Trump preparing for GOP losses in the Georgia runoffs? He Tweets that the races are “illegal and inv

Seconds like the selling price of Mr Us jokes.

Senior doctor Prof Andrew Goddard said the virus's highly infectious new variant was spreading nationwide.

Case numbers were "mild" compared with where he expected them to be next week, he said, with doctors "really worried".

BBC News - Hospitals across UK 'must prepare for Covid surge', senior doctor warns
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-55514363

He always says that about contests he is involved in, so I don't think it signified he is preparing for losses so much as he will always undermine the outcomes just in case, not because he is specifically worried for the party. Not least as I doubt he cares one jot for the GOP.

On the other hand he might want two Democrat wins, since that will then prove just how rigged the contest was, and therefore that the outcome in the presidential was rigged as well.

kle4 said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

I'm sure Trump has the modern day version of a Napoleon complex.

I think he would be quite pleased if what he has were to be called the Trump complex.

Small hands tweeting lies furiously.

eek said:

FPT

Nigelb said:

Was that this article ? (Paywalled - though from the bit I saw, someone used ‘disinterested’ where they meant ‘uninterested’.)
https://twitter.com/thelonevirologi/status/1345386225356697602

I don't think any country saw the need to keep vaccine capacity high on the off chance that there was going to be a new epidemic. Indian only has capacity as it has a population 20x the UKs.

I also don't see what price the UK is paying? The vaccines are coming in.

eek said:

FPT

Nigelb said:

Was that this article ? (Paywalled - though from the bit I saw, someone used ‘disinterested’ where they meant ‘uninterested’.)
https://twitter.com/thelonevirologi/status/1345386225356697602

I don't think any country saw the need to keep vaccine capacity high on the off chance that there was going to be a new epidemic. Indian only has capacity as it has a population 20x the UKs.

And they have become the place everybody manufacturers cheap / generic drugs.

Jonathan said:

kle4 said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

I'm sure Trump has the modern day version of a Napoleon complex.

I think he would be quite pleased if what he has were to be called the Trump complex.

Small hands tweeting lies furiously.

Chomsky ?

Nigelb said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

Senior doctor Prof Andrew Goddard said the virus's highly infectious new variant was spreading nationwide.

Case numbers were "mild" compared with where he expected them to be next week, he said, with doctors "really worried".

BBC News - Hospitals across UK 'must prepare for Covid surge', senior doctor warns
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-55514363

(FPT) Any re-opening schools, too.

https://www.imperial.ac.uk/media/imperial-college/medicine/mrc-gida/2020-12-31-COVID19-Report-42-Preprint-VOC.pdf
... Available SGTF data indicate a shift in the age composition of reported cases, with a larger share of under 20 year olds among reported VOC than non-VOC cases. Fourth, we assess the association of VOC frequency with independent estimates of the overall SARS-CoV-2 reproduction number through time. Finally, we fit a semi-mechanistic model directly to local VOC and non-VOC case incidence to estimate the reproduction numbers over time for each. There is a consensus among all analyses that the VOC has a substantial transmission advantage, with the estimated difference in reproduction numbers between VOC and non-VOC ranging between 0.4 and 0.7, and the ratio of reproduction numbers varying between 1.4 and 1.8. We note that these estimates of transmission advantage apply to a period where high levels of social distancing were in place in England; extrapolation to other transmission contexts therefore requires caution....

... Early versions of our analyses informed the UK government policy response to this VOC and that of other countries. The substantial transmission advantage we have estimated the VOC to have over prior viral lineages poses major challenges for ongoing control of COVID-19 in the UK and elsewhere in the coming months. Social distancing measures will need to be more stringent than they would have otherwise. A particular concern is whether it will be possible to maintain control over transmission while allowing schools to reopen in January 2021...

I can't tell you how glad I am that Gavin Williamson is in charge of the schools.

Once again he's proving he is a risk to safety & security of the nation.

TheScreamingEagles said:

Nigelb said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

Senior doctor Prof Andrew Goddard said the virus's highly infectious new variant was spreading nationwide.

Case numbers were "mild" compared with where he expected them to be next week, he said, with doctors "really worried".

BBC News - Hospitals across UK 'must prepare for Covid surge', senior doctor warns
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-55514363

(FPT) Any re-opening schools, too.

https://www.imperial.ac.uk/media/imperial-college/medicine/mrc-gida/2020-12-31-COVID19-Report-42-Preprint-VOC.pdf
... Available SGTF data indicate a shift in the age composition of reported cases, with a larger share of under 20 year olds among reported VOC than non-VOC cases. Fourth, we assess the association of VOC frequency with independent estimates of the overall SARS-CoV-2 reproduction number through time. Finally, we fit a semi-mechanistic model directly to local VOC and non-VOC case incidence to estimate the reproduction numbers over time for each. There is a consensus among all analyses that the VOC has a substantial transmission advantage, with the estimated difference in reproduction numbers between VOC and non-VOC ranging between 0.4 and 0.7, and the ratio of reproduction numbers varying between 1.4 and 1.8. We note that these estimates of transmission advantage apply to a period where high levels of social distancing were in place in England; extrapolation to other transmission contexts therefore requires caution....

... Early versions of our analyses informed the UK government policy response to this VOC and that of other countries. The substantial transmission advantage we have estimated the VOC to have over prior viral lineages poses major challenges for ongoing control of COVID-19 in the UK and elsewhere in the coming months. Social distancing measures will need to be more stringent than they would have otherwise. A particular concern is whether it will be possible to maintain control over transmission while allowing schools to reopen in January 2021...

I can't tell you how glad I am that Gavin Williamson is in charge of the schools.

Once again he's proving he is a risk to safety & security of the nation.

I wouldn’t be too cheery. Last Secretary of State of Education who was removed for being a psychopath ended up at Justice.

Edit: it’s just occurred to me that with the NAHT suing him Williamson’s about to get Justice anyway,

kle4 said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

eek said:

FPT

Nigelb said:

Was that this article ? (Paywalled - though from the bit I saw, someone used ‘disinterested’ where they meant ‘uninterested’.)
https://twitter.com/thelonevirologi/status/1345386225356697602

I don't think any country saw the need to keep vaccine capacity high on the off chance that there was going to be a new epidemic. Indian only has capacity as it has a population 20x the UKs.

And they have become the place everybody manufacturers cheap / generic drugs.

Can't we ask the world's drug gangs if they can help out, at least with the distribution side of things? They are experts at getting things to people and convincing people to take their product.

Yes, but they’d equally likely end up injecting us with bleach, given their record on product standards.

Omnium said:

eek said:

FPT

Nigelb said:

Was that this article ? (Paywalled - though from the bit I saw, someone used ‘disinterested’ where they meant ‘uninterested’.)
https://twitter.com/thelonevirologi/status/1345386225356697602

I don't think any country saw the need to keep vaccine capacity high on the off chance that there was going to be a new epidemic. Indian only has capacity as it has a population 20x the UKs.

It's a ridiculous thing anyway. Having some basic resource is important, and being able to adapt is important too. If it turns out that eating mongolian rice is the surefire cure then you'd hardly imagine that we should have had a mongolian rice facility in waiting.

Unlikely that capacity could usefully be utilised, outside of pandemics, by one of our most profitable industries, though.

Malmesbury said:

On topic

I think that Trump sees the GOP as having betrayed him, by not following him on the election bullshit. The way he sees it, he gave them the judges, and didn't get anything in return.

So burning down the GOP majority in the Senate down is entirely in his wheelhouse. It's not like he is a life long Republican, after all....

And they overrode his veto yesterday. That's dissing him big time. Kicking a man when he's down. He'll be rooting for them to lose now. It's just exactly like Arsene Wenger feels when he watches Arsenal. No difference.

FrancisUrquhart said:

First...like cockney covid in race to infect everybody.

Northern Ireland in particular is astonishingly bad at the moment. Cases almost tripled in a week, with the 7 day reported case average now higher than England's.

eek said:

FPT

Nigelb said:

Was that this article ? (Paywalled - though from the bit I saw, someone used ‘disinterested’ where they meant ‘uninterested’.)
https://twitter.com/thelonevirologi/status/1345386225356697602

I don't think any country saw the need to keep vaccine capacity high on the off chance that there was going to be a new epidemic. Indian only has capacity as it has a population 20x the UKs.

Even then, with that production it will only get round to vaccinating its rural poor in the autumn.

And that's only if there hasn't been a decision made to sell production abroad. Watch this space....

Gaussian said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

First...like cockney covid in race to infect everybody.

Northern Ireland in particular is astonishingly bad at the moment. Cases almost tripled in a week, with the 7 day reported case average now higher than England's.

Like elsewhere the number of positives against kids & young people, particularly secondary school and student population, is a major driver. And yet, they still took forever to consider addressing the schools.

As someone who has wondered on here about 'death with covid' vs 'death of covid' figures this made for sobering reading:

"It is perhaps worth exploring a few more of these Covid myths, so that we can enjoy catharsis, if not put the issue to bed.

“Patients are dying ‘with’ Covid, not ‘of’ it.” The death certificate data from the Office for National Statistics, which provides us with the most reliable figures on Covid deaths, records causation. But even more obvious is what a patient with Covid pneumonia looks like clinically. They have very low oxygen levels, a dense white shadow in both lungs on their X-rays, a particular pattern of low platelets and specific white blood cells, and very high marker of clotting called D-Dimer. This is a clinical pattern doctors all over the world have seen time and time again. Trust us, they are dying of this disease."

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jan/01/healthcare-workers-covid-conspiracies-coronavirus-deniers

MarqueeMark said:

eek said:

FPT

Nigelb said:

Was that this article ? (Paywalled - though from the bit I saw, someone used ‘disinterested’ where they meant ‘uninterested’.)
https://twitter.com/thelonevirologi/status/1345386225356697602

I don't think any country saw the need to keep vaccine capacity high on the off chance that there was going to be a new epidemic. Indian only has capacity as it has a population 20x the UKs.

Even then, with that production it will only get round to vaccinating its rural poor in the autumn.

And that's only if there hasn't been a decision made to sell production abroad. Watch this space....

To be clear, there is not exactly a worldwide glut of bioreactors.
South Korea for example (a similar size to the UK) has built and will be building some quite large capacity - as a commercial investment, rather than a pandemic response.
And as part of a plan to build a larger biopharma industry.

dixiedean said:

Omnium said:

eek said:

FPT

Nigelb said:

Was that this article ? (Paywalled - though from the bit I saw, someone used ‘disinterested’ where they meant ‘uninterested’.)
https://twitter.com/thelonevirologi/status/1345386225356697602

I don't think any country saw the need to keep vaccine capacity high on the off chance that there was going to be a new epidemic. Indian only has capacity as it has a population 20x the UKs.

It's a ridiculous thing anyway. Having some basic resource is important, and being able to adapt is important too. If it turns out that eating mongolian rice is the surefire cure then you'd hardly imagine that we should have had a mongolian rice facility in waiting.

Ironically, Mongolia grows its rice offshore...

https://wwf.panda.org/?196695/MONGOLIA-LEASES-LAND-FOR-RICE-FARMING#:~:text=MONGOLIA LEASES LAND FOR RICE FARMING | WWF&text=It has been recently decided,of Mongolia's "Food" programme.

Mongolia? Off-shore?? Lake Baikal???

RobD said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

RobD said:

Scott_xP said:

https://twitter.com/thetimes/status/1345410866913673219

Wait, I thought it was congestion that was going to cripple trade?

Call absolute bullshit on a Romanian lorry driver staying in Romania to work...the money differential is enormous, that's why they spend months every year on the road away from home in the first place.

Not sure why the times is publishing a story based on one anecdote, but there we are.

And based on a bloke who was pissed off because he got stuck cos of Macron's nonsense.

RobD said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

RobD said:

Scott_xP said:

https://twitter.com/thetimes/status/1345410866913673219

Wait, I thought it was congestion that was going to cripple trade?

Call absolute bullshit on a Romanian lorry driver staying in Romania to work...the money differential is enormous, that's why they spend months every year on the road away from home in the first place.

Not sure why the times is publishing a story based on one anecdote, but there we are.

All outlets routinely do stories that basically amount to 'this was said on twitter', it's the world we live in, so on an anecdote still works.

dixiedean said:

Omnium said:

eek said:

FPT

Nigelb said:

Was that this article ? (Paywalled - though from the bit I saw, someone used ‘disinterested’ where they meant ‘uninterested’.)
https://twitter.com/thelonevirologi/status/1345386225356697602

I don't think any country saw the need to keep vaccine capacity high on the off chance that there was going to be a new epidemic. Indian only has capacity as it has a population 20x the UKs.

It's a ridiculous thing anyway. Having some basic resource is important, and being able to adapt is important too. If it turns out that eating mongolian rice is the surefire cure then you'd hardly imagine that we should have had a mongolian rice facility in waiting.

Ironically, Mongolia grows its rice offshore...

https://wwf.panda.org/?196695/MONGOLIA-LEASES-LAND-FOR-RICE-FARMING#:~:text=MONGOLIA LEASES LAND FOR RICE FARMING | WWF&text=It has been recently decided,of Mongolia's "Food" programme.

Mongolia is not exactly noted for its arable sector. Cattle, sheep, horses, and yacks, yes. Plants other than grass (and trees in the northern bit which is essentially Siberia), no.

Is this fake news? A Corbynite wind up to mess with Starmer? Looks like a tweet by Wes Streeting has been doctored to make it look like he is involved

https://twitter.com/AristotleSR/status/1345407398689861634?s=20

Alphabet_Soup said:

Scott_xP said:

https://twitter.com/thetimes/status/1345410866913673219

I look forward to seeing a few yards of tarmac in my rear-view mirror where a Romanian lorry driver always seemed to be.

Enforcing some sort of minimal standards on UK roads could (and should) be a huge cash-cow for the UK.

I think that there is almost no road with a reasonable traffic flow in central London where the police couldn't make a huge profit. Especially at night.

London councils need to embrace speeding in the same way they've done so with parking. I'm sure it could work elsewhere too, but I just know London.

eek said:

FPT

Nigelb said:

Was that this article ? (Paywalled - though from the bit I saw, someone used ‘disinterested’ where they meant ‘uninterested’.)
https://twitter.com/thelonevirologi/status/1345386225356697602

I don't think any country saw the need to keep vaccine capacity high on the off chance that there was going to be a new epidemic. Indian only has capacity as it has a population 20x the UKs.

The main reason vaccine production capacity in the US disappeared until Amerithrax was because of liability issues. Thank god for Bruce Ifans: because of Amerithrax, the US passed legislation protecting vaccine producers from most liability claims and rebuilt the vaccine research and production capacity.

BoZo on Marr tomorrow, if anyone can bear it

Yokes said:

noneoftheabove said:

RobD said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

RobD said:

Scott_xP said:

https://twitter.com/thetimes/status/1345410866913673219

Wait, I thought it was congestion that was going to cripple trade?

Call absolute bullshit on a Romanian lorry driver staying in Romania to work...the money differential is enormous, that's why they spend months every year on the road away from home in the first place.

Not sure why the times is publishing a story based on one anecdote, but there we are.

Because Brexit stories sell papers, whether true or false, important or not, just as they have done for many years.

Anything that sounds bad is where its at. Terror, confusion, negativity. Thats the media and enough of the public keen enough to read/watch/listen themselves into a funk.

And now twitter is knocking on abour Starmer quitting as Labour leader. Seems rather unlikely unless his personal life gets him into diffs but there you go, storys can not only be made to look to be something of substance but can sometimes be created from apparently nowhere.

There is only one thing I can think of that would get rid of Starmer as Labour leader.

And I don't buy into the story - for one thing, no-one writes down the stuff alleged. Except in bad movies. And the for another, the story involves "someone know someone who saw" - which guarantees it is bullshit.

So I am not going to repeat it.

https://twitter.com/martinwoodward/status/1345420018893398017

Scott_xP said:

https://twitter.com/martinwoodward/status/1345420018893398017

I think a bigger mess is paying £60 for a USB cable....

edit:, ah.. 12 pack. Much more reasonable.

Malmesbury said:

Yokes said:

noneoftheabove said:

RobD said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

RobD said:

Scott_xP said:

https://twitter.com/thetimes/status/1345410866913673219

Wait, I thought it was congestion that was going to cripple trade?

Call absolute bullshit on a Romanian lorry driver staying in Romania to work...the money differential is enormous, that's why they spend months every year on the road away from home in the first place.

Not sure why the times is publishing a story based on one anecdote, but there we are.

Because Brexit stories sell papers, whether true or false, important or not, just as they have done for many years.

Anything that sounds bad is where its at. Terror, confusion, negativity. Thats the media and enough of the public keen enough to read/watch/listen themselves into a funk.

And now twitter is knocking on abour Starmer quitting as Labour leader. Seems rather unlikely unless his personal life gets him into diffs but there you go, storys can not only be made to look to be something of substance but can sometimes be created from apparently nowhere.

There is only one thing I can think of that would get rid of Starmer as Labour leader.

And I don't buy into the story - for one thing, no-one writes down the stuff alleged. Except in bad movies. And the for another, the story involves "someone know someone who saw" - which guarantees it is bullshit.

So I am not going to repeat it.

I'd agree, not least I havent seen anyone of substance actually say something of note is up.

kle4 said:

IanB2 said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

RobD said:

Scott_xP said:

https://twitter.com/thetimes/status/1345410866913673219

Wait, I thought it was congestion that was going to cripple trade?

Call absolute bullshit on a Romanian lorry driver actually staying in Romania to work...the money differential is enormous, that's why they spend months every year on the road away from home in the first place.

It is karma for all the bullshit bendy banana stories that Brexiters managed to get into the press for so long.

Thank goodness that two wrongs make a right.

There’s good karma and bad karma; that’s the point.

Another benefit of Brexit? Lots of runners reporting GPS tracking is wildly off since we left.

MaxPB said:

RobD said:

Scott_xP said:

https://twitter.com/martinwoodward/status/1345420018893398017

I think a bigger mess is paying £60 for a USB cable....

edit:, ah.. 12 pack. Much more reasonable.

It's a 12 pack, but at £5 per cable it does seem a bit expensive.

Yeah, i noticed that a little too late.

Tres said:

Another benefit of Brexit? Lots of runners reporting GPS tracking is wildly off since we left.

I find that exceedingly unlikely given GPS has absolutely nothing to do with the EU.

Scott_xP said:

https://twitter.com/martinwoodward/status/1345420018893398017

Should have gone for this

https://www.amazon.com/AudioQuest-Diamond-2m-Braided-Cable/dp/B003CT2A2M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1387589925&sr=8-1&keywords=diamond+hdmi

a snip at $1500. Read the reviews.

isam said:

Is this fake news? A Corbynite wind up to mess with Starmer? Looks like a tweet by Wes Streeting has been doctored to make it look like he is involved

https://twitter.com/AristotleSR/status/1345407398689861634?s=20

It’s Peston, so doubtless Labour HQ is deserted today.

kle4 said:

noneoftheabove said:

IanB2 said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

RobD said:

Scott_xP said:

https://twitter.com/thetimes/status/1345410866913673219

Wait, I thought it was congestion that was going to cripple trade?

Call absolute bullshit on a Romanian lorry driver actually staying in Romania to work...the money differential is enormous, that's why they spend months every year on the road away from home in the first place.

It is karma for all the bullshit bendy banana stories that Brexiters managed to get into the press for so long.

It is quite sweet to see Brexiteers expecting our relationship with the EU to be reported accurately and neutrally rather than sensationalised and exaggerated.

That's quite true, but people also need to be content to lose any moral high ground if they are to so happy about that.

Its not a question of high ground, its accepting reality. The press misreported on the EU because it sells and makes journalists careers (see the PM for one). It is hugely naive not to expect the same to happen with Brexit.

It is good that those who have benefited from fake news are now going to have to put up with it, not because its fair or moral that they should, but because it increases the chance that we might eventually agree to tackle it.

Expect lots of fake news on brexit

And to be honest brexit is so yesterday, it is all covid now and rightly so

Tres said:

Another benefit of Brexit? Lots of runners reporting GPS tracking is wildly off since we left.

Other countries have been reporting GPS issues in recent days.

Just for note, I have just ordered something from Amazon to come to me in NI. No issues. Order placed.

Fysics_Teacher said:

Tres said:

Another benefit of Brexit? Lots of runners reporting GPS tracking is wildly off since we left.

Just looked at the route my phone generated for my walk today and I can't see a problem (in Bucks and using an iPhone). That may be just me, but it suggests it's not universal.

I am guessing they are talking about the accuracy of the GPS location, rather than the pathfinding?

Yokes said:

Tres said:

Another benefit of Brexit? Lots of runners reporting GPS tracking is wildly off since we left.

Other countries have been reporting GPS issues in recent days.

Or maybe just a Garmin firmware issue:
https://mightygadget.co.uk/garmin-gps-accuracy-problems/

CNN: 2021 could see Britain ripped to pieces

It's not hard to see why the SNP's platform - leaving the UK and re-joining the EU under the leadership of Sturgeon - is so appealing to many north of the border. Conservatives in England are seriously worried that Johnson doesn't have either the energy or passion needed to combat it.

"There is genuine fear that Scotland could go under this government and that there is no energy going into addressing that," says one MP on the government's payroll. "We've struggled to make an emotional case for the Union. Partly that's because our focus is on our heartlands in England, but we are going to need to make a positive case beyond the economic benefits to Scotland."

Also, the more now Britain shifts from the EU, the more in common Northern Ireland has with the EU, and thus the Republic of Ireland," says Katy Hayward, professor of political sociology at Queen's University Belfast. The issue of the north becoming closer to the Republic has put a spring in the step of those who dream of reunification.

"Soft-nationalists who were pro-European -- and even some soft-Unionists -- have been forced to seriously rethink what Northern Ireland is and should be," says Matthew O'Toole, a Northern Irish lawmaker for the pro-reunification Social Democratic and Labour Party.

Since Johnson faces the prospect of fighting in Scotland and Northern Ireland, he risks overlooking Wales. "Covid has highlighted what devolution actually means, in terms of Welsh politicians being able to make independent policy that directly affects Welsh people," says Roger Awan-Scully, professor of politics at Cardiff University. “If Conservatives take a more aggressive line against devolution and pro-centralised control from London, it risks emboldening the anti-Westminster movement in Wales”.

If Johnson is unable to make leaving the EU look like a success and he alienates the public in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, it's inevitable that more and more voters will wonder if the grass is greener outside of the United Kingdom.

Tres said:

Another benefit of Brexit? Lots of runners reporting GPS tracking is wildly off since we left.

Working fine for me

RobD said:

Fysics_Teacher said:

Tres said:

Another benefit of Brexit? Lots of runners reporting GPS tracking is wildly off since we left.

Just looked at the route my phone generated for my walk today and I can't see a problem (in Bucks and using an iPhone). That may be just me, but it suggests it's not universal.

I am guessing they are talking about the accuracy of the GPS location, rather than the pathfinding?

What I meant by the "route generated" was the map it made tracking where I went on my walk: I didn't need directions to walk for an hour starting and ending at my house.
Looking at what I wrote I can see how it was misleading though, so sorry for the confusion.

My GPS system while on my bike has been working fine over Christmas....the fact it is a stationary bike is a total irrelevance.

Boris Johnson is losing his grip on the “red wall” seats that propelled him to power at the 2019 general election, according to a new poll conducted during the turbulent festive period.

More than 22,000 people were surveyed in a constituency-by-constituency poll, which predicts that neither the Conservatives nor Labour would win an outright majority if an election were held tomorrow.

The MRP poll was carried out over a four-week period in December, when Christmas was cancelled for millions of families as a super-strain of the coronavirus ripped through the country and as the country teetered on the brink of leaving the EU without a deal.

The MRP (multilevel regression and post-stratification) process is a statistical method that produces predictions based on small geographic areas, analysing elements of a person’s lifestyle and background to generate probabilities about their voting habits. It is believed to be more accurate than a more conventional poll.

The survey gives the first detailed insight into the public’s perception of Johnson’s handling of the Brexit talks and the pandemic, amid fears that Britain is heading into a third national lockdown.

According to the survey, conducted by the research data company Focaldata, the Conservatives would lose 81 seats, wiping out the 80-seat majority they won in December 2019.

This would leave the Conservatives with 284 seats, while Labour would win 282 seats, an overall increase of 82.

The Scottish National Party is predicted to win 57 of the 59 seats in Scotland, paving the way for a Labour-SNP coalition government.

The findings will be interpreted as a vote of confidence in Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, who is a vehement opponent of Brexit and has won plaudits for her response to the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the poll, the Liberal Democrats would crumble to just two seats in parliament, down from 11 won in the last general election.

A quarter of those who voted Lib Dem in 2019 say they would now vote Labour. The poll says the Lib Dems would cling on only to Bath, and Kingston and Surbiton, both by the tightest of margins. The party won 62 seats in 2005.

Of the constituencies that Labour would gain, half (41) are seats in the north of England, Midlands and Wales that voted Labour in 2017 before switching to the Tories in 2019, suggesting that the Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, is on course to rebuild his party’s red wall.

Labour is also predicted to win five London seats from the Conservatives, taking Chingford and Wood Green, Chipping Barnet, Finchley and Golders Green, Hendon, and Kensington.

The Conservatives cling on to just eight of the 43 red wall seats that they won at last year’s general election — Bassetlaw, Bishop Auckland, Colne Valley, Dudley North, Great Grimsby, Penistone and Stocksbridge, Scunthorpe, and Sedgefield.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/detailed-poll-shows-boris-johnson-risks-losing-his-majority-and-his-seat-7tm9p3dp7

Busy day, but an interesting article for PB punters:

https://twitter.com/TheAtlantic/status/1345428838470348801?s=19

Pulpstar said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

NHS requiring your inside leg measurement and wang length before being allowed to be consideered for.volunteering to help with vaccination drive has finally been picked up by BBC..

BBC News - Coronavirus: Medics complain of 'bureaucracy' in bid to join Covid vaccine effort
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-55516277

'Some medics have been asked for proof they are trained in areas such as preventing radicalisation.'

Insane. They are going to see each person for what, five minutes?