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Picuture: John William Waterhouse – The Crystal Ball – Wikipedia Public Domain OK PBers, here’s a bit of New Year fun.  Make your 2024 predictions against the following political, economic and sporting questions and win yourself a virtual silver trophy (it’s huge – about the same size as TSE’s modesty) and, more importantly, the kudos of being the Supreme PB Prediction Guru of 2024! TSE will be donating one hundred pounds worth of Amazon vouchers to the winner of this…

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Today marks the last day in office de facto of Amanda Spielman, who has been the longest serving  Chief Inspector of Schools since Ofsted’s foundation in 1992. She is to be replaced by Sir Martin Oliver, who has a formidable in tray to cope with. Let us consider the problems that face him:  On Spielman’s own admission Ofsted is currently completely discredited. It is difficult to argue with this assessment given that Ofsted has just been declared guilty of lying…

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Boxing day football is one of our many British Christmas traditions. The season tends to end much as at this halfway point, though rarely precisely, so quite the benchmark. While nearly all politicians pay lip service to supporting a football team, Keir Starmer has a more genuine love of football than most in politics. Like Jeremy Corbyn and Osama Bin Laden he is an Arsenal fan, and a season ticket holder for many years. He also played himself in a…

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Across   1 Labour MP declared bonuses (8)   5 Politician on god’s side? (6)   9 Opening up most of UK city – no way! (8)   10 Country with a European President (6)   12 Muse over a Tory stuffing! (5)   13 PM to strongly admire, not starting in political office (9)   14 Blair has expressed Churchill’s Cold War diplomacy ably (6,6)   18 Notes written in blue by a musical Tory (6,6)   21 Journalist by trade originally covers item honouring US President (5,4) …

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In a roseate African dusk a skinny teenager ignores the sliding pitch of the lark’s incessant call and shoulders a Mauser Model 1895 rifle. He squints down the crude iron sights, imagines himself to be Yevgeny Maximov and, between heartbeats as his grandfather has taught him, squeezes the trigger. The antique weapon bucks and roars in his hands leaving a choking cloud of white smoke and a ringing noise in his ears. The watermelon, placed on the corner of the…

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No, you haven’t logged on to the wrong forum (well, maybe – only you know for sure). Sometime next year I expect the broadcasters will be brushing the dust off their swingometers, giving them a fresh lick of paint, and oiling the needle pivot in readiness for the long-awaited General Election.  I have a tip for broadcasters: “You’re gonna need a bigger dial”. The current Labour lead averages about 18-19%.  At the last election the Tories won by 11.7%.  Unless…

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When I first moved into project management I asked my boss what he thought the top attribute of a successful project manager was. He said: ‘be lucky’, which is undoubtedly correct but hardly actionable. Was there ever a luckier Prime Minister than Rishi Sunak?   I think not, here’s why: At six key points the dice have fallen heavily Sunak’s way. Family.  Even before he was born, luck was on Sunak’s side.  His grandparents and parents were able to move from…

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LostPassword asks did Liz Truss end the Thatcherite consensus? One of the aspects of the Thatcherite consensus less often credited to the 1980s Prime Minister who looms large over British politics, was the practice of increasing the rate of Employee* National Insurance Contributions (NICs) and cutting the rate of Income Tax. In 1979, when Thatcher took office, the rate of NICs was 6.5% and the basic rate of Income Tax was 33%. When a tearful Margaret was ousted from Downing…

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