When I got my jab at the end of January I was a little bit disappointed that it was the AstraZeneca and not the Pfizer one – after all the test results indicated that the latter was substantially better. Under the system that is going on in England you really have no choice as to which of the vaccines you get. It is possible to go to a particular vaccinations centre in the hope that you might be offered what…
The problem with Austerity II is that we’re not all in it together Rishi Sunak set out a reasonably coherent economic strategy for the rest of the parliament at his Budget this week. Not that you’d know, because it was buried well within the speech and neither media nor politicians have sought to engage on that level. This is a mistake from the government but is typical of its lack of strategic thinking and inability or unwillingness to develop an…
One of the features of American politics I find difficult understanding is in the above polling. As can be seen supporters of Donald Trump’s party, the Republicans, have a much more negative of vaccination view than Democrats even to the extent that 42% say they don’t plan to take it This is not margin of error stuff but a huge divide and from what we know the refusers are likely putting their own lives at risk. The technical term, I’d…
The big polling story of the year is YouGov in the Times reporting a post-budget lead of 13% for the Tories which is greater than the 11.8% vote margin that Johnson’s party achieved at GE2019. But it will be the Daily Mail front page that will most worry Downing Street. The paper’s Simon Walter reports: Boris Johnson fears the final bill for Carrie Symonds‘s lavish makeover of their Downing Street flat could be as high as £200,000. He told aides of his worries in…
Cards on the table – I don’t understand the Labour Party any more. I used to – a quarter century of membership, Chair, Treasurer, Secretary, Councillor. Then, like so many long-term Labour voters, I left the party. For an opposition these should be opportune times. A pandemic which has been particularly harsh in the UK thanks to a series of government bungles has not only seen far more deaths than should have been, but needless economic pain as well. An…
Betdata.io chart of Betfair market He’s increasing looking like the PM in waiting In the chart above is the latest betting from Betfair on who punters think will be the next prime minister based on where they are placing their money. The picture is very clear – in the space of a few hours after the budget Sunak moved up in the next PM betting from a 21% chance to a 29% one. The instant post budget polls have all…
Analysis of the most recent Ipsos Scotland poll With two months to go until the Holyrood elections, Ipsos MORI’s latest Scotland poll yet again finds the SNP ahead on voting intention – 52% of likely voters are minded to vote SNP for their constituency, and 47% say they will vote for them on their regional list. Both the Conservatives (on 23% constituency, 22% list) and Labour (15%/14%) continue to trail well behind. But as the well worn saying goes, a…