politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » A look back to EURef: Even at 3.10am, five hours after coun

Sean_F said:

I'd expect the swing in Indiana to be similar to the national swing. Currently, Trump leads by a similar margin there to 2012.

Nope.

You forgot that Pence is the Indiana governor, the VP's usually add a few points to their states.

The first states to declare are at 2 am GMT:

Vermont
Virginia
S.Carolina
Georgia
Kentucky
Indiana

We would know by around 3 am who has won.

If Trump does badly in Georgia and S.Carolina then it's over, it would mean that he would lose N.Carolina and Florida.
On the other hand if Hillary's victory margin in Virginia looks small then Trump would win.

IanB2 said:

Paul_Bedfordshire said:

AnneJGP said:

Paul_Bedfordshire said:

foxinsoxuk said:

Paul_Bedfordshire said:

malcolmg said:

Paul_Bedfordshire said:

MTimT said:

Another EU directive coming into force this year essentially bans the production of the chemical that is the basis of disinfection in hospitals and laboratories
These are just two I know about in my specific area of expertise

This is typical of the sort of thing that if it had to be proposed as a measure by the British Government and put through parliament wouldnt stand a chance.

However as a directive proposed by the undemocratic commission it is nodded through as secondary legislation under the EEC Act 1972 with MPs told that it would be 'an abuse of process' to oppose it.

It makes my blood boil - or at least it would have done until June 24th when I discovered a majority of my fellow British citizens felt the same way and were not prepared to put up with this state of affairs any longer. Now I juat grimace then sigh "Thank Goodness" when I read things like that.

How is the clock doing, still clucking

Also its wings are a bit odd, they are more like my spaniels ears than wings.

Plenty left over at the shop last night. They are not selling all that fast.

Hard to think why....

The other thing is that its cuckooing is recorded cuckooing in the black forest or somewhere.

Unfortunately they didnt notice when they recorded it that another cuckoo was cuckooing back at it. So every time it cuckoos there is a slightly fainter response cuckoo afterwards so at ten oclock you actually get twenty cuckoos. Ten loud and ten not so loud 'echoes'.

It is quite cute though, even if it is an albino starling with a red beak and spaniel ears that cant count.

Where do you get it & how much is it? Sounds to me as though such a wacky thing could be a worthwhile purchase.

(edited to add: cue for a run on them, sold out in minutes?)

£29.99 at Aldi, batteries included.

And got a light detector so it dosent cuckoo through the night (unlike some here....)

Amazon have some, at similar price point and also with nighttime silencers. Whether their cuckoos are more realistic or sound better or worse, I have no idea. Mostly they have a small number of very positive reviews. But then you have to be a bit warped to buy one in the first place.

Heres a link showing the Aldi ones. They are quite modernist, dare I say it 1930s looking without the ornamentation and pointy roofs.

Ive got one of the black ones with the cuckoo at the top left.

https://www.aldi.co.uk/p/93599/0

rcs1000 said:

tlg86 said:

rcs1000 said:

tlg86 said:

IanB2 said:

And instructive for those who simplisticly assert that the 15% devaluation of the £ is somehow a get out of jail card.

I don't think anyone would want to see a continued depreciation of the pound. What I find curious is that none of the experts realised that a weaker pound would help the UK economy after a vote to leave the EU. What we don't want to see is the economy get hooked on a devaluing currency achieved through printing money. That's why I want to see a change in leadership at the BoE.

That's not true at all. Melissa Kidd at Redburn, who's my favourite UK economist, wrote before the vote that sterling depreciation would provide a meaningful safety valve. She was also very clear that she did not expect a recession as a result of the Brexit vote. (Although she does expect a slowdown next year.)

Okay, let me rephrase, none of the experts who were given the time of day by the MSM.

That's because "It's probably going to be OK" is not very newsworthy.

I think that's what I found most depressing about the referendum. You only have to read the comments on this site to realise that there is a case for staying in the EU. I might not agree with (all of) it, but a better case could have been made. However, I think that involves some home truths about the journey we'd been on over the last 30 years or so. I actually think Sajid Javid's position of "I'd have left 30 years ago, but now we're too far down the road" wasn't as stupid as some on here made it out to be.

I'll admit to being guilty of wanting to suggest that Remainers were saying that "immigration is a price worth paying." Well, maybe they should have embraced that argument instead of going down the road of project fear. Ultimately the Remain side couldn't bring themselves to make the positive case and instead went down the road of saying "don't do it, you'll regret it, it'll be terrible" and "if you do, you're a racist/xenophobe." They weren't prepared to fight an honest battle where they were prepared to accept that they might lose.

The worst thing about this is that the establishment appears (at the moment, at least) to have cried wolf. Come the next election the Tories might be applying the same arguments to Corbyn's Labour Party that Remain applied to Brexit. For once, the historically risk averse British electorate took a risk. And who knows, perhaps they've got a taste for it.

Paul_Bedfordshire said:

IanB2 said:

Paul_Bedfordshire said:

AnneJGP said:

Paul_Bedfordshire said:

foxinsoxuk said:

Paul_Bedfordshire said:

malcolmg said:

Paul_Bedfordshire said:

MTimT said:

Another EU directive coming into force this year essentially bans the production of the chemical that is the basis of disinfection in hospitals and laboratories
These are just two I know about in my specific area of expertise

.

How is the clock doing, still clucking

Also its wings are a bit odd, they are more like my spaniels ears than wings.

Plenty left over at the shop last night. They are not selling all that fast.

Hard to think why....

The other thing is that its cuckooing is recorded cuckooing in the black forest or somewhere.

Unfortunately they didnt notice when they recorded it that another cuckoo was cuckooing back at it. So every time it cuckoos there is a slightly fainter response cuckoo afterwards so at ten oclock you actually get twenty cuckoos. Ten loud and ten not so loud 'echoes'.

It is quite cute though, even if it is an albino starling with a red beak and spaniel ears that cant count.

Where do you get it & how much is it? Sounds to me as though such a wacky thing could be a worthwhile purchase.

(edited to add: cue for a run on them, sold out in minutes?)

£29.99 at Aldi, batteries included.

And got a light detector so it dosent cuckoo through the night (unlike some here....)

Amazon have some, at similar price point and also with nighttime silencers. Whether their cuckoos are more realistic or sound better or worse, I have no idea. Mostly they have a small number of very positive reviews. But then you have to be a bit warped to buy one in the first place.

Heres a link showing the Aldi ones. They are quite modernist, dare I say it 1930s looking without the ornamentation and pointy roofs.

Ive got one of the black ones with the cuckoo at the top left.

https://www.aldi.co.uk/p/93599/0

Wow that is way too modernist for me! I always fancied one of the carved wooden tyrolean ones, and would have bought one there years back had my partner not threatened to leave me on the spot. But she is gone now so I can browse without fear. Some of the ones on Amazon even have dancers that spin around every hour. But I think I would go for a straightforward carved wooden one where the bird came out and did his business every hour, without any other superfluous twirling going on.

foxinsoxuk said:

IanB2 said:

rcs1000 said:

Quiz question for PBers: which Western European nation lost the highest proportion of its population during Nazi occupation?*

* About 2%

There is no denying that Poland lost the most, by far, but is not western. My guess for Western Europe would be Holland, because of the famine before liberation.

Possibly current Ukraine or Belarus lost a higher proportion, based on current boundaries.

Luxembourg was annexed into the Reich so lost a percentage fighting for the Nazis.

i.e. Poland, as then was.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Heart-Europe-Past-Polands-Present/dp/0192801260/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1475346682&sr=1-1&keywords=Davies+heart+of+Europe

I called this for leave after Sunderland. I was not alone. The only ones who didn't were the ones who just did not want to believe it.

Interesting. Does this include freedom of movement?

https://twitter.com/Peston/status/782277449304379392

RobD said:

another_richard said:

RobD said:

Sean_F said:

RobD said:

foxinsoxuk said:

Alistair said:

RobD said:

I don't suppose anyone has a table of declaration times available?

Here's a table from 2012 of predicted declerations - I can't seem to find a table of actual 2012 declerations.
https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2012/nov/06/time-states-election-results-us

Thats the best that I could find (though perhaps the PB thread of the night would give a clearer timeline). What I do find difficult is that in the US the networks call states with only a minority of votes counted. I am not sure how reliable this is compared to UK formal declarations.

In 2012 Indiana split 54% Republican, 44% Democrat, so unless Trump has in that region of lead I would suggest Hillary is POTUS, assuming that it is still the first state reporting. I would suggest Trump needs something like 57% to be winning nationally.

Thanks to you both. I actually meant for the EU referendum, sorry!

I'd expect the swing in Indiana to be similar to the national swing. Currently, Trump leads by a similar margin there to 2012.

I must be talking to myself

If its the times EU referendum declaration results you want you can effectively see them on the BBC program:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TmUP1StPf0

True, but when they start coming in thick and fast it is difficult.

That's what the pause button is for

There's an interesting discussion at 23:51 in which John Curtice explains why postal voting should NOT have affected the accuracy of the opinion polls.

TheScreamingEagles said:

Interesting. Does this include freedom of movement?

https://twitter.com/Peston/status/782277449304379392

No, unless we magically get membership of the common market by virtue of said act (we won't).

rcs1000 said:

DavidL said:

I called this for leave after Sunderland. I was not alone. The only ones who didn't were the ones who just did not want to believe it.

Leave was certainly favourite after Sunderland, but it was Newcastle that tipped it in my mind. Staggering that Remain was favourite for another two hours or so.

Yes. It was free money for those in a position to take advantage of it. Will we ever see markets so in denial again?

DavidL said:

I called this for leave after Sunderland. I was not alone. The only ones who didn't were the ones who just did not want to believe it.

It would be interesting to know how accurately the first 1%, the first 5% and the first 10% of results were at predicting elections historically.

RobD said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Interesting. Does this include freedom of movement?

https://twitter.com/Peston/status/782277449304379392

No, unless we magically get membership of the common market by virtue of said act (we won't).

The vote was to leave the European Union.

However Theresa May is taking the UK into the Union du Europe.

Anyhoo, Ed Balls is about to dance the Charleston dressed as a cowboy on Strictly right now

Nice memories. Still can't believe I got 15/1 on the day of the vote!!

TheScreamingEagles said:

Interesting. Does this include freedom of movement?

https://twitter.com/Peston/status/782277449304379392

Of course not. What it means is that all our laws remain the same until our newly sovereign Parliament decides otherwise. And they will decide otherwise in respect of freedom of movement immediately.

There is no other sensible way to deal with the huge morass of our laws that our elected representatives had nothing to do with.

IanB2 said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Interesting. Does this include freedom of movement?

https://twitter.com/Peston/status/782277449304379392

It will include absolutely everything. They are going for the "write all the EU stuff into British law then worry about amending it all later" approach. Pragmatically sensible. But it will leave some of the ultra-Brexiteers wondering why we bothered, at least in the short term.

Because Parliament can now vote on what it wishes. Eminently sensible IMO

That's hilarious.

Brexit means Brexit.

Which means, erm....

TheScreamingEagles said:

Interesting. Does this include freedom of movement?

https://twitter.com/Peston/status/782277449304379392

TheScreamingEagles said:

RobD said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Interesting. Does this include freedom of movement?

https://twitter.com/Peston/status/782277449304379392

No, unless we magically get membership of the common market by virtue of said act (we won't).

The vote was to leave the European Union.

However Theresa May is taking the UK into the Union du Europe.

Anyhoo, Ed Balls is about to dance the Charleston dressed as a cowboy on Strictly right now

Dancing, if you already have a good middle age beer belly on you, is probably not advisable...

Pong said:

That's hilarious.

Brexit means Brexit.

Which means, erm....

TheScreamingEagles said:

Interesting. Does this include freedom of movement?

https://twitter.com/Peston/status/782277449304379392

Which means Parliament being sovereign. Which it will be to repeal any measure it chooses to in its own time. No need for a frantic two year review of all EU legislation.

another_richard said:

DavidL said:

I called this for leave after Sunderland. I was not alone. The only ones who didn't were the ones who just did not want to believe it.

It would be interesting to know how accurately the first 1%, the first 5% and the first 10% of results were at predicting elections historically.

I've done running totals spreadsheets for every election from 1979 to 2010. Working on the 2015 one at the moment. I posted some of them on here about 3 years ago IIRC. The number of results needed to get a good approximation of the final result has been increasing over time at most elections.

another_richard said:

DavidL said:

I called this for leave after Sunderland. I was not alone. The only ones who didn't were the ones who just did not want to believe it.

It would be interesting to know how accurately the first 1%, the first 5% and the first 10% of results were at predicting elections historically.

I remember reading something about it, usually in British GE's the average swings of the first 5 results give a pretty good picture of the final result.

In terms of total vote shares it takes the first 10% to see the picture, but constituencies in Britain declare once they have completed their count.

https://twitter.com/Jamin2g/status/782291531705282592

TheScreamingEagles said:

https://twitter.com/Jamin2g/status/782291531705282592

Must say I do like some Balls in the evening.

DavidL said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Interesting. Does this include freedom of movement?

https://twitter.com/Peston/status/782277449304379392

Of course not. What it means is that all our laws remain the same until our newly sovereign Parliament decides otherwise. And they will decide otherwise in respect of freedom of movement immediately.

There is no other sensible way to deal with the huge morass of our laws that our elected representatives had nothing to do with.

Suspicion haunts the guilty Remainian mind. Awful people.

RobD said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Pong said:

That's hilarious.

Brexit means Brexit.

Which means, erm....

TheScreamingEagles said:

Interesting. Does this include freedom of movement?

https://twitter.com/Peston/status/782277449304379392

We're voting Leave to take control and enshrine EU law into UK law

And then have the freedom to repeal the bits we don't want...

And that's where parliament gets to have its say. I wonder if this is a nod to the Article 50 court case?

tlg86 said:

RobD said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Pong said:

That's hilarious.

Brexit means Brexit.

Which means, erm....

TheScreamingEagles said:

Interesting. Does this include freedom of movement?

https://twitter.com/Peston/status/782277449304379392

We're voting Leave to take control and enshrine EU law into UK law

And then have the freedom to repeal the bits we don't want...

And that's where parliament gets to have its say. I wonder if this is a nod to the Article 50 court case?

I wonder what would happen if Pariament doesn't approve this bill.

Interesting from Alastair Campbell:

"Alastair Campbell: New Labour helped sow seeds of Brexit vote
Former director of communications says party became complacent on immigration due to Tony Blair’s electoral success"

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/oct/01/alastair-campbell-new-labour-tony-blair-immigration-brexit

RobD said:

tlg86 said:

RobD said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Pong said:

That's hilarious.

Brexit means Brexit.

Which means, erm....

TheScreamingEagles said:

Interesting. Does this include freedom of movement?

https://twitter.com/Peston/status/782277449304379392

We're voting Leave to take control and enshrine EU law into UK law

And then have the freedom to repeal the bits we don't want...

And that's where parliament gets to have its say. I wonder if this is a nod to the Article 50 court case?

I wonder what would happen if Pariament doesn't approve this bill.

Quite a risk, i'd have thought.

Presumably she has the brexiteers on board though.

Or is she playing poker?

Speedy said:

RobD said:

IanB2 said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Interesting. Does this include freedom of movement?

https://twitter.com/Peston/status/782277449304379392

It will include absolutely everything. They are going for the "write all the EU stuff into British law then worry about amending it all later" approach. Pragmatically sensible. But it will leave some of the ultra-Brexiteers wondering why we bothered, at least in the short term.

Because Parliament can now vote on what it wishes. Eminently sensible IMO

It doesn't look good, they will have to do a lot of explaining.

The presentation part of politics doesn't seem to be in May's grasp at the moment.

It's very easy to explain.

DavidL said:

rcs1000 said:

DavidL said:

I called this for leave after Sunderland. I was not alone. The only ones who didn't were the ones who just did not want to believe it.

Leave was certainly favourite after Sunderland, but it was Newcastle that tipped it in my mind. Staggering that Remain was favourite for another two hours or so.

Yes. It was free money for those in a position to take advantage of it. Will we ever see markets so in denial again?

I think Rubio finished 3rd so moves to odds on favourite must challenge it for irrationalness and lasted for days!

Pong said:

RobD said:

tlg86 said:

RobD said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Pong said:

That's hilarious.

Brexit means Brexit.

Which means, erm....

TheScreamingEagles said:

Interesting. Does this include freedom of movement?

https://twitter.com/Peston/status/782277449304379392

We're voting Leave to take control and enshrine EU law into UK law

And then have the freedom to repeal the bits we don't want...

And that's where parliament gets to have its say. I wonder if this is a nod to the Article 50 court case?

I wonder what would happen if Pariament doesn't approve this bill.

Quite a risk, i'd have thought.

Presumably she has the brexiteers on board though.

Or is she playing poker?

I recall an interview a month or so ago with a hard Brexiteer saying Article 50 should be triggered immediately, and that there should be a bill transposing all EU law into British law. I don't think they'd oppose this.

RobD said:

tlg86 said:

RobD said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Pong said:

That's hilarious.

Brexit means Brexit.

Which means, erm....

TheScreamingEagles said:

Interesting. Does this include freedom of movement?

https://twitter.com/Peston/status/782277449304379392

We're voting Leave to take control and enshrine EU law into UK law

And then have the freedom to repeal the bits we don't want...

And that's where parliament gets to have its say. I wonder if this is a nod to the Article 50 court case?

I wonder what would happen if Parliament doesn't approve this bill.

General Election, I'd have thought.

https://twitter.com/George_Osborne/status/782289673116844032
Ooh err missus!

I wonder whether Ed is - once again - between two stools. Not good enough to be voted through on merit but not bad enough to be retained as a national treasure?

On the subject of referendum night, I would like to thank SpreadEx in particular. They took very large bets from me without blinking.

rcs1000 said:

On the subject of referendum night, I would like to thank SpreadEx in particular. They took very large bets from me without blinking.

I'd echo the thanks to Andy JS, but also MikeK(?) via Robert, on England and Wales voting Leave on SPIN; and most especially to Robert himself for the bet of the year: 2015 en primeur at pre Brexit exchange rates.

SeanT said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Pong said:

That's hilarious.

Brexit means Brexit.

Which means, erm....

TheScreamingEagles said:

Interesting. Does this include freedom of movement?

https://twitter.com/Peston/status/782277449304379392

We're voting Leave to take control and enshrine EU law into UK law

This is, of course, the very best way to make a success of Leave. To do it slowly and safely and surgically. Gradually unwrapping the dead hand of Europe from our British throat. Finger by finger

The fact this might well work is what annoys Remainians most of all. They want Brexit to fail.

It has the other advantage of making Corbyn's line that the conservatives want to reduce workers rights irrelevant - excellent start by TM as fas as I am concerned

Freggles said:

If anyone invents time travel, they need to go back to April 2015 and tell people that in 18 months time we would have voted to leave the EU, Theresa May would be PM of a Tory minority government and Ed Balls.would be mostly known for his dancing

Surely the proof that time travel is impossible is that we have never seen any time travellers appear from the future, even at the pivotal historical moments that any time traveller would choose to visit?

The resurrection of Damien Greens career has been all but ignored. The fact that this humane, money saving and minor change is utterly radical is telling about the IDS regime. < The Telegraph: Reassessment tests for sickness benefit claimants with severe illnesses to be scrapped. http://google.com/newsstand/s/CBIw8tySpS4

SeanT said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Pong said:

That's hilarious.

Brexit means Brexit.

Which means, erm....

TheScreamingEagles said:

Interesting. Does this include freedom of movement?

https://twitter.com/Peston/status/782277449304379392

We're voting Leave to take control and enshrine EU law into UK law

This is, of course, the very best way to make a success of Leave. To do it slowly and safely and surgically. Gradually unwrapping the dead hand of Europe from our British throat. Finger by finger

The fact this might well work is what annoys Remainians most of all. They want Brexit to fail.

Remainiacs before the referendum:
"If we vote Leave we'll lose all our environmental/employment/whatever protections!"

Remainiacs now:
"What do you mean we're keeping them?!"

AndyJS said:

Interesting from Alastair Campbell:

"Alastair Campbell: New Labour helped sow seeds of Brexit vote
Former director of communications says party became complacent on immigration due to Tony Blair’s electoral success"

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/oct/01/alastair-campbell-new-labour-tony-blair-immigration-brexit

Blair to Campbell in 2005;
“‘We have not changed the country as much as we could and should. Look at the media 80% come at politics from a rightwing agenda, and we haven’t changed that."
Does anyone agree with Blair's assessment of the media's political bent ?

Freggles said:

If anyone invents time travel, they need to go back to April 2015 and tell people that in 18 months time we would have voted to leave the EU, Theresa May would be PM of a Tory minority government and Ed Balls.would be mostly known for his dancing

And that the only Labour constituency in Scotland would be the one which used to be the Tories' safest seat in that country at one time.

1945 result in Edinburgh South: Con 71%, Lab 29%.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edinburgh_South_(UK_Parliament_constituency)#Election_in_the_1940s

IanB2 said:

Freggles said:

If anyone invents time travel, they need to go back to April 2015 and tell people that in 18 months time we would have voted to leave the EU, Theresa May would be PM of a Tory minority government and Ed Balls.would be mostly known for his dancing

Surely the proof that time travel is impossible is that we have never seen any time travellers appear from the future, even at the pivotal historical moments that any time traveller would choose to visit?

Surely all that proves is that decent invisibility cloaks are invented before time travel.

MTimT said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

https://twitter.com/Jamin2g/status/782292184137629696

You have to give him credit for exposing himself to ridicule (not new I suppose) but he did perform quite well within his capabilities tonight

aaargh! How do you make it stop?!!

He will be voted out sooner or later and it is embarrassing but he has no choice now

MonikerDiCanio said:

AndyJS said:

Interesting from Alastair Campbell:

"Alastair Campbell: New Labour helped sow seeds of Brexit vote
Former director of communications says party became complacent on immigration due to Tony Blair’s electoral success"

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/oct/01/alastair-campbell-new-labour-tony-blair-immigration-brexit

Blair to Campbell in 2005;
“‘We have not changed the country as much as we could and should. Look at the media 80% come at politics from a rightwing agenda, and we haven’t changed that."
Does anyone agree with Blair's assessment of the media's political bent ?

Everyone thinks the media is biased against them.

IanB2 said:

Freggles said:

If anyone invents time travel, they need to go back to April 2015 and tell people that in 18 months time we would have voted to leave the EU, Theresa May would be PM of a Tory minority government and Ed Balls.would be mostly known for his dancing

Surely the proof that time travel is impossible is that we have never seen any time travellers appear from the future, even at the pivotal historical moments that any time traveller would choose to visit?

You never know, maybe Super-Hitler was assassinated by a time traveler

Big_G_NorthWales said:

YellowSubmarine said:

The resurrection of Damien Greens career has been all but ignored. The fact that this humane, money saving and minor change is utterly radical is telling about the IDS regime. < The Telegraph: Reassessment tests for sickness benefit claimants with severe illnesses to be scrapped. http://google.com/newsstand/s/CBIw8tySpS4

Sensible change and one of many to come to benefit those in need.

Indeed. And was amusing to hear the Labour spokesperson respond on the lunchtime news today. Government announces it won't keep testing people with chronic conditions who are not going to get better, since it stresses them unnecessarily. So sensible that you wonder why the Cameroons didn't think of it. On comes the Labour spokesperson, "what about people whose condition varies, who are also stressed by the tests".....

AndyJS said:

IanB2 said:

Freggles said:

If anyone invents time travel, they need to go back to April 2015 and tell people that in 18 months time we would have voted to leave the EU, Theresa May would be PM of a Tory minority government and Ed Balls.would be mostly known for his dancing

Surely the proof that time travel is impossible is that we have never seen any time travellers appear from the future, even at the pivotal historical moments that any time traveller would choose to visit?

Doesn't that only prove that time travel in a backwards direction is impossible?

Fair point. Indeed Einstein proved that if you travel about through space fast enough, you are effectively travelling forward through time as far as everywhere and everyone you know is concerned.

IanB2 said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Interesting. Does this include freedom of movement?

https://twitter.com/Peston/status/782277449304379392

It will include absolutely everything. They are going for the "write all the EU stuff into British law then worry about amending it all later" approach. Pragmatically sensible. But it will leave some of the ultra-Brexiteers wondering why we bothered, at least in the short term.

This is surely just a procedural thing to stop all the secondary laws under the 1972 act becoming void when the 1972 act is repealed.

IanB2 said:

AndyJS said:

IanB2 said:

Freggles said:

If anyone invents time travel, they need to go back to April 2015 and tell people that in 18 months time we would have voted to leave the EU, Theresa May would be PM of a Tory minority government and Ed Balls.would be mostly known for his dancing

Surely the proof that time travel is impossible is that we have never seen any time travellers appear from the future, even at the pivotal historical moments that any time traveller would choose to visit?

Doesn't that only prove that time travel in a backwards direction is impossible?

Fair point.

On the other hand rcs1000 might be right about the invisibility cloaks.

Also, I'm not sure anyone would want to do forward time travel unless they knew they could come back again. It probably wouldn't be very nice to be stuck in the future indefinitely.

Big_G_NorthWales said:

YellowSubmarine said:

The resurrection of Damien Greens career has been all but ignored. The fact that this humane, money saving and minor change is utterly radical is telling about the IDS regime. < The Telegraph: Reassessment tests for sickness benefit claimants with severe illnesses to be scrapped. http://google.com/newsstand/s/CBIw8tySpS4

Sensible change and one of many to come to benefit those in need.

Agree, a good tweak that saves money and helps a lot of those who were caught in the net with the last changes. At least it shows that the people in charge are listening to the problems on the ground, in what is just about the most difficult area of public policy to get right.