Nope. Farage wants to come home to the Conservative Party, the next leader will let him in, so he was never going to rock the boat right now.
No he does not.
Farage is only interested in Farage.
He wants to make money shilling for Fox and friends in the States, not piss about failing to get elected to Parliament.
Yes he does. He is on his way to becoming a Conservative Member. That’s what he wants. Not that you are wrong either, as he can do both. He was never going to ruin his chance of that at this election, the people who actually thought that were wrong.
You don’t go to Con Clubs very often. I was in one yesterday lunchtime playing snooker. Farage can walk into any Con Club in the country and get an instant standing ovation from everyone.
Funny how you kept banging on about how you were a Labour member, and now you are an expert on Con Clubs.
I couldn't give less of a rat shit about what people in a club said. Farage is never getting into Parliament. Never.
After his rain-soaked launch, Rishi Sunak has so far today: - asked Welsh workers if they're looking forward to 'all the football' [not realising Wales not in Euro2024] - had 2 Tory cllrs cosplaying as members of public to ask him Qs
It's only Day 2.
Football doesn't seem to be such a big part of football as it used to be, does it? In the 90s and noughties, the football team the PM supported was an important fact that everyone had to know. There may have been an Only Connect round on it - Chelsea, Newcastle United, Raith Rovers, Aston Villa. But who did TMay suuport? Boris? Rishi? I couldn't say.
Which is probably healthy, really. Nothing* intrinsically wrong with football, but it strikes me as daft that our favourite football teams should be an important factor about us. (I couldn't say what any PM's favourite county cricket team or rugby team is, with the exception of Major at Surrey, and nor would I expect to be able to.)
*Actually lots, but let's not go into that now.
Sunak supports Southampton.
I wonder if he will be at the playoff final this weekend.
After his rain-soaked launch, Rishi Sunak has so far today: - asked Welsh workers if they're looking forward to 'all the football' [not realising Wales not in Euro2024] - had 2 Tory cllrs cosplaying as members of public to ask him Qs
It's only Day 2.
Football doesn't seem to be such a big part of football as it used to be, does it? In the 90s and noughties, the football team the PM supported was an important fact that everyone had to know. There may have been an Only Connect round on it - Chelsea, Newcastle United, Raith Rovers, Aston Villa. But who did TMay suuport? Boris? Rishi? I couldn't say.
Which is probably healthy, really. Nothing* intrinsically wrong with football, but it strikes me as daft that our favourite football teams should be an important factor about us. (I couldn't say what any PM's favourite county cricket team or rugby team is, with the exception of Major at Surrey, and nor would I expect to be able to.)
BREAKING: Byline Times has now identified a second hi-viz jacket-wearing man asking questions of Rishi Sunak at this morning's event as local Conservative councillor Ben Hall-Evans
Do you actually think the majority of voters will even register this ? Or care ?
Absolutely not. But it doesn't suggest to me that they've got a very component campaigning team, which does matter.
This happens at almost every event at every election. Politicians don't allow themselves to be exposed to bear traps
Actually i think if politicians can handle it, it can be a positive. Obviously Major and his soap box, but Cameron got ambushed by the Lib Dem activist who tried to use his disabled kid to shame Dave, but despite the media getting all excited at such a mic drop event, Cameron in the end came out of it fairly well as he was polite and engaged (despite the guy not doing it in good faith).
Gordon Brown and Mrs Duffy has to be one of the bigger clangers.
His problem was that he got caught letting out his real feelings for that demographic of people afterwards. The actual encounter was tricky, but not terrible.
and then there was Prescott smacking the voter
I think Brown v Mrs Duffy was a big negative for Brown - Prescott v the egg thrower was probably a positive for Prescott
Gordon went up in my estimation after that - but I suppose I'd be in a minority there.
Gordon stayed exactly the same in my estimation. I don't think Mrs. Duffy was asking an unreasonable question - why is my town so much more full of foreigners than it used to be? - and I don't think doing so is bigoted. But I know that in the view of some (like Gordon) even to ask such as question is unforgiveable. But even so, I found the sight of him having the recording played back to him almost unwatchable. I've had bad days at work, but fortunately never that bad. Poor sod.
But yes, on Prescott vs the egg thrower, or Prescott vs Danbert Nobacon, Prescott comes out the winner. I'm absolutely no fan of Prescott, his approach, or his policies, but going over the line to physical assault is far far far too far, and a quick retaliatory punch is entirely within the bounds of acceptability in that case.
To me GB's private irritation with Mrs Duffy showed him as instinctively anti-xenophobic.
Yes, instinctively as in seeing racism everywhere whether it's there or not - the classic cry of 'racist' at anyone who asks an awkward question. Which was neither more nor less than I expected of him.
If I'd have been Mrs. Duffy I would have offered the brief explanation to the waiting press in exchange for Gordon's shoes. He would have then left unshod - or, more probably, confiscated the shoes of an underling. I would have then had a souvenir of the incident, and there would have been a constant mystery of why when Gordon left one of them left in just socks. It would have added to the air of mystery around the man - to go with the orange blob and farmy-farm. It would have been a secret I kept with me to my grave, denying forever that I was a pair of smart man's shoes to the richer.
That's quite a creative revenge, I must say. With the shoes.
But on the substantive point, no, I don't mean it like that. You're over-analysing slightly. What I mean is if you're going to be triggered by things (even if wrongly) xenophobia is an ok one to have on your list - it shows your head and heart is in the right place. Which is what the incident did (for me) viz a vis Gordon Brown.
It was in private remember. He was stressed out and letting his hair down. She struck him as bigoted and he said so (just mumbling to himself really). Imagine if he'd been making fun of her clothes or her accent or something supercilious and snotty like that. That really would have showed him in a bad light. This didn't. Under stress, in private, he got irritated by what he perceived as xenophobic chat from a member of the public.
Did he read Mrs Duffy wrong? Maybe. I genuinely can't say because I wasn't there and I don't know the lady. She did vote for Brexit 6 years later, but so what. 17m did that. It indicates something but it proves nothing. Point is, Gordon sensed some xenophobia, it irritated him, and he showed this later in private having behaved with the utmost courtesy and professionalism in the face-to-face encounter. I was impressed.
I see Skybet are running scared by closing down the bet recommended in the header already - shows the bookies take note of this site .The site comes alive for betting at GE and hopefully most posts will be betting related or giving info to be used for bets
They'll have algos and triggers whenever there's a flurry of bets on anything that skews the book. They probably took a few dozen bets (maybe low three figures) off the back of this thread.
I don't think they directly monitor this site, but maybe they check it out whenever one of their political bets goes haywire to see why.
Nope. Farage wants to come home to the Conservative Party, the next leader will let him in, so he was never going to rock the boat right now.
No he does not.
Farage is only interested in Farage.
He wants to make money shilling for Fox and friends in the States, not piss about failing to get elected to Parliament.
Yes he does. He is on his way to becoming a Conservative Member. That’s what he wants. Not that you are wrong either, as he can do both. He was never going to ruin his chance of that at this election, the people who actually thought that were wrong.
You don’t go to Con Clubs very often. I was in one yesterday lunchtime playing snooker. Farage can walk into any Con Club in the country and get an instant standing ovation from everyone.
Funny how you kept banging on about how you were a Labour member, and now you are an expert on Con Clubs.
I couldn't give less of a rat shit about what people in a club said. Farage is never getting into Parliament. Never.
Good.
I hoped he was going to run in Thanet again so the Bionic MP could once again send him packing
Believing Reform voters, who don't like or trust Sunak, and are hopping mad over immigration, will be won back by "we failed to deliver on Rwanda before the election but trust us we'll do better next time" is a pretty fragile reed bearing a lot of electoral load
"Vote for us and the Rwanda flights will take off on 5 July. Promise." Do they really think this policy will win them the election?
No, and it's not supposed to.
This is a defensive election strategy.
I think that’s right.
For better or worse it’s one of the only active dividing lines. Expect them to major on this until at least the manifesto launch (and even afterwards if it gains any traction).
Believing Reform voters, who don't like or trust Sunak, and are hopping mad over immigration, will be won back by "we failed to deliver on Rwanda before the election but trust us we'll do better next time" is a pretty fragile reed bearing a lot of electoral load
"Vote for us and the Rwanda flights will take off on 5 July. Promise." Do they really think this policy will win them the election?
Believing Reform voters, who don't like or trust Sunak, and are hopping mad over immigration, will be won back by "we failed to deliver on Rwanda before the election but trust us we'll do better next time" is a pretty fragile reed bearing a lot of electoral load
"Vote for us and the Rwanda flights will take off on 5 July. Promise." Do they really think this policy will win them the election?
After his rain-soaked launch, Rishi Sunak has so far today: - asked Welsh workers if they're looking forward to 'all the football' [not realising Wales not in Euro2024] - had 2 Tory cllrs cosplaying as members of public to ask him Qs
It's only Day 2.
Football doesn't seem to be such a big part of football as it used to be, does it? In the 90s and noughties, the football team the PM supported was an important fact that everyone had to know. There may have been an Only Connect round on it - Chelsea, Newcastle United, Raith Rovers, Aston Villa. But who did TMay suuport? Boris? Rishi? I couldn't say.
Which is probably healthy, really. Nothing* intrinsically wrong with football, but it strikes me as daft that our favourite football teams should be an important factor about us. (I couldn't say what any PM's favourite county cricket team or rugby team is, with the exception of Major at Surrey, and nor would I expect to be able to.)
*Actually lots, but let's not go into that now.
Rishi is a Southampton supporter and was at the recent play off thrashing of West Bromwich Albion.
Ha! Yes, unfortunate typo - sorry. Though I would argue what I unintentionally said is also true!
No, nobody would care. Politicians appearing to care about football looks inauthentic and crass even if the politician in question genuinely does care about football (like Starmer).
yes , if you dont really care about football or sport or God or music as a prospective PM then its best not to try and feign interest or faith. Just keep quiet and let it be known that interviewers should not ask the question. Brown , despite being quite a genuine guy in many ways , fell foul of this when he pretended to be a massive Arctic Monkeys fan
(I couldn't say what any PM's favourite county cricket team .. is, with the exception of Major at Surrey, and nor would I expect to be able to.)
The history of County Cricket teams is that they're representative teams, for the county. So, of course Major supported Surrey, he was a Brixton lad by upbringing, Brixton lying in that part of South London that was part of Surrey before being swallowed up by the city as it expanded.
The idea that someone might support Essex because they won the County Championship a few years ago, but never lived in the county, would be a bit strange.
It's very different to football, where you almost always have at least two teams in any area of any size, and so there's a local rivalry, and two people in the same area would quite likely support different teams.
BREAKING: Byline Times has now identified a second hi-viz jacket-wearing man asking questions of Rishi Sunak at this morning's event as local Conservative councillor Ben Hall-Evans
Do you actually think the majority of voters will even register this ? Or care ?
Absolutely not. But it doesn't suggest to me that they've got a very component campaigning team, which does matter.
This happens at almost every event at every election. Politicians don't allow themselves to be exposed to bear traps
Actually i think if politicians can handle it, it can be a positive. Obviously Major and his soap box, but Cameron got ambushed by the Lib Dem activist who tried to use his disabled kid to shame Dave, but despite the media getting all excited at such a mic drop event, Cameron in the end came out of it fairly well as he was polite and engaged (despite the guy not doing it in good faith).
Gordon Brown and Mrs Duffy has to be one of the bigger clangers.
His problem was that he got caught letting out his real feelings for that demographic of people afterwards. The actual encounter was tricky, but not terrible.
and then there was Prescott smacking the voter
I think Brown v Mrs Duffy was a big negative for Brown - Prescott v the egg thrower was probably a positive for Prescott
Gordon went up in my estimation after that - but I suppose I'd be in a minority there.
Gordon stayed exactly the same in my estimation. I don't think Mrs. Duffy was asking an unreasonable question - why is my town so much more full of foreigners than it used to be? - and I don't think doing so is bigoted. But I know that in the view of some (like Gordon) even to ask such as question is unforgiveable. But even so, I found the sight of him having the recording played back to him almost unwatchable. I've had bad days at work, but fortunately never that bad. Poor sod.
But yes, on Prescott vs the egg thrower, or Prescott vs Danbert Nobacon, Prescott comes out the winner. I'm absolutely no fan of Prescott, his approach, or his policies, but going over the line to physical assault is far far far too far, and a quick retaliatory punch is entirely within the bounds of acceptability in that case.
I've always felt that Prescott became more popular after lamping that bloke. And Tony Blair's "John is John" was well judged.
The interesting thing about that incident is that it happened before the internet really had changed the way videos spread. So Blair/Campbell had to decide how to play it initially based solely on Prescott's/his team's telling of the story and without having seen the footage. A lot of trust shown that day.
There were other forms of social media.
For example, at least two Flash Games - one Splat The MP involving throwing eggs at MPs, and the other Prezza Prize Fighter being Prescott punching things - came out within days, before the story had died.
Meanwhile, Vennells vs Beer should be the subject of an almighty volume of popcorn.
The Post Office could have avoided a “lost decade” before wrongful convictions were uncovered if more cases were reviewed, Paula Vennells said today.
In an email dated July 2013 that year, the former Post Office chief executive asked for thoughts on why all cases of false accounting “eg over the last 5-10 years” would not be reviewed.
Lead counsel to the Horizon inquiry Jason Beer KC asked: “Do you agree your nascent idea here of a review of all prosecutions of false accounting, if it had been carried into effect, may have avoided a lost decade until miscarriages of justice were discovered?”
Ms Vennells paused for a short moment before responding: “It may well have done. It may well have done.”
Responses to the same email showed the Post Office’s then-director of communications warning that such a decision could lead to the “story” becoming “front page news”.
In her response Ms Vennells said: “You are right to call this out. And I will take your steer. [sic] no issue.”
However, when asked about the exchange, Ms Vennells said she “absolutely” did not accept that she took a decision to not review past cases “based on a media outcome”. She added: “I didn’t take any decision on that, I wouldn’t have been able to do so.”
After his rain-soaked launch, Rishi Sunak has so far today: - asked Welsh workers if they're looking forward to 'all the football' [not realising Wales not in Euro2024] - had 2 Tory cllrs cosplaying as members of public to ask him Qs
It's only Day 2.
Football doesn't seem to be such a big part of football as it used to be, does it? In the 90s and noughties, the football team the PM supported was an important fact that everyone had to know. There may have been an Only Connect round on it - Chelsea, Newcastle United, Raith Rovers, Aston Villa. But who did TMay suuport? Boris? Rishi? I couldn't say.
Which is probably healthy, really. Nothing* intrinsically wrong with football, but it strikes me as daft that our favourite football teams should be an important factor about us. (I couldn't say what any PM's favourite county cricket team or rugby team is, with the exception of Major at Surrey, and nor would I expect to be able to.)
*Actually lots, but let's not go into that now.
Sunak supports Southampton.
I wonder if he will be at the playoff final this weekend.
Ah, yes, I remember now. And maybe he genuinely cares about Southampton or any other bunch of footballers. But it just comes across as crass and inauthentic. (Andy Burnham, btw, seems to start every bit of public speaking in the North West with a reference to the weekend's football results. Curiously, in his case, this doesn't come across as inauthentic. But it is nowhere near as funny nor as universally relatable as he thinks it is, and is by some way the most irritating aspect of his public speaking.)
Bids for election debates are being made by broadcasters individually rather than collectively, with a scramble behind the scenes likely in the coming days as they seek confirmations.
Nick Robinson, the BBC’s former political editor and host of the Today programme on Radio Four, is also due to hold interviews with constantly interrupt all the party leaders, if they agree to do so.
Let’s hope the major broadcasters lose out to a bunch of podcasters - Triggernometry anyone, sitting them both down for hours outside the broadcast rules?
Given the change in the media landscape since the last election, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see parties organise debates between themselves under agreed rules, and leave the broadcasters with the choice to accept the stream or not.
Meanwhile, Vennells vs Beer should be the subject of an almighty volume of popcorn.
The Post Office could have avoided a “lost decade” before wrongful convictions were uncovered if more cases were reviewed, Paula Vennells said today.
In an email dated July 2013 that year, the former Post Office chief executive asked for thoughts on why all cases of false accounting “eg over the last 5-10 years” would not be reviewed.
Lead counsel to the Horizon inquiry Jason Beer KC asked: “Do you agree your nascent idea here of a review of all prosecutions of false accounting, if it had been carried into effect, may have avoided a lost decade until miscarriages of justice were discovered?”
Ms Vennells paused for a short moment before responding: “It may well have done. It may well have done.”
Responses to the same email showed the Post Office’s then-director of communications warning that such a decision could lead to the “story” becoming “front page news”.
In her response Ms Vennells said: “You are right to call this out. And I will take your steer. [sic] no issue.”
However, when asked about the exchange, Ms Vennells said she “absolutely” did not accept that she took a decision to not review past cases “based on a media outcome”. She added: “I didn’t take any decision on that, I wouldn’t have been able to do so.”
Bids for election debates are being made by broadcasters individually rather than collectively, with a scramble behind the scenes likely in the coming days as they seek confirmations.
Nick Robinson, the BBC’s former political editor and host of the Today programme on Radio Four, is also due to hold interviews with constantly interrupt all the party leaders, if they agree to do so.
Let’s hope the major broadcasters lose out to a bunch of podcasters - Triggernometry anyone, sitting them both down for hours outside the broadcast rules?
Given the change in the media landscape since the last election, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see parties organise debates between themselves under agreed rules, and leave the broadcasters with the choice to accept the stream or not.
Russell Brand ;-)
I think even Ed Miliband realised that was a bad idea.
Close of nominations in the 2024 general election is 4pm on Friday 7 June, 19 full working days before official polling day. So the political parties now have a full fortnight to pick and nominate their candidates, then get the signatures and submit the forms.…
By my reckoning Labour have about 100 vacancies still to fill, and the Conservatives 190, but new candidates are being announced every few minutes right now.
Those 100 Labour vacancies are nearly all in unwinnable seats (though who knows). Labour's candidates are in place in all their safe and target seats, with one or two notable exceptions (Corbyn's and Abbott's).
Who knows, precisely, Jared O'Mara was selected for an "unwinnable" seat after all.
It wasn't seen as that unwinnable... it had just over a 2k Clegg majority in 2015. It was a surprise in 2017, but not some kind of crazy, out of nowhere thunderbolt. Lib Dems remained in the doldrums, Labour held everything else in Sheffield and were bound to pile in.
It's not like Labour choosing a student to fight a Tory/Lib Dem marginal in the certain knowledge they'd be squeezed out - it was a perfectly credible target, which makes the fact O'Mara passed vetting surprising.
Okay, so we’re now back to posts accumulating faster than they can all be read. Four hours at work and nearly 700 behind already, with more meetings still to go today.
Bids for election debates are being made by broadcasters individually rather than collectively, with a scramble behind the scenes likely in the coming days as they seek confirmations.
Nick Robinson, the BBC’s former political editor and host of the Today programme on Radio Four, is also due to hold interviews with constantly interrupt all the party leaders, if they agree to do so.
Let’s hope the major broadcasters lose out to a bunch of podcasters - Triggernometry anyone, sitting them both down for hours outside the broadcast rules?
Given the change in the media landscape since the last election, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see parties organise debates between themselves under agreed rules, and leave the broadcasters with the choice to accept the stream or not.
Russell Brand ;-)
I think even Ed Miliband realised that was a bad idea.
I think a smart politician, you do all these podcasts regularly before we even get anywhere near an election campaign. Its the modern equivalent of Cameron Direct events, so you already built a reasonable brand outside of the media narrative. Ben Houchen has done a bit of that, I think he has been on the likes of Unherd and Triggernometry.
Nope. Farage wants to come home to the Conservative Party, the next leader will let him in, so he was never going to rock the boat right now.
No he does not.
Farage is only interested in Farage.
He wants to make money shilling for Fox and friends in the States, not piss about failing to get elected to Parliament.
Yes he does. He is on his way to becoming a Conservative Member. That’s what he wants. Not that you are wrong either, as he can do both. He was never going to ruin his chance of that at this election, the people who actually thought that were wrong.
You don’t go to Con Clubs very often. I was in one yesterday lunchtime playing snooker. Farage can walk into any Con Club in the country and get an instant standing ovation from everyone.
Funny how you kept banging on about how you were a Labour member, and now you are an expert on Con Clubs.
I couldn't give less of a rat shit about what people in a club said. Farage is never getting into Parliament. Never.
Good.
The majority of people in most Conservative clubs aren't members of the Conservative party.
Meanwhile, Vennells vs Beer should be the subject of an almighty volume of popcorn.
The Post Office could have avoided a “lost decade” before wrongful convictions were uncovered if more cases were reviewed, Paula Vennells said today.
In an email dated July 2013 that year, the former Post Office chief executive asked for thoughts on why all cases of false accounting “eg over the last 5-10 years” would not be reviewed.
Lead counsel to the Horizon inquiry Jason Beer KC asked: “Do you agree your nascent idea here of a review of all prosecutions of false accounting, if it had been carried into effect, may have avoided a lost decade until miscarriages of justice were discovered?”
Ms Vennells paused for a short moment before responding: “It may well have done. It may well have done.”
Responses to the same email showed the Post Office’s then-director of communications warning that such a decision could lead to the “story” becoming “front page news”.
In her response Ms Vennells said: “You are right to call this out. And I will take your steer. [sic] no issue.”
However, when asked about the exchange, Ms Vennells said she “absolutely” did not accept that she took a decision to not review past cases “based on a media outcome”. She added: “I didn’t take any decision on that, I wouldn’t have been able to do so.”
She seemed way out of her depth and weak as a CEO.
No. She was a "safe pair of hands" - everything that threatened the cosy world of the Proper People At The Top of the Post Office was to be destroyed to keep that world safe.
Sub Post Masters were Bad Facts. So destroying them was natural.
Meanwhile, Vennells vs Beer should be the subject of an almighty volume of popcorn.
The Post Office could have avoided a “lost decade” before wrongful convictions were uncovered if more cases were reviewed, Paula Vennells said today.
In an email dated July 2013 that year, the former Post Office chief executive asked for thoughts on why all cases of false accounting “eg over the last 5-10 years” would not be reviewed.
Lead counsel to the Horizon inquiry Jason Beer KC asked: “Do you agree your nascent idea here of a review of all prosecutions of false accounting, if it had been carried into effect, may have avoided a lost decade until miscarriages of justice were discovered?”
Ms Vennells paused for a short moment before responding: “It may well have done. It may well have done.”
Responses to the same email showed the Post Office’s then-director of communications warning that such a decision could lead to the “story” becoming “front page news”.
In her response Ms Vennells said: “You are right to call this out. And I will take your steer. [sic] no issue.”
However, when asked about the exchange, Ms Vennells said she “absolutely” did not accept that she took a decision to not review past cases “based on a media outcome”. She added: “I didn’t take any decision on that, I wouldn’t have been able to do so.”
She seemed way out of her depth and weak as a CEO.
No. She was a "safe pair of hands" - everything that threatened the cosy world of the Proper People At The Top of the Post Office was to be destroyed to keep that world safe.
Sub Post Masters were Bad Facts. So destroying them was natural.
And of course went to NHS Trust job, as well as non-exec on Morrisons and Dunelm boards (and the cabinet office - I didn't know they had such things).
(I couldn't say what any PM's favourite county cricket team .. is, with the exception of Major at Surrey, and nor would I expect to be able to.)
The history of County Cricket teams is that they're representative teams, for the county. So, of course Major supported Surrey, he was a Brixton lad by upbringing, Brixton lying in that part of South London that was part of Surrey before being swallowed up by the city as it expanded.
The idea that someone might support Essex because they won the County Championship a few years ago, but never lived in the county, would be a bit strange.
It's very different to football, where you almost always have at least two teams in any area of any size, and so there's a local rivalry, and two people in the same area would quite likely support different teams.
Well an interesting discussion point. On cricket: yes, but half of us come from places with no first class county (me, for example) - we have a bit more leeway to pick and choose. (Lancashire for me, because it is close - but I was born in historical-Cheshire and I have lived in Yorkshire, Durham and Nottinghamshire for longer than I lived in Lancashire). And of course many have lived in more than one place. I mean, I'd assume, having grown up in Sussex, Theresa May favours Sussex, but ISTR her at the Oval, possibly because it's handy for where she lives.
But football isn't really MUCH less representative. Most people support their local teams, for a given definition of 'local', or teams their families supported. And even in an area with a sizeable population the distribution is still quite geographical (Man United in south west Manchester and Salford; Man City in South and East Manchester.) Some pick a team because they win, but most fans would dismiss those people as a bit dickish.
My daughter has two favourite teams - Manchester United (her local team whom most of her friends support) and Tottenham (who my wife's family are very keen on). She has shirts for each. I'm quite keen on this approach as I think the 'love my own team and hate all the others' aspect of football is, well, a bit stupid.
In any case, it's just as interesting who someone's favourite cricket team is as their favourite football team.
After his rain-soaked launch, Rishi Sunak has so far today: - asked Welsh workers if they're looking forward to 'all the football' [not realising Wales not in Euro2024] - had 2 Tory cllrs cosplaying as members of public to ask him Qs
It's only Day 2.
Football doesn't seem to be such a big part of football as it used to be, does it? In the 90s and noughties, the football team the PM supported was an important fact that everyone had to know. There may have been an Only Connect round on it - Chelsea, Newcastle United, Raith Rovers, Aston Villa. But who did TMay suuport? Boris? Rishi? I couldn't say.
Which is probably healthy, really. Nothing* intrinsically wrong with football, but it strikes me as daft that our favourite football teams should be an important factor about us. (I couldn't say what any PM's favourite county cricket team or rugby team is, with the exception of Major at Surrey, and nor would I expect to be able to.)
*Actually lots, but let's not go into that now.
Sunak supports Southampton.
I wonder if he will be at the playoff final this weekend.
Leeds lads will give him a warm welcome
I coach a local U7 team; we have a couple of lads in Leeds Academy too. One of them, just getting started last year, used to bawl his eyes out lying on the floor whenever he was on the losing team - first time it happened I thought he'd got some kind of bad injury that I'd missed! As his mum put it (last season), "he's a Leeds Utd fan, he'll have to learn how to cope with losing!"
Good to see them back in the mix for top flight next year.
Close of nominations in the 2024 general election is 4pm on Friday 7 June, 19 full working days before official polling day. So the political parties now have a full fortnight to pick and nominate their candidates, then get the signatures and submit the forms.…
By my reckoning Labour have about 100 vacancies still to fill, and the Conservatives 190, but new candidates are being announced every few minutes right now.
Those 100 Labour vacancies are nearly all in unwinnable seats (though who knows). Labour's candidates are in place in all their safe and target seats, with one or two notable exceptions (Corbyn's and Abbott's).
Who knows, precisely, Jared O'Mara was selected for an "unwinnable" seat after all.
It wasn't seen as that unwinnable... it had just over a 2k Clegg majority in 2015. It was a surprise in 2017, but not some kind of crazy, out of nowhere thunderbolt. Lib Dems remained in the doldrums, Labour held everything else in Sheffield and were bound to pile in.
It's not like Labour choosing a student to fight a Tory/Lib Dem marginal in the certain knowledge they'd be squeezed out - it was a perfectly credible target, which makes the fact O'Mara passed vetting surprising.
Wait.
O'Mara was vetted?
It seems improbably that anyone could have met him and thought - yes, that's the man to represent us.
I see Skybet are running scared by closing down the bet recommended in the header already - shows the bookies take note of this site .The site comes alive for betting at GE and hopefully most posts will be betting related or giving info to be used for bets
They'll have algos and triggers whenever there's a flur
Believing Reform voters, who don't like or trust Sunak, and are hopping mad over immigration, will be won back by "we failed to deliver on Rwanda before the election but trust us we'll do better next time" is a pretty fragile reed bearing a lot of electoral load
"Vote for us and the Rwanda flights will take off on 5 July. Promise." Do they really think this policy will win them the election?
No, and it's not supposed to.
This is a defensive election strategy.
it's not a good one
The only strategy you'd credit Scott is Rejoin with public punishment for the guilty.
Anything else you'd think shite regardless of the political logic.
(I couldn't say what any PM's favourite county cricket team .. is, with the exception of Major at Surrey, and nor would I expect to be able to.)
The history of County Cricket teams is that they're representative teams, for the county. So, of course Major supported Surrey, he was a Brixton lad by upbringing, Brixton lying in that part of South London that was part of Surrey before being swallowed up by the city as it expanded.
The idea that someone might support Essex because they won the County Championship a few years ago, but never lived in the county, would be a bit strange.
It's very different to football, where you almost always have at least two teams in any area of any size, and so there's a local rivalry, and two people in the same area would quite likely support different teams.
Well an interesting discussion point. On cricket: yes, but half of us come from places with no first class county (me, for example) - we have a bit more leeway to pick and choose. (Lancashire for me, because it is close - but I was born in historical-Cheshire and I have lived in Yorkshire, Durham and Nottinghamshire for longer than I lived in Lancashire). And of course many have lived in more than one place. I mean, I'd assume, having grown up in Sussex, Theresa May favours Sussex, but ISTR her at the Oval, possibly because it's handy for where she lives.
But football isn't really MUCH less representative. Most people support their local teams, for a given definition of 'local', or teams their families supported. And even in an area with a sizeable population the distribution is still quite geographical (Man United in south west Manchester and Salford; Man City in South and East Manchester.) Some pick a team because they win, but most fans would dismiss those people as a bit dickish.
My daughter has two favourite teams - Manchester United (her local team whom most of her friends support) and Tottenham (who my wife's family are very keen on). She has shirts for each. I'm quite keen on this approach as I think the 'love my own team and hate all the others' aspect of football is, well, a bit stupid.
In any case, it's just as interesting who someone's favourite cricket team is as their favourite football team.
I have a dirty secret from my Yorkshire family (all my uncles , granddads etc were from Yorkshire as was my Dad) . They all assume I support Yorkshire and indeed I was born in Yorkshire but I moved to Notts when I was four so actually follow Notts . Under the old qualification rules , if i was good enough, I could have played for Yorkshire but never supported them. Anyway they are all generally dying off now and in heaven (God is from Yorkshire anyway ) so the secret may be able to come out soon.
Best Yorkshire joke I heard was
(real vicar) saying he was often asked during covid where God was ?
His reply was that ' he was in Yorkshire -working at home"
Meanwhile, Vennells vs Beer should be the subject of an almighty volume of popcorn.
The Post Office could have avoided a “lost decade” before wrongful convictions were uncovered if more cases were reviewed, Paula Vennells said today.
In an email dated July 2013 that year, the former Post Office chief executive asked for thoughts on why all cases of false accounting “eg over the last 5-10 years” would not be reviewed.
Lead counsel to the Horizon inquiry Jason Beer KC asked: “Do you agree your nascent idea here of a review of all prosecutions of false accounting, if it had been carried into effect, may have avoided a lost decade until miscarriages of justice were discovered?”
Ms Vennells paused for a short moment before responding: “It may well have done. It may well have done.”
Responses to the same email showed the Post Office’s then-director of communications warning that such a decision could lead to the “story” becoming “front page news”.
In her response Ms Vennells said: “You are right to call this out. And I will take your steer. [sic] no issue.”
However, when asked about the exchange, Ms Vennells said she “absolutely” did not accept that she took a decision to not review past cases “based on a media outcome”. She added: “I didn’t take any decision on that, I wouldn’t have been able to do so.”
She seemed way out of her depth and weak as a CEO.
She gave the impression of being a middle manager complaining about the direction the company was taking and the things it was doing. Except that she was the CEO, and getting the big money to effect change and stop them doing the bad stuff.
If you take that pay cheque you deserve to be held accountable, and boy is Jason Beer holding her accountable.
After his rain-soaked launch, Rishi Sunak has so far today: - asked Welsh workers if they're looking forward to 'all the football' [not realising Wales not in Euro2024] - had 2 Tory cllrs cosplaying as members of public to ask him Qs
It's only Day 2.
Football doesn't seem to be such a big part of football as it used to be, does it? In the 90s and noughties, the football team the PM supported was an important fact that everyone had to know. There may have been an Only Connect round on it - Chelsea, Newcastle United, Raith Rovers, Aston Villa. But who did TMay suuport? Boris? Rishi? I couldn't say.
Which is probably healthy, really. Nothing* intrinsically wrong with football, but it strikes me as daft that our favourite football teams should be an important factor about us. (I couldn't say what any PM's favourite county cricket team or rugby team is, with the exception of Major at Surrey, and nor would I expect to be able to.)
*Actually lots, but let's not go into that now.
The last three, excluding Truss, have been cricket / rugby / cricket though, without even the pretence of following a football team (probably for the best). But enjoying a sport doesn't necessarily mean having to support a team in it, even though it usually does.
£10 (to charity) says he turns up in Washington for the Libertarian Convention at the weekend, with Trump expected to speak there, and spends most of the autumn in the US getting big bucks as a political and social commentator.
So hang on, Rishis big legacy smoking bill isn’t going to make it into law before the dissolution?
This really feels like he decided on the hoof. That seemed to be his Big Idea.
I have wondered what Rishi Sunak actually went into politics for.
The one subject on which he is both knowledgeable and passionate is IT, which you don't need to be a politician for.
I think he genuinely likes politics and government and is ambitious and was told he was a bit like Blair, so he went for it.
He shouldn't be too downtrodden. At the end of the day he's been PM of the United Kingdom for 20 months in a difficult time, with no real scandal that's at his door, and that's a real achievement.
Exactly. We're not looking at any sort of personal tragedy here. He's been more lucky than unlucky and I'd say he's overachieved in politics. If you'd have told him in 2019 when he'd been in politics for a minute and wasn't even 40 years old that he'd be PM in 3 years he'd have just giggled.
I think history will judge him adequately, particularly as a contrast to his immediate predecessors, unless this election is at the very worst end of expectations. Clearly, he's not in the pantheon of PMs by any means - he's lower tier. But there's a defence there that it is doubtful whether there was any route back after Partygate and Truss. If there was, he sure as hell didn't find it. But he was our first Asian PM, said a few things about AI and, crucially, appears not to be corrupt or completely bonkers, so immediately shoots to the top of the list of best PMs of the 2020s so far.
I think that is a very good analysis. If the result is at the very worst end of expectations for the Tories, history won't be kind to him and that will be unfair, because most, if not nearly all the blame, lies elsewhere.
Really? Things Rishi chose to do:
> Cancel the important bits of national renewal project, HS2. > Fight a car centric culture war of the back of a v-close byelection. > Superficial moves on smoking, maths for all, banning killer cyclists. > Rwanda. > Stopping boats. > Asset stripping councils. > Shunting all the big fiscal decisions to 2025.
I see Rishi being remembered as a regressive and divisive PM. He chose to govern on close minded short termism.
'most, if not nearly all the blame lies elsewhere' is what I said if the Tories perform at the very worst of expectations and I stick by that. If you compare Rishi to Liz or Boris there really is no comparison in the 'blame'. I don't disagree with your criticisms, but if the result is the very worst end of expectations that will not be his fault it will be Boris's and Liz's fault. That doesn't mean I approve of his premiership. I don't for all the reasons you give, but none of those reasons (with one exception - see below*) will cause the wipeout if it happens even though I disagree with all those things he did
* If there is a wipeout Rwanda/boats will/may be one of the reasons for it
After his rain-soaked launch, Rishi Sunak has so far today: - asked Welsh workers if they're looking forward to 'all the football' [not realising Wales not in Euro2024] - had 2 Tory cllrs cosplaying as members of public to ask him Qs
It's only Day 2.
Football doesn't seem to be such a big part of football as it used to be, does it? In the 90s and noughties, the football team the PM supported was an important fact that everyone had to know. There may have been an Only Connect round on it - Chelsea, Newcastle United, Raith Rovers, Aston Villa. But who did TMay suuport? Boris? Rishi? I couldn't say.
Which is probably healthy, really. Nothing* intrinsically wrong with football, but it strikes me as daft that our favourite football teams should be an important factor about us. (I couldn't say what any PM's favourite county cricket team or rugby team is, with the exception of Major at Surrey, and nor would I expect to be able to.)
*Actually lots, but let's not go into that now.
Sunak supports Southampton.
I wonder if he will be at the playoff final this weekend.
Leeds lads will give him a warm welcome
I coach a local U7 team; we have a couple of lads in Leeds Academy too. One of them, just getting started last year, used to bawl his eyes out lying on the floor whenever he was on the losing team - first time it happened I thought he'd got some kind of bad injury that I'd missed! As his mum put it (last season), "he's a Leeds Utd fan, he'll have to learn how to cope with losing!"
Good to see them back in the mix for top flight next year.
LEEDS LEEDS LEEDS!!!
Not that I'm particularly a fan of football, but it would be nice for them to go back up. I was touched by how happy my mate was to have got a ticket for the final.
You might know this - for the second leg against Norwich at Elland Road they put a scarf on each home fan's seat - apparently it was an amazing site to see them all held aloft.
Meanwhile, Vennells vs Beer should be the subject of an almighty volume of popcorn.
The Post Office could have avoided a “lost decade” before wrongful convictions were uncovered if more cases were reviewed, Paula Vennells said today.
In an email dated July 2013 that year, the former Post Office chief executive asked for thoughts on why all cases of false accounting “eg over the last 5-10 years” would not be reviewed.
Lead counsel to the Horizon inquiry Jason Beer KC asked: “Do you agree your nascent idea here of a review of all prosecutions of false accounting, if it had been carried into effect, may have avoided a lost decade until miscarriages of justice were discovered?”
Ms Vennells paused for a short moment before responding: “It may well have done. It may well have done.”
Responses to the same email showed the Post Office’s then-director of communications warning that such a decision could lead to the “story” becoming “front page news”.
In her response Ms Vennells said: “You are right to call this out. And I will take your steer. [sic] no issue.”
However, when asked about the exchange, Ms Vennells said she “absolutely” did not accept that she took a decision to not review past cases “based on a media outcome”. She added: “I didn’t take any decision on that, I wouldn’t have been able to do so.”
She seemed way out of her depth and weak as a CEO.
She gave the impression of being a middle manager complaining about the direction the company was taking and the things it was doing. Except that she was the CEO, and getting the big money to effect change and stop them doing the bad stuff.
If you take that pay cheque you deserve to be held accountable, and boy is Jason Beer holding her accountable.
In her biography, serialised in a glossy magazine, a couple of years from now, Jason Beer will be a bullying, misogynistic thug. She only got through this terribly unfair ordeal by thinking of our Saviour. And how he, like her, suffered For Us All.
After his rain-soaked launch, Rishi Sunak has so far today: - asked Welsh workers if they're looking forward to 'all the football' [not realising Wales not in Euro2024] - had 2 Tory cllrs cosplaying as members of public to ask him Qs
It's only Day 2.
Football doesn't seem to be such a big part of football as it used to be, does it? In the 90s and noughties, the football team the PM supported was an important fact that everyone had to know. There may have been an Only Connect round on it - Chelsea, Newcastle United, Raith Rovers, Aston Villa. But who did TMay suuport? Boris? Rishi? I couldn't say.
Which is probably healthy, really. Nothing* intrinsically wrong with football, but it strikes me as daft that our favourite football teams should be an important factor about us. (I couldn't say what any PM's favourite county cricket team or rugby team is, with the exception of Major at Surrey, and nor would I expect to be able to.)
*Actually lots, but let's not go into that now.
The last three, excluding Truss, have been cricket / rugby / cricket though, without even the pretence of following a football team (probably for the best). But enjoying a sport doesn't necessarily mean having to support a team in it, even though it usually does.
Quite - I quite admire sports which people will watch without really caring who wins (or even knowing who they will see before they turn up). Tennis and snooker fall into this category. (I'm sadly immune to the charms of tennis, but I do like snooker.)
Personally, I'd watch a rugby match - union or league - no matter who was playing, and can enjoy it without caring who wins. Cricket, though, I need to pick a side. Football is an easier watch if I genuinely don't care who wins - if I do it will only make me sad or angry.
My reason for voting Corbyn in '17 despite knowing from someone who worked closely with him that he was even more hopeless than he appeared was because Mrs May within a few weeks of the campaign starting had become a monster. 'Immigrants go Home' on the side of vans for example which meant she had to be defeated
I think this will be one of a handful of tory gains
Will there be any seats where Labour loses? Bristol Central maybe?
Good call. There’s always one or two losses in a landslide. Lab lost one in 1997 and the Tories a couple in 2010.
What did Labour lose in 1997? I don't seem to be able to find any. (They lost an Aberdeen to the Conservatives seat in 1992, while gaining everywhere else)
BREAKING: Byline Times has now identified a second hi-viz jacket-wearing man asking questions of Rishi Sunak at this morning's event as local Conservative councillor Ben Hall-Evans
Do you actually think the majority of voters will even register this ? Or care ?
Absolutely not. But it doesn't suggest to me that they've got a very component campaigning team, which does matter.
This happens at almost every event at every election. Politicians don't allow themselves to be exposed to bear traps
Actually i think if politicians can handle it, it can be a positive. Obviously Major and his soap box, but Cameron got ambushed by the Lib Dem activist who tried to use his disabled kid to shame Dave, but despite the media getting all excited at such a mic drop event, Cameron in the end came out of it fairly well as he was polite and engaged (despite the guy not doing it in good faith).
Gordon Brown and Mrs Duffy has to be one of the bigger clangers.
His problem was that he got caught letting out his real feelings for that demographic of people afterwards. The actual encounter was tricky, but not terrible.
and then there was Prescott smacking the voter
I think Brown v Mrs Duffy was a big negative for Brown - Prescott v the egg thrower was probably a positive for Prescott
Gordon went up in my estimation after that - but I suppose I'd be in a minority there.
Gordon stayed exactly the same in my estimation. I don't think Mrs. Duffy was asking an unreasonable question - why is my town so much more full of foreigners than it used to be? - and I don't think doing so is bigoted. But I know that in the view of some (like Gordon) even to ask such as question is unforgiveable. But even so, I found the sight of him having the recording played back to him almost unwatchable. I've had bad days at work, but fortunately never that bad. Poor sod.
But yes, on Prescott vs the egg thrower, or Prescott vs Danbert Nobacon, Prescott comes out the winner. I'm absolutely no fan of Prescott, his approach, or his policies, but going over the line to physical assault is far far far too far, and a quick retaliatory punch is entirely within the bounds of acceptability in that case.
I've always felt that Prescott became more popular after lamping that bloke. And Tony Blair's "John is John" was well judged.
The interesting thing about that incident is that it happened before the internet really had changed the way videos spread. So Blair/Campbell had to decide how to play it initially based solely on Prescott's/his team's telling of the story and without having seen the footage. A lot of trust shown that day.
There were other forms of social media.
For example, at least two Flash Games - one Splat The MP involving throwing eggs at MPs, and the other Prezza Prize Fighter being Prescott punching things - came out within days, before the story had died.
So for my patch of Norfolk, here are my initial predictions (will update mid campaign after getting some feedback and seeing polling) Norwich North - Lab gain Norwich South (my constituency) - Lab Hold, Greens second NW Nofollk - Con Hold SW Norfolk (Truss) - Con Hold Mid Norfolk - Con Hold South Norfolk - Lab Gain Broadland and Fakenham - Toss up Lab/Con lean Con Great Yarmouth - Toss up Lab/Con lean Lab North Norfolk - Toss up LD/Con lean LD Waveney Valley- Con win (new seat)
I might do the same for Merseyside too...
LABOUR HOLD [1]
[1] Southport spoils the joke don't they, the gits.
Cumbria: Currently all seats Tory except for Tim Farron. This time all will go Labour, with the exception of Farron's seat - Westmorland and Lonsdale.
After his rain-soaked launch, Rishi Sunak has so far today: - asked Welsh workers if they're looking forward to 'all the football' [not realising Wales not in Euro2024] - had 2 Tory cllrs cosplaying as members of public to ask him Qs
It's only Day 2.
Football doesn't seem to be such a big part of football as it used to be, does it? In the 90s and noughties, the football team the PM supported was an important fact that everyone had to know. There may have been an Only Connect round on it - Chelsea, Newcastle United, Raith Rovers, Aston Villa. But who did TMay suuport? Boris? Rishi? I couldn't say.
Which is probably healthy, really. Nothing* intrinsically wrong with football, but it strikes me as daft that our favourite football teams should be an important factor about us. (I couldn't say what any PM's favourite county cricket team or rugby team is, with the exception of Major at Surrey, and nor would I expect to be able to.)
*Actually lots, but let's not go into that now.
The last three, excluding Truss, have been cricket / rugby / cricket though, without even the pretence of following a football team (probably for the best). But enjoying a sport doesn't necessarily mean having to support a team in it, even though it usually does.
Quite - I quite admire sports which people will watch without really caring who wins (or even knowing who they will see before they turn up). Tennis and snooker fall into this category. (I'm sadly immune to the charms of tennis, but I do like snooker.)
Personally, I'd watch a rugby match - union or league - no matter who was playing, and can enjoy it without caring who wins. Cricket, though, I need to pick a side. Football is an easier watch if I genuinely don't care who wins - if I do it will only make me sad or angry.
I think Athletics is the ultimate sport for not caring who wins but very watchable. Maybe its the pureness of it. Even the team relays are hard to get too partisan about - You just want to see the best whoever lines up . Athletics gets me most emotional though of any sport - Bolt at his best , Jo Pavey winning the 10K (just watch and listen to the youtube commentary on this!!) , Jessica Ennis
BREAKING: Byline Times has now identified a second hi-viz jacket-wearing man asking questions of Rishi Sunak at this morning's event as local Conservative councillor Ben Hall-Evans
Do you actually think the majority of voters will even register this ? Or care ?
Absolutely not. But it doesn't suggest to me that they've got a very component campaigning team, which does matter.
This happens at almost every event at every election. Politicians don't allow themselves to be exposed to bear traps
Actually i think if politicians can handle it, it can be a positive. Obviously Major and his soap box, but Cameron got ambushed by the Lib Dem activist who tried to use his disabled kid to shame Dave, but despite the media getting all excited at such a mic drop event, Cameron in the end came out of it fairly well as he was polite and engaged (despite the guy not doing it in good faith).
Gordon Brown and Mrs Duffy has to be one of the bigger clangers.
His problem was that he got caught letting out his real feelings for that demographic of people afterwards. The actual encounter was tricky, but not terrible.
and then there was Prescott smacking the voter
I think Brown v Mrs Duffy was a big negative for Brown - Prescott v the egg thrower was probably a positive for Prescott
Gordon went up in my estimation after that - but I suppose I'd be in a minority there.
Gordon stayed exactly the same in my estimation. I don't think Mrs. Duffy was asking an unreasonable question - why is my town so much more full of foreigners than it used to be? - and I don't think doing so is bigoted. But I know that in the view of some (like Gordon) even to ask such as question is unforgiveable. But even so, I found the sight of him having the recording played back to him almost unwatchable. I've had bad days at work, but fortunately never that bad. Poor sod.
But yes, on Prescott vs the egg thrower, or Prescott vs Danbert Nobacon, Prescott comes out the winner. I'm absolutely no fan of Prescott, his approach, or his policies, but going over the line to physical assault is far far far too far, and a quick retaliatory punch is entirely within the bounds of acceptability in that case.
I've always felt that Prescott became more popular after lamping that bloke. And Tony Blair's "John is John" was well judged.
The interesting thing about that incident is that it happened before the internet really had changed the way videos spread. So Blair/Campbell had to decide how to play it initially based solely on Prescott's/his team's telling of the story and without having seen the footage. A lot of trust shown that day.
There were other forms of social media.
For example, at least two Flash Games - one Splat The MP involving throwing eggs at MPs, and the other Prezza Prize Fighter being Prescott punching things - came out within days, before the story had died.
So hang on, Rishis big legacy smoking bill isn’t going to make it into law before the dissolution?
This really feels like he decided on the hoof. That seemed to be his Big Idea.
I have wondered what Rishi Sunak actually went into politics for.
The one subject on which he is both knowledgeable and passionate is IT, which you don't need to be a politician for.
I think he genuinely likes politics and government and is ambitious and was told he was a bit like Blair, so he went for it.
He shouldn't be too downtrodden. At the end of the day he's been PM of the United Kingdom for 20 months in a difficult time, with no real scandal that's at his door, and that's a real achievement.
Exactly. We're not looking at any sort of personal tragedy here. He's been more lucky than unlucky and I'd say he's overachieved in politics. If you'd have told him in 2019 when he'd been in politics for a minute and wasn't even 40 years old that he'd be PM in 3 years he'd have just giggled.
I think history will judge him adequately, particularly as a contrast to his immediate predecessors, unless this election is at the very worst end of expectations. Clearly, he's not in the pantheon of PMs by any means - he's lower tier. But there's a defence there that it is doubtful whether there was any route back after Partygate and Truss. If there was, he sure as hell didn't find it. But he was our first Asian PM, said a few things about AI and, crucially, appears not to be corrupt or completely bonkers, so immediately shoots to the top of the list of best PMs of the 2020s so far.
Yes, the biggest criticism of him is that he isn't terribly good at politics. Which strangley isn't the worst you can say of a PM. And he is arguably better at politics than Liz Truss, who having won the leadership election appeared to forget the need to engage in politics at all, and brought it all crashing down on top of her.
I would judge Sunak more harshly.
The evidence provided by the decision to axe HS2 is that he was panicking about his poor opinion poll position, and casting about for populist remedies. And so not only did he do something for populist reasons, rather than because he thought it was the best policy, but it also failed to win him any support, so it was pointless.
There are a few things Sunak might have done better if his response to poor polling had been calmer. And then he might have closed the polling gap as Major did, a little.
(I couldn't say what any PM's favourite county cricket team .. is, with the exception of Major at Surrey, and nor would I expect to be able to.)
The history of County Cricket teams is that they're representative teams, for the county. So, of course Major supported Surrey, he was a Brixton lad by upbringing, Brixton lying in that part of South London that was part of Surrey before being swallowed up by the city as it expanded.
The idea that someone might support Essex because they won the County Championship a few years ago, but never lived in the county, would be a bit strange.
It's very different to football, where you almost always have at least two teams in any area of any size, and so there's a local rivalry, and two people in the same area would quite likely support different teams.
Which is a problem for the game given a fair proportion of the country live in minor counties. I lived in Berkshire until I was 10 before I moved and was enrolled in a school next to the St Lawrence Ground in Kent. I support Kent but hadn't a scoobie about the game until I moved here.
So hang on, Rishis big legacy smoking bill isn’t going to make it into law before the dissolution?
This really feels like he decided on the hoof. That seemed to be his Big Idea.
I have wondered what Rishi Sunak actually went into politics for.
The one subject on which he is both knowledgeable and passionate is IT, which you don't need to be a politician for.
I think he genuinely likes politics and government and is ambitious and was told he was a bit like Blair, so he went for it.
He shouldn't be too downtrodden. At the end of the day he's been PM of the United Kingdom for 20 months in a difficult time, with no real scandal that's at his door, and that's a real achievement.
Exactly. We're not looking at any sort of personal tragedy here. He's been more lucky than unlucky and I'd say he's overachieved in politics. If you'd have told him in 2019 when he'd been in politics for a minute and wasn't even 40 years old that he'd be PM in 3 years he'd have just giggled.
I think history will judge him adequately, particularly as a contrast to his immediate predecessors, unless this election is at the very worst end of expectations. Clearly, he's not in the pantheon of PMs by any means - he's lower tier. But there's a defence there that it is doubtful whether there was any route back after Partygate and Truss. If there was, he sure as hell didn't find it. But he was our first Asian PM, said a few things about AI and, crucially, appears not to be corrupt or completely bonkers, so immediately shoots to the top of the list of best PMs of the 2020s so far.
I think that is a very good analysis. If the result is at the very worst end of expectations for the Tories, history won't be kind to him and that will be unfair, because most, if not nearly all the blame, lies elsewhere.
Really? Things Rishi chose to do:
> Cancel the important bits of national renewal project, HS2. > Fight a car centric culture war of the back of a v-close byelection. > Superficial moves on smoking, maths for all, banning killer cyclists. > Rwanda. > Stopping boats. > Asset stripping councils. > Shunting all the big fiscal decisions to 2025.
I see Rishi being remembered as a regressive and divisive PM. He chose to govern on close minded short termism.
'most, if not nearly all the blame lies elsewhere' is what I said if the Tories perform at the very worst of expectations and I stick by that. If you compare Rishi to Liz or Boris there really is no comparison in the 'blame'. I don't disagree with your criticisms, but if the result is the very worst end of expectations that will not be his fault it will be Boris's and Liz's fault. That doesn't mean I approve of his premiership. I don't for all the reasons you give, but none of those reasons (with one exception - see below*) will cause the wipeout if it happens even though I disagree with all those things he did
* If there is a wipeout Rwanda/boats will/may be one of the reasons for it
I'd agree that he's certainly getting the blame for 14 years of policy but if you ignore the polling on issues and just look at trackers on likeability, strength and competence all are steadily declining.* The man is unpopular and becoming more so. He might well become a drag on his party as we see more of him.
I refer you to the first post of this thread and the limit on the number of embedded photos.
You need to clarify the distinction between embedded and linked
There isn't, is there? They're all linked. Some are hosted on the PB/Vanilla hosting (if uploaded via Vanilla) and some are hosted elsewhere.
Now, I'm not sure whether the restriction is due to PB resource use (only applies to those uploaded via Vanilla, on PB hosting or Vanilla hosting, but either way presumably with cost implications/reaching storage/transfer quotas) or being annoying to have so many in pages and taking longer to load on slower connections (both types).
ETA: Ah, TSE clarifies below - all hosting types and the issue seems to be with Vanilla downscaling them when there are too many in a page
I think this will be one of a handful of tory gains
Will there be any seats where Labour loses? Bristol Central maybe?
Good call. There’s always one or two losses in a landslide. Lab lost one in 1997 and the Tories a couple in 2010.
What did Labour lose in 1997? I don't seem to be able to find any. (They lost an Aberdeen to the Conservatives seat in 1992, while gaining everywhere else)
I think I might have got that one wrong, whoops! Wiki agrees that they didn’t lose a seat. Perhaps it was a by-election win that reverted?
BREAKING: Byline Times has now identified a second hi-viz jacket-wearing man asking questions of Rishi Sunak at this morning's event as local Conservative councillor Ben Hall-Evans
Do you actually think the majority of voters will even register this ? Or care ?
Absolutely not. But it doesn't suggest to me that they've got a very component campaigning team, which does matter.
This happens at almost every event at every election. Politicians don't allow themselves to be exposed to bear traps
Actually i think if politicians can handle it, it can be a positive. Obviously Major and his soap box, but Cameron got ambushed by the Lib Dem activist who tried to use his disabled kid to shame Dave, but despite the media getting all excited at such a mic drop event, Cameron in the end came out of it fairly well as he was polite and engaged (despite the guy not doing it in good faith).
Gordon Brown and Mrs Duffy has to be one of the bigger clangers.
His problem was that he got caught letting out his real feelings for that demographic of people afterwards. The actual encounter was tricky, but not terrible.
and then there was Prescott smacking the voter
I think Brown v Mrs Duffy was a big negative for Brown - Prescott v the egg thrower was probably a positive for Prescott
Gordon went up in my estimation after that - but I suppose I'd be in a minority there.
Gordon stayed exactly the same in my estimation. I don't think Mrs. Duffy was asking an unreasonable question - why is my town so much more full of foreigners than it used to be? - and I don't think doing so is bigoted. But I know that in the view of some (like Gordon) even to ask such as question is unforgiveable. But even so, I found the sight of him having the recording played back to him almost unwatchable. I've had bad days at work, but fortunately never that bad. Poor sod.
But yes, on Prescott vs the egg thrower, or Prescott vs Danbert Nobacon, Prescott comes out the winner. I'm absolutely no fan of Prescott, his approach, or his policies, but going over the line to physical assault is far far far too far, and a quick retaliatory punch is entirely within the bounds of acceptability in that case.
I've always felt that Prescott became more popular after lamping that bloke. And Tony Blair's "John is John" was well judged.
The interesting thing about that incident is that it happened before the internet really had changed the way videos spread. So Blair/Campbell had to decide how to play it initially based solely on Prescott's/his team's telling of the story and without having seen the footage. A lot of trust shown that day.
There were other forms of social media.
For example, at least two Flash Games - one Splat The MP involving throwing eggs at MPs, and the other Prezza Prize Fighter being Prescott punching things - came out within days, before the story had died.
As we're doing predictions, my constituency - in the UK - is in a constituency where I think I can say is truly a bellweather: Holborn and St Pancras. So bellweathery is it, that I think that the winner of the seat likely be Prime Minister.
And candidly, it's a toss up: will it be the Liberal Democrat's Charlie Clinton, Reform's Dave Roberts, or possibly even Labour's Keir Starmer.
Going out on a limb here: I'm calling it for Starmer.
I think this will be one of a handful of tory gains
Will there be any seats where Labour loses? Bristol Central maybe?
Good call. There’s always one or two losses in a landslide. Lab lost one in 1997 and the Tories a couple in 2010.
What did Labour lose in 1997? I don't seem to be able to find any. (They lost an Aberdeen to the Conservatives seat in 1992, while gaining everywhere else)
As we're doing predictions, my constituency - in the UK - is in a constituency where I think I can say is truly a bellweather: Holborn and St Pancras. So bellweathery is it, that I think that the winner of the seat likely be Prime Minister.
And candidly, it's a toss up: will it be the Liberal Democrat's Charlie Clinton, Reform's Dave Roberts, or possibly even Labour's Keir Starmer.
Going out on a limb here: I'm calling it for Starmer.
anyway is Ed Milibands -Ed Stone still around in a garden somewhere? Nostalgia for election gaffes is coming through !
If I ever win every bet I place one year I want to have a replica made with a toughened glass coating and use it as a dinner table. Iconic bit of election lore.
My reason for voting Corbyn in '17 despite knowing from someone who worked closely with him that he was even more hopeless than he appeared was because Mrs May within a few weeks of the campaign starting had become a monster. 'Immigrants go Home' on the side of vans for example which meant she had to be defeated
Your memory is playing havoc with you.
That's the reason I gave for despising May BEFORE she became PM even.
I refer you to the first post of this thread and the limit on the number of embedded photos.
You need to clarify the distinction between embedded and linked
There isn't, is there? They're all linked. Some are hosted on the PB/Vanilla hosting (if uploaded via Vanilla) and some are hosted elsewhere.
Now, I'm not sure whether the restriction is due to PB resource use (only applies to those uploaded via Vanilla, on PB hosting or Vanilla hosting, but either way presumably with cost implications/reaching storage/transfer quotas) or being annoying to have so many in pages and taking longer to load on slower connections (both types).
The issue is too many photos were being embedded (on a recent thread there were 180 photos on a 400 post threads not including replies to the photo posts).
Vanilla then tries to make the website viewable on phones, computers, tablets etc and ends up compressing the photos either by shrinking the photo or blurring them when a thread has hundreds of photos on it.
Robert and I have spent over a week looking at fixes.
We had a similar issue with Tweets a while back, too many tweets were crashing the website, so we disabled the Twitter embed option.
" @saladinbob 4 minutes ago Farage has put a foreign country before his own and flushed his own political comeback down the toilet. It just shows that no one in our entire political system has this country's best interests at heart, absolutely not a single, solitary soul."
" @sadiemallyon829 14 minutes ago Nigel doesn’t have the guts to stand for his country, a gloom and doom merchant , critical of everything that Sunak has done ,he prefers to stand with a man like Trump , What a let down you are proving to be Nigel , self serving and opinionated , Not worth the time of day!"
" @raypeet5777 50 minutes ago So. Nigel Farage! Reforms Honorary President wont put himself forward as candidate for General Election ,although his record in local and General elections is quite abysmal. As the song goes he's one twice seven times a looser .Here's another song that describes Farage to a Tee..Coward of the Country"
Etc. Etc. Etc.
Think the penny might finally have dropped with this grifters fan base.
After his rain-soaked launch, Rishi Sunak has so far today: - asked Welsh workers if they're looking forward to 'all the football' [not realising Wales not in Euro2024] - had 2 Tory cllrs cosplaying as members of public to ask him Qs
It's only Day 2.
Football doesn't seem to be such a big part of football as it used to be, does it? In the 90s and noughties, the football team the PM supported was an important fact that everyone had to know. There may have been an Only Connect round on it - Chelsea, Newcastle United, Raith Rovers, Aston Villa. But who did TMay suuport? Boris? Rishi? I couldn't say.
Which is probably healthy, really. Nothing* intrinsically wrong with football, but it strikes me as daft that our favourite football teams should be an important factor about us. (I couldn't say what any PM's favourite county cricket team or rugby team is, with the exception of Major at Surrey, and nor would I expect to be able to.)
*Actually lots, but let's not go into that now.
The last three, excluding Truss, have been cricket / rugby / cricket though, without even the pretence of following a football team (probably for the best). But enjoying a sport doesn't necessarily mean having to support a team in it, even though it usually does.
Quite - I quite admire sports which people will watch without really caring who wins (or even knowing who they will see before they turn up). Tennis and snooker fall into this category. (I'm sadly immune to the charms of tennis, but I do like snooker.)
Personally, I'd watch a rugby match - union or league - no matter who was playing, and can enjoy it without caring who wins. Cricket, though, I need to pick a side. Football is an easier watch if I genuinely don't care who wins - if I do it will only make me sad or angry.
I think Athletics is the ultimate sport for not caring who wins but very watchable. Maybe its the pureness of it. Even the team relays are hard to get too partisan about - You just want to see the best whoever lines up . Athletics gets me most emotional though of any sport - Bolt at his best , Jo Pavey winning the 10K (just watch and listen to the youtube commentary on this!!) , Jessica Ennis
Almost nothing beats the 100m final at the Olympics, it’s the ultimate pure human challenge. For what’s now quite a bit less than ten seconds.
After his rain-soaked launch, Rishi Sunak has so far today: - asked Welsh workers if they're looking forward to 'all the football' [not realising Wales not in Euro2024] - had 2 Tory cllrs cosplaying as members of public to ask him Qs
It's only Day 2.
Football doesn't seem to be such a big part of football as it used to be, does it? In the 90s and noughties, the football team the PM supported was an important fact that everyone had to know. There may have been an Only Connect round on it - Chelsea, Newcastle United, Raith Rovers, Aston Villa. But who did TMay suuport? Boris? Rishi? I couldn't say.
Which is probably healthy, really. Nothing* intrinsically wrong with football, but it strikes me as daft that our favourite football teams should be an important factor about us. (I couldn't say what any PM's favourite county cricket team or rugby team is, with the exception of Major at Surrey, and nor would I expect to be able to.)
*Actually lots, but let's not go into that now.
Sunak supports Southampton.
I wonder if he will be at the playoff final this weekend.
Leeds lads will give him a warm welcome
I coach a local U7 team; we have a couple of lads in Leeds Academy too. One of them, just getting started last year, used to bawl his eyes out lying on the floor whenever he was on the losing team - first time it happened I thought he'd got some kind of bad injury that I'd missed! As his mum put it (last season), "he's a Leeds Utd fan, he'll have to learn how to cope with losing!"
Good to see them back in the mix for top flight next year.
LEEDS LEEDS LEEDS!!!
Not that I'm particularly a fan of football, but it would be nice for them to go back up. I was touched by how happy my mate was to have got a ticket for the final.
You might know this - for the second leg against Norwich at Elland Road they put a scarf on each home fan's seat - apparently it was an amazing site to see them all held aloft.
No, didn't know that, sounds cool
My lad's in the market for a team to support. He's not the best at making decisions and as it tends to be a lifelong thing I've encourage him to take his time, but he would like to 'have a team'. Various family influences - Owls (maternal grandad and great-grandad, deceased), Magpies (other grandad), Gooner (me, although somewhat lapsed - haven't really followed since mid 2000s), Liverpool (two local cousins in different branches of family).
I'm tempted to suggest Leeds, as the nearest 'good' team, but I would prefer him to just make up his own mind.
Russel-Misogynist is in the adjacent Brighton Kemptown constituency - with a majority of 8,000.
Nope. Russell-Moyle, as vile as he is, will win easily. It may attract some of the deranged TRA types but that is all.
I don’t think he could lose - second last time were Con with LibD & Green a very distant third & fourth - it’s more a question of how much support Labour put into Pavilion.
BREAKING: Byline Times has now identified a second hi-viz jacket-wearing man asking questions of Rishi Sunak at this morning's event as local Conservative councillor Ben Hall-Evans
Do you actually think the majority of voters will even register this ? Or care ?
Absolutely not. But it doesn't suggest to me that they've got a very component campaigning team, which does matter.
This happens at almost every event at every election. Politicians don't allow themselves to be exposed to bear traps
Actually i think if politicians can handle it, it can be a positive. Obviously Major and his soap box, but Cameron got ambushed by the Lib Dem activist who tried to use his disabled kid to shame Dave, but despite the media getting all excited at such a mic drop event, Cameron in the end came out of it fairly well as he was polite and engaged (despite the guy not doing it in good faith).
Gordon Brown and Mrs Duffy has to be one of the bigger clangers.
His problem was that he got caught letting out his real feelings for that demographic of people afterwards. The actual encounter was tricky, but not terrible.
and then there was Prescott smacking the voter
I think Brown v Mrs Duffy was a big negative for Brown - Prescott v the egg thrower was probably a positive for Prescott
Gordon went up in my estimation after that - but I suppose I'd be in a minority there.
Gordon stayed exactly the same in my estimation. I don't think Mrs. Duffy was asking an unreasonable question - why is my town so much more full of foreigners than it used to be? - and I don't think doing so is bigoted. But I know that in the view of some (like Gordon) even to ask such as question is unforgiveable. But even so, I found the sight of him having the recording played back to him almost unwatchable. I've had bad days at work, but fortunately never that bad. Poor sod.
But yes, on Prescott vs the egg thrower, or Prescott vs Danbert Nobacon, Prescott comes out the winner. I'm absolutely no fan of Prescott, his approach, or his policies, but going over the line to physical assault is far far far too far, and a quick retaliatory punch is entirely within the bounds of acceptability in that case.
I've always felt that Prescott became more popular after lamping that bloke. And Tony Blair's "John is John" was well judged.
The interesting thing about that incident is that it happened before the internet really had changed the way videos spread. So Blair/Campbell had to decide how to play it initially based solely on Prescott's/his team's telling of the story and without having seen the footage. A lot of trust shown that day.
There were other forms of social media.
For example, at least two Flash Games - one Splat The MP involving throwing eggs at MPs, and the other Prezza Prize Fighter being Prescott punching things - came out within days, before the story had died.
" @saladinbob 4 minutes ago Farage has put a foreign country before his own and flushed his own political comeback down the toilet. It just shows that no one in our entire political system has this country's best interests at heart, absolutely not a single, solitary soul."
" @sadiemallyon829 14 minutes ago Nigel doesn’t have the guts to stand for his country, a gloom and doom merchant , critical of everything that Sunak has done ,he prefers to stand with a man like Trump , What a let down you are proving to be Nigel , self serving and opinionated , Not worth the time of day!"
" @raypeet5777 50 minutes ago So. Nigel Farage! Reforms Honorary President wont put himself forward as candidate for General Election ,although his record in local and General elections is quite abysmal. As the song goes he's one twice seven times a looser .Here's another song that describes Farage to a Tee..Coward of the Country"
Etc. Etc. Etc.
Think the penny might finally have dropped with this grifters fan base.
I refer you to the first post of this thread and the limit on the number of embedded photos.
You need to clarify the distinction between embedded and linked
And you, the distinction between one and more than one.
Thus far my embedded photo count stands at zero
No it doesn't.
Any embed either via Vanilla or via a website link counts as an embed.
Vanilla overall sees it as an image then eventually starts shrinking/blurring all photos.
That makes zero sense - but hey it's Vanilla and a lot of the things they do make no sense.
Indeed, they didn't tell us they were hiding the view likes, it was only thanks to BenPointer having a look on the Vanilla website that he made me aware of the fix.
(I couldn't say what any PM's favourite county cricket team .. is, with the exception of Major at Surrey, and nor would I expect to be able to.)
The history of County Cricket teams is that they're representative teams, for the county. So, of course Major supported Surrey, he was a Brixton lad by upbringing, Brixton lying in that part of South London that was part of Surrey before being swallowed up by the city as it expanded.
The idea that someone might support Essex because they won the County Championship a few years ago, but never lived in the county, would be a bit strange.
It's very different to football, where you almost always have at least two teams in any area of any size, and so there's a local rivalry, and two people in the same area would quite likely support different teams.
Which is a problem for the game given a fair proportion of the country live in minor counties. I lived in Berkshire until I was 10 before I moved and was enrolled in a school next to the St Lawrence Ground in Kent. I support Kent but hadn't a scoobie about the game until I moved here.
A further problem is that Middlesex (my county) has not existed for nearly 60 years.
We're racking up the "don't recalls" this afternoon.
..In the minutes, it's stated that the board had grown "concerned that the review opened the business up to claims of wrongful prosecution".
Asked what this refers to, Vennells says she can't recall this being discussed at the meeting or who'd come to that conclusion...
...Beer is continuing to look at the notes about the July 2013 meeting, in which the board expressed strong views that the Post Office hadn't managed the Second Sight review well.
He asks Vennells if she had considered relieving Susan Crichton of her duties as the company's top lawyer over the review's handling.
She says she can't recall, adding that she thought Crichton was the "right person" to lead it going forward.
..."Crichton has told us in this inquiry that she spoke to you before the meeting to say that, in her view, there would be many successful claims against the Post Office arising from past wrongful prosecutions," Beer says, asking whether it was true.
"I have no recollection of that whatsover," Vennells says...
And then, absolute clarity of recall: ...She goes on to deny trying to prevent the board from hearing directly from Crichton.
"Did you take over her paper and present it or the issues in it to prevent the board from hearing her opinion?" Beer asks.
Russel-Misogynist is in the adjacent Brighton Kemptown constituency - with a majority of 8,000.
No it won't. LRM is safe, and I don't think somebody who has in the past spoken warmly of Tommy Robinson and Tucker Carlson will appeal much to Brighton Kemptown voters.
We're racking up the "don't recalls" this afternoon.
..In the minutes, it's stated that the board had grown "concerned that the review opened the business up to claims of wrongful prosecution".
Asked what this refers to, Vennells says she can't recall this being discussed at the meeting or who'd come to that conclusion...
...Beer is continuing to look at the notes about the July 2013 meeting, in which the board expressed strong views that the Post Office hadn't managed the Second Sight review well.
He asks Vennells if she had considered relieving Susan Crichton of her duties as the company's top lawyer over the review's handling.
She says she can't recall, adding that she thought Crichton was the "right person" to lead it going forward.
..."Crichton has told us in this inquiry that she spoke to you before the meeting to say that, in her view, there would be many successful claims against the Post Office arising from past wrongful prosecutions," Beer says, asking whether it was true.
"I have no recollection of that whatsover," Vennells says...
And then, absolute clarity of recall: ...She goes on to deny trying to prevent the board from hearing directly from Crichton.
"Did you take over her paper and present it or the issues in it to prevent the board from hearing her opinion?" Beer asks.
"No, I've told you exactly what happened..
For someone who would have spent tens of thousands of pounds on preparation for this week, she does appear to have an awfully short memory.
It’s almost as if she’s challenging Beer to bring the documents we can all guess he’s going to be bringing tomorrow.
I refer you to the first post of this thread and the limit on the number of embedded photos.
You need to clarify the distinction between embedded and linked
And you, the distinction between one and more than one.
Thus far my embedded photo count stands at zero
No it doesn't.
Any embed either via Vanilla or via a website link counts as an embed.
Vanilla overall sees it as an image then eventually starts shrinking/blurring all photos.
That makes zero sense - but hey it's Vanilla and a lot of the things they do make no sense.
Indeed, they didn't tell us they were hiding the view likes, it was only thanks to BenPointer having a look on the Vanilla website that he made me aware of the fix.
Vanilla sounds flakey. Probably had Y2K issues in 99s. All a bit rum and raisin.
After his rain-soaked launch, Rishi Sunak has so far today: - asked Welsh workers if they're looking forward to 'all the football' [not realising Wales not in Euro2024] - had 2 Tory cllrs cosplaying as members of public to ask him Qs
It's only Day 2.
Football doesn't seem to be such a big part of football as it used to be, does it? In the 90s and noughties, the football team the PM supported was an important fact that everyone had to know. There may have been an Only Connect round on it - Chelsea, Newcastle United, Raith Rovers, Aston Villa. But who did TMay suuport? Boris? Rishi? I couldn't say.
Which is probably healthy, really. Nothing* intrinsically wrong with football, but it strikes me as daft that our favourite football teams should be an important factor about us. (I couldn't say what any PM's favourite county cricket team or rugby team is, with the exception of Major at Surrey, and nor would I expect to be able to.)
*Actually lots, but let's not go into that now.
The last three, excluding Truss, have been cricket / rugby / cricket though, without even the pretence of following a football team (probably for the best). But enjoying a sport doesn't necessarily mean having to support a team in it, even though it usually does.
Quite - I quite admire sports which people will watch without really caring who wins (or even knowing who they will see before they turn up). Tennis and snooker fall into this category. (I'm sadly immune to the charms of tennis, but I do like snooker.)
Personally, I'd watch a rugby match - union or league - no matter who was playing, and can enjoy it without caring who wins. Cricket, though, I need to pick a side. Football is an easier watch if I genuinely don't care who wins - if I do it will only make me sad or angry.
I'm similar. I like watching Australian NRL over a coffee on Saturday mornings because I can enjoy the game for what it is. I used to be the same with NFL until I got sucked into being a 49ers fan. Thus far I have resisted the siren song of the Manly Sea Eagles and remained neutral.
International sport, particularly that involving England, makes me anxious and angry even when we win.
(I couldn't say what any PM's favourite county cricket team .. is, with the exception of Major at Surrey, and nor would I expect to be able to.)
The history of County Cricket teams is that they're representative teams, for the county. So, of course Major supported Surrey, he was a Brixton lad by upbringing, Brixton lying in that part of South London that was part of Surrey before being swallowed up by the city as it expanded.
The idea that someone might support Essex because they won the County Championship a few years ago, but never lived in the county, would be a bit strange.
It's very different to football, where you almost always have at least two teams in any area of any size, and so there's a local rivalry, and two people in the same area would quite likely support different teams.
Which is a problem for the game given a fair proportion of the country live in minor counties. I lived in Berkshire until I was 10 before I moved and was enrolled in a school next to the St Lawrence Ground in Kent. I support Kent but hadn't a scoobie about the game until I moved here.
A further problem is that Middlesex (my county) has not existed for nearly 60 years.
Not administratively, but the area it covers is still there.
Comments
I couldn't give less of a rat shit about what people in a club said. Farage is never getting into Parliament. Never.
Good.
But on the substantive point, no, I don't mean it like that. You're over-analysing slightly. What I mean is if you're going to be triggered by things (even if wrongly) xenophobia is an ok one to have on your list - it shows your head and heart is in the right place. Which is what the incident did (for me) viz a vis Gordon Brown.
It was in private remember. He was stressed out and letting his hair down. She struck him as bigoted and he said so (just mumbling to himself really). Imagine if he'd been making fun of her clothes or her accent or something supercilious and snotty like that. That really would have showed him in a bad light. This didn't. Under stress, in private, he got irritated by what he perceived as xenophobic chat from a member of the public.
Did he read Mrs Duffy wrong? Maybe. I genuinely can't say because I wasn't there and I don't know the lady. She did vote for Brexit 6 years later, but so what. 17m did that. It indicates something but it proves nothing. Point is, Gordon sensed some xenophobia, it irritated him, and he showed this later in private having behaved with the utmost courtesy and professionalism in the face-to-face encounter. I was impressed.
I don't think they directly monitor this site, but maybe they check it out whenever one of their political bets goes haywire to see why.
I expect Shadsy is much more proactive.
For better or worse it’s one of the only active dividing lines. Expect them to major on this until at least the manifesto launch (and even afterwards if it gains any traction).
The idea that someone might support Essex because they won the County Championship a few years ago, but never lived in the county, would be a bit strange.
It's very different to football, where you almost always have at least two teams in any area of any size, and so there's a local rivalry, and two people in the same area would quite likely support different teams.
For example, at least two Flash Games - one Splat The MP involving throwing eggs at MPs, and the other Prezza Prize Fighter being Prescott punching things - came out within days, before the story had died.
Splat the MP can be played here:
https://web.archive.org/web/20010603223609/https://www.panlogic.co.uk/splat_the_MP.html
I can't find Prezza Prize Fighter.
There was also Crouching Tony Hidden Hague.
https://web.archive.org/web/20010617150824/http://www.crouchingtony.com/
All mentioned here:
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2001/jun/06/thecandidate
The Post Office could have avoided a “lost decade” before wrongful convictions were uncovered if more cases were reviewed, Paula Vennells said today.
In an email dated July 2013 that year, the former Post Office chief executive asked for thoughts on why all cases of false accounting “eg over the last 5-10 years” would not be reviewed.
Lead counsel to the Horizon inquiry Jason Beer KC asked: “Do you agree your nascent idea here of a review of all prosecutions of false accounting, if it had been carried into effect, may have avoided a lost decade until miscarriages of justice were discovered?”
Ms Vennells paused for a short moment before responding: “It may well have done. It may well have done.”
Responses to the same email showed the Post Office’s then-director of communications warning that such a decision could lead to the “story” becoming “front page news”.
In her response Ms Vennells said: “You are right to call this out. And I will take your steer. [sic] no issue.”
However, when asked about the exchange, Ms Vennells said she “absolutely” did not accept that she took a decision to not review past cases “based on a media outcome”. She added: “I didn’t take any decision on that, I wouldn’t have been able to do so.”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/05/23/post-office-inquiry-paula-vennells-second-day-questioning/
And maybe he genuinely cares about Southampton or any other bunch of footballers. But it just comes across as crass and inauthentic.
(Andy Burnham, btw, seems to start every bit of public speaking in the North West with a reference to the weekend's football results. Curiously, in his case, this doesn't come across as inauthentic. But it is nowhere near as funny nor as universally relatable as he thinks it is, and is by some way the most irritating aspect of his public speaking.)
O'Mara was vetted?
I blame that Sunak.
Farage won't get into parliament.
Sub Post Masters were Bad Facts. So destroying them was natural.
But football isn't really MUCH less representative. Most people support their local teams, for a given definition of 'local', or teams their families supported. And even in an area with a sizeable population the distribution is still quite geographical (Man United in south west Manchester and Salford; Man City in South and East Manchester.) Some pick a team because they win, but most fans would dismiss those people as a bit dickish.
My daughter has two favourite teams - Manchester United (her local team whom most of her friends support) and Tottenham (who my wife's family are very keen on). She has shirts for each. I'm quite keen on this approach as I think the 'love my own team and hate all the others' aspect of football is, well, a bit stupid.
In any case, it's just as interesting who someone's favourite cricket team is as their favourite football team.
Good to see them back in the mix for top flight next year.
I mean, he wasn't even superficially plausible.
Nigel Farage ‘was all set to run as MP’ but changed mind over early election
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/05/23/nigel-farage-says-he-will-not-stand-in-general-election/
Anything else you'd think shite regardless of the political logic.
Best Yorkshire joke I heard was
(real vicar) saying he was often asked during covid where God was ?
His reply was that ' he was in Yorkshire -working at home"
If you take that pay cheque you deserve to be held accountable, and boy is Jason Beer holding her accountable.
I'm standing agains Lloyd Russell-Moyle #POW #PartyOfWomen #GeneralElection
https://x.com/theposieparker/status/1793630485157200160?
Russel-Misogynist is in the adjacent Brighton Kemptown constituency - with a majority of 8,000.
* If there is a wipeout Rwanda/boats will/may be one of the reasons for it
Not that I'm particularly a fan of football, but it would be nice for them to go back up. I was touched by how happy my mate was to have got a ticket for the final.
You might know this - for the second leg against Norwich at Elland Road they put a scarf on each home fan's seat - apparently it was an amazing site to see them all held aloft.
Personally, I'd watch a rugby match - union or league - no matter who was playing, and can enjoy it without caring who wins. Cricket, though, I need to pick a side. Football is an easier watch if I genuinely don't care who wins - if I do it will only make me sad or angry.
https://www.aaronbell.org.uk/news/standing-newcastle-0
I refer you to the first post of this thread and the limit on the number of embedded photos.
I thought she was in the Green Party - what about Trans and Gaza?
Athletics gets me most emotional though of any sport - Bolt at his best , Jo Pavey winning the 10K (just watch and listen to the youtube commentary on this!!) , Jessica Ennis
https://artwow.co/products/homeware/magnets/dolly-wolf/boris-glitter-tears
If people start exceeding their quota then everyone's ability to post photos will be removed.
U.S. Supreme Court upholds South Carolina's congressional map, reversing a lower court decision that struck down the map for racial gerrymandering.
The Court also makes it harder to fight against future racial gerrymandering...
https://x.com/DemocracyDocket/status/1793646498502324573
Any embed either via Vanilla or via a website link counts as an embed.
Vanilla overall sees it as an image then eventually starts shrinking/blurring all photos.
https://www1.politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2024/05/12/solarpunk/
*decisiveness and trustworthiness are flatlining
https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/trackers
Now, I'm not sure whether the restriction is due to PB resource use (only applies to those uploaded via Vanilla, on PB hosting or Vanilla hosting, but either way presumably with cost implications/reaching storage/transfer quotas) or being annoying to have so many in pages and taking longer to load on slower connections (both types).
ETA: Ah, TSE clarifies below - all hosting types and the issue seems to be with Vanilla downscaling them when there are too many in a page
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_United_Kingdom_general_election
And candidly, it's a toss up: will it be the Liberal Democrat's Charlie Clinton, Reform's Dave Roberts, or possibly even Labour's Keir Starmer.
Going out on a limb here: I'm calling it for Starmer.
If John Swinney wants to be renamed John Sleazy he's going the right way about it at #FMQs
https://x.com/htscotpol/status/1793604082432942286?
Great start to a GE campaign….
That's the reason I gave for despising May BEFORE she became PM even.
And it happened in 2014, not 2017.
The issue is too many photos were being embedded (on a recent thread there were 180 photos on a 400 post threads not including replies to the photo posts).
Vanilla then tries to make the website viewable on phones, computers, tablets etc and ends up compressing the photos either by shrinking the photo or blurring them when a thread has hundreds of photos on it.
Robert and I have spent over a week looking at fixes.
We had a similar issue with Tweets a while back, too many tweets were crashing the website, so we disabled the Twitter embed option.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vxb7TNd4Y7I
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@saladinbob
4 minutes ago
Farage has put a foreign country before his own and flushed his own political comeback down the toilet. It just shows that no one in our entire political system has this country's best interests at heart, absolutely not a single, solitary soul."
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@sadiemallyon829
14 minutes ago
Nigel doesn’t have the guts to stand for his country, a gloom and doom merchant , critical of everything that Sunak has done ,he prefers to stand with a man like Trump , What a let down you are proving to be Nigel , self serving and opinionated , Not worth the time of day!"
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@raypeet5777
50 minutes ago
So. Nigel Farage! Reforms Honorary President wont put himself forward as candidate for General Election ,although his record in local and General elections is quite abysmal. As the song goes he's one twice seven times a looser .Here's another song that describes Farage to a Tee..Coward of the Country"
Etc. Etc. Etc.
Think the penny might finally have dropped with this grifters fan base.
I suspect that, barring injury, that all eight runners will be under 10s for the first time ever.
(Eight of nine under 10s has been done already, albeit wind-assisted https://sports.yahoo.com/andre-de-grasse-100-meter-dash-field-sub-10-second-finish-233229031.html)
Has binned the New Green Deal in favour of austerity (same as the Blue Tories)
Support Zionism without question and cheerleads Genocide in Gaza (like the blue Tories)
Is all over the place on Trans rights (depends on what is considered most popular)
Enjoy voting for the Party with Zero principles and rotating policies
My lad's in the market for a team to support. He's not the best at making decisions and as it tends to be a lifelong thing I've encourage him to take his time, but he would like to 'have a team'. Various family influences - Owls (maternal grandad and great-grandad, deceased), Magpies (other grandad), Gooner (me, although somewhat lapsed - haven't really followed since mid 2000s), Liverpool (two local cousins in different branches of family).
I'm tempted to suggest Leeds, as the nearest 'good' team, but I would prefer him to just make up his own mind.
..In the minutes, it's stated that the board had grown "concerned that the review opened the business up to claims of wrongful prosecution".
Asked what this refers to, Vennells says she can't recall this being discussed at the meeting or who'd come to that conclusion...
...Beer is continuing to look at the notes about the July 2013 meeting, in which the board expressed strong views that the Post Office hadn't managed the Second Sight review well.
He asks Vennells if she had considered relieving Susan Crichton of her duties as the company's top lawyer over the review's handling.
She says she can't recall, adding that she thought Crichton was the "right person" to lead it going forward.
..."Crichton has told us in this inquiry that she spoke to you before the meeting to say that, in her view, there would be many successful claims against the Post Office arising from past wrongful prosecutions," Beer says, asking whether it was true.
"I have no recollection of that whatsover," Vennells says...
And then, absolute clarity of recall:
...She goes on to deny trying to prevent the board from hearing directly from Crichton.
"Did you take over her paper and present it or the issues in it to prevent the board from hearing her opinion?" Beer asks.
"No, I've told you exactly what happened..
It’s almost as if she’s challenging Beer to bring the documents we can all guess he’s going to be bringing tomorrow.
International sport, particularly that involving England, makes me anxious and angry even when we win.