Howdy, Stranger!

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

politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » The number that should worry the Tories

SystemSystem Posts: 11,002
edited December 2019 in General

imagepoliticalbetting.com » Blog Archive » The number that should worry the Tories

By 5am this morning, as my screen grab shows, there had been 3.3m views of the Andrew Neil video attacking Johnson for chickening out of doing an interview with him. That is a staggering number which doubt will increase during the day.

Read the full story here


«13456711

Comments

  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 49,958
    So what? Both Boris and Corbyn are on the telly tonight. How much scrutiny do the voters want? Answer: not as much as Andrew Neil and the BBC want to make a story. Any story.


  • Sorry Mike but that's just garbage. Ordinary people don't give a damn. After all 6 million people supposedly signed that stupid petition though half of them seem to have been abroad or signed it several times. It achieved absolutely zilch and chances are that by this time next week your party will have at best, gone backwards yet again!
  • Remember millions of Tory voters have already voted!
  • ClippPClippP Posts: 1,667
    Tory posters whistling through their teeth this evening, to keep their spirits up. It must be very depressing for them to have to recognise that their leader is a liar, a cheat, a coward and an incompetent buffoon. And he has surrounded himself with more of the same.
  • swing_voterswing_voter Posts: 1,435
    The Andrew Neil piece was then followed by a rather gentle ITV interview of JC.....where JC came across as nothing like the left wing firebrand the DM would have folk believe...i would say Tories came off badly last night
  • asjohnstoneasjohnstone Posts: 1,276
    The polling isn't really moving and perhaps 20% of votes have already been cast.

    If you were willing to vote Tory 2 months ago, it's unlikely to be different today, all the campaign is squeeze from LD to Labour.

    I expect a fairly comfortable 40 seat majority for the blue team
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 49,958

    To cert that other people don't give a damn is highly presumptuous of you . How do you know .

    To tell us that other people do give a damn is almost as presumptuous of you as it is of Andrew Neil to assert that democracy is going to fall apart just because Boris Johnson is paying him as much respect as David Cameron and Ed Miliband did....

    The idiots in this process are the BBC debate organisers and Corbyn's handlers, who didn't get Boris locked down to a confirmed date before any of the Andrew Neil interviews started airing. Muppets.

    I rather suspect that 3.3m is not 3.3m individual voters.... but a rather limited number of Labour and LibDem activists/kids who can't vote/Russian bot farms clicking it, again and again, for shits and giggles.

    Number of actual floating voters getting bent out of shape? Small.....
  • eristdooferistdoof Posts: 4,861

    Remember millions of Tory voters have already voted!

    Remember millions of labour voters have already voted.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 49,958
    eristdoof said:

    Remember millions of Tory voters have already voted!

    Remember millions of labour voters have already voted.
    Remember 8 LibDems have already voted.....
  • Sorry Mike but that's just garbage. Ordinary people don't give a damn. After all 6 million people supposedly signed that stupid petition though half of them seem to have been abroad or signed it several times. It achieved absolutely zilch and chances are that by this time next week your party will have at best, gone backwards yet again!

    That doesn’t make sense. The Tories ridicule alleged poor media performances by Corbyn, Swinson, Sturgeon, Abbott, Blackford, McDonnell etc etc etc ad infinitum; and allege that now their opponents are crippled.

    You can’t have it both ways. Either the media matters, or it doesn’t.
  • ClippP said:

    It must be very depressing for them to have to recognise that their leader is a liar, a cheat, a coward and an incompetent buffoon. And he has surrounded himself with more of the same.

    At least he's not an anti-semite, surrounded by more of the same.
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 59,540
    edited December 2019

    @NorthCadboll To assert that other people don't give a damn is highly presumptuous. How do you know? Sounds like you are making up public opinion to suit your position

    Aren't you asserting that other people do give a damn? Sounds like you are making up public opinion to suit your position

    We've seen the mailshots.....

  • TimTTimT Posts: 6,328

    To cert that other people don't give a damn is highly presumptuous of you . How do you know .

    To tell us that other people do give a damn is almost as presumptuous of you as it is of Andrew Neil to assert that democracy is going to fall apart just because Boris Johnson is paying him as much respect as David Cameron and Ed Miliband did....

    The idiots in this process are the BBC debate organisers and Corbyn's handlers, who didn't get Boris locked down to a confirmed date before any of the Andrew Neil interviews started airing. Muppets.

    I rather suspect that 3.3m is not 3.3m individual voters.... but a rather limited number of Labour and LibDem activists/kids who can't vote/Russian bot farms clicking it, again and again, for shits and giggles.

    Number of actual floating voters getting bent out of shape? Small.....
    That 3.3m will also include a sizable number of confirmed Tory voters who are clicking to see what the fuss is about. Take those out, the number of outraged dyed-in-the wool Corbynistas and LibDems, and I doubt the remaining number is that great.

    Social media is, after all, mostly a cavernous echo chamber.
  • melcfmelcf Posts: 166
    Boris Ali Kemal Bey Johnson is a one trick pony. No bread, have oven ready Brexit
    Besides being a womaniser, a backstabber and a pathological liar. No problem Tories, you all know that Bjo is a douche bag. But he is 'our' douche bag, so it's ok,
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,056

    The polling isn't really moving and perhaps 20% of votes have already been cast.

    If you were willing to vote Tory 2 months ago, it's unlikely to be different today, all the campaign is squeeze from LD to Labour.

    I expect a fairly comfortable 40 seat majority for the blue team

    I reckon about the same. I don't think a lot has changed this campaign apart from a few LD to Lab switchers in seats that the LD were not going to win anyway.

    I have always thought that Brexit will happen with a whimper rather than a bang, as the country continues its decline and decay.

    I think it quite likely that this will be the last UK General Election, after that it will just be England and Wales.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,056

    ClippP said:

    It must be very depressing for them to have to recognise that their leader is a liar, a cheat, a coward and an incompetent buffoon. And he has surrounded himself with more of the same.

    At least he's not an anti-semite, surrounded by more of the same.
    BoZo is surrounded by flag waving piccanninies with their watermelon smiles instead.
  • Anyway a bad tempered thread for Friday
  • melcfmelcf Posts: 166
    Great big girls's blouse Bojo collapses at the thought of gunfire, forget even sound.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 49,958

    Sorry Mike but that's just garbage. Ordinary people don't give a damn. After all 6 million people supposedly signed that stupid petition though half of them seem to have been abroad or signed it several times. It achieved absolutely zilch and chances are that by this time next week your party will have at best, gone backwards yet again!

    That doesn’t make sense. The Tories ridicule alleged poor media performances by Corbyn, Swinson, Sturgeon, Abbott, Blackford, McDonnell etc etc etc ad infinitum; and allege that now their opponents are crippled.

    You can’t have it both ways. Either the media matters, or it doesn’t.
    This is politics - it is in essence all about having it both ways!
  • JonathanJonathan Posts: 20,901
    edited December 2019
    Foxy said:

    ClippP said:

    It must be very depressing for them to have to recognise that their leader is a liar, a cheat, a coward and an incompetent buffoon. And he has surrounded himself with more of the same.

    At least he's not an anti-semite, surrounded by more of the same.
    BoZo is surrounded by flag waving piccanninies with their watermelon smiles instead.
    Bozo acts unlawfully when he doesn’t get what he wants.
  • JonathanJonathan Posts: 20,901
    edited December 2019

    Anyway a bad tempered thread for Friday

    This is nothing to what will follow, a Boris administration is going to be nasty. Enjoy the last few days of relative calm.
  • melcf said:

    Boris Ali Kemal Bey Johnson is a one trick pony. No bread, have oven ready Brexit
    Besides being a womaniser, a backstabber and a pathological liar. No problem Tories, you all know that Bjo is a douche bag. But he is 'our' douche bag, so it's ok,

    You're not factoring in "He's not Jeremy Corbyn"
  • melcfmelcf Posts: 166
    In 2005 Bojo was pro Eu and even wanted Turkey to join in. That was in preparation for his London Mayoral elections. In 2016, the chameleon was anti Eu, in prep for PM
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,056
    Jonathan said:

    Anyway a bad tempered thread for Friday

    This is nothing to what will follow, a Boris administration is going to be nasty. Enjoy the kat few days of relative calm.
    Yes, it is going to be crap under the Tories, but I expect BoZo to be gone fairly quickly. How long before those 1922 Committee letters start again?
  • El_CapitanoEl_Capitano Posts: 3,870

    Anyway a bad tempered thread for Friday

    Yes, I was just thinking that. Tempers fraying as the final week gets underway.

    Local campaigning round here seems to have got more ill tempered too. Labour have stopped attacking the (incumbent, safe) Conservative and are training their fire on the Lib Dem candidate. I almost wonder if there’s been a national strategy to hit the LDs so they’re in no place to challenge for second when the inevitable Corbyn defeat happens and Wrong-Daily takes over.
  • mattmatt Posts: 3,789
    Foxy said:

    Jonathan said:

    Anyway a bad tempered thread for Friday

    This is nothing to what will follow, a Boris administration is going to be nasty. Enjoy the kat few days of relative calm.
    Yes, it is going to be crap under the Tories, but I expect BoZo to be gone fairly quickly. How long before those 1922 Committee letters start again?
    I don’t know but perhaps you could advise given that you see yourself as an expert on absolutely everything.
  • JonathanJonathan Posts: 20,901
    Foxy said:

    Jonathan said:

    Anyway a bad tempered thread for Friday

    This is nothing to what will follow, a Boris administration is going to be nasty. Enjoy the kat few days of relative calm.
    Yes, it is going to be crap under the Tories, but I expect BoZo to be gone fairly quickly. How long before those 1922 Committee letters start again?
    I’m not so sure, if Boris get a majority everything changes in the Tory party. I remember watching the rerun of the 1983 election night. They interviewed Heath and asked him whether he would serve under Thatcher. Ultimately his promises will unravel, but immediately after the election Boris will own the party.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 49,958
    Question: what was the bigger political event yesterday, for those of us actually betting on the 2019 general election -

    a ) Andrew Neil having a hissy fit because Boris's tanks have driven round the BBC's Maginot Line or

    b ) the Wrexham poll showing the Labour firewall to be constructed of petrol-soaked balsa wood?
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 49,958

    Anyway a bad tempered thread for Friday

    Yes, I was just thinking that. Tempers fraying as the final week gets underway.

    Local campaigning round here seems to have got more ill tempered too. Labour have stopped attacking the (incumbent, safe) Conservative and are training their fire on the Lib Dem candidate. I almost wonder if there’s been a national strategy to hit the LDs so they’re in no place to challenge for second when the inevitable Corbyn defeat happens and Wrong-Daily takes over.
    Which seat is that, if you don't mind telling us?
  • JonathanJonathan Posts: 20,901

    Question: what was the bigger political event yesterday, for those of us actually betting on the 2019 general election -

    a ) Andrew Neil having a hissy fit because Boris's tanks have driven round the BBC's Maginot Line or

    b ) the Wrexham poll showing the Labour firewall to be constructed of petrol-soaked balsa wood?

    Strange comparison to make for Boris.
  • eristdooferistdoof Posts: 4,861
    TimT said:

    To cert that other people don't give a damn is highly presumptuous of you . How do you know .

    To tell us that other people do give a damn is almost as presumptuous of you as it is of Andrew Neil to assert that democracy is going to fall apart just because Boris Johnson is paying him as much respect as David Cameron and Ed Miliband did....

    The idiots in this process are the BBC debate organisers and Corbyn's handlers, who didn't get Boris locked down to a confirmed date before any of the Andrew Neil interviews started airing. Muppets.

    I rather suspect that 3.3m is not 3.3m individual voters.... but a rather limited number of Labour and LibDem activists/kids who can't vote/Russian bot farms clicking it, again and again, for shits and giggles.

    Number of actual floating voters getting bent out of shape? Small.....
    That 3.3m will also include a sizable number of confirmed Tory voters who are clicking to see what the fuss is about. Take those out, the number of outraged dyed-in-the wool Corbynistas and LibDems, and I doubt the remaining number is that great.

    Social media is, after all, mostly a cavernous echo chamber.
    Why then are the conservatives working so hard to get their message accross on social media?
  • Foxy said:

    Jonathan said:

    Anyway a bad tempered thread for Friday

    This is nothing to what will follow, a Boris administration is going to be nasty. Enjoy the kat few days of relative calm.
    Yes, it is going to be crap under the Tories, but I expect BoZo to be gone fairly quickly. How long before those 1922 Committee letters start again?
    Why? If he's PM he stays. If he's not we've all got bigger problems.
  • Black_RookBlack_Rook Posts: 8,905

    Anyway a bad tempered thread for Friday

    That, and the already seemingly endless Andrew Neil borefest.

    Fortunately I have just realised that time is getting on and I need to go off to work soon. Laters...
  • rkrkrkrkrkrk Posts: 7,881
    Foxy said:

    Jonathan said:

    Anyway a bad tempered thread for Friday

    This is nothing to what will follow, a Boris administration is going to be nasty. Enjoy the kat few days of relative calm.
    Yes, it is going to be crap under the Tories, but I expect BoZo to be gone fairly quickly. How long before those 1922 Committee letters start again?
    Doubt that very much. He's removed the internal opposition. If he wins a comfortable majority, then I think he's in charge for a long time.
  • Andy_JS said:

    MikeL said:

    YOUGOV SCOTLAND POLL (fieldwork 29 Nov to 3 Dec):

    SNP 44
    Con 28
    Lab 15
    LD 12
    Green 1
    Brexit 0

    Per John Curtice the above equates to 8 Con MPs in Scotland.

    Article implies no new YouGov poll for whole UK - refers to 9% lead being a narrowing after 11% in the MRP.

    I don't think it'll work out like that because the Tories will do better than average in the seats they hold, and worse than average in the rest of Scotland like Glasgow and Edinburgh. These numbers are arrived at through uniform swing I think.
    You might be right, but I’m not aware of any evidence to support your theory.

    One piece of evidence* is local by-election results: there have been quite a few in Scotland recently. The Scottish Tories have done well in all of them, including in lots not in SCon-held constituencies.

    Doorstep evidence is that the SCons are doing very well in the Central Belt, as the SLab vote collapses to *all* other parties, including SCon (not just to the SNP, as often lazily assumed). This implies that the SCons may already have maxxed-out in their current seats, and that new SCon votes are being added in areas where they have very little hope of new MPs.

    (*Proviso: it is notoriously hard to compare Scottish by-election results with previous election results, due to the STV voting system and multi-candidate wards. There is also no easy way to quickly peruse results.)

  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 49,958

    Anyway a bad tempered thread for Friday

    Yes, I was just thinking that. Tempers fraying as the final week gets underway.

    Local campaigning round here seems to have got more ill tempered too. Labour have stopped attacking the (incumbent, safe) Conservative and are training their fire on the Lib Dem candidate. I almost wonder if there’s been a national strategy to hit the LDs so they’re in no place to challenge for second when the inevitable Corbyn defeat happens and Wrong-Daily takes over.
    Any strategy of winning Tories over to the Labour side in this campaign has failed. Ditto SNP voters. And the Brexit party has collapsed. The reason they are going after the LibDems is there's no other votes left to get. Simple as that.

    Labour's best hope of holding seats currently at grave risk is to get tactical voting from LibDems. Doing so by punching those voters in the face is, er, brave....
  • eristdooferistdoof Posts: 4,861
    Jonathan said:

    Foxy said:

    Jonathan said:

    Anyway a bad tempered thread for Friday

    This is nothing to what will follow, a Boris administration is going to be nasty. Enjoy the kat few days of relative calm.
    Yes, it is going to be crap under the Tories, but I expect BoZo to be gone fairly quickly. How long before those 1922 Committee letters start again?
    I’m not so sure, if Boris get a majority everything changes in the Tory party. I remember watching the rerun of the 1983 election night. They interviewed Heath and asked him whether he would serve under Thatcher. Ultimately his promises will unravel, but immediately after the election Boris will own the party.
    That's wierd because Thatcher and Heath were already "not friends" in the 1979-1983 term. In 1980 Thatcher offered Heath the job of Ambassador in the USA to get him out of the way. No one was expecting Heath to be anything other than a back bencher.

    Or do you mean the 1979 election?
  • rkrkrkrkrkrk Posts: 7,881
    The economist endorses the Lib Dems.
  • Sorry Mike but that's just garbage. Ordinary people don't give a damn. After all 6 million people supposedly signed that stupid petition though half of them seem to have been abroad or signed it several times. It achieved absolutely zilch and chances are that by this time next week your party will have at best, gone backwards yet again!

    That doesn’t make sense. The Tories ridicule alleged poor media performances by Corbyn, Swinson, Sturgeon, Abbott, Blackford, McDonnell etc etc etc ad infinitum; and allege that now their opponents are crippled.

    You can’t have it both ways. Either the media matters, or it doesn’t.
    This is politics - it is in essence all about having it both ways!
    This is a betting website. It is useless for punters if posters are so blatantly duplicitous.
  • El_CapitanoEl_Capitano Posts: 3,870

    Anyway a bad tempered thread for Friday

    Yes, I was just thinking that. Tempers fraying as the final week gets underway.

    Local campaigning round here seems to have got more ill tempered too. Labour have stopped attacking the (incumbent, safe) Conservative and are training their fire on the Lib Dem candidate. I almost wonder if there’s been a national strategy to hit the LDs so they’re in no place to challenge for second when the inevitable Corbyn defeat happens and Wrong-Daily takes over.
    Which seat is that, if you don't mind telling us?
    Witney.

    And I think you’re right with your “no other votes to get” theory.
  • JonathanJonathan Posts: 20,901
    eristdoof said:

    Jonathan said:

    Foxy said:

    Jonathan said:

    Anyway a bad tempered thread for Friday

    This is nothing to what will follow, a Boris administration is going to be nasty. Enjoy the kat few days of relative calm.
    Yes, it is going to be crap under the Tories, but I expect BoZo to be gone fairly quickly. How long before those 1922 Committee letters start again?
    I’m not so sure, if Boris get a majority everything changes in the Tory party. I remember watching the rerun of the 1983 election night. They interviewed Heath and asked him whether he would serve under Thatcher. Ultimately his promises will unravel, but immediately after the election Boris will own the party.
    That's wierd because Thatcher and Heath were already "not friends" in the 1979-1983 term. In 1980 Thatcher offered Heath the job of Ambassador in the USA to get him out of the way. No one was expecting Heath to be anything other than a back bencher.

    Or do you mean the 1979 election?
    No, it was 1983. It was odd from our perspective. But remember they did not know at that stage what would follow. Thatcher want omnipotent 79-83.

    Similarly we have no idea what is about to hit us.
  • swing_voterswing_voter Posts: 1,435
    rkrkrk said:

    Foxy said:

    Jonathan said:

    Anyway a bad tempered thread for Friday

    This is nothing to what will follow, a Boris administration is going to be nasty. Enjoy the kat few days of relative calm.
    Yes, it is going to be crap under the Tories, but I expect BoZo to be gone fairly quickly. How long before those 1922 Committee letters start again?
    Doubt that very much. He's removed the internal opposition. If he wins a comfortable majority, then I think he's in charge for a long time.
    He only scraped the tory MPs support in the summer leadership election.....a narrow win next week and i think he is a dead PM walking
  • matt said:

    Foxy said:

    Jonathan said:

    Anyway a bad tempered thread for Friday

    This is nothing to what will follow, a Boris administration is going to be nasty. Enjoy the kat few days of relative calm.
    Yes, it is going to be crap under the Tories, but I expect BoZo to be gone fairly quickly. How long before those 1922 Committee letters start again?
    I don’t know but perhaps you could advise given that you see yourself as an expert on absolutely everything.
    I'm trying to keep up, but I think so far this morning Foxy has predicted a Johnson win leading to:

    1) The reunification of Ireland
    2) Scottish Independence
    3) A Tory Party leadership challenge, which Johnson loses.

    Have I missed anything? Plague of toads?
  • moonshinemoonshine Posts: 5,226
    rkrkrk said:

    The economist endorses the Lib Dems.

    Ha! Really?! It became a shadow of itself long ago, more like a Students Union view of how the world should be rather than actually is. I guess plumping for the Lib Dems keeps the 66%-off student subscriptions rolling in.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 49,958

    rkrkrk said:

    Foxy said:

    Jonathan said:

    Anyway a bad tempered thread for Friday

    This is nothing to what will follow, a Boris administration is going to be nasty. Enjoy the kat few days of relative calm.
    Yes, it is going to be crap under the Tories, but I expect BoZo to be gone fairly quickly. How long before those 1922 Committee letters start again?
    Doubt that very much. He's removed the internal opposition. If he wins a comfortable majority, then I think he's in charge for a long time.
    He only scraped the tory MPs support in the summer leadership election.....a narrow win next week and i think he is a dead PM walking
    A dead PM walking is one who needlessly loses a majority. Then can't get Brexit through as a result.

    That's what Boris replaced.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,056
    rkrkrk said:

    Foxy said:

    Jonathan said:

    Anyway a bad tempered thread for Friday

    This is nothing to what will follow, a Boris administration is going to be nasty. Enjoy the kat few days of relative calm.
    Yes, it is going to be crap under the Tories, but I expect BoZo to be gone fairly quickly. How long before those 1922 Committee letters start again?
    Doubt that very much. He's removed the internal opposition. If he wins a comfortable majority, then I think he's in charge for a long time.
    I don't think BoZo has many true friends, and fewer still in the upper reaches of the party. His lazy incompetence, disregard for the truth and complete lack of loyalty to others ensures that when things turn against him, as they surely will, he will be put to the sword. Tories are rather ruthless at getting rid of failing leaders, though I expect that he should be able to make it to the end of 2020.
  • rkrkrk said:

    The economist endorses the Lib Dems.

    That's almost equivalent to doing a "New Statesman" on Corbyn.
  • rkrkrk said:

    The economist endorses the Lib Dems.

    And it accuses others of not making hard choices.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,056
    matt said:

    Foxy said:

    Jonathan said:

    Anyway a bad tempered thread for Friday

    This is nothing to what will follow, a Boris administration is going to be nasty. Enjoy the kat few days of relative calm.
    Yes, it is going to be crap under the Tories, but I expect BoZo to be gone fairly quickly. How long before those 1922 Committee letters start again?
    I don’t know but perhaps you could advise given that you see yourself as an expert on absolutely everything.
    Not everything. I know nothing of Cricket and Formula One.
  • rkrkrk said:

    Foxy said:

    Jonathan said:

    Anyway a bad tempered thread for Friday

    This is nothing to what will follow, a Boris administration is going to be nasty. Enjoy the kat few days of relative calm.
    Yes, it is going to be crap under the Tories, but I expect BoZo to be gone fairly quickly. How long before those 1922 Committee letters start again?
    Doubt that very much. He's removed the internal opposition. If he wins a comfortable majority, then I think he's in charge for a long time.
    He only scraped the tory MPs support in the summer leadership election.....a narrow win next week and i think he is a dead PM walking
    Who's his replacement?
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,056

    rkrkrk said:

    The economist endorses the Lib Dems.

    And it accuses others of not making hard choices.
    There is no need to choose only from 2 parties.
  • moonshinemoonshine Posts: 5,226

    rkrkrk said:

    Foxy said:

    Jonathan said:

    Anyway a bad tempered thread for Friday

    This is nothing to what will follow, a Boris administration is going to be nasty. Enjoy the kat few days of relative calm.
    Yes, it is going to be crap under the Tories, but I expect BoZo to be gone fairly quickly. How long before those 1922 Committee letters start again?
    Doubt that very much. He's removed the internal opposition. If he wins a comfortable majority, then I think he's in charge for a long time.
    He only scraped the tory MPs support in the summer leadership election.....a narrow win next week and i think he is a dead PM walking
    160 vs 77 Hunt vs 75 Gover. And since then he's chucked out / retired off 30-odd in the Nay column. If he gets a majority, any majority, he's here for the long haul.
  • JonathanJonathan Posts: 20,901
    edited December 2019
    If Boris wins,Boris is safe, When economic reality bites, Boris will lose his shine and struggle but will remain safe until the Toriesidentify a successor. There currently is none and none on the horizon, so Boris is safe for the foreseeable future.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,741
    melcf said:

    Boris Ali Kemal Bey Johnson is a one trick pony. No bread, have oven ready Brexit
    Besides being a womaniser, a backstabber and a pathological liar. No problem Tories, you all know that Bjo is a douche bag. But he is 'our' douche bag, so it's ok,

    Out of curiosity, why do you keep making reference to Johnson's Turkish ancestry and implying that it's responsible for his manifold shortcomings?
  • kle4 said:
    Yepp.

    Pro-independence 71 (+3)
    Pro-London rule 57 (-3)

    David Cameron was right: Brexit is undermining the Union.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 26,279
    Good morning. I hope we get more polling today than we did yesterday, which was almost none at all.
  • Ministers have been publicly backing Tory candidates accused of Islamophobic behaviour. So much for zero tolerance.
    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/dec/06/tory-ministers-back-candidates-accused-of-islamophobia
  • Ministers have been publicly backing Tory candidates accused of Islamophobic behaviour. So much for zero tolerance.
    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/dec/06/tory-ministers-back-candidates-accused-of-islamophobia

    The point is that the Tories only care about racism when they score points.
  • ThomasNasheThomasNashe Posts: 4,920
    His contempt for the British Constitution and proper democratic scrutiny makes it deeply worrying that in one week’s time he’s likely to be PM with a large majority.
  • NemtynakhtNemtynakht Posts: 2,311

    @NorthCadboll To assert that other people don't give a damn is highly presumptuous. How do you know? Sounds like you are making up public opinion to suit your position

    Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt.

    I am not saying this will or won’t affect anything but essentially you are just making it up too. Videos can be watched by those

    - too young to vote
    - not allowed to vote I,e Eu nationals
    - Not from this country
    - Who have already voted
    - Who wouldn’t vote Tory in any case
    - Who would always vote Tory in any case

    The evidence is that these viral videos tend to be shared by people in echo chambers.

    I would rather wait for some polling which could show this has some significance rather than assume it is the case.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,056
    Andy_JS said:

    Good morning. I hope we get more polling today than we did yesterday, which was almost none at all.

    I was YouGoved again on Wednesday, so should be one out for the weekend.
  • swing_voterswing_voter Posts: 1,435

    rkrkrk said:

    Foxy said:

    Jonathan said:

    Anyway a bad tempered thread for Friday

    This is nothing to what will follow, a Boris administration is going to be nasty. Enjoy the kat few days of relative calm.
    Yes, it is going to be crap under the Tories, but I expect BoZo to be gone fairly quickly. How long before those 1922 Committee letters start again?
    Doubt that very much. He's removed the internal opposition. If he wins a comfortable majority, then I think he's in charge for a long time.
    He only scraped the tory MPs support in the summer leadership election.....a narrow win next week and i think he is a dead PM walking
    Who's his replacement?

    rkrkrk said:

    Foxy said:

    Jonathan said:

    Anyway a bad tempered thread for Friday

    This is nothing to what will follow, a Boris administration is going to be nasty. Enjoy the kat few days of relative calm.
    Yes, it is going to be crap under the Tories, but I expect BoZo to be gone fairly quickly. How long before those 1922 Committee letters start again?
    Doubt that very much. He's removed the internal opposition. If he wins a comfortable majority, then I think he's in charge for a long time.
    He only scraped the tory MPs support in the summer leadership election.....a narrow win next week and i think he is a dead PM walking
    Who's his replacement?
    Off the too of my head Jeremy Hunt or Gove
  • Foxy said:

    Jonathan said:

    Anyway a bad tempered thread for Friday

    This is nothing to what will follow, a Boris administration is going to be nasty. Enjoy the kat few days of relative calm.
    Yes, it is going to be crap under the Tories, but I expect BoZo to be gone fairly quickly. How long before those 1922 Committee letters start again?
    This is one of the reasons that I am less unhappy about voting for him than I would be about voting in a way that might end up with Corbyn as PM. We know that the Tory party can and will get rid of underperforming PMs. We also know that the PLP has tried and failed to get rid of Corbyn.
  • That YouGov showed a narrowing of the lead of 2 points am I right?

    Be interesting to see if the MRP shows similar. If it does I’d expect a reduced majority of around 20-30.
  • Boris would be crazy to agree to an Andrew Neil interview at this late stage ... it would amount to a certain double whammy for him. Firstly he'd continue to suffer from the deemed "cowardice" factor in not having agreed to be interviewed from the outset as did Corbyn, Swinson and others. Secondly he'd likely suffer all the more from being especially critically quizzed by a cock-a-hoop Neil, who would now delightedly be certain to hold absolutely nothing back, in front of a TV audience probably at least double the size Boris would have faced but for his evasive tactics.
    No at this stage, he has no option other than to brazen it out.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,767
    The whole idea of privatising the NHS as part of US trade deals is clearly utterly rubbish. However, there are certain things that the US *could* do in trade deal as part of healthcare that might be an issue:

    The most likely of these is to demand that we accept FDA rulings on the safety of drugs, and that's quite likely.

    Less likely but not unlikely, they could attempt to circumvent NICE, or argue that it constituted a non tariff barrier. (When NICE chooses one drug over another, rather than leaving that choice in the hands of doctors, that could look like protectionism.)

    Very unlikely, they could attempt some kind of "equivalence" pricing, where the NHS agreed to pay the same rates as Medicare/Medicaid in the US, which would be a big step up in pricing, and would be strongly resisted by any competent government. Oh shit...
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 19,072
    Ah yes the PB Tories are trying justifying the PM running scared of an interview. Classic PB Tories.
  • rkrkrk said:

    Foxy said:

    Jonathan said:

    Anyway a bad tempered thread for Friday

    This is nothing to what will follow, a Boris administration is going to be nasty. Enjoy the kat few days of relative calm.
    Yes, it is going to be crap under the Tories, but I expect BoZo to be gone fairly quickly. How long before those 1922 Committee letters start again?
    Doubt that very much. He's removed the internal opposition. If he wins a comfortable majority, then I think he's in charge for a long time.
    He only scraped the tory MPs support in the summer leadership election.....a narrow win next week and i think he is a dead PM walking
    No way: a win is a win. Now a narrow win combined with terrible poll figures in 3/4 years time, maybe. But if the Tories get a majority he will be safe for now.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 31,715

    Foxy said:

    Jonathan said:

    Anyway a bad tempered thread for Friday

    This is nothing to what will follow, a Boris administration is going to be nasty. Enjoy the kat few days of relative calm.
    Yes, it is going to be crap under the Tories, but I expect BoZo to be gone fairly quickly. How long before those 1922 Committee letters start again?
    This is one of the reasons that I am less unhappy about voting for him than I would be about voting in a way that might end up with Corbyn as PM. We know that the Tory party can and will get rid of underperforming PMs. We also know that the PLP has tried and failed to get rid of Corbyn.
    Took a long time to do so with Mrs May. Or it seemed like a long time!
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,056

    His contempt for the British Constitution and proper democratic scrutiny makes it deeply worrying that in one week’s time he’s likely to be PM with a large majority.

    I don't think that we are unique in our crisis. The news from France last night was horrifying, and events in the USA, Bolivia, Chile etc show that it is not just in Europe that there is a crisis of democracy.

    Parallels with the 1930s are easily overcooked, but it does seem as if democracy works well in times of economic prosperity, but really struggles under the strain of prolonged economic stagnation. While overall some parts of the country are doing economically OK, but substantial regions and demographics are clearly not.

    I was quite moved by yesterdays BBC report from the foodbank in Grimsby, but the folk there were correct in not knowing what politician can help them. I see why they grasp at straws.
  • mattmatt Posts: 3,789
    Foxy said:

    matt said:

    Foxy said:

    Jonathan said:

    Anyway a bad tempered thread for Friday

    This is nothing to what will follow, a Boris administration is going to be nasty. Enjoy the kat few days of relative calm.
    Yes, it is going to be crap under the Tories, but I expect BoZo to be gone fairly quickly. How long before those 1922 Committee letters start again?
    I don’t know but perhaps you could advise given that you see yourself as an expert on absolutely everything.
    Not everything. I know nothing of Cricket and Formula One.
    I doubt that will stop you opining.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,056
    matt said:

    Foxy said:

    matt said:

    Foxy said:

    Jonathan said:

    Anyway a bad tempered thread for Friday

    This is nothing to what will follow, a Boris administration is going to be nasty. Enjoy the kat few days of relative calm.
    Yes, it is going to be crap under the Tories, but I expect BoZo to be gone fairly quickly. How long before those 1922 Committee letters start again?
    I don’t know but perhaps you could advise given that you see yourself as an expert on absolutely everything.
    Not everything. I know nothing of Cricket and Formula One.
    I doubt that will stop you opining.
    Surely the whole point of the comments section here is to opine?
  • GlyphGlyph Posts: 3
    I think it's less about the specific number of views the video has but more about how the message in that video disseminates and adds to an overall impression. A lot of people who have doubts about Boris could get the vibe from this video and it could alter their opinion, and that's why it's important. I think Mike is right to keep reminding us that leadership ratings mean a lot in elections, and if this video and its integrated message gets through, those ratings could be impacted.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,741

    His contempt for the British Constitution and proper democratic scrutiny makes it deeply worrying that in one week’s time he’s likely to be PM with a large majority.

    He already *is* PM. Admittedly he doesn't currently have a large majority.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,767
    Foxy said:

    His contempt for the British Constitution and proper democratic scrutiny makes it deeply worrying that in one week’s time he’s likely to be PM with a large majority.

    I don't think that we are unique in our crisis. The news from France last night was horrifying, and events in the USA, Bolivia, Chile etc show that it is not just in Europe that there is a crisis of democracy.

    Parallels with the 1930s are easily overcooked, but it does seem as if democracy works well in times of economic prosperity, but really struggles under the strain of prolonged economic stagnation. While overall some parts of the country are doing economically OK, but substantial regions and demographics are clearly not.

    I was quite moved by yesterdays BBC report from the foodbank in Grimsby, but the folk there were correct in not knowing what politician can help them. I see why they grasp at straws.
    The demographic drag is a huge issue here. An ever greater share of the output of workers is being used to support the old, and it's just going to get worse.

    The only way people will accept such a situation if it's seen that everyone suffers to some degree. If the rich get richer, while everyone else is bearing the burden, it's not going to end well for anyone.
  • JonathanJonathan Posts: 20,901
    rcs1000 said:

    Foxy said:

    His contempt for the British Constitution and proper democratic scrutiny makes it deeply worrying that in one week’s time he’s likely to be PM with a large majority.

    I don't think that we are unique in our crisis. The news from France last night was horrifying, and events in the USA, Bolivia, Chile etc show that it is not just in Europe that there is a crisis of democracy.

    Parallels with the 1930s are easily overcooked, but it does seem as if democracy works well in times of economic prosperity, but really struggles under the strain of prolonged economic stagnation. While overall some parts of the country are doing economically OK, but substantial regions and demographics are clearly not.

    I was quite moved by yesterdays BBC report from the foodbank in Grimsby, but the folk there were correct in not knowing what politician can help them. I see why they grasp at straws.
    The demographic drag is a huge issue here. An ever greater share of the output of workers is being used to support the old, and it's just going to get worse.

    The only way people will accept such a situation if it's seen that everyone suffers to some degree. If the rich get richer, while everyone else is bearing the burden, it's not going to end well for anyone.
    When Brexit shrinks the pie, the politics is going to brutal.
  • moonshinemoonshine Posts: 5,226
    edited December 2019
    Foxy said:

    His contempt for the British Constitution and proper democratic scrutiny makes it deeply worrying that in one week’s time he’s likely to be PM with a large majority.

    I don't think that we are unique in our crisis. The news from France last night was horrifying, and events in the USA, Bolivia, Chile etc show that it is not just in Europe that there is a crisis of democracy.

    Parallels with the 1930s are easily overcooked, but it does seem as if democracy works well in times of economic prosperity, but really struggles under the strain of prolonged economic stagnation. While overall some parts of the country are doing economically OK, but substantial regions and demographics are clearly not.

    I was quite moved by yesterdays BBC report from the foodbank in Grimsby, but the folk there were correct in not knowing what politician can help them. I see why they grasp at straws.


    I assume your 1930s reference is to Ramsey Macdonald and FDR, rather than some other 1930s politician. Because it's quite early in the day to be staking a claim to today's Godwin award.
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 25,043
    rcs1000 said:

    The whole idea of privatising the NHS as part of US trade deals is clearly utterly rubbish. However, there are certain things that the US *could* do in trade deal as part of healthcare that might be an issue:

    The most likely of these is to demand that we accept FDA rulings on the safety of drugs, and that's quite likely.

    Less likely but not unlikely, they could attempt to circumvent NICE, or argue that it constituted a non tariff barrier. (When NICE chooses one drug over another, rather than leaving that choice in the hands of doctors, that could look like protectionism.)

    Very unlikely, they could attempt some kind of "equivalence" pricing, where the NHS agreed to pay the same rates as Medicare/Medicaid in the US, which would be a big step up in pricing, and would be strongly resisted by any competent government. Oh shit...
    We shouldn't do a trade deal with the US. Just bury it in red tape. The situation currently is favourable. If they slap massive tariffs on our whiskies, reluctantly we should slap it right back on bourbon. Why do you 'slap' tariffs on things?
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,056

    Foxy said:

    Jonathan said:

    Anyway a bad tempered thread for Friday

    This is nothing to what will follow, a Boris administration is going to be nasty. Enjoy the kat few days of relative calm.
    Yes, it is going to be crap under the Tories, but I expect BoZo to be gone fairly quickly. How long before those 1922 Committee letters start again?
    This is one of the reasons that I am less unhappy about voting for him than I would be about voting in a way that might end up with Corbyn as PM. We know that the Tory party can and will get rid of underperforming PMs. We also know that the PLP has tried and failed to get rid of Corbyn.
    Sure, though I do think that the experience of electing leaders via partywide ballots is one with a track record of success. I mean that not just for Tories, but also for Labour and Lib Dems.
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 26,279
    rcs1000 said:

    Foxy said:

    His contempt for the British Constitution and proper democratic scrutiny makes it deeply worrying that in one week’s time he’s likely to be PM with a large majority.

    I don't think that we are unique in our crisis. The news from France last night was horrifying, and events in the USA, Bolivia, Chile etc show that it is not just in Europe that there is a crisis of democracy.

    Parallels with the 1930s are easily overcooked, but it does seem as if democracy works well in times of economic prosperity, but really struggles under the strain of prolonged economic stagnation. While overall some parts of the country are doing economically OK, but substantial regions and demographics are clearly not.

    I was quite moved by yesterdays BBC report from the foodbank in Grimsby, but the folk there were correct in not knowing what politician can help them. I see why they grasp at straws.
    The demographic drag is a huge issue here. An ever greater share of the output of workers is being used to support the old, and it's just going to get worse.

    The only way people will accept such a situation if it's seen that everyone suffers to some degree. If the rich get richer, while everyone else is bearing the burden, it's not going to end well for anyone.
    The elderly care crisis means that more money, not less, is going to be needed to be allocated in the direction of older people. That might not be popular. We saw it cause problems for the Tories during the last election campaign.
  • rkrkrkrkrkrk Posts: 7,881
    moonshine said:

    rkrkrk said:

    The economist endorses the Lib Dems.

    Ha! Really?! It became a shadow of itself long ago, more like a Students Union view of how the world should be rather than actually is. I guess plumping for the Lib Dems keeps the 66%-off student subscriptions rolling in.
    I found their explanation of why they did so quite compelling actually. I suspect this will be one of those endorsements they don't regret.
  • … but not this bit
    “It’s meeting the expectations that we’ve had for it. It’s handling well,” said Bosques, adding that this could have happened with any car, gas or electric.
    “We do run out of gas [on pursuits]. It happens. We’ve also had regular cars get flat tires on a pursuit, or cars that just die on a pursuit,” she continued. "
  • I remember when people said Johnson was a master campaigner. So good in fact he’s run away from as much debating as possible
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,767

    rcs1000 said:

    The whole idea of privatising the NHS as part of US trade deals is clearly utterly rubbish. However, there are certain things that the US *could* do in trade deal as part of healthcare that might be an issue:

    The most likely of these is to demand that we accept FDA rulings on the safety of drugs, and that's quite likely.

    Less likely but not unlikely, they could attempt to circumvent NICE, or argue that it constituted a non tariff barrier. (When NICE chooses one drug over another, rather than leaving that choice in the hands of doctors, that could look like protectionism.)

    Very unlikely, they could attempt some kind of "equivalence" pricing, where the NHS agreed to pay the same rates as Medicare/Medicaid in the US, which would be a big step up in pricing, and would be strongly resisted by any competent government. Oh shit...
    We shouldn't do a trade deal with the US. Just bury it in red tape. The situation currently is favourable. If they slap massive tariffs on our whiskies, reluctantly we should slap it right back on bourbon. Why do you 'slap' tariffs on things?
    I find it hard to see how we could come to a mutually acceptable agreement with the US, simply because the things they most want out of a trade deal are the things that are more politically sensitive in the UK.

  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,056
    moonshine said:

    Foxy said:

    His contempt for the British Constitution and proper democratic scrutiny makes it deeply worrying that in one week’s time he’s likely to be PM with a large majority.

    I don't think that we are unique in our crisis. The news from France last night was horrifying, and events in the USA, Bolivia, Chile etc show that it is not just in Europe that there is a crisis of democracy.

    Parallels with the 1930s are easily overcooked, but it does seem as if democracy works well in times of economic prosperity, but really struggles under the strain of prolonged economic stagnation. While overall some parts of the country are doing economically OK, but substantial regions and demographics are clearly not.

    I was quite moved by yesterdays BBC report from the foodbank in Grimsby, but the folk there were correct in not knowing what politician can help them. I see why they grasp at straws.


    I assume your 1930s reference is to Ramsey Macdonald and FDR, rather than some other 1930s politician. Because it's quite early in the day to be staking a claim to today's Godwin award.
    I wasn't thinking so much of Germany, Italy and Spain as the UK, USA, France and Argentina in the 1930s. While there is a whiff of Weimar in the air, I do not expect Fascism and war.
  • TimTTimT Posts: 6,328

    rcs1000 said:

    The whole idea of privatising the NHS as part of US trade deals is clearly utterly rubbish. However, there are certain things that the US *could* do in trade deal as part of healthcare that might be an issue:

    The most likely of these is to demand that we accept FDA rulings on the safety of drugs, and that's quite likely.

    Less likely but not unlikely, they could attempt to circumvent NICE, or argue that it constituted a non tariff barrier. (When NICE chooses one drug over another, rather than leaving that choice in the hands of doctors, that could look like protectionism.)

    Very unlikely, they could attempt some kind of "equivalence" pricing, where the NHS agreed to pay the same rates as Medicare/Medicaid in the US, which would be a big step up in pricing, and would be strongly resisted by any competent government. Oh shit...
    We shouldn't do a trade deal with the US. Just bury it in red tape. The situation currently is favourable. If they slap massive tariffs on our whiskies, reluctantly we should slap it right back on bourbon. Why do you 'slap' tariffs on things?
    tariff comes from the Arabic ta9riif - making something known or a sign used to post rates of things. Perhaps a sticker, slapped onto a product?
  • It will make no difference to the outcome of the election. But long-term perceptions of PM Johnson are now being framed. Being regarded as a liar who runs away from scrutiny will not help his leadership, especially when it turns out he cannot deliver on the promises he has made.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,741
    edited December 2019
    Foxy said:

    Foxy said:

    Jonathan said:

    Anyway a bad tempered thread for Friday

    This is nothing to what will follow, a Boris administration is going to be nasty. Enjoy the kat few days of relative calm.
    Yes, it is going to be crap under the Tories, but I expect BoZo to be gone fairly quickly. How long before those 1922 Committee letters start again?
    This is one of the reasons that I am less unhappy about voting for him than I would be about voting in a way that might end up with Corbyn as PM. We know that the Tory party can and will get rid of underperforming PMs. We also know that the PLP has tried and failed to get rid of Corbyn.
    Sure, though I do think that the experience of electing leaders via partywide ballots is one with a track record of success. I mean that not just for Tories, but also for Labour and Lib Dems.
    It's the system that gave us Tony Blair and David Cameron.

    But also John Prescott, Iain Duncan Smith, Harriet Harman, Ed Miliband, Jeremy Corbyn, Tom Watson, Boris Johnson, Nick Clegg, Menzies Campbell, Jo Swinson. Or to widen it, Leanne Wood.

    Not sold on this idea of its success...
  • TimTTimT Posts: 6,328

    I remember when people said Johnson was a master campaigner. So good in fact he’s run away from as much debating as possible

    Which could, of course, turn out to be masterful.
  • Andy_JS said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Foxy said:

    His contempt for the British Constitution and proper democratic scrutiny makes it deeply worrying that in one week’s time he’s likely to be PM with a large majority.

    I don't think that we are unique in our crisis. The news from France last night was horrifying, and events in the USA, Bolivia, Chile etc show that it is not just in Europe that there is a crisis of democracy.

    Parallels with the 1930s are easily overcooked, but it does seem as if democracy works well in times of economic prosperity, but really struggles under the strain of prolonged economic stagnation. While overall some parts of the country are doing economically OK, but substantial regions and demographics are clearly not.

    I was quite moved by yesterdays BBC report from the foodbank in Grimsby, but the folk there were correct in not knowing what politician can help them. I see why they grasp at straws.
    The demographic drag is a huge issue here. An ever greater share of the output of workers is being used to support the old, and it's just going to get worse.

    The only way people will accept such a situation if it's seen that everyone suffers to some degree. If the rich get richer, while everyone else is bearing the burden, it's not going to end well for anyone.
    The elderly care crisis means that more money, not less, is going to be needed to be allocated in the direction of older people. That might not be popular. We saw it cause problems for the Tories during the last election campaign.

    It means continued high levels of immigration.

  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,056
    rcs1000 said:

    Foxy said:

    His contempt for the British Constitution and proper democratic scrutiny makes it deeply worrying that in one week’s time he’s likely to be PM with a large majority.

    I don't think that we are unique in our crisis. The news from France last night was horrifying, and events in the USA, Bolivia, Chile etc show that it is not just in Europe that there is a crisis of democracy.

    Parallels with the 1930s are easily overcooked, but it does seem as if democracy works well in times of economic prosperity, but really struggles under the strain of prolonged economic stagnation. While overall some parts of the country are doing economically OK, but substantial regions and demographics are clearly not.

    I was quite moved by yesterdays BBC report from the foodbank in Grimsby, but the folk there were correct in not knowing what politician can help them. I see why they grasp at straws.
    The demographic drag is a huge issue here. An ever greater share of the output of workers is being used to support the old, and it's just going to get worse.

    The only way people will accept such a situation if it's seen that everyone suffers to some degree. If the rich get richer, while everyone else is bearing the burden, it's not going to end well for anyone.
    It is going to be hard to sustain a belief in capitalism in countries where so few have capital or any prospect of gaining any. That is the problem in Grimsby.
  • JonathanJonathan Posts: 20,901
    TimT said:

    I remember when people said Johnson was a master campaigner. So good in fact he’s run away from as much debating as possible

    Which could, of course, turn out to be masterful.
    You can’t hide forever. Is he going to run away from trade summits?
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 25,043
    rcs1000 said:

    rcs1000 said:

    The whole idea of privatising the NHS as part of US trade deals is clearly utterly rubbish. However, there are certain things that the US *could* do in trade deal as part of healthcare that might be an issue:

    The most likely of these is to demand that we accept FDA rulings on the safety of drugs, and that's quite likely.

    Less likely but not unlikely, they could attempt to circumvent NICE, or argue that it constituted a non tariff barrier. (When NICE chooses one drug over another, rather than leaving that choice in the hands of doctors, that could look like protectionism.)

    Very unlikely, they could attempt some kind of "equivalence" pricing, where the NHS agreed to pay the same rates as Medicare/Medicaid in the US, which would be a big step up in pricing, and would be strongly resisted by any competent government. Oh shit...
    We shouldn't do a trade deal with the US. Just bury it in red tape. The situation currently is favourable. If they slap massive tariffs on our whiskies, reluctantly we should slap it right back on bourbon. Why do you 'slap' tariffs on things?
    I find it hard to see how we could come to a mutually acceptable agreement with the US, simply because the things they most want out of a trade deal are the things that are more politically sensitive in the UK.

    The thing they want out of the deal is to swing the balance of payments in their favour, and they will use every trick in the book. We need a stance of cordial competition with the US - with every highly developed economy. We have shared interests in some areas, but it is still an economic competition.
  • moonshinemoonshine Posts: 5,226
    Foxy said:

    moonshine said:

    Foxy said:

    His contempt for the British Constitution and proper democratic scrutiny makes it deeply worrying that in one week’s time he’s likely to be PM with a large majority.

    I don't think that we are unique in our crisis. The news from France last night was horrifying, and events in the USA, Bolivia, Chile etc show that it is not just in Europe that there is a crisis of democracy.

    Parallels with the 1930s are easily overcooked, but it does seem as if democracy works well in times of economic prosperity, but really struggles under the strain of prolonged economic stagnation. While overall some parts of the country are doing economically OK, but substantial regions and demographics are clearly not.

    I was quite moved by yesterdays BBC report from the foodbank in Grimsby, but the folk there were correct in not knowing what politician can help them. I see why they grasp at straws.


    I assume your 1930s reference is to Ramsey Macdonald and FDR, rather than some other 1930s politician. Because it's quite early in the day to be staking a claim to today's Godwin award.
    I wasn't thinking so much of Germany, Italy and Spain as the UK, USA, France and Argentina in the 1930s. While there is a whiff of Weimar in the air, I do not expect Fascism and war.
    Just a whiff of a million percent inflation you mean? Although that was the 1920s so I'm now even more confused.
  • eekeek Posts: 24,797
    Glyph said:

    I think it's less about the specific number of views the video has but more about how the message in that video disseminates and adds to an overall impression. A lot of people who have doubts about Boris could get the vibe from this video and it could alter their opinion, and that's why it's important. I think Mike is right to keep reminding us that leadership ratings mean a lot in elections, and if this video and its integrated message gets through, those ratings could be impacted.

    But as every Tory on here points out it's probably baked in.

    This wasn't an election where you picked the best option out of 2 good ones.

    It's an election where for most people it's pick the least worst out of 2 very unpalatable options.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,767

    Andy_JS said:

    rcs1000 said:

    Foxy said:

    His contempt for the British Constitution and proper democratic scrutiny makes it deeply worrying that in one week’s time he’s likely to be PM with a large majority.

    I don't think that we are unique in our crisis. The news from France last night was horrifying, and events in the USA, Bolivia, Chile etc show that it is not just in Europe that there is a crisis of democracy.

    Parallels with the 1930s are easily overcooked, but it does seem as if democracy works well in times of economic prosperity, but really struggles under the strain of prolonged economic stagnation. While overall some parts of the country are doing economically OK, but substantial regions and demographics are clearly not.

    I was quite moved by yesterdays BBC report from the foodbank in Grimsby, but the folk there were correct in not knowing what politician can help them. I see why they grasp at straws.
    The demographic drag is a huge issue here. An ever greater share of the output of workers is being used to support the old, and it's just going to get worse.

    The only way people will accept such a situation if it's seen that everyone suffers to some degree. If the rich get richer, while everyone else is bearing the burden, it's not going to end well for anyone.
    The elderly care crisis means that more money, not less, is going to be needed to be allocated in the direction of older people. That might not be popular. We saw it cause problems for the Tories during the last election campaign.

    It means continued high levels of immigration.

    Well, here's the thing: the older generation make up a growing proportion of the voters, and are beneficiaries of the system (as recipients of pensions and healthcare), and they don't want more immigrants. In fact, they want fewer.

    It's not going to end well.
This discussion has been closed.