Sunak now edges ahead of Johnson as preferred PM – politicalbetting.com

rcs1000 said:

state_go_away said:

rcs1000 said:

Gallowgate said:

I can't wait until we have QAnon believers on here.

I'm sure we have QAnon believers on here. They just keep it quiet.

QAnon and BLM are a response to the natural human instinct to believe "the truth is in the middle".

It therefore makes sense to take the most extreme position possible because that moves the middle a little bit towards your side. It's why the DUP and the IRA destroyed the UUP and the SDLP - because both communities wanted to move the middle, and the best way to do that was to take the most extreme view possible.

Sadly, this means the death of nuance. Taking an extreme position makes it very hard to see anything of value in your political opponent's views. It makes empathy and compromise hard. It means stoking the up the very edges of society and making violence more likely.

I must have missed this but what is QAnon?

A substantial minority of Americans believe the "drops" of Q, who claims to be an intelligence officer in the US. He has spread stories that include:

- the idea that Hillary Clinton is running a paedophile network from a pizza parlor in DC (Pizzagate)

- the Idea that a video exists of Hillary Clinton (it's always her, isn't it?) Killing a baby, removing its face, and then wearing it. (Frazzledrip)

The key plank is that Trump is engaged in a battle with a network of Dem aligned pedophiles and any day now is going to expose the whole stinking lot of them.

The initial version is that Clinton and others were under secret arrest and had trackers attached to them.

This Secret arrest has morphed into new, different versions.

FrancisUrquhart said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

https://www.facebook.com/91377147531/posts/10157856383217532/?sfnsn=scwspmo&extid=eF31KuhIStuxGBC5

And two thirds of Wales going into lockdown today

No sign of maskage...again this weird belief that outside you can't catch it.

Why is that belief weird? It might be wrong but is not weird. Isn't it what the government has been telling people? Isn't it baked into the guidelines about wearing masks on buses and in shops rather than all the time?

DecrepiterJohnL said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

https://www.facebook.com/91377147531/posts/10157856383217532/?sfnsn=scwspmo&extid=eF31KuhIStuxGBC5

And two thirds of Wales going into lockdown today

No sign of maskage...again this weird belief that outside you can't catch it.

Why is that belief weird? It might be wrong but is not weird. Isn't it what the government has been telling people? Isn't it baked into the guidelines about wearing masks on buses and in shops rather than all the time?

You're still supposed to socially distance though. Hence why councils have been vandalising modifying our high streets and city centres to expand the width of pavements into the road, which nobody ever uses...

UK cases

UK case summary

https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/1310241549880524805

UK Deaths

Malmesbury said:

Gallowgate said:

rcs1000 said:

state_go_away said:

rcs1000 said:

Gallowgate said:

I can't wait until we have QAnon believers on here.

I'm sure we have QAnon believers on here. They just keep it quiet.

QAnon and BLM are a response to the natural human instinct to believe "the truth is in the middle".

It therefore makes sense to take the most extreme position possible because that moves the middle a little bit towards your side. It's why the DUP and the IRA destroyed the UUP and the SDLP - because both communities wanted to move the middle, and the best way to do that was to take the most extreme view possible.

Sadly, this means the death of nuance. Taking an extreme position makes it very hard to see anything of value in your political opponent's views. It makes empathy and compromise hard. It means stoking the up the very edges of society and making violence more likely.

I must have missed this but what is QAnon?

A substantial minority of Americans believe the "drops" of Q, who claims to be an intelligence officer in the US. He has spread stories that include:

- the idea that Hillary Clinton is running a paedophile network from a pizza parlor in DC (Pizzagate)

- the Idea that a video exists of Hillary Clinton (it's always her, isn't it?) Killing a baby, removing its face, and then wearing it. (Frazzledrip)

Assuming those allegations are true (which obviously they aren't), what exactly do QAnon supporters even want? A no deal Brexit perhaps?

Mandatory pineapple on pizza, I believe.

Good god! 😱

Gallowgate said:

Malmesbury said:

Gallowgate said:

rcs1000 said:

state_go_away said:

rcs1000 said:

Gallowgate said:

I can't wait until we have QAnon believers on here.

I'm sure we have QAnon believers on here. They just keep it quiet.

QAnon and BLM are a response to the natural human instinct to believe "the truth is in the middle".

It therefore makes sense to take the most extreme position possible because that moves the middle a little bit towards your side. It's why the DUP and the IRA destroyed the UUP and the SDLP - because both communities wanted to move the middle, and the best way to do that was to take the most extreme view possible.

Sadly, this means the death of nuance. Taking an extreme position makes it very hard to see anything of value in your political opponent's views. It makes empathy and compromise hard. It means stoking the up the very edges of society and making violence more likely.

I must have missed this but what is QAnon?

A substantial minority of Americans believe the "drops" of Q, who claims to be an intelligence officer in the US. He has spread stories that include:

- the idea that Hillary Clinton is running a paedophile network from a pizza parlor in DC (Pizzagate)

- the Idea that a video exists of Hillary Clinton (it's always her, isn't it?) Killing a baby, removing its face, and then wearing it. (Frazzledrip)

Assuming those allegations are true (which obviously they aren't), what exactly do QAnon supporters even want? A no deal Brexit perhaps?

Mandatory pineapple on pizza, I believe.

Good god! 😱

And mandatory, 24/7, playing of Radiohead on every radio channel.

Also Python as the only allowed programming language.

The situation in the Caucasus could escalate into outright war between Turkey and Russia.

https://twitter.com/babaktaghvaee1/status/1310233977819725834?s=21

Gallowgate said:

Malmesbury said:

Gallowgate said:

Malmesbury said:

Gallowgate said:

rcs1000 said:

state_go_away said:

rcs1000 said:

Gallowgate said:

I can't wait until we have QAnon believers on here.

I'm sure we have QAnon believers on here. They just keep it quiet.

QAnon and BLM are a response to the natural human instinct to believe "the truth is in the middle".

It therefore makes sense to take the most extreme position possible because that moves the middle a little bit towards your side. It's why the DUP and the IRA destroyed the UUP and the SDLP - because both communities wanted to move the middle, and the best way to do that was to take the most extreme view possible.

Sadly, this means the death of nuance. Taking an extreme position makes it very hard to see anything of value in your political opponent's views. It makes empathy and compromise hard. It means stoking the up the very edges of society and making violence more likely.

I must have missed this but what is QAnon?

A substantial minority of Americans believe the "drops" of Q, who claims to be an intelligence officer in the US. He has spread stories that include:

- the idea that Hillary Clinton is running a paedophile network from a pizza parlor in DC (Pizzagate)

- the Idea that a video exists of Hillary Clinton (it's always her, isn't it?) Killing a baby, removing its face, and then wearing it. (Frazzledrip)

Assuming those allegations are true (which obviously they aren't), what exactly do QAnon supporters even want? A no deal Brexit perhaps?

Mandatory pineapple on pizza, I believe.

Good god! 😱

And mandatory, 24/7, playing of Radiohead on every radio channel.

Also Python as the only allowed programming language.

I like Python so at least there's some common ground there.

Python is a scripting language. People who write large applications in it deserve to associate with QAnon.

Mind you, RCS will smile when I say that the best use of Python I have come across was as a spreadsheet script language.

https://digital.nhs.uk/dashboards/nhs-pathways

This is quite a good data source, seems to show we had a definite peak last week and now a drop off.

https://twitter.com/Scaramucci/status/1310218706094612485

Some good polling for Biden today.

Mexicanpete said:

williamglenn said:

The situation in the Caucasus could escalate into outright war between Turkey and Russia.

https://twitter.com/babaktaghvaee1/status/1310233977819725834?s=21

Someone should remind the Russians how well it went the time they lent some Buks to Ukrainian nationalists just as a Malaysian Airlines Airbus was flying overhead.

Giving anti-aircraft missiles to just about everyone is an old, old Russian hobby. It stems from the USSR military policy of giving every cook a shoulder launched SAM - create a blanket of missile launches against assumed Western air superiority.

People complained about the Stingers-to-Afghanistan thing. But the CIA actually did a pretty good job of policing up the unused ones.

It is worth noting that every single airliner downed by a sub-national group with a missile has done it with a Russian missile - or clone thereof.

Alistair said:

nico679 said:

A couple of new polls out in key swing states NBC/Marist .

Biden leads by 10 points 54 to 44 in Wisconsin and by 8 points 52 to 44 in Michigan

And not only is the SC nomination is firing up the Dems more than the GOP but that majority in each state say it should be up to the winner to nominate.

Looks like an own goal by the GOP especially as over 60% support Roe v Wade and a clear majority support the ACA. The Dems should highlight the ACA as that’s what really hurt the GOP in the mid-terms .

Another poll by CBS has the odious Lindsey Graham up by just one point in the South Carolina Senate race , a lesser known pollster has him down two points to Harrison . I would love to see him lose his seat , he really is a loathsome individual.

https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1310108151224520706

Almost half of British companies have warned that their Brexit preparations have been hit by the pandemic, as business leaders demanded a last-minute compromise to reach a trade deal and avert chaos at the border.

As a crucial week of talks begins, more than three-quarters of businesses (77%) said they wanted a deal to be agreed, according to a survey by the Confederation of British Industry. Only 4% of businesses said they preferred a no-deal outcome. Support for a deal rises to 86% among distribution companies and 83% of manufacturers.

felix said:

I was amazed to read the other day that some Universities insisted on students paying their accommodation fees before telling them that most of their course was to be online. Surely if thatvis remotely true it would make sense for students who can to return home after quarantine and for the Unis to remit those costs and a portion of the teaching fees.

What about those in private accommodation?

Andy_JS said:

https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1310108151224520706

Has anyone seen Dura Ace this afternoon?

Cyclefree said:

felix said:

I was amazed to read the other day that some Universities insisted on students paying their accommodation fees before telling them that most of their course was to be online. Surely if thatvis remotely true it would make sense for students who can to return home after quarantine and for the Unis to remit those costs and a portion of the teaching fees.

If this is true then the students may well have a legal case for misrepresentation. I am aware that a number of people are looking at the possibility of legal action.

Perhaps someone should have a look at how "private" some of the hall of residence for students really are. Quite a few of the "non-university" ones have substantial University ownership, I understand.

Gallowgate said:

felix said:

I was amazed to read the other day that some Universities insisted on students paying their accommodation fees before telling them that most of their course was to be online. Surely if thatvis remotely true it would make sense for students who can to return home after quarantine and for the Unis to remit those costs and a portion of the teaching fees.

What about those in private accommodation?

If they entered into private rental agreements in reliance on representations made by university authorities and if those representations were untrue at the time they made them, then they may well have a case for damages against the university. A lot of “ifs” and it will depend on the evidence.

At the moment I am more concerned at the way the universities are trying to stop students leaving their halls at all. There is no legal basis for what they are doing and it is only going to take one tragedy (and please God this does not happen) for the universities doing this to be in big trouble.

Cyclefree said:

Gallowgate said:

felix said:

I was amazed to read the other day that some Universities insisted on students paying their accommodation fees before telling them that most of their course was to be online. Surely if thatvis remotely true it would make sense for students who can to return home after quarantine and for the Unis to remit those costs and a portion of the teaching fees.

What about those in private accommodation?

If they entered into private rental agreements in reliance on representations made by university authorities and if those representations were untrue at the time they made them, then they may well have a case for damages against the university. A lot of “ifs” and it will depend on the evidence.

At the moment I am more concerned at the way the universities are trying to stop students leaving their halls at all. There is no legal basis for what they are doing and it is only going to take one tragedy (and please God this does not happen) for the universities doing this to be in big trouble.

Thank you. Very interesting. Surely such action would essentially bankrupt the university sector? The Government would have to step in.

Mexicanpete said:

Andy_JS said:

https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1310108151224520706

Has anyone seen Dura Ace this afternoon?

Actually donuts are a far too pedestrian activity for Mr Ace.

Nigelb said:

https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1309913020986880000

I think this guy is starting with the wrong assumption that gigantic pharma companies will be happy to trash their reputations to help Trump claim victory in the vaccine race.

Malmesbury said:

Cyclefree said:

Gallowgate said:

felix said:

I was amazed to read the other day that some Universities insisted on students paying their accommodation fees before telling them that most of their course was to be online. Surely if thatvis remotely true it would make sense for students who can to return home after quarantine and for the Unis to remit those costs and a portion of the teaching fees.

What about those in private accommodation?

Gallowgate said:

felix said:

I was amazed to read the other day that some Universities insisted on students paying their accommodation fees before telling them that most of their course was to be online. Surely if thatvis remotely true it would make sense for students who can to return home after quarantine and for the Unis to remit those costs and a portion of the teaching fees.

What about those in private accommodation?

If they entered into private rental agreements in reliance on representations made by university authorities and if those representations were untrue at the time they made them, then they may well have a case for damages against the university. A lot of “ifs” and it will depend on the evidence.

At the moment I am more concerned at the way the universities are trying to stop students leaving their halls at all. There is no legal basis for what they are doing and it is only going to take one tragedy (and please God this does not happen) for the universities doing this to be in big trouble.

It certainly does look like University business plans are built around having the students on site. My guess is that many universities have "strategic" investments in places where the students are spending their money. From accommodation to bars. Create a company town......

It was interesting to see, over the years, how Southampton University has gone from a university in a town to a giant mega campus with a small, fading, town attached....

It's not just 1st year students in student blocks though. Many 2nd and 3rd year students would not have committed to spending thousands of pounds to rent shared houses in student areas of cities if they knew their course was going to be all online.

Gallowgate said:

@williamglenn so what's the play here? Turkey invades Armenia? Russia does what?

There’s a good thread on it here.

https://twitter.com/sfrantzman/status/1310219246559989761?s=21

Gallowgate said:

rcs1000 said:

state_go_away said:

rcs1000 said:

Gallowgate said:

I can't wait until we have QAnon believers on here.

I'm sure we have QAnon believers on here. They just keep it quiet.

QAnon and BLM are a response to the natural human instinct to believe "the truth is in the middle".

It therefore makes sense to take the most extreme position possible because that moves the middle a little bit towards your side. It's why the DUP and the IRA destroyed the UUP and the SDLP - because both communities wanted to move the middle, and the best way to do that was to take the most extreme view possible.

Sadly, this means the death of nuance. Taking an extreme position makes it very hard to see anything of value in your political opponent's views. It makes empathy and compromise hard. It means stoking the up the very edges of society and making violence more likely.

I must have missed this but what is QAnon?

A substantial minority of Americans believe the "drops" of Q, who claims to be an intelligence officer in the US. He has spread stories that include:

- the idea that Hillary Clinton is running a paedophile network from a pizza parlor in DC (Pizzagate)

- the Idea that a video exists of Hillary Clinton (it's always her, isn't it?) Killing a baby, removing its face, and then wearing it. (Frazzledrip)

Assuming those allegations are true (which obviously they aren't), what exactly do QAnon supporters even want? A no deal Brexit perhaps?

Some of them believe that Trump is fighting a brave, and secret, war against the peados and their democratic enablers. So keeping Trump in there is vital.

Worth reading - https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/science-and-technology/boris-johnson-statement-coronavirus-covid-19-pubs-opening-hours

alex_ said:

Malmesbury said:

Cyclefree said:

Gallowgate said:

felix said:

I was amazed to read the other day that some Universities insisted on students paying their accommodation fees before telling them that most of their course was to be online. Surely if thatvis remotely true it would make sense for students who can to return home after quarantine and for the Unis to remit those costs and a portion of the teaching fees.

What about those in private accommodation?

Gallowgate said:

felix said:

I was amazed to read the other day that some Universities insisted on students paying their accommodation fees before telling them that most of their course was to be online. Surely if thatvis remotely true it would make sense for students who can to return home after quarantine and for the Unis to remit those costs and a portion of the teaching fees.

What about those in private accommodation?

If they entered into private rental agreements in reliance on representations made by university authorities and if those representations were untrue at the time they made them, then they may well have a case for damages against the university. A lot of “ifs” and it will depend on the evidence.

At the moment I am more concerned at the way the universities are trying to stop students leaving their halls at all. There is no legal basis for what they are doing and it is only going to take one tragedy (and please God this does not happen) for the universities doing this to be in big trouble.

It certainly does look like University business plans are built around having the students on site. My guess is that many universities have "strategic" investments in places where the students are spending their money. From accommodation to bars. Create a company town......

It was interesting to see, over the years, how Southampton University has gone from a university in a town to a giant mega campus with a small, fading, town attached....

It all goes back to student loans. For years and years politicians have concentrated repeatedly on the issue of tuition fees. The effect of the student loan system on accommodation has been almost completely ignored. It has turned what was previously a fairly marginal profit, low cost, basic, poor quality accommodation sector into one which has seen massive infiltration by big property players, largely in cahoots with universities themselves.

All aware that (without actually improving the basic nature of most student accommodation much in most cases - even if there was much demand for this) they could charge (and largely make a condition of university entrance) extortionate rents to students, aware that the student loan system (based on repayment on the never never) would pick up the tab. To students it made little difference as future repayments were linked to future earnings and only rose with those earnings not with size of debt. The size of debt only being relevant to how long the repayments were required, or ultimately how much would be written off.

Quite. Add in the use of student halls of residence to get domestic planning permission through..... I mentioned this happening in London, previously. Hall of residence being built with the explicit plan of gentrify the area with students, convert and sell.

nico679 said:

Alistair said:

nico679 said:

A couple of new polls out in key swing states NBC/Marist .

Biden leads by 10 points 54 to 44 in Wisconsin and by 8 points 52 to 44 in Michigan

And not only is the SC nomination is firing up the Dems more than the GOP but that majority in each state say it should be up to the winner to nominate.

Looks like an own goal by the GOP especially as over 60% support Roe v Wade and a clear majority support the ACA. The Dems should highlight the ACA as that’s what really hurt the GOP in the mid-terms .

Another poll by CBS has the odious Lindsey Graham up by just one point in the South Carolina Senate race , a lesser known pollster has him down two points to Harrison . I would love to see him lose his seat , he really is a loathsome individual.

The Biden campaign has talked about nothing but the ACA in relation to the Supreme Court Nomination.

They have been given a gift given the ACB has written that she thinks the ACA is unconstitutional and should be overturned - with the court case to do so scheduled to begin a week after the election.

Malmesbury said:

Foxy said:

Malmesbury said:

I asked this earlier - calling Foxy - not sure how to interpret this... ethnicity in COVID cases....

The switch over from "Other" seems strange - all categorisations come from the COVID surveillance report. Which is also the source of the data.

? Chinese

As the ratios are per capita, a small Chinese population could make for a big early spike.

But we were hearing that is was the BAME community that was being hit disproportionally . I am wondering if lots of BAME people were ticking "other" on forms early on or something.

From the chart it looks like most croups are quite clustered - except "other" got hammered, and now British Pakistanis are being hit hardest instead?

Other must include Filipinos and other East Asians, who are found mostly in London, while the Lancashire towns have larger Pakistani populations. I think those graphs are reflecting the geography of the current outbreak.

Foxy said:

Malmesbury said:

Foxy said:

Malmesbury said:

I asked this earlier - calling Foxy - not sure how to interpret this... ethnicity in COVID cases....

The switch over from "Other" seems strange - all categorisations come from the COVID surveillance report. Which is also the source of the data.

? Chinese

As the ratios are per capita, a small Chinese population could make for a big early spike.

But we were hearing that is was the BAME community that was being hit disproportionally . I am wondering if lots of BAME people were ticking "other" on forms early on or something.

From the chart it looks like most croups are quite clustered - except "other" got hammered, and now British Pakistanis are being hit hardest instead?

Other must include Filipinos and other East Asians, who are found mostly in London, while the Lancashire towns have larger Pakistani populations. I think those graphs are reflecting the geography of the current outbreak.

Doesn't really explain the high rate at the moment in the North East which doesn't have very many people who aren't White British.

Leicester 4

Pulpstar said:

Alistair said:

nico679 said:

A couple of new polls out in key swing states NBC/Marist .

Biden leads by 10 points 54 to 44 in Wisconsin and by 8 points 52 to 44 in Michigan

And not only is the SC nomination is firing up the Dems more than the GOP but that majority in each state say it should be up to the winner to nominate.

I'm not displeased with Mitch's actions on the SC, must say.

If I hadn't been burnt by assuming the attempt to unseat John Bercow from the speakership prior to the 2015 election was a sign the Cons thought it was going to be incredibly tight I would definitely be confidently stating that the GOP think they are in for a total an utter kicking based on their SC manoeuvres.

Malmesbury said:

Foxy said:

Malmesbury said:

Foxy said:

Malmesbury said:

I asked this earlier - calling Foxy - not sure how to interpret this... ethnicity in COVID cases....

The switch over from "Other" seems strange - all categorisations come from the COVID surveillance report. Which is also the source of the data.

? Chinese

As the ratios are per capita, a small Chinese population could make for a big early spike.

But we were hearing that is was the BAME community that was being hit disproportionally . I am wondering if lots of BAME people were ticking "other" on forms early on or something.

From the chart it looks like most croups are quite clustered - except "other" got hammered, and now British Pakistanis are being hit hardest instead?

Other must include Filipinos and other East Asians, who are found mostly in London, while the Lancashire towns have larger Pakistani populations. I think those graphs are reflecting the geography of the current outbreak.

So you think that "Filipinos and other East Asians" were hit horribly, horribly hard in the early stages of this?

Is so, we have some staggeringly bad reporting on this. 4x as many cases (proportionally) in the "other" grouping at peak!

There were quite a few Filipinos in the Nursing and HCA sector deaths in the first wave. It is not a very big community, so could be heavily overrepresented.

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Hat trick Vardy

City 1 - Leicester 3

Time to place a bet on Leicester winning the premiership?

Andy_JS said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Hat trick Vardy

City 1 - Leicester 3

Time to place a bet on Leicester winning the premiership?

Liverpool look very likely to retain it.

Another Leicester penalty scored

City 2 - Leicester 5

Amazing

Foxy said:

Big_G_NorthWales said:

Another Leicester penalty

All legit though. What are the Manchester defence playing at?

Clowns

Rishi sounds like a more natural and relaxed Ed Miliband.

Foxy said:

Malmesbury said:

Foxy said:

Malmesbury said:

Foxy said:

Malmesbury said:

I asked this earlier - calling Foxy - not sure how to interpret this... ethnicity in COVID cases....

The switch over from "Other" seems strange - all categorisations come from the COVID surveillance report. Which is also the source of the data.

? Chinese

As the ratios are per capita, a small Chinese population could make for a big early spike.

But we were hearing that is was the BAME community that was being hit disproportionally . I am wondering if lots of BAME people were ticking "other" on forms early on or something.

From the chart it looks like most croups are quite clustered - except "other" got hammered, and now British Pakistanis are being hit hardest instead?

Other must include Filipinos and other East Asians, who are found mostly in London, while the Lancashire towns have larger Pakistani populations. I think those graphs are reflecting the geography of the current outbreak.

So you think that "Filipinos and other East Asians" were hit horribly, horribly hard in the early stages of this?

Is so, we have some staggeringly bad reporting on this. 4x as many cases (proportionally) in the "other" grouping at peak!

There were quite a few Filipinos in the Nursing and HCA sector deaths in the first wave. It is not a very big community, so could be heavily overrepresented.

Sadly, then, it seems the standard handling of race in this country has allowed this to be ignored.

Sandpit said:

felix said:

Gallowgate said:

felix said:

I was amazed to read the other day that some Universities insisted on students paying their accommodation fees before telling them that most of their course was to be online. Surely if thatvis remotely true it would make sense for students who can to return home after quarantine and for the Unis to remit those costs and a portion of the teaching fees.

What about those in private accommodation?

They may have a case against the University authorities? To me it sounds like fraud although I am not a lawyer!

alex_ said:

Malmesbury said:

Cyclefree said:

Gallowgate said:

felix said:

I was amazed to read the other day that some Universities insisted on students paying their accommodation fees before telling them that most of their course was to be online. Surely if thatvis remotely true it would make sense for students who can to return home after quarantine and for the Unis to remit those costs and a portion of the teaching fees.

What about those in private accommodation?

Gallowgate said:

felix said:

I was amazed to read the other day that some Universities insisted on students paying their accommodation fees before telling them that most of their course was to be online. Surely if thatvis remotely true it would make sense for students who can to return home after quarantine and for the Unis to remit those costs and a portion of the teaching fees.

What about those in private accommodation?

If they entered into private rental agreements in reliance on representations made by university authorities and if those representations were untrue at the time they made them, then they may well have a case for damages against the university. A lot of “ifs” and it will depend on the evidence.

At the moment I am more concerned at the way the universities are trying to stop students leaving their halls at all. There is no legal basis for what they are doing and it is only going to take one tragedy (and please God this does not happen) for the universities doing this to be in big trouble.

It certainly does look like University business plans are built around having the students on site. My guess is that many universities have "strategic" investments in places where the students are spending their money. From accommodation to bars. Create a company town......

It was interesting to see, over the years, how Southampton University has gone from a university in a town to a giant mega campus with a small, fading, town attached....

It all goes back to student loans. For years and years politicians have concentrated repeatedly on the issue of tuition fees. The effect of the student loan system on accommodation has been almost completely ignored. It has turned what was previously a fairly marginal profit, low cost, basic, poor quality accommodation sector into one which has seen massive infiltration by big property players, largely in cahoots with universities themselves.

All aware that (without actually improving the basic nature of most student accommodation much in most cases - even if there was much demand for this) they could charge (and largely make a condition of university entrance) extortionate rents to students, aware that the student loan system (based on repayment on the never never) would pick up the tab. To students it made little difference as future repayments were linked to future earnings and only rose with those earnings not with size of debt. The size of debt only being relevant to how long the repayments were required, or ultimately how much would be written off.

While teaching mostly sub-standard degrees over a much longer period of time than is necessary. For me the current university system seems like a ginat misselling scandal in the making.

There’s a massive opening for someone to set up an online university charging £3k a year in fees for a full time course, with a course meeting in person once a month somewhere central.

A friend who got into a Phd program at Oxford, commented that he was the proud possessor of the most expensive library card in the world. Plus a bi-weekly hour or 2 with a world authority in his subject.

Evening all

On topic, what is to be made of Rishi Sunak? To this non-Conservative, there's more than a hint of John Major about him. He will be the perfect antidote to what has gone before just as Major was the perfect antidote to Thatcher.

Sunak seems an excellent manager and administrator - possibly as much in the detail as Gordon Brown in his way. Does that make him a Prime Minister? It won't stop him but rather like Major, Sunak will have the task of re-inventing a party which has been in power for a long period against an Opposition party growing in confidence and re-establishing its credentials as an alternative Government.

Major won in 1992 for many reasons but let's not forget his "victory" was bought at the cost of most of the pre-existing majority. He lost 40 seats, which Sunak can ill afford to repeat. Yet Starmer is no Kinnock and with the LDs always lurking to ambush a few seats, the possibility of another Hung Parliament after the next GE cannot be discounted.

You wouldn't choose a Sunak or a Major if you wanted a charismatic leader to take you back from Opposition to Government - they are men of and for Government, the proverbial "safe pair of hands" and ideal for good times against moderate opposition.

Catch them in a thoughtful moment and even the Conservatives on here will concede Blair in his pomp was a formidable political operator and he crushed Major - Starmer is no Kinnock but he is no Blair either.

History is rarely symmetrical but all Governments have a shelf life. After 13 years in office, the Conservatives in 1964 and Labour in 2010 ran out of road. Whether Covid will come to resemble the socio-cultural changes of the early 60s or the impact of the financial crash in 2008 in political terms is far from certain but it seems improbable there will be no lasting impact.