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politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Labour seems to have forgotten how to ‘do’ Opposition

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  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 121,690
    edited August 2020

    Are they playing this Test in Hawaii? I keep getting a sort of Hawaiian feeling for some reason...

    Not from me, I will never eat a Hawaiian pizza, because I'm a good Muslim boy.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,575
    edited August 2020

    Not from me, I will never eat a Hawaiian pizza, because I'm a good Muslim boy.
    I think the point is probably moot...

    Edit - good gracious, Buttler survives.
  • stodgestodge Posts: 14,485
    Afternoon all :)

    Back on topic, and many thanks for the usual thought-provoking Saturday piece, @david_herdson.

    The journey from Opposition to Government is a multi-layered event with a number of different strands happening contemporaneously.

    The first and obvious point is Starmer is not Corbyn - he has not so far attracted or engendered the strength of negativity which Corbyn achieved during his tenure. People may not wish to strew rose petals at Starmer's feet as yet but they certainly don't hate him or fear him.

    Without wishing to downplay Corbyn's part in Johnson's victory last December, the fact was that for many voters for whom neither was an attractive option, Johnson was the lesser of the problems and he also offered a resolution to months of chaos, confusion and drift. A Johnson majority would end all that and I suspect that was a powerful motivation which the Opposition parties en masse failed to appreciate throughout the second half of 2019.

    Indeed, I'd argue the longer the chaos went on the bigger Johnson's victory was going to be - his poll numbers improved relentlessly through the autumn.

    Replacing a failed leader is a start but it's only that - Labour now needs to set out creating a message, a theme, a set of basic principles relevant to mid-2020s Britain.

    That work should have started and needs to be the prime activity behind the scenes. The advantage Starmer will have over Johnson by 2024 is a) he won't have a record in Government to defend and b) as he is not Corbyn, people will at least be willing to listen to what he has to say. They may not like it but they will give Starmer a hearing which is more than many were ever prepared to offer Corbyn.

    A good leader and sensible policies are important - a bit of luck will play a part as well but there's also that notion of the public believing Labour are "ready" to be the Government. That needs confidence in the leader, the policies, the team, the direction of travel which chimes with what the public wants and a recognition the current Government has failed and has nothing more to offer.

    It might mean Labour accepting elements of the Johnson/Sunak programme or taking those and saying where they could do them better. It's not Blairism (however you define that) but a recognition the new Government won't turn back the clock but move forward.
  • eekeek Posts: 29,741

    Not from me, I will never eat a Hawaiian pizza, because I'm a good Muslim boy.
    I suspect Domino's (or any other pizza joint) will allow you to replace the ham with chicken..
  • Not from me, I will never eat a Hawaiian pizza, because I'm a good Muslim boy.
    The just-opened pizza place down the road (which must have cost a fortune judging by its size) is halal so it's "turkey ham" or "turkey bacon" on its toppings. Real pineapple though!
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,575

    The just-opened pizza place down the road (which must have cost a fortune judging by its size) is halal so it's "turkey ham" or "turkey bacon" on its toppings. Real pineapple though!
    You know that?

    And I always had you down as such a classy bloke.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 65,570

    Paywalled but I hope they are right because in the past hour I've topped up on the front two, Kamala Harris and Susan Rice. We need to tread carefully because Joe Biden is due to announce his choice in the next few days so no doubt there are several people who already know where his pin has landed.
    Basically the piece runs through the top candidates, who we all know now, and then plums for Harris as she has experience running and is gutsy enough to take the fight to Trump in what promises to be the dirtiest election ever. Luce is worried that Rice hasn't been in the crossfire of running for office. She's a gamble. Biden may take the gamble because he doesn't want someone who will be running for 2024 within five minutes of being announced and who he really gets along with.

    We await the result.
  • geoffwgeoffw Posts: 9,012
    Encouraging.
    "Sweden ripped the metaphorical band-aid off quickly and got the epidemic over and done with in a short amount of time, while the rest of the world has chosen to try to peel the band-aid off slowly."
    Swedes ain't no turnips. Or rutabugas even.

  • eek said:

    I suspect Domino's (or any other pizza joint) will allow you to replace the ham with chicken..
    Last time I was forced to eat a pizza with pineapple on it I went for lamb meat.

    This time I might go for a seafood delight pizza with pineapple.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 54,574
    eek said:

    I suspect Domino's (or any other pizza joint) will allow you to replace the ham with chicken..
    But we won't....
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 76,801
    Six overs to the next new ball ...
  • Almost like Swedes engaged in a de facto lockdown?
  • What do Muslims and Jews want to happen to the pigs?
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 51,136
    Nigelb said:

    Six overs to the next new ball ...

    Which concerns Labour and opposition how?
  • Last time I was forced to eat a pizza with pineapple on it I went for lamb meat.

    This time I might go for a seafood delight pizza with pineapple.
    Try sardines and pineapple
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 76,801

    Last time I was forced to eat a pizza with pineapple on it I went for lamb meat.

    This time I might go for a seafood delight pizza with pineapple.
    That sounds utterly vile.
  • What do Muslims and Jews want to happen to the pigs?

    I want the pigs to teach us how they achieve their 30 minute long orgasms.

    I freely admit I do not speak for every Muslim or Jew.
  • I want the pigs to teach us how they achieve their 30 minute long orgasms.

    I freely admit I do not speak for every Muslim or Jew.
    It must surely involve a pineapple ring?
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,575
    edited August 2020

    I want the pigs to teach us how they achieve their 30 minute long orgasms.

    I freely admit I do not speak for every Muslim or Jew.
    I want them to tell us how they made such an epic clusterfuck of this year’s exa..

    Oh...do you mean actual pigs, sus domesticus? Not OFQUAL?
  • Nigelb said:

    That sounds utterly vile.
    It was.

    Until I removed the rest of the pineapple slices from the pizza and ate the pineapples afterwards.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 76,801
    ydoethur said:

    I want them to tell us how they made such an epic clusterfuck of this year’s exa..

    Oh...do you mean actual pigs, sus domesticus? Not OFQUAL?
    That would be OFSQUEAL.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,575
    IanB2 said:

    Which concerns Labour and opposition how?
    Starmer needs firm balls to take on Corbyn.
  • *Checks Notes*

    I think I said I'd eat a pizza with pineapple on it if Biden wins Texas.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 54,574

    I want the pigs to teach us how they achieve their 30 minute long orgasms.

    I freely admit I do not speak for every Muslim or Jew.
    Only 30 minutes?

    They really haven't got the hang of the tantric thing.....
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 59,432
    geoffw said:

    Encouraging.
    "Sweden ripped the metaphorical band-aid off quickly and got the epidemic over and done with in a short amount of time, while the rest of the world has chosen to try to peel the band-aid off slowly."
    Swedes ain't no turnips. Or rutabugas even.

    Sweden (like Arizona) has a de facto lockdown. There aren't sick people, because people are choosing not to interact.

    This means the economy is still in the toilet (compare Sweden to Denmark), and the virus has not not been eliminated or driven to really low levels.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 76,801
    Buttler not fancying that new ball...
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 59,432

    Paywalled but I hope they are right because in the past hour I've topped up on the front two, Kamala Harris and Susan Rice. We need to tread carefully because Joe Biden is due to announce his choice in the next few days so no doubt there are several people who already know where his pin has landed.
    Why would anyone put a single positive bet on in this market, when the rewards for laying are so much greater?
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,575

    *Checks Notes*

    I think I said I'd eat a pizza with pineapple on it if Biden wins Texas.

    Well, you won’t need it if England win the test now.

    Why couldn’t you keep quiet?!!!
  • Basically the piece runs through the top candidates, who we all know now, and then plums for Harris as she has experience running and is gutsy enough to take the fight to Trump in what promises to be the dirtiest election ever. Luce is worried that Rice hasn't been in the crossfire of running for office. She's a gamble. Biden may take the gamble because he doesn't want someone who will be running for 2024 within five minutes of being announced and who he really gets along with.

    We await the result.
    Hold on. It's Saturday. Tomorrow is Sunday. Why is the FT publishing now?

    Susan Rice has never run for office but she must have learned something about campaigns from her time in the White House under Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. It's not like she is new to the limelight, so my feeling is this factor is overplayed.
  • Hold on. It's Saturday. Tomorrow is Sunday. Why is the FT publishing now?

    Susan Rice has never run for office but she must have learned something about campaigns from her time in the White House under Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. It's not like she is new to the limelight, so my feeling is this factor is overplayed.
    It was published on Thursday.
  • ydoethur said:

    Well, you won’t need it if England win the test now.

    Why couldn’t you keep quiet?!!!
    We all know an England collapse is coming.
  • rcs1000 said:

    Why would anyone put a single positive bet on in this market, when the rewards for laying are so much greater?
    Temperament. I am 99 per cent a horseracing punter, and a backer not a layer.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,575

    We all know an England collapse is coming.
    Coming? It’s here!

    Broad, then Bess, then defeat.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 59,432

    Hold on. It's Saturday. Tomorrow is Sunday. Why is the FT publishing now?

    Susan Rice has never run for office but she must have learned something about campaigns from her time in the White House under Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. It's not like she is new to the limelight, so my feeling is this factor is overplayed.
    Rice would be fine. But Harris is the safe choice:

    - black (but not very black)
    - won't frighten people regarding "defund the police"
    - skeletons already known

    Now, she doesn't bring a state into play, but I'm not convinced that any of the candidates tip a state. (Gretchen would be the best bet if you wanted someone to make Michigan a bit more likely.)
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 98,601
    God I love Test Cricket - such tension, such twists, such ebb and flow, such mixture of team effort and individuals rising up to swing a game.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 98,601
    I see John Rentoul is really mincing his words to cover his true feelings.

    The problem with Corbyn was never that he was unelectable, but that he would have been a disaster if he had been elected. With this pitiful whine of the sore loser, he has proved it. He has no judgement, and prefers the warm bath of myth to the harsh reality of responsibility

    https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/jeremy-corbyn-general-election-2017-blairites-labour-party-staff-sabotage-a9660946.html
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,575
    I think we can safely say that Pakistan are going to win tonight.

    There’s no point worrying about tomorrow.
  • MikeSmithsonMikeSmithson Posts: 7,382
    Biden tells Fox News that he's made his decision
  • ydoethur said:

    Coming? It’s here!

    Broad, then Bess, then defeat.
    My favourite England collapse?

    From 147/4 to 150 all out, thanks largely due to a gritty single from Devon Malcolm.
  • rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 59,432

    Biden tells Fox News that he's made his decision

    He's going for someone with experience running for VP, and has picked Geraldine Ferraro.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,575

    Biden tells Fox News that he's made his decision

    Did he use an algorithm based on Tim Kaine?
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,575

    My favourite England collapse?

    From 147/4 to 150 all out, thanks largely due to a gritty single from Devon Malcolm.
    This one?

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cricket/2016/10/30/11-worst-england-test-batting-collapses/1990-v-australia/
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 121,690
    edited August 2020
    ydoethur said:

    This one?

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cricket/2016/10/30/11-worst-england-test-batting-collapses/1990-v-australia/
    That's the one.

    It was a thing of pure beauty.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 76,801
    rcs1000 said:

    He's going for someone with experience running for VP, and has picked Geraldine Ferraro.
    If we’re allowed to pick deceased candidates, that opens up some interesting possibilities.
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    malcolmg said:

    Imperial Master Sunak jumps the queue leaving locals stranded!

    The Conservative’s Islands Campaign continued today with Chancellor Sunak avoiding those nasty urban Scots and following the PM’s strategy, to avoid getting shouted at by locals.

    Yes Bute were caught off-guard at first but rallied to send him back homeward to think again of becoming PM.

    In true nasty party style, his motorcade jumped the queue leaving locals stranded. A source told us that his car had a bumper sticker reading: ‘Eat my dust, peasants!‘

    There is of course irony in his visiting Rothesay, a placed which welcomed more Syrian refugees than his constituents would have allowed.

    Did they have pre booked tickets vs the walk ins/standbys who were queuing?
  • Biden tells Fox News that he's made his decision

    Careful... the campaign has issued an unconvincing denial, saying Biden was joking.

    https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-claims-hes-picked-running-mate-then-cracks-joke
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    ydoethur said:

    But that’s the point. If small cohorts are exempted from the algorithm, private schools will get what they predicted.

    It’s bright children in weaker state schools who will be punished by this system. Like, for example, the children of voters in the so called Red Wall.
    I doubt that many private schools have cohorts of less than 5. Many will be in the 5-15 bucket and most in the 15+ bucket
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,575
    Nigelb said:

    If we’re allowed to pick deceased candidates, that opens up some interesting possibilities.
    They would probably be better than the two leads on offer.

    After all, the corpse of Hoover will do no harm.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,575
    Charles said:

    I doubt that many private schools have cohorts of less than 5. Many will be in the 5-15 bucket and most in the 15+ bucket
    Five per subject, Charles. Not five in total.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,575
    FFS Broad. You idiot.

    I could almost taste the pineapple.
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    ydoethur said:

    For fuck’s sake.

    THERE ARE NO GRADES FROM PREVIOUS YEARS. DUE TO EXAM REFORMS ANY GRADES FROM BEFORE LAST YEAR ARE NOT COMPARABLE.

    I am sure I have said this before.

    Which means statistical modelling cannot be used.

    But it has been.
    But it can. It’s just a bit more complicated.

    Exam results of previous years compared to national set of previous years gives a relative performance.

    Apply that relative performance to this years results, adjusted to the individual school’s track record.

    All that misses is schools that would have had a materially different performance under the new system vs the old one
  • kle4 said:

    I see John Rentoul is really mincing his words to cover his true feelings.

    The problem with Corbyn was never that he was unelectable, but that he would have been a disaster if he had been elected. With this pitiful whine of the sore loser, he has proved it. He has no judgement, and prefers the warm bath of myth to the harsh reality of responsibility

    https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/jeremy-corbyn-general-election-2017-blairites-labour-party-staff-sabotage-a9660946.html

    The problem with Corbyn was his coterie of unelected advisers with Stalinist snow on their boots. How unlike our dear Prime Minister, oh, hold on...
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 51,292

    I want the pigs to teach us how they achieve their 30 minute long orgasms.

    I freely admit I do not speak for every Muslim or Jew.
    Reminds me of an old joke:

    An elderly Rabbi and Priest are sitting on a park bench staring wistfully across the park.

    The priest asks the Rabbi, "tell me old friend in confidence, did you ever break the religious rules"

    The Rabbi replies: "well, I have to confess, when I was a young man, I did let temptation get the better of me. I had roast pork once, out of curiosity" "tell me, did you ever break your vows?"

    The priest "Well once, I did have a young lady infatuated with me. We got to know each other well, and one night, I did break my vow of chastity"

    They paused, and stared into the distance. Eventually the priest spoke again "It's much better than pork, isn't it?"
  • https://medium.com/@pauladrianrichards/labour-is-at-war-and-starmer-will-decide-who-wins-19821d6c89d8

    Very good.

    The country is watching and Starmer has an absolute open goal to make Labour electable again and show the public it has really changed. Expelling Corbyn and others would frankly be the best thing to do, if indeed they are implicated by the EHRC.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,575
    Foxy said:

    Reminds me of an old joke:

    An elderly Rabbi and Priest are sitting on a park bench staring wistfully across the park.

    The priest asks the Rabbi, "tell me old friend in confidence, did you ever break the religious rules"

    The Rabbi replies: "well, I have to confess, when I was a young man, I did let temptation get the better of me. I had roast pork once, out of curiosity" "tell me, did you ever break your vows?"

    The priest "Well once, I did have a young lady infatuated with me. We got to know each other well, and one night, I did break my vow of chastity"

    They paused, and stared into the distance. Eventually the priest spoke again "It's much better than pork, isn't it?"
    Hate to spoil the punchline, but I thought it was the rabbi said that.
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 65,031
    edited August 2020
    And I said yesterday Buttler is not a test cricketer

    And this is why I do not bet

    Or eat pizzas
  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 26,538
    Woakes and Butler - what heroes!
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    kinabalu said:



    Wrong then, wrong now. He's just too old, that's all. Not to win - he will - but to be a strong president. I back him for one reason only. The obvious reason.

    You’re going to make money?
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,575
    edited August 2020
    Fuck me.

    So @Nigelb @TSE where do we meet for our socially distanced dish of pineapple pizza?

    @Big_G_NorthWales thank you for the opportunity you offered yesterday for me to positively hex England. I’ve still got it...
    ydoethur said:

    You’re having a larf. England will never chase over 170 on this wicket against these bowlers.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 79,235
    Drop Archer next test I think for Crawley
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,575
    Pulpstar said:

    Drop Archer next test I think for Crawley

    Whoever misses out, Foakes or even Bracey comes in.

    That would have been a much easier win had Buttler not fluffed so often.
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758

    Nation 5
    2016-2019 average 78.6%
    2020 actual after lowering 81.1%
    2020 teacher predicted 88.6%

    Higher
    2016-2019 average 76.5%
    2020 actual after lowering 78.9%
    2020 teacher predicted 88.8%

    Advanced Higher
    2016-2019 average 80.4%
    2020 actual after lowering 84.9%
    2020 teacher predicted 92.8%

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-53636296

    Its the Scottish government who has done a better job than the teachers.
    You can’t conclude more than teachers are over optimistic based on that data set. It may be that they overestimate performance by 10pp+ each year
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 79,235
    ydoethur said:

    Whoever misses out, Foakes or even Bracey comes in.

    That would have been a much easier win had Buttler not fluffed so often.
    One thing England has, which is massive in today's cricketing world is two world class all rounders. That's huge and means we always have a good chance
  • felixfelix Posts: 15,180

    https://medium.com/@pauladrianrichards/labour-is-at-war-and-starmer-will-decide-who-wins-19821d6c89d8

    Very good.

    The country is watching and Starmer has an absolute open goal to make Labour electable again and show the public it has really changed. Expelling Corbyn and others would frankly be the best thing to do, if indeed they are implicated by the EHRC.

    Yup - the one you and so many others voted for just a little time ago. The one who Starmer loyally served year in and year out. And now the British public should trust them?
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 54,574

    https://medium.com/@pauladrianrichards/labour-is-at-war-and-starmer-will-decide-who-wins-19821d6c89d8

    Very good.

    The country is watching and Starmer has an absolute open goal to make Labour electable again and show the public it has really changed. Expelling Corbyn and others would frankly be the best thing to do, if indeed they are implicated by the EHRC.

    If Corbyn is implicated by the EHRC report - and maybe even expelled from the Party - then the question Starmer has to answer is how could he sit beside him in the Shadow Cabinet for three years whilst this was going on?

    Lets see how his numbers hold up against that line of questioning - and his answers. I personally don't see how he has an acceptable answer.
  • felix said:

    Yup - the one you and so many others voted for just a little time ago. The one who Starmer loyally served year in and year out. And now the British public should trust them?
    Yes.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 98,601

    If Corbyn is implicated by the EHRC report - and maybe even expelled from the Party - then the question Starmer has to answer is how could he sit beside him in the Shadow Cabinet for three years whilst this was going on?

    Lets see how his numbers hold up against that line of questioning - and his answers. I personally don't see how he has an acceptable answer.
    Whether Corbyn is expelled or not - and I severely doubt he will be or that the report will be so blunt as to make that an easy option - Starmer would of course face that question, and it is a fair one.

    Nevertheless, he will be judged more on his actions as Leader than anything else. If he does a good job and shows good leadership, people will look past that he served Corbyn faithfully for all that time. If people like you or want to support you they will look past obvious reasons they should not, or reasons they should be more wary.
  • CorrectHorseBatteryCorrectHorseBattery Posts: 21,436
    edited August 2020
    If Starmer wasn't in the SC he'd never have never become the leader and been able to make any progress at all. I'd say it was a sacrifice worth making.
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    rcs1000 said:

    You were second.

    Suck it up, loser.
    I’m surprised that @ydoethur doesnt post about the inherent unfairness of primogeniture more. It can have a material impact on an individual’s opportunities and range of potential outcomes
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,575
    Charles said:

    I’m surprised that @ydoethur doesnt post about the inherent unfairness of primogeniture more. It can have a material impact on an individual’s opportunities and range of potential outcomes
    Because there’s nothing I can do about it.

    When I see supposed regulators demonstrating a breathtaking contempt for rigour or process, things are a bit different.
  • squareroot2squareroot2 Posts: 7,012
    edited August 2020
    I haven not been on site much but so have not seen the usual cricket comments in the last few days about how awful England are. I feel sure SO must have said something to that effect.
    Well...I hope this magnificent fightback leading to victory makes them think twice before being so ultra critical again of the England Cricket team.
  • https://medium.com/@pauladrianrichards/labour-is-at-war-and-starmer-will-decide-who-wins-19821d6c89d8

    Very good.

    The country is watching and Starmer has an absolute open goal to make Labour electable again and show the public it has really changed. Expelling Corbyn and others would frankly be the best thing to do, if indeed they are implicated by the EHRC.

    Expelling Corbyn would be damn stupid. It's not Corbyn or even the Corbynites who are the problem. It's the Scouse SWP tankies Neil Kinnock threw out who were readmitted by Ed Miliband.
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758

    What do Muslims and Jews want to happen to the pigs?

    Defund then?
  • Charles said:

    I’m surprised that @ydoethur doesnt post about the inherent unfairness of primogeniture more. It can have a material impact on an individual’s opportunities and range of potential outcomes
    Nothing to declare? In any case, the real unfairness is height. Tall people are overrepresented in political and commercial leadership roles, as well as consuming more than their fair share of Earth's precious natural resources.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,825
    justin124 said:

    Just like Trump - or the Kray twins!
    The Kray twins comparison has much merit but not so much the Trump. Johnson is not like Trump.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 76,801
    ydoethur said:

    Fuck me.

    So @Nigelb @TSE where do we meet for our socially distanced dish of pineapple pizza?

    @Big_G_NorthWales thank you for the opportunity you offered yesterday for me to positively hex England. I’ve still got it...

    I‘m quite happy to postpone until the pandemic is over.
    Solitary pineapple pizza is just too depressing.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 98,601
    kinabalu said:

    Johnson is not like Trump.
    Agreed. It's a comparison people reach to far too easily and lazily, when they are actually quite different in style, background, goals and tactics. Such similarities as do exist distract from the more significant ways they differ, and thus do not help.
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    ydoethur said:

    Five per subject, Charles. Not five in total.
    I was at a well known and well funded private school. Albeit one with 260 in a year.

    My smallest class size was 8 (theology). Politics was 12 and history 16.

    How many private schools really have A level cohorts of less than 5 for an individual subject? I doubt many - the economics just don’t stack up - and in any event it will be a very small number of pupils.

    From recollection our smallest subjects were Japanese (2), Russian (3) and Mandarin (4). In each case we teamed up with the local girls’ school which lifted Russian and Mandarin to the 5-15 bucket
  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 11,482

    Expelling Corbyn would be damn stupid. It's not Corbyn or even the Corbynites who are the problem. It's the Scouse SWP tankies Neil Kinnock threw out who were readmitted by Ed Miliband.
    Corbyn is 100% the problem. A political mantra that is based on 19th century ideas isn't going to work.

    Blair's New Labour is the only future Labour have. Not because of him or anyone else, but simply that they can't bang on with the ideas of well over a hundred years ago. They weren't good ideas then, and they're rubbish now.

    Starmer has, I think, worked this out. He's trying to stop Labour being crap, and is biding his time with regards to positive moves.
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    ydoethur said:

    Because there’s nothing I can do about it.

    When I see supposed regulators demonstrating a breathtaking contempt for rigour or process, things are a bit different.
    Our chairman was very rigorous and process driven in interviewing all the candidates. And then ignored the output in favour of primogeniture
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 54,574
    kle4 said:

    Whether Corbyn is expelled or not - and I severely doubt he will be or that the report will be so blunt as to make that an easy option - Starmer would of course face that question, and it is a fair one.

    Nevertheless, he will be judged more on his actions as Leader than anything else. If he does a good job and shows good leadership, people will look past that he served Corbyn faithfully for all that time. If people like you or want to support you they will look past obvious reasons they should not, or reasons they should be more wary.
    A guy prepared to overlook anti-semitism for three years in order to be in pole position to get the top job has some serious questions to answer in my book. They shouldn't get a pass.
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758

    Nothing to declare? In any case, the real unfairness is height. Tall people are overrepresented in political and commercial leadership roles, as well as consuming more than their fair share of Earth's precious natural resources.
    Sure - I’ve had a successful and well paid career. My expected lifetime earnings are the square root of my older brother’s inheritance.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,825
    Charles said:

    You’re going to make money?
    ☺ - that too.

    But in this case - just this one time - I'm thinking of the general good rather than my wallet.
  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,924
    Omnium said:

    Corbyn is 100% the problem. A political mantra that is based on 19th century ideas isn't going to work.

    Blair's New Labour is the only future Labour have. Not because of him or anyone else, but simply that they can't bang on with the ideas of well over a hundred years ago. They weren't good ideas then, and they're rubbish now.

    Starmer has, I think, worked this out. He's trying to stop Labour being crap, and is biding his time with regards to positive moves.
    Being Tory Lite is no longer a vote winner, ask the LDs

    The reason Corbyn got 41% of the GB vote in 2017 was the radical agenda

    SKS is a Tory Lite Remoaner in the eyes of many former Labour voters IMO
  • MattWMattW Posts: 26,681
    Nigelb said:

    I‘m quite happy to postpone until the pandemic is over.
    Solitary pineapple pizza is just too depressing.
    Well - I went to an artisan chocolate shop today and bought a full house.

    Unfortunately there's no one here except me and the paperwork and the coffee, so I'll have to eat the lot over the next month. Minus a few for visitors.

    Tragedy.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 79,235
    Charles said:

    Sure - I’ve had a successful and well paid career. My expected lifetime earnings are the square root of my older brother’s inheritance.
    I think that's one of the big differences between the middle class and the upper class/aristocracy. If your family was more middle class you'd get ~half :p
  • Omnium said:

    Corbyn is 100% the problem. A political mantra that is based on 19th century ideas isn't going to work.

    Blair's New Labour is the only future Labour have. Not because of him or anyone else, but simply that they can't bang on with the ideas of well over a hundred years ago. They weren't good ideas then, and they're rubbish now.

    Starmer has, I think, worked this out. He's trying to stop Labour being crap, and is biding his time with regards to positive moves.
    Labour's immediate problem is that Boris shot so many of their foxes, when he won in 2019 on Labour's 2017 platform. Boris won by being a better Corbyn, not by being a better Cameron or May.
  • ClippPClippP Posts: 1,964
    ydoethur said:

    How could I, given I was born in 1983 and they were abolished in 1987?
    Of course.... I keep forgetting that some people are very young....

    The point is, of course, that the CSEs were a teacher controlled examination, unlike the GCE which tended to be run by university types.

    The syllabus could be the one agreed by teacher reps in the region, or it could be designed within the school and assessed (before and after) by the teachers´ panel.

    Each teacher marked and ordered his own papers, and these were then compared - by the teachers - on a school basis. There was then a consortium of schools which compared a sample from the schools and it finally went for confirmation to a chief examiner. The original order for the pupils (based on their exams) was not changed.

    Senior managers within the schools had nothing to do with all this (apart from programming the exams), still less any politicians.

    It would not have been beyond the wit of any decent government to set up such a scheme, whereby the evidence of each pupil´s level of achievement could have been given independent external validation, while yet leaving the class teacher with a good measure of input.

    But I suppose the cronies in Johnson´s government never had anything to do with practical issues, like running examinations fairly.
  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 26,538
    Pulpstar said:

    I think that's one of the big differences between the middle class and the upper class/aristocracy. If your family was more middle class you'd get ~half :p
    When my great grandmother snuffed it In 1963 my grandfather got the house and his younger brother got the contents. That wasn’t as bad a deal for the younger brother as it would be today. I’ll kick off royally if I get the contents when the time comes!
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 76,801
    Pulpstar said:

    I think that's one of the big differences between the middle class and the upper class/aristocracy. If your family was more middle class you'd get ~half :p
    If the upper class had ever cared about fairness, they wouldn’t be the upper class.
  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 11,482

    Labour's immediate problem is that Boris shot so many of their foxes, when he won in 2019 on Labour's 2017 platform. Boris won by being a better Corbyn, not by being a better Cameron or May.
    He was perhaps a better EdM. Boris is not and I don't imagine can be anything like Corbyn.
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    Pulpstar said:

    I think that's one of the big differences between the middle class and the upper class/aristocracy. If your family was more middle class you'd get ~half :p
    I’ll get a third (I have a little sister) of everything except the main asset which we don’t want to fragment ownership of.
  • Omnium said:

    He was perhaps a better EdM. Boris is not and I don't imagine can be anything like Corbyn.
    Write down all the things you do not like about Corbyn, and then see how easy it is to apply the same criticisms of Boris.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,575
    ClippP said:

    Of course.... I keep forgetting that some people are very young....

    The point is, of course, that the CSEs were a teacher controlled examination, unlike the GCE which tended to be run by university types.

    The syllabus could be the one agreed by teacher reps in the region, or it could be designed within the school and assessed (before and after) by the teachers´ panel.

    Each teacher marked and ordered his own papers, and these were then compared - by the teachers - on a school basis. There was then a consortium of schools which compared a sample from the schools and it finally went for confirmation to a chief examiner. The original order for the pupils (based on their exams) was not changed.

    Senior managers within the schools had nothing to do with all this (apart from programming the exams), still less any politicians.

    It would not have been beyond the wit of any decent government to set up such a scheme, whereby the evidence of each pupil´s level of achievement could have been given independent external validation, while yet leaving the class teacher with a good measure of input.

    But I suppose the cronies in Johnson´s government never had anything to do with practical issues, like running examinations fairly.
    Good shout. The only thing to say against it is I think it would have taken a long time to set up, and time was not on anyone’s side. However, time is not on our side now given the unfolding disaster.
  • justin124justin124 Posts: 11,527
    Charles said:

    I was at a well known and well funded private school. Albeit one with 260 in a year.

    My smallest class size was 8 (theology). Politics was 12 and history 16.

    How many private schools really have A level cohorts of less than 5 for an individual subject? I doubt many - the economics just don’t stack up - and in any event it will be a very small number of pupils.

    From recollection our smallest subjects were Japanese (2), Russian (3) and Mandarin (4). In each case we teamed up with the local girls’ school which lifted Russian and Mandarin to the 5-15 bucket
    In my Boys' Grammar School at the beginning of the 1970s some A Level classes were very small. French had 9 pupils - German 3 - Music 2.
  • justin124justin124 Posts: 11,527

    Write down all the things you do not like about Corbyn, and then see how easy it is to apply the same criticisms of Boris.
    Just read your comment from yesterday re- experience of the cane as a result of the cricket ball incident. Rather amusing! Corporal punishment remained lawful in state schools until Autumn 1987 - in private schools it was permitted until Autumn 1999.
This discussion has been closed.