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politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » It is beginning to look that a no-deal Brexit could be off the

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  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 44,101

    Just spoken to my elderly folks who were getting the free food box for the shielded. They said they have been sent a letter asking if they really need it anymore and you can withdraw from the scheme. As often with the elderly, they instantly did so, with mindset that it will help those worse off than themselves.

    We are shielding as my wife was ill but chose not to take the free food given we can well afford to buy our own. However a bit off writing to people and blackmailing them into not taking it , for sure some that likely need it will also cancel.
  • BromBrom Posts: 3,760

    The Premier League has lost approx £500m due to covid. About 80% of that will come from future player wages. And for those who drop down the leagues the pay drops will be even starker than they are now.
    Most of these players are tied to contracts and have been unwilling to take paycuts or even defer payments. They have sponsorship deals and endorsments on the side. On the other hand many people will have lost their jobs or imminently lose them. The footballers come from a position of undeniable privilege.
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 30,825
    Cyclefree said:

    Wander in.

    Find that today’s argument is why in 21st century Britain poor children should have to rely on charity from a few rich individuals.

    Look at sunshine outside.

    Decide to wander off.

    I would prefer them to be able to rely on their parents. If that isn't possible, I am happy with a combination of the state, Church and individuals/charities helping, yes.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 44,101

    I am 100% positive the final deal will be a form of "cake and eating it" or "cherrypicking" deal and always have been.

    The reason is Europe has always been cherrypicked. The cake that defines the EU has always been Fudge Cake and we will end up with a fudge that works best and eating it. The idea there was one form of option available and everything else was cherrypicking was the biggest unicorn of this entire process.

    This image needs updating but sums up my thinking on Europe beautifully. The reality is that countries will find an agreement they're happy with and the UK will end up somewhere else on this Venn Diagram having picked whichever cherries works best.

    image
    You are in for a hard landing when reality beckons.
  • Richard_TyndallRichard_Tyndall Posts: 33,255
    isam said:

    Blimey that is an old school comment!
    I would put it more simply. Lammy is a racist who believes that positions should be given to people on the basis of their colour.
  • SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 40,017
    kinabalu said:

    On topic and to stress again -

    An extension is politically impossible. No Deal is politically and economically such lunacy as to be effectively impossible. Thus there will be no extension and there will be no No Deal.

    Leaves us with one thing. A deal substantively on the EU's terms but with enough fig leaf for Johnson to sell to his sucker audience as great for the UK. Watch out for terms such as "phased future divergence" and "dynamic democratic alignment".

    That is the plan. A Surrender Deal badged here as a triumph. Just like last time. You don't change a winning formula.

    And since the above is the only way that this can turn out - given the politics and the economics - it should be considered a certainty.

    If we get a trade deal it will be one that is largely dictated by the EU, with a few small UK wins thrown in for show. For the loons that will not be enough. The question is how many loons are left?
  • logical_songlogical_song Posts: 10,033
    Trump’s coronavirus message gets tested in key swing state
    https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/16/trump-florida-coronavirus-321600
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 44,101
    edited June 2020

    :lol: True.
    Him and a few of his pals could easily fund it and never even notice it, be like loose change for them.
    PS: fact that there are starving children in UK is a disgrace, it should be sorted one way or the other.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 34,569
    MrEd said:

    Which would still leave most PL players earning more in a week than many earn in a year. Let them put their money where their mouth is. I agree though with players from lower leagues.
    While I agree PL players seem vastly over paid, let us recall that it's probably for about 10 years. After that they have to rely on their wits.
  • SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 40,017
    nichomar said:

    Interesting to note how some people view ‘rich’ people, there are the undeserving rich, footballers and popular culture figures who should give their ill gotten gains away and then there are those who have inherited it or made it on the financial markets who should be left with as much of their wealth as possible because that’s good for the economy

    It's simpler than that. The deserving rich support the Conservative party. The undeserving rich do not.

  • noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 24,273
    Brom said:

    Most of these players are tied to contracts and have been unwilling to take paycuts or even defer payments. They have sponsorship deals and endorsments on the side. On the other hand many people will have lost their jobs or imminently lose them. The footballers come from a position of undeniable privilege.
    Of course they do. That doesnt mean they are disqualified from recognition or praise for doing exceptional charity work.
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 43,705

    If we get a trade deal it will be one that is largely dictated by the EU, with a few small UK wins thrown in for show. For the loons that will not be enough. The question is how many loons are left?
    I think you are overestimating the intelligence of the loons. They won't understand that the agreement will have been dictated by the EU because Boris and Dom will tell them that we lead the world in negotiating agreements.
  • SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 40,017
    TOPPING said:

    I think you are overestimating the intelligence of the loons. They won't understand that the agreement will have been dictated by the EU because Boris and Dom will tell them that we lead the world in negotiating agreements.

    The big difference ias that there is going to be time to digest the reality. That wasn't the case when Johnson backed down last autumn.

  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 44,101
    isam said:

    Blimey that is an old school comment!
    Old ones are the best Isam
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 65,541
    edited June 2020
    https://twitter.com/NJ_Timothy/status/1272827490298404864

    I'd thought the stubborn idiots would hang on until they need to stop tomorrow's awful headlines at around 7pm tonight.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 54,850
    Scott_xP said:
    Formalising the position when Priti Patel combined the roles of Secretary of State for International Development and Foreign Secretary.
  • isamisam Posts: 41,328

    The betting industry needs taken down a peg or two. We have many tools at our disposal. Look at the tobacco shits: they were crippled by focusing on that old classic, the 4Ps:

    Product, bland box with horrific pictures

    Price, tax them out of existence

    Place, hide them away and prosecute the hell out of retailers selling to children

    Promotion, this is the biggie! Ban them from football shirts for a start.
    My (2014) thoughts on the matter

    http://aboutasfarasdelgados.blogspot.com/2014/08/luis-louis-ladbrokes-life.html?m=1

    http://aboutasfarasdelgados.blogspot.com/2014/08/you-dont-have-to-be-hypocritical-coward.html?m=1
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 51,259
    Dura_Ace said:

    Modi will be under pressure from the armed forces over this. The Indian Army are fierce and proud in equal measure. They will not look the other way over the CO of an infantry battalion getting KIA'ed.
    Last time they went to war with the PLA India got hammered.

    China are a lot stronger now.
  • kjhkjh Posts: 12,524
    HYUFD said:

    If we have left the EU, ended free movement, regained control of our fishing waters and can do our own trade deals and got a trade deal with the EU that is no surrender, it is a triumph!
    The irony of this is we spent quite sometime, sometime ago, negotiating a humdinger of a trade deal with the EU and we have just chucked it away to negotiate a worse one with lots more red tape.

    Re fishing waters and free movement - this is all smoke and mirrors. No doubt it will be sold as a triumph, but immigration is not going to change just lots more red tape and the normal variation of where people come from, but making life far more difficult re travel to Europe. And we flogged off much of our fishing rights and now think it is ok to just take them back (bizarrely to catch types of fish we don't eat, but which we hope to sell to the people we sold the rights to fish here).

    Yep all very sensible and a triumph.
  • MattWMattW Posts: 26,650
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 54,850
    edited June 2020
    Germany's open source contact tracing app is live.

    https://www.coronawarn.app/en/
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 65,541
    Likely reshuffle victim list seems to grow by the day. Jenrick yesterday, Coffey today,.
  • RochdalePioneersRochdalePioneers Posts: 29,849

    My prediction is we neither be in the EEA circle, nor the Customs Union circle. We will be in a new circle for our Agreement. If I was redesigning that graphic I would put the UK to the South of the existing circles and we would be in the Council of Europe and new Agreement circle and that's it - out of all other circles.
    They won't be called EEA or CU in the UK. In practice they will be. We have to stay in the EEA to retain trade deals with every other nation in the world. We have to stay in the CU to avoid having to impossibly build a customs border in a few months.

    Call it what we want - that's the give from the EU. And it will be a bespoke deal because EEA usually aren't in the CU. But we have to be. So they'll call it some bollocks and Boris will pretend he hasn't put a border down the Irish Sea again
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 65,541

    Formalising the position when Priti Patel combined the roles of Secretary of State for International Development and Foreign Secretary.
    :lol:
  • MangoMango Posts: 1,031
    Surrey said:

    Trump claims "almost" 1 million people have requested tickets for his superspreader event campaign rally in Montgomery, Alabama Tulsa, Oklahoma.

    Did somebody say few would bother turning up? The greatest and healthiest president in all possible universes sounds as though he is "doubling down".

    https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1272521253136498690

    Can't they move it to Nuremberg and be done with it?
  • isamisam Posts: 41,328
    TOPPING said:

    I think there have been some teachers on here who have pointed out that they (the teachers) have worked their arses off these past few months and hence can't/don't want to go in for summer and in any case deserve a break but as an outsider, it seems sensible for schools to remain open somehow and yes for the kitchens to be open also. I'm sure there are a thousand reasons why this couldn't happen, however.
    Yes, online lessons etc, I'm sure they've just not being kicking their heels. This is a bit different though, as I doubt many will be going on holiday. I reckon there would be enough teachers who have been driven crazy by lockdown enough to want to do a skeleton staff. Even if it's just PE teachers doing games and the canteen serving food

  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 127,053

    They won't be called EEA or CU in the UK. In practice they will be. We have to stay in the EEA to retain trade deals with every other nation in the world. We have to stay in the CU to avoid having to impossibly build a customs border in a few months.

    Call it what we want - that's the give from the EU. And it will be a bespoke deal because EEA usually aren't in the CU. But we have to be. So they'll call it some bollocks and Boris will pretend he hasn't put a border down the Irish Sea again
    If GB is de facto in the EEA and Customs Union (bar no free movement and able to do our own trade deals) there would be no border in the Irish Sea in reality anyway
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,422
    Scott_xP said:
    "Burning political capital" seems to be one of the few things they're good at.....
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 65,541
    https://twitter.com/bbclaurak/status/1272832711535792128

    Perhaps he's going to announce that 'Global Britain' turned out to be a load of bollx in a world of competing super-blocs and a collapsing WTO?



    Thought not...
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 65,541

    "Burning political capital" seems to be one of the few things they're good at.....
    Maybe, like money, they have found the magic political capital tree?
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 127,053
    She has actually improved the implementation of universal credit and ensured the welfare system could cope through lockdown
  • Richard_TyndallRichard_Tyndall Posts: 33,255

    They won't be called EEA or CU in the UK. In practice they will be. We have to stay in the EEA to retain trade deals with every other nation in the world. We have to stay in the CU to avoid having to impossibly build a customs border in a few months.

    Call it what we want - that's the give from the EU. And it will be a bespoke deal because EEA usually aren't in the CU. But we have to be. So they'll call it some bollocks and Boris will pretend he hasn't put a border down the Irish Sea again
    I very much doubt he will get CU past his own MPs. Nor should he.
  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 26,536
    Excess deaths by week:

    Week 10: -603
    Week 11: -186
    Week 12: 72
    Week 13: 1,011
    Week 14: 6,082
    Week 15: 7,996
    Week 16: 11,854
    Week 17: 11,539
    Week 18: 8,012
    Week 19: 3,081
    Week 20: 4,385
    Week 21: 2,348
    Week 22: 1,653
    Week 23: 732

    We're getting close to breaking even.
  • BluestBlueBluestBlue Posts: 4,556
    HYUFD said:

    She has actually improved the implementation of universal credit and ensured the welfare system could cope through lockdown
    But she also dared mention facts to a footballer, so that's her career done...
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 127,053
    Foxy said:

    Last time they went to war with the PLA India got hammered.

    China are a lot stronger now.
    Trump though is an ally of Modi and furious with China over Covid, the US and Indian militaries combined are stronger than China's.

    JFK did not back India in 1962, Trump might back India now

  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 54,850

    I very much doubt he will get CU past his own MPs. Nor should he.
    He can get it past his own MPs by calling it something else, delaying its implementation, and lying about it, like he did with the Northern Ireland protocol.
  • FloaterFloater Posts: 14,207
    HYUFD said:

    She has actually improved the implementation of universal credit and ensured the welfare system could cope through lockdown
    One of my sons is on universal credit thanks to COVID19 - I feared it would be a difficult process but went very, very smoothly.

  • MangoMango Posts: 1,031

    image
    Ha. As soon as I read that I knew Diana Ross would be putting in an appearance somewhere.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 54,850
    Who's this being quoted by Adam Boulton?

    https://twitter.com/adamboultonSKY/status/1272837840393637890
  • eekeek Posts: 29,737
    edited June 2020
    HYUFD said:

    She has actually improved the implementation of universal credit and ensured the welfare system could cope through lockdown
    It isn't exactly a difficult task when all that was required was to remove the built in barriers contained within universal credit to discourage people from claiming.

    Oh and before you ask those barriers do exist as I wrote a pile of code to manage them.
  • RH1992RH1992 Posts: 788

    My prediction is we neither be in the EEA circle, nor the Customs Union circle. We will be in a new circle for our Agreement. If I was redesigning that graphic I would put the UK to the South of the existing circles and we would be in the Council of Europe and new Agreement circle and that's it - out of all other circles.
    The image already has been updated and it seems to fit well.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Supranational_European_Bodies
  • FloaterFloater Posts: 14,207
    Foxy said:

    Last time they went to war with the PLA India got hammered.

    China are a lot stronger now.
    As are India........

    Lets hope sanity prevails
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 65,541

    Germany's open source contact tracing app is live.

    https://www.coronawarn.app/en/

    Based on Apple/Google decentralised system I see.

    Meanwhile, in Global Britain our world beating app is where?
  • NerysHughesNerysHughes Posts: 3,375
    Floater said:

    One of my sons is on universal credit thanks to COVID19 - I feared it would be a difficult process but went very, very smoothly.

    SShhhhh don't tell anyone that, the Government is at fault for everything
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 83,517
    The men's T20 World Cup in Australia is "unlikely" to take place this year because of coronavirus, says Cricket Australia chairman Earl Eddings.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 127,053
    kjh said:

    The irony of this is we spent quite sometime, sometime ago, negotiating a humdinger of a trade deal with the EU and we have just chucked it away to negotiate a worse one with lots more red tape.

    Re fishing waters and free movement - this is all smoke and mirrors. No doubt it will be sold as a triumph, but immigration is not going to change just lots more red tape and the normal variation of where people come from, but making life far more difficult re travel to Europe. And we flogged off much of our fishing rights and now think it is ok to just take them back (bizarrely to catch types of fish we don't eat, but which we hope to sell to the people we sold the rights to fish here).

    Yep all very sensible and a triumph.
    Replacing free movement from the EU with a points system is a big change
  • eekeek Posts: 29,737
    HYUFD said:

    If GB is de facto in the EEA and Customs Union (bar no free movement and able to do our own trade deals) there would be no border in the Irish Sea in reality anyway
    Correct but you haven't noticed that it means we will be tied to the Customs Union forever as it would be impossible to leave it.
  • BromBrom Posts: 3,760

    Of course they do. That doesnt mean they are disqualified from recognition or praise for doing exceptional charity work.
    No one is disqualiying them, but just because they are celebrities doesn't mean we have to enforce all their policies.
  • sladeslade Posts: 2,162
    DavidL said:

    Who on earth would do geography instead of history? I like Pratchett's description of the former: physics with some trees stuck in it.
    I had to choose history or chemistry and geography or physics.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 31,317

    We are in an unprecedented situation. I listened to the local radio news this morning and the first 6 items were people wanting government help for something. The government cannot do it all.
    I don't dispute that. Cases have to be prioritised.

    The spectre of malnourished children might follow the Conservative Party around for decades, should Rashford remain disappointed.
  • FloaterFloater Posts: 14,207
    Scott_xP said:
    Boris did that? all on his own ?

    Wow
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 19,161
    edited June 2020

    Continuing free school meals while cutting welfare seems reasonable.

    Though personally I'd go the other way and introduce a Universal Basic Income and abolish all other welfare. I've been thinking of writing a thread header on this but I'm not sure if its something other people would be interested in discussing?
    I would be very interested.

    There are issues with it that I find relatively simple to solve - such as paying for it - and others that I find more intractable - such as eligibility.

    It would be great to see a take on it from a different point on the political spectrum.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 127,053
    Global average death rates per million 56.4, Indian death rate per million 7.

    As I have just told him

    https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 43,705

    But she also dared mention facts to a footballer, so that's her career done...
    Would you support the govt if it decided to continue free school meals throughout the summer holidays?

    I thought you lefties were all in favour of govt handouts??
  • eekeek Posts: 29,737
    HYUFD said:

    Replacing free movement from the EU with a points system is a big change
    All we needed to do was to stop our benefits system from being needs based to being contribution based.
  • nico67nico67 Posts: 5,091
    Even if the government u-turn on school meals they would have been dragged into that which won’t go unnoticed.

    The money involved is very small compared to what’s been spent on economic support during Covid 19 .
  • HYUFD said:

    Global average death rates per million 56.4, Indian death rate per million 7.

    As I have just told him

    https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
    The Russians are lying. India hasn't peaked yet for deaths
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 18,359
    eek said:

    Correct but you haven't noticed that it means we will be tied to the Customs Union forever as it would be impossible to leave it.
    Not impossible, just vanishingly improbable.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 54,850
    "If you don't test, you don't have any cases."

    https://twitter.com/Channel4News/status/1272837903782162435
  • BluestBlueBluestBlue Posts: 4,556
    TOPPING said:

    Would you support the govt if it decided to continue free school meals throughout the summer holidays?

    I thought you lefties were all in favour of govt handouts??
    I wasn't quite clear from your posts yesterday - did you mean to imply that you supported the decision to invade Iraq at the time, or that you still support it now? The former is understandable - although some of us rightly predicted the disaster that would unfold before we went in - but the latter bespeaks a slight, er, deficit in analytical skill. Just curious.
  • I don't dispute that. Cases have to be prioritised.

    The spectre of malnourished children might follow the Conservative Party around for decades, should Rashford remain disappointed.
    What about child benefit, universal credit and working families tax credit? Can meals not be bought with those.
  • eekeek Posts: 29,737
    HYUFD said:

    Global average death rates per million 56.4, Indian death rate per million 7.

    As I have just told him

    https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
    I suspect that Indian figure isn't accurate...
  • noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 24,273
    Brom said:

    No one is disqualiying them, but just because they are celebrities doesn't mean we have to enforce all their policies.
    No-one has suggested that.

    On the policy people who support it, either its because they always would do, or because this year is particularly tough and demand will outstrip what the charity and voluntary sectors can cope with so additional state aid would make a big difference, and the amount is a drop in the ocean out of the overall covid package. I doubt anyone supports it because he is famous.

    When Major Tom received praise for charity work, rightly no one would dream of qualifying it by demanding to know how much he put in himself. Why is it different for Rashford? Why cant he get praise without it being questioned and qualified?

  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,422
    Putin approves:

    US President Donald Trump said on Monday that he is reducing the number of American troops deployed in Germany down to 25,000, accusing Berlin of being "delinquent" in its contribution to NATO.

    "We're protecting Germany and they're delinquent. That doesn't make sense," Trump said at the White House. "We are going to bring down the soldier count to 25,000 soldiers," he said, adding that the deployment of troops comes at "a tremendous cost to the United States."


    https://www.dw.com/en/trump-to-cut-us-troop-numbers-in-germany/a-53822850
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 127,053
    eek said:

    Correct but you haven't noticed that it means we will be tied to the Customs Union forever as it would be impossible to leave it.
    That was May's Deal not Boris' Deal
  • TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 43,705

    I wasn't quite clear from your posts yesterday - did you mean to imply that you supported the decision to invade Iraq at the time, or that you still support it now? The former is understandable - although some of us rightly predicted the disaster that would unfold before we went in - but the latter bespeaks a slight, er, deficit in analytical skill. Just curious.
    I supported the decision to invade Iraq because the government told me that there was a compelling reason for doing so.

    Support it now? Not really a relevant question.

    Did we make a horlicks of it? Yes, and the reasons are manifold, essentially boiling down to the politicians asking questions they wanted answered in a particular way, the generals answering questions in a particular way, together with force levels.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 127,053
    eek said:

    All we needed to do was to stop our benefits system from being needs based to being contribution based.
    Which would still not stop workers coming here to work in low skilled roles reducing wages while also increasing poverty and foodbank use amongst those who had not contributed enough to claim unemployment benefits,
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,810
    HYUFD said:

    If we have left the EU, ended free movement, regained control of our fishing waters and can do our own trade deals and got a trade deal with the EU that is no surrender, it is a triumph!
    Brave of you going to press with a list of essentials at this point. If I were you I'd wait for the actual deal and the briefing notes from Central Office.

    But OK, a prediction from me in return. The totemic issues for Leave Nation are (i) Free Movement and (ii) Fish.

    So what I expect is that the couple of little wins we do manage to get will be there - at least on the face of it.
  • eekeek Posts: 29,737

    What about child benefit, universal credit and working families tax credit? Can meals not be bought with those.
    Being blunt families can't budget. Assuming a single parent family with 2 children they get £x which needs to pay for 63 meals during holidays and only 43-53 meals during term time (the range is because a lot of schools also do breakfast clubs as children don't get proper breakfasts).

    A better approach would be for child tax credits to be increased and free school meals removed with parents having to pay the money to the school but the school wouldn't see the money and it would add more admin than the current approach.
  • YorkcityYorkcity Posts: 4,382
    https://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/18519632.popular-york-pub-brigantes-will-not-reopen-lockdown/#comments-anchor

    This pub in York I went in many times , had great beer.
    I guess many more will follow by shutting their premises.

    The furlough money in many instances will have been wasted in this sector.
  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 26,536
    TOPPING said:

    I supported the decision to invade Iraq because the government told me that there was a compelling reason for doing so.

    Support it now? Not really a relevant question.

    Did we make a horlicks of it? Yes, and the reasons are manifold, essentially boiling down to the politicians asking questions they wanted answered in a particular way, the generals answering questions in a particular way, together with force levels.
    What's interesting about the Iraq debate is that we don't talk about Afghanistan. A quick Google tells me that 179 British troops died in Iraq and 454 died in Afghanistan.

    I can understand why the Americans wanted to go after the terrorists in Afghanistan, but I really don't understand why we decided to go to war with the Taliban afterwards.
  • eekeek Posts: 29,737
    HYUFD said:

    That was May's Deal not Boris' Deal
    Shall we try again with smaller words

    You stated that - If GB is de facto in the EEA and Customs Union (bar no free movement and able to do our own trade deals) there would be no border in the Irish Sea in reality anyway

    I'm pointing out that that is the case come January it will be politically impossible to introduce a barrier in the future which means that we could never leave our de facto membership as we would need to introduce the barrier to leave said membership.
  • eekeek Posts: 29,737
    Scott_xP said:
    That's rich coming from Mr pennypincher Austerity.
  • Stark_DawningStark_Dawning Posts: 9,983

    I wasn't quite clear from your posts yesterday - did you mean to imply that you supported the decision to invade Iraq at the time, or that you still support it now? The former is understandable - although some of us rightly predicted the disaster that would unfold before we went in - but the latter bespeaks a slight, er, deficit in analytical skill. Just curious.
    Without the invasion Iraq would now, most probably, be in the hands of Saddam's two psychopathic sons. If one's against the invasion one has to explain why that would be a relatively good thing.
  • BluestBlueBluestBlue Posts: 4,556
    TOPPING said:

    I supported the decision to invade Iraq because the government told me that there was a compelling reason for doing so.

    Support it now? Not really a relevant question.

    Did we make a horlicks of it? Yes, and the reasons are manifold, essentially boiling down to the politicians asking questions they wanted answered in a particular way, the generals answering questions in a particular way, together with force levels.
    I accept all of that. And I think it's not unreasonable for others to accept that a - still rather young! - conservative in 2003 might not have been convinced that the case for war was worth the expense of British blood and treasure, let alone all the other consequences.
  • noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 24,273

    Putin approves:

    US President Donald Trump said on Monday that he is reducing the number of American troops deployed in Germany down to 25,000, accusing Berlin of being "delinquent" in its contribution to NATO.

    "We're protecting Germany and they're delinquent. That doesn't make sense," Trump said at the White House. "We are going to bring down the soldier count to 25,000 soldiers," he said, adding that the deployment of troops comes at "a tremendous cost to the United States."


    https://www.dw.com/en/trump-to-cut-us-troop-numbers-in-germany/a-53822850

    Putin must be the happiest man on earth with the direction of international relations. Its almost as if he might have planned it all......
  • AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 25,787
    eek said:

    Being blunt families can't budget. Assuming a single parent family with 2 children they get £x which needs to pay for 63 meals during holidays and only 43-53 meals during term time (the range is because a lot of schools also do breakfast clubs as children don't get proper breakfasts).

    A better approach would be for child tax credits to be increased and free school meals removed with parents having to pay the money to the school but the school wouldn't see the money and it would add more admin than the current approach.
    Being blunt families can't budget

    Education, education , education
  • glwglw Posts: 10,366

    Based on Apple/Google decentralised system I see.

    Meanwhile, in Global Britain our world beating app is where?
    I've seen no evidence that Bluetooth contact proximity apps are important for contact tracing. If the government wants to use tech to tackle this issue they are much better off giving the contact tracers access to mobile phone signalling data, payments data, and public transport data.
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 38,126
    Brexit more important than starving kids...

    https://twitter.com/PaulBrandITV/status/1272844581709787137
  • eristdooferistdoof Posts: 5,076
    HYUFD said:

    Global average death rates per million 56.4, Indian death rate per million 7.

    As I have just told him

    https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
    Cherry picking. You are quiet on Brazil and Mexico.
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