Starmer starts his third year as LOTO with positive approval ratings – politicalbetting.com

YBarddCwsc said:

bigjohnowls said:

I see Serbia & Hungary returned pro-Russian leaders in this weekend’s elections.

Hungary now not letting re supply of weaponry to Ukraine only food and Medicines via Hungary

It was interesting to see the British press entirely wrong-footed on Hungary.

Prior to the election, the press was reporting a stern test, close election, on a knife-edge, blah, blah. "Putinist" Orban would be punished and he would pay the price for not supporting Ukraine. It was all eagerly regurgitated on pb.com.

In fact, the result was a fourth consecutive landslide for Orban.

The proper conclusion is that few, if any, articles in the UK media on Eastern Europe are to be trusted.

I take no pleasure on the return of Orban -- but the biggest mistake, as aways, is to believe the bullshit in the UK press.

Well we don't know at this stage whether there was any fraud in the vote. Give it some time for a bit of analysis to be done.

There is something rather indicative in how the one central or eastern European leader who until recently was getting any attention in the UK was Orban. All the impressive Harvard educated types are ignored as Zelensky was too.

BigRich said:

CarlottaVance said:

On Russian TV - talk show says Bucha is part of an Anglosaxon campaign to discredit Russia. Macron also gets mentioned for his comments earlier about war crimes. Footage shown on a loop tagged “FAKE” in English.

https://twitter.com/mariatad/status/1510920650923327488

Russian propaganda experts, and they are experts, probably understand that they need to have these images De-credibalised in the eyes of Russians, or they would seep in anyway people would be shocked, so its a case of getting ahead of events. will it work? Sadly probably yes.

We should be very proud of the fact that it isn't simply American propaganda that they are blaming but Anglo Saxon. Maybe they include the ANZACs too?

StuartDickson said:

Not in Scotland.

Net favourability

Sturgeon 13%
Scottish Government 7%
Anas Sarwar 1%
Keir Starmer -10
Patrick Harvie -15
Alex Cole-Hamilton -15
Lorna Slater -15
Rishi Sunak -19
Douglas Ross -21
UK Government -50
Alex Salmond -62
Boris Johnson -62

(Savanta ComRes/The Scotsman; 14-18 January; 1,004)

But Starmer is a net 52% better than Johnson on these figures

IshmaelZ said:

Sue Gray will investigate
I want to be trans
I am in a psychiatric hospital
MI6 will investigate

Indeed.
A shadowy foreign power forced me to allegedly snort coke and commit assault shows it isn't just Putin who's disinformation requires some contortions of logic.

Dethreaded. Soddit

This is my favourite bleak photo this morning.

Del Boy watches an aircraft carrier from his amphibious Transit van.

IshmaelZ said:

bigjohnowls said:

On Topic

SKS is a dud

No policies Blair had plebty of radical policies

No Charisma Blair had plenty

No Political Nouse Blair had it in spades

No hope Blair offered some

It's nous. greek νοῦς - mind, intelligence

Had Blair got any? Has Starmer?

Especially given how bleak things looked for SKS ten months ago, it's remarkable how far he's got by just buggering on. Helps that he's up against Johnson.

Remember that episode of Yes, Minister where Hacker was driven mad by everyone telling him that he was doing all right? That. It may not be enough, but Starmer is doing all right. Or not all wrong, anyway.

williamglenn said:

A member of the Hungarian government implies they want to take a slice of Ukraine:

@zoltanspox
A special greeting to the Hungarians of Transcarpathia - I tell them not to grieve, to hold on - the Mother country is with them.

https://twitter.com/zoltanspox/status/1510721699528032262

Serbia & Hungary both returned pro-Russian leaders in this weekend’s elections. Hungary no longer allowing weapons via Hungary to Ukraine so makes sense if what you say is correct

dixiedean said:

williamglenn said:

A member of the Hungarian government implies they want to take a slice of Ukraine:

@zoltanspox
A special greeting to the Hungarians of Transcarpathia - I tell them not to grieve, to hold on - the Mother country is with them.

https://twitter.com/zoltanspox/status/1510721699528032262

Remained unspoken till safely re-elected. Kinda obvious if you read between the lines.

A week ago: https://hungarytoday.hu/hungarian-embassy-ukraine/

FPT:

Cicero said:

FF43 said:

Stuartinromford said:

LostPassword said:

Andy_JS said:

Still don't understand why the Germans and Italians thought making themselves reliant on Russian gas was a good idea.

I forget who it was, but someone on here did provide a [link to a?] good explanation.

After WWII the object of economic integration between France and Germany was to make a war between the two countries impossible. After more than 75 years there has been no war between the two countries, and one is now unthinkable. In the previous 75 years there had been three major wars between the two countries.

So the intent was to create such a level of mutual economic dependence that war between Germany [and Europe more generally] and Russia would become impossible. This didn't work, and they should have realised earlier that it wasn't working, but put in those terms it doesn't seem like an entirely ridiculous idea.

When did it become unambiguous that Putin was unambiguously evil, rather than a strongman leader who we didn't like but could understand and do business with? My vague recollection of when he first came to power is it was a bit of a relief after the shambles of the Yeltsin years.

A bit like 1930's comments like "Hurrah for the Blackshirts" or "Dictators are very popular these days. We might want one in England before long"

Grozny and when Blair said he was "comfortable" with him. Which I have just checked was as far back as 2000

I would say the false flag apartment bombings were a terrible warning, so September 1999. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_apartment_bombings

I've read Satter's "Darkness at Dawn" and the book "Blowing up Russia" by Felshtinsky and Litvinenko, as well as a few other books that repeat the allegations. One major problem with this false flag scenario is that there is very little hard evidence, particularly in English, and a lot of allegations, often second-hand. So whilst the scenario presented about the Ryazan attempted bombing is extremely fishy, I really don't think they is anything conclusive that can be said about it.

That said if you take the official narrative seriously you have to believe that during a bombing campaign the Moscow FSB staged an essentially identical drill/test without informing any of the authorities in Ryazan, and when this "test" was passed the Russian government initially praised the Ryazan authorities for foiling a real terrorist attack, only to change positions the next day, to it being merely a drill, when some members of the FSB were arrested.

It would be like a few days after the 7/7 bombings if the Met Police had staged a very similar attack in Manchester, the GMP had foiled it, and the Home Secretary had congratulated Manchester. The next day the GMP arrest some Met officers and the Home Secretary then says "ha ha, it was just a test".

Even if you buy the official narrative, it it still completely nuts, the disregard for public safety is extraordinary.

I hope that one day when Putin is dead a future Russian government will properly investigate the origins of the Second Chechen War.

fpt

FrankBooth said:

TOPPING said:

Sandpit said:

glw said:

dixiedean said:

glw said:

Stuartinromford said:

When did it become unambiguous that Putin was unambiguously evil, rather than a strongman leader who we didn't like but could understand and do business with? My vague recollection of when he first came to power is it was a bit of a relief after the shambles of the Yeltsin years.

A bit like 1930's comments like "Hurrah for the Blackshirts" or "Dictators are very popular these days. We might want one in England before long"

I keep thinking back to the sinking of the Kursk submarine in 2000. That public narrative up to then had been that if we weren't allies of Russia there was at least a degree of friendship between Russia and the West. When Russia rebuffed the intial offers of help from Britain and Norway, and blamed a US submarine at first, it was clear that the relations were a lot frostier than generally realised.

Putin was hugely supportive of the US over 9/11.
That bought him lots of time and kudos with the West.
That it was because it was in his interests, not because he was a supporter of democracy and opponent of terror, doesn't appear to have been much considered.

Oh the US and the West in general misread a lot of the support and apparent realignment after 9/11. A lot of countries were simply happy to get the US off their backs and aimed at their enemies.

Indeed. Putin was simply happy that US attention was turned elsewhere for a few years, towards a different enemy.

It was of course turned towards an enemy that "we" thought we could beat easily. That is the defining difference between previous incursions and this one. Hand wringing aside there is simply nothing we can do short of actually calling the nuclear bluff that is likely to arrest the activities we are seeing.

Do I like it? Of course not. Should Putin face sanction, well yes. But we are seeing from the wrong side how the doctrine of might is right plays out.

You've repeatedly overestimated Russian capability in this war. Time for a re-think? Kiev is okay, Odessa is okay, the west of the country is okay. They are being pushed away from Kharkiv. The entirety of Ukraine is hardly at Russia's mercy. Thank goodness we provided the weapons we did or it would have been truly hideous. Thank goodness the Ukrainian forces have been as impressive as they have been. Imagine if Russian troops had got into Kiev proper. It doesn't bear thinking about.

I haven't overestimated anything; I have counselled against jumping to conclusions based upon twitter feeds.

I have no idea how this will play out, what is Putin's endgame or plan such as it was or is, or anything much else.

I do note a couple of things, that said. First that vituperation heaped upon those who do not tow, or perhaps worse still question the PB Russa-Ukraine line. Secondly, the latching onto particular twitter feeds as if they give the gospel truth.

Whether these latter do or not it is not imo a good habit to get into to so slavishly and without question treat them as the only true source of information. It smacks to me more of hope over experience (perfectly understandable but not necessarily a good analytic framework).

Referring to todays R&W Poll

Election Maps says "One party has seen a pretty significant increase in their support compared to last week"...


Cabt think its the Tories so i reckon Labour up 4 or 5% to a 6 or 7% lead

Just a guess

williamglenn said:

A member of the Hungarian government implies they want to take a slice of Ukraine:

@zoltanspox
A special greeting to the Hungarians of Transcarpathia - I tell them not to grieve, to hold on - the Mother country is with them.

https://twitter.com/zoltanspox/status/1510721699528032262

I don't know how the last four weeks or so have given anyone the idea that picking a fight with Ukraine is a good idea.

YBarddCwsc said:

FrankBooth said:

YBarddCwsc said:

FrankBooth said:

YBarddCwsc said:

bigjohnowls said:

I see Serbia & Hungary returned pro-Russian leaders in this weekend’s elections.

Hungary now not letting re supply of weaponry to Ukraine only food and Medicines via Hungary

It was interesting to see the British press entirely wrong-footed on Hungary.

Prior to the election, the press was reporting a stern test, close election, on a knife-edge, blah, blah. "Putinist" Orban would be punished and he would pay the price for not supporting Ukraine. It was all eagerly regurgitated on pb.com.

In fact, the result was a fourth consecutive landslide for Orban.

The proper conclusion is that few, if any, articles in the UK media on Eastern Europe are to be trusted.

I take no pleasure on the return of Orban -- but the biggest mistake, as aways, is to believe the bullshit in the UK press.

Well we don't know at this stage whether there was any fraud in the vote. Give it some time for a bit of analysis to be done.

There is something rather indicative in how the one central or eastern European leader who until recently was getting any attention in the UK was Orban. All the impressive Harvard educated types are ignored as Zelensky was too.

I think serious allegations require serious evidence, and then a serious investigation.

If you are alleging electoral fraud, it is beholden on you to provide the serious evidence.

Otherwise you really are no better than Donald Trump.

His gerrymandering and authoritarian tendencies have been exposed for years. I'd put the burden of proof on him to show the election was free and fair.

You seem not to understand some very basic principles.

Let's hope you are never accused of anything serious ... but if you are, I will still be arguing that the burden of proof is on your accusers.

Russia has shown very clearly what a wholly state dominated media can do.
Hungary is some way down that road, and the election result wasn't a massive surprise.

Oh wow. Last week Elon Musk was complaining about Twitter and their lack of support for freedom of speech.

This week, he spends $2.9bn on buying a 9.2% stake in the company.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2022/04/04/twitter-shares-soar-elon-musk-takes-29bn-stake/

NickPalmer said:

FrankBooth said:

YBarddCwsc said:

bigjohnowls said:

I see Serbia & Hungary returned pro-Russian leaders in this weekend’s elections.

Hungary now not letting re supply of weaponry to Ukraine only food and Medicines via Hungary

It was interesting to see the British press entirely wrong-footed on Hungary.

Prior to the election, the press was reporting a stern test, close election, on a knife-edge, blah, blah. "Putinist" Orban would be punished and he would pay the price for not supporting Ukraine. It was all eagerly regurgitated on pb.com.

In fact, the result was a fourth consecutive landslide for Orban.

The proper conclusion is that few, if any, articles in the UK media on Eastern Europe are to be trusted.

I take no pleasure on the return of Orban -- but the biggest mistake, as always, is to believe the bullshit in the UK press.

Well we don't know at this stage whether there was any fraud in the vote. Give it some time for a bit of analysis to be done.

There is something rather indicative in how the one central or eastern European leader who until recently was getting any attention in the UK was Orban. All the impressive Harvard educated types are ignored as Zelensky was too.

The press, insofar as they take an interest in foreign elections at all, always report a "tight race", because it's just more interesting than "X is strolling to victory". Same thing in France. Orban has attracted attention where the Serbian leadership has not because of the "defies EU" theme, and because he relishes the bad-guy anti-liberal image, rather like Trump. But the polls unfortunately pretty consistently showed Orban cruising to victory.

Generally we do collectively underestimate the "strong ethnic nationalist leader" theme in countries in difficulty, despite the ample evidence that it nearly always ends badly.

It was a "tight race" only if you added up the totals of the opposition parties from the last election, and assumed that their recent electoral alliance would hold onto all those votes.
That was always something of an unlikely prospect.

YBarddCwsc said:

williamglenn said:

A member of the Hungarian government implies they want to take a slice of Ukraine:

@zoltanspox
A special greeting to the Hungarians of Transcarpathia - I tell them not to grieve, to hold on - the Mother country is with them.

https://twitter.com/zoltanspox/status/1510721699528032262

How have we got from that tweet to Hungary wants to invade the Ukraine?

The EU is going to have to take some further action against Hungary at some point. I see that today, and even despite everything and the current situation, the Polish government is still attempting to somewhat defend Hungary. "Germany is the main roadblock to sanctions, not Hungary", according to the Polish government today, which is generally propaganda.

YBarddCwsc said:

Nigelb said:

YBarddCwsc said:

FrankBooth said:

YBarddCwsc said:

FrankBooth said:

YBarddCwsc said:

bigjohnowls said:

I see Serbia & Hungary returned pro-Russian leaders in this weekend’s elections.

Hungary now not letting re supply of weaponry to Ukraine only food and Medicines via Hungary

It was interesting to see the British press entirely wrong-footed on Hungary.

Prior to the election, the press was reporting a stern test, close election, on a knife-edge, blah, blah. "Putinist" Orban would be punished and he would pay the price for not supporting Ukraine. It was all eagerly regurgitated on pb.com.

In fact, the result was a fourth consecutive landslide for Orban.

The proper conclusion is that few, if any, articles in the UK media on Eastern Europe are to be trusted.

I take no pleasure on the return of Orban -- but the biggest mistake, as aways, is to believe the bullshit in the UK press.

Well we don't know at this stage whether there was any fraud in the vote. Give it some time for a bit of analysis to be done.

There is something rather indicative in how the one central or eastern European leader who until recently was getting any attention in the UK was Orban. All the impressive Harvard educated types are ignored as Zelensky was too.

I think serious allegations require serious evidence, and then a serious investigation.

If you are alleging electoral fraud, it is beholden on you to provide the serious evidence.

Otherwise you really are no better than Donald Trump.

His gerrymandering and authoritarian tendencies have been exposed for years. I'd put the burden of proof on him to show the election was free and fair.

You seem not to understand some very basic principles.

Let's hope you are never accused of anything serious ... but if you are, I will still be arguing that the burden of proof is on your accusers.

Russia has shown very clearly what a wholly state dominated media can do.
Hungary is some way down that road, and the election result wasn't a massive surprise.

So is Poland.

If you predicted the election in Hungary correctly, well done. I am only pointing out that the UK press -- from the Daily Mail to the Guardian -- did not.

And of course, I am standing up for the principle that serious allegations deserve serious evidence and then a serious investigation

Fair points.
Though quite how one might go about an independent investigation of such things in Hungary is an interesting question.

MarqueeMark said:

StuartDickson said:

Not in Scotland.

Net favourability

Sturgeon 13%
Scottish Government 7%
Anas Sarwar 1%
Keir Starmer -10
Patrick Harvie -15
Alex Cole-Hamilton -15
Lorna Slater -15
Rishi Sunak -19
Douglas Ross -21
UK Government -50
Alex Salmond -62
Boris Johnson -62

(Savanta ComRes/The Scotsman; 14-18 January; 1,004)

But what of Putin? Worse than Boris?

Are you saying Putin is an influential UK political figure to be rated as such?! Quite an aspersions to cast even taking Lord Beard Dye of the Gulags and the millions of party funding into account.

StuartDickson said:

Applicant said:

StuartDickson said:

MikeSmithson said:

StuartDickson said:

Not in Scotland.

Net favourability

Sturgeon 13%
Scottish Government 7%
Anas Sarwar 1%
Keir Starmer -10
Patrick Harvie -15
Alex Cole-Hamilton -15
Lorna Slater -15
Rishi Sunak -19
Douglas Ross -21
UK Government -50
Alex Salmond -62
Boris Johnson -62

(Savanta ComRes/The Scotsman; 14-18 January; 1,004)

But Starmer is a net 52% better than Johnson on these figures

But that is not what your headline is contending: “Starmer starts his third year as LOTO with positive approval ratings”

He has negative ratings north of the border.

The headline referred to the whole country, not just a small part of it.

The “Scotland is not a country” gambit. How original.

Yesterday it was the “England is not a country” gambit.

I wish you BritNats would learn some more tunes.

Its not a gambit. Scotland voted against being a real country in 2014.

Shame.

Benpointer said:

darkage said:

If Victor Orban is preventing arms shipments to Ukraine via Hungary (which is a vital strategic route), then it is a far more serious matter in my mind to his failure to respect various minority rights, alleged gerrymandering and control of the media through 'oligarchs'. One problem with reporting on Hungary is that these things are often combined in such a way that they are all presented as the same thing. They aren't. His apparent support for Putin (if that is what it actually is) should be a massive red line.

On what basis is Hungary a 'vital strategic route' into Ukraine?

Hungary is one of Ukraine's shortest borders - Poland, Slovakia, and Romania all provide better access.

Transcarpathia is topographically the most secure part of the country.

Sandpit said:

Oh wow. Last week Elon Musk was complaining about Twitter and their lack of support for freedom of speech.

This week, he spends $2.9bn on buying a 9.2% stake in the company.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2022/04/04/twitter-shares-soar-elon-musk-takes-29bn-stake/

Bitcoin.

Jack Dorsey is a Bitcoin maxi and plans to integrate Jack Mallers Strike payment system through Twitter. Musk also owns billions of dollars of Bitcoin.

The annual Bitcoin conference is happening in Miami this week, last year the surprise announcement was the first country (El Salvador) to announce Bitcoin as legal tender.

Other countries, possibly Honduras, are expected to make a similar announcement this week, there are also rumours of Apple Pay integration with the Lightning network.

Twitter will eventually have venmo-style payment integration via the Bitcoin lightning network and there are eyes on it eventually becoming a competitor to the likes of Western Union for immigrants sending money to the folks back home.

YBarddCwsc said:

HYUFD said:

YBarddCwsc said:

HYUFD said:

Starmer's approval ratings are certainly better than Corbyn's. However Labour's voteshare is, if anything, slightly less still than Corbyn got in 2017 even if still much better than Corbyn got in 2019.

Starmer's main success therefore has been in winning over voters who voted Labour in 2017 but LD or Conservative in 2019.

In terms of winning voters who voted Conservative in 2017 and 2019 he has been less successful and he has also lost a few voters who voted for Corbyn Labour to the Greens. That means it will likely still be a close election

The people who love Starmer the most are wealthy LibDems. That might well be enough for him to remove the Tory majority in GE 2024 ... if he is fighting Boris.

But, I am unconvinced that Boris will fight. Boris doesn't like to lose, and he must surely already be looking enviously at his lucrative post-PM opportunities.

I mean, furfucksake, even a completely talentless nonentity like Nick Clegg is now earning 2.7 million dollars a year.

He will certainly get more tactical votes from the LDs in Labour v Tory marginals than Corbyn.

Boris does not have the technical skills of Clegg for a big corporate board, his skills are in oratory and the lecture circuit.

To maximise his earnings there he needs to stay in No 10 as long as possible to get near Thatcher and Blair fees on the circuit and ideally raise his profile in the US further too at the same time

Well, HYUFD, you have posted a number of outrageous things in your time.

"... the technical skills of Clegg for a big corporate board".

But that wins the prize.

Comparing it with Johnson's though!

kyf_100 said:

Sandpit said:

Oh wow. Last week Elon Musk was complaining about Twitter and their lack of support for freedom of speech.

This week, he spends $2.9bn on buying a 9.2% stake in the company.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2022/04/04/twitter-shares-soar-elon-musk-takes-29bn-stake/

Bitcoin.

Jack Dorsey is a Bitcoin maxi and plans to integrate Jack Mallers Strike payment system through Twitter. Musk also owns billions of dollars of Bitcoin.

The annual Bitcoin conference is happening in Miami this week, last year the surprise announcement was the first country (El Salvador) to announce Bitcoin as legal tender.

Other countries, possibly Honduras, are expected to make a similar announcement this week, there are also rumours of Apple Pay integration with the Lightning network.

Twitter will eventually have venmo-style payment integration via the Bitcoin lightning network and there are eyes on it eventually becoming a competitor to the likes of Western Union for immigrants sending money to the folks back home.

Bitcoin is worse than a pyramid scheme.

That Musk is involved with it is the one thing that makes me lose respect for him. I don't have much respect for Dorsey to lose in the first place.

BartholomewRoberts said:

StuartDickson said:

Applicant said:

StuartDickson said:

MikeSmithson said:

StuartDickson said:

Not in Scotland.

Net favourability

Sturgeon 13%
Scottish Government 7%
Anas Sarwar 1%
Keir Starmer -10
Patrick Harvie -15
Alex Cole-Hamilton -15
Lorna Slater -15
Rishi Sunak -19
Douglas Ross -21
UK Government -50
Alex Salmond -62
Boris Johnson -62

(Savanta ComRes/The Scotsman; 14-18 January; 1,004)

But Starmer is a net 52% better than Johnson on these figures

But that is not what your headline is contending: “Starmer starts his third year as LOTO with positive approval ratings”

He has negative ratings north of the border.

The headline referred to the whole country, not just a small part of it.

The “Scotland is not a country” gambit. How original.

Yesterday it was the “England is not a country” gambit.

I wish you BritNats would learn some more tunes.

Its not a gambit. Scotland voted against being a real country in 2014.

Shame.

When oh when will poor England get the chance to vote on being a real country?

HYUFD said:

YBarddCwsc said:

HYUFD said:

Starmer's approval ratings are certainly better than Corbyn's. However Labour's voteshare is, if anything, slightly less still than Corbyn got in 2017 even if still much better than Corbyn got in 2019.

Starmer's main success therefore has been in winning over voters who voted Labour in 2017 but LD or Conservative in 2019.

In terms of winning voters who voted Conservative in 2017 and 2019 he has been less successful and he has also lost a few voters who voted for Corbyn Labour to the Greens. That means it will likely still be a close election

The people who love Starmer the most are wealthy LibDems. That might well be enough for him to remove the Tory majority in GE 2024 ... if he is fighting Boris.

But, I am unconvinced that Boris will fight. Boris doesn't like to lose, and he must surely already be looking enviously at his lucrative post-PM opportunities.

I mean, furfucksake, even a completely talentless nonentity like Nick Clegg is now earning 2.7 million dollars a year.

He will certainly get more tactical votes from the LDs in Labour v Tory marginals than Corbyn.

Boris does not have the technical skills of Clegg for a big corporate board, his skills are in oratory and the lecture circuit.

To maximise his earnings there he needs to stay in No 10 as long as possible to get near Thatcher and Blair fees on the circuit and ideally raise his profile in the US further too at the same time

Why should we care about Boris maximising his earnings, rather than how he is governing the country

Bizarre

Another mass grave in Motyzhyn, Kyiv Oblast,–Robert van Voren, 13:40 EET
https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1510938199178285061

Theuniondivvie said:

BartholomewRoberts said:

StuartDickson said:

Applicant said:

StuartDickson said:

MikeSmithson said:

StuartDickson said:

Not in Scotland.

Net favourability

Sturgeon 13%
Scottish Government 7%
Anas Sarwar 1%
Keir Starmer -10
Patrick Harvie -15
Alex Cole-Hamilton -15
Lorna Slater -15
Rishi Sunak -19
Douglas Ross -21
UK Government -50
Alex Salmond -62
Boris Johnson -62

(Savanta ComRes/The Scotsman; 14-18 January; 1,004)

But Starmer is a net 52% better than Johnson on these figures

But that is not what your headline is contending: “Starmer starts his third year as LOTO with positive approval ratings”

He has negative ratings north of the border.

The headline referred to the whole country, not just a small part of it.

The “Scotland is not a country” gambit. How original.

Yesterday it was the “England is not a country” gambit.

I wish you BritNats would learn some more tunes.

Its not a gambit. Scotland voted against being a real country in 2014.

Shame.

When oh when will poor England get the chance to vote on being a real country?

Scotland is like one of those cats that scrabbles desperately at the door. When it opens: "oh shit, it's cold outside".

Gets lots of attention though.

Benpointer said:

darkage said:

If Victor Orban is preventing arms shipments to Ukraine via Hungary (which is a vital strategic route), then it is a far more serious matter in my mind to his failure to respect various minority rights, alleged gerrymandering and control of the media through 'oligarchs'. One problem with reporting on Hungary is that these things are often combined in such a way that they are all presented as the same thing. They aren't. His apparent support for Putin (if that is what it actually is) should be a massive red line.

On what basis is Hungary a 'vital strategic route' into Ukraine?

Hungary is one of Ukraine's shortest borders - Poland, Slovakia, and Romania all provide better access.

Fair point, I accept that the border is quite small. But the broader point stands: it is unhelpful and concerning.

rottenborough said:

TOPPING said:

bigjohnowls said:

I see Chris Mason is now favorite for the BBC Pol Editor gig after the all women shortlist was deemed too weak.

Who would have thought there could be any weaker Candidates than Laura K

"Weaker" = not telling me the things I want to hear.

Amiright?

If the Times is to be believed the whole process has been a fiasco that would fit in well with the sitcom W1A.

The first time around they wanted someone who would break news and get scoops. Then it seems having interviewed a load of people the powers-that-be decided that was unrealistic so they then wanted someone who had the heft to do the analysis and explaining part of the role. And round they went again. At some point Mason, having ruled himself out, was asked to rule himself back in.

I never understood the vitriol that people directed towards Laura K. She seemed to do a perfectly good job. I didn't get the key issue as to why so many people (on PB at least) thought she was awful. Unless it was a "shoot the messenger" thing.

This article is worth a read.
What was the German busines-as-usual approach to Putin's Russia is not entirely dissimilar to their relations with Orban's Hungary.
Interesting question as to what happens next.

How Orbán played Germany, Europe’s great power
https://www.direkt36.hu/en/a-magyar-nemet-kapcsolatok-rejtett-tortenete/

rottenborough said:

TOPPING said:

bigjohnowls said:

I see Chris Mason is now favorite for the BBC Pol Editor gig after the all women shortlist was deemed too weak.

Who would have thought there could be any weaker Candidates than Laura K

"Weaker" = not telling me the things I want to hear.

Amiright?

If the Times is to be believed the whole process has been a fiasco that would fit in well with the sitcom W1A.

The first time around they wanted someone who would break news and get scoops. Then it seems having interviewed a load of people the powers-that-be decided that was unrealistic so they then wanted someone who had the heft to do the analysis and explaining part of the role. And round they went again. At some point Mason, having ruled himself out, was asked to rule himself back in.

Standard for BBC these days....e.g. BBC Three linear tv reboot with tractor racing strangely not pulling in da yuff. Some Craig Olvier Beats by Dre headphone wearing type thinks they are down with the kids and knows exactly what they want to watch.

Farooq said:

BartholomewRoberts said:

kyf_100 said:

Sandpit said:

Oh wow. Last week Elon Musk was complaining about Twitter and their lack of support for freedom of speech.

This week, he spends $2.9bn on buying a 9.2% stake in the company.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2022/04/04/twitter-shares-soar-elon-musk-takes-29bn-stake/

Bitcoin.

Jack Dorsey is a Bitcoin maxi and plans to integrate Jack Mallers Strike payment system through Twitter. Musk also owns billions of dollars of Bitcoin.

The annual Bitcoin conference is happening in Miami this week, last year the surprise announcement was the first country (El Salvador) to announce Bitcoin as legal tender.

Other countries, possibly Honduras, are expected to make a similar announcement this week, there are also rumours of Apple Pay integration with the Lightning network.

Twitter will eventually have venmo-style payment integration via the Bitcoin lightning network and there are eyes on it eventually becoming a competitor to the likes of Western Union for immigrants sending money to the folks back home.

Bitcoin is worse than a pyramid scheme.

That Musk is involved with it is the one thing that makes me lose respect for him. I don't have much respect for Dorsey to lose in the first place.

That's far from the only thing about Musk that ought to make you pause and edge on past without making eye contact. The man is loon. Remember when he called that cave rescue guy a "pedo"? Totally mad.

The thing to understand with Elon Musk is that he treats Twitter the way some treat PB. After the lagershed, some crazy stuff gets said...

An op-ed for state news agency RIA Novosti titled "What Russia should do with Ukraine" by pundit Timofei Sergeitsev has created quite a stir today

The rhetoric is truly horrific, even by the standards of what I'm used to seeing from pro-Kremlin media

Below are a few quotes:

"Denazification is a set of measures aimed at the nazified mass of the population, which technically cannot be subjected to direct punishment as war criminals"

"However, besides the elite, a significant part of the masses of the people, who are passive nazis, are accomplices to Nazism. They have supported the Nazi authorities and indulged them..."

"...The just punishment for this part of the population is possible only as the bearing of the inevitable hardships of a just war against the Nazi system"

"The name Ukraine can seemingly not be retained as the title of any fully denazified state formation on the territory liberated from the Nazi regime"

"Denazification is inevitably also deukrainisation – a rejection of the large-scale artificial inflation of the ethnic element of self-identification of the population of the territories of the historical Malorossiya and Novorossiya begun by the Soviet authorities"

"Unlike, let’s say, Georgia or the Baltics, Ukraine, as history has shown, is unviable as a national state, and attempts to 'build' one logically lead to Nazism"

"The Banderite elite must be liquidated, its reeducation is impossible. The social 'swamp' which actively and passively supports it must undergo the hardships of war and digest the experience as a historical lesson and atonement"

https://twitter.com/francska1/status/1510898134481788930

Applicant said:

StuartDickson said:

Applicant said:

StuartDickson said:

Applicant said:

.

StuartDickson said:

Applicant said:

StuartDickson said:

MikeSmithson said:

StuartDickson said:

Not in Scotland.

Net favourability

Sturgeon 13%
Scottish Government 7%
Anas Sarwar 1%
Keir Starmer -10
Patrick Harvie -15
Alex Cole-Hamilton -15
Lorna Slater -15
Rishi Sunak -19
Douglas Ross -21
UK Government -50
Alex Salmond -62
Boris Johnson -62

(Savanta ComRes/The Scotsman; 14-18 January; 1,004)

But Starmer is a net 52% better than Johnson on these figures

But that is not what your headline is contending: “Starmer starts his third year as LOTO with positive approval ratings”

He has negative ratings north of the border.

The headline referred to the whole country, not just a small part of it.

The “Scotland is not a country” gambit. How original.

Yesterday it was the “England is not a country” gambit.

I wish you BritNats would learn some more tunes.

Ah, I see you're throwing the BNP slur around again. Do be a good chap and fuck off, won't you?

Calling patriotic Scottish posters ScotNats is perfectly fine.

Calling patriotic British posters BritNats is a foul slur.

Who’d’ve thunk that ‘Muscular Unionism’ would breed intolerance and double-standards? We’ll all have to learn to doff our caps to the British Übermenschen.

So the SNP are as odious as the BNP? Thanks for clarifying that.

That British Nationalists consistently contend this says more about them than it does about Scots and their chosen government.

LOL. It was you who implied the SNP and BNP are equivalent, not me. I merely find the BNP odious. So if you, a proud Scottish Nationalist (albeit Swedish-resident) imply that the SNP and BNP are equivalent, then the SNP must also be odious! QED!

I think the problem lies elsewhere: that

(a) it is actually the PBTories who make that equation because ...
(b) they deny that their 'patriotism' under the UJ is actually nationalism (whether UK, 'British' or English depending on the individual)

Outside the likes of UKIP, the purest and most blood and soil political discourse I can remember is David Cameron's major Glasgow [edit] speech in advance of the 2014 referendum, and it was British nationalist from start to end by any objective analysis.

Farooq said:

Applicant said:

StuartDickson said:

Applicant said:

.

StuartDickson said:

Applicant said:

StuartDickson said:

MikeSmithson said:

StuartDickson said:

Not in Scotland.

Net favourability

Sturgeon 13%
Scottish Government 7%
Anas Sarwar 1%
Keir Starmer -10
Patrick Harvie -15
Alex Cole-Hamilton -15
Lorna Slater -15
Rishi Sunak -19
Douglas Ross -21
UK Government -50
Alex Salmond -62
Boris Johnson -62

(Savanta ComRes/The Scotsman; 14-18 January; 1,004)

But Starmer is a net 52% better than Johnson on these figures

But that is not what your headline is contending: “Starmer starts his third year as LOTO with positive approval ratings”

He has negative ratings north of the border.

The headline referred to the whole country, not just a small part of it.

The “Scotland is not a country” gambit. How original.

Yesterday it was the “England is not a country” gambit.

I wish you BritNats would learn some more tunes.

Ah, I see you're throwing the BNP slur around again. Do be a good chap and fuck off, won't you?

Calling patriotic Scottish posters ScotNats is perfectly fine.

Calling patriotic British posters BritNats is a foul slur.

Who’d’ve thunk that ‘Muscular Unionism’ would breed intolerance and double-standards? We’ll all have to learn to doff our caps to the British Übermenschen.

So the SNP are as odious as the BNP? Thanks for clarifying that.

Most British nationalists wouldn't touch the BNP with a bargepole. Nationalist is not a dirty word.

"British nationalist" isn't a political term in any significant use, other than by Scot Nats trying to smear unionists as BNP supporters.

Carnyx said:

turbotubbs said:

I know I'm thick but how does 28 - 32 not equal a negative number? Feel like I'm being gaslit here...

Labelling error on the graph? I can't make sense either.

Not just me then! I was getting worried. Its been a long few weeks...

Carnyx said:

turbotubbs said:

I know I'm thick but how does 28 - 32 not equal a negative number? Feel like I'm being gaslit here...

Labelling error on the graph? I can't make sense either.

Yougov has a similar trend to the Opinium graph as labelled, if I'm reading it right.

https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/trackers/keir-starmer-approval-rating