And why should he? Petrol is roughly the same price as it was 12 years ago.
Because people are struggling and also we need growth in the economy. Petrol prices effect everything, as we saw when the Russia / Ukraine war broke out. Its a tax on operating a business, even if you are a service business, increased petrol prices effect you.
And why should he? Petrol is roughly the same price as it was 12 years ago.
The tricky thing for whoever is in power is that tax from petrol is going to vanish over the next decade. Beth Rigby saying how much the government could milk it for completely misses this point.
I was wondering where the Labour activists in East London would go given there aren't too many marginal seats in the vicinity (apart from East Ham and its 33,000 majority of course).
Would they go to Romford or to Hornchurch & Upminster?
It seems not - the Newham Mayor and the Labour candidates for Stratford & Bow and West Ham & Beckton have headed to Colchester.
James Cracknell, the new Conservative candidate, is defending a 9,400 majority - Labour needs a swing of 8.8% to take the seat so should be quite achievable on current numbers. It is the 136th most marginal Conservvative seat (or the 236th safest if you prefer).
A very thin excuse for a jolly if you ask me, Stodge.
Colchester can be pretty wild on a Wednesday night.
You seem to speak from experience.
I wouldn't know - one place I wouldn't be next Wednesday is Ascot. I can't remember if Flat racing was your interest or whether it was the jumps.
It'll be a welcome break from the election to do some proper punting.
To me the flat was always just a way of passing time through the summer until the proper stuff started.
Always hated Ascot. The rebuild was a disaster. For flat racing, you can't see anything unless you are in the Royal Box. Perversely it wasn't so bad for the jumps because you had such small crowds you could easily find a decent spot. They always treated us jumps fans as plebs though, so I generally avoided the place.
I was always a Sandown man. Has everything, although it is probably due for a rebuild soon.
I agree with your assessments of Sandown and Ascot. Sandown is top drawer viewing. Ascot gets away with it for the jumps. Newbury is a car crash.
But I’m a Ludlow man first and foremost. Tremendous view off the stands.
Royal Ascot next week, of course, Tuesday to Saturday. The weather forecast is not too promising.
Starmer coming into his own now after the earlier Rigby mauling .
Couldn’t compute the robot question.
Called out as not answering questions.
That was his worst answer so far. There was a far better and more honest one at his fingertips. He could have said that when you become party leader you realise that every word you say can have massive consequences and can even move markets, so you end up more cautious with what you’re saying. But that he recognises this and will try to make sure they see the real him.
And why should he? Petrol is roughly the same price as it was 12 years ago.
The tricky thing for whoever is in power is that tax from petrol is going to vanish over the next decade. Beth Rigby saying how much the government could milk it for completely misses this point.
Starmer seems to struggle with the grand inspirational stuff. I thought his answers on the bread and butter issues were pretty good but he struggled with the penultimate question about not being a political robot. He’s the anti Boris in that respect.
Starmer coming into his own now after the earlier Rigby mauling .
Couldn’t compute the robot question.
Called out as not answering questions.
That was his worst answer so far. There was a far better and more honest one at his fingertips. He could have said that when you become party leader you realise that every word you say can have massive consequences and can even move markets, so you end up more cautious with what you’re saying. But that he recognises this and will try to make sure they see the real him.
And why should he? Petrol is roughly the same price as it was 12 years ago.
Because people are struggling and also we need growth in the economy. Petrol prices effect everything, as we saw when the Russia / Ukraine war broke out. Its a tax on operating a business, even if you are a service business, increased petrol prices effect you.
Most people on pb aren't struggling, they see it as a tax rise they can easily swallow and won't really affect them too much
Come tomorrow you’ll be back to telling us Starmer’s performance was genius.
His bits over. I’ll tell you now, waffley. He is visible weak as he hesitates and stumbles on awkward questions, and reaches for bizarre comfort blankets like Truss in first debate, and his life and family being ordinary in this one.
Over all, anyone thinking of switching to Labour watching that, he probably sealed their vote. He did okay.
And why should he? Petrol is roughly the same price as it was 12 years ago.
The tricky thing for whoever is in power is that tax from petrol is going to vanish over the next decade. Beth Rigby saying how much the government could milk it for completely misses this point.
If only about 5 people on pb.com are watching this, what does that mean for the general population?
How many watched the last one? Does anyone know?
Like GB News it will be clipped to death and watched in far greater numbers on social media.
I find the fact GB News has over 1.5bn views on YouTube mind blowing. The problem for them is that content farming doesn't pay like it did 10 years ago.
I'm a few minutes behind now, but Starmer seems to be connecting well with the general public. He seems to be dealing with the VAT question pretty well and, sensitively.
His politics just doesn’t understand aspiration though, does it. State or nothing.
That’s just crap. Understanding aspiration is an entirely different matter to allowing covert subsidies to an element of the education sector that benefits a very narrow selectorate.
Starmer coming into his own now after the earlier Rigby mauling .
Couldn’t compute the robot question.
Called out as not answering questions.
That was his worst answer so far. There was a far better and more honest one at his fingertips. He could have said that when you become party leader you realise that every word you say can have massive consequences and can even move markets, so you end up more cautious with what you’re saying. But that he recognises this and will try to make sure they see the real him.
He could have leant into real stuff he actually does. "I play 5 a-side" would have genuinely gone down very well!
And why should he? Petrol is roughly the same price as it was 12 years ago.
The tricky thing for whoever is in power is that tax from petrol is going to vanish over the next decade. Beth Rigby saying how much the government could milk it for completely misses this point.
Its obvious we will get price per mile.
That'll go down like a bucket of cold sick.
Its coming though. How else do they replace the dependence on all that lovely gas tax.
Had to Google that and see you mean paying for green waste, something I have done for around ten years. It’s not really just a Welsh thing.
My council charges for a green bin...I just gave it back as it is more than I can pay so all my garden wast e will now be hidden in the black bin.....so green
Someone was asking yesterday about constituencies where there might be odd results. May I give you two possible examples
1. Bromsgrove where Dr David Nicholl is a very well known local personality and already on the Council. Apparently the Labour candidate did a no show at the hustings last night. I have put some money on David at 150-1 on Ladbrokes
2. Hackney North, which has 30,000 ultraorthodox Jews in the constituency and one of their own is standing for the Conservatives. At 50-1 on Bet365
I have put my money where my mouth is on both.
Tories might've had a chance in Hackney North if Abbott had been deselected.
Lots of anger amongst the Charedim towards the Labour-run council over LTNs and a recent Tory by-election victory (albeit in Cazenove rather than Stamford Hill proper) was likely driven by the same issue.
Abbott probably has enough long-standing personal support from the Charedi community to limit the damage, though.
50-1 feels like a fair price. Probably more likely to be notable for going against the nationwide trend in terms of swing, but there are other London seats (particularly those with large Hindu communities) that might outdo it in that respect too.
And why should he? Petrol is roughly the same price as it was 12 years ago.
The tricky thing for whoever is in power is that tax from petrol is going to vanish over the next decade. Beth Rigby saying how much the government could milk it for completely misses this point.
Its obvious we will get price per mile.
That'll go down like a bucket of cold sick.
We already do, really. Drive more, use more fuel, pay more tax on fuel.
I’m not sure - lots of references online to green waste charges as Labours garden tax too.
I am not watching, but I can't imagine that is even worthy of discussion. In terms of tax revenue its like finding a penny down the sofa.
Where as Labour are being pushed on if not NI, IC, VAT, what...and its going to be IHT, CGT, and Council tax. I presume pensions as well, but they have U-Turned on the cap (as its stupid policy).
And why should he? Petrol is roughly the same price as it was 12 years ago.
The tricky thing for whoever is in power is that tax from petrol is going to vanish over the next decade. Beth Rigby saying how much the government could milk it for completely misses this point.
Its obvious we will get price per mile.
That'll go down like a bucket of cold sick.
We already do, really. Drive more, use more fuel, pay more tax on fuel.
The not allowed to stand in more than one constituency thing came in later than I thought (I was sure I remembered that was why Sutch didn't stand in the 1997GE as I was working Yeovil and hoping that I would get to meet him). It's in the Representation of the People Act 1983, but that clause was inserted due to the Electoral Administration Act 2006.
Candidate not to stand in more than one constituency In Schedule 1 to the 1983 Act (parliamentary elections rules), in rule 8(3) (candidate's consent to nomination), after paragraph (b) insert— “(c)shall state that he is not a candidate at an election for any other constituency the poll for which is to be held on the same day as that for the election to which the consent relates,”.
Came into effect 1st January 2007 for England, Wales and Scotland, 1st July 2008 for Northern Ireland.
Robert Kilroy-Silk stood in multiple seats for Veritas in 2005. I think that was probably the trigger.
Stupid rule, really, since only joke candidates did it, but most of our election rules were made for stupid reasons.
The Russians are digging trenches to consolidate their recent gains in Kharkiv Oblast. 2.5km from the international border. I guess it makes sense to force Ukraine to make a costly assault on prepared defensive positions, albeit Russia has already suffered horrendous losses in their failed offensive on this front.
Sometimes it is easy to think that Russia is doing embarrassingly badly in the war, but they're still able to inflict heavy losses on Ukraine and occupy Ukrainian territory.
Had to Google that and see you mean paying for green waste, something I have done for around ten years. It’s not really just a Welsh thing.
My council charges for a green bin...I just gave it back as it is more than I can pay so all my garden wast e will now be hidden in the black bin.....so green
Ours is about a pound a week. Quite useful as although I’d love to Monty Don all our garden waste, I dont have the space of the five huge compost bins needed, or indeed the time.
The not allowed to stand in more than one constituency thing came in later than I thought (I was sure I remembered that was why Sutch didn't stand in the 1997GE as I was working Yeovil and hoping that I would get to meet him). It's in the Representation of the People Act 1983, but that clause was inserted due to the Electoral Administration Act 2006.
Candidate not to stand in more than one constituency In Schedule 1 to the 1983 Act (parliamentary elections rules), in rule 8(3) (candidate's consent to nomination), after paragraph (b) insert— “(c)shall state that he is not a candidate at an election for any other constituency the poll for which is to be held on the same day as that for the election to which the consent relates,”.
Came into effect 1st January 2007 for England, Wales and Scotland, 1st July 2008 for Northern Ireland.
Robert Kilroy-Silk stood in multiple seats for Veritas in 2005. I think that was probably the trigger.
Stupid rule, really, since only joke candidates did it, but most of our election rules were made for stupid reasons.
What would have happened if someone genuinely popular had done it and won in hundreds of constituencies? Would they just count as a single MP and get outvoted by the rest or could they form a one-man majority?
Rigby is much lower energy with Sunak. Less spark. I don’t know if it’s a deliberate more in sorrow than anger sort of thing, or she’s she’s just feeling a bit tired.
Had to Google that and see you mean paying for green waste, something I have done for around ten years. It’s not really just a Welsh thing.
My council charges for a green bin...I just gave it back as it is more than I can pay so all my garden wast e will now be hidden in the black bin.....so green
Ours is about a pound a week. Quite useful as although I’d love to Monty Don all our garden waste, I dont have the space of the five huge compost bins needed, or indeed the time.
Shrugs I just shove all my garden waste in the black bin now
All they need to do is look at Google Maps and the OS commercial arm. Those get info from air photography (though Google calls it 'satellite view' which is probably where the Daily Telecomic gets its excuse).
Sunak should say "If I win from here, I'll be fucking untouchable."
You joke but if Sunak actually swore and said "This is bloody fucking difficult, and Keir won't find it any easier" or something, it would probably actually make him more popular!
I was wondering where the Labour activists in East London would go given there aren't too many marginal seats in the vicinity (apart from East Ham and its 33,000 majority of course).
Would they go to Romford or to Hornchurch & Upminster?
It seems not - the Newham Mayor and the Labour candidates for Stratford & Bow and West Ham & Beckton have headed to Colchester.
James Cracknell, the new Conservative candidate, is defending a 9,400 majority - Labour needs a swing of 8.8% to take the seat so should be quite achievable on current numbers. It is the 136th most marginal Conservvative seat (or the 236th safest if you prefer).
A very thin excuse for a jolly if you ask me, Stodge.
Colchester can be pretty wild on a Wednesday night.
You seem to speak from experience.
I wouldn't know - one place I wouldn't be next Wednesday is Ascot. I can't remember if Flat racing was your interest or whether it was the jumps.
It'll be a welcome break from the election to do some proper punting.
To me the flat was always just a way of passing time through the summer until the proper stuff started.
Always hated Ascot. The rebuild was a disaster. For flat racing, you can't see anything unless you are in the Royal Box. Perversely it wasn't so bad for the jumps because you had such small crowds you could easily find a decent spot. They always treated us jumps fans as plebs though, so I generally avoided the place.
I was always a Sandown man. Has everything, although it is probably due for a rebuild soon.
I agree with your assessments of Sandown and Ascot. Sandown is top drawer viewing. Ascot gets away with it for the jumps. Newbury is a car crash.
But I’m a Ludlow man first and foremost. Tremendous view off the stands.
At last, a proper subject for debate.
Do they still allow you on the roof of the stand at Ludlow? One of the best views of jump racing anywhjere.
I'm not a fan of Ascot either and PtP is quite right about the rebuild. I went to the freebie organised by the Racegoers Club and it reminded me of a vast aircraft hanger. There used to be a lovely members room with wicker chairs and free hot food for reciprocal guests - Ascot back then was a class act.
Sandown viewing is first rate but it was designed to be a good viewing track. If you can get altitude Epsom is very good but I love Plumpton as you're close to the action as you are at Fontwell and down the Abbot.
My personal favourite is Goodwood on a fine sunny day from the top of the Sussex Stand - exceptional backdrop and view.
Had to Google that and see you mean paying for green waste, something I have done for around ten years. It’s not really just a Welsh thing.
My council charges for a green bin...I just gave it back as it is more than I can pay so all my garden wast e will now be hidden in the black bin.....so green
Ours is about a pound a week. Quite useful as although I’d love to Monty Don all our garden waste, I dont have the space of the five huge compost bins needed, or indeed the time.
Shrugs I just shove all my garden waste in the black bin now
People who post here are mostly well off, for a lot of people a though struggling to make the money last till the end of the month even a pound a week is a pound more they can afford
Rigby is much lower energy with Sunak. Less spark. I don’t know if it’s a deliberate more in sorrow than anger sort of thing, or she’s she’s just feeling a bit tired.
That's how it is when you're interviewing someone for a job and you already know they ain't getting it.
Rigby is much lower energy with Sunak. Less spark. I don’t know if it’s a deliberate more in sorrow than anger sort of thing, or she’s she’s just feeling a bit tired.
That's how it is when you're interviewing someone for a job and you already know they ain't getting it.
Someone was asking yesterday about constituencies where there might be odd results. May I give you two possible examples
1. Bromsgrove where Dr David Nicholl is a very well known local personality and already on the Council. Apparently the Labour candidate did a no show at the hustings last night. I have put some money on David at 150-1 on Ladbrokes
2. Hackney North, which has 30,000 ultraorthodox Jews in the constituency and one of their own is standing for the Conservatives. At 50-1 on Bet365
I have put my money where my mouth is on both.
Before anyone rushes to follow you, I am pretty sure there aren't 30,000 Jews in Hackney North.
How much is your bet, EPG? Largest orthodox community in Europe
Couple of sub 40 Labour polls now, they're obviously fine as long as the Reform and Tory shares stay fairly evenly split but it looks very unlike a Blair 43% to me now
From the changes to LAB/CON/RFM there is +5pp (rounding permitting) to add to the LDM/GRN scores in the last poll, where each were on 8%. I think this is their first poll of the campaign.
Don't the NHS waiting list always come down in summer and go up in winter?
I think that’s more bed pressure than waiting lists specifically. Winter bugs hit the elderly and infirm hard and they end up in hospital trying not to catch worse diseases from the wards…
Rigby is much lower energy with Sunak. Less spark. I don’t know if it’s a deliberate more in sorrow than anger sort of thing, or she’s she’s just feeling a bit tired.
That's how it is when you're interviewing someone for a job and you already know they ain't getting it.
Comments
How many watched the last one? Does anyone know?
Called out as not answering questions.
Brave. You don't piss off The Titchmarsh...and his millions.
The Welsh Government is using satellites to spy on homeowners with big gardens, as it seeks to overhaul council tax, The Telegraph can disclose.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/05/11/welsh-labour-to-hike-council-tax-by-spying-on-homeowners/
I know you @MoonRabbit seem hell bent on saying otherwise, apparently regardless of his actual performance, but I genuinely think that was very good.
Admittedly, it’s the first time I’ve ever watched Starmer for anything more than about a 30-second news clip.
I trust him, hugely so. I think we’ll be safe in his hands. That’s the main thing.
Over all, anyone thinking of switching to Labour watching that, he probably sealed their vote. He did okay.
But then when I'm dining with Mrs. P. why would I want to look at PB?
What sort of leader begs for hearts to forgive his mistake.
Lots of anger amongst the Charedim towards the Labour-run council over LTNs and a recent Tory by-election victory (albeit in Cazenove rather than Stamford Hill proper) was likely driven by the same issue.
Abbott probably has enough long-standing personal support from the Charedi community to limit the damage, though.
50-1 feels like a fair price. Probably more likely to be notable for going against the nationwide trend in terms of swing, but there are other London seats (particularly those with large Hindu communities) that might outdo it in that respect too.
Where as Labour are being pushed on if not NI, IC, VAT, what...and its going to be IHT, CGT, and Council tax. I presume pensions as well, but they have U-Turned on the cap (as its stupid policy).
Then after tomorrow’s Labour manifesto we’re into the Euros, Wimbledon, Glasto, Ascot etc.
Stupid rule, really, since only joke candidates did it, but most of our election rules were made for stupid reasons.
Sometimes it is easy to think that Russia is doing embarrassingly badly in the war, but they're still able to inflict heavy losses on Ukraine and occupy Ukrainian territory.
This is a day after mauling interview.
Up your game Sunak.
Lab 39
Con 19
Reform 17
https://x.com/GoodwinMJ/status/1800960821763178604
Apologies if this was mentioned ages ago
He’s expecting us to feel sorry for him
"With the division in the party, how do we know you will be PM even if you win with all the leadership contenders"
BRUTAL ... the interviewer chose violence.
(I thought Starmer did very well indeed)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMXrpKzzcus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_next_United_Kingdom_general_election
Do they still allow you on the roof of the stand at Ludlow? One of the best views of jump racing anywhjere.
I'm not a fan of Ascot either and PtP is quite right about the rebuild. I went to the freebie organised by the Racegoers Club and it reminded me of a vast aircraft hanger. There used to be a lovely members room with wicker chairs and free hot food for reciprocal guests - Ascot back then was a class act.
Sandown viewing is first rate but it was designed to be a good viewing track. If you can get altitude Epsom is very good but I love Plumpton as you're close to the action as you are at Fontwell and down the Abbot.
My personal favourite is Goodwood on a fine sunny day from the top of the Sussex Stand - exceptional backdrop and view.
Learnt lesson the last week on lying.
(By the way, I agree with @Taz that he did sound contrite about the D-Day thing.)
Lab 39 (-7)
Con 19 (-1)
Ref 17 (+3)