Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar is v unimpressed with Keir Starmer's conference plan to change leadership rules:
“I don’t think it should be our focus. It is certainly not my focus. I’m going to conference to talk about the issues I care about."
Bit bold not to give a shiny shit about the rules that delivered up Corbyn as Labour leader!
Maybe the MPs should understand their job a bit better as gatekeepers and not nominate a Corbyn for shits and giggles "to widen the debate"?
I think the best leadership election rules any party has come across yet is the Tory one where the MP gatekeepers narrow the choice down to 2, from which the members then get the final say. I think that despite the fact that the first time the system was used it gave us IDS, and the third time it gave us Theresa May.
MPs and members need to make a smart choice. You can't rig the system if people are determined to make a bad choice.
McLeish close to picking out that last splinter in his arse from the Scottish Indy fence he's been sitting on for years. Fear not though Yoons, he may yet be tempted back and his indy support would be conditional on the Union being unable to reform itself. Whadda ya think lads, what are the chance sthe the Union will reform itself?
Why on earth should Tories care less what a former Labour FM thinks of the Union? As long as there is a Tory government at Westminster indyref2 will be refused.
The only way there will ever be an indyref2 allowed is if there is a UK Labour government, in which case McLeish would probably back the Union again anyway and Starmer's No + devomax offer in such a scenario
Can you tell me the precise moment you gave up on the 'no second referendum for a generation' guff, and what caused it?
Boris has correctly said no Tory government would allow indyref2 for a genuine generation ie 40 years, if you think we will be in power for 40 years fine with me
Have you any idea how much that kind of post irritates the fuck out of your potential voters? It would certainly tip me over the edge if I hadn't been tipped already, and I've voted tory in every ge but one since 1979. Just so you know.
I have rejected @HYUFD utter nonsense on indyref2 for as long as I can remember
He is an embarrassment, talks about Scotland as an enemy, and yet seems to think he speaks for those of us who value the union, are connected directly with immediate family in Scotland, and know that someday indyref2 may happen , indeed may be beneficial for the union to happen, and I just ask that he is considered as a one off with unbending views
The other day he was lecturing me on politics in Wales when I actually live here, have children and grandchildren here and use Wales NHS and education and have been involved for over 50 years in Welsh politics
Indeed I nearly became the youngest councilor in Wales but had to let that go to become, at the time, the youngest golf club captain in Wales
I have never said Scots are the enemy, the SNP however certainly are the enemy.
We have a Tory government, which you no longer clearly support, which has correctly made clear it will refuse an indyref2 for 40 years while it remains in power via its leader the PM.
You were saying the LDs have no hope anywhere in Wales, yet 2 Welsh seats, Brecon and Radnor and Ceredigion, are even in the top 50 LD target seats
Newsnight correspondent Mark Urban just uttered nonsense on the programme when he said the AfD are polling "around half" of what they got at the previous German election. In fact they're polling around 11-12% and got 12.6% at the last election.
F**king useless nonentity. Bring on a leadership challenge
Michael Savage @michaelsavage More than one union leader has “gone for” Starmer at a key meeting tonight. Sounds pretty brutal. Row over party rules now clearly threatening to overshadow a conference he himself has talked up as key to his leadership.
And replace him with who exactly?
Quite.
Starmer isn't great as a leader, although he has some really good traits that will help him.
Labour will split sooner or later, and to be fair to the left it really is the moderates that are betraying the cause. However the cause is some daft c19 manifesto written by a layabout.
What Starmer needs to do is get the split done with - off goes Corbyn, off goes McDonald, and then I think it stops. No sensible Labour politician will throw themselves over the cliff. Maybe Abbot, Dawn whatever, Long-Bailey, and Burgeon.
PS. whatever=Butler.
Ken Loach....on Starmer, Jezza and "proper Labour".
Let me guess "proper Labour" are antisemites like him?
careful, I like reading your posts and I don't want you booted
Why would I get booted for asking if the antisemite Ken Loach who was "against the witch-hunt" until he got expelled out of the Labour Party like other antisemites prefers other antisemites like himself? 🤔
Antisemites like Loach have a tendency to stick together.
Because even if you feel ready to defend yourself against defamation claims, the site owners mightn't want to join you in your defence. The burden of proof for getting booted for potentially defamatory comments is necessarily lower than for a defamation claim.
Nah, a jew hater is a jew hater, slice it how you like.
You can quote me on that. I'm not afraid, the site has a single use throwaway email address for me, and a spoofed IP address filtered through a VPN.
So you're safe. The site isn't. That was my only point.
I was kidding, the site knows exactly who I am. But honestly, if you can't call a known associate of Jeremy Corbyn an antisemite, who can you call what?
It is a matter for the moderators to police the site, not individual posters
And considering the moderator was posting and didn't intervene, some people want to call the "moderation" card prematurely in order to shut down the debate.
Saying you can't call Loach an antisemite is like saying you can't call Trump a racist. Or orange. Or bad.
The truth is an absolute defence.
Yes, the truth is an absolute defence... in court. A site owner my want to stop things before they get that far. But as you say, moderator present, not seemingly worried, in which case nor am I. I don't even think you're wrong, just incautious.
McLeish close to picking out that last splinter in his arse from the Scottish Indy fence he's been sitting on for years. Fear not though Yoons, he may yet be tempted back and his indy support would be conditional on the Union being unable to reform itself. Whadda ya think lads, what are the chance sthe the Union will reform itself?
Why on earth should Tories care less what a former Labour FM thinks of the Union? As long as there is a Tory government at Westminster indyref2 will be refused.
The only way there will ever be an indyref2 allowed is if there is a UK Labour government, in which case McLeish would probably back the Union again anyway and Starmer's No + devomax offer in such a scenario
Can you tell me the precise moment you gave up on the 'no second referendum for a generation' guff, and what caused it?
Boris has correctly said no Tory government would allow indyref2 for a genuine generation ie 40 years, if you think we will be in power for 40 years fine with me
Have you any idea how much that kind of post irritates the fuck out of your potential voters? It would certainly tip me over the edge if I hadn't been tipped already, and I've voted tory in every ge but one since 1979. Just so you know.
I have rejected @HYUFD utter nonsense on indyref2 for as long as I can remember
He is an embarrassment, talks about Scotland as an enemy, and yet seems to think he speaks for those of us who value the union, are connected directly with immediate family in Scotland, and know that someday indyref2 may happen , indeed may be beneficial for the union to happen, and I just ask that he is considered as a one off with unbending views
The other day he was lecturing me on politics in Wales when I actually live here, have children and grandchildren here and use Wales NHS and education and have been involved for over 50 years in Welsh politics
Indeed I nearly became the youngest councilor in Wales but had to let that go to become, at the time, the youngest golf club captain in Wales
I have never said Scots are the enemy, the SNP however certainly are the enemy.
We have a Tory government, which you no longer clearly support, which has correctly made clear it will refuse an indyref2 for 40 years while it remains in power via its leader the PM.
You were saying the LDs have no hope anywhere in Wales, yet 2 Welsh seats, Brecon and Radnor and Ceredigion, are even in the top 50 LD target seats
If you say that the Scots can't determine their own future, no matter how they vote, then you absolutely are calling the Scots themselves your enemy.
You beat your political enemies in the ballot box, not with truncheons.
Newsnight correspondent Mark Urban just uttered nonsense on the programme when he said the AfD are polling "around half" of what they got at the previous German election. In fact they're polling around 11-12% and got 12.6% at the last election.
The lack of specialist knowledge on this kind of stuff beggars belief. They could find a dozen on here to talk more sensibly than the rubbish I have heard spouted about Canada or Germany in just the past week.
McLeish close to picking out that last splinter in his arse from the Scottish Indy fence he's been sitting on for years. Fear not though Yoons, he may yet be tempted back and his indy support would be conditional on the Union being unable to reform itself. Whadda ya think lads, what are the chance sthe the Union will reform itself?
Why on earth should Tories care less what a former Labour FM thinks of the Union? As long as there is a Tory government at Westminster indyref2 will be refused.
The only way there will ever be an indyref2 allowed is if there is a UK Labour government, in which case McLeish would probably back the Union again anyway and Starmer's No + devomax offer in such a scenario
Can you tell me the precise moment you gave up on the 'no second referendum for a generation' guff, and what caused it?
Boris has correctly said no Tory government would allow indyref2 for a genuine generation ie 40 years, if you think we will be in power for 40 years fine with me
Have you any idea how much that kind of post irritates the fuck out of your potential voters? It would certainly tip me over the edge if I hadn't been tipped already, and I've voted tory in every ge but one since 1979. Just so you know.
I have rejected @HYUFD utter nonsense on indyref2 for as long as I can remember
He is an embarrassment, talks about Scotland as an enemy, and yet seems to think he speaks for those of us who value the union, are connected directly with immediate family in Scotland, and know that someday indyref2 may happen , indeed may be beneficial for the union to happen, and I just ask that he is considered as a one off with unbending views
The other day he was lecturing me on politics in Wales when I actually live here, have children and grandchildren here and use Wales NHS and education and have been involved for over 50 years in Welsh politics
Indeed I nearly became the youngest councilor in Wales but had to let that go to become, at the time, the youngest golf club captain in Wales
I have never said Scots are the enemy, the SNP however certainly are the enemy.
We have a Tory government, which you no longer clearly support, which has correctly made clear it will refuse an indyref2 for 40 years while it remains in power via its leader the PM.
You were saying the LDs have no hope anywhere in Wales, yet 2 Welsh seats, Brecon and Radnor and Ceredigion, are even in the top 50 LD target seats
And today the lib dems managed to come 'bottom' of the Wales only poll at just 4%, with labour on 37, conservatives on 31 and Plaid on 15
As I said you have no idea about the current state of politics in Wales and even today that has been proven
McLeish close to picking out that last splinter in his arse from the Scottish Indy fence he's been sitting on for years. Fear not though Yoons, he may yet be tempted back and his indy support would be conditional on the Union being unable to reform itself. Whadda ya think lads, what are the chance sthe the Union will reform itself?
Why on earth should Tories care less what a former Labour FM thinks of the Union? As long as there is a Tory government at Westminster indyref2 will be refused.
The only way there will ever be an indyref2 allowed is if there is a UK Labour government, in which case McLeish would probably back the Union again anyway and Starmer's No + devomax offer in such a scenario
Can you tell me the precise moment you gave up on the 'no second referendum for a generation' guff, and what caused it?
Boris has correctly said no Tory government would allow indyref2 for a genuine generation ie 40 years, if you think we will be in power for 40 years fine with me
Have you any idea how much that kind of post irritates the fuck out of your potential voters? It would certainly tip me over the edge if I hadn't been tipped already, and I've voted tory in every ge but one since 1979. Just so you know.
I have rejected @HYUFD utter nonsense on indyref2 for as long as I can remember
He is an embarrassment, talks about Scotland as an enemy, and yet seems to think he speaks for those of us who value the union, are connected directly with immediate family in Scotland, and know that someday indyref2 may happen , indeed may be beneficial for the union to happen, and I just ask that he is considered as a one off with unbending views
The other day he was lecturing me on politics in Wales when I actually live here, have children and grandchildren here and use Wales NHS and education and have been involved for over 50 years in Welsh politics
Indeed I nearly became the youngest councilor in Wales but had to let that go to become, at the time, the youngest golf club captain in Wales
I have never said Scots are the enemy, the SNP however certainly are the enemy.
We have a Tory government, which you no longer clearly support, which has correctly made clear it will refuse an indyref2 for 40 years while it remains in power via its leader the PM.
You were saying the LDs have no hope anywhere in Wales, yet 2 Welsh seats, Brecon and Radnor and Ceredigion, are even in the top 50 LD target seats
If you say that the Scots can't determine their own future, no matter how they vote, then you absolutely are calling the Scots themselves your enemy.
You beat your political enemies in the ballot box, not with truncheons.
We did beat them in 2014 in a once in a generation vote.
They will not get another for a genuine generation as long as we Tories are in power.
All we need to do is refuse indyref2, we do not yet need to arrest Nationalist leaders for holding an illegal vote as the Spanish have been trying to do with the Catalan nationalist leader in exile via arrest warrant in Italy today.
For as long as the UK government refuses an indyref2 no such vote can be legal and Sturgeon has ruled out a wildcat referendum and UDI anyway
McLeish close to picking out that last splinter in his arse from the Scottish Indy fence he's been sitting on for years. Fear not though Yoons, he may yet be tempted back and his indy support would be conditional on the Union being unable to reform itself. Whadda ya think lads, what are the chance sthe the Union will reform itself?
Why on earth should Tories care less what a former Labour FM thinks of the Union? As long as there is a Tory government at Westminster indyref2 will be refused.
The only way there will ever be an indyref2 allowed is if there is a UK Labour government, in which case McLeish would probably back the Union again anyway and Starmer's No + devomax offer in such a scenario
Can you tell me the precise moment you gave up on the 'no second referendum for a generation' guff, and what caused it?
Boris has correctly said no Tory government would allow indyref2 for a genuine generation ie 40 years, if you think we will be in power for 40 years fine with me
Have you any idea how much that kind of post irritates the fuck out of your potential voters? It would certainly tip me over the edge if I hadn't been tipped already, and I've voted tory in every ge but one since 1979. Just so you know.
I have rejected @HYUFD utter nonsense on indyref2 for as long as I can remember
He is an embarrassment, talks about Scotland as an enemy, and yet seems to think he speaks for those of us who value the union, are connected directly with immediate family in Scotland, and know that someday indyref2 may happen , indeed may be beneficial for the union to happen, and I just ask that he is considered as a one off with unbending views
The other day he was lecturing me on politics in Wales when I actually live here, have children and grandchildren here and use Wales NHS and education and have been involved for over 50 years in Welsh politics
Indeed I nearly became the youngest councilor in Wales but had to let that go to become, at the time, the youngest golf club captain in Wales
I have never said Scots are the enemy, the SNP however certainly are the enemy.
We have a Tory government, which you no longer clearly support, which has correctly made clear it will refuse an indyref2 for 40 years while it remains in power via its leader the PM.
You were saying the LDs have no hope anywhere in Wales, yet 2 Welsh seats, Brecon and Radnor and Ceredigion, are even in the top 50 LD target seats
And today the lib dems managed to come 'bottom' of the Wales only poll at just 4%, with labour on 37, conservatives on 31 and Plaid on 15
As I said you have no idea about the current state of politics in Wales and even today that has been proven
They were polling not much higher in summer 2019 when they won the Brecon and Radnor by election
McLeish close to picking out that last splinter in his arse from the Scottish Indy fence he's been sitting on for years. Fear not though Yoons, he may yet be tempted back and his indy support would be conditional on the Union being unable to reform itself. Whadda ya think lads, what are the chance sthe the Union will reform itself?
Why on earth should Tories care less what a former Labour FM thinks of the Union? As long as there is a Tory government at Westminster indyref2 will be refused.
The only way there will ever be an indyref2 allowed is if there is a UK Labour government, in which case McLeish would probably back the Union again anyway and Starmer's No + devomax offer in such a scenario
Can you tell me the precise moment you gave up on the 'no second referendum for a generation' guff, and what caused it?
Boris has correctly said no Tory government would allow indyref2 for a genuine generation ie 40 years, if you think we will be in power for 40 years fine with me
Have you any idea how much that kind of post irritates the fuck out of your potential voters? It would certainly tip me over the edge if I hadn't been tipped already, and I've voted tory in every ge but one since 1979. Just so you know.
I have rejected @HYUFD utter nonsense on indyref2 for as long as I can remember
He is an embarrassment, talks about Scotland as an enemy, and yet seems to think he speaks for those of us who value the union, are connected directly with immediate family in Scotland, and know that someday indyref2 may happen , indeed may be beneficial for the union to happen, and I just ask that he is considered as a one off with unbending views
The other day he was lecturing me on politics in Wales when I actually live here, have children and grandchildren here and use Wales NHS and education and have been involved for over 50 years in Welsh politics
Indeed I nearly became the youngest councilor in Wales but had to let that go to become, at the time, the youngest golf club captain in Wales
I have never said Scots are the enemy, the SNP however certainly are the enemy.
We have a Tory government, which you no longer clearly support, which has correctly made clear it will refuse an indyref2 for 40 years while it remains in power via its leader the PM.
You were saying the LDs have no hope anywhere in Wales, yet 2 Welsh seats, Brecon and Radnor and Ceredigion, are even in the top 50 LD target seats
If you say that the Scots can't determine their own future, no matter how they vote, then you absolutely are calling the Scots themselves your enemy.
You beat your political enemies in the ballot box, not with truncheons.
We did beat them in 2014 in a once in a generation vote.
They will not get another for a genuine generation as long as we Tories are in power.
All we need to do is refuse indyref2, we do not yet need to arrest Nationalist leaders for holding an illegal vote as the Spanish have been trying to do with the Catalan nationalist leader in exile via arrest warrant in Italy today.
For as long as the UK government refuses an indyref2 no such vote can be legal and Sturgeon has ruled out a wildcat referendum and UDI anyway
You are such an embarrassment to the conservative party, and you an elected official should know better, a lot better
London is on fire at the moment. It really is the Roaring Twenties. Never seen it so hedonistic
Great news. It was still pretty quiet last time I walked around that area a couple of months ago.
There has been a massive change. And it's not just Soho. Oxford St. Marylebone, Camden. Covent Garden. Busier than I've ever seen them in some ways, as in: busier than EVER
The big difference is the age. It seems like London has got 10 years younger overnight. Everyone is about 24. This might be because I am such an old git, but I don't think it is entirely subjective. The kids have flooded back to reclaim their city and they want to have FUN - and good for them. That is how great world cities revive
I've not been to the City or the Wharf so can't speak for them. Put people are dancing on tables in Soho. It's mad. And brilliant.
McLeish close to picking out that last splinter in his arse from the Scottish Indy fence he's been sitting on for years. Fear not though Yoons, he may yet be tempted back and his indy support would be conditional on the Union being unable to reform itself. Whadda ya think lads, what are the chance sthe the Union will reform itself?
Why on earth should Tories care less what a former Labour FM thinks of the Union? As long as there is a Tory government at Westminster indyref2 will be refused.
The only way there will ever be an indyref2 allowed is if there is a UK Labour government, in which case McLeish would probably back the Union again anyway and Starmer's No + devomax offer in such a scenario
Can you tell me the precise moment you gave up on the 'no second referendum for a generation' guff, and what caused it?
Boris has correctly said no Tory government would allow indyref2 for a genuine generation ie 40 years, if you think we will be in power for 40 years fine with me
Have you any idea how much that kind of post irritates the fuck out of your potential voters? It would certainly tip me over the edge if I hadn't been tipped already, and I've voted tory in every ge but one since 1979. Just so you know.
I have rejected @HYUFD utter nonsense on indyref2 for as long as I can remember
He is an embarrassment, talks about Scotland as an enemy, and yet seems to think he speaks for those of us who value the union, are connected directly with immediate family in Scotland, and know that someday indyref2 may happen , indeed may be beneficial for the union to happen, and I just ask that he is considered as a one off with unbending views
The other day he was lecturing me on politics in Wales when I actually live here, have children and grandchildren here and use Wales NHS and education and have been involved for over 50 years in Welsh politics
Indeed I nearly became the youngest councilor in Wales but had to let that go to become, at the time, the youngest golf club captain in Wales
I have never said Scots are the enemy, the SNP however certainly are the enemy.
We have a Tory government, which you no longer clearly support, which has correctly made clear it will refuse an indyref2 for 40 years while it remains in power via its leader the PM.
You were saying the LDs have no hope anywhere in Wales, yet 2 Welsh seats, Brecon and Radnor and Ceredigion, are even in the top 50 LD target seats
If you say that the Scots can't determine their own future, no matter how they vote, then you absolutely are calling the Scots themselves your enemy.
You beat your political enemies in the ballot box, not with truncheons.
We did beat them in 2014 in a once in a generation vote.
They will not get another for a genuine generation as long as we Tories are in power.
All we need to do is refuse indyref2, we do not yet need to arrest Nationalist leaders for holding an illegal vote as the Spanish have been trying to do with the Catalan nationalist leader in exile via arrest warrant in Italy today.
For as long as the UK government refuses an indyref2 no such vote can be legal and Sturgeon has ruled out a wildcat referendum and UDI anyway
Sorry, did you just say in 2014 you beat the Scots? That's not really how a lot of Scots would see it, Scots who voted No.
Newsnight correspondent Mark Urban just uttered nonsense on the programme when he said the AfD are polling "around half" of what they got at the previous German election. In fact they're polling around 11-12% and got 12.6% at the last election.
The lack of specialist knowledge on this kind of stuff beggars belief. They could find a dozen on here to talk more sensibly than the rubbish I have heard spouted about Canada or Germany in just the past week.
Yes, ridiculous. If I was a Newsnight correspondent and had to say something about a country that I didn't know, I'd bloody well look it up - "[country] opinion poll" on Wikipedia gives you pretty reliable info in 10 seconds. Does he get paid for that???
The CDU closed the gap to 1 in the last Allensbach poll, and Linke are down to the critical 5 in that one - but the sample period is long and not the latest, so it's probably an outlier.
London is on fire at the moment. It really is the Roaring Twenties. Never seen it so hedonistic
Great news. It was still pretty quiet last time I walked around that area a couple of months ago.
There has been a massive change. And it's not just Soho. Oxford St. Marylebone, Camden. Covent Garden. Busier than I've ever seen them in some ways, as in: busier than EVER
The big difference is the age. It seems like London has got 10 years younger overnight. Everyone is about 24. This might be because I am such an old git, but I don't think it is entirely subjective. The kids have flooded back to reclaim their city and they want to have FUN - and good for them. That is how great world cities revive
I've not been to the City or the Wharf so can't speak for them. Put people are dancing on tables in Soho. It's mad. And brilliant.
Much sex is being had by many
Isn't it Fresher's Week? Newcastle has been insane all week too.
McLeish close to picking out that last splinter in his arse from the Scottish Indy fence he's been sitting on for years. Fear not though Yoons, he may yet be tempted back and his indy support would be conditional on the Union being unable to reform itself. Whadda ya think lads, what are the chance sthe the Union will reform itself?
Why on earth should Tories care less what a former Labour FM thinks of the Union? As long as there is a Tory government at Westminster indyref2 will be refused.
The only way there will ever be an indyref2 allowed is if there is a UK Labour government, in which case McLeish would probably back the Union again anyway and Starmer's No + devomax offer in such a scenario
Can you tell me the precise moment you gave up on the 'no second referendum for a generation' guff, and what caused it?
Boris has correctly said no Tory government would allow indyref2 for a genuine generation ie 40 years, if you think we will be in power for 40 years fine with me
Have you any idea how much that kind of post irritates the fuck out of your potential voters? It would certainly tip me over the edge if I hadn't been tipped already, and I've voted tory in every ge but one since 1979. Just so you know.
I have rejected @HYUFD utter nonsense on indyref2 for as long as I can remember
He is an embarrassment, talks about Scotland as an enemy, and yet seems to think he speaks for those of us who value the union, are connected directly with immediate family in Scotland, and know that someday indyref2 may happen , indeed may be beneficial for the union to happen, and I just ask that he is considered as a one off with unbending views
The other day he was lecturing me on politics in Wales when I actually live here, have children and grandchildren here and use Wales NHS and education and have been involved for over 50 years in Welsh politics
Indeed I nearly became the youngest councilor in Wales but had to let that go to become, at the time, the youngest golf club captain in Wales
I have never said Scots are the enemy, the SNP however certainly are the enemy.
We have a Tory government, which you no longer clearly support, which has correctly made clear it will refuse an indyref2 for 40 years while it remains in power via its leader the PM.
You were saying the LDs have no hope anywhere in Wales, yet 2 Welsh seats, Brecon and Radnor and Ceredigion, are even in the top 50 LD target seats
And today the lib dems managed to come 'bottom' of the Wales only poll at just 4%, with labour on 37, conservatives on 31 and Plaid on 15
As I said you have no idea about the current state of politics in Wales and even today that has been proven
They were polling not much higher in summer 2019 when they won the Brecon and Radnor by election
London is on fire at the moment. It really is the Roaring Twenties. Never seen it so hedonistic
Great news. It was still pretty quiet last time I walked around that area a couple of months ago.
There has been a massive change. And it's not just Soho. Oxford St. Marylebone, Camden. Covent Garden. Busier than I've ever seen them in some ways, as in: busier than EVER
The big difference is the age. It seems like London has got 10 years younger overnight. Everyone is about 24. This might be because I am such an old git, but I don't think it is entirely subjective. The kids have flooded back to reclaim their city and they want to have FUN - and good for them. That is how great world cities revive
I've not been to the City or the Wharf so can't speak for them. Put people are dancing on tables in Soho. It's mad. And brilliant.
Much sex is being had by many
Old Street bars were packed last Friday. Proper packed. Can report on Camden on Sunday, going there tomorrow night for drinks.
My experience since the beginning of September has been of full bars, and generally people finally believing this is all done.
There's no way we go back to any kind of lockdown now. The NHS will just have to deal with it or let the anti-vaxxers die untreated.
London is on fire at the moment. It really is the Roaring Twenties. Never seen it so hedonistic
Great news. It was still pretty quiet last time I walked around that area a couple of months ago.
A friend went to see Anything Goes at the Barbican last night. Reported completely packed, no social distancing, and only maybe 5% in masks when seated, 10% when roaming in the break. Audience exuberant - she said it was hard not to see it as celebrating escape from lockdown.
London is on fire at the moment. It really is the Roaring Twenties. Never seen it so hedonistic
Great news. It was still pretty quiet last time I walked around that area a couple of months ago.
There has been a massive change. And it's not just Soho. Oxford St. Marylebone, Camden. Covent Garden. Busier than I've ever seen them in some ways, as in: busier than EVER
The big difference is the age. It seems like London has got 10 years younger overnight. Everyone is about 24. This might be because I am such an old git, but I don't think it is entirely subjective. The kids have flooded back to reclaim their city and they want to have FUN - and good for them. That is how great world cities revive
I've not been to the City or the Wharf so can't speak for them. Put people are dancing on tables in Soho. It's mad. And brilliant.
Much sex is being had by many
Isn't it Fresher's Week? Newcastle has been insane all week too.
It is just Fresher's?
I had to fight for a restaurant table at the Groucho LAST night, at just 7pm. Stuffed to the gills. Not many students go to the Groucho
The day before I walked through Woho and it was absolutely rammed, so many people cars were finding it hard to get down Great Marlborough Street. I've only ever seen it like that at Xmas, before
It's like we are two nations. One is panic buying and hoarding petroleum, the other is just thinking Fuck it, let's dance on the bar-top
I'm with the hedonists. We have survived a fucking plague, Let's have fun
Anecdata. On my way home there was a several hundred metre queue at 2300 for petrol at Sainsbury. Texaco nearby sold out.
The blitz spirit, hey?
Sainsbury petrol station (one of the two main ones in Godalming) completely ran out tonight and closed down. On this occasion I don't especially blame the Government (apart from failing strategically to see the HGV driver shortage coming) but the media trying to sell papers by starting a panic.
The Department of the Air Force has awarded a $2,604,329,361 contract to Rolls-Royce Corporation, Indianapolis, Indiana, for B-52H Stratofortress military derivative commercial engines.
The competitive single award contract provides for 608 military derivative commercial engines, plus spare engines, associated support equipment and commercial engineering data, to include sustainment activities, to be used on the B-52H bomber fleet.
The Rolls-Royce F130 engine will replace the TF33-PW-103, which has powered the B-52 since the 1960s, and is projected to no longer be supportable beyond 2030. The B-52 original equipment manufacturer, Boeing, is responsible for integrating the engines onto the aircraft. The Air Force plans to finalize integration activities and deliver the first lot of B-52H modified aircraft by the end of 2028.
Newsnight correspondent Mark Urban just uttered nonsense on the programme when he said the AfD are polling "around half" of what they got at the previous German election. In fact they're polling around 11-12% and got 12.6% at the last election.
Their support in Saxony where their support is strongest is unchanged to last time only down 1% from 27% and 26% and they're likely to pick up 10-15 constituency seats in the east because CDU support has collapsed so badly even though their support has not increased overall.
Their largest demographic is among men aged 30-50 in the east but their support is remarkably consistent at 10-12% now pretty much.
London is on fire at the moment. It really is the Roaring Twenties. Never seen it so hedonistic
Great news. It was still pretty quiet last time I walked around that area a couple of months ago.
There has been a massive change. And it's not just Soho. Oxford St. Marylebone, Camden. Covent Garden. Busier than I've ever seen them in some ways, as in: busier than EVER
The big difference is the age. It seems like London has got 10 years younger overnight. Everyone is about 24. This might be because I am such an old git, but I don't think it is entirely subjective. The kids have flooded back to reclaim their city and they want to have FUN - and good for them. That is how great world cities revive
I've not been to the City or the Wharf so can't speak for them. Put people are dancing on tables in Soho. It's mad. And brilliant.
Much sex is being had by many
Old Street bars were packed last Friday. Proper packed. Can report on Camden on Sunday, going there tomorrow night for drinks.
My experience since the beginning of September has been of full bars, and generally people finally believing this is all done.
There's no way we go back to any kind of lockdown now. The NHS will just have to deal with it or let the anti-vaxxers die untreated.
Yes, I entirely agree
The young people (ie under 30) that I spoke to tonight were all of one mind (and they were all smart professional educated types). "Sure, winter might be crap, 1000s might die, but 1000s die every winter, no way we will lock down again, we want to enjoy our youth. Enough"
We have reached the limits of lockdowning. I can't see us going back unless this last wave turns into the Black Death
And people are hugging and kissing again, everywhere
London is on fire at the moment. It really is the Roaring Twenties. Never seen it so hedonistic
Great news. It was still pretty quiet last time I walked around that area a couple of months ago.
There has been a massive change. And it's not just Soho. Oxford St. Marylebone, Camden. Covent Garden. Busier than I've ever seen them in some ways, as in: busier than EVER
The big difference is the age. It seems like London has got 10 years younger overnight. Everyone is about 24. This might be because I am such an old git, but I don't think it is entirely subjective. The kids have flooded back to reclaim their city and they want to have FUN - and good for them. That is how great world cities revive
I've not been to the City or the Wharf so can't speak for them. Put people are dancing on tables in Soho. It's mad. And brilliant.
Much sex is being had by many
Isn't it Fresher's Week? Newcastle has been insane all week too.
It is just Fresher's?
I had to fight for a restaurant table at the Groucho LAST night, at just 7pm. Stuffed to the gills. Not many students go to the Groucho
The day before I walked through Woho and it was absolutely rammed, so many people cars were finding it hard to get down Great Marlborough Street. I've only ever seen it like that at Xmas, before
It's like we are two nations. One is panic buying and hoarding petroleum, the other is just thinking Fuck it, let's dance on the bar-top
I'm with the hedonists. We have survived a fucking plague, Let's have fun
Yeah definitely not just Freshers week. There's been a distinct change since the end of August IMO. I think people have finally started to believe this is all over. Everyone can see what's happening, they don't know many or any vaccinated people who are getting infected let alone going to hospital. All of my friends and family are fully vaccinated, the fear has gone. The last vestiges of needing to do tests will be gone by mid-October when the day 2 test goes away and in a few days when the UK vaccine passport gets mutual recognition from the EU one meaning no entry tests to go to Europe.
We're legitimately on the other side and life is starting to feel very much closer to the old normal.
McLeish close to picking out that last splinter in his arse from the Scottish Indy fence he's been sitting on for years. Fear not though Yoons, he may yet be tempted back and his indy support would be conditional on the Union being unable to reform itself. Whadda ya think lads, what are the chance sthe the Union will reform itself?
Why on earth should Tories care less what a former Labour FM thinks of the Union? As long as there is a Tory government at Westminster indyref2 will be refused.
The only way there will ever be an indyref2 allowed is if there is a UK Labour government, in which case McLeish would probably back the Union again anyway and Starmer's No + devomax offer in such a scenario
Can you tell me the precise moment you gave up on the 'no second referendum for a generation' guff, and what caused it?
Boris has correctly said no Tory government would allow indyref2 for a genuine generation ie 40 years, if you think we will be in power for 40 years fine with me
Have you any idea how much that kind of post irritates the fuck out of your potential voters? It would certainly tip me over the edge if I hadn't been tipped already, and I've voted tory in every ge but one since 1979. Just so you know.
I have rejected @HYUFD utter nonsense on indyref2 for as long as I can remember
He is an embarrassment, talks about Scotland as an enemy, and yet seems to think he speaks for those of us who value the union, are connected directly with immediate family in Scotland, and know that someday indyref2 may happen , indeed may be beneficial for the union to happen, and I just ask that he is considered as a one off with unbending views
The other day he was lecturing me on politics in Wales when I actually live here, have children and grandchildren here and use Wales NHS and education and have been involved for over 50 years in Welsh politics
Indeed I nearly became the youngest councilor in Wales but had to let that go to become, at the time, the youngest golf club captain in Wales
I have never said Scots are the enemy, the SNP however certainly are the enemy.
We have a Tory government, which you no longer clearly support, which has correctly made clear it will refuse an indyref2 for 40 years while it remains in power via its leader the PM.
You were saying the LDs have no hope anywhere in Wales, yet 2 Welsh seats, Brecon and Radnor and Ceredigion, are even in the top 50 LD target seats
If you say that the Scots can't determine their own future, no matter how they vote, then you absolutely are calling the Scots themselves your enemy.
You beat your political enemies in the ballot box, not with truncheons.
We did beat them in 2014 in a once in a generation vote.
They will not get another for a genuine generation as long as we Tories are in power.
All we need to do is refuse indyref2, we do not yet need to arrest Nationalist leaders for holding an illegal vote as the Spanish have been trying to do with the Catalan nationalist leader in exile via arrest warrant in Italy today.
For as long as the UK government refuses an indyref2 no such vote can be legal and Sturgeon has ruled out a wildcat referendum and UDI anyway
Sorry, did you just say in 2014 you beat the Scots? That's not really how a lot of Scots would see it, Scots who voted No.
'You beat your political enemies in the ballot box, not with truncheons.
We did beat them in 2014 in a once in a generation vote.'
We beat the SNP, our political enemies and the enemies of most Scots who voted No.
McLeish close to picking out that last splinter in his arse from the Scottish Indy fence he's been sitting on for years. Fear not though Yoons, he may yet be tempted back and his indy support would be conditional on the Union being unable to reform itself. Whadda ya think lads, what are the chance sthe the Union will reform itself?
Why on earth should Tories care less what a former Labour FM thinks of the Union? As long as there is a Tory government at Westminster indyref2 will be refused.
The only way there will ever be an indyref2 allowed is if there is a UK Labour government, in which case McLeish would probably back the Union again anyway and Starmer's No + devomax offer in such a scenario
Can you tell me the precise moment you gave up on the 'no second referendum for a generation' guff, and what caused it?
Boris has correctly said no Tory government would allow indyref2 for a genuine generation ie 40 years, if you think we will be in power for 40 years fine with me
Have you any idea how much that kind of post irritates the fuck out of your potential voters? It would certainly tip me over the edge if I hadn't been tipped already, and I've voted tory in every ge but one since 1979. Just so you know.
I have rejected @HYUFD utter nonsense on indyref2 for as long as I can remember
He is an embarrassment, talks about Scotland as an enemy, and yet seems to think he speaks for those of us who value the union, are connected directly with immediate family in Scotland, and know that someday indyref2 may happen , indeed may be beneficial for the union to happen, and I just ask that he is considered as a one off with unbending views
The other day he was lecturing me on politics in Wales when I actually live here, have children and grandchildren here and use Wales NHS and education and have been involved for over 50 years in Welsh politics
Indeed I nearly became the youngest councilor in Wales but had to let that go to become, at the time, the youngest golf club captain in Wales
I have never said Scots are the enemy, the SNP however certainly are the enemy.
We have a Tory government, which you no longer clearly support, which has correctly made clear it will refuse an indyref2 for 40 years while it remains in power via its leader the PM.
You were saying the LDs have no hope anywhere in Wales, yet 2 Welsh seats, Brecon and Radnor and Ceredigion, are even in the top 50 LD target seats
If you say that the Scots can't determine their own future, no matter how they vote, then you absolutely are calling the Scots themselves your enemy.
You beat your political enemies in the ballot box, not with truncheons.
We did beat them in 2014 in a once in a generation vote.
They will not get another for a genuine generation as long as we Tories are in power.
All we need to do is refuse indyref2, we do not yet need to arrest Nationalist leaders for holding an illegal vote as the Spanish have been trying to do with the Catalan nationalist leader in exile via arrest warrant in Italy today.
For as long as the UK government refuses an indyref2 no such vote can be legal and Sturgeon has ruled out a wildcat referendum and UDI anyway
You are such an embarrassment to the conservative party, and you an elected official should know better, a lot better
It is me giving the official line from the party leader and PM that there will be no indyref2 allowed for 40 years, not you.
Given you no longer even support the Tory Party let alone represent it I am rather more able to speak for the party now than you are thanks
London is on fire at the moment. It really is the Roaring Twenties. Never seen it so hedonistic
Great news. It was still pretty quiet last time I walked around that area a couple of months ago.
There has been a massive change. And it's not just Soho. Oxford St. Marylebone, Camden. Covent Garden. Busier than I've ever seen them in some ways, as in: busier than EVER
The big difference is the age. It seems like London has got 10 years younger overnight. Everyone is about 24. This might be because I am such an old git, but I don't think it is entirely subjective. The kids have flooded back to reclaim their city and they want to have FUN - and good for them. That is how great world cities revive
I've not been to the City or the Wharf so can't speak for them. Put people are dancing on tables in Soho. It's mad. And brilliant.
Much sex is being had by many
Isn't it Fresher's Week? Newcastle has been insane all week too.
It is just Fresher's?
I had to fight for a restaurant table at the Groucho LAST night, at just 7pm. Stuffed to the gills. Not many students go to the Groucho
The day before I walked through Woho and it was absolutely rammed, so many people cars were finding it hard to get down Great Marlborough Street. I've only ever seen it like that at Xmas, before
It's like we are two nations. One is panic buying and hoarding petroleum, the other is just thinking Fuck it, let's dance on the bar-top
I'm with the hedonists. We have survived a fucking plague, Let's have fun
Couldn't agree more. Unfortunately, I've got my first cold of the last 18 months, and am proper slayed off it. I'd love nowt more than to dance on tables, but I'm having trouble staying awake for more than six hours at a stretch. Owt stronger than LemSip and I'd be in A+E.
Newsnight correspondent Mark Urban just uttered nonsense on the programme when he said the AfD are polling "around half" of what they got at the previous German election. In fact they're polling around 11-12% and got 12.6% at the last election.
The lack of specialist knowledge on this kind of stuff beggars belief. They could find a dozen on here to talk more sensibly than the rubbish I have heard spouted about Canada or Germany in just the past week.
After 18 months of COVID misreporting, does it come as any surprise?
That been said, I should thank the BBC, Indy, Guardian, for running a load of BS stories about China banning crypto this morning....they amplified an old news story and made me a load of money.
The other thing I have noticed from the last few days in and out of central London is a big move back to the office, led by young people who are DONE with WFH
General opinion: "WFH was fun for a while, but it's lonely, humourless and boring, and you don't meet any new friends or lovers"
They'd quite like the option of a day or two at home a week, but they are now keen to resume normal working life, despite the commute
McLeish close to picking out that last splinter in his arse from the Scottish Indy fence he's been sitting on for years. Fear not though Yoons, he may yet be tempted back and his indy support would be conditional on the Union being unable to reform itself. Whadda ya think lads, what are the chance sthe the Union will reform itself?
Why on earth should Tories care less what a former Labour FM thinks of the Union? As long as there is a Tory government at Westminster indyref2 will be refused.
The only way there will ever be an indyref2 allowed is if there is a UK Labour government, in which case McLeish would probably back the Union again anyway and Starmer's No + devomax offer in such a scenario
Can you tell me the precise moment you gave up on the 'no second referendum for a generation' guff, and what caused it?
Boris has correctly said no Tory government would allow indyref2 for a genuine generation ie 40 years, if you think we will be in power for 40 years fine with me
Have you any idea how much that kind of post irritates the fuck out of your potential voters? It would certainly tip me over the edge if I hadn't been tipped already, and I've voted tory in every ge but one since 1979. Just so you know.
I have rejected @HYUFD utter nonsense on indyref2 for as long as I can remember
He is an embarrassment, talks about Scotland as an enemy, and yet seems to think he speaks for those of us who value the union, are connected directly with immediate family in Scotland, and know that someday indyref2 may happen , indeed may be beneficial for the union to happen, and I just ask that he is considered as a one off with unbending views
The other day he was lecturing me on politics in Wales when I actually live here, have children and grandchildren here and use Wales NHS and education and have been involved for over 50 years in Welsh politics
Indeed I nearly became the youngest councilor in Wales but had to let that go to become, at the time, the youngest golf club captain in Wales
I have never said Scots are the enemy, the SNP however certainly are the enemy.
We have a Tory government, which you no longer clearly support, which has correctly made clear it will refuse an indyref2 for 40 years while it remains in power via its leader the PM.
You were saying the LDs have no hope anywhere in Wales, yet 2 Welsh seats, Brecon and Radnor and Ceredigion, are even in the top 50 LD target seats
If you say that the Scots can't determine their own future, no matter how they vote, then you absolutely are calling the Scots themselves your enemy.
You beat your political enemies in the ballot box, not with truncheons.
We did beat them in 2014 in a once in a generation vote.
They will not get another for a genuine generation as long as we Tories are in power.
All we need to do is refuse indyref2, we do not yet need to arrest Nationalist leaders for holding an illegal vote as the Spanish have been trying to do with the Catalan nationalist leader in exile via arrest warrant in Italy today.
For as long as the UK government refuses an indyref2 no such vote can be legal and Sturgeon has ruled out a wildcat referendum and UDI anyway
Sorry, did you just say in 2014 you beat the Scots? That's not really how a lot of Scots would see it, Scots who voted No.
'You beat your political enemies in the ballot box, not with truncheons.
We did beat them in 2014 in a once in a generation vote.'
We beat the SNP, our political enemies and the enemies of most Scots who voted No.
So don't put words there I never said
Yes, the post you replied to was about Scots, not the SNP. I don't write your posts, you do.
McLeish close to picking out that last splinter in his arse from the Scottish Indy fence he's been sitting on for years. Fear not though Yoons, he may yet be tempted back and his indy support would be conditional on the Union being unable to reform itself. Whadda ya think lads, what are the chance sthe the Union will reform itself?
Why on earth should Tories care less what a former Labour FM thinks of the Union? As long as there is a Tory government at Westminster indyref2 will be refused.
The only way there will ever be an indyref2 allowed is if there is a UK Labour government, in which case McLeish would probably back the Union again anyway and Starmer's No + devomax offer in such a scenario
Can you tell me the precise moment you gave up on the 'no second referendum for a generation' guff, and what caused it?
Boris has correctly said no Tory government would allow indyref2 for a genuine generation ie 40 years, if you think we will be in power for 40 years fine with me
Have you any idea how much that kind of post irritates the fuck out of your potential voters? It would certainly tip me over the edge if I hadn't been tipped already, and I've voted tory in every ge but one since 1979. Just so you know.
I have rejected @HYUFD utter nonsense on indyref2 for as long as I can remember
He is an embarrassment, talks about Scotland as an enemy, and yet seems to think he speaks for those of us who value the union, are connected directly with immediate family in Scotland, and know that someday indyref2 may happen , indeed may be beneficial for the union to happen, and I just ask that he is considered as a one off with unbending views
The other day he was lecturing me on politics in Wales when I actually live here, have children and grandchildren here and use Wales NHS and education and have been involved for over 50 years in Welsh politics
Indeed I nearly became the youngest councilor in Wales but had to let that go to become, at the time, the youngest golf club captain in Wales
I have never said Scots are the enemy, the SNP however certainly are the enemy.
We have a Tory government, which you no longer clearly support, which has correctly made clear it will refuse an indyref2 for 40 years while it remains in power via its leader the PM.
You were saying the LDs have no hope anywhere in Wales, yet 2 Welsh seats, Brecon and Radnor and Ceredigion, are even in the top 50 LD target seats
If you say that the Scots can't determine their own future, no matter how they vote, then you absolutely are calling the Scots themselves your enemy.
You beat your political enemies in the ballot box, not with truncheons.
We did beat them in 2014 in a once in a generation vote.
They will not get another for a genuine generation as long as we Tories are in power.
All we need to do is refuse indyref2, we do not yet need to arrest Nationalist leaders for holding an illegal vote as the Spanish have been trying to do with the Catalan nationalist leader in exile via arrest warrant in Italy today.
For as long as the UK government refuses an indyref2 no such vote can be legal and Sturgeon has ruled out a wildcat referendum and UDI anyway
You are such an embarrassment to the conservative party, and you an elected official should know better, a lot better
It is me giving the official line from the party leader and PM that there will be no indyref2 allowed for 40 years, not you.
Given you no longer even support the Tory Party let alone represent it I am rather more able to speak for the party now than you are thanks
And you expect to win a GE with that dismissive attitude to those who have put in 55 years work for the party, apart from my two votes for Blair, and equally other good conservatives who are far more conservative than you will ever be
London is on fire at the moment. It really is the Roaring Twenties. Never seen it so hedonistic
Great news. It was still pretty quiet last time I walked around that area a couple of months ago.
There has been a massive change. And it's not just Soho. Oxford St. Marylebone, Camden. Covent Garden. Busier than I've ever seen them in some ways, as in: busier than EVER
The big difference is the age. It seems like London has got 10 years younger overnight. Everyone is about 24. This might be because I am such an old git, but I don't think it is entirely subjective. The kids have flooded back to reclaim their city and they want to have FUN - and good for them. That is how great world cities revive
I've not been to the City or the Wharf so can't speak for them. Put people are dancing on tables in Soho. It's mad. And brilliant.
Much sex is being had by many
Isn't it Fresher's Week? Newcastle has been insane all week too.
It is just Fresher's?
I had to fight for a restaurant table at the Groucho LAST night, at just 7pm. Stuffed to the gills. Not many students go to the Groucho
The day before I walked through Woho and it was absolutely rammed, so many people cars were finding it hard to get down Great Marlborough Street. I've only ever seen it like that at Xmas, before
It's like we are two nations. One is panic buying and hoarding petroleum, the other is just thinking Fuck it, let's dance on the bar-top
I'm with the hedonists. We have survived a fucking plague, Let's have fun
Couldn't agree more. Unfortunately, I've got my first cold of the last 18 months, and am proper slayed off it. I'd love nowt more than to dance on tables, but I'm having trouble staying awake for more than six hours at a stretch. Owt stronger than LemSip and I'd be in A+E.
I heard exactly this today, as well! A terrible cold is rampant, it's not Covid but it's uncannily horrible
I haven't had a cold since Covid began, due to so much social distancing and hand/face hygiene I guess. Perhaps we are now all ultra susceptible to anything
The other thing I have noticed from the last few days in and out of central London is a big move back to the office, led by young people who are DONE with WFH
General opinion: "WFH was fun for a while, but it's lonely, humourless and boring, and you don't meet any new friends or lovers"
They'd quite like the option of a day or two at home a week, but they are now keen to resume normal working life, despite the commute
I have wfh for years and, when I used to go into the city to meet people, I must admit it made me feel like I’d been missing out. Doesn’t matter now as a happily almost married man, but if I were 20 years younger and single, it would be no fun
2.4m tube journeys on Wednesday. Almost back to full weekday capacity, @Leon the commuters are back. I've noticed it too coming in from East Finchley to Moorgate.
Newsnight correspondent Mark Urban just uttered nonsense on the programme when he said the AfD are polling "around half" of what they got at the previous German election. In fact they're polling around 11-12% and got 12.6% at the last election.
The lack of specialist knowledge on this kind of stuff beggars belief. They could find a dozen on here to talk more sensibly than the rubbish I have heard spouted about Canada or Germany in just the past week.
After 18 months of COVID misreporting, does it come as any surprise?
That been said, I should thank the BBC, Indy, Guardian, for running a load of BS stories about China banning crypto this morning....they amplified an old news story and made me a load of money.
I've given up on the news now. You get it quicker here. And a wider range of viewpoints on it too. From right, left, centre, quirky, irreverent, borderline insane. And always an expert on the most improbable of topics. Maybe we need a PB News Channel? You could do Urquhart's Crypto Investment Hour.
Newsnight correspondent Mark Urban just uttered nonsense on the programme when he said the AfD are polling "around half" of what they got at the previous German election. In fact they're polling around 11-12% and got 12.6% at the last election.
The lack of specialist knowledge on this kind of stuff beggars belief. They could find a dozen on here to talk more sensibly than the rubbish I have heard spouted about Canada or Germany in just the past week.
After 18 months of COVID misreporting, does it come as any surprise?
That been said, I should thank the BBC, Indy, Guardian, for running a load of BS stories about China banning crypto this morning....they amplified an old news story and made me a load of money.
I've given up on the news now. You get it quicker here. And a wider range of viewpoints on it too. From right, left, centre, quirky, irreverent, borderline insane. And always an expert on the most improbable of topics. Maybe we need a PB News Channel? You could do Urquhart's Crypto Investment Hour.
Well Channel 6718 (or whatever GB News is on) will shortly be vacant....
McLeish close to picking out that last splinter in his arse from the Scottish Indy fence he's been sitting on for years. Fear not though Yoons, he may yet be tempted back and his indy support would be conditional on the Union being unable to reform itself. Whadda ya think lads, what are the chance sthe the Union will reform itself?
Why on earth should Tories care less what a former Labour FM thinks of the Union? As long as there is a Tory government at Westminster indyref2 will be refused.
The only way there will ever be an indyref2 allowed is if there is a UK Labour government, in which case McLeish would probably back the Union again anyway and Starmer's No + devomax offer in such a scenario
Can you tell me the precise moment you gave up on the 'no second referendum for a generation' guff, and what caused it?
Boris has correctly said no Tory government would allow indyref2 for a genuine generation ie 40 years, if you think we will be in power for 40 years fine with me
Have you any idea how much that kind of post irritates the fuck out of your potential voters? It would certainly tip me over the edge if I hadn't been tipped already, and I've voted tory in every ge but one since 1979. Just so you know.
I have rejected @HYUFD utter nonsense on indyref2 for as long as I can remember
He is an embarrassment, talks about Scotland as an enemy, and yet seems to think he speaks for those of us who value the union, are connected directly with immediate family in Scotland, and know that someday indyref2 may happen , indeed may be beneficial for the union to happen, and I just ask that he is considered as a one off with unbending views
The other day he was lecturing me on politics in Wales when I actually live here, have children and grandchildren here and use Wales NHS and education and have been involved for over 50 years in Welsh politics
Indeed I nearly became the youngest councilor in Wales but had to let that go to become, at the time, the youngest golf club captain in Wales
I have never said Scots are the enemy, the SNP however certainly are the enemy.
We have a Tory government, which you no longer clearly support, which has correctly made clear it will refuse an indyref2 for 40 years while it remains in power via its leader the PM.
You were saying the LDs have no hope anywhere in Wales, yet 2 Welsh seats, Brecon and Radnor and Ceredigion, are even in the top 50 LD target seats
If you say that the Scots can't determine their own future, no matter how they vote, then you absolutely are calling the Scots themselves your enemy.
You beat your political enemies in the ballot box, not with truncheons.
We did beat them in 2014 in a once in a generation vote.
They will not get another for a genuine generation as long as we Tories are in power.
All we need to do is refuse indyref2, we do not yet need to arrest Nationalist leaders for holding an illegal vote as the Spanish have been trying to do with the Catalan nationalist leader in exile via arrest warrant in Italy today.
For as long as the UK government refuses an indyref2 no such vote can be legal and Sturgeon has ruled out a wildcat referendum and UDI anyway
Sorry, did you just say in 2014 you beat the Scots? That's not really how a lot of Scots would see it, Scots who voted No.
'You beat your political enemies in the ballot box, not with truncheons.
We did beat them in 2014 in a once in a generation vote.'
We beat the SNP, our political enemies and the enemies of most Scots who voted No.
So don't put words there I never said
Yes, the post you replied to was about Scots, not the SNP. I don't write your posts, you do.
Wrong, 'I have never said Scots are the enemy, the SNP however certainly are the enemy.' As I said earlier.
The fact PT is a Nationalist appeaser and thinks the SNP must be given a referendum every year until they get the result they want and if not that makes you an enemy of Scots does not change that.
You may be a Nationalist appeaser too, I most certainly am not and nor thank goodness is Boris. Boris is more Churchill than Chamberlain.
No concessions and no giving in whatsoever to Sturgeon, once in a generation means once in a generation.
The other thing I have noticed from the last few days in and out of central London is a big move back to the office, led by young people who are DONE with WFH
General opinion: "WFH was fun for a while, but it's lonely, humourless and boring, and you don't meet any new friends or lovers"
They'd quite like the option of a day or two at home a week, but they are now keen to resume normal working life, despite the commute
I have wfh for years and, when I used to go into the city to meet people, I must admit it made me feel like I’d been missing out. Doesn’t matter now as a happily almost married man, but if I were 20 years younger and single, it would be no fun
Quite. If you're 23 or 27 and single and living in outer London who the F wants to stay at home all week?! Where's the fun in traipsing to the local Aldi for a sandwich? Then home again
38 or 45 with kids, spouse and a garden, entirely different, but even then some will want the escape of the office, city life, bars and restaurants, cool shops and a cheeky lunch
I spoke to a WeWork executive tonight (I had a sociable evening) and he said the attitude for them has entirely changed, WFH is not gonna last, on the scale we anticipated, because those who don't go in to the office will miss out on those chance meetings/opportunities/promotions
Those who go in will simply appear keener, and develop helpful human relationships, and they will get ahead. It is so much easier to sack someone you have never actually met. It is so much easier to promote someone you have actually met who has made you laugh, or told you some decent gossip. Someone you LIKE, because you've known them, touched them, had a drink with them. We are social animals
There will be more flexibility re commuting, but this person (whose very job depends on predicting work/life patterns) thinks WFH will wither, certainly for young people
London is on fire at the moment. It really is the Roaring Twenties. Never seen it so hedonistic
Great news. It was still pretty quiet last time I walked around that area a couple of months ago.
There has been a massive change. And it's not just Soho. Oxford St. Marylebone, Camden. Covent Garden. Busier than I've ever seen them in some ways, as in: busier than EVER
The big difference is the age. It seems like London has got 10 years younger overnight. Everyone is about 24. This might be because I am such an old git, but I don't think it is entirely subjective. The kids have flooded back to reclaim their city and they want to have FUN - and good for them. That is how great world cities revive
I've not been to the City or the Wharf so can't speak for them. Put people are dancing on tables in Soho. It's mad. And brilliant.
Much sex is being had by many
Isn't it Fresher's Week? Newcastle has been insane all week too.
It is just Fresher's?
I had to fight for a restaurant table at the Groucho LAST night, at just 7pm. Stuffed to the gills. Not many students go to the Groucho
The day before I walked through Woho and it was absolutely rammed, so many people cars were finding it hard to get down Great Marlborough Street. I've only ever seen it like that at Xmas, before
It's like we are two nations. One is panic buying and hoarding petroleum, the other is just thinking Fuck it, let's dance on the bar-top
I'm with the hedonists. We have survived a fucking plague, Let's have fun
Couldn't agree more. Unfortunately, I've got my first cold of the last 18 months, and am proper slayed off it. I'd love nowt more than to dance on tables, but I'm having trouble staying awake for more than six hours at a stretch. Owt stronger than LemSip and I'd be in A+E.
I heard exactly this today, as well! A terrible cold is rampant, it's not Covid but it's uncannily horrible
I haven't had a cold since Covid began, due to so much social distancing and hand/face hygiene I guess. Perhaps we are now all ultra susceptible to anything
That sounds like mine! Runny nose, chesty cough. Thing is. The symptoms aren't that bad, I've had much worse. But my body's reaction is awful. All encompassing weariness, aching all over and need to sleep, as well as consume double the usual calories. Like a boxer back in training after 18 months out of the ring.
The other thing I have noticed from the last few days in and out of central London is a big move back to the office, led by young people who are DONE with WFH
General opinion: "WFH was fun for a while, but it's lonely, humourless and boring, and you don't meet any new friends or lovers"
They'd quite like the option of a day or two at home a week, but they are now keen to resume normal working life, despite the commute
When I was 25 and a young graduate on my first gig I would have thought WFH was fucking laugh out loud ridiculous.
Partly because the office was much much warmer and well appointed than the rental room I was in.
£10/hr re-re-re-re-re-announcement.....I bet it will be basically that already come the next GE. I would have thought a promise on £15 / hr would get more people talking.
Re colds - As I am going to be going back into an office shortly (for the first time in doesn't know how many years, a lot...), I went and got a flu jab this year as a sensible extra precaution against whatever other plagues are lurking.
The other thing I have noticed from the last few days in and out of central London is a big move back to the office, led by young people who are DONE with WFH
General opinion: "WFH was fun for a while, but it's lonely, humourless and boring, and you don't meet any new friends or lovers"
They'd quite like the option of a day or two at home a week, but they are now keen to resume normal working life, despite the commute
When I was 25 and a young graduate on my first gig I would have thought WFH was fucking laugh out loud ridiculous.
Partly because the office was much much warmer and well appointed than the rental room I was in.
Which, of course, is still the case, if not even truer than ever, given the property situation in a huge, wealthy world city like London
Most people in their 20s or early 30s in London either live in a cramped shared flat, or with their parents. That's it. Vanishingly few live in their own nice house, with a garden
They all want to go back to the office, have fun, mock the boss, chit chat in real life, get drunk after work, meet new people, go shopping, try a new bar, be a normal human. And they are doing so, despite the tedium of commuting
London is exceptional within the UK of course, but I expect similar things are happening in other big British cities. WFH is limiting and depressing for a lot of young people
Re colds - my wife just had a cold this weekend. Started joking about how it was first cold in two years, then it properly knocked her for six. Quickly recovered, but definitely a worse cold than normal.
I'm guessing people's immunity to colds have waned.
The other thing I have noticed from the last few days in and out of central London is a big move back to the office, led by young people who are DONE with WFH
General opinion: "WFH was fun for a while, but it's lonely, humourless and boring, and you don't meet any new friends or lovers"
They'd quite like the option of a day or two at home a week, but they are now keen to resume normal working life, despite the commute
I hope that is true. I know there are many exciting opportunities to totally redo how we work and live and all that, but I just worry the ones who are very keen on such are being a little precipitate in how much things will truly have changed forever, whilst the middlingly keen might go along with it without really thinking about it. It might all work out for the best, but I still worry.
The other thing I have noticed from the last few days in and out of central London is a big move back to the office, led by young people who are DONE with WFH
General opinion: "WFH was fun for a while, but it's lonely, humourless and boring, and you don't meet any new friends or lovers"
They'd quite like the option of a day or two at home a week, but they are now keen to resume normal working life, despite the commute
I have wfh for years and, when I used to go into the city to meet people, I must admit it made me feel like I’d been missing out. Doesn’t matter now as a happily almost married man, but if I were 20 years younger and single, it would be no fun
Quite. If you're 23 or 27 and single and living in outer London who the F wants to stay at home all week?! Where's the fun in traipsing to the local Aldi for a sandwich? Then home again
38 or 45 with kids, spouse and a garden, entirely different, but even then some will want the escape of the office, city life, bars and restaurants, cool shops and a cheeky lunch
I spoke to a WeWork executive tonight (I had a sociable evening) and he said the attitude for them has entirely changed, WFH is not gonna last, on the scale we anticipated, because those who don't go in to the office will miss out on those chance meetings/opportunities/promotions
Those who go in will simply appear keener, and develop helpful human relationships, and they will get ahead. It is so much easier to sack someone you have never actually met. It is so much easier to promote someone you have actually met who has made you laugh, or told you some decent gossip. Someone you LIKE, because you've known them, touched them, had a drink with them. We are social animals
There will be more flexibility re commuting, but this person (whose very job depends on predicting work/life patterns) thinks WFH will wither, certainly for young people
Yes, tend to agree. I worked in London most of 94-09 and was single for a lot of it, so done my bit and don’t mind the quieter life now.
The other thing I have noticed from the last few days in and out of central London is a big move back to the office, led by young people who are DONE with WFH
General opinion: "WFH was fun for a while, but it's lonely, humourless and boring, and you don't meet any new friends or lovers"
They'd quite like the option of a day or two at home a week, but they are now keen to resume normal working life, despite the commute
I have wfh for years and, when I used to go into the city to meet people, I must admit it made me feel like I’d been missing out. Doesn’t matter now as a happily almost married man, but if I were 20 years younger and single, it would be no fun
Quite. If you're 23 or 27 and single and living in outer London who the F wants to stay at home all week?! Where's the fun in traipsing to the local Aldi for a sandwich? Then home again
38 or 45 with kids, spouse and a garden, entirely different, but even then some will want the escape of the office, city life, bars and restaurants, cool shops and a cheeky lunch
I spoke to a WeWork executive tonight (I had a sociable evening) and he said the attitude for them has entirely changed, WFH is not gonna last, on the scale we anticipated, because those who don't go in to the office will miss out on those chance meetings/opportunities/promotions
Those who go in will simply appear keener, and develop helpful human relationships, and they will get ahead. It is so much easier to sack someone you have never actually met. It is so much easier to promote someone you have actually met who has made you laugh, or told you some decent gossip. Someone you LIKE, because you've known them, touched them, had a drink with them. We are social animals
There will be more flexibility re commuting, but this person (whose very job depends on predicting work/life patterns) thinks WFH will wither, certainly for young people
Might be a city vs town thing, don't you think? In my office (in a smallish town) the 100 people who work in the office seem nearly all extremely reluctant to resume. I called a department meeting on Tuesday so we could meet two colleagues who we hired 6 months ago remotely and have never met. Nobody was keen and they had to be urged to do it. A quarter of the staff live hundreds of miles away, but we all plan and chat and argue and laugh online with several meetings a day. I'm fond of some of them who I've never met and never expect to meet.
Me, I've no strong views either way. I live 10 minutes from the office, so no problem. But I live in a boring road full of trees and houses, and the office is just off another boring road full of trees and houses. If I go into the centre I find three streets with shops like Boots and a Pizza Express which closed last year. The thrill that you describe is notably absent, and not because I'm an old git. In London, I agree it'd be different.
The other thing I have noticed from the last few days in and out of central London is a big move back to the office, led by young people who are DONE with WFH
General opinion: "WFH was fun for a while, but it's lonely, humourless and boring, and you don't meet any new friends or lovers"
They'd quite like the option of a day or two at home a week, but they are now keen to resume normal working life, despite the commute
I have wfh for years and, when I used to go into the city to meet people, I must admit it made me feel like I’d been missing out. Doesn’t matter now as a happily almost married man, but if I were 20 years younger and single, it would be no fun
Quite. If you're 23 or 27 and single and living in outer London who the F wants to stay at home all week?! Where's the fun in traipsing to the local Aldi for a sandwich? Then home again
38 or 45 with kids, spouse and a garden, entirely different, but even then some will want the escape of the office, city life, bars and restaurants, cool shops and a cheeky lunch
I spoke to a WeWork executive tonight (I had a sociable evening) and he said the attitude for them has entirely changed, WFH is not gonna last, on the scale we anticipated, because those who don't go in to the office will miss out on those chance meetings/opportunities/promotions
Those who go in will simply appear keener, and develop helpful human relationships, and they will get ahead. It is so much easier to sack someone you have never actually met. It is so much easier to promote someone you have actually met who has made you laugh, or told you some decent gossip. Someone you LIKE, because you've known them, touched them, had a drink with them. We are social animals
There will be more flexibility re commuting, but this person (whose very job depends on predicting work/life patterns) thinks WFH will wither, certainly for young people
Yes, tend to agree. I worked in London most of 94-09 and was single for a lot of it, so done my bit and don’t mind the quieter life now.
Also, how many young fathers really want to stay home 24/7 with a squalling brat or two? How many see the office as a blissful escape from the utter tedium of early parenting?
Some of us might say there is no mystery because it was obvious from the moment they released it that the SAGE models of 7K into hospital a day and so on by September was bloody nonsense.
The mystery is why this crap was allowed to dictate public policy.
The other thing I have noticed from the last few days in and out of central London is a big move back to the office, led by young people who are DONE with WFH
General opinion: "WFH was fun for a while, but it's lonely, humourless and boring, and you don't meet any new friends or lovers"
They'd quite like the option of a day or two at home a week, but they are now keen to resume normal working life, despite the commute
I have wfh for years and, when I used to go into the city to meet people, I must admit it made me feel like I’d been missing out. Doesn’t matter now as a happily almost married man, but if I were 20 years younger and single, it would be no fun
Quite. If you're 23 or 27 and single and living in outer London who the F wants to stay at home all week?! Where's the fun in traipsing to the local Aldi for a sandwich? Then home again
38 or 45 with kids, spouse and a garden, entirely different, but even then some will want the escape of the office, city life, bars and restaurants, cool shops and a cheeky lunch
I spoke to a WeWork executive tonight (I had a sociable evening) and he said the attitude for them has entirely changed, WFH is not gonna last, on the scale we anticipated, because those who don't go in to the office will miss out on those chance meetings/opportunities/promotions
Those who go in will simply appear keener, and develop helpful human relationships, and they will get ahead. It is so much easier to sack someone you have never actually met. It is so much easier to promote someone you have actually met who has made you laugh, or told you some decent gossip. Someone you LIKE, because you've known them, touched them, had a drink with them. We are social animals
There will be more flexibility re commuting, but this person (whose very job depends on predicting work/life patterns) thinks WFH will wither, certainly for young people
Might be a city vs town thing, don't you think? In my office (in a smallish town) the 100 people who work in the office seem nearly all extremely reluctant to resume. I called a department meeting on Tuesday so we could meet two colleagues who we hired 6 months ago remotely and have never met. Nobody was keen and they had to be urged to do it. A quarter of the staff live hundreds of miles away, but we all plan and chat and argue and laugh online with several meetings a day. I'm fond of some of them who I've never met and never expect to meet.
Me, I've no strong views either way. I live 10 minutes from the office, so no problem. But I live in a boring road full of trees and houses, and the office is just off another boring road full of trees and houses. If I go into the centre I find three streets with shops like Boots and a Pizza Express which closed last year. The thrill that you describe is notably absent, and not because I'm an old git. In London, I agree it'd be different.
If I had my time again I’d never commute from zone 6 to 1 but move in to town at a young age. I just don’t know how people do it
The other thing I have noticed from the last few days in and out of central London is a big move back to the office, led by young people who are DONE with WFH
General opinion: "WFH was fun for a while, but it's lonely, humourless and boring, and you don't meet any new friends or lovers"
They'd quite like the option of a day or two at home a week, but they are now keen to resume normal working life, despite the commute
I have wfh for years and, when I used to go into the city to meet people, I must admit it made me feel like I’d been missing out. Doesn’t matter now as a happily almost married man, but if I were 20 years younger and single, it would be no fun
Quite. If you're 23 or 27 and single and living in outer London who the F wants to stay at home all week?! Where's the fun in traipsing to the local Aldi for a sandwich? Then home again
38 or 45 with kids, spouse and a garden, entirely different, but even then some will want the escape of the office, city life, bars and restaurants, cool shops and a cheeky lunch
I spoke to a WeWork executive tonight (I had a sociable evening) and he said the attitude for them has entirely changed, WFH is not gonna last, on the scale we anticipated, because those who don't go in to the office will miss out on those chance meetings/opportunities/promotions
Those who go in will simply appear keener, and develop helpful human relationships, and they will get ahead. It is so much easier to sack someone you have never actually met. It is so much easier to promote someone you have actually met who has made you laugh, or told you some decent gossip. Someone you LIKE, because you've known them, touched them, had a drink with them. We are social animals
There will be more flexibility re commuting, but this person (whose very job depends on predicting work/life patterns) thinks WFH will wither, certainly for young people
Yes, tend to agree. I worked in London most of 94-09 and was single for a lot of it, so done my bit and don’t mind the quieter life now.
Also, how many young fathers really want to stay home 24/7 with a squalling brat or two? How many see the office as a blissful escape from the utter tedium of early parenting?
A lot. Not a happy fact. But a lot
I’m putting that theory to the test right now!!!
My first son was born just before lockdown and I have to say I have enjoyed being at home with him. I even did Daddy day care while my missus went to work from Oct-Jun. That was ludicrously stressful, and I had a fair bit of support - my respect and sympathy for single mums with no support network went through the roof
The other thing I have noticed from the last few days in and out of central London is a big move back to the office, led by young people who are DONE with WFH
General opinion: "WFH was fun for a while, but it's lonely, humourless and boring, and you don't meet any new friends or lovers"
They'd quite like the option of a day or two at home a week, but they are now keen to resume normal working life, despite the commute
I have wfh for years and, when I used to go into the city to meet people, I must admit it made me feel like I’d been missing out. Doesn’t matter now as a happily almost married man, but if I were 20 years younger and single, it would be no fun
Quite. If you're 23 or 27 and single and living in outer London who the F wants to stay at home all week?! Where's the fun in traipsing to the local Aldi for a sandwich? Then home again
38 or 45 with kids, spouse and a garden, entirely different, but even then some will want the escape of the office, city life, bars and restaurants, cool shops and a cheeky lunch
I spoke to a WeWork executive tonight (I had a sociable evening) and he said the attitude for them has entirely changed, WFH is not gonna last, on the scale we anticipated, because those who don't go in to the office will miss out on those chance meetings/opportunities/promotions
Those who go in will simply appear keener, and develop helpful human relationships, and they will get ahead. It is so much easier to sack someone you have never actually met. It is so much easier to promote someone you have actually met who has made you laugh, or told you some decent gossip. Someone you LIKE, because you've known them, touched them, had a drink with them. We are social animals
There will be more flexibility re commuting, but this person (whose very job depends on predicting work/life patterns) thinks WFH will wither, certainly for young people
Might be a city vs town thing, don't you think? In my office (in a smallish town) the 100 people who work in the office seem nearly all extremely reluctant to resume. I called a department meeting on Tuesday so we could meet two colleagues who we hired 6 months ago remotely and have never met. Nobody was keen and they had to be urged to do it. A quarter of the staff live hundreds of miles away, but we all plan and chat and argue and laugh online with several meetings a day. I'm fond of some of them who I've never met and never expect to meet.
Me, I've no strong views either way. I live 10 minutes from the office, so no problem. But I live in a boring road full of trees and houses, and the office is just off another boring road full of trees and houses. If I go into the centre I find three streets with shops like Boots and a Pizza Express which closed last year. The thrill that you describe is notably absent, and not because I'm an old git. In London, I agree it'd be different.
Yes, I agree
It is actually the centres of smaller towns and cities - with less incentive to visit them - which will "suffer" (as I see it at the moment).
You're in Guildford, right? Which I've always thought is a rather pleasant little place, surrounded by beautiful hills, but it ain't Bristol, let alone London/NYC/PAris. I can see work patterns in Guildford changing much more drastically than in London, and therefore shopping/hospitality and so on
Towns or cities with a big university should be fine
Without any jabs 12 months ago the wave peaked then went down to next to nothing. Don’t get me wrong, jabs have broken the link between highly contagious disease and hospitals and mortuary’s unable to cope. But still always going to do it’s trade mark wave pattern regardless what we are doing.
Heartening some boffins thinking it mutates into something mostly harmless as early as spring.
The other thing I have noticed from the last few days in and out of central London is a big move back to the office, led by young people who are DONE with WFH
General opinion: "WFH was fun for a while, but it's lonely, humourless and boring, and you don't meet any new friends or lovers"
They'd quite like the option of a day or two at home a week, but they are now keen to resume normal working life, despite the commute
I have wfh for years and, when I used to go into the city to meet people, I must admit it made me feel like I’d been missing out. Doesn’t matter now as a happily almost married man, but if I were 20 years younger and single, it would be no fun
Quite. If you're 23 or 27 and single and living in outer London who the F wants to stay at home all week?! Where's the fun in traipsing to the local Aldi for a sandwich? Then home again
38 or 45 with kids, spouse and a garden, entirely different, but even then some will want the escape of the office, city life, bars and restaurants, cool shops and a cheeky lunch
I spoke to a WeWork executive tonight (I had a sociable evening) and he said the attitude for them has entirely changed, WFH is not gonna last, on the scale we anticipated, because those who don't go in to the office will miss out on those chance meetings/opportunities/promotions
Those who go in will simply appear keener, and develop helpful human relationships, and they will get ahead. It is so much easier to sack someone you have never actually met. It is so much easier to promote someone you have actually met who has made you laugh, or told you some decent gossip. Someone you LIKE, because you've known them, touched them, had a drink with them. We are social animals
There will be more flexibility re commuting, but this person (whose very job depends on predicting work/life patterns) thinks WFH will wither, certainly for young people
Yes, tend to agree. I worked in London most of 94-09 and was single for a lot of it, so done my bit and don’t mind the quieter life now.
Also, how many young fathers really want to stay home 24/7 with a squalling brat or two? How many see the office as a blissful escape from the utter tedium of early parenting?
A lot. Not a happy fact. But a lot
I’m putting that theory to the test right now!!!
My first son was born just before lockdown and I have to say I have enjoyed being at home with him. I even did Daddy day care while my missus went to work from Oct-Jun. That was ludicrously stressful, and I had a fair bit of support - my respect and sympathy for single mums with no support network went through the roof
Chapeau
I found being a dad to just one baby intensely stressful, and often really fucking miserable. So limiting and boring. And hard hard work. Really HARD. And squalid
At one point I compared it to 18th century tin mining. Fifteen hour shifts and you're covered in shit at the end
My other comparison was: "being lightly tortured by the CIA". They keep you awake for days on end, they play terrible music loudly and maddeningly, and every so often they squirt pee in your eye
The other thing I have noticed from the last few days in and out of central London is a big move back to the office, led by young people who are DONE with WFH
General opinion: "WFH was fun for a while, but it's lonely, humourless and boring, and you don't meet any new friends or lovers"
They'd quite like the option of a day or two at home a week, but they are now keen to resume normal working life, despite the commute
I have wfh for years and, when I used to go into the city to meet people, I must admit it made me feel like I’d been missing out. Doesn’t matter now as a happily almost married man, but if I were 20 years younger and single, it would be no fun
Quite. If you're 23 or 27 and single and living in outer London who the F wants to stay at home all week?! Where's the fun in traipsing to the local Aldi for a sandwich? Then home again
38 or 45 with kids, spouse and a garden, entirely different, but even then some will want the escape of the office, city life, bars and restaurants, cool shops and a cheeky lunch
I spoke to a WeWork executive tonight (I had a sociable evening) and he said the attitude for them has entirely changed, WFH is not gonna last, on the scale we anticipated, because those who don't go in to the office will miss out on those chance meetings/opportunities/promotions
Those who go in will simply appear keener, and develop helpful human relationships, and they will get ahead. It is so much easier to sack someone you have never actually met. It is so much easier to promote someone you have actually met who has made you laugh, or told you some decent gossip. Someone you LIKE, because you've known them, touched them, had a drink with them. We are social animals
There will be more flexibility re commuting, but this person (whose very job depends on predicting work/life patterns) thinks WFH will wither, certainly for young people
Yes, tend to agree. I worked in London most of 94-09 and was single for a lot of it, so done my bit and don’t mind the quieter life now.
Also, how many young fathers really want to stay home 24/7 with a squalling brat or two? How many see the office as a blissful escape from the utter tedium of early parenting?
A lot. Not a happy fact. But a lot
I’m putting that theory to the test right now!!!
My first son was born just before lockdown and I have to say I have enjoyed being at home with him. I even did Daddy day care while my missus went to work from Oct-Jun. That was ludicrously stressful, and I had a fair bit of support - my respect and sympathy for single mums with no support network went through the roof
Chapeau
I found being a dad to just one baby intensely stressful, and often really fucking miserable. So limiting and boring. And hard hard work. Really HARD. And squalid
At one point I compared it to 18th century tin mining. Fifteen hour shifts and you're covered in shit at the end
My other comparison was: "being lightly tortured by the CIA". They keep you awake for days on end, they play terrible music loudly and maddeningly, and every so often they squirt pee in your eye
The responsibility is huge, and that’s what I found the most difficult. Thankfully my gf has given up work now!
Might be a city vs town thing, don't you think? In my office (in a smallish town) the 100 people who work in the office seem nearly all extremely reluctant to resume. I called a department meeting on Tuesday so we could meet two colleagues who we hired 6 months ago remotely and have never met. Nobody was keen and they had to be urged to do it. A quarter of the staff live hundreds of miles away, but we all plan and chat and argue and laugh online with several meetings a day. I'm fond of some of them who I've never met and never expect to meet.
Me, I've no strong views either way. I live 10 minutes from the office, so no problem. But I live in a boring road full of trees and houses, and the office is just off another boring road full of trees and houses. If I go into the centre I find three streets with shops like Boots and a Pizza Express which closed last year. The thrill that you describe is notably absent, and not because I'm an old git. In London, I agree it'd be different.
Yes, I agree
It is actually the centres of smaller towns and cities - with less incentive to visit them - which will "suffer" (as I see it at the moment).
You're in Guildford, right? Which I've always thought is a rather pleasant little place, surrounded by beautiful hills, but it ain't Bristol, let alone London/NYC/PAris. I can see work patterns in Guildford changing much more drastically than in London, and therefore shopping/hospitality and so on
Towns or cities with a big university should be fine
I'm in Godalming. We think of Guildford as the big metropolis up the road. Godalming is a pleasant place, and it's actually one of the two largest towns in the borough. I'm an elected councillor, fond of my ward. But I defy anyone to feel that visiting the high street and staring at WH Smith and Wetherspoons is a thrilling change from working from home. People live here because they like peace and quiet (or because they have a job or other connections), and working from home is slightly more peaceful than working in the office.
And, as Labour discovers at each election, sadly there are more small towns like this, sleepily voting Tory, than there are cities like Lomdon or even Bristol or Brighton. So I think you're right that London is fizzing back, but it's not really typical of England as a whole, and like you I see the pattern of work diverging.
F**king useless nonentity. Bring on a leadership challenge
Michael Savage @michaelsavage More than one union leader has “gone for” Starmer at a key meeting tonight. Sounds pretty brutal. Row over party rules now clearly threatening to overshadow a conference he himself has talked up as key to his leadership.
And replace him with who exactly?
Quite.
Starmer isn't great as a leader, although he has some really good traits that will help him.
Labour will split sooner or later, and to be fair to the left it really is the moderates that are betraying the cause. However the cause is some daft c19 manifesto written by a layabout.
What Starmer needs to do is get the split done with - off goes Corbyn, off goes McDonald, and then I think it stops. No sensible Labour politician will throw themselves over the cliff. Maybe Abbot, Dawn whatever, Long-Bailey, and Burgeon.
PS. whatever=Butler.
Ken Loach....on Starmer, Jezza and "proper Labour".
Let me guess "proper Labour" are antisemites like him?
careful, I like reading your posts and I don't want you booted
Why would I get booted for asking if the antisemite Ken Loach who was "against the witch-hunt" until he got expelled out of the Labour Party like other antisemites prefers other antisemites like himself? 🤔
Antisemites like Loach have a tendency to stick together.
Because even if you feel ready to defend yourself against defamation claims, the site owners mightn't want to join you in your defence. The burden of proof for getting booted for potentially defamatory comments is necessarily lower than for a defamation claim.
Nah, a jew hater is a jew hater, slice it how you like.
You can quote me on that. I'm not afraid, the site has a single use throwaway email address for me, and a spoofed IP address filtered through a VPN.
McLeish close to picking out that last splinter in his arse from the Scottish Indy fence he's been sitting on for years. Fear not though Yoons, he may yet be tempted back and his indy support would be conditional on the Union being unable to reform itself. Whadda ya think lads, what are the chance sthe the Union will reform itself?
Why on earth should Tories care less what a former Labour FM thinks of the Union? As long as there is a Tory government at Westminster indyref2 will be refused.
The only way there will ever be an indyref2 allowed is if there is a UK Labour government, in which case McLeish would probably back the Union again anyway and Starmer's No + devomax offer in such a scenario
Can you tell me the precise moment you gave up on the 'no second referendum for a generation' guff, and what caused it?
Boris has correctly said no Tory government would allow indyref2 for a genuine generation ie 40 years, if you think we will be in power for 40 years fine with me
Have you any idea how much that kind of post irritates the fuck out of your potential voters? It would certainly tip me over the edge if I hadn't been tipped already, and I've voted tory in every ge but one since 1979. Just so you know.
I have rejected @HYUFD utter nonsense on indyref2 for as long as I can remember
He is an embarrassment, talks about Scotland as an enemy, and yet seems to think he speaks for those of us who value the union, are connected directly with immediate family in Scotland, and know that someday indyref2 may happen , indeed may be beneficial for the union to happen, and I just ask that he is considered as a one off with unbending views
The other day he was lecturing me on politics in Wales when I actually live here, have children and grandchildren here and use Wales NHS and education and have been involved for over 50 years in Welsh politics
Indeed I nearly became the youngest councilor in Wales but had to let that go to become, at the time, the youngest golf club captain in Wales
I have never said Scots are the enemy, the SNP however certainly are the enemy.
We have a Tory government, which you no longer clearly support, which has correctly made clear it will refuse an indyref2 for 40 years while it remains in power via its leader the PM.
You were saying the LDs have no hope anywhere in Wales, yet 2 Welsh seats, Brecon and Radnor and Ceredigion, are even in the top 50 LD target seats
If you say that the Scots can't determine their own future, no matter how they vote, then you absolutely are calling the Scots themselves your enemy.
You beat your political enemies in the ballot box, not with truncheons.
We did beat them in 2014 in a once in a generation vote.
They will not get another for a genuine generation as long as we Tories are in power.
All we need to do is refuse indyref2, we do not yet need to arrest Nationalist leaders for holding an illegal vote as the Spanish have been trying to do with the Catalan nationalist leader in exile via arrest warrant in Italy today.
For as long as the UK government refuses an indyref2 no such vote can be legal and Sturgeon has ruled out a wildcat referendum and UDI anyway
Sorry, did you just say in 2014 you beat the Scots? That's not really how a lot of Scots would see it, Scots who voted No.
'You beat your political enemies in the ballot box, not with truncheons.
We did beat them in 2014 in a once in a generation vote.'
We beat the SNP, our political enemies and the enemies of most Scots who voted No.
So don't put words there I never said
Yes, the post you replied to was about Scots, not the SNP. I don't write your posts, you do.
Wrong, 'I have never said Scots are the enemy, the SNP however certainly are the enemy.' As I said earlier.
The fact PT is a Nationalist appeaser and thinks the SNP must be given a referendum every year until they get the result they want and if not that makes you an enemy of Scots does not change that.
You may be a Nationalist appeaser too, I most certainly am not and nor thank goodness is Boris. Boris is more Churchill than Chamberlain.
No concessions and no giving in whatsoever to Sturgeon, once in a generation means once in a generation.
End of conversation
It's not Sturgeon though, is it? It's the democratic will of the Scottish people. Clear mandate given. Even people like me and Rochdale, who both voted for unionist parties in 2019, see it. There has to be a referendum. That's how democracy works.
End of conversation? I'll take that as a promise you're going to keep quiet about it for a generation.
Might be a city vs town thing, don't you think? In my office (in a smallish town) the 100 people who work in the office seem nearly all extremely reluctant to resume. I called a department meeting on Tuesday so we could meet two colleagues who we hired 6 months ago remotely and have never met. Nobody was keen and they had to be urged to do it. A quarter of the staff live hundreds of miles away, but we all plan and chat and argue and laugh online with several meetings a day. I'm fond of some of them who I've never met and never expect to meet.
Me, I've no strong views either way. I live 10 minutes from the office, so no problem. But I live in a boring road full of trees and houses, and the office is just off another boring road full of trees and houses. If I go into the centre I find three streets with shops like Boots and a Pizza Express which closed last year. The thrill that you describe is notably absent, and not because I'm an old git. In London, I agree it'd be different.
Yes, I agree
It is actually the centres of smaller towns and cities - with less incentive to visit them - which will "suffer" (as I see it at the moment).
You're in Guildford, right? Which I've always thought is a rather pleasant little place, surrounded by beautiful hills, but it ain't Bristol, let alone London/NYC/PAris. I can see work patterns in Guildford changing much more drastically than in London, and therefore shopping/hospitality and so on
Towns or cities with a big university should be fine
I'm in Godalming. We think of Guildford as the big metropolis up the road. Godalming is a pleasant place, and it's actually one of the two largest towns in the borough. I'm an elected councillor, fond of my ward. But I defy anyone to feel that visiting the high street and staring at WH Smith and Wetherspoons is a thrilling change from working from home. People live here because they like peace and quiet (or because they have a job or other connections), and working from home is slightly more peaceful than working in the office.
And, as Labour discovers at each election, sadly there are more small towns like this, sleepily voting Tory, than there are cities like Lomdon or even Bristol or Brighton. So I think you're right that London is fizzing back, but it's not really typical of England as a whole, and like you I see the pattern of work diverging.
Don't you think there's a danger social solidarity between people might diminish if they don't meet up in person very often and only see each other on a screen most of the time? I think it's a possibility.
If it's youngsters getting infected, and they're not passing it on to oldies....hospital rates will continue to fall - and in a largely vaccinated population, the hospitalisation rate is what we should be paying attention to.
I'm sorry, but @Chris told me very emphatically that case-to-hospitalization rates had not dropped.
I did notice, looking back, that he'd responded to my graph by challenging the reliability of the ONS daily incidence figures and saying we could really only rely on the prevalence ones.
So I've gone and compared the ONS prevalence numbers for England to the number in hospital in England (lagged to coincide peaks and normalised to equalise the height of the peaks).
After all - number infected at any one time compared to number seriously ill in hospital at any one time should be the comparable metrics.
Guess what:
That's a caricature of what I actually wrote.
But in any case if you put the graphs of ONS modelled incidence and ONS prevalence side by side, you can see that there are large variations in the ratio between the two (compare last Autumn with this Summer, for example). So what I actually wrote - that looking at prevalence instead of incidence "would seem like a more appropriate comparison" is amply borne out by what you've done.
However, for some reason you've now switched from daily hospitalisation rates before (which was appropriate to the REACT study) to total number in hospital. I've certainly heard it said that people are now spending less time in hospital. If that's true, the two won't be equivalent.
It looks to me as though there is a real difference between the ONS and REACT figures, but obviously you would need to compare like with like to be sure about it.
Of course I switched from daily to total; if one variable is switched from the input flow to the total stock, then so should be the other.
Daily incidence of infection against daily incidence of infected hospitalisation is appropriate (N/day vs n/day); to switch to total prevalence of infected people, one should change the comparator to total prevalence of infected hospitalised people (N vs n).
Comparing either incidence of infection against total number hospitalised or total number infected against incidence of hospitalisation would be comparing different variables. Breaks dimensional analysis for a start; the units are wrong.
Comments
Amateur hour.
Fox News UK will be Murdoch's channel and not GB.
I think the best leadership election rules any party has come across yet is the Tory one where the MP gatekeepers narrow the choice down to 2, from which the members then get the final say. I think that despite the fact that the first time the system was used it gave us IDS, and the third time it gave us Theresa May.
MPs and members need to make a smart choice. You can't rig the system if people are determined to make a bad choice.
We have a Tory government, which you no longer clearly support, which has correctly made clear it will refuse an indyref2 for 40 years while it remains in power via its leader the PM.
You were saying the LDs have no hope anywhere in Wales, yet 2 Welsh seats, Brecon and Radnor and Ceredigion, are even in the top 50 LD target seats
You beat your political enemies in the ballot box, not with truncheons.
London is on fire at the moment. It really is the Roaring Twenties. Never seen it so hedonistic
As I said you have no idea about the current state of politics in Wales and even today that has been proven
They will not get another for a genuine generation as long as we Tories are in power.
All we need to do is refuse indyref2, we do not yet need to arrest Nationalist leaders for holding an illegal vote as the Spanish have been trying to do with the Catalan nationalist leader in exile via arrest warrant in Italy today.
For as long as the UK government refuses an indyref2 no such vote can be legal and Sturgeon has ruled out a wildcat referendum and UDI anyway
The blitz spirit, hey?
And I am replying.
Lost youth.
The big difference is the age. It seems like London has got 10 years younger overnight. Everyone is about 24. This might be because I am such an old git, but I don't think it is entirely subjective. The kids have flooded back to reclaim their city and they want to have FUN - and good for them. That is how great world cities revive
I've not been to the City or the Wharf so can't speak for them. Put people are dancing on tables in Soho. It's mad. And brilliant.
Much sex is being had by many
That's not really how a lot of Scots would see it, Scots who voted No.
The CDU closed the gap to 1 in the last Allensbach poll, and Linke are down to the critical 5 in that one - but the sample period is long and not the latest, so it's probably an outlier.
https://www.bing.com/search?pc=U523&q=umfragen+bundestagswahl&form=U523DF
My experience since the beginning of September has been of full bars, and generally people finally believing this is all done.
There's no way we go back to any kind of lockdown now. The NHS will just have to deal with it or let the anti-vaxxers die untreated.
I had to fight for a restaurant table at the Groucho LAST night, at just 7pm. Stuffed to the gills. Not many students go to the Groucho
The day before I walked through Woho and it was absolutely rammed, so many people cars were finding it hard to get down Great Marlborough Street. I've only ever seen it like that at Xmas, before
It's like we are two nations. One is panic buying and hoarding petroleum, the other is just thinking Fuck it, let's dance on the bar-top
I'm with the hedonists. We have survived a fucking plague, Let's have fun
The Department of the Air Force has awarded a $2,604,329,361 contract to Rolls-Royce Corporation, Indianapolis, Indiana, for B-52H Stratofortress military derivative commercial engines.
The competitive single award contract provides for 608 military derivative commercial engines, plus spare engines, associated support equipment and commercial engineering data, to include sustainment activities, to be used on the B-52H bomber fleet.
The Rolls-Royce F130 engine will replace the TF33-PW-103, which has powered the B-52 since the 1960s, and is projected to no longer be supportable beyond 2030. The B-52 original equipment manufacturer, Boeing, is responsible for integrating the engines onto the aircraft. The Air Force plans to finalize integration activities and deliver the first lot of B-52H modified aircraft by the end of 2028.
https://www.hill.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2788242/daf-awards-rolls-royce-b-52h-engine-contract/
Their largest demographic is among men aged 30-50 in the east but their support is remarkably consistent at 10-12% now pretty much.
The young people (ie under 30) that I spoke to tonight were all of one mind (and they were all smart professional educated types). "Sure, winter might be crap, 1000s might die, but 1000s die every winter, no way we will lock down again, we want to enjoy our youth. Enough"
We have reached the limits of lockdowning. I can't see us going back unless this last wave turns into the Black Death
And people are hugging and kissing again, everywhere
We're legitimately on the other side and life is starting to feel very much closer to the old normal.
We did beat them in 2014 in a once in a generation vote.'
We beat the SNP, our political enemies and the enemies of most Scots who voted No.
So don't put words there I never said
Given you no longer even support the Tory Party let alone represent it I am rather more able to speak for the party now than you are thanks
Unfortunately, I've got my first cold of the last 18 months, and am proper slayed off it. I'd love nowt more than to dance on tables, but I'm having trouble staying awake for more than six hours at a stretch.
Owt stronger than LemSip and I'd be in A+E.
That been said, I should thank the BBC, Indy, Guardian, for running a load of BS stories about China banning crypto this morning....they amplified an old news story and made me a load of money.
General opinion: "WFH was fun for a while, but it's lonely, humourless and boring, and you don't meet any new friends or lovers"
They'd quite like the option of a day or two at home a week, but they are now keen to resume normal working life, despite the commute
I don't write your posts, you do.
Good night
The BBC noticed, too:
"Is 'the worst cold ever' going around?"
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-58624295
I haven't had a cold since Covid began, due to so much social distancing and hand/face hygiene I guess. Perhaps we are now all ultra susceptible to anything
Maybe we need a PB News Channel?
You could do Urquhart's Crypto Investment Hour.
The fact PT is a Nationalist appeaser and thinks the SNP must be given a referendum every year until they get the result they want and if not that makes you an enemy of Scots does not change that.
You may be a Nationalist appeaser too, I most certainly am not and nor thank goodness is Boris. Boris is more Churchill than Chamberlain.
No concessions and no giving in whatsoever to Sturgeon, once in a generation means once in a generation.
End of conversation
38 or 45 with kids, spouse and a garden, entirely different, but even then some will want the escape of the office, city life, bars and restaurants, cool shops and a cheeky lunch
I spoke to a WeWork executive tonight (I had a sociable evening) and he said the attitude for them has entirely changed, WFH is not gonna last, on the scale we anticipated, because those who don't go in to the office will miss out on those chance meetings/opportunities/promotions
Those who go in will simply appear keener, and develop helpful human relationships, and they will get ahead. It is so much easier to sack someone you have never actually met. It is so much easier to promote someone you have actually met who has made you laugh, or told you some decent gossip. Someone you LIKE, because you've known them, touched them, had a drink with them. We are social animals
There will be more flexibility re commuting, but this person (whose very job depends on predicting work/life patterns) thinks WFH will wither, certainly for young people
Thing is. The symptoms aren't that bad, I've had much worse. But my body's reaction is awful.
All encompassing weariness, aching all over and need to sleep, as well as consume double the usual calories.
Like a boxer back in training after 18 months out of the ring.
Partly because the office was much much warmer and well appointed than the rental room I was in.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-58681313
£10/hr re-re-re-re-re-announcement.....I bet it will be basically that already come the next GE. I would have thought a promise on £15 / hr would get more people talking.
Most people in their 20s or early 30s in London either live in a cramped shared flat, or with their parents. That's it. Vanishingly few live in their own nice house, with a garden
They all want to go back to the office, have fun, mock the boss, chit chat in real life, get drunk after work, meet new people, go shopping, try a new bar, be a normal human. And they are doing so, despite the tedium of commuting
London is exceptional within the UK of course, but I expect similar things are happening in other big British cities. WFH is limiting and depressing for a lot of young people
I'm guessing people's immunity to colds have waned.
Local ASDA - no fuel.
Amazing what sending up the Sky Copter to take pictures of petrol stations can do. What nonsense.
Maybe this is it. Herd immunity. We made it
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/24/a-bit-of-a-mistery-why-england-covid-cases-are-going-down-despite-ease-of-restrictions
Inshallah
Like most politicians, perhaps.
Me, I've no strong views either way. I live 10 minutes from the office, so no problem. But I live in a boring road full of trees and houses, and the office is just off another boring road full of trees and houses. If I go into the centre I find three streets with shops like Boots and a Pizza Express which closed last year. The thrill that you describe is notably absent, and not because I'm an old git. In London, I agree it'd be different.
A lot. Not a happy fact. But a lot
The mystery is why this crap was allowed to dictate public policy.
My first son was born just before lockdown and I have to say I have enjoyed being at home with him. I even did Daddy day care while my missus went to work from Oct-Jun. That was ludicrously stressful, and I had a fair bit of support - my respect and sympathy for single mums with no support network went through the roof
It is actually the centres of smaller towns and cities - with less incentive to visit them - which will "suffer" (as I see it at the moment).
You're in Guildford, right? Which I've always thought is a rather pleasant little place, surrounded by beautiful hills, but it ain't Bristol, let alone London/NYC/PAris. I can see work patterns in Guildford changing much more drastically than in London, and therefore shopping/hospitality and so on
Towns or cities with a big university should be fine
Heartening some boffins thinking it mutates into something mostly harmless as early as spring.
I found being a dad to just one baby intensely stressful, and often really fucking miserable. So limiting and boring. And hard hard work. Really HARD. And squalid
At one point I compared it to 18th century tin mining. Fifteen hour shifts and you're covered in shit at the end
My other comparison was: "being lightly tortured by the CIA". They keep you awake for days on end, they play terrible music loudly and maddeningly, and every so often they squirt pee in your eye
And, as Labour discovers at each election, sadly there are more small towns like this, sleepily voting Tory, than there are cities like Lomdon or even Bristol or Brighton. So I think you're right that London is fizzing back, but it's not really typical of England as a whole, and like you I see the pattern of work diverging.
And @IshmaelZ does not use a proxy. And while his email address could be throw away, it appears unlikely.
End of conversation? I'll take that as a promise you're going to keep quiet about it for a generation.
https://twitter.com/Oriana0214/status/1441516652273840129
Daily incidence of infection against daily incidence of infected hospitalisation is appropriate (N/day vs n/day); to switch to total prevalence of infected people, one should change the comparator to total prevalence of infected hospitalised people (N vs n).
Comparing either incidence of infection against total number hospitalised or total number infected against incidence of hospitalisation would be comparing different variables. Breaks dimensional analysis for a start; the units are wrong.