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SystemSystem Posts: 12,747
edited October 2016 in General

imagepoliticalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Labour’s “cunning plan” for the Richmond Park by-election

“The man’s a disgrace. His office is just along the corridor from mine and I never see him. He obviously doesn’t want to be an MP.

Read the full story here


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Comments

  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 45,604
    edited October 2016
    First for quisling remoaners!
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 124,443
    As cunning as a fox who's just been appointed Professor of Cunning at Oxford University.
  • MP_SEMP_SE Posts: 3,642
    Third like the Lib Dems in Richmond.
  • Sean_FSean_F Posts: 39,789

    Is Goldsmith unpopular in Parliament?
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 22,656
    I don't get it. Maybe I'm being thick.
    Of course Goldsmith's majority will be reduced. In what sense does he become a lame duck, and if so, how does this actually help Labour?
  • PlatoSaidPlatoSaid Posts: 10,383
    edited October 2016
    *Goes back to watching US election stuff*

    I honestly don't give a stuff - if the LDs weren't in with a teeny chance, we wouldn't be doing this.

    And LDs are NoWhere Influence Party in any context.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 124,443
    Sean_F said:


    Is Goldsmith unpopular in Parliament?

    Yup, heard a great quote about him this week.

    There are towels on the floor of my local swimming baths that are less wet. He is so laid- back and flat he would make a pretty good runway himself.
  • david_herdsondavid_herdson Posts: 18,361
    So Labour's cunning plan is to lose and help elect a Tory? That explains a lot about their current polling.
  • SimonStClareSimonStClare Posts: 7,976
    edited October 2016
    Gardenwalker said:

    I don't get it. Maybe I'm being thick.
    Of course Goldsmith's majority will be reduced. In what sense does he become a lame duck, and if so, how does this actually help Labour?

    Don’t worry, reality is more often than not, the exact opposite of Don’s predictions. :lol:
  • MP_SEMP_SE Posts: 3,642
    Gardenwalker said:

    I don't get it. Maybe I'm being thick.
    Of course Goldsmith's majority will be reduced. In what sense does he become a lame duck, and if so, how does this actually help Labour?

    I don't get it either.

    But then again I didn't get how Owen Smith was in with a shot at winning.
  • Richard_NabaviRichard_Nabavi Posts: 30,822
    I am not quite sure what Don is going on about, to be honest, but it seems to be motivated by a rather unpleasant undertone of class prejudice.

    Richmond Park isn't the ideal constituency to try to play the class card.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 80,278
    UK Democracy can only truly flourish when Labour is a dead party.
  • Scott_PScott_P Posts: 51,453
    https://twitter.com/mrharrycole/status/791642791382097921
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 124,443
    SeanT said:

    The last couple of days have been unquestionably good for Leavers.

    Big GDP figures - and credit (I believe) to Nunu, of this parish, who predicted 0.6 in Q3 weeks after the referendum, when everyone else expected zero growth, or worse

    Great news on Nissan. No matter how much Remainers whine and carp, this is a vote of confidence. A factory that produces more cars than all of Italy is going to EXPAND

    Excellent retail sales: surging again in October

    ING is CREATING 400 jobs in the City

    Axa has recommitted to completing the City's biggest tower: 22 Bishopsgate

    They're all just straws in the wind, but you get enough of them, and you might just see the way the wind is blowing....

    I'm impressed by May and Hammond over this, Nissan was a totemic one.

    The question is which other companies and sectors will they do this for.

    It might not be hard Brexit, of course the point that we might well be paying Nissan and others to do things they were already doing for free is another discussion.
  • PlatoSaidPlatoSaid Posts: 10,383
    Richard_Nabavi said:

    I am not quite sure what Don is going on about, to be honest, but it seems to be motivated by a rather unpleasant undertone of class prejudice.

    Richmond Park isn't the ideal constituency to try to play the class card.

    Well quite.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 80,278
    edited October 2016
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    SeanT said:

    The last couple of days have been unquestionably good for Leavers.

    Big GDP figures - and credit (I believe) to Nunu, of this parish, who predicted 0.6 in Q3 weeks after the referendum, when everyone else expected zero growth, or worse

    Great news on Nissan. No matter how much Remainers whine and carp, this is a vote of confidence. A factory that produces more cars than all of Italy is going to EXPAND

    Excellent retail sales: surging again in October

    ING is CREATING 400 jobs in the City

    Axa has recommitted to completing the City's biggest tower: 22 Bishopsgate

    They're all just straws in the wind, but you get enough of them, and you might just see the way the wind is blowing....

    I'm impressed by May and Hammond over this, Nissan was a totemic one.

    The question is which other companies and sectors will they do this for.

    It might not be hard Brexit, of course the point that we might well be paying Nissan and others to do things they were already doing for free is another discussion.
    Could someone get the details on any sort of deal/assurance under a FOI request ?
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 56,173
    david_herdson said:

    So Labour's cunning plan is to lose and help elect a Tory? That explains a lot about their current polling.

    After five or six decades of continuous Tory rule, Britain will be sick of them and turn to Labour....seems to be the plan.

    Anyway, with the economic news today, the seat got a far bit more distant for the LibDems.
  • Richard_NabaviRichard_Nabavi Posts: 30,822
    Pulpstar said:

    Could someone get the details on any sort of deal/assurance under a FOI request ?

    Probably covered by the commercial confidentiality get-out.
  • RogerRoger Posts: 21,250
    edited October 2016
    A serious question. Do any of the right-wingers on PB work? Reading PB it doesn't seem like it.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 56,316
    SeanT said:

    The last couple of days have been unquestionably good for Leavers.

    Big GDP figures - and credit (I believe) to Nunu, of this parish, who predicted 0.6 in Q3 weeks after the referendum, when everyone else expected zero growth, or worse

    Great news on Nissan. No matter how much Remainers whine and carp, this is a vote of confidence. A factory that produces more cars than all of Italy is going to EXPAND

    Excellent retail sales: surging again in October

    ING is CREATING 400 jobs in the City

    Axa has recommitted to completing the City's biggest tower: 22 Bishopsgate

    They're all just straws in the wind, but you get enough of them, and you might just see the way the wind is blowing....

    You missed out the very reassuring noises from the WTO.
  • SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 40,054
    Not sure Labour is capable of cunning plans.
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 22,656
    MP_SE said:

    Gardenwalker said:

    I don't get it. Maybe I'm being thick.
    Of course Goldsmith's majority will be reduced. In what sense does he become a lame duck, and if so, how does this actually help Labour?

    I don't get it either.

    But then again I didn't get how Owen Smith was in with a shot at winning.
    Yes. That was another thing I didn't get.

    The cunning plan would surely be not to stand.
    Not to "remove a Tory MP" as above, but to fuel the narrative of an embattled government which cannot easily pass legislation.

    With Torys and UKIP not standing, Labour can write off Richmond as a sham election inspired by Tory infighting and hence not worth contesting.

    And Labour have nothing to fear from one more LD MP. It's a win win.

    Or it would be if Labour wanted to prevent Brexit or indeed return to government.

    But I'm doubtful it wants to do either.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 124,443
    Pulpstar said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    SeanT said:

    The last couple of days have been unquestionably good for Leavers.

    Big GDP figures - and credit (I believe) to Nunu, of this parish, who predicted 0.6 in Q3 weeks after the referendum, when everyone else expected zero growth, or worse

    Great news on Nissan. No matter how much Remainers whine and carp, this is a vote of confidence. A factory that produces more cars than all of Italy is going to EXPAND

    Excellent retail sales: surging again in October

    ING is CREATING 400 jobs in the City

    Axa has recommitted to completing the City's biggest tower: 22 Bishopsgate

    They're all just straws in the wind, but you get enough of them, and you might just see the way the wind is blowing....

    I'm impressed by May and Hammond over this, Nissan was a totemic one.

    The question is which other companies and sectors will they do this for.

    It might not be hard Brexit, of course the point that we might well be paying Nissan and others to do things they were already doing for free is another discussion.
    Could someone get the details on any sort of deal/assurance under a FOI request ?
    They can and will ask I suspect.
  • david_herdsondavid_herdson Posts: 18,361
    Seriously, I do sometimes wonder if I've misread the mood of London re the Goldsmith campaign. These things can sometimes be slow-burning. Certainly at the time it didn't help but nor was it disastrous - as i've said before, Goldsmith's share of the mayoral vote in his own constituency was almost identical to his share at the general election.

    What's clear is that many left-of-centre activists and chattering-classes types want to still hold the campaign against him. The question is the extent to which this extends to the general public. Don in the article notes that some Greens backed Goldsmith for mayor. I don't suppose that many of their equivalents in the 1960s were supportive of Griffiths - which gives a measure of the taint by association being attempted. My guess would still be that the uproar is from the professionally-outraged looking for evidence to appall them.
  • PlatoSaidPlatoSaid Posts: 10,383
    I fondly recall Mr Brind saying in one of his first threads that his political hero was KGB man Jack Jones. So cuddly

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Jones_(trade_unionist)
  • FeersumEnjineeyaFeersumEnjineeya Posts: 4,900
    It seems strange to me that today's good economic news has pushed the pound down rather than up. Why should this be? Doesn't the value of sterling reflect economic expectations?
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 56,173
    For Mr. Dancer - this weekend, we have as a house guest Louise Collins, who is the widow of Peter Collins, killed in the F1 German Grand Prix of 1958 at the Nurburgring. I know it's not your era, but thought you might be interested. He would probably have been world champion, but for that crash. He was one of 5 Ferrari drivers killed in a short space of time.... Different era (thank God).
  • RoyalBlueRoyalBlue Posts: 3,223
    This article isn't worthy of PB. The idea that a narrow win is worse than a loss for a single seat is moronic.

    If Goldsmith gets in by 1 vote, he will have a 20,000 majority in 2020 as the official Con candidate.
  • MP_SEMP_SE Posts: 3,642
    edited October 2016
    Scott_P said:

    https://twitter.com/mrharrycole/status/791642791382097921

    Farron is so annoyingly predictable. He strikes me as the sort of person who would consistently fall for a 2 move checkmate in chess.
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 22,656
    david_herdson said:

    Seriously, I do sometimes wonder if I've misread the mood of London re the Goldsmith campaign. These things can sometimes be slow-burning. Certainly at the time it didn't help but nor was it disastrous - as i've said before, Goldsmith's share of the mayoral vote in his own constituency was almost identical to his share at the general election.

    What's clear is that many left-of-centre activists and chattering-classes types want to still hold the campaign against him. The question is the extent to which this extends to the general public. Don in the article notes that some Greens backed Goldsmith for mayor. I don't suppose that many of their equivalents in the 1960s were supportive of Griffiths - which gives a measure of the taint by association being attempted. My guess would still be that the uproar is from the professionally-outraged looking for evidence to appall them.

    Putting aside the claims of racism etc - which I think require a pretty high threshold to be fair - one thing that may have soured people in Richmond on Goldsmith since the election is that he looks like an utter loser.

    His mayoral campaign was horribly anaemic and revealed he had neither energy, charisma, or brains. And his resignation looks like a big flounce.

    There will some in Richmond who held their nose during the mayoralty or voted for Zac for reasons of local loyalty. But I think there'll be a fair few this time who think, nah - I'm not going to waste my time again with him.

    I still think he'll win though.
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 45,604
    FeersumEnjineeya said:

    It seems strange to me that today's good economic news has pushed the pound down rather than up. Why should this be? Doesn't the value of sterling reflect economic expectations?

    Didn't you get the memo?
    This is also good news, march of the exporters, pound finding its natural level, blah, blah.
  • TheKingofLangleyTheKingofLangley Posts: 70
    Roger said:

    A serious question. Do any of the right-wingers on PB work? Reading PB it doesn't seem like it.

    All right-wingers are success self-employed business people/wealth creators don't you know!
  • PlatoSaidPlatoSaid Posts: 10,383
    MP_SE said:

    Scott_P said:

    https://twitter.com/mrharrycole/status/791642791382097921

    Farron is so annoyingly predictable. He strikes me as the sort of person who would consistently fall for a 3 move check mate in chess.
    He's a 6th former playing at grown-ups.

    I've zero time for him.
  • ArtistArtist Posts: 1,894
    I think not standing would have been Labour's best option, it would have reinforced the idea that his by-election was a waste of time and was just an ego trip by Goldsmith. With UKIP not standing either it wouldn't have looked cynical. More of their votes would have gone to the Lib Dems and in a close by-election could well have swung it. A Brexit MP would have been defeated, the Tories would have an even smaller majority and it may have put May off a snap election any time soon. It just makes sense on all levels..
  • Tim_BTim_B Posts: 7,669
    Almost 600,000 Georgia voters have already cast ballots in person in this year's election. That's just the number voting in person, and does not include absentee ballots.

    Gwinnett County updates wait times at its advance polling locations (3 currently, 2 more opening next week) every hour online. I'm off to vote at the lowest wait time location (about 30 minutes).
  • FensterFenster Posts: 2,115
    Roger said:

    A serious question. Do any of the right-wingers on PB work? Reading PB it doesn't seem like it.

    I do! Non fecking stop!! But then I'm not really a right winger. More of an uber-liberal wet.
  • PlatoSaidPlatoSaid Posts: 10,383
    Tim_B said:

    Almost 600,000 Georgia voters have already cast ballots in person in this year's election. That's just the number voting in person, and does not include absentee ballots.

    Gwinnett County updates wait times at its advance polling locations (3 currently, 2 more opening next week) every hour online. I'm off to vote at the lowest wait time location (about 30 minutes).

    I've seen reports/photos from Georgia of 3 block queues and several hour long waits - have you seen this?
  • nunununu Posts: 6,024
    Tim_B said:

    Almost 600,000 Georgia voters have already cast ballots in person in this year's election. That's just the number voting in person, and does not include absentee ballots.

    Gwinnett County updates wait times at its advance polling locations (3 currently, 2 more opening next week) every hour online. I'm off to vote at the lowest wait time location (about 30 minutes).

    Let us know if it looks diverse and young. Would be good for Clinton thanx.

    Fpt:
    Big GDP figures - and credit (I believe) to Nunu, of this parish, who predicted 0.6 in Q3 weeks after the referendum, when everyone else expected zero growth, or worse


    Yes that was me, although I did put a caveat that by the first revision GDP will be revised upwards to 0.6%, so we shall see

    Although it is clear the economists don't ever leave their ivory towers.
  • Ishmael_XIshmael_X Posts: 3,664
    Gardenwalker said:

    david_herdson said:

    Seriously, I do sometimes wonder if I've misread the mood of London re the Goldsmith campaign. These things can sometimes be slow-burning. Certainly at the time it didn't help but nor was it disastrous - as i've said before, Goldsmith's share of the mayoral vote in his own constituency was almost identical to his share at the general election.

    What's clear is that many left-of-centre activists and chattering-classes types want to still hold the campaign against him. The question is the extent to which this extends to the general public. Don in the article notes that some Greens backed Goldsmith for mayor. I don't suppose that many of their equivalents in the 1960s were supportive of Griffiths - which gives a measure of the taint by association being attempted. My guess would still be that the uproar is from the professionally-outraged looking for evidence to appall them.

    Putting aside the claims of racism etc - which I think require a pretty high threshold to be fair - one thing that may have soured people in Richmond on Goldsmith since the election is that he looks like an utter loser.

    His mayoral campaign was horribly anaemic and revealed he had neither energy, charisma, or brains. And his resignation looks like a big flounce.

    There will some in Richmond who held their nose during the mayoralty or voted for Zac for reasons of local loyalty. But I think there'll be a fair few this time who think, nah - I'm not going to waste my time again with him.

    I still think he'll win though.
    As a flounce it comes nowhere near the benchmark for wankerdom set by Davis, D. which sadly seems not to have harmed Davis's career.
  • MikeKMikeK Posts: 9,053
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-37786753
    UKIP backing Zac Goldsmith in by-election

    Oh, Ho!
  • JWisemannJWisemann Posts: 1,082
    An odd premise. Seems to be the right of labour who are most self-defeatingly tribal and unwilling to work with other parties to defeat the tories. From my point of view it would make absolute sense not to stand a candidate, given that the cons and ukip arent. Any opportunity to weaken the government should be grasped very firmly indeed. At least dramatically soft pedal it if you must stand a candidate.
  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 27,354
    MarqueeMark said:

    For Mr. Dancer - this weekend, we have as a house guest Louise Collins, who is the widow of Peter Collins, killed in the F1 German Grand Prix of 1958 at the Nurburgring. I know it's not your era, but thought you might be interested. He would probably have been world champion, but for that crash. He was one of 5 Ferrari drivers killed in a short space of time.... Different era (thank God).

    Slight claim to fame. My grandfather was godfather to Mike Hawthorn.
  • Ishmael_XIshmael_X Posts: 3,664
    Roger said:

    A serious question. Do any of the right-wingers on PB work? Reading PB it doesn't seem like it.

    The most prolific posters are those with verifiable real-life achievements to their name. How that works I have no idea, unless you can subcontract thriller-writing to the Indians for 3 rupees a day, like with software.
  • timmotimmo Posts: 1,469
    tlg86 said:

    MarqueeMark said:

    For Mr. Dancer - this weekend, we have as a house guest Louise Collins, who is the widow of Peter Collins, killed in the F1 German Grand Prix of 1958 at the Nurburgring. I know it's not your era, but thought you might be interested. He would probably have been world champion, but for that crash. He was one of 5 Ferrari drivers killed in a short space of time.... Different era (thank God).

    Slight claim to fame. My grandfather was godfather to Mike Hawthorn.
    Who managed to kill himself on a public road!!
  • JonathanJonathan Posts: 22,108
    Seems to me that, interestingly, ALL political parties are approaching this by-election from an unprecedented position of weakness.

    I'm not sure what it means, it might be a good thing. Perhaps other MPs will fancy a stint as independents.

    Someone should ask Zac, whether he plans to stand as the GE.
  • YellowSubmarineYellowSubmarine Posts: 2,740
    A good piece by Don. But the other reason for Labour to save Goldsmith is to help smooth Brexit. Clearly Corbyn/McDonnell think the future is a People's Brexit/Banker's Brexit dialectic. Today's Nissan announcement suggests the Tories agree but are well ahead of Labour and will achieve synthesis of that dialectic. At least until it collapses like all Gordon Brown type ruses do.

    The Corbyn/McDonnell People's Brexit will actually be a culturally Marxist Lexit which couldn't be further from the British people. May's Banker's Brexit will be for Bankers but will be astutely socially conservative. Nissan suggests Corporate Welfare but delivered in an exquisite tie die. Blue Labour and Red UKIP running together in the wash.

    As we head towards #Mayday I recall wise words. " You can't buck the market. " Nissan is the kind of globalisation you can marry with protectionism. It's an iconic site. Sunderland was the Ground Zero of Brexit. It can have it's Cake and Eat it. Most places won't be be able to. To govern is to choose. It can only be delayed so long.

  • JonathanJonathan Posts: 22,108
    edited October 2016
    SeanT said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    SeanT said:

    The last couple of days have been unquestionably good for Leavers.

    Big GDP figures - and credit (I believe) to Nunu, of this parish, who predicted 0.6 in Q3 weeks after the referendum, when everyone else expected zero growth, or worse

    Great news on Nissan. No matter how much Remainers whine and carp, this is a vote of confidence. A factory that produces more cars than all of Italy is going to EXPAND

    Excellent retail sales: surging again in October

    ING is CREATING 400 jobs in the City

    Axa has recommitted to completing the City's biggest tower: 22 Bishopsgate

    They're all just straws in the wind, but you get enough of them, and you might just see the way the wind is blowing....

    I'm impressed by May and Hammond over this, Nissan was a totemic one.

    The question is which other companies and sectors will they do this for.

    It might not be hard Brexit, of course the point that we might well be paying Nissan and others to do things they were already doing for free is another discussion.
    The government is clearly confident (and rightly, I'd say) of getting free trade in goods. It makes sense for all parties. So they don't expect to be paying anything to Nissan.

    It's gonna be a Soft Brexit, if TMay and Hammond can possibly manage it. But reframed as Bespoke Brexit so she can sell it to the people.
    Brexit in name only . BiNO
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 80,278
    SeanT said:

    reframed as Bespoke Brexit

    Overpriced tosh sold to naive buyers :) ?
  • Sean_FSean_F Posts: 39,789
    Roger said:

    A serious question. Do any of the right-wingers on PB work? Reading PB it doesn't seem like it.

    No, we're all very wealthy people who live off the labour of others.
  • weejonnieweejonnie Posts: 3,820
    TheKingofLangley said:

    Roger said:

    A serious question. Do any of the right-wingers on PB work? Reading PB it doesn't seem like it.

    All right-wingers are success self-employed business people/wealth creators don't you know!
    Of course - I run my own business so can post whenever I like.

    This week is half term where I live so I would have thought the trendy teachers (if there are any) would be out in numbers.
  • david_herdsondavid_herdson Posts: 18,361
    MP_SE said:

    Scott_P said:

    https://twitter.com/mrharrycole/status/791642791382097921

    Farron is so annoyingly predictable. He strikes me as the sort of person who would consistently fall for a 2 move checkmate in chess.
    Farron is a pound-shop Charles Kennedy, without the humour or drinking problem but with the same fundamental lack of substance.
  • Tim_BTim_B Posts: 7,669
    PlatoSaid said:

    Tim_B said:

    Almost 600,000 Georgia voters have already cast ballots in person in this year's election. That's just the number voting in person, and does not include absentee ballots.

    Gwinnett County updates wait times at its advance polling locations (3 currently, 2 more opening next week) every hour online. I'm off to vote at the lowest wait time location (about 30 minutes).

    I've seen reports/photos from Georgia of 3 block queues and several hour long waits - have you seen this?
    In Georgia the counties (there are about 150 of them) run their own elections. I've seen the reports, hopefully they won't be like that today in Gwinnett.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 56,316
    SeanT said:

    It's gonna be a Soft Brexit, if TMay and Hammond can possibly manage it. But reframed as Bespoke Brexit so she can sell it to the people.

    If they renamed it as Associate Membership even I'd be happy. :)
  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 63,031
    Good afternoon, everyone.

    Mr. Mark, indeed, before my time.

    That's rather sad. Whilst Mosley deserves censure for his censorious attitudes towards the press he did show a good deal of sense when it came to safety in F1.
  • PeterCPeterC Posts: 1,275
    I'm afraid I do not see the point of Zac's gesture, and I do not see what Don Brind is getting at.
  • Tim_BTim_B Posts: 7,669
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    SeanT said:

    The last couple of days have been unquestionably good for Leavers.

    Big GDP figures - and credit (I believe) to Nunu, of this parish, who predicted 0.6 in Q3 weeks after the referendum, when everyone else expected zero growth, or worse

    Great news on Nissan. No matter how much Remainers whine and carp, this is a vote of confidence. A factory that produces more cars than all of Italy is going to EXPAND

    Excellent retail sales: surging again in October

    ING is CREATING 400 jobs in the City

    Axa has recommitted to completing the City's biggest tower: 22 Bishopsgate

    They're all just straws in the wind, but you get enough of them, and you might just see the way the wind is blowing....

    I'm impressed by May and Hammond over this, Nissan was a totemic one.

    The question is which other companies and sectors will they do this for.

    It might not be hard Brexit, of course the point that we might well be paying Nissan and others to do things they were already doing for free is another discussion.
    May and Hammond - is this a Grand Tour post?
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 56,316
    Pat Buchanan more than a match for CNN:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhyxAHCzq2k
  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 63,031
    Mr. T, was it the FIFA film?
  • weejonnieweejonnie Posts: 3,820
    "Axa has recommitted to completing the City's biggest tower: 22 Bishopsgate"

    Which is slightly amusing since Bishopsgate, was taken over by Fortis and is now Ageas INSURANCE.

    (The mergers and acquisitions/ rebranding of Insurance companies/ Lloyds Syndicates in the UK are numerous. Without trying, I can think of about 40 that have gone/ merged/ been bought out in my career.)
  • EssexitEssexit Posts: 1,966
    PlatoSaid said:

    Tim_B said:

    Almost 600,000 Georgia voters have already cast ballots in person in this year's election. That's just the number voting in person, and does not include absentee ballots.

    Gwinnett County updates wait times at its advance polling locations (3 currently, 2 more opening next week) every hour online. I'm off to vote at the lowest wait time location (about 30 minutes).

    I've seen reports/photos from Georgia of 3 block queues and several hour long waits - have you seen this?
    Several hours?! That must go some way to explaining the low turnouts.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 56,316
    Tim_B said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    SeanT said:

    The last couple of days have been unquestionably good for Leavers.

    Big GDP figures - and credit (I believe) to Nunu, of this parish, who predicted 0.6 in Q3 weeks after the referendum, when everyone else expected zero growth, or worse

    Great news on Nissan. No matter how much Remainers whine and carp, this is a vote of confidence. A factory that produces more cars than all of Italy is going to EXPAND

    Excellent retail sales: surging again in October

    ING is CREATING 400 jobs in the City

    Axa has recommitted to completing the City's biggest tower: 22 Bishopsgate

    They're all just straws in the wind, but you get enough of them, and you might just see the way the wind is blowing....

    I'm impressed by May and Hammond over this, Nissan was a totemic one.

    The question is which other companies and sectors will they do this for.

    It might not be hard Brexit, of course the point that we might well be paying Nissan and others to do things they were already doing for free is another discussion.
    May and Hammond - is this a Grand Tour post?
    Perhaps we'll wake up one day and find that HMG is now outsourced to Amazon Country.
  • YellowSubmarineYellowSubmarine Posts: 2,740
    FeersumEnjineeya said:

    It seems strange to me that today's good economic news has pushed the pound down rather than up. Why should this be? Doesn't the value of sterling reflect economic expectations?

    #1 Nissan. The £ is currently responding to any and every smoke signal re Brexit. The market knows what what Nissan must have been promised and what that means. #2 The statements yesterday from Fox and Garner were hugely significant. It's the first materially signfigant information on Brexit since May's conference speech.
  • gettingbettergettingbetter Posts: 611
    Roger said:

    A serious question. Do any of the right-wingers on PB work? Reading PB it doesn't seem like it.

    We do work a bit but earn most of our money from betting on the other side of the bet to mug punters. Not having huge chips on our shoulders helps us to be objective.
  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 27,354
    Morris_Dancer said:

    Good afternoon, everyone.

    Mr. Mark, indeed, before my time.

    That's rather sad. Whilst Mosley deserves censure for his censorious attitudes towards the press he did show a good deal of sense when it came to safety in F1.

    I think that's true. The problem is they've gone too far the other way. Tarmac runoff areas have helped to kill the sport and I actually happen to think they're more dangerous than gravel traps.
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 22,656
    SeanT said:

    Ishmael_X said:

    Roger said:

    A serious question. Do any of the right-wingers on PB work? Reading PB it doesn't seem like it.

    The most prolific posters are those with verifiable real-life achievements to their name. How that works I have no idea, unless you can subcontract thriller-writing to the Indians for 3 rupees a day, like with software.
    I'm between thrillers. But I have an idea, a location, a plot, for a new thriller, and I will begin writing in January, so I will be much less visible on here (I hope)

    Incidentally, if Roger's still about, the would-be makers of The Ice Twins movie, in Hollywood, have found a director.

    On the good side, he's made some critically well received movies, and even been selected at Cannes by the jury etc

    On the bad side, his last movie, budgeted at about $8m, made $5000
    Hmmm. Wonder who that was (checks Wikipedia for winners of the jury prize)...
  • YellowSubmarineYellowSubmarine Posts: 2,740
    david_herdson said:

    MP_SE said:

    Scott_P said:

    https://twitter.com/mrharrycole/status/791642791382097921

    Farron is so annoyingly predictable. He strikes me as the sort of person who would consistently fall for a 2 move checkmate in chess.
    Farron is a pound-shop Charles Kennedy, without the humour or drinking problem but with the same fundamental lack of substance.
    Kennedy had huge substance. He also had crippling alcoholism.
  • 619619 Posts: 1,784
    https://twitter.com/LarrySabato/status/791618803390095360

    This is brutal -- Clinton wins with just safe and likely states, doesn't even need leaners.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 47,787
    tlg86 said:

    MarqueeMark said:

    For Mr. Dancer - this weekend, we have as a house guest Louise Collins, who is the widow of Peter Collins, killed in the F1 German Grand Prix of 1958 at the Nurburgring. I know it's not your era, but thought you might be interested. He would probably have been world champion, but for that crash. He was one of 5 Ferrari drivers killed in a short space of time.... Different era (thank God).

    Slight claim to fame. My grandfather was godfather to Mike Hawthorn.
    Pah. That's nothing.

    I was operated on several times by Prof Watkins, and met a fair few 1990s-era F1 drivers through him.

    I am F1 engineered. ;)

    (He is also a massive hero of mine. RIP, Sid, I hope the salmon are biting and the whisky's plentiful).
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 40,927
    FeersumEnjineeya said:

    It seems strange to me that today's good economic news has pushed the pound down rather than up. Why should this be? Doesn't the value of sterling reflect economic expectations?

    Very strong US data has increased the chances of a rate rise there before the end of the year.
  • PlatoSaidPlatoSaid Posts: 10,383
    PeterC said:

    I'm afraid I do not see the point of Zac's gesture, and I do not see what Don Brind is getting at.

    Personally, I think he should pay the £200k for this vanity election.
  • Sean_FSean_F Posts: 39,789
    SeanT said:

    Ishmael_X said:

    Roger said:

    A serious question. Do any of the right-wingers on PB work? Reading PB it doesn't seem like it.

    The most prolific posters are those with verifiable real-life achievements to their name. How that works I have no idea, unless you can subcontract thriller-writing to the Indians for 3 rupees a day, like with software.
    I'm between thrillers. But I have an idea, a location, a plot, for a new thriller, and I will begin writing in January, so I will be much less visible on here (I hope)

    Will it involve severed tongues, Swedish boiling, blood-eagling, being cooked in a big pressure cooker, or orangutang rape?

  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 56,351
    Roger said:

    A serious question. Do any of the right-wingers on PB work? Reading PB it doesn't seem like it.

    Right-winger? Are you calling moi a right-winger?

    (PS. I voted Labour at GE2015)
    (PPS. Yes I do work, part-time)
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 56,316
    PlatoSaid said:

    PeterC said:

    I'm afraid I do not see the point of Zac's gesture, and I do not see what Don Brind is getting at.

    Personally, I think he should pay the £200k for this vanity election.
    He'll presumably be in line for a loss of office payment if he loses. Perhaps the LDs should extract a promise that he'll donate it to charity.
  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 63,031
    Mr. 86, I agree they've gone too far the other way.

    Tarmac is for supermarket car parks, not if you go off-track on an F1 circuit.

    Only two more races to go after this weekend. Hmm.
  • JonathanJonathan Posts: 22,108
    PlatoSaid said:

    PeterC said:

    I'm afraid I do not see the point of Zac's gesture, and I do not see what Don Brind is getting at.

    Personally, I think he should pay the £200k for this vanity election.
    I agree with Plato, wahey!
  • Tim_BTim_B Posts: 7,669
    williamglenn said:

    Tim_B said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    SeanT said:

    The last couple of days have been unquestionably good for Leavers.

    Big GDP figures - and credit (I believe) to Nunu, of this parish, who predicted 0.6 in Q3 weeks after the referendum, when everyone else expected zero growth, or worse

    Great news on Nissan. No matter how much Remainers whine and carp, this is a vote of confidence. A factory that produces more cars than all of Italy is going to EXPAND

    Excellent retail sales: surging again in October

    ING is CREATING 400 jobs in the City

    Axa has recommitted to completing the City's biggest tower: 22 Bishopsgate

    They're all just straws in the wind, but you get enough of them, and you might just see the way the wind is blowing....

    I'm impressed by May and Hammond over this, Nissan was a totemic one.

    The question is which other companies and sectors will they do this for.

    It might not be hard Brexit, of course the point that we might well be paying Nissan and others to do things they were already doing for free is another discussion.
    May and Hammond - is this a Grand Tour post?
    Perhaps we'll wake up one day and find that HMG is now outsourced to Amazon Country.
    Unfortunately that's probably too much to hope for....
  • eekeek Posts: 31,584
    Gardenwalker said:

    SeanT said:

    Ishmael_X said:

    Roger said:

    A serious question. Do any of the right-wingers on PB work? Reading PB it doesn't seem like it.

    The most prolific posters are those with verifiable real-life achievements to their name. How that works I have no idea, unless you can subcontract thriller-writing to the Indians for 3 rupees a day, like with software.
    I'm between thrillers. But I have an idea, a location, a plot, for a new thriller, and I will begin writing in January, so I will be much less visible on here (I hope)

    Incidentally, if Roger's still about, the would-be makers of The Ice Twins movie, in Hollywood, have found a director.

    On the good side, he's made some critically well received movies, and even been selected at Cannes by the jury etc

    On the bad side, his last movie, budgeted at about $8m, made $5000
    Hmmm. Wonder who that was (checks Wikipedia for winners of the jury prize)...
    I was going to say Frédéric Auburtin but he is worse than that budget $25m box office $607.
  • Tim_BTim_B Posts: 7,669
    eek said:

    Gardenwalker said:

    SeanT said:

    Ishmael_X said:

    Roger said:

    A serious question. Do any of the right-wingers on PB work? Reading PB it doesn't seem like it.

    The most prolific posters are those with verifiable real-life achievements to their name. How that works I have no idea, unless you can subcontract thriller-writing to the Indians for 3 rupees a day, like with software.
    I'm between thrillers. But I have an idea, a location, a plot, for a new thriller, and I will begin writing in January, so I will be much less visible on here (I hope)

    Incidentally, if Roger's still about, the would-be makers of The Ice Twins movie, in Hollywood, have found a director.

    On the good side, he's made some critically well received movies, and even been selected at Cannes by the jury etc

    On the bad side, his last movie, budgeted at about $8m, made $5000
    Hmmm. Wonder who that was (checks Wikipedia for winners of the jury prize)...
    I was going to say Frédéric Auburtin but he is worse than that budget $25m box office $607.
    I was wondering about Michael Cimino, director of Heaven's Gate....
  • PlatoSaidPlatoSaid Posts: 10,383
    williamglenn said:

    Pat Buchanan more than a match for CNN:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhyxAHCzq2k

    Cracking video - and what an arse the CNN guy is
  • ParistondaParistonda Posts: 1,844
    This plan makes absolutely no sense. Who cares whether Zac is happy in parliament or not? How is it cunning? It's at best 'spiteful' - seeking an overall worse outcome (no reduction in nominal tory majority' to 'punish' Zac.

    I think not even Corbyn is stupid enough to think this is a good strategy.
  • Tim_BTim_B Posts: 7,669
    PlatoSaid said:

    PeterC said:

    I'm afraid I do not see the point of Zac's gesture, and I do not see what Don Brind is getting at.

    Personally, I think he should pay the £200k for this vanity election.
    I resign in protest on a matter of principle!!!! Please can I have my job back?

    His picture should appear opposite wanker in the dictionary.
  • weejonnieweejonnie Posts: 3,820
    Essexit said:

    PlatoSaid said:

    Tim_B said:

    Almost 600,000 Georgia voters have already cast ballots in person in this year's election. That's just the number voting in person, and does not include absentee ballots.

    Gwinnett County updates wait times at its advance polling locations (3 currently, 2 more opening next week) every hour online. I'm off to vote at the lowest wait time location (about 30 minutes).

    I've seen reports/photos from Georgia of 3 block queues and several hour long waits - have you seen this?
    Several hours?! That must go some way to explaining the low turnouts.
    Perhaps they were queueing for something else? Jeremy Paxman said that Clinton and Trump were the two most hated candidates in history and that no one would vote for them.
  • Sean_FSean_F Posts: 39,789
    O/T Parisian vandals have destroyed a giant inflatable butt-plug

    https://www.buzzfeed.com/hannahjewell/the-parisian-butt-plug-christmas-tree-has-been-destroyed?utm_term=.irNQqrqp8#.jvdxava97
  • PlatoSaidPlatoSaid Posts: 10,383
    Tim_B said:

    PlatoSaid said:

    PeterC said:

    I'm afraid I do not see the point of Zac's gesture, and I do not see what Don Brind is getting at.

    Personally, I think he should pay the £200k for this vanity election.
    I resign in protest on a matter of principle!!!! Please can I have my job back?

    His picture should appear opposite wanker in the dictionary.
    :lol:
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 22,656
    Tim_B said:

    eek said:

    Gardenwalker said:

    SeanT said:

    Ishmael_X said:

    Roger said:

    A serious question. Do any of the right-wingers on PB work? Reading PB it doesn't seem like it.

    The most prolific posters are those with verifiable real-life achievements to their name. How that works I have no idea, unless you can subcontract thriller-writing to the Indians for 3 rupees a day, like with software.
    I'm between thrillers. But I have an idea, a location, a plot, for a new thriller, and I will begin writing in January, so I will be much less visible on here (I hope)

    Incidentally, if Roger's still about, the would-be makers of The Ice Twins movie, in Hollywood, have found a director.

    On the good side, he's made some critically well received movies, and even been selected at Cannes by the jury etc

    On the bad side, his last movie, budgeted at about $8m, made $5000
    Hmmm. Wonder who that was (checks Wikipedia for winners of the jury prize)...
    I was going to say Frédéric Auburtin but he is worse than that budget $25m box office $607.
    I was wondering about Michael Cimino, director of Heaven's Gate....
    He's dead, isn't he?
  • GardenwalkerGardenwalker Posts: 22,656
    eek said:

    Gardenwalker said:

    SeanT said:

    Ishmael_X said:

    Roger said:

    A serious question. Do any of the right-wingers on PB work? Reading PB it doesn't seem like it.

    The most prolific posters are those with verifiable real-life achievements to their name. How that works I have no idea, unless you can subcontract thriller-writing to the Indians for 3 rupees a day, like with software.
    I'm between thrillers. But I have an idea, a location, a plot, for a new thriller, and I will begin writing in January, so I will be much less visible on here (I hope)

    Incidentally, if Roger's still about, the would-be makers of The Ice Twins movie, in Hollywood, have found a director.

    On the good side, he's made some critically well received movies, and even been selected at Cannes by the jury etc

    On the bad side, his last movie, budgeted at about $8m, made $5000
    Hmmm. Wonder who that was (checks Wikipedia for winners of the jury prize)...
    I was going to say Frédéric Auburtin but he is worse than that budget $25m box office $607.
    But that's the FIFA guy.
  • TGOHFTGOHF Posts: 21,633
    Richmond B/E on 1st Dec.
  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 63,031
    Mr. B, are you saying Goldsmith is a reknaw?

    Incidentally, checking the mods for PS4 on Bethesda net. No eat/drink/sleep yet, but realistic carry weight and 'hardcore' [more realistic damage] mods are up.

    I'll still probably wait, as £34 for a remaster is excessive (and I want to play XCOM 2), but it's nice to see those sorts of things are available.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 47,787
    SeanT said:

    Sean_F said:

    SeanT said:

    Ishmael_X said:

    Roger said:

    A serious question. Do any of the right-wingers on PB work? Reading PB it doesn't seem like it.

    The most prolific posters are those with verifiable real-life achievements to their name. How that works I have no idea, unless you can subcontract thriller-writing to the Indians for 3 rupees a day, like with software.
    I'm between thrillers. But I have an idea, a location, a plot, for a new thriller, and I will begin writing in January, so I will be much less visible on here (I hope)

    Will it involve severed tongues, Swedish boiling, blood-eagling, being cooked in a big pressure cooker, or orangutang rape?

    Sadly not. It's S K Tremayne not Tom Knox. I yearn to go back to Tom Knox, I've got a great idea for a thriller set in Greenland, which is just the creepiest place ever, a place where people eat their owb children in times of famine, and dolls are made out of dead toddlers.

    But this is S K Tremayne... so it's set on Dartmoor with a woman in danger and a menacing husband and so forth. Domestic noir with a Du Maurier tinge. I do have a nice hook tho, but I'm not saying what it is in case it gets nicked.
    After Dylan won the Nobel Prize in Literature, I think we should start a campaign for Tom Knox to win it next ...
  • BarnesianBarnesian Posts: 9,445
    I don't understand Don's argument at all. I don't understand the motive and I don't understand the method. You can't plan for her "to lose but not by much". Labour doesn't have the data nor control of the campaign.

    Just back from a day on the road in Richmond Park.

    Some thoughts:

    Brexit fires people up more than the runway.

    Labour will vote LibDem big time.

    There will be a differential turnout on December 1st.
    The anti Brexit people, who are fired up, will come out in larger numbers than the pro Zac people, who aren't.

    Accordingly I am adjusting my estimate on a LibDem win from 36% to 50%. It would be higher if UKIP hadn't sided with Zac, which will give him a couple of thousand.

    I think the Ladbrokes bet of 7/2 on a LibDem majority of <2,500 is good value and I've taken it.
  • ParistondaParistonda Posts: 1,844
    For those that haven't yet seen - John McDonnell probably should've stopped for a continental brexit breakfast in the hotel before his speech this morning! http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/10/27/labours-john-mcdonnell-mixes-up-brexit-and-breakfast-three-times/
  • JonathanJonathan Posts: 22,108
    Sean_F said:

    O/T Parisian vandals have destroyed a giant inflatable butt-plug

    https://www.buzzfeed.com/hannahjewell/the-parisian-butt-plug-christmas-tree-has-been-destroyed?utm_term=.irNQqrqp8#.jvdxava97

    Clearly too early. Who wants Christmas trees in October?
  • Tim_BTim_B Posts: 7,669
    edited October 2016
    Gardenwalker said:

    Tim_B said:

    eek said:

    Gardenwalker said:

    SeanT said:

    Ishmael_X said:

    Roger said:

    A serious question. Do any of the right-wingers on PB work? Reading PB it doesn't seem like it.

    The most prolific posters are those with verifiable real-life achievements to their name. How that works I have no idea, unless you can subcontract thriller-writing to the Indians for 3 rupees a day, like with software.
    I'm between thrillers. But I have an idea, a location, a plot, for a new thriller, and I will begin writing in January, so I will be much less visible on here (I hope)

    Incidentally, if Roger's still about, the would-be makers of The Ice Twins movie, in Hollywood, have found a director.

    On the good side, he's made some critically well received movies, and even been selected at Cannes by the jury etc

    On the bad side, his last movie, budgeted at about $8m, made $5000
    Hmmm. Wonder who that was (checks Wikipedia for winners of the jury prize)...
    I was going to say Frédéric Auburtin but he is worse than that budget $25m box office $607.
    I was wondering about Michael Cimino, director of Heaven's Gate....
    He's dead, isn't he?
    Given Hollywood's expertise in creative accounting, why would that be a factor? :smile:

    - what about Roger?
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 56,316
    Jonathan said:

    Sean_F said:

    O/T Parisian vandals have destroyed a giant inflatable butt-plug

    https://www.buzzfeed.com/hannahjewell/the-parisian-butt-plug-christmas-tree-has-been-destroyed?utm_term=.irNQqrqp8#.jvdxava97

    Clearly too early. Who wants Christmas trees in October?
    The story is two years old.
  • Tim_BTim_B Posts: 7,669
    Jonathan said:

    Sean_F said:

    O/T Parisian vandals have destroyed a giant inflatable butt-plug

    https://www.buzzfeed.com/hannahjewell/the-parisian-butt-plug-christmas-tree-has-been-destroyed?utm_term=.irNQqrqp8#.jvdxava97

    Clearly too early. Who wants Christmas trees in October?
    Talk about a piece of ass.......
  • PlatoSaidPlatoSaid Posts: 10,383
    Sean_F said:

    O/T Parisian vandals have destroyed a giant inflatable butt-plug

    https://www.buzzfeed.com/hannahjewell/the-parisian-butt-plug-christmas-tree-has-been-destroyed?utm_term=.irNQqrqp8#.jvdxava97

    So French
  • EssexitEssexit Posts: 1,966
    Mr Dancer bringing up gaming reminds me - has anyone else played Civilization VI yet?

    Vanilla VI > Vanilla V for sure, but I'm still not sure if Vanilla VI > Expanded V. The AI still doesn't know how to fight a war for one.
  • PlatoSaidPlatoSaid Posts: 10,383
    williamglenn said:

    Jonathan said:

    Sean_F said:

    O/T Parisian vandals have destroyed a giant inflatable butt-plug

    https://www.buzzfeed.com/hannahjewell/the-parisian-butt-plug-christmas-tree-has-been-destroyed?utm_term=.irNQqrqp8#.jvdxava97

    Clearly too early. Who wants Christmas trees in October?
    The story is two years old.
    Does that diminish the amusement?

    Are you today's fun sponge pedant?
  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 63,031
    Mr. Essexit, alas, the last proper Civ I played was II, in about 1999.

    Bring it to consoles, damnit!
  • Sean_FSean_F Posts: 39,789
    SeanT said:

    Sean_F said:

    SeanT said:

    Ishmael_X said:

    Roger said:

    A serious question. Do any of the right-wingers on PB work? Reading PB it doesn't seem like it.

    The most prolific posters are those with verifiable real-life achievements to their name. How that works I have no idea, unless you can subcontract thriller-writing to the Indians for 3 rupees a day, like with software.
    I'm between thrillers. But I have an idea, a location, a plot, for a new thriller, and I will begin writing in January, so I will be much less visible on here (I hope)

    Will it involve severed tongues, Swedish boiling, blood-eagling, being cooked in a big pressure cooker, or orangutang rape?

    Sadly not. It's S K Tremayne not Tom Knox. I yearn to go back to Tom Knox, I've got a great idea for a thriller set in Greenland, which is just the creepiest place ever, a place where people eat their owb children in times of famine, and dolls are made out of dead toddlers.

    .
    I'll look forward to it. I've always been fascinated by the complete disappearance of the Danish population, for reasons that no one has ever established.
This discussion has been closed.

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