Your chart du jour – politicalbetting.com

noneoftheabove said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Alastair Meeks has set out his expectations for the election.

https://alastair-meeks.medium.com/not-a-prediction-bea8d1b7ae11

In summary Tories to do better a little than expected in average polls and get 75 seats! I don't think that will be far off.

Alastair is a star. He is much missed here.

His guess looks eminently plausible.

wooliedyed said:

TimS said:

Scott_xP said:

@Savanta_UK
🚨NEW London Westminster voting intention for
@QMUL


📈33 point Labour lead

🌹Lab 55 (+2)
🌳Con 22 (-1)
🔶LD 13 (-3)
➡️Reform 8 (=)
🌍Green 5 (+1)

1,022 Londoners, 10-18 June

(change vs 26-30 April)

https://x.com/Savanta_UK/status/1805182351233679861

That's a very different pattern from the rest of the country given it's movement since April. Reform not up at all, barely any movement in Conservative. It does suggest the Tories will do relatively much better in London than elsewhere.

It's also hard to see Tories on 19% nationally if on 22% in London imo, 22% London would be more in line with 25% nationally would be the assumption I worked from.
They'd hold 8 to 12 on that polling in London

Well yes, but why does this London poll trump all the other national ones?

Theuniondivvie said:

Cookie said:

Theuniondivvie said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Theuniondivvie said:

NickPalmer said:

rkrkrk said:

Hope you're feeling better - heard you had some ill health.

Our local tory mp hasn't given up. Still paying to get leaflets delivered but suspect his time is up.

Thanks, yes - had a stroke 8 weeks ago. Pretty much back to normal now except for a need to sleep for an hour most afternoons, and occasional struggles with memory.

That's pretty much where I'm at now! Keep on keeping on..

Blimey, PBers have been through the wars on the health front.

Hope you all look after yourselves.

Just to make it absolutely clear, I increasingly like (but don't usually get) a nap of an afternoon and have an occasional memory fart!
The latter is a bit more concerning as my mother's side of the family have a strong incidence of dementia, but fit can ye dae.
Nevertheless thanks for kind thoughts.

Jeez, TUD, I had no idea you'd been so poorly. I'm also having to massively readjust my idea of how old you are - I'd guessed you were late 40s. Best wishes for a continued recovery. All sorts of advice out there about staving off dementia but I'd be lying if I said I knew which ones worked best! But staying mentally (and physically) active and good oral hygiene strikes me as good advice whether it works or not.

Thanks, but there’s life in the scabby old dog yet!
However I think for most folk who tool along in reasonably good health there comes a precipice when a few things can hit you at once. Dementia is the one thing I fear more than anything so I probably fixate a bit too much on that.

Best of luck, I hope your fears are unrealised

They say that after the age of 60, smoking is probably a net positive, as it seems to fend off dementia - or so my chain smoking Dad would say, and TBF he puffed away until he conked out at 88 - with all his marbles

My mum the resolute non smoker is less lucky

I also think travel is good (it’s one reason I do so much of it). It keeps you physically and mentally fit because every day is a series of Sudoku tests and a sequence of weights, as you work out how to park in Paris or order octopus in Managua, and as you lug your bags about, endlessly…

Nunu5 said:

TimS said:

Another of those fun journalist visits constituency and talks to people videos. Could Liz Truss be in danger?

https://x.com/darrenmccaffrey/status/1805164027435229251

No Tory is truly safe. This is as the Americans call it a wave election. Which torys will be left when the tide is out? Well see

HOC makeup according to all the MRPs/models I can find (YG,NS,EC,IPSOS) (Not Telegraph)

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1R-AChxDPCIm2kpSJrbwr4pzE_auzeYm__hZukaloLow/edit?usp=sharing

Stuartinromford said:

Leon said:

Cookie said:

Cookie said:

TimS said:

kinabalu said:

Andy_JS said:

The Isle of Wight is being split in two for this election. I was just thinking it would be funny if one of the seats went to the Greens and the other to RefUK.

That could lead to a Korea style partition.

More Cyprus surely. Island and all that. Maybe with a tiny bit of British crown territory somewhere near the Needles.

A surprising number of divided islands now I come to think of it. Timor, Borneo, Papua, Ireland, Hispaniola. Probably more I've forgotten.

Actually surprisingly few. There's also Tierra del Fuego, and I think somewhere in the Baltic, but I think that's all.

Cookie said:

TimS said:

kinabalu said:

Andy_JS said:

The Isle of Wight is being split in two for this election. I was just thinking it would be funny if one of the seats went to the Greens and the other to RefUK.

That could lead to a Korea style partition.

More Cyprus surely. Island and all that. Maybe with a tiny bit of British crown territory somewhere near the Needles.

A surprising number of divided islands now I come to think of it. Timor, Borneo, Papua, Ireland, Hispaniola. Probably more I've forgotten.

Actually surprisingly few. There's also Tierra del Fuego, and I think somewhere in the Baltic, but I think that's all.

I take it back - there's actually 18:
https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/islands-that-are-shared-by-more-than-one-country.html

On a foggy Fenland day, with the lantern of the cathedral rising above the silvery mist, the Isle of Ely is shared between the kingdom of England and the kingdom of Heaven

And it has that effect now.

God knows what effect it had on your standard issue medieval fenlander.

The great Gothic cathedrals of Europe - and Ely is one of the best - are arguably the greatest artistic achievements of humanity. And yes, if they can silence us by their noom now, imagine what they did to a 14th century pilgrim used to a mud hut

Fairliered said:

MarqueeMark said:

Peter_the_Punter said:

MarqueeMark said:

highwayparadise306 said:

TimS said:

DougSeal said:

LostPassword said:

RochdalePioneers said:

Casino_Royale said:

I'm...just... so... glad... Rishi Sunak.. called an early...eleecczzzzzzzz.....

Is this the only GE in history where everyone in the Conservative Party has given up?

Whilst the campaign has been spectacularly inept, I just have this feeling that there must have been some issue buried deep down to make him cut and run in this way.

I do think it might well be the King. If Sunak was told there was a considerable risk KCIII would die during an autumn election campaign, then we won't hear about it until after KCIII passes away, but it would probably make people think more kindly of Sunak. He went unprepared into an election campaign to ease the concerns of the Monarch.

Though the Tories should have been well-prepared for an election at any time.

Doesn't pass the smell test for me. Even Tories are not venal enough to bet on the date of an election caused by the King's health concerns and it's impossible to be that exact.

And Davey has shown repeatedly that getting wet in an election campaign is not of itself a problem, it's how you get wet.

Ed is all right. He has fun!

There's a large number of sub-posties who would love to have been having fun getting wet. Instead, they were being locked up for 23 hours a day because Ed Davey was considerably incurious.

The same could be said of every Minister responsible for the PO, from Peter Mandelson onwards, with the exception of Norman Lamb, who genuinely tried to help but was moved on before he could achieve much.

Davey was demonised in the wake of the TV series. This was unfair, but it's politics and I have no issue with that. On a sophisticated Site like this however, I would expect a more balanced view to prevail, especially in the light of the contributions on the subject by such experts on the matter as Ms Cyclefree.

Davey did at least have a meeting with Sir Alan Bates, even if nothing came of it,

Let's see how he fares before the Committee next month.

MarqueeMark said:

Peter_the_Punter said:

MarqueeMark said:

highwayparadise306 said:

TimS said:

DougSeal said:

LostPassword said:

RochdalePioneers said:

Casino_Royale said:

I'm...just... so... glad... Rishi Sunak.. called an early...eleecczzzzzzzz.....

Is this the only GE in history where everyone in the Conservative Party has given up?

Whilst the campaign has been spectacularly inept, I just have this feeling that there must have been some issue buried deep down to make him cut and run in this way.

I do think it might well be the King. If Sunak was told there was a considerable risk KCIII would die during an autumn election campaign, then we won't hear about it until after KCIII passes away, but it would probably make people think more kindly of Sunak. He went unprepared into an election campaign to ease the concerns of the Monarch.

Though the Tories should have been well-prepared for an election at any time.

Doesn't pass the smell test for me. Even Tories are not venal enough to bet on the date of an election caused by the King's health concerns and it's impossible to be that exact.

And Davey has shown repeatedly that getting wet in an election campaign is not of itself a problem, it's how you get wet.

Ed is all right. He has fun!

There's a large number of sub-posties who would love to have been having fun getting wet. Instead, they were being locked up for 23 hours a day because Ed Davey was considerably incurious.

The same could be said of every Minister responsible for the PO, from Peter Mandelson onwards, with the exception of Norman Lamb, who genuinely tried to help but was moved on before he could achieve much.

Davey was demonised in the wake of the TV series. This was unfair, but it's politics and I have no issue with that. On a sophisticated Site like this however, I would expect a more balanced view to prevail, especially in the light of the contributions on the subject by such experts on the matter as Ms Cyclefree.

Davey did at least have a meeting with Sir Alan Bates, even if nothing came of it,

Let's see how he fares before the Committee next month.

The LOTO at the PO inquiry? That should be interesting.

Well, we had the PM at the Covid enquiry explaining how he'd lost his WhatsApp messages.

PedestrianRock said:

I think a big reason why the Tories are losing this time is the 2019 result was artificially inflated. For all the talk of ‘where Sunak went wrong’ we must remember that:

- Many 2019 Tory voters would never normally vote Tory, but ‘lent’ them their vote to ‘Get Brexit done’. Once we had left the EU they were happy to go back to Labour or other parties, particularly once the 2nd Ref idea was killed. See the 2017 vs 2019 Labour result for some (imperfect) evidence of the latter.

- Many moderate voters were put off by fears of a Corbyn Government, whereas they’re fine with Starmer. Starmer might be less popular with the youth/left but this largely only affects seats that Labour would win anyway.

- Lib Dems were advocating for 2nd Ref/Rejoin EU in 2019. Now they’re only saying ‘Single Market rejoin’ which doesn’t alienate Tory voters in Lib Dem Marginals.

- The Brexit Party stood down in Tory-held seats in 2019. REFUK is not doing so this time. This is a huge understated factor.

^ The above 4 reasons mean that even before you look at Partygate, Liz Truss, D-Day Gate, Wagergate, Inflation, Immigration, elderly Tory voters dying, Boris’ Johnson’s personal popularity being higher than Truss/Sunak… or anything else that has actually happened between 2019-2024 - the ‘baseline’ of the 2024 result was artificially low.

Boris’ 365 Tory seats on 43.6% was in some ways inflated by the above. Pandemic CON polling of >50% was more a ‘rally round the flag’ effect as we saw mirrored in other countries worldwide - but it may have made the 43.6% look more real.

I’m not defending Sunak’s record at all - I just don’t think he had much of a hope to begin with of preventing a Labour victory.

Overall I think it’s much easier to rationalise

The Lib Dems were advocating for straight "revoke Art 50" in 2019. Which is why I resigned from the party. I had major differences with posters on here regarding whether a 2nd Ref was democratic (I maintain it would have been) but I have no hesitation in saying that a straight revoke without a Referendum would have been undemocratic. It was also electorally stupid.

Leon said:

Stuartinromford said:

Leon said:

Cookie said:

Cookie said:

TimS said:

kinabalu said:

Andy_JS said:

The Isle of Wight is being split in two for this election. I was just thinking it would be funny if one of the seats went to the Greens and the other to RefUK.

That could lead to a Korea style partition.

More Cyprus surely. Island and all that. Maybe with a tiny bit of British crown territory somewhere near the Needles.

A surprising number of divided islands now I come to think of it. Timor, Borneo, Papua, Ireland, Hispaniola. Probably more I've forgotten.

Actually surprisingly few. There's also Tierra del Fuego, and I think somewhere in the Baltic, but I think that's all.

Cookie said:

TimS said:

kinabalu said:

Andy_JS said:

The Isle of Wight is being split in two for this election. I was just thinking it would be funny if one of the seats went to the Greens and the other to RefUK.

That could lead to a Korea style partition.

More Cyprus surely. Island and all that. Maybe with a tiny bit of British crown territory somewhere near the Needles.

A surprising number of divided islands now I come to think of it. Timor, Borneo, Papua, Ireland, Hispaniola. Probably more I've forgotten.

Actually surprisingly few. There's also Tierra del Fuego, and I think somewhere in the Baltic, but I think that's all.

I take it back - there's actually 18:
https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/islands-that-are-shared-by-more-than-one-country.html

On a foggy Fenland day, with the lantern of the cathedral rising above the silvery mist, the Isle of Ely is shared between the kingdom of England and the kingdom of Heaven

And it has that effect now.

God knows what effect it had on your standard issue medieval fenlander.

The great Gothic cathedrals of Europe - and Ely is one of the best - are arguably the greatest artistic achievements of humanity. And yes, if they can silence us by their noom now, imagine what they did to a 14th century pilgrim used to a mud hut

True that.

Peter_the_Punter said:

eek said:

Scott_xP said:

@estwebber
Exc: Will Tanner, Sunak’s deputy chief of staff, tells activists he is in danger of losing Bury St Edmunds

In a text, he says poll out today shows Cons on 32.5%, Labour on 32.7%, and Reform on 20.5%

He adds "please protect this, as sent to me privately"

https://x.com/estwebber/status/1805182708517077102

There are going to be an awful lot of seats (quite possibly 100+) where Labour win with a majority significantly smaller than Reform's votes.

B StE is just about on the cusp according to Baxter. It's the 77th safest Tory seat, so if it is truly marginal, we are probably looking at fewer than 100 Conservative MPs in the new House.

Baxter/EC current prediction is indeed 76 seats for the Tories. BstE the new bellwether. Tory since a by election just before the Battle of Maldon in 991.

Having said that, I personally expect the Lib Dems to land around 50 seats and the Tories to remain in triple figures.

Benpointer said:

Fairliered said:

MarqueeMark said:

Peter_the_Punter said:

MarqueeMark said:

highwayparadise306 said:

TimS said:

DougSeal said:

LostPassword said:

RochdalePioneers said:

Casino_Royale said:

I'm...just... so... glad... Rishi Sunak.. called an early...eleecczzzzzzzz.....

Is this the only GE in history where everyone in the Conservative Party has given up?

Whilst the campaign has been spectacularly inept, I just have this feeling that there must have been some issue buried deep down to make him cut and run in this way.

I do think it might well be the King. If Sunak was told there was a considerable risk KCIII would die during an autumn election campaign, then we won't hear about it until after KCIII passes away, but it would probably make people think more kindly of Sunak. He went unprepared into an election campaign to ease the concerns of the Monarch.

Though the Tories should have been well-prepared for an election at any time.

Doesn't pass the smell test for me. Even Tories are not venal enough to bet on the date of an election caused by the King's health concerns and it's impossible to be that exact.

And Davey has shown repeatedly that getting wet in an election campaign is not of itself a problem, it's how you get wet.

Ed is all right. He has fun!

There's a large number of sub-posties who would love to have been having fun getting wet. Instead, they were being locked up for 23 hours a day because Ed Davey was considerably incurious.

The same could be said of every Minister responsible for the PO, from Peter Mandelson onwards, with the exception of Norman Lamb, who genuinely tried to help but was moved on before he could achieve much.

Davey was demonised in the wake of the TV series. This was unfair, but it's politics and I have no issue with that. On a sophisticated Site like this however, I would expect a more balanced view to prevail, especially in the light of the contributions on the subject by such experts on the matter as Ms Cyclefree.

Davey did at least have a meeting with Sir Alan Bates, even if nothing came of it,

Let's see how he fares before the Committee next month.

MarqueeMark said:

Peter_the_Punter said:

MarqueeMark said:

highwayparadise306 said:

TimS said:

DougSeal said:

LostPassword said:

RochdalePioneers said:

Casino_Royale said:

I'm...just... so... glad... Rishi Sunak.. called an early...eleecczzzzzzzz.....

Is this the only GE in history where everyone in the Conservative Party has given up?

Whilst the campaign has been spectacularly inept, I just have this feeling that there must have been some issue buried deep down to make him cut and run in this way.

I do think it might well be the King. If Sunak was told there was a considerable risk KCIII would die during an autumn election campaign, then we won't hear about it until after KCIII passes away, but it would probably make people think more kindly of Sunak. He went unprepared into an election campaign to ease the concerns of the Monarch.

Though the Tories should have been well-prepared for an election at any time.

Doesn't pass the smell test for me. Even Tories are not venal enough to bet on the date of an election caused by the King's health concerns and it's impossible to be that exact.

And Davey has shown repeatedly that getting wet in an election campaign is not of itself a problem, it's how you get wet.

Ed is all right. He has fun!

There's a large number of sub-posties who would love to have been having fun getting wet. Instead, they were being locked up for 23 hours a day because Ed Davey was considerably incurious.

The same could be said of every Minister responsible for the PO, from Peter Mandelson onwards, with the exception of Norman Lamb, who genuinely tried to help but was moved on before he could achieve much.

Davey was demonised in the wake of the TV series. This was unfair, but it's politics and I have no issue with that. On a sophisticated Site like this however, I would expect a more balanced view to prevail, especially in the light of the contributions on the subject by such experts on the matter as Ms Cyclefree.

Davey did at least have a meeting with Sir Alan Bates, even if nothing came of it,

Let's see how he fares before the Committee next month.

The LOTO at the PO inquiry? That should be interesting.

Well, we had the PM at the Covid enquiry explaining how he'd lost his WhatsApp messages.

Something that also affected politicians in Scotland and Wales at their enquiries.

Theuniondivvie said:

Cookie said:

Theuniondivvie said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Theuniondivvie said:

NickPalmer said:

rkrkrk said:

Hope you're feeling better - heard you had some ill health.

Our local tory mp hasn't given up. Still paying to get leaflets delivered but suspect his time is up.

Thanks, yes - had a stroke 8 weeks ago. Pretty much back to normal now except for a need to sleep for an hour most afternoons, and occasional struggles with memory.

That's pretty much where I'm at now! Keep on keeping on..

Blimey, PBers have been through the wars on the health front.

Hope you all look after yourselves.

Just to make it absolutely clear, I increasingly like (but don't usually get) a nap of an afternoon and have an occasional memory fart!
The latter is a bit more concerning as my mother's side of the family have a strong incidence of dementia, but fit can ye dae.
Nevertheless thanks for kind thoughts.

Jeez, TUD, I had no idea you'd been so poorly. I'm also having to massively readjust my idea of how old you are - I'd guessed you were late 40s. Best wishes for a continued recovery. All sorts of advice out there about staving off dementia but I'd be lying if I said I knew which ones worked best! But staying mentally (and physically) active and good oral hygiene strikes me as good advice whether it works or not.

Thanks, but there’s life in the scabby old dog yet!
However I think for most folk who tool along in reasonably good health there comes a precipice when a few things can hit you at once. Dementia is the one thing I fear more than anything so I probably fixate a bit too much on that.

Divvie, sorry to hear the news, keep ploughing on and stay healthy.

noneoftheabove said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Alastair Meeks has set out his expectations for the election.

https://alastair-meeks.medium.com/not-a-prediction-bea8d1b7ae11

In summary Tories to do better a little than expected in average polls and get 75 seats! I don't think that will be far off.

Yes, that's roughly my guess in @Farooq 's excellent competition.

Scott_xP said:

@estwebber
Exc: Will Tanner, Sunak’s deputy chief of staff, tells activists he is in danger of losing Bury St Edmunds

In a text, he says poll out today shows Cons on 32.5%, Labour on 32.7%, and Reform on 20.5%

He adds "please protect this, as sent to me privately"

https://x.com/estwebber/status/1805182708517077102

Bury St Edmunds is very very close according to all the MRPs.

Gardenwalker said:

Having said that, I personally expect the Lib Dems to land around 50 seats and the Tories to remain in triple figures.

I'm not so sure - when I suggested that the Tory party where on 100 +/-80 when the election began it started as a joke.

Now I think it's very possible that the Tory party are on 90 +/- 70 depending on how many Tory voters actually turn out and vote...

Mr. Leon, while not quite mud huts, it was startling to learn (Ian Mortimer's Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England) that the cookery equipment/utensils of a peasant's house were often worth more than the house itself.

Comparing prices over that length of time is nigh on impossible because the price of labour was so low whereas the price of objects was so high.

johnt said:

Peter_the_Punter said:

MarqueeMark said:

highwayparadise306 said:

TimS said:

DougSeal said:

LostPassword said:

RochdalePioneers said:

Casino_Royale said:

I'm...just... so... glad... Rishi Sunak.. called an early...eleecczzzzzzzz.....

Is this the only GE in history where everyone in the Conservative Party has given up?

Whilst the campaign has been spectacularly inept, I just have this feeling that there must have been some issue buried deep down to make him cut and run in this way.

I do think it might well be the King. If Sunak was told there was a considerable risk KCIII would die during an autumn election campaign, then we won't hear about it until after KCIII passes away, but it would probably make people think more kindly of Sunak. He went unprepared into an election campaign to ease the concerns of the Monarch.

Though the Tories should have been well-prepared for an election at any time.

Doesn't pass the smell test for me. Even Tories are not venal enough to bet on the date of an election caused by the King's health concerns and it's impossible to be that exact.

And Davey has shown repeatedly that getting wet in an election campaign is not of itself a problem, it's how you get wet.

Ed is all right. He has fun!

There's a large number of sub-posties who would love to have been having fun getting wet. Instead, they were being locked up for 23 hours a day because Ed Davey was considerably incurious.

The same could be said of every Minister responsible for the PO, from Peter Mandelson onwards, with the exception of Norman Lamb, who genuinely tried to help but was moved on before he could achieve much.

Davey was demonised in the wake of the TV series. This was unfair, but it's politics and I have no issue with that. On a sophisticated Site like this however, I would expect a more balanced view to prevail, especially in the light of the contributions on the subject by such experts on the matter as Ms Cyclefree.

Davey did at least have a meeting with Sir Alan Bates, even if nothing came of it,

A very balanced response. Those Tories wondering why they have become so unpopular and lacking in friends should use this exchange as a point of learning.
Many politically neutral people believe that the Lib Dem’s did the right thing for the country by stepping in to a huge problem and trying to help sort the country out in 2010. As a ‘reward’ they were shafted by the Tories in 2015.
The attempts to smear Davey are falling on increasingly deaf ears because people understand that many Tories have similar (or in many cases more important) questions to answer about the post office scandal and the electorate have heard enough of lies from a party where senior officials think it’s fine to use insider information to make a few quid out of betting.
There is some truth in the old advice to be careful who you abuse on the way up because one day you might need them on the way down. The Tories have lost everyone who would work with them and now seem to be losing the electorate as well. That is likely to mean a few very, very difficult years for them indeed.

Let's be clear. Davey, and the other two LibDem junior ministers at Business, were preceded or followed by NINETEEN Tory or Labour junior minsters who did just as little to help subpostmasters between 1999 and 2024 - and haven't been pilloried by the Tory tabloids. Unlike Blair, no LibDem changed the law to put the burden of proof onto defendants when subpostmasters were falsely accused of theft on the basis of crap software. Unlike the National Federation of Subpostmasters on June 21, no LibDem has sat in the inquiry insisting the only culprit is Post Office management for not defending Horizon robustly enough.

Skyr Toolmakersson is actually quite odd


“The next Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland owns set after set of only two outfits; he says that he doesn’t dream, he doesn’t have a favourite novel or poem; he speaks about himself in the third person.”

https://x.com/pimlico_journal/status/1805186253718954416?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

Hans Island is the most recent one.

Great win a bet in the pub question. Canada has land borders with which countries?

Benpointer said:

Fairliered said:

MarqueeMark said:

Peter_the_Punter said:

MarqueeMark said:

highwayparadise306 said:

TimS said:

DougSeal said:

LostPassword said:

RochdalePioneers said:

Casino_Royale said:

I'm...just... so... glad... Rishi Sunak.. called an early...eleecczzzzzzzz.....

Is this the only GE in history where everyone in the Conservative Party has given up?

Whilst the campaign has been spectacularly inept, I just have this feeling that there must have been some issue buried deep down to make him cut and run in this way.

I do think it might well be the King. If Sunak was told there was a considerable risk KCIII would die during an autumn election campaign, then we won't hear about it until after KCIII passes away, but it would probably make people think more kindly of Sunak. He went unprepared into an election campaign to ease the concerns of the Monarch.

Though the Tories should have been well-prepared for an election at any time.

Doesn't pass the smell test for me. Even Tories are not venal enough to bet on the date of an election caused by the King's health concerns and it's impossible to be that exact.

And Davey has shown repeatedly that getting wet in an election campaign is not of itself a problem, it's how you get wet.

Ed is all right. He has fun!

There's a large number of sub-posties who would love to have been having fun getting wet. Instead, they were being locked up for 23 hours a day because Ed Davey was considerably incurious.

The same could be said of every Minister responsible for the PO, from Peter Mandelson onwards, with the exception of Norman Lamb, who genuinely tried to help but was moved on before he could achieve much.

Davey was demonised in the wake of the TV series. This was unfair, but it's politics and I have no issue with that. On a sophisticated Site like this however, I would expect a more balanced view to prevail, especially in the light of the contributions on the subject by such experts on the matter as Ms Cyclefree.

Davey did at least have a meeting with Sir Alan Bates, even if nothing came of it,

Let's see how he fares before the Committee next month.

MarqueeMark said:

Peter_the_Punter said:

MarqueeMark said:

highwayparadise306 said:

TimS said:

DougSeal said:

LostPassword said:

RochdalePioneers said:

Casino_Royale said:

I'm...just... so... glad... Rishi Sunak.. called an early...eleecczzzzzzzz.....

Is this the only GE in history where everyone in the Conservative Party has given up?

Whilst the campaign has been spectacularly inept, I just have this feeling that there must have been some issue buried deep down to make him cut and run in this way.

I do think it might well be the King. If Sunak was told there was a considerable risk KCIII would die during an autumn election campaign, then we won't hear about it until after KCIII passes away, but it would probably make people think more kindly of Sunak. He went unprepared into an election campaign to ease the concerns of the Monarch.

Though the Tories should have been well-prepared for an election at any time.

Doesn't pass the smell test for me. Even Tories are not venal enough to bet on the date of an election caused by the King's health concerns and it's impossible to be that exact.

And Davey has shown repeatedly that getting wet in an election campaign is not of itself a problem, it's how you get wet.

Ed is all right. He has fun!

There's a large number of sub-posties who would love to have been having fun getting wet. Instead, they were being locked up for 23 hours a day because Ed Davey was considerably incurious.

The same could be said of every Minister responsible for the PO, from Peter Mandelson onwards, with the exception of Norman Lamb, who genuinely tried to help but was moved on before he could achieve much.

Davey was demonised in the wake of the TV series. This was unfair, but it's politics and I have no issue with that. On a sophisticated Site like this however, I would expect a more balanced view to prevail, especially in the light of the contributions on the subject by such experts on the matter as Ms Cyclefree.

Davey did at least have a meeting with Sir Alan Bates, even if nothing came of it,

Let's see how he fares before the Committee next month.

The LOTO at the PO inquiry? That should be interesting.

Well, we had the PM at the Covid enquiry explaining how he'd lost his WhatsApp messages.

We are getting to the 'political end' of the Inquiry, but note the Inquiry's terms of reference were set by Civil Servants, so don't expect the Civil Service to be exposed by much scrutiny. Their political masters will, I expect, mostly take the line 'We were lied to', which is probably true but wouldn't really tell the whole story.

Jo Swinson is also due to appear. My reading of the story so far suggests she is an a more awkward spot than Sir Ed.

Their testimony comes after the election.

Leon said:

TimS said:

kinabalu said:

Andy_JS said:

The Isle of Wight is being split in two for this election. I was just thinking it would be funny if one of the seats went to the Greens and the other to RefUK.

That could lead to a Korea style partition.

More Cyprus surely. Island and all that. Maybe with a tiny bit of British crown territory somewhere near the Needles.

A surprising number of divided islands now I come to think of it. Timor, Borneo, Papua, Ireland, Hispaniola. Probably more I've forgotten.

St Martin/Maarten in the Caribbean - French/Dutch

The way they agreed to define the border there is quite amusing got a French bloke and a Dutch geezer to stand back to back then walk around the coastline until they met again, as I understand it.

Morris_Dancer said:

Mr. Leon, while not quite mud huts, it was startling to learn (Ian Mortimer's Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England) that the cookery equipment/utensils of a peasant's house were often worth more than the house itself.

Comparing prices over that length of time is nigh on impossible because the price of labour was so low whereas the price of objects was so high.

And they had so few objects

You’d get wills mentioning someone’s “five spoons and a kettle”

Imagine showing them a smartphone. It would be something BEYOND magic

“So yes through this box you can look at any other human in the world and talk to them. Also it contains all of human knowledge and can capture frozen images of everything you see and play you music of infinite variety and help you solve any problem. With this small metal box you become God”

Having a smartphone in 1372 would turn you into a god. Omniscient and omnipresent

OccasionalOptimist said:

Scott_xP said:

@Savanta_UK
🚨NEW London Westminster voting intention for
@QMUL


📈33 point Labour lead

🌹Lab 55 (+2)
🌳Con 22 (-1)
🔶LD 13 (-3)
➡️Reform 8 (=)
🌍Green 5 (+1)

1,022 Londoners, 10-18 June

(change vs 26-30 April)

https://x.com/Savanta_UK/status/1805182351233679861

Wow -103% before you even get to the independents!

LD is 10% not 13%

algarkirk said:

Anabobazina said:

Hans Island is the most recent one.

Great win a bet in the pub question. Canada has land borders with which countries?

USA only.

Incorrect

Leon said:

Morris_Dancer said:

Mr. Leon, while not quite mud huts, it was startling to learn (Ian Mortimer's Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England) that the cookery equipment/utensils of a peasant's house were often worth more than the house itself.

Comparing prices over that length of time is nigh on impossible because the price of labour was so low whereas the price of objects was so high.

And they had so few objects

You’d get wills mentioning someone’s “five spoons and a kettle”

Imagine showing them a smartphone. It would be something BEYOND magic

And of course there was the very famous Elizabethean writer who left his wife his second best bed.

Leon said:

Skyr Toolmakersson is actually quite odd


“The next Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland owns set after set of only two outfits; he says that he doesn’t dream, he doesn’t have a favourite novel or poem; he speaks about himself in the third person.”

https://x.com/pimlico_journal/status/1805186253718954416?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

The first of those is odd but something I can happily get on board with and indeed have moved towards as I've got older - when I find a clothing item I like, I tend to buy several of them. The problem is, of course, when clothing manufacturers - who are addicted to novelty - change their product.

I don't know that I have a favourite novel or poem. I don't think that's odd. I mean, if I was to take a day or so to try to list all the books or poems I'd ever read, I could probably rank them, but I don't have one to hand. And fiction isn't a big part of my life.

Not dreaming is odd indeed. Does anyone else here not dream? That strikes me as being so singular as worthy of study by a psychologist. I mean, I don't think I particularly benefit from my dreams, but I have them - it's part of the human condition. Part of the mammalian condition, I'd suggest.

Talking about yourself in the third person is also very odd, but affected odd. You can only really carry that off if you're a fictional sitcom character like the Fonz, or Terry out of Brooklyn 911.And SKS is neither of those.

LostPassword said:

Benpointer said:

Chameleon said:

Nunu5 said:

TimS said:

Another of those fun journalist visits constituency and talks to people videos. Could Liz Truss be in danger?

https://x.com/darrenmccaffrey/status/1805164027435229251

No Tory is truly safe. This is as the Americans call it a wave election. Which torys will be left when the tide is out? Well see

The Gillingham and St Pancreas polls back that up - Labour will get massive swings in Tory safe seats, losing ground in Labour safe seats.

If that pattern's repeated across the country it's going to make the first declarations interesting - Labour doing worse than expected maybe in those early seats?

Houghton and Sunderland South will be one of the first handful of seats to declare. In 2019, the shares were:

LAB 40.7%
CON 32.9%
BXP 15.5%
LDM 5.8%
GRN 2.8%
UKP 2.3%

I can easily imagine a 2024 result along the lines of:

LAB 43%
RFM 33%
CON 11%
GRN 9%
LDM 4%

Massive Reform surge, but not close to winning, Labour will below expectations - not looking like they're about to be swept to a landslide majority - Tory vote disintegrated, Green protest votes, anti-Corbyn votes for the Lib Dems going back to Labour.

Edit: And if it presages a very efficient vote distribution it could end up with 500 seats on barely 40% of the votes.

Those figures look very plausible.

rkrkrk said:

Leon said:

Theuniondivvie said:

Cookie said:

Theuniondivvie said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Theuniondivvie said:

NickPalmer said:

rkrkrk said:

Hope you're feeling better - heard you had some ill health.

Our local tory mp hasn't given up. Still paying to get leaflets delivered but suspect his time is up.

Thanks, yes - had a stroke 8 weeks ago. Pretty much back to normal now except for a need to sleep for an hour most afternoons, and occasional struggles with memory.

That's pretty much where I'm at now! Keep on keeping on..

Blimey, PBers have been through the wars on the health front.

Hope you all look after yourselves.

Just to make it absolutely clear, I increasingly like (but don't usually get) a nap of an afternoon and have an occasional memory fart!
The latter is a bit more concerning as my mother's side of the family have a strong incidence of dementia, but fit can ye dae.
Nevertheless thanks for kind thoughts.

Jeez, TUD, I had no idea you'd been so poorly. I'm also having to massively readjust my idea of how old you are - I'd guessed you were late 40s. Best wishes for a continued recovery. All sorts of advice out there about staving off dementia but I'd be lying if I said I knew which ones worked best! But staying mentally (and physically) active and good oral hygiene strikes me as good advice whether it works or not.

Thanks, but there’s life in the scabby old dog yet!
However I think for most folk who tool along in reasonably good health there comes a precipice when a few things can hit you at once. Dementia is the one thing I fear more than anything so I probably fixate a bit too much on that.

Best of luck, I hope your fears are unrealised

They say that after the age of 60, smoking is probably a net positive, as it seems to fend off dementia - or so my chain smoking Dad would say, and TBF he puffed away until he conked out at 88 - with all his marbles

My mum the resolute non smoker is less lucky

I also think travel is good (it’s one reason I do so much of it). It keeps you physically and mentally fit because every day is a series of Sudoku tests and a sequence of weights, as you work out how to park in Paris or order octopus in Managua, and as you lug your bags about, endlessly…

Probably most people would not take health advice from you - but just in case... smoking is linked to dementia.
https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/about-dementia/managing-the-risk-of-dementia/reduce-your-risk-of-dementia/smoking

But I'll throw you a bone. There are theories that viagra is linked to dementia prevention
https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2024-06-07-sildenafil-viagra-improves-brain-blood-flow-and-could-help-prevent-dementia

Throw him a boner as it were.

You’ll have to tear my puerile sense of humour from my cold dead fingers.

Cookie said:

Leon said:

Skyr Toolmakersson is actually quite odd


“The next Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland owns set after set of only two outfits; he says that he doesn’t dream, he doesn’t have a favourite novel or poem; he speaks about himself in the third person.”

https://x.com/pimlico_journal/status/1805186253718954416?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

The first of those is odd but something I can happily get on board with and indeed have moved towards as I've got older - when I find a clothing item I like, I tend to buy several of them. The problem is, of course, when clothing manufacturers - who are addicted to novelty - change their product.

I don't know that I have a favourite novel or poem. I don't think that's odd. I mean, if I was to take a day or so to try to list all the books or poems I'd ever read, I could probably rank them, but I don't have one to hand. And fiction isn't a big part of my life.

Not dreaming is odd indeed. Does anyone else here not dream? That strikes me as being so singular as worthy of study by a psychologist. I mean, I don't think I particularly benefit from my dreams, but I have them - it's part of the human condition. Part of the mammalian condition, I'd suggest.

Talking about yourself in the third person is also very odd, but affected odd. You can only really carry that off if you're a fictional sitcom character like the Fonz, or Terry out of Brooklyn 911.And SKS is neither of those.

Yes I agree. First two are just quirks (I’m similar on clothes I like now)

But the last two are decidedly strange, and a little unsettling

LostPassword said:

Benpointer said:

Chameleon said:

Nunu5 said:

TimS said:

Another of those fun journalist visits constituency and talks to people videos. Could Liz Truss be in danger?

https://x.com/darrenmccaffrey/status/1805164027435229251

No Tory is truly safe. This is as the Americans call it a wave election. Which torys will be left when the tide is out? Well see

The Gillingham and St Pancreas polls back that up - Labour will get massive swings in Tory safe seats, losing ground in Labour safe seats.

If that pattern's repeated across the country it's going to make the first declarations interesting - Labour doing worse than expected maybe in those early seats?

Houghton and Sunderland South will be one of the first handful of seats to declare. In 2019, the shares were:

LAB 40.7%
CON 32.9%
BXP 15.5%
LDM 5.8%
GRN 2.8%
UKP 2.3%

I can easily imagine a 2024 result along the lines of:

LAB 43%
RFM 33%
CON 11%
GRN 9%
LDM 4%

Massive Reform surge, but not close to winning, Labour will below expectations - not looking like they're about to be swept to a landslide majority - Tory vote disintegrated, Green protest votes, anti-Corbyn votes for the Lib Dems going back to Labour.

Edit: And if it presages a very efficient vote distribution it could end up with 500 seats on barely 40% of the votes.

That result would be worse for Labour, better for Reform, better for Green and worse for the Tories generally (Better for them than with Yougov)

EC
LAB CON RFM LIB GRN OTH
56.5 16.6 17.7 5.2 4.0 0.0

YG
LAB CON RFM LIB GRN NAT OTH
55% 8% 24% 6% 6% 0% 0%

New Statesman MRP (22nd)
LAB CON RFM LIB GRN NAT
52.1% 22.7% 17.4% 4.5% 3.3% 0.0%

IPSOS
LAB CON RFM LIB GRN NAT OTH
54% 16% 20% 4% 5% 0 0

Pulpstar said:

Scott_xP said:

@estwebber
Exc: Will Tanner, Sunak’s deputy chief of staff, tells activists he is in danger of losing Bury St Edmunds

In a text, he says poll out today shows Cons on 32.5%, Labour on 32.7%, and Reform on 20.5%

He adds "please protect this, as sent to me privately"

https://x.com/estwebber/status/1805182708517077102

Bury St Edmunds is very very close according to all the MRPs.

Tories could be saved there by a large Green vote.

Leon said:

Morris_Dancer said:

Mr. Leon, while not quite mud huts, it was startling to learn (Ian Mortimer's Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England) that the cookery equipment/utensils of a peasant's house were often worth more than the house itself.

Comparing prices over that length of time is nigh on impossible because the price of labour was so low whereas the price of objects was so high.

And they had so few objects

You’d get wills mentioning someone’s “five spoons and a kettle”

Imagine showing them a smartphone. It would be something BEYOND magic

“So yes through this box you can look at any other human in the world and talk to them. Also it contains all of human knowledge and can capture frozen images of everything you see and play you music of infinite variety and help you solve any problem. With this small metal box you become God”

Having a smartphone in 1372 would turn you into a god. Omniscient and omnipresent

Though I suspect you'd struggle to get a signal. And even assuming you could get one, every Wikipedia page would be summed up as 'God did it.'

Anabobazina said:

algarkirk said:

Anabobazina said:

Hans Island is the most recent one.

Great win a bet in the pub question. Canada has land borders with which countries?

USA only.

Incorrect

So, USA, Denmark on Hans Island, France no because its maritime to St Pierre, so I guess Russia in the Arctic islands?

Ice presumably doesn't count. So it must be Greenland. The tricky bit is remembering the precise current status of Greenland, as an independent state or part of Denmark ...

Cookie said:

Leon said:

Skyr Toolmakersson is actually quite odd


“The next Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland owns set after set of only two outfits; he says that he doesn’t dream, he doesn’t have a favourite novel or poem; he speaks about himself in the third person.”

https://x.com/pimlico_journal/status/1805186253718954416?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

The first of those is odd but something I can happily get on board with and indeed have moved towards as I've got older - when I find a clothing item I like, I tend to buy several of them. The problem is, of course, when clothing manufacturers - who are addicted to novelty - change their product.

I don't know that I have a favourite novel or poem. I don't think that's odd. I mean, if I was to take a day or so to try to list all the books or poems I'd ever read, I could probably rank them, but I don't have one to hand. And fiction isn't a big part of my life.

Not dreaming is odd indeed. Does anyone else here not dream? That strikes me as being so singular as worthy of study by a psychologist. I mean, I don't think I particularly benefit from my dreams, but I have them - it's part of the human condition. Part of the mammalian condition, I'd suggest.

Talking about yourself in the third person is also very odd, but affected odd. You can only really carry that off if you're a fictional sitcom character like the Fonz, or Terry out of Brooklyn 911.And SKS is neither of those.

Not dreaming - I didn't dream for about 12 years.

Oddly enough I started dreaming again recently - still not often, but sometimes which is more than I was doing. Whether its change of diet, lifestyle, career or something else behind that I'm not sure.

Andy_JS said:

Pulpstar said:

Scott_xP said:

@estwebber
Exc: Will Tanner, Sunak’s deputy chief of staff, tells activists he is in danger of losing Bury St Edmunds

In a text, he says poll out today shows Cons on 32.5%, Labour on 32.7%, and Reform on 20.5%

He adds "please protect this, as sent to me privately"

https://x.com/estwebber/status/1805182708517077102

Bury St Edmunds is very very close according to all the MRPs.

Tories could be saved there by a large Green vote.

Probably needs to be over 10% at least for the Tories tbh, which is shown by the models.

Leon said:

OldKingCole said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Alastair Meeks has set out his expectations for the election.

https://alastair-meeks.medium.com/not-a-prediction-bea8d1b7ae11

TheScreamingEagles said:

Alastair Meeks has set out his expectations for the election.

https://alastair-meeks.medium.com/not-a-prediction-bea8d1b7ae11

We miss Mr M.

We do. He was very eloquent. He gave me the word “penelopising” which is now my daughter’s favourite word

Also the reason for his departure - incendiary anger at Brexit causing him to lose his rag with PBers to an alarming extent - has surely subsided. Indeed he could be on here enjoyably gloating at the Brexiteers’ downfall

One of his biggies was the potential threat to medicines supply (I believe for his partner). Recent times we are indeed struggling for some medicines, although, as with everything post Brexit, its not just down to Brexit.

JosiasJessop said:

Leon said:

Morris_Dancer said:

Mr. Leon, while not quite mud huts, it was startling to learn (Ian Mortimer's Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England) that the cookery equipment/utensils of a peasant's house were often worth more than the house itself.

Comparing prices over that length of time is nigh on impossible because the price of labour was so low whereas the price of objects was so high.

And they had so few objects

You’d get wills mentioning someone’s “five spoons and a kettle”

Imagine showing them a smartphone. It would be something BEYOND magic

“So yes through this box you can look at any other human in the world and talk to them. Also it contains all of human knowledge and can capture frozen images of everything you see and play you music of infinite variety and help you solve any problem. With this small metal box you become God”

Having a smartphone in 1372 would turn you into a god. Omniscient and omnipresent

One of my driving daydreams is imagining Brunel (*) suddenly appears in the car with me as I'm driving, and imagining the reaction to everything in the car - and he sees outside.

The thing is, Btunel would probably come to terms with it fairly easily. He would understand steam engines to a certain degree, and the structures he sees. Electricity was known to him, as was the telegraph. What would he think of the radio, let alone what they say on it? Lorries? What happens if he looked into the sky and saw a plane, or a helicopter?

But if you go further back in history, it'd be harder for people to come to terms with what they see and experience.

(*) Sometimes other people, e.g. Hooke.

A subtler issue might be the notion of major corporations, countrywide-integrated operation and management. Though IKB would have a head start here as well - his dad's work for the RN (Portsmouth Block Mills, Chatham sawmill ...) and his own on the GWR would familiarise him with the notion, both state and privately owned.

Carnyx said:

Ice presumably doesn't count. So it must be Greenland. The tricky bit is remembering the precise current status of Greenland, as an independent state or part of Denmark ...

Devo max max A++++ with a gold star.

BartholomewRoberts said:

Cookie said:

Leon said:

Skyr Toolmakersson is actually quite odd


“The next Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland owns set after set of only two outfits; he says that he doesn’t dream, he doesn’t have a favourite novel or poem; he speaks about himself in the third person.”

https://x.com/pimlico_journal/status/1805186253718954416?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

The first of those is odd but something I can happily get on board with and indeed have moved towards as I've got older - when I find a clothing item I like, I tend to buy several of them. The problem is, of course, when clothing manufacturers - who are addicted to novelty - change their product.

I don't know that I have a favourite novel or poem. I don't think that's odd. I mean, if I was to take a day or so to try to list all the books or poems I'd ever read, I could probably rank them, but I don't have one to hand. And fiction isn't a big part of my life.

Not dreaming is odd indeed. Does anyone else here not dream? That strikes me as being so singular as worthy of study by a psychologist. I mean, I don't think I particularly benefit from my dreams, but I have them - it's part of the human condition. Part of the mammalian condition, I'd suggest.

Talking about yourself in the third person is also very odd, but affected odd. You can only really carry that off if you're a fictional sitcom character like the Fonz, or Terry out of Brooklyn 911.And SKS is neither of those.

Not dreaming - I didn't dream for about 12 years.

Oddly enough I started dreaming again recently - still not often, but sometimes which is more than I was doing. Whether its change of diet, lifestyle, career or something else behind that I'm not sure.

AFAIUI, it's actually quite likely that you and SKS did/do dream - you just don't wake up during your dreams. The only dreams you remember are the ones you wake during.
I don't know whether I envy you or not. On one hand, dreams are sometimes entertaining. But waking up from a not-dream is a rare and pleasant experience which presumably you had/SKS has all the time. It can't be more than once a month I wake up having not been dreaming.

turbotubbs said:

Leon said:

OldKingCole said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Alastair Meeks has set out his expectations for the election.

https://alastair-meeks.medium.com/not-a-prediction-bea8d1b7ae11

TheScreamingEagles said:

Alastair Meeks has set out his expectations for the election.

https://alastair-meeks.medium.com/not-a-prediction-bea8d1b7ae11

We miss Mr M.

We do. He was very eloquent. He gave me the word “penelopising” which is now my daughter’s favourite word

Also the reason for his departure - incendiary anger at Brexit causing him to lose his rag with PBers to an alarming extent - has surely subsided. Indeed he could be on here enjoyably gloating at the Brexiteers’ downfall

One of his biggies was the potential threat to medicines supply (I believe for his partner). Recent times we are indeed struggling for some medicines, although, as with everything post Brexit, its not just down to Brexit.

Yep - there's an awful lot of seeking profit rather than public good involved as well..

Carnyx said:

Flatlander said:

Carnyx said:

Benpointer said:

Leon said:

Morris_Dancer said:

Mr. Leon, while not quite mud huts, it was startling to learn (Ian Mortimer's Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England) that the cookery equipment/utensils of a peasant's house were often worth more than the house itself.

Comparing prices over that length of time is nigh on impossible because the price of labour was so low whereas the price of objects was so high.

And they had so few objects

You’d get wills mentioning someone’s “five spoons and a kettle”

Imagine showing them a smartphone. It would be something BEYOND magic

“So yes through this box you can look at any other human in the world and talk to them. Also it contains all of human knowledge and can capture frozen images of everything you see and play you music of infinite variety and help you solve any problem. With this small metal box you become God”

Having a smartphone in 1372 would turn you into a god. Omniscient and omnipresent

Depends on the signal, shirley?

(A smartphone with no signal but with a solar charger would still be an instrument of magic, though.)

And a free instant barbecue when the local priests got to hear about it.

I think I would take a modern mountain bike to 1372 rather than a smartphone.

I mean, you can mostly see how it works, so it isn't magic. And it requires no other infrastructure.

But try getting the local blacksmith to manufacture the parts...

How would it work if lubricated with the fat skimmed off boiling mutton potage?

Isn't that what we all have to use now? None of this nasty mineral oil.

Ben Gartside
@BenGartside
·
16h
Scoop: HS2 cancellation will mean fares increase between London and the north to reduce travellers amid capacity problems.

There will be 8% fewer seats on future trains after the high-speed line was scrapped, and prices are set to go up to reduce demand


https://x.com/BenGartside/status/1804950585919091180

Cookie said:

BartholomewRoberts said:

Cookie said:

Leon said:

Skyr Toolmakersson is actually quite odd


“The next Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland owns set after set of only two outfits; he says that he doesn’t dream, he doesn’t have a favourite novel or poem; he speaks about himself in the third person.”

https://x.com/pimlico_journal/status/1805186253718954416?s=46&t=bulOICNH15U6kB0MwE6Lfw

The first of those is odd but something I can happily get on board with and indeed have moved towards as I've got older - when I find a clothing item I like, I tend to buy several of them. The problem is, of course, when clothing manufacturers - who are addicted to novelty - change their product.

I don't know that I have a favourite novel or poem. I don't think that's odd. I mean, if I was to take a day or so to try to list all the books or poems I'd ever read, I could probably rank them, but I don't have one to hand. And fiction isn't a big part of my life.

Not dreaming is odd indeed. Does anyone else here not dream? That strikes me as being so singular as worthy of study by a psychologist. I mean, I don't think I particularly benefit from my dreams, but I have them - it's part of the human condition. Part of the mammalian condition, I'd suggest.

Talking about yourself in the third person is also very odd, but affected odd. You can only really carry that off if you're a fictional sitcom character like the Fonz, or Terry out of Brooklyn 911.And SKS is neither of those.

Not dreaming - I didn't dream for about 12 years.

Oddly enough I started dreaming again recently - still not often, but sometimes which is more than I was doing. Whether its change of diet, lifestyle, career or something else behind that I'm not sure.

AFAIUI, it's actually quite likely that you and SKS did/do dream - you just don't wake up during your dreams. The only dreams you remember are the ones you wake during.
I don't know whether I envy you or not. On one hand, dreams are sometimes entertaining. But waking up from a not-dream is a rare and pleasant experience which presumably you had/SKS has all the time. It can't be more than once a month I wake up having not been dreaming.

How odd.
I very seldom dream.
I did have a dream the other night, and before that it must have been about six months.

TheScreamingEagles said:

Alastair Meeks has set out his expectations for the election.

https://alastair-meeks.medium.com/not-a-prediction-bea8d1b7ae11

He was one of the best posters on here, along with Richard.

Stuartinromford said:

Leon said:

Cookie said:

Cookie said:

TimS said:

kinabalu said:

Andy_JS said:

The Isle of Wight is being split in two for this election. I was just thinking it would be funny if one of the seats went to the Greens and the other to RefUK.

That could lead to a Korea style partition.

More Cyprus surely. Island and all that. Maybe with a tiny bit of British crown territory somewhere near the Needles.

A surprising number of divided islands now I come to think of it. Timor, Borneo, Papua, Ireland, Hispaniola. Probably more I've forgotten.

Actually surprisingly few. There's also Tierra del Fuego, and I think somewhere in the Baltic, but I think that's all.

Cookie said:

TimS said:

kinabalu said:

Andy_JS said:

The Isle of Wight is being split in two for this election. I was just thinking it would be funny if one of the seats went to the Greens and the other to RefUK.

That could lead to a Korea style partition.

More Cyprus surely. Island and all that. Maybe with a tiny bit of British crown territory somewhere near the Needles.

A surprising number of divided islands now I come to think of it. Timor, Borneo, Papua, Ireland, Hispaniola. Probably more I've forgotten.

Actually surprisingly few. There's also Tierra del Fuego, and I think somewhere in the Baltic, but I think that's all.

I take it back - there's actually 18:
https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/islands-that-are-shared-by-more-than-one-country.html

On a foggy Fenland day, with the lantern of the cathedral rising above the silvery mist, the Isle of Ely is shared between the kingdom of England and the kingdom of Heaven

And it has that effect now.

God knows what effect it had on your standard issue medieval fenlander.

Exactly the same effect as the notion of increased tax on one of our more right wing PBers. The poor sods had to pay for it, one way or another.

I just got a letter from the son of John Maples, former Tory MP for Stratford

He is campaigning, on behalf of the Lib Dems

Andy_JS said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Alastair Meeks has set out his expectations for the election.

https://alastair-meeks.medium.com/not-a-prediction-bea8d1b7ae11

He was one of the best posters on here, along with Richard.

Indeed. Some of the other PBers weren't as sensitive as they could have been about his concern over Brexit, to put it mildly. Unedifying.

Flatlander said:

Carnyx said:

Benpointer said:

Leon said:

Morris_Dancer said:

Mr. Leon, while not quite mud huts, it was startling to learn (Ian Mortimer's Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England) that the cookery equipment/utensils of a peasant's house were often worth more than the house itself.

Comparing prices over that length of time is nigh on impossible because the price of labour was so low whereas the price of objects was so high.

And they had so few objects

You’d get wills mentioning someone’s “five spoons and a kettle”

Imagine showing them a smartphone. It would be something BEYOND magic

“So yes through this box you can look at any other human in the world and talk to them. Also it contains all of human knowledge and can capture frozen images of everything you see and play you music of infinite variety and help you solve any problem. With this small metal box you become God”

Having a smartphone in 1372 would turn you into a god. Omniscient and omnipresent

Depends on the signal, shirley?

(A smartphone with no signal but with a solar charger would still be an instrument of magic, though.)

And a free instant barbecue when the local priests got to hear about it.

I think I would take a modern mountain bike to 1372 rather than a smartphone.

I mean, you can mostly see how it works, so it isn't magic. And it requires no other infrastructure.

But try getting the local blacksmith to manufacture the parts...

Surely the only correct answer to the question of what to take on a trip to the medieval era is a 12 gauge, double barrel Remington...

https://youtu.be/GULItNlBvJc?feature=shared&t=139