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Month: June 2020

A big challenge for Johnson and his minsters is that their rating on how they’re handling COVID 19 has now gone negative

A big challenge for Johnson and his minsters is that their rating on how they’re handling COVID 19 has now gone negative

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Several pollsters are asking regular questions on how the public think the government is handling the pandemic. YouGov and Opinium have published the most data on this and I have chosen the former for my chart. The main trend is broadly the same which ever pollster you use and whatever the question format – a falling off of confidence in the government’s approach. It should be noted that with YouGov it went into negative territory before we got news of…

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Why Johnson can take little comfort from the Tory voting intention poll leads

Why Johnson can take little comfort from the Tory voting intention poll leads

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He’s being smashed by Starmer in the leader ratings The latest weekly poll from Opinium the the Observer had the Conservatives with a 4% lead while at the same time the same poll gave Starmer net 30% lead over Johnson in its approval question. On the face of it these two statements about this poll simply don’t make sense. The head of a party in the lead on voting would not, surely, have approval numbers that were so far off….

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Starmer tells Boris to “get a grip” as they prepare for the first PMQs since the Cummings lockdown revelations

Starmer tells Boris to “get a grip” as they prepare for the first PMQs since the Cummings lockdown revelations

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At noon in the Commons LAB leader Keir Starmer will face Johnson in the first PMQs since the story about the Cummings lockdown trip to Durham broke. This could be quite tricky for Johnson who has struggled when faced with the former DPP now Leader of the Opposition. In the Guardian this morning he’s quoted as saying: “We’ve called for an exit strategy. What we appear to have got is an exit without a strategy. We want to see society reopen,…

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With the troubles continuing to sweep across the US Biden takes a clear lead in the WH2020 betting

With the troubles continuing to sweep across the US Biden takes a clear lead in the WH2020 betting

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These are very troubling times in the United States with the protests and demonstrations sparked off by the murder by police of a black man in Minneapolis taking place every evening in cities and towns right across the country. This comes during a period when the Covid-19 pandemic control measures are still in place across the US and we are only a few months away from November’s presidential election when Donald Trump hopes to get reelected. There’s a widespread view…

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A PBer lobbies the government over not being able to see his mother who is in a care home

A PBer lobbies the government over not being able to see his mother who is in a care home

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Care Home Visitor Rules: constructive suggestions for change Dear XXXXX My mother (86) is in a care home. Care homes are, of course, currently protected by special guidance due to Covid-19. This guidance specifies no visitors. Due to this, my mother has not been able to see her husband, children, grandchildren or friends for over ten weeks with no end in sight. The care home staff does a really great job but the best they can offer in terms of…

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Sewage and sewerage. New media and news

Sewage and sewerage. New media and news

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There’s always a tweet. Donald Trump had long baited the public through his twitter account, but this time he went too far.  In relation to the George Floyd case, he inveighed against rioters, with the stirring words: “Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts”.   These words would have been inflammatory without context, but they in fact echo the boast of a southern police chief against the civil rights movement. This was too much for…

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The Covid-19 Inquiry: A Primer

The Covid-19 Inquiry: A Primer

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The PM does not enjoy scrutiny. It has even taken him 10 months to attend Parliament’s Liaison Committee. Nonetheless, sometimes even the most reluctant must submit to inquiries, often led by those great favourites of politicians – judges. 68 of them between 1990 and 2017, most into tragedies so serious that an inquiry was inevitable (the Piper Alpha explosion, e-Coli outbreaks, rail crashes). Many into the NHS (murdering nurses/doctors – Allitt/Shipman, child cardiac surgery, hospital failings – Bristol, Morecambe Bay,…

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However you view these poll numbers it doesn’t look good for Cummings or the PM

However you view these poll numbers it doesn’t look good for Cummings or the PM

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The above chart is based on the data from yesterday’s Opinium poll for the Observer and seeks to break down in visual form how different segments are viewing what Cummings did at the height of the lockdown. As can be seen the government’s argument that this was justified is not being received well across the key segments there. Even GE2019 CON voters have failed, admittedly by a small margin, to give it their blessing. The split I find most striking…

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