politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Back to basics. Poor administration and its consequences
politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Back to basics. Poor administration and its consequences
How Covid-Alert are you? Or, put another way, without checking, can you tell me what the current Covid Alert Level is? And without checking, can you tell me what that alert level means? I expect that most of you will have proven unalert by that measure.*
Comments
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First... And a profoundly depressing opening by Mr Meeks. It rings so true.1
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It’s the same with the terrorist threat level.
The bigger question for me is around philosophy. People are still getting COVID-19 and some are still dying horrible deaths. But the numbers of the latter are small and the media is bored.
Now, that grade A numpty on LBC James O’Brien told one listener in favour of sending kids to school that he’d be responsible if anyone died as a result.
Eventually there will be a fatality relating to the spread of the virus in a school, will that be one too many?1 -
A long way back in third, like the Lib Dems in England.0
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This was the one that Boris f**ked up right at the beginning, with that rambling incoherent television address so memorably lampooned by Matt Lucas, which included announcing the supposedly clear new five-stage national alert system, and then saying we were currently at level three-and-a-half.
It never got off the runway.
The new system is: watch what Scotland is doing; wait a week during which ministers can build the suspense by denying or trashing the Scottish approach; do the same.3 -
Good morning ladies and gentlemen. And a miserable grey one it is at the moment. Here anyway. I must admit though that locally there are some 'green shoots of revival' on the Covid-19 front in that halls where social groups can meet are slowly and cautiously re-opening.
And people in general seem to be getting about a bit more.0 -
Yes, Johnson copies Sturgeons homework then hands it in late.IanB2 said:This was the one that Boris f**ked up right at the beginning, with that rambling incoherent television address so memorably lampooned by Matt Lucas, which included announcing the supposedly clear new five-stage national alert system, and then saying we were currently at level three-and-a-half.
It never got off the runway.
The new system is: watch what Scotland is doing; wait a week during which ministers can build the suspense by denying or trashing the Scottish approach; do the same.
The SNP would not be anywhere near as popular without the Tories as a foil. It has been the cover for a lot of other failures.
It is Johnson's malevolent incompetence, as outlined in the header, that will end the United Kingdom.
The end of Transition is set to be a trainwreck too. What else can we expect?
4 -
I see pizzagate has come to the UK:
https://twitter.com/QanonAnonymous/status/1299873961828741120?s=091 -
Yesterday’s Briefing Room on R4 is well worth a listen. It included the suggestion that a thin last minute deal might be accompanied by an “implementation period” - during which everything would stay the same as currently. As a way to extend without actually extending.Foxy said:
Yes, Johnson copies Sturgeons homework then hands it in late.IanB2 said:This was the one that Boris f**ked up right at the beginning, with that rambling incoherent television address so memorably lampooned by Matt Lucas, which included announcing the supposedly clear new five-stage national alert system, and then saying we were currently at level three-and-a-half.
It never got off the runway.
The new system is: watch what Scotland is doing; wait a week during which ministers can build the suspense by denying or trashing the Scottish approach; do the same.
The SNP would not be anywhere near as popular without the Tories as a foil. It has been the cover for a lot of other failures.
It is Johnson's malevolent incompetence, as outlined in the header, that will end the United Kingdom.
The end of Transition is set to be a trainwreck too. What else can we expect?0 -
He’ll be out of the door as quickly as Theresa May was, if he tries that one.IanB2 said:
Yesterday’s Briefing Room on R4 is well worth a listen. It included the suggestion that a thin last minute deal might be accompanied by an “implementation period” - during which everything would stay the same as currently. As a way to extend without actually extending.Foxy said:
Yes, Johnson copies Sturgeons homework then hands it in late.IanB2 said:This was the one that Boris f**ked up right at the beginning, with that rambling incoherent television address so memorably lampooned by Matt Lucas, which included announcing the supposedly clear new five-stage national alert system, and then saying we were currently at level three-and-a-half.
It never got off the runway.
The new system is: watch what Scotland is doing; wait a week during which ministers can build the suspense by denying or trashing the Scottish approach; do the same.
The SNP would not be anywhere near as popular without the Tories as a foil. It has been the cover for a lot of other failures.
It is Johnson's malevolent incompetence, as outlined in the header, that will end the United Kingdom.
The end of Transition is set to be a trainwreck too. What else can we expect?1 -
Yep he has painted himself into that corner.Sandpit said:
He’ll be out of the door as quickly as Theresa May was, if he tries that one.IanB2 said:
Yesterday’s Briefing Room on R4 is well worth a listen. It included the suggestion that a thin last minute deal might be accompanied by an “implementation period” - during which everything would stay the same as currently. As a way to extend without actually extending.Foxy said:
Yes, Johnson copies Sturgeons homework then hands it in late.IanB2 said:This was the one that Boris f**ked up right at the beginning, with that rambling incoherent television address so memorably lampooned by Matt Lucas, which included announcing the supposedly clear new five-stage national alert system, and then saying we were currently at level three-and-a-half.
It never got off the runway.
The new system is: watch what Scotland is doing; wait a week during which ministers can build the suspense by denying or trashing the Scottish approach; do the same.
The SNP would not be anywhere near as popular without the Tories as a foil. It has been the cover for a lot of other failures.
It is Johnson's malevolent incompetence, as outlined in the header, that will end the United Kingdom.
The end of Transition is set to be a trainwreck too. What else can we expect?1 -
Yes, there was some discussion on the new border controls the other day, with the new arrangements to start in July 2021. It wasn't clear what happens in the interim.IanB2 said:
Yesterday’s Briefing Room on R4 is well worth a listen. It included the suggestion that a thin last minute deal might be accompanied by an “implementation period” - during which everything would stay the same as currently. As a way to extend without actually extending.Foxy said:
Yes, Johnson copies Sturgeons homework then hands it in late.IanB2 said:This was the one that Boris f**ked up right at the beginning, with that rambling incoherent television address so memorably lampooned by Matt Lucas, which included announcing the supposedly clear new five-stage national alert system, and then saying we were currently at level three-and-a-half.
It never got off the runway.
The new system is: watch what Scotland is doing; wait a week during which ministers can build the suspense by denying or trashing the Scottish approach; do the same.
The SNP would not be anywhere near as popular without the Tories as a foil. It has been the cover for a lot of other failures.
It is Johnson's malevolent incompetence, as outlined in the header, that will end the United Kingdom.
The end of Transition is set to be a trainwreck too. What else can we expect?
https://twitter.com/foxinsoxuk/status/1299292809573343232?s=091 -
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2020/08/29/treasury-officials-push-bombshell-tax-hikes-pay-virus/Sandpit said:
He’ll be out of the door as quickly as Theresa May was, if he tries that one.IanB2 said:
Yesterday’s Briefing Room on R4 is well worth a listen. It included the suggestion that a thin last minute deal might be accompanied by an “implementation period” - during which everything would stay the same as currently. As a way to extend without actually extending.Foxy said:
Yes, Johnson copies Sturgeons homework then hands it in late.IanB2 said:This was the one that Boris f**ked up right at the beginning, with that rambling incoherent television address so memorably lampooned by Matt Lucas, which included announcing the supposedly clear new five-stage national alert system, and then saying we were currently at level three-and-a-half.
It never got off the runway.
The new system is: watch what Scotland is doing; wait a week during which ministers can build the suspense by denying or trashing the Scottish approach; do the same.
The SNP would not be anywhere near as popular without the Tories as a foil. It has been the cover for a lot of other failures.
It is Johnson's malevolent incompetence, as outlined in the header, that will end the United Kingdom.
The end of Transition is set to be a trainwreck too. What else can we expect?
IHT particularly in the frame, apparently. What with that and the proposed planning reforms I expect the party shortly to fissure along shire tory vs neo Trump bojoist lines as badly as labour fissured under Corbyn. Brexit developments won't be the principal casus belli because shortly everybody will have given up pretending Brexit is anything other than a clusterfuck (though it may be a pretext).0 -
FPT:Luckyguy1983 said:
I find this, and @Alistair's post above rather silly. There's a far simpler reason why people believe in a conspiracy theory - they hear it, it seems plausible, it seems to fit the facts as they see them, they believe it. Before we start locking away these poor benighted fools, we should remember that a significant section of PB puts most of the ills of the modern world down to plotting by Vladimir Putin. Those are also conspiracy theories. You could say 'ah, but those ones are true.' but that rings a bit hollow doesn't it?MightyAlex said:
.rcs1000 said:
People believe in Frazzledrip.Alistair said:
Qanon is the new Tea Party.Theuniondivvie said:
Google QAnon Trump, then despair.Mortimer said:
Can someone explain what on earth that previous comment means? I've never heard of QAnon?dixiedean said:
Splitters!Alistair said:
The way QAnon has morphed in "Wellness lifestyle" groups (I. E yoga mums) is amazing.Theuniondivvie said:A bunch of cultists.
https://twitter.com/NinaDSchick/status/1299800259204395009?s=20
Not quite the numbers that the Kennedy nutcase was predicting.
'Some 38,000 people took part in a march that split into two main groups.'
Hard core 1st gen QAnoners are basically denouncing all these in person physical marches. They see QAnon as an online only movement.
There will be many openly QAnon Congressional candidates in 2022
This is the QAnon story about how there is a video of Hillary Clinton and Huma Abedin where they rape a child, and then cut its face off and wear it. (That is, Hillary Clinton wears a child's face she has just cut from a mutilated dead body.)
It's utterly ridiculous and absurd.
But people believe it. Lots of people believe it.
Why?
This podcast is brilliant, interviews a number of Q and ex-Q believers.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/04/podcasts/rabbit-hole-qanon-youtube-tiktok-virus.html
That's wrong about the nature of conspiracy theories though and is rather silly in its understanding of conspiracy theories - which go against the official version of events by claiming there's a hidden set of facts and links that only those positing the theory understand and have access to that shows the official version of events to be a grand conspiracy and cover-up. In the case of Putin, we know he's hostile to western governments and acts in a way contrary to our interests, because he's said so and acted that way, and our own governments have said so. The official version is that he's a bad actor - then there's speculation over its extent, its effects, whether we are on top of the threat, and if we're not, the reasons why.
In the case of conspiracy theories, whether it's QAnon, the moon landings, 9/11 trutherism, Kennedy's death, Dan Brown nonsense, white replacement or whatever, what unites them and diffrentiates them from ordinary political belief is that they require you to replace one official set of broadly agreed facts and replace them with another conspiracist one. To believe the moon landings were faked, you need to believe thousands of people were in on it and never talked. Same with QAnon, trutherism, Kennedy being killed by the CIA, a Jesus bloodline, or 'white genocide'. It's not an interpretation of the facts, it's a rejection of one set for another.
And their growth is fascinating and worrying for that reason. It's not one person viewing the EU, for example, as benign and another as malign, based on their views of stuff they broadly agree happened but value and interpret differently. It's people living on entirely different mental planets. I think ultimately, their growth is about social media/online, whose effects on our minds we still don't fully understand.2 -
But who would they replace him with?Sandpit said:
He’ll be out of the door as quickly as Theresa May was, if he tries that one.IanB2 said:
Yesterday’s Briefing Room on R4 is well worth a listen. It included the suggestion that a thin last minute deal might be accompanied by an “implementation period” - during which everything would stay the same as currently. As a way to extend without actually extending.Foxy said:
Yes, Johnson copies Sturgeons homework then hands it in late.IanB2 said:This was the one that Boris f**ked up right at the beginning, with that rambling incoherent television address so memorably lampooned by Matt Lucas, which included announcing the supposedly clear new five-stage national alert system, and then saying we were currently at level three-and-a-half.
It never got off the runway.
The new system is: watch what Scotland is doing; wait a week during which ministers can build the suspense by denying or trashing the Scottish approach; do the same.
The SNP would not be anywhere near as popular without the Tories as a foil. It has been the cover for a lot of other failures.
It is Johnson's malevolent incompetence, as outlined in the header, that will end the United Kingdom.
The end of Transition is set to be a trainwreck too. What else can we expect?0 -
Priti.Icarus said:
But who would they replace him with?Sandpit said:
He’ll be out of the door as quickly as Theresa May was, if he tries that one.IanB2 said:
Yesterday’s Briefing Room on R4 is well worth a listen. It included the suggestion that a thin last minute deal might be accompanied by an “implementation period” - during which everything would stay the same as currently. As a way to extend without actually extending.Foxy said:
Yes, Johnson copies Sturgeons homework then hands it in late.IanB2 said:This was the one that Boris f**ked up right at the beginning, with that rambling incoherent television address so memorably lampooned by Matt Lucas, which included announcing the supposedly clear new five-stage national alert system, and then saying we were currently at level three-and-a-half.
It never got off the runway.
The new system is: watch what Scotland is doing; wait a week during which ministers can build the suspense by denying or trashing the Scottish approach; do the same.
The SNP would not be anywhere near as popular without the Tories as a foil. It has been the cover for a lot of other failures.
It is Johnson's malevolent incompetence, as outlined in the header, that will end the United Kingdom.
The end of Transition is set to be a trainwreck too. What else can we expect?
If the Brexiteers are not happy, they will demand the most Brexitist of all.0 -
Rishi (= Disraeli)??????Icarus said:
But who would they replace him with?Sandpit said:
He’ll be out of the door as quickly as Theresa May was, if he tries that one.IanB2 said:
Yesterday’s Briefing Room on R4 is well worth a listen. It included the suggestion that a thin last minute deal might be accompanied by an “implementation period” - during which everything would stay the same as currently. As a way to extend without actually extending.Foxy said:
Yes, Johnson copies Sturgeons homework then hands it in late.IanB2 said:This was the one that Boris f**ked up right at the beginning, with that rambling incoherent television address so memorably lampooned by Matt Lucas, which included announcing the supposedly clear new five-stage national alert system, and then saying we were currently at level three-and-a-half.
It never got off the runway.
The new system is: watch what Scotland is doing; wait a week during which ministers can build the suspense by denying or trashing the Scottish approach; do the same.
The SNP would not be anywhere near as popular without the Tories as a foil. It has been the cover for a lot of other failures.
It is Johnson's malevolent incompetence, as outlined in the header, that will end the United Kingdom.
The end of Transition is set to be a trainwreck too. What else can we expect?
Traditionally the Tories love a winner. And that goes above anything else.
2 -
He came back with a withdrawal agreement that had a clause in it that he previously said No British Prime Minister could ever agree to.Sandpit said:
He’ll be out of the door as quickly as Theresa May was, if he tries that one.IanB2 said:
Yesterday’s Briefing Room on R4 is well worth a listen. It included the suggestion that a thin last minute deal might be accompanied by an “implementation period” - during which everything would stay the same as currently. As a way to extend without actually extending.Foxy said:
Yes, Johnson copies Sturgeons homework then hands it in late.IanB2 said:This was the one that Boris f**ked up right at the beginning, with that rambling incoherent television address so memorably lampooned by Matt Lucas, which included announcing the supposedly clear new five-stage national alert system, and then saying we were currently at level three-and-a-half.
It never got off the runway.
The new system is: watch what Scotland is doing; wait a week during which ministers can build the suspense by denying or trashing the Scottish approach; do the same.
The SNP would not be anywhere near as popular without the Tories as a foil. It has been the cover for a lot of other failures.
It is Johnson's malevolent incompetence, as outlined in the header, that will end the United Kingdom.
The end of Transition is set to be a trainwreck too. What else can we expect?
He was hailed a genius.
Why not try the same thing again?2 -
It would probably go to the members, but whoever promised to enact Brexit on time. Gove maybe?Icarus said:
But who would they replace him with?Sandpit said:
He’ll be out of the door as quickly as Theresa May was, if he tries that one.IanB2 said:
Yesterday’s Briefing Room on R4 is well worth a listen. It included the suggestion that a thin last minute deal might be accompanied by an “implementation period” - during which everything would stay the same as currently. As a way to extend without actually extending.Foxy said:
Yes, Johnson copies Sturgeons homework then hands it in late.IanB2 said:This was the one that Boris f**ked up right at the beginning, with that rambling incoherent television address so memorably lampooned by Matt Lucas, which included announcing the supposedly clear new five-stage national alert system, and then saying we were currently at level three-and-a-half.
It never got off the runway.
The new system is: watch what Scotland is doing; wait a week during which ministers can build the suspense by denying or trashing the Scottish approach; do the same.
The SNP would not be anywhere near as popular without the Tories as a foil. It has been the cover for a lot of other failures.
It is Johnson's malevolent incompetence, as outlined in the header, that will end the United Kingdom.
The end of Transition is set to be a trainwreck too. What else can we expect?
To be fair, if the only delay is to the collecting of tarrifs at ports then that’s not a problem. The problems are continuing to pay into the EU budget, FoM and inability to make other trade deals.1 -
I suspect we forget how much Corbyn in particular 'frightened the horses', particularly those in the Mail and Telegraph, and to a slightly lesser extent the Times. Starmer's nowhere near as frightening.Alistair said:
He came back with a withdrawal agreement that had a clause in it that he previously said No British Prime Minister could ever agree to.Sandpit said:
He’ll be out of the door as quickly as Theresa May was, if he tries that one.IanB2 said:
Yesterday’s Briefing Room on R4 is well worth a listen. It included the suggestion that a thin last minute deal might be accompanied by an “implementation period” - during which everything would stay the same as currently. As a way to extend without actually extending.Foxy said:
Yes, Johnson copies Sturgeons homework then hands it in late.IanB2 said:This was the one that Boris f**ked up right at the beginning, with that rambling incoherent television address so memorably lampooned by Matt Lucas, which included announcing the supposedly clear new five-stage national alert system, and then saying we were currently at level three-and-a-half.
It never got off the runway.
The new system is: watch what Scotland is doing; wait a week during which ministers can build the suspense by denying or trashing the Scottish approach; do the same.
The SNP would not be anywhere near as popular without the Tories as a foil. It has been the cover for a lot of other failures.
It is Johnson's malevolent incompetence, as outlined in the header, that will end the United Kingdom.
The end of Transition is set to be a trainwreck too. What else can we expect?
He was hailed a genius.
Why not try the same thing again?
So the idea of Boris the Showman was acceptable.
1 -
The timing does not work.Sandpit said:
It would probably go to the members, but whoever promised to enact Brexit on time. Gove maybe?Icarus said:
But who would they replace him with?Sandpit said:
He’ll be out of the door as quickly as Theresa May was, if he tries that one.IanB2 said:
Yesterday’s Briefing Room on R4 is well worth a listen. It included the suggestion that a thin last minute deal might be accompanied by an “implementation period” - during which everything would stay the same as currently. As a way to extend without actually extending.Foxy said:
Yes, Johnson copies Sturgeons homework then hands it in late.IanB2 said:This was the one that Boris f**ked up right at the beginning, with that rambling incoherent television address so memorably lampooned by Matt Lucas, which included announcing the supposedly clear new five-stage national alert system, and then saying we were currently at level three-and-a-half.
It never got off the runway.
The new system is: watch what Scotland is doing; wait a week during which ministers can build the suspense by denying or trashing the Scottish approach; do the same.
The SNP would not be anywhere near as popular without the Tories as a foil. It has been the cover for a lot of other failures.
It is Johnson's malevolent incompetence, as outlined in the header, that will end the United Kingdom.
The end of Transition is set to be a trainwreck too. What else can we expect?
To be fair, if the only delay is to the collecting of tarrifs at ports then that’s not a problem. The problems are continuing to pay into the EU budget, FoM and inability to make other trade deals.
If a barebones deal with a six months standstill "implementation" period was agreed in November, that would not allow enough time for a contest.
All major parties now have such longwinded leadership contests that a rapid succession in a crisis is very hard to manage. Imagine how the Norway debate would end now.1 -
Briefing Room suggested that the UK's intention was to implement controls and checks after six months, but suggested that in the absence of a deal the EU is likely to start sooner, if not right away.Foxy said:
Yes, there was some discussion on the new border controls the other day, with the new arrangements to start in July 2021. It wasn't clear what happens in the interim.IanB2 said:
Yesterday’s Briefing Room on R4 is well worth a listen. It included the suggestion that a thin last minute deal might be accompanied by an “implementation period” - during which everything would stay the same as currently. As a way to extend without actually extending.Foxy said:
Yes, Johnson copies Sturgeons homework then hands it in late.IanB2 said:This was the one that Boris f**ked up right at the beginning, with that rambling incoherent television address so memorably lampooned by Matt Lucas, which included announcing the supposedly clear new five-stage national alert system, and then saying we were currently at level three-and-a-half.
It never got off the runway.
The new system is: watch what Scotland is doing; wait a week during which ministers can build the suspense by denying or trashing the Scottish approach; do the same.
The SNP would not be anywhere near as popular without the Tories as a foil. It has been the cover for a lot of other failures.
It is Johnson's malevolent incompetence, as outlined in the header, that will end the United Kingdom.
The end of Transition is set to be a trainwreck too. What else can we expect?
https://twitter.com/foxinsoxuk/status/1299292809573343232?s=090 -
Looks like Rishi plans to copy Corbyns 2019 manifesto on tax. The cycle of copying Labours manifesto is accelerating.OldKingCole said:
Rishi (= Disraeli)??????Icarus said:
But who would they replace him with?Sandpit said:
He’ll be out of the door as quickly as Theresa May was, if he tries that one.IanB2 said:
Yesterday’s Briefing Room on R4 is well worth a listen. It included the suggestion that a thin last minute deal might be accompanied by an “implementation period” - during which everything would stay the same as currently. As a way to extend without actually extending.Foxy said:
Yes, Johnson copies Sturgeons homework then hands it in late.IanB2 said:This was the one that Boris f**ked up right at the beginning, with that rambling incoherent television address so memorably lampooned by Matt Lucas, which included announcing the supposedly clear new five-stage national alert system, and then saying we were currently at level three-and-a-half.
It never got off the runway.
The new system is: watch what Scotland is doing; wait a week during which ministers can build the suspense by denying or trashing the Scottish approach; do the same.
The SNP would not be anywhere near as popular without the Tories as a foil. It has been the cover for a lot of other failures.
It is Johnson's malevolent incompetence, as outlined in the header, that will end the United Kingdom.
The end of Transition is set to be a trainwreck too. What else can we expect?
Traditionally the Tories love a winner. And that goes above anything else.
https://twitter.com/Telegraph/status/1299811051924578304?s=091 -
Betting Post
Good morning, everyone.
F1: pre-race ramble: https://enormo-haddock.blogspot.com/2020/08/belgium-pre-race-2020.html
Backed Bottas each way to win 7.5 (8 with boost), third the odds top 2. Surprised by the narrow gap in Q3 but I'm taking the view that he underperformed in that section and the car is just a step ahead of the field.
Also backed Grosjean to not be classified at 3.25, and Ricciardo likewise at 5 (he had technical gremlins during qualifying), splitting one stake evenly between them.1 -
It seems that the French understand that Brexit means Brexit, but that our government does not...IanB2 said:
Briefing Room suggested that the UK's intention was to implement controls and checks after six months, but suggested that in the absence of a deal the EU is likely to start sooner, if not right away.Foxy said:
Yes, there was some discussion on the new border controls the other day, with the new arrangements to start in July 2021. It wasn't clear what happens in the interim.IanB2 said:
Yesterday’s Briefing Room on R4 is well worth a listen. It included the suggestion that a thin last minute deal might be accompanied by an “implementation period” - during which everything would stay the same as currently. As a way to extend without actually extending.Foxy said:
Yes, Johnson copies Sturgeons homework then hands it in late.IanB2 said:This was the one that Boris f**ked up right at the beginning, with that rambling incoherent television address so memorably lampooned by Matt Lucas, which included announcing the supposedly clear new five-stage national alert system, and then saying we were currently at level three-and-a-half.
It never got off the runway.
The new system is: watch what Scotland is doing; wait a week during which ministers can build the suspense by denying or trashing the Scottish approach; do the same.
The SNP would not be anywhere near as popular without the Tories as a foil. It has been the cover for a lot of other failures.
It is Johnson's malevolent incompetence, as outlined in the header, that will end the United Kingdom.
The end of Transition is set to be a trainwreck too. What else can we expect?
https://twitter.com/foxinsoxuk/status/1299292809573343232?s=092 -
That’s a good bet on Bottas.Morris_Dancer said:Betting Post
Good morning, everyone.
F1: pre-race ramble: https://enormo-haddock.blogspot.com/2020/08/belgium-pre-race-2020.html
Backed Bottas each way to win 7.5 (8 with boost), third the odds top 2. Surprised by the narrow gap in Q3 but I'm taking the view that he underperformed in that section and the car is just a step ahead of the field.
Also backed Grosjean to not be classified at 3.25, and Ricciardo likewise at 5 (he had technical gremlins during qualifying), splitting one stake evenly between them.
I’m also on No Safety Car at 3.25 (Betfair exchange). They made extensive use of the VSC in the support races yesterday, it looks as if they don’t want to use the full SC unless they really have to, due to the 7km length of the circuit. Against that is the possibility of rain, which is always on the mind at this circuit.0 -
Has the divergence of opinion on PB vs the voting public ever been greater?
Despite Labour’s new leader bounce/end of Corbynism, a record breaking fall in GDP, a pandemic response that has (to put it politely) failed to prevent tens of thousands of deaths and an apparent impending No Deal Brexit, 40% still say they’d vote for Johnson’s Conservatives. In a no consequence polling survey years from an election.
Yet on here it’s hard to find anyone (HYFUD aside) with a good word to say about the PM/govt. I suspect there’s going to be a lot of disappointed PBers in 2024 if this is any indication of a floor in support.0 -
USA Presidential election
The Biden premium has shortened: you can get a bigger price on Biden to win than on the Democrats, with the difference covering the risk Biden withdraws before November; as such, the premium should fall as we get closer to the election (it is .03 now, down from .05 throughout last week).
Biden 1.92
Dem 1.89
Trump 2.12
Rep 2.12
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Announced 2 months ago:Foxy said:
Yes, there was some discussion on the new border controls the other day, with the new arrangements to start in July 2021. It wasn't clear what happens in the interim.IanB2 said:
Yesterday’s Briefing Room on R4 is well worth a listen. It included the suggestion that a thin last minute deal might be accompanied by an “implementation period” - during which everything would stay the same as currently. As a way to extend without actually extending.Foxy said:
Yes, Johnson copies Sturgeons homework then hands it in late.IanB2 said:This was the one that Boris f**ked up right at the beginning, with that rambling incoherent television address so memorably lampooned by Matt Lucas, which included announcing the supposedly clear new five-stage national alert system, and then saying we were currently at level three-and-a-half.
It never got off the runway.
The new system is: watch what Scotland is doing; wait a week during which ministers can build the suspense by denying or trashing the Scottish approach; do the same.
The SNP would not be anywhere near as popular without the Tories as a foil. It has been the cover for a lot of other failures.
It is Johnson's malevolent incompetence, as outlined in the header, that will end the United Kingdom.
The end of Transition is set to be a trainwreck too. What else can we expect?
https://twitter.com/foxinsoxuk/status/1299292809573343232?s=09
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/jun/12/brexit-full-border-controls-on-goods-entering-uk-will-not-apply-until-july-20210 -
This is all complete b*llocks. There are plenty of government supporters on here.moonshine said:Has the divergence of opinion on PB vs the voting public ever been greater?
Despite Labour’s new leader bounce/end of Corbynism, a record breaking fall in GDP, a pandemic response that has (to put it politely) failed to prevent tens of thousands of deaths and an apparent impending No Deal Brexit, 40% still say they’d vote for Johnson’s Conservatives. In a no consequence polling survey years from an election.
Yet on here it’s hard to find anyone (HYFUD aside) with a good word to say about the PM/govt. I suspect there’s going to be a lot of disappointed PBers in 2024 if this is any indication of a floor in support.2 -
Yes, when the UK announced in June that it would delay implementation for 6 months and wondered if the EU might do the same they got a simple "Non".IanB2 said:
Briefing Room suggested that the UK's intention was to implement controls and checks after six months, but suggested that in the absence of a deal the EU is likely to start sooner, if not right away.Foxy said:
Yes, there was some discussion on the new border controls the other day, with the new arrangements to start in July 2021. It wasn't clear what happens in the interim.IanB2 said:
Yesterday’s Briefing Room on R4 is well worth a listen. It included the suggestion that a thin last minute deal might be accompanied by an “implementation period” - during which everything would stay the same as currently. As a way to extend without actually extending.Foxy said:
Yes, Johnson copies Sturgeons homework then hands it in late.IanB2 said:This was the one that Boris f**ked up right at the beginning, with that rambling incoherent television address so memorably lampooned by Matt Lucas, which included announcing the supposedly clear new five-stage national alert system, and then saying we were currently at level three-and-a-half.
It never got off the runway.
The new system is: watch what Scotland is doing; wait a week during which ministers can build the suspense by denying or trashing the Scottish approach; do the same.
The SNP would not be anywhere near as popular without the Tories as a foil. It has been the cover for a lot of other failures.
It is Johnson's malevolent incompetence, as outlined in the header, that will end the United Kingdom.
The end of Transition is set to be a trainwreck too. What else can we expect?
https://twitter.com/foxinsoxuk/status/1299292809573343232?s=090 -
I suspect one could have a comparable situation during WWII, right up until the war ended. Support the Government during trouble.moonshine said:Has the divergence of opinion on PB vs the voting public ever been greater?
Despite Labour’s new leader bounce/end of Corbynism, a record breaking fall in GDP, a pandemic response that has (to put it politely) failed to prevent tens of thousands of deaths and an apparent impending No Deal Brexit, 40% still say they’d vote for Johnson’s Conservatives. In a no consequence polling survey years from an election.
Yet on here it’s hard to find anyone (HYFUD aside) with a good word to say about the PM/govt. I suspect there’s going to be a lot of disappointed PBers in 2024 if this is any indication of a floor in support.
0 -
Trump visiting Kenosha is clearly designed to insight further violence.2
-
All the main Brexiteers are in the Cabinet to act as human shields for Boris when he announces the non-extension extension or the sale of Dover to France, whichever happens first. There will be no Brexit defenestration.Alistair said:
He came back with a withdrawal agreement that had a clause in it that he previously said No British Prime Minister could ever agree to.Sandpit said:
He’ll be out of the door as quickly as Theresa May was, if he tries that one.IanB2 said:
Yesterday’s Briefing Room on R4 is well worth a listen. It included the suggestion that a thin last minute deal might be accompanied by an “implementation period” - during which everything would stay the same as currently. As a way to extend without actually extending.Foxy said:
Yes, Johnson copies Sturgeons homework then hands it in late.IanB2 said:This was the one that Boris f**ked up right at the beginning, with that rambling incoherent television address so memorably lampooned by Matt Lucas, which included announcing the supposedly clear new five-stage national alert system, and then saying we were currently at level three-and-a-half.
It never got off the runway.
The new system is: watch what Scotland is doing; wait a week during which ministers can build the suspense by denying or trashing the Scottish approach; do the same.
The SNP would not be anywhere near as popular without the Tories as a foil. It has been the cover for a lot of other failures.
It is Johnson's malevolent incompetence, as outlined in the header, that will end the United Kingdom.
The end of Transition is set to be a trainwreck too. What else can we expect?
He was hailed a genius.
Why not try the same thing again?0 -
Are we reading the same PB?moonshine said:Has the divergence of opinion on PB vs the voting public ever been greater?
Despite Labour’s new leader bounce/end of Corbynism, a record breaking fall in GDP, a pandemic response that has (to put it politely) failed to prevent tens of thousands of deaths and an apparent impending No Deal Brexit, 40% still say they’d vote for Johnson’s Conservatives. In a no consequence polling survey years from an election.
Yet on here it’s hard to find anyone (HYFUD aside) with a good word to say about the PM/govt. I suspect there’s going to be a lot of disappointed PBers in 2024 if this is any indication of a floor in support.
Yes there is a growing band of frustrated Tories, but there is at least the same number of "Boris 'til I die" loyalist posters too.0 -
Exactly. A conspiracy theory is not a difference in the interpretation of facts. It is the substitution of facts for an invented reality.MJW said:
FPT:Luckyguy1983 said:
I find this, and @Alistair's post above rather silly. There's a far simpler reason why people believe in a conspiracy theory - they hear it, it seems plausible, it seems to fit the facts as they see them, they believe it. Before we start locking away these poor benighted fools, we should remember that a significant section of PB puts most of the ills of the modern world down to plotting by Vladimir Putin. Those are also conspiracy theories. You could say 'ah, but those ones are true.' but that rings a bit hollow doesn't it?MightyAlex said:
.rcs1000 said:
People believe in Frazzledrip.Alistair said:
Qanon is the new Tea Party.Theuniondivvie said:
Google QAnon Trump, then despair.Mortimer said:
Can someone explain what on earth that previous comment means? I've never heard of QAnon?dixiedean said:
Splitters!Alistair said:
The way QAnon has morphed in "Wellness lifestyle" groups (I. E yoga mums) is amazing.Theuniondivvie said:A bunch of cultists.
https://twitter.com/NinaDSchick/status/1299800259204395009?s=20
Not quite the numbers that the Kennedy nutcase was predicting.
'Some 38,000 people took part in a march that split into two main groups.'
Hard core 1st gen QAnoners are basically denouncing all these in person physical marches. They see QAnon as an online only movement.
There will be many openly QAnon Congressional candidates in 2022
This is the QAnon story about how there is a video of Hillary Clinton and Huma Abedin where they rape a child, and then cut its face off and wear it. (That is, Hillary Clinton wears a child's face she has just cut from a mutilated dead body.)
It's utterly ridiculous and absurd.
But people believe it. Lots of people believe it.
Why?
This podcast is brilliant, interviews a number of Q and ex-Q believers.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/04/podcasts/rabbit-hole-qanon-youtube-tiktok-virus.html
That's wrong about the nature of conspiracy theories though and is rather silly in its understanding of conspiracy theories - which go against the official version of events by claiming there's a hidden set of facts and links that only those positing the theory understand and have access to that shows the official version of events to be a grand conspiracy and cover-up. In the case of Putin, we know he's hostile to western governments and acts in a way contrary to our interests, because he's said so and acted that way, and our own governments have said so. The official version is that he's a bad actor - then there's speculation over its extent, its effects, whether we are on top of the threat, and if we're not, the reasons why.
In the case of conspiracy theories, whether it's QAnon, the moon landings, 9/11 trutherism, Kennedy's death, Dan Brown nonsense, white replacement or whatever, what unites them and diffrentiates them from ordinary political belief is that they require you to replace one official set of broadly agreed facts and replace them with another conspiracist one. To believe the moon landings were faked, you need to believe thousands of people were in on it and never talked. Same with QAnon, trutherism, Kennedy being killed by the CIA, a Jesus bloodline, or 'white genocide'. It's not an interpretation of the facts, it's a rejection of one set for another.
And their growth is fascinating and worrying for that reason. It's not one person viewing the EU, for example, as benign and another as malign, based on their views of stuff they broadly agree happened but value and interpret differently. It's people living on entirely different mental planets. I think ultimately, their growth is about social media/online, whose effects on our minds we still don't fully understand.
"Missiles disguised with holograms to look like planes" is not a difference of opinion.0 -
Somebody on the Twitters was pointing out that the lowest point of Trump's support was after Charlottesville, and the recent dip was after tear-gassing protestors for a photo op. I definitely understand the *logic* of running on law and order, but it's hard to see how you make it work if you've got people wearing t-shirts with your name on going around picking fights. All the available data says this isn't going to work; It might have worked if it was more subtle, but Trump doesn't do subtle.Gallowgate said:Trump visiting Kenosha is clearly designed to insight further violence.
0 -
Mr. Sandpit, interesting thought on no safety car, cheers.1
-
No, voters are being rational. The question pollsters ask is "How will you vote if there is a GE tomorrow?" With Brexit not yet done, they don't want Keir Starmer anywhere near the levers of power.moonshine said:Has the divergence of opinion on PB vs the voting public ever been greater?
Despite Labour’s new leader bounce/end of Corbynism, a record breaking fall in GDP, a pandemic response that has (to put it politely) failed to prevent tens of thousands of deaths and an apparent impending No Deal Brexit, 40% still say they’d vote for Johnson’s Conservatives. In a no consequence polling survey years from an election.
Yet on here it’s hard to find anyone (HYFUD aside) with a good word to say about the PM/govt. I suspect there’s going to be a lot of disappointed PBers in 2024 if this is any indication of a floor in support.1 -
If they ramp up IHT or lower the thresholds then I'll be surprised - in a good way. But I doubt that they will. Going after estates enrages both stickbangers and their heirs in a way almost nothing else will, and is political nuclear death (as Theresa May discovered with the dementia tax.)Foxy said:
Looks like Rishi plans to copy Corbyns 2019 manifesto on tax. The cycle of copying Labours manifesto is accelerating.OldKingCole said:
Rishi (= Disraeli)??????Icarus said:
But who would they replace him with?Sandpit said:
He’ll be out of the door as quickly as Theresa May was, if he tries that one.IanB2 said:
Yesterday’s Briefing Room on R4 is well worth a listen. It included the suggestion that a thin last minute deal might be accompanied by an “implementation period” - during which everything would stay the same as currently. As a way to extend without actually extending.Foxy said:
Yes, Johnson copies Sturgeons homework then hands it in late.IanB2 said:This was the one that Boris f**ked up right at the beginning, with that rambling incoherent television address so memorably lampooned by Matt Lucas, which included announcing the supposedly clear new five-stage national alert system, and then saying we were currently at level three-and-a-half.
It never got off the runway.
The new system is: watch what Scotland is doing; wait a week during which ministers can build the suspense by denying or trashing the Scottish approach; do the same.
The SNP would not be anywhere near as popular without the Tories as a foil. It has been the cover for a lot of other failures.
It is Johnson's malevolent incompetence, as outlined in the header, that will end the United Kingdom.
The end of Transition is set to be a trainwreck too. What else can we expect?
Traditionally the Tories love a winner. And that goes above anything else.
https://twitter.com/Telegraph/status/1299811051924578304?s=09
The Government won't want to go after income tax, NI and VAT - too controversial, too obvious - with the caveat that they might scrap the preferential NI rate currently enjoyed by the self-employed, which is something that Sunak has hinted at in the past. They daren't touch the stickbangers, of course, so we are stuck with the wretched triple lock for the foreseeable. Hiking corporation tax at the same time as trying to get us through Brexit might be considered brave, in the Sir Humphrey sense.
Thus, the most obvious targets are tax reliefs enjoyed by the working age population. The prime candidate is a big Brown-style raid on pensions, this time normalising reliefs at the basic rate for all contributions. The FT was suggesting earlier in the year that CGT might be rounded up to a flat rate of 28% for all assets, and my husband was also speculating just yesterday that the annual contribution limit for ISAs might be cut in half.
Of course, the most radical measure would be to go all out with a wealth tax and pocket a one-off levy on all assets - savings, pensions, shares, property, the lot - which could potentially recoup the cost of all the extra borrowing taken out during the Plague. But I think it really would take a Corbyn Government to dare to try something like that!1 -
https://twitter.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1299795007923261442?s=20
In replies someone comments that Trump autographs on eBay start at $6.50....0 -
I can’t think of anyone apart from HYFUD?Mexicanpete said:
Are we reading the same PB?moonshine said:Has the divergence of opinion on PB vs the voting public ever been greater?
Despite Labour’s new leader bounce/end of Corbynism, a record breaking fall in GDP, a pandemic response that has (to put it politely) failed to prevent tens of thousands of deaths and an apparent impending No Deal Brexit, 40% still say they’d vote for Johnson’s Conservatives. In a no consequence polling survey years from an election.
Yet on here it’s hard to find anyone (HYFUD aside) with a good word to say about the PM/govt. I suspect there’s going to be a lot of disappointed PBers in 2024 if this is any indication of a floor in support.
Yes there is a growing band of frustrated Tories, but there is at least the same number of "Boris 'til I die" loyalist posters too.0 -
Brexit was done 8 months ago.partypoliticalorphan said:
No, voters are being rational. The question pollsters ask is "How will you vote if there is a GE tomorrow?" With Brexit not yet done, they don't want Keir Starmer anywhere near the levers of power.moonshine said:Has the divergence of opinion on PB vs the voting public ever been greater?
Despite Labour’s new leader bounce/end of Corbynism, a record breaking fall in GDP, a pandemic response that has (to put it politely) failed to prevent tens of thousands of deaths and an apparent impending No Deal Brexit, 40% still say they’d vote for Johnson’s Conservatives. In a no consequence polling survey years from an election.
Yet on here it’s hard to find anyone (HYFUD aside) with a good word to say about the PM/govt. I suspect there’s going to be a lot of disappointed PBers in 2024 if this is any indication of a floor in support.0 -
Stickbanger?Black_Rook said:
If they ramp up IHT or lower the thresholds then I'll be surprised - in a good way. But I doubt that they will. Going after estates enrages both stickbangers and their heirs in a way almost nothing else will, and is political nuclear death (as Theresa May discovered with the dementia tax.)Foxy said:
Looks like Rishi plans to copy Corbyns 2019 manifesto on tax. The cycle of copying Labours manifesto is accelerating.OldKingCole said:
Rishi (= Disraeli)??????Icarus said:
But who would they replace him with?Sandpit said:
He’ll be out of the door as quickly as Theresa May was, if he tries that one.IanB2 said:
Yesterday’s Briefing Room on R4 is well worth a listen. It included the suggestion that a thin last minute deal might be accompanied by an “implementation period” - during which everything would stay the same as currently. As a way to extend without actually extending.Foxy said:
Yes, Johnson copies Sturgeons homework then hands it in late.IanB2 said:This was the one that Boris f**ked up right at the beginning, with that rambling incoherent television address so memorably lampooned by Matt Lucas, which included announcing the supposedly clear new five-stage national alert system, and then saying we were currently at level three-and-a-half.
It never got off the runway.
The new system is: watch what Scotland is doing; wait a week during which ministers can build the suspense by denying or trashing the Scottish approach; do the same.
The SNP would not be anywhere near as popular without the Tories as a foil. It has been the cover for a lot of other failures.
It is Johnson's malevolent incompetence, as outlined in the header, that will end the United Kingdom.
The end of Transition is set to be a trainwreck too. What else can we expect?
Traditionally the Tories love a winner. And that goes above anything else.
https://twitter.com/Telegraph/status/1299811051924578304?s=09
The Government won't want to go after income tax, NI and VAT - too controversial, too obvious - with the caveat that they might scrap the preferential NI rate currently enjoyed by the self-employed, which is something that Sunak has hinted at in the past. They daren't touch the stickbangers, of course, so we are stuck with the wretched triple lock for the foreseeable. Hiking corporation tax at the same time as trying to get us through Brexit might be considered brave, in the Sir Humphrey sense.
Thus, the most obvious targets are tax reliefs enjoyed by the working age population. The prime candidate is a big Brown-style raid on pensions, this time normalising reliefs at the basic rate for all contributions. The FT was suggesting earlier in the year that CGT might be rounded up to a flat rate of 28% for all assets, and my husband was also speculating just yesterday that the annual contribution limit for ISAs might be cut in half.
Of course, the most radical measure would be to go all out with a wealth tax and pocket a one-off levy on all assets - savings, pensions, shares, property, the lot - which could potentially recoup the cost of all the extra borrowing taken out during the Plague. But I think it really would take a Corbyn Government to dare to try something like that!0 -
An incendiary white/blue lives matter speech will doubtless increase the body count and Trump's polling figures.Gallowgate said:Trump visiting Kenosha is clearly designed to insight further violence.
The man is a shameless sociopath. And we are all worrying about Biden and the early onset of dementia.0 -
Definitely not a Trump fan but I found that clip kind-of endearing, is it just me? I like the way he's paying attention to all the random people he's running into, even if he is finding a way to nevertheless make it all about him. There's also a touch of self-deprecating cynicism about knowing that everyone who can get money for the autograph is just going to sell it, instead of affecting to believe they're going to treasure it and frame it on their wall or whatever.CarlottaVance said:https://twitter.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1299795007923261442?s=20
In replies someone comments that Trump autographs on eBay start at $6.50....1 -
Did you mean incite? Or did you mean that he wants to add his own understanding?Gallowgate said:Trump visiting Kenosha is clearly designed to insight further violence.
0 -
Interesting thread Alastair, and then the B-word has also been raised. So:
1. The 5 point scale was a joke from the start. Shagger announced we were at 3.5 on a 5 point scale. No wonder they have rarely mentioned it again
2. The government since admitted they are making the decisions based on science as opposed to following the science. Hence no need for a science based scale
3. This government wouldn't know how to properly manage such a scale anyway. So they abandoned it.
4. As for Brexit, whilst I know the government are indifferent towards the impact of no deal in public, in private they would have to be masochistic on an epic scale. So as with the Irish Sea border I expect Shagger will simply capitulate and announce it as a success. Its not as if Brexiteers know what Brexit is or even read the legislation as IDS revealed. So do a deal to for the *right* to have babies even if we haven't procured the box for the foetus to gestate in. And simply lie about it. The cabinet are good at lying.2 -
So for six months, there will be faff for UK exporters but any old stuff can just enter the UK? It can't be as insane as that, can it?CarlottaVance said:
Yes, when the UK announced in June that it would delay implementation for 6 months and wondered if the EU might do the same they got a simple "Non".IanB2 said:
Briefing Room suggested that the UK's intention was to implement controls and checks after six months, but suggested that in the absence of a deal the EU is likely to start sooner, if not right away.Foxy said:
Yes, there was some discussion on the new border controls the other day, with the new arrangements to start in July 2021. It wasn't clear what happens in the interim.IanB2 said:
Yesterday’s Briefing Room on R4 is well worth a listen. It included the suggestion that a thin last minute deal might be accompanied by an “implementation period” - during which everything would stay the same as currently. As a way to extend without actually extending.Foxy said:
Yes, Johnson copies Sturgeons homework then hands it in late.IanB2 said:This was the one that Boris f**ked up right at the beginning, with that rambling incoherent television address so memorably lampooned by Matt Lucas, which included announcing the supposedly clear new five-stage national alert system, and then saying we were currently at level three-and-a-half.
It never got off the runway.
The new system is: watch what Scotland is doing; wait a week during which ministers can build the suspense by denying or trashing the Scottish approach; do the same.
The SNP would not be anywhere near as popular without the Tories as a foil. It has been the cover for a lot of other failures.
It is Johnson's malevolent incompetence, as outlined in the header, that will end the United Kingdom.
The end of Transition is set to be a trainwreck too. What else can we expect?
https://twitter.com/foxinsoxuk/status/1299292809573343232?s=09
0 -
Thommo would crawl over broken glass just to drink Johnson's bath water.moonshine said:
Yet on here it’s hard to find anyone (HYFUD aside) with a good word to say about the PM/govt. I suspect there’s going to be a lot of disappointed PBers in 2024 if this is any indication of a floor in support.2 -
An angry old person who doesn't want to pay for anything ever again. "But I paid my taxes!", they grumble, banging their walking stick on the floor, and conveniently forgetting that yes, they did pay their taxes, but they were all spent five minutes after they paid them on the more generous benefits they enjoyed when they were younger, on building and then flogging council houses to them for peanuts, on the public services operating at that time, and to pay to have their parents' arses wiped when they lost their marbles.IshmaelZ said:
Stickbanger?Black_Rook said:
If they ramp up IHT or lower the thresholds then I'll be surprised - in a good way. But I doubt that they will. Going after estates enrages both stickbangers and their heirs in a way almost nothing else will, and is political nuclear death (as Theresa May discovered with the dementia tax.)Foxy said:
Looks like Rishi plans to copy Corbyns 2019 manifesto on tax. The cycle of copying Labours manifesto is accelerating.OldKingCole said:
Rishi (= Disraeli)??????Icarus said:
But who would they replace him with?Sandpit said:
He’ll be out of the door as quickly as Theresa May was, if he tries that one.IanB2 said:
Yesterday’s Briefing Room on R4 is well worth a listen. It included the suggestion that a thin last minute deal might be accompanied by an “implementation period” - during which everything would stay the same as currently. As a way to extend without actually extending.Foxy said:
Yes, Johnson copies Sturgeons homework then hands it in late.IanB2 said:This was the one that Boris f**ked up right at the beginning, with that rambling incoherent television address so memorably lampooned by Matt Lucas, which included announcing the supposedly clear new five-stage national alert system, and then saying we were currently at level three-and-a-half.
It never got off the runway.
The new system is: watch what Scotland is doing; wait a week during which ministers can build the suspense by denying or trashing the Scottish approach; do the same.
The SNP would not be anywhere near as popular without the Tories as a foil. It has been the cover for a lot of other failures.
It is Johnson's malevolent incompetence, as outlined in the header, that will end the United Kingdom.
The end of Transition is set to be a trainwreck too. What else can we expect?
Traditionally the Tories love a winner. And that goes above anything else.
https://twitter.com/Telegraph/status/1299811051924578304?s=09
The Government won't want to go after income tax, NI and VAT - too controversial, too obvious - with the caveat that they might scrap the preferential NI rate currently enjoyed by the self-employed, which is something that Sunak has hinted at in the past. They daren't touch the stickbangers, of course, so we are stuck with the wretched triple lock for the foreseeable. Hiking corporation tax at the same time as trying to get us through Brexit might be considered brave, in the Sir Humphrey sense.
Thus, the most obvious targets are tax reliefs enjoyed by the working age population. The prime candidate is a big Brown-style raid on pensions, this time normalising reliefs at the basic rate for all contributions. The FT was suggesting earlier in the year that CGT might be rounded up to a flat rate of 28% for all assets, and my husband was also speculating just yesterday that the annual contribution limit for ISAs might be cut in half.
Of course, the most radical measure would be to go all out with a wealth tax and pocket a one-off levy on all assets - savings, pensions, shares, property, the lot - which could potentially recoup the cost of all the extra borrowing taken out during the Plague. But I think it really would take a Corbyn Government to dare to try something like that!
Of course, stickbangers are also a growing proportion of the electorate, they vote religiously, and they're the bedrock of the Government's support, so they almost invariably get what they want. As ever, the bills are all passed down the age pyramid. The younger you are, the shittier the deal.2 -
If Sunak can sell the tax hikes as the satanic work of John McDonnell he could still remain in pole position to replace Johnson. It's a tall order.Foxy said:
Looks like Rishi plans to copy Corbyns 2019 manifesto on tax. The cycle of copying Labours manifesto is accelerating.OldKingCole said:
Rishi (= Disraeli)??????Icarus said:
But who would they replace him with?Sandpit said:
He’ll be out of the door as quickly as Theresa May was, if he tries that one.IanB2 said:
Yesterday’s Briefing Room on R4 is well worth a listen. It included the suggestion that a thin last minute deal might be accompanied by an “implementation period” - during which everything would stay the same as currently. As a way to extend without actually extending.Foxy said:
Yes, Johnson copies Sturgeons homework then hands it in late.IanB2 said:This was the one that Boris f**ked up right at the beginning, with that rambling incoherent television address so memorably lampooned by Matt Lucas, which included announcing the supposedly clear new five-stage national alert system, and then saying we were currently at level three-and-a-half.
It never got off the runway.
The new system is: watch what Scotland is doing; wait a week during which ministers can build the suspense by denying or trashing the Scottish approach; do the same.
The SNP would not be anywhere near as popular without the Tories as a foil. It has been the cover for a lot of other failures.
It is Johnson's malevolent incompetence, as outlined in the header, that will end the United Kingdom.
The end of Transition is set to be a trainwreck too. What else can we expect?
Traditionally the Tories love a winner. And that goes above anything else.
https://twitter.com/Telegraph/status/1299811051924578304?s=09
If he can't, I am moving towards Hunt or Raab.0 -
The confused old twat vs grifter dialectic endures.CarlottaVance said:https://twitter.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1299795007923261442?s=20
In replies someone comments that Trump autographs on eBay start at $6.50....1 -
-
Yes, I'm starting to wonder about the true intentions of the Lincoln Project. This is not the first video they've put out that seems actually to support President Trump.edmundintokyo said:
Definitely not a Trump fan but I found that clip kind-of endearing, is it just me? I like the way he's paying attention to all the random people he's running into, even if he is finding a way to nevertheless make it all about him. There's also a touch of self-deprecating cynicism about knowing that everyone who can get money for the autograph is just going to sell it, instead of affecting to believe they're going to treasure it and frame it on their wall or whatever.CarlottaVance said:https://twitter.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1299795007923261442?s=20
In replies someone comments that Trump autographs on eBay start at $6.50....0 -
Someone who will not attack their precious wallets and property portfolios?Icarus said:
But who would they replace him with?Sandpit said:
He’ll be out of the door as quickly as Theresa May was, if he tries that one.IanB2 said:
Yesterday’s Briefing Room on R4 is well worth a listen. It included the suggestion that a thin last minute deal might be accompanied by an “implementation period” - during which everything would stay the same as currently. As a way to extend without actually extending.Foxy said:
Yes, Johnson copies Sturgeons homework then hands it in late.IanB2 said:This was the one that Boris f**ked up right at the beginning, with that rambling incoherent television address so memorably lampooned by Matt Lucas, which included announcing the supposedly clear new five-stage national alert system, and then saying we were currently at level three-and-a-half.
It never got off the runway.
The new system is: watch what Scotland is doing; wait a week during which ministers can build the suspense by denying or trashing the Scottish approach; do the same.
The SNP would not be anywhere near as popular without the Tories as a foil. It has been the cover for a lot of other failures.
It is Johnson's malevolent incompetence, as outlined in the header, that will end the United Kingdom.
The end of Transition is set to be a trainwreck too. What else can we expect?0 -
If it all amounts to soaking the monied upper middle classes - who are either Champagne socialists and would've voted for Corbyn, or are not and therefore have nowhere else politically to go - and the Government's polling numbers hold up as a result, then Sunak might well get away with it.Mexicanpete said:
If Sunak can sell the tax hikes as the satanic work of John McDonnell he could still remain in pole position to replace Johnson. It's a tall order.Foxy said:
Looks like Rishi plans to copy Corbyns 2019 manifesto on tax. The cycle of copying Labours manifesto is accelerating.OldKingCole said:
Rishi (= Disraeli)??????Icarus said:
But who would they replace him with?Sandpit said:
He’ll be out of the door as quickly as Theresa May was, if he tries that one.IanB2 said:
Yesterday’s Briefing Room on R4 is well worth a listen. It included the suggestion that a thin last minute deal might be accompanied by an “implementation period” - during which everything would stay the same as currently. As a way to extend without actually extending.Foxy said:
Yes, Johnson copies Sturgeons homework then hands it in late.IanB2 said:This was the one that Boris f**ked up right at the beginning, with that rambling incoherent television address so memorably lampooned by Matt Lucas, which included announcing the supposedly clear new five-stage national alert system, and then saying we were currently at level three-and-a-half.
It never got off the runway.
The new system is: watch what Scotland is doing; wait a week during which ministers can build the suspense by denying or trashing the Scottish approach; do the same.
The SNP would not be anywhere near as popular without the Tories as a foil. It has been the cover for a lot of other failures.
It is Johnson's malevolent incompetence, as outlined in the header, that will end the United Kingdom.
The end of Transition is set to be a trainwreck too. What else can we expect?
Traditionally the Tories love a winner. And that goes above anything else.
https://twitter.com/Telegraph/status/1299811051924578304?s=09
If he can't, I am moving towards Hunt or Raab.0 -
They’re doing the same in the F3 race underway now so it’s definitely worth a look, maybe with a hedge against the rain.Morris_Dancer said:Mr. Sandpit, interesting thought on no safety car, cheers.
0 -
You put your right leg in, your right leg out, in, out, in, out, you shake it all about...
A Government drive to encourage millions of people working at home to go back to the office has been put on ice over concerns of a spike in coronavirus cases, the Telegraph can disclose.
Amid signs of confusion at the heart of Cabinet, ministers are understood to have rowed back on plans to launch a major campaign to urge office workers to return to their desks and start commuting again.
They fear any mass return could send infections soaring, and threaten the planned return of thousands of children to school over the next few weeks.0 -
Neither 6.50 or 10s of thousands is correct, they go for a hundred to a few hundred dollars looking at what's up and bidded on.CarlottaVance said:https://twitter.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1299795007923261442?s=20
In replies someone comments that Trump autographs on eBay start at $6.50....0 -
On your first point, I’m not sure why so many people have a problem with fractions. Any scale like this has a fairly wide range of conditions which apply to each band, so saying 3.5 as shorthand for mid way between the two bands on each side makes sense to me. As to not mentioning it again, we are still at level 3. I would expect to hear if we go up or down, like we do with the security levels, but otherwise assume that we are were we were before.RochdalePioneers said:Interesting thread Alastair, and then the B-word has also been raised. So:
1. The 5 point scale was a joke from the start. Shagger announced we were at 3.5 on a 5 point scale. No wonder they have rarely mentioned it again
2. The government since admitted they are making the decisions based on science as opposed to following the science. Hence no need for a science based scale
3. This government wouldn't know how to properly manage such a scale anyway. So they abandoned it.
4. As for Brexit, whilst I know the government are indifferent towards the impact of no deal in public, in private they would have to be masochistic on an epic scale. So as with the Irish Sea border I expect Shagger will simply capitulate and announce it as a success. Its not as if Brexiteers know what Brexit is or even read the legislation as IDS revealed. So do a deal to for the *right* to have babies even if we haven't procured the box for the foetus to gestate in. And simply lie about it. The cabinet are good at lying.0 -
FairDura_Ace said:
Thommo would crawl over broken glass just to drink Johnson's bath water.moonshine said:
Yet on here it’s hard to find anyone (HYFUD aside) with a good word to say about the PM/govt. I suspect there’s going to be a lot of disappointed PBers in 2024 if this is any indication of a floor in support.0 -
-
Mr. Rook, quite. Clarity and consistency are not necessarily the PM's forte.
Mr. Sandpit, I hope it doesn't rain, unless that leads to Ricciardo and Grosjean both failing to be classified.0 -
Fysics_Teacher said:
Did you mean incite? Or did you mean that he wants to add his own understanding?Gallowgate said:Trump visiting Kenosha is clearly designed to insight further violence.
how embarrassing. Yes you’re right, thank you. 0 -
He does another kind?ClippP said:First... And a profoundly depressing opening by Mr Meeks. It rings so true.
1 -
A great response to Alastair's excellent header.RochdalePioneers said:Interesting thread Alastair, and then the B-word has also been raised. So:
1. The 5 point scale was a joke from the start. Shagger announced we were at 3.5 on a 5 point scale. No wonder they have rarely mentioned it again
2. The government since admitted they are making the decisions based on science as opposed to following the science. Hence no need for a science based scale
3. This government wouldn't know how to properly manage such a scale anyway. So they abandoned it.
4. As for Brexit, whilst I know the government are indifferent towards the impact of no deal in public, in private they would have to be masochistic on an epic scale. So as with the Irish Sea border I expect Shagger will simply capitulate and announce it as a success. Its not as if Brexiteers know what Brexit is or even read the legislation as IDS revealed. So do a deal to for the *right* to have babies even if we haven't procured the box for the foetus to gestate in. And simply lie about it. The cabinet are good at lying.
I do have one issue with your analysis. We, the great unwashed (a nod to Dura Ace's Boris bathwater post) wouldn't know a bad deal if it slapped us in the face. However, Messrs François, Davis, Bridgen, Bone, Cash and Chope may have something to say about a second rate BINO deal, unless they are as dull as the rest of us. And surely Nige will see through the smoke and mirrors.0 -
Given all the u-turns of this govt is it impossible that Boris might do a u-turn on Brexit claiming the 'national interest' demands it?
It might destroy his reputation with hard line Brexiteers but get admiration from many others.Behind the rhetoric how many Tory MP's are really hardline Brexiteers as opposed to careerists?
No more than 20 voted against Theresa Mays 3rd exit bill excluding hardline Tory remainers who also voted against it.Of course some of the new 'Red Wall' MPs may be hardliners too but they may also be pragmatists who recognise following the Corvid Chaos not being in the Single Market could destroy many small businesses0 -
There's definitely a strand of opinion- see D Lawson in today's Sunday Times- that will forgive Johnson any indignity as long as Precious Brexit happens.partypoliticalorphan said:
No, voters are being rational. The question pollsters ask is "How will you vote if there is a GE tomorrow?" With Brexit not yet done, they don't want Keir Starmer anywhere near the levers of power.moonshine said:Has the divergence of opinion on PB vs the voting public ever been greater?
Despite Labour’s new leader bounce/end of Corbynism, a record breaking fall in GDP, a pandemic response that has (to put it politely) failed to prevent tens of thousands of deaths and an apparent impending No Deal Brexit, 40% still say they’d vote for Johnson’s Conservatives. In a no consequence polling survey years from an election.
Yet on here it’s hard to find anyone (HYFUD aside) with a good word to say about the PM/govt. I suspect there’s going to be a lot of disappointed PBers in 2024 if this is any indication of a floor in support.
From the same paper, someone senior in No 10 has been telling colleagues they're bored of Covid. Wonder who?0 -
FPT - a very interesting theory @eristdoof.eristdoof said:Back to Corona :-)
This is something I have been cogitating for the last couple of weeks, and would like the opinion of NigelB or Foxy or anyone else with a better biology background than me.
In the last couple of months we have seen big increases in the number of cases of SARS-COV2 in some countries, but the level of severe illness is much lower than expected, as measured by hospitalisations and deaths. There was speculation in the spring that the virus would not spread as quickly in summer as colds and flu are strongly seasonal. But it seems that the spread of the SARS-COV2 virus has little to do with the season.
Is it at all plausible though, that these seasonal illness viruses still spread at a similar rate but less frequently appears as an illness? It is possible that the human body is under less stress in summer and more stress in winter, due to lots of reasons: not moving from cold to warm environments several times a day, not inhailing air under 10 degrees, generally getting more exercise, sunlight and fresh air etc. If the body or in particular the immune system is under more stress then an onslaught from a virus is more likely to develop into illness.
Is it plausible that catching the virus is just as easy in summer, but this developing into a serious disease is much lower in summer and higher in winter? For most other Rhino/Corona/Flu viruses there is as good as no testing of the prevelance of the virus in the general population, so we do not really appreciate how widley cold viruses are spread in summer, and only if the immune system is under some other kind of stress does this develop into a "summer cold" which are ususally not as heavy as a winter cold.0 -
Installing Windows 10 on a Chromebook. Which as a Chrome OS aficionado and Windows hater is a heresy far greater than pineapple on last night's pizza0
-
Inside the dystopian nightmare of a Johnson government, is there another kind?Luckyguy1983 said:
He does another kind?ClippP said:First... And a profoundly depressing opening by Mr Meeks. It rings so true.
0 -
IIRC, MarqueeMark drove Johnson's missus around during election hustings when Johnson was in that part of the world. I think that would put him in the diehard Tory column.Dura_Ace said:
Thommo would crawl over broken glass just to drink Johnson's bath water.moonshine said:
Yet on here it’s hard to find anyone (HYFUD aside) with a good word to say about the PM/govt. I suspect there’s going to be a lot of disappointed PBers in 2024 if this is any indication of a floor in support.
CasinoRoyale may not like Johnson, but he is not in the Lib/Lab pact
BluestBlue - the name says it all
And of course, from North Wales, the ever loyal Big_G ...
(There are a few more recent bots posters but I cannot remember their handles)0 -
The birds are still singing and the sun is still shining last time I checked.Mexicanpete said:
Inside the dystopian nightmare of a Johnson government, is there another kind?Luckyguy1983 said:
He does another kind?ClippP said:First... And a profoundly depressing opening by Mr Meeks. It rings so true.
-1 -
The Sunday Times is reporting this differently - with all pensions relief given at 30% thus higher than the basic rate but lower than the higher rate thus avoiding the obvious headlines of either.Black_Rook said:
If they ramp up IHT or lower the thresholds then I'll be surprised - in a good way. But I doubt that they will. Going after estates enrages both stickbangers and their heirs in a way almost nothing else will, and is political nuclear death (as Theresa May discovered with the dementia tax.)Foxy said:
Looks like Rishi plans to copy Corbyns 2019 manifesto on tax. The cycle of copying Labours manifesto is accelerating.OldKingCole said:
Rishi (= Disraeli)??????Icarus said:
But who would they replace him with?Sandpit said:
He’ll be out of the door as quickly as Theresa May was, if he tries that one.IanB2 said:
Yesterday’s Briefing Room on R4 is well worth a listen. It included the suggestion that a thin last minute deal might be accompanied by an “implementation period” - during which everything would stay the same as currently. As a way to extend without actually extending.Foxy said:
Yes, Johnson copies Sturgeons homework then hands it in late.IanB2 said:This was the one that Boris f**ked up right at the beginning, with that rambling incoherent television address so memorably lampooned by Matt Lucas, which included announcing the supposedly clear new five-stage national alert system, and then saying we were currently at level three-and-a-half.
It never got off the runway.
The new system is: watch what Scotland is doing; wait a week during which ministers can build the suspense by denying or trashing the Scottish approach; do the same.
The SNP would not be anywhere near as popular without the Tories as a foil. It has been the cover for a lot of other failures.
It is Johnson's malevolent incompetence, as outlined in the header, that will end the United Kingdom.
The end of Transition is set to be a trainwreck too. What else can we expect?
Traditionally the Tories love a winner. And that goes above anything else.
https://twitter.com/Telegraph/status/1299811051924578304?s=09
The Government won't want to go after income tax, NI and VAT - too controversial, too obvious - with the caveat that they might scrap the preferential NI rate currently enjoyed by the self-employed, which is something that Sunak has hinted at in the past. They daren't touch the stickbangers, of course, so we are stuck with the wretched triple lock for the foreseeable. Hiking corporation tax at the same time as trying to get us through Brexit might be considered brave, in the Sir Humphrey sense.
Thus, the most obvious targets are tax reliefs enjoyed by the working age population. The prime candidate is a big Brown-style raid on pensions, this time normalising reliefs at the basic rate for all contributions. The FT was suggesting earlier in the year that CGT might be rounded up to a flat rate of 28% for all assets, and my husband was also speculating just yesterday that the annual contribution limit for ISAs might be cut in half.
Of course, the most radical measure would be to go all out with a wealth tax and pocket a one-off levy on all assets - savings, pensions, shares, property, the lot - which could potentially recoup the cost of all the extra borrowing taken out during the Plague. But I think it really would take a Corbyn Government to dare to try something like that!
I think something like that is likely.0 -
We can't rule out some kind of extension but I think we can safely file 'Johnson will go for a soft Brexit' with 'Change UK will revolutionise British politics'.Metatron said:Given all the u-turns of this govt is it impossible that Boris might do a u-turn on Brexit claiming the 'national interest' demands it?
It might destroy his reputation with hard line Brexiteers but get admiration from many others.Behind the rhetoric how many Tory MP's are really hardline Brexiteers as opposed to careerists?
No more than 20 voted against Theresa Mays 3rd exit bill excluding hardline Tory remainers who also voted against it.Of course some of the new 'Red Wall' MPs may be hardliners too but they may also be pragmatists who recognise following the Corvid Chaos not being in the Single Market could destroy many small businesses0 -
Unless Boris wants to lose most of his south east marginals to the LDs - at the same time he's trying to push major planning reform on them - he won't allow big rises in IHT.0
-
Trying to get people back to offices in a hurry was always going to be a silly idea, especially before the schools went back - and when MPs and thousands of civil servants are still working from home. The bigger issue is safety on overcrowded public transport, which no-one is trying to address first.Black_Rook said:You put your right leg in, your right leg out, in, out, in, out, you shake it all about...
A Government drive to encourage millions of people working at home to go back to the office has been put on ice over concerns of a spike in coronavirus cases, the Telegraph can disclose.
Amid signs of confusion at the heart of Cabinet, ministers are understood to have rowed back on plans to launch a major campaign to urge office workers to return to their desks and start commuting again.
They fear any mass return could send infections soaring, and threaten the planned return of thousands of children to school over the next few weeks.0 -
The southern hemisphere has summer and winter the other way round from us. God made it that way so we can test these season-related hypotheses.Luckyguy1983 said:
FPT - a very interesting theory @eristdoof.eristdoof said:Back to Corona :-)
This is something I have been cogitating for the last couple of weeks, and would like the opinion of NigelB or Foxy or anyone else with a better biology background than me.
In the last couple of months we have seen big increases in the number of cases of SARS-COV2 in some countries, but the level of severe illness is much lower than expected, as measured by hospitalisations and deaths. There was speculation in the spring that the virus would not spread as quickly in summer as colds and flu are strongly seasonal. But it seems that the spread of the SARS-COV2 virus has little to do with the season.
Is it at all plausible though, that these seasonal illness viruses still spread at a similar rate but less frequently appears as an illness? It is possible that the human body is under less stress in summer and more stress in winter, due to lots of reasons: not moving from cold to warm environments several times a day, not inhailing air under 10 degrees, generally getting more exercise, sunlight and fresh air etc. If the body or in particular the immune system is under more stress then an onslaught from a virus is more likely to develop into illness.
Is it plausible that catching the virus is just as easy in summer, but this developing into a serious disease is much lower in summer and higher in winter? For most other Rhino/Corona/Flu viruses there is as good as no testing of the prevelance of the virus in the general population, so we do not really appreciate how widley cold viruses are spread in summer, and only if the immune system is under some other kind of stress does this develop into a "summer cold" which are ususally not as heavy as a winter cold.0 -
Protonym. Could be my word of the day.0
-
But what happens when Sunak taxes the rich until their pips squeak? They all leave the country. I know this because I have been reading it on PB for years. Then he'll have to work his way down the food chain.Black_Rook said:
If it all amounts to soaking the monied upper middle classes - who are either Champagne socialists and would've voted for Corbyn, or are not and therefore have nowhere else politically to go - and the Government's polling numbers hold up as a result, then Sunak might well get away with it.Mexicanpete said:
If Sunak can sell the tax hikes as the satanic work of John McDonnell he could still remain in pole position to replace Johnson. It's a tall order.Foxy said:
Looks like Rishi plans to copy Corbyns 2019 manifesto on tax. The cycle of copying Labours manifesto is accelerating.OldKingCole said:
Rishi (= Disraeli)??????Icarus said:
But who would they replace him with?Sandpit said:
He’ll be out of the door as quickly as Theresa May was, if he tries that one.IanB2 said:
Yesterday’s Briefing Room on R4 is well worth a listen. It included the suggestion that a thin last minute deal might be accompanied by an “implementation period” - during which everything would stay the same as currently. As a way to extend without actually extending.Foxy said:
Yes, Johnson copies Sturgeons homework then hands it in late.IanB2 said:This was the one that Boris f**ked up right at the beginning, with that rambling incoherent television address so memorably lampooned by Matt Lucas, which included announcing the supposedly clear new five-stage national alert system, and then saying we were currently at level three-and-a-half.
It never got off the runway.
The new system is: watch what Scotland is doing; wait a week during which ministers can build the suspense by denying or trashing the Scottish approach; do the same.
The SNP would not be anywhere near as popular without the Tories as a foil. It has been the cover for a lot of other failures.
It is Johnson's malevolent incompetence, as outlined in the header, that will end the United Kingdom.
The end of Transition is set to be a trainwreck too. What else can we expect?
Traditionally the Tories love a winner. And that goes above anything else.
https://twitter.com/Telegraph/status/1299811051924578304?s=09
If he can't, I am moving towards Hunt or Raab.0 -
Is it poor execution and interpretation of policy, or is it poorly defined objectives set by by politicians at the heart of the problem?
If Johnson's decision making has been weakened by illness, at what point to the men and women in white coats advise him to step away from office. It is going to be hard for someone who has reached the top of the greasy pole, to stand down.
0 -
There was a suggestion a while back that Vitamin D, Vitamin C and Zinc could play a part in reducing the severity of Covid. Vit.D is higher in the summer.DecrepiterJohnL said:
The southern hemisphere has summer and winter the other way round from us. God made it that way so we can test these season-related hypotheses.Luckyguy1983 said:
FPT - a very interesting theory @eristdoof.eristdoof said:Back to Corona :-)
This is something I have been cogitating for the last couple of weeks, and would like the opinion of NigelB or Foxy or anyone else with a better biology background than me.
In the last couple of months we have seen big increases in the number of cases of SARS-COV2 in some countries, but the level of severe illness is much lower than expected, as measured by hospitalisations and deaths. There was speculation in the spring that the virus would not spread as quickly in summer as colds and flu are strongly seasonal. But it seems that the spread of the SARS-COV2 virus has little to do with the season.
Is it at all plausible though, that these seasonal illness viruses still spread at a similar rate but less frequently appears as an illness? It is possible that the human body is under less stress in summer and more stress in winter, due to lots of reasons: not moving from cold to warm environments several times a day, not inhailing air under 10 degrees, generally getting more exercise, sunlight and fresh air etc. If the body or in particular the immune system is under more stress then an onslaught from a virus is more likely to develop into illness.
Is it plausible that catching the virus is just as easy in summer, but this developing into a serious disease is much lower in summer and higher in winter? For most other Rhino/Corona/Flu viruses there is as good as no testing of the prevelance of the virus in the general population, so we do not really appreciate how widley cold viruses are spread in summer, and only if the immune system is under some other kind of stress does this develop into a "summer cold" which are ususally not as heavy as a winter cold.0 -
The difference is absolute discipline inside the SNP administration whilst the UK one airs its debates and dirty laundry in public first and Johnson is lazy, so this gets a head of steam before he makes up his mind.IanB2 said:This was the one that Boris f**ked up right at the beginning, with that rambling incoherent television address so memorably lampooned by Matt Lucas, which included announcing the supposedly clear new five-stage national alert system, and then saying we were currently at level three-and-a-half.
It never got off the runway.
The new system is: watch what Scotland is doing; wait a week during which ministers can build the suspense by denying or trashing the Scottish approach; do the same.
They're actually both getting very similar advice and doing pretty similar things. But the SNP are far better at leaking and acting on it first and at the politics, like making wedge issues out of it.0 -
You may have noticed certain events between those dates.Scott_xP said:0 -
Messrs François, Davis, Bridgen, Bone, Cash and Chope might indeed have something to say but the experience of the past 30 or 40 years is almost no-one listens to them. The prominent Brexiteers are in the Cabinet where they will act as human shields for Boris.Mexicanpete said:
A great response to Alastair's excellent header.RochdalePioneers said:Interesting thread Alastair, and then the B-word has also been raised. So:
1. The 5 point scale was a joke from the start. Shagger announced we were at 3.5 on a 5 point scale. No wonder they have rarely mentioned it again
2. The government since admitted they are making the decisions based on science as opposed to following the science. Hence no need for a science based scale
3. This government wouldn't know how to properly manage such a scale anyway. So they abandoned it.
4. As for Brexit, whilst I know the government are indifferent towards the impact of no deal in public, in private they would have to be masochistic on an epic scale. So as with the Irish Sea border I expect Shagger will simply capitulate and announce it as a success. Its not as if Brexiteers know what Brexit is or even read the legislation as IDS revealed. So do a deal to for the *right* to have babies even if we haven't procured the box for the foetus to gestate in. And simply lie about it. The cabinet are good at lying.
I do have one issue with your analysis. We, the great unwashed (a nod to Dura Ace's Boris bathwater post) wouldn't know a bad deal if it slapped us in the face. However, Messrs François, Davis, Bridgen, Bone, Cash and Chope may have something to say about a second rate BINO deal, unless they are as dull as the rest of us. And surely Nige will see through the smoke and mirrors.1 -
We are about to witness some fun* when it comes to schools transport. To maintain spacing the capacity of a bus is far less than the number of seats. Which means instead of 1 bus in a morning 2 or 3 will be needed. These buses don't sit idly by in a yard awaiting call up for Covid school shuttling duties...Sandpit said:
Trying to get people back to offices in a hurry was always going to be a silly idea, especially before the schools went back - and when MPs and thousands of civil servants are still working from home. The bigger issue is safety on overcrowded public transport, which no-one is trying to address first.Black_Rook said:You put your right leg in, your right leg out, in, out, in, out, you shake it all about...
A Government drive to encourage millions of people working at home to go back to the office has been put on ice over concerns of a spike in coronavirus cases, the Telegraph can disclose.
Amid signs of confusion at the heart of Cabinet, ministers are understood to have rowed back on plans to launch a major campaign to urge office workers to return to their desks and start commuting again.
They fear any mass return could send infections soaring, and threaten the planned return of thousands of children to school over the next few weeks.0 -
Disagree. Can be critical.Dura_Ace said:
Thommo would crawl over broken glass just to drink Johnson's bath water.moonshine said:
Yet on here it’s hard to find anyone (HYFUD aside) with a good word to say about the PM/govt. I suspect there’s going to be a lot of disappointed PBers in 2024 if this is any indication of a floor in support.
0 -
We had Windows 10 installed on our computers at school over the summer holidays. I went in last week to get some work done. I’m now hoping that by the time term starts I will have access to all the files and programs I did before the upgrade, but I’m known as a bit of an optimist.RochdalePioneers said:Installing Windows 10 on a Chromebook. Which as a Chrome OS aficionado and Windows hater is a heresy far greater than pineapple on last night's pizza
0 -
Given the number which are unambiguously hostile to him and not endearing it seems more likely they simply miscalculate sometimesDecrepiterJohnL said:
Yes, I'm starting to wonder about the true intentions of the Lincoln Project. This is not the first video they've put out that seems actually to support President Trump.edmundintokyo said:
Definitely not a Trump fan but I found that clip kind-of endearing, is it just me? I like the way he's paying attention to all the random people he's running into, even if he is finding a way to nevertheless make it all about him. There's also a touch of self-deprecating cynicism about knowing that everyone who can get money for the autograph is just going to sell it, instead of affecting to believe they're going to treasure it and frame it on their wall or whatever.CarlottaVance said:https://twitter.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1299795007923261442?s=20
In replies someone comments that Trump autographs on eBay start at $6.50....1 -
So have you been hibernating for the last six months and have just woken up?Luckyguy1983 said:
The birds are still singing and the sun is still shining last time I checked.Mexicanpete said:
Inside the dystopian nightmare of a Johnson government, is there another kind?Luckyguy1983 said:
He does another kind?ClippP said:First... And a profoundly depressing opening by Mr Meeks. It rings so true.
Google Coronavirus deaths, lockdown, exam fiasco, quarantine and Barnard's Castle. I kid you not, it has been awful!1 -
It's hard to tell how things will go, isn't it? Depending on individual circumstances, a lot of the heavy lifting will end up being done by kids walking or cycling longer distances than they are used to, or parents ferrying them back and forth in cars, when buses would previously have been the preferred option.RochdalePioneers said:
We are about to witness some fun* when it comes to schools transport. To maintain spacing the capacity of a bus is far less than the number of seats. Which means instead of 1 bus in a morning 2 or 3 will be needed. These buses don't sit idly by in a yard awaiting call up for Covid school shuttling duties...Sandpit said:
Trying to get people back to offices in a hurry was always going to be a silly idea, especially before the schools went back - and when MPs and thousands of civil servants are still working from home. The bigger issue is safety on overcrowded public transport, which no-one is trying to address first.Black_Rook said:You put your right leg in, your right leg out, in, out, in, out, you shake it all about...
A Government drive to encourage millions of people working at home to go back to the office has been put on ice over concerns of a spike in coronavirus cases, the Telegraph can disclose.
Amid signs of confusion at the heart of Cabinet, ministers are understood to have rowed back on plans to launch a major campaign to urge office workers to return to their desks and start commuting again.
They fear any mass return could send infections soaring, and threaten the planned return of thousands of children to school over the next few weeks.
Thus, if sufficient numbers of kids can be removed from buses, no problem. Will that be practical everywhere? I've no idea, but we ought to know by the end of the week, of course.0 -
If there’s a deal, it will be at the last minute, and an implementation period is quite likely simply to avoid chaos over the winter.Sandpit said:
He’ll be out of the door as quickly as Theresa May was, if he tries that one.IanB2 said:
Yesterday’s Briefing Room on R4 is well worth a listen. It included the suggestion that a thin last minute deal might be accompanied by an “implementation period” - during which everything would stay the same as currently. As a way to extend without actually extending.Foxy said:
Yes, Johnson copies Sturgeons homework then hands it in late.IanB2 said:This was the one that Boris f**ked up right at the beginning, with that rambling incoherent television address so memorably lampooned by Matt Lucas, which included announcing the supposedly clear new five-stage national alert system, and then saying we were currently at level three-and-a-half.
It never got off the runway.
The new system is: watch what Scotland is doing; wait a week during which ministers can build the suspense by denying or trashing the Scottish approach; do the same.
The SNP would not be anywhere near as popular without the Tories as a foil. It has been the cover for a lot of other failures.
It is Johnson's malevolent incompetence, as outlined in the header, that will end the United Kingdom.
The end of Transition is set to be a trainwreck too. What else can we expect?
He’d take some stick, but the idea that Johnson will get booted for agreeing a three month transition to a new customs regime is absurd.
The sadomasochists will complain, of course.1 -
The trouble with 3.5 was not fractions but that this was the scale's first use. It could easily have been a 10-point scale, or a 6-point scale. It invites ridicule, or at least bemusement, to unveil a new 5-point scale and simultaneously announce it does not work.Fysics_Teacher said:
On your first point, I’m not sure why so many people have a problem with fractions. Any scale like this has a fairly wide range of conditions which apply to each band, so saying 3.5 as shorthand for mid way between the two bands on each side makes sense to me. As to not mentioning it again, we are still at level 3. I would expect to hear if we go up or down, like we do with the security levels, but otherwise assume that we are were we were before.RochdalePioneers said:Interesting thread Alastair, and then the B-word has also been raised. So:
1. The 5 point scale was a joke from the start. Shagger announced we were at 3.5 on a 5 point scale. No wonder they have rarely mentioned it again
2. The government since admitted they are making the decisions based on science as opposed to following the science. Hence no need for a science based scale
3. This government wouldn't know how to properly manage such a scale anyway. So they abandoned it.
4. As for Brexit, whilst I know the government are indifferent towards the impact of no deal in public, in private they would have to be masochistic on an epic scale. So as with the Irish Sea border I expect Shagger will simply capitulate and announce it as a success. Its not as if Brexiteers know what Brexit is or even read the legislation as IDS revealed. So do a deal to for the *right* to have babies even if we haven't procured the box for the foetus to gestate in. And simply lie about it. The cabinet are good at lying.0 -
I think the age profile of those infected is just as much a factor as anything else, but I expect all the mentioned ideas will turn out to have some effect.Beibheirli_C said:
There was a suggestion a while back that Vitamin D, Vitamin C and Zinc could play a part in reducing the severity of Covid. Vit.D is higher in the summer.DecrepiterJohnL said:
The southern hemisphere has summer and winter the other way round from us. God made it that way so we can test these season-related hypotheses.Luckyguy1983 said:
FPT - a very interesting theory @eristdoof.eristdoof said:Back to Corona :-)
This is something I have been cogitating for the last couple of weeks, and would like the opinion of NigelB or Foxy or anyone else with a better biology background than me.
In the last couple of months we have seen big increases in the number of cases of SARS-COV2 in some countries, but the level of severe illness is much lower than expected, as measured by hospitalisations and deaths. There was speculation in the spring that the virus would not spread as quickly in summer as colds and flu are strongly seasonal. But it seems that the spread of the SARS-COV2 virus has little to do with the season.
Is it at all plausible though, that these seasonal illness viruses still spread at a similar rate but less frequently appears as an illness? It is possible that the human body is under less stress in summer and more stress in winter, due to lots of reasons: not moving from cold to warm environments several times a day, not inhailing air under 10 degrees, generally getting more exercise, sunlight and fresh air etc. If the body or in particular the immune system is under more stress then an onslaught from a virus is more likely to develop into illness.
Is it plausible that catching the virus is just as easy in summer, but this developing into a serious disease is much lower in summer and higher in winter? For most other Rhino/Corona/Flu viruses there is as good as no testing of the prevelance of the virus in the general population, so we do not really appreciate how widley cold viruses are spread in summer, and only if the immune system is under some other kind of stress does this develop into a "summer cold" which are ususally not as heavy as a winter cold.1 -
Brexit means Brexit was a dumb phrase which meant nothing when Brexiteers were using it and it is still dumb and means nothing when people try to turn it around in an attempt to be amusing.Foxy said:
It seems that the French understand that Brexit means Brexit, but that our government does not...IanB2 said:
Briefing Room suggested that the UK's intention was to implement controls and checks after six months, but suggested that in the absence of a deal the EU is likely to start sooner, if not right away.Foxy said:
Yes, there was some discussion on the new border controls the other day, with the new arrangements to start in July 2021. It wasn't clear what happens in the interim.IanB2 said:
Yesterday’s Briefing Room on R4 is well worth a listen. It included the suggestion that a thin last minute deal might be accompanied by an “implementation period” - during which everything would stay the same as currently. As a way to extend without actually extending.Foxy said:
Yes, Johnson copies Sturgeons homework then hands it in late.IanB2 said:This was the one that Boris f**ked up right at the beginning, with that rambling incoherent television address so memorably lampooned by Matt Lucas, which included announcing the supposedly clear new five-stage national alert system, and then saying we were currently at level three-and-a-half.
It never got off the runway.
The new system is: watch what Scotland is doing; wait a week during which ministers can build the suspense by denying or trashing the Scottish approach; do the same.
The SNP would not be anywhere near as popular without the Tories as a foil. It has been the cover for a lot of other failures.
It is Johnson's malevolent incompetence, as outlined in the header, that will end the United Kingdom.
The end of Transition is set to be a trainwreck too. What else can we expect?
https://twitter.com/foxinsoxuk/status/1299292809573343232?s=09
It wasnt a devastating argument ender when used to push Brexit, and isnt a devastating argument ender when used to criticise Brexit.0 -
On topic a scale of 1-5 for something as complex as this was never going to be much use. What the government has done instead is seek a more granular analysis focusing on "hot spots" and the tracking and tracing of people affected by particular outbreaks such as the chicken factory up the road from me at Coupar Angus (which has given us our first ICU patient in over a month).
By any sensible measure we are now edging down towards 2 with approximately 1000 new cases a day in a country of 65m despite a much more proactive testing regime than we had in the early months where it was reasonable to assume that the true number of cases was a significant multiple of the number found. This, however, would send the wrong message, which is just another illustration of the inadequacy of the scale.
Alastair is right to query the competence of those who ever thought this was a good idea. Similarly, the algorithm for education was just so stupid that the only remarkable thing is not the odd resignation but that so many remain in post.
Our Ministers have not shone in either example but those who retain a delusion that we have a world beating or even competent civil service really need to give themselves a shake. People moan about the number of senior civil servants who are being squeezed out and blame Dom because most things do seem to come back to him eventually but I would rather focus on whether we can change the ethos of the Civil Service to something actual that produces actual results, the quantitative measurement of those results and consequences for failure. Those used to being promoted despite repeated incompetence and finish with a gong and spectacular pension may not like this very much. Welcome to the real world.3 -
Yes, school transport is going to be very difficult. I guess almost every spare bus in the country is going to be put to use, at a considerable cost, until there’s much more of an understanding around transmission vectors in children.RochdalePioneers said:
We are about to witness some fun* when it comes to schools transport. To maintain spacing the capacity of a bus is far less than the number of seats. Which means instead of 1 bus in a morning 2 or 3 will be needed. These buses don't sit idly by in a yard awaiting call up for Covid school shuttling duties...Sandpit said:
Trying to get people back to offices in a hurry was always going to be a silly idea, especially before the schools went back - and when MPs and thousands of civil servants are still working from home. The bigger issue is safety on overcrowded public transport, which no-one is trying to address first.Black_Rook said:You put your right leg in, your right leg out, in, out, in, out, you shake it all about...
A Government drive to encourage millions of people working at home to go back to the office has been put on ice over concerns of a spike in coronavirus cases, the Telegraph can disclose.
Amid signs of confusion at the heart of Cabinet, ministers are understood to have rowed back on plans to launch a major campaign to urge office workers to return to their desks and start commuting again.
They fear any mass return could send infections soaring, and threaten the planned return of thousands of children to school over the next few weeks.1 -
It is going to be a horrible, horrible, horrible Autumn for Johnson, and every second of it is deserved.
can he survive? Maybe the party will let him steer brexit through. Beyond that, I think its doubtful.
And suddenly Sunak's hopes look a bit dented too. Soak this rich taxes? Lol, he won;t get to be leader on the back of those.
Graham Brady is going to reap a whirlwind this week.1
