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Cummings going opens up a little UK-EU trade window. But only a little one – politicalbetting.com

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  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,651
    edited November 2020
    Stocky said:

    I hope you are wrong on this. But fear you are right.

    My hunch is that Cummings was prepared to play hard-ball more than Johnson is - and the PM is now freer to sign up to a poor deal for the UK. Cummings couldn`t stomach this, so has gone. Johnson will herald a pile of crap as a great victory.

    I have never been convinced that a deal with EU was possible ( one that would be good for UK), so for me the order of preference was: 1) stay in EU and agitate from within, 2) leave with no deal, 3) a deal but a bad one.

    We`re heading towards 3).
    Of course he WILL be branding a crap deal as a great one. It worked last time so perhaps it will again.

    As for No Deal, moving from SM to WTO, I just have never seen that as a realistic possibility unless we'd had an absolute hard core, ideologically pure, Brexit Headbanger as PM. Which Johnson is not, of course. Not even close.
  • StockyStocky Posts: 10,276

    May's deal kept us on Single Market and Customs Union terms while we were in the backstop. It was as soft as you could get.

    It was reasonable for hard Brexiteers to reject it. Soft Brexiteers got a harder Brexit from rejecting it. Oh well what a shame.
    What are the hard Brexiteers going to feel and say when Johnson caves, PT? (In fact, scrub out "hard" in the previous sentence.)
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 51,079
    ydoethur said:

    The point about May’s deal was it left room for compromise. It could easily have been used for a Norway solution later on, or a pivot to Canada later.

    Johnson’s deal by contrast is so bad that even he has admitted it’s unworkable and he has no time to come up with a solution.
    The missed opportunity wasn't May's deal, for the reasons others have said. It was not backing the various soft Brexit options in the Letwin process.
  • MetatronMetatron Posts: 193
    However much i do not like personal rudeness or malice the sign of a genius is someone who can be very malicious and rude but stay at the top of their chosen fields such as Michael O'Leary,Van Morrison,and despite him losing in 2020 Trump ,the late Steve Jobs ,the late Cassius Clay etc.
    Cummings is a campaigner .He did not last long as Gove's adviser at education and now he has gone as the PMs adviser.Remains to be seen if he is a 'genius campaigner' or whether he got lucky with his opponents in the 2019 election and Brexit referendum.
  • May's deal is better than no deal in the same way that having one leg amputated is better than having both legs amputated when you don't actually need any legs amputated.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 56,022
    kinabalu said:

    Yes, Under their rules they should have settled on the PA call at which point there was a winner who had "a majority of the projected votes in the electoral college". Having failed to do that, they are now in a no man's land with no clear and obvious future event to hang the settlement on. But they won't care for the reasons you say. And I don't care either. I'm content to wait a little longer for my money.
    It’s really simple. They’re waiting for the official election results to be announced in each State. They’re not settling purely because CNN say Biden won.
  • RogerRoger Posts: 20,391

    To be fair I hadn't noticed any Leavers being clever or funny at any point.
    Not since Bernard Manning died.
  • There are two questions, which it's important not to mix up- whether by accident or design,

    First- could those opposed to a hard Brexit have stopped it in the 2017-19 Parliament?
    Perhaps they could, but it would have required TM the then PM to get her plan through with opposition votes against a large chunk of her own party. Maybe she could have got away with that, but it's not clear why the ERG wouldn't have deposed her faster than you could say "vassal state".

    Second- if hard-to-no-deal Brexit happens, who gets the credit / blame for what happens next?
    Easy. The people who argued, campaigned, cajoled, backstabbed and used all the political arts to get to this situation. The people in charge when it happens. Claiming that "we wanted to do this but it's their fault for not stopping us" is absurd, as is "we didn't really want to do this, but we were forced into it by the people we outwitted".

    Hard Brexiteers- you won. Get over it.
    First the ERG tried to oust May remember before the first Meaningful Vote. They lost.

    Second you're right. But Hard Brexiteers don't think Hard Brexit is going to be a disaster, they don't think it's going to be a fault.

    If Hard Brexit works well enough as Hard Brexiteers expected and it becomes a new reality and we stay out of the Single Market forever as a result and the Leavers are happy but Remainers lose everything they wanted to win then whose fault is it the Remainers lost? That's a different question.
  • JonathanJonathan Posts: 22,100

    May's deal is better than no deal in the same way that having one leg amputated is better than having both legs amputated when you don't actually need any legs amputated.

    Quite. Why would you put your name to that? When the shit hits the fan, they would say the plan had full support.

    No, if people were insistent on this route on their heads be it.
  • WhisperingOracleWhisperingOracle Posts: 9,938
    edited November 2020
    The missed opportunity from which all others flowed occurred at the end of 2016, when a soft Brexit including free movement was specifically excluded. *Everything* from then on became more difficult, opinions on all sides splintered into almost infinitely smaller pieces, and some form of chaos was inevitable - the centre could not hold, as the original product was mis-sold. This was nothing at all to do with any remainer forces, was not at all what was advertised in the referendum, and was purely the result of internal tory party management and incoherence.
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 20,101
    edited November 2020

    First the ERG tried to oust May remember before the first Meaningful Vote. They lost.

    Second you're right. But Hard Brexiteers don't think Hard Brexit is going to be a disaster, they don't think it's going to be a fault.

    If Hard Brexit works well enough as Hard Brexiteers expected and it becomes a new reality and we stay out of the Single Market forever as a result and the Leavers are happy but Remainers lose everything they wanted to win then whose fault is it the Remainers lost? That's a different question.
    What a weird thing to say. If Hard Brexit results in a good outcome for Britain then why would "Remainers" complain? That's good for us. If such a thing comes to pass, then we clearly were very wrong.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 51,079
    edited November 2020
    Sandpit said:

    It’s really simple. They’re waiting for the official election results to be announced in each State. They’re not settling purely because CNN say Biden won.
    Just maybe there's the additional factor that they are doing very nicely out of the large amounts still being bet on the market?
  • As a further point, you Brexiteers seem to think that "Remainers" would bite your hand off for May's deal right now. The fact is that isn't true.

    I couldn't care less if we have May's deal or if we have no deal. They are both a hard Brexit, and I want a soft Brexit with close EU alignment. I want Britain to be part of the single market.

    So we are where we are. I'm looking forward to these promised sunlit uplands.
    May's deal would have meant effectively Single Market and Customs Union terms until the next election. If you consider that hard then what is soft?
  • JonathanJonathan Posts: 22,100

    First the ERG tried to oust May remember before the first Meaningful Vote. They lost.

    Second you're right. But Hard Brexiteers don't think Hard Brexit is going to be a disaster, they don't think it's going to be a fault.

    If Hard Brexit works well enough as Hard Brexiteers expected and it becomes a new reality and we stay out of the Single Market forever as a result and the Leavers are happy but Remainers lose everything they wanted to win then whose fault is it the Remainers lost? That's a different question.
    If Brexit teaches us anything nothing is forever. Keep chipping away and ultimately you are rewarded. Brexit provides a model to bring Brexit down.
  • StockyStocky Posts: 10,276
    kinabalu said:

    Of course he WILL be branding a crap deal as a great one. It worked last time so perhaps it will again.

    As for No Deal, moving from SM to WTO, I just have never seen that as a realistic possibility unless we'd had an absolute hard core, ideologically pure, Brexit Headbanger as PM. Which Johnson is not, of course. Not even close.
    I suspect that it won`t work this time. Johnson is heading towards an end-point which will please no-one.
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 38,050
    It has been noted, and at some point we will discuss, whether the relentless pursuit of hard Brexit makes "hard return" the next obvious option.
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 20,101

    May's deal would have meant effectively Single Market and Customs Union terms until the next election. If you consider that hard then what is soft?
    The "backstop" was simply an endless transition. We're not talking about transitions, we're talking about final destinations.

    Johnson's deal kept us in the Single Market and Customs Union for a year (at least). That doesn't mean it's a "soft Brexit".
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 39,801
    IanB2 said:

    The missed opportunity wasn't May's deal, for the reasons others have said. It was not backing the various soft Brexit options in the Letwin process.
    I have to say that is probably one of the funniest moments the remainers came up with. Force the government to concede votes on various options, then don't back any of them.
  • What a weird thing to say. If Hard Brexit results in a good outcome for Britain then why would "Remainers" complain? That's good for us. If such a thing comes to pass, then we clearly were very wrong.
    Because that's politics.

    Thatcherism resulted in a good result for the country. Did that stop socialists from complaining?
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 54,442
    edited November 2020
    DavidL said:

    Let's face it, there is an abundance of incompetence, arrogance, ignorance and plain stupidity to go around but the failure of the Commons to support May's deal was a serious mistake when the remainer majority in that Parliament could have left the Brexiteer loons howling in the wilderness (which frankly suits several of them anyway) and moved on. But they got greedy with dreams of a second referendum or simple cancellation. It was by no means the only mistake, there have been hundreds, but it was a big one.

    SKS actually bears a lot of responsibility for this. He didn't act in the national interest. He didn't even act in his own party's interest: had he persuaded Corbyn to give May the votes he may well have split the Tories in 2 leading to an extended period of Labour dominance. It was a poor call by him.
    Some of us were saying at the time the smart move was for Labour to abstain. The deal would then have been the outcome of Tory infighting.

    We would not be looking at four more years of a Tory majority of 80.

    Corbyn and Starmer between them managed to bollocks up the politics of Brexit every bit as badly as Cameron and Osborne.
  • F1: very wet third practice. Could be very wet qualifying too.
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 34,527

    Sorry folks, but I've thought of another headline:

    Bozo fires Cum, but was it Carrie or Allegra who finished him off?

    As per my post upthread. 'Cherchez la femme'. I suspect Carrie now has an ally, and Boris has nowhere to hide.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,651
    Sandpit said:

    It’s really simple. They’re waiting for the official election results to be announced in each State. They’re not settling purely because CNN say Biden won.
    You sound a bit tetchy. Upset your man lost?
  • JonathanJonathan Posts: 22,100

    Because that's politics.

    Thatcherism resulted in a good result for the country. Did that stop socialists from complaining?
    The EU being a good result for the country didn’t stop Leavers. Nothing is permanent.
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 20,101

    Because that's politics.

    Thatcherism resulted in a good result for the country. Did that stop socialists from complaining?
    I'm not sure what your point is. You will always get headbangers and frothers. You're not going to get 48% of the population complaining if everything turns out well.
  • The "backstop" was simply an endless transition. We're not talking about transitions, we're talking about final destinations.

    Johnson's deal kept us in the Single Market and Customs Union for a year (at least). That doesn't mean it's a "soft Brexit".
    Key word being endless.

    Nothing is final. Why would you talk about final? The difference is that Johnson's deal provided a way out within a year, May's did not. That is why Leavers opposed May's.
  • F1: waiting for qualifying odds. Verstappen's down to 2.7 to win the race tomorrow.
  • Jonathan said:

    The EU being a good result for the country didn’t stop Leavers. Nothing is permanent.
    Precisely my point.
  • MaxPB said:

    I have to say that is probably one of the funniest moments the remainers came up with. Force the government to concede votes on various options, then don't back any of them.
    Again its offering a man with two healthy legs a menu of different amputation options. The idea that this shambles is the fault of remainers is laughable. The problem is that nobody could agree on what "leave" and "European Union" actually meant. And therefore what we would do afterwards.
  • The Cabinet is stuffed full of Brexiteers. It wasn't just Dominic Cummings. Maybe his sacking really was personal not political.
    kle4 said:

    It's not that there are no similarities its that people lazily overegg the similarities ignoring Boris' greater flexibility and deviousness. The Trump thing gets overplayed as a comfort blanket.

    Focusing too much on the superficial similarities enables Boris to get away with stuff when he doesn't then act just like Trump, for example whilst we've had plenty of covid problems and debates behind the scenes, Boris hasn't been virtually war with top scientists so when people say hes trump like on that issue it doesn't land and makes a bad situation seem less bad.

    That's the point. It doesn't help to get a good chuckle on pretending they are just the same, it makes it harder to take him on because he can easily show a way he is different and suggest other claims against are bollocks, even when it's not.

    But no, let's keep acting like the superficial stuff is more important. He has a similar visual look too hurr hurr Trump clone.
    Other way round imo. People overlook the similarities between Trump and Boris so they can sneer at the yanks without cognitive dissonance. It really does go beyond them both being charismatic blokes off the telly with complicated family lives, who caught Covid-19. They lie, habitually. They evade scrutiny. They have no clear political goals. They rely on an inner coterie of unelected cronies and family members suckling on the public teat. They don't care about the financial prudence their parties insisted on when the other lot were in control. They bypass normal democratic conventions in their country. They purge dissentors, real or imagined. But we laugh at the foreigner and indulge our version.
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 20,101

    Key word being endless.

    Nothing is final. Why would you talk about final? The difference is that Johnson's deal provided a way out within a year, May's did not. That is why Leavers opposed May's.
    Why are you trying to convince me that May's deal was what I wanted? It wasn't.

    The current situation is much preferable to me because we get a "pure" Brexit. There's no stab in the back myth and no enduring legacy. We get to see the reality of what was promised.
  • As I said in all seriousness, we're not past anger, which is why the insults are still flying.
    Leavers need to stop being such snowflakes, it was only bantz.
    The trouble with the whole "moving on" narrative is that Brexit is an ongoing process not a past event. I'm not angry about the 2016 vote and the campaign of xenophobic lies that won it anymore - it was four years ago after all. But I am angry about the people who are losing their jobs right now because of the government's refusal to compromise on a soft Brexit deal and their inability to negotiate anything sensible even at the eleventh hour. I don't think it is irrational to be angry about stuff happening right now.
  • RogerRoger Posts: 20,391
  • WhisperingOracleWhisperingOracle Posts: 9,938
    edited November 2020

    Why are you trying to convince me that May's deal was what I wanted? It wasn't.

    The current situation is much preferable to me because we get a "pure" Brexit. There's no stab in the back myth and no enduring legacy. We get to see the reality of what was promised.
    May's deal bore virtually no resemblance to what was promised in the referendum, and was constructed purely to hold her party together and so save her leadership ; just as waving around the threat of no deal with no proper procedure was - which is where Grieve came in.
  • Why are you trying to convince me that May's deal was what I wanted? It wasn't.

    The current situation is much preferable to me because we get a "pure" Brexit. There's no stab in the back myth and no enduring legacy. We get to see the reality of what was promised.
    I'm glad May's deal was defeated.

    But May's deal was undeniably far softer than what we have got. If people wanted a softer Brexit not a purer Brexit then May's deal was the one to go for.

    Thank goodness they didn't.
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 20,101

    I'm glad May's deal was defeated.

    But May's deal was undeniably far softer than what we have got. If people wanted a softer Brexit not a purer Brexit then May's deal was the one to go for.

    Thank goodness they didn't.
    Exactly - thank goodness they didn't.

    Like I said, the current situation is much preferable.
  • JACK_WJACK_W Posts: 682
    Not sure what the issue is with the Pumas 25:15 win over the All Blacks. Sanchez scored and converted his try and six penalties too :

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/54942697
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,344
    Metatron said:

    However much i do not like personal rudeness or malice the sign of a genius is someone who can be very malicious and rude but stay at the top of their chosen fields such as Michael O'Leary,Van Morrison,and despite him losing in 2020 Trump ,the late Steve Jobs ,the late Cassius Clay etc.
    Cummings is a campaigner .He did not last long as Gove's adviser at education and now he has gone as the PMs adviser.Remains to be seen if he is a 'genius campaigner' or whether he got lucky with his opponents in the 2019 election and Brexit referendum.

    He lasted over two years at education (three, if you include the period he was working for Gove unofficially despite Coulson’s veto of his formal appointment). That’s a long time for a SPAD, especially one about whom multiple official complaints were made following his persistent libelling of critics through an unauthorised twitter account.

    He officially left to set up a free school, although it’s worth noting that never happened either. Probably just as well given his temperament. He wouldn’t have lasted long.

    One thing I didn’t realise until recently is he’s always been a critic of the idea of free school meals. That was, indeed, at the root of his row with a Nick Clegg, who was trying to roll them out wider while he was trying to abolish them. That may go some way towards explaining the totally unnecessary fiascos over Rashford’s campaign.

    For the rest - well, this is an interesting read:

    https://wonkhe.com/blogs/the-education-policy-odyssey-of-dominic-cummings/
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 55,115
    Jonathan said:

    What if they didn’t want to vote for it because they believed it to be wrong?
    Then they should not have allowed themselves to be elected on a platform committed to implementing Brexit as the Labour party MPs were in that disgrace of a Parliament. And they should have been more pragmatic about the alternatives, such as where we are right now. I am pretty sure that Boris blundering about with an 80 strong majority was not what they had in mind as an ideal outcome.
  • AlistairAlistair Posts: 23,670
    Sandpit said:

    It’s really simple. They’re waiting for the official election results to be announced in each State. They’re not settling purely because CNN say Biden won.
    But that isn't the case. They've settled a whole bunch of state markets that have not been officially verified/settled.

    I agree that once 270 ECVs worth of Biden votes have been officially verified they will settle the Next President/Winning Party market. But that is not how they would have settled the market if it had been a 400ECV blow out. They would have settled it the next day.
  • May's deal would have meant effectively Single Market and Customs Union terms until the next election. If you consider that hard then what is soft?
    EEA/CU is soft Brexit. May's deal was a hard Brexit with a soft coating. Like an inverted Ferrero Rochet. Remainers didn't feel like she was really spoiling us with that.
  • First the ERG tried to oust May remember before the first Meaningful Vote. They lost.

    Second you're right. But Hard Brexiteers don't think Hard Brexit is going to be a disaster, they don't think it's going to be a fault.

    If Hard Brexit works well enough as Hard Brexiteers expected and it becomes a new reality and we stay out of the Single Market forever as a result and the Leavers are happy but Remainers lose everything they wanted to win then whose fault is it the Remainers lost? That's a different question.
    With regards to the first point, that was without TM getting her plan though on the back of Labour votes. Do you really think the Conservative party would have let that happen? Really?

    As for the second point. If you're right, and Brexit turns out great even without a long term trade deal, fine. You and your allies are right, and I'm wrong. I can live with that. Heaven knows I've been wrong about plenty of stuff before.

    If the UK ends up doing more, and more advantageous trade with the rest of the world outside the European umbrella, splendid.

    If supply chains still work, and manufactured objects can continue to zip from factory to factory if that's how companies prefer to do it, great.

    If Brexit is really no downside and considerable upside, I've got it wrong and that's fab.

    But when I listen to people who live and breathe this stuff for a career, it doesn't seem likely. But maybe they're wrong as well.

    Is there a scenario where you will think you got it wrong about all this?

  • JonathanJonathan Posts: 22,100
    DavidL said:

    Then they should not have allowed themselves to be elected on a platform committed to implementing Brexit as the Labour party MPs were in that disgrace of a Parliament. And they should have been more pragmatic about the alternatives, such as where we are right now. I am pretty sure that Boris blundering about with an 80 strong majority was not what they had in mind as an ideal outcome.
    Not ideal, but you can’t control the weather. If others are determined to do harm, there is not a lot you can do to stop them. Joining in and doing a little bit less harm is no answer.
  • JACK_W said:

    Not sure what the issue is with the Pumas 25:15 win over the All Blacks. Sanchez scored and converted his try and six penalties too :

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/54942697

    It was a joke. Sanchez try was missing before.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 55,115

    Some of us were saying at the time the smart move was for Labour to abstain. The deal would then have been the outcome of Tory infighting.

    We would not be looking at four more years of a Tory majority of 80.

    Corbyn and Starmer between them managed to bollocks up the politics of Brexit every bit as badly as Cameron and Osborne.
    Worse. Cameron at least was confident that he could win a referendum (although Osborne clearly had doubts). And they nearly did, despite Corbyn's supposed "help". This was a no brainer and their party paid the price.
  • StockyStocky Posts: 10,276
    DavidL said:

    Then they should not have allowed themselves to be elected on a platform committed to implementing Brexit as the Labour party MPs were in that disgrace of a Parliament. And they should have been more pragmatic about the alternatives, such as where we are right now. I am pretty sure that Boris blundering about with an 80 strong majority was not what they had in mind as an ideal outcome.
    They were looking at it through the prism of "I`m having nothing to do with dirty Brexit" rather than "We`re leaving the EU, what`s the best outcome for Britain".
  • Scott_xP said:
    He looks like a Dr Who character in London here.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,344
    Scott_xP said:
    Well, of course it hasn’t. You have to have a fecking strategy before you can change it.
  • LadyGLadyG Posts: 2,221
    Nigelb said:

    This really is not the flu, irrespective of death rates.

    Multi-organ impairment in low-risk individuals with long COVID
    https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.10.14.20212555v1.full.pdf
    ... Between April and September 2020, 201 individuals (mean age 44 (SD 11.0) years, 70% female, 87% white, 31% healthcare workers) completed assessments following SARS-CoV-2 infection (median 140, IQR 105-160 days after initial symptoms). The prevalence of pre-existing conditions (obesity: 20%, hypertension: 6%; diabetes: 2%; heart disease: 4%) was low, and only 18% of individuals had been hospitalised with COVID-19.
    Fatigue (98%), muscle aches (88%), breathlessness (87%), and headaches (83%) were the most frequently reported symptoms. Ongoing cardiorespiratory (92%) and gastrointestinal (73%) symptoms were common, and 42% of individuals had ten or more symptoms. There was evidence of mild organ impairment in heart (32%), lungs (33%), kidneys (12%),
    63 liver (10%), pancreas (17%), and spleen (6%). Single (66%) and multi-organ (25%) impairment was observed, and was significantly associated with risk of prior COVID-19 hospitalisation (p<0.05).

    Interpretation: In a young, low-risk population with ongoing symptoms, almost 70% of individuals have impairment in one or more organs four months after initial symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 infection. There are implications not only for burden of long COVID but also public health approaches which have assumed low risk in young people with no comorbidities...</i>

    Has this study taken a group of confirmed Long Covid sufferers, and then analysed what exactly ails them, four months later? Or has it taken a random bunch of low risk people who tested positive for Covid, and then seen if they have any long term damage, and if so, what it is?

    The difference is hugely significant, and if we looking at the latter interpretation, then it is quite alarming
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 55,115
    Stocky said:

    They were looking at it through the prism of "I`m having nothing to do with dirty Brexit" rather than "We`re leaving the EU, what`s the best outcome for Britain".
    Yes, that's well put.
  • Scott_xP said:
    Purnell's book Just Boris is a must-read.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 31,172
    DavidL said:

    Then they should not have allowed themselves to be elected on a platform committed to implementing Brexit as the Labour party MPs were in that disgrace of a Parliament. And they should have been more pragmatic about the alternatives, such as where we are right now. I am pretty sure that Boris blundering about with an 80 strong majority was not what they had in mind as an ideal outcome.
    It was only "a disgrace of a Parliament" because it didn't give Leavers the results they desired.

    Now you have your 80 strong majority, you have no excuses, so get on with whatever it is you want to get on with.
  • LadyGLadyG Posts: 2,221

    The missed opportunity from which all others flowed occurred at the end of 2016, when a soft Brexit including free movement was specifically excluded. *Everything* from then on became more difficult, opinions on all sides splintered into almost infinitely smaller pieces, and some form of chaos was inevitable - the centre could not hold, as the original product was mis-sold. This was nothing at all to do with any remainer forces, was not at all what was advertised in the referendum, and was purely the result of internal tory party management and incoherence.

    Yes. Teresa May's insane red lines, announced in her awful Conference Speech. That's when she boxed Britain in. Idiot woman,
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 55,115
    Stocky said:
    Still think he's thinking of the Cumberbatch scene walking over Westminster bridge with an identical box. It must be weird watching someone play your own life.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 56,022

    50/1 Bet365; 33/1 Hills.
    Someone’s had a good morning already!
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 51,079
    Scott_xP said:
    This.

    All he wanted was his photo on the wall up the Downing Street staircase. Everything else is just bother.
  • ydoethur said:

    Well, of course it hasn’t. You have to have a fecking strategy before you can change it.
    I think it's fairly clear that Boris has a strategy for that.
  • malcolmgmalcolmg Posts: 44,026

    If we have a Customs Union what are we going to do with all the lorry parks?

    build immigrant camps perhaps
  • IanB2 said:

    Just maybe there's the additional factor that they are doing very nicely out of the large amounts still being bet on the market?
    Perhaps but remember Betfair's commission is on net winnings so people trading in and out does not increase that, and it ties up money punters might reinvest in other markets where Betfair can charge more commission.

    My suspicion is cock-up rather than conspiracy. We have seen this sort of thing previously with Betfair, most recently when Theresa May resigned. Betfair does not really understand politics, did not understand the process, so created many markets that are loosely interlinked and not susceptible of settlement at the same time by the same criteria. There may be pressure from large players who have hedged positions across the markets who will be exposed if, say, Biden is called the winner but the PV and ECV markets are left open.

    Betfair needs to recruit someone like Shadsy to run politics and not leave it to the teaboy or rugby expert.
  • Stocky said:

    They were looking at it through the prism of "I`m having nothing to do with dirty Brexit" rather than "We`re leaving the EU, what`s the best outcome for Britain".
    If you stumble into a murder scene the last thing you want is your fingerprints on the knife.
    Anyway, there was never a compromise on offer.
  • RogerRoger Posts: 20,391

    Leavers need to stop being such snowflakes, it was only bantz.
    The trouble with the whole "moving on" narrative is that Brexit is an ongoing process not a past event. I'm not angry about the 2016 vote and the campaign of xenophobic lies that won it anymore - it was four years ago after all. But I am angry about the people who are losing their jobs right now because of the government's refusal to compromise on a soft Brexit deal and their inability to negotiate anything sensible even at the eleventh hour. I don't think it is irrational to be angry about stuff happening right now.
    There will be reminders forever. Even if it's just watching the fashionable Italians wafting through customs at Nice airport while the blue passport mob get stuck in a line with the 747's from Dallas
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 51,079
    MaxPB said:

    I have to say that is probably one of the funniest moments the remainers came up with. Force the government to concede votes on various options, then don't back any of them.
    Those headlines were the moment all alternatives to the government plan simply died. Those MPs who didn't back the softer options at least through to the next stage have a lot to answer for. As does the then PM for not seizing the opportunities presented to her to change tack.
  • JACK_WJACK_W Posts: 682
    With bits and bobs, some CA and a big chunk of NY to report it looks like overall turnout will be around 158M. So just shy of my projection of 160M. Not too shaby.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 55,115
    Jonathan said:

    Not ideal, but you can’t control the weather. If others are determined to do harm, there is not a lot you can do to stop them. Joining in and doing a little bit less harm is no answer.
    It absolutely is. Never let the best be the enemy of the good. Its the same sort of idiocy which prevented us from rolling out test and trace on the basis of tests that were "only" 80% accurate. It completely misses the point of what you are trying to achieve which is the best for Britain in light of the choices that Britain has made.
  • RogerRoger Posts: 20,391
    JACK_W said:

    With bits and bobs, some CA and a big chunk of NY to report it looks like overall turnout will be around 158M. So just shy of my projection of 160M. Not too shaby.

    Do you know the rough vote share percentage?
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,651

    I'm glad May's deal was defeated.

    But May's deal was undeniably far softer than what we have got. If people wanted a softer Brexit not a purer Brexit then May's deal was the one to go for.

    Thank goodness they didn't.
    Well we don't know yet what we've got. I sense a win on Fish but other than that, quasi In with more friction and less say. We'll see.

    But how will Johnson spin it? This is what interests me. Will there be an award winning poem?
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,344

    I think it's fairly clear that Boris has a strategy for that.
    Well, he is quite good at fucking things. His wives, his girlfriends, wives of other people, the whole country...
  • JACK_WJACK_W Posts: 682

    It was a joke. Sanchez try was missing before.
    Missing, like 2.7m Trump votes. Have the All Blacks conceded yet? .... :smile:
  • With regards to the first point, that was without TM getting her plan though on the back of Labour votes. Do you really think the Conservative party would have let that happen? Really?

    As for the second point. If you're right, and Brexit turns out great even without a long term trade deal, fine. You and your allies are right, and I'm wrong. I can live with that. Heaven knows I've been wrong about plenty of stuff before.

    If the UK ends up doing more, and more advantageous trade with the rest of the world outside the European umbrella, splendid.

    If supply chains still work, and manufactured objects can continue to zip from factory to factory if that's how companies prefer to do it, great.

    If Brexit is really no downside and considerable upside, I've got it wrong and that's fab.

    But when I listen to people who live and breathe this stuff for a career, it doesn't seem likely. But maybe they're wrong as well.

    Is there a scenario where you will think you got it wrong about all this?

    On the first point yes. Just like Labour starting the Iraq War with Tory votes. It happens. The ERG would have had no say, they'd have lost. Anyway it didn't need Labour votes it just needed Labour to abstain.

    On the second yes I could be wrong. But it hasn't happened yet so why would I change my mind yet?
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 20,101
    DavidL said:

    It absolutely is. Never let the best be the enemy of the good. Its the same sort of idiocy which prevented us from rolling out test and trace on the basis of tests that were "only" 80% accurate. It completely misses the point of what you are trying to achieve which is the best for Britain in light of the choices that Britain has made.
    Your analogy only works if you consider May's deal to be "good". Otherwise it's "don't make awful the enemy of bad".
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 30,048
    edited November 2020
    Scott_xP said:
    Tbf to Cummings, it looks like someone waiting for a cab, just as I will be in an hour or so.

    ETA aesthetically, it is a well-composed photo.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 55,115

    It was only "a disgrace of a Parliament" because it didn't give Leavers the results they desired.

    Now you have your 80 strong majority, you have no excuses, so get on with whatever it is you want to get on with.
    That's completely the wrong way around. In 2015 they lied and said that they would implement Brexit. It cost many of them (not just in the Labour party in fairness) their seats. They deserved nothing less.
  • JonathanJonathan Posts: 22,100
    DavidL said:

    It absolutely is. Never let the best be the enemy of the good. Its the same sort of idiocy which prevented us from rolling out test and trace on the basis of tests that were "only" 80% accurate. It completely misses the point of what you are trying to achieve which is the best for Britain in light of the choices that Britain has made.
    EFTA/EEA was always possible and completely compatible with Brexit. That was never on the table.
  • nichomarnichomar Posts: 7,483

    With regards to the first point, that was without TM getting her plan though on the back of Labour votes. Do you really think the Conservative party would have let that happen? Really?

    As for the second point. If you're right, and Brexit turns out great even without a long term trade deal, fine. You and your allies are right, and I'm wrong. I can live with that. Heaven knows I've been wrong about plenty of stuff before.

    If the UK ends up doing more, and more advantageous trade with the rest of the world outside the European umbrella, splendid.

    If supply chains still work, and manufactured objects can continue to zip from factory to factory if that's how companies prefer to do it, great.

    If Brexit is really no downside and considerable upside, I've got it wrong and that's fab.

    But when I listen to people who live and breathe this stuff for a career, it doesn't seem likely. But maybe they're wrong as well.

    Is there a scenario where you will think you got it wrong about all this?

    Of course not
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 31,172
    ydoethur said:

    Well, of course it hasn’t. You have to have a fecking strategy before you can change it.
    As a teacher I am more surprised that you haven't hurled Hodges' homework back at him for spelling "sight" as "site". He is indeed the idiot claimed by his mother
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 56,022
    Stocky said:

    A lot seems to hang on the word "projected".

    noneoftheabove writes "projected EC votes after state certification" - but surely once a state has certified the result it is no longer projected.
    The EC vote (which happens sometime in December) is projected *by* the state certifications of the results. The ‘projection’ will hold true if there are no faithless electors, which it the situation Betfair are trying to work around.
  • JACK_WJACK_W Posts: 682
    Roger said:

    Do you know the rough vote share percentage?
    Biden 50.9 .. Trump 47.4 .. Others 1.7

    Biden will edge up slightly when all is in.
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 20,101
    DavidL said:

    That's completely the wrong way around. In 2015 they lied and said that they would implement Brexit. It cost many of them (not just in the Labour party in fairness) their seats. They deserved nothing less.
    Oh stop this nonsense. "Remainers" would have reluctantly accepted a soft EEA style Brexit. It was May (and Brexiteers in general)'s failure to reach out to "Remainers" at all which resulted in the situation we found ourselves in.

    Why are you so angry? You've got everything you wanted. Sunlit uplands await.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 44,651
    IanB2 said:

    Those headlines were the moment all alternatives to the government plan simply died. Those MPs who didn't back the softer options at least through to the next stage have a lot to answer for. As does the then PM for not seizing the opportunities presented to her to change tack.
    Yep. A Soft Brexit was there for the taking but other agendas were prioritized.
  • F1: after procrastinating for a while, I decided not to offer any more tips on Turkey just yet.

    https://enormo-haddock.blogspot.com/2020/11/turkey-pre-qualifying-2020.html
  • JACK_WJACK_W Posts: 682
    edited November 2020

    Tbf to Cummings, it looks like someone waiting for a cab, just as I will be in an hour or so.

    ETA aesthetically, it is a well-composed photo.
    How long does a Barnard Castle taxi take?
  • Your analogy only works if you consider May's deal to be "good". Otherwise it's "don't make awful the enemy of bad".
    Lesser of two evils is a part of politics.
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 20,101

    Lesser of two evils is a part of politics.
    ...and?
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 73,344

    As a teacher I am more surprised that you haven't hurled Hodges' homework back at him for spelling "sight" as "site". He is indeed the idiot claimed by his mother
    I was building up to that...
  • isamisam Posts: 41,217
    I thought I followed politics quite closely, but this news that Carrie Symonds has a really influential role at No 10 did surprise me -Was this such accepted common knowledge over the last year or so that no one bothered talking about it?

    Cummings & goings - Is this sacking of an unpopular politico "the kind of division that voters dont like/good for Labour" or is it like the Corbyn suspension/Labour anti semistism split where it "shows strong leadership/absolutely the right thing/bad for Tories etc"
  • JonathanJonathan Posts: 22,100

    Lesser of two evils is a part of politics.
    A false choice.
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 20,101
    JACK_W said:

    How long does a Barnard Castle take?
    Probably about 5 hours from London depending on traffic.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 51,079

    Perhaps but remember Betfair's commission is on net winnings so people trading in and out does not increase that, and it ties up money punters might reinvest in other markets where Betfair can charge more commission.

    My suspicion is cock-up rather than conspiracy. We have seen this sort of thing previously with Betfair, most recently when Theresa May resigned. Betfair does not really understand politics, did not understand the process, so created many markets that are loosely interlinked and not susceptible of settlement at the same time by the same criteria. There may be pressure from large players who have hedged positions across the markets who will be exposed if, say, Biden is called the winner but the PV and ECV markets are left open.

    Betfair needs to recruit someone like Shadsy to run politics and not leave it to the teaboy or rugby expert.
    There's half a million unmatched waiting for backers of a Biden win at 1.07 and as I remember similar amounts at 1.06 and so on down. That's a lot of potential winnings for them to earn commission on, if they wait for it to be mopped up by the likes of us?
  • JACK_WJACK_W Posts: 682

    F1: after procrastinating for a while, I decided not to offer any more tips on Turkey just yet.

    https://enormo-haddock.blogspot.com/2020/11/turkey-pre-qualifying-2020.html

    Run away quickly, get to the first turn, Christmas is coming ??
  • ...and?
    Pick your poison.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 56,022
    IanB2 said:

    Just maybe there's the additional factor that they are doing very nicely out of the large amounts still being bet on the market?
    That too! It’s definitely not in their interest to settle any earlier than they have to, especially when there’s still millions in commissions coming into the market.
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 20,101

    Pick your poison.
    The current situation is preferable. I've said that at least 3 times.
  • Perhaps but remember Betfair's commission is on net winnings so people trading in and out does not increase that, and it ties up money punters might reinvest in other markets where Betfair can charge more commission.

    My suspicion is cock-up rather than conspiracy. We have seen this sort of thing previously with Betfair, most recently when Theresa May resigned. Betfair does not really understand politics, did not understand the process, so created many markets that are loosely interlinked and not susceptible of settlement at the same time by the same criteria. There may be pressure from large players who have hedged positions across the markets who will be exposed if, say, Biden is called the winner but the PV and ECV markets are left open.

    Betfair needs to recruit someone like Shadsy to run politics and not leave it to the teaboy or rugby expert.
    The last point is a particularly good one and is true of many bookies. Ladbrokes are particularly fortunate to have Shadsy but he is an exception. My belief is that he just happened to be very interested in politics so he was a good fit. I don't think Ladbrokes went round looking for a politics expert. In fact I suspect The Magic Sign are not much different to other large bookies in that they regard politics as a bit of an oddball 'sport', don't really understand the subject and are happy to leave it to the tea boy if there isn't a Shadsy readily available.

    Sporting Index used to be hopeless but my impression is that they now have a specialist politics man and nobody else touches the subject. If he isn't around when you call, you get stonewalled. I think this accounts for the regularity with which the markets are suspended. If there is any risk he switches them off when he leaves the offices and nobody else has the authority to switch them back on.

    This can be a pain sometimes but it's better than having a know-nothing in charge, and they do take some care to make sure the politics rules are clear and properly implemented.
This discussion has been closed.