In a bold political development, Boris Johnson has accidentally set himself on fire and fallen down a dried-up well. Join us at 6 where we will be joined by Dan Hodges to discuss whether Starmer can survive this fresh blow to his leadership.
minuscule uptick in inflation (making highest since headlines look true but misleading the actual story).
Is this business media 1 Eek 0?
The only thing misleading about the headline inflation rate is that it probably understates the effect on those on average earnings.
5.4% year on year inflation is in no way minuscule.
How much did it leap up by?
I reported Business and Financial media now convinced inflation is going to be just a blip not big player in credit crunch. Eek disagreed. Do I add you to list of disagreeing?
As I said earlier. Tactical mistake by Labour to do this today:
(((Dan Hodges))) @DPJHodges · 3m Sense amongst Tory MPs is Wakeford defection may have pushed the crisis into next week. “Think they’ll wait for Sue Gray now” one tells me.
That's not a mistake...
The longer they can string the Bozzmeister along for, the more votes the Conservatives lose.
I do think Starmer and Labour are missing a trick, and it is something they can use Wakeford for. Castigate the entire party for keeping the clown on as PM, when he is clearly unfit for the role.
Wakeford and Davis are not the big wins for Johnson some on here are selling.
Today at pmqs he had all the ammunition and much more to near fatally wound Boris and while he made some good jokes his self satisfied demeanour and body language were maybe not a good look
He welcomed Gary Neville into labour and made the extraordinary suggestion he could became a shadow minister which in itself is ridiculous without knowing Neville's views which ironically include being against all covid restrictions
Today he had Wakeford sit immediately behind him and extolled his defection to labour, while Wakeford wore a union jack face mask and supports right wing conservative policies. No wonder some in labour are far from impressed
In my opinion Starmer is trying to hard and is not receiving the best advice
Sir Keir is fully aware of Gary Neville's views on covid restrictions, has spoken to him at length about them, and raised the fact that they debated the matter as a positive during his, Keir's, recent appearance on the Nick Ferrari show. He said he preferred to be challenged by colleagues than have their sycophantic agreement.
As you clearly can't be bothered to check the basic contentions in your posts before publishing them, I'm not sure it's worthwhile reading the rest of your mutterings!
Neville also has quite a good track record on Labour issues, not least being shop steward.
Indeed – and the fact that we now have a high-profile vocal opponent of restrictionism in Labour will be seen as major positive for the many millions of lefties who oppose restrictions.
It is an absolute disgrace a man with this voting record is happily seated behind Starmer and welcomed in to todays Labour Party
He's been a loyalist, and anyone who normally votes with their party has some uncomfortable moments (said he with some feeling), but if they didn't usually do that party government would collapse.
Anyway, haven't you said you plan to vote Tory yourself in protest against Starmer's centrism?
And he will find that the Labour whips are just as controlling and venal and unscrupulous as are the Tory whips.
In a bold political development, Boris Johnson has accidentally set himself on fire and fallen down a dried-up well. Join us at 6 where we will be joined by Dan Hodges to discuss whether Starmer can survive this fresh blow to his leadership.
But that is a blow for Starmer. Sunak is going to make mincemeat of him on todays performance.
Today at pmqs he had all the ammunition and much more to near fatally wound Boris and while he made some good jokes his self satisfied demeanour and body language were maybe not a good look
He welcomed Gary Neville into labour and made the extraordinary suggestion he could became a shadow minister which in itself is ridiculous without knowing Neville's views which ironically include being against all covid restrictions
Today he had Wakeford sit immediately behind him and extolled his defection to labour, while Wakeford wore a union jack face mask and supports right wing conservative policies. No wonder some in labour are far from impressed
In my opinion Starmer is trying to hard and is not receiving the best advice
So. You're calling today a bad day for Starmer?
• A Tory MP defecting to Labour is bad for Labour
• David Davis knifing Boris is bad for Labour
• Starmer brimming with confidence and being funny at PMQs is bad for Labour
In a bold political development, Boris Johnson has accidentally set himself on fire and fallen down a dried-up well. Join us at 6 where we will be joined by Dan Hodges to discuss whether Starmer can survive this fresh blow to his leadership.
Dan: It's an absolute disgrace that SKS refuses to state whether or not he will piss on him to put out the fire.
As I said earlier. Tactical mistake by Labour to do this today:
(((Dan Hodges))) @DPJHodges · 3m Sense amongst Tory MPs is Wakeford defection may have pushed the crisis into next week. “Think they’ll wait for Sue Gray now” one tells me.
Exactly my post pmqs comments
Not a mistake. They want Johnson to stay. The longer he stays the better it is for Labour. They want to fight him at the next election if at all possible. The sooner he goes the quicker someone else comes in and this blows over. They want this to run and run and run.
Wasn't this the same sort of reason as to when Labour won Batley and Spen i.e. it's actually good news for the Conservatives because it meant Starmer remained as leader?
Things turn. BJ probably is finished but then we said the same things about Starmer a year back. If there is one thing it generally has been wrong to do is to write off Johnson.
Fair point but I think the situation Johnson is in is of a different order. People were (are?) indifferent regarding Starmer on the whole. People are developing a visceral hatred of Johnson
In a bold political development, Boris Johnson has accidentally set himself on fire and fallen down a dried-up well. Join us at 6 where we will be joined by Dan Hodges to discuss whether Starmer can survive this fresh blow to his leadership.
But that is a blow for Starmer. Sunak is going to make mincemeat of him on todays performance.
Of course, it's clearly a terrrrrrrrrrrrrrible day for Sir Keir all round.
The worst PM of my lifetime. Totally unsuited for this crisis. Actually unsuited for any office. A chaotic, appalling, lying, opportunistic, thoroughly nasty piece of work who threw Paterson under the bus and habitually shafts people.
If he's the sort of person you like, Sean, then you're welcome to him. The rest of us will move on and look back on this as the most disastrous premiership of our lives.
. And the focus on levelling-up was astute. .
The focus on levelling up has been there since Cameron / Osborne's Northern Powerhouse endeavours and 'Red Wall' seats had been trending to the Tories long before Johnson.
He did accelerate the process but the problem now is that his deliver has been so incompetent he will drive them back to Labour and make it twice as hard to win them back for any future leader.
I thought he was a great London Mayor. Less keen on his PM abilities.
The truth is that he was a figurehead in London, while other people made sure the work of his mayoralty was done. Insofar as he impacted on anything, he wasted large amounts of time and money on pursuing his various lunatic schemes.
He’d probably have made a reasonable President in a political system where the president is a figurehead and doesn’t have much real responsibility or work to do.
Sadly for him, our parliamentary system doesn’t work like that, and places demands on the leader that his abilities and character are simply unable to fulfil.
As I said earlier. Tactical mistake by Labour to do this today:
(((Dan Hodges))) @DPJHodges · 3m Sense amongst Tory MPs is Wakeford defection may have pushed the crisis into next week. “Think they’ll wait for Sue Gray now” one tells me.
Exactly my post pmqs comments
Not a mistake. They want Johnson to stay. The longer he stays the better it is for Labour. They want to fight him at the next election if at all possible. The sooner he goes the quicker someone else comes in and this blows over. They want this to run and run and run.
Wasn't this the same sort of reason as to when Labour won Batley and Spen i.e. it's actually good news for the Conservatives because it meant Starmer remained as leader?
Things turn. BJ probably is finished but then we said the same things about Starmer a year back. If there is one thing it generally has been wrong to do is to write off Johnson.
Fair point but I think the situation Johnson is in is of a different order. People were (are?) indifferent regarding Starmer on the whole. People are developing a visceral hatred of Johnson
Technical point: New people are developing a visceral hatred of Johnson
Today at pmqs he had all the ammunition and much more to near fatally wound Boris and while he made some good jokes his self satisfied demeanour and body language were maybe not a good look
He welcomed Gary Neville into labour and made the extraordinary suggestion he could became a shadow minister which in itself is ridiculous without knowing Neville's views which ironically include being against all covid restrictions
Today he had Wakeford sit immediately behind him and extolled his defection to labour, while Wakeford wore a union jack face mask and supports right wing conservative policies. No wonder some in labour are far from impressed
In my opinion Starmer is trying to hard and is not receiving the best advice
So. You're calling today a bad day for Starmer?
• A Tory MP defecting to Labour is bad for Labour
• David Davis knifing Boris is bad for Labour
• Starmer brimming with confidence and being funny at PMQs is bad for Labour
I'll miss cycling Boris. He genuinely has done good things to make cycling a viable option for everyday transport, more than any British politician before him.
Today at pmqs he had all the ammunition and much more to near fatally wound Boris and while he made some good jokes his self satisfied demeanour and body language were maybe not a good look
He welcomed Gary Neville into labour and made the extraordinary suggestion he could became a shadow minister which in itself is ridiculous without knowing Neville's views which ironically include being against all covid restrictions
Today he had Wakeford sit immediately behind him and extolled his defection to labour, while Wakeford wore a union jack face mask and supports right wing conservative policies. No wonder some in labour are far from impressed
In my opinion Starmer is trying to hard and is not receiving the best advice
So. You're calling today a bad day for Starmer?
No I did not say that
It is just I do not rate him, and do you disagree with the points I have made
Starmer is mediocre, but Boris is self-destructing
Yes but the longer Johnson stays in place the more he makes Starmer look impressive in comparison and the more difficult it will be for the new Tory leader to put Starmer back in the shade.
David Davis's by-election under Cameron was over ID cards. He's generally been strong on civil liberties. He made a good speech in Parliament recently about the dreadful clause 9 in the Nationality and Borders Bill.
Re this from @Burgessian (fpt) "Funnily enough, I think that Boris's focus on Levelling-Up was a huge opportunity for the Tories to consolidate their position following the Brexit breakthrough. Whoever succeeds him needs to double-down on that, don a hard-hat, and get themselves to as many building sites in the North as possible. The success of Ben Houchen (Tees Valley Mayor) and the Hartlepool by-election are indications of how this could play out if the Tories resist the temptation to revert to type. And, let's face it, a less-than-scintillating London lawyer-type like Keir Starmer is not terribly well-placed to counter it."
I agree. I don't see Sunak or Truss as the leaders to do it, though. It's not just building sites which are needed - it's a range of measures: opportunities, education, housing, transport etc. And Sunak has just binned some of the transport proposals.
There is a fault line in the coalition the Tories built in 2019. Boris might have been able to bridge it. I don't see anyone else atm who can. And I just see complacency from Labour - "coming home" indeed, as if voters belong to a party as of right. I find something really grating about such an approach. It is fundamentally contemptuous of voters.
Meanwhile all this ghastly legislation will keep being quietly put on the statute book, voted for by all the MPs now putting the boot into Boris. And we're supposed to be pleased with them for finally doing just that - if they do. No thanks.
From a betting perspective, this is a key point - the current frontrunners (and also extending to the second tier such as Mourdant) are not the sorts of leaders who will be able to keep the RW voters. They are classic, Home Counties Tories who might save the Cons some seats in the South that might be lost to the LDs but nothing else.
The value bets come from working out which potential candidates would have appeal to RW Tory MPs worried about their seats. I've suggested McVey (ticks RW / ERG / anti-restrictions) but, if you don't like that, look at those possible candidates who are going to appeal to those types of MPs, especially as - unlike many of their traditional Tory MP colleagues - have gained a substantial increase in salary from becoming an MP and therefore don't have nice jobs to go back to.
Today at pmqs he had all the ammunition and much more to near fatally wound Boris and while he made some good jokes his self satisfied demeanour and body language were maybe not a good look
He welcomed Gary Neville into labour and made the extraordinary suggestion he could became a shadow minister which in itself is ridiculous without knowing Neville's views which ironically include being against all covid restrictions
Today he had Wakeford sit immediately behind him and extolled his defection to labour, while Wakeford wore a union jack face mask and supports right wing conservative policies. No wonder some in labour are far from impressed
In my opinion Starmer is trying to hard and is not receiving the best advice
All most voters will hear from the news is; 'Tory MP defects to Labour' and 'Tory MP tells Boris to resign.' Starmer has nothing to worry about from today's performance.
Its good because it makes Labour, on fundamental terms, seem popular and cool
I thought he was a great London Mayor. Less keen on his PM abilities.
The truth is that he was a figurehead in London, while other people made sure the work of his mayoralty was done. Insofar as he impacted on anything, he wasted large amounts of time and money on pursuing his various lunatic schemes.
He’d probably have made a reasonable President in a political system where the president is a figurehead and doesn’t have much real responsibility or work to do.
Sadly for him, our parliamentary system doesn’t work like that, and places demands on the leader that his abilities and character are simply unable to fulfil.
Plus of course. He put in competent people to do the job required in London. As PM he appointed solely on the basis of ideological purity. This is a long way from being all his fault. Apart from the appointments of course.
As I said earlier. Tactical mistake by Labour to do this today:
(((Dan Hodges))) @DPJHodges · 3m Sense amongst Tory MPs is Wakeford defection may have pushed the crisis into next week. “Think they’ll wait for Sue Gray now” one tells me.
Exactly my post pmqs comments
Not a mistake. They want Johnson to stay. The longer he stays the better it is for Labour. They want to fight him at the next election if at all possible. The sooner he goes the quicker someone else comes in and this blows over. They want this to run and run and run.
Labour should be careful what they wish for. If Boris stays in place the media will soon get bored with him and will start seeking out other victims. This happened with Dave - people got fed up kicking Gordon around and so put Dave under the microscope. Suddenly Labour were in the position to make a comeback with the 'insurgent' election. Boris would love nothing better than having a crack at Labour as the underdog. Labour need to make the kill then move on swiftly to Rishi.
As I said earlier. Tactical mistake by Labour to do this today:
(((Dan Hodges))) @DPJHodges · 3m Sense amongst Tory MPs is Wakeford defection may have pushed the crisis into next week. “Think they’ll wait for Sue Gray now” one tells me.
Exactly my post pmqs comments
Not a mistake. They want Johnson to stay. The longer he stays the better it is for Labour. They want to fight him at the next election if at all possible. The sooner he goes the quicker someone else comes in and this blows over. They want this to run and run and run.
Wasn't this the same sort of reason as to when Labour won Batley and Spen i.e. it's actually good news for the Conservatives because it meant Starmer remained as leader?
Things turn. BJ probably is finished but then we said the same things about Starmer a year back. If there is one thing it generally has been wrong to do is to write off Johnson.
Fair point but I think the situation Johnson is in is of a different order. People were (are?) indifferent regarding Starmer on the whole. People are developing a visceral hatred of Johnson
I'm not sure it is necessarily hatred - sure for the remainer types who always hated BJ for Brexit this is Heaven (funny how Beth Rigby's lockdown transgressions got forgotten in the praise for her interview...) For a lot of voters, it just reinforces their view of politicians generally.
The restrictions are off and, in a few months the UK is advancing whilst other countries are in the quagmire, voters may be prepared to stick with him. Unlikely but...
Just because I look white and come from Yorkshire doesn’t mean I’m racist- but only time will tell if the players listen to him.
My own take is dressing rooms can’t be sweetness and light all the time if they want to be successful, telling it as is is part of camaraderie and there also needs to be noise and fun and high morale to take that out on the pitch. So I am not expecting Yorkshire to be successful next season because the dressing room won’t be functioning as I described to be successful. It will be too quiet and watchful.
David Davis's by-election under Cameron was over ID cards. He's generally been strong on civil liberties. He made a good speech in Parliament recently about the dreadful clause 9 in the Nationality and Borders Bill.
Re this from @Burgessian (fpt) "Funnily enough, I think that Boris's focus on Levelling-Up was a huge opportunity for the Tories to consolidate their position following the Brexit breakthrough. Whoever succeeds him needs to double-down on that, don a hard-hat, and get themselves to as many building sites in the North as possible. The success of Ben Houchen (Tees Valley Mayor) and the Hartlepool by-election are indications of how this could play out if the Tories resist the temptation to revert to type. And, let's face it, a less-than-scintillating London lawyer-type like Keir Starmer is not terribly well-placed to counter it."
I agree. I don't see Sunak or Truss as the leaders to do it, though. It's not just building sites which are needed - it's a range of measures: opportunities, education, housing, transport etc. And Sunak has just binned some of the transport proposals.
There is a fault line in the coalition the Tories built in 2019. Boris might have been able to bridge it. I don't see anyone else atm who can. And I just see complacency from Labour - "coming home" indeed, as if voters belong to a party as of right. I find something really grating about such an approach. It is fundamentally contemptuous of voters.
Meanwhile all this ghastly legislation will keep being quietly put on the statute book, voted for by all the MPs now putting the boot into Boris. And we're supposed to be pleased with them for finally doing just that - if they do. No thanks.
From a betting perspective, this is a key point - the current frontrunners (and also extending to the second tier such as Mourdant) are not the sorts of leaders who will be able to keep the RW voters. They are classic, Home Counties Tories who might save the Cons some seats in the South that might be lost to the LDs but nothing else.
The value bets come from working out which potential candidates would have appeal to RW Tory MPs worried about their seats. I've suggested McVey (ticks RW / ERG / anti-restrictions) but, if you don't like that, look at those possible candidates who are going to appeal to those types of MPs, especially as - unlike many of their traditional Tory MP colleagues - have gained a substantial increase in salary from becoming an MP and therefore don't have nice jobs to go back to.
What the hell was Johnson if not a "classic, Home Counties Tory"? If he could appeal to Red Wall former Labour voters, then, in theory at least, any of the current front runners could (also note that Sunak's seat is very far from the Home Counties, and Mordaunt's is in Portsmouth).
If the Red Wall appeal was something unique to Johnson's personality, then none of the (pre-19 entry) Tory MPs have a hope, and it's not worth wasting time even trying.
minuscule uptick in inflation (making highest since headlines look true but misleading the actual story).
Is this business media 1 Eek 0?
The only thing misleading about the headline inflation rate is that it probably understates the effect on those on average earnings.
5.4% year on year inflation is in no way minuscule.
How much did it leap up by?
I reported Business and Financial media now convinced inflation is going to be just a blip not big player in credit crunch. Eek disagreed. Do I add you to list of disagreeing?
"Leap up" is your phrase, not mine or @eek 's , so you tell me. The fact remains that the current rate is over double the average rate of inflation for nearly three decades.
In return, how do you define 'blip', and how long will it last ?
As I said earlier. Tactical mistake by Labour to do this today:
(((Dan Hodges))) @DPJHodges · 3m Sense amongst Tory MPs is Wakeford defection may have pushed the crisis into next week. “Think they’ll wait for Sue Gray now” one tells me.
Exactly my post pmqs comments
Not a mistake. They want Johnson to stay. The longer he stays the better it is for Labour. They want to fight him at the next election if at all possible. The sooner he goes the quicker someone else comes in and this blows over. They want this to run and run and run.
Labour should be careful what they wish for. If Boris stays in place the media will soon get bored with him and will start seeking out other victims. This happened with Dave - people got fed up kicking Gordon around and so put Dave under the microscope. Suddenly Labour were in the position to make a comeback with the 'insurgent' election. Boris would love nothing better than having a crack at Labour as the underdog. Labour need to make the kill then move on swiftly to Rishi.
But Labour can't make the kill. They can hardly make him appear more venal, irresponsible, mendacious and incompetent than he does already. The kill is entirely in the gift of Tory MP's.
The worst PM of my lifetime. Totally unsuited for this crisis. Actually unsuited for any office. A chaotic, appalling, lying, opportunistic, thoroughly nasty piece of work who threw Paterson under the bus and habitually shafts people.
If he's the sort of person you like, Sean, then you're welcome to him. The rest of us will move on and look back on this as the most disastrous premiership of our lives.
Not disastrous at all. He did break the Brexit logjam, and he did make some pretty good calls on Covid. And the focus on levelling-up was astute. He will go down as a consequential PM who committed hari-kiri in a most bizarre way. A brief blazing meteor of a premiership.
And, Leon is right, we will miss such an entertainer in high office.
I think Boris was a fit for the times.
Brexit needed someone not tied down by detail. That's why May failed. Yes, detail matters, but the principle mattered more. Some of the problems we've been left with were utterly predictable, but many of the problems that were predicted haven't happened. Trying to fix them all in advance would have been a waste of time.
Covid needed similar. We'd never have got to the current situation otherwise. Yes, there were mistakes in timing, but how quickly we forget that lockdowns were and are an unprecedented restriction of liberties. I'm glad we had someone in charge who really didn't like them and didn't obsess about numbers, even whilst we all sat here obsessing about numbers.
The aftermath of both needs someone different. And sooner rather than later.
I thought he was a great London Mayor. Less keen on his PM abilities.
The truth is that he was a figurehead in London, while other people made sure the work of his mayoralty was done. Insofar as he impacted on anything, he wasted large amounts of time and money on pursuing his various lunatic schemes.
He’d probably have made a reasonable President in a political system where the president is a figurehead and doesn’t have much real responsibility or work to do.
Sadly for him, our parliamentary system doesn’t work like that, and places demands on the leader that his abilities and character are simply unable to fulfil.
Plus of course. He put in competent people to do the job required in London. As PM he appointed solely on the basis of ideological purity...
No, there was also a clear effort to appoint those who who were less than competent.
Today at pmqs he had all the ammunition and much more to near fatally wound Boris and while he made some good jokes his self satisfied demeanour and body language were maybe not a good look
He welcomed Gary Neville into labour and made the extraordinary suggestion he could became a shadow minister which in itself is ridiculous without knowing Neville's views which ironically include being against all covid restrictions
Today he had Wakeford sit immediately behind him and extolled his defection to labour, while Wakeford wore a union jack face mask and supports right wing conservative policies. No wonder some in labour are far from impressed
In my opinion Starmer is trying to hard and is not receiving the best advice
Christian Wakeford MP should not be admitted to the Labour Party. He has consistently voted against the interests of working-class people; for the £20 universal credit cut, for the Nationality and Borders Bill and for the Police and Crime Bill, against almost every climate change measure.
Labour is a Democratic Socialist Party CW like SKS is not
I've got some sympathy with your view, although on balance it would be foolish to turn down defections.
However, if he doesn't genuinely repent, would it be possible for Bury South CLP to deselect him in advance of the GE? That would be fun.
What does this defection achieve? I guess it's a positive news story for Starmer in a week where he has plenty already. Zero significance in terms of parliamentary arithmetic.
In the longer term, the risk is that Labour get saddled with a right-wing MP they don't want and who could easily walk back to the Tories at some point. But if the local party can support him, I certainly can.
I'll miss cycling Boris. He genuinely has done good things to make cycling a viable option for everyday transport, more than any British politician before him.
The rest of him can do one.
Meanwhile making the roads miserable for everyone else - pedestrians and motorists alike.
The cycle lanes have created widespread anger, often prioritising the middle class leisure cyclists over workers and public transport - including emergency and key workers.
As I said earlier. Tactical mistake by Labour to do this today:
(((Dan Hodges))) @DPJHodges · 3m Sense amongst Tory MPs is Wakeford defection may have pushed the crisis into next week. “Think they’ll wait for Sue Gray now” one tells me.
Exactly my post pmqs comments
Not a mistake. They want Johnson to stay. The longer he stays the better it is for Labour. They want to fight him at the next election if at all possible. The sooner he goes the quicker someone else comes in and this blows over. They want this to run and run and run.
Labour should be careful what they wish for. If Boris stays in place the media will soon get bored with him and will start seeking out other victims. This happened with Dave - people got fed up kicking Gordon around and so put Dave under the microscope. Suddenly Labour were in the position to make a comeback with the 'insurgent' election. Boris would love nothing better than having a crack at Labour as the underdog. Labour need to make the kill then move on swiftly to Rishi.
The decision is not theirs. It's with Tory MPs. What were they going to do, tell Wakeford not to cross the floor? The same Monday Morning Quarterbacks would be saying that they missed an opportunity in failing to welcme him with open arms. There's only so much Labour can do.
In a bold political development, Boris Johnson has accidentally set himself on fire and fallen down a dried-up well. Join us at 6 where we will be joined by Dan Hodges to discuss whether Starmer can survive this fresh blow to his leadership.
But that is a blow for Starmer. Sunak is going to make mincemeat of him on todays performance.
Of course, it's clearly a terrrrrrrrrrrrrrible day for Sir Keir all round.
I know this because I read it, right here on PB!
You seem to be having a debate between you and a whole load of imaginery things nobody has actually said. Rather sad to watch - and a distraction from the main business - the destruction of a PM. Given your views you ought to be able to savour that without shouting down literally nobody!
Just because I look white and come from Yorkshire doesn’t mean I’m racist- but only time will tell if the players listen to him.
My own take is dressing rooms can’t be sweetness and light all the time if they want to be successful, telling it as is is part of camaraderie and there also needs to be noise and fun and high morale to take that out on the pitch. So I am not expecting Yorkshire to be successful next season because the dressing room won’t be functioning as I described to be successful. It will be too quiet and watchful.
A very smart pace bowler in his time, and highly experience international coach - what's not to like ?
Today at pmqs he had all the ammunition and much more to near fatally wound Boris and while he made some good jokes his self satisfied demeanour and body language were maybe not a good look
He welcomed Gary Neville into labour and made the extraordinary suggestion he could became a shadow minister which in itself is ridiculous without knowing Neville's views which ironically include being against all covid restrictions
Today he had Wakeford sit immediately behind him and extolled his defection to labour, while Wakeford wore a union jack face mask and supports right wing conservative policies. No wonder some in labour are far from impressed
In my opinion Starmer is trying to hard and is not receiving the best advice
So. You're calling today a bad day for Starmer?
No I did not say that
It is just I do not rate him, and do you disagree with the points I have made
Yes, your point about Gary Neville is third hand and wrong. Starmer was joking about Neville being in the Cabinet. You remember jokes? Read the transcript, if you doubt it.
Mind you, you've reminded me of my favourite comment on here in days, when our redoubtable Epping friend pointed out that "Gary Neville is no Winston Churchill"Who'd have thought it?
Neville used to play right back. Sounds like a Tory to me.
Starmer has clearly got him confused with his brother.
I do agree that if an MP changes party they should be required to hold a by-election. The ability not to do so stems from the fact that we elect people not parties (officially) but the voters think we elect parties not people. As a Bootle constituent, I am painfully aware that Adolf Hitler would win in my seat if he was running as the Labour party candidate.
The only time I think they would not need a by-election would be if they merely had the whip withdrew, or if they were expelled from the party (ie, the 'defection' is the choice of the party rather than the individual) but in that case they should sit as an independent and not take any other party (or resign from the Commons).
Lots of rules there, but the current setup doesn't work well at all.
It also strikes me as pretty poor, that in the last ten years, of all the parties that had had defections and splits and floor crossings, the only party that asked its new MP to hold a by-election (twice) was UKIP. UKIP - upholding democracy in by-elections Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Change UK..... not so much.
I'll miss cycling Boris. He genuinely has done good things to make cycling a viable option for everyday transport, more than any British politician before him.
The rest of him can do one.
Given the habits of many cyclists, I sometimes wish cyclists would walking a viable option for everyday transport ...
minuscule uptick in inflation (making highest since headlines look true but misleading the actual story).
Is this business media 1 Eek 0?
The only thing misleading about the headline inflation rate is that it probably understates the effect on those on average earnings.
5.4% year on year inflation is in no way minuscule.
How much did it leap up by?
I reported Business and Financial media now convinced inflation is going to be just a blip not big player in credit crunch. Eek disagreed. Do I add you to list of disagreeing?
"Leap up" is your phrase, not mine or @eek 's , so you tell me. The fact remains that the current rate is over double the average rate of inflation for nearly three decades.
In return, how do you define 'blip', and how long will it last ?
Blip = a transient sharp movement up or down (as of a quantity commonly shown on a graph) relatively small or inconsequential within a larger context.
Great to see the Covid theatre nonsense coming to an end.
End of self isolation for the positive by March, and possibly earlier too.
I was called all sorts of names when I suggested that a month or two ago. Great to see it happening soon.
Yes, because a month or two ago it would have been totally inappropriate.
My wife calls me names if I suggest turning off the heating in February, but suddenly in May she's all for it.
Nice try but I was saying that at some point next year (now this year) we should be looking to drop the measure and March is quite early this year relatively. This is coming faster than I expected. 👍
The reaction of a lot of people here was that it would never be appropriate for the legal restriction on isolation for the positive to be dropped. Not that it should only be dropped in March instead.
Nice try, but this is what you actually said:
Rip off the bandage, have the virus burn through a vaccinated population and if anyone's unvaccinated then they can claim their Darwin Award on the way out.
That's far from the only post I ever made and is not what I was referring to since self isolation wasn't even mentioned in that post or the one I was replying to.
And I stand by that comment 100%.
It’s not a thoughtful, caring comment.
Not everyone can get vaccinated even if they want to.
The worst PM of my lifetime. Totally unsuited for this crisis. Actually unsuited for any office. A chaotic, appalling, lying, opportunistic, thoroughly nasty piece of work who threw Paterson under the bus and habitually shafts people.
If he's the sort of person you like, Sean, then you're welcome to him. The rest of us will move on and look back on this as the most disastrous premiership of our lives.
Not disastrous at all. He did break the Brexit logjam, and he did make some pretty good calls on Covid. And the focus on levelling-up was astute. He will go down as a consequential PM who committed hari-kiri in a most bizarre way. A brief blazing meteor of a premiership.
And, Leon is right, we will miss such an entertainer in high office.
I think Boris was a fit for the times.
Brexit needed someone not tied down by detail. That's why May failed. Yes, detail matters, but the principle mattered more. Some of the problems we've been left with were utterly predictable, but many of the problems that were predicted haven't happened. Trying to fix them all in advance would have been a waste of time.
Covid needed similar. We'd never have got to the current situation otherwise. Yes, there were mistakes in timing, but how quickly we forget that lockdowns were and are an unprecedented restriction of liberties. I'm glad we had someone in charge who really didn't like them and didn't obsess about numbers, even whilst we all sat here obsessing about numbers.
The aftermath of both needs someone different. And sooner rather than later.
I don't agree about what Brexit needed, but then I suppose I wouldn't would I. Assuming the goal was to deliver a successful Brexit deal, what it needed was someone with a proper eye for detail, but far better able to sell the necessary compromises than May was. Indeed in hindsight all it needed was May, but with the 2015 Cameron majority rather than the 2017 hung parliament.
The fact there's been such a lack of attention to or interest in the detail is one of a number of reasons why Brexit has ended up the ill-tempered mess that it is, and why nobody is now able to articulate any tangible benefits apart from the simple fact of regaining sovereignty (which is enough for some, but not a quorum of public opinion). The other reason is that, Iraq war style, there just wasn't a clear vision or plan for what came after. Just topple Saddam/Brussels and the rest will follow.
I'll miss cycling Boris. He genuinely has done good things to make cycling a viable option for everyday transport, more than any British politician before him.
As I said earlier. Tactical mistake by Labour to do this today:
(((Dan Hodges))) @DPJHodges · 3m Sense amongst Tory MPs is Wakeford defection may have pushed the crisis into next week. “Think they’ll wait for Sue Gray now” one tells me.
If Wakeford asked him, which he probably did, what's Starmo supposed to say: "Er no, not yet, can't it wait until next week?"
In any case, I think the timing's great. If the ditherers and no-marks who keep threatening letters grow a pair, they'll send in the letters. If they don't, they won't. Not much Keir or anyone else on the Opposition benches can do about that.
I don't think it is a coincidence that it is the small town and northern Tories going for Boris. They were at home in their very quiet constituencies during lockdown. I don't remember any great easing in public until at least the VE day celebrations. Boris has to be removed to cauterise the wound. I think that the Sue Gray report would hopefully identify any other candidate miscreants, and allow a field to be established.
minuscule uptick in inflation (making highest since headlines look true but misleading the actual story).
Is this business media 1 Eek 0?
The only thing misleading about the headline inflation rate is that it probably understates the effect on those on average earnings.
5.4% year on year inflation is in no way minuscule.
How much did it leap up by?
I reported Business and Financial media now convinced inflation is going to be just a blip not big player in credit crunch. Eek disagreed. Do I add you to list of disagreeing?
"Leap up" is your phrase, not mine or @eek 's , so you tell me. The fact remains that the current rate is over double the average rate of inflation for nearly three decades.
In return, how do you define 'blip', and how long will it last ?
Blip = a transient sharp movement up or down (as of a quantity commonly shown on a graph) relatively small or inconsequential within a larger context.
Leap up = something much much larger than 0.3
Is inflation (globally) being driven by a lack of supply, or is that in better shape than last year?
As I said earlier. Tactical mistake by Labour to do this today:
(((Dan Hodges))) @DPJHodges · 3m Sense amongst Tory MPs is Wakeford defection may have pushed the crisis into next week. “Think they’ll wait for Sue Gray now” one tells me.
Exactly my post pmqs comments
Not a mistake. They want Johnson to stay. The longer he stays the better it is for Labour. They want to fight him at the next election if at all possible. The sooner he goes the quicker someone else comes in and this blows over. They want this to run and run and run.
Labour should be careful what they wish for. If Boris stays in place the media will soon get bored with him and will start seeking out other victims. This happened with Dave - people got fed up kicking Gordon around and so put Dave under the microscope. Suddenly Labour were in the position to make a comeback with the 'insurgent' election. Boris would love nothing better than having a crack at Labour as the underdog. Labour need to make the kill then move on swiftly to Rishi.
The decision is not theirs. It's with Tory MPs. What were they going to do, tell Wakeford not to cross the floor? The same Monday Morning Quarterbacks would be saying that they missed an opportunity in failing to welcme him with open arms. There's only so much Labour can do.
I'll miss cycling Boris. He genuinely has done good things to make cycling a viable option for everyday transport, more than any British politician before him.
The rest of him can do one.
Meanwhile making the roads miserable for everyone else - pedestrians and motorists alike.
The cycle lanes have created widespread anger, often prioritising the middle class leisure cyclists over workers and public transport - including emergency and key workers.
"A new analysis finds special London cycle lanes, which aim to boost commuting by bicycle, do not negatively impact traffic speed... the team has used advanced statistical models that incorporate multiple confounding factors to tease apart the impact of CSs [Cycle Superhighways] on congestion and discover whether they caused a change or not. They used data from before the CSs were implemented and afterwards, from 2007-2014, to reduce the complications from comparing different areas of London where other socio-economic factors can have an outsized impact on congestion.
"They found that while CSs somewhat reduced traffic flow – the number of vehicles passing by in a certain time frame – they improved traffic speed, meaning overall there was little impact on congestion."
They may have "created widespread anger", I'll grant you that, but that isn't a good basis for policy-making. Put simply, gammons gonna gammon. What they haven't done, in the round, is significantly worsened congestion.
minuscule uptick in inflation (making highest since headlines look true but misleading the actual story).
Is this business media 1 Eek 0?
The only thing misleading about the headline inflation rate is that it probably understates the effect on those on average earnings.
5.4% year on year inflation is in no way minuscule.
How much did it leap up by?
I reported Business and Financial media now convinced inflation is going to be just a blip not big player in credit crunch. Eek disagreed. Do I add you to list of disagreeing?
"Leap up" is your phrase, not mine or @eek 's , so you tell me. The fact remains that the current rate is over double the average rate of inflation for nearly three decades.
In return, how do you define 'blip', and how long will it last ?
Blip = a transient sharp movement up or down (as of a quantity commonly shown on a graph) relatively small or inconsequential within a larger context.
Leap up = something much much larger than 0.3
The claim that inflation over 5% is 'inconsequential' is very silly. And 0.3% is over ten percent of the average rate for the past couple of decades.
It's possible that deflationary forces (competition in world shipping markets; a rebound in US oil & gas production; supply chains getting rebuilt, etc) will remedy things over the next year or so, but it's definitely not a given.
I do agree that if an MP changes party they should be required to hold a by-election. The ability not to do so stems from the fact that we elect people not parties (officially) but the voters think we elect parties not people. As a Bootle constituent, I am painfully aware that Adolf Hitler would win in my seat if he was running as the Labour party candidate.
The only time I think they would not need a by-election would be if they merely had the whip withdrew, or if they were expelled from the party (ie, the 'defection' is the choice of the party rather than the individual) but in that case they should sit as an independent and not take any other party (or resign from the Commons).
Lots of rules there, but the current setup doesn't work well at all.
It also strikes me as pretty poor, that in the last ten years, of all the parties that had had defections and splits and floor crossings, the only party that asked its new MP to hold a by-election (twice) was UKIP. UKIP - upholding democracy in by-elections Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Change UK..... not so much.
Adolf wouldn't find it quite so easy to get the Labour nomination as he might have done two years ago.
I'll miss cycling Boris. He genuinely has done good things to make cycling a viable option for everyday transport, more than any British politician before him.
The rest of him can do one.
Meanwhile making the roads miserable for everyone else - pedestrians and motorists alike.
The cycle lanes have created widespread anger, often prioritising the middle class leisure cyclists over workers and public transport - including emergency and key workers.
"A new analysis finds special London cycle lanes, which aim to boost commuting by bicycle, do not negatively impact traffic speed... the team has used advanced statistical models that incorporate multiple confounding factors to tease apart the impact of CSs [Cycle Superhighways] on congestion and discover whether they caused a change or not. They used data from before the CSs were implemented and afterwards, from 2007-2014, to reduce the complications from comparing different areas of London where other socio-economic factors can have an outsized impact on congestion.
"They found that while CSs somewhat reduced traffic flow – the number of vehicles passing by in a certain time frame – they improved traffic speed, meaning overall there was little impact on congestion."
They may have "created widespread anger", I'll grant you that, but that isn't a good basis for policy-making. Put simply, gammons gonna gammon. What they haven't done, in the round, is significantly worsened congestion.
The country isn't London. Perhaps throw less insults around and think a little more before you reply?
This data is 2007-2014; the schemes that were sneakily put in place during Covid include some crackers ones in Dorset and BCP.
Today is one of those days where the weird inconsistencies seem to stand out
Boris doesn't have anything to say about anything anymore. Clearly to his detriment he has been caught and cannot justify himself
Boris would be taken to pieces if questioned under oath. He has no answers, because any answer he could now give will drop him in it because of his previous statements. He has lied, everybody knows it, he has no way out other than to say nothing about the parties and blather away with the tractor stats.
I find it inconceivable that Boris will be cleared by the inquiry, such a conclusion would stretch crediblity beyond any normal breaking point. If Boris is cleared I will simply assume that the inquiry was nobbled from the start.
Just because I look white and come from Yorkshire doesn’t mean I’m racist- but only time will tell if the players listen to him.
My own take is dressing rooms can’t be sweetness and light all the time if they want to be successful, telling it as is is part of camaraderie and there also needs to be noise and fun and high morale to take that out on the pitch. So I am not expecting Yorkshire to be successful next season because the dressing room won’t be functioning as I described to be successful. It will be too quiet and watchful.
A very smart pace bowler in his time, and highly experience international coach - what's not to like ?
Cunning question because I am not criticising the calibre of coach, just the situation he is appointed into meaning we can’t be sure he will be listened to so a success or flop or not. Situation means it’s going to be hard for him is something you should have added to your original post.
My cunning question to you, do you think the dressing room will quickly find morale and X factor of it can’t be sweetness and light all the time in a successful dressing room, next season?
I'll miss cycling Boris. He genuinely has done good things to make cycling a viable option for everyday transport, more than any British politician before him.
The rest of him can do one.
Meanwhile making the roads miserable for everyone else - pedestrians and motorists alike.
The cycle lanes have created widespread anger, often prioritising the middle class leisure cyclists over workers and public transport - including emergency and key workers.
"A new analysis finds special London cycle lanes, which aim to boost commuting by bicycle, do not negatively impact traffic speed... the team has used advanced statistical models that incorporate multiple confounding factors to tease apart the impact of CSs [Cycle Superhighways] on congestion and discover whether they caused a change or not. They used data from before the CSs were implemented and afterwards, from 2007-2014, to reduce the complications from comparing different areas of London where other socio-economic factors can have an outsized impact on congestion.
"They found that while CSs somewhat reduced traffic flow – the number of vehicles passing by in a certain time frame – they improved traffic speed, meaning overall there was little impact on congestion."
They may have "created widespread anger", I'll grant you that, but that isn't a good basis for policy-making. Put simply, gammons gonna gammon. What they haven't done, in the round, is significantly worsened congestion.
This is obvious. The lack of cycle lanes on my way to work make me a serious source of congestion, despite whizzing along at 25kph.
The new cycle lanes being put in on a major arterial route near me weave around lampposts, bus stops, the entrance to a major theatre and even bins, making you do near 90 degree turns several times in a few hundred metres.
Who remembers way, way back in Conference season when Johnson's reign as the working man's Prime Mister was going to be crowned by the defection of a whopping three RedWall Labour MPs?
And yet, the defection of just one RedWall Tory to Labour is a Labour disaster.
Who remembers way, way back in Conference season when Johnson's reign as the working man's Prime Mister was going to be crowned by the defection of a whopping three RedWall Labour MPs?
And yet, the defection of just one RedWall Tory to Labour is a Labour disaster.
Has anyone actually said it is a disaster for Labour?
Just because I look white and come from Yorkshire doesn’t mean I’m racist- but only time will tell if the players listen to him.
My own take is dressing rooms can’t be sweetness and light all the time if they want to be successful, telling it as is is part of camaraderie and there also needs to be noise and fun and high morale to take that out on the pitch. So I am not expecting Yorkshire to be successful next season because the dressing room won’t be functioning as I described to be successful. It will be too quiet and watchful.
A very smart pace bowler in his time, and highly experience international coach - what's not to like ?
Cunning question because I am not criticising the calibre of coach, just the situation he is appointed into meaning we can’t be sure he will be listened to so a success or flop or not. Situation means it’s going to be hard for him is something you should have added to your original post.
My cunning question to you, do you think the dressing room will quickly find morale and X factor of it can’t be sweetness and light all the time in a successful dressing room, next season?
I haven't a clue - but they either give up, or make the attempt at a fresh start. So far they seem to have opted for the latter.
Today is one of those days where the weird inconsistencies seem to stand out
Boris doesn't have anything to say about anything anymore. Clearly to his detriment he has been caught and cannot justify himself
Boris would be taken to pieces if questioned under oath. He has no answers, because any answer he could now give will drop him in it because of his previous statements. He has lied, everybody knows it, he has no way out other than to say nothing about the parties and blather away with the tractor stats.
I find it inconceivable that Boris will be cleared by the inquiry, such a conclusion would stretch crediblity beyond any normal breaking point. If Boris is cleared I will simply assume that the inquiry was nobbled from the start.
He must think that he is going to be cleared to some extent. If the result of the enquiry was that he knew that it was a party and that he gave the go ahead for it then he will have to resign. He clearly does not think that this will happen
The worst PM of my lifetime. Totally unsuited for this crisis. Actually unsuited for any office. A chaotic, appalling, lying, opportunistic, thoroughly nasty piece of work who threw Paterson under the bus and habitually shafts people.
If he's the sort of person you like, Sean, then you're welcome to him. The rest of us will move on and look back on this as the most disastrous premiership of our lives.
Not disastrous at all. He did break the Brexit logjam, and he did make some pretty good calls on Covid. And the focus on levelling-up was astute. He will go down as a consequential PM who committed hari-kiri in a most bizarre way. A brief blazing meteor of a premiership.
And, Leon is right, we will miss such an entertainer in high office.
I think Boris was a fit for the times.
Brexit needed someone not tied down by detail. That's why May failed. Yes, detail matters, but the principle mattered more. Some of the problems we've been left with were utterly predictable, but many of the problems that were predicted haven't happened. Trying to fix them all in advance would have been a waste of time.
Covid needed similar. We'd never have got to the current situation otherwise. Yes, there were mistakes in timing, but how quickly we forget that lockdowns were and are an unprecedented restriction of liberties. I'm glad we had someone in charge who really didn't like them and didn't obsess about numbers, even whilst we all sat here obsessing about numbers.
The aftermath of both needs someone different. And sooner rather than later.
I don't agree about what Brexit needed, but then I suppose I wouldn't would I. Assuming the goal was to deliver a successful Brexit deal, what it needed was someone with a proper eye for detail, but far better able to sell the necessary compromises than May was. Indeed in hindsight all it needed was May, but with the 2015 Cameron majority rather than the 2017 hung parliament.
The fact there's been such a lack of attention to or interest in the detail is one of a number of reasons why Brexit has ended up the ill-tempered mess that it is, and why nobody is now able to articulate any tangible benefits apart from the simple fact of regaining sovereignty (which is enough for some, but not a quorum of public opinion). The other reason is that, Iraq war style, there just wasn't a clear vision or plan for what came after. Just topple Saddam/Brussels and the rest will follow.
By the time of the leadership election (and the 2019 general election), the goal had become simply to get the UK out of the EU and sort out the details later, because the unreconstructed Remainers had spent the last two years (and more) in pure obstructionism mode.
It would have been better had Cameron not resigned immediately and had led a rapprochement with the Hannanites who were always going to be quite happy with EEA - there would have been a majority for that in 2016/17. There might even be a majority for it again now!
I liked the SNP intervention “Is the Prime Minister getting rid of the covid rules, simply because he doesn’t understand them?”
It's actually what worries me - that it's being done because he's more frightened of the covid RG than covid.
No, it's being done because the public have had enough of restrictions. See the deets here. Public opinion has swung massively against Covid rules and lockdowns
Incidentally, if Parkway Camden is anything to go by - I've just been for a haircut and shopping - masking is falling away fast already. People cannot be bothered. And now they know masks are finished anyhow? Get rid
I'll miss cycling Boris. He genuinely has done good things to make cycling a viable option for everyday transport, more than any British politician before him.
The rest of him can do one.
Meanwhile making the roads miserable for everyone else - pedestrians and motorists alike.
The cycle lanes have created widespread anger, often prioritising the middle class leisure cyclists over workers and public transport - including emergency and key workers.
"A new analysis finds special London cycle lanes, which aim to boost commuting by bicycle, do not negatively impact traffic speed... the team has used advanced statistical models that incorporate multiple confounding factors to tease apart the impact of CSs [Cycle Superhighways] on congestion and discover whether they caused a change or not. They used data from before the CSs were implemented and afterwards, from 2007-2014, to reduce the complications from comparing different areas of London where other socio-economic factors can have an outsized impact on congestion.
"They found that while CSs somewhat reduced traffic flow – the number of vehicles passing by in a certain time frame – they improved traffic speed, meaning overall there was little impact on congestion."
They may have "created widespread anger", I'll grant you that, but that isn't a good basis for policy-making. Put simply, gammons gonna gammon. What they haven't done, in the round, is significantly worsened congestion.
The country isn't London. Perhaps throw less insults around and think a little more before you reply?
This data is 2007-2014; the schemes that were sneakily put in place during Covid include some crackers ones in Dorset and BCP.
Wait, you mean Dorset, run by (checks notes) the Tories, and BCP, run by (checks notes) the Tories, didn't do a very good job of planning and implementing something? Shocked. Shocked, I tell you.
Why is Bury South called Bury South? It isn't Bury at all.
Now that's my kind of post! I guess because it is the south of Bury MBC. But Rochdale, Stockport, Salford, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan don't follow that principle. Bolton does. Oldham gets both the name of the MBC plus the other bits.
Does this 'ally' really expect people not to make the connection with the record of loyalty to Cameron and May of another prominent figure?
When was Boris disloyal to Cameron?
If you mean Brexit that was deemed by Cameron a matter of conscience. If "loyalty" was supposed to be expressed even on a conscience vote then presumably there were Brexiteers in 2016 putting misplaced loyalty to Cameron ahead of doing the right thing by the country?
I'll miss cycling Boris. He genuinely has done good things to make cycling a viable option for everyday transport, more than any British politician before him.
The rest of him can do one.
Meanwhile making the roads miserable for everyone else - pedestrians and motorists alike.
The cycle lanes have created widespread anger, often prioritising the middle class leisure cyclists over workers and public transport - including emergency and key workers.
"A new analysis finds special London cycle lanes, which aim to boost commuting by bicycle, do not negatively impact traffic speed... the team has used advanced statistical models that incorporate multiple confounding factors to tease apart the impact of CSs [Cycle Superhighways] on congestion and discover whether they caused a change or not. They used data from before the CSs were implemented and afterwards, from 2007-2014, to reduce the complications from comparing different areas of London where other socio-economic factors can have an outsized impact on congestion.
"They found that while CSs somewhat reduced traffic flow – the number of vehicles passing by in a certain time frame – they improved traffic speed, meaning overall there was little impact on congestion."
They may have "created widespread anger", I'll grant you that, but that isn't a good basis for policy-making. Put simply, gammons gonna gammon. What they haven't done, in the round, is significantly worsened congestion.
The country isn't London. Perhaps throw less insults around and think a little more before you reply?
This data is 2007-2014; the schemes that were sneakily put in place during Covid include some crackers ones in Dorset and BCP.
Wait, you mean Dorset, run by (checks notes) the Tories, and BCP, run by (checks notes) the Tories, didn't do a very good job of planning and implementing something? Shocked. Shocked, I tell you.
Try again. BCP covid ETRO schemes were almost exclusively implemented by a rag tag 'Unity alliance' of LDs, indies, Greens, Labour etc....
Christian Wakeford MP supports the Borders Bill. He claimed asylum seekers fleeing war zones, risking their lives, before reaching the UK have a “shopping trolley as to what they want”.
He’s a Tory who has been welcomed into SKS Labour.
I am sure some of the stuff Bury South Labour has said about him will not be at all damaging in 2024
Question for PB politics geeks. OK the whole of PB
The Tory MP who has defected to Labour. Is he guaranteed to be Labour's Bury South candidate in the next GE? Can any party guarantee that? I presume he's got some reassurance from the PLP but can they overrule the constituency?
Because their must be Labour people in Bury who will deeply resent a Tory taking away their chance of being the local MP - quite a good chance in 2024, too
I'll miss cycling Boris. He genuinely has done good things to make cycling a viable option for everyday transport, more than any British politician before him.
The rest of him can do one.
Meanwhile making the roads miserable for everyone else - pedestrians and motorists alike.
The cycle lanes have created widespread anger, often prioritising the middle class leisure cyclists over workers and public transport - including emergency and key workers.
I'll miss cycling Boris. He genuinely has done good things to make cycling a viable option for everyday transport, more than any British politician before him.
The rest of him can do one.
Meanwhile making the roads miserable for everyone else - pedestrians and motorists alike.
The cycle lanes have created widespread anger, often prioritising the middle class leisure cyclists over workers and public transport - including emergency and key workers.
"A new analysis finds special London cycle lanes, which aim to boost commuting by bicycle, do not negatively impact traffic speed... the team has used advanced statistical models that incorporate multiple confounding factors to tease apart the impact of CSs [Cycle Superhighways] on congestion and discover whether they caused a change or not. They used data from before the CSs were implemented and afterwards, from 2007-2014, to reduce the complications from comparing different areas of London where other socio-economic factors can have an outsized impact on congestion.
"They found that while CSs somewhat reduced traffic flow – the number of vehicles passing by in a certain time frame – they improved traffic speed, meaning overall there was little impact on congestion."
They may have "created widespread anger", I'll grant you that, but that isn't a good basis for policy-making. Put simply, gammons gonna gammon. What they haven't done, in the round, is significantly worsened congestion.
The country isn't London. Perhaps throw less insults around and think a little more before you reply?
This data is 2007-2014; the schemes that were sneakily put in place during Covid include some crackers ones in Dorset and BCP.
Yes, which is why I said "in the round". There have been good interventions and bad interventions, but there is no published evidence that "the cycle lanes" have consistently worsened congestion across Britain.
You could certainly believe that they've "created widespread anger" if you spend your time BTL on local newspaper websites or Facebook, but in fact, YouGov national polling (2020) shows that 58% of people support installing cycle lanes on all main roads in urban areas, vs 20% oppose.
Generally, those schemes that cleave most closely to the guidance set out by central Government (LTN 1/20) have been most effective. Those designed by local authority officers to their own prejudices, less so. I'm not familiar with the Dorset/BCP schemes but here in Oxfordshire, and certain other areas I visit, that's very much the case. And I can't blame Oxfordshire's failings on Boris, certainly not now it's being run by a centre-left coalition.
Who remembers way, way back in Conference season when Johnson's reign as the working man's Prime Mister was going to be crowned by the defection of a whopping three RedWall Labour MPs?
And yet, the defection of just one RedWall Tory to Labour is a Labour disaster.
Has anyone actually said it is a disaster for Labour?
Corbynista RedWall Boris fan BJO off the top of my head and a couple of others who I don't recall.
Question for PB politics geeks. OK the whole of PB
The Tory MP who has defected to Labour. Is he guaranteed to be Labour's Bury South candidate in the next GE? Can any party guarantee that? I presume he's got some reassurance from the PLP but can they overrule the constituency?
Because their must be Labour people in Bury who will deeply resent a Tory taking away their chance of being the local MP - quite a good chance in 2024, too
As we have learned the constituency CLP can deselect. However I'd be surprised if discussions had not included the CLP.
I liked the SNP intervention “Is the Prime Minister getting rid of the covid rules, simply because he doesn’t understand them?”
It's actually what worries me - that it's being done because he's more frightened of the covid RG than covid.
No, it's being done because the public have had enough of restrictions. See the deets here. Public opinion has swung massively against Covid rules and lockdowns
Incidentally, if Parkway Camden is anything to go by - I've just been for a haircut and shopping - masking is falling away fast already. People cannot be bothered. And now they know masks are finished anyhow? Get rid
Comments
I reported Business and Financial media now convinced inflation is going to be just a blip not big player in credit crunch. Eek disagreed. Do I add you to list of disagreeing?
I do think Starmer and Labour are missing a trick, and it is something they can use Wakeford for. Castigate the entire party for keeping the clown on as PM, when he is clearly unfit for the role.
Wakeford and Davis are not the big wins for Johnson some on here are selling.
I for one won't be missing him...
I know this because I read it, right here on PB!
He did accelerate the process but the problem now is that his deliver has been so incompetent he will drive them back to Labour and make it twice as hard to win them back for any future leader.
He’d probably have made a reasonable President in a political system where the president is a figurehead and doesn’t have much real responsibility or work to do.
Sadly for him, our parliamentary system doesn’t work like that, and places demands on the leader that his abilities and character are simply unable to fulfil.
The rest of him can do one.
Yes but the longer Johnson stays in place the more he makes Starmer look impressive in comparison and the more difficult it will be for the new Tory leader to put Starmer back in the shade.
The value bets come from working out which potential candidates would have appeal to RW Tory MPs worried about their seats. I've suggested McVey (ticks RW / ERG / anti-restrictions) but, if you don't like that, look at those possible candidates who are going to appeal to those types of MPs, especially as - unlike many of their traditional Tory MP colleagues - have gained a substantial increase in salary from becoming an MP and therefore don't have nice jobs to go back to.
As PM he appointed solely on the basis of ideological purity.
This is a long way from being all his fault. Apart from the appointments of course.
The restrictions are off and, in a few months the UK is advancing whilst other countries are in the quagmire, voters may be prepared to stick with him. Unlikely but...
My own take is dressing rooms can’t be sweetness and light all the time if they want to be successful, telling it as is is part of camaraderie and there also needs to be noise and fun and high morale to take that out on the pitch. So I am not expecting Yorkshire to be successful next season because the dressing room won’t be functioning as I described to be successful. It will be too quiet and watchful.
If the Red Wall appeal was something unique to Johnson's personality, then none of the (pre-19 entry) Tory MPs have a hope, and it's not worth wasting time even trying.
The fact remains that the current rate is over double the average rate of inflation for nearly three decades.
In return, how do you define 'blip', and how long will it last ?
They can hardly make him appear more venal, irresponsible, mendacious and incompetent than he does already.
The kill is entirely in the gift of Tory MP's.
Brexit needed someone not tied down by detail. That's why May failed. Yes, detail matters, but the principle mattered more. Some of the problems we've been left with were utterly predictable, but many of the problems that were predicted haven't happened. Trying to fix them all in advance would have been a waste of time.
Covid needed similar. We'd never have got to the current situation otherwise. Yes, there were mistakes in timing, but how quickly we forget that lockdowns were and are an unprecedented restriction of liberties. I'm glad we had someone in charge who really didn't like them and didn't obsess about numbers, even whilst we all sat here obsessing about numbers.
The aftermath of both needs someone different. And sooner rather than later.
In the longer term, the risk is that Labour get saddled with a right-wing MP they don't want and who could easily walk back to the Tories at some point. But if the local party can support him, I certainly can.
The cycle lanes have created widespread anger, often prioritising the middle class leisure cyclists over workers and public transport - including emergency and key workers.
One of the worst of his hobby horses.
So how do you have the score line Financial Media (short blip) 0 - Eek (high inflation two years) 0 - very early stages of match?
Joe Pike @joepike
Boris Johnson ally calls David Davis ‘inconsistent and irrelevant’. Claims his call for the PM to go was ‘badly timed’.
‘He is showing the same loyalty he showed to David Cameron and Theresa May’
https://twitter.com/joepike/status/1483792191101317122
Does this 'ally' really expect people not to make the connection with the record of loyalty to Cameron and May of another prominent figure?
Captain Darling: So you see, Blackadder, Field Marshall Haig is most anxious to eliminate all these German spies.
General Melchett: Filthy hun weasels, fighting their dirty underhand war!
Captain Darling: And fortunately, one of our spies...
General Melchett: Splendid fellows, brave heroes risking life and limb for Blighty!
Boris doesn't have anything to say about anything anymore. Clearly to his detriment he has been caught and cannot justify himself
The Labour party has welcomed a chancer who I don't think anyone believes is doing more than saving his skin.
"The fact that a Tory MP , with a voting record Genghis Khan would be proud of, is at home in Keir Starmer’s Labour, says it all."
Starmer has clearly got him confused with his brother.
I do agree that if an MP changes party they should be required to hold a by-election. The ability not to do so stems from the fact that we elect people not parties (officially) but the voters think we elect parties not people.
As a Bootle constituent, I am painfully aware that Adolf Hitler would win in my seat if he was running as the Labour party candidate.
The only time I think they would not need a by-election would be if they merely had the whip withdrew, or if they were expelled from the party (ie, the 'defection' is the choice of the party rather than the individual) but in that case they should sit as an independent and not take any other party (or resign from the Commons).
Lots of rules there, but the current setup doesn't work well at all.
It also strikes me as pretty poor, that in the last ten years, of all the parties that had had defections and splits and floor crossings, the only party that asked its new MP to hold a by-election (twice) was UKIP.
UKIP - upholding democracy in by-elections
Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Change UK..... not so much.
Westminster voting intention:
LAB: 41% (-1)
CON: 32% (-)
LDEM: 11% (-)
GRN: 4% (-)
via
@SavantaComRes
, 14 - 16 Jan
Leap up = something much much larger than 0.3
The fact there's been such a lack of attention to or interest in the detail is one of a number of reasons why Brexit has ended up the ill-tempered mess that it is, and why nobody is now able to articulate any tangible benefits apart from the simple fact of regaining sovereignty (which is enough for some, but not a quorum of public opinion). The other reason is that, Iraq war style, there just wasn't a clear vision or plan for what came after. Just topple Saddam/Brussels and the rest will follow.
Name me the last Labour MP to defect TO the Tories.
"A new analysis finds special London cycle lanes, which aim to boost commuting by bicycle, do not negatively impact traffic speed... the team has used advanced statistical models that incorporate multiple confounding factors to tease apart the impact of CSs [Cycle Superhighways] on congestion and discover whether they caused a change or not. They used data from before the CSs were implemented and afterwards, from 2007-2014, to reduce the complications from comparing different areas of London where other socio-economic factors can have an outsized impact on congestion.
"They found that while CSs somewhat reduced traffic flow – the number of vehicles passing by in a certain time frame – they improved traffic speed, meaning overall there was little impact on congestion."
They may have "created widespread anger", I'll grant you that, but that isn't a good basis for policy-making. Put simply, gammons gonna gammon. What they haven't done, in the round, is significantly worsened congestion.
And 0.3% is over ten percent of the average rate for the past couple of decades.
It's possible that deflationary forces (competition in world shipping markets; a rebound in US oil & gas production; supply chains getting rebuilt, etc) will remedy things over the next year or so, but it's definitely not a given.
Next
If not, what are the rumblers waiting for?
You can’t claim to lead a party of unionism whilst losing the support of your Scottish arm
This data is 2007-2014; the schemes that were sneakily put in place during Covid include some crackers ones in Dorset and BCP.
I find it inconceivable that Boris will be cleared by the inquiry, such a conclusion would stretch crediblity beyond any normal breaking point. If Boris is cleared I will simply assume that the inquiry was nobbled from the start.
My cunning question to you, do you think the dressing room will quickly find morale and X factor of it can’t be sweetness and light all the time in a successful dressing room, next season?
The new cycle lanes being put in on a major arterial route near me weave around lampposts, bus stops, the entrance to a major theatre and even bins, making you do near 90 degree turns several times in a few hundred metres.
I shall continue to use the road.
And yet, the defection of just one RedWall Tory to Labour is a Labour disaster.
So far they seem to have opted for the latter.
If the result of the enquiry was that he knew that it was a party and that he gave the go ahead for it then he will have to resign. He clearly does not think that this will happen
It would have been better had Cameron not resigned immediately and had led a rapprochement with the Hannanites who were always going to be quite happy with EEA - there would have been a majority for that in 2016/17. There might even be a majority for it again now!
https://unherd.com/2022/01/covid-could-still-save-boris/
Incidentally, if Parkway Camden is anything to go by - I've just been for a haircut and shopping - masking is falling away fast already. People cannot be bothered. And now they know masks are finished anyhow? Get rid
I guess because it is the south of Bury MBC.
But Rochdale, Stockport, Salford, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan don't follow that principle.
Bolton does. Oldham gets both the name of the MBC plus the other bits.
If you mean Brexit that was deemed by Cameron a matter of conscience. If "loyalty" was supposed to be expressed even on a conscience vote then presumably there were Brexiteers in 2016 putting misplaced loyalty to Cameron ahead of doing the right thing by the country?
He’s a Tory who has been welcomed into SKS Labour.
I am sure some of the stuff Bury South Labour has said about him will not be at all damaging in 2024
The Tory MP who has defected to Labour. Is he guaranteed to be Labour's Bury South candidate in the next GE? Can any party guarantee that? I presume he's got some reassurance from the PLP but can they overrule the constituency?
Because their must be Labour people in Bury who will deeply resent a Tory taking away their chance of being the local MP - quite a good chance in 2024, too
You could certainly believe that they've "created widespread anger" if you spend your time BTL on local newspaper websites or Facebook, but in fact, YouGov national polling (2020) shows that 58% of people support installing cycle lanes on all main roads in urban areas, vs 20% oppose.
Generally, those schemes that cleave most closely to the guidance set out by central Government (LTN 1/20) have been most effective. Those designed by local authority officers to their own prejudices, less so. I'm not familiar with the Dorset/BCP schemes but here in Oxfordshire, and certain other areas I visit, that's very much the case. And I can't blame Oxfordshire's failings on Boris, certainly not now it's being run by a centre-left coalition.
Tory MP Jonathan Gullis claims on @skynews that MPs are withdrawing letters from Sir Graham Brady
But admitted on air to me he doesn’t know who those individuals are or how many there are and says he hasn’t spoken to any such individuals directly
https://twitter.com/samcoatessky/status/1483808223857627143?s=21