General – Page 6 – politicalbetting.com

Christmas Day on PB wouldn’t be Christmas without the St. John Christmas Crossword

25/12/2017 Mike Smithson Comments 0 Comment

ACROSS 1 Isn’t a rotten borough firstly one that favours a politician? (10) 6 War intelligence protects soldiers (4) 9 Former Tory MP Gilmour opposed such squalid conditions (10) 10 Bute for example had his lead cut (4) 12 OK to spoil then invent urban regeneration? (6,3,5) 14 Black out resulting from left wing legislation (6) 15 Poll contest before each point of government (8) 17 Built on a Latin state (8) 19 In May she was here (2,4) 22…

Read More Read More

The dangers of reverse-reasoning: a Christmas parable

23/12/2017 David Herdson Comments 0 Comment

Beware starting from a conclusion and working backwards “This time next year, we’ll be running the country”, as Jeremy Corbyn didn’t quite say a few days ago in his interview with Grazia. It’s a near-repetition of his prediction at Glastonbury this June – except that there he was talking about Christmas 2017 rather than 2018 – and for those not favourably inclined towards him, might bear a passing resemblance to the unsubstantiated optimism of another Christmas staple. Admittedly, Del Boy…

Read More Read More

The sun is rising in the East

25/11/2017 David Herdson Comments 0 Comment

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…

Read More Read More

Marf on the dramatic events in Harare

15/11/2017 Mike Smithson Comments 0 Comment

A coup or not a coup? Dr Julia Gallagher, Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at Royal Holloway, University of London, said: “This has all the hallmarks of a military coup. It looks like this is direct consequence of President Mugabe’s sacking of his Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa last week. Mnangagwa is an unpopular figure, widely associated with brutal repressions in Matabeland in the 1980s, and with election violence more recently. However, he is supported by Zimbabwe’s military, who…

Read More Read More

From Core TV – focus on PB, Brexit, the “Democrats”, the Tory leadership and more

19/8/2017 Mike Smithson Comments 0 Comment

No David Herdson with his usual Saturday morning post this morning but instead this TV feature on PB and many of the issues we’ve been discussing on the site over the past few weeks. This interview, by Rob Double, was recorded yesterday afternoon for Core TV the new online news and politics channel. My views and assessments won’t be unfamiliar to regular PBers. Mike Smithson Follow @MSmithsonPB Tweet

It’s (Third) Party Time!!

9/8/2017 Mike Smithson Comments 0 Comment

Stodge looks back to the 80s to reflect on today’s developments I joined the Liberal Party in 1980 and by January 1982 was an activist in south-east London and I remember going out knocking on doors in the bleak midwinter and coming back astonished at the collapse of the Conservative vote in an area which had routinely voted 65-70% Conservative at local elections. Perhaps the house owners were taking pity on me – the passage of time may make it…

Read More Read More