Danny
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Post by Danny on Aug 23, 2023 7:12:32 GMT
Are we going back to the days when your opportunities and career depend on the resources of your parents. What do you mean 'back'? What makes you believe this ever stopped applying? |
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steve
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Post by steve on Aug 23, 2023 7:59:00 GMT
jib Maybe you'd like to apologise to the rest of the UK population then instead for your chronic stupidity. Never mind you can always air your opinions on whatever mind fart forum UKIP are currently providing for cult members. 
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Mr Poppy
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Post by Mr Poppy on Aug 23, 2023 7:59:04 GMT
There was an article the other day talking about the impact of climate change on the Mediterranean food supplies. If it starts affecting the food, will that impact green voting? I'm told turnips make a good alternative to olives.  Seriously though, a lot of country folk in the Tory shires are concerned about the environment and climate change. For instance farmers will worry about what crops it will be possible to grow. If the Green Party was able to make inroads into these voters as well as their current base they could well become a serious player. However they are perceived to be left wing. I haven't read all of their manifesto but they want to increase corporation tax and introduce a Land Value Tax levied annually on the capital value of land. This will hit a lot of farmers badly. If they could get one or two farmers or big landowners as spokesmen (sorry spokespersons) it could be a game changer for them. A lot of people see them as the 'respectable' arm of Just Stop Oil and the other nutters - a bit like Sinn Fein was to the IRA. If this perception continues they will only ever be a fringe party in the UK. It's a shame because I'd be tempted to vote for them if they could make a sensible case for green policies without punishing ordinary people. 'Just Stop Oil' tactics are self-defeating as the public see them as 'Irritate Britain 2.0' (after the self-defeating tactics of the worthy cause of 'Insulate Britain'). Comparison to IRA a bit OTT but FWIW then SF are now the most popular party in NI*: UUP and SDLP used to be the two dominant parties in NI politics. It is now DUP and SF. Whilst absolutely NOT a prediction for GB then if LAB and CON offer nothing more than 'managed decay' and 'sticking plasters' then perhaps (and absolutely NOT a prediction) Greens 'replace' LAB on the Left and RUK 'replace' CON on the Right. In other European countries (eg France) the former Centre-Left and Centre-Right duopoly has imploded. What right do either CON or LAB have to be such dominant parties in GB? * Lucid talks twitter feed has more info on NI stuff but with the WF signed then NI is back to being of little importance. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 23, 2023 8:07:55 GMT
Colin What's that bird on your new avatar? Is it a booby? (if so, nice bit of subtle self-deprecation) It is indeed ! An incredible bird. Only the second sighting for UK, though the first a few years ago wasn't really twitchable-found in a distressed state in East Sussex. Yes-this one appeared a few days ago in front of astounded birders on a Scilly autumn pelagic trip. It is now attracting hundreds of twitchers. A native of the Galapagos it is way out of its comfort zone. This Red Footed Booby is now quietly ensconced on Bishop Rock Lighthouse pretending to be somewhere it isn't in front of an admiring audience. I hear some birders are calling it Sir Kier |
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Mr Poppy
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Post by Mr Poppy on Aug 23, 2023 8:15:36 GMT
I have no problem with that. Indeed, my daughter's vote would be more useful in Loughborough than Braintree, but I don't think she is registered there. The mythology on the right is that they all vote twice  . That particular gripe always makes me smile - getting students to vote once is hard enough! Warwick University's campus is so large (and so concentrated in one Coventry ward) it could pretty much have had its own councillors for decades but despite varying levels of effort I've seen by the Students' Union over the years, they just can't get the students to register and vote, and as a result the campus has a permanently Tory representation on the City council, chosen by the balance of the suburbs around it. I doubt students are that bothered who gets to decide on the contract for bin collections but they are more interested in who gets elected to make national and meaningful decisions that effect their future lives. LE have much lower turnout than GEs overall but the oldies tend to get out more for any chance of a day out which means youngsters are even less likely to vote in LEs than GEs. 18-24yrs historically have low turnout even in GEs but only about 1/4 of those are students (50% for 1/2 the 6yr age bracket) and see: Key findings:
85% of full-time UK undergraduate students expect to vote at the next general election
www.hepi.ac.uk/2023/05/02/new-polling-shows-over-eight-in-10-students-expect-to-vote-at-the-next-general-election-that-nearly-half-of-students-support-labour-and-7-conservative-but-that-students-are-split/We saw it make a significant difference in specific seats in GE'17 (eg the famous 'Dr.Mibbles' prediction for Canterbury that many of us made some ££ on). The issue of 'two votes' or at least being able to choose where they vote in a GE gives students an extra edge compared to most people as well. I'm not using a single uni anecdote (eg Brunel or Warwick) and overly targeting students ends up as 'vote stacking' in what LAB probably considers ultra safe seats but taking the student vote for granted with a patronising speech about how tough student life was in Leeds in the 1980s isn't going to appeal to non-students and just winds up anyone who voted Starmer/LAB on the assumption he'd scrap uni fees. 'Break the class ceiling'?!?! He is taking the piss and perhaps at some point students will realise Greens are the party they should rally behind (another unconfirmed view is that when postal/actual polling cards arrive at halls of residence mail drops then someone 'collects' them all, or at least the ones not being used, and makes sure they don't go to waste - unconfirmed of course) |
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Mr Poppy
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Post by Mr Poppy on Aug 23, 2023 8:44:03 GMT
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Post by leftieliberal on Aug 23, 2023 8:46:41 GMT
pjw1961 If the Green Party is serious about winning in Bristol West it'll mount a 'Vote in Bristol so your Green vote counts' operation to try to get its student voters to vote there regardless of when the election is held. In 1997 a friend of mine travelled home from Cambridge University to vote in Con-held St Albans so that he could help oust a Con. There is no official mechanism, but remember that political parties get access to the marked registers and a major party (like the Tories) will do this as a matter of course. With "Big Data" it may well be possible to identify students and whether they have voted twice. This is something that even just a decade ago I would have said was theoretically possible but impractical, but nowadays with young people putting so much of their life in public on social media, I'm not so sure. It would only take one successful election petition and the argument over voter ID would seem a tea-party in comparison. One could imagine demands for everyone in the country to have a unique numerical Voter ID that would be on the electoral register, for example. |
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Post by crossbat11 on Aug 23, 2023 8:47:54 GMT
I thought this was an interesting article about the development of centre-right politics in Europe and how mainstream conservatism is now increasingly looking to embrace far Right ideas, and in some cases parties too, in order to survive and prosper electorally. This is particularly evident, and worrying too, in major democracies like France, Germany and Spain, but the development can be seen in most European democracies where conservatism has struggled not just electorally but intellectually too. In many cases they've looked to the Far Right for ideas in order to revitalise themselves. The political challenge for mainstream centre right parties has been squaring a political circle. The current "polycrisis", as some commentators now call it, owes many of its origins to the very economic model the centre right has espoused and championed for forty years. This is the intellectual and economic square they struggle to circle, so look instead to the Far Right for explanations that often swerve the need to accept the inconvenient and uncomfortable realities of how we got to where we are today. Extraordinarily, and the author gives examples, some centre right parties in Europe are now absorbing "Great Replacement" and overtly racist theories to explain the polycrisis. This is gaining some traction for them too and even squeezing them into government in some cases. Actual alliances with Far Right parties are no longer absolutely off limits in this quest for political survival. Maybe the big question in British politics now is how far its mainstream centre right party will travel on this journey? How far has it travelled already in a rather understated and covert British way? www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/aug/23/europe-centre-right-out-of-ideas-absorbing-far-right-not-the-answer |
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pjw1961
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Post by pjw1961 on Aug 23, 2023 8:57:44 GMT
"(another unconfirmed view is that when postal/actual polling cards arrive at halls of residence mail drops then someone 'collects' them all, or at least the ones not being used, and makes sure they don't go to waste - unconfirmed of course)" 'Unconfirmed' because it is complete nonsense. After the 2017 election the Tory press and a few backbenchers thrashed around for excuses to explain the Conservative's relatively poor performance when they had expected a landslide and settled on the idea that students had voted twice in large numbers. The alleged source of this was statements on social media by a tiny handful of (supposed) students. If you google something like "students voting twice" you will get the links to the original stories in the Mail and Sun and comments from the likes of Henry Bellingham MP, but I'm not going to dignify this by posting such links. The Electoral Commission investigated and found nothing of note, nor do the voting patterns actually suggest anything unusual. It was such a non-story from the EC's point of view they didn't bother formally reporting on it, although they do publish advice to students on what they can and can't do. www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-am-a/voter/studentsAs to collecting up postal votes - a postal vote requires the signature of the person voting, you can't just steal it and send it in. The main risk with postal votes is of a dominant individual forcing others to vote the way he tells them, which was the issue identified in some South Asian communities. This is hugely unlikely with students. Polling cards are of course essentially meaningless (they are just informational) and are not proof of a right to vote - that will involve checking the electoral register at the polling station. Again no evidence of 'personation' in student areas was found, as indeed is the case with the rest of Britain (Northern Ireland is a separate issue), despite the Government claiming it was the reason for introducing ID checks. |
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Post by jib on Aug 23, 2023 9:02:06 GMT
jib Maybe you'd like to apologise to the rest of the UK population then instead for your chronic stupidity. Never mind you can always air your opinions on whatever mind fart forum UKIP are currently providing for cult members. View Attachment You really do yourself justice with your obnoxious intolerance of any viewpoint but your own. |
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pjw1961
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Post by pjw1961 on Aug 23, 2023 9:03:46 GMT
I suspect that many students, who live away from home during term time, will be well aware that they can register on two electoral rolls, and that there is no mechanism to check that they haven't voted in both. There is no official mechanism, but remember that political parties get access to the marked registers and a major party (like the Tories) will do this as a matter of course. With "Big Data" it may well be possible to identify students and whether they have voted twice. This is something that even just a decade ago I would have said was theoretically possible but impractical, but nowadays with young people putting so much of their life in public on social media, I'm not so sure. It would only take one successful election petition and the argument over voter ID would seem a tea-party in comparison. One could imagine demands for everyone in the country to have a unique numerical Voter ID that would be on the electoral register, for example. Don't forget it is entirely legal and permitted for students to vote in two separate council areas in local elections. To quote the Electoral Commission: "You will need to choose one address and vote in only that area when you're voting in: UK Parliament elections UK referendums London Assembly and London Mayoral elections You can't vote at both your term-time address and your home address at these elections. Voting in more than one location is a criminal offence. For other elections you can vote at both your term-time and your home address. You can choose to vote in either or both areas (as long as the addresses are in different council areas) when you're voting in: Local council elections in England Police and Crime commissioner elections and mayoral elections Make sure you understand the rules for the election you are voting in." |
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Post by Rafwan on Aug 23, 2023 9:05:31 GMT
Colin What's that bird on your new avatar? Is it a booby? (if so, nice bit of subtle self-deprecation) It is indeed ! An incredible bird. Only the second sighting for UK, though the first a few years ago wasn't really twitchable-found in a distressed state in East Sussex. Yes-this one appeared a few days ago in front of astounded birders on a Scilly autumn pelagic trip. It is now attracting hundreds of twitchers. A native of the Galapagos it is way out of its comfort zone. This Red Footed Booby is now quietly ensconced on Bishop Rock Lighthouse pretending to be somewhere it isn't in front of an admiring audience. I hear some birders are calling it Sir Kier Another candidate for Bibby. Send it back where it belongs! With the frigates and giant turtles!! |
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Post by wb61 on Aug 23, 2023 9:07:24 GMT
I thought this was an interesting article about the development of centre-right politics in Europe and how mainstream conservatism is now increasingly looking to embrace far Right ideas, and in some cases parties too, in order to survive and prosper electorally. This is particularly evident, and worrying too, in major democracies like France, Germany and Spain, but the development can be seen in most European democracies where conservatism has struggled not just electorally but intellectually too. In many cases they've looked to the Far Right for ideas in order to revitalise themselves. The political challenge for mainstream centre right parties has been squaring a political circle. The current "polycrisis", as some commentators now call it, owes many of its origins to the very economic model the centre right has espoused and championed for forty years. This is the intellectual and economic square they struggle to circle, so look instead to the Far Right for explanations that often swerve the need to accept the inconvenient and uncomfortable realities of how we got to where we are today. Extraordinarily, and the author gives examples, some centre right parties in Europe are now absorbing "Great Replacement" and overtly racist theories to explain the polycrisis. This is gaining some traction for them too and even squeezing them into government in some cases. Actual alliances with Far Right parties are no longer absolutely off limits in this quest for political survival. Maybe the big question in British politics now is how far its mainstream centre right party will travel on this journey? How far has it travelled already in a rather understated and covert British way? www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/aug/23/europe-centre-right-out-of-ideas-absorbing-far-right-not-the-answerThis perhaps answers one of the questions that has puzzled me for some time: why the Conservatives have adopted such a strong position about asylum and immigration. If one imagines basic Conservative/19(c) Liberal theory the place of the imaginative, courageous, energetic and resilient entrepreneur is lionised. In realistic terms, albeit that the motivation to move will vary from abject fear to economic opportunity, those who travel to a strange country to live and, in the process, go through significant difficulties to do so are likely to possess the above mentioned qualities. In fact, in the main those of the first generation in any group of immigrants has, generally, proved to be not only law abiding but possessing those qualities. It seems counterintuitive, therefore, that a party which espouses that these are qualities which should be admired are against immigration generally and more reprehensibly asylum for the genuine refugee. When I was growing up in Swansea during the 1960's and 1970's , on the council estate where I lived there was an accepted truth which ran along the lines of immigrants (in that era those from the commonwealth who were generally black or brown skinned) were obtaining the benefits paid for by the local population working and were given priority on the council housing waiting list. The problem with this truth is that, certainly locally, it was mythical. I barely saw anyone with black or brown skin in Swansea who wasn't third or fourth generation in the town (docks and all that) and certainly there were no immigrants with homes on our council housing estate. This was a myth fueled, no doubt, by the like s of Enoch POwell and his speeches along with a very vociferous National Front. It seems that the Conservatives are trying to revive the myths and use them to electoral advantage. |
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steve
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Post by steve on Aug 23, 2023 9:08:11 GMT
In projection news
"You really do yourself justice with your obnoxious intolerance of any viewpoint but your own."
Hypocrisy is clearly huge at village idiot HQ.
Enough now I'm sure we're both boring everyone you're certainly boring me.
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Post by leftieliberal on Aug 23, 2023 9:10:18 GMT
There is no official mechanism, but remember that political parties get access to the marked registers and a major party (like the Tories) will do this as a matter of course. With "Big Data" it may well be possible to identify students and whether they have voted twice. This is something that even just a decade ago I would have said was theoretically possible but impractical, but nowadays with young people putting so much of their life in public on social media, I'm not so sure. It would only take one successful election petition and the argument over voter ID would seem a tea-party in comparison. One could imagine demands for everyone in the country to have a unique numerical Voter ID that would be on the electoral register, for example. Don't forget it is entirely legal and permitted for students to vote in two separate council areas in local elections. To quote the Electoral Commission: "You will need to choose one address and vote in only that area when you're voting in: UK Parliament elections UK referendums London Assembly and London Mayoral elections You can't vote at both your term-time address and your home address at these elections. Voting in more than one location is a criminal offence. For other elections you can vote at both your term-time and your home address. You can choose to vote in either or both areas (as long as the addresses are in different council areas) when you're voting in: Local council elections in England Police and Crime commissioner elections and mayoral elections Make sure you understand the rules for the election you are voting in." Yes, I'm well aware of that. my response was to oldnat who was commenting specifically on UK parliament elections. |
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Mr Poppy
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Post by Mr Poppy on Aug 23, 2023 9:10:20 GMT
CBs are winning the battle to force a recession to 'cure' inflation. Latest PMI data Flash UK PMI Composite Output Index(1) at 47.9 (Jul: 50.8). 31-month low. Flash Eurozone Composite PMI Output Index(1) at 47.0 (July: 48.6). 33-month low. Flash Germany Composite PMI Output Index(1) at 44.7 (July: 48.5). 39-month low. www.pmi.spglobal.comCries of "Schuld daran ist der Brexit" can be heard across Germany*  As stated many times then the ONLY good thing about BoE overdoing their rate hikes is that they'll have a lot of room to cut when they finally wake up, smell the coffee, and look at the road ahead not their rear view mirror. Hopefully in time to avoid crashing the car or plunging us off a 'debt deflation' cliff. * Polling in Germany does suggest the incumbents are taking the hit for things that aren't within their current govts control and whilst Germany has quite low debt/GDP on a relative basis and is still paranoid about inflation then it will be the 'weak who suffer what they must' in a case of 'Déjà vu all over again' |
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steve
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Post by steve on Aug 23, 2023 9:17:16 GMT
The regime is attempting to negotiate a trade deal with India.
In or out of the European union this would be significant the European union are also attempting to negotiate a trade deal from a considerably stronger position than brexitania.
The main contention appears that India as part of the arrangements would want something akin to free movement of people for business purposes at least from India to the U.K.
There are clearly issues with this for our racist regime but if it transpires it would be somewhat ironic that the first significant trade deal negotiated post Brexit and the theft of UK citizens freedom of movement within the European union would entail freedom of movement from outside of the European union to the U.K. without reciprocity.
Taking back control of our borders indeed.
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Post by leftieliberal on Aug 23, 2023 9:17:43 GMT
"(another unconfirmed view is that when postal/actual polling cards arrive at halls of residence mail drops then someone 'collects' them all, or at least the ones not being used, and makes sure they don't go to waste - unconfirmed of course)" 'Unconfirmed' because it is complete nonsense. After the 2017 election the Tory press and a few backbenchers thrashed around for excuses to explain the Conservative's relatively poor performance when they had expected a landslide and settled on the idea that students had voted twice in large numbers. The alleged source of this was statements on social media by a tiny handful of (supposed) students. If you google something like "students voting twice" you will get the links to the original stories in the Mail and Sun and comments from the likes of Henry Bellingham MP, but I'm not going to dignify this by posting such links. The Electoral Commission investigated and found nothing of note, nor do the voting patterns actually suggest anything unusual. It was such a non-story from the EC's point of view they didn't bother formally reporting on it, although they do publish advice to students on what they can and can't do. www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-am-a/voter/studentsAs to collecting up postal votes - a postal vote requires the signature of the person voting, you can't just steal it and send it in. The main risk with postal votes is of a dominant individual forcing others to vote the way he tells them, which was the issue identified in some South Asian communities. This is hugely unlikely with students. Polling cards are of course essentially meaningless (they are just informational) and are not proof of a right to vote - that will involve checking the electoral register at the polling station. Again no evidence of 'personation' in student areas was found, as indeed is the case with the rest of Britain (Northern Ireland is a separate issue), despite the Government claiming it was the reason for introducing ID checks. The Birmingham case involved people collecting postal votes that had already been completed, illegally opening the envelopes and altering the ballot papers: it was only the activity of the then Yardley MP, John Hemming, and barrister Ayoub Khan that brought it to light: www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/birmingham-vote-fraud-still-happening-7229359 |
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Post by leftieliberal on Aug 23, 2023 9:54:18 GMT
BBC News article on ULEZ: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-66583068Some interesting data here: The independent Jacobs modelling in outer London shows a 6.9% decrease (323 tonnes) in nitrogen oxides in the first year.
Across the whole of London modelling shows a 5.4% (362 tonnes) annual drop.
Nitrogen dioxide will drop 1.4% in outer London and 1.3% across Greater London annually.
342,600 more Londoners (3.7% change) will live in areas where NO2 is below the World Health Organisation's target.[1]It is very apparent from the modelling that ULEZ will have a small, and slow, effect on reducing NOx in London.[2] The question is where is the rest of the NOx pollution coming from. Obviously all internal combustion engines will emit some NOx, but there is also the issue of gas boilers, which contributed 21% of all NOx emissions in 2010: eciu.net/media/press-releases/2020/analysis-gas-boilers-and-nox-the-hidden-emitterReplacing natural gas with hydrogen will not help as it is the temperature of the flame that generates NOx (hotter flames= more NOx). We may well find out that after ULEZ the next stage needs to be to replace all gas boilers in London with heat pumps. [1] The WHO target for NO2 is 10 µg/m3 annually and 25 µg/m3 for a 24 hour period. The current DEFRA Nitrogen Dioxide Alert is 400 µg/m3 for 3 consecutive hours over 100km2 area [2] current London levels uk-air.defra.gov.uk/latest/currentlevels?period=current®ion=15#levels10:00 am 23/8/23 Highest Camden 57 µg/m3; lowest Hillingdon 11 µg/m3. Many of the measuring stations are around the 30 µg/m3 mark. EDIT: Even locations in the Scottish Highlands like Fort William and Inverness are at similar levels to Hillingdon, showing that this is a UK-wide problem. |
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pjw1961
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Post by pjw1961 on Aug 23, 2023 10:00:50 GMT
As to collecting up postal votes - a postal vote requires the signature of the person voting, you can't just steal it and send it in. The main risk with postal votes is of a dominant individual forcing others to vote the way he tells them, which was the issue identified in some South Asian communities. This is hugely unlikely with students. Polling cards are of course essentially meaningless (they are just informational) and are not proof of a right to vote - that will involve checking the electoral register at the polling station. Again no evidence of 'personation' in student areas was found, as indeed is the case with the rest of Britain (Northern Ireland is a separate issue), despite the Government claiming it was the reason for introducing ID checks. The Birmingham case involved people collecting postal votes that had already been completed, illegally opening the envelopes and altering the ballot papers: it was only the activity of the then Yardley MP, John Hemming, and barrister Ayoub Khan that brought it to light: www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/birmingham-vote-fraud-still-happening-7229359A fair point - I was referring to the Tower Hamlets and Leicester cases. I'm surprised that it was possible to alter ballot papers in a way that wouldn't be queried at the count, although I suppose you could just weed out all the ones for your opponent. The advantage of bullying family members and dependents into voting the way you want on a postal vote in the privacy of your own home is that it is literally undetectable and unprovable unless a witness is prepared to come forward. |
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Post by somerjohn on Aug 23, 2023 10:01:51 GMT
CB11: "Extraordinarily, and the author gives examples, some centre right parties in Europe are now absorbing "Great Replacement" and overtly racist theories to explain the polycrisis. This is gaining some traction for them too and even squeezing them into government in some cases."
Steve: "The main contention appears that India as part of the arrangements would want something akin to free movement of people for business purposes at least from India to the U.K.
There are clearly issues with this for our racist regime but if it transpires it would be somewhat ironic that the first significant trade deal negotiated post Brexit and the theft of UK citizens freedom of movement within the European union would entail freedom of movement from outside of the European union to the U.K. without reciprocity."
I worry that there is potential for future linkage of these issues.
If we have a situation where an Indian-heritage PM leads us into increased immigration from the sub-continent, and increased business opportunities and visibility here for Indian companies, I fear there will be a lot of scope for far right mischief making about an 'Indian takeover'.
Disappointed brexiteers casting around for another 'us and them' issue may not have far to look.
Combine that situation with a period of falling living standards and we don't have to think too hard to identify historical precedents for far right regimes climbing to power on the back of blaming an ethnic minority for the country's troubles.
Of course, it couldn't happen here. Until it does.
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Post by leftieliberal on Aug 23, 2023 10:23:43 GMT
A fair point - I was referring to the Tower Hamlets and Leicester cases. I'm surprised that it was possible to alter ballot papers in a way that wouldn't be queried at the count, although I suppose you could just weed out all the ones for your opponent. The advantage of bullying family members and dependents into voting the way you want on a postal vote in the privacy of your own home is that it is literally undetectable and unprovable unless a witness is prepared to come forward. Yes, the difficulty is that the counters of the votes won't be looking for the Birmingham sort of fraud. Having been to many postal vote openings, the outer envelopes are opened first and the signatures and dates of birth checked. Only when that is completed are the inner envelopes opened and even then the ballot papers are counted face-down (because usually postal ballots are received before the polling stations open). Then when the count proper takes place; first there is the verification stage (the only time that you can definitively link ballot papers to ballot boxes), then the contents of the ballot boxes for each ward are mixed and the postal votes added to the ballot boxes at this stage. So, in principle, if you see Tippex on ballot papers, you should be suspicious, but in practice counting agents are usually fairly tired at this stage having been concentrating on box counts and unless you know there has been dirty work it is difficult to keep asking counters to put them on the dubious votes pile. The election petition route, although expensive, is a much surer way of finding this sort of fraud. |
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Post by leftieliberal on Aug 23, 2023 10:42:45 GMT
Tories to lose all "Red Wall" seats on basis of poll: www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/general-election-sunak-tories-polls-red-wall-b2396272.htmlThis assessment appears to be separate from the recent Redfield and Wilton "Red Wall" poll The data, compiled by analytics firm Outra, show 15 Conservative-held red wall seats, which were won at the last election but have historically supported the Labour Party, are among the 50 constituencies with the highest number of financially distressed voters in the country. |
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Post by Mark on Aug 23, 2023 11:06:59 GMT
(another unconfirmed view is that when postal/actual polling cards arrive at halls of residence mail drops then someone 'collects' them all, or at least the ones not being used, and makes sure they don't go to waste - unconfirmed of course) There are two very obvious flaws to this. Firestly, you don't need your voting card to actually vote. Secondly...and this is the biggie...if someone were to use a fellow students voting card to vote twice, they would have to show up a second time at the same polling station Given that this is a criminal offence - and given that there are usually only about three workers giving out the ballot sheets, how many of those who would even want to do this would take the risk? |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 23, 2023 12:12:36 GMT
(another unconfirmed view is that when postal/actual polling cards arrive at halls of residence mail drops then someone 'collects' them all, or at least the ones not being used, and makes sure they don't go to waste - unconfirmed of course) There are two very obvious flaws to this. Firestly, you don't need your voting card to actually vote. Secondly...and this is the biggie...if someone were to use a fellow students voting card to vote twice, they would have to show up a second time at the same polling station Given that this is a criminal offence - and given that there are usually only about three workers giving out the ballot sheets, how many of those who would even want to do this would take the risk? And all for just one additional vote in one constituency.
To make any difference it would have to be repeated on such a massive scale it would be obvious to any observers what was going on.
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steve
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Post by steve on Aug 23, 2023 12:33:51 GMT
Congratulations to the Indian Space Agency.
Unlike the Russians they don't require civilians to aim at.
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steve
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Post by steve on Aug 23, 2023 13:21:47 GMT
Interesting take from msnbc on the nature of the maga bubble. Much like Brexit cult members here they simply don't see outside of their confirmation circle and just can't accept that any other opinion has validity irrespective of the overwhelming evidence that it does. youtu.be/qdrEYPpBgJI |
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Post by mercian on Aug 23, 2023 13:24:23 GMT
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steve
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Post by steve on Aug 23, 2023 13:35:11 GMT
And here's a perfect example of Brexit self delusion. youtu.be/5FGM74_n-hImercianSo is the pot facts and the kettle fantasy? You do understand that the evidence is clear to all but the self deluding that the maga world view much like the concept of Brexit bonuses is devoid of connection with objective reality. |
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Post by alec on Aug 23, 2023 13:44:51 GMT
Very interesting, given the strong association between prior covid and ischaemic heart disease.
Latest data from the CMI again show significantly high excess deaths in the latest figures, up 5% on the pre pandemic level, at a time when it really should be much lower, due to the pandemic 'weeding out' effect.
Something's badly wrong with the nations health, and while the state of the NHS is clearly a factor, the UK is by no means out of line with mortality data elsewhere in the world, so we need to look for more general causal factors.
Can't think of anything particularly notable that's only been around since 2020.
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