With the troubles continuing to sweep across the US Biden takes a clear lead in the WH2020 betting

With the troubles continuing to sweep across the US Biden takes a clear lead in the WH2020 betting

Comments 0 Comment

These are very troubling times in the United States with the protests and demonstrations sparked off by the murder by police of a black man in Minneapolis taking place every evening in cities and towns right across the country. This comes during a period when the Covid-19 pandemic control measures are still in place across the US and we are only a few months away from November’s presidential election when Donald Trump hopes to get reelected. There’s a widespread view…

Read More Read More

A PBer lobbies the government over not being able to see his mother who is in a care home

A PBer lobbies the government over not being able to see his mother who is in a care home

Comments 0 Comment

Care Home Visitor Rules: constructive suggestions for change Dear XXXXX My mother (86) is in a care home. Care homes are, of course, currently protected by special guidance due to Covid-19. This guidance specifies no visitors. Due to this, my mother has not been able to see her husband, children, grandchildren or friends for over ten weeks with no end in sight. The care home staff does a really great job but the best they can offer in terms of…

Read More Read More

Sewage and sewerage. New media and news

Sewage and sewerage. New media and news

Comments 0 Comment

There’s always a tweet. Donald Trump had long baited the public through his twitter account, but this time he went too far.  In relation to the George Floyd case, he inveighed against rioters, with the stirring words: “Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts”.   These words would have been inflammatory without context, but they in fact echo the boast of a southern police chief against the civil rights movement. This was too much for…

Read More Read More

The Covid-19 Inquiry: A Primer

The Covid-19 Inquiry: A Primer

Comments 0 Comment

The PM does not enjoy scrutiny. It has even taken him 10 months to attend Parliament’s Liaison Committee. Nonetheless, sometimes even the most reluctant must submit to inquiries, often led by those great favourites of politicians – judges. 68 of them between 1990 and 2017, most into tragedies so serious that an inquiry was inevitable (the Piper Alpha explosion, e-Coli outbreaks, rail crashes). Many into the NHS (murdering nurses/doctors – Allitt/Shipman, child cardiac surgery, hospital failings – Bristol, Morecambe Bay,…

Read More Read More

However you view these poll numbers it doesn’t look good for Cummings or the PM

However you view these poll numbers it doesn’t look good for Cummings or the PM

Comments 0 Comment

The above chart is based on the data from yesterday’s Opinium poll for the Observer and seeks to break down in visual form how different segments are viewing what Cummings did at the height of the lockdown. As can be seen the government’s argument that this was justified is not being received well across the key segments there. Even GE2019 CON voters have failed, admittedly by a small margin, to give it their blessing. The split I find most striking…

Read More Read More

Denying Bercow a peerage shows what a petty mean minded little man Johnson really is

Denying Bercow a peerage shows what a petty mean minded little man Johnson really is

Comments 0 Comment

Going against the long-standing tradition is a mistake It is being reported that Johnson has blocked the traditional move for former Speakers of the House of Commons to be elevated to the peerage once they have stepped down. In doing so Bercow is denied an honour that has gone to Speakers for decades if not centuries. This is one of those traditional parts of the unwritten constitution. By becoming Speaker an MP has to give up their party links and…

Read More Read More

A nice way to spend your Sunday afternoon, watching This House

A nice way to spend your Sunday afternoon, watching This House

Comments 0 Comment

Like Mike Smithson I love the play This House, I saw This House at the theatre back in 2012 and when it was repeated in the cinemas in 2013, so I utterly delighted a wider audience will be able to see this. I was born in the late 70s but I’ve always been fascinated by these crucial votes in Parliament, particularly the 1979 vote of no confidence, something which is a pivot moment in the history of this country. It’s…

Read More Read More

We need to talk about Donald Trump’s Twitter account

We need to talk about Donald Trump’s Twitter account

Comments 0 Comment

Donald Trump and his Twitter account seems to be the embodiment of David Cameron’s maxim about Twitter, but this week Trump seems to have really caught the attention of Twitter with some pretty interesting actions regarding his tweets. So onto the betting angle of this story. Ladbrokes have a market up on Trump’s Twitter account to be deactivated or suspended before the end of June 2020 at 10/1. Usually a profitable route is not to get involved in betting markets…

Read More Read More