Senedd shake-up: what happens if Welsh Labour lose their majority? – politicalbetting.com
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Despite the comment below about 80-somethings in some cases being asked to cross London for jabs, I am astonished at how smoothly this vaccine rollout is going.
I was expecting a lot of hiccups but, let's be honest, they're relatively few and far between as the lovely Louise Lear is fond of describing showers.
This is not a straightforward country, or cluster of countries, for such a logistical exercise for all sorts of reasons, not least our refusal to entertain national identity cards.
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The LDs haven’t had a good leader since Charlie Kennedy.YBarddCwsc said:
The LibDems are now the party of the (largely) affluent Anglo-incomer & the Anglo-farming vote. So, probably they will remain quite competitive in Powys.Gardenwalker said:Nobody has answered the point about the decline or the Liberals in Wales.
Presume - like the rest of the country - Labour supplanted them as the country industrialised. It probably happened later in Wales due to the sheer hold of rural Methodist style culture.
I guess Libs last redoubt is as a competitor to the Tories in Anglo rural areas.
The LibDems were competitive in Ceredigion (2 universities, Aber & Lampeter), Cardiff Central (dominated by the University) & Swansea West (most of Swansea Uni) until quite recently. (The Bangor University vote has always been quite strongly Labour -- it is why Labour remain very competitive in Arfon).
I think the students & University vote will take a long time to forgive and forget.
Remarkable how Cleggy Ratnered the LibDems with tuition fees.
The Cleggasm was a weird form of centrist populism. Clegg himself was/is strategically stupid. The LDs ought to have renounced their tuition fees lunacy in the last Parliament.2 -
Doesn't seem to hold back Welsh Labour.YBarddCwsc said:
A rare bit of extremely good news for the Welsh Tories.TheScreamingEagles said:Sort of on topic.
https://twitter.com/BBCWalesNews/status/1352947044772671488
He is completely vacuous & incompetent.1 -
Permanent states of war tend to stop being permanent sooner or later (though Afghanistan is having a damned good try). Of course in the end the German people did prove to be too soft for oor Adolf, much to his chagrin.another_richard said:
Hitler had no problem with a permanent state of war in order to stop the German people from becoming 'soft'.Theuniondivvie said:
The single lesson should have been that Russia endured in both cases, even with its largest city taken.another_richard said:
But which lesson from history should Hitler have followed ?Mysticrose said:
I don't think anyone won the first world war. It was a catastrophe for humanity. I've visited more WWI war graves and sites than probably anyone on this forum so don't think I'm unsympathetic to what you are saying. I just don't think it was a victory for anyone. One massive disaster from start to finish. And even if the Daily Mail rants about Blackadder in the classroom, the fact is that the immortal line contains a lot of truth:ydoethur said:
We won the First World War, in case you hadn’t noticed.Mysticrose said:
Obviously not comparable to a game of football and it's far better than our performance in the first world war.IshmaelZ said:
It was a reasonably good idea. Even a very good idea. But let's not elevate it to "Two world wars, one world cup and a vaccine rollout" status, shall we? Not when we are unchallenged numero uno worldbeaters when it comes to deaths per head of population.Mysticrose said:
The EU vaccine situation is an utter and absolute shamblesDaveyboy1961 said:
I wouldn't call the rollout by the UK of vaccines as "stellar". It only has that appearance because the EU isn't as good and the trade deal negotiated by the liar in chief is so crap.Mysticrose said:Another day and another CNN bashing of the UK. https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/23/business/brexit-business-intl-gbr/index.html
Of course, they totally ignore the EU shambles on the vaccine and the UK's stellar rollout which for the next 2 years matters far more than a few rotting haddock.
And yes, the UK's vaccine rollout is stellar. We pre-ordered in bulk from multiple developers: the greatest policy decision by any Government since the second world war. No exaggeration.
We have now jabbed nearly 10% of the adult population placing us roughly 3rd in the world. Our backing of Astra Zeneca and rollout of that has been a triumph.
It is an absolutely stellar achievement. Quite simply the greatest of my lifetime by any Government I have witnessed.
yours, a Labour voter last time.
We did okay in the second world war. Plenty of errors, much bravery, some luck and a great leader. But more than anything, the Americans.
So I will elevate it and so will the Conservatives backed by the press. When we've beaten this fucker, which we will in a matter of months, you are going to have to retreat to a hermitage because there will be praise for this Government's vaccine triumph like nothing else you've ever witnessed. Deservedly so.
As for the Second World War, it was the Soviets as much as the Americans .
'Field Marshal Haig is about to make yet another gargantuan effort to move his drinks cabinet six inches closer to Berlin.'
I agree of course about the Soviets but had the Americans not intervened that begs a whole other question about where the USSR would have halted and how that might have shaped things.
In many ways Adolf Hitler lost the second world war rather than we won it. He was a military muppet. Anyone with a half-working normal brain would have learned the lesson of Napoleon's catastrophic eastern campaign and would have buttoned up the western front before launching east.
Russian resistance in 1812 or Russia's lack of resistance in 1917 ?0 -
Not sure, maybe something to do with Israel.theenglishborn said:
Out of the loop on this one. What were they posting to cause the ban?Andy_JS said:Socialist Workers Party shut down by Facebook.
https://twitter.com/PaulEmbery/status/13527152616742010880 -
Presumably the right thing to do .TheScreamingEagles said:Sort of on topic.
https://twitter.com/BBCWalesNews/status/13529470447726714880 -
The people who drafted that obviously didn't consider the need for a definition of the point of use of a pickled sprout as a chemical weapon.Mary_Batty said:
No, Geneva bans the use of chemical weapons. You're looking for the 1993 Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction which prohibits the manufacture.Theuniondivvie said:
Pickled Brussel Sprouts?! Isn't there some clause in the Geneva Convention banning them?Fysics_Teacher said:
I have had mushy peas here in Bucks before, and liked them.Mary_Batty said:
It was a low-grade way of putting down mushy peas. But I agree, mushy peas should not be put down. They should be flung away, with energetic resolve.Mysticrose said:
I know you're joking, at least I assume you are, but having been on the receiving end of being called a bot on here can I politely suggest we desist? It's a rather low-grade way of attempting to put down an 'opponent.'Mary_Batty said:
It's clearly a made up story. Nobody south of Nottingham would ever eat mushy peas.kinabalu said:
Vaccines are more important than fish right now, no question about that, but I think it's still ok to post about fish. Last night for example, being Friday, we took advantage of a special delivery offer on cod & chips, 2 portions + mushy peas, £15 inc delivery - good value. We'd done the same several times last year but this was the first time in 2021, i.e. since the Thin Deal and consequent meltdown of the fishing industry. And guess what, the retail end is (surprise surprise) not immune to the chaos in the wholesale markets. The chips were great, and so were the mushies. Both of the usual high standard. But the fish was not. The fish was disappointing. For the first time ever the fish was disappointing. It was cooked ok but its overall condition told of a very difficult, downright brexity journey from sea to North London fryer. Bottom line, Brexit ruins my Friday fish & chips. Thank you Leavers. I'm not making this up or exaggerating btw. It's 100% solid anecdata.Mysticrose said:Another day and another CNN bashing of the UK. https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/23/business/brexit-business-intl-gbr/index.html
Of course, they totally ignore the EU shambles on the vaccine and the UK's stellar rollout which for the next 2 years matters far more than a few rotting haddock.
I'm calling it. You're a high-grade Russian bot with excellent knowledge of Britain but you've just had your "good luck / thank you" moment.
Mind you I also like the pickled Brussel Sprouts I had at Christmas, so my recommendation is not going to suit everyone.
(I like sprouts and I like pickled vegetables but I confess that combination had not occurred to me)0 -
BBC News - Covid: 'More deadly' UK variant claim played down by scientists
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-55779171
Boris getting grief for not waiting another week or two for more data before announcing this....Newsnight last night gave him grief for waiting so long for warning about chances of this...and the journalist at the press conference asked why they weren't talking about another paper that said was 90% more deadly.0 -
The picked sprout is very clearly a precursor. It's not going to do any last harm on its own.williamglenn said:
The people who drafted that obviously didn't consider the need for a definition of the point of use of a pickled sprout as a chemical weapon.Mary_Batty said:
No, Geneva bans the use of chemical weapons. You're looking for the 1993 Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction which prohibits the manufacture.Theuniondivvie said:
Pickled Brussel Sprouts?! Isn't there some clause in the Geneva Convention banning them?Fysics_Teacher said:
I have had mushy peas here in Bucks before, and liked them.Mary_Batty said:
It was a low-grade way of putting down mushy peas. But I agree, mushy peas should not be put down. They should be flung away, with energetic resolve.Mysticrose said:
I know you're joking, at least I assume you are, but having been on the receiving end of being called a bot on here can I politely suggest we desist? It's a rather low-grade way of attempting to put down an 'opponent.'Mary_Batty said:
It's clearly a made up story. Nobody south of Nottingham would ever eat mushy peas.kinabalu said:
Vaccines are more important than fish right now, no question about that, but I think it's still ok to post about fish. Last night for example, being Friday, we took advantage of a special delivery offer on cod & chips, 2 portions + mushy peas, £15 inc delivery - good value. We'd done the same several times last year but this was the first time in 2021, i.e. since the Thin Deal and consequent meltdown of the fishing industry. And guess what, the retail end is (surprise surprise) not immune to the chaos in the wholesale markets. The chips were great, and so were the mushies. Both of the usual high standard. But the fish was not. The fish was disappointing. For the first time ever the fish was disappointing. It was cooked ok but its overall condition told of a very difficult, downright brexity journey from sea to North London fryer. Bottom line, Brexit ruins my Friday fish & chips. Thank you Leavers. I'm not making this up or exaggerating btw. It's 100% solid anecdata.Mysticrose said:Another day and another CNN bashing of the UK. https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/23/business/brexit-business-intl-gbr/index.html
Of course, they totally ignore the EU shambles on the vaccine and the UK's stellar rollout which for the next 2 years matters far more than a few rotting haddock.
I'm calling it. You're a high-grade Russian bot with excellent knowledge of Britain but you've just had your "good luck / thank you" moment.
Mind you I also like the pickled Brussel Sprouts I had at Christmas, so my recommendation is not going to suit everyone.
(I like sprouts and I like pickled vegetables but I confess that combination had not occurred to me)
But once it's... processed...1 -
Freedom to publish and freedom to compel a communicator to publish you are of course two very different things, as anyone who has sent their first novel to Penguin will know.theenglishborn said:
Out of the loop on this one. What were they posting to cause the ban?Andy_JS said:Socialist Workers Party shut down by Facebook.
https://twitter.com/PaulEmbery/status/1352715261674201088
Facebook - an organisation I like about as much as I like the SWP - wants of course to have the rights of being a publisher and of merely being a platform like the phone system at the same time, while having the duties of neither.
Declining to be a platform or publisher for the grotesque left or right is very different from cancel culture.
4 -
Bad news for Welsh Labour...unless RT become leader again.felix said:
Presumably the right thing to do .TheScreamingEagles said:Sort of on topic.
https://twitter.com/BBCWalesNews/status/13529470447726714880 -
Labour in Scotland. Tories in Wales.
Obviously 4 months before an election is the ideal time to change your party leader.1 -
You would think Labour would/should be doing a lot better than "neck and neck" given the circumstances?Mysticrose said:Mouth is fed.
Meanwhile I don't know if this has already been commented on:
https://twitter.com/martin_mckee/status/1352923893946871808?s=200 -
Slightly odd to be recruiting Nazi saluting dog defender of free speech guy to make your point.TheScreamingEagles said:Obviously false flag.
https://twitter.com/EfffingTory/status/12035269537871216642 -
Actually ... and I no fan of Paul Davies ... it seems a pretty minor infringement.felix said:
Presumably the right thing to do .TheScreamingEagles said:Sort of on topic.
https://twitter.com/BBCWalesNews/status/1352947044772671488
My guess is he has taken advantage of the mess to do a Jackson Carlaw,
He has realised that he is not the best person to lead the Welsh Tory party.2 -
Jewish comedian David Baddiel defended the dog joke, saying it was making fun of the Nazis.Theuniondivvie said:
Slightly odd to be recruiting Nazi saluting dog defender of free speech guy to make your point.TheScreamingEagles said:Obviously false flag.
https://twitter.com/EfffingTory/status/1203526953787121664
www.youtube.com/watch?v=taC-sc5UVuo0 -
Is there a glittering star in the Welsh Tory firmament that would match Douglas Ross as a successor?YBarddCwsc said:
Actually ... and I no fan of Paul Davies ... it seems a pretty minor infringement.felix said:
Presumably the right thing to do .TheScreamingEagles said:Sort of on topic.
https://twitter.com/BBCWalesNews/status/1352947044772671488
My guess is he has taken advantage of the mess to do a Jackson Carlaw,
He has realised that he is not the best person to lead the Welsh Tory party.0 -
That’s nearly as bad as Janet Street-Porter, 74, who claims she’s “being treated like a third-class passenger on the Titanic” becuase she’s having to wait in line with everyone else.another_richard said:
Joan 'no mansion tax' Bakewell wants the oldies to get the second dose so they can go to restaurants.DavidL said:
Whitty was absolutely clear about this once again yesterday. Given the level of protection given by 1 dose you save the most lives by putting as many first doses in as many people as possible. Yes, it is a bit more of a risk for those who already had one dose but the overall benefit is clear and only completely selfish gits would be demanding a second dose when so many have not had one. In fairness, I have not heard anyone who has had the first dose complaining, just people trying to stir up trouble supposedly on their behalf. Its ridiculous.Scott_xP said:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-9177747/JANET-STREET-PORTER-Boris-promised-vaccination-programme-fast-fair.html1 -
Actually, it is 2 months. See Jacinda AdernSandyRentool said:Labour in Scotland. Tories in Wales.
Obviously 4 months before an election is the ideal time to change your party leader.
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On the successful vaccine rollout in the UK, I wonder how much the UK being a centralised country has helped? Many complaun about it, but we shouldnt decentralise for the sake of it.
On Reform UK , it is amazing that Farage can start a brand new party and overnight almost it gets the same % as the libdems with little covreage.1 -
Very pleased be has stood down as he was simply not a leaderMexicanpete said:
Bad news for Welsh Labour...unless RT become leader again.felix said:
Presumably the right thing to do .TheScreamingEagles said:Sort of on topic.
https://twitter.com/BBCWalesNews/status/13529470447726714880 -
Need some lessons in American geography?FrancisUrquhart said:Trump might have gone, but the nutters in Seattle and Portland haven't...
https://twitter.com/choeshow/status/1352810973350875136?s=19
https://twitter.com/DeedeeKIRO7/status/1352768804472852482?s=190 -
Yes and very pleasedfelix said:
Presumably the right thing to do .TheScreamingEagles said:Sort of on topic.
https://twitter.com/BBCWalesNews/status/1352947044772671488
He was not the right leader1 -
https://twitter.com/DavidHerdson/status/1352772584123871236Nunu3 said:On the successful vaccine rollout in the UK, I wonder how much the UK being a centralised country has helped? Many complaun about it, but we shouldnt decentralise for the sake of it.
On Reform UK , it is amazing that Farage can start a brand new party and overnight almost it gets the same % as the libdems with little covreage.3 -
Guernsey back in lockdown - 4 unidentified source cases in community identified & confirmed yesterday evening - so non-essential retail, hospitality, schools shut, wearing of face masks strongly recommended - press conference given by politicians/drs wearing masks. Further updates to follow.0
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What do you mean? Bellingham is town just north of Seattle. Your point?Tres said:
Need some lessons in American geography?FrancisUrquhart said:Trump might have gone, but the nutters in Seattle and Portland haven't...
https://twitter.com/choeshow/status/1352810973350875136?s=19
https://twitter.com/DeedeeKIRO7/status/1352768804472852482?s=190 -
Facebook needs to decide if it’s a publisher or a town square. Having one’s cake and eating it isn’t sustainable.algarkirk said:
Freedom to publish and freedom to compel a communicator to publish you are of course two very different things, as anyone who has sent their first novel to Penguin will know.theenglishborn said:
Out of the loop on this one. What were they posting to cause the ban?Andy_JS said:Socialist Workers Party shut down by Facebook.
https://twitter.com/PaulEmbery/status/1352715261674201088
Facebook - an organisation I like about as much as I like the SWP - wants of course to have the rights of being a publisher and of merely being a platform like the phone system at the same time, while having the duties of neither.
Declining to be a platform or publisher for the grotesque left or right is very different from cancel culture.
Even as someone who intently dislikes the SWP and all they stand for, they still have a right to say what they want to say.0 -
Rail investment will benefit disadvantaged communities.
East-West Rail will link Oxford and Cambridge.
Fair enough.
Snow has stopped. Sun is out. Time for a walk.1 -
Paul Davies was totally dark, a neutron star.Theuniondivvie said:
Is there a glittering star in the Welsh Tory firmament that would match Douglas Ross as a successor?YBarddCwsc said:
Actually ... and I no fan of Paul Davies ... it seems a pretty minor infringement.felix said:
Presumably the right thing to do .TheScreamingEagles said:Sort of on topic.
https://twitter.com/BBCWalesNews/status/1352947044772671488
My guess is he has taken advantage of the mess to do a Jackson Carlaw,
He has realised that he is not the best person to lead the Welsh Tory party.
I am not sure there is a main sequence star in the Welsh Tory firmament -- but I expect they can find a low luminosity subdwarf, giving out a dim light.1 -
Well, it's all about interpretation I guess. Personally having the support of Tommy Robinson and Paul Joseph Watson might give me pause on considering someone's commitment to making fun of the Nazis.Andy_JS said:
Jewish comedian David Baddiel defended the dog joke, saying it was making fun of the Nazis.Theuniondivvie said:
Slightly odd to be recruiting Nazi saluting dog defender of free speech guy to make your point.TheScreamingEagles said:Obviously false flag.
https://twitter.com/EfffingTory/status/1203526953787121664
www.youtube.com/watch?v=taC-sc5UVuo
I still think it's odd that Effingtory 'You can offend me all day long, it's your right. Free Speech.' is quote tweeting Count Dankula 'Free-Speech advocate' about people saying antisemitic stuff.0 -
It's a bloody long way from Portland!FrancisUrquhart said:
What do you mean? Bellingham is town just north of Seattle. Your point?Tres said:
Need some lessons in American geography?FrancisUrquhart said:Trump might have gone, but the nutters in Seattle and Portland haven't...
https://twitter.com/choeshow/status/1352810973350875136?s=19
https://twitter.com/DeedeeKIRO7/status/1352768804472852482?s=190 -
Charles Kennedy wasn't a very good leader - apart from Iraq, which was a personal and policy success, there was very little policy development of any kind. Kennedy had the good fortune of inheriting a Party with a strong local Government base at a time of almost unprecedented Conservative weakness - he faced Hague, IDS and Howard.
When Cameron became Conservative leader, the LDs had no response to his move back to the centre just as the Conservatives never came up with a serious response to Blair after 1994. Kennedy's personal demons notwithstanding, there was no intellectual or political response to Cameron apart from first to try wisdom over youth with Menzies Campbell and when that didn't work to decide imitation was the sincerest form of flattery.
Kennedy frankly coasted along as leader and while I liked the man enormously, he was not Party leader material.
The "Cleggasm" as you call it was nothing to do with centrist populism (whatever that is). Clegg used the first tv debate in 2010 to outsmart Cameron and Brown by imitating what Clinton had done in his debates. Clegg was new, young, telegenic, articulate and at a time of huge anxiety in the wake of the global financial crisis that was a huge advantage.
The problem was no one had a coherent policy answer to the events of 2008 - the centre left were broken and all the centre right had to offer was "austerity" (which never really happened) predicated on the notion the deficit needed to be closed not by raising taxes AND by cutting spending but more or less wholly by the latter.
As far as tuition fees were concerned, Clegg was hijacked by the Party which was competitive in a number of University towns and to court the student vote candidates signed pledges to scrap tuition fees. Electorally initially hugely successful but it was an issue at a time when the Government was trying to curb public expenditure.
The Party had a choice - either stand there and tell non-students public services were being cut but fees were being scrapped or renege on the policy. The error was to choose the latter not the former but the main error was allowing policy to be made during a campaign and not having candidates disciplined enough to avoid jumping on each and every bandwagon.
One more thing - AV was never LD policy. The problem was Clegg felt he had to throw the Party a bone as the price for supporting the Conservatives. The Tories wouldn't even have STV on a ballot paper such was their terror of the political implications of adopting such a system (they could have killed it stone dead of course) - Clegg didn't think he could go back with nothing so AV became a half way house and I suspect Clegg felt hubristically he could get it passed through his magnetism and personality.
The problem was Clegg didn't even have the support of his Party so the chances of getting the support of the country were nil and the political humiliation of rejection denuded what little political capital he still had.4 -
As we know the 3-4 tech giants are also rarely acting alone. When they decide to unperson somebody or something, they overwhelming act together and you basically can't run an online business without them.Sandpit said:
Facebook needs to decide if it’s a publisher or a town square. Having one’s cake and eating it isn’t sustainable.algarkirk said:
Freedom to publish and freedom to compel a communicator to publish you are of course two very different things, as anyone who has sent their first novel to Penguin will know.theenglishborn said:
Out of the loop on this one. What were they posting to cause the ban?Andy_JS said:Socialist Workers Party shut down by Facebook.
https://twitter.com/PaulEmbery/status/1352715261674201088
Facebook - an organisation I like about as much as I like the SWP - wants of course to have the rights of being a publisher and of merely being a platform like the phone system at the same time, while having the duties of neither.
Declining to be a platform or publisher for the grotesque left or right is very different from cancel culture.
Even as someone who intently dislikes the SWP and all they stand for, they still have a right to say what they want to say.
It is more than the analogy of being a twat in the pub and getting barred, you are being barred from every pub and restaurant and stopped from buying booze in any shop....for life.
There isn't an easy solution, but a solution needs to be found...the status quo is not acceptable
2 -
I said Portland and Seattle....they had another riot in Portland on inauguration day, smashed up the democratic party HQ among other places.Tres said:
It's a bloody long way from Portland!FrancisUrquhart said:
What do you mean? Bellingham is town just north of Seattle. Your point?Tres said:
Need some lessons in American geography?FrancisUrquhart said:Trump might have gone, but the nutters in Seattle and Portland haven't...
https://twitter.com/choeshow/status/1352810973350875136?s=19
https://twitter.com/DeedeeKIRO7/status/1352768804472852482?s=19
https://twitter.com/Julio_Rosas11/status/1352042522868998144?s=19
I don't need any geography lessons on that part of the world, as I have spent a huge amount of time there. It is why I get so angry these absolute bellends are ruining the place.2 -
Just checking on the zeitgeist, 8 months ago this would inspired cries of 'anti English racism' and 'Nippy's gone too far', what's the craic now?
https://twitter.com/HighlandRampage/status/1352931827321892864?s=200 -
Yes, a group of monopsonists acting in parallel is a clear anti-trust collusion.FrancisUrquhart said:
As we know the 3-4 tech giants are also rarely acting alone. When they decide to unperson somebody or something, they overwhelming act together and you basically can't run an online business without them.Sandpit said:
Facebook needs to decide if it’s a publisher or a town square. Having one’s cake and eating it isn’t sustainable.algarkirk said:
Freedom to publish and freedom to compel a communicator to publish you are of course two very different things, as anyone who has sent their first novel to Penguin will know.theenglishborn said:
Out of the loop on this one. What were they posting to cause the ban?Andy_JS said:Socialist Workers Party shut down by Facebook.
https://twitter.com/PaulEmbery/status/1352715261674201088
Facebook - an organisation I like about as much as I like the SWP - wants of course to have the rights of being a publisher and of merely being a platform like the phone system at the same time, while having the duties of neither.
Declining to be a platform or publisher for the grotesque left or right is very different from cancel culture.
Even as someone who intently dislikes the SWP and all they stand for, they still have a right to say what they want to say.
It is more than the analogy of being a twat in the pub and getting barred, you are being barred from every pub and restaurant and stopped from buying booze in any shop....for life.
There isn't an easy solution, but a solution needs to be found...the status quo is not acceptable
The one that really got me was AWS’ takedown of Parler. That’s the equivalent of the phone company disconnecting you, because someone said something naughty in a phone call.0 -
Congrats for finding another far right account inventing fake riots that hasn't yet been booted off Twitter.0
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So we are approaching the year mark of the UK actually responding to covid.
At what point does the government seriously consider giving everyone a reusable respirator mask? It's going to be a while before everyone gets the second dose.0 -
There was a great article i posted the other day that explained just how its isnt just AWS, there are so many services you need to facilitate business that you must buy from a very small number of tech companies, unless you a) spend crazy money doing it yourself or b) buy from russians or chinese companies.Sandpit said:
Yes, a group of monopsonists acting in parallel is a clear anti-trust collusion.FrancisUrquhart said:
As we know the 3-4 tech giants are also rarely acting alone. When they decide to unperson somebody or something, they overwhelming act together and you basically can't run an online business without them.Sandpit said:
Facebook needs to decide if it’s a publisher or a town square. Having one’s cake and eating it isn’t sustainable.algarkirk said:
Freedom to publish and freedom to compel a communicator to publish you are of course two very different things, as anyone who has sent their first novel to Penguin will know.theenglishborn said:
Out of the loop on this one. What were they posting to cause the ban?Andy_JS said:Socialist Workers Party shut down by Facebook.
https://twitter.com/PaulEmbery/status/1352715261674201088
Facebook - an organisation I like about as much as I like the SWP - wants of course to have the rights of being a publisher and of merely being a platform like the phone system at the same time, while having the duties of neither.
Declining to be a platform or publisher for the grotesque left or right is very different from cancel culture.
Even as someone who intently dislikes the SWP and all they stand for, they still have a right to say what they want to say.
It is more than the analogy of being a twat in the pub and getting barred, you are being barred from every pub and restaurant and stopped from buying booze in any shop....for life.
There isn't an easy solution, but a solution needs to be found...the status quo is not acceptable
The one that really got me was AWS’ takedown of Parler. That’s the equivalent of the phone company disconnecting you, because someone said something naughty in a phone call.2 -
Reading the moaning and whingeing that passes for comment from American conservatives and their allies (as someone said about another vote, "you lost, get over it"), I'm struck by the complaint that there is nowhere for conservatives to talk to each other.
Platforms like Facebook, Google, Twitter and Parler are apparently conducting a witch hunt against conservative voices so they are all running away to other platforms (echo chambers).
Now, as a liberal, I have to believe in Freedom of Speech though that concept is much more complex and nuanced than it sounds. It's often the volume and quality of the speech that causes issues not the fact of it. There seems this curious notion that people only want to listen to opinions and voices who agree with them. People like people like themselves I've always been told so I suppose that is a universal concept.
Rather like Cheers, it's not just a question of a place where everybody knows your name but everyone is glad you came. Security, safety and comfort in the online world comes from a place where everyone is like you, thinks like you and sees the world as you do.1 -
A journalist from komo news, a far right inventor of riots...jog on....they are the big local ABC affiliate news station in Seattle.Tres said:Congrats for finding another far right account inventing fake riots that hasn't yet been booted off Twitter.
1 -
"Major" doing a lot of work, there.FrancisUrquhart said:
As we know the 3-4 tech giants are also rarely acting alone. When they decide to unperson somebody or something, they overwhelming act together and you basically can't run an online business without them.Sandpit said:
Facebook needs to decide if it’s a publisher or a town square. Having one’s cake and eating it isn’t sustainable.algarkirk said:
Freedom to publish and freedom to compel a communicator to publish you are of course two very different things, as anyone who has sent their first novel to Penguin will know.theenglishborn said:
Out of the loop on this one. What were they posting to cause the ban?Andy_JS said:Socialist Workers Party shut down by Facebook.
https://twitter.com/PaulEmbery/status/1352715261674201088
Facebook - an organisation I like about as much as I like the SWP - wants of course to have the rights of being a publisher and of merely being a platform like the phone system at the same time, while having the duties of neither.
Declining to be a platform or publisher for the grotesque left or right is very different from cancel culture.
Even as someone who intently dislikes the SWP and all they stand for, they still have a right to say what they want to say.
It is more than the analogy of being a twat in the pub and getting barred, you are being barred from every pub and restaurant and stopped from buying booze in any shop....for life.
There isn't an easy solution, but a solution needs to be found...the status quo is not acceptable0 -
Guernsey lockdown:
https://twitter.com/GaryBurgessCI/status/1352950062939303936?s=20
When Jersey locked down they gave a days notice - with predictably packed pubs over two nights.0 -
Another great example of it not being possible to be too woke.FrancisUrquhart said:
A journalist from komo news, a far right inventor of riots...jog on....they are the big local ABC affiliate news station in Seattle.Tres said:Congrats for finding another far right account inventing fake riots that hasn't yet been booted off Twitter.
Plenty of Democrats were happily cheering them on last summer when their chants were about Donald Trump the fascist dictator - but now they’re shouting f@#* Joe Biden, and smashing up Democrat party offices.1 -
A journalist from komo news, a far right inventor of riots...jog on....they are the big local ABC affiliate news station in Seattle.FrancisUrquhart said:Congrats for finding another far right account inventing fake riots that hasn't yet been booted off Twitter.
Nah not them the 'town hall' muppet.0 -
Almost half of people in high ethnic minority areas snub coronavirus jab
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/almost-half-of-people-in-high-ethnic-minority-areas-snub-coronavirus-jab-dgmx9mg9t0 -
NYT good enough for you?Tres said:
Nah not them the 'town hall' muppet.
https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1352216896846913540?s=19
You can try to deny or downplay this all you like, but it is happening all the time, often day after day after day.1 -
I'd missed this - is it appropriate for an "expert" to block other experts?
0 -
This is very worryingFrancisUrquhart said:Almost half of people in high ethnic minority areas snub coronavirus jab
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/almost-half-of-people-in-high-ethnic-minority-areas-snub-coronavirus-jab-dgmx9mg9t0 -
NYT good enough?FrancisUrquhart said:
Nah not them the 'town hall' muppet.Tres said:
A journalist from komo news, a far right inventor of riots...jog on....they are the big local ABC affiliate news station in Seattle.FrancisUrquhart said:Congrats for finding another far right account inventing fake riots that hasn't yet been booted off Twitter.
https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1352216896846913540?s=19
Clearly someone was smashing the windows. However quite convenient it happened right in front of a far-right journo.0 -
Indeed, and the bar to getting banned is pretty high. As far as I can tell recent bans are not about having right or left wing views but mostly about promoting violence with some for falsehoods on vaccinations and covid. Promoting violence has always been a red line, unsurprisingly we dont hear much concern about Islamic extremist terrorists being no platformed.algarkirk said:
Freedom to publish and freedom to compel a communicator to publish you are of course two very different things, as anyone who has sent their first novel to Penguin will know.theenglishborn said:
Out of the loop on this one. What were they posting to cause the ban?Andy_JS said:Socialist Workers Party shut down by Facebook.
https://twitter.com/PaulEmbery/status/1352715261674201088
Facebook - an organisation I like about as much as I like the SWP - wants of course to have the rights of being a publisher and of merely being a platform like the phone system at the same time, while having the duties of neither.
Declining to be a platform or publisher for the grotesque left or right is very different from cancel culture.
Covid and vaccine deniers is a tougher one, but its temporary and the posts do cause an increase in excess deaths.0 -
The stars in the Welsh Tory Firmament
There is a constellation of 11 stars.
Two are retiring (Burns & Melding). One has been deselected for being the most unpleasant shit in Welsh politics (Ramsey). Two have been caught up in Drinks-gate (Paul Davies & Darren Miller). One has failed as leader before (Andrew RT Davies). One has been an AM for less than a year, since the death of Mohammed Asgur (Laura Jones). Another has been deselected in mysterious circumstances (Suzy Davies).
We're now down to 3 possibilities: Janet Finch-Saunders, Russel George, Mark Isherwood.
We now rule out the obviously incompetent (George, Finch-Saunders) & the desperately dull (Isherwood) ... there is no-one left.
Mmmm ... I'd say the Welsh Tory's best bet is to reinstate Suzy Davies on the list and appoint her. She is not very bright, but I think she is good at campaigning, which is what they need now. Or they parachute someone in.
Big_G's opinion would be interesting -- he must know some of these folks.0 -
Clearly someone was smashing the windows. However quite convenient it happened right in front of a far-right journo.Tres said:
NYT good enough?FrancisUrquhart said:
Nah not them the 'town hall' muppet.Tres said:
A journalist from komo news, a far right inventor of riots...jog on....they are the big local ABC affiliate news station in Seattle.FrancisUrquhart said:Congrats for finding another far right account inventing fake riots that hasn't yet been booted off Twitter.
https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1352216896846913540?s=19
Oh f##k off. There is 100s of hours of footage of black clad far leftist smashing up Portland and Seattle, intimidating elected officials at their homes, for months on end. It isn't some far right fake news QAnon conspiracy. Even the dripping wet Mayor of Portland has finally acknowledged they have a problem with this crowd.2 -
Yes, and we’re also seeing mobs going for Visa and MasterCard, trying to get card merchant accounts cancelled.FrancisUrquhart said:
There was a great article i posted the other day that explained just how its isnt just AWS, there are so many services you need to facilitate business that you must buy from a very small number of tech companies, unless you a) spend crazy money doing it yourself or b) buy from russians or chinese companies.Sandpit said:
Yes, a group of monopsonists acting in parallel is a clear anti-trust collusion.FrancisUrquhart said:
As we know the 3-4 tech giants are also rarely acting alone. When they decide to unperson somebody or something, they overwhelming act together and you basically can't run an online business without them.Sandpit said:
Facebook needs to decide if it’s a publisher or a town square. Having one’s cake and eating it isn’t sustainable.algarkirk said:
Freedom to publish and freedom to compel a communicator to publish you are of course two very different things, as anyone who has sent their first novel to Penguin will know.theenglishborn said:
Out of the loop on this one. What were they posting to cause the ban?Andy_JS said:Socialist Workers Party shut down by Facebook.
https://twitter.com/PaulEmbery/status/1352715261674201088
Facebook - an organisation I like about as much as I like the SWP - wants of course to have the rights of being a publisher and of merely being a platform like the phone system at the same time, while having the duties of neither.
Declining to be a platform or publisher for the grotesque left or right is very different from cancel culture.
Even as someone who intently dislikes the SWP and all they stand for, they still have a right to say what they want to say.
It is more than the analogy of being a twat in the pub and getting barred, you are being barred from every pub and restaurant and stopped from buying booze in any shop....for life.
There isn't an easy solution, but a solution needs to be found...the status quo is not acceptable
The one that really got me was AWS’ takedown of Parler. That’s the equivalent of the phone company disconnecting you, because someone said something naughty in a phone call.
The end result, as you say, is that Parler is now hosted by a Russian hosting provider, and outside of any reasonable US jurisdiction.1 -
I think it fair that people question the delayed second dose strategy, as it is not what the producer has recommended, however the calculation behind the explanation seems to hold up as a reasonable and proportionate choice, especially given the extremely dire situation we find ourselves in compared to many others.DavidL said:
Whitty was absolutely clear about this once again yesterday. Given the level of protection given by 1 dose you save the most lives by putting as many first doses in as many people as possible. Yes, it is a bit more of a risk for those who already had one dose but the overall benefit is clear and only completely selfish gits would be demanding a second dose when so many have not had one. In fairness, I have not heard anyone who has had the first dose complaining, just people trying to stir up trouble supposedly on their behalf. Its ridiculous.Scott_xP said:
I'm no risk taker, but they seem to have been open about why this one was taken.2 -
Well, once you've formed a mob you might as well do a little bit of rampaging.FrancisUrquhart said:Trump might have gone, but the nutters in Seattle and Portland haven't...
https://twitter.com/choeshow/status/1352810973350875136?s=19
https://twitter.com/DeedeeKIRO7/status/1352768804472852482?s=190 -
I know it is not a fresh observation, but while one can care about what happens in other countries, given how much these people think is intended to distract from Israeli actions, they really do seem to care more about that issue than literally anything else.TheScreamingEagles said:I mean this is the sort of stuff the SWP come out with, from 2019.
https://twitter.com/SwanseaSWP/status/11108765164837806080 -
All that would accomplish is no third party (outside the nation specific ones) getting any number of seats for a third party.Mysticrose said:Mouth is fed.
Meanwhile I don't know if this has already been commented on:
https://twitter.com/martin_mckee/status/1352923893946871808?s=20
Unless they moderate quite a bit I cannot see the Greens competing for second places and dreams of 1st places in places the LDs can still dream. And doing that loses them the main distinguishing feature they have.0 -
What the hell happened to scientists challenging and arguing with each other? It’s the whole basis of science - or at least it was, before science started to become political.CarlottaVance said:I'd missed this - is it appropriate for an "expert" to block other experts?
1 -
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Perhaps those people hadn’t been told about that absolutely crucial three-week isolation time: no one in Britain is handed that information in the leaflet given out with the vaccination. Why not?
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jan/21/sweet-relief-vaccinated-not-return-normality-older-people-covid0 -
Ah, I didn't realise it was him.Theuniondivvie said:
Slightly odd to be recruiting Nazi saluting dog defender of free speech guy to make your point.TheScreamingEagles said:Obviously false flag.
https://twitter.com/EfffingTory/status/1203526953787121664
I shall exile myself to ConHome for the rest of the afternoon for my sins.1 -
The Russian law against non sanctioned rallies & protests looks likes it's getting a right good pasting today
https://twitter.com/IlyaYashin/status/1352965942926520321?s=201 -
Oh f##k off. There is 100s of hours of footage of black clad far leftist smashing up Portland and Seattle, intimidating elected officials at their homes, for months on end. It isn't some far right fake news QAnon conspiracy. Even the dripping wet Mayor of Portland has finally acknowledged they have a problem with this crowd.FrancisUrquhart said:
Clearly someone was smashing the windows. However quite convenient it happened right in front of a far-right journo.Tres said:
NYT good enough?FrancisUrquhart said:
Nah not them the 'town hall' muppet.Tres said:
A journalist from komo news, a far right inventor of riots...jog on....they are the big local ABC affiliate news station in Seattle.FrancisUrquhart said:Congrats for finding another far right account inventing fake riots that hasn't yet been booted off Twitter.
https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1352216896846913540?s=19
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
[Blockquotes muddled above]
Pity the far left - they must have been so envious of the Trumpist occupation of the Capitol...2 -
The former was part of a plan (by various people) though, not sure if that makes it better or worse.SandyRentool said:Labour in Scotland. Tories in Wales.
Obviously 4 months before an election is the ideal time to change your party leader.0 -
I'm sure most scientists are still all on board for challenging and arguing. But at what point does someone become, in effect, a politician who happens to be a scientist, rather than a scientist?Sandpit said:
What the hell happened to scientists challenging and arguing with each other? It’s the whole basis of science - or at least it was, before science started to become political.CarlottaVance said:I'd missed this - is it appropriate for an "expert" to block other experts?
Politicians have their uses, but when non politicians become them, they lose a big part of what made them useful or respected.1 -
Larry King has died.0
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Yes, immediately. I hope it was intentional, I would really respect that.Scott_xP said:
https://twitter.com/DavidHerdson/status/1352772584123871236Nunu3 said:On the successful vaccine rollout in the UK, I wonder how much the UK being a centralised country has helped? Many complaun about it, but we shouldnt decentralise for the sake of it.
On Reform UK , it is amazing that Farage can start a brand new party and overnight almost it gets the same % as the libdems with little covreage.1 -
Wake me up when the announce the reopening of Hexham to Riccarton Junction, the Waverley line, Haltwhistle to Alston, and rebuilding the railway bridge over the Solway from Bowness to Annan.SandyRentool said:Rail investment will benefit disadvantaged communities.
East-West Rail will link Oxford and Cambridge.
Fair enough.
Snow has stopped. Sun is out. Time for a walk.
0 -
Professor Sridhar is, insofar as I'm aware, an exceptional case. Overt political bias does not seem to be a feature of the epidemiological community - whether amongst those in favour of the zero Covid strategy or otherwise.Sandpit said:
What the hell happened to scientists challenging and arguing with each other? It’s the whole basis of science - or at least it was, before science started to become political.CarlottaVance said:I'd missed this - is it appropriate for an "expert" to block other experts?
0 -
It should be done and it should be explained by the people vaccinating.rottenborough said:Perhaps those people hadn’t been told about that absolutely crucial three-week isolation time: no one in Britain is handed that information in the leaflet given out with the vaccination. Why not?
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jan/21/sweet-relief-vaccinated-not-return-normality-older-people-covid
But I'm not sure it would have any effect.
People will do what they want to do and there's plenty of oldies who act as it they're on a suicide mission, with or without vaccination.0 -
Indeed. The Greens run essentially to the left of the Corbynite tendency, without their baggage but without their breadth of support either. That just leaves a solid base amongst the small minority of voters whose overriding concern is the environment, but they're too evenly spread to make a decisive difference anywhere.kle4 said:
All that would accomplish is no third party (outside the nation specific ones) getting any number of seats for a third party.Mysticrose said:Mouth is fed.
Meanwhile I don't know if this has already been commented on:
https://twitter.com/martin_mckee/status/1352923893946871808?s=20
Unless they moderate quite a bit I cannot see the Greens competing for second places and dreams of 1st places in places the LDs can still dream. And doing that loses them the main distinguishing feature they have.
You do wonder how long they would keep their single seat in Parliament if Dr Lucas got hit by a bus. They're miles from capturing anything else.0 -
After recovering from Covid, Michael Rosen was affected by fronted adverbials.
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/jan/23/dear-gavin-williamson-could-you-tell-parents-what-a-fronted-adverbial-is0 -
Hopefully there are no McKinsey consultants in the crowd.Theuniondivvie said:The Russian law against non sanctioned rallies & protests looks likes it's getting a right good pasting today
https://twitter.com/IlyaYashin/status/1352965942926520321?s=20
https://twitter.com/mikegalsworthy/status/1352958074059952128?s=210 -
0
-
Whilst football hasn't covered itself with glory, I do wonder how many workplaces would find similar were they tested as regularly.FrancisUrquhart said:0 -
That would seem to be in the North-West Highlands - so we're not talking a few miles over Carter Bar either.Theuniondivvie said:Just checking on the zeitgeist, 8 months ago this would inspired cries of 'anti English racism' and 'Nippy's gone too far', what's the craic now?
https://twitter.com/HighlandRampage/status/1352931827321892864?s=200 -
300 million views on TikTok for pro Vavalny content.....what has China done....0
-
Wife of Vavalny has been arrested.0
-
But unlike regular work, they spend basically all their time outside and at least in the EPL the clubs are doing everything for them like their shopping so they don't need to go near us plebs. They literally just need to train, go home and stay away from others and then they go to an empty hotel where they do the same.dixiedean said:
Whilst football hasn't covered itself with glory, I do wonder how many workplaces would find similar were they tested as regularly.FrancisUrquhart said:
The players clearly aren't sticking to it though. If you watch Ben Foster on YouTube, he is regularly meeting up with others outside of football, going to bike shops etc.1 -
protest intensifies.kle4 said:
Well, once you've formed a mob you might as well do a little bit of rampaging.FrancisUrquhart said:Trump might have gone, but the nutters in Seattle and Portland haven't...
https://twitter.com/choeshow/status/1352810973350875136?s=19
https://twitter.com/DeedeeKIRO7/status/1352768804472852482?s=190 -
'Fronted adverbials' are indeed a stupid concept to inflict on children - or human beings of any age - but Rosen as usual spoils his argument with his monomaniacal anti-grammar crusade. The idea that English has no subjunctive is particularly dense.dixiedean said:After recovering from Covid, Michael Rosen was affected by fronted adverbials.
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/jan/23/dear-gavin-williamson-could-you-tell-parents-what-a-fronted-adverbial-is0 -
Academia has long been more political than politics. Try getting your papers published if you annoy the wrong person...kle4 said:
I'm sure most scientists are still all on board for challenging and arguing. But at what point does someone become, in effect, a politician who happens to be a scientist, rather than a scientist?Sandpit said:
What the hell happened to scientists challenging and arguing with each other? It’s the whole basis of science - or at least it was, before science started to become political.CarlottaVance said:I'd missed this - is it appropriate for an "expert" to block other experts?
Politicians have their uses, but when non politicians become them, they lose a big part of what made them useful or respected.0 -
We are lucky to get the quality of Welsh analysis on this Board.
I feel like we lack quality Scottish analysis, for some reason.1 -
Excellent post.stodge said:Charles Kennedy wasn't a very good leader - apart from Iraq, which was a personal and policy success, there was very little policy development of any kind. Kennedy had the good fortune of inheriting a Party with a strong local Government base at a time of almost unprecedented Conservative weakness - he faced Hague, IDS and Howard.
When Cameron became Conservative leader, the LDs had no response to his move back to the centre just as the Conservatives never came up with a serious response to Blair after 1994. Kennedy's personal demons notwithstanding, there was no intellectual or political response to Cameron apart from first to try wisdom over youth with Menzies Campbell and when that didn't work to decide imitation was the sincerest form of flattery.
Kennedy frankly coasted along as leader and while I liked the man enormously, he was not Party leader material.
The "Cleggasm" as you call it was nothing to do with centrist populism (whatever that is). Clegg used the first tv debate in 2010 to outsmart Cameron and Brown by imitating what Clinton had done in his debates. Clegg was new, young, telegenic, articulate and at a time of huge anxiety in the wake of the global financial crisis that was a huge advantage.
The problem was no one had a coherent policy answer to the events of 2008 - the centre left were broken and all the centre right had to offer was "austerity" (which never really happened) predicated on the notion the deficit needed to be closed not by raising taxes AND by cutting spending but more or less wholly by the latter.
As far as tuition fees were concerned, Clegg was hijacked by the Party which was competitive in a number of University towns and to court the student vote candidates signed pledges to scrap tuition fees. Electorally initially hugely successful but it was an issue at a time when the Government was trying to curb public expenditure.
The Party had a choice - either stand there and tell non-students public services were being cut but fees were being scrapped or renege on the policy. The error was to choose the latter not the former but the main error was allowing policy to be made during a campaign and not having candidates disciplined enough to avoid jumping on each and every bandwagon.
One more thing - AV was never LD policy. The problem was Clegg felt he had to throw the Party a bone as the price for supporting the Conservatives. The Tories wouldn't even have STV on a ballot paper such was their terror of the political implications of adopting such a system (they could have killed it stone dead of course) - Clegg didn't think he could go back with nothing so AV became a half way house and I suspect Clegg felt hubristically he could get it passed through his magnetism and personality.
The problem was Clegg didn't even have the support of his Party so the chances of getting the support of the country were nil and the political humiliation of rejection denuded what little political capital he still had.
I used to think Lib Dem councils and seats were untouchable in the mid noughties - impossible to win.
We forget how much we are creatures of the times.0 -
3-4% of those Greens would go Labour in a GE.GIN1138 said:
You would think Labour would/should be doing a lot better than "neck and neck" given the circumstances?Mysticrose said:Mouth is fed.
Meanwhile I don't know if this has already been commented on:
https://twitter.com/martin_mckee/status/1352923893946871808?s=20
I think Labour has 1-3% leads (on average) at present nationally.0 -
Depends rather on where the poster is based. But we could certainly do with a SLABber or two for their perspective. Be too much to hope for a LDer on statistical grounds, I rather suspect.Gardenwalker said:We are lucky to get the quality of Welsh analysis on this Board.
I feel like we lack quality Scottish analysis, for some reason.0 -
What have ConHome done to derserve that?TheScreamingEagles said:
Ah, I didn't realise it was him.Theuniondivvie said:
Slightly odd to be recruiting Nazi saluting dog defender of free speech guy to make your point.TheScreamingEagles said:Obviously false flag.
https://twitter.com/EfffingTory/status/1203526953787121664
I shall exile myself to ConHome for the rest of the afternoon for my sins.0 -
Well sure, everywhere has its politics, and I've heard it said the less important the area the more vicious its politics, but I was thinking more of when they become partisans of national politics.Flatlander said:
Academia has long been more political than politics. Try getting your papers published if you annoy the wrong person...kle4 said:
I'm sure most scientists are still all on board for challenging and arguing. But at what point does someone become, in effect, a politician who happens to be a scientist, rather than a scientist?Sandpit said:
What the hell happened to scientists challenging and arguing with each other? It’s the whole basis of science - or at least it was, before science started to become political.CarlottaVance said:I'd missed this - is it appropriate for an "expert" to block other experts?
Politicians have their uses, but when non politicians become them, they lose a big part of what made them useful or respected.1 -
eek said:
Wait until July when you have to start doing the VAT at your end not at their endMortimer said:
No problems with my D2C business to Europe.eek said:
It's a distraction from the hidden disaster which is importing and especially exporting anything into this country.Gardenwalker said:Brexiters are obsessed with the EU vaccine scheme because it’s about all they’ve got.
Fair enough, it’s a garbage fire.
Mind you it's not just imports from the EU that is the problem there is a story on the BBC that relates to issues in getting from China as a lot of containers are in the wrong place.
Recipients totally understanding of the VAT issue. They've been doing the same with purchases from the states....
https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/business/vat/modernising-vat-cross-border-ecommerce_en
It’s optional for small businesses (ie not Marketplace sales). I won’t be using it. Not least because some of my sales would exceed the upper threshold anyway. Just as I don’t act as the sales tax collector for governments across the world... Most e commerce customers (at least in my sector and a total my level) are savvy enough to know they’ll be liable for import TVA
0 -
Stodge's posts are consistently high quality and gives us (or, at least, me) an insight into the workings of a party about which I know nothing about.Casino_Royale said:
Excellent post.stodge said:Charles Kennedy wasn't a very good leader - apart from Iraq, which was a personal and policy success, there was very little policy development of any kind. Kennedy had the good fortune of inheriting a Party with a strong local Government base at a time of almost unprecedented Conservative weakness - he faced Hague, IDS and Howard.
When Cameron became Conservative leader, the LDs had no response to his move back to the centre just as the Conservatives never came up with a serious response to Blair after 1994. Kennedy's personal demons notwithstanding, there was no intellectual or political response to Cameron apart from first to try wisdom over youth with Menzies Campbell and when that didn't work to decide imitation was the sincerest form of flattery.
Kennedy frankly coasted along as leader and while I liked the man enormously, he was not Party leader material.
The "Cleggasm" as you call it was nothing to do with centrist populism (whatever that is). Clegg used the first tv debate in 2010 to outsmart Cameron and Brown by imitating what Clinton had done in his debates. Clegg was new, young, telegenic, articulate and at a time of huge anxiety in the wake of the global financial crisis that was a huge advantage.
The problem was no one had a coherent policy answer to the events of 2008 - the centre left were broken and all the centre right had to offer was "austerity" (which never really happened) predicated on the notion the deficit needed to be closed not by raising taxes AND by cutting spending but more or less wholly by the latter.
As far as tuition fees were concerned, Clegg was hijacked by the Party which was competitive in a number of University towns and to court the student vote candidates signed pledges to scrap tuition fees. Electorally initially hugely successful but it was an issue at a time when the Government was trying to curb public expenditure.
The Party had a choice - either stand there and tell non-students public services were being cut but fees were being scrapped or renege on the policy. The error was to choose the latter not the former but the main error was allowing policy to be made during a campaign and not having candidates disciplined enough to avoid jumping on each and every bandwagon.
One more thing - AV was never LD policy. The problem was Clegg felt he had to throw the Party a bone as the price for supporting the Conservatives. The Tories wouldn't even have STV on a ballot paper such was their terror of the political implications of adopting such a system (they could have killed it stone dead of course) - Clegg didn't think he could go back with nothing so AV became a half way house and I suspect Clegg felt hubristically he could get it passed through his magnetism and personality.
The problem was Clegg didn't even have the support of his Party so the chances of getting the support of the country were nil and the political humiliation of rejection denuded what little political capital he still had.
I used to think Lib Dem councils and seats were untouchable in the mid noughties - impossible to win.
We forget how much we are creatures of the times.3 -
If you need some excitement, World Indoor Bowls is on BBC2.3
-
That's just dumb.BluestBlue said:
Pity the far left - they must have been so envious of the Trumpist occupation of the Capitol...
It was already nothing but the far left antifa communists framing Trump.1 -
China and Russia are not natural allies in so many ways. Russia is fearful that is sparsely populated regions in Siberia and the Far East are coveted by China and with good cause as China would love to get its hands on such natural resource rich areas.FrancisUrquhart said:300 million views on TikTok for pro Vavalny content.....what has China done....
0 -
The pandemic has amply demonstrated that a person can be eminent in their own field and yet surprisingly ignorant of things adjacent to it never mind far removed, and that now matter how smart and well educated you might be you can also still be a deeply stupid person in a whole load of other ways. The last year has been a real eye-opener.Sandpit said:
What the hell happened to scientists challenging and arguing with each other? It’s the whole basis of science - or at least it was, before science started to become political.CarlottaVance said:I'd missed this - is it appropriate for an "expert" to block other experts?
3 -
Cold enough to freeze your pepper spray
https://twitter.com/shaunwalker7/status/1352976139627732999?s=200 -
She looks OKBlack_Rook said:
Professor Sridhar is, insofar as I'm aware, an exceptional case. Overt political bias does not seem to be a feature of the epidemiological community - whether amongst those in favour of the zero Covid strategy or otherwise.Sandpit said:
What the hell happened to scientists challenging and arguing with each other? It’s the whole basis of science - or at least it was, before science started to become political.CarlottaVance said:I'd missed this - is it appropriate for an "expert" to block other experts?
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