Off Topic The Politics Thread

[Staines R's]

I got asked to do a phone survey just before the referendum. The bloke was totally unprofessional because he kept agreeing with my answers!

Did he say what company or organisation he was from Dan ?
Maybe I’ve had them try and not realised. When I get a cold call I usually pretend I’m either deaf, a 6 year old or speak in some made up foreign language and try to keep them on the line for as long as possible (over 40 mins is my record when I was bored).
Can’t remember having any political ones though.

 

[Staines R's]

There are companies you can sign up to that do these surveys. You get paid as well. I have been on 2 before and just told them what they wanted to hear, took the cash and went. Who was it that said ”never trust a poll”? If they ever asked me I would just say ”I am a remainer”.

I’ve definitely been missing out. I’d talk bollox for cash, every day of the week.

 

[TheBigDipper]

An honest question, have you or anyone you know ever been asked to take part in one of these ‘political’ polls/surveys ?

Is it the same people they ask each time or are you picked at random ?
Do you get a call to take part or email or a letter ?

Personally I’ve never been asked and I don’t know of anyone who ever has been asked or taken part. It’s almost as if they might make them up, just to fit that weeks agenda.

Never been asked, myself. It's pretty small sample compared to the voting population, anyway.

I didn't share the link to argue the pros and cons of Brexit, anyway. That's a dead topic for me. I just thought some would be interested in how they went about the exercse and what they think of the different ways of interpreting the answers.

 

[Deleted.......]

Did he say what company or organisation he was from Dan ?
Maybe I’ve had them try and not realised. When I get a cold call I usually pretend I’m either deaf, a 6 year old or speak in some made up foreign language and try to keep them on the line for as long as possible (over 40 mins is my record when I was bored).
Can’t remember having any political ones though.

It was Mori which made it all the more weird.

 

[ELLERS]

I’ve definitely been missing out. I’d talk bollox for cash, every day of the week.

I got paid £50 for 30 minutes to say whether political leader debates on TV were a good thing. I only spoke once and raised my hand on a vote and it was done. Easy.

 

[rangercol]

Polls eh?
Totally reliable aren't they?

 

[sb_73]

An honest question, have you or anyone you know ever been asked to take part in one of these ‘political’ polls/surveys ?

Is it the same people they ask each time or are you picked at random ?
Do you get a call to take part or email or a letter ?

Personally I’ve never been asked and I don’t know of anyone who ever has been asked or taken part. It’s almost as if they might make them up, just to fit that weeks agenda.

I had an old geezer knock on my door a few years ago, with all the appropriate ID. I had some time so I agreed to do it. He knew my name, must have got it from the electoral register. There was a bit of politics and a lot of consumer preference type stuff, plus the usual demographic profiling. Seems like a lot of organisations had bought time on the same survey, which makes sense. Can’t remember if I was offered an incentive to take part. I think the selection is guided to get the right variety of people, but random in that they don’t go back to the same people on purpose. It’s a very lucrative business. When my company starts testing prices for new products, we go to specific types of customer (people who actually pay for medicines on behalf of governments) in six or seven countries, not more than forty-fifty people in total. Costs about $300k through specialist agencies.

I think it is stunningly difficult to get reliable results from these surveys, they rely on getting enough people from different backgrounds and places to respond, having properly balanced questions, people being honest, what kind of day they had had, what was in the news etc etc.

Any kind of predictive work is very difficult indeed. We were speculating yesterday about whether the fact that our council turns off street lighting except at road junctions at midnight to save cash could have contributed to the attack on my son. Then we thought about all the other variables - police numbers, policing policy, weather, time of year, location etc etc and concluded that you would need a multi armed trial to test it, and even then you couldn’t be sure of the results. It’s why random controlled trials for drugs are so incredibly expensive and not always accurate.

As an aside where you on duty over last Saturday/Sunday night? Apart from the obvious direct evidence from Leamington I have anecdotal stories from Coventry (staff in A&E) and Newcastle (my daughter) that there was a surge in violence. I’m speculating that the timing of the Wilder-Fury fight contributed. Lots of pumped up lads drinking for far too long in order to watch two blokes beat each other up.

 

[DT’s Socks]

This bloke to me hits the nail on the head 100%
It’s nearly 2019

We produce the best music in the world by the way imo one thing we can all be proud of

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[Staines R's]

As an aside where you on duty over last Saturday/Sunday night? Apart from the obvious direct evidence from Leamington I have anecdotal stories from Coventry (staff in A&E) and Newcastle (my daughter) that there was a surge in violence. I’m speculating that the timing of the Wilder-Fury fight contributed. Lots of pumped up lads drinking for far too long in order to watch two blokes beat each other up.

I was working 0630-1830 last weekend mate so would of missed any potential spike in violence after the fight.
Interestingly enough I was working when England got knocked out of the WC and expected hell but for our crew anyway it was pretty tame, with mostly old people falling out of bed.
Where I work, Hayes, Northolt, Feltham etc is pretty violent but so far I’ve missed most of the major jobs like stabbings and shootings (which are definitely on the increase), and mainly had the assaults and kickings.
In a warped way I’m looking forward to getting my first ‘stabbing’ out of the way, so then I’ll be better prepared for my next one. Same happened with my first ‘arrest’....the first one was pretty intense but by the 5th you just work on ‘muscle memory’ and do what needs to be done.
I’ll let you know how I get on an NYE (night shift)....that’s meant to be ‘fun’ !!

 

[sb_73]

I was working 0630-1830 last weekend mate so would of missed any potential spike in violence after the fight.
Interestingly enough I was working when England got knocked out of the WC and expected hell but for our crew anyway it was pretty tame, with mostly old people falling out of bed.
Where I work, Hayes, Northolt, Feltham etc is pretty violent but so far I’ve missed most of the major jobs like stabbings and shootings (which are definitely on the increase), and mainly had the assaults and kickings.
In a warped way I’m looking forward to getting my first ‘stabbing’ out of the way, so then I’ll be better prepared for my next one. Same happened with my first ‘arrest’....the first one was pretty intense but by the 5th you just work on ‘muscle memory’ and do what needs to be done.
I’ll let you know how I get on an NYE (night shift)....that’s meant to be ‘fun’ !!

Enjoy! I hate New Years Eve, always have, lots of false bonhomie and people desperate to have fun. Plus people letting off fireworks until 3 in the morning which terrifies the dog. Love Christmas though, and this year my daughter has opted to break her (non ethical) vegetarianism for the day, demanding a big turkey leg and a bucket of pigs in blankets.

 

[Deleted.......]

Polls eh?
Totally reliable aren't they?

They're good if you're a gambler though. Made a few quid on elections because the polls skewed the odds.

 

[DT’s Socks]

I was working 0630-1830 last weekend mate so would of missed any potential spike in violence after the fight.
Interestingly enough I was working when England got knocked out of the WC and expected hell but for our crew anyway it was pretty tame, with mostly old people falling out of bed.
Where I work, Hayes, Northolt, Feltham etc is pretty violent but so far I’ve missed most of the major jobs like stabbings and shootings (which are definitely on the increase), and mainly had the assaults and kickings.
In a warped way I’m looking forward to getting my first ‘stabbing’ out of the way, so then I’ll be better prepared for my next one. Same happened with my first ‘arrest’....the first one was pretty intense but by the 5th you just work on ‘muscle memory’ and do what needs to be done.
I’ll let you know how I get on an NYE (night shift)....that’s meant to be ‘fun’ !!

That’s a job well done Staines

 

[DT’s Socks]

Enjoy! I hate New Years Eve, always have, lots of false bonhomie and people desperate to have fun. Plus people letting off fireworks until 3 in the morning which terrifies the dog. Love Christmas though, and this year my daughter has opted to break her (non ethical) vegetarianism for the day, demanding a big turkey leg and a bucket of pigs in blankets.

Mrs DT veggie also but makes good meat gravy
Her favourite is making me a bacon sandwich
I am sure she has a dip
Some how I am in England for Xmas so heading to Brighton for fish and chips in restaurant Xmas day in the lanes then straight back to France 26th

 

[Goldhawk-Road]

There may well come a time Goldie, hopefully not in our lifetimes, when climate change makes large parts of currently densely populated countries uninhabitable. Then we will see waves of human migration which will dwarf what we saw from Syria/Afghanistan/Africa. Many, perhaps most will die in the process, but there will still be many millions clamouring to get into the habitable zones.

Then the question becomes ‘my quality of life versus your actual life’. Tough one.

The dilemma that Windsor poses is accurate though. Our natural rate of population growth (without immigration) will soon slip into the negative, like Japan and Italy, and like Germany soon, while there are more and more aged/retired, heavy health care users. We either need more young taxpayers from abroad (who go home when they are old with company pensions), or we work more years potentially never retiring, or we cull the old. Or we agree en masse that we will take a collective hit to our standard of living, enjoy a flat or shrinking and aging population (which does have some attractions), and tax those still in work more to pay for it all. Or we abandon elements of the welfare state that we take for granted now. Loads of issues and I have no idea which direction keeps most people relatively happy, or at least not as furious as they could be.

Yes, true about climate change in the future, particularly if the US and China as major greenhouse gas spouters don't come into line. I suspect mass migration would be resisted by European countries, just as it has been (of sorts) during the current migration crisis across the Mediterranean. You have only to look at the present rise of the right wing in Europe to see what would happen if it is not.

The answer now it to have control of all immigration and take whom we want. Some will be taken to stay if they choose to, some will come on finite visas. At the present time, our population is spiralling upwards. From Migration Watch UK:

"Over 90% of international migrants to the UK go to England which now has a population density of 425 people per square km . The population density of England is higher than in India, the world’s second most populous country and is nearly twice that of Germany and 3.5 times that of France.

An estimated 82% of UK population growth between 2001 and 2016 was due to the arrival of migrants, their children and their subsequent children born in the UK. So immigration has added roughly one million to our population every three years."

This cannot continue. There needs to be a balance between employment needs, and pressures on the country's infrastructure and environment.

 

[ELLERS]

Tory voters are clever with polls (a bit like Trump supporters) the don't talk about who they will vote for they just tick the box.
It's like yesterday I sat next to a lady at work and Sky was on talking Brexit. She said ”What a mess” and I said ”yes it is”. She went on about 2nd votes and stuff (remoaner). Really nice lady and I just smiled and agreed with her. She probably thought I voted the same way as her. She probably went home and spoke about the people at work all wanting a second vote.... That's how/why polls get things wrong.

 

[Goldhawk-Road]

Individual EEA countries can do and are doing what they like regarding migration. Follow the basic EU rules only as and when they need to, as the UK could. As others have said it seems to me the UK is going to need people to pick the fruit, staff the NHS etc etc.

Freedom of movement is one of the key cornerstones of the EU. So with respect, Oslo, the EEA countries cannot do what they like on immigration, or they'd be hauled up before the ECJ.

Inviting in seasonal workers on visas is perfectly acceptable where there is no local labour available and will continue after Brexit.

 

[ELLERS]

Freedom of movement is one of the key cornerstones of the EU. So with respect, Oslo, the EEA countries cannot do what they like on immigration, or they'd be hauled up before the ECJ.

Inviting in seasonal workers on visas is perfectly acceptable where there is no local labour available and will continue after Brexit.

Or we could do what the French do and protect jobs. Don't give many away to forigners. So glad we are not like them.

 

[Goldhawk-Road]

Or we could do what the French do and protect jobs. Don't give many away to forigners. So glad we are not like them.

Agree, Ellers, although I do fear that if Brexit is denied, the reaction here will make the Gilets Jaunes protests look like a playground argument

 

[bobmid]

Agree, Ellers, although I do fear that if Brexit is denied, the reaction here will make the Gilets Jaunes protests look like a playground argument

A load of old geezers on their mobility scooters waving their sticks

 

[Goldhawk-Road]

A load of old geezers on their mobility scooters waving their sticks

Yep, 17.4 million of them