politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Betting on when The Queen will invite someone to form a gov

Scott_P said:

Are we allowed to make suggestions?

@LadPolitics: Where will the Labour stone plinth be after the election?
10/1 Labour Hq
5/4 Downing Street Rose Gardens
4/5 Anywhere else!
#EdStone

I understand that as Downing Street is a listed building planning consent would be required from the Conservative Local Authority. Wonderful

Depends if a) front pages mock it tomorrow and b) the story continues to dominate the broadcasters.

But, Ed's public events are extremely managed and - rarely - does Q&A with the media.

Difficult to tell potential damage/effect on voting intention.

FrancisUrquhart said:

Morris_Dancer said:

Mr. Dair, perhaps. Certainly a significantly long Twitter event. Whether it matters beyond that remains to be seen.

Given the echo chamber like nature of twitter, I place next to nothing if something is trending, how long it trends for etc etc etc, despite how over excited the MSM get over it.

Seems sensible. I wouldn't be surprised if a mock up of the slab is used as a paper front page to keep things going a bit longer, but trending on twitter means little, except that we've had nothing fun to mock in politics for the whole campaign so everyone's getting it out of their systems.

I suppose we might also get some articles about how it proved Ed is not worthy of being PM, not that being worthy is a criteria for the job.

OllyT said:

SouthamObserver said:

Danny565 said:

Tbh, I agree with the PBTories that it would be suicide for Labour to try to form a minority government if they're WAY behind the Tories on seats,

Tbh, I still don't see what would be so bad about allowing the Tories to have a super-minority government. Most Labour people don't have such an irrational hatred of the Tories that they're depserate for them as people to be gotten rid of, we just want them stripped of their power to do more nasty things. In a super-hung parliament Labour would get an absolute veto in parliament over anything the Tories propose (including any further austerity). They could even pass votes of no confidence in individual ministers like Osborne and IDS.

Yep, I could happily live with a Tory-led government that was unable to implement Tory policy. The added bonus would be that the Tory right would find it totally intolerable, with all the fun and games that would lead to.

Exactly, a minority Tory government that can't do anything Tory sounds absolutely ideal. The ravers & droolers would be beside themselves with fury, no EU referendum either. What's not to like.

It's what a lot of people would like I guess - Cameron would be in charge, but only able to do something most in the Commons wanted, eg not Tory stuff.

@timothy_stanley: Some 12-year old running Labour's campaign is right now shouting "The #EdStone is trending on Twitter! I said it was a good idea!"

Dair said:

Even Chelsea winning the Premiership is struggling to knock #EdStone back. Considering how long #EdStone has been trending (over 4 hours now?) that's pretty remarkable and shows that #EdStone is a significant moment in this campaign.

John Terry
#EdStone
MK Dons
Congratulations Chelsea
Palace
Willian
#SamkingftwYouTube
Mikel
#ontopictalkshow
Notts County

Really.This shows the PB Nats are as mad as the PB Tories.

kle4 said:

OllyT said:

SouthamObserver said:

Danny565 said:

Tbh, I agree with the PBTories that it would be suicide for Labour to try to form a minority government if they're WAY behind the Tories on seats,

Tbh, I still don't see what would be so bad about allowing the Tories to have a super-minority government. Most Labour people don't have such an irrational hatred of the Tories that they're depserate for them as people to be gotten rid of, we just want them stripped of their power to do more nasty things. In a super-hung parliament Labour would get an absolute veto in parliament over anything the Tories propose (including any further austerity). They could even pass votes of no confidence in individual ministers like Osborne and IDS.

Yep, I could happily live with a Tory-led government that was unable to implement Tory policy. The added bonus would be that the Tory right would find it totally intolerable, with all the fun and games that would lead to.

Exactly, a minority Tory government that can't do anything Tory sounds absolutely ideal. The ravers & droolers would be beside themselves with fury, no EU referendum either. What's not to like.

It's what a lot of people would like I guess - Cameron would be in charge, but only able to do something most in the Commons wanted, eg not Tory stuff.

I could live with that and Dave would be able to Chillax most of the time so it won't be too onerous or boring for him. Perfect solution!

kle4 said:

I'm surprised there is not some law that exempts Downing Street from regular planning rules, to be honest.

@EricPickles: What other listed buildings would Labour wreck with leftie propaganda? #EdStone

Scott_P said:

kle4 said:

I'm surprised there is not some law that exempts Downing Street from regular planning rules, to be honest.

@EricPickles: What other listed buildings would Labour wreck with leftie propaganda? #EdStone

Where has Eric Pickles been during this campaign?

I would have thought it would be rather sensible to have him fairly visible, as he does seem to be able to use his "Northern charms" to at least get a hearing with a certain section of the electorate.

The Tories campaign seems to be Cameron....Cameron...Cameron..Osborne...Cameron...place the rest under house arrest.

Dair said:

SMukesh said:

Really.This shows the PB Nats are as mad as the PB Tories.

Or it shows that after a serious of badly managed, messy campaign messages, Ed has finally hit the Fail Motherlode.

?
Why what happened?

Plato said:

I'm still blown away by this bridge/highway > The Seven Mile Bridge

The Seven Mile Bridge is a famous bridge in the Florida Keys, in Monroe County, Florida, United States. It connects Knight's Key (part of the city of Marathon, Florida) in the Middle Keys to Little Duck Key in the Lower Keys. Among the longest bridges in existence when it was built, it is one of the many bridges on US 1 in the Keys, where the road is called the Overseas Highway.

There are two bridges in this location. The older bridge, originally known as the Knights Key-Pigeon Key-Moser Channel-Pacet Channel Bridge, was constructed from 1909 to 1912 under the direction of Henry Flagler as part of the Florida East Coast Railway's Key West Extension, also known as the Overseas Railroad.

foxinsoxuk said:

@Neil

"How about this from the DUP manifesto:

" A feasibility study into a tunnel or enclosed bridge across the North Channel from Larne to the Scottish coastline."

With interest rates so low we'd be mad not to build one!"

The sort of prefab fixed link that the Isle of Wight is considering may be the way to go:

http://m.iwcp.co.uk/news/newsitem.aspx?rurl=news%slsnews%slsisle-of-wight-fixed-link-tunnel-attractive-to-investors-79839.aspx

You do realise the North Channel is 150 metres deep as opposed to 20-30 metres, as well as being a dumping ground for WWII munitions?

Someone on twitter found the perfect site.

http://www.tombstonebuilder.com/index.php

Oh the fun.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CEFyr3HWoAA2SMA.jpg

OllyT said:

SouthamObserver said:

Danny565 said:

Tbh, I agree with the PBTories that it would be suicide for Labour to try to form a minority government if they're WAY behind the Tories on seats,

Tbh, I still don't see what would be so bad about allowing the Tories to have a super-minority government. Most Labour people don't have such an irrational hatred of the Tories that they're depserate for them as people to be gotten rid of, we just want them stripped of their power to do more nasty things. In a super-hung parliament Labour would get an absolute veto in parliament over anything the Tories propose (including any further austerity). They could even pass votes of no confidence in individual ministers like Osborne and IDS.

Yep, I could happily live with a Tory-led government that was unable to implement Tory policy. The added bonus would be that the Tory right would find it totally intolerable, with all the fun and games that would lead to.

Exactly, a minority Tory government that can't do anything Tory sounds absolutely ideal. The ravers & droolers would be beside themselves with fury, no EU referendum either. What's not to like.

I think this shows the lunacy of Labour abstaining the Queen's speech. If they do that they need to abstain every budget and so forth or we're going to have Governmental paralysis for 5 years due to the FTPA.

Doesn't look like the test match will get beyond 3 days.

@carrieapples: Another Labour PEB just out. Surprise surprise, it doesn't feature Ed Miliband and it doesn't mention the deficit.

@petercoles44: Miliband denies overspending on election pledges stone. #EdStone http://t.co/zpd98MSxNe

Pulpstar said:

OllyT said:

SouthamObserver said:

Danny565 said:

Tbh, I agree with the PBTories that it would be suicide for Labour to try to form a minority government if they're WAY behind the Tories on seats,

Tbh, I still don't see what would be so bad about allowing the Tories to have a super-minority government. Most Labour people don't have such an irrational hatred of the Tories that they're depserate for them as people to be gotten rid of, we just want them stripped of their power to do more nasty things. In a super-hung parliament Labour would get an absolute veto in parliament over anything the Tories propose (including any further austerity). They could even pass votes of no confidence in individual ministers like Osborne and IDS.

Yep, I could happily live with a Tory-led government that was unable to implement Tory policy. The added bonus would be that the Tory right would find it totally intolerable, with all the fun and games that would lead to.

Exactly, a minority Tory government that can't do anything Tory sounds absolutely ideal. The ravers & droolers would be beside themselves with fury, no EU referendum either. What's not to like.

I think this shows the lunacy of Labour abstaining the Queen's speech. If they do that they need to abstain every budget and so forth or we're going to have Governmental paralysis for 5 years due to the FTPA.

Not paralysis. The Tories would just have to come forward with economic policies which Labour could support.

When Ed said he wanted a pet rock for his birthday...

98/9

Ouchies.

FrancisUrquhart said:

Daniel said:

Depends if a) front pages mock it tomorrow and b) the story continues to dominate the broadcasters.

But, Ed's public events are extremely managed and - rarely - does Q&A with the media.

Difficult to tell potential damage/effect on voting intention.

It is incrediblw (and pretty sad for democracy) given the length of the campaign just how little the leaders have actually met the general public. Six weeks of being shuttled from one staged managed event to the next, it is akin to being some sort of prisoner.

I wish the media had really really gone big on this, rather than just some passing bylines, and shown up Cameron and Miliband in a big way.

I also think that either one would have got a decent amount of credit if they had done the soap box thing, and probably more so if some raving loon did go postal at them. If the politician remain calm, polite and agrees to disagree, I think they can gain a lot of positives from it.

If I'm honest I was expecting to see the Cameron Direct tour back on during the election - similar to Question Time, he's good at the format, is well practiced at it and seems to engage well with this sort of public forum.

Dave is well aware of his reputation as not relating to 'ordinary people' so there's obviously reasons behind the decision, as I imagine he would want to take the opportunity if he could.

My guess as to why it's not happened - a combination of security concerns meaning it was difficult to organise, and a high chance of a well-networked bunch of lefties or Kippers determined to cause the wrong sort of trouble for him.

botanically_speaking said:

Fixed links to Ireland, whether from Stranraer, Holyhead or Pembrokeshire would go some way to providing economic development away from the SE.

A bridge from Wales to Dublin would have been a good idea 100 years ago, not today though, so we are left with a bridge from Scotland to Belfast.

Speedy said:

richardDodd said:

EPG..The visitors would also have to go through Passport Control..when Scotland becomes the land of the Free

We can always break up scotland like we did with Ireland, keep the counties that are against independence in the UK like Ulster.

I'm not sure you quite grasp the history of how Ireland was partitioned.

If we've learned anything from history, partitioning is not our strongest talent.

Speedy said:

sarissa said:

Plato said:

I'm still blown away by this bridge/highway > The Seven Mile Bridge

The Seven Mile Bridge is a famous bridge in the Florida Keys, in Monroe County, Florida, United States. It connects Knight's Key (part of the city of Marathon, Florida) in the Middle Keys to Little Duck Key in the Lower Keys. Among the longest bridges in existence when it was built, it is one of the many bridges on US 1 in the Keys, where the road is called the Overseas Highway.

There are two bridges in this location. The older bridge, originally known as the Knights Key-Pigeon Key-Moser Channel-Pacet Channel Bridge, was constructed from 1909 to 1912 under the direction of Henry Flagler as part of the Florida East Coast Railway's Key West Extension, also known as the Overseas Railroad.

foxinsoxuk said:

@Neil

"How about this from the DUP manifesto:

" A feasibility study into a tunnel or enclosed bridge across the North Channel from Larne to the Scottish coastline."

With interest rates so low we'd be mad not to build one!"

The sort of prefab fixed link that the Isle of Wight is considering may be the way to go:

http://m.iwcp.co.uk/news/newsitem.aspx?rurl=news%slsnews%slsisle-of-wight-fixed-link-tunnel-attractive-to-investors-79839.aspx

You do realise the North Channel is 150 metres deep as opposed to 20-30 metres, as well as being a dumping ground for WWII munitions?

No problem with todays technology, if you have deep sea oil platforms that is nothing.
Labour and the UUP had a deal for an oil pipeline in 1979 during the vote of confidence.

The MoD also blocked commercial oil exploration in the adjoining Firth of Clyde to protect exit routes for the polaris/tridemnt subs at Faslane.

Speedy said:

Moving on from the boring GE campaign that no one cares apart from party workers these days, to the more exciting circus of the 2016 US Presidential race.
This week 2 Republican candidates had legal troubles:

Chris Christie:
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/05/01/politics/chris-christie-bridgegate-investigation-charges/

1 Pleading Guilty, 2 more indicted.

Scott Walker:
http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/in-iowa-scott-walker-raps-john-doe-connected-raids-on-supporters-b99488324z1-301309161.html

Prosecutors fume over Walker's attack on them, threaten to criminally charge him for lying.
Note, one of the two prosecutors is a Republican.

Walker has massive problems with his full embrace of machine politics - all kinds of going ons from before he was governor.

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away."

surbiton said:

isam said:

surbiton said:

Plato said:

Whilst where on this subject...

https://twitter.com/Boothy380/status/594864704427810816/photo/1

Whilst we are on this subject..

Greenwich Mean Time (@GreenwichMean)
18/04/2015 22:58
It's 10:58pm. Immediately pointing it out when someone writes 'your' instead of 'you're' is the closest you get to sex

Stalker ! I didn't realise a kipper was such a softie !

Your definition of a stalker is someone who disagrees with you on the internet?

Oddball

Neil said:

Speedy said:

richardDodd said:

EPG..The visitors would also have to go through Passport Control..when Scotland becomes the land of the Free

We can always break up scotland like we did with Ireland, keep the counties that are against independence in the UK like Ulster.

I'm not sure you quite grasp the history of how Ireland was partitioned.

Ulster didn't want to join an independent Ireland, and so much that they were prepared to fight against it with force of arms, the election of 1918 provided a clear democratic mandate for that territory to stay in the UK.

I don't think Edinburgh, the Borders and the Shetlands want to join an independent Scotland as the referendum showed, if their people vote against then they should have the democratic right to refuse joining an independent Scotland like Ulster did.

Speedy said:

Neil said:

Speedy said:

richardDodd said:

EPG..The visitors would also have to go through Passport Control..when Scotland becomes the land of the Free

We can always break up scotland like we did with Ireland, keep the counties that are against independence in the UK like Ulster.

I'm not sure you quite grasp the history of how Ireland was partitioned.

Ulster didn't want to join an independent Ireland, and so much that they were prepared to fight against it with force of arms, the election of 1918 provided a clear democratic mandate for that territory to stay in the UK.

I don't think Edinburgh, the Borders and the Shetlands want to join an independent Scotland as the referendum showed, if their people vote against then they should have the democratic right to refuse joining an independent Scotland like Ulster did.

The people of the Borders voted against Scotland being separate from the United Kingdom - they didn't vote to be separate from Scotland.

richardDodd said:

I reckon that whoever thought of the rock idea should step forward and receive the acclaim of a grateful nation..perhaps even a Knighthood..at least...It was the Rock that Wunnit..

Probably the same person who came up with the wording of "The Vow"

The Scott bot is still pasteing. I wonder does he do anything else with his life?

Speedy said:

Alistair said:

Speedy said:

Alistair said:

Richard_Tyndall said:

Neil said:

Speedy said:

richardDodd said:

EPG..The visitors would also have to go through Passport Control..when Scotland becomes the land of the Free

We can always break up scotland like we did with Ireland, keep the counties that are against independence in the UK like Ulster.

I'm not sure you quite grasp the history of how Ireland was partitioned.

Yes. Not exactly our finest hour as a nation. Unfortunately we have been paying for it off and on ever since. The idea of partitioning Scotland in the same way is ludicrous.

The idea that, say, the Borders would want to be separate from an independent Scotland is one of those things that doesn't even work as a joke.

If you are so confident then why not give them the right to democratically choose between joining an independent Scotland or remaining in the UK.
Let the people decide.

If they wanted such a vote of course they would have the right to decide that.

But you are stark raving bonkers if you think they would vote for anything other than staying part of Scotland.

We will have to see about that in a referendum then.
I can guess the foregone conclusion that the Shetlands will vote to leave Scotland in order to have all the North Sea oil for themselves.

Nope.

So it's 192 for the Windies to get.
Well done Jos Buttler for a quick couple of dozen at the death, may make the difference.

Speedy said:

Alistair said:

Richard_Tyndall said:

Neil said:

Speedy said:

richardDodd said:

EPG..The visitors would also have to go through Passport Control..when Scotland becomes the land of the Free

We can always break up scotland like we did with Ireland, keep the counties that are against independence in the UK like Ulster.

I'm not sure you quite grasp the history of how Ireland was partitioned.

Yes. Not exactly our finest hour as a nation. Unfortunately we have been paying for it off and on ever since. The idea of partitioning Scotland in the same way is ludicrous.

The idea that, say, the Borders would want to be separate from an independent Scotland is one of those things that doesn't even work as a joke.

If you are so confident then why not give them the right to democratically choose between joining an independent Scotland or remaining in the UK.
Let the people decide.

It doesn't work like that. Borders is an integral part of Scotland. Borderers are bound to accept the will of their countrymen and women. If you start messing around with that principle where do you stop?

Is there any betting on how many years till the next (Con/Lab/AN Other) parliamentary majority?

Ha now John there is a statement.


How do you know that?

Afternoon all

Perhaps a week's holiday and living in an ultra-safe Labour seat affords me a slightly different perspective from those fighting the good fight and living from poll to poll in the hyper-marginals.

First, all this nonsense from David Cameron about clinging on to power if he has more votes and seats can be dismissed - had you asked him five years ago on the weekend before the last election whether he would do a deal with Nick Clegg's Liberal Democrats, I don't expect he would have said "oh yes, we're not going to win a majority and I will make a full offer of talks to the Lib Dems on the day after the election".

In other words, the campaign rhetoric is just that - it's hyperbole meant to rally the troops. It's not meant to be taken seriously and shouldn't be by anyone with even a basic understanding of politics. Ed Miliband's dismissal of the SNP can be seen in a similar light/

I did expect the Conservatives to have opened a 3-5% lead across all polls and for the main three topics of conservation to be a) the ins and outs of the new Conservative Government, b) candidates for the Labour leadership election and c) the seats the Tories would be gaining from Labour.

Instead, little seems to have changed and Cowling's analysis on the BBC website seems reasonable - I expect the Conservatives to narrowly win the national vote but the seat picture remains unclear. The possibility of a Labour Government functioning with tacit SNP support of an informal S&C nature seems to be the most likely outcome as I suspect the Conservatives and Lib Dem attempts at Coalition 2.0 will come up well short.

I'm going to be controversial on topic and argue the 8th May at 5/1 is the bet here. It will be obvious by Friday lunchtime if the Conservatives have done well enough to hold on and for all the rhetoric, Cameron won't want to prolong the agony especially if, as I suspect, it becomes clear the Labour/SNP option is going to be a starter and will have a majority (given PC and a few of the Irish will support and the rump of the LDs and the DUP won't oppose).

Dadge said:

Is there any betting on how many years till the next (Con/Lab/AN Other) parliamentary majority?

Depends on Friday's results. If Lab+SNP get in on Friday with the Tories on say 280 then I'd say no more than five year. Come 2020 either Scotland will be going/gone (in which case 280 already is an English majority and just 16 more needed for a UK majority) OR the Tories will be able to get the 46 seats needed for an overall majority.

If its Tory+LD on Friday then who knows.

IOS said:

Ha now John there is a statement.


How do you know that?

Oh simples, I simply read your witless inanities here and draw the obvious conclusions.

stodge said:

I'm going to be controversial on topic and argue the 8th May at 5/1 is the bet here. It will be obvious by Friday lunchtime if the Conservatives have done well enough to hold on and for all the rhetoric, Cameron won't want to prolong the agony especially if, as I suspect, it becomes clear the Labour/SNP option is going to be a starter and will have a majority (given PC and a few of the Irish will support and the rump of the LDs and the DUP won't oppose).

I thought DUP were vehemently against the SNP. The SNP represents by far the greatest threat to NI unionism of all major mainland parties.

SouthamObserver said:

Speedy said:

Alistair said:

Richard_Tyndall said:

Neil said:

Speedy said:

richardDodd said:

EPG..The visitors would also have to go through Passport Control..when Scotland becomes the land of the Free

We can always break up scotland like we did with Ireland, keep the counties that are against independence in the UK like Ulster.

I'm not sure you quite grasp the history of how Ireland was partitioned.

The idea of partitioning Scotland in the same way is ludicrous.

the Borders would want to be separate from an independent Scotland is one of those things that doesn't even work as a joke.

If you are so confident then why not give them the right to democratically choose between joining an independent Scotland or remaining in the UK.
Let the people decide.

It doesn't work like that. Borders is an integral part of Scotland. Borderers are bound to accept the will of their countrymen and women. If you start messing around with that principle where do you stop?

Philip_Thompson said:

SouthamObserver said:

Speedy said:

Alistair said:

Richard_Tyndall said:

Neil said:

Speedy said:

richardDodd said:

EPG..The visitors would also have to go through Passport Control..when Scotland becomes the land of the Free

We can always break up scotland like we did with Ireland, keep the counties that are against independence in the UK like Ulster.

I'm not sure you quite grasp the history of how Ireland was partitioned.

The idea of partitioning Scotland in the same way is ludicrous.

The idea that, say, the Borders would want to be separate from an independent Scotland is one of those things that doesn't even work as a joke.

If you are so confident then why not give them the right to democratically choose between joining an independent Scotland or remaining in the UK.
Let the people decide.

It doesn't work like that. Borders is an integral part of Scotland. Borderers are bound to accept the will of their countrymen and women. If you start messing around with that principle where do you stop?

Scotland is an integral part of the United Kingdom. Scots are bound to accept the will of their countrymen and women. If you start messing around with that principle where do you stop?

I agree that the principal of integrity has been shot by the SNP a long time ago.
If Scotland can leave the UK, so can anyone from Scotland.

Yarm is an Integral Part of the Borough of Stockton on Tees. That didn't stop them having a referendum to leave and join North Yorkshire.

notme said:

Anecdote #385

Just finished a day canvassing a hyper marginal north west con held seat with labour chasing. Canvassing those who either undecided or have not had contact with. I have to say the undecided are falling to the Cons more than Lab.

It is now becoming very clear that the Con support in this constituency is now a few percent above that which was won in 2010.

According to national and regional sub samples this seat should be long lost to Labour. There is *no* swing against Con in constituency (though of course the configuration of those who arent voting Con coalescing around the lab candidate could be enough ).

How visible was your party identification? Did you canvas the same areas in '10?

Any opinion polls due today? Guessing YouGov's standard Lab+1 +/-1 at 10:30. Any others?

What was it that was said about canvassers at the start? Something along the lines of if all canvassers reports are believed the big four parties will be winning about 1500 seats between them?

SeanT said:

SouthamObserver said:

Speedy said:

Alistair said:

Richard_Tyndall said:

Neil said:

Speedy said:

richardDodd said:

EPG..The visitors would also have to go through Passport Control..when Scotland becomes the land of the Free

We can always break up scotland like we did with Ireland, keep the counties that are against independence in the UK like Ulster.

I'm not sure you quite grasp the history of how Ireland was partitioned.

Yes. Not exactly our finest hour as a nation. Unfortunately we have been paying for it off and on ever since. The idea of partitioning Scotland in the same way is ludicrous.

The idea that, say, the Borders would want to be separate from an independent Scotland is one of those things that doesn't even work as a joke.

If you are so confident then why not give them the right to democratically choose between joining an independent Scotland or remaining in the UK.
Let the people decide.

It doesn't work like that. Borders is an integral part of Scotland. Borderers are bound to accept the will of their countrymen and women. If you start messing around with that principle where do you stop?

What about Cornwall? Or Monmouthshire? Are they an integral part of England/Wales respectively? Hmm.

More pertintently, what about Shetland and Orkney, they voted overwhemingly NO, they are not part of the Scottish mainland, and they have historically been part of the Nordic world, as much as the British Isles.

If Scotland voted 51/49 YES but Shetland voted 60/40 NO what would happen? I'm not sure anyone has the answer.

Fair point. But there's more to it than that from a reapolitik perspective. Cornwall can be in England or independent. I guess that's a call for the Cornish. Monmouthshire, the Borders - they can say no to independent Wales/Scotland, but that does not make them part of England. What do the English get out of taking them on - apart from extra expense? Shetland and Orkney, of course, are a different matter. They DO bring something to the table.

SeanT said:

Five hours later #EdStone is the top UK trend again.

I wonder if this will have an impact, now.

Had a day off, tuned into PB, saw your comment. Wondered what it was, assumed some cannabis policy. Truth just plain weird.properly odd.

If they want me to deliver those they can forget it.