Had one of our favourites tonight. Vegan sausage and mushroom casserole on a bed of basmati rice. Bit pissed on the pino now as I'm not working for a few days.
In the words of Sir Humphrey: "... the traditional allocation of executive responsibilities has always been so determined as to liberate the ministerial incumbent from the administrative minutiae by devolving the managerial functions to those whose experience and qualifications have better formed them for the performance of such humble offices, thereby releasing their political overlords for the more onerous duties and profound deliberations which are the inevitable concomitant of their exalted position."
What's the evidence to say it wasn't the other way round and that Corbyn almost got Labour to number 10 in '17 and it was the agenda that was rejected in '19 and not the man? If you think about it, no proper majority Govt elected with a left wing agenda since Wilson's win in 1966, unless you want to very generous and count the '74 majority of three which lasted for about five minutes. That's 14 elections ago! I don't see why we're suddenly supposed to believe the public at large have become more left wing. There are certainly louder left wing voices thanks to Twitter etc, but I think many are confusing that for evidence of popularity of ideas, which it clearly isn't! Genuinely interested in what makes you think the UK has finally bucked that trend as I don't see it myself.
Polling showed that Labour's 2017 manifesto was very popular. A majority support re-nationalisation of the railways and utilities and they trust Labour more with the NHS. I'm an incurable optimist and I can envisage a more caring, socialistic society emerging from this crisis. A 1945 moment. Maybe.
Take the piss all you want - the Scotland daily briefings are a breath of fresh air compared to the competition for ****wit of the week that get rolled out on show on a daily basis in Downing Street.
Calm down. I'm not knocking Scotlands briefings... although you did have that woman resign for breaking her own rules... was that what she meant by ' a breath of fresh air'?
Polling showed individual commitments in their manifesto were popular, when put to the public as individual questions. The most significant poll (and the only one that matters) showed that collectively they weren't as popular as what was on offer from Theresa May after one of the worst run political campaigns in modern history! And I would imagine that we'd agree that May's manifesto wasn't all that popular. When asked "Do you support the nationalisation of the railways?" by a pollster, it's easy for that question to garner support. In context, when asked whether people support nationalising the railways, and the utilities, and increasing spending on childcare, the NHS, ending tuition fees, which would mean putting taxes up for individuals and businesses, and not paying off any national debt, people come up with a very different answer (and always have). I just don't see the evidence - putting the rights and wrongs of the policies to one side - that the public has had a wholesale change of mood. Which is why, if I was of a left leaning persuasion, I'd be fully supportive of a slightly more moderate position, which I think Starmer can deliver. Perhaps, however, I'm too cynical and your optimism will win the day. It's fantastic to be an optimist, and much needed when following the R's Edit - I guess I'm a pragmatist to my core, and as much as anything, this is also a question of pragmatism vs principle; which often also shapes how one sees the future. Plus, I was wrong about the results for Trump, Brexit, 2017, and 2015, so I'm [slowly] learning not to make predictions with any certainty...
Just picking up on Raabs briefing yesterday, can someone elaborate on that joke he says everyone used to say in this country, must have been before my time. I've gone cover to cover in the 1001 greatest jokes and cant find it anywhere!!!
Yes but my ‘fresh air’ bit was very clever if I may say so. Actually Watford you could cheer the country up by doing the Briefings.
I wonder if the Tories will get the blame for the country being skint after coronavirus, much like labour got the blame after the financial crash.
I’d like to think I wouldn’t have got us into this level of **** storm to start with or whittled down our PPE supplies thanks to austerity and then Brexit.
