'The Asian community has built walls in Bradford so high they can’t see beyond them'
'Now, with the third and fourth generations, it’s perfectly possible to live a life where you never have to speak English because everyone in the shops and services where you live speak your language'
Polling methods suspect, drove suspect narrative of papers, broadcasters, parties & leaders? But as Cowley & Kavanagh point out the result on the day surprised all of the party leaders.
except we've got Messina saying the week before he and Crosby made their final prediction of 315odd.
And the Labour poller popping up saying "we knew it wasn't rosy"
Incidentally, the herding should have rung MASSIVE alarm bells. Massive CLANKING bells.
To be fair, some posters (not me) commented as such before the GE. Only for them to be drowned out by pictures of Basil suffering his deprivations.
The evidence seems to indicate that all those in this country who want to blow us up and kill us speak very good English.
For me, this is not about terrorism it is about the simple fact that if you choose to make your home here you should speak our language.
It is about terrorism. Do you really care about the Fujianese grandmother? The (English speaking, indeed English) people who want to blow us up dislike our version of society to the point whereby they would like to impose their own upon us. One of the elements of which is the subordination of women. By trying to address this element, we therefore make progress against this alternative society.
Interesting article in the Times, half of all EU aid goes missing, it costs the UK £1.4 billion a year.
That's another couple of points for Leave.
The net EU contribution for the UK is c.£9bn/year. That would suggest a third of our net contribution goes on foreign aid, which seems a very high figure. Especially as total foreign aid across Europe, including all government and EU spending, is just £47bn.
I think you (or @blackburn63) are slightly misunderstanding the figures. IIRC the *total* UK aid contribution to the EU is about £1.4bn (not our share of the losses).
This comes from the DfID budget - I'm not sure if it is included within the figures for our net EU contribution?
Even that seems high. Total EU aid spending is only EUR8.3bn, which is just over GBP5bn. Our share of the total EU budget is - what - 15% or so, which would give you GBP750m, or a wasted number of GBP375m a year.
Cameron's sudden decision to ban veils and force people to learn English has come a bit out of the blue, hasn't it?
He hasn't quite gone that far. It's that learning English will be a factor in the government deciding whether one should have permanent leave to remain and that not obscuring your face in schools, courts and other public buildings should be supported by government, particularly when those institutions make a policy decision to do so.
It's all about inclusion and integration.
What I've found interesting (disappointing) is that - with the exception of tabloids such as the Sun and the Mail - almost all the broadsheet press seem to be rebuking him.
This is going to be a big long fight of attrition. I don't want to be accused of melodrama but with the vested interests involved, the closest political parallel I can think of is the Miner's Strike.
There are vested interests at stake: mainly those in power in patriarchal communities who may well feel threatened if women in their communities are not dependant on them, as they undoubtedly are if they have to rely on them to communicate with the outside world or if said women decide to make their own decisions about their lives. And, of course, those who benefit from or are dependant on the patriarchs in those communities. And those who can't bear criticism of whichever group they are currently patronising. Plus those who are scared of saying or doing anything which might lead to others reacting violently, even if they're usually too timid to admit publicly to such fears. And those who have a vested intellectual interest in separate communities and cultural relativism etc.
So making a change involves facing down or ignoring such groups who are very good indeed at two things: (1) ignoring the obvious; and (2) making a lot of noise with their outrage.
Clearly it is wrong that people of either sex can spend years living in this country without learning to speak English. However, dismissing all those who have concerns about Cameron's plans as patriachs and vested interests is not the way forward. If we are serious about this, it is something that should be discussed and implemented as effectively as possible. The goal, surely, is to make sure that everyone learns to speak English, not to score political points.
The goal, surely, is to make sure that no one who lives in this country wants to blow us up. .
You wouldn't object if someone tried to blow up Jeremy Corbyn - and all those who put him where he is - would you?
Polling methods suspect, drove suspect narrative of papers, broadcasters, parties & leaders? But as Cowley & Kavanagh point out the result on the day surprised all of the party leaders.
except we've got Messina saying the week before he and Crosby made their final prediction of 315odd.
And the Labour poller popping up saying "we knew it wasn't rosy"
Incidentally, the herding should have rung MASSIVE alarm bells. Massive CLANKING bells.
To be fair, some posters (not me) commented as such before the GE. Only for them to be drowned out by pictures of Basil suffering his deprivations.
Yep. They would rather be all wrong together, than the only one wrong. Now, if they had been the only one RIGHT, they would be watching the business roll in. "Alone amongst our peers, we were by some considerable margin the nearest to polling the outcome of the UK General Election in 2015...."
Cameron's sudden decision to ban veils and force people to learn English has come a bit out of the blue, hasn't it?
He hasn't quite gone that far. It's that learning English will be a factor in the government deciding whether one should have permanent leave to remain and that not obscuring your face in schools, courts and other public buildings should be supported by government, particularly when those institutions make a policy decision to do so.
It's all about inclusion and integration.
What I've found interesting (disappointing) is that - with the exception of tabloids such as the Sun and the Mail - almost all the broadsheet press seem to be rebuking him.
This is going to be a big long fight of attrition. I don't want to be accused of melodrama but with the vested interests involved, the closest political parallel I can think of is the Miner's Strike.
I'm sure it won't be long before someone (Zoe Williams or Joseph Harker, say) compares Cameron to Hitler for his comments.
There are vested interests at stake: mainly those in power in patriarchal communities who may well feel threatened if women in their communities are not dependant on them, as they undoubtedly are if they have to rely on them to communicate with the outside world or if said women decide to make their own decisions about their lives. And, of course, those who benefit from or are dependant on the patriarchs in those communities. And those who can't bear criticism of whichever group they are currently patronising. Plus those who are scared of saying or doing anything which might lead to others reacting violently, even if they're usually too timid to admit publicly to such fears. And those who have a vested intellectual interest in separate communities and cultural relativism etc.
So making a change involves facing down or ignoring such groups who are very good indeed at two things: (1) ignoring the obvious; and (2) making a lot of noise with their outrage.
I think this is the key point. Cameron is challenging a patriarchal mindset that treats a significant number of UK citizens as second class. In doing so he is of course attacking the multicultural nonsense that tolerated that state of affairs for far too long, hence the squeals from the Guardianistas.
More power to his elbow I say. Communities that remain detached from the mainstream will indeed have a greater propensity to nurture and create extremists who hold those mainstream values in contempt. If we are to defeat home grown terrorism we need to ensure that all of our population is inculcated in our essential values and willing to stand up for them when some sad nutter deludes himself. As Cameron said yesterday women have a very important role in preventing the creation of that mindset in the first place.
FWIW I had a long chat with Andrew Mitchell when he was still at DfID. One of the programmes he was most keen on was a scheme to increase female participation in secondary education (in Ethiopia) - this was one of the most effective levers in reducing future extremism
The worst of it, though, was that the debate was broadcast on US TV. Now that the Americans have seen this, we’ll never be able to affect intellectual superiority over them again.
“We British are pretty good at roasting beef,” gurgled Paul Scully (Con, Sutton). “Why don’t we roast Trump instead!”
“If he met one or two of my constituents,” cried Victoria Atkins (Con, Louth & Horncastle), “they would tell him he’s a wazzock!”
“Bring him here,” barked Gavin Robinson (DUP, Belfast East), “and let him go home with his tail between his legs!”
'The Asian community has built walls in Bradford so high they can’t see beyond them'
'Now, with the third and fourth generations, it’s perfectly possible to live a life where you never have to speak English because everyone in the shops and services where you live speak your language'
The word Bradistan sums up the situation there pretty well. A friend of mine from uni was from Bradford (now east London >_<) and she said that growing up the first time she spoke English was in primary school according to her parents. Otherwise everything is available in Urdu or the council provides a translator in the instances it isn't.
'The Asian community has built walls in Bradford so high they can’t see beyond them'
'Now, with the third and fourth generations, it’s perfectly possible to live a life where you never have to speak English because everyone in the shops and services where you live speak your language'
Polling methods suspect, drove suspect narrative of papers, broadcasters, parties & leaders? But as Cowley & Kavanagh point out the result on the day surprised all of the party leaders.
except we've got Messina saying the week before he and Crosby made their final prediction of 315odd.
And the Labour poller popping up saying "we knew it wasn't rosy"
Incidentally, the herding should have rung MASSIVE alarm bells. Massive CLANKING bells.
To be fair, some posters (not me) commented as such before the GE. Only for them to be drowned out by pictures of Basil suffering his deprivations.
Yep. They would rather be all wrong together, than the only one wrong. Now, if they had been the only one RIGHT, they would be watching the business roll in. "Alone amongst our peers, we were by some considerable margin the nearest to polling the outcome of the UK General Election in 2015...."
Survation are the only ones to admit to blowing it, but I'm sure others will have done the same.
'The Asian community has built walls in Bradford so high they can’t see beyond them'
'Now, with the third and fourth generations, it’s perfectly possible to live a life where you never have to speak English because everyone in the shops and services where you live speak your language'
How is that different from Welsh Wales?
Gaelic and welsh aren't imported languages at least. They have been here as long as (longer than really) English.
Polling methods suspect, drove suspect narrative of papers, broadcasters, parties & leaders? But as Cowley & Kavanagh point out the result on the day surprised all of the party leaders.
except we've got Messina saying the week before he and Crosby made their final prediction of 315odd.
And the Labour poller popping up saying "we knew it wasn't rosy"
Incidentally, the herding should have rung MASSIVE alarm bells. Massive CLANKING bells.
To be fair, some posters (not me) commented as such before the GE. Only for them to be drowned out by pictures of Basil suffering his deprivations.
If you go back, there I am, to- and fro-ing with OllyT (I think).
Interesting article in the Times, half of all EU aid goes missing, it costs the UK £1.4 billion a year.
That's another couple of points for Leave.
The net EU contribution for the UK is c.£9bn/year. That would suggest a third of our net contribution goes on foreign aid, which seems a very high figure. Especially as total foreign aid across Europe, including all government and EU spending, is just £47bn.
I think you (or @blackburn63) are slightly misunderstanding the figures. IIRC the *total* UK aid contribution to the EU is about £1.4bn (not our share of the losses).
This comes from the DfID budget - I'm not sure if it is included within the figures for our net EU contribution?
Even that seems high. Total EU aid spending is only EUR8.3bn, which is just over GBP5bn. Our share of the total EU budget is - what - 15% or so, which would give you GBP750m, or a wasted number of GBP375m a year.
I looked into DfID spending a few years ago & it was £1.1bn - some of that may be UN programmes administered by the EU though - don't remember
'The Asian community has built walls in Bradford so high they can’t see beyond them'
'Now, with the third and fourth generations, it’s perfectly possible to live a life where you never have to speak English because everyone in the shops and services where you live speak your language'
Not just can't see beyond them but don't want to see beyond them. It is not a bug; it's a feature.
Polling methods suspect, drove suspect narrative of papers, broadcasters, parties & leaders? But as Cowley & Kavanagh point out the result on the day surprised all of the party leaders.
except we've got Messina saying the week before he and Crosby made their final prediction of 315odd.
And the Labour poller popping up saying "we knew it wasn't rosy"
Incidentally, the herding should have rung MASSIVE alarm bells. Massive CLANKING bells.
To be fair, some posters (not me) commented as such before the GE. Only for them to be drowned out by pictures of Basil suffering his deprivations.
Nothing to the shrieks if you questioned the power of LD incumbency
Mr Harriet Harman on good morning Britain. Getting absolutely monstered....
When asked if he would ban radicals or Putin he said " I am a great believer in free speech and so no"
"If you cross the line and advocate violence then that's a line you cannot cross" " the problem with Trump is he crosses the line"
This interview is absolutely unspoofable. Dromey is an absolute fucking idiot and an absolute hypocrite to boot.
To be fair, he is only a middle-order absolute fucking idiot in today's Labour party. They are ten a penny. Because they have totally lost track of what their party is about, and how it would handle every area of policy.
Really, they should all take a Trappist vow for three years, until they have worked out a coherent line to take in public.
Recall yesterday how we discussed which useful idiots usual suspects would be out to denounce Cameron's English language skills comments (because Cameron made them)......
Makes you nostalgic for the times when Conservative governments attacked the GLC under Ken Livingstone for subsidising English classes for immigrants.
Immigrants should be expected to learn English at their own expense. When I was in Berlin recently there were loads of ads on the U-Bahn for German classes (at quite reasonable rates). Why don't you get them on the Tube?
You gets hundreds of adverts for English as a foreign language around Tottenham Court Road
You have to wonder how many of those language courses are legitimate though. I'm not sure what the situation is at the moment but it used to be a way for "students" to come to the UK and overstay their visas. I know the government said they would clamp down on this but given how high immigration still is from the sub continent whatever they are doing doesn't seem to be working.
George Eaton Polling inquiry says any late swing to the Tories was "not large". That means they likely lead from 2013 onwards.
As far as I was dimly aware, they knew they'd nudged ahead 'on the ground' about the time of Newark. I don't know if that's over all polls or interpreting Labour's inability to make inroads in that seat.
Should have listened to RodCrosby and Jacks ARSE. I would not agree with them on all matters, but they do have a pretty good track record on here.
Jack - yes.
Rod lost a lot from me in his arguments for swingback. He was offering a scientific model but acting in a highly unscientific manner with it, if that follows. Swingback - obvious. Predictable swingback - less so. Mathamatical certainties - meh.
Polling methods suspect, drove suspect narrative of papers, broadcasters, parties & leaders? But as Cowley & Kavanagh point out the result on the day surprised all of the party leaders.
except we've got Messina saying the week before he and Crosby made their final prediction of 315odd.
And the Labour poller popping up saying "we knew it wasn't rosy"
Incidentally, the herding should have rung MASSIVE alarm bells. Massive CLANKING bells.
To be fair, some posters (not me) commented as such before the GE. Only for them to be drowned out by pictures of Basil suffering his deprivations.
Nothing to the shrieks if you questioned the power of LD incumbency
Mr Harriet Harman on good morning Britain. Getting absolutely monstered....
When asked if he would ban radicals or Putin he said " I am a great believer in free speech and so no"
"If you cross the line and advocate violence then that's a line you cannot cross" " the problem with Trump is he crosses the line"
This interview is absolutely unspoofable. Dromey is an absolute fucking idiot and an absolute hypocrite to boot.
So people who call for the destruction of our country and the imposition of Sharia here haven't crossed the line while someone who advocates halting Muslim immigration for a different country has crossed the line.
Sometimes I wonder whether these people actually have any contact with people outside of Islington and Camden.
I see the investigation has also said that they are pretty confident Labour continues to be overstated in the polls by approximately 1-2%. Why on earth would anyone currently continue to pay for a VI poll?!
'Not just can't see beyond them but don't want to see beyond them. It is not a bug; it's a feature.'
Perhaps so - but what is being done about it, David? Nothing.
The situation is irreversible unless the large-scale importation of people from the subcontinent ceases, but the government won't countenance this. Instead it prefers pious hand-wringing.
'The Asian community has built walls in Bradford so high they can’t see beyond them'
'Now, with the third and fourth generations, it’s perfectly possible to live a life where you never have to speak English because everyone in the shops and services where you live speak your language'
Not just can't see beyond them but don't want to see beyond them. It is not a bug; it's a feature.
It's a feature not exclusive to that community. No shortage of gated communities across the country where well to-do folk isolate themselves from the rest of the world.
George Eaton Polling inquiry says any late swing to the Tories was "not large". That means they likely lead from 2013 onwards.
As far as I was dimly aware, they knew they'd nudged ahead 'on the ground' about the time of Newark. I don't know if that's over all polls or interpreting Labour's inability to make inroads in that seat.
Should have listened to RodCrosby and Jacks ARSE. I would not agree with them on all matters, but they do have a pretty good track record on here.
Jack - yes.
Rod lost a lot from me in his arguments for swingback. He was offering a scientific model but acting in a highly unscientific manner with it, if that follows. Swingback - obvious. Predictable swingback - less so. Mathamatical certainties - meh.
Rod wasn't modelling on swing back last time, he was using a different model, the name escapes me for now but it assumes some level of disillusionment with the current government (swing back) but also takes into account leadership ratings which is why he was predicting a high chance of a Con majority despite the polls all pointing to NOM. The basis of the model makes sense and he has accurately predicted the results of 2010 and 2015.
On topic, I wonder if the polling elephant in the room is likelihood to vote? Every poll producee a sample that says it is more likely to turn out than is the case with the electorate at large. Going by one of yesterday's polls, they also overstate the claimed turnout last time (the DNV return implied a turnout of 76%).
Now, this might not matter if the reason is that the long-term disengaged are just harder to reach and are representatively not polled. However, if there is a change in the nature of WNVs then it will.
More likely is that people are not answering truthfully. Perhaps they are lying - shy abstainers? - or perhaps they genuinely can't remember not voting and reply with what they believe they did. If one side is disproportionately afflicted by this effect, then that could be a large part of the explanation.
'The Asian community has built walls in Bradford so high they can’t see beyond them'
'Now, with the third and fourth generations, it’s perfectly possible to live a life where you never have to speak English because everyone in the shops and services where you live speak your language'
How is that different from Welsh Wales?
Gaelic and welsh aren't imported languages at least. They have been here as long as (longer than really) English.
Think about what you've just said. Think very carefully.
You wouldn't give an extra vote to people who still live in their birthplace, so why grant legitimacy to a language on the equivalent basis?
‘The official investigation put the blame on unrepresentative samples’
OK – but what happened in the final weeks before GE2015 when almost every pollster added +/- 3 points to converge at a similar prediction across the board?
I see the investigation has also said that they are pretty confident Labour continues to be overstated in the polls by approximately 1-2%. Why on earth would anyone currently continue to pay for a VI poll?!
George Eaton Polling inquiry says any late swing to the Tories was "not large". That means they likely lead from 2013 onwards.
As far as I was dimly aware, they knew they'd nudged ahead 'on the ground' about the time of Newark. I don't know if that's over all polls or interpreting Labour's inability to make inroads in that seat.
Should have listened to RodCrosby and Jacks ARSE. I would not agree with them on all matters, but they do have a pretty good track record on here.
Jack - yes.
Rod lost a lot from me in his arguments for swingback. He was offering a scientific model but acting in a highly unscientific manner with it, if that follows. Swingback - obvious. Predictable swingback - less so. Mathamatical certainties - meh.
Rod wasn't modelling on swing back last time, he was using a different model, the name escapes me for now but it assumes some level of disillusionment with the current government (swing back) but also takes into account leadership ratings which is why he was predicting a high chance of a Con majority despite the polls all pointing to NOM. The basis of the model makes sense and he has accurately predicted the results of 2010 and 2015.
I see the investigation has also said that they are pretty confident Labour continues to be overstated in the polls by approximately 1-2%. Why on earth would anyone currently continue to pay for a VI poll?!
I see the investigation has also said that they are pretty confident Labour continues to be overstated in the polls by approximately 1-2%. Why on earth would anyone currently continue to pay for a VI poll?!
I see the investigation has also said that they are pretty confident Labour continues to be overstated in the polls by approximately 1-2%. Why on earth would anyone currently continue to pay for a VI poll?!
I see the investigation has also said that they are pretty confident Labour continues to be overstated in the polls by approximately 1-2%. Why on earth would anyone currently continue to pay for a VI poll?!
One problem for the pollsters - difficult to conjure up a Tory majority when you have more Labour people answering your poll than Tories !
That's why past vote recall is so important. YouGov had a fairly poor model which modelled the 2010 election as 36 Con, 31 Lab, 27 LD. They didn't take into account likelihood to vote either. They overpolled the activist 2010 LDs who broke to Labour and didn't take into account 2010 non voters were not likely to vote in 2015. For the larger S.Times polls I remodelled the YouGov a few times to reweight them correctly and disregarded all 2010 DNV in the final figures. I'll have to dig up the results but I seem to remember tied polls becoming 4-7 point Tory leads.
'The Asian community has built walls in Bradford so high they can’t see beyond them'
'Now, with the third and fourth generations, it’s perfectly possible to live a life where you never have to speak English because everyone in the shops and services where you live speak your language'
How is that different from Welsh Wales?
Not sure - if you look up your history there were plenty of Welsh Radicals burning down English second homes in the 1980s.
‘The official investigation put the blame on unrepresentative samples’
OK – but what happened in the final weeks before GE2015 when almost every pollster added +/- 3 points to converge at a similar prediction across the board?
You'd expect convergence generally: one of the biggest differences between methodologies is how they handle DKs - and DKs should decline as the election gets closer.
The problem is that outliers were supressed and that the convergence was to the wrong number.
'The Asian community has built walls in Bradford so high they can’t see beyond them'
'Now, with the third and fourth generations, it’s perfectly possible to live a life where you never have to speak English because everyone in the shops and services where you live speak your language'
Not just can't see beyond them but don't want to see beyond them. It is not a bug; it's a feature.
It's a feature not exclusive to that community. No shortage of gated communities across the country where well to-do folk isolate themselves from the rest of the world.
While that's true, rich people in gated communities aren't cut off from employment opportunities or meaningful electoral participation as a result.
SkyNews had a great graphic on this. It showed the convergence and the massive difference compared to the actuals. Anyone with eyes could instantly see how they screwed up.
‘The official investigation put the blame on unrepresentative samples’
OK – but what happened in the final weeks before GE2015 when almost every pollster added +/- 3 points to converge at a similar prediction across the board?
Jonathan The gated communities in the part of Chelsea where I lived ,Chelsea Manor Street, were all Social Housing estates and a massive gated community just off The Cromwell Road is occupied almost entirely by Arabs.
One problem for the pollsters - difficult to conjure up a Tory majority when you have more Labour people answering your poll than Tories !
That's why past vote recall is so important. YouGov had a fairly poor model which modelled the 2010 election as 36 Con, 31 Lab, 27 LD. They didn't take into account likelihood to vote either. They overpolled the activist 2010 LDs who broke to Labour and didn't take into account 2010 non voters were not likely to vote in 2015. For the larger S.Times polls I remodelled the YouGov a few times to reweight them correctly and disregarded all 2010 DNV in the final figures. I'll have to dig up the results but I seem to remember tied polls becoming 4-7 point Tory leads.
The problem with PVR is the temptation merely to adjust weighting rather than fix the sampling.
Interesting article in the Times, half of all EU aid goes missing, it costs the UK £1.4 billion a year.
That's another couple of points for Leave.
The net EU contribution for the UK is c.£9bn/year. That would suggest a third of our net contribution goes on foreign aid, which seems a very high figure. Especially as total foreign aid across Europe, including all government and EU spending, is just £47bn.
I think you (or @blackburn63) are slightly misunderstanding the figures. IIRC the *total* UK aid contribution to the EU is about £1.4bn (not our share of the losses).
This comes from the DfID budget - I'm not sure if it is included within the figures for our net EU contribution?
Even that seems high. Total EU aid spending is only EUR8.3bn, which is just over GBP5bn. Our share of the total EU budget is - what - 15% or so, which would give you GBP750m, or a wasted number of GBP375m a year.
Perhaps you underestimate just how high UK Overseas Aid Spending has become?
In 2014 International Aid by EU Countries:$86.66 billion In 2014 International Aid by UK:$17.88 billion
'The Asian community has built walls in Bradford so high they can’t see beyond them'
'Now, with the third and fourth generations, it’s perfectly possible to live a life where you never have to speak English because everyone in the shops and services where you live speak your language'
How is that different from Welsh Wales?
On one measure by 1000 years of sharing a country. Wales was here when North African slavers were raiding Cornwall.
On another measure because Welsh Wales does not have a religion with a built-in drive to political domination of everybody else. There may be a version of Islam that doesn't do that, but when you have young radicals going back to the Book. And the Quran is seen as a textbook of divine instructions, which is the internal challenge for the Muslim community imo.
'The Asian community has built walls in Bradford so high they can’t see beyond them'
'Now, with the third and fourth generations, it’s perfectly possible to live a life where you never have to speak English because everyone in the shops and services where you live speak your language'
How is that different from Welsh Wales?
Gaelic and welsh aren't imported languages at least. They have been here as long as (longer than really) English.
Think about what you've just said. Think very carefully.
You wouldn't give an extra vote to people who still live in their birthplace, so why grant legitimacy to a language on the equivalent basis?
We aren't going to take the franchise away from people who don't learn English though? The idea that it is legitimate for someone to live here and not learn the language is not one I will ever agree with. The way I see Welsh speaking villages is similar to how I see tribal villages in the Amazon. They have their own ecosystem separate to ours and it has existed for a longer period of time than either the UK or even England. However, the current discussion is not about preexisting cultures, it is about imported ones that do live in England.
It is wholly different to say that a Welsh person who grows up in Wales, in a Welsh only village shouldn't have to learn English compared to someone coming from overseas then living in England. I wouldn't move to another country without learning their language (I'm learning German at the moment to leave a move to Zürich open). To expect the indigenous peoples to adjust to my language is not right and the sense of entitlement that government services be provided in Urdu in certain parts of England is something that needs to be tackled, not encouraged.
Cameron's sudden decision to ban veils and force people to learn English has come a bit out of the blue, hasn't it?
If you think he's suddenly become interested in improving the lot of disadvantaged minorities you haven't been paying attention.....
Absolutely. Perhaps Dave will write a stiff letter criticising whomsoever was responsible for previous cuts to funding of the teaching of English to immigrants. Probably the Libdems...
The lesson being is you can't just throw away DKs to produce a headline figure which is what is happening in the EuroRef Polling.
So - will the DKs be shy outers', shy Inners' or don't you know?
Since there have been polls now showing out > in then there may be some knock-on effect if the DKs are shy outers and see it is no longer unfashionable to leave the EU.
'The Asian community has built walls in Bradford so high they can’t see beyond them'
'Now, with the third and fourth generations, it’s perfectly possible to live a life where you never have to speak English because everyone in the shops and services where you live speak your language'
How is that different from Welsh Wales?
Not sure - if you look up your history there were plenty of Welsh Radicals burning down English second homes in the 1980s.
The joke doing the rounds at the time played on the solid fuel adverts...
"You'd expect convergence generally: one of the biggest differences between methodologies is how they handle DKs - and DKs should decline as the election gets closer."
I get the point but I disagree. It should only narrow, but you should still expect some scatter. With the same sample sizes, you would still expect a variation.
If the later polls were still sizes of ~1000, the scatter should have been a few % points.
'It's not just the polling model that's broke its the model that commissions them.'
Quite - next time around we will doubtless have the same solemn inquiry then things will carry on much as before.
Next time they might get more or less the right result for the top two parties (the only thing that produces headlines) by accident - i.e. being right for the wrong reasons.
Or they might be wrong, but there is a landslide so being out by four or five percent does not produce a surprise and the bad headlines it has this time.
Pollsters should really examine when they get things right as well as when they get things wrong, if only to check they haven't got it right by mistake.
But generally, pollsters have shown themselves to be thoroughly unprofessional throughout this mess. At least in my view ...
'The Asian community has built walls in Bradford so high they can’t see beyond them'
'Now, with the third and fourth generations, it’s perfectly possible to live a life where you never have to speak English because everyone in the shops and services where you live speak your language'
How is that different from Welsh Wales?
Gaelic and welsh aren't imported languages at least. They have been here as long as (longer than really) English.
Think about what you've just said. Think very carefully.
You wouldn't give an extra vote to people who still live in their birthplace, so why grant legitimacy to a language on the equivalent basis?
That's not what he is saying. Try to improve your English comprehension. Welsh speakers can easily also speak English. There is nothing wrong with keeping an ancient language alive. I disagree with runnymead, Cameron's speech was not posturing. That comment was rather pathetic, the policy is on fact long overdue although the issue of immigrants learning English has been around for a long time. My argument with it is that it needs a prime minister to make it. It should be the appropriate minister. I suppose the Tories think that Cameron is an electoral asset whereas perhaps May is not. But PMs are or have to be too presidential. Perhaps Osborne will not. :-)
'The Asian community has built walls in Bradford so high they can’t see beyond them'
'Now, with the third and fourth generations, it’s perfectly possible to live a life where you never have to speak English because everyone in the shops and services where you live speak your language'
How is that different from Welsh Wales?
Gaelic and welsh aren't imported languages at least. They have been here as long as (longer than really) English.
Think about what you've just said. Think very carefully.
You wouldn't give an extra vote to people who still live in their birthplace, so why grant legitimacy to a language on the equivalent basis?
We aren't going to take the franchise away from people who don't learn English though? The idea that it is legitimate for someone to live here and not learn the language is not one I will ever agree with. The way I see Welsh speaking villages is similar to how I see tribal villages in the Amazon. They have their own ecosystem separate to ours and it has existed for a longer period of time than either the UK or even England. However, the current discussion is not about preexisting cultures, it is about imported ones that do live in England.
It is wholly different to say that a Welsh person who grows up in Wales, in a Welsh only village shouldn't have to learn English compared to someone coming from overseas then living in England. I wouldn't move to another country without learning their language (I'm learning German at the moment to leave a move to Zürich open). To expect the indigenous peoples to adjust to my language is not right and the sense of entitlement that government services be provided in Urdu in certain parts of England is something that needs to be tackled, not encouraged.
Also worth pointing out that there are literally ZERO British adults who can only speak Welsh, and have no English. ZERO.
I know, I was just humoring the argument. There is no part of Britain where people don't know English other than Asian and African ghettos. It is a lamentable situation that has been encouraged by local councils providing free translation services rather than forcing people to learn English if they want state help.
Mr Harriet Harman on good morning Britain. Getting absolutely monstered....
When asked if he would ban radicals or Putin he said " I am a great believer in free speech and so no"
"If you cross the line and advocate violence then that's a line you cannot cross" " the problem with Trump is he crosses the line"
This interview is absolutely unspoofable. Dromey is an absolute fucking idiot and an absolute hypocrite to boot.
To be fair, he is only a middle-order absolute fucking idiot in today's Labour party. They are ten a penny. Because they have totally lost track of what their party is about, and how it would handle every area of policy.
Really, they should all take a Trappist vow for three years, until they have worked out a coherent line to take in public.
Entertaining RedBox today - the Brookes cartoon looks like a cheap shot but actually makes a good point about the human tendency to stick to your peer group, and there's a nice snipe at the website on how to spot dangerous ISIS-leaning youths:
One of the warning signs given to parents is: “Excessive time spent online or on mobile phones, and secretiveness or reluctance to discuss what they are doing.” Which anyone with a teenager at home will recognise as perfectly routine behaviour.
Cameron's sudden decision to ban veils and force people to learn English has come a bit out of the blue, hasn't it?
He hasn't quite gone that far. It's that learning English will be a factor in the government deciding whether one should have permanent leave to remain and that not obscuring your face in schools, courts and other public buildings should be supported by government, particularly when those institutions make a policy decision to do so.
It's all about inclusion and integration.
What I've found interesting (disappointing) is that - with the exception of tabloids such as the Sun and the Mail - almost all the broadsheet press seem to be rebuking him.
This is going to be a big long fight of attrition. I don't want to be accused of melodrama but with the vested interests involved, the closest political parallel I can think of is the Miner's Strike.
There are vested interests at stake: mainly those in power in patriarchal communities who may well feel threatened if women in their communities are not dependant on them, as they undoubtedly are if they have to rely on them to communicate with the outside world or if said women decide to make their own decisions about their lives. And, of course, those who benefit from or are dependant on the patriarchs in those communities. And those who can't bear criticism of whichever group they are currently patronising. Plus those who are scared of saying or doing anything which might lead to others reacting violently, even if they're usually too timid to admit publicly to such fears. And those who have a vested intellectual interest in separate communities and cultural relativism etc.
So making a change involves facing down or ignoring such groups who are very good indeed at two things: (1) ignoring the obvious; and (2) making a lot of noise with their outrage.
Clearly it is wrong that people of either sex can spend years living in this country without learning to speak English. However, dismissing all those who have concerns about Cameron's plans as patriachs and vested interests is not the way forward. If we are serious about this, it is something that should be discussed and implemented as effectively as possible. The goal, surely, is to make sure that everyone learns to speak English, not to score political points.
The goal, surely, is to make sure that no one who lives in this country wants to blow us up. .
You wouldn't object if someone tried to blow up Jeremy Corbyn - and all those who put him where he is - would you?
Interesting stat. The business pages are full of Chinese Slump stories, the slowest growth in 25 years etc.
Yet China is now so big, 6.9% growth means China added economic output equivalent to the entire GDP of the Netherlands, or Turkey - in just one (bad) year.
Mr. T, worth noting that the Chinese figures and Chinese reality may not be the same thing.
If growth slumped, the government there would be loath to admit it.
No maybe about it. 6.9% is a total fabrication. Even Hu Jin Tao admitted he never really looked a the official numbers because they are a nonsense. For a real view of Chinese economic growth look at harder to massage data - rail freight kilometres, electricity KWH generation, import / export volumes (externally reconciled and net of Hong Kong), dollar/renminbi FX flows, etc, etc. The reality is they're flatlining and all stimulated out. Every RMB of largesse has created an ever dwindling increment to GDP.
Don't get me wrong - China will one day dominate (although not on a GDP/capita basis). But they are NOT exempt from the laws of economics. Blow a bubble as huge and as fast as they have an it WILL pop. The journey to the future is not a straight line.
I wouldn't move to another country without learning their language (I'm learning German at the moment to leave a move to Zürich open). To expect the indigenous peoples to adjust to my language is not right and the sense of entitlement that government services be provided in Urdu in certain parts of England is something that needs to be tackled, not encouraged.
Your effort is admirable, but highly unusual. I'd say the majority of British residents who I knew in Basel made no effort to learn the local language beyond the bare minimum to get by, and some had lived there for more than 20 years. Their work was in English, their social circle was English-speaking, they socialised at the English Speaking Club and the Thank God It's Friday club, they were often bemused or disparaging about local festivals like the carneval. Learning German and mixing with local people was categorised as "Too difficult, why bother?"
I'm not saying this is good in any way. But we should not pretend it's an unusual character flaw in Muslims.
While I hate to agree with SeanT about anything, the really interesting statistic out of China today is that retail sales in China have been accelerating since mid 2015. Now growing at 11.5% year-over-year. The transition from an investment led, to a consumption led, economy is continuing.
Interesting stat. The business pages are full of Chinese Slump stories, the slowest growth in 25 years etc.
Yet China is now so big, 6.9% growth means China added economic output equivalent to the entire GDP of the Netherlands, or Turkey - in just one (bad) year.
The horrid thing though is that inevitably one day China must suffer an actual bad year, a recession. Endless growth is possible while they are transitioning from farmers to a semi-developed economy but eventually even once it is when they're fully developed a real crash is inevitable.
Mr. T, aye, rapidly growing economies often have sudden and sharp (relative) declines. Be interesting to see how bad it gets for China and whether that affects the political situation.
Xi's more militaristic approach could well see China seize the southern sea resources (I do wonder if they'll eventually shoot down one of the US/Aussie planes doing fly-overs).
So the reason the pollsters interviewed too many Labour voters was , er, that they surveyed too many Labour voters??? Surely that's just restating the problem?
In other news: scientists discover reason for cold nights - "temperatures too low" Floods blamed on "too much water"
Prof Curtice says SNP "scare" cannot be reason for Labour loss if there was a consistent polling error rather than a late swing #bbcgms
Good point, thought so. The SNP scare narrative played into pre-existing notions it did not set the narrative (except in the eyes of the media that can't see past 24 hours ago).
The goal, surely, is to make sure that no one who lives in this country wants to blow us up. .
You wouldn't object if someone tried to blow up Jeremy Corbyn - and all those who put him where he is - would you?
Yes, I would.
The lie direct
I would too. We defeat such extremist nonsense as he spouts via the ballot box and winning the argument, not by making him a martyr or relying on violence.
How long before our friends on the Left in Scotland who vote SNP finally twig that the SNP is all about middle class perks?
Nicola Sturgeon has been challenged to match "record with rhetoric" on tax in the first debate between party leaders ahead of the Holyrood elections in May.
The SNP leader and First Minister came under pressure to set out "progressive" policies during the event hosted by Dundee University Students' Association.
SNP plans to cut air passenger duty (APD) were criticised by opposition leaders during the debate at the University of Dundee.
Ha Ha Ha , you really are stupid. Useless opposition say SNPBAD including the ultra right wing Tories, lying LibDems and useless Labour. Note to tax haven resident Scotland is not LEFT WING and does not want LEFT WING government, despite frothers on here thinking otherwise. Just because peoplel here are not as callous and uncaring as the rabid right wingers down south , it does not mean we are LEFT WING.
Prof Curtice says SNP "scare" cannot be reason for Labour loss if there was a consistent polling error rather than a late swing #bbcgms
Personally, I think there was both. The SNP issue was ringing very heavy on the ground and people were raising it unprompted on the doorstep.
It might have been the difference between 300+ seats and an overall majority because it would have helped the Tories hold onto a string of ultra marginals and aided the Lib Dem apocalypse.
Interesting stat. The business pages are full of Chinese Slump stories, the slowest growth in 25 years etc.
Yet China is now so big, 6.9% growth means China added economic output equivalent to the entire GDP of the Netherlands, or Turkey - in just one (bad) year.
The horrid thing though is that inevitably one day China must suffer an actual bad year, a recession. Endless growth is possible while they are transitioning from farmers to a semi-developed economy but eventually even once it is when they're fully developed a real crash is inevitable.
Just imagine how bad a Chinese recession will be.
That assumes that the 6.9% figure is an accurate one.
How long before our friends on the Left in Scotland who vote SNP finally twig that the SNP is all about middle class perks?
Nicola Sturgeon has been challenged to match "record with rhetoric" on tax in the first debate between party leaders ahead of the Holyrood elections in May.
The SNP leader and First Minister came under pressure to set out "progressive" policies during the event hosted by Dundee University Students' Association.
SNP plans to cut air passenger duty (APD) were criticised by opposition leaders during the debate at the University of Dundee.
Ha Ha Ha , you really are stupid. Useless opposition say SNPBAD including the ultra right wing Tories, lying LibDems and useless Labour. Note to tax haven resident Scotland is not LEFT WING and does not want LEFT WING government, despite frothers on here thinking otherwise. Just because peoplel here are not as callous and uncaring as the rabid right wingers down south , it does not mean we are LEFT WING.
Indeed the SNP are not left wing, they're Tory-lite. You're implementing the bulk of our policies and just being a relatively moderate party of government north of the border. As a Tory I fully endorse what you're doing, far better than having a real left wing party like Labour in that part of our country. Long may you continue doing our good work.
Prof Curtice says SNP "scare" cannot be reason for Labour loss if there was a consistent polling error rather than a late swing #bbcgms
Personally, I think there was both. The SNP issue was ringing very heavy on the ground and people were raising it unprompted on the doorstep.
It might have been the difference between 300+ seats and an overall majority because it would have helped the Tories hold onto a string of ultra marginals and aided the Lib Dem apocalypse.
Fantastic display of whataboutism from our centre-left community on here regarding integration of excluded aspects of our society through what should be highly uncontentious proposals like, err, learning the language.
Disappointing - one would hope this could be a cross-party initiative - but I'm sorry to say I'm not surprised.
How long before our friends on the Left in Scotland who vote SNP finally twig that the SNP is all about middle class perks?
Some of them have.
My uncle, a lifelong Labour voter, now votes SNP because "free prescriptions"
Exactly people don't care about wings they want good government, Tories will never get in and Labour tried to become Tories and therefore the SNP are successful, they provide good government , things that people want , and they care about Scotland.
Interesting stat. The business pages are full of Chinese Slump stories, the slowest growth in 25 years etc.
Yet China is now so big, 6.9% growth means China added economic output equivalent to the entire GDP of the Netherlands, or Turkey - in just one (bad) year.
The horrid thing though is that inevitably one day China must suffer an actual bad year, a recession. Endless growth is possible while they are transitioning from farmers to a semi-developed economy but eventually even once it is when they're fully developed a real crash is inevitable.
Just imagine how bad a Chinese recession will be.
That assumes that the 6.9% figure is an accurate one.
Its more assuming that it isn't -6.9%. Whether the figure is 6.9%, 4.5% or 0.1% the evidence currently is that the economy is not in a real recession. One day a real recession is inevitable and given the bubbles that have blown into China it will not be pretty.
When we lived in Catalonia my wife taught English in a convent school. At some stage the Generalitat introduced a law regulating the qualification of all teachers in schools. As part of that my wife had to prove her fluency in English. Part of this involved doing an English oral exam with an assessor appointed by the Catalan government - a non-native speaker. My wife was delighted to get 87%!
How long before our friends on the Left in Scotland who vote SNP finally twig that the SNP is all about middle class perks?
Nicola Sturgeon has been challenged to match "record with rhetoric" on tax in the first debate between party leaders ahead of the Holyrood elections in May.
The SNP leader and First Minister came under pressure to set out "progressive" policies during the event hosted by Dundee University Students' Association.
SNP plans to cut air passenger duty (APD) were criticised by opposition leaders during the debate at the University of Dundee.
not as callous and uncaring as the rabid right wingers down south
Release your inner Tory Malcolm....you know the APD cut will benefit other middle class folks like you, while it'll be the poor, who cant afford to fly who will pay - as they already are in declining numbers going into tertiary education.....in caring (sic) SNP Scotland.....
Prof Curtice says SNP "scare" cannot be reason for Labour loss if there was a consistent polling error rather than a late swing #bbcgms
Personally, I think there was both. The SNP issue was ringing very heavy on the ground and people were raising it unprompted on the doorstep.
It might have been the difference between 300+ seats and an overall majority because it would have helped the Tories hold onto a string of ultra marginals and aided the Lib Dem apocalypse.
If you go back to Crosby/Messina's interviews & reports in the immediate aftermath, the Tories were targeting the SNP thing from the day after the referendum. So Curtice and CR/PS could both be correct - it was responsible for that little shift but the swing had been building, un-noticed, for months.
I wouldn't move to another country without learning their language (I'm learning German at the moment to leave a move to Zürich open). To expect the indigenous peoples to adjust to my language is not right and the sense of entitlement that government services be provided in Urdu in certain parts of England is something that needs to be tackled, not encouraged.
Your effort is admirable, but highly unusual. I'd say the majority of British residents who I knew in Basel made no effort to learn the local language beyond the bare minimum to get by, and some had lived there for more than 20 years. Their work was in English, their social circle was English-speaking, they socialised at the English Speaking Club and the Thank God It's Friday club, they were often bemused or disparaging about local festivals like the carneval. Learning German and mixing with local people was categorised as "Too difficult, why bother?"
I'm not saying this is good in any way. But we should not pretend it's an unusual character flaw in Muslims.
I don't think anyone is saying this. But it is a particular issue within certain communities in Britain today and needs to be addressed, for a variety of reasons, of which terrorism is only a small part.
I think that British people going to live abroad and not learning the language are pretty stupid. Why live in another country and not do so? You miss out on so much. It's two fingers to your fellow citizens and arrogant. Just because English has in so many places become the lingua franca should not absolve you from the need to do so.
Mr. T, aye, rapidly growing economies often have sudden and sharp (relative) declines. Be interesting to see how bad it gets for China and whether that affects the political situation.
Xi's more militaristic approach could well see China seize the southern sea resources (I do wonder if they'll eventually shoot down one of the US/Aussie planes doing fly-overs).
They often have very sharp absolute declines. Look at South Korea. On it's way to its current middle income status, it had two unbelievably sharp recessions where GDP dropped 25% each time.
I wouldn't move to another country without learning their language (I'm learning German at the moment to leave a move to Zürich open). To expect the indigenous peoples to adjust to my language is not right and the sense of entitlement that government services be provided in Urdu in certain parts of England is something that needs to be tackled, not encouraged.
Your effort is admirable, but highly unusual. I'd say the majority of British residents who I knew in Basel made no effort to learn the local language beyond the bare minimum to get by, and some had lived there for more than 20 years. Their work was in English, their social circle was English-speaking, they socialised at the English Speaking Club and the Thank God It's Friday club, they were often bemused or disparaging about local festivals like the carneval. Learning German and mixing with local people was categorised as "Too difficult, why bother?"
I'm not saying this is good in any way. But we should not pretend it's an unusual character flaw in Muslims.
Were these British residents of Basel claiming benefits, free healthcare and had a sizeable minority who wanted to bring down the Swiss government using Jihad ?
How long before our friends on the Left in Scotland who vote SNP finally twig that the SNP is all about middle class perks?
Nicola Sturgeon has been challenged to match "record with rhetoric" on tax in the first debate between party leaders ahead of the Holyrood elections in May.
The SNP leader and First Minister came under pressure to set out "progressive" policies during the event hosted by Dundee University Students' Association.
SNP plans to cut air passenger duty (APD) were criticised by opposition leaders during the debate at the University of Dundee.
not as callous and uncaring as the rabid right wingers down south
Release your inner Tory Malcolm....you know the APD cut will benefit other middle class folks like you, while it'll be the poor, who cant afford to fly who will pay - as they already are in declining numbers going into tertiary education.....in caring (sic) SNP Scotland.....
Once again you show your ignorance of Scotland. You should look at reality on education instead of listening to Labour drivel. APD makes no difference whatsoever to me , it going will help poorer people afford flights. Labour have spent it four times already they are so stupid.
Comments
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jan/18/bradford-language-bubbles-never-speak-english
'The Asian community has built walls in Bradford so high they can’t see beyond them'
'Now, with the third and fourth generations, it’s perfectly possible to live a life where you never have to speak English because everyone in the shops and services where you live speak your language'
When asked if he would ban radicals or Putin he said " I am a great believer in free speech and so no"
"If you cross the line and advocate violence then that's a line you cannot cross" " the problem with Trump is he crosses the line"
This interview is absolutely unspoofable.
Dromey is an absolute fucking idiot and an absolute hypocrite to boot.
Really, they should all take a Trappist vow for three years, until they have worked out a coherent line to take in public.
On everything.
I have it in my mind that you are a big Leicester City fan?
I noticed at Denhams that there is a lot of old Leicester City memorabilia inc lots of 70's programmes being sold.
If you are on the LC forum, perhaps you could let them know
https://denhams.com/antique-auction/january-2016/search/leicester
I have no personal interest in this, just noticed them at the auction yesterday. Sale is wed I think
Rod lost a lot from me in his arguments for swingback. He was offering a scientific model but acting in a highly unscientific manner with it, if that follows. Swingback - obvious. Predictable swingback - less so. Mathamatical certainties - meh.
Sometimes I wonder whether these people actually have any contact with people outside of Islington and Camden.
Perhaps so - but what is being done about it, David? Nothing.
The situation is irreversible unless the large-scale importation of people from the subcontinent ceases, but the government won't countenance this. Instead it prefers pious hand-wringing.
Now, this might not matter if the reason is that the long-term disengaged are just harder to reach and are representatively not polled. However, if there is a change in the nature of WNVs then it will.
More likely is that people are not answering truthfully. Perhaps they are lying - shy abstainers? - or perhaps they genuinely can't remember not voting and reply with what they believe they did. If one side is disproportionately afflicted by this effect, then that could be a large part of the explanation.
You wouldn't give an extra vote to people who still live in their birthplace, so why grant legitimacy to a language on the equivalent basis?
‘The official investigation put the blame on unrepresentative samples’
OK – but what happened in the final weeks before GE2015 when almost every pollster added +/- 3 points to converge at a similar prediction across the board?
The problem is that outliers were supressed and that the convergence was to the wrong number.
In 2014 International Aid by EU Countries:$86.66 billion
In 2014 International Aid by UK:$17.88 billion
UK share = 20.6 On one measure by 1000 years of sharing a country. Wales was here when North African slavers were raiding Cornwall.
On another measure because Welsh Wales does not have a religion with a built-in drive to political domination of everybody else. There may be a version of Islam that doesn't do that, but when you have young radicals going back to the Book. And the Quran is seen as a textbook of divine instructions, which is the internal challenge for the Muslim community imo.
Quite - next time around we will doubtless have the same solemn inquiry then things will carry on much as before.
It is wholly different to say that a Welsh person who grows up in Wales, in a Welsh only village shouldn't have to learn English compared to someone coming from overseas then living in England. I wouldn't move to another country without learning their language (I'm learning German at the moment to leave a move to Zürich open). To expect the indigenous peoples to adjust to my language is not right and the sense of entitlement that government services be provided in Urdu in certain parts of England is something that needs to be tackled, not encouraged.
Perhaps Dave will write a stiff letter criticising whomsoever was responsible for previous cuts to funding of the teaching of English to immigrants. Probably the Libdems...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-34796518
Since there have been polls now showing out > in then there may be some knock-on effect if the DKs are shy outers and see it is no longer unfashionable to leave the EU.
"Come home to a real fire; buy a house in Wales".
I get the point but I disagree. It should only narrow, but you should still expect some scatter. With the same sample sizes, you would still expect a variation.
If the later polls were still sizes of ~1000, the scatter should have been a few % points.
Or they might be wrong, but there is a landslide so being out by four or five percent does not produce a surprise and the bad headlines it has this time.
Pollsters should really examine when they get things right as well as when they get things wrong, if only to check they haven't got it right by mistake.
But generally, pollsters have shown themselves to be thoroughly unprofessional throughout this mess. At least in my view ...
If growth slumped, the government there would be loath to admit it.
I disagree with runnymead, Cameron's speech was not posturing. That comment was rather pathetic, the policy is on fact long overdue although the issue of immigrants learning English has been around for a long time.
My argument with it is that it needs a prime minister to make it. It should be the appropriate minister. I suppose the Tories think that Cameron is an electoral asset whereas perhaps May is not. But PMs are or have to be too presidential. Perhaps Osborne will not. :-)
One of the warning signs given to parents is: “Excessive time spent online or on mobile phones, and secretiveness or reluctance to discuss what they are doing.” Which anyone with a teenager at home will recognise as perfectly routine behaviour.
http://nuk-tnl-deck-prod-static.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/projects/5f2c22cb4a5380af7ca75622a6426917.html
Except many economists don't believe the Chinese stats.
Jesus. It's bonfire of the rock icons.
Don't get me wrong - China will one day dominate (although not on a GDP/capita basis). But they are NOT exempt from the laws of economics. Blow a bubble as huge and as fast as they have an it WILL pop. The journey to the future is not a straight line.
I'm not saying this is good in any way. But we should not pretend it's an unusual character flaw in Muslims.
Please ignore all my posts today. Bloody Facebook.
Had to resort to BBC breakfast
The horrid thing though is that inevitably one day China must suffer an actual bad year, a recession. Endless growth is possible while they are transitioning from farmers to a semi-developed economy but eventually even once it is when they're fully developed a real crash is inevitable.
Just imagine how bad a Chinese recession will be.
Xi's more militaristic approach could well see China seize the southern sea resources (I do wonder if they'll eventually shoot down one of the US/Aussie planes doing fly-overs).
So the reason the pollsters interviewed too many Labour voters was , er, that they surveyed too many Labour voters??? Surely that's just restating the problem?
In other news: scientists discover reason for cold nights - "temperatures too low"
Floods blamed on "too much water"
FFS really??
It might have been the difference between 300+ seats and an overall majority because it would have helped the Tories hold onto a string of ultra marginals and aided the Lib Dem apocalypse.
Disappointing - one would hope this could be a cross-party initiative - but I'm sorry to say I'm not surprised.
OTOH, I see that Jean Vanier is still alive and inspiring at 88.
I think that British people going to live abroad and not learning the language are pretty stupid. Why live in another country and not do so? You miss out on so much. It's two fingers to your fellow citizens and arrogant. Just because English has in so many places become the lingua franca should not absolve you from the need to do so.
APD makes no difference whatsoever to me , it going will help poorer people afford flights. Labour have spent it four times already they are so stupid.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/35345118