politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Who will be Sir Keir Starmer’s successor?

Already considering Sir Kier's replacement?

In the words of Blue Eyes - You're riding high in April, shot down in May.

That's Life!

ukpaul said:

Andy_JS said:

"Stockholm will reach 'herd immunity' within weeks
Claim comes amid bitter debate over success of Sweden's relaxed approach

Sweden's infectious diseases chief has said parts of the country could achieve "herd immunity" as early as next month as debate rages over the rising death toll." (£)

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/04/18/stockholm-will-reach-herd-immunity-within-weeks

https://mrc-ide.github.io/covid19estimates/#/details/Sweden

Estimated at 11% a few days ago.

I don't believe he said all of Sweden, he said parts e.g. Stockholm.

Sandpit said:

More money to be made laying David Miliband?

I'm not being greedy, there's only so many times you can milk a (cash) cow.

Why do you think I'm not laying Hillary Clinton anymore for the Dem nomination?

FPT:

IshmaelZ said:

Sigh, can't get the quotes straight. I said:

I didn't say that, it's a quoting cockup. And i entirely agree with you. I read somewhere reasonably authoritative that 30 % of all deaths in India are not formally recorded anywhere, and only 25% have the cause of death certified by a doctor.

HYUFD has never been anywhere in the third world. He doesn't realise that they do things differently there.

Before we all got caught up in the current panic, there was a huge news story about the Indian government's attempts to re-register everyone. There's at least tens of millions of Indians who have no record of their life anywhere official. It could actually turn out to be hundreds of millions of completely undocumented people.

Is the more important split in the Tory party not between Leave and Remain but between China hawks and doves?

https://twitter.com/dailymailuk/status/1251824117482913797?s=21

So nearly 22,000 tests yesterday but Capacity is now approaching 40,000. Time for all those NHS staff treating Covid 19 patients to get their tests whether or not they are symptomatic

Has anyone seen Roger on here lately? I assume he's self-isolating in one of his twelve mansions?

CorrectHorseBattery said:

Andy Burnham or Dan Jarvis.

The former for me

The contrast in the performance of the 2 mayors is stark

Another question for WWII UK military procurement -

What is the connection between cigarettes and an African tropical disease?

This time £5 to charity of choice - it's an easier question.

NerysHughes said:

bigjohnowls said:

FPT Absolutely agree with that Floater

My hospital now has 26 of 32 ventilators in use and has had 63 deaths in last 3 weeks

High point was 13/4/20 when only 1 vent was spare

The pre Covid Vent capacity was 22 so still using some of boosted Capacity

These people who obsess about ending the already looser than some countries "lockdown" have their priorities completely wrong.

We defintely need to start treating more non Covid patients who must he suffering now

There's a big problem heading the NHS's way later this summer and into the Autumn. Backlog of elective surgery. Cancellation of "non-urgent" operations that WILL have to be recategorized as urgent in six months time. Huge numbers of doctors and nurses who will have basically gone months without a holiday needing to be given time off. Oh, and the standard winter crisis.

Oh, and COVID-19 second wave...

@charles I thought I was quite a lot older than you actually!

Dining out used to be a treat but I think in the last decade it’s become more of a regular thing generally

bigjohnowls said:

FPT Absolutely agree with that Floater

My hospital now has 26 of 32 ventilators in use and has had 63 deaths in last 3 weeks

High point was 13/4/20 when only 1 vent was spare

The pre Covid Vent capacity was 22 so still using some of boosted Capacity

These people who obsess about ending the already looser than some countries "lockdown" have their priorities completely wrong.

But cases have been declining for a full 10 minutes now...

Seriously - good luck to you.

Scott_xP said:

https://twitter.com/haveigotnews/status/1251828618256429056

Nice to have Scott and his twitter barrage back. He did some decent self isolating of his own after losing the election.

Sandpit said:

FPT:

IshmaelZ said:

Sigh, can't get the quotes straight. I said:

I didn't say that, it's a quoting cockup. And i entirely agree with you. I read somewhere reasonably authoritative that 30 % of all deaths in India are not formally recorded anywhere, and only 25% have the cause of death certified by a doctor.

HYUFD has never been anywhere in the third world. He doesn't realise that they do things differently there.

Before we all got caught up in the current panic, there was a huge news story about the Indian government's attempts to re-register everyone. There's at least tens of millions of Indians who have no record of their life anywhere official. It could actually turn out to be hundreds of millions of completely undocumented people.

"re-register" - in fact to register people in the first place.

TimT said:

@ TSE I think we need a thread on the various voting systems so that we can understand your comment "the flawless alternative vote system" fully and in context. Could you rustle something up for us?

I’ll try and get said piece written for next weekend.

Black_Rook said:

alex_ said:

NerysHughes said:

bigjohnowls said:

FPT Absolutely agree with that Floater

My hospital now has 26 of 32 ventilators in use and has had 63 deaths in last 3 weeks

High point was 13/4/20 when only 1 vent was spare

The pre Covid Vent capacity was 22 so still using some of boosted Capacity

These people who obsess about ending the already looser than some countries "lockdown" have their priorities completely wrong.

We defintely need to start treating more non Covid patients who must he suffering now

There's a big problem heading the NHS's way later this summer and into the Autumn. Backlog of elective surgery. Cancellation of "non-urgent" operations that WILL have to be recategorized as urgent in six months time. Huge numbers of doctors and nurses who will have basically gone months without a holiday needing to be given time off. Oh, and the standard winter crisis.

Oh, and COVID-19 second wave...

There will have to be a rapid re-assessment of what constitutes urgent and non-urgent treatment, just because of the medium-term (at least) reduction in capacity.

I suspect that anyone waiting for a hip replacement, for example, and who lacks the means to go private is going to be left in pain for years.

My wife works as an anaesthetist in a rural US hospital. They are re-starting urgent non-elective surgeries after about a month of just non-elective surgeries. So far, they've only had 4 confirmed COVID cases, all of whom survived and have been discharged.

TheScreamingEagles said:

TimT said:

@ TSE I think we need a thread on the various voting systems so that we can understand your comment "the flawless alternative vote system" fully and in context. Could you rustle something up for us?

I’ll try and get said piece written for next weekend.

Malmesbury said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

TimT said:

@ TSE I think we need a thread on the various voting systems so that we can understand your comment "the flawless alternative vote system" fully and in context. Could you rustle something up for us?

I’ll try and get said piece written for next weekend.

Perhaps a companion piece on the Epicurian perfection of pineapple on pizza?

I've eaten a lot of pizza in my time and have never been tempted to put pineapple on it. I find it a rather odd idea, frankly.

I think Keir could be with us for a long time yet 10-15 years. Too many variables for me. Putting your money in Shell for that sweet 10-11% dividend and hoping their promises of diversification bear fruit might be a little less risky.

ydoethur said:

I have just been out on Cannock Chase on my bike ride.

Lockdown is over. I’ve only ever twice seen it busier.

And with the car parks shut, they’ve just parked on the roads.

Is it simply the product of very nice weather and nothing else to do?

So long as all those people aren't clustering in groups, organising football matches or staging an impromptu mock-up of Glastonbury then it really shouldn't make much difference.

FWIW I reckon it's maybe marginally, but not significantly, busier around here. Probably saw a few more cars about when I was out running this morning than could be plausibly accounted for by folk driving up the heath to do walks and exercise their dogs, especially since it was too early for the shops to be open, but no obvious widespread disobedience. Certainly I can see most of the railway station car park from my flat and there's only one car parked in it.

Based on this and on the levels of traffic I saw out on Easter Day, I reckon there are some people out and about because they can't resist the urge to visit family and friends, but not particularly large numbers.

MightyAlex said:

I think Keir could be with us for a long time yet 10-15 years. Too many variables for me. Putting your money in Shell for that sweet 10-11% dividend and hoping their promises of diversification bear fruit might be a little less risky.

He’s 57. I give him two general elections at most. More likely, if he loses the next one he resigns about a year afterwards.

That, of course, is another consideration. If Labour are in office, or seem close to it, back a centrist as they try to make that last heave. If they’re in opposition and feel they’re likely to stay there, back them to pick the most self-indulgent candidate imaginable.

Black_Rook said:

ydoethur said:

I have just been out on Cannock Chase on my bike ride.

Lockdown is over. I’ve only ever twice seen it busier.

And with the car parks shut, they’ve just parked on the roads.

Is it simply the product of very nice weather and nothing else to do?

So long as all those people aren't clustering in groups, organising football matches or staging an impromptu mock-up of Glastonbury then it really shouldn't make much difference.

FWIW I reckon it's maybe marginally, but not significantly, busier around here. Probably saw a few more cars about when I was out running this morning than could be plausibly accounted for by folk driving up the heath to do walks and exercise their dogs, especially since it was too early for the shops to be open, but no obvious widespread disobedience. Certainly I can see most of the railway station car park from my flat and there's only one car parked in it.

Based on this and on the levels of traffic I saw out on Easter Day, I reckon there are some people out and about because they can't resist the urge to visit family and friends, but not particularly large numbers.

Small leaks over time sink big ships

TimT said:

Pulpstar said:

bigjohnowls said:

So nearly 22,000 tests yesterday but Capacity is now approaching 40,000. Time for all those NHS staff treating Covid 19 patients to get their tests whether or not they are symptomatic

More frontline symptomatic is the next expansion.

A small research project by Stanford using antibody testing concluded that California's true COVID exposure is 50-100 x the reported positives from testing. I take that as good news - it means we'll get to herd immunity quicker and that, even if the implication is that the R0 is higher than previously calculated, that the social distancing is working despite that higher R0

Yet we never reach herd immunity if the worries from the WHO yesterday turn out to be accurate.

Black_Rook said:

ydoethur said:

I have just been out on Cannock Chase on my bike ride.

Lockdown is over. I’ve only ever twice seen it busier.

And with the car parks shut, they’ve just parked on the roads.

Is it simply the product of very nice weather and nothing else to do?

So long as all those people aren't clustering in groups, organising football matches or staging an impromptu mock-up of Glastonbury then it really shouldn't make much difference.

FWIW I reckon it's maybe marginally, but not significantly, busier around here. Probably saw a few more cars about when I was out running this morning than could be plausibly accounted for by folk driving up the heath to do walks and exercise their dogs, especially since it was too early for the shops to be open, but no obvious widespread disobedience. Certainly I can see most of the railway station car park from my flat and there's only one car parked in it.

Based on this and on the levels of traffic I saw out on Easter Day, I reckon there are some people out and about because they can't resist the urge to visit family and friends, but not particularly large numbers.

Well, yes, but if enough of them do it deciding it’s a ‘reasonable excuse,’ lockdown is over.

Which is what I saw on Cannock Chase.

kinabalu said:

Malmesbury said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

TimT said:

@ TSE I think we need a thread on the various voting systems so that we can understand your comment "the flawless alternative vote system" fully and in context. Could you rustle something up for us?

I’ll try and get said piece written for next weekend.

Perhaps a companion piece on the Epicurian perfection of pineapple on pizza?

I've eaten a lot of pizza in my time and have never been tempted to put pineapple on it. I find it a rather odd idea, frankly.

It's ghastly.

I am more interested by discovering that bacon on pizza is heresy, according to the Italians.

Don't they know everything is better with bacon?

ManchesterKurt said:

ydoethur said:

Black_Rook said:

ydoethur said:

I have just been out on Cannock Chase on my bike ride.

Lockdown is over. I’ve only ever twice seen it busier.

And with the car parks shut, they’ve just parked on the roads.

Is it simply the product of very nice weather and nothing else to do?

So long as all those people aren't clustering in groups, organising football matches or staging an impromptu mock-up of Glastonbury then it really shouldn't make much difference.

FWIW I reckon it's maybe marginally, but not significantly, busier around here. Probably saw a few more cars about when I was out running this morning than could be plausibly accounted for by folk driving up the heath to do walks and exercise their dogs, especially since it was too early for the shops to be open, but no obvious widespread disobedience. Certainly I can see most of the railway station car park from my flat and there's only one car parked in it.

Based on this and on the levels of traffic I saw out on Easter Day, I reckon there are some people out and about because they can't resist the urge to visit family and friends, but not particularly large numbers.

Well, yes, but if enough of them do it deciding it’s a ‘reasonable excuse,’ lockdown is over.

Which is what I saw on Cannock Chase.

I may be wrong, but the essence of what I read was there is no certainty that you cannot catch the virus more than 1.

Yes, reports out of South Korea are worrying in that regard. And there have been reports from the UK that those with no or low symptoms are not developing antibody immunity (and hence could be open to re-infection). But this study was using antibody tests, so the people they viewed as having been exposed are contributing to herd immunity - unless the antibodies are themselves promoting infection - something that has been known to happen with other coronaviruses.

Foreign Aid from Turkey

https://www.express.co.uk/videos/6150597369001/Coronavirus-Expert-explains-reason-for-PPE-delivery-delay

TimT said:

Black_Rook said:

alex_ said:

NerysHughes said:

bigjohnowls said:

FPT Absolutely agree with that Floater

My hospital now has 26 of 32 ventilators in use and has had 63 deaths in last 3 weeks

High point was 13/4/20 when only 1 vent was spare

The pre Covid Vent capacity was 22 so still using some of boosted Capacity

These people who obsess about ending the already looser than some countries "lockdown" have their priorities completely wrong.

We defintely need to start treating more non Covid patients who must he suffering now

There's a big problem heading the NHS's way later this summer and into the Autumn. Backlog of elective surgery. Cancellation of "non-urgent" operations that WILL have to be recategorized as urgent in six months time. Huge numbers of doctors and nurses who will have basically gone months without a holiday needing to be given time off. Oh, and the standard winter crisis.

Oh, and COVID-19 second wave...

There will have to be a rapid re-assessment of what constitutes urgent and non-urgent treatment, just because of the medium-term (at least) reduction in capacity.

I suspect that anyone waiting for a hip replacement, for example, and who lacks the means to go private is going to be left in pain for years.

My wife works as an anaesthetist in a rural US hospital. They are re-starting urgent non-elective surgeries after about a month of just non-elective surgeries. So far, they've only had 4 confirmed COVID cases, all of whom survived and have been discharged.

Whereabouts? Many US states are vast and very sparsely populated - Montana, for example, is larger than Germany yet is home to only about a million people, has no cities bigger than Norwich and is very remote from all of the States' major metropolitan areas. It would be no surprise if somewhere like that got off more lightly than New Zealand and without the need for anything more than the most rudimentary movement in the direction of social distancing.

We don't have their advantages. It could be years before the healthcare system returns to something resembling normality.

Page 22 of the Sunday Times points out that the Wuhan death toll increased by exactly 50% (to the nearest whole number) from 2,579 to 3,869 which seems rather suspicious.

ydoethur said:

I have just been out on Cannock Chase on my bike ride.

Lockdown is over. I’ve only ever twice seen it busier.

And with the car parks shut, they’ve just parked on the roads.

As long as groups of people from the same household stay 2 metres apart from each other I can't see the problem.

Black_Rook said:

ydoethur said:

I have just been out on Cannock Chase on my bike ride.

Lockdown is over. I’ve only ever twice seen it busier.

And with the car parks shut, they’ve just parked on the roads.

Is it simply the product of very nice weather and nothing else to do?

So long as all those people aren't clustering in groups, organising football matches or staging an impromptu mock-up of Glastonbury then it really shouldn't make much difference.

FWIW I reckon it's maybe marginally, but not significantly, busier around here. Probably saw a few more cars about when I was out running this morning than could be plausibly accounted for by folk driving up the heath to do walks and exercise their dogs, especially since it was too early for the shops to be open, but no obvious widespread disobedience. Certainly I can see most of the railway station car park from my flat and there's only one car parked in it.

Based on this and on the levels of traffic I saw out on Easter Day, I reckon there are some people out and about because they can't resist the urge to visit family and friends, but not particularly large numbers.

On my walk earlier saw very few people about and those that were about were very much keeping their social distance

Oh I did see a guy sunbathing in his rather small front garden - I imagine the Po Po would feel his collar if they saw him.

TimT said:

ManchesterKurt said:

TimT said:

Pulpstar said:

bigjohnowls said:

So nearly 22,000 tests yesterday but Capacity is now approaching 40,000. Time for all those NHS staff treating Covid 19 patients to get their tests whether or not they are symptomatic

More frontline symptomatic is the next expansion.

A small research project by Stanford using antibody testing concluded that California's true COVID exposure is 50-100 x the reported positives from testing. I take that as good news - it means we'll get to herd immunity quicker and that, even if the implication is that the R0 is higher than previously calculated, that the social distancing is working despite that higher R0

Yet we never reach herd immunity if the worries from the WHO yesterday turn out to be accurate.

Missed it. Is that the worry that asymptomatic and paucisymptomatic persons are not developing high antibody titres?

Can you please stop peddling this herd immunity, wishful thinking nonsense.....it's a vaccine, or a gamechanging anti-viral, or massive testing and contact tracing that gets us out of this....

MightyAlex said:

ydoethur said:

MightyAlex said:

I think Keir could be with us for a long time yet 10-15 years. Too many variables for me. Putting your money in Shell for that sweet 10-11% dividend and hoping their promises of diversification bear fruit might be a little less risky.

He’s 57. I give him two general elections at most. More likely, if he loses the next one he resigns about a year afterwards.

That, of course, is another consideration. If Labour are in office, or seem close to it, back a centrist as they try to make that last heave. If they’re in opposition and feel they’re likely to stay there, back them to pick the most self-indulgent candidate imaginable.

He could well win in coalition in 5 years so thats the first 10 out the way. Betting on one hopeful out of many with no visible end-point and in a hugely uncertain time seems folly if you're betting to win. Where is the edge?

This might well serve as the perfect example of a mug's bet.

kinabalu said:

Malmesbury said:

kinabalu said:

Malmesbury said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

TimT said:

@ TSE I think we need a thread on the various voting systems so that we can understand your comment "the flawless alternative vote system" fully and in context. Could you rustle something up for us?

I’ll try and get said piece written for next weekend.

Perhaps a companion piece on the Epicurian perfection of pineapple on pizza?

I've eaten a lot of pizza in my time and have never been tempted to put pineapple on it. I find it a rather odd idea, frankly.

It's ghastly.

I am more interested by discovering that bacon on pizza is heresy, according to the Italians.

Don't they know everything is better with bacon?

Well, yes, that obviously works. Bacon is a close relative of the thing without which a pizza is not really a pizza - pepperoni.

And of course you have the ritual of plucking each piece off and eating it with your fingers first. Anybody who says they don't do that is a person of very dubious character indeed.

But Italians will tell you bacon on pizza is a crime almost as bad as pineapple...

Andy_JS said:

ydoethur said:

I have just been out on Cannock Chase on my bike ride.

Lockdown is over. I’ve only ever twice seen it busier.

And with the car parks shut, they’ve just parked on the roads.

As long as groups of people from the same household stay 2 metres apart from each other I can't see the problem.

Apart from the fact that if you cough you project Covid microbes up to 8 meters away....it only takes one of these little fellas to fuck you up.....and put you on the trajectory of a ventilator and a ghastly lonely death in a matter of weeks....

Malmesbury said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

TimT said:

@ TSE I think we need a thread on the various voting systems so that we can understand your comment "the flawless alternative vote system" fully and in context. Could you rustle something up for us?

I’ll try and get said piece written for next weekend.

Perhaps a companion piece on the Epicurian perfection of pineapple on pizza?

Late last year I wrote the greatest polling analysis in history, it featured Hawaiian pizzas.

Hypothetical polls are a lot like Hawaiian pizzas, they should be avoided at all costs by right thinking people everywhere.

https://www7.politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2019/12/01/your-regular-reminder-that-hypothetical-polls-can-be-as-accurate-as-an-american-war-film/

HYUFD said:

Rather ridiculous thread header given Starmer has only been in the job less than a month.

If Starmer loses the next general election then it would suggest one more heave was not enough and David Miliband could make a return or Liz Kendall or even Chuka Umunna could defect back again if Labour was desperate for a Blairite to take them back to power after a Brownite failed to deliver as the Corbynites had not.

If Starmer ends up PM after the next general election then whoever holds the senior Cabinet posts will be favourite

This is politicalbetting dot com, we're doing what it says on the tin.

Heck we were discussing the 2012 Presidential nominees before Obama was even elected in 2008.

Excellent Ch4 series on Putin - which I think sums him up well - he's a weak man whose only focus is hanging on to power. He must be terrified by the knowledge that nothing lasts forever.

https://www.channel4.com/programmes/putin-a-russian-spy-story/on-demand/69173-001

rottenborough said:

tyson said:

TimT said:

ManchesterKurt said:

TimT said:

Pulpstar said:

bigjohnowls said:

So nearly 22,000 tests yesterday but Capacity is now approaching 40,000. Time for all those NHS staff treating Covid 19 patients to get their tests whether or not they are symptomatic

More frontline symptomatic is the next expansion.

A small research project by Stanford using antibody testing concluded that California's true COVID exposure is 50-100 x the reported positives from testing. I take that as good news - it means we'll get to herd immunity quicker and that, even if the implication is that the R0 is higher than previously calculated, that the social distancing is working despite that higher R0

Yet we never reach herd immunity if the worries from the WHO yesterday turn out to be accurate.

Missed it. Is that the worry that asymptomatic and paucisymptomatic persons are not developing high antibody titres?

Can you please stop peddling this herd immunity, wishful thinking nonsense.....it's a vaccine, or a gamechanging anti-viral, or massive testing and contact tracing that gets us out of this....

It is not "wishing thinking nonsense". It is a possibility that we will get there a lot quicker because so many of us have had it asymptomatically, or perhaps have natural immunity.

That hypothesis may turn out to be wrong, but isn't nonsense.

Quite.
(I was going to add "what do you think testing is supposed to achieve … ?" … )

rottenborough said:

tyson said:

TimT said:

ManchesterKurt said:

TimT said:

Pulpstar said:

bigjohnowls said:

So nearly 22,000 tests yesterday but Capacity is now approaching 40,000. Time for all those NHS staff treating Covid 19 patients to get their tests whether or not they are symptomatic

More frontline symptomatic is the next expansion.

A small research project by Stanford using antibody testing concluded that California's true COVID exposure is 50-100 x the reported positives from testing. I take that as good news - it means we'll get to herd immunity quicker and that, even if the implication is that the R0 is higher than previously calculated, that the social distancing is working despite that higher R0

Yet we never reach herd immunity if the worries from the WHO yesterday turn out to be accurate.

Missed it. Is that the worry that asymptomatic and paucisymptomatic persons are not developing high antibody titres?

Can you please stop peddling this herd immunity, wishful thinking nonsense.....it's a vaccine, or a gamechanging anti-viral, or massive testing and contact tracing that gets us out of this....

It is not "wishing thinking nonsense". It is a possibility that we will get there a lot quicker because so many of us have had it asymptomatically, or perhaps have natural immunity.

That hypothesis may turn out to be wrong, but isn't nonsense.

The German Wuhan...had 15%....Lombardy has 10%...these are with blood tests samples that show the population affected....and at best it is 15%

We know what happens when this virus hits a hotspot.....Bergamo, New York, Madrid....

ManchesterKurt said:

TimT said:

Pulpstar said:

bigjohnowls said:

So nearly 22,000 tests yesterday but Capacity is now approaching 40,000. Time for all those NHS staff treating Covid 19 patients to get their tests whether or not they are symptomatic

More frontline symptomatic is the next expansion.

A small research project by Stanford using antibody testing concluded that California's true COVID exposure is 50-100 x the reported positives from testing. I take that as good news - it means we'll get to herd immunity quicker and that, even if the implication is that the R0 is higher than previously calculated, that the social distancing is working despite that higher R0

Yet we never reach herd immunity if the worries from the WHO yesterday turn out to be accurate.

I think herd immunity is a real Plan Z. It costs 3m hospital admissions and 250k lives.

Social distancing and partial lockdown until vaccine, I fear.

Sandpit said:

Andy_JS said:

Page 22 of the Sunday Times points out that the Wuhan death toll increased by exactly 50% (to the nearest whole number) from 2,579 to 3,869 which seems rather suspicious.

Chinese reported figures are suspicious, who'd have thought that?

"Suspicious" is a gross understatement.

alterego said:

Sandpit said:

Andy_JS said:

Page 22 of the Sunday Times points out that the Wuhan death toll increased by exactly 50% (to the nearest whole number) from 2,579 to 3,869 which seems rather suspicious.

Chinese reported figures are suspicious, who'd have thought that?

"Suspicious" is a gross understatement.

Our fatality figures are very suspicious too....thousands dying in care homes....

CarlottaVance said:

Excellent Ch4 series on Putin - which I think sums him up well - he's a weak man whose only focus is hanging on to power. He must be terrified by the knowledge that nothing lasts forever.

https://www.channel4.com/programmes/putin-a-russian-spy-story/on-demand/69173-001

Looking at the graph of case reports and deaths, by far the steepest curve of any country is now Russia, with the outbreak centered on Moscow - another city that's very densely populated.

CarlottaVance said:

Excellent Ch4 series on Putin - which I think sums him up well - he's a weak man whose only focus is hanging on to power. He must be terrified by the knowledge that nothing lasts forever.

https://www.channel4.com/programmes/putin-a-russian-spy-story/on-demand/69173-001

did they manage to ask former KGB man Putin if he was weak?

maybe they did, but we'd never know.

TheScreamingEagles said:

HYUFD said:

Rather ridiculous thread header given Starmer has only been in the job less than a month.

If Starmer loses the next general election then it would suggest one more heave was not enough and David Miliband could make a return or Liz Kendall or even Chuka Umunna could defect back again if Labour was desperate for a Blairite to take them back to power after a Brownite failed to deliver as the Corbynites had not.

If Starmer ends up PM after the next general election then whoever holds the senior Cabinet posts will be favourite

This is politicalbetting dot com, we're doing what it says on the tin.

Heck we were discussing the 2012 Presidential nominees before Obama was even elected in 2008.

I like Allin- Khan. She is one of only a handful of MPs who's stock is genuinely on the ascent during this crisis.

At the GE she did blot her copybook somewhat, by ripping-off Boris' hilarious Love Actually spoof before he did his.

CarlottaVance said:

RobD said:

Scott_xP said:

https://twitter.com/LJ_Skipper/status/1251883150705385474

Was he supposed to chair them? Sounds like he wasn't.

May was criticised for being a control freak for wanting to do everything herself.

We get a PM who delegates and he's criticised for not being a control freak who does everything himself.

the media have always had a 'throw enough shit' strategy.

tyson said:

Sandpit said:

Andy_JS said:

Page 22 of the Sunday Times points out that the Wuhan death toll increased by exactly 50% (to the nearest whole number) from 2,579 to 3,869 which seems rather suspicious.

Chinese reported figures are suspicious, who'd have thought that?

We (the UK) are not counting countless thousands dying in care homes...so pot calling kettle springs to mind....

Those are included in the ONS figures. Are you really comparing the two?