wish to 'miss the party' if there is every indication of Labour being the obvious vehicle for ousting them. I have to say though that it has also revived my anger and contempt at Starmer's decision to hold the Hartlepool and Batley& Spen by elections last Spring and early Summer.The Hartlepool MP - deprived of the Labour Whip - could still be sitting as an Independent on the same basis that the Delyn MP is there.At the very earliest, however, no by election writ should have been issued until this week with a view to polling in October. It remains a very serious - and to me- unforgiveable self inflicted wound and failure of political leadership.
“Missing the party”?
More like the missing party.
Ignoring, for the moment, the unionist issue (not unreasonably, as many Labour voters are sympathetic to indy), do you think there are many constituencies in Scotland where voting Labour rather than SNP has a better chance of ejecting the Tories? IIRC every Tory-held Westminster seat is strongly contested by the SNP with Labour and LDs as a very poor 3rd or 4th place. In fact I'd say that voting Labour is more likely to splot the anti-Tory vote.
Tactical voting isn't just for Unionists, however.
In the context of GB polls pointing to a close GE result it is surely not unreasonable to expect Labour to exceed its 2017 vote share in Scotland.
Not necessarily. There are lots of examples where England and Scotland have moved in opposite directions in elections.
But even if we accept your guess, an increase in SLab vote share by I itself is insufficient. Labour needs a significant *swing* from the SNP to gain seats. Even a 2% SNP to SLab swing would net your party just one new SLab MP. All recent polling points to the exact opposite happening and an ongoing drift from SLab to SNP.
And there aren't many Con/Lab or LD/Lab marginals in Scotland these days. In fact I'm struggling to think of any.
That’s cos there aren’t any. In every single non-SNP constituency the SNP is in second place. Very clear second places.
Just been to one of the greatest small art museums in the world. The Rosengart Collection. Lucerne. Acquired by Swiss Jewish art dealers Siegfried and daughter angela Rosengart from the 1920s.
Now housed in a 1920s bank it has an outstanding collection of Picassos (he painted angela 5 times - personal friends), a phenomenal collection of Klees, plus masterpieces by Cezanne, Bonnard, Dufy, Miro, Monet, Modigliani, Calder, Matisse, Seurat, Signac, You name it. And some superb Chagall
Ten rooms of total genius. It would make a good national gallery of modern European art for an average midsized European country. Like, say, Portugal. Or Finland. I’ve no doubt it’s superior to the equivalent in lubljana or Dublin. Or Australia? Or anywhere in Africa?
I am now getting happily drunk by the fake wooden medieval bridge
Hello. That sounds fabulous. However unless it's in your contract I don't know why you have to always say you're getting drunk. There's no need. Much more efficient to just add a PS when you're not getting drunk.
Btw, this week I actually went out to the pub and had oysters. Yep.
But please note that I deconstructed it. I had the oysters (3 Maldens) ad hoc on a tray outside a fishmongers - ie in their proper setting - and then only after that did I go to the pub and do in there what such places are rightfully for, drink.
Something has to change! This is something! erm... This is not the something that has to change
Not so sure. With Brexit done and the Tories veering towards Corbynism there is definitely room for a new, low tax, libertarian, low immigration, anti-woke small government patriotic party. With a few charismatic leaders and decent organisation I could see them regularly getting 5-10% of the vote. UKIP managed to frighten the Tories into Brexit with that kind of vote, so it is not meaningless. They would focus Tory minds, fruitfully
They need rigorous vetting and management from the get-go, however. To make sure they keep out the Tommy robinsons and co
Oh, quite possibly. Let me re-phrase: this is not the change I am looking for.
However, I think the suggested merger party would likely collapse under the weight of its leaders' egos (I'm thinking Lozza here and, if he got involved, big Nige). Or failing that, under the weight of the contradictions in marrying a self-described social democratic party, refuk's low tax plan and whatever Lozza is thinking at any given second.
Something has to change! This is something! erm... This is not the something that has to change
Not so sure. With Brexit done and the Tories veering towards Corbynism there is definitely room for a new, low tax, libertarian, low immigration, anti-woke small government patriotic party. With a few charismatic leaders and decent organisation I could see them regularly getting 5-10% of the vote. UKIP managed to frighten the Tories into Brexit with that kind of vote, so it is not meaningless. They would focus Tory minds, fruitfully
They need rigorous vetting and management from the get-go, however. To make sure they keep out the Tommy robinsons and co
ReformUK are already on 5% on that platform according to Yougov today.
It is the ideal party for the anti lockdown, anti mask, anti tax, low immigration, anti woke, still pro Brexit types
Shit name tho. Reform to what?! Could be reform of voting. Omg….
UKIP was a genius name. Was it Sked’s idea? Unique, snappy, says on the tin, etc
The new party needs a new name as good and memorable and identifying as UKIP
This is serious stuff. I think one reason the SNP prospers is because, damn, you know what they want. Just by the name.
Btw There is literally a Swiss German affluent middle aged man sitting opposite me wearing posh corduroy blazer, designer pink shirt, cream slacks, sandals, AND WHITE SOCKS. He’s about 50
Something has to change! This is something! erm... This is not the something that has to change
Not so sure. With Brexit done and the Tories veering towards Corbynism there is definitely room for a new, low tax, libertarian, low immigration, anti-woke small government patriotic party. With a few charismatic leaders and decent organisation I could see them regularly getting 5-10% of the vote. UKIP managed to frighten the Tories into Brexit with that kind of vote, so it is not meaningless. They would focus Tory minds, fruitfully
They need rigorous vetting and management from the get-go, however. To make sure they keep out the Tommy robinsons and co
ReformUK are already on 5% on that platform according to Yougov today.
It is the ideal party for the anti lockdown, anti mask, anti tax, low immigration, anti woke, still pro Brexit types
Shit name tho. Reform to what?! Could be reform of voting. Omg….
UKIP was a genius name. Was it Sked’s idea? Unique, snappy, says on the tin, etc
The new party needs a new name as good and memorable and identifying as UKIP
This is serious stuff. I think one reason the SNP prospers is because, damn, you know what they want. Just by the name.
Btw There is literally a Swiss German affluent middle aged man sitting opposite me wearing posh corduroy blazer, designer pink shirt, cream slacks, sandals, AND WHITE SOCKS. He’s about 50
If a populist party can be as high as 11% in Canada of all places, the British equivalent ought to be doing much better than it currently is.
On topic I think David Lammy would make an excellent London mayor.
I saw him being interviewed by Matt Forde at a theatre in Victoria when he was in the running to be Labour’s candidate in 2016 - i even had a chat over a pint with him and Forde after in the bar. A pleasant enough chap. He wants to build all over the green belt and sees racism in everything, so he’ll probably go down well in the inner cities. I am no longer a London dweller so won’t have a say in the matter this time. I never once backed the winning candidate when I did live there anyway!
Boomers, the group that got to enjoy the Beatles and the Stones, Hair, the Isle of Wight Festival and the hippy trail, have grown old to become synonymous with an aimless and short-term vision of conservatism, locked in a deathly embrace with the Tory Party, the last chapter in the incredible story of a truly lucky group of people.
V interesting (following the PB discussion earlier this week), that the article notes the way 'baby boom' is used as a demographic & points out the UK experience of extra boom in mid 60s.
Which apparently, I have now learnt, can sometimes be called 'britpoppers'
Just been to one of the greatest small art museums in the world. The Rosengart Collection. Lucerne. Acquired by Swiss Jewish art dealers Siegfried and daughter angela Rosengart from the 1920s.
Now housed in a 1920s bank it has an outstanding collection of Picassos (he painted angela 5 times - personal friends), a phenomenal collection of Klees, plus masterpieces by Cezanne, Bonnard, Dufy, Miro, Monet, Modigliani, Calder, Matisse, Seurat, Signac, You name it. And some superb Chagall
Ten rooms of total genius. It would make a good national gallery of modern European art for an average midsized European country. Like, say, Portugal. Or Finland. I’ve no doubt it’s superior to the equivalent in lubljana or Dublin. Or Australia? Or anywhere in Africa?
I am now getting happily drunk by the fake wooden medieval bridge
Hello. That sounds fabulous. However unless it's in your contract I don't know why you have to always say you're getting drunk. There's no need. Much more efficient to just add a PS when you're not getting drunk.
Btw, this week I actually went out to the pub and had oysters. Yep.
But please note that I deconstructed it. I had the oysters (3 Maldens) ad hoc on a tray outside a fishmongers - ie in their proper setting - and then only after that did I go to the pub and do in there what such places are rightfully for, drink.
Fantastic! An 80-yr old joke. You're on fire.
My grandparents had a Reader's Digest Fun in Uniform joke book from 1942 with that joke (...ship's log: Lieutenant sober...). Perhaps your grandparents had the same book.
@tse - If you have any way of influencing either BF or Smarkets to list this I'd certainly have a bet.
I think we should all agree never to lay Brian Rose at (say) bigger than 10s - why limit the free money.
I'd like to see a 'next manchester mayor' market too. Burnham can't do two jobs (or not loto/pm and mayor anyway). He might be able to hold down a paper-round and whatever it is he does now.
Comments
But oppositions don't win elections but governments lose them.
As I mentioned to JohnO I can easily see a situation where the blue wall crumbles and the Conservatives lose 50 seats in England & Wales and five seats in Scotland and kaboom, we have a Labour led government because no one will go into coalition/supply and confidence agreement.
I mean the DUP will never back Boris Johnson or the modern day Tories for putting a border down the Irish Sea, I think we can rule out the Lib Dems as well, cannot imagine Sinn Fein breaking their abstentionism to give the Tories a majority and I know climate change is an issue but cannot see hell freezing over and us having a Tory/SNP coalition at Westminster.
The last one was Con 40, Lab 35.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_next_United_Kingdom_general_election
Tactical voting isn't just for Unionists, however.
If there's an £80k cap on your expenses, with a £100k floor, then if your house in the South is worth £550k then that's worth possibly £370k to you.
If there's an £80k cap on your expenses, with a £100k floor, then if your house in the North is worth £180k then that's worth absolutely nothing to you. Except the higher taxes that came with it.
Certainly did a better job than the Ayatollah.
Masks are in response to a global pandemic which we seem to be in the tail end of. Global pandemics are scary, especially for children but more importantly it is how adults around children behave that will influence the level of anxiety. Wearing masks is the most visible indication of anxiety on behalf of the wearer whether justified or not.
Wearing sunglasses are none of these things and at the risk of repeating myself, you moron.
This time last month I was cheerily optimistic about the autumn but now it looks like the hospital figures are on a 2 week doubling time.
My best guess if they are down would be that Scotland had fewer cases earlier in the pandemic and although people are now jabbed they are still getting Covid. Whereas in England many more people have had it previously which is likely the best form of protection against getting it again.
C ............ A .... W ... B ... T
Tesco have said they have no dried pasta, Sainsbury's tell us they have no loo roll, and Aldi have confirmed they are all out of Oxy-Acetylene Welding kits.
I would love to be the buyer for that. The sky's the limit.
Also, the invasion was to guarantee a secure supply line to the Soviet Union. Britain withdrew by 1945, but the Soviets occupied the north of Iran until 1946.
That's the problem with non-democracies. At his prime he was actually a good leader, but then he got cancer, turned inwards and was unable to react to the world around him. In a democracy he'd have been replaced by then, but as Shah the nation was stuck with him and he was incapable of moving on.
Frances Heaton says 90,000 people can gather at Leeds Festival but only one of her children can visit her"
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/sep/10/care-home-resident-100-pleads-end-covid-isolation
Re Labour-SNP marginals, there's better scope - there are 6 Scottish ones to be had off the SNP for a notional 6% swing, but that would yield 66 other (edit: non-Scots) seats anyway off the Tories (mostly) anyway.
http://www.electionpolling.co.uk/battleground/targets/labour
c..................T.....A.....W...B
I have drawn my axis on radical to consensus. Who wanted to rip up the book and start again and who wanted the main change to be the colour of the tie?
Also, I note that the tone of the conversation above is economic, but there is more to politics than economics. Corbyn's - how can I put it? - internationalism - is quite different from anyone else on the list. On that axis it's:
C......................BWTA
Corbyn was quite, quite different to any major party leader who had come before, except Michael Foot and George Lansbury. Even Michael Foot was a bit of a centrist-pragmatist on the non-economic side when compared to Corbyn.
Now housed in a 1920s bank it has an outstanding collection of Picassos (he painted angela 5 times - personal friends), a phenomenal collection of Klees, plus masterpieces by Cezanne, Bonnard, Dufy, Miro, Monet, Modigliani, Calder, Matisse, Seurat, Signac, You name it. And some superb Chagall
Ten rooms of total genius. It would make a good national gallery of modern European art for an average midsized European country. Like, say, Portugal. Or Finland. I’ve no doubt it’s superior to the equivalent in lubljana or Dublin. Or Australia? Or anywhere in Africa?
I am now getting happily drunk by the fake wooden medieval bridge
An anecdote: when he was about four, I took the little 'un to a large play centre. Inside, there were two girls - perhaps twins - dressed identically. They looked very similar, except one had no lower arm. The little 'un asked me about her - something like "Why's she only got one arm?"
I said I didn't know: perhaps she was only born with one arm, or perhaps she an accident. But she was running around, doing everything her sister was, and did it matter? People who are disabled can still do amazing things. There are many other ways I could have responded, many negatively.
Perhaps if children see someone with a mask, they'll ask their parents why they're wearing it. How the adult responds may cause psychological damage: not the person wearing it.
Though if the child is learning to talk, or hard of hearing (which applies to adults too), or for many other reasons it can be a negative still. Not damaging, but definitely a real negative at that moment.
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Currently 255 per 100k.
Glasgow by comparison is currently sitting at 1033 per 100k.
It's better, I think, for people to see faces than not. I might be able to dig something out (if I have the time/inclination this evening) from my old psychology textbooks. Communication is about more than just hearing the words.
I strongly think that Blair WAS an Attlee figure. He understood intuitively the public mood and what the public wanted and was able to lead a Labour Party that was ideologically split into winning a landslide.
I genuinely think they're very, very similar.
I also hope you are well, TOPPING
Now married to an Irish woman with a Skoda Octavia and I cringe at the memory of the Irish jokes.
•AstraZeneca: 99.42%
•Pfizer: 97.25%
•Sinovac: 90.44%
The death rate amongst those who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in Malaysia is 0.009%.
https://twitter.com/sailorrooscout/status/1436325238111879173?s=21
“Quasi ineffective”……
Or put another way,
Death rate among vaccinated:
AZ: 0.58%
Pfizer: 2.75%
Sinovac: 9.56%
Scotland peak ventilator numbers over Winter was 161 on Jan 22nd. Population adjusted that would be the equivalent of approx 1660 for England.
The actual England ventilator peak was 3736 on the 24th of Jan.
So Scotland only had 45% the ventilation figure of England.
So yes, that "50% of peak" statement is less worrying than it first may seem.
But arithmetic is the least of SLab’s problems.
If any of these parties are as keen to see the back of Johnson as I am, they should be well into the details of anti- Tory electoral pacts on the QT too. FWIW I suspect they are not.
They need rigorous vetting and management from the get-go, however. To make sure they keep out the Tommy robinsons and co
I suspect I will join you in an off-topic for taking the sainted Nigey's glorious name in vain.
But these are not 'normal' times. Over 100 people are dying every day due to this loathsome lurgy.
Blair and Attlee? Yep they both won landslides for the party, which is a massive and important similarity. Other than that, though, I don't see much in common.
It's a very small world...
I think Richard Tice is ok, actually.
I'd be alarmed by any party advancing Lawrence Fox though. I enjoy him as Hathaway. And in his broader point that Woke Has Gone Too Far I'd agree. But I'm not convinced he's necessarily the brightest or most thoughtful star in the firmament.
Scrabble score
https://unherd.com/2021/09/boomers-the-luckiest-generation-that-ever-lived/?tl_inbound=1&tl_groups[0]=18743&tl_period_type=3&mc_cid=7a76c24195&mc_eid=836634e34b
I love small private collections consisting almost entirely of masterpieces, personally chosen
Of course the louvre, national gallery, hermitage are fantastic but boy they are huge and exhausting. It takes you a week to really see them, and they are bloated with filler. One of my favorite national galleries is the Mauritshuis in The Hague, it’s tiny by the standards of the Prada but it just has the best of Dutch golden age art. That’s it
The Getty was so much better when it was that little villa. Now it is a sprawling mess full of dross alongside the great stuff
I strongly recommend the Rosengart. Mind blowingly good and you can properly see all of it in a lazy morning, then have a nice wine-soaked lunch
It is the ideal party for the anti lockdown, anti mask, anti tax, low immigration, anti woke, still pro Brexit types
But even if we accept your guess, an increase in SLab vote share by itself is insufficient. Labour needs a significant *swing* from the SNP to gain seats. Even a 2% SNP to SLab swing would net your party just one new SLab MP. All recent polling points to the exact opposite happening and an ongoing drift from SLab to SNP.
Btw, this week I actually went out to the pub and had oysters. Yep.
But please note that I deconstructed it. I had the oysters (3 Maldens) ad hoc on a tray outside a fishmongers - ie in their proper setting - and then only after that did I go to the pub and do in there what such places are rightfully for, drink.
However, I think the suggested merger party would likely collapse under the weight of its leaders' egos (I'm thinking Lozza here and, if he got involved, big Nige). Or failing that, under the weight of the contradictions in marrying a self-described social democratic party, refuk's low tax plan and whatever Lozza is thinking at any given second.
UKIP was a genius name. Was it Sked’s idea? Unique, snappy, says on the tin, etc
The new party needs a new name as good and memorable and identifying as UKIP
This is serious stuff. I think one reason the SNP prospers is because, damn, you know what they want. Just by the name.
Btw There is literally a Swiss German affluent middle aged man sitting opposite me wearing posh corduroy blazer, designer pink shirt, cream slacks, sandals, AND WHITE SOCKS. He’s about 50
Qualifying is at 5pm today due to the stupid sprint race format.
V interesting (following the PB discussion earlier this week), that the article notes the way 'baby boom' is used as a demographic & points out the UK experience of extra boom in mid 60s.
Which apparently, I have now learnt, can sometimes be called 'britpoppers'
See:
What is (and is not) Britpopper.
https://tsaekasith.substack.com/p/what-is-and-is-not-britpopper
We could do with AZ/AZ, PF/PF, AZ/PF and PF/AZ results.
My grandparents had a Reader's Digest Fun in Uniform joke book from 1942 with that joke (...ship's log: Lieutenant sober...). Perhaps your grandparents had the same book.
I think we should all agree never to lay Brian Rose at (say) bigger than 10s - why limit the free money.
I'd like to see a 'next manchester mayor' market too. Burnham can't do two jobs (or not loto/pm and mayor anyway). He might be able to hold down a paper-round and whatever it is he does now.