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  • taffystaffys Posts: 9,753
    Hammond getting a rough ride on the deficit...
  • Scott_PScott_P Posts: 51,453
    @BBCNormanS: So...no new target for ending deficit. Only an aspiration. #AutumnStatement
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 30,848
    Pulpstar said:

    I'm not watching it but I backed Hammond to be the next CoTE because he is precisely the sort of dull accountant this country needs at the top job.

    Efficiency isn't the corollary of dullness. Some people are dull and crap - as Hammond's time as Defence Secretary amply proves.
  • taffys said:

    Hammond getting a rough ride on the deficit...

    I don't think in the long run this will play too badly. Recent news has been pretty positive, and if there is a time for weakness, the first full year of this government is not a bad time (politically).
  • Scott_PScott_P Posts: 51,453
    @GuidoFawkes: Debt will rise to 90% of GDP in 2017/18
  • MP_SE said:

    I would cut SO some slack. I think most people would become increasingly hysterical if they found themselves on the losing side of pretty much every vote and leadership contest since 2010.

    No need to cut me any slack. In my book white supremacy and anti-Semitism are not appealing character traits. If you disagree and wish to label such a belief hysterical, so be it.

  • Scott_PScott_P Posts: 51,453
    @JolyonMaugham: A £46.5bn deficit in 2018/19 where just 18 months ago the Manifesto promised a surplus. A spectacular deterioration in public finances.
  • MortimerMortimer Posts: 14,188
    rcs1000 said:

    I like Onward, Christian Soldiers.
    Me too - and Jerusalem. Was happy to belt it out at a Labour conference I attended whilst at school!
  • taffystaffys Posts: 9,753
    Scott_P said:

    @BBCNormanS: So...no new target for ending deficit. Only an aspiration. #AutumnStatement

    Person to vote for if you are worried about the nation's finances?
    = nobody.
  • Hammond says the govenrment does not expect to balance the budget by 2020.
    It is publishing new rules.
    There are three of them.
    1 - To get the budget in surplus in the next parliament, and borrowing down to 2% by the end of this parliament.
    2 - To get net debt falling by the end of this parliament.
    3 - To keep welfare spending below a limit

    Can anyone explain 2 to me? How do you get net debt down if you are still running a deficit?
  • Sean_F said:

    Other people can speak for themselves. Personally, I feel pretty detached from the politics of a foreign country, whereas I don't feel so detached from politics in my own country. Corbyn is a threat to me and mine in a way that a foreign politician isn't. Unquestionably, Trump has said some awful things, but that's not going to alter the result.

    Donald Trump is going to have much more affect on you and yours than Jeremy Corbyn ever will.

  • Scott_PScott_P Posts: 51,453
    @DPJHodges: If Labour were a half-decent opposition this would be a potentially game changing statement. But they're not. So it isn't.
  • Scott_P said:

    @DPJHodges: If Labour were a half-decent opposition this would be a potentially game changing statement. But they're not. So it isn't.

    Ain't that a fact.

  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 26,539
    edited November 2016
    Patrick said:

    Can anyone explain 2 to me? How do you get net debt down if you are still running a deficit?

    As a % of GDP?
  • Scott_PScott_P Posts: 51,453
    @TelePolitics: Borrowing forecasts for 2018-19 are now £46.5bn. That's a 117% increase from the £21.4bn Osborne said in March #AutumnStatement
  • PlatoSaid said:

    That final sentence has stuck you on my Stupid Useful Idiot List.

    Of course it has :-D



  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 39,831
    Patrick said:

    Hammond says the govenrment does not expect to balance the budget by 2020.
    It is publishing new rules.
    There are three of them.
    1 - To get the budget in surplus in the next parliament, and borrowing down to 2% by the end of this parliament.
    2 - To get net debt falling by the end of this parliament.
    3 - To keep welfare spending below a limit

    Can anyone explain 2 to me? How do you get net debt down if you are still running a deficit?

    As a proportion of GDP. It already is. This statement is unnecessarily negative.
  • taffystaffys Posts: 9,753
    ''As a proportion of GDP. It already is.''

    Is Eeyore setting himself an artificially low bar here?
  • Patrick said:

    Hammond says the govenrment does not expect to balance the budget by 2020.
    It is publishing new rules.
    There are three of them.
    1 - To get the budget in surplus in the next parliament, and borrowing down to 2% by the end of this parliament.
    2 - To get net debt falling by the end of this parliament.
    3 - To keep welfare spending below a limit

    Can anyone explain 2 to me? How do you get net debt down if you are still running a deficit?

    As a percentage of GDP?
  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 26,539
    Scott_P said:
    I think we can file the "fiscal mandate" in the same category as the 50p top rate of tax.
  • Scott_P said:

    @TelePolitics: Borrowing forecasts for 2018-19 are now £46.5bn. That's a 117% increase from the £21.4bn Osborne said in March #AutumnStatement

    The deficit hawks will be posting about magic money trees.
  • tlg86 said:

    As a % of GDP?
    Yes. Just confirmed.
  • Sean_FSean_F Posts: 38,525

    Donald Trump is going to have much more affect on you and yours than Jeremy Corbyn ever will.

    Neither Republicans nor Democrats align very well with my own political views.

    I dislike the way Republicans engage in electoral shenanigans, pander to racists, are opposed to abortion in almost every circumstance, prioritise corporate welfare, and support creationism. I dislike the way Democrats champion illegal immigration, enforce political correctness, support affirmative action, and support abortion in almost every circumstance.
  • Patrick said:

    Hammond says the govenrment does not expect to balance the budget by 2020.
    It is publishing new rules.
    There are three of them.
    1 - To get the budget in surplus in the next parliament, and borrowing down to 2% by the end of this parliament.
    2 - To get net debt falling by the end of this parliament.
    3 - To keep welfare spending below a limit

    Can anyone explain 2 to me? How do you get net debt down if you are still running a deficit?

    Presumably as % of GDP, so deficit must be smaller than growth?
  • As the chap who edited PB on the evening of GE 2015, Brexit, and the US Presidential election 2016, you'll notice my threads I called a Tory majority, a Leave victory, and Trump as POTUS well before Betfair and the mainstream media.

    I still think a Tory majority at nearly 2/1 on Betfair after Nuneaton was a reflection of punters watching the likes of the BBC/ITV/Sky News and listening to the talking heads.
    Not listening. Just watching the ticker with "Projection: Con 320".
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 30,848
    edited November 2016



    Donald Trump is going to have much more affect on you and yours than Jeremy Corbyn ever will.

    Hopefully the affect of not starting World War 3. For which I can forgive Trump, boorish and at times disgraceful as his behaviour is, a lot.
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    Pulpstar said:

    I'm not watching it but I backed Hammond to be the next CoTE because he is precisely the sort of dull accountant this country needs at the top job.

    fixed it for you...
  • taffystaffys Posts: 9,753
    Surely these deficit numbers are a projection based on a projection of growth.

    And of course we know how accurate most economists have been with their projections in recent months.
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 39,831

    Presumably as % of GDP, so deficit must be smaller than growth?
    Nominal growth, which is why this is unnecessarily negative. With 2-3% inflation we need to hit 1-1.5% growth for net debt to fall. I don't see any scenario where it rises to 90% of GDP.
  • logical_songlogical_song Posts: 10,033
    PlatoSaid said:

    That final sentence has stuck you on my Stupid Useful Idiot List.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOx8q3eGq3g
  • Scott_P said:

    @JolyonMaugham: A £46.5bn deficit in 2018/19 where just 18 months ago the Manifesto promised a surplus. A spectacular deterioration in public finances.

    The finances are improving. Just not at the rate previously intended.
  • Did anybody genuinely believe Osborne's deficit reduction targets for a magical surplus by 2020? Honestly? I certainly didn't.
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    MP_SE said:

    Nikki Haley has been named US ambassador to the UN. A decent pick.

    Foreign policy experience plus clean hands of there is a domestic disaster in next 4 years.

    Presidential candidate if Trump steps aside. Secretary of State if he doesn't. Smart lady.
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 45,402
    £450 million for a digital signalling trial on the railways (if I heard the figure correctly) is nothing. ISTR they spent more than that on the aborted signallng update scheme on the WCML ten years ago.
  • Philip Hammond showing some real sass today
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 30,848
    Mortimer said:

    Me too - and Jerusalem. Was happy to belt it out at a Labour conference I attended whilst at school!
    I like Abide with me.
  • Sean_F said:

    Neither Republicans nor Democrats align very well with my own political views.

    I dislike the way Republicans engage in electoral shenanigans, pander to racists, are opposed to abortion in almost every circumstance, prioritise corporate welfare, and support creationism. I dislike the way Democrats champion illegal immigration, enforce political correctness, support affirmative action, and support abortion in almost every circumstance.
    I think I'd be a Western-type Republican.
  • MortimerMortimer Posts: 14,188
    Who is on the Lab front bench between McDonnell and Corbo?
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 39,831

    Did anybody genuinely believe Osborne's deficit reduction targets for a magical surplus by 2020? Honestly? I certainly didn't.

    The reduction gradient was way too steep from March. Even so this is ridiculously shallow, either there is going to be a massive, massive increase in spending or they are expecting a recession. There is no way net debt increases to those levels.
  • Not listening. Just watching the ticker with "Projection: Con 320".
    That too.
  • So, no £350 million extra a week for the NHS then?
  • Mortimer said:

    Who is on the Lab front bench between McDonnell and Corbo?

    Rebecca Long-Bailey.

    Shadow Chief Secretary also a Corbynite from the start.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 79,235

    So, no £350 million extra a week for the NHS then?

    Hammond was on the grown ups side in the referendum.
  • taffystaffys Posts: 9,753
    There is no way net debt increases to those levels.

    I feel a 2019 tax cut war chest coming on....
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 39,831
    This really does feel like the chancellor is setting a very low bar for Brexit to be called a success. Take the hit now while Labour can't take advantage and then have the finances slowly improve due to Brexit either "not as bad as expected" or "the government got such a good deal we have upgraded the forecast".
  • I think I'd be a Western-type Republican.

    A Reagan Republican, made in California? Not my politics but makes absolute sense as a political creed in the US.
  • PlatoSaidPlatoSaid Posts: 10,383
    MP_SE said:

    If you knew your political history you would know that Reagan was also endorsed by the KKK. So the fact they endorsed Trump is not particularly significant.
    IIRC there are about 8000 KKK members in the USA. From a population of 325m.

    There are probably more people who are into black dwarf disabled sex porn.

    Anyone who uses this pathetic group of sad losers as a yardstick for anything deserves derision.

    That the KKK were created by the Democrats in the South as a result of Republicans abolishing slavery seems to pass them by - along with Senator Bird who Hillary hugged. He was a Klansman before he changed his mind decades ago. There's nothing on Sessions from decades ago either.

    Sessions got segregation abolished in many Alabama schools, campaigned successfully for the death penalty of a Klansman re murder of black teen and advocated for Rosa Parks.

    Still, let's not let facts get in the way of a good smear. PBers who claim to be keen on facts, aren't so keen on those that don't fit their prejudices.

    Good grief.
  • PlatoSaid said:

    Carry on believing what suits you, Hillary lost. I could expend pixels listing her failings too.
    Do you think he'll win in 2020, and if so, why?

    Personally, I expect him to lose spectacularly. I wouldn't be overly surprised if he's not even nominated if he goes on reneging on campaign promises as he has this last fortnight.
  • This doesn't sound like an Autumn Statement prepping for a 2017 general election.
  • MortimerMortimer Posts: 14,188

    Rebecca Long-Bailey.

    Shadow Chief Secretary also a Corbynite from the start.
    Ah, makes sense. Thanks. Amazing how little I know of the shadow cabinet now...
  • A Reagan Republican, made in California? Not my politics but makes absolute sense as a political creed in the US.
    Yep. I'd prob be a bit more fiscally conservative than him though.
  • MortimerMortimer Posts: 14,188
    MaxPB said:

    This really does feel like the chancellor is setting a very low bar for Brexit to be called a success. Take the hit now while Labour can't take advantage and then have the finances slowly improve due to Brexit either "not as bad as expected" or "the government got such a good deal we have upgraded the forecast".

    Yup - and also makes clear that there will not be an early election.
  • Richard_NabaviRichard_Nabavi Posts: 30,822
    edited November 2016
    From the Guardian live blog:

    Hammond says this investment will provide the backbone to the government’s industrial strategy.

    He will double UK Export’s financial capacity.

    He will take a step towards the problem of UK start-ups being snapped up by larger competitors by investing £400m, with a view to unlocking £1bn of investment.


    This is rearranging the magazines in UK plc's reception area.

    Not that he has any spare cash to do much more, to be fair.
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    Patrick said:

    Hammond says the govenrment does not expect to balance the budget by 2020.
    It is publishing new rules.
    There are three of them.
    1 - To get the budget in surplus in the next parliament, and borrowing down to 2% by the end of this parliament.
    2 - To get net debt falling by the end of this parliament.
    3 - To keep welfare spending below a limit

    Can anyone explain 2 to me? How do you get net debt down if you are still running a deficit?

    Falling as a % of GDP would square with 1 assuming growth hold up
  • DromedaryDromedary Posts: 1,194
    edited November 2016
    French National Front performance in presidential (PR), regional (RE) and European parliamentary (EP) elections this century:

    PR 2002a 17% (2nd)
    PR 2002b 18%
    RE 2004 15% (3rd)
    EP 2004 10% (4th)
    PR 2007a 10% (4th)
    EP 2009 6% (6th)
    RE 2010 11% (3rd)

    Jan 2011 Marine takes over

    PR 2012 18% (3rd)
    EP 2014 25% (1st)
    RE 2015 28% (1st)

    Can she make PR2017 into a warmup for Frexit? It being understood that people will only get to vote on Frexit if she wins the PE.

    Figures for UKIP in general elections and European parliamentary elections:

    GE
    2001 1.5%
    2005 2.2%
    2010 3.1%
    2015 12.6%

    EP
    1994 1.0%
    1999 6.7%
    2004 16.1%
    2009 16.6%
    2014 27.5%

    (Brexit referendum 2016 51.9% Leave)
  • PlatoSaidPlatoSaid Posts: 10,383

    Do you think he'll win in 2020, and if so, why?

    Personally, I expect him to lose spectacularly. I wouldn't be overly surprised if he's not even nominated if he goes on reneging on campaign promises as he has this last fortnight.
    What has he reneged on so far?
  • £450 million for a digital signalling trial on the railways (if I heard the figure correctly) is nothing. ISTR they spent more than that on the aborted signallng update scheme on the WCML ten years ago.

    You can do quite a bit with that actually.
  • Blue_rogBlue_rog Posts: 2,019
    Didn't realise that there were plans for a 'super connection' between Oxford and Cambridge
  • Mortimer said:

    Ah, makes sense. Thanks. Amazing how little I know of the shadow cabinet now...
    There's only one shadow cabinet you need to know about, Richard Burgon, my 100/1 tip now trading as low as 20/1.
  • Pulpstar said:

    Hammond was on the grown ups side in the referendum.
    Childish and churlish.
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 39,831

    From the Guardian live blog:

    Hammond says this investment will provide the backbone to the government’s industrial strategy.

    He will double UK Export’s financial capacity.

    He will take a step towards the problem of UK start-ups being snapped up by larger competitors by investing £400m, with a view to unlocking £1bn of investment.


    This is rearranging the magazines in UK plc's reception area.

    Not that he has any spare cash to do much more, to be fair.

    Indeed. £10bn and we're talking.
  • MortimerMortimer Posts: 14,188

    There's only one shadow cabinet you need to know about, Richard Burgon, my 100/1 tip now trading as low as 20/1.
    Did he ever find anyone in the city to meet with?
  • Blue_rog said:

    Didn't realise that there were plans for a 'super connection' between Oxford and Cambridge

    It is the only way of improving Oxford, by learning from the awesomeness of Cambridge.
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 39,831
    Blue_rog said:

    Didn't realise that there were plans for a 'super connection' between Oxford and Cambridge

    It's just refurbishment of an existing line iirc.
  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 26,539
    edited November 2016
  • PlatoSaid said:

    IIRC there are about 8000 KKK members in the USA. From a population of 325m.

    There are probably more people who are into black dwarf disabled sex porn.

    Anyone who uses this pathetic group of sad losers as a yardstick for anything deserves derision.

    That the KKK were created by the Democrats in the South as a result of Republicans abolishing slavery seems to pass them by - along with Senator Bird who Hillary hugged. He was a Klansman before he changed his mind decades ago. There's nothing on Sessions from decades ago either.

    Sessions got segregation abolished in many Alabama schools, campaigned successfully for the death penalty of a Klansman re murder of black teen and advocated for Rosa Parks.

    Still, let's not let facts get in the way of a good smear. PBers who claim to be keen on facts, aren't so keen on those that don't fit their prejudices.

    Good grief.

    Hmmm - surprisingly you seem not to be fully aware of Jeff Session's record. Whoever would have thought it?

  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 39,831
    Mortimer said:

    Yup - and also makes clear that there will not be an early election.
    Yes, rip up your 2017 election betting slips.
  • MortimerMortimer Posts: 14,188
    edited November 2016
    MaxPB said:

    It's just refurbishment of an existing line iirc.
    Road isnt it? Presumably to help everyone who studies at Cambridge to get to Oxford easier....?
  • It is the only way of improving Oxford, by learning from the awesomeness of Cambridge.
    Just for you, TSE:

    https://issuu.com/oxfordalumni/docs/oxford-today-digital-edition-mich-2?e=4233363/39578177
  • foxinsoxukfoxinsoxuk Posts: 23,548

    The finances are improving. Just not at the rate previously intended.
    As long the economic cycle stays relatively benign. If that turns sour (eg a 3 way tariff war between EU inc Uk vs Trumpland vs China) then we may well be up a creek without a paddle.
  • MortimerMortimer Posts: 14,188

    Just for you, TSE:

    https://issuu.com/oxfordalumni/docs/oxford-today-digital-edition-mich-2?e=4233363/39578177
    I burst out laughing when that landed on the doormat a few weeks ago.
  • Ah. Looks like Hammond has put down a marker for the triple-lock there.
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 39,831
    Mortimer said:

    Road isnt it? Presumably to help everyone who studies at Cambridge to get to Oxford easier....?
    Isn't it refurbishment of the Varsity Line? Makes more sense than a road.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 79,235
    MaxPB said:

    Yes, rip up your 2017 election betting slips.
    £18 laid @ 2.77 here.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 59,432
    edited November 2016
    Dromedary said:

    French National Front performance in presidential (PR), regional (RE) and European parliamentary (EP) elections this century:

    PR 2002a 17% (2nd)
    PR 2002b 18%
    RE 2004 15% (3rd)
    EP 2004 10% (4th)
    PR 2007a 10% (4th)
    EP 2009 6% (6th)
    RE 2010 11% (3rd)

    Jan 2011 Marine takes over

    PR 2012 18% (3rd)
    EP 2014 25% (1st)
    RE 2015 28% (1st)

    Can she make PR2017 into a warmup for Frexit?

    Figures for UKIP in general elections and European parliamentary elections:

    GE
    2001 1.5%
    2005 2.2%
    2010 3.1%
    2015 12.6%

    EP
    1994 1.0%
    1999 6.7%
    2004 16.1%
    2009 16.6%
    2014 27.5%

    (Brexit referendum 2016 51.9% Leave)

    Unlikely because the FN is very transfer unfriendly. Look at the French Departmental elections last year (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_departmental_elections,_2015). Despite being the leading party in the opinion polls for them, they ended up with just 62 seats out of 3,000, because in the second round that got hammered everywhere.

    I want to put this in context for a second.
    The Communist Party got 1.3% of the vote in the first round, one twentieth of what the FN got. But the Communists ended up with twice the number of seats. Les Republicains supporters voted Communist in the second round rather than FN.

    I would also point of that the Front National is polling exactly the same now as it was then; i.e c.30%.
  • Just for you, TSE:

    https://issuu.com/oxfordalumni/docs/oxford-today-digital-edition-mich-2?e=4233363/39578177
    Hush you. We win on the science front.
  • DromedaryDromedary Posts: 1,194
    Dromedary said:

    French National Front performance in presidential (PR), regional (RE) and European parliamentary (EP) elections this century:

    (...)RE 2015 28% (1st)

    I should have added

    RE 2015b 27% (2nd)

  • MortimerMortimer Posts: 14,188
    MaxPB said:

    Isn't it refurbishment of the Varsity Line? Makes more sense than a road.
    Maybe we're talking about different things. He specifically mentioned express way:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/oxford-to-cambridge-expressway-strategic-study-interim-report
  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 26,539
    MaxPB said:

    Isn't it refurbishment of the Varsity Line? Makes more sense than a road.
    It's a road. If they had any sense they'd extend it to Swindon. As it is, it looks like a flash new road for Dons to travel on.
  • PlatoSaidPlatoSaid Posts: 10,383

    Hmmm - surprisingly you seem not to be fully aware of Jeff Session's record. Whoever would have thought it?

    I'm very well aware of it. That's the thing about being on the unfashionable side - we have to read rather than smear. Go on - tell me what horrors Sessions has in the cupboard are. Not innuendo or smears - just provable facts.
  • Sean_FSean_F Posts: 38,525
    tlg86 said:
    Stewart Wood would have a point if Labour had handed over public finances that were in balance.

    Otherwise, it's like handing someone a burned out building, and boasting that for the thirteen years prior to that the building was intact.
  • MaxPB said:

    The reduction gradient was way too steep from March. Even so this is ridiculously shallow, either there is going to be a massive, massive increase in spending or they are expecting a recession. There is no way net debt increases to those levels.
    Seems to the cynic in me that he is deliberately not being optimistic in his forecasts here so that in future years he can surpass his forecasts.

    Brown and Osborne (only time I'll include those together) had the unfortunate habit of being overly optimistic and then failing to meet their targets.
  • PlatoSaidPlatoSaid Posts: 10,383
    edited November 2016
    Awww - that'd be JFK

    Harry Cole
    This is ace from @BBCJLandale - https://t.co/o0eWCFw0Gi In 1961 a President Elect lobbied for his choice of UK ambassador after NYC meeting https://t.co/rqn3EI0vXn
  • JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 45,402
    Mortimer said:

    Maybe we're talking about different things. He specifically mentioned express way:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/oxford-to-cambridge-expressway-strategic-study-interim-report
    They're looking into them as part of the same thing. The East-west rail project has been about for yonks, and they're working on the western end atm. The problem with the old Varsity Line is between Bedford and Cambridge, where there are various obstructions on the line, including some radio telescopes.

    Coincidentally this is where the major bottleneck on the Oxford to Cambridge road is - the A428 from Caxton Gibbet to the A1 (the A1 itself needs upgrading in that area). Upgrading the existing roads to an 'expressway' standard (and I think they're deliberately avoiding using 'motorway') is much needed.

    It's likely that the two schemes will be looked at together, even if they sadly take different routes. Why sadly? A Cambourne railway station would be nice!

    Opening up land for housing is also part of it, especially at this (Cambridge) end.
  • I don't like Philip Hammond, these tax on perks is very unfair
  • Unfortunate but possibly revealing error:
    https://twitter.com/BBCBreaking/status/801410207985319936
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 39,831
    Mortimer said:

    Maybe we're talking about different things. He specifically mentioned express way:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/oxford-to-cambridge-expressway-strategic-study-interim-report
    Seems rather pointless to me, a fast rail link (30 minute direct journey) makes a lot more sense to me.
  • DromedaryDromedary Posts: 1,194
    rcs1000 said:

    Unlikely because the FN is very transfer unfriendly. Look at the French Departmental elections last year (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_departmental_elections,_2015). Despite being the leading party in the opinion polls for them, they ended up with just 62 seats out of 3,000, because in the second round that got hammered everywhere.

    I want to put this in context for a second.
    The Communist Party got 1.3% of the vote in the first round, one twentieth of what the FN got. But the Communists ended up with twice the number of seats. Les Republicains supporters voted Communist in the second round rather than FN.

    I would also point of that the Front National is polling exactly the same now as it was then; i.e c.30%.
    Yes indeed. I think she needs to sell the line that if you want Frexit, then vote for her in the first round, and she needs to get a big score in the first round, if not a majority than maybe 45%+. To be in with a big chance she will probably need to be at least close to 40% in the polls. But a lot can happen in a week, and if she can nail her colours on to it somehow... The "Arab question" looms.
  • PlatoSaid said:

    What has he reneged on so far?
    - Prosecuting Hillary
    - Paris Climate deal withdrawal
    - The Wall (or it not necessarily being a wall)
    - Repealing Obamacare

    To name a few.
  • MortimerMortimer Posts: 14,188
    MaxPB said:

    Seems rather pointless to me, a fast rail link (30 minute direct journey) makes a lot more sense to me.
    Both would be great.

    Ox to Cam is a right trek either way at the moment.
  • Blue_rogBlue_rog Posts: 2,019
    I don't think he's mentioned Brexit at all yet
  • Hammond knows less about the interwebs than Corbyn shock: "My ambition is for the UK to be a world leader in 5G. That means a full-fibre network"

    5G is wireless, not fibre.
  • foxinsoxukfoxinsoxuk Posts: 23,548

    - Prosecuting Hillary
    - Paris Climate deal withdrawal
    - The Wall (or it not necessarily being a wall)
    - Repealing Obamacare

    To name a few.
    And that is all before the first week as President Elect.

    He dumps promises faster than the Brexiteers dump the NHS...
  • DromedaryDromedary Posts: 1,194
    edited November 2016
    PlatoSaid said:

    Awww - that'd be JFK

    Harry Cole
    This is ace from @BBCJLandale - https://t.co/o0eWCFw0Gi In 1961 a President Elect lobbied for his choice of UK ambassador after NYC meeting https://t.co/rqn3EI0vXn

    Quite ironic given JFK's father's performance as US ambassador in London and how he got the well-deserved order of the boot in 1940.

    A president-elect of one country who pushes publicly for his favoured person to become another country's ambassador in his own country really doesn't understand stuff. Donald "I want, so why can't I get" Trump.

    The line that "there's no vacancy" is very soft. It should be "Britain chooses its own ambassadors". Without consulting the host countries. Well, except if the host country is the Holy See or Israel.
  • Scott_PScott_P Posts: 51,453

    Hammond knows less about the interwebs than Corbyn shock: "My ambition is for the UK to be a world leader in 5G. That means a full-fibre network"

    5G is wireless, not fibre.

    The backhaul is fibre
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 39,831

    Hammond knows less about the interwebs than Corbyn shock: "My ambition is for the UK to be a world leader in 5G. That means a full-fibre network"

    5G is wireless, not fibre.

    The backbone would have to run off a fibre network because 5G doesn't have as good coverage as 4G or 3G.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 79,235
    Blue_rog said:

    I don't think he's mentioned Brexit at all yet

    Buzzword bingo is a very trappy market.
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