SkyNews Is this response going to suffice? As anybody who has followed PB threads in recent days there are sharp divisions over the Scottish government’s decision to release to Lockerbie bomber. One person who has yet to give a view is Gordon Brown and today at a press conference he continued with that line. Clearly there are a whole lot of issues involved – relations with the US and the leadership in Libya to name just two – and as…
AngusReid Are Londoners really the most compassionate? While we are waiting for the August MORI poll I thought PBers might like to look at another survey on the release of the Lockerbie bomber – but this time with regional differences. The pollster, Angus-Reid, is well known internationally but I think that this is the first political survey it has published in the UK. It is seeking to be a member of the British Polling Council. I don’t think we can…
What’s the politics if the UK lost its AAA credit rating? While the Lockerbie release story has been dominating the news a more bread and butter issue has received scant coverage yet has the potential to have an even bigger impact on the election campaign. The government’s borrowing figures for July were much worse than expected – and needless to say, expectations weren’t healthy to start with. The scale of the battering that the public finances have taken in the…
Guardian online Is there anything that Brown Central can do? The August ICM poll for the Guardian is out and like all other polls reporting this month it is simply more of the same. Labour in the doldrums in the 20s with the Tories in the 40s. The changes in the Guardian’s graphic, above, are with the last poll in the paper in July. Compared with the Sunday Mirror ICM poll the weekend before last the changes were CON -2…
Could we get another poll tonight? I’m just off out for a few hours and we need a new thread. There is a possibility that we might see one or two polls this evening. I know that Ipsos-MORI was carrying out fieldwork during the weekend and the Guardian’s ICM survey usually comes out on this Monday each month. Meanwhile the argument over the Lockerbie release continues and Gordon Brown has invited the victorious England cricket team to Number 10. I…
PoliticsHome What do we think of the first post-release poll? The above are the results of an online poll of 1,204 adults carried out between 18-20 August 2009. Figures are weighted by party ID to reflect the UK at large. Unfortunately we do not have any Scotland-specific numbers which are probably the most relevant. Mike Smithson
Times Online But isn’t the most pressure going to be on Brown’s government? With the storm over the release of the Lockerbie bomber continuing unabated on both sides of the Atlantic William Hill has opened a market that “Alex Salmond will cease to be SNP Leader on or before December 31, 2009”. Today the Holyrood parliament is being recalled so justice minister Kenny MacAskill can make a statement. With talk of a boycott of Scottish goods in the US there’s…
A few bets for consideration at home and abroad Following up on the recent autumn preview, here are a few betting opportunities that you might like to consider before the political scene starts to hot up again – naturally the usual caveats apply. Feedback on individual selections welcomed. Norway Norway votes on 14th September and didn’t get covered in the autumn preview, but Labour’s Jens Stoltenberg to be re-elected Prime Minister is 2/5 (in from 1/2) with Ladbrokes and looks…