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The government is right to junk Supplementary Vote – it’s the worst of all worlds – politicalbetting
The government is right to junk Supplementary Vote – it’s the worst of all worlds – politicalbetting.com
The only exciting thing about the London mayoral election result this year is likely to be whether Sadiq Khan wins on the first vote or is forced into second preferences. He will not be close by Shaun Bailey or any of the many other candidates but may miss out on the 50% share needed to secure a first-preference win.
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Just over half of German adults surveyed said they thought the vaccine was unsafe, a rise of 15 percentage points compared to February, while 43% of Italians had serious doubts, an increase of almost a third.
Well done mini-Trump...time to build a wall around France.
Reads news
Sees the world is going mad
Goes back to bed...
If this system was introduced in 2000, then it was under a Labour Government, and they are almost as corrupt and self-interested as the Tories.
Personally I'm happy with FPTP. I think it's bemusing that those on the left are now complaining about it since when in power, and it suited them just fine, they did bog all about it.
And when the LibDems had their golden chance to reform the voting system as their price of coalition they blew it.
Let sleeping dogs lie, I say. If you don't like the Conservatives being in power, beat them.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/3/22/congos-opposition-candidate-kolelas-dies-a-day-after-poll
The combination of meeting lots of people, age much greater than the national average and air conditioned offices is not a good one.
“There were also skinks, ants, basically every insect, crickets – all just trying to get away from the flood waters. My husband videoed it, because I was not going close to it. When he was standing still he had spiders climbing up his legs. A skink used him as a pole to get away from the water.
Macksville resident Melanie Williams was also shocked by a swarm of spiders climbing the outer wall of her home as they fled for higher ground. “I occasionally see spiders around the place but never anything like that, it was just insane,” she told the ABC. She told Guardian Australia the spiders outside her home were “horrific” but her neighbour told her there were twice as many inside his garage.
If PP was changing the system just for these elections that would be one thing, but her claim seems to be that FPTP is always best.
All eyes on EU leaders to see what the magic 8-ball throws up on Thursday. So far, "AZN vaccine is poison", "Export bans", "Mandatory for the elderly", "Forbidden for the elderly", and "Unscientific pause to give a few people more chance to die" have come up, but we're all eager to see what happens next.
F1: returns this weekend.
And leave it to the company, and the industry generally, to get one with meeting contractual obligations.
That sort of co-operation is what the EU is for.
"Embrace the medieval!"
"If we can't stop the vaccines - can we stop the needles?"
We'd have been a significant partner in the EMA too, of course. That would have moved more smartly.
But I also agree with David that this is a distraction from more important issues.
Time for gardening.
Not at 7.30am, of course!
(Interesting: they couldn't decide whether to move it to Amsterdam or Milan. So they drew lots!)
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2020/09/03/eu-medicines-regulator-struggles-coronavirus-pandemic-staff/
Although not in Devon beyond the Dartmoor tors, I suspect.
Though the Boomerang of Doom has ensured that it is the EU that gets whacked on the back of the head.
They said no, broke their lease and moved. Over 1/3 staff said they would rather stay in London
I think, but, again am prepared to be wrong, that some Brit staff are commuting to Amsterdam.
We certainly have more important things to worry about, on that I agree.
I do not know why the government is changing the voting system but one imagines its team of weirdo misfit superforecasters identified an advantage to the Conservative Party.
An interesting point.
Hmm.
But there will soon be a need for plenty of senior pharma figures here, when the production moves to the safer shores of the UK....
Why was this system used in London in the first place?
(Was it like modified d'Hondt in Scotland an attempt to wire in a Lab majority?)
Would any Mayoral results have been changed by this?
For me, I think this is deckchair-rearrangement for all it's practical impact.
My one reflection is whether this is groundwork for a review of all devolution systems - which would make sense democratically (?) because they are mainly ready for a review and rather broken, and perhaps politically because an overall thing might be cover for whatever will be done in Scotland. There is also the reality that perhaps it needs to be evened across parts of the country.
God knows how they will do that latter, mind.
Everyone in Oxford team should get a knighthood.
Inflammatory to say the least...
Johnson's cabinet need to hold the line on this. No bloody foreign holidays this summer. Having such a holiday is very nice but it is a First World thing. People can live without it.
https://twitter.com/IanDunt/status/1373908171283124225
In reality the choice is a simple one - do you want the most popular candidate out of X (in which case it's possible that the winning candidate is only supported by just over (100/X)% of the vote or do you want a system where the candidate is the preferred choice of 50+% of voters.
Indeed, I would go further. Rather than some smart super forecaster finding some Tory advantage this focus on FPTP elections is a bungle that should be quietly forgotten about as soon as possible.
Are they all getting COVID tested on arrival?
I suspect we will soon find COVID tests are for the little people.
Scientists Say They Found Cause of Rare Blood Clotting Linked to AstraZeneca Vaccine
German, Norwegian researchers say rare autoimmune reaction is behind several cases of brain blood clotting, and suggest a possible treatment for it
https://www.wsj.com/articles/scientists-say-they-found-cause-of-blood-clotting-linked-to-astrazeneca-vaccine-11616169108
Our EU overlords are indeed benevolent
I call that a "25 year service". And it is critical for the enquiries to be completed, and really no one outside Scotland in Govt has even commented afaik. Yet the Holyrood system is still very obviously inadequate and ready for a refresh.
How that would happen is politically interesting, as it would need to be specifically *not* "Westminster unilateral". However is it not basically a Westmnister competence under the Scotland Act?
I'm suggesting that most of the other aspects of devolution - including the decision to swerve the issue in English Regions as people did not like the suggestion - are also suboptimal, and that looking at it all at the same time might be sensible.
Perhaps "political cover" is the wrong phrase !!
There is a significant minority spread across the country (with modest soft spots in the major cities) that support the Conservative Party...
FWIW I have always supported PR, even during the last Labour government. In fact it is my biggest criticism of Tony Blair, other than the Iraq War obviously, that he failed to follow through with the manifesto commitment of changing the voting system.
Too much talking not enough waiting.
Although I can imagine the UK government want to avoid talk of Scottish referendums...
https://twitter.com/davidpaulk/status/1373845330765115393
https://twitter.com/AnthonyQuintano/status/1373787472493170695
@Pagan2 also made the point yesterday that PR systems with fragmented parties means that you vote for a manifesto that you like but it doesn't get implemented. All the power to decide what a government actually does is taken from the electorate to the politicians in what these days are no doubt well ventilated rooms away from the public gaze. I don't see that as an improvement.
a) UK life largely back to normal for 2021, very limited risk of more lockdowns, social life back to having no limitations, pubs, theatres, cinemas, restaurants all open, freedom to holiday anywhere in the UK - just not foreign holibobs until 2022;
or
b) foreign holibobs for Brits allowed from June 2021, but that comes with a material risk that a new variant comes into the UK to which our vaccines are far less effective. Consequent risk of lockdowns and closures.
I know where I stand.
All I will say is that to get those "decisive governments" there is a democratic cost. Whether that is worth it is a matter for opinion.
On the coalition front — we already have coalitions. They are simply hidden from the public.
Under FPTP the public has no say over which half of the Conservative Party has the most sway and the same is true with Labour.
Already under FPTP policy is formulated in well ventilated rooms away from the public gaze. Under PR the people have a direct say over who has the most power in these well ventilated rooms. You can't get away from it.
Apart from the fact that I want to go to see my family in Thailand, probably early in 2022. Of course, Thailand is practically Covid-free.
Is Labour value for second place?
That's what I don't get about this whole debate. It's all well and good focussing on our government and what they think, but who wants to go to a country that's in lockdown?!
https://twitter.com/AlastairMeeks/status/1373919186162974721?s=20
I would say Brexit is important but COVID is the top issue facing the country. It’s what is more important than brexit that matters
The AstraZeneca US Phase III trial of AZD1222 demonstrated statistically significant vaccine efficacy of 79% at preventing symptomatic COVID-19 and 100% efficacy at preventing severe disease and hospitalisation.
This interim safety and efficacy analysis was based on 32,449 participants accruing 141 symptomatic cases of COVID-19. The trial had a 2:1 randomisation of vaccine to placebo.
Vaccine efficacy was consistent across ethnicity and age. Notably, in participants aged 65 years and over, vaccine efficacy was 80%.
The vaccine was well tolerated, and the independent data safety monitoring board (DSMB) identified no safety concerns related to the vaccine. The DSMB conducted a specific review of thrombotic events, as well as cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) with the assistance of an independent neurologist. The DSMB found no increased risk of thrombosis or events characterised by thrombosis among the 21,583 participants receiving at least one dose of the vaccine. The specific search for CVST found no events in this trial.
https://www.astrazeneca.com/content/astraz/media-centre/press-releases/2021/astrazeneca-us-vaccine-trial-met-primary-endpoint.html
Strong governments are better remember.