Morus’ Saturday Slant: Table Talk

Morus’ Saturday Slant: Table Talk

The Menu Has Changed There once was a time that Britain had a fairly straighforward choice of restaurant. Our beloved class structure, in which every Earl and urchine knew his place, and each understood the choice of fare that was offered. They were simpler days, before we infused our gastronomy with foreign flavours, and yielded in silent homage (rhymes with fromage) to the culinary imperatives of Continental cuisine. Sadly those days are gone, and the Blonde and I this week…

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What about an 8/1 bet on Gord’s approval ratings?

What about an 8/1 bet on Gord’s approval ratings?

UKPollingReport Could he be back below 20% at Christmas? Just when I feared that with no imminent elections that there would be little for political punters to bet on the bookmakers are getting their thinking hats on and now the Dublin-firm, PaddyPower, has introduced a new market on Gord’s Approval ratings. The market applies to “.. Gordon Browns approval rating (% of those who consider Brown to be doing the job of PM well or fairly well) as Prime Minister…

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Is my 33/1 Ming bet looking good?

Is my 33/1 Ming bet looking good?

Will Labour be able to stop a Tory from being next Speaker? Last Saturday I suggested that people should consider getting on the former LIb Dem leader, Sir Ming Campbell, in the then William Hill next speaker market following reports in that morning’s Daily Mail of a possible LAB-LD agreement to support him. At the time Ming was not even listed as a runner on the Hill market but I got through on the phone, as did others, and got…

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First poll of 2009 has the Tories 7 points up

First poll of 2009 has the Tories 7 points up

CONSERVATIVES 41% (-1) LABOUR 34% (-1) LIB DEMS 15% (+1) Does this show that the Brown bounce is over? The first poll of 2009, a YouGov survey for the Sun, has the Tories still on a seven point lead. Compared with the last survey from the pollster before Christmas both Labour and the Tories are down a point with the LDs up one. This is clearly very little change but the fact that the Tories are still in the 40s…

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Is it worth betting on a ZERO interest rate?

Is it worth betting on a ZERO interest rate?

What about 3/1 that it will be 0% during the year? With the bank rate hitting its lowest ever level in more than three centuries since the Bank of England was founded there’s now some betting interest on where this is all going to. William Hill’s are offering odds of 3/1 that the Rate will hit 0% at some stage during 2009. This is available online – but like other political markets from the firm you won’t be able to…

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Is this going to be a difficult one to explain?

Is this going to be a difficult one to explain?

What’ll be the impact of saying Plan A was wrong? The front pages of the Daily Mail and the Times this morning are dominated by the same story – a plan by the Treasury to “print more money” to deal with the ongoing economic crisis. As the Mail puts it:“…The prospect of what is known as ‘ quantitative easing’ – printing money – emerged as Mr Darling gave a clear sign that the recession this year will be worse than…

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Will the 2005 Lib Dems be going back to Labour?

Will the 2005 Lib Dems be going back to Labour?

Where’s the money going in key marginals? The big move in the 2005 general election, of course, was the switch of 5-6% of the voters from Labour to the Lib Dems at a time when the Iraq War was still a major influence. Many of the starting positions in individual seats that Nick Clegg’s party will have next time will have been underpinned by this big swing. The critical question is whether these groups will go back, stick with the…

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