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Month: November 2017

In defence of John McDonnell. Don Brind denounces the “interview as humiliation”

In defence of John McDonnell. Don Brind denounces the “interview as humiliation”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpEK73kjiDQ “If only we Germans had a word for it”. The BBC’s comedy news programme The Now Show came up with an imagined quote from Chancellor Angela Merkel reflecting on how her failure to form a new German coalition government was being relished by her detractors. Two alleged car crash interviews by the Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell also inspired Schadenfreude and it was probably not confined to Tories. Over the years McDonnell has rubbed up against plenty of his PLP…

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Some Royal wedding betting markets

Some Royal wedding betting markets

  I’m going for a wet May 2018 wedding with the Obamas attending. Paddy Power have some markets up following this morning’s announcement. I think May is the most logic date fitting around the bank holidays and fits the announcement of a spring wedding. 5/2 on it raining in May seems huge to me, and as for attendees to the wedding, many have said Prince Harry and President Obama have a bromance, so I’ll back the Obamas attending. As for…

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The timing of this leak makes me think it is all about ousting Damian Green, and ultimately Mrs May

The timing of this leak makes me think it is all about ousting Damian Green, and ultimately Mrs May

Exc: Damian Green “offered to pay salary of DUP staff member from Tory party funds” after confidence and supply deal struck https://t.co/d2CaaG4ybl — Sam Coates Sky (@SamCoatesSky) November 26, 2017 Timing is everything. Sam Coates of The Times has a very intriguing story in today’s Times. Damian Green offered to funnel money to the Democratic Unionist Party in a secret side deal, The Times can reveal. Theresa May’s de facto deputy ­offered Conservative Party funding for a salary for a senior DUP…

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My 100/1 tip for next PM is setting his sights on Number 10

My 100/1 tip for next PM is setting his sights on Number 10

My 100/1 tip for next Prime Minister Jeremy Hunt is setting his sights on Number 10. https://t.co/IgCwfMN8dO pic.twitter.com/w3gH3zJXVe — TSE (@TSEofPB) November 26, 2017 The Sunday Times report The health secretary Jeremy Hunt has sounded out colleagues and party donors about a run for the Tory leadership when Theresa May stands down. Senior Eurosceptics say Hunt is lining himself up as an alternative to Boris Johnson as the main Brexiteer candidate for prime minister after publicly switching his support from…

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A New Ireland?

A New Ireland?

THE OBSERVER FRONT PAGE: Irish warn May: change course or risk Brexit chaos #skypapers pic.twitter.com/6ps0W3Scbx — SkyNews (@SkyNews) November 25, 2017 There is no word for schadenfraude in Gaelic, or English, for that matter. Still, the Irish can be forgiven for feeling more than a touch of it as their needs seem to be one of the key – and very possibly the hardest – of issues to be resolved in the Article 50 negotiations. It is probably fair to…

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From YouGov: The budget in five charts

From YouGov: The budget in five charts

1/ Extra NHS funding and increases in the National Living Wage were the most well-received ideas of the Budget https://t.co/gLkz3FJTEF pic.twitter.com/YoAeSlNVsa — YouGov (@YouGov) November 24, 2017 2/ The Tories tried to appeal to the under-30s with giveaways on travel and housing… but under-30s much prefer more funding for the NHS https://t.co/gLkz3FJTEF pic.twitter.com/oFkxoTZwvE — YouGov (@YouGov) November 24, 2017 3/ Only around a third of Brits think the Stamp Duty changes will actually make property more affordable https://t.co/gLkz3FJTEF pic.twitter.com/huoKGKNvwS —…

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The sun is rising in the East

The sun is rising in the East

Never mind the crocodile: the dragon is now the power in Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe is probably not a man much amused by historical irony. That’s a shame because if he was he might appreciate the various mirror images between his enforced retirement and the downfall of the Nawab Siraj-ud-daulah of Bengal in 1757. The Nawab – at 24, nearly seven decades younger than Mugabe – was deposed by the East India Company after it bribed his commander with the offer…

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