Undefined discussion subject.

IanB2 said:

kamski said:

Stocky said:

kinabalu said:

isam said:

kinabalu said:

alex_ said:

JohnLilburne said:

kinabalu said:

Philip_Thompson said:

kinabalu said:

CorrectHorseBattery said:

kinabalu said:

Andy_JS said:

Theuniondivvie said:

Speaking of overweight gammon..

https://twitter.com/scottcobb/status/1292694221460328448?s=20

The most amazing thing about this is that Alex Jones is 46 years old. Forty fcking six!

Why use the word gammon?

Because - as explained PT - it describes very well in a single word a white man who is past his prime and is a bit racist and so angry at lots of things that his blood boils.

Is there a better word that captures all of this?

You're looking silly here to be honest mate.

You can demonstrate that by answering my question.

Yes.

Any word that doesn't refer to the race of the person being described is better.

Why do you have to mention the colour? Is there a significant difference between a white past his prime racist angry man (like the man pictured before) and a non-white past his prime racist angry man?

The precise thing we are seeking to describe is this particular type of thick white bloke who's rather racist and not in the first flush and always getting angry about stuff.

Gammon is a snide and jokey reference to what can happen to skin tone when the blood boils.

So it's OK to use a phrase that describes "a particular type of" black person then?

I don’t see why not. If the purpose is to mock their opinions/views or actions - which they may have the right to hold/do in a free society, but which others have the right to criticise. And if they come up with a pithy word or phrase to describe it rather than having to spell it out in longhand every time then so be it. If the actual target of the phrase is not their views/actions but actually the colour of their skin, gender, sexuality etc then no.

The point here is that one of the views being criticised is attitudes towards non-English foreigners and/or ethnic minorities. In Englan such a person is highly likely to be white by definition, so it is not particularly racist to utilise this when coming up with the disputed phrase.

Thank god. That is vastly better than my efforts. I can go to bed.

I get it - racial slurs are sometimes ok 👍🏻

Yes - but only when they're not.

I go all blustery, pink-skinned, eyes bulge etc when I hear someone in a cafe ordering a panini when they should say a panino.

Does that make me a gammon?

It makes you a bit strange. Do you have the same reaction if someone says "this spaghetti is delicious" when according to the same logic they "should" say "these spaghetti are... "

Is there any data on this?

CorrectHorseBattery said:

Mexicanpete said:

ydoethur said:

CorrectHorseBattery said:

https://twitter.com/Keir_Starmer/status/1293797072018321408

Keir Starmer has made all the right noises.

However, I don’t think he or Kate Green can be said to have set the agenda. They’ve largely been bystanders. The pressure on this has come from the media, the education sector and the Scottish government (ironically, the latter because of the extraordinary cockups they made themselves).

He needs to up his game a bit to seem a PM in waiting.

Gavin's 11th hour brinkmanship, masterstroke by using the mock results has taken the sting out of the tail in England I would suggest.

You are right, Starmer and Green have looked woefully poor. They will also have the undoubtedly debacle in Wales to explain away later today.

Williamson's quote has damaged chances of that.

RochdalePioneers said:

The boy got away with it - just enough UCAS points for his preferred degree course. Not what he should have got based on how he was performing but whatever. Now sending him more cash so he can go and get drunk...

rottenborough said:

I can't get to the main site at: https://www.politicalbetting.com/

Is it just me?

Says Database Connection Error.

I've gone into comments via Vanilla.

rottenborough said:

I can't get to the main site at: https://www.politicalbetting.com/

Is it just me?

Says Database Connection Error.

I've gone into comments via Vanilla.

Jonathan said:

Has Williamson resigned yet?

ydoethur said:

Jonathan said:

Has Williamson resigned yet?

One thought that occurs to me is that unlike in Scotland this is part 1 of 2.

And next week will be much worse as the algorithm was far more important in GCSE results, and the damage done to grades of students in historically weak schools in core subjects, e.g. Maths and English, could be immense.

So although he hasn’t resigned yet, it’s only just beginning.

ydoethur said:

Jonathan said:

Has Williamson resigned yet?

One thought that occurs to me is that unlike in Scotland this is part 1 of 2.

And next week will be much worse as the algorithm was far more important in GCSE results, and the damage done to grades of students in historically weak schools in core subjects, e.g. Maths and English, could be immense.

So although he hasn’t resigned yet, it’s only just beginning.

CorrectHorseBattery said:

Mexicanpete said:

ydoethur said:

CorrectHorseBattery said:

https://twitter.com/Keir_Starmer/status/1293797072018321408

Keir Starmer has made all the right noises.

However, I don’t think he or Kate Green can be said to have set the agenda. They’ve largely been bystanders. The pressure on this has come from the media, the education sector and the Scottish government (ironically, the latter because of the extraordinary cockups they made themselves).

He needs to up his game a bit to seem a PM in waiting.

Gavin's 11th hour brinkmanship, masterstroke by using the mock results has taken the sting out of the tail in England I would suggest.

You are right, Starmer and Green have looked woefully poor. They will also have the undoubtedly debacle in Wales to explain away later today.

Williamson's quote has damaged chances of that.

RochdalePioneers said:

The boy got away with it - just enough UCAS points for his preferred degree course. Not what he should have got based on how he was performing but whatever. Now sending him more cash so he can go and get drunk...

MaxPB said:

Gavin Williamson should not be talking about over promotion.

ydoethur said:

rottenborough said:

I can't get to the main site at: https://www.politicalbetting.com/

Is it just me?

Says Database Connection Error.

I've gone into comments via Vanilla.

No, it isn’t just you. I’ve no idea what the thread header is about.

Big_G_NorthWales said:

ydoethur said:

Jonathan said:

Has Williamson resigned yet?

One thought that occurs to me is that unlike in Scotland this is part 1 of 2.

And next week will be much worse as the algorithm was far more important in GCSE results, and the damage done to grades of students in historically weak schools in core subjects, e.g. Maths and English, could be immense.

So although he hasn’t resigned yet, it’s only just beginning.

It is expected Boris will refresh his cabinet in September and Williamson needs to be demoted, along with several others

Jonathan said:

Has Williamson resigned yet?

ydoethur said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

ydoethur said:

Jonathan said:

Has Williamson resigned yet?

One thought that occurs to me is that unlike in Scotland this is part 1 of 2.

And next week will be much worse as the algorithm was far more important in GCSE results, and the damage done to grades of students in historically weak schools in core subjects, e.g. Maths and English, could be immense.

So although he hasn’t resigned yet, it’s only just beginning.

It is expected Boris will refresh his cabinet in September and Williamson needs to be demoted, along with several others

But it doesn’t work like that, does it? If he appointed by ability and competence, about the only ones to survive a purge would be Sunak, Wallace, Buckland, Coffey and Hart.

And that includes Johnson himself.

Mexicanpete said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

ydoethur said:

Jonathan said:

Has Williamson resigned yet?

One thought that occurs to me is that unlike in Scotland this is part 1 of 2.

And next week will be much worse as the algorithm was far more important in GCSE results, and the damage done to grades of students in historically weak schools in core subjects, e.g. Maths and English, could be immense.

So although he hasn’t resigned yet, it’s only just beginning.

It is expected Boris will refresh his cabinet in September and Williamson needs to be demoted, along with several others

Can Johnson demote himself for incompetence?

MaxPB said:

Gavin Williamson should not be talking about over promotion.

Big_G_NorthWales said:

ydoethur said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

ydoethur said:

Jonathan said:

Has Williamson resigned yet?

One thought that occurs to me is that unlike in Scotland this is part 1 of 2.

And next week will be much worse as the algorithm was far more important in GCSE results, and the damage done to grades of students in historically weak schools in core subjects, e.g. Maths and English, could be immense.

So although he hasn’t resigned yet, it’s only just beginning.

It is expected Boris will refresh his cabinet in September and Williamson needs to be demoted, along with several others

But it doesn’t work like that, does it? If he appointed by ability and competence, about the only ones to survive a purge would be Sunak, Wallace, Buckland, Coffey and Hart.

And that includes Johnson himself.

I would not disagree with that apart from Coffey who is not upto the job

ydoethur said:

tlg86 said:

ydoethur said:

Jonathan said:

Has Williamson resigned yet?

One thought that occurs to me is that unlike in Scotland this is part 1 of 2.

And next week will be much worse as the algorithm was far more important in GCSE results, and the damage done to grades of students in historically weak schools in core subjects, e.g. Maths and English, could be immense.

So although he hasn’t resigned yet, it’s only just beginning.

But will the media care as much about GCSEs, though? Perhaps they should, but unless they can show a student who's dreams of university have been dashed (probably a good looking girl), it's not such a good story.

The media as a lump? Probably not.

How about parents?

TOPPING said:

Foxy said:

isam said:

Foxy said:

Gallowgate said:

isam said:

Gallowgate said:

isam said:

Gallowgate said:

Andy_JS said:

Gallowgate said:

CorrectHorseBattery said:

Also frankly, I can see how it can be seen as offensive.

It’s supposed to be offensive.

I'd defend people's right to offend others. But it's interesting to point out this an insult based on something people can't change about themselves.

I don’t like the word, but it’s not about colour.

Yes only a white person can be a gammon, but not every white person is a gammon. It refers to white people who go into a frothing rage such as in the video. It’s that what is being ridiculed, not their colour.

Similar to the N word then

My understanding was that the N word is/was used to describe all black people.

Gammon is used to ridicule dense twats such as that guy in Austin, who happen to be white. Not quite the same.

No, it’s the same. Black people who think they’re better than other black people call them the N word

As a non-Black person I can’t comment on the dynamics of black people calling other black people the N word.

I cannot recall a time when a black person called another black person the N word, apart from in Tarantino films and the like. Never heard it in flesh world.

“ A former football anti-racism campaigner is being sued by a black ex-player after calling him “n*****” in a text message.

Paul Elliott, a former Chelsea defender, sent the text to Richard Rufus during a row over a failed business venture.“

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/former-football-anti-racism-champion-paul-elliott-sued-after-n-word-text-8736194.html

like I said, something I have never heard in flesh world, at least not from a black person.

Happened daily all the time in my boxing gym. It says as much as much about your social circles as anything.

alex_ said:

Revised death series for UK now active on Worldometer site

tlg86 said:

ydoethur said:

Jonathan said:

Has Williamson resigned yet?

One thought that occurs to me is that unlike in Scotland this is part 1 of 2.

And next week will be much worse as the algorithm was far more important in GCSE results, and the damage done to grades of students in historically weak schools in core subjects, e.g. Maths and English, could be immense.

So although he hasn’t resigned yet, it’s only just beginning.

But will the media care as much about GCSEs, though? Perhaps they should, but unless they can show a student who's dreams of university have been dashed (probably a good looking girl), it's not such a good story.

tlg86 said:

ydoethur said:

Jonathan said:

Has Williamson resigned yet?

One thought that occurs to me is that unlike in Scotland this is part 1 of 2.

And next week will be much worse as the algorithm was far more important in GCSE results, and the damage done to grades of students in historically weak schools in core subjects, e.g. Maths and English, could be immense.

So although he hasn’t resigned yet, it’s only just beginning.

But will the media care as much about GCSEs, though? Perhaps they should, but unless they can show a student who's dreams of university have been dashed (probably a good looking girl), it's not such a good story.

IanB2 said:

tlg86 said:

alex_ said:

Revised death series for UK now active on Worldometer site

Awww - I thought we might bring people back to life!

On the revised data it is however now likely that we will be overtaken by the US at some point.

Fysics_Teacher said:

tlg86 said:

ydoethur said:

Jonathan said:

Has Williamson resigned yet?

One thought that occurs to me is that unlike in Scotland this is part 1 of 2.

And next week will be much worse as the algorithm was far more important in GCSE results, and the damage done to grades of students in historically weak schools in core subjects, e.g. Maths and English, could be immense.

So although he hasn’t resigned yet, it’s only just beginning.

But will the media care as much about GCSEs, though? Perhaps they should, but unless they can show a student who's dreams of university have been dashed (probably a good looking girl), it's not such a good story.

Also the students who have just got their A-level results are almost certainly over 18 so using their pictures is less of an issue than doing the same with a bunch of 16 year olds...

ydoethur said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

ydoethur said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

ydoethur said:

Jonathan said:

Has Williamson resigned yet?

One thought that occurs to me is that unlike in Scotland this is part 1 of 2.

And next week will be much worse as the algorithm was far more important in GCSE results, and the damage done to grades of students in historically weak schools in core subjects, e.g. Maths and English, could be immense.

So although he hasn’t resigned yet, it’s only just beginning.

It is expected Boris will refresh his cabinet in September and Williamson needs to be demoted, along with several others

But it doesn’t work like that, does it? If he appointed by ability and competence, about the only ones to survive a purge would be Sunak, Wallace, Buckland, Coffey and Hart.

And that includes Johnson himself.

I would not disagree with that apart from Coffey who is not upto the job

I was assuming as she hadn’t made any extraordinary public errors that she knew what she was doing.

If I’m wrong, that reinforces my point though so I’ll take it.

This is the most lightweight administration since the first Baldwin government of 1923, where just about the only competent ministers were Lord Curzon and Neville Chamberlain.

Philip_Thompson said:

ydoethur said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

ydoethur said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

ydoethur said:

Jonathan said:

Has Williamson resigned yet?

One thought that occurs to me is that unlike in Scotland this is part 1 of 2.

And next week will be much worse as the algorithm was far more important in GCSE results, and the damage done to grades of students in historically weak schools in core subjects, e.g. Maths and English, could be immense.

So although he hasn’t resigned yet, it’s only just beginning.

It is expected Boris will refresh his cabinet in September and Williamson needs to be demoted, along with several others

But it doesn’t work like that, does it? If he appointed by ability and competence, about the only ones to survive a purge would be Sunak, Wallace, Buckland, Coffey and Hart.

And that includes Johnson himself.

I would not disagree with that apart from Coffey who is not upto the job

I was assuming as she hadn’t made any extraordinary public errors that she knew what she was doing.

If I’m wrong, that reinforces my point though so I’ll take it.

This is the most lightweight administration since the first Baldwin government of 1923, where just about the only competent ministers were Lord Curzon and Neville Chamberlain.

People always claim the current cabinet is lightweight.

"Big beasts" only tend to be big beasts after they've left office. Quite possible in the future people will be complaining about the weak Cabinet of the day and longing back for the days of big beasts like Sunak, Patel etc

Philip_Thompson said:

ydoethur said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

ydoethur said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

ydoethur said:

Jonathan said:

Has Williamson resigned yet?

One thought that occurs to me is that unlike in Scotland this is part 1 of 2.

And next week will be much worse as the algorithm was far more important in GCSE results, and the damage done to grades of students in historically weak schools in core subjects, e.g. Maths and English, could be immense.

So although he hasn’t resigned yet, it’s only just beginning.

It is expected Boris will refresh his cabinet in September and Williamson needs to be demoted, along with several others

But it doesn’t work like that, does it? If he appointed by ability and competence, about the only ones to survive a purge would be Sunak, Wallace, Buckland, Coffey and Hart.

And that includes Johnson himself.

I would not disagree with that apart from Coffey who is not upto the job

I was assuming as she hadn’t made any extraordinary public errors that she knew what she was doing.

If I’m wrong, that reinforces my point though so I’ll take it.

This is the most lightweight administration since the first Baldwin government of 1923, where just about the only competent ministers were Lord Curzon and Neville Chamberlain.

People always claim the current cabinet is lightweight.

"Big beasts" only tend to be big beasts after they've left office. Quite possible in the future people will be complaining about the weak Cabinet of the day and longing back for the days of big beasts like Sunak, Patel etc

Philip_Thompson said:

kinabalu said:

Philip_Thompson said:

kinabalu said:

CorrectHorseBattery said:

kinabalu said:

Andy_JS said:

Theuniondivvie said:

Speaking of overweight gammon..

https://twitter.com/scottcobb/status/1292694221460328448?s=20

The most amazing thing about this is that Alex Jones is 46 years old. Forty fcking six!

Why use the word gammon?

Because - as explained PT - it describes very well in a single word a white man who is past his prime and is a bit racist and so angry at lots of things that his blood boils.

Is there a better word that captures all of this?

You're looking silly here to be honest mate.

You can demonstrate that by answering my question.

Yes.

Any word that doesn't refer to the race of the person being described is better.

Why do you have to mention the colour? Is there a significant difference between a white past his prime racist angry man (like the man pictured before) and a non-white past his prime racist angry man?

The precise thing we are seeking to describe is this particular type of thick white bloke who's rather racist and not in the first flush and always getting angry about stuff.

Gammon is a snide and jokey reference to what can happen to skin tone when the blood boils.

We all know the sort of bloke. And now we have a word that nails it. It does the job brilliantly and is not racist in any meaningful sense of that word. It's simply derogatory.

I do not bandy it about - in fact today is the first time in ages - but there is no way I'm dropping it just because people who are forever downplaying real racism with accusations of "playing the race card" now play the race card to ludicrously try to claim that a word to describe a angry white racist bloke is racist.

No. Gammon lives.

It's a lexical weapon in the culture war. When they go low, we go high most of the time but sometimes we go low too - but with considerably more wit and intelligence.

But calling people like Corbyn a gammon, what does it achieve?

Why not just denounce angry old racists? Why do you need a word for his type?

alex_ said:

Philip_Thompson said:

IanB2 said:

tlg86 said:

alex_ said:

Revised death series for UK now active on Worldometer site

Awww - I thought we might bring people back to life!

On the revised data it is however now likely that we will be overtaken by the US at some point.

Does anyone know what's the before and after deaths per 100,000 ratio? Also what the US's is?

The US really should have a much lower rate than the UK, it is a much more socially distanced nation. Their population density is nothing like ours.

We've just gone down about 10% so were about 680 (per million) before. Although your corollary doesn't necessarily follow. You need to consider medians (or even modes) rather than means.

Philip_Thompson said:

ydoethur said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

ydoethur said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

ydoethur said:

Jonathan said:

Has Williamson resigned yet?

One thought that occurs to me is that unlike in Scotland this is part 1 of 2.

And next week will be much worse as the algorithm was far more important in GCSE results, and the damage done to grades of students in historically weak schools in core subjects, e.g. Maths and English, could be immense.

So although he hasn’t resigned yet, it’s only just beginning.

It is expected Boris will refresh his cabinet in September and Williamson needs to be demoted, along with several others

But it doesn’t work like that, does it? If he appointed by ability and competence, about the only ones to survive a purge would be Sunak, Wallace, Buckland, Coffey and Hart.

And that includes Johnson himself.

I would not disagree with that apart from Coffey who is not upto the job

I was assuming as she hadn’t made any extraordinary public errors that she knew what she was doing.

If I’m wrong, that reinforces my point though so I’ll take it.

This is the most lightweight administration since the first Baldwin government of 1923, where just about the only competent ministers were Lord Curzon and Neville Chamberlain.

People always claim the current cabinet is lightweight.

"Big beasts" only tend to be big beasts after they've left office. Quite possible in the future people will be complaining about the weak Cabinet of the day and longing back for the days of big beasts like Sunak, Patel etc

Big_G_NorthWales said:

I cannot comment on the exam results as I have no knowledge of the subject

However watching Sky this morning they had three students open their results live and each of the students was delighted and each had achieved their grades

They then went to a FE college and exactly the same with the two students opening their envelopes and one achieved her results for a teaching assistant and another received his results to gain access to the RAF as an aircraft engineer

It was good tv seeing young people so happy

I would just add Williamson is useless and needs to be sent to the backbenches

Northern_Al said:

tlg86 said:

ydoethur said:

Jonathan said:

Has Williamson resigned yet?

One thought that occurs to me is that unlike in Scotland this is part 1 of 2.

And next week will be much worse as the algorithm was far more important in GCSE results, and the damage done to grades of students in historically weak schools in core subjects, e.g. Maths and English, could be immense.

So although he hasn’t resigned yet, it’s only just beginning.

But will the media care as much about GCSEs, though? Perhaps they should, but unless they can show a student who's dreams of university have been dashed (probably a good looking girl), it's not such a good story.

There will be an issue with GCSEs if there are significant numbers who don't reach the threshold to get on to A-level courses, and if their aspirational parents thinks they should have done so. This could dash dreams of university. Of course sixth forms may lower the threshold, but that would store up major problems for A-level outcomes in two years. As would grade inflation at GCSE.

nichomar said:

Philip_Thompson said:

ydoethur said:

Philip_Thompson said:

ydoethur said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

ydoethur said:

Jonathan said:

Has Williamson resigned yet?

One thought that occurs to me is that unlike in Scotland this is part 1 of 2.

And next week will be much worse as the algorithm was far more important in GCSE results, and the damage done to grades of students in historically weak schools in core subjects, e.g. Maths and English, could be immense.

So although he hasn’t resigned yet, it’s only just beginning.

It is expected Boris will refresh his cabinet in September and Williamson needs to be demoted, along with several others

But it doesn’t work like that, does it? If he appointed by ability and competence, about the only ones to survive a purge would be Sunak, Wallace, Buckland, Coffey and Hart.

And that includes Johnson himself.

Johnson has a track record of success and undeniable ability and competence.

He has a track record of electoral success, and undeniable ability at campaigning.

I’m struggling to think of any time he’s shown competence. He couldn’t even read an autocue correctly on Have I Got News For You.

For a party leader electoral success is one of the most important elements of competence required. That extends to a Prime Minister too under a Cabinet style of government - Sunak is more competent Chancellor than Dodds or McDonnell would be and its only because of Boris's electoral success that we have Sunak.

How do you know? They have never been tested, what you actually mean is that Sunak does things I like and agree with the others ‘might’ not. Sunak as yet has not been tested he has just doled out money come back in two years and maybe a value judgement can be made on his ability.

Fysics_Teacher said:

I assume that most people here have vivid memories of getting their results?

Big_G_NorthWales said:

eek said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

I cannot comment on the exam results as I have no knowledge of the subject

However watching Sky this morning they had three students open their results live and each of the students was delighted and each had achieved their grades

They then went to a FE college and exactly the same with the two students opening their envelopes and one achieved her results for a teaching assistant and another received his results to gain access to the RAF as an aircraft engineer

It was good tv seeing young people so happy

I would just add Williamson is useless and needs to be sent to the backbenches

Schools had the results yesterday, if you want to rig a story it wasn't exactly difficult.

We have our results and in a focus group of2 children and 5 results there are 3 appeals and that's from a good school.

Another child got is appealing 2 out of 3 where the final grade is lower than both the mock and the school grade.

Are you suggesting Sky rigged their report

Watching it 'live' there was no doubt none of the students knew their results before opening their envelope

ydoethur said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

eek said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

I cannot comment on the exam results as I have no knowledge of the subject

However watching Sky this morning they had three students open their results live and each of the students was delighted and each had achieved their grades

They then went to a FE college and exactly the same with the two students opening their envelopes and one achieved her results for a teaching assistant and another received his results to gain access to the RAF as an aircraft engineer

It was good tv seeing young people so happy

I would just add Williamson is useless and needs to be sent to the backbenches

Schools had the results yesterday, if you want to rig a story it wasn't exactly difficult.

We have our results and in a focus group of2 children and 5 results there are 3 appeals and that's from a good school.

Another child got is appealing 2 out of 3 where the final grade is lower than both the mock and the school grade.

Are you suggesting Sky rigged their report

Watching it 'live' there was no doubt none of the students knew their results before opening their envelope

Their school would have done and told them who to focus on.

Casino_Royale said:

Who's hacked pb.com then?

I see this script now on google for the homepage:

メッシュ·スクエア バッグ トート

Fysics_Teacher said:

I assume that most people here have vivid memories of getting their results?

Fysics_Teacher said:

alex_ said:

Lol.

https://twitter.com/LBC/status/1293806102640041985?ref_src=twsrc^google|twcamp^serp|twgr^tweet

Both statements can be correct: just because AS levels are useful in these exceptional circumstances does not mean they are generally so.

I’m personally in two minds on the general value of AS levels; they were very useful for making predictions and it gave me thee weeks each summer where I didn’t have to teach my Y12s (nor mark their exams) but the modular course did lead to a lot of weaker candidates treating them as a trial run rather than the real thing no matter how many times we told them That their UCAS predictions would be their AS grades. Combined with the time taken to go through past papers etc. it also pretty much wrote off the summer in terms of getting any new work done: the last few weeks of the term being taken up with too much other stuff so that it is rare to have a full Y12 class for any lesson.

I know other teachers have different opinions and indeed experiences of this, but for me as a Physics teacher I quite like the new format.

Philip_Thompson said:

OldKingCole said:

Philip_Thompson said:

nichomar said:

Philip_Thompson said:

ydoethur said:

Philip_Thompson said:

ydoethur said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

ydoethur said:

Jonathan said:

Has Williamson resigned yet?

One thought that occurs to me is that unlike in Scotland this is part 1 of 2.

And next week will be much worse as the algorithm was far more important in GCSE results, and the damage done to grades of students in historically weak schools in core subjects, e.g. Maths and English, could be immense.

So although he hasn’t resigned yet, it’s only just beginning.

It is expected Boris will refresh his cabinet in September and Williamson needs to be demoted, along with several others

But it doesn’t work like that, does it? If he appointed by ability and competence, about the only ones to survive a purge would be Sunak, Wallace, Buckland, Coffey and Hart.

And that includes Johnson himself.

Johnson has a track record of success and undeniable ability and competence.

He has a track record of electoral success, and undeniable ability at campaigning.

I’m struggling to think of any time he’s shown competence. He couldn’t even read an autocue correctly on Have I Got News For You.

For a party leader electoral success is one of the most important elements of competence required. That extends to a Prime Minister too under a Cabinet style of government - Sunak is more competent Chancellor than Dodds or McDonnell would be and its only because of Boris's electoral success that we have Sunak.

How do you know? They have never been tested, what you actually mean is that Sunak does things I like and agree with the others ‘might’ not. Sunak as yet has not been tested he has just doled out money come back in two years and maybe a value judgement can be made on his ability.

Sunak has been tested more than most Chancellors ever would already and has so far done a very impressive job - far better than just doling out money.

The furlough scheme was set up with unprecedented efficiency and worked.
During his summer emergency jobs statement he identified where the economy was really struggling and came out with very targeted proposals rather than blanket ones.

The one masterstroke other than the furlough scheme was the Eat Out scheme which cost the Treasury a miniscule amount of money in the COVID scheme of things but has had a transformative impact. When it was announced my first reaction was it was a bit gimmicky, but I was wrong it was quite intelligent and well thought through. It is getting a very powerful return on the money spent by the Treasury compared to any proposed alternatives. We were out yesterday at a local restaurant which we wouldn't have gone to had it not been for the scheme, the restaurant was fully booked out which would never normally happen on a Wednesday.

I wonder if the furlough scheme was one of those left over from the trashed 'pandemic planning' of ...... when was it ...... 2018?
I think the Eat out scheme has partly, but not entirely, transferred eating out from later in the week.

OldKingCole said:

Philip_Thompson said:

nichomar said:

Philip_Thompson said:

ydoethur said:

Philip_Thompson said:

ydoethur said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

ydoethur said:

Jonathan said:

Has Williamson resigned yet?

One thought that occurs to me is that unlike in Scotland this is part 1 of 2.

And next week will be much worse as the algorithm was far more important in GCSE results, and the damage done to grades of students in historically weak schools in core subjects, e.g. Maths and English, could be immense.

So although he hasn’t resigned yet, it’s only just beginning.

It is expected Boris will refresh his cabinet in September and Williamson needs to be demoted, along with several others

But it doesn’t work like that, does it? If he appointed by ability and competence, about the only ones to survive a purge would be Sunak, Wallace, Buckland, Coffey and Hart.

And that includes Johnson himself.

Johnson has a track record of success and undeniable ability and competence.

He has a track record of electoral success, and undeniable ability at campaigning.

I’m struggling to think of any time he’s shown competence. He couldn’t even read an autocue correctly on Have I Got News For You.

For a party leader electoral success is one of the most important elements of competence required. That extends to a Prime Minister too under a Cabinet style of government - Sunak is more competent Chancellor than Dodds or McDonnell would be and its only because of Boris's electoral success that we have Sunak.

How do you know? They have never been tested, what you actually mean is that Sunak does things I like and agree with the others ‘might’ not. Sunak as yet has not been tested he has just doled out money come back in two years and maybe a value judgement can be made on his ability.

Sunak has been tested more than most Chancellors ever would already and has so far done a very impressive job - far better than just doling out money.

The furlough scheme was set up with unprecedented efficiency and worked.
During his summer emergency jobs statement he identified where the economy was really struggling and came out with very targeted proposals rather than blanket ones.

The one masterstroke other than the furlough scheme was the Eat Out scheme which cost the Treasury a miniscule amount of money in the COVID scheme of things but has had a transformative impact. When it was announced my first reaction was it was a bit gimmicky, but I was wrong it was quite intelligent and well thought through. It is getting a very powerful return on the money spent by the Treasury compared to any proposed alternatives. We were out yesterday at a local restaurant which we wouldn't have gone to had it not been for the scheme, the restaurant was fully booked out which would never normally happen on a Wednesday.

I wonder if the furlough scheme was one of those left over from the trashed 'pandemic planning' of ...... when was it ...... 2018?
I think the Eat out scheme has partly, but not entirely, transferred eating out from later in the week.

If the furlough scheme was then good job the planning was done. If it wasn't then it was wonderfully creative.

I doubt it regarding the Eat Out scheme. Personally we would never have gone out this weekend so our meal yesterday was definitely an extra one. Yesterday was our first meal out since February and having crossed that bridge and had a meal out now I'd feel a lot more confident to have another one next month even without the scheme.