Passengers travelling between Leeds and Doncaster, Sheffield, and London were advised to check before they set off this morning after a tractor damaged railway tracks and overhead equipment near Wakefield.
Passengers travelling between Leeds and Doncaster, Sheffield, and London were advised to check before they set off this morning after a tractor damaged railway tracks and overhead equipment near Wakefield.
Looks pretty easy to me - just carry on rolling downhill in your rather large tractor thingy until you hit the railway.
I've just returned from a trip to Scotland, and I'd just like to compliment the regeneration done in the area of Falkirk / Grangemouth called the Helix, from the Falkirk Wheel to the Kelpies.
It's a fantastic area, and the Kelpies - which I was cynical about when they were announced - are breathtaking in scale and form.
Well done Scotland! I'm sure other areas could learn from it.
(Though I was amused by a man in the Falkirk Wheel visitors' centre, who proclaimed in a thick John Laurie accent: "It's nae very impressive, is it?")
If we're talking recent travels, well, I did (by rail of course!) Llandudno Junction to Blaenau Ffestiniog* on Tuesday, and Machynlleth to Pwllheli yesterday, both very scenic routes indeed
(* if I had more time I would have done the little steam railway as well, but I did get to see the train pull into the station before I departed)
I've just returned from a trip to Scotland, and I'd just like to compliment the regeneration done in the area of Falkirk / Grangemouth called the Helix, from the Falkirk Wheel to the Kelpies.
It's a fantastic area, and the Kelpies - which I was cynical about when they were announced - are breathtaking in scale and form.
Well done Scotland! I'm sure other areas could learn from it.
(Though I was amused by a man in the Falkirk Wheel visitors' centre, who proclaimed in a thick John Laurie accent: "It's nae very impressive, is it?")
The Kelpies are an excellent piece of modern architecture and the Falkirk wheel is superb but the areas around Falkirk and much of the town itself is beyond depressing. I was astonished when our Euro devils told me they thought Falkirk was a tourist destination. Despite having interesting things to see it really isn't. Like most of Scotland it desperately needs well paid jobs.
I was very shocked when I learned the largest single number of tourists in Staffordshire visit Stoke on Trent.
Of all the beautiful places they could visit - Lichfield, Cannock Chase, the Moors, Uttoxeter - five million per year go to Stoke.
That hashtag should be condemned by the Labour leadership - but they won't.
Shows their kinder, gentler side off to perfection.
Ah, but of course Corbyn does say things like 'these are't smears' 'antisemites don't speak for me' 'we should all be kinder to each other', so it truly doesn't matter if he condemns that sort of thing or not, as his greatest supporters still do it and blame the targets, presumably for Corbyn being forced to talk about and apologise for such things.
For pedants, the above are not direct Corbyn quotes, just illustrative.
Interesting note on a CapX story on the Corbyn mess - they are not fans, admittedly, but I think there's some validity to the point that Corbynites being so happy that the 'smears' are not affecting the polls actually bolsters the internal critics in some ways, since it shows they are not making the complaints because they think Labour are struggling and it helps them in the polls, or out of fear of what the polling it telling them, but because they actually think it needs complaining about.
Wow. Seems the Cult have gone full on mental this morning with #hodgecomparison
Do you think comparing the disciplinary procedures of a political party with Brownshirts thundering up your stairs (or rather the stairs of relatives before you were born) was well advised?
I find David Baddiel generally speaks a lot of sense on the antisemitism issue.
Wow. Seems the Cult have gone full on mental this morning with #hodgecomparison
It is horrific because it no longer bothers to deny antisemitism, it says that this is just trivial everyday antisemitism which Hodge ought to put up with because until things get to holocaust levels there is nothing really to complain about.
While the LD’s (or Libs) don’t have a Welsh Westminster seat for the first time ever and only one in the Sennedd, is there any prospect of a revival for them?
You never say never, but it's a long way back. They had a tradition of strength in Mid-Wales, which has now mostly gone Tory, and a base among students in the major university seats - in practice those were Cardiff Central and Ceredigion (Ceredigion combining those two features, of course) which tuition fees have snuffed out.
I also struggle to see what message they would put out that's sufficiently distinct from the Tories yet wouldn't get swallowed up by the right of Plaid or Labour. There isn't any sort of hopeful niche for them as a fourth party in Wales the way there would be as a third party in England.
They might retake Ceredigion at Westminster next time but I can't see them getting more than a couple of assembly members in the foreseeable future.
Their best bet would have been as a competent party of local government (which really would set them apart) but as noted upthread the electoral system rules that out (not that I felt their rule in Ceredigion was enlightened or effective, tbh).
The proposed new Ceredigion and Preseli seat would be a 4 marginal with LDs in 3rd behind Plaid and Con.
I was tacitly assuming the boundary review is deader than Boris Johnson's reputation for integrity and competence.
The Govt have the numbers for it to pass, according to reports.
DUP onside, not a Europe issue so the Soubreyites will vote for it etc
Wow. Seems the Cult have gone full on mental this morning with #hodgecomparison
Do you think comparing the disciplinary procedures of a political party with Brownshirts thundering up your stairs (or rather the stairs of relatives before you were born) was well advised?
I find David Baddiel generally speaks a lot of sense on the antisemitism issue.
Interesting note on a CapX story on the Corbyn mess - they are not fans, admittedly, but I think there's some validity to the point that Corbynites being so happy that the 'smears' are not affecting the polls actually bolsters the internal critics in some ways, since it shows they are not making the complaints because they think Labour are struggling and it helps them in the polls, or out of fear of what the polling it telling them, but because they actually think it needs complaining about.
The flip side is also true. That they aren't acting can be attributed in part to the fact they care more about getting rid of the Tories than getting rid of antisemites.
Wow. Seems the Cult have gone full on mental this morning with #hodgecomparison
Do you think comparing the disciplinary procedures of a political party with Brownshirts thundering up your stairs (or rather the stairs of relatives before you were born) was well advised?
I find David Baddiel generally speaks a lot of sense on the antisemitism issue.
Almost everyone on all sides of this argument has lost all sense of perspective. Margaret Hodge's intervention yesterday was petrol on the flames. #hodgecomparisons is pretty vile.
It's hard to see how the two sides can start talking with each other again.
Wow. Seems the Cult have gone full on mental this morning with #hodgecomparison
Do you think comparing the disciplinary procedures of a political party with Brownshirts thundering up your stairs (or rather the stairs of relatives before you were born) was well advised?
I find David Baddiel generally speaks a lot of sense on the antisemitism issue.
That is not what Mrs Hodge said. She said that the emotion she felt was similar to what her father must have felt when things started turning difficult for Jews in Germany.
And, btw, Mrs H does have personal experience of anti-semitism forcing her to flee because before she came to England she lived in Egypt and it was Arab anti-semitism which forced her family to flee a second time. Curious how the Corbynites ignore this aspect of her experience, presumably because it does not accord with Corbyn’s black and white view of the world - “All Arabs are innocent victims and all Jews wicked oppressors”.
Wow. Seems the Cult have gone full on mental this morning with #hodgecomparison
Do you think comparing the disciplinary procedures of a political party with Brownshirts thundering up your stairs (or rather the stairs of relatives before you were born) was well advised?
I find David Baddiel generally speaks a lot of sense on the antisemitism issue.
She did not make a direct comparison in the way you are seeking to present.
Her's was a far more nuanced and considered point. Something that was clear from the full comments and context.
The reaction was clearly incited by the comments from 'a Labour spokesperson' when they said that the Nazi Germany comparison "is so extreme and disconnected from reality, it diminishes the seriousness of the issue..."
That was a clear dog whistle to the mob to get posting.
Wow. Seems the Cult have gone full on mental this morning with #hodgecomparison
Do you think comparing the disciplinary procedures of a political party with Brownshirts thundering up your stairs (or rather the stairs of relatives before you were born) was well advised?
I find David Baddiel generally speaks a lot of sense on the antisemitism issue.
Almost everyone on all sides of this argument has lost all sense of perspective. Margaret Hodge's intervention yesterday was petrol on the flames. #hodgecomparisons is pretty vile.
It's hard to see how the two sides can start talking with each other again.
Yup. At the risk of enraging all the newly woke bold fighters against antisemitism, the inability of the various sides to communicate is probably more politically important than the antisemitism (real & perceived).
Wow. Seems the Cult have gone full on mental this morning with #hodgecomparison
Do you think comparing the disciplinary procedures of a political party with Brownshirts thundering up your stairs (or rather the stairs of relatives before you were born) was well advised?
I find David Baddiel generally speaks a lot of sense on the antisemitism issue.
That is not what Mrs Hodge said. She said that the emotion she felt was similar to what her father must have felt when things started turning difficult for Jews in Germany.
And, btw, Mrs H does have personal experience of anti-semitism forcing her to flee because before she came to England she lived in Egypt and it was Arab anti-semitism which forced her family to flee a second time. Curious how the Corbynites ignore this aspect of her experience, presumably because it does not accord with Corbyn’s black and white view of the world - “All Arabs are innocent victims and all Jews wicked oppressors”.
That said, it was hardly kiss and make up was it? It is really hard to see them remaining in the same party.
There was more than a hint last night, especially from McDonnell, that they think a split is genuinely imminent. I will believe it when I see it but there is absolutely no inclination on either side to back off at the moment.
Uttoxeter is a bit weird. Which was why I queried it being called 'beautiful'. Though it did have alt least one famous person associated with it: Samuel Johnson, who paid a penance there for a youthful misdeed.
Oh, and Bamfords was there, which begat JCB ...
And thinking about, Adam Peatty was born there, and my nephew knows him well.
We have a Waitrose now as well! (I live in Leigh. My wife is a governor at Denstone.)
Denstone has gone a little upmarket since I was there ...
Wow. Seems the Cult have gone full on mental this morning with #hodgecomparison
Do you think comparing the disciplinary procedures of a political party with Brownshirts thundering up your stairs (or rather the stairs of relatives before you were born) was well advised?
I find David Baddiel generally speaks a lot of sense on the antisemitism issue.
That is not what Mrs Hodge said. She said that the emotion she felt was similar to what her father must have felt when things started turning difficult for Jews in Germany.
And, btw, Mrs H does have personal experience of anti-semitism forcing her to flee because before she came to England she lived in Egypt and it was Arab anti-semitism which forced her family to flee a second time. Curious how the Corbynites ignore this aspect of her experience, presumably because it does not accord with Corbyn’s black and white view of the world - “All Arabs are innocent victims and all Jews wicked oppressors”.
I thought Margaret Hodge's intervention was singularly ill-judged, though I accept it was probably genuinely heartfelt. The response of the mob has been revolting.
Wow. Seems the Cult have gone full on mental this morning with #hodgecomparison
Do you think comparing the disciplinary procedures of a political party with Brownshirts thundering up your stairs (or rather the stairs of relatives before you were born) was well advised?
I find David Baddiel generally speaks a lot of sense on the antisemitism issue.
Almost everyone on all sides of this argument has lost all sense of perspective. Margaret Hodge's intervention yesterday was petrol on the flames. #hodgecomparisons is pretty vile.
It's hard to see how the two sides can start talking with each other again.
Yup. At the risk of enraging all the newly woke bold fighters against antisemitism, the inability of the various sides to communicate is probably more politically important than the antisemitism (real & perceived).
I think the thing is that for both sides, the antisemistism debate is the vehicle for the real battle for the 'soul' of the labour party.
Antisemistic is an issue for labour and the left, and it's also being used as a weapon to attack corbyn.
Interesting note on a CapX story on the Corbyn mess - they are not fans, admittedly, but I think there's some validity to the point that Corbynites being so happy that the 'smears' are not affecting the polls actually bolsters the internal critics in some ways, since it shows they are not making the complaints because they think Labour are struggling and it helps them in the polls, or out of fear of what the polling it telling them, but because they actually think it needs complaining about.
The flip side is also true. That they aren't acting can be attributed in part to the fact they care more about getting rid of the Tories than getting rid of antisemites.
Wow. Seems the Cult have gone full on mental this morning with #hodgecomparison
Do you think comparing the disciplinary procedures of a political party with Brownshirts thundering up your stairs (or rather the stairs of relatives before you were born) was well advised?
I find David Baddiel generally speaks a lot of sense on the antisemitism issue.
Almost everyone on all sides of this argument has lost all sense of perspective. Margaret Hodge's intervention yesterday was petrol on the flames. #hodgecomparisons is pretty vile.
It's hard to see how the two sides can start talking with each other again.
Reverting to their usual-for-the-past-3-years cold war seems to be most likely immediate goal. Who would have thought it could have persisted this long, this animosity within a party, but it has so there's little reason to believe it cannot go on, though as you point out amicable discussion seems a faint hope right now.
I'm after a little wisdom (though that may be in short supply on here):
There is a new café opening in the Barking Road called the Salah Café - nothing unusual in that. As with other establishments in East Ham, it is targeting specific national and ethnic groupings - the sign has six flags on it.
A quick look at flagpedia (yes, I know) tells me these are the flags of the following countries:
Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Sao Tome and Principe, Cape Verde and Portugal.
Now, I'm assuming the first five were at one point all colonies of Portugal and all achieved their independence either before or after 1975 but my question is this - do the residents of the five African countries have the right to reside in Portugal and therefore the EU?
I'm after a little wisdom (though that may be in short supply on here):
There is a new café opening in the Barking Road called the Salah Café - nothing unusual in that. As with other establishments in East Ham, it is targeting specific national and ethnic groupings - the sign has six flags on it.
A quick look at flagpedia (yes, I know) tells me these are the flags of the following countries:
Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Sao Tome and Principe, Cape Verde and Portugal.
Now, I'm assuming the first five were at one point all colonies of Portugal and all achieved their independence either before or after 1975 but my question is this - do the residents of the five African countries have the right to reside in Portugal and therefore the EU?
That's an interesting question to which I don't know the answer. I've also wondered how ONS classify someone from, say, Brazil, who enters the UK on a Portuguese passport. The notes accompanying the tables don't clarify this issue.
Mr. Foremain, having held a referendum, the result cannot simply be ignored. Even if the Conservatives (as it sounds like you would wish them to) went for a second referendum that would still mean the UK/EU relationship would dominate politics.
You make a valid point Mr Dancer. You are correct that the referendum cannot be ignored, though it is unfortunate that there are those in the conservative party membership who obsess so much about this issue that they would rather have someone that is fundamentally unsuited to high office (i.e. Boris) as PM than someone who is suited, and who is willing to make the appropriate compromises to mitigate damage. Incidentally, I am undecided about a second referendum - I tend to think reversal is not preferable as it would make us even more of a laughing stock internationally than we are already.
One of the fundamental problems for British politics at the moment is that the two principal parties have become dominated by their respective lunatic fringes, as more moderate people have disengaged with activism. I saw this when I was a Tory party activist. It was like watching a jar of murky water evaporating - gradually the scum became more dominant. This is only likely to get worse for the Tories and Labour, and the consequences for the country are really bad, as parliamentary candidates start to resemble the loonies who select them in their own image . The only thing that might resolve it would be a change in voting system (not going to happen) or a move toward actual electors electing candidates by primary (unlikely). We can but hope.
Wow. Seems the Cult have gone full on mental this morning with #hodgecomparison
Do you think comparing the disciplinary procedures of a political party with Brownshirts thundering up your stairs (or rather the stairs of relatives before you were born) was well advised?
I find David Baddiel generally speaks a lot of sense on the antisemitism issue.
Almost everyone on all sides of this argument has lost all sense of perspective. Margaret Hodge's intervention yesterday was petrol on the flames. #hodgecomparisons is pretty vile.
It's hard to see how the two sides can start talking with each other again.
Yup. At the risk of enraging all the newly woke bold fighters against antisemitism, the inability of the various sides to communicate is probably more politically important than the antisemitism (real & perceived).
It goes beyond an inability to communicate, it is mutual contempt with little inclination to hide it. Hodge poured petrol on the fire yesterday. It was deliberate and calculated. It may be for the good of the party as she sees it but she must have known and even welcomed how the cult would respond.
Wow. Seems the Cult have gone full on mental this morning with #hodgecomparison
Do you think comparing the disciplinary procedures of a political party with Brownshirts thundering up your stairs (or rather the stairs of relatives before you were born) was well advised?
I find David Baddiel generally speaks a lot of sense on the antisemitism issue.
Almost everyone on all sides of this argument has lost all sense of perspective. Margaret Hodge's intervention yesterday was petrol on the flames. #hodgecomparisons is pretty vile.
It's hard to see how the two sides can start talking with each other again.
Hard to miss the irony here (my bold above), as JC persistently and consistently uses the 'We have to talk to get peace' as his reason for rubbing shoulders with terrorists and the like.
(((Dan Hodges))) - @DPJHodges: A lot of political observers have been struggling to understand why Labour hasn't got to grips with its anti-Semitism crisis. Today we have finally uncovered the answer. The party is utterly infested with people who hate Jews.
Mr. Foremain, having held a referendum, the result cannot simply be ignored. Even if the Conservatives (as it sounds like you would wish them to) went for a second referendum that would still mean the UK/EU relationship would dominate politics.
You make a valid point Mr Dancer. You are correct that the referendum cannot be ignored, though it is unfortunate that there are those in the conservative party membership who obsess so much about this issue that they would rather have someone that is fundamentally unsuited to high office (i.e. Boris) as PM than someone who is suited, and who is willing to make the appropriate compromises to mitigate damage. Incidentally, I am undecided about a second referendum - I tend to think reversal is not preferable as it would make us even more of a laughing stock internationally than we are already.
One of the fundamental problems for British politics at the moment is that the two principal parties have become dominated by their respective lunatic fringes, as more moderate people have disengaged with activism. I saw this when I was a Tory party activist. It was like watching a jar of murky water evaporating - gradually the scum became more dominant. This is only likely to get worse for the Tories and Labour, and the consequences for the country are really bad, as parliamentary candidates start to resemble the loonies who select them in their own image . The only thing that might resolve it would be a change in voting system (not going to happen) or a move toward actual electors electing candidates by primary (unlikely). We can but hope.
There is a slight difference which is that whereas the Cons are fighting, with a lesser or greater degree of success, their lunatic fringe, Lab's lunatic fringe is running the Party.
Just as a political aside, while the LD by-election victory in Knaresborough last night was welcome, it wasn't really the point.
The LDs had held Knaresborough up to 2017 when the Conservatives took both seats. In 2021 the Conservatives will be defending a lot of County seats won at the height of May-mania when the Conservatives won 38% to Labour's 27% and the LD 18%.
In seat terms, the Conservatives will be defending control of every County bar Cumbria in 2021 as well as unitary former counties such as Shropshire, Wiltshire and the Isle of Wight. Many County Councils are under huge budgetary pressure as we know so it will be interesting to see the extent to which additional resources will be forthcoming to help up shore up the Conservative local base.
Now, you might say it doesn't matter - in 2014, Labour did very well but were still hammered in the 2015 GE and that's fair comment but losses are still losses and as we saw in the 1990s the impact of the hollowing out of local bases isn't insignificant down the line.
While the LD’s (or Libs) don’t have a Welsh Westminster seat for the first time ever and only one in the Sennedd, is there any prospect of a revival for them?
You never say never, but it's a long way back. They had a tradition of strength in Mid-Wales, which has now mostly gone Tory, and a base among students in the major university seats - in practice those were Cardiff Central and Ceredigion (Ceredigion combining those two features, of course) which tuition fees have snuffed out.
I also struggle to see what message they would put out that's sufficiently distinct from the Tories yet wouldn't get swallowed up by the right of Plaid or Labour. There isn't any sort of hopeful niche for them as a fourth party in Wales the way there would be as a third party in England.
They might retake Ceredigion at Westminster next time but I can't see them getting more than a couple of assembly members in the foreseeable future.
Their best bet would have been as a competent party of local government (which really would set them apart) but as noted upthread the electoral system rules that out (not that I felt their rule in Ceredigion was enlightened or effective, tbh).
Montgomery would be a good LibDem prospect when Glyn Davies retires.Brecon & Radnor will still be a target too.
Some in Labour (Chris Williamson) are pleased that the polls show no damage being done to them over the latest stories.
This is worrying not just for those who think that a Corbyn government would be bad for the country but because of the lesson it teaches all political parties. For decades Labour was the natural political home for most Jews, indeed for most minority groups (my own father, a natural small ‘c’ conservative by temperament could not bring himself to vote Tory). And then the wind changed. It is not that Jews no longer see Labour as their natural home but that they see a party which seems actively hostile to and contempuous of them, their interests and fears and concerns and in a way which has revived some nasty anti-Jewish insults. It is the latter which is the critical factor. Labour might well be dismissive of the concerns of the very rich, for instance, but if it were accompanied by insults suggesting that they should be shot that would go too far. Not caring about a group is one thing; being deliberately offensive about them quite another.
If this can happen to this minority, then it can happen to other minorities, including ones currently favoured by Labour. Jews understand this in their bones - see the Jewish Chronicle’s attack on Boris over his burqa comments which made precisely this point. (Though it is interesting to note that bodies like the MCB have not criticised the attacks on Jews.) Muslims may feel that Labour is now their party, as Jews once did. But what is happening to Jews could happen to them too, one day. That is the lesson they should take frrom recent events.
If Labour do not suffer electorally from scapegoating or insulting a minority in vile language, then other parties will think this tactic should be used by them too. We’ve already seen evidence of some Tory members being insulting about Muslims. And then we’ve had Boris. The Leave campaign used some some untrue and insulting terms about migrants.
We should all worry about this sort of politics, even if we are not Jews or Muslims. We are all a minority in some form. We can all be picked on if politicians think it is in their electoral interest to do so. They will only fail if we don’t reward them with votes
Wow. Seems the Cult have gone full on mental this morning with #hodgecomparison
Do you think comparing the disciplinary procedures of a political party with Brownshirts thundering up your stairs (or rather the stairs of relatives before you were born) was well advised?
I find David Baddiel generally speaks a lot of sense on the antisemitism issue.
Almost everyone on all sides of this argument has lost all sense of perspective. Margaret Hodge's intervention yesterday was petrol on the flames. #hodgecomparisons is pretty vile.
It's hard to see how the two sides can start talking with each other again.
Hard to miss the irony here (my bold above), as JC persistently and consistently uses the 'We have to talk to get peace' as his reason for rubbing shoulders with terrorists and the like.
You mean 'talk to people which I already agree with'. Actually talking to 'the other side' is something he's never done.
Some in Labour (Chris Williamson) are pleased that the polls show no damage being done to them over the latest stories.
This is worrying not just for those who think that a Corbyn government would be bad for the country but because of the lesson it teaches all political parties. For decades Labour was the natural political home for most Jews, indeed for most minority groups (my own father, a natural small ‘c’ conservative by temperament could not bring himself to vote Tory). And then the wind changed. It is not that Jews no longer see Labour as their natural home but that they see a party which seems actively hostile to and contempuous of them, their interests and fears and concerns and in a way which has revived some nasty anti-Jewish insults. It is the latter which is the critical factor. Labour might well be dismissive of the concerns of the very rich, for instance, but if it were accompanied by insults suggesting that they should be shot that would go too far. Not caring about a group is one thing; being deliberately offensive about them quite another.
If this can happen to this minority, then it can happen to other minorities, including ones currently favoured by Labour. Jews understand this in their bones - see the Jewish Chronicle’s attack on Boris over his burqa comments which made precisely this point. (Though it is interesting to note that bodies like the MCB have not criticised the attacks on Jews.) Muslims may feel that Labour is now their party, as Jews once did. But what is happening to Jews could happen to them too, one day. That is the lesson they should take frrom recent events.
If Labour do not suffer electorally from scapegoating or insulting a minority in vile language, then other parties will think this tactic should be used by them too. We’ve already seen evidence of some Tory members being insulting about Muslims. And then we’ve had Boris. The Leave campaign used some some untrue and insulting terms about migrants.
We should all worry about this sort of politics, even if we are not Jews or Muslims. We are all a minority in some form. We can all be picked on if politicians think it is in their electoral interest to do so. They will only fail if we don’t reward them with votes
It has been clear since the referendum that there is no downside for politicians (in the short term at least) in pandering to xenophobia. Both main parties have drawn the lesson accordingly and are indulging their prejudices.
Wow. Seems the Cult have gone full on mental this morning with #hodgecomparison
Do you think comparing the disciplinary procedures of a political party with Brownshirts thundering up your stairs (or rather the stairs of relatives before you were born) was well advised?
I find David Baddiel generally speaks a lot of sense on the antisemitism issue.
Almost everyone on all sides of this argument has lost all sense of perspective. Margaret Hodge's intervention yesterday was petrol on the flames. #hodgecomparisons is pretty vile.
It's hard to see how the two sides can start talking with each other again.
Hard to miss the irony here (my bold above), as JC persistently and consistently uses the 'We have to talk to get peace' as his reason for rubbing shoulders with terrorists and the like.
You mean 'talk to people which I already agree with'. Actually talking to 'the other side' is something he's never done.
Was there ever a reply to the request that he specify when and with whom he had allegedly had meetings at the Knesset as he claimed on C4?
but my question is this - do the residents of the five African countries have the right to reside in Portugal
Pass, but they may well have privileged access to Portugal in the same way Spain gives privileged access to citizens of its former colonies in Latin America.
Non-EU citizen residents of EU countries don’t get FoM, although in practical terms such residing in Schengen can visit other Schengen countries, especially if travelling by land.
Not even non-EU residents of the UK/Ireland CTA have FoM between the two countries, although this is mot in practice policed across the Irish land border or on flights from Ireland to the UK.
DavidL - That's a very depressing read. Why haven't the Tories made more of it and why hasn't Labour shown any remorse? I'm assuming your analysis is correct of course.
It might have benefited Welsh Labour by having the shock of 1999 in the valleys. I'd like to think that whilst there is a likely left-leaning establishment in Wales there is also a sense that Labour dominance isn't necessarily the best thing. I remember one TV journalist saying to me that she hugs her Tories close. They just aren't the same threat that they are at UK level.
By way of another anecdote a few years ago when working in a local council electoral office I was instructed to shred all the late arriving postal votes. The electoral officer was not happy to simply put them in the 'secure' bin. Made me a little paranoid.
I am not sure. For a long time there was a sense of denial. They were so entitled, it was so the natural order of things that it was bound to return to "normal" quite quickly. I have seen a difference after 2017. There is a lot more fatalism. One of the defining features of Scottish Labour, possibly the defining feature during the period of Brown's dominance, was an irrational hatred of Tories. Keeping the Tories out meant keeping the vote together. The Tories' success has come as a real shock, particularly at Holyrood. The Tories getting more votes and seats in Scotland than Labour really was the ultimate humiliation.
This irrational behaviour also diverted Labour from their real challenge for a long time. Even now they haven't really worked out how to fight the SNP. As an example I got leaflets from Labour in 2015 in Dundee West about how important it was to vote Labour to keep the Tories out. In fairness the Tories did well, they did not lose their deposit. The SNP won easily. Labour's leaflets barely mentioned them.
There is also a clear and strong sense of disappointment about Brexit. All of my Labour friends were remainers and very disappointed with Corbyn's ambiguity about it even if they have largely accepted it is inevitable. They don't seem to have a clear idea what their party is for anymore.
As late as the February 1974 election there was serious speculation that the Tories would outpoll Labour as a result of the latter losing votes to the SNP. In the end, it did not happen but some polls had predicted it.
Wow. Seems the Cult have gone full on mental this morning with #hodgecomparison
Do you think comparing the disciplinary procedures of a political party with Brownshirts thundering up your stairs (or rather the stairs of relatives before you were born) was well advised?
I find David Baddiel generally speaks a lot of sense on the antisemitism issue.
That is not what Mrs Hodge said. She said that the emotion she felt was similar to what her father must have felt when things started turning difficult for Jews in Germany.
And, btw, Mrs H does have personal experience of anti-semitism forcing her to flee because before she came to England she lived in Egypt and it was Arab anti-semitism which forced her family to flee a second time. Curious how the Corbynites ignore this aspect of her experience, presumably because it does not accord with Corbyn’s black and white view of the world - “All Arabs are innocent victims and all Jews wicked oppressors”.
I thought Margaret Hodge's intervention was singularly ill-judged, though I accept it was probably genuinely heartfelt. The response of the mob has been revolting.
She probably feels that she has nothing left to lose now. Also from an interview she gave Peter Hennessey a couple of years ago it is clear she has loathed Corbyn, McDonnnell, Livingstone etc since the 1980’s. She fought the BNP in her constituency not just talked about fighting fascism and now she sees those who nearly destroyed the party all those years ago being responsible for bringing back into the party BNP-like attitudes and language. Revenge is a dish best eaten cold.
Ill-judged? Very possibly. But do Corbyn et al think their own actions and statements should never have any consequences? That they can dish it out but should never have to take it?
The atmosphere being created and perpetuated by the Corbyn supporters and fellow travellers is incredibly poisonous.
And I can't see how it can be stopped.
And that is worrying.
Moderates have to resign the whip and block a Corbyn premiership.
That would only increase the venom and hate. The mob would see their anger and vitriol as fully justified by the betrayal of their leader.
It wouldn't be totally implausible to see that transforming from online violence to actual physical acts against persons and property.
The danger is that at some point the far right will realise that its anti-semitism has now been legitimised and ratchets up the violence.
The danger of the far right is less than the far left that are now unleashed through Momentum. I find it sad that my half brother has become a Corbyn acolyte and cannot see the irony that his father fled Nazi Germany in the late 30's having been an active anti-Nazi with Jewish heritage: fighting many of the views which his own son now espouses through conspiracy theories about global capitalism, 9/11, and so on. Moderate Labour MPs and members must actively fight back or they have lost their souls and the right to be listened to.
The atmosphere being created and perpetuated by the Corbyn supporters and fellow travellers is incredibly poisonous.
And I can't see how it can be stopped.
And that is worrying.
Moderates have to resign the whip and block a Corbyn premiership.
That would only increase the venom and hate. The mob would see their anger and vitriol as fully justified by the betrayal of their leader.
It wouldn't be totally implausible to see that transforming from online violence to actual physical acts against persons and property.
The danger is that at some point the far right will realise that its anti-semitism has now been legitimised and ratchets up the violence.
Not really. The far right have basically replaced jews with muslims as their target.
I often think that people have it backwards. If you're the kind of person who enjoys violence, then you gravitate to areas where there's even the thinnest legitimisation of that violence, whether it's the far left or right. As long as there's an 'other' that you can kick the shit out of, it's all much of a muchness.
Corbyn: "Excuse me, are you The Palestinian People's Front?" Maher Taher: "Fuck off, Palestinian People's Front! We are the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Palestinian People's Front!" Corbyn: "Can I join your group, I hate the Jews already" Maher Taher: "Sshh. Anyway if you wanted to join the PFLP, you'd have to really hate the Jews" Corbyn: "I do, a lot" Maher Taher: "Alright you're in"
Some in Labour (Chris Williamson) are pleased that the polls show no damage being done to them over the latest stories.
This is worrying not just for those who think that a Corbyn government would be bad for the country but because of the lesson it teaches all political parties. For decades Labour was the natural political home for most Jews, indeed for most minority groups (my own father, a natural small ‘c’ conservative by temperament could not bring himself to vote Tory). And then the wind changed. It is not that Jews no longer see Labour as their natural home but that they see a party which seems actively hostile to and contempuous of them, their interests and fears and concerns and in a way which has revived some nasty anti-Jewish insults. It is the latter which is the critical factor. Labour might well be dismissive of the concerns of the very rich, for instance, but if it were accompanied by insults suggesting that they should be shot that would go too far. Not caring about a group is one thing; being deliberately offensive about them quite another.
If this can happen to this minority, then it can happen to other minorities, including ones currently favoured by Labour. Jews understand this in their bones - see the Jewish Chronicle’s attack on Boris over his burqa comments which made precisely this point. (Though it is interesting to note that bodies like the MCB have not criticised the attacks on Jews.) Muslims may feel that Labour is now their party, as Jews once did. But what is happening to Jews could happen to them too, one day. That is the lesson they should take frrom recent events.
If Labour do not suffer electorally from scapegoating or insulting a minority in vile language, then other parties will think this tactic should be used by them too. We’ve already seen evidence of some Tory members being insulting about Muslims. And then we’ve had Boris. The Leave campaign used some some untrue and insulting terms about migrants.
We should all worry about this sort of politics, even if we are not Jews or Muslims. We are all a minority in some form. We can all be picked on if politicians think it is in their electoral interest to do so. They will only fail if we don’t reward them with votes
It has been clear since the referendum that there is no downside for politicians (in the short term at least) in pandering to xenophobia. Both main parties have drawn the lesson accordingly and are indulging their prejudices.
Indeed. Labour’s problems with anti-semitism started before the referendum so, arguably, might have set an example. But regardless the remedy is in our hands: if we don’t like this behaviour we should not reward it. If we reward it little point complaining about it.
The atmosphere being created and perpetuated by the Corbyn supporters and fellow travellers is incredibly poisonous.
And I can't see how it can be stopped.
And that is worrying.
Moderates have to resign the whip and block a Corbyn premiership.
That would only increase the venom and hate. The mob would see their anger and vitriol as fully justified by the betrayal of their leader.
It wouldn't be totally implausible to see that transforming from online violence to actual physical acts against persons and property.
The danger is that at some point the far right will realise that its anti-semitism has now been legitimised and ratchets up the violence.
The danger of the far right is less than the far left that are now unleashed through Momentum. I find it sad that my half brother has become a Corbyn acolyte and cannot see the irony that his father fled Nazi Germany in the late 30's having been an active anti-Nazi with Jewish heritage: fighting many of the views which his own son now espouses through conspiracy theories about global capitalism, 9/11, and so on. Moderate Labour MPs and members must actively fight back or they have lost their souls and the right to be listened to.
I do think that right-wing anti-semitism could be emboldened by what is happening in Labour. Anti-semitism has no party affiliation. (This article - https://unherd.com/2018/08/left-deceiving-antisemitism/ - is quite interesting on this.) Nor does anti-Muslim prejudice. Nor, frankly, any prejudice against a minority which has become the unpopular scapegoat of the day.
Re-Scotland - the SNP has underperformed the polls in elections since 2015. There was widespread anticipation in 2017 that Labour would lose its solitary seat - Edinburgh South - and I recall being lampooned for my suggestion that Labour was likely to emerge with four or five. I continue to believe that in the context of a Westminster election that if Labour is perceived to be doing well across GB as a whole then 25 seats next time in Scotland becomes a realistic prospect.
Anyone remember when there used to be this thing about the voters not liking divided parties? What happened to that? We've got two main parties that spend nearly all their time fighting their own side routinely polling nearly 40% each, and the only united party is the Liberal Democrats, and they're getting about 4 votes.
However, while regaining Scotland (which looks like a forlorn hope) would be necessary for a Corbyn majority it makes no difference at all to a Corbyn Government. The SNP would certainly favour Labour in a (DUP/Tory) type arrangement. And Corbyn would have little difficulty in accomodating the SNP. Their MPs will like regard him rather more favourably than his own!!!
Indeed it could be argues that the correct Corbyn strategy is to abandon Scotland or at least try and assist the Nats where current polls indicate they could take a few seats back off the Tories - eg Ochil, Gordon, Stirling etc.
Anyone remember when there used to be this thing about the voters not liking divided parties? What happened to that? We've got two main parties that spend nearly all their time fighting their own side routinely polling nearly 40% each, and the only united party is the Liberal Democrats, and they're getting about 4 votes.
I'm pretty sure the 'normal' rules of politics have broken down, and have been broken for a while.
Wow. Seems the Cult have gone full on mental this morning with #hodgecomparison
Do you think comparing the disciplinary procedures of a political party with Brownshirts thundering up your stairs (or rather the stairs of relatives before you were born) was well advised?
I find David Baddiel generally speaks a lot of sense on the antisemitism issue.
That is not what Mrs Hodge said. She said that the emotion she felt was similar to what her father must have felt when things started turning difficult for Jews in Germany.
And, btw, Mrs H does have personal experience of anti-semitism forcing her to flee because before she came to England she lived in Egypt and it was Arab anti-semitism which forced her family to flee a second time. Curious how the Corbynites ignore this aspect of her experience, presumably because it does not accord with Corbyn’s black and white view of the world - “All Arabs are innocent victims and all Jews wicked oppressors”.
I thought Margaret Hodge's intervention was singularly ill-judged, though I accept it was probably genuinely heartfelt. The response of the mob has been revolting.
She fought the BNP in her constituency not just talked about fighting fascism and now she sees those who nearly destroyed the party all those years ago being responsible for bringing back into the party BNP-like attitudes and language.
Anyone remember when there used to be this thing about the voters not liking divided parties? What happened to that? We've got two main parties that spend nearly all their time fighting their own side routinely polling nearly 40% each, and the only united party is the Liberal Democrats, and they're getting about 4 votes.
Not liking is not transferring to 'would not vote for' now I guess.The polarisation that is causing the internal division is, counter intuitively, making people less willing to abandon said horribly divided party out of fear of the polarised, divided, other side!
However, while regaining Scotland (which looks like a forlorn hope) would be necessary for a Corbyn majority it makes no difference at all to a Corbyn Government. The SNP would certainly favour Labour in a (DUP/Tory) type arrangement. And Corbyn would have little difficulty in accomodating the SNP. Their MPs will like regard him rather more favourably than his own!!!
Indeed it could be argues that the correct Corbyn strategy is to abandon Scotland or at least try and assist the Nats where current polls indicate they could take a few seats back off the Tories - eg Ochil, Gordon, Stirling etc.
No way - Ochil and Stirling are likely to be three way contests. Labour will have serious hopes of gaining both.
Corbyn shared the stage with plane bomber Leila Khaled at an event where she called for a “victory” over the Jewish state and argued that Zionism had “exceeded Nazism”.
Another antisemitic event at which he accidentally was present, but not involved in.
Just as a political aside, while the LD by-election victory in Knaresborough last night was welcome, it wasn't really the point.
The LDs had held Knaresborough up to 2017 when the Conservatives took both seats. In 2021 the Conservatives will be defending a lot of County seats won at the height of May-mania when the Conservatives won 38% to Labour's 27% and the LD 18%.
In seat terms, the Conservatives will be defending control of every County bar Cumbria in 2021 as well as unitary former counties such as Shropshire, Wiltshire and the Isle of Wight. Many County Councils are under huge budgetary pressure as we know so it will be interesting to see the extent to which additional resources will be forthcoming to help up shore up the Conservative local base.
Now, you might say it doesn't matter - in 2014, Labour did very well but were still hammered in the 2015 GE and that's fair comment but losses are still losses and as we saw in the 1990s the impact of the hollowing out of local bases isn't insignificant down the line.
In Wiltshire I had assumed the LDs would be making quite a few gains, but the MayMentum meant in the end they went backwards (and I know from their own mouths that at least a few local Tories won seats with pretty half hearted campaigning), aided by UKIP going from fielding something like 60 candidates (even if they only won 1) down to 8, and Labour increasing their presence significantly in candidates and campaigning (I have seen a marked increase in both since Corbyn), even if it did not help them win seats. The next set of elections will be very interesting indeed, with the added mix that it will be on new boundaries due to an electoral review.
Corbyn shared the stage with plane bomber Leila Khaled at an event where she called for a “victory” over the Jewish state and argued that Zionism had “exceeded Nazism”.
Another antisemitic event at which he accidentally was present, but not involved in.
This explains the dancing on pinheads over the wording on Labour's code on Anti-Semitism. They knew full adoption puts the great Thicko himself in the firing line
I don't know what it is about forecasts, but I just love them, even if it turns out the model is/was useless. Something about charts and graphs gets to me somehow.
Mr. P, you're being very unfair. Who amongst us here can honestly say they've never accidentally laid a wreath and prayed at a terrorists' grave, or been out for a walk and found oneself somehow sharing a stage with a plane hijacker?
Prisons Minister @RoryStewartUK pledges to resign unless assaults fall “substantially” in the ten jails which are getting £10m to tackle drugs & violence. He tells @BBCr4today he wants to see a 25% cut in attacks on staff & prisoners
However, while regaining Scotland (which looks like a forlorn hope) would be necessary for a Corbyn majority it makes no difference at all to a Corbyn Government. The SNP would certainly favour Labour in a (DUP/Tory) type arrangement. And Corbyn would have little difficulty in accomodating the SNP. Their MPs will like regard him rather more favourably than his own!!!
Indeed it could be argues that the correct Corbyn strategy is to abandon Scotland or at least try and assist the Nats where current polls indicate they could take a few seats back off the Tories - eg Ochil, Gordon, Stirling etc.
No way - Ochil and Stirling are likely to be three way contests. Labour will have serious hopes of gaining both.
Labour gaining both - are you kidding me - not a prayer
Prisons Minister @RoryStewartUK pledges to resign unless assaults fall “substantially” in the ten jails which are getting £10m to tackle drugs & violence. He tells @BBCr4today he wants to see a 25% cut in attacks on staff & prisoners
I hope for his sake he took analysis of what seemed a plausible achievement before he made that promise. Best hope the inmates don't have money on his outcome.
Prisons Minister @RoryStewartUK pledges to resign unless assaults fall “substantially” in the ten jails which are getting £10m to tackle drugs & violence. He tells @BBCr4today he wants to see a 25% cut in attacks on staff & prisoners
Jezza encounters an Israeli soldier while writing "Judaeus eunt domus" on the Wailing Wall and is questioned as to why a boy that went to a private prep school and one of the top grammar schools is so poor at Latin. He conjugates the verb correctly and then writes it out a hundred times, but the oppressor still cuts his balls off.
Prisons Minister @RoryStewartUK pledges to resign unless assaults fall “substantially” in the ten jails which are getting £10m to tackle drugs & violence. He tells @BBCr4today he wants to see a 25% cut in attacks on staff & prisoners
I hope for his sake he took analysis of what seemed a plausible achievement before he made that promise. Best hope the inmates don't have money on his outcome.
Or, if one were to be cynical, he wants an ‘out’ from the job and this is a way to achieve it while still looking like a man of principle ........
Corbyn shared the stage with plane bomber Leila Khaled at an event where she called for a “victory” over the Jewish state and argued that Zionism had “exceeded Nazism”.
Another antisemitic event at which he accidentally was present, but not involved in.
Prisons Minister @RoryStewartUK pledges to resign unless assaults fall “substantially” in the ten jails which are getting £10m to tackle drugs & violence. He tells @BBCr4today he wants to see a 25% cut in attacks on staff & prisoners
You probably know more about the subject than me, but isn't £10m pretty chicken feedy?
Well if it £10 million for just those ten prisons then it is a lot, if it is £10 million for all 120 odd prisons in England & Wales then it is chickenfeed.
The biggest problem facing our jails is staff.
If you offered me £10 million per year to be a prison officer I wouldn't take it.
You're asking people not qualified to help people with substance/drug abuse get off those drugs and substances.
Prisons Minister @RoryStewartUK pledges to resign unless assaults fall “substantially” in the ten jails which are getting £10m to tackle drugs & violence. He tells @BBCr4today he wants to see a 25% cut in attacks on staff & prisoners
You probably know more about the subject than me, but isn't £10m pretty chicken feedy?
I know its petty, but I never like an individual that says "Briddish" instead of British. If he really is appealing beyond his poshboy roots to pull out his inner chav, Bri'ish is the correct pronunciation
However, while regaining Scotland (which looks like a forlorn hope) would be necessary for a Corbyn majority it makes no difference at all to a Corbyn Government. The SNP would certainly favour Labour in a (DUP/Tory) type arrangement. And Corbyn would have little difficulty in accomodating the SNP. Their MPs will like regard him rather more favourably than his own!!!
Indeed it could be argues that the correct Corbyn strategy is to abandon Scotland or at least try and assist the Nats where current polls indicate they could take a few seats back off the Tories - eg Ochil, Gordon, Stirling etc.
No way - Ochil and Stirling are likely to be three way contests. Labour will have serious hopes of gaining both.
Labour gaining both - are you kidding me - not a prayer
You really do not know much about Scots politics
Really - perhaps you were one of those who lampooned my suggestion of 4 or 5 Labour seats in 2017?
These were both Labour -held seats until 2015 - regaining them at some point is a perfectly realistic prospect. The Tories are not the only party capable of moving from third to first place - as occurred in some seats there in 2017. Labour managed to do the same thing in Scotland in both 1987 and 1997. Stirling was a key Tory/Labour marginal - it having been Michael Forsyth's seat from 1983.
Mr. P, you're being very unfair. Who amongst us here can honestly say they've never accidentally laid a wreath and prayed at a terrorists' grave, or been out for a walk and found oneself somehow sharing a stage with a plane hijacker?
Precisely, I think I did all three, when was it...oh yes yesterday. The odd thing is that only this morning I also found myself standing next to Maher Taher from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, but I had no idea who he was even though I was photographed talking to him.
Prisons Minister @RoryStewartUK pledges to resign unless assaults fall “substantially” in the ten jails which are getting £10m to tackle drugs & violence. He tells @BBCr4today he wants to see a 25% cut in attacks on staff & prisoners
I hope for his sake he took analysis of what seemed a plausible achievement before he made that promise. Best hope the inmates don't have money on his outcome.
Or, if one were to be cynical, he wants an ‘out’ from the job and this is a way to achieve it while still looking like a man of principle ........
If that's what he wants he can just criticise Boris, so when he takes over he'll get sacked.
However, while regaining Scotland (which looks like a forlorn hope) would be necessary for a Corbyn majority it makes no difference at all to a Corbyn Government. The SNP would certainly favour Labour in a (DUP/Tory) type arrangement. And Corbyn would have little difficulty in accomodating the SNP. Their MPs will like regard him rather more favourably than his own!!!
Indeed it could be argues that the correct Corbyn strategy is to abandon Scotland or at least try and assist the Nats where current polls indicate they could take a few seats back off the Tories - eg Ochil, Gordon, Stirling etc.
No way - Ochil and Stirling are likely to be three way contests. Labour will have serious hopes of gaining both.
Labour gaining both - are you kidding me - not a prayer
You really do not know much about Scots politics
Scottish Labour could in theory end up anywhere between 1 and 20 MPs even if current polling only points towards them only holding East Lothian and Edinburgh South.
There is not much hope for them in any of the seats they are in third although they could get move into 2nd in East Renfrewshire and Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock.
The main problem for Labour in Scotland is that the younger vote especially the under 35 vote looks solid for the SNP but there's still some potential for them in the central belt among older working class voters who are more ambivalent on the EU and also some WWC tory voters in specific central belt seats who could be persuaded to vote tactically against the SNP.
Mr. P, you're being very unfair. Who amongst us here can honestly say they've never accidentally laid a wreath and prayed at a terrorists' grave, or been out for a walk and found oneself somehow sharing a stage with a plane hijacker?
Precisely, I think I did all three, when was it...oh yes yesterday. The odd thing is that only this morning I also found myself standing next to Maher Taher from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, but I had no idea who he was even though I was photographed talking to him.
That's alright, I assume you were just chatting about your favourite TV shows or something.
However, while regaining Scotland (which looks like a forlorn hope) would be necessary for a Corbyn majority it makes no difference at all to a Corbyn Government. The SNP would certainly favour Labour in a (DUP/Tory) type arrangement. And Corbyn would have little difficulty in accomodating the SNP. Their MPs will like regard him rather more favourably than his own!!!
Indeed it could be argues that the correct Corbyn strategy is to abandon Scotland or at least try and assist the Nats where current polls indicate they could take a few seats back off the Tories - eg Ochil, Gordon, Stirling etc.
No way - Ochil and Stirling are likely to be three way contests. Labour will have serious hopes of gaining both.
Labour gaining both - are you kidding me - not a prayer
You really do not know much about Scots politics
Really - perhaps you were one of those who lampooned my suggestion of 4 or 5 Labour seats in 2017?
These were both Labour -held sets until 2015 - regaining them at some point is a perfectly realistic prospect. The Tories are not the only party capable of moving from third to first place - as occure#rred in some seats there in 2017. Labour managed to the same thing in Scotland in both 1987 and 1997. Stirling was a key Tory/Labour marginal - it having been Michael Forsyth's seat from 1983.
I guess the point is how many of your other predictions were within shouting distance of accurate?
However, while regaining Scotland (which looks like a forlorn hope) would be necessary for a Corbyn majority it makes no difference at all to a Corbyn Government. The SNP would certainly favour Labour in a (DUP/Tory) type arrangement. And Corbyn would have little difficulty in accomodating the SNP. Their MPs will like regard him rather more favourably than his own!!!
Indeed it could be argues that the correct Corbyn strategy is to abandon Scotland or at least try and assist the Nats where current polls indicate they could take a few seats back off the Tories - eg Ochil, Gordon, Stirling etc.
No way - Ochil and Stirling are likely to be three way contests. Labour will have serious hopes of gaining both.
Labour gaining both - are you kidding me - not a prayer
You really do not know much about Scots politics
In fairness the switches in some Scottish seats has been both dramatic and in surprising directions in some places. Labour were forecast to perhaps only get 1 seat in 2017 IIRC as well.
However, while regaining Scotland (which looks like a forlorn hope) would be necessary for a Corbyn majority it makes no difference at all to a Corbyn Government. The SNP would certainly favour Labour in a (DUP/Tory) type arrangement. And Corbyn would have little difficulty in accomodating the SNP. Their MPs will like regard him rather more favourably than his own!!!
Indeed it could be argues that the correct Corbyn strategy is to abandon Scotland or at least try and assist the Nats where current polls indicate they could take a few seats back off the Tories - eg Ochil, Gordon, Stirling etc.
No way - Ochil and Stirling are likely to be three way contests. Labour will have serious hopes of gaining both.
Labour gaining both - are you kidding me - not a prayer
You really do not know much about Scots politics
Scottish Labour could in theory end up anywhere between 1 and 20 MPs even if current polling only points towards them only holding East Lothian and Edinburgh South.
There is not much hope for them in any of the seats they are in third although they could get move into 2nd in East Renfrewshire and Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock.
The main problem for Labour in Scotland is that the younger vote especially the under 35 vote looks solid for the SNP but there's still some potential for them in the central belt among older working class voters who are more ambivalent on the EU and also some WWC tory voters in specific central belt seats who could be persuaded to vote tactically against the SNP.
I believe that East Renfrew - Ayr & Carrick - and Stirling could be three-way contests next time.
Mr. P, you're being very unfair. Who amongst us here can honestly say they've never accidentally laid a wreath and prayed at a terrorists' grave, or been out for a walk and found oneself somehow sharing a stage with a plane hijacker?
Precisely, I think I did all three, when was it...oh yes yesterday. The odd thing is that only this morning I also found myself standing next to Maher Taher from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, but I had no idea who he was even though I was photographed talking to him.
That's alright, I assume you were just chatting about your favourite TV shows or something.
Absolutely, I think we had some sort of harmless discussion about how difficult it has become to find TV programs that are not produced by the International Jewry, and I suggested to him that Al Jezza-era and RT Today are noted for their balance and impartiality.
However, while regaining Scotland (which looks like a forlorn hope) would be necessary for a Corbyn majority it makes no difference at all to a Corbyn Government. The SNP would certainly favour Labour in a (DUP/Tory) type arrangement. And Corbyn would have little difficulty in accomodating the SNP. Their MPs will like regard him rather more favourably than his own!!!
Indeed it could be argues that the correct Corbyn strategy is to abandon Scotland or at least try and assist the Nats where current polls indicate they could take a few seats back off the Tories - eg Ochil, Gordon, Stirling etc.
No way - Ochil and Stirling are likely to be three way contests. Labour will have serious hopes of gaining both.
Labour gaining both - are you kidding me - not a prayer
You really do not know much about Scots politics
Really - perhaps you were one of those who lampooned my suggestion of 4 or 5 Labour seats in 2017?
These were both Labour -held sets until 2015 - regaining them at some point is a perfectly realistic prospect. The Tories are not the only party capable of moving from third to first place - as occure#rred in some seats there in 2017. Labour managed to the same thing in Scotland in both 1987 and 1997. Stirling was a key Tory/Labour marginal - it having been Michael Forsyth's seat from 1983.
I guess the point is how many of your other predictions were within shouting distance of accurate?
Were you to take the trouble to read my comments from late May/early June 2017 you might discover that I did point out that the strong Tory surge in Scotland implied that the GB headline figures were misleading in terms of predicting a sizeable Tory majority. Tory leads of 6 or 7% across GB as whole implied some swing to Labour in England & Wales and,therefore, a hung Parliament was much more than a remote possibility.
Prisons Minister @RoryStewartUK pledges to resign unless assaults fall “substantially” in the ten jails which are getting £10m to tackle drugs & violence. He tells @BBCr4today he wants to see a 25% cut in attacks on staff & prisoners
Unless he specified what "substantially" is then he's talking out of his hoop.
The most telling thing about RS is how he has managed to market his chaotic and ultimately disastrous tenure in Iraq as some sort of masterful exposition of the diplomatic and governmental arts. Most of us who actually were in Iraq were cheering on Al-Sadr's Barmy Army when they besieged Rory's gubernatorial compound in Dhi Qar. At the very least, it meant they were taking a break from trying to kill us.
Just as a political aside, while the LD by-election victory in Knaresborough last night was welcome, it wasn't really the point.
The LDs had held Knaresborough up to 2017 when the Conservatives took both seats. In 2021 the Conservatives will be defending a lot of County seats won at the height of May-mania when the Conservatives won 38% to Labour's 27% and the LD 18%.
In seat terms, the Conservatives will be defending control of every County bar Cumbria in 2021 as well as unitary former counties such as Shropshire, Wiltshire and the Isle of Wight. Many County Councils are under huge budgetary pressure as we know so it will be interesting to see the extent to which additional resources will be forthcoming to help up shore up the Conservative local base.
Now, you might say it doesn't matter - in 2014, Labour did very well but were still hammered in the 2015 GE and that's fair comment but losses are still losses and as we saw in the 1990s the impact of the hollowing out of local bases isn't insignificant down the line.
In Wiltshire I had assumed the LDs would be making quite a few gains, but the MayMentum meant in the end they went backwards (and I know from their own mouths that at least a few local Tories won seats with pretty half hearted campaigning), aided by UKIP going from fielding something like 60 candidates (even if they only won 1) down to 8, and Labour increasing their presence significantly in candidates and campaigning (I have seen a marked increase in both since Corbyn), even if it did not help them win seats. The next set of elections will be very interesting indeed, with the added mix that it will be on new boundaries due to an electoral review.
In terms of the political backdrop, 2021 may as well be a lifetime away.
Comments
https://tinyurl.com/y8gtwq9j
Passengers travelling between Leeds and Doncaster, Sheffield, and London were advised to check before they set off this morning after a tractor damaged railway tracks and overhead equipment near Wakefield.
Liberally sprinkled with chocolate...
In what ... ?
(* if I had more time I would have done the little steam railway as well, but I did get to see the train pull into the station before I departed)
Wow. Seems the Cult have gone full on mental this morning with #hodgecomparison
Corbyn has the pinched and miserable mien of a man whose favoured beverage is a decoction of nettle and hedge clippings.
https://twitter.com/TheRedRoar/status/1030387081279954949
Shows their kinder, gentler side off to perfection.
For pedants, the above are not direct Corbyn quotes, just illustrative.
And I can't see how it can be stopped.
And that is worrying.
I find David Baddiel generally speaks a lot of sense on the antisemitism issue.
https://twitter.com/Baddiel/status/1030188276353822721
DUP onside, not a Europe issue so the Soubreyites will vote for it etc
It wouldn't be totally implausible to see that transforming from online violence to actual physical acts against persons and property.
It's hard to see how the two sides can start talking with each other again.
And, btw, Mrs H does have personal experience of anti-semitism forcing her to flee because before she came to England she lived in Egypt and it was Arab anti-semitism which forced her family to flee a second time. Curious how the Corbynites ignore this aspect of her experience, presumably because it does not accord with Corbyn’s black and white view of the world - “All Arabs are innocent victims and all Jews wicked oppressors”.
Her's was a far more nuanced and considered point. Something that was clear from the full comments and context.
The reaction was clearly incited by the comments from 'a Labour spokesperson' when they said that the Nazi Germany comparison "is so extreme and disconnected from reality, it diminishes the seriousness of the issue..."
That was a clear dog whistle to the mob to get posting.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/article/5c237a34-7a47-4deb-a5b4-a23e77cc88f7
it would rightly be seen as incredibly opportunitist if they did it after, and they bargining would be tiny if they did it.
At the risk of enraging all the newly woke bold fighters against antisemitism, the inability of the various sides to communicate is probably more politically important than the antisemitism (real & perceived).
There was more than a hint last night, especially from McDonnell, that they think a split is genuinely imminent. I will believe it when I see it but there is absolutely no inclination on either side to back off at the moment.
Antisemistic is an issue for labour and the left, and it's also being used as a weapon to attack corbyn.
I'm after a little wisdom (though that may be in short supply on here):
There is a new café opening in the Barking Road called the Salah Café - nothing unusual in that. As with other establishments in East Ham, it is targeting specific national and ethnic groupings - the sign has six flags on it.
A quick look at flagpedia (yes, I know) tells me these are the flags of the following countries:
Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Sao Tome and Principe, Cape Verde and Portugal.
Now, I'm assuming the first five were at one point all colonies of Portugal and all achieved their independence either before or after 1975 but my question is this - do the residents of the five African countries have the right to reside in Portugal and therefore the EU?
One of the fundamental problems for British politics at the moment is that the two principal parties have become dominated by their respective lunatic fringes, as more moderate people have disengaged with activism. I saw this when I was a Tory party activist. It was like watching a jar of murky water evaporating - gradually the scum became more dominant. This is only likely to get worse for the Tories and Labour, and the consequences for the country are really bad, as parliamentary candidates start to resemble the loonies who select them in their own image . The only thing that might resolve it would be a change in voting system (not going to happen) or a move toward actual electors electing candidates by primary (unlikely). We can but hope.
The LDs had held Knaresborough up to 2017 when the Conservatives took both seats. In 2021 the Conservatives will be defending a lot of County seats won at the height of May-mania when the Conservatives won 38% to Labour's 27% and the LD 18%.
In seat terms, the Conservatives will be defending control of every County bar Cumbria in 2021 as well as unitary former counties such as Shropshire, Wiltshire and the Isle of Wight. Many County Councils are under huge budgetary pressure as we know so it will be interesting to see the extent to which additional resources will be forthcoming to help up shore up the Conservative local base.
Now, you might say it doesn't matter - in 2014, Labour did very well but were still hammered in the 2015 GE and that's fair comment but losses are still losses and as we saw in the 1990s the impact of the hollowing out of local bases isn't insignificant down the line.
This is worrying not just for those who think that a Corbyn government would be bad for the country but because of the lesson it teaches all political parties. For decades Labour was the natural political home for most Jews, indeed for most minority groups (my own father, a natural small ‘c’ conservative by temperament could not bring himself to vote Tory). And then the wind changed. It is not that Jews no longer see Labour as their natural home but that they see a party which seems actively hostile to and contempuous of them, their interests and fears and concerns and in a way which has revived some nasty anti-Jewish insults. It is the latter which is the critical factor. Labour might well be dismissive of the concerns of the very rich, for instance, but if it were accompanied by insults suggesting that they should be shot that would go too far. Not caring about a group is one thing; being deliberately offensive about them quite another.
If this can happen to this minority, then it can happen to other minorities, including ones currently favoured by Labour. Jews understand this in their bones - see the Jewish Chronicle’s attack on Boris over his burqa comments which made precisely this point. (Though it is interesting to note that bodies like the MCB have not criticised the attacks on Jews.) Muslims may feel that Labour is now their party, as Jews once did. But what is happening to Jews could happen to them too, one day. That is the lesson they should take frrom recent events.
If Labour do not suffer electorally from scapegoating or insulting a minority in vile language, then other parties will think this tactic should be used by them too. We’ve already seen evidence of some Tory members being insulting about Muslims. And then we’ve had Boris. The Leave campaign used some some untrue and insulting terms about migrants.
We should all worry about this sort of politics, even if we are not Jews or Muslims. We are all a minority in some form. We can all be picked on if politicians think it is in their electoral interest to do so. They will only fail if we don’t reward them with votes
Not even non-EU residents of the UK/Ireland CTA have FoM between the two countries, although this is mot in practice policed across the Irish land border or on flights from Ireland to the UK.
Ill-judged? Very possibly. But do Corbyn et al think their own actions and statements should never have any consequences? That they can dish it out but should never have to take it?
Corbyn: "Excuse me, are you The Palestinian People's Front?"
Maher Taher: "Fuck off, Palestinian People's Front! We are the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Palestinian People's Front!"
Corbyn: "Can I join your group, I hate the Jews already"
Maher Taher: "Sshh. Anyway if you wanted to join the PFLP, you'd have to really hate the Jews"
Corbyn: "I do, a lot"
Maher Taher: "Alright you're in"
etc....
However, while regaining Scotland (which looks like a forlorn hope) would be necessary for a Corbyn majority it makes no difference at all to a Corbyn Government. The SNP would certainly favour Labour in a (DUP/Tory) type arrangement. And Corbyn would have little difficulty in accomodating the SNP. Their MPs will like regard him rather more favourably than his own!!!
Indeed it could be argues that the correct Corbyn strategy is to abandon Scotland or at least try and assist the Nats where current polls indicate they could take a few seats back off the Tories - eg Ochil, Gordon, Stirling etc.
And Brexit is a symptom of that, not a cause.
https://tinyurl.com/ycffh3d
Another antisemitic event at which he accidentally was present, but not involved in.
https://twitter.com/MsJulieLenarz/status/1030391114950500352
A lesson for us here from across the pond - https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/world/trump-hits-out-after-newspapers-unite-to-defend-press-freedom-z2kzz3zkc
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2018-midterm-election-forecast/house/
Prisons Minister @RoryStewartUK pledges to resign unless assaults fall “substantially” in the ten jails which are getting £10m to tackle drugs & violence. He tells @BBCr4today he wants to see a 25% cut in attacks on staff & prisoners
https://twitter.com/DannyShawBBC/status/1030359125081956352
You really do not know much about Scots politics
Jezza encounters an Israeli soldier while writing "Judaeus eunt domus" on the Wailing Wall and is questioned as to why a boy that went to a private prep school and one of the top grammar schools is so poor at Latin. He conjugates the verb correctly and then writes it out a hundred times, but the oppressor still cuts his balls off.
The biggest problem facing our jails is staff.
If you offered me £10 million per year to be a prison officer I wouldn't take it.
You're asking people not qualified to help people with substance/drug abuse get off those drugs and substances.
These were both Labour -held seats until 2015 - regaining them at some point is a perfectly realistic prospect. The Tories are not the only party capable of moving from third to first place - as occurred in some seats there in 2017. Labour managed to do the same thing in Scotland in both 1987 and 1997. Stirling was a key Tory/Labour marginal - it having been Michael Forsyth's seat from 1983.
There is not much hope for them in any of the seats they are in third although they could get move into 2nd in East Renfrewshire and Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock.
The main problem for Labour in Scotland is that the younger vote especially the under 35 vote looks solid for the SNP but there's still some potential for them in the central belt among older working class voters who are more ambivalent on the EU and also some WWC tory voters in specific central belt seats who could be persuaded to vote tactically against the SNP.
The most telling thing about RS is how he has managed to market his chaotic and ultimately disastrous tenure in Iraq as some sort of masterful exposition of the diplomatic and governmental arts. Most of us who actually were in Iraq were cheering on Al-Sadr's Barmy Army when they besieged Rory's gubernatorial compound in Dhi Qar. At the very least, it meant they were taking a break from trying to kill us.