Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. Sign in or register to get started.

politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » With a possible LAB leadership in prospect Laura Pidcock could

135

Comments

  • Pidcock proud of her economists working every minute of every day on the labour manifesto a bit ironic given the cap on working hours policy.
  • AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 23,559

    McDonnell promises UK reparations for our colonial past.

    mindless drivel
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 39,146

    Under FPTP this would produce an overall majority for Noel Edmonds, or possibly squirrels
    Red ones 270
    Blue ones 172
    Orange ones 100
    Tartan ones 51
    Pale blue with Arrows 34
    Welsh ones 4
    Green ones 3

    .. according to Flavible
    You forgot the grey ones. Or perhaps I am forgetting that their voting rights will have been withdrawn, furry furriners and all that.
  • AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 23,559
    edited September 2019

    Brom said:

    Scott_P said:
    Fallen off all the front pages and bbc website. Poor Niall.
    I am sure it will return. Probably the first of many such scandals. Boris Johnson is as unsuited for PM as Corbyn, just for different reasons. We need to keep being reminded!
    pah. your Daily Mail morality kicks in

    President Hollande used to nip out for a quickie with an actress and then home to his partner and nobody batted an eyelid.
    And Macron has a totally appropriate marriage with his former teacher
    Its the stories re his bodyguard which deserve more scrutiny
    Carful not to out your inner homophobe!
    its a national security story, but Ill leave you phantasise
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 76,274
    edited September 2019
    Can we opt out of this 32hr work week? I would never get everything i need to get done in that time.
  • When will Boris have his 'I did not give taxpayers' money to that woman' moment?
  • dyedwooliedyedwoolie Posts: 7,786
    https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1176100775967285249?s=19

    This fuckwit is speaking at the Labconf later today too
  • Miss Morales, welcome to PB.

    I think it'd require EFTA approval, which may not be forthcoming, to pass the Commons, which is unlikely, and cause a confidence vote in Boris Johnson by ERG types.

    The moderates would probably welcome the opportunity to toss the PM overboard and install someone furnished with fully functioning intellectual equipment and a work ethic exceeding that of a baked potato.
  • McDonnell promises UK reparations for our colonial past.

    mindless drivel
    Potentially very expensive mindless drivel.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 75,842

    HYUFD said:

    So McDonnell proposes a 32 hour week

    Check the small print, it may exclude time spent fucking around on twitter in which case it's still a lot
    Shit
  • FishingFishing Posts: 4,555
    kinabalu said:

    Serious point this actually. Brexit does give us the chance to adopt a new national anthem for a new country in a new area. I'm going to add that to my list of Brexit positives. It's been stuck at 2 entries for ages so I do need to remember where I put it.

    Rule Britannia is surely the best choice: rousing, Britain-wide and entirely distinctive. Also the line about Britons never being slaves seems appropriate for when we leave the EU.
  • Carnyx said:

    Under FPTP this would produce an overall majority for Noel Edmonds, or possibly squirrels
    Red ones 270
    Blue ones 172
    Orange ones 100
    Tartan ones 51
    Pale blue with Arrows 34
    Welsh ones 4
    Green ones 3

    .. according to Flavible
    You forgot the grey ones. Or perhaps I am forgetting that their voting rights will have been withdrawn, furry furriners and all that.
    On squirrels, I'm seeing a large number of black ones hereabout (Cambridgeshire). Are they pushing the greys out, just as the greys pushed the reds?

    (Blooming German immigrants, coming here and stealing all our nuts...)
  • glwglw Posts: 9,535

    McDonnell promises UK reparations for our colonial past.

    mindless drivel
    Potentially very expensive mindless drivel.
    The Tories must be loving all this.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,709
    edited September 2019

    Can we opt out of this 32hr work week? I would never get everything i need to get done in that time.

    You could not be forced to work more than 32 hours a week under Labour's plan not clear on opt outs
  • Carnyx said:

    Under FPTP this would produce an overall majority for Noel Edmonds, or possibly squirrels
    Red ones 270
    Blue ones 172
    Orange ones 100
    Tartan ones 51
    Pale blue with Arrows 34
    Welsh ones 4
    Green ones 3

    .. according to Flavible
    You forgot the grey ones. Or perhaps I am forgetting that their voting rights will have been withdrawn, furry furriners and all that.
    On squirrels, I'm seeing a large number of black ones hereabout (Cambridgeshire). Are they pushing the greys out, just as the greys pushed the reds?

    (Blooming German immigrants, coming here and stealing all our nuts...)
    Update: Squirrel government splits over brexit
  • Miss Morales, welcome to PB.

    I think it'd require EFTA approval, which may not be forthcoming, to pass the Commons, which is unlikely, and cause a confidence vote in Boris Johnson by ERG types.

    The moderates would probably welcome the opportunity to toss the PM overboard and install someone furnished with fully functioning intellectual equipment and a work ethic exceeding that of a baked potato.

    The EU treaty precludes us from joining EFTA/EEA whilst still EU members so we have to leave and then apply. Even if the procedures where speeded up it means having to handle No-Deal Brexit in the interim and that invalidates a lot of our international treaties.

    Besides, even if we could get expedited EFTA/EEA membership done so that 31st Oct we are in the EU, 1st Nov we are in EEA - what is the point? All we have done is throw away influence and we are still bound by the very things that many committed Brexiteers seem to hate.

    It would be asking a lot of the EFTA group to go through all that just so we can play political games at home.
  • When do we get the announcements about reintroducing the closed shop and flying pickets?
  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 25,165

    https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1176100775967285249?s=19

    This fuckwit is speaking at the Labconf later today too

    "There are plenty of things that were once commonplace that are now illegal such as smoking inside."

    Errr....
  • https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1176100775967285249?s=19

    This fuckwit is speaking at the Labconf later today too

    Steven pinker has an interesting bit in his latest book about this movement for only eating natural food / no meat always talk about the reductions, but actually replacing all of this in everybodies diet requires going backwards to far more ineffecient farming methods, which require much more land and thus cutting down more forrests etc...when over the past 50 years we have fed more people in the world with proportionally less resources.
  • Wow. I see Ms Arcuri had pole-dancing paraphernalia in the middle of the living room of her Shoreditch flat:

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7492163/GUY-ADAMS-Boris-did-pole-dancing-pal-100k-taxpayers-cash-firm.html

    Who does that?
  • HYUFD said:

    McDonnell also says the Government should have bailed out Thomas Cook

    Whole speech looks like a leadership pitch to me. What does he know?
  • Fishing said:

    kinabalu said:

    Serious point this actually. Brexit does give us the chance to adopt a new national anthem for a new country in a new area. I'm going to add that to my list of Brexit positives. It's been stuck at 2 entries for ages so I do need to remember where I put it.

    Rule Britannia is surely the best choice: rousing, Britain-wide and entirely distinctive. Also the line about Britons never being slaves seems appropriate for when we leave the EU.
    Black Boys On Mopeds.
  • Tabman said:

    ... Is she married?

    What does it matter whether she is or not? Do male contenders get asked that particular question?
  • Wow. I see Ms Arcuri had pole-dancing paraphernalia in the middle of the living room of her Shoreditch flat:

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7492163/GUY-ADAMS-Boris-did-pole-dancing-pal-100k-taxpayers-cash-firm.html

    Who does that?

    It's a fitness thing as well as a sexy thing
  • Fishing said:

    kinabalu said:

    Serious point this actually. Brexit does give us the chance to adopt a new national anthem for a new country in a new area. I'm going to add that to my list of Brexit positives. It's been stuck at 2 entries for ages so I do need to remember where I put it.

    Rule Britannia is surely the best choice: rousing, Britain-wide and entirely distinctive. Also the line about Britons never being slaves seems appropriate for when we leave the EU.
    Vile song. But in keeping with the absurd imperialist nostalgia of our times. Hopefully its adoption will be accompanied by a renewed Dreadnought building programme.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 47,083

    Carnyx said:

    Under FPTP this would produce an overall majority for Noel Edmonds, or possibly squirrels
    Red ones 270
    Blue ones 172
    Orange ones 100
    Tartan ones 51
    Pale blue with Arrows 34
    Welsh ones 4
    Green ones 3

    .. according to Flavible
    You forgot the grey ones. Or perhaps I am forgetting that their voting rights will have been withdrawn, furry furriners and all that.
    On squirrels, I'm seeing a large number of black ones hereabout (Cambridgeshire). Are they pushing the greys out, just as the greys pushed the reds?

    (Blooming German immigrants, coming here and stealing all our nuts...)
    I was surprised to see a black squirrel in the centre of Munich in the spring. I didn’t realise they came in black. I have also been surprised to see red squirrels here in South Dakota - again I didn’t realise the US too had red squirrels, that seem less shy and retiring than our UK reds.
  • rpjsrpjs Posts: 3,787

    https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1176100775967285249?s=19

    This fuckwit is speaking at the Labconf later today too

    Steven pinker has an interesting bit in his latest book about this movement for only eating natural food / no meat always talk about the reductions, but actually replacing all of this in everybodies diet requires going backwards to far more ineffecient farming methods, which require much more land and thus cutting down more forrests etc...when over the past 50 years we have fed more people in the world with proportionally less resources.
    The single worst thing that anyone can do to the environment is have a child. Everything else, even flying long-haul multiple times a year, pales into insignificance. What MMQC should be advocating against is policies that encourage people to have children.
  • I can't imagine that an unreconstructed trot like Pidcock will get on the ballot.

    Thornberry has a good chance.

    I also think that McDonnell might make the ballot too – he's been an unexpected star for Labour. Bright, educated, hard-working and a superb communicator.

    He is also more sympathetic to the City than one might assume.

    One thing we should remember is that the PLP is not by any means Corbynite. Even with the lower threshold for nominations, we cannot get Pidcock v Butler v Long Bailey v Raynor because there shouldn't be enough nominations for them (but then this is Labour and there shouldn't have been enough nominations for Corbyn in 2015). The pre-battle to get the left's nominations will be intense and could well have a bitter legacy.

    That said, it would be quite funny if they all stalemated each other out and the Corbyn era ended with the moderates retaking control just by being the only ones to get a name on the paper.
  • Labour have to be stopped. Two McDonnell policies to show what the Corbyn project has in mind:
    1) Theft of private property held legally. If you don't like something or someone, simply expropriate their property and "democratically distribute" their assets
    2) The end of private business. A 32 Hour working week with no loss of salary. Have they seen the productivity numbers? Have they seen how many businesses have gone bust or operate on wafer thin margins? Job shares, more rights ti work flexibly, a 21st Century groovy Google approach with tax breaks for office beanbags - sure. But this is Mental.

    I left the Labour Party still absolutely clear that I would not only vote for my MP but would actively campaign for him. Now urgently rethinking this. The lunatics have literally taken over the asylum.
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 39,748
    edited September 2019
    Fishing said:

    kinabalu said:

    Serious point this actually. Brexit does give us the chance to adopt a new national anthem for a new country in a new area. I'm going to add that to my list of Brexit positives. It's been stuck at 2 entries for ages so I do need to remember where I put it.

    Rule Britannia is surely the best choice: rousing, Britain-wide and entirely distinctive. Also the line about Britons never being slaves seems appropriate for when we leave the EU.
    Enslaved by unsucky vacuums and low wattage toasters: oh, the humanity!
    I suppose it might signal an end to hyperbolic whinging*, and the line about ruling the waves will be a right laugh.

    *No, it definitely won't.
  • dyedwooliedyedwoolie Posts: 7,786
    Something is profoundly broken with opinion polling. The hypotheticals and the extremes of opinion, kantar vs Comres etc are simply not compatible. Something is very wrong somewhere.
  • When do we get the announcements about reintroducing the closed shop and flying pickets?

    I’ve already priced that in.
  • Fishing said:

    kinabalu said:

    Serious point this actually. Brexit does give us the chance to adopt a new national anthem for a new country in a new area. I'm going to add that to my list of Brexit positives. It's been stuck at 2 entries for ages so I do need to remember where I put it.

    Rule Britannia is surely the best choice: rousing, Britain-wide and entirely distinctive. Also the line about Britons never being slaves seems appropriate for when we leave the EU.
    Enslaved by unsucky vacuums and low wattage toasters, oh, the humanity!
    I suppose it might signal an end to hyperbolic whinging*, and the line about ruling the waves will be a right laugh.

    *No, it definitely won't.
    How about 'We are English. Nobody likes us. We don't care.'

    Has a nice post-Brexit feel.
  • It looks terrible but guess no dealer Boris fans wont give a toss (or even think good for him).
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 47,083

    I can't imagine that an unreconstructed trot like Pidcock will get on the ballot.

    Thornberry has a good chance.

    I also think that McDonnell might make the ballot too – he's been an unexpected star for Labour. Bright, educated, hard-working and a superb communicator.

    He is also more sympathetic to the City than one might assume.

    I agree on McDonnell, he is clearly the best of the far left Labour leadership, and probably the best in the shadow cabinet. He is a better speaker, better interviewee, more consensual, more thoughtful than the others including Corbyn. I dont know if that would make him a better or worse option for the country than Corbyn though!

    Probably better in a hung parliament, but worse if he actually could implement what he believes in with a big majority of loyal MPs - the second scenario being very unlikely even in todays turbulent times.

    Mcdonnell is clearly the most capable choice, if perhaps lacking the charisma for the top job. But Labour will be under immense pressure to choose a woman next time and, like Ed Davey, I doubt McD stands much of a chance in reality.
  • https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1176100775967285249?s=19

    This fuckwit is speaking at the Labconf later today too

    Steven pinker has an interesting bit in his latest book about this movement for only eating natural food / no meat always talk about the reductions, but actually replacing all of this in everybodies diet requires going backwards to far more ineffecient farming methods, which require much more land and thus cutting down more forrests etc...when over the past 50 years we have fed more people in the world with proportionally less resources.
    I’d contest the central point that eating meat is unethical.

    The crib being used is the environment but it’s fairly obvious that’s a Trojan horse for those who take a much more ideological view.
  • https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1176100775967285249?s=19

    This fuckwit is speaking at the Labconf later today too

    MEAT IS MURDER!!
  • Fishing said:

    kinabalu said:

    Serious point this actually. Brexit does give us the chance to adopt a new national anthem for a new country in a new area. I'm going to add that to my list of Brexit positives. It's been stuck at 2 entries for ages so I do need to remember where I put it.

    Rule Britannia is surely the best choice: rousing, Britain-wide and entirely distinctive. Also the line about Britons never being slaves seems appropriate for when we leave the EU.
    Interestingly, and it seems almost incredible now given how far the BBC’s values have moved in that time, but BBC1 was still playing the national anthem every night over closedown until 1997.
  • Something is profoundly broken with opinion polling. The hypotheticals and the extremes of opinion, kantar vs Comres etc are simply not compatible. Something is very wrong somewhere.

    Polling companies have got better at asking the questions in a manner that get the results their patrons want. So many of the opinion polls that get into the public domain are biased depending on which vested interests funded them.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,614
    edited September 2019

    I can't imagine that an unreconstructed trot like Pidcock will get on the ballot.

    Thornberry has a good chance.

    I also think that McDonnell might make the ballot too – he's been an unexpected star for Labour. Bright, educated, hard-working and a superb communicator.

    He is also more sympathetic to the City than one might assume.

    One thing we should remember is that the PLP is not by any means Corbynite. Even with the lower threshold for nominations, we cannot get Pidcock v Butler v Long Bailey v Raynor because there shouldn't be enough nominations for them (but then this is Labour and there shouldn't have been enough nominations for Corbyn in 2015). The pre-battle to get the left's nominations will be intense and could well have a bitter legacy.

    That said, it would be quite funny if they all stalemated each other out and the Corbyn era ended with the moderates retaking control just by being the only ones to get a name on the paper.
    Didn’t they change the MP nominating threshold at last year’s conference, presumably so that several Corbynites can be nominated next time around?

    Edit: it appears not. It was proposed to reduce it to 5% but not voted on. Similar motion is proposed again this year. http://home.freeuk.com/clpd/190417leadershipelections.html
  • ab195ab195 Posts: 477
    As ever, those Labour policies are quite attractive. Which (employed rather than self employed) person doesn’t want a three day weekend, and who cares about public schools (so long as they can hide the implication that they’ll confiscate assets at will)?

    However:

    a) They would be quite mad in practice, and would crash the economy;

    b) Taking property and assets is sinister, and telling people they can’t spend their own cash on schooling is too (what about tutors, nurseries, universities etc.). I also observe that education is devolved and Scotland and Wales would presumably welcome all that cash, and those charitable endowments; and

    c) It looks like they can only get into power with the Liberals, who are not that mad.

    I read it as either a plan for a one term, kamikaze Government; or just a manifesto meant to maximise the vote without actually thinking it’ll need to be implemented.

    However I accept that I’m not a politician, and certainly not a socialist politician, so my view that having won power, you might want to keep it, may not be one they share.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 39,146

    Carnyx said:

    Under FPTP this would produce an overall majority for Noel Edmonds, or possibly squirrels
    Red ones 270
    Blue ones 172
    Orange ones 100
    Tartan ones 51
    Pale blue with Arrows 34
    Welsh ones 4
    Green ones 3

    .. according to Flavible
    You forgot the grey ones. Or perhaps I am forgetting that their voting rights will have been withdrawn, furry furriners and all that.
    On squirrels, I'm seeing a large number of black ones hereabout (Cambridgeshire). Are they pushing the greys out, just as the greys pushed the reds?

    (Blooming German immigrants, coming here and stealing all our nuts...)
    Isn't it simply the spread of the melanistic gene? (Not sure why it is thought to spread - any selective advantage can hardly be for camouflage against sooty trees Peppered Moth-like.) I am under the impression that they aren't different species or even subspp. (in the zoological sense).
  • Fishing said:

    kinabalu said:

    Serious point this actually. Brexit does give us the chance to adopt a new national anthem for a new country in a new area. I'm going to add that to my list of Brexit positives. It's been stuck at 2 entries for ages so I do need to remember where I put it.

    Rule Britannia is surely the best choice: rousing, Britain-wide and entirely distinctive. Also the line about Britons never being slaves seems appropriate for when we leave the EU.
    Enslaved by unsucky vacuums and low wattage toasters, oh, the humanity!
    I suppose it might signal an end to hyperbolic whinging*, and the line about ruling the waves will be a right laugh.

    *No, it definitely won't.
    How about 'We are English. Nobody likes us. We don't care.'

    Has a nice post-Brexit feel.
    A short visual representation of whatever it might be.

    https://twitter.com/RaeEarl/status/1176099116654321664?s=20
  • Wulfrun_PhilWulfrun_Phil Posts: 4,572
    edited September 2019



    If the Lib Dems were to poll 21% and Labour 25% (as per that ComRes hypothetical poll), where do you think Labour would drop their 15% vote share from the last election and where do you think the Lib Dems would put on their 14% extra vote share?

    One thing I would be fairly confident of, with a combined showing of 47% for Labour and the Conservatives, UNS would give a woeful indication of how many seats the two of them would take together.

    Good question. On a 14% mean increase I think the Liberal surge would be more evenly spread than assumed, with 10%+ increases in many seats where they would still finish third or a distant 2nd. Lots of wasted votes. The Libs will do better in the (relatively few) seats where they are 2nd to the Cons and tactical Lab voting kicks in especially where there is a reasonable Remain vote.

    Across the UK, there are 29 Con seats where the Libs are 2nd and in 11 of these Remain picked up 50% or more of the vote. If the Conservatives polled about 35% nationally then I can see the Libs taking about 15 seats off the Conservatives.
  • rpjs said:

    https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1176100775967285249?s=19

    This fuckwit is speaking at the Labconf later today too

    Steven pinker has an interesting bit in his latest book about this movement for only eating natural food / no meat always talk about the reductions, but actually replacing all of this in everybodies diet requires going backwards to far more ineffecient farming methods, which require much more land and thus cutting down more forrests etc...when over the past 50 years we have fed more people in the world with proportionally less resources.
    The single worst thing that anyone can do to the environment is have a child. Everything else, even flying long-haul multiple times a year, pales into insignificance. What MMQC should be advocating against is policies that encourage people to have children.
    Raise incomes in the poorest parts of the world and birth rates will fall.
  • isamisam Posts: 40,731
    TGOHF said:
    Peter Hitchens said in his MoS column yesterday that there is no such thing as "The Supreme Court"

    "There's no such thing as 'The Supreme Court' , and the body that wrongly calls itself this should stay out of politics

    Actually, there is no such thing as the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. They can call it that if they like, but the title is a fiction. There is nothing supreme about it.

    Until we leave the EU, our actual Supreme Court is, as it has been for many years, the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg.

    But if we ever manage to escape from the EU, then Parliament is a far higher court than this self-important assembly of lawyers in suits"

    https://hitchensblog.mailonsunday.co.uk/
  • FishingFishing Posts: 4,555
    edited September 2019

    Fishing said:

    kinabalu said:

    Serious point this actually. Brexit does give us the chance to adopt a new national anthem for a new country in a new area. I'm going to add that to my list of Brexit positives. It's been stuck at 2 entries for ages so I do need to remember where I put it.

    Rule Britannia is surely the best choice: rousing, Britain-wide and entirely distinctive. Also the line about Britons never being slaves seems appropriate for when we leave the EU.
    Vile song. But in keeping with the absurd imperialist nostalgia of our times. Hopefully its adoption will be accompanied by a renewed Dreadnought building programme.
    You mean this kind of imperialistic nostalgia? Don't see what it has to do with our national anthem.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-13952592
  • mattmatt Posts: 3,789

    Labour have to be stopped. Two McDonnell policies to show what the Corbyn project has in mind:
    1) Theft of private property held legally. If you don't like something or someone, simply expropriate their property and "democratically distribute" their assets
    2) The end of private business. A 32 Hour working week with no loss of salary. Have they seen the productivity numbers? Have they seen how many businesses have gone bust or operate on wafer thin margins? Job shares, more rights ti work flexibly, a 21st Century groovy Google approach with tax breaks for office beanbags - sure. But this is Mental.

    I left the Labour Party still absolutely clear that I would not only vote for my MP but would actively campaign for him. Now urgently rethinking this. The lunatics have literally taken over the asylum.

    1. It’s clear that many Labour members believe that private property rights should exist solely in the context of some ill-defined “morality” test.

    2. If you believe that the state should control everything, business failure doesn’t matter. That of course requires capital controls, very high border walls and an autarkial economy. How many Labour MPs (particularly those controlling policy) have worked outside state enterprises or some sort of charity?
  • eekeek Posts: 24,797
    isam said:

    TGOHF said:
    Peter Hitchens said in his MoS column yesterday that there is no such thing as "The Supreme Court"

    "There's no such thing as 'The Supreme Court' , and the body that wrongly calls itself this should stay out of politics

    Actually, there is no such thing as the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. They can call it that if they like, but the title is a fiction. There is nothing supreme about it.

    Until we leave the EU, our actual Supreme Court is, as it has been for many years, the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg.

    But if we ever manage to escape from the EU, then Parliament is a far higher court than this self-important assembly of lawyers in suits"

    https://hitchensblog.mailonsunday.co.uk/
    Which shows he just doesn't understand how the European Court works...
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 91,396

    kle4 said:

    These hypothetical polls are JFF – but one could easily envisage a scenario where CON LAB LIB and BXP all polled virtually the same score.
    God what a mess that would be, probably what we deserve. Boris is so screwed. Polling says he wont be forgiven if we extend even though its not his fault. He will be praying the polling is wrong.
    "not his fault"? Well it is a view I suppose! I think most of this shit is at least partly his fault. He is a lying little toad who only supported leave because he thought it would advance his career. He then advocated no-deal for the same reason. He is beneath contempt.
    By not his fault I meant purely that he doesnt want an extension and everyone knows that, it wasnt a wider point about brexit as a whole or no deal.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,614
    edited September 2019
    Boris in trouble for not keeping his Johnson in his trousers - whoever expected that?

    No doubt the young lady is weighing offers from the Sundays as we speak.
  • Boris Johnson is Silvio Berlusconi, which is entirely appropriate given that the UK is turning into Italy.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 38,851

    If globalists hate it then it can't be that bad
    The ballad of Brexit

    Here's mine!

    https://drive.google.com/file/d/18j77GtKmb6kSjrdaN1IobHVSEF8zrv2Z/view?usp=drivesdk

    ☺☺
  • matt said:

    Labour have to be stopped. Two McDonnell policies to show what the Corbyn project has in mind:
    1) Theft of private property held legally. If you don't like something or someone, simply expropriate their property and "democratically distribute" their assets
    2) The end of private business. A 32 Hour working week with no loss of salary. Have they seen the productivity numbers? Have they seen how many businesses have gone bust or operate on wafer thin margins? Job shares, more rights ti work flexibly, a 21st Century groovy Google approach with tax breaks for office beanbags - sure. But this is Mental.

    I left the Labour Party still absolutely clear that I would not only vote for my MP but would actively campaign for him. Now urgently rethinking this. The lunatics have literally taken over the asylum.

    1. It’s clear that many Labour members believe that private property rights should exist solely in the context of some ill-defined “morality” test.

    2. If you believe that the state should control everything, business failure doesn’t matter. That of course requires capital controls, very high border walls and an autarkial economy. How many Labour MPs (particularly those controlling policy) have worked outside state enterprises or some sort of charity?

    Private property rights and respect for the rule of law are inextricably linked and essential in any democracy. Labour doesn't seem to believe in the former, the Tories do not seem to believe in the latter.

  • AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 23,559

    Boris Johnson is Silvio Berlusconi, which is entirely appropriate given that the UK is turning into Italy.

    Good food, excellent wines, hot weather. Whats the problem ?
  • AnabobazinaAnabobazina Posts: 19,618

    I can't imagine that an unreconstructed trot like Pidcock will get on the ballot.

    Thornberry has a good chance.

    I also think that McDonnell might make the ballot too – he's been an unexpected star for Labour. Bright, educated, hard-working and a superb communicator.

    He is also more sympathetic to the City than one might assume.

    One thing we should remember is that the PLP is not by any means Corbynite. Even with the lower threshold for nominations, we cannot get Pidcock v Butler v Long Bailey v Raynor because there shouldn't be enough nominations for them (but then this is Labour and there shouldn't have been enough nominations for Corbyn in 2015). The pre-battle to get the left's nominations will be intense and could well have a bitter legacy.

    That said, it would be quite funny if they all stalemated each other out and the Corbyn era ended with the moderates retaking control just by being the only ones to get a name on the paper.
    Indeed David and it’s not out of the question either.
  • FloaterFloater Posts: 14,195

    Labour have to be stopped. Two McDonnell policies to show what the Corbyn project has in mind:
    1) Theft of private property held legally. If you don't like something or someone, simply expropriate their property and "democratically distribute" their assets
    2) The end of private business. A 32 Hour working week with no loss of salary. Have they seen the productivity numbers? Have they seen how many businesses have gone bust or operate on wafer thin margins? Job shares, more rights ti work flexibly, a 21st Century groovy Google approach with tax breaks for office beanbags - sure. But this is Mental.

    I left the Labour Party still absolutely clear that I would not only vote for my MP but would actively campaign for him. Now urgently rethinking this. The lunatics have literally taken over the asylum.

    We did warn you (Labour moderates) about what was coming......
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758

    Is Labour really proposing to actually abolish private schools, nationalise them or just make life very hard for them? It's not clear.

    Surely the consequences of this policy must have a lot of negative knock-on effects. Seems daft to me

    I can;t afford to buy a brand new NIssan, only a richer few can, so will Labour be campaigning to close the factory down in Sunderland?

    Surely this bunch cannot win

    The policy is confused, but I think the aim is to get rid of them altogether.

    I presume that Conservatives here are comfortable with the fact that a local private secondary school here has been allowed to convert to free school status, thus leaving bills to be paid for by taxpayers instead of parents, but leaving the school free to continue to pick and choose those it admits and solicit additional "voluntary" donations from well-heeled parents.

    The bill to the taxpayer would of course be much bigger if Labour integrated the entire private school system into the state sector, at a reported cost of about £3.5 billion. So Labour's policy is quite similar to the free school conversion that the Conservatives were so keen to encourage here, except that the process is forced and the private schools would lose control of their admissions.
    Provided that it meets all the obligations and requirements for a free school why wouldn’t you want it to become such?
  • VerulamiusVerulamius Posts: 1,429



    If the Lib Dems were to poll 21% and Labour 25% (as per that ComRes hypothetical poll), where do you think Labour would drop their 15% vote share from the last election and where do you think the Lib Dems would put on their 14% extra vote share?

    One thing I would be fairly confident of, with a combined showing of 47% for Labour and the Conservatives, UNS would give a woeful indication of how many seats the two of them would take together.

    Good question. On a 14% mean increase I think the Liberal surge would be more evenly spread than assumed, with 10%+ increases in many seats where they would still finish third or a distant 2nd. Lots of wasted votes. The Libs will do better in the (relatively few) seats where they are 2nd to the Cons and tactical Lab voting kicks in especially where there is a reasonable Remain vote.

    Across the UK, there are 29 Con seats where the Libs are 2nd and in 11 of these Remain picked up 50% or more of the vote. If the Conservatives polled about 35% nationally then I can see the Libs taking about 15 seats off the Conservatives.
    Given that the LD surge is remain orientated I would have thought that as an initial estimate, the increase in LD votes should be distributed inline with the remain votes at the referendum.

    A second level estimate would then bring in tactical voting.
  • Another scenario from ComRes.

    https://twitter.com/britainelects/status/1176103416990437377

    The scenario that it would be more interesting to model would be something like:

    "if held after the Conservatives tried to leave without a deal on 31st October but were prevented from doing so by votes in parliament by Labour, LD, SNP and other MPs"
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 31,718
    glw said:

    McDonnell promises UK reparations for our colonial past.

    mindless drivel
    Potentially very expensive mindless drivel.
    The Tories must be loving all this.
    Getting ideas for their mindless drivel next week?
  • Boris Johnson is Silvio Berlusconi, which is entirely appropriate given that the UK is turning into Italy.

    Good food, excellent wines, hot weather. Whats the problem ?
    Shit economy, lack of respect for rule of law, corruption, prejudice against women and minorities and a divided nation.

    Surely we cant get any of those from our f*** business, proroguing, arcuri loving, letter box hating dear leader?
  • Labour have to be stopped. Two McDonnell policies to show what the Corbyn project has in mind:
    1) Theft of private property held legally. If you don't like something or someone, simply expropriate their property and "democratically distribute" their assets
    2) The end of private business. A 32 Hour working week with no loss of salary. Have they seen the productivity numbers? Have they seen how many businesses have gone bust or operate on wafer thin margins? Job shares, more rights ti work flexibly, a 21st Century groovy Google approach with tax breaks for office beanbags - sure. But this is Mental.

    I left the Labour Party still absolutely clear that I would not only vote for my MP but would actively campaign for him. Now urgently rethinking this. The lunatics have literally taken over the asylum.

    A member of shadow cabinet was on r5 this morning. When asked how would labour pay for everything, her response was basically profitable companies. Wont be many of those left of jonny M introduces all this stuff on businesses.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,709

    Boris Johnson is Silvio Berlusconi, which is entirely appropriate given that the UK is turning into Italy.

    Berlusconi won 3 Italian general elections, I expect Boris likes the comparison
  • It looks terrible but guess no dealer Boris fans wont give a toss (or even think good for him).
    Well, sure, there are a proportion of people who simply like Johnson for whatever reason and no matter what.

    But that isn't enough to win an election. He does also need traditional Tories who don't especially like his style and may peel off to the Lib Dems, and Labour-leaning Brexiteers who may hold their nose and vote blue in the Northern towns.

    Johnson fans will be Johnson fans, but how does this look to Derek and Jill in Taunton - a pair of socially conservative pensioners who've mainly gone blue over the decades (bar a few local election votes for the Libs)? How does it look to Kevin and Carly, a young couple in Hartlepool, who have tended to go Labour but feel forgotten by the London elites? It looks like a rather unpleasant, aging playboy lavishing taxpayer money on his bit on the side.
  • 148grss148grss Posts: 3,630
    IanB2 said:

    I can't imagine that an unreconstructed trot like Pidcock will get on the ballot.

    Thornberry has a good chance.

    I also think that McDonnell might make the ballot too – he's been an unexpected star for Labour. Bright, educated, hard-working and a superb communicator.

    He is also more sympathetic to the City than one might assume.

    I agree on McDonnell, he is clearly the best of the far left Labour leadership, and probably the best in the shadow cabinet. He is a better speaker, better interviewee, more consensual, more thoughtful than the others including Corbyn. I dont know if that would make him a better or worse option for the country than Corbyn though!

    Probably better in a hung parliament, but worse if he actually could implement what he believes in with a big majority of loyal MPs - the second scenario being very unlikely even in todays turbulent times.

    Mcdonnell is clearly the most capable choice, if perhaps lacking the charisma for the top job. But Labour will be under immense pressure to choose a woman next time and, like Ed Davey, I doubt McD stands much of a chance in reality.
    I thought McDonnell had heart problems that made him not want the top job?
  • Floater said:

    Labour have to be stopped. Two McDonnell policies to show what the Corbyn project has in mind:
    1) Theft of private property held legally. If you don't like something or someone, simply expropriate their property and "democratically distribute" their assets
    2) The end of private business. A 32 Hour working week with no loss of salary. Have they seen the productivity numbers? Have they seen how many businesses have gone bust or operate on wafer thin margins? Job shares, more rights ti work flexibly, a 21st Century groovy Google approach with tax breaks for office beanbags - sure. But this is Mental.

    I left the Labour Party still absolutely clear that I would not only vote for my MP but would actively campaign for him. Now urgently rethinking this. The lunatics have literally taken over the asylum.

    We did warn you (Labour moderates) about what was coming......
    As a Civil Servant presumably I should see my hours rapidly reduced to 32 per week. Good timing, as I am starting to wonder whether I can afford to go part time in the run up to retirement
  • Charles said:

    Is Labour really proposing to actually abolish private schools, nationalise them or just make life very hard for them? It's not clear.

    Surely the consequences of this policy must have a lot of negative knock-on effects. Seems daft to me

    I can;t afford to buy a brand new NIssan, only a richer few can, so will Labour be campaigning to close the factory down in Sunderland?

    Surely this bunch cannot win

    The policy is confused, but I think the aim is to get rid of them altogether.

    I presume that Conservatives here are comfortable with the fact that a local private secondary school here has been allowed to convert to free school status, thus leaving bills to be paid for by taxpayers instead of parents, but leaving the school free to continue to pick and choose those it admits and solicit additional "voluntary" donations from well-heeled parents.

    The bill to the taxpayer would of course be much bigger if Labour integrated the entire private school system into the state sector, at a reported cost of about £3.5 billion. So Labour's policy is quite similar to the free school conversion that the Conservatives were so keen to encourage here, except that the process is forced and the private schools would lose control of their admissions.
    Provided that it meets all the obligations and requirements for a free school why wouldn’t you want it to become such?
    I’d have thought private schools opting in to the state system by choice is a sign of success of the latter.

    It’s a free system that works by supply and demand both ways.
  • It looks terrible but guess no dealer Boris fans wont give a toss (or even think good for him).
    Well, sure, there are a proportion of people who simply like Johnson for whatever reason and no matter what.

    But that isn't enough to win an election. He does also need traditional Tories who don't especially like his style and may peel off to the Lib Dems, and Labour-leaning Brexiteers who may hold their nose and vote blue in the Northern towns.

    Johnson fans will be Johnson fans, but how does this look to Derek and Jill in Taunton - a pair of socially conservative pensioners who've mainly gone blue over the decades (bar a few local election votes for the Libs)? How does it look to Kevin and Carly, a young couple in Hartlepool, who have tended to go Labour but feel forgotten by the London elites? It looks like a rather unpleasant, aging playboy lavishing taxpayer money on his bit on the side.
    I hope you are right.
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758

    I can't imagine that an unreconstructed trot like Pidcock will get on the ballot.

    Thornberry has a good chance.

    I also think that McDonnell might make the ballot too – he's been an unexpected star for Labour. Bright, educated, hard-working and a superb communicator.

    He is also more sympathetic to the City than one might assume.

    Or as one person who met him recently in his latest City tour said “he isn’t sympathetic but he’s a bloody good liar”
  • Charles said:

    Is Labour really proposing to actually abolish private schools, nationalise them or just make life very hard for them? It's not clear.

    Surely the consequences of this policy must have a lot of negative knock-on effects. Seems daft to me

    I can;t afford to buy a brand new NIssan, only a richer few can, so will Labour be campaigning to close the factory down in Sunderland?

    Surely this bunch cannot win

    The policy is confused, but I think the aim is to get rid of them altogether.

    I presume that Conservatives here are comfortable with the fact that a local private secondary school here has been allowed to convert to free school status, thus leaving bills to be paid for by taxpayers instead of parents, but leaving the school free to continue to pick and choose those it admits and solicit additional "voluntary" donations from well-heeled parents.

    The bill to the taxpayer would of course be much bigger if Labour integrated the entire private school system into the state sector, at a reported cost of about £3.5 billion. So Labour's policy is quite similar to the free school conversion that the Conservatives were so keen to encourage here, except that the process is forced and the private schools would lose control of their admissions.
    Provided that it meets all the obligations and requirements for a free school why wouldn’t you want it to become such?
    If Corbyn's policy was simply to oblige all private schools to become free schools and no more than that, would you be content to pick up the bill?
  • 148grss148grss Posts: 3,630
    How have we got to a place where we think it is okay for people to sit on hoards of wealth like a dragon? Seriously, if this were a story for kids you would talk about people working all week, 9 - 5 going to food banks versus the evil dragon who could literally own the entire NFL and still have billions left over.

    https://neal.fun/spend/
  • AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 23,559

    Boris Johnson is Silvio Berlusconi, which is entirely appropriate given that the UK is turning into Italy.

    Good food, excellent wines, hot weather. Whats the problem ?
    Shit economy, lack of respect for rule of law, corruption, prejudice against women and minorities and a divided nation.

    Surely we cant get any of those from our f*** business, proroguing, arcuri loving, letter box hating dear leader?
    Nah, thats France
  • Scott_P said:
    Yes. Also, I understand neither of them have 'phones, and that Johnson's ship will take five nights to cross the North Atlantic, whilst Corbyn's mule will take a fortnight at least to make the long walk back from Brighton.
  • matt said:

    Labour have to be stopped. Two McDonnell policies to show what the Corbyn project has in mind:
    1) Theft of private property held legally. If you don't like something or someone, simply expropriate their property and "democratically distribute" their assets
    2) The end of private business. A 32 Hour working week with no loss of salary. Have they seen the productivity numbers? Have they seen how many businesses have gone bust or operate on wafer thin margins? Job shares, more rights ti work flexibly, a 21st Century groovy Google approach with tax breaks for office beanbags - sure. But this is Mental.

    I left the Labour Party still absolutely clear that I would not only vote for my MP but would actively campaign for him. Now urgently rethinking this. The lunatics have literally taken over the asylum.

    1. It’s clear that many Labour members believe that private property rights should exist solely in the context of some ill-defined “morality” test.
    (Snip)
    I could see such a Labour government bringing in a Chinese-style social credit system. It'd bring a new meaning to "Check Your Privilege" ...
  • Scott_PScott_P Posts: 51,453

    Yes. Also, I understand neither of them have 'phones, and that Johnson's ship will take five nights to cross the North Atlantic, whilst Corbyn's mule will take a fortnight at least to make the long walk back from Brighton.

    If Bercow recalls Parliament at 11am, neither of them would be there
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 75,842
    148grss said:

    How have we got to a place where we think it is okay for people to sit on hoards of wealth like a dragon? Seriously, if this were a story for kids you would talk about people working all week, 9 - 5 going to food banks versus the evil dragon who could literally own the entire NFL and still have billions left over.

    https://neal.fun/spend/

    Gates is giving away almost all of his fortune though ?
  • Another scenario from ComRes.

    https://twitter.com/britainelects/status/1176103416990437377

    The scenario that it would be more interesting to model would be something like:

    "if held after the Conservatives tried to leave without a deal on 31st October but were prevented from doing so by votes in parliament by Labour, LD, SNP and other MPs"

    Given the stunning inaccuracy of previous ComRes hypothetical polls, as judged by their current polls, I think this is with ignoring.
  • 148grss said:

    How have we got to a place where we think it is okay for people to sit on hoards of wealth like a dragon? Seriously, if this were a story for kids you would talk about people working all week, 9 - 5 going to food banks versus the evil dragon who could literally own the entire NFL and still have billions left over.

    https://neal.fun/spend/

    You obviously havent seen the latest netflix special on gates where it shows how he is spending incredible amount of time and money trying to solve huge world issues like eradicating polio.
  • dyedwooliedyedwoolie Posts: 7,786
    Scott_P said:

    Yes. Also, I understand neither of them have 'phones, and that Johnson's ship will take five nights to cross the North Atlantic, whilst Corbyn's mule will take a fortnight at least to make the long walk back from Brighton.

    If Bercow recalls Parliament at 11am, neither of them would be there
    It isn't clear who will recall parliament if the decision is that it was unlawful, it depends entirely on their remedy provisions. Bercow cant just 'recall' parliament unless the SC authorizes that in their judgement.
  • TGOHFTGOHF Posts: 21,633
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 38,851
    Rather hope Labour do NOT ditch the Corbyn compromise and come out as a 'Party of Remain' but I'm hearing that they probably will.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,771
    148grss said:

    How have we got to a place where we think it is okay for people to sit on hoards of wealth like a dragon? Seriously, if this were a story for kids you would talk about people working all week, 9 - 5 going to food banks versus the evil dragon who could literally own the entire NFL and still have billions left over.

    https://neal.fun/spend/

    But that's not really true, is it?

    He isn't literally sitting on piles of money. He owns shares in a company he created.

    Bill Gates has also given more money away, through the Bill & Melina Gates Foundation, than any other person alive. The Foundation gives out more than $5bn each year, with a lot of that going towards things that are pretty unfashionable these days - like STD control.
  • 148grss said:

    How have we got to a place where we think it is okay for people to sit on hoards of wealth like a dragon? Seriously, if this were a story for kids you would talk about people working all week, 9 - 5 going to food banks versus the evil dragon who could literally own the entire NFL and still have billions left over.

    https://neal.fun/spend/

    He seems a strange target given he has donated around $20bn to charity and his charity raised much more than that. He has also pledged to eventually give most of his wealth to charity.
  • 148grss148grss Posts: 3,630
    Pulpstar said:

    148grss said:

    How have we got to a place where we think it is okay for people to sit on hoards of wealth like a dragon? Seriously, if this were a story for kids you would talk about people working all week, 9 - 5 going to food banks versus the evil dragon who could literally own the entire NFL and still have billions left over.

    https://neal.fun/spend/

    Gates is giving away almost all of his fortune though ?
    But how is accumulating in the first place acceptable? Even if they are sincerely interested in giving much of it away, why is okay for wealth to automatically be siphoned towards those who need it the least rather than those who need it the most.

    https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2018/12/11/18129580/gates-donations-charity-billionaire-philanthropy
  • Labour have to be stopped. Two McDonnell policies to show what the Corbyn project has in mind:
    1) Theft of private property held legally. If you don't like something or someone, simply expropriate their property and "democratically distribute" their assets
    2) The end of private business. A 32 Hour working week with no loss of salary. Have they seen the productivity numbers? Have they seen how many businesses have gone bust or operate on wafer thin margins? Job shares, more rights ti work flexibly, a 21st Century groovy Google approach with tax breaks for office beanbags - sure. But this is Mental.

    I left the Labour Party still absolutely clear that I would not only vote for my MP but would actively campaign for him. Now urgently rethinking this. The lunatics have literally taken over the asylum.

    A member of shadow cabinet was on r5 this morning. When asked how would labour pay for everything, her response was basically profitable companies. Wont be many of those left of jonny M introduces all this stuff on businesses.
    With some of it like Adult Social Care how you pay for it is by not burdoning the NHS with clearing up the mess of not paying for it up front. We can't NOT afford thinks like ASC and "how do we pay for it" is the question that someone who doesn't care if people starve to death in their own homes asks.

    You are right on the second point though. I know the Tories said "Fuck Business" and launched No Deal to implement the policy - and that needs to be stopped. But when the Labour policy is just as damaging and isn't just a one time disaster like Brexit, that also has to be stopped.

    So on paper, I should now join the LibDems.

    So why haven't I?
  • eekeek Posts: 24,797

    Charles said:

    Is Labour really proposing to actually abolish private schools, nationalise them or just make life very hard for them? It's not clear.

    Surely the consequences of this policy must have a lot of negative knock-on effects. Seems daft to me

    I can;t afford to buy a brand new NIssan, only a richer few can, so will Labour be campaigning to close the factory down in Sunderland?

    Surely this bunch cannot win

    The policy is confused, but I think the aim is to get rid of them altogether.

    I presume that Conservatives here are comfortable with the fact that a local private secondary school here has been allowed to convert to free school status, thus leaving bills to be paid for by taxpayers instead of parents, but leaving the school free to continue to pick and choose those it admits and solicit additional "voluntary" donations from well-heeled parents.

    The bill to the taxpayer would of course be much bigger if Labour integrated the entire private school system into the state sector, at a reported cost of about £3.5 billion. So Labour's policy is quite similar to the free school conversion that the Conservatives were so keen to encourage here, except that the process is forced and the private schools would lose control of their admissions.
    Provided that it meets all the obligations and requirements for a free school why wouldn’t you want it to become such?
    I’d have thought private schools opting in to the state system by choice is a sign of success of the latter.

    It’s a free system that works by supply and demand both ways.
    Or as it was locally the last roll of the dice as pupils numbers fell rapidly...
  • Scott_P said:

    Yes. Also, I understand neither of them have 'phones, and that Johnson's ship will take five nights to cross the North Atlantic, whilst Corbyn's mule will take a fortnight at least to make the long walk back from Brighton.

    If Bercow recalls Parliament at 11am, neither of them would be there
    Firstly, they don't need to be there - they are two of 650 MPs. Secondly, Parliament wouldn't literally sit half an hour after the ruling - a lot of MPs will be in their constituencies and so on, so I'd have thought it'd be Wednesday at the earliest.
  • Sandpit said:

    I can't imagine that an unreconstructed trot like Pidcock will get on the ballot.

    Thornberry has a good chance.

    I also think that McDonnell might make the ballot too – he's been an unexpected star for Labour. Bright, educated, hard-working and a superb communicator.

    He is also more sympathetic to the City than one might assume.

    One thing we should remember is that the PLP is not by any means Corbynite. Even with the lower threshold for nominations, we cannot get Pidcock v Butler v Long Bailey v Raynor because there shouldn't be enough nominations for them (but then this is Labour and there shouldn't have been enough nominations for Corbyn in 2015). The pre-battle to get the left's nominations will be intense and could well have a bitter legacy.

    That said, it would be quite funny if they all stalemated each other out and the Corbyn era ended with the moderates retaking control just by being the only ones to get a name on the paper.
    Didn’t they change the MP nominating threshold at last year’s conference, presumably so that several Corbynites can be nominated next time around?

    Edit: it appears not. It was proposed to reduce it to 5% but not voted on. Similar motion is proposed again this year. http://home.freeuk.com/clpd/190417leadershipelections.html
    I thought it was reduced to 10%?
  • 148grss148grss Posts: 3,630

    148grss said:

    How have we got to a place where we think it is okay for people to sit on hoards of wealth like a dragon? Seriously, if this were a story for kids you would talk about people working all week, 9 - 5 going to food banks versus the evil dragon who could literally own the entire NFL and still have billions left over.

    https://neal.fun/spend/

    He seems a strange target given he has donated around $20bn to charity and his charity raised much more than that. He has also pledged to eventually give most of his wealth to charity.
    If someone literally has billions of dollars, and people are dying of poverty, how is it okay for that person to still have billions of dollars, even if he is giving lots away? Like, the system that allows that to happen is unbelievably broken.
  • Something is profoundly broken with opinion polling. The hypotheticals and the extremes of opinion, kantar vs Comres etc are simply not compatible. Something is very wrong somewhere.

    Polling companies have got better at asking the questions in a manner that get the results their patrons want. So many of the opinion polls that get into the public domain are biased depending on which vested interests funded them.
    That's a disgraceful comment and the sort of thing that once got contributors red-carded.

    Polling companies do not screw their reputation on what's a marginal line merely to satisfy a temporary client.
  • TGOHFTGOHF Posts: 21,633
    148grss said:

    Pulpstar said:

    148grss said:

    How have we got to a place where we think it is okay for people to sit on hoards of wealth like a dragon? Seriously, if this were a story for kids you would talk about people working all week, 9 - 5 going to food banks versus the evil dragon who could literally own the entire NFL and still have billions left over.

    https://neal.fun/spend/

    Gates is giving away almost all of his fortune though ?
    But how is accumulating in the first place acceptable? Even if they are sincerely interested in giving much of it away, why is okay for wealth to automatically be siphoned towards those who need it the least rather than those who need it the most.

    https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2018/12/11/18129580/gates-donations-charity-billionaire-philanthropy
    Yes - all entrepreneurs should be wary of starting businesses incase they revolutionise the world for good and earn themselves serious amounts of money to give to charity.

    Under a high tax Labour government this will thankfully be discouraged.
  • 148grss said:

    How have we got to a place where we think it is okay for people to sit on hoards of wealth like a dragon? Seriously, if this were a story for kids you would talk about people working all week, 9 - 5 going to food banks versus the evil dragon who could literally own the entire NFL and still have billions left over.

    https://neal.fun/spend/

    Would you be happier if he shovelled a few million your way?
  • CyclefreeCyclefree Posts: 25,074

    Brom said:

    Scott_P said:
    Fallen off all the front pages and bbc website. Poor Niall.
    I am sure it will return. Probably the first of many such scandals. Boris Johnson is as unsuited for PM as Corbyn, just for different reasons. We need to keep being reminded!
    pah. your Daily Mail morality kicks in

    President Hollande used to nip out for a quickie with an actress and then home to his partner and nobody batted an eyelid.
    And Macron has a totally appropriate marriage with his former teacher
    Were either of them quizzed by reporters for funnelling public money into the lady's business?
    I've no idea. But then again, being asked questions isn't the same as having done wrong. I wonder why no fuss was made in 2013? It's not like this is all some hidden truth suddenly laid bare, it must have been known at the time
    Two questions: (1) why is this story coming out now; and (2) how many other similar stories are out there?
This discussion has been closed.