If enough letters came in to depose Johnson, what then ? He'd currently stomp any challenge and the senders would look like bitter losers. Organising against him a few years down the line, possibly after some poor election results would be much more difficult.
One reason I suspect the mortality rate outside of China is so low is that those who have caught the illness largely are fit and healthy travellers who can better shrug off the illness.
If this virus starts to infect and go around hospitals or care homes etc then the mortality rate will shoot up tragically.
Yes - another factor may be that nearly all the current cases outside China are being treated in specialised units and getting top-quality care as a result. It won't be possible to replicate that on a big scale.
One reason I suspect the mortality rate outside of China is so low is that those who have caught the illness largely are fit and healthy travellers who can better shrug off the illness.
If this virus starts to infect and go around hospitals or care homes etc then the mortality rate will shoot up tragically.
Yes - another factor may be that nearly all the current cases outside China are being treated in specialised units and getting top-quality care as a result. It won't be possible to replicate that on a big scale.
I would think the easiest thing for us to do would be to use London as a quarantine area. Seven Million in quarantine at any one time should be enough capacity.
For those that think the machines are going to take over soon...
It appears on one of the biggest shows on YouTube, the machine learned automatically generated captions used the n-word (when the audio doesn't include anything like that), which caused another part of the automated system to tag the video as racist and all that goes along with that....
If he is another empty suit like Raab, then he will not do anything other than spout party platitudes.
BTW - I agree with your comment about bright people lacking common-sense or empathy. The IT and tech industry is a haven for such people. Over 3 decades I have met hundreds like that, possibly thousands.
People lacking common sense or empathy doesn't make them stupid, however.
Politics is a funny old thing - the art of the possible. As @NickPalmer will I'm sure confirm, previously held principles must be bent, compromised, adapted. It is what makes our democratic system so special. Look what happened very recently to someone who didn't want to compromise - lost by the heaviest defeat in 80 years.
So with Sunak. I have no doubt he is phenomenally bright. Same with Raab and even Patel. Yes I'll type that again, even Patel. But they understand the game. We sit here as omniscient commentators and theorise all we want about optimal outcomes, but they are players. Doesn't give them a free pass, of course, but the people who withdraw their consent are the electorate. And that, for one reason or another, is chock full of genuinely stupid people.
But you are also convinced Trump will come second in a two horse race.
Niether are certain, regardless of desireability.
Of course not. But I only come out with "close to certain" talk when I have a genuinely strong view that is contra consensus. And I do have a strong record in recent times. Ref2 never a cat's chance of happening. Ditto for a No Deal exit from the EU. And of course the Con landslide. Fact, I'm on a roll!
This is probably not good news for Rishi Sunak backers. Simply, he's ascended to the roletoo early.
You, see next Prime Minister happens in one of three ways:
1. Boris is seen as a failure, and gets booted out by Conservative MPs. In which case, someone untainted gets the job.
2. Boris is seen as a failure, and gets booted out by the electorate. In which case a non-Conservative MP gets the job.
3. Boris is seen as a success, and someone from his inner circle gets the job. But if he's a success, he ain't leaving soon. In which case, it's more than likely that Rishi's time will have come and gone.
If he is another empty suit like Raab, then he will not do anything other than spout party platitudes.
BTW - I agree with your comment about bright people lacking common-sense or empathy. The IT and tech industry is a haven for such people. Over 3 decades I have met hundreds like that, possibly thousands.
People lacking common sense or empathy doesn't make them stupid, however
*Sigh!* Pedantic Betting strikes again....
Yes. You are quite correct. But...... lacking Common Sense and Empathy means that decisions will be made that are maybe optimal for things, but not optimal for people.
It is hard to connect with the electorate if you have trouble understanding and relating to people.
For those that think the machines are going to take over soon...
It appears on one of the biggest shows on YouTube, the machine learned automatically generated captions used the n-word (when the audio doesn't include anything like that), which caused another part of the automated system to tag the video as racist and all that goes along with that....
People lacking common sense or empathy doesn't make them stupid, however.
Politics is a funny old thing - the art of the possible. As @NickPalmer will I'm sure confirm, previously held principles must be bent, compromised, adapted. It is what makes our democratic system so special. Look what happened very recently to someone who didn't want to compromise - lost by the heaviest defeat in 80 years.
So with Sunak. I have no doubt he is phenomenally bright. Same with Raab and even Patel. Yes I'll type that again, even Patel. But they understand the game. We sit here as omniscient commentators and theorise all we want about optimal outcomes, but they are players. Doesn't give them a free pass, of course, but the people who withdraw their consent are the electorate. And that, for one reason or another, is chock full of genuinely stupid people.
Unless it's in there for giggles the "I have no doubt that Priti Patel is phenomenally bright" bit is an unfortunate blemish on what would otherwise be a reasonably solid post.
For those that think the machines are going to take over soon...
It appears on one of the biggest shows on YouTube, the machine learned automatically generated captions used the n-word (when the audio doesn't include anything like that), which caused another part of the automated system to tag the video as racist and all that goes along with that....
Bloody racist computers.
Whose channel is it ? Gloria Borger ?
H3 Podcast (which is part of H3H3 productions)..not a channel I know much about, other than it is very popular.
There are lots of people in the City making money. Some are talented; far more are pretty average and simply lucky to be in the right place at the right time.
A large number of City folk considered themselves brilliant solely because they were lucky enough to find themselves assigned jobs covering the TMT sector in the late 1990s.
Dom hates Cabinet government and wants to destroy it. It only gets in his way.
Trouble is that it's perfectly possible that reality gets in Dom's way. It's frankly a lot more complex than running a campaign, or being a Tech startup.
Pedantry point. In England the top layer tends to be clay or gravel or soil or subsiding mines. The combination of that and the damp and wet means that basements are unusual. Perhaps "mum's spare bedroom" would be more apposite.
A bit snarky plus you have your all City types are shysters jumper on again. He was head boy at Winchester, and just to get in to Winchester sets you apart somewhat; he got a first at Oxford, and then went on to the US, and then to GS.
Does that make him a good politician? It shows that he has a hell of a lot of tools to be able to understand and respond to the needs of the people in Western Cumbria and the fact that he has been appointed Chancellor shows that as a politician, he is doing something right.
And will he be a patsy? In all probability yes he will. I am growing to like even less the character of this government but that is not relevant. If he is a patsy he will do more to help the people of Western Cumbria as Chancellor than as a back bencher. Or as a hedge fund principal.
I have met so many people who had firsts at brilliant universities and did impressive stuff in the US and went to GS or other places where it is hard to get into and who have brilliant CVs etc and some of them are some of the stupidest people I have ever met, utterly lacking in common-sense or empathy and, occasionally, morality.
Sunak is an unknown quantity. There are lots of people about with impressive CVs. I have a pretty impressive one myself. But he is an unknown quantity as a politician and yet he is now being hailed as the Tories’ new Messiah. A sense of proportion please.
Let’s see what he actually does.
I really don't think, if you were to ponder slightly, that all those people were "some of the stupidest people" you have ever met. You probably disagreed with their values, especially if those values were to try to break the law or bend it, but stupid? I very much doubt it.
No. I'm afraid you are wrong Some of them were stupid. There is a sort of stupidity that only the highly intelligent/highly qualified are capable of. And I saw quite a lot of it.
Yes, I've felt WTO has been nailed on for some time. Dom and Boris want to make a statement - they only need each other.
I hold the opposite view on that. Hard Brexit would be to seriously and gratuitously damage the economy. It would be lunacy. "Boris" will not be doing it. No upside, all downside. There will be a closely aligned, low friction Deal. He has the power capital to go that way and he will do so. I'm close to certain of this.
FWIW I agree and what we see today is that those who might cry foul about that are kept inside the tent and those who actually want it are outside and unlikely to want to stir it.
There is a grip and ruthlessness in this government that is very welcome after the torpid May years where doing something was largely reduced to sticking yet another boot into immigrants and the down at heel. Doesn't mean it can't all go wrong of course.
For those that think the machines are going to take over soon...
It appears on one of the biggest shows on YouTube, the machine learned automatically generated captions used the n-word (when the audio doesn't include anything like that), which caused another part of the automated system to tag the video as racist and all that goes along with that....
A large number of City folk considered themselves brilliant solely because they were lucky enough to find themselves assigned jobs covering the TMT sector in the late 1990s.
Yes, most of it is right time right place. And then there's another factor in the City which I think is vital to grasp. Because you earn silly money you have to inflate your opinion of yourself quite ludicrously in order to reassure yourself that you merit it. The alternative being to accept that you are essentially a fraud. You know deep down that you are but you must suppress this in order to function. It's preservation of self. Those who manage it become egomaniacs. Those who don't become guilt-ridden neurotics. Hence why the City is, in the front office, a heady mix of egomaniacs and neurotics. The neurotics - like me - being in the minority since they will tend to leave the party early, to retain sanity.
I doubt it will do Boris any immediate harm, but having the PM and Chancellor as effectively the same person has never been done in this country before. A fundamental 'belt-and-braces' arrangement in British politics has been abolished in an instant. This is huge news.
Not really. Churchill was both Prime Minister and Minister of Defence simultaneously. You could get rid of all the Cabinet ministers and Government would continue (and arguably improve in the short term). It's Boris who forms the Government and he can do that how he pleases. As I said recently, the Prime Minister is a really powerful individual.
The main issue here is time - there literally aren't enough hours in the day for one person to attend to everything important properly. Either they rely on good people around them to do it (and up to now there's been a theory that this was Boris's style) or they get into can-kicking for everything they don't have time for, or they make half-baked decisions. Option 1 is generally preferred for effective government.
Suank is a good person. You want to rely upon good people yes, but you need to rely upon those good people to be pulling in the same direction as you want them to do so.
The PM is First Lord of the Treasury. I don't see why it is shocking that SPADs could be jointly co-ordinated between the First Lord of the Treasury and the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
There are lots of people in the City making money. Some are talented; far more are pretty average and simply lucky to be in the right place at the right time.
A large number of City folk considered themselves brilliant solely because they were lucky enough to find themselves assigned jobs covering the TMT sector in the late 1990s.
In general, City folk, whether they started out at Winchester or as bookies' runners (plenty of both types on the trading floors, perhaps fewer of the latter type as analysts/ECM/IB) are amongst the smartest people out there. It's what makes that environment so enjoyable to work in.
You can't be Aulae Prae unless you're in College, and you can't be in College unless you win a scholarship. Maybe he was Sen Co Prae? That's head Commoner.
I went to a private school myself but that use of latin to describe the Head boy sounds like proper Hogwarts boarders stuff.
If enough letters came in to depose Johnson, what then ? He'd currently stomp any challenge and the senders would look like bitter losers. Organising against him a few years down the line, possibly after some poor election results would be much more difficult.
But the names of the senders would remain unknown - unless they chose to reveal themselves. Not for a moment am I suggesting that anything like the required threshold would be reached , but I am wondering whether 15 - 20 letters sent in now would not form a useful foundation upon which discontent can build later on. There will be some Tory MPs who would have happily sent in such a letter the day he was elected leader on the grounds that they find him to be a thoroughly malign, disreputable human being.Others will now have far more personal reasons for doing so.
Pedantry point. In England the top layer tends to be clay or gravel or soil or subsiding mines. The combination of that and the damp and wet means that basements are unusual. Perhaps "mum's spare bedroom" would be more apposite.
Pause.
It's ok: everybody else hates me too...
No, fair enough, I probably had notorious basement dweller Paul Joseph Watson in mind.
Though on checking, PJW owns his parents' house and keeps his mum in the basement. Freud would have a field day.
A large number of City folk considered themselves brilliant solely because they were lucky enough to find themselves assigned jobs covering the TMT sector in the late 1990s.
Yes, most of it is right time right place. And then there's another factor in the City which I think is vital to grasp. Because you earn silly money you have to inflate your opinion of yourself quite ludicrously in order to reassure yourself that you merit it. The alternative being to accept that you are essentially a fraud. You know deep down that you are but you must suppress this in order to function. It's preservation of self. Those who manage it become egomaniacs. Those who don't become guilt-ridden neurotics. Hence why the City is, in the front office, a heady mix of egomaniacs and neurotics. The neurotics - like me - being in the minority since they will tend to leave the party early, to retain sanity.
Indeed. Most people think they are worth it. They aren't. Many are good. But they attribute (wrongly) their rewards to their own brilliance rather than to a very large dose of good luck, even if they also work quite hard and well.
Pedantry point. In England the top layer tends to be clay or gravel or soil or subsiding mines. The combination of that and the damp and wet means that basements are unusual. Perhaps "mum's spare bedroom" would be more apposite.
Pause.
It's ok: everybody else hates me too...
No, fair enough, I probably had notorious basement dweller Paul Joseph Watson in mind.
Though on checking, PJW owns his parents' house and keeps his mum in the basement. Freud would have a field day.
If Boris wins the next general election then Sunak would be a strong favourite to succeed him as PM, if he loses though Patel might be a better bet to be leader of the opposition.
Rishi Sunak will make the Cabinet a bit more posh and even more Leave, he went to Winchester College, Lincoln college Oxford and Stanford and backed Leave, Javid went to a comp and Exeter University and backed Remain.
A duffer replacing a duffer , only difference is this one will ask how far has he to bend over.
If enough letters came in to depose Johnson, what then ? He'd currently stomp any challenge and the senders would look like bitter losers. Organising against him a few years down the line, possibly after some poor election results would be much more difficult.
But the names of the senders would remain unknown - unless they chose to reveal themselves. Not for a moment am I suggesting that anything like the required threshold would be reached , but I am wondering whether 15 - 20 letters sent in now would not form a useful foundation upon which discontent can build later on. There will be some Tory MPs who would have happily sent in such a letter the day he was elected leader on the grounds that they find him to be a thoroughly malign, disreputable human being.Others will now have far more personal reasons for doing so.
It would be an utterly futile act, and if it leaked that they'd done that then it would only hurt there opportunities in the future - so why do it? There's an old saying "When you strike at a king, you must kill him."
Plus those Tories who most opposed Johnson from the last Parliament are not in this Parliament so can't send a letter.
He was head boy at Winchester, and just to get in to Winchester sets you apart somewhat; he got a first at Oxford, and then went on to the US, and then to GS.
Was he really Aulae Prae?
If he was, then Conservative Home got it wrong when they wrote "He took the scholarship exams for Winchester College, did not win a full scholarship, but his parents decided they would send him there anyway."
You can't be Aulae Prae unless you're in College, and you can't be in College unless you win a scholarship. Maybe he was Sen Co Prae? That's head Commoner.
Seamus Milne did win a scholarship and was in College. He would have worn an academic gown while Rishi walked about in a sports jacket and a straw boater.
Son-in-law of Indian billionaire Narayana Murthy, Rishi also helped found the hedge fund firm Theleme Partners. I wonder who chose that name, from θέλημα, meaning "will".
For those that think the machines are going to take over soon...
It appears on one of the biggest shows on YouTube, the machine learned automatically generated captions used the n-word (when the audio doesn't include anything like that), which caused another part of the automated system to tag the video as racist and all that goes along with that....
There can be no doubt that Boris was extremely annoyed by briefings about HS2. If Boris includes Cummings then that might be so. It was an unwise move of Saj to annoy the PM on the most expensive optional policy of the incoming government.
Different Point: A few years back I was surprised when I heard that Richmondshire had selected Rishi Sunak as Tory PPC, but I knew at least half a dozen on the Association exec over there so there could be no doubt he would be special.
What does he know about Workington ? Well quite a lot I would think, and the new Durham seats - you couldn't have a more Northern MP, certainly more Northern than Rory and no less Northern that Timmy.
BTW Rory should be kicking himself if he has the awareness. He would have been a shoe-in for the elected Mayor of Cumbria, a job he could have made his own.
A North Korean official has been executed for going to a public bath while he was meant to be in quarantine, a report in the South has claimed. The trade official was arrested and immediately shot after risking the spread of coronavirus by visiting the public bath, the Dong-a Ilbo newspaper reported.
Another official is said to have been exiled to a North Korean farm after trying to cover up his travels to China.
You can't be Aulae Prae unless you're in College, and you can't be in College unless you win a scholarship. Maybe he was Sen Co Prae? That's head Commoner.
I went to a private school myself but that use of latin to describe the Head boy sounds like proper Hogwarts boarders stuff.
It's the Hogwarts stuff that's derivative :-) @DecrepiterJohnL observed that Rishi Sunak and Seumas Milne attended the same school, but when Rishi and Seumas meet they will both know that Rishi was in the Commoner majority whereas Seumas was a Scholar, even if Rishi was the head Commoner and "joint head boy".
What you have to know is that "College", the "Scholars'" institution and place of residence, dates back to the 14th century, whereas the 10 "Commoner" "houses" were created between the 1860s and 1905. They're two very different experiences.
The reshuffle has definitely seen the rise of British Indians. Sunak, Sharma and Braverman are all Indian in a round about way. Indians also hold two of the four great offices of state. That's got to be a first.
If enough letters came in to depose Johnson, what then ? He'd currently stomp any challenge and the senders would look like bitter losers. Organising against him a few years down the line, possibly after some poor election results would be much more difficult.
But the names of the senders would remain unknown - unless they chose to reveal themselves. Not for a moment am I suggesting that anything like the required threshold would be reached , but I am wondering whether 15 - 20 letters sent in now would not form a useful foundation upon which discontent can build later on. There will be some Tory MPs who would have happily sent in such a letter the day he was elected leader on the grounds that they find him to be a thoroughly malign, disreputable human being.Others will now have far more personal reasons for doing so.
It would be an utterly futile act, and if it leaked that they'd done that then it would only hurt there opportunities in the future - so why do it? There's an old saying "When you strike at a king, you must kill him."
Plus those Tories who most opposed Johnson from the last Parliament are not in this Parliament so can't send a letter.
Letters were sent in to Graham Brady by some Tory MPs almost certainly in the aftermath of the 2017 election. It took quite a while for that to amount to anything - but eventually a challenge did materialise.
That's an important judgement coming from a staunch Conservative supporter such as yourself. Don't tell me they've lost your vote?
You lost your chancellor today, that is always a big deal. The fact it wasn't intended makes it more so.
Pretending this is not a big deal and bad news is just silly.
We've replaced a Chancellor at odds with the PM with one who is both in alignment with him and more talented than his predecessor. Our majority is still 80, and Labour is still 163 seats behind us.
I have no idea why Victoria Derbyshire has no viewership and getting canned....
That's utter rubbish. A typical show now has a viewing figure over 1/4 million: 288,000 being one recent example and a monthly digital reach of 12.5 million.
So comparable with Newsnight for live viewing but way ahead on digital.
Plus there's lots of evidence her show reaches underserved audiences
Figures are hard to come by but there's little serious dispute to this:
The reshuffle has definitely seen the rise of British Indians. Sunak, Sharma and Braverman are all Indian in a round about way. Indians also hold two of the four great offices of state. That's got to be a first.
The reshuffle has definitely seen the rise of British Indians. Sunak, Sharma and Braverman are all Indian in a round about way. Indians also hold two of the four great offices of state. That's got to be a first.
Enoch Powell was right.
Non whites have got the whip hand over native white Brits.
Indeed. Most people think they are worth it. They aren't. Many are good. But they attribute (wrongly) their rewards to their own brilliance rather than to a very large dose of good luck, even if they also work quite hard and well.
Here's something that has always exercised me. Let's say this is a pure red-blooded "free" market, like they make out. OK, so you and I both know that you could hire any number of bright kids (either from non affluent backgrounds here and/or from other less developed countries) and train them quite quickly to be effective, highly competent sales and trades type operatives. That there are loads of young people out there in the world who would be delighted with such an opportunity and would be very happy to do the job (once trained up) for an annual package inc average bonus of, say, £100k instead of £1m. Yet this not happen on any sort of scale. Fact it doesn't happen. It's almost as if it's not much of a free market at all. Almost as if it's a self-protecting, feather-bedded, quasi cartel pretending to be a rough-as-hell, ultra competitive environment in order to justify the huge sums it is effectively confiscating from those outside its gilded gates.
The reshuffle has definitely seen the rise of British Indians. Sunak, Sharma and Braverman are all Indian in a round about way. Indians also hold two of the four great offices of state. That's got to be a first.
Enoch Powell was right.
Non whites have got the whip hand over native white Brits.
You are Tommy Robinson and I claim my five shillings.
There can be no doubt that Boris was extremely annoyed by briefings about HS2. If Boris includes Cummings then that might be so. It was an unwise move of Saj to annoy the PM on the most expensive optional policy of the incoming government.
Different Point: A few years back I was surprised when I heard that Richmondshire had selected Rishi Sunak as Tory PPC, but I knew at least half a dozen on the Association exec over there so there could be no doubt he would be special.
What does he know about Workington ? Well quite a lot I would think, and the new Durham seats - you couldn't have a more Northern MP, certainly more Northern than Rory and no less Northern that Timmy.
BTW Rory should be kicking himself if he has the awareness. He would have been a shoe-in for the elected Mayor of Cumbria, a job he could have made his own.
Since when is Richmond Yorkshire more northernly than Penrith and the Border?
Also there is a big difference between Richmond and Workington. Still, I hope Sunak does do something to kickstart regeneration in those parts of the country which have largely been ignored.
BTW I agree with you about Rory. Nice as it is to see him in London he will not get the Mayoralty and could have used his undoubted energy in Cumbria to good effect.
I'm sensing some genuine sympathy for The Saj out there. Poor many was bullied, humiliated and ultimately destroyed by posh Boris and his pet bovver boy. We may look back on today as the moment the Boris magic started to fade.
I have no idea why Victoria Derbyshire has no viewership and getting canned....
That's utter rubbish. A typical show now has a viewing figure over 1/4 million: 288,000 being one recent example and a monthly digital reach of 12.5 million.
So comparable with Newsnight for live viewing but way ahead on digital.
Plus there's lots of evidence her show reaches underserved audiences
Figures are hard to come by but there's little serious dispute to this:
So what you are saying is that nobody watches Newsnight either. That is one number that Derbyshire has put out there and still not as big a viewership as the equally crap Wright Stuff used to get.
If it really was getting good viewership the BBC wouldn't be canning it. It really shouldn't be an expensive show to make.
The reshuffle has definitely seen the rise of British Indians. Sunak, Sharma and Braverman are all Indian in a round about way. Indians also hold two of the four great offices of state. That's got to be a first.
Enoch Powell was right.
Non whites have got the whip hand over native white Brits.
There can be no doubt that Boris was extremely annoyed by briefings about HS2. If Boris includes Cummings then that might be so. It was an unwise move of Saj to annoy the PM on the most expensive optional policy of the incoming government.
Different Point: A few years back I was surprised when I heard that Richmondshire had selected Rishi Sunak as Tory PPC, but I knew at least half a dozen on the Association exec over there so there could be no doubt he would be special.
What does he know about Workington ? Well quite a lot I would think, and the new Durham seats - you couldn't have a more Northern MP, certainly more Northern than Rory and no less Northern that Timmy.
BTW Rory should be kicking himself if he has the awareness. He would have been a shoe-in for the elected Mayor of Cumbria, a job he could have made his own.
Since when is Richmond Yorkshire more northernly than Penrith and the Border?
Also there is a big difference between Richmond and Workington. Still, I hope Sunak does do something to kickstart regeneration in those parts of the country which have largely been ignored.
BTW I agree with you about Rory. Nice as it is to see him in London he will not get the Mayoralty and could have used his undoubted energy in Cumbria to good effect.
Rory's trouble is that he is having to think up more and more gimmicks to attract a little attention. Like this latest stunt of offering to sleep with any Londoner that will have him (sleep in their home, that is).
The reshuffle has definitely seen the rise of British Indians. Sunak, Sharma and Braverman are all Indian in a round about way. Indians also hold two of the four great offices of state. That's got to be a first.
Enoch Powell was right.
Non whites have got the whip hand over native white Brits.
You are Tommy Robinson and I claim my five shillings.
The reshuffle has definitely seen the rise of British Indians. Sunak, Sharma and Braverman are all Indian in a round about way. Indians also hold two of the four great offices of state. That's got to be a first.
Enoch Powell was right.
Non whites have got the whip hand over native white Brits.
And Boris is Turkish.
We missed a trick not having the same rule for PMs that the US has for presidents.
There can be no doubt that Boris was extremely annoyed by briefings about HS2. If Boris includes Cummings then that might be so. It was an unwise move of Saj to annoy the PM on the most expensive optional policy of the incoming government.
Different Point: A few years back I was surprised when I heard that Richmondshire had selected Rishi Sunak as Tory PPC, but I knew at least half a dozen on the Association exec over there so there could be no doubt he would be special.
What does he know about Workington ? Well quite a lot I would think, and the new Durham seats - you couldn't have a more Northern MP, certainly more Northern than Rory and no less Northern that Timmy.
BTW Rory should be kicking himself if he has the awareness. He would have been a shoe-in for the elected Mayor of Cumbria, a job he could have made his own.
Since when is Richmond Yorkshire more northernly than Penrith and the Border?
Also there is a big difference between Richmond and Workington. Still, I hope Sunak does do something to kickstart regeneration in those parts of the country which have largely been ignored.
BTW I agree with you about Rory. Nice as it is to see him in London he will not get the Mayoralty and could have used his undoubted energy in Cumbria to good effect.
Rory's trouble is that he is having to think up more and more gimmicks to attract a little attention. Like this latest stunt of offering to sleep with any Londoner that will have him (sleep in their home, that is).
He's doing what he did in Afghanistan. It's a bit odd. Endearing. But odd and unlikely to work. Still, he might have a chance at getting into second place. The Tory candidate simply hasn't been heard of.
I suspect he could be quite a good Mayor of somewhere. But I wonder whether he would not have been better advised staying in Cumbria. Did he burn his boats there I wonder? Or was he seduced into wanting a bigger stage?
Indeed. Most people think they are worth it. They aren't. Many are good. But they attribute (wrongly) their rewards to their own brilliance rather than to a very large dose of good luck, even if they also work quite hard and well.
Here's something that has always exercised me. Let's say this is a pure red-blooded "free" market, like they make out. OK, so you and I both know that you could hire any number of bright kids (either from non affluent backgrounds here and/or from other less developed countries) and train them quite quickly to be effective, highly competent sales and trades type operatives. That there are loads of young people out there in the world who would be delighted with such an opportunity and would be very happy to do the job (once trained up) for an annual package inc average bonus of, say, £100k instead of £1m. Yet this not happen on any sort of scale. Fact it doesn't happen. It's almost as if it's not much of a free market at all. Almost as if it's a self-protecting, feather-bedded, quasi cartel pretending to be a rough-as-hell, ultra competitive environment in order to justify the huge sums it is effectively confiscating from those outside its gilded gates.
Of course it's a cartel. Have you only just noticed?
I'm sensing some genuine sympathy for The Saj out there. Poor many was bullied, humiliated and ultimately destroyed by posh Boris and his pet bovver boy. We may look back on today as the moment the Boris magic started to fade.
Yes. After only being given the job in the first place to cover up Johnson's perceived "Muslim problem" following Letterboxgate.
The guy has been utterly traduced. I had him down as relatively lightweight, certainly over-promoted as Chancellor, but still, you have to feel for him and I do. I sense he's quite a nice bloke.
The reshuffle has definitely seen the rise of British Indians. Sunak, Sharma and Braverman are all Indian in a round about way. Indians also hold two of the four great offices of state. That's got to be a first.
Enoch Powell was right.
Non whites have got the whip hand over native white Brits.
I have no idea why Victoria Derbyshire has no viewership and getting canned....
That's utter rubbish. A typical show now has a viewing figure over 1/4 million: 288,000 being one recent example and a monthly digital reach of 12.5 million.
So comparable with Newsnight for live viewing but way ahead on digital.
Plus there's lots of evidence her show reaches underserved audiences
Figures are hard to come by but there's little serious dispute to this:
If it really was getting good viewership the BBC wouldn't be canning it. It really shouldn't be an expensive show to make.
That's also balderdash I'm afraid.
I know the BBC fairly well and the reasons for this are not about audience figures or reach.
I could explain a lot about how the show is put together but this probably isn't the place. All you have done is express your frustration about a debate you didn't like and thought sub-standard and used that to support the show's closure. It's a non sequitur.
Journalistic standards on the VC Show have been extremely high, hence why it won a BAFTA. Investigative journalism of the kind they deploy is also not cheap.
The reshuffle has definitely seen the rise of British Indians. Sunak, Sharma and Braverman are all Indian in a round about way. Indians also hold two of the four great offices of state. That's got to be a first.
Enoch Powell was right.
Non whites have got the whip hand over native white Brits.
And Boris is Turkish.
Boris is Catholic and Raab is Jewish, there is not one white Anglo Saxon Protestant holding the top offices of State now as the Tories are much more multicultural, Starmer is a white working class origin Anglican though
Indeed. Most people think they are worth it. They aren't. Many are good. But they attribute (wrongly) their rewards to their own brilliance rather than to a very large dose of good luck, even if they also work quite hard and well.
Here's something that has always exercised me. Let's say this is a pure red-blooded "free" market, like they make out. OK, so you and I both know that you could hire any number of bright kids (either from non affluent backgrounds here and/or from other less developed countries) and train them quite quickly to be effective, highly competent sales and trades type operatives. That there are loads of young people out there in the world who would be delighted with such an opportunity and would be very happy to do the job (once trained up) for an annual package inc average bonus of, say, £100k instead of £1m. Yet this not happen on any sort of scale. Fact it doesn't happen. It's almost as if it's not much of a free market at all. Almost as if it's a self-protecting, feather-bedded, quasi cartel pretending to be a rough-as-hell, ultra competitive environment in order to justify the huge sums it is effectively confiscating from those outside its gilded gates.
Of course it's a cartel. Have you only just noticed?
I'm sensing some genuine sympathy for The Saj out there. Poor many was bullied, humiliated and ultimately destroyed by posh Boris and his pet bovver boy. We may look back on today as the moment the Boris magic started to fade.
The reshuffle has definitely seen the rise of British Indians. Sunak, Sharma and Braverman are all Indian in a round about way. Indians also hold two of the four great offices of state. That's got to be a first.
Enoch Powell was right.
Non whites have got the whip hand over native white Brits.
And Boris is Turkish.
Worse yet, the "de Pfeffel" part is German (Hamburgian) for the last 3 centuries and Dutch before that.
Indeed. Most people think they are worth it. They aren't. Many are good. But they attribute (wrongly) their rewards to their own brilliance rather than to a very large dose of good luck, even if they also work quite hard and well.
Here's something that has always exercised me. Let's say this is a pure red-blooded "free" market, like they make out. OK, so you and I both know that you could hire any number of bright kids (either from non affluent backgrounds here and/or from other less developed countries) and train them quite quickly to be effective, highly competent sales and trades type operatives. That there are loads of young people out there in the world who would be delighted with such an opportunity and would be very happy to do the job (once trained up) for an annual package inc average bonus of, say, £100k instead of £1m. Yet this not happen on any sort of scale. Fact it doesn't happen. It's almost as if it's not much of a free market at all. Almost as if it's a self-protecting, feather-bedded, quasi cartel pretending to be a rough-as-hell, ultra competitive environment in order to justify the huge sums it is effectively confiscating from those outside its gilded gates.
Of course it's a cartel. Have you only just noticed?
No more than lawyering.
Look at what criminal lawyers get paid. If it's a cartel, it's a bloody poor one.
The reshuffle has definitely seen the rise of British Indians. Sunak, Sharma and Braverman are all Indian in a round about way. Indians also hold two of the four great offices of state. That's got to be a first.
Enoch Powell was right.
Non whites have got the whip hand over native white Brits.
And Boris is Turkish.
Boris is Catholic and Raab is Jewish, there is not one white Anglo Saxon Protestant holding the top offices of State now as the Tories are much more multicultural, Starmer is a white working class origin Anglican though
Boris was baptised as a Catholic but then became Anglican. Though I doubt he is religious in any sense whatsoever.
Indeed. Most people think they are worth it. They aren't. Many are good. But they attribute (wrongly) their rewards to their own brilliance rather than to a very large dose of good luck, even if they also work quite hard and well.
Here's something that has always exercised me. Let's say this is a pure red-blooded "free" market, like they make out. OK, so you and I both know that you could hire any number of bright kids (either from non affluent backgrounds here and/or from other less developed countries) and train them quite quickly to be effective, highly competent sales and trades type operatives. That there are loads of young people out there in the world who would be delighted with such an opportunity and would be very happy to do the job (once trained up) for an annual package inc average bonus of, say, £100k instead of £1m. Yet this not happen on any sort of scale. Fact it doesn't happen. It's almost as if it's not much of a free market at all. Almost as if it's a self-protecting, feather-bedded, quasi cartel pretending to be a rough-as-hell, ultra competitive environment in order to justify the huge sums it is effectively confiscating from those outside its gilded gates.
Of course it's a cartel. Have you only just noticed?
No more than lawyering.
Look at what criminal lawyers get paid. If it's a cartel, it's a bloody poor one.
The reshuffle has definitely seen the rise of British Indians. Sunak, Sharma and Braverman are all Indian in a round about way. Indians also hold two of the four great offices of state. That's got to be a first.
Enoch Powell was right.
Non whites have got the whip hand over native white Brits.
And Boris is Turkish.
Boris is Catholic and Raab is Jewish, there is not one white Anglo Saxon Protestant holding the top offices of State now as the Tories are much more multicultural, Starmer is a white working class origin Anglican though
Boris was baptised as a Catholic but then became Anglican. Though I doubt he is religious in any sense whatsoever.
Pity. Just imagine being the priest hearing his confession each week.
Indeed. Most people think they are worth it. They aren't. Many are good. But they attribute (wrongly) their rewards to their own brilliance rather than to a very large dose of good luck, even if they also work quite hard and well.
Here's something that has always exercised me. Let's say this is a pure red-blooded "free" market, like they make out. OK, so you and I both know that you could hire any number of bright kids (either from non affluent backgrounds here and/or from other less developed countries) and train them quite quickly to be effective, highly competent sales and trades type operatives. That there are loads of young people out there in the world who would be delighted with such an opportunity and would be very happy to do the job (once trained up) for an annual package inc average bonus of, say, £100k instead of £1m. Yet this not happen on any sort of scale. Fact it doesn't happen. It's almost as if it's not much of a free market at all. Almost as if it's a self-protecting, feather-bedded, quasi cartel pretending to be a rough-as-hell, ultra competitive environment in order to justify the huge sums it is effectively confiscating from those outside its gilded gates.
Of course it's a cartel. Have you only just noticed?
No more than lawyering.
Look at what criminal lawyers get paid. If it's a cartel, it's a bloody poor one.
If you are a criminal QC you can earn £200 000+ a year, if a pupil £15 000 a year, there is a big divide
The reshuffle has definitely seen the rise of British Indians. Sunak, Sharma and Braverman are all Indian in a round about way. Indians also hold two of the four great offices of state. That's got to be a first.
Enoch Powell was right.
Non whites have got the whip hand over native white Brits.
And Boris is Turkish.
Boris is Catholic and Raab is Jewish, there is not one white Anglo Saxon Protestant holding the top offices of State now as the Tories are much more multicultural, Starmer is a white working class origin Anglican though
Boris was baptised as a Catholic but then became Anglican. Though I doubt he is religious in any sense whatsoever.
I’m sure there’s a gag to be made about Boris and the second coming.
Edit - Seeing that on the screen made me want to reach for the mind bleach.
The reshuffle has definitely seen the rise of British Indians. Sunak, Sharma and Braverman are all Indian in a round about way. Indians also hold two of the four great offices of state. That's got to be a first.
Enoch Powell was right.
Non whites have got the whip hand over native white Brits.
And Boris is Turkish.
Boris is Catholic and Raab is Jewish, there is not one white Anglo Saxon Protestant holding the top offices of State now as the Tories are much more multicultural, Starmer is a white working class origin Anglican though
Boris was baptised as a Catholic but then became Anglican. Though I doubt he is religious in any sense whatsoever.
If you are baptised Catholic the Catholic church consider you are always Catholic, if lapsed or very lapsed in the case of Boris
Indeed. Most people think they are worth it. They aren't. Many are good. But they attribute (wrongly) their rewards to their own brilliance rather than to a very large dose of good luck, even if they also work quite hard and well.
Here's something that has always exercised me. Let's say this is a pure red-blooded "free" market, like they make out. OK, so you and I both know that you could hire any number of bright kids (either from non affluent backgrounds here and/or from other less developed countries) and train them quite quickly to be effective, highly competent sales and trades type operatives. That there are loads of young people out there in the world who would be delighted with such an opportunity and would be very happy to do the job (once trained up) for an annual package inc average bonus of, say, £100k instead of £1m. Yet this not happen on any sort of scale. Fact it doesn't happen. It's almost as if it's not much of a free market at all. Almost as if it's a self-protecting, feather-bedded, quasi cartel pretending to be a rough-as-hell, ultra competitive environment in order to justify the huge sums it is effectively confiscating from those outside its gilded gates.
Of course it's a cartel. Have you only just noticed?
No more than lawyering.
Look at what criminal lawyers get paid. If it's a cartel, it's a bloody poor one.
If you are a criminal QC you can earn £200 000+ a year, if a pupil £15 000 a year, there is a big divide
I hope there aren't too many criminal QCs. You'd think it was the kind of thing the bar and the police would want to stamp down on.
The reshuffle has definitely seen the rise of British Indians. Sunak, Sharma and Braverman are all Indian in a round about way. Indians also hold two of the four great offices of state. That's got to be a first.
Enoch Powell was right.
Non whites have got the whip hand over native white Brits.
And Boris is Turkish.
Boris is Catholic and Raab is Jewish, there is not one white Anglo Saxon Protestant holding the top offices of State now as the Tories are much more multicultural, Starmer is a white working class origin Anglican though
Boris was baptised as a Catholic but then became Anglican. Though I doubt he is religious in any sense whatsoever.
Pity. Just imagine being the priest hearing his confession each week.
To confess a sin requires you to be aware that an act which you have committed constitutes a sin. Mr Johnson may have his unique views on that subject.
Comments
https://twitter.com/MatthewdAncona/status/1227953914580021250
It appears on one of the biggest shows on YouTube, the machine learned automatically generated captions used the n-word (when the audio doesn't include anything like that), which caused another part of the automated system to tag the video as racist and all that goes along with that....
Bloody racist computers.
Politics is a funny old thing - the art of the possible. As @NickPalmer will I'm sure confirm, previously held principles must be bent, compromised, adapted. It is what makes our democratic system so special. Look what happened very recently to someone who didn't want to compromise - lost by the heaviest defeat in 80 years.
So with Sunak. I have no doubt he is phenomenally bright. Same with Raab and even Patel. Yes I'll type that again, even Patel. But they understand the game. We sit here as omniscient commentators and theorise all we want about optimal outcomes, but they are players. Doesn't give them a free pass, of course, but the people who withdraw their consent are the electorate. And that, for one reason or another, is chock full of genuinely stupid people.
You, see next Prime Minister happens in one of three ways:
1. Boris is seen as a failure, and gets booted out by Conservative MPs. In which case, someone untainted gets the job.
2. Boris is seen as a failure, and gets booted out by the electorate. In which case a non-Conservative MP gets the job.
3. Boris is seen as a success, and someone from his inner circle gets the job. But if he's a success, he ain't leaving soon. In which case, it's more than likely that Rishi's time will have come and gone.
Yes. You are quite correct. But...... lacking Common Sense and Empathy means that decisions will be made that are maybe optimal for things, but not optimal for people.
It is hard to connect with the electorate if you have trouble understanding and relating to people.
"Underqualified ex-Goldman banker gains political power in suspicious circumstances" has the "hand of Israel" written all over it.
What does he do then?
Pause.
It's ok: everybody else hates me too...
There is a grip and ruthlessness in this government that is very welcome after the torpid May years where doing something was largely reduced to sticking yet another boot into immigrants and the down at heel. Doesn't mean it can't all go wrong of course.
Love 'em or hate 'em.
Though on checking, PJW owns his parents' house and keeps his mum in the basement. Freud would have a field day.
Plus those Tories who most opposed Johnson from the last Parliament are not in this Parliament so can't send a letter.
You're a Wykehamist? QED.
Different Point: A few years back I was surprised when I heard that Richmondshire had selected Rishi Sunak as Tory PPC, but I knew at least half a dozen on the Association exec over there so there could be no doubt he would be special.
What does he know about Workington ? Well quite a lot I would think, and the new Durham seats - you couldn't have a more Northern MP, certainly more Northern than Rory and no less Northern that Timmy.
BTW Rory should be kicking himself if he has the awareness. He would have been a shoe-in for the elected Mayor of Cumbria, a job he could have made his own.
A North Korean official has been executed for going to a public bath while he was meant to be in quarantine, a report in the South has claimed. The trade official was arrested and immediately shot after risking the spread of coronavirus by visiting the public bath, the Dong-a Ilbo newspaper reported.
Another official is said to have been exiled to a North Korean farm after trying to cover up his travels to China.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7999437/North-Korea-executes-official-public-bath-visit-quarantine.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJZzHuZf-DY
So comparable with Newsnight for live viewing but way ahead on digital.
Plus there's lots of evidence her show reaches underserved audiences
Figures are hard to come by but there's little serious dispute to this:
https://www.pressgazette.co.uk/victoria-derbyshire-show-claims-tv-audience-newsnight-hits-back-bbc-cuts/
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/bbc-cuts-victoria-derbyshire-show-job-losses-a9308366.html
Non whites have got the whip hand over native white Brits.
Also there is a big difference between Richmond and Workington. Still, I hope Sunak does do something to kickstart regeneration in those parts of the country which have largely been ignored.
BTW I agree with you about Rory. Nice as it is to see him in London he will not get the Mayoralty and could have used his undoubted energy in Cumbria to good effect.
If it really was getting good viewership the BBC wouldn't be canning it. It really shouldn't be an expensive show to make.
"Digital Reach" can mean absolutely anything.
I suspect he could be quite a good Mayor of somewhere. But I wonder whether he would not have been better advised staying in Cumbria. Did he burn his boats there I wonder? Or was he seduced into wanting a bigger stage?
Of course it's a cartel. Have you only just noticed?
The guy has been utterly traduced. I had him down as relatively lightweight, certainly over-promoted as Chancellor, but still, you have to feel for him and I do. I sense he's quite a nice bloke.
I know the BBC fairly well and the reasons for this are not about audience figures or reach.
I could explain a lot about how the show is put together but this probably isn't the place. All you have done is express your frustration about a debate you didn't like and thought sub-standard and used that to support the show's closure. It's a non sequitur.
Journalistic standards on the VC Show have been extremely high, hence why it won a BAFTA. Investigative journalism of the kind they deploy is also not cheap.
I think all trading should be outsourced to India.
And Floella Benjamin would have made an awesome AG.
Also, what Topping said.
https://twitter.com/holland_tom/status/1227956746314035200
Edit - Seeing that on the screen made me want to reach for the mind bleach.
Apparently I wasn’t confessing but bragging.