I'm hearing that there are two serious incidents ongoing in Kilmarnock, Scotland. One of them possibly involving NHS staff in Crosshouse Hospital which is in lockdown with armed police on scene. The other incident is based about a mile away in Portland Street. Not good by the sounds of it.
The Guardian has reported that Tories have moved 3 points ahead of Labour in a poll, due to the success of the national vaccination program. And the New Statesman, left leaning, is questioning whether Starmer is the right man for the job. The problem is, the public know him as a top lawyer and passionate Remainer who wanted a Second Referendum, but otherwise, haven't a fc uk-ing clue what he stands for. The more the EU founders, the more it undermines Starmer.
On a happier, more positive note Some fab news coming out of the city in the last 2 days. firstly the Bank of England expects a rapid rebound of the UK economy later this year as the vaccination programme takes effect. Secondly, In the City more office space is being bought and refurbished for future growth. I seem to remember being told that all the companies were going to Frankfurt and Paris with the loss of 75K jobs... eer 7500 actually and most are for subsidiaries. Forget Frankfurt and Paris, says Barclays boss https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55939857 Thirdly, there is no stopping Liz Truss! After the British government formally applied to join a free-trade pact that includes Australia, Canada, Japan and New Zealand. Britain is closing in on a bumper trade deal with India - with Liz Truss arriving there today for talks aimed at sealing an agreement which experts estimate could be worth as much as £100billion. Meanwhile in the EuroNews... Brexit: 71 pages of paperwork for 1 lorry of fish https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55887043 Eurozone on course for double-dip recession https://www.theguardian.com/busines...e-on-course-for-double-dip-recession-covid-19 And people want to know why I keep saying this old antiquated block is crumbling under its BS red tape? These petty games they are playing with NI and our small businesses will come back to haunt them. The fab news from the city this week goes to show after all the project fear and how this country would fail it ended up being bollox. Although I am sure we may get a couple of voices not happy with this news and wanting our country to fail?
Takes us nicely on to my post. Starmer was getting slated on Twitter yesterday. Virtually every post wanted him gone (although they could have been from the loony left?) Saying that when he comes out with ambiguous comments like "Don't ease lockdown restrictions too soon". I can see why Captain Hindsight is there to be shot down.
I see Labour as putting out a whole load of demands for policies, in the hope that eventually one turns out to be right and they can argue - told you so.
If there was an election tomorrow I’m sure the Tories would walk it. Sounds a bit ridiculous as they preside over well over 100k deaths now but they and their client journalists have done a great job of making them the hardworking victims who couldn’t have done any more while hyping the vaccine PR to the max. They’re very good at the game. It’ll be harder to hold on to votes for another three and a bit years assuming that’s when the next election takes place. As much as complete mugs like Ellers are now far too deep into the black hole of propaganda, a lot of people are in for a very tough time and Labour have three years to establish what they’re for, if they’re able to get the message to enough people which again is far from a given. I expect the Tories will do a better job of airbrushing their entire reign and presenting Sunak as the future than Labour will of highlighting the gross negligence and how they could take the country forward. Doubt it’ll be enough to win but if Starmer isn’t seen as palatable by those who could vote Labour but didn’t fancy Corbyn, which was understandable, I’m not sure anyone has a chance. Grim but that’s the reality IMO.
There will have to be an enquiry into the high death toll. The Tories will no doubt try and delay the publication of the report until after the election. I suspect there are a host of reasons why we had a high toll, which will include govt mistakes, but then which govt has been infallible in the West? There probably will be a double dip recession but thanks to the vaccine it looks like companies will be back in business by May/June absent any new variant of the vaccine, which can't be ruled out. Boris's tail is up at the moment but I think you're right that if he fails in a significant way, Sunak will take his place. Labour's front bench looks really weak - Angela Rayner as deputy leader and Dodds as shadow chancellor...Jeez....
Ursula Von derful Lie-in describes the UK as a speedboat and the EU as a tanker. She's made an important Brexiteer argument right there
