[tea break] But organised religions fight variety. They don't want variety. They don't want change. They want world domination and in some cases the total destruction of this world. I like the world you offer Colognehornet but that is not the world I see. It sounds like spiritualism to me. And I can't see how there is room for Muslim organisations, the catholic church, the Mormons, et al in such a world.
"Never let the truth get in the way of a good story." Boris Johnson Boris Johnson writes for The Sun and claims the Tories won Clwyd South against the odds. One problem: didn't happen.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-40162249 I don't suppose anyone was too surprised by this, especially as the figures were (deliberately?) delayed until after the Election... NHS waiting list in a bit of a mess.
Just to add to that. The number of European nurses registering to work in the UK has plummeted by 96 per cent since the EU referendum last June, prompting critics to warn Brexit has caused an “unforgivable drain of talent” in the health sector. Just 46 nurses from EU countries registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) in April 2017, compared with 1,304 in July 2016. The data was obtained by a Freedom of Information request by the Health Foundation.
I can attest to that personally..... shambolic.... just starved of resources. Mind you i saw a TV ad for private hospitals last night boasting of 'no waiting lists'....
Good analysis by Robert Peston... but will the backbenchers give her a year of quiet restrengthening?? please log in to view this image Robert Peston 3 hrs · Facebook Mentions · So here is what I assume MPs and Tory ministers will agree on the longevity of Theresa May as PM - although I don't suppose much of any of this will be officially confirmed. If the DUP agree not to bring the government down for at least a year, through a confidence-and-supply arrangement, then that gives the Tory party a year for its candidates to prepare where they would wish to take their party. There would then be a leadership election a year from now - and culminate in a choice of a new Tory leader and prime minister at the end of the summer of 2018, allowing the new leader to be installed in time for party conference in the autumn. There would be three leading candidates: David Davis, Boris Johnson and Amber Rudd. Others however are likely to emerge in the coming months. Someone now considered obscure and a long-odds bet, even someone not currently in the cabinet, could for example outline a vision for how to reconnect the Tory party with younger voters or at least soften their disgust with the government - an important if Herculean challenge - which could transform him or her into a credible candidate. Remember that Cameron and Blair became the blindingly obvious saviours of their parties in a sentiment shift which was invisible till it became an earthquake. Anyway as I understand it, a year's extension of May's rule is what the cooler heads at the top of the government see as their best hope of turning last week's electoral setback into a plausible basis to fight a general election in either the autumn of 2018 or the spring of 2019. By then the shape of a Brexit deal - if such there be - should be clearer. And May's government will have chugged along legislating in a fairly minimal way, because as I said yesterday it will have to ditch most of the contentious items in the manifesto to avoid too many embarrassing Commons defeats (the DUP won't back the end of the triple lock on pensions, the means testing of winter fuel payments, elderly people paying more for social care and so on, and even with the possible support of the DUP there's no majority in the Commons for grammar schools). To state the obvious, it was a bit of a body blow to the PM on Saturday when the DUP refused to countenance a more formal coalition - which would have been a much more stable basis on which to govern than a confidence-and-supply deal (it means no more than that the DUP won't bring the government down for a period, and provides plenty of latitude for it to disagree with the government). Of course the Tories may not have the luxury of such an orderly transition. There may be kamikaze rebellions by groups of Tory MPs. For all Boris's Churchillian demands for the party to fall in behind Theresa today, his enthusiastic lieutenants may not be able to curb their enthusiasm for his cause for a whole 12 months - and could trigger civil war in the party. The deal with the DUP may never actually be consummated and could collapse. So for the government - and I guess for us too - it will be a hairy 12 months. But there is a probably a better than evens chance that May has a year left of her time in office, and a year to rebuild her battered reputation
Interesting what happens if there is no DUP deal. As both could look like winners I expect some short term deal but when dealing with those stuck in the past, saying nothing for the DUP , one cannot count on logic. The conservatives might hang on for a few weeks but what then? Another election? [I'm ignoring JC being invited to form a government as I don't see the SNP playing ball but let us assume that is not an option for the continuation of my thinking]. Who would that benefit? Who could change in just a few weeks? Well I guess the Tories, having made such a bad fist of getting out there last time, have the greatest scope to improve. Labour might only be able to consolidate. But what would happen in Scotland? If the electorate see a chance of JC in number 10 might they not abandon SNP in greater numbers? If only to stop a Tory win? I'd like to see another election but that means little
Labour can only get past the Tories 318 if they have the support of the LibDems, Greens, Plaid, SNP AND the DUP - so if the DUP are not up for a coalition Labour cannot form even a multi-coalition government In Scotland a vote for SNP is anti Tory as it is for Labour so a switch would not change the number in opposition - just the composition. If it split the Lab/SNP vote further it could actually help the Tories
But there are seats like Angus where the Labour plus SNP vote totals far more than the Conservative winner. And Labour are on a big surge at the moment. And if you vote in a Labour candidate they may have a majority without relying on a pact with the SNP which leaves many assumptions. And Indy looks dead so many SNP voters might decide a change is not a big deal. But it was just an idea. I'm guessing what we do not want is what happened in Spain. A second election led to no change
A second election would keep our forum rolling along nicely until the football starts again - I've never known it so active in the summer.
SH you were saying that when the boundaries are reset it would be even worse for Labour. How bout this then?
I am sorry Yorkie - but the only way a party would have more votes than the others is if they have more than 50% of the vote. In a county that has more than two parties - my guess is that in Cornwall there would have been more than 10, it would be surprising if one party got more than 50%. Nationally the Tories got 42.4% so the above is not really a surprise is it. Your figures show that the Tories managed 48.5% of the vote in Cornwall - a pretty convincing lead over any other party. All your chart shows is that in every constituency in Cornwall the Tories came first.
To make a point on boundaries you need to look at areas that Labour won but might not in a redrawn constituency - and that is for the electoral commission to decide.
I think they have redrawn but not activated. The point I was making is that in Cornwall in terms of votes the Tories won seats but most voted for other parties. Not making an anti-Tory point but just seeing another anomaly in our flawed democratic system.
I see John Major is expressing concern that allying with the DUP can upset the peace process... and The Express reports 7 Sinn Fein MPs flying to the UK to attend parliament.... (Not sure if this mischief making....) http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/81...ein-gerry-adams-arlene-foster-dup-westminster
