Be Excellent To Each Other

I know I really shouldn't, but can't resist here.
Man, the vanity of the Left never ceases to amaze me; public spending on health, education, public order and defence = all (exclusively) centre left policies, as indeed is the whole concept of equality of opportunity(!)

Anyone to the right of centre is a Brexit-loving, Trump-adoring, UKIP-fanboy... but of course, I'm forgetting, there is more to politics than a simplistic, reductionist left/right axis, right?


Oh boy, I'm off for the evening. 'Night.

See, this is where the Squirt Political Hypercube really comes into play. None of this 2 axis nonsense!

I think the Supreme Court enjoys giving May the odd tap on the shoulder.

The biggest flaw with that law IMO is that it doesn't take into account *at all* the earnings of the spouse. If the spouse is highly skilled and has a job lined up on their arrival that pays £90,000 a year, they still can't come in if the British half of the partnership earns under the threshold.

What is the Y scale?

Popularity over time apparently, as a percentage of the most popular the search term has ever been.

So 100% is the most popular, and every other data point is in relation to that.

Data from here:
https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?q=impeach

Why are so many people searching for impeach on finditcheapest.com ?

Arf, I watermarked it.

I was thinking the same thing. Most confusing.

Now 100% of people are searching for 'impeach' on FIC.com.

So, in a way it doesn't mean much. Could mean that about 40 people have searched for it, which is more than before, but insignificant., or that there's a baying mob out for blood (and a peak I can't place in ~2013).

Would be nice to have absolute figures.

Well no, but if that's the case they could come in on a sponsored work visa which is an infinitely simpler process than a spousal one.

Nope, not really. To modify Gaz's scenario to one that's slightly more realistic: if the person was capable of getting a job offer for £90k but didn't yet have one. Because getting the offer secured is a fuckload of work for the potential employer, including the legal requirement to prove no EU citizen was qualified. That alone is tougher than the entire spousal visa process, which is expensive and tedious but not difficult.

That's effort for the employer though, who have lawyers to do that shit for them.

Wait, I see what you mean. You seem to have disagreed with my entirely correct interpretation on the basis that it doesn't fit your entirely goalpost-shifted scenario.

Welcome to Gaywood.

I feel your pain.

Well, no. Your interpretation is correct for what Gaz said but only because it glossed over a different, but very significant, difficulty. It's not a very apples-to-apples comparison.

Dry your eyes, Cavey, watch me give a fig about any of it. You are wasting your breath, seriously.

Oh don't worry, I know full well I'm wasting my breath, Doc, but if there are tears then trust me, they're tears of laughter on my part mate.

Nothing on the Internet says "you're beneath my contempt" quite like loudly insisting you're not bothered at every possible opportunity.

I support the government's proposal for changing the definition of prisons, btw, just as an example of my rampant tribalism.

Link me, do!

Ta.

My concerns at s49 still exist, but if the court will appoint and pay for a person to do cross examination in Family Court, then that's good.

I dislike s36, about pleadi g guilty onibe. People might end up criminals whete they needn't have been.

Overall, happy that reform, not punishment is mentioned.

Yeah, 'guilt-by-click'* makes me uneasy. Too much opportunity for abuse and giving the most vulnerable a conviction when a bench might have been lenient. It's like people being pressured into taking a caution without realising it's something serious to have appearing on your DBS check.


* as opposed to guilty clicks - that's what Tumblr's for

Fuck the Prison & Courts Bill. Scumbag fanatical government using it as a vehicle to push through unjust personal injury reforms.

Whaddya reckon on the by-elections?

Labour to hold Stoke and lose Copeland?

Would be a massive blow to Corbyn to lose a traditional Labour seat to an incumbent government that would be floundering if it had decent opposition.

He won't give a shit though, in all likelihood.

Lose both, I think.

Under normal circumstances, Labour would be expected to romp home with these safe seat by-elections (Stoke has been Labour since 1950 when the seat was created, I understand), especially in Opposition. But of course, they have Corbyn - so will be lucky to retain either.

My money's on both seats being lost - even Stoke - and even though Nuttall has made a total arse of himself. That is the measure of Labour's utter disintegration at the hands of its loony wing.
Not that this will make any difference at all to Corbyn, though, nor indeed his outlandish supporters. He's a post-truth leader of a post-truth, ruined party, as presiding over an utterly failed, moribund politics that belongs in the post-war 40s and 50s era (if it belongs anywhere at all).

Man, they must rue the day they elected Millipede (let alone Corbyn lol). The shift Left has been an unmitigated catastrophe for them, predictably enough.

I think Labour will hold Stoke, but maybe it's more hope than anything as I don't want to live near a bunch of idiots who think UKIP are the right choice. I think a lot of folk round here vote Labour out of sheer habit, but I don't know if that'll continue.

I don't think the crap weather is going to help them here; I can see Tories and Kippers keen and intent on humiliating Labour even further going out to brave the elements, but Labour's long-suffering, ever dwindling home crowd? Personally, I doubt it. There's only so much punishment the poor sods can take.

In all my years, being as interested in politics as I am, I have never, ever seen such support for right of centre politics as I do now; it's like some lightbulb has switched on with people. I was only a kid then, but I have to go all the way back to Thatcher's 1979 GE victory to recall a more resurgent Conservative Party. Its fortunes are even reviving (somewhat) in Scotland, whereas by stark contrast Labour are probably beyond any redemption there, ever, with little more than single % figures support. I honestly never thought I would see the day.

Good to hear, though as a company with a large U.K. Retail bank, they weren't one of the ones I was super worried about. It's the investment-only banks that will be interesting to watch.

But this is our current aim anyway, hence my job. I'm not convinced there is anything different in the for prisons at all.

The court stuff sounds good if it is indeed a change.

Labour hold in Stoke, on vastly reduced turnout but only slightly reduced vote share. We were all, as a country, very lucky to escape a second UKIP MP I think. And I think the polls were correct -- Nuttall was on to win it until the scandals started to stack up over the last few weeks.

Conservative win in Copeland. Inexcusable for Corbyn, even by his usual shambolic standards. I wonder how the rabid Corbynistas are cognitivally dissonancing their way out of this one.

I R Right!

Copeland has been Labour since it was created as a constituency. It's probably not a perfect representation of the country at large because it's got one huge electoral issue (nuclear power) but to Sellafield etc. Obviously Corbyn is massively against that and it doesn't play well, even though they put forward a pro-nuclear candidate.

Even so, you shouldn't go losing seats to a shitshow incumbent party. This should have been an easy win for any credible opposition. Labour only held Stoke because Nuttall is a twat. How can the Corbyn supporters spin this as being an indicator that they can win a general election? Idiots.

They're blaming Blair and Mandelson for making public speeches and statements. There's no talking to these people.

YouGov polling on possible Labour leaders. Look closely at the "net favourably" ratings. They're all negative...

I wonder how many politicians across the board have positive ratings?

It would have been surprising to me that Khan got negative ratings, until I realised two things:

1) Politics is tribal and most non-Labour voters will 'down vote' all of these people
2) Racism (my last sojourn to Shropshire had people asking if he was implementing Sharia Law)

I'll take that; horrendous for Labour but not quite horrendous enough to unseat Corbyn. Result.

Also amazing that the Tories won Copeland whilst campaigning on the hugely unpopular, "We're shutting down your local hospital and don't give a shit" platform.

Momentum, of course, said that they saw enough in SoT that indicates they will win a general election. Because they are idiots.

My theory is it's because they're deluded, post-truth, swivel eyed window lickers, by and large? Could be wrong of course.

You want to listen to McDonnell on R4 this morning.

'If we get this result across the country, we'll win every seat and be in power forever'

He's one of the few Labour politicians I have time for at the moment. Really respect him. Also, being out of Westminster and building a base and recognition from the mayoralty is a very good idea tactically.