Isn't the collective noun for Cambridge graduates "Spy ring"?
Yes, and this spy ring is led by a man with the suspiciously Russian name of Boris, who was at school with someone known to have been approached by the KGB.
It's basically static except Arizona where Biden has surged.
On that polling Biden has a 10% lead in Arizona but only leads by 2% in Florida and North Carolina and 4% in Pennsylvania. Trump leads by 5% in Ohio but trails by 3% in Georgia
A 46% rise in the attainment gap as we acknowledge that most schools didn't even get off the ground in terms of remote learning. You can be a bit cynical about the percentage and how it is measured but there is no doubt that the majority of schools failed the majority of pupils over the summer term and have done nothing since.
There seems a consensus that the exams will have to be delayed but very little constructive thought about what happens from there in terms of University applications and entrance. As my son will be going to University at the end of this school year I am watching with a fair degree of apprehension.
This is why the exams story played out as it did.
If they’d done this year’s exams as scheduled, or slightly delayed, the story would have been how disadvantaged students were ‘denied’ ‘their’ place at university, because the private schools and top Acadamies could offer distance learning and everyone had a computer.
It's why it always plays out that way. The algorithm was individually unfair but reflected the collective reality that our crap schools are, err, crap. Why the solution to that is giving prizes to all rather than actually focusing on the underlying problem of useless teaching and persistent under performance escapes me.
Ban private education. Task number 2 on the how to fix the UK in a generation or two list.
There will always be private education.
If private education were banned then all that would happen is that some state schools would become private-equivalents and the property market in their catchment area would skyrocket and wealthy parents would buy a home in that catchment area, then sell it on after their children have graduated.
Oh wait, that already happens.
Not to mention that the top boarding schools would simply relocate to Singapore or Dubai (where most of them have satellites anyway), and the world's elites would send their kids there instead - depriving the UK economy of several billion in foreign investment and billions more in goodwill and attachment that the world's rich have to the UK.
Private education is not just private schools. It is any form of private learning: tutors, music lessons, language teaching outside school etc.
To be banned?
In a free society, this cannot and should not be done.
Private education starts with reading to your kids when they are infants.
^ This. ^
100% agreed.
Also the cheapest and single most effective bit of private education. (My kids went to state schools.)
Having read out loud the entire Harry Potter canon twice over, it is a task I would willingly have outsourced at almost any cost.
My reading aloud tally included: Harry Potter (just the once), The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, all the Narnia books, Wind in the Willows, Tarka the Otter and a bunch of Pippi Longstocking books (in German). Presumably it helped - his school gave him an excellent set of GCSEs.
Apparently much of the advantage of EvulPushyMiddleClassParenting can be "diagnosed" by reading to children on a regular basis. i.e. those who get read to correlate to those who are much more successful academically. This has been seen in various studies.
- Correlation doesn't equal causation. Reading to children may just be an indicator. - I find it interesting to see who is surprised that everyone doesn't read to their children.
One thing I noted about all the Help to Buy stock is that it's overpriced compared to older stock. Well it is if you want to be able to swing a cat round in a room anyway.
Shagger says "People are going back to the office in huge numbers across our country, and quite right too".
A straight lie? Or just clueless? Or a combination of the two?
It doesn’t look like it, why should people do what is not necessary At extra cost to themselves and spend ridiculous amounts on snacks etc just to maintain a crumbling status quo. I have some sympathy for the independent sandwich shop owners but nothing for the property landlords and chain food outlets.
If the Tories aren't going to actually pull their finger out and transition the BBC away from the license fee with an 80 seat majority then they never will. The fact they are farting about around the edges demonstrates they see whining about it is a way to get votes and nothing more. At the end of the day those at the top of the party generally agree with the Beebs worldview.
The BBCs licence fee is guaranted until 2026 from memory. I don't believe its possible to transition it away this Parliament.
They could perhaps put in new arrangements to take place from 2026, but then since the law says there must be an election by 2024 then the Opposition could just pledge to reverse those changes before they take effect.
Hopefully if this can't be dealt with this Parliament then another majority can be won and it be dealt with next time.
As no parliament can bind its successors this government can do anything it likes to the BBC and do it now - it just needs parliament to vote for it.
I am a big supporter of the BBC. But its funding model is no longer fit for purpose. Time for a subscription model like everything else we watch - it is just an option for content we watch rather than some kind of national broadcaster (who I think is Disney Plus these days...)
The issue is that for the BBC to move to a subscription model they need to block access to their output from those who don't pay. And the BBC can't do that as they broadcast on terrestrial channels and most TVs don't support encryption cards.
So for the BBC to move to a subscription service hardware is required.
So? A hardware upgrade was required when we went to digital. Give everyone 2 years to have a compatible set top box or smart TV or Chromecast / Firestick and stop FTA broadcasting. Done.
That's an excellent idea.
Most people want to scrap the license fee from a right wing perspective. I don't, I just think its a hopeless relic. I'm struggling to remember what the last thing was that I watched on any BBC channels or iPlayer. I already pay subs for Netflix and Disney Plus and YouTube and Spotify. Paying for BBC if I want it at a market rate has to be better than a blanket one size fits no-one approach.
My issue with the BBC is that it is shit and I'm forced to pay for it by law if I watch other channels live. Getting rid of bias won't remove the compulsion and won't make the BBC less shit.
You're not forced to. Don't buy a TV licence, throw all the letters in the bin and tell anyone who comes to the house to fuck off. That's been my policy for 10 years.
The TV license is the state declaring war on the individual so one necessarily has to go beyond the law in self-defence.
Shagger says "People are going back to the office in huge numbers across our country, and quite right too".
A straight lie? Or just clueless? Or a combination of the two?
It doesn’t look like it, why should people do what is not necessary At extra cost to themselves and spend ridiculous amounts on snacks etc just to maintain a crumbling status quo. I have some sympathy for the independent sandwich shop owners but nothing for the property landlords and chain food outlets.
Even free market right wingers should* support the change. How many gazillions are sucked out of the economy in the requirement to commute? Monies which could be better spent on something productive. Spending x number of hours every day and £lots travelling to do a job that can be done from home makes no sense at all economically.
*They won't. Their patrons make £gazillions from property speculation.
Shagger says "People are going back to the office in huge numbers across our country, and quite right too".
A straight lie? Or just clueless? Or a combination of the two?
What are the stats on this? I doubt no one is going back.
There are probably a lot of regional variations.
Car traffic is back to pre-COVID normal where I live in the North West. For people who can drive to work I imagine far more are now going back to the office, which would amount to huge numbers.
For people who live in a bubble where only trains exist and the rest of the country doesn't matter it may be different.
Surely it is factual to say both that people are going back in huge numbers and that people are staying away in huge numbers. Both are right.
Why would the Tories care about damaging the prospects of people under 30? They've been doing it for 10 years, we don't vote for them so why would they care
They've not been doing it and because the under 30s will grow up and then the Tories will want their votes once they've matured.
Voting Tory does not equate to maturity it equates to a misguided sense of self interest.
Shagger says "People are going back to the office in huge numbers across our country, and quite right too".
A straight lie? Or just clueless? Or a combination of the two?
It doesn’t look like it, why should people do what is not necessary At extra cost to themselves and spend ridiculous amounts on snacks etc just to maintain a crumbling status quo. I have some sympathy for the independent sandwich shop owners but nothing for the property landlords and chain food outlets.
Even free market right wingers should* support the change. How many gazillions are sucked out of the economy in the requirement to commute? Monies which could be better spent on something productive. Spending x number of hours every day and £lots travelling to do a job that can be done from home makes no sense at all economically.
*They won't. Their patrons make £gazillions from property speculation.
I agree and the overwhelming majority of free market right wingers here are saying the same thing as you.
A 46% rise in the attainment gap as we acknowledge that most schools didn't even get off the ground in terms of remote learning. You can be a bit cynical about the percentage and how it is measured but there is no doubt that the majority of schools failed the majority of pupils over the summer term and have done nothing since.
There seems a consensus that the exams will have to be delayed but very little constructive thought about what happens from there in terms of University applications and entrance. As my son will be going to University at the end of this school year I am watching with a fair degree of apprehension.
This is why the exams story played out as it did.
If they’d done this year’s exams as scheduled, or slightly delayed, the story would have been how disadvantaged students were ‘denied’ ‘their’ place at university, because the private schools and top Acadamies could offer distance learning and everyone had a computer.
It's why it always plays out that way. The algorithm was individually unfair but reflected the collective reality that our crap schools are, err, crap. Why the solution to that is giving prizes to all rather than actually focusing on the underlying problem of useless teaching and persistent under performance escapes me.
Ban private education. Task number 2 on the how to fix the UK in a generation or two list.
There will always be private education.
If private education were banned then all that would happen is that some state schools would become private-equivalents and the property market in their catchment area would skyrocket and wealthy parents would buy a home in that catchment area, then sell it on after their children have graduated.
Oh wait, that already happens.
Not to mention that the top boarding schools would simply relocate to Singapore or Dubai (where most of them have satellites anyway), and the world's elites would send their kids there instead - depriving the UK economy of several billion in foreign investment and billions more in goodwill and attachment that the world's rich have to the UK.
Private education is not just private schools. It is any form of private learning: tutors, music lessons, language teaching outside school etc.
To be banned?
In a free society, this cannot and should not be done.
Private education starts with reading to your kids when they are infants.
^ This. ^
100% agreed.
Also the cheapest and single most effective bit of private education. (My kids went to state schools.)
Having read out loud the entire Harry Potter canon twice over, it is a task I would willingly have outsourced at almost any cost.
My reading aloud tally included: Harry Potter (just the once), The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, all the Narnia books, Wind in the Willows, Tarka the Otter and a bunch of Pippi Longstocking books (in German). Presumably it helped - his school gave him an excellent set of GCSEs.
Apparently much of the advantage of EvulPushyMiddleClassParenting can be "diagnosed" by reading to children on a regular basis. i.e. those who get read to correlate to those who are much more successful academically. This has been seen in various studies.
- Correlation doesn't equal causation. Reading to children may just be an indicator. - I find it interesting to see who is surprised that everyone doesn't read to their children.
The presence of books in the house is actually a better indicator. It is interesting to see who is surprised that a large number of households do not possess a single book. Kids like to mimic their parents and have what they have.
If the Tories aren't going to actually pull their finger out and transition the BBC away from the license fee with an 80 seat majority then they never will. The fact they are farting about around the edges demonstrates they see whining about it is a way to get votes and nothing more. At the end of the day those at the top of the party generally agree with the Beebs worldview.
The BBCs licence fee is guaranted until 2026 from memory. I don't believe its possible to transition it away this Parliament.
They could perhaps put in new arrangements to take place from 2026, but then since the law says there must be an election by 2024 then the Opposition could just pledge to reverse those changes before they take effect.
Hopefully if this can't be dealt with this Parliament then another majority can be won and it be dealt with next time.
As no parliament can bind its successors this government can do anything it likes to the BBC and do it now - it just needs parliament to vote for it.
I am a big supporter of the BBC. But its funding model is no longer fit for purpose. Time for a subscription model like everything else we watch - it is just an option for content we watch rather than some kind of national broadcaster (who I think is Disney Plus these days...)
The issue is that for the BBC to move to a subscription model they need to block access to their output from those who don't pay. And the BBC can't do that as they broadcast on terrestrial channels and most TVs don't support encryption cards.
So for the BBC to move to a subscription service hardware is required.
So? A hardware upgrade was required when we went to digital. Give everyone 2 years to have a compatible set top box or smart TV or Chromecast / Firestick and stop FTA broadcasting. Done.
That's an excellent idea.
Most people want to scrap the license fee from a right wing perspective. I don't, I just think its a hopeless relic. I'm struggling to remember what the last thing was that I watched on any BBC channels or iPlayer. I already pay subs for Netflix and Disney Plus and YouTube and Spotify. Paying for BBC if I want it at a market rate has to be better than a blanket one size fits no-one approach.
I agree and that's where I'm coming from too. I never make left/right arguments about bias etc as its moot to me. Even if the BBC was right wing I would still want the compulsory licence fee abolished.
And I'm similar to you but not Spotify. I have Netflix, DisneyPlus, YouTube Family, Amazon Prime and Sky Q. I might choose to subscribe to the BBC too but it should be my choice.
Shagger says "People are going back to the office in huge numbers across our country, and quite right too".
A straight lie? Or just clueless? Or a combination of the two?
What are the stats on this? I doubt no one is going back.
There are probably a lot of regional variations.
Car traffic is back to pre-COVID normal where I live in the North West. For people who can drive to work I imagine far more are now going back to the office, which would amount to huge numbers.
For people who live in a bubble where only trains exist and the rest of the country doesn't matter it may be different.
Surely it is factual to say both that people are going back in huge numbers and that people are staying away in huge numbers. Both are right.
Car traffic back to "normal" and public transport empty = large numbers not going into the office. As various commentators have pointed out the centre of our large towns and cities are visibly quiet. A long list of companies continuing a flexible working policy, I'm struggling to think of any who have come out and said they have scrapped social distancing so everyone back to their desks.
Shagger says "People are going back to the office in huge numbers across our country, and quite right too".
A straight lie? Or just clueless? Or a combination of the two?
What are the stats on this? I doubt no one is going back.
There are probably a lot of regional variations.
Car traffic is back to pre-COVID normal where I live in the North West. For people who can drive to work I imagine far more are now going back to the office, which would amount to huge numbers.
For people who live in a bubble where only trains exist and the rest of the country doesn't matter it may be different.
Surely it is factual to say both that people are going back in huge numbers and that people are staying away in huge numbers. Both are right.
Car traffic back to "normal" and public transport empty = large numbers not going into the office. As various commentators have pointed out the centre of our large towns and cities are visibly quiet. A long list of companies continuing a flexible working policy, I'm struggling to think of any who have come out and said they have scrapped social distancing so everyone back to their desks.
Johnson lying again again again.
Its not a lie.
"Large numbers are going back to the office" and "large numbers not going into the office" are not contradictory claims. Both can be entirely factual. Both can remain factual forever too for all I care. One size should not fit all.
It's basically static except Arizona where Biden has surged.
On that polling Biden has a 10% lead in Arizona but only leads by 2% in Florida and North Carolina and 4% in Pennsylvania. Trump leads by 5% in Ohio but trails by 3% in Georgia
Shagger says "People are going back to the office in huge numbers across our country, and quite right too".
A straight lie? Or just clueless? Or a combination of the two?
What are the stats on this? I doubt no one is going back.
There are probably a lot of regional variations.
Car traffic is back to pre-COVID normal where I live in the North West. For people who can drive to work I imagine far more are now going back to the office, which would amount to huge numbers.
For people who live in a bubble where only trains exist and the rest of the country doesn't matter it may be different.
Surely it is factual to say both that people are going back in huge numbers and that people are staying away in huge numbers. Both are right.
Car traffic back to "normal" and public transport empty = large numbers not going into the office. As various commentators have pointed out the centre of our large towns and cities are visibly quiet. A long list of companies continuing a flexible working policy, I'm struggling to think of any who have come out and said they have scrapped social distancing so everyone back to their desks.
Johnson lying again again again.
Its not a lie.
"Large numbers are going back to the office" and "large numbers not going into the office" are not contradictory claims. Both can be entirely factual. Both can remain factual forever too for all I care. One size should not fit all.
How would he even know? A small sample of his mates who run businesses?
If the Tories aren't going to actually pull their finger out and transition the BBC away from the license fee with an 80 seat majority then they never will. The fact they are farting about around the edges demonstrates they see whining about it is a way to get votes and nothing more. At the end of the day those at the top of the party generally agree with the Beebs worldview.
The BBCs licence fee is guaranted until 2026 from memory. I don't believe its possible to transition it away this Parliament.
They could perhaps put in new arrangements to take place from 2026, but then since the law says there must be an election by 2024 then the Opposition could just pledge to reverse those changes before they take effect.
Hopefully if this can't be dealt with this Parliament then another majority can be won and it be dealt with next time.
As no parliament can bind its successors this government can do anything it likes to the BBC and do it now - it just needs parliament to vote for it.
I am a big supporter of the BBC. But its funding model is no longer fit for purpose. Time for a subscription model like everything else we watch - it is just an option for content we watch rather than some kind of national broadcaster (who I think is Disney Plus these days...)
The issue is that for the BBC to move to a subscription model they need to block access to their output from those who don't pay. And the BBC can't do that as they broadcast on terrestrial channels and most TVs don't support encryption cards.
So for the BBC to move to a subscription service hardware is required.
So? A hardware upgrade was required when we went to digital. Give everyone 2 years to have a compatible set top box or smart TV or Chromecast / Firestick and stop FTA broadcasting. Done.
That's an excellent idea.
Most people want to scrap the license fee from a right wing perspective. I don't, I just think its a hopeless relic. I'm struggling to remember what the last thing was that I watched on any BBC channels or iPlayer. I already pay subs for Netflix and Disney Plus and YouTube and Spotify. Paying for BBC if I want it at a market rate has to be better than a blanket one size fits no-one approach.
You're the only person so far I am prepared to listen to, who I don't think is arguing in bad faith, i.e. they talk about the license fee when actually it's the BBC they hate.
Regardless, I don't trust the Tories to deliver what you want
Shagger says "People are going back to the office in huge numbers across our country, and quite right too".
A straight lie? Or just clueless? Or a combination of the two?
What are the stats on this? I doubt no one is going back.
There are probably a lot of regional variations.
Car traffic is back to pre-COVID normal where I live in the North West. For people who can drive to work I imagine far more are now going back to the office, which would amount to huge numbers.
For people who live in a bubble where only trains exist and the rest of the country doesn't matter it may be different.
Surely it is factual to say both that people are going back in huge numbers and that people are staying away in huge numbers. Both are right.
Car traffic back to "normal" and public transport empty = large numbers not going into the office. As various commentators have pointed out the centre of our large towns and cities are visibly quiet. A long list of companies continuing a flexible working policy, I'm struggling to think of any who have come out and said they have scrapped social distancing so everyone back to their desks.
Johnson lying again again again.
It's possible to reopen offices without abandoning social distancing. As I asked, what are the stats on this?
A post from a US FB friend, a taste of what’s to come across Europe?
A week ago we shipped *** off to Ohio State and today we picked her up and are bringing her back. In a nutshell it seems that the school has a serious shortfall of adult supervision, and being the closest thing to an adult available on short notice, I was tagged to drive out and take control. The story so far: 1) The kids came back to campus last weekend and some off campus parties popped up (who knew?). There were 70 cases by wed and on thurs the number doubled. There is no testing available Fri - Sun so they have no idea now who has what. 2) Thursday night a girl in *** suite started coughing and ran a fever. Because there was no testing available, OSU left her in the suite for 4 days. 3) On learning her roommate was symptomatic, on Friday we moved *** into a hotel and I got her home today. We had her tested, but she'll quarantine with us until we get results on Wed. So as I head east on I-70, in the rear view mirror I can see smoke billowing from the hole in the ground where OSU used to be - and they deserve it.
Shagger says "People are going back to the office in huge numbers across our country, and quite right too".
A straight lie? Or just clueless? Or a combination of the two?
What are the stats on this? I doubt no one is going back.
There are probably a lot of regional variations.
Car traffic is back to pre-COVID normal where I live in the North West. For people who can drive to work I imagine far more are now going back to the office, which would amount to huge numbers.
For people who live in a bubble where only trains exist and the rest of the country doesn't matter it may be different.
Surely it is factual to say both that people are going back in huge numbers and that people are staying away in huge numbers. Both are right.
Car traffic back to "normal" and public transport empty = large numbers not going into the office. As various commentators have pointed out the centre of our large towns and cities are visibly quiet. A long list of companies continuing a flexible working policy, I'm struggling to think of any who have come out and said they have scrapped social distancing so everyone back to their desks.
Johnson lying again again again.
Its not a lie.
"Large numbers are going back to the office" and "large numbers not going into the office" are not contradictory claims. Both can be entirely factual. Both can remain factual forever too for all I care. One size should not fit all.
How would he even know? A small sample of his mates who run businesses?
The ONS has been measuring stat on this since early in the crisis. Transport rates etc were part of the daily briefings even early on.
Staff at a certain pharmaceutical company in Barnard Castle have been asked to wear these things around their necks that beep very loudly if you get too close to somebody else. What a time to be alive.
If the Tories aren't going to actually pull their finger out and transition the BBC away from the license fee with an 80 seat majority then they never will. The fact they are farting about around the edges demonstrates they see whining about it is a way to get votes and nothing more. At the end of the day those at the top of the party generally agree with the Beebs worldview.
The BBCs licence fee is guaranted until 2026 from memory. I don't believe its possible to transition it away this Parliament.
They could perhaps put in new arrangements to take place from 2026, but then since the law says there must be an election by 2024 then the Opposition could just pledge to reverse those changes before they take effect.
Hopefully if this can't be dealt with this Parliament then another majority can be won and it be dealt with next time.
As no parliament can bind its successors this government can do anything it likes to the BBC and do it now - it just needs parliament to vote for it.
I am a big supporter of the BBC. But its funding model is no longer fit for purpose. Time for a subscription model like everything else we watch - it is just an option for content we watch rather than some kind of national broadcaster (who I think is Disney Plus these days...)
The issue is that for the BBC to move to a subscription model they need to block access to their output from those who don't pay. And the BBC can't do that as they broadcast on terrestrial channels and most TVs don't support encryption cards.
So for the BBC to move to a subscription service hardware is required.
So? A hardware upgrade was required when we went to digital. Give everyone 2 years to have a compatible set top box or smart TV or Chromecast / Firestick and stop FTA broadcasting. Done.
That's an excellent idea.
Most people want to scrap the license fee from a right wing perspective. I don't, I just think its a hopeless relic. I'm struggling to remember what the last thing was that I watched on any BBC channels or iPlayer. I already pay subs for Netflix and Disney Plus and YouTube and Spotify. Paying for BBC if I want it at a market rate has to be better than a blanket one size fits no-one approach.
You're the only person so far I am prepared to listen to, who I don't think is arguing in bad faith, i.e. they talk about the license fee when actually it's the BBC they hate.
Regardless, I don't trust the Tories to deliver what you want
So even though I say the same thing as RP, for the same reasons - and even though my reply to a Conservative being appointed Director General is that it doesn't change anything since that's not my issue - you still think I'm arguing in bad faith?
Shagger says "People are going back to the office in huge numbers across our country, and quite right too".
A straight lie? Or just clueless? Or a combination of the two?
What are the stats on this? I doubt no one is going back.
There are probably a lot of regional variations.
Car traffic is back to pre-COVID normal where I live in the North West. For people who can drive to work I imagine far more are now going back to the office, which would amount to huge numbers.
For people who live in a bubble where only trains exist and the rest of the country doesn't matter it may be different.
Surely it is factual to say both that people are going back in huge numbers and that people are staying away in huge numbers. Both are right.
Car traffic back to "normal" and public transport empty = large numbers not going into the office. As various commentators have pointed out the centre of our large towns and cities are visibly quiet. A long list of companies continuing a flexible working policy, I'm struggling to think of any who have come out and said they have scrapped social distancing so everyone back to their desks.
Johnson lying again again again.
Yes. If he is talking about today, well, even he can't possess an accurate figure just yet. If he is on about last week, then why the plaintive pleas at the time? I don't even think it is malicious or deliberate mistruth. Just the only way he can communicate unscripted is a knee jerk resort to Panglossian bòosterism. It has served him very well so far, but does have limits.
A post from a US FB friend, a taste of what’s to come across Europe?
A week ago we shipped *** off to Ohio State and today we picked her up and are bringing her back. In a nutshell it seems that the school has a serious shortfall of adult supervision, and being the closest thing to an adult available on short notice, I was tagged to drive out and take control. The story so far: 1) The kids came back to campus last weekend and some off campus parties popped up (who knew?). There were 70 cases by wed and on thurs the number doubled. There is no testing available Fri - Sun so they have no idea now who has what. 2) Thursday night a girl in *** suite started coughing and ran a fever. Because there was no testing available, OSU left her in the suite for 4 days. 3) On learning her roommate was symptomatic, on Friday we moved *** into a hotel and I got her home today. We had her tested, but she'll quarantine with us until we get results on Wed. So as I head east on I-70, in the rear view mirror I can see smoke billowing from the hole in the ground where OSU used to be - and they deserve it.
Ohio State is a university. Why do they need adult supervision?
Shagger says "People are going back to the office in huge numbers across our country, and quite right too".
A straight lie? Or just clueless? Or a combination of the two?
What are the stats on this? I doubt no one is going back.
There are probably a lot of regional variations.
Car traffic is back to pre-COVID normal where I live in the North West. For people who can drive to work I imagine far more are now going back to the office, which would amount to huge numbers.
For people who live in a bubble where only trains exist and the rest of the country doesn't matter it may be different.
Surely it is factual to say both that people are going back in huge numbers and that people are staying away in huge numbers. Both are right.
Car traffic back to "normal" and public transport empty = large numbers not going into the office. As various commentators have pointed out the centre of our large towns and cities are visibly quiet. A long list of companies continuing a flexible working policy, I'm struggling to think of any who have come out and said they have scrapped social distancing so everyone back to their desks.
Johnson lying again again again.
Its not a lie.
"Large numbers are going back to the office" and "large numbers not going into the office" are not contradictory claims. Both can be entirely factual. Both can remain factual forever too for all I care. One size should not fit all.
How would he even know? A small sample of his mates who run businesses?
The ONS has been measuring stat on this since early in the crisis. Transport rates etc were part of the daily briefings even early on.
Transport rates don’t automatically correlate to “back in office” though.
Shagger says "People are going back to the office in huge numbers across our country, and quite right too".
A straight lie? Or just clueless? Or a combination of the two?
What are the stats on this? I doubt no one is going back.
There are probably a lot of regional variations.
Car traffic is back to pre-COVID normal where I live in the North West. For people who can drive to work I imagine far more are now going back to the office, which would amount to huge numbers.
For people who live in a bubble where only trains exist and the rest of the country doesn't matter it may be different.
Surely it is factual to say both that people are going back in huge numbers and that people are staying away in huge numbers. Both are right.
Car traffic back to "normal" and public transport empty = large numbers not going into the office. As various commentators have pointed out the centre of our large towns and cities are visibly quiet. A long list of companies continuing a flexible working policy, I'm struggling to think of any who have come out and said they have scrapped social distancing so everyone back to their desks.
Johnson lying again again again.
I know people who are back to the office. I also know people who are WFH at least until the new year.
Not all offices are in town centres - the local business park, where I am, is steadily getting back into use. Large offices, lots of people live locally (cycle/walk) , easy parking.
Mock The Week made a joke every week about Corbyn's position on Brexit, in fact he was the subject of much ridicule, I am sure somehow though, it's still the Tories who are hurt.
Perhaps they just have thin skin and can't take a joke.
I am all for more right wing comedy shows (I think they aren't funny but what do I know) but I know that will not be enough for these people
A post from a US FB friend, a taste of what’s to come across Europe?
A week ago we shipped *** off to Ohio State and today we picked her up and are bringing her back. In a nutshell it seems that the school has a serious shortfall of adult supervision, and being the closest thing to an adult available on short notice, I was tagged to drive out and take control. The story so far: 1) The kids came back to campus last weekend and some off campus parties popped up (who knew?). There were 70 cases by wed and on thurs the number doubled. There is no testing available Fri - Sun so they have no idea now who has what. 2) Thursday night a girl in *** suite started coughing and ran a fever. Because there was no testing available, OSU left her in the suite for 4 days. 3) On learning her roommate was symptomatic, on Friday we moved *** into a hotel and I got her home today. We had her tested, but she'll quarantine with us until we get results on Wed. So as I head east on I-70, in the rear view mirror I can see smoke billowing from the hole in the ground where OSU used to be - and they deserve it.
Ohio State is a university. Why do they need adult supervision?
A post from a US FB friend, a taste of what’s to come across Europe?
A week ago we shipped *** off to Ohio State and today we picked her up and are bringing her back. In a nutshell it seems that the school has a serious shortfall of adult supervision, and being the closest thing to an adult available on short notice, I was tagged to drive out and take control. The story so far: 1) The kids came back to campus last weekend and some off campus parties popped up (who knew?). There were 70 cases by wed and on thurs the number doubled. There is no testing available Fri - Sun so they have no idea now who has what. 2) Thursday night a girl in *** suite started coughing and ran a fever. Because there was no testing available, OSU left her in the suite for 4 days. 3) On learning her roommate was symptomatic, on Friday we moved *** into a hotel and I got her home today. We had her tested, but she'll quarantine with us until we get results on Wed. So as I head east on I-70, in the rear view mirror I can see smoke billowing from the hole in the ground where OSU used to be - and they deserve it.
Ohio State is a university. Why do they need adult supervision?
Because the US doesn't treat those under 21 as adults. Treat people as children and they have a tendency to need supervision.
Edit. For the wealthy of course. They don't mind the lower orders being tried as adults. Or shipped off to fight and die.
Shagger says "People are going back to the office in huge numbers across our country, and quite right too".
A straight lie? Or just clueless? Or a combination of the two?
What are the stats on this? I doubt no one is going back.
There are probably a lot of regional variations.
Car traffic is back to pre-COVID normal where I live in the North West. For people who can drive to work I imagine far more are now going back to the office, which would amount to huge numbers.
For people who live in a bubble where only trains exist and the rest of the country doesn't matter it may be different.
Surely it is factual to say both that people are going back in huge numbers and that people are staying away in huge numbers. Both are right.
Car traffic back to "normal" and public transport empty = large numbers not going into the office. As various commentators have pointed out the centre of our large towns and cities are visibly quiet. A long list of companies continuing a flexible working policy, I'm struggling to think of any who have come out and said they have scrapped social distancing so everyone back to their desks.
Johnson lying again again again.
I know people who are back to the office. I also know people who are WFH at least until the new year.
Not all offices are in town centres - the local business park, where I am, is steadily getting back into use. Large offices, lots of people live locally (cycle/walk) , easy parking.
That’s my anecdotal experience too. Problem is that getting “back to the office” in a business park has negligible impact on the local economy compared to the jobs generated in the big city centres.
A post from a US FB friend, a taste of what’s to come across Europe?
A week ago we shipped *** off to Ohio State and today we picked her up and are bringing her back. In a nutshell it seems that the school has a serious shortfall of adult supervision, and being the closest thing to an adult available on short notice, I was tagged to drive out and take control. The story so far: 1) The kids came back to campus last weekend and some off campus parties popped up (who knew?). There were 70 cases by wed and on thurs the number doubled. There is no testing available Fri - Sun so they have no idea now who has what. 2) Thursday night a girl in *** suite started coughing and ran a fever. Because there was no testing available, OSU left her in the suite for 4 days. 3) On learning her roommate was symptomatic, on Friday we moved *** into a hotel and I got her home today. We had her tested, but she'll quarantine with us until we get results on Wed. So as I head east on I-70, in the rear view mirror I can see smoke billowing from the hole in the ground where OSU used to be - and they deserve it.
The culture in America is very different to over here.
I have friends who work as faculty in American Colleges (Universities). They have said they've been ordered that if they become aware of cases within their classes they are not permitted to discuss it and not permitted to make others in the class aware that infections were spreading in the class. There is zero transparency and the Colleges have basically come the opinion that herd immunity will happen so just keep quiet about it.
The Tories in Scotland have been (mal)formed by decades of imposing their policies here rather than getting consent for them. They've forgotten the first rule of politics which is that your promises have to have a semblance of plausibility.
Shouldn't be surprised if the number of new lanes that they're promising on the M8 is into double figures by next May.
What was this amendment he is alleged to have vote against?
There's no allege about it. Ross voted against clause 11, an amendment to the trade bill 'which would require all future food and drink imports, plant health and environmental standards to meet or exceed the UK’s exacting food safety standards'.
It's a bit of twitter trolling.
Shock horror! Govt MP votes against Opposition amendment (which they neglected to mention in the tweet) govt thinks is not necessary because the protections are already covered.
If you read the debate (which took a bit of finding) the proposals are wildly impractical.
Next?
That the Nats are going after him does rather suggest a degree of nervousness (them and the Remainer "the UK deserves Scexit because of Brexit)
BBC-haters should definitely not watch the current series of Strike which features a government minister being blackmailed, fishy goings on in another MP's office, and undercover detectives at the House of Commons.
The Tories in Scotland have been (mal)formed by decades of imposing their policies here rather than getting consent for them. They've forgotten the first rule of politics which is that your promises have to have a semblance of plausibility.
Shouldn't be surprised if the number of new lanes that they're promising on the M8 is into double figures by next May.
What was this amendment he is alleged to have vote against?
There's no allege about it. Ross voted against clause 11, an amendment to the trade bill 'which would require all future food and drink imports, plant health and environmental standards to meet or exceed the UK’s exacting food safety standards'.
It's a bit of twitter trolling.
Shock horror! Govt MP votes against Opposition amendment (which they neglected to mention in the tweet) govt thinks is not necessary because the protections are already covered.
If you read the debate (which took a bit of finding) the proposals are wildly impractical.
Next?
That the Nats are going after him does rather suggest a degree of nervousness (them and the Remainer "the UK deserves Scexit because of Brexit)
Shagger says "People are going back to the office in huge numbers across our country, and quite right too".
A straight lie? Or just clueless? Or a combination of the two?
What are the stats on this? I doubt no one is going back.
There are probably a lot of regional variations.
Car traffic is back to pre-COVID normal where I live in the North West. For people who can drive to work I imagine far more are now going back to the office, which would amount to huge numbers.
For people who live in a bubble where only trains exist and the rest of the country doesn't matter it may be different.
Surely it is factual to say both that people are going back in huge numbers and that people are staying away in huge numbers. Both are right.
Car traffic back to "normal" and public transport empty = large numbers not going into the office. As various commentators have pointed out the centre of our large towns and cities are visibly quiet. A long list of companies continuing a flexible working policy, I'm struggling to think of any who have come out and said they have scrapped social distancing so everyone back to their desks.
Johnson lying again again again.
I know people who are back to the office. I also know people who are WFH at least until the new year.
Not all offices are in town centres - the local business park, where I am, is steadily getting back into use. Large offices, lots of people live locally (cycle/walk) , easy parking.
That’s my anecdotal experience too. Problem is that getting “back to the office” in a business park has negligible impact on the local economy compared to the jobs generated in the big city centres.
It's basically static except Arizona where Biden has surged.
On that polling Biden has a 10% lead in Arizona but only leads by 2% in Florida and North Carolina and 4% in Pennsylvania. Trump leads by 5% in Ohio but trails by 3% in Georgia
AZ, WI, MI and NE-2 would get Biden to 270.
Indeed, if Trump holds NE2 though and all his other 2016 states beyond AZ, WI and MI it would be 269-269
Shagger says "People are going back to the office in huge numbers across our country, and quite right too".
A straight lie? Or just clueless? Or a combination of the two?
What are the stats on this? I doubt no one is going back.
There are probably a lot of regional variations.
Car traffic is back to pre-COVID normal where I live in the North West. For people who can drive to work I imagine far more are now going back to the office, which would amount to huge numbers.
For people who live in a bubble where only trains exist and the rest of the country doesn't matter it may be different.
Surely it is factual to say both that people are going back in huge numbers and that people are staying away in huge numbers. Both are right.
Car traffic back to "normal" and public transport empty = large numbers not going into the office. As various commentators have pointed out the centre of our large towns and cities are visibly quiet. A long list of companies continuing a flexible working policy, I'm struggling to think of any who have come out and said they have scrapped social distancing so everyone back to their desks.
Johnson lying again again again.
Its not a lie.
"Large numbers are going back to the office" and "large numbers not going into the office" are not contradictory claims. Both can be entirely factual. Both can remain factual forever too for all I care. One size should not fit all.
How would he even know? A small sample of his mates who run businesses?
The ONS has been measuring stat on this since early in the crisis. Transport rates etc were part of the daily briefings even early on.
Transport rates don’t automatically correlate to “back in office” though.
No it doesn't, but nor does "this train station is quiet therefore nobody is returning to the office".
Again it is possible, is it not, BOTH for large numbers of people to be going to the office AND for large numbers not to be doing so?
Shagger says "People are going back to the office in huge numbers across our country, and quite right too".
A straight lie? Or just clueless? Or a combination of the two?
What are the stats on this? I doubt no one is going back.
There are probably a lot of regional variations.
Car traffic is back to pre-COVID normal where I live in the North West. For people who can drive to work I imagine far more are now going back to the office, which would amount to huge numbers.
For people who live in a bubble where only trains exist and the rest of the country doesn't matter it may be different.
Surely it is factual to say both that people are going back in huge numbers and that people are staying away in huge numbers. Both are right.
Car traffic back to "normal" and public transport empty = large numbers not going into the office. As various commentators have pointed out the centre of our large towns and cities are visibly quiet. A long list of companies continuing a flexible working policy, I'm struggling to think of any who have come out and said they have scrapped social distancing so everyone back to their desks.
Johnson lying again again again.
It's possible to reopen offices without abandoning social distancing. As I asked, what are the stats on this?
Its *possible* in theory. But like with most schools its not *possible* in so many cases when you look at the space available vs the number of people. My own office, absolutely no chance. Unless the government want to mandate the wearing of masks?
So beyond left-wing comedy shows, which can be evened out by right-wing comedy shows (just need to find some right-wing comedy shows), what are the other issues with the BBC?
BBC-haters should definitely not watch the current series of Strike which features a government minister being blackmailed, fishy goings on in another MP's office, and undercover detectives at the House of Commons.
The Tories in Scotland have been (mal)formed by decades of imposing their policies here rather than getting consent for them. They've forgotten the first rule of politics which is that your promises have to have a semblance of plausibility.
Shouldn't be surprised if the number of new lanes that they're promising on the M8 is into double figures by next May.
What was this amendment he is alleged to have vote against?
There's no allege about it. Ross voted against clause 11, an amendment to the trade bill 'which would require all future food and drink imports, plant health and environmental standards to meet or exceed the UK’s exacting food safety standards'.
It's a bit of twitter trolling.
Shock horror! Govt MP votes against Opposition amendment (which they neglected to mention in the tweet) govt thinks is not necessary because the protections are already covered.
If you read the debate (which took a bit of finding) the proposals are wildly impractical.
Next?
You seemed to think Ross voting against 'this amendment' was an allegation, I was helpfully pointing out that it was a fact. Don't worry, no thanks required.
Shagger says "People are going back to the office in huge numbers across our country, and quite right too".
A straight lie? Or just clueless? Or a combination of the two?
What are the stats on this? I doubt no one is going back.
There are probably a lot of regional variations.
Car traffic is back to pre-COVID normal where I live in the North West. For people who can drive to work I imagine far more are now going back to the office, which would amount to huge numbers.
For people who live in a bubble where only trains exist and the rest of the country doesn't matter it may be different.
Surely it is factual to say both that people are going back in huge numbers and that people are staying away in huge numbers. Both are right.
Car traffic back to "normal" and public transport empty = large numbers not going into the office. As various commentators have pointed out the centre of our large towns and cities are visibly quiet. A long list of companies continuing a flexible working policy, I'm struggling to think of any who have come out and said they have scrapped social distancing so everyone back to their desks.
Johnson lying again again again.
It's possible to reopen offices without abandoning social distancing. As I asked, what are the stats on this?
Its *possible* in theory. But like with most schools its not *possible* in so many cases when you look at the space available vs the number of people. My own office, absolutely no chance. Unless the government want to mandate the wearing of masks?
OK, but other anecdotes posted on here suggest people are returning to the office. Without data I don't think it's possible to make the claim that Johnson is lying.
Shagger says "People are going back to the office in huge numbers across our country, and quite right too".
A straight lie? Or just clueless? Or a combination of the two?
What are the stats on this? I doubt no one is going back.
There are probably a lot of regional variations.
Car traffic is back to pre-COVID normal where I live in the North West. For people who can drive to work I imagine far more are now going back to the office, which would amount to huge numbers.
For people who live in a bubble where only trains exist and the rest of the country doesn't matter it may be different.
Surely it is factual to say both that people are going back in huge numbers and that people are staying away in huge numbers. Both are right.
Car traffic back to "normal" and public transport empty = large numbers not going into the office. As various commentators have pointed out the centre of our large towns and cities are visibly quiet. A long list of companies continuing a flexible working policy, I'm struggling to think of any who have come out and said they have scrapped social distancing so everyone back to their desks.
Johnson lying again again again.
I know people who are back to the office. I also know people who are WFH at least until the new year.
Not all offices are in town centres - the local business park, where I am, is steadily getting back into use. Large offices, lots of people live locally (cycle/walk) , easy parking.
That’s my anecdotal experience too. Problem is that getting “back to the office” in a business park has negligible impact on the local economy compared to the jobs generated in the big city centres.
The odd occasions I have had to go back into the office the business park we're on has been perhaps a quarter of what it normally is. A couple of cars parked on street vs dumped on every possible corner normally.
I'm not saying that *nobody* has gone back to the office. But the suggestion that its happening en masse is cobblers.
Shagger says "People are going back to the office in huge numbers across our country, and quite right too".
A straight lie? Or just clueless? Or a combination of the two?
What are the stats on this? I doubt no one is going back.
There are probably a lot of regional variations.
Car traffic is back to pre-COVID normal where I live in the North West. For people who can drive to work I imagine far more are now going back to the office, which would amount to huge numbers.
For people who live in a bubble where only trains exist and the rest of the country doesn't matter it may be different.
Surely it is factual to say both that people are going back in huge numbers and that people are staying away in huge numbers. Both are right.
Car traffic back to "normal" and public transport empty = large numbers not going into the office. As various commentators have pointed out the centre of our large towns and cities are visibly quiet. A long list of companies continuing a flexible working policy, I'm struggling to think of any who have come out and said they have scrapped social distancing so everyone back to their desks.
Johnson lying again again again.
I know people who are back to the office. I also know people who are WFH at least until the new year.
Not all offices are in town centres - the local business park, where I am, is steadily getting back into use. Large offices, lots of people live locally (cycle/walk) , easy parking.
That’s my anecdotal experience too. Problem is that getting “back to the office” in a business park has negligible impact on the local economy compared to the jobs generated in the big city centres.
The odd occasions I have had to go back into the office the business park we're on has been perhaps a quarter of what it normally is. A couple of cars parked on street vs dumped on every possible corner normally.
I'm not saying that *nobody* has gone back to the office. But the suggestion that its happening en masse is cobblers.
A quarter of those previously working from home now working in the office, isn't that a significant number of the workforce?
Shagger says "People are going back to the office in huge numbers across our country, and quite right too".
A straight lie? Or just clueless? Or a combination of the two?
What are the stats on this? I doubt no one is going back.
There are probably a lot of regional variations.
Car traffic is back to pre-COVID normal where I live in the North West. For people who can drive to work I imagine far more are now going back to the office, which would amount to huge numbers.
For people who live in a bubble where only trains exist and the rest of the country doesn't matter it may be different.
Surely it is factual to say both that people are going back in huge numbers and that people are staying away in huge numbers. Both are right.
Car traffic back to "normal" and public transport empty = large numbers not going into the office. As various commentators have pointed out the centre of our large towns and cities are visibly quiet. A long list of companies continuing a flexible working policy, I'm struggling to think of any who have come out and said they have scrapped social distancing so everyone back to their desks.
Johnson lying again again again.
Its not a lie.
"Large numbers are going back to the office" and "large numbers not going into the office" are not contradictory claims. Both can be entirely factual. Both can remain factual forever too for all I care. One size should not fit all.
How would he even know? A small sample of his mates who run businesses?
The ONS has been measuring stat on this since early in the crisis. Transport rates etc were part of the daily briefings even early on.
Transport rates don’t automatically correlate to “back in office” though.
No it doesn't, but nor does "this train station is quiet therefore nobody is returning to the office".
Again it is possible, is it not, BOTH for large numbers of people to be going to the office AND for large numbers not to be doing so?
Of course it’s possible. Just because something is possible doesn’t mean it is true though.
It doesn’t matter though. It doesn’t matter if large numbers of people are going back to the office. Success is going to be based on the strength of the economy, not whether people are working from their homes or from an office building.
Shagger says "People are going back to the office in huge numbers across our country, and quite right too".
A straight lie? Or just clueless? Or a combination of the two?
What are the stats on this? I doubt no one is going back.
There are probably a lot of regional variations.
Car traffic is back to pre-COVID normal where I live in the North West. For people who can drive to work I imagine far more are now going back to the office, which would amount to huge numbers.
For people who live in a bubble where only trains exist and the rest of the country doesn't matter it may be different.
Surely it is factual to say both that people are going back in huge numbers and that people are staying away in huge numbers. Both are right.
Car traffic back to "normal" and public transport empty = large numbers not going into the office. As various commentators have pointed out the centre of our large towns and cities are visibly quiet. A long list of companies continuing a flexible working policy, I'm struggling to think of any who have come out and said they have scrapped social distancing so everyone back to their desks.
Johnson lying again again again.
It's possible to reopen offices without abandoning social distancing. As I asked, what are the stats on this?
Its *possible* in theory. But like with most schools its not *possible* in so many cases when you look at the space available vs the number of people. My own office, absolutely no chance. Unless the government want to mandate the wearing of masks?
OK, but other anecdotes posted on here suggest people are returning to the office. Without data I don't think it's possible to make the claim that Johnson is lying.
I can make the claim that he's lying based on two things. One - the reportage of hacks of all political persuasions, friends and my own eyes contradicting his statement. Two - he's a proven repeated liar thus prone to lying.
Shagger says "People are going back to the office in huge numbers across our country, and quite right too".
A straight lie? Or just clueless? Or a combination of the two?
What are the stats on this? I doubt no one is going back.
There are probably a lot of regional variations.
Car traffic is back to pre-COVID normal where I live in the North West. For people who can drive to work I imagine far more are now going back to the office, which would amount to huge numbers.
For people who live in a bubble where only trains exist and the rest of the country doesn't matter it may be different.
Surely it is factual to say both that people are going back in huge numbers and that people are staying away in huge numbers. Both are right.
Car traffic back to "normal" and public transport empty = large numbers not going into the office. As various commentators have pointed out the centre of our large towns and cities are visibly quiet. A long list of companies continuing a flexible working policy, I'm struggling to think of any who have come out and said they have scrapped social distancing so everyone back to their desks.
Johnson lying again again again.
It's possible to reopen offices without abandoning social distancing. As I asked, what are the stats on this?
Its *possible* in theory. But like with most schools its not *possible* in so many cases when you look at the space available vs the number of people. My own office, absolutely no chance. Unless the government want to mandate the wearing of masks?
OK, but other anecdotes posted on here suggest people are returning to the office. Without data I don't think it's possible to make the claim that Johnson is lying.
I can make the claim that he's lying based on two things. One - the reportage of hacks of all political persuasions, friends and my own eyes contradicting his statement. Two - he's a proven repeated liar thus prone to lying.
But other people's eyes here suggest what he says is based in reality, people are returning to the office.
USC Dornsife tracker has another 0.5 off Biden and the same on Trump, it's not much but it matches the direction everything else is moving in: https://election.usc.edu/
Nobody is targeting anything. The BBC can show what it wants as long as I have the choice to pay for it or not. And to watch it or not.
Do you support it being owned by the Government?
I don;t mind who owns it. I donl;t mind what editorial choices it makes, or what programmes it screens.
I just want to have the option to not take the service and not pay for it if I want. They can paywall me from the website too, that would only be fair, as I might not want to pay.
The Tories in Scotland have been (mal)formed by decades of imposing their policies here rather than getting consent for them. They've forgotten the first rule of politics which is that your promises have to have a semblance of plausibility.
Shouldn't be surprised if the number of new lanes that they're promising on the M8 is into double figures by next May.
What was this amendment he is alleged to have vote against?
There's no allege about it. Ross voted against clause 11, an amendment to the trade bill 'which would require all future food and drink imports, plant health and environmental standards to meet or exceed the UK’s exacting food safety standards'.
It's a bit of twitter trolling.
Shock horror! Govt MP votes against Opposition amendment (which they neglected to mention in the tweet) govt thinks is not necessary because the protections are already covered.
If you read the debate (which took a bit of finding) the proposals are wildly impractical.
Next?
That the Nats are going after him does rather suggest a degree of nervousness (them and the Remainer "the UK deserves Scexit because of Brexit)
Jim Murphy the man that Nats fear etc etc.
Doog 'Unrelenting War' Ross is just a pound shop Murphy. Nothing will ever top this.
'Jim Murphy: I'm Astonished By How Easy It's Been To Outwit The SNP'
BBC-haters should definitely not watch the current series of Strike which features a government minister being blackmailed, fishy goings on in another MP's office, and undercover detectives at the House of Commons.
We did this. Geoff Norcross. Henning Wehn is a Merkel supporter. Simon Evans is a fiscal righty but social liberal. An orange Booker.
Geoff is on the BBC constantly already, don't know the others but fine, get them on
Indeed. There is the paucity. Ironically comedy is one of the most entrepreneurial, meritocratic professions there can be. If an audience doesn't find you funny it doesn't matter who your Dad is or where you went to school. You also can't pay to get a qualification in how to do it.
The Tories in Scotland have been (mal)formed by decades of imposing their policies here rather than getting consent for them. They've forgotten the first rule of politics which is that your promises have to have a semblance of plausibility.
Shouldn't be surprised if the number of new lanes that they're promising on the M8 is into double figures by next May.
What was this amendment he is alleged to have vote against?
There's no allege about it. Ross voted against clause 11, an amendment to the trade bill 'which would require all future food and drink imports, plant health and environmental standards to meet or exceed the UK’s exacting food safety standards'.
It's a bit of twitter trolling.
Shock horror! Govt MP votes against Opposition amendment (which they neglected to mention in the tweet) govt thinks is not necessary because the protections are already covered.
If you read the debate (which took a bit of finding) the proposals are wildly impractical.
Next?
That the Nats are going after him does rather suggest a degree of nervousness (them and the Remainer "the UK deserves Scexit because of Brexit)
Jim Murphy the man that Nats fear etc etc.
Doog 'Unrelenting War' Ross is just a pound shop Murphy. Nothing will ever top this.
'Jim Murphy: I'm Astonished By How Easy It's Been To Outwit The SNP'
It seems clear that the moment the right unionist figurehead comes along, the great mass of SNP supporters will awaken from their state of false consciousness and start waving the Union Jack. Douglas Ross is the messiah, and they should know because they’ve followed a few.
A post from a US FB friend, a taste of what’s to come across Europe?
A week ago we shipped *** off to Ohio State and today we picked her up and are bringing her back. In a nutshell it seems that the school has a serious shortfall of adult supervision, and being the closest thing to an adult available on short notice, I was tagged to drive out and take control. The story so far: 1) The kids came back to campus last weekend and some off campus parties popped up (who knew?). There were 70 cases by wed and on thurs the number doubled. There is no testing available Fri - Sun so they have no idea now who has what. 2) Thursday night a girl in *** suite started coughing and ran a fever. Because there was no testing available, OSU left her in the suite for 4 days. 3) On learning her roommate was symptomatic, on Friday we moved *** into a hotel and I got her home today. We had her tested, but she'll quarantine with us until we get results on Wed. So as I head east on I-70, in the rear view mirror I can see smoke billowing from the hole in the ground where OSU used to be - and they deserve it.
The culture in America is very different to over here.
I have friends who work as faculty in American Colleges (Universities). They have said they've been ordered that if they become aware of cases within their classes they are not permitted to discuss it and not permitted to make others in the class aware that infections were spreading in the class. There is zero transparency and the Colleges have basically come the opinion that herd immunity will happen so just keep quiet about it.
When I helped run a UK student union in the 90s, the American students had a strong tendency to get "blitzed", "smashed" etc. Restraint and self control while drinking seemed to be banned. Yes, the UK student (and other countries) would get sloshed, but it seemed to be a mission statement for the Americans.
Probably something to do with no drinking experience at 18.
USC Dornsife tracker has another 0.5 off Biden and the same on Trump, it's not much but it matches the direction everything else is moving in: https://election.usc.edu/
Trump backers have taken that apparent movement, assumed it continues to November 6th, accelerated it, assumed the best polls for Trump are the correct polls AND added in shy Trump voters on top.
The Tories in Scotland have been (mal)formed by decades of imposing their policies here rather than getting consent for them. They've forgotten the first rule of politics which is that your promises have to have a semblance of plausibility.
Shouldn't be surprised if the number of new lanes that they're promising on the M8 is into double figures by next May.
What was this amendment he is alleged to have vote against?
There's no allege about it. Ross voted against clause 11, an amendment to the trade bill 'which would require all future food and drink imports, plant health and environmental standards to meet or exceed the UK’s exacting food safety standards'.
It's a bit of twitter trolling.
Shock horror! Govt MP votes against Opposition amendment (which they neglected to mention in the tweet) govt thinks is not necessary because the protections are already covered.
If you read the debate (which took a bit of finding) the proposals are wildly impractical.
Next?
That the Nats are going after him does rather suggest a degree of nervousness (them and the Remainer "the UK deserves Scexit because of Brexit)
Jim Murphy the man that Nats fear etc etc.
Doog 'Unrelenting War' Ross is just a pound shop Murphy. Nothing will ever top this.
'Jim Murphy: I'm Astonished By How Easy It's Been To Outwit The SNP'
It seems clear that the moment the right unionist figurehead comes along, the great mass of SNP supporters will awaken from their state of false consciousness and start waving the Union Jack. Douglas Ross is the messiah, and they should know because they’ve followed a few.
And Ross has the massive advantage of having Ruth the Baptist still on the scene to lend a helping hand.
We did this. Geoff Norcross. Henning Wehn is a Merkel supporter. Simon Evans is a fiscal righty but social liberal. An orange Booker.
Being an Angela Merkel supporter does not make someone right wing. She is on the left of a centre-right party.
Oh I agree. But it does make you slightly right of centre. My comment was more to do with dredging together a rather thin list of people who could be seen to fit the bill. If people want right wing comedy, then they need to address the question of where this will come from. In what I repeat is the very essence of a free market. There's always Jim Davidson I guess.
Those Sunak for next leader bets look a bit iffy as he lines the red wall up for enormous fuel duty increases...
He doesn't exactly have many other places to raise money. As someone in a red wall seat I would go for a land value tax as it hits wealth in a way that won't impact me (in a large 5 bedroom house with little value due to continual local house building leading to no local demand pressure)
Shagger says "People are going back to the office in huge numbers across our country, and quite right too".
A straight lie? Or just clueless? Or a combination of the two?
What are the stats on this? I doubt no one is going back.
There are probably a lot of regional variations.
Car traffic is back to pre-COVID normal where I live in the North West. For people who can drive to work I imagine far more are now going back to the office, which would amount to huge numbers.
For people who live in a bubble where only trains exist and the rest of the country doesn't matter it may be different.
Surely it is factual to say both that people are going back in huge numbers and that people are staying away in huge numbers. Both are right.
Car traffic back to "normal" and public transport empty = large numbers not going into the office. As various commentators have pointed out the centre of our large towns and cities are visibly quiet. A long list of companies continuing a flexible working policy, I'm struggling to think of any who have come out and said they have scrapped social distancing so everyone back to their desks.
Johnson lying again again again.
It's possible to reopen offices without abandoning social distancing. As I asked, what are the stats on this?
Its *possible* in theory. But like with most schools its not *possible* in so many cases when you look at the space available vs the number of people. My own office, absolutely no chance. Unless the government want to mandate the wearing of masks?
OK, but other anecdotes posted on here suggest people are returning to the office. Without data I don't think it's possible to make the claim that Johnson is lying.
From my personal experience I would say that there has been a significant return to the office over the past month in the private sector, I have spoken to three people who actually returned to their office this morning. From the people I deal with in the public sector, there has been no return to the office whatsoever and no sense of when that will happen. Im many ways nothing has changed for them since March.
Shagger says "People are going back to the office in huge numbers across our country, and quite right too".
A straight lie? Or just clueless? Or a combination of the two?
What are the stats on this? I doubt no one is going back.
There are probably a lot of regional variations.
Car traffic is back to pre-COVID normal where I live in the North West. For people who can drive to work I imagine far more are now going back to the office, which would amount to huge numbers.
For people who live in a bubble where only trains exist and the rest of the country doesn't matter it may be different.
Surely it is factual to say both that people are going back in huge numbers and that people are staying away in huge numbers. Both are right.
Car traffic back to "normal" and public transport empty = large numbers not going into the office. As various commentators have pointed out the centre of our large towns and cities are visibly quiet. A long list of companies continuing a flexible working policy, I'm struggling to think of any who have come out and said they have scrapped social distancing so everyone back to their desks.
Johnson lying again again again.
It's possible to reopen offices without abandoning social distancing. As I asked, what are the stats on this?
Its *possible* in theory. But like with most schools its not *possible* in so many cases when you look at the space available vs the number of people. My own office, absolutely no chance. Unless the government want to mandate the wearing of masks?
OK, but other anecdotes posted on here suggest people are returning to the office. Without data I don't think it's possible to make the claim that Johnson is lying.
I can make the claim that he's lying based on two things. One - the reportage of hacks of all political persuasions, friends and my own eyes contradicting his statement. Two - he's a proven repeated liar thus prone to lying.
Boris has been fired for lying on 3 occasions. That alone is enough to doubt any words that comes out of his mouth.
Good polling for Biden with the exception of Pennysylvania.
For some reason they forgot to mention Arizona where Morning Consult have Biden at +10%.
Based on that, Trump would have to get a swing back of 7% (to gain Minnesota).
Otherwise Biden would still pick up Wisconsin, Michigan and Arizona and with no losses reach 269 with the probable further pickup of Nebraska District 2 taking him to 270.
We did this. Geoff Norcross. Henning Wehn is a Merkel supporter. Simon Evans is a fiscal righty but social liberal. An orange Booker.
Geoff is on the BBC constantly already, don't know the others but fine, get them on
Indeed. There is the paucity. Ironically comedy is one of the most entrepreneurial, meritocratic professions there can be. If an audience doesn't find you funny it doesn't matter who your Dad is or where you went to school. You also can't pay to get a qualification in how to do it.
Which leads to an interesting question. In the 70's and 80's there was a significant number of commedians who could earn a living making jokes from the rightish side of politics. Now there are very few, but there is still 40% of the UK population prepared to vote blue.
This suggests to me that people who vote Conservative are not prepared to pay for rightish comedy. If this is not the case, why are rightish commedians unsuccessful?
Shagger says "People are going back to the office in huge numbers across our country, and quite right too".
A straight lie? Or just clueless? Or a combination of the two?
What are the stats on this? I doubt no one is going back.
There are probably a lot of regional variations.
Car traffic is back to pre-COVID normal where I live in the North West. For people who can drive to work I imagine far more are now going back to the office, which would amount to huge numbers.
For people who live in a bubble where only trains exist and the rest of the country doesn't matter it may be different.
Surely it is factual to say both that people are going back in huge numbers and that people are staying away in huge numbers. Both are right.
Car traffic back to "normal" and public transport empty = large numbers not going into the office. As various commentators have pointed out the centre of our large towns and cities are visibly quiet. A long list of companies continuing a flexible working policy, I'm struggling to think of any who have come out and said they have scrapped social distancing so everyone back to their desks.
Johnson lying again again again.
What’s lying about “huge numbers are going back”? I have little doubt it’s true. It may not be a huge percentage (my guess is 30%+) but it will be huge numbers
Nobody is targeting anything. The BBC can show what it wants as long as I have the choice to pay for it or not. And to watch it or not.
Do you support it being owned by the Government?
I don;t mind who owns it. I donl;t mind what editorial choices it makes, or what programmes it screens.
I just want to have the option to not take the service and not pay for it if I want. They can paywall me from the website too, that would only be fair, as I might not want to pay.
I really don't get why people want to restrict access to a broadcaster with a mission to provide something for everyone. I pay the licence and I understand that in doing so, I'm helping to fund niche content such as Songs of Praise for the religious community and gardening shows etc. I don't like that sort of stuff, but I feel that a broadcaster that claims to represent the nation should be showing that kind of thing. This is the case in a lot of other European countries (France, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Italy) who also use TV licences.
Now, I'm happy to change the method of funding for the BBC, whether that be the introduction of advertising such as with Channel 4, putting the charge as a blanket broadcasting tax onto electric bills (as Germany have recently done) or the BBC receiving a block of funding direct from government (as Spain do). However, no country with a public broadcaster, even in basket case economies such as Greece, has seriously considered that the right thing to do would be to restrict access to their public broadcaster that many people still do rely on and to introduce a subscription service. It's a death knell for an organisation that actually can make money from the programming it makes by selling it abroad, as the funding won't be there in the first place.
We did this. Geoff Norcross. Henning Wehn is a Merkel supporter. Simon Evans is a fiscal righty but social liberal. An orange Booker.
Geoff is on the BBC constantly already, don't know the others but fine, get them on
Indeed. There is the paucity. Ironically comedy is one of the most entrepreneurial, meritocratic professions there can be. If an audience doesn't find you funny it doesn't matter who your Dad is or where you went to school. You also can't pay to get a qualification in how to do it.
Which leads to an interesting question. In the 70's and 80's there was a significant number of commedians who could earn a living making jokes from the rightish side of politics. Now there are very few, but there is still 40% of the UK population prepared to vote blue.
This suggests to me that people who vote Conservative are not prepared to pay for rightish comedy. If this is not the case, why are rightish commedians unsuccessful?
Because many older people, who vote blue, lose their sense of humor cause they spend their lives moaning and harking after the long gone golden days.
Staff at a certain pharmaceutical company in Barnard Castle have been asked to wear these things around their necks that beep very loudly if you get too close to somebody else. What a time to be alive.
Good polling for Biden with the exception of Pennysylvania.
For some reason they forgot to mention Arizona where Morning Consult have Biden at +10%.
Based on that, Trump would have to get a swing back of 7% (to gain Minnesota).
Otherwise Biden would still pick up Wisconsin, Michigan and Arizona and with no losses reach 269 with the probable further pickup of Nebraska District 2 taking him to 270.
Pennsyvania at 49% and +4% is still good news for Biden, albeit far from safe. Any bias in the the don't knows is not going to so skewed that is pushes Trump to 50%, and Pa is as good as a must-win state for Trump.
We did this. Geoff Norcross. Henning Wehn is a Merkel supporter. Simon Evans is a fiscal righty but social liberal. An orange Booker.
Being an Angela Merkel supporter does not make someone right wing. She is on the left of a centre-right party.
Oh I agree. But it does make you slightly right of centre. My comment was more to do with dredging together a rather thin list of people who could be seen to fit the bill. If people want right wing comedy, then they need to address the question of where this will come from. In what I repeat is the very essence of a free market. There's always Jim Davidson I guess.
They also need to address the question of whether they would be happy with canned laughter to replace the audience heckling.
Cancel culture but it's ok because it favours the right
I would have no problem with the BBC having the Mash Report, if it had a similar comedy show from a right wing perspective. It is the lack of balance that is the problem.
I am sure you will still complain when the new Tory Director adds right-wing content
Surely the problem is balance. Would you have a racist to balance someone supporting Black Lives Matter?
There is such a thing as artificial balance, when sides which do not have equal weight of evidence or opinion are presented as equal (climate change being an example) but the extreme is not the norm and it is possible make a decent fist of being genuinely balanced in output.
People tend to leap to the extreme of an artificial balance to justify not even attempting balance when it is possible and reasonable.
On the issue of why Trump's betting odds continue to rise even though the polls have not tightened hugely, someone mentioned on here yesterday the analogy of betting movements in horse races may indicate some inside knowledge and I think that is the right one to use here. The campaigns will be getting a constant stream of feedback from their own internal polling and staff on the ground as to what voters are saying and what issues are resonating. Polls are snapshots in comparison.
I always look at what a campaign is doing rather than the propaganda that will come out from the campaigns. The fact that Biden has made what has been billed as a major statement on the riots, condemning the violence, and that Trump is focused on tying it to the Democrats is probably the strongest signal that this is cutting through to voters and that it risks hitting the Democrat campaign hard.
The problem, though, for Biden is what @Casino_Royale highlighted yesterday and was attacked for, namely that Biden's denials are not enough to offset the view the Democrats will be soft on the rioters. Because he has been silent and let things fester before issuing a strong condemnation, he has to be a lot tougher on BLM / Antifa now to persuade those worried about law and order than a Biden presidency won't lead to wholescale riots on the streets. That might be unfair (but life is not fair) but he needs to do it and call out specifically BLM and Antifa.
Comments
- Correlation doesn't equal causation. Reading to children may just be an indicator.
- I find it interesting to see who is surprised that everyone doesn't read to their children.
The TV license is the state declaring war on the individual so one necessarily has to go beyond the law in self-defence.
*They won't. Their patrons make £gazillions from property speculation.
Car traffic is back to pre-COVID normal where I live in the North West. For people who can drive to work I imagine far more are now going back to the office, which would amount to huge numbers.
For people who live in a bubble where only trains exist and the rest of the country doesn't matter it may be different.
Surely it is factual to say both that people are going back in huge numbers and that people are staying away in huge numbers. Both are right.
It is interesting to see who is surprised that a large number of households do not possess a single book.
Kids like to mimic their parents and have what they have.
And I'm similar to you but not Spotify. I have Netflix, DisneyPlus, YouTube Family, Amazon Prime and Sky Q. I might choose to subscribe to the BBC too but it should be my choice.
Johnson lying again again again.
Oh Jezza please go away
"Large numbers are going back to the office" and "large numbers not going into the office" are not contradictory claims. Both can be entirely factual. Both can remain factual forever too for all I care. One size should not fit all.
Regardless, I don't trust the Tories to deliver what you want
A week ago we shipped *** off to Ohio State and today we picked her up and are bringing her back. In a nutshell it seems that the school has a serious shortfall of adult supervision, and being the closest thing to an adult available on short notice, I was tagged to drive out and take control.
The story so far:
1) The kids came back to campus last weekend and some off campus parties popped up (who knew?). There were 70 cases by wed and on thurs the number doubled. There is no testing available Fri - Sun so they have no idea now who has what.
2) Thursday night a girl in *** suite started coughing and ran a fever. Because there was no testing available, OSU left her in the suite for 4 days.
3) On learning her roommate was symptomatic, on Friday we moved *** into a hotel and I got her home today. We had her tested, but she'll quarantine with us until we get results on Wed.
So as I head east on I-70, in the rear view mirror I can see smoke billowing from the hole in the ground where OSU used to be - and they deserve it.
If he is on about last week, then why the plaintive pleas at the time?
I don't even think it is malicious or deliberate mistruth.
Just the only way he can communicate unscripted is a knee jerk resort to Panglossian bòosterism. It has served him very well so far, but does have limits.
Not all offices are in town centres - the local business park, where I am, is steadily getting back into use. Large offices, lots of people live locally (cycle/walk) , easy parking.
Perhaps they just have thin skin and can't take a joke.
I am all for more right wing comedy shows (I think they aren't funny but what do I know) but I know that will not be enough for these people
Treat people as children and they have a tendency to need supervision.
Edit. For the wealthy of course. They don't mind the lower orders being tried as adults. Or shipped off to fight and die.
I have friends who work as faculty in American Colleges (Universities). They have said they've been ordered that if they become aware of cases within their classes they are not permitted to discuss it and not permitted to make others in the class aware that infections were spreading in the class. There is zero transparency and the Colleges have basically come the opinion that herd immunity will happen so just keep quiet about it.
The first two episodes are on iplayer; third episode is on Sunday.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000m82m/strike-lethal-white-episode-1
Again it is possible, is it not, BOTH for large numbers of people to be going to the office AND for large numbers not to be doing so?
https://twitter.com/rishisunak/status/1300701796277592064?s=21
I'm not saying that *nobody* has gone back to the office. But the suggestion that its happening en masse is cobblers.
Nish Kumar is a broken record.
It doesn’t matter though. It doesn’t matter if large numbers of people are going back to the office. Success is going to be based on the strength of the economy, not whether people are working from their homes or from an office building.
https://election.usc.edu/
I just want to have the option to not take the service and not pay for it if I want. They can paywall me from the website too, that would only be fair, as I might not want to pay.
'Jim Murphy: I'm Astonished By How Easy It's Been To Outwit The SNP'
https://tinyurl.com/y43mcqb2
If an audience doesn't find you funny it doesn't matter who your Dad is or where you went to school.
You also can't pay to get a qualification in how to do it.
Probably something to do with no drinking experience at 18.
The Defund the BBC campaign isn't the 'get the BBC to change its editorial stance and keep paying' campaign
I haven't seen any initiative like that. Not that it would succeed if there was. Nor should it.
If people want right wing comedy, then they need to address the question of where this will come from. In what I repeat is the very essence of a free market.
There's always Jim Davidson I guess.
For some reason they forgot to mention Arizona where Morning Consult have Biden at +10%.
Based on that, Trump would have to get a swing back of 7% (to gain Minnesota).
Otherwise Biden would still pick up Wisconsin, Michigan and Arizona and with no losses reach 269 with the probable further pickup of Nebraska District 2 taking him to 270.
In the 70's and 80's there was a significant number of commedians who could earn a living making jokes from the rightish side of politics. Now there are very few, but there is still 40% of the UK population prepared to vote blue.
This suggests to me that people who vote Conservative are not prepared to pay for rightish comedy. If this is not the case, why are rightish commedians unsuccessful?
Now, I'm happy to change the method of funding for the BBC, whether that be the introduction of advertising such as with Channel 4, putting the charge as a blanket broadcasting tax onto electric bills (as Germany have recently done) or the BBC receiving a block of funding direct from government (as Spain do). However, no country with a public broadcaster, even in basket case economies such as Greece, has seriously considered that the right thing to do would be to restrict access to their public broadcaster that many people still do rely on and to introduce a subscription service. It's a death knell for an organisation that actually can make money from the programming it makes by selling it abroad, as the funding won't be there in the first place.
People tend to leap to the extreme of an artificial balance to justify not even attempting balance when it is possible and reasonable.
I always look at what a campaign is doing rather than the propaganda that will come out from the campaigns. The fact that Biden has made what has been billed as a major statement on the riots, condemning the violence, and that Trump is focused on tying it to the Democrats is probably the strongest signal that this is cutting through to voters and that it risks hitting the Democrat campaign hard.
The problem, though, for Biden is what @Casino_Royale highlighted yesterday and was attacked for, namely that Biden's denials are not enough to offset the view the Democrats will be soft on the rioters. Because he has been silent and let things fester before issuing a strong condemnation, he has to be a lot tougher on BLM / Antifa now to persuade those worried about law and order than a Biden presidency won't lead to wholescale riots on the streets. That might be unfair (but life is not fair) but he needs to do it and call out specifically BLM and Antifa.