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Month: August 2019

By a small margin punters think the next general election will happen before Brexit

By a small margin punters think the next general election will happen before Brexit

Chart of Betfair Exchange from Betdata.io We’ve discussed the timing of the next general election a fair bit on PB and my guess is that we’ll return to it quite often in the next few weeks. It might not be as easy for a general election to be called as many seem to think. For a general election to take place the Fixed Term Parliaments Act makes it a requirement that two thirds of the entire House of Commons, 433…

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By signing the Good Friday Agreement 21 years ago the UK made any subsequent EU exit harder and more dangerous

By signing the Good Friday Agreement 21 years ago the UK made any subsequent EU exit harder and more dangerous

Johnson’s challenge: not triggering off a new round of troubles In a post here last year I highlighted an article by John McTernan, Tony Blair’s former director of political operations, which sought to set out clearly why the Northern Ireland border has been such an issue in the Brexit negotiations. He wrote: “.. there is no concession that can be given on the backstop or, as it should properly be considered, Northern Ireland. The fundamental problem here is not the…

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The Season of Myths

The Season of Myths

As we approach witching hour, a handy cut-out and keep guide to some of the more common Brexit myths. Britain will be in good company outside the EU. There are lots and lots of countries outside the EU, mostly surviving, many thriving happily, say Leavers. What are we so afraid of? Well, yes, there are. The majority in fact. (Though not the majority of countries in Europe.) But it’s a false comparison. The number of countries who have been in…

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Corbyn’s big speech – David Herdson’s take

Corbyn’s big speech – David Herdson’s take

2/n There were *a lot* of very expensive pledges in his speech:– Free university tuition– Renationalisation of key industries– "Ending austerity" i.e. major increases in day-to-day spending How will this all be paid for? — David Herdson (@DavidHerdson) August 19, 2019 4/n There is a lot of work to be done / explained in Labour's policies – are they up to doing so? Can they explain, simply, what "[We'll] give the workforce a 10% stake in large companies; paying a…

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Former White House Coms Director predicts Trump will quit WH2020 race by March

Former White House Coms Director predicts Trump will quit WH2020 race by March

Could it be that the President won’t be the nominee? Over the weekend I’ve placed of bets at effectively about 10/1 that Trump will not be the Republican nominee at WH2020. I’ve done this by laying Trump on the Betfair 2020 nominee market. This has been prompted by two developments. First there have been the public comments of former White House Coms Director, Anthony Scaramucci, who has been infuriating Trump over the last few days with a series of TV…

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What will the UK interest rate be at the end of 2019?

What will the UK interest rate be at the end of 2019?

I really don’t know much about economics and the intricacies of how and interest rates are set by the Bank of England, looking at this market from Paddy Power is a bit like pinning the tail on the donkey for me. My theory on this market is that is Project Fear turns out to be very close to Project Reality then Sterling will seriously and quickly tank as we head to No Deal. The only time I can remember a…

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Meet the next Prime Minister. Maybe

Meet the next Prime Minister. Maybe

Could this former member of the Monday Club be our next Prime Minister? John Bercow as Prime Minister seems outlandish even in these interesting times. There’s not enough bandwdith on the information superhighway to list all the reasons why this is a bad idea or why John Bercow is so unsuited to be Prime Minister but given the desperation amongst MPs to stop a No Deal Brexit then something outlandish needs to happen. Do I think Bercow has the ego to…

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On the betting markets punters are becoming LESS convinced that there’ll be a 2019 General Election

On the betting markets punters are becoming LESS convinced that there’ll be a 2019 General Election

From Betdata.io – the last month on Betfair GE year market But 2019 still a strong odds-on favourite As can be seen from the chart there has been a huge amount of volatility on the year of the next general election with punters starting to move back from 2019 which got to a 73% chance earlier in the week. As we know under the Fixed Term Parliaments Act there are two ways an election can be triggered ahead of 2022…

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