Johnson pours cold water on the idea of a early end to the shutdown

Johnson pours cold water on the idea of a early end to the shutdown

With Boris still convalescing after his bout of the virus there have been mixed messages over the weekend about what the government intends to do. First there were reports that we were going to see a partial return to the normal state over a period of months with primary schools going back in a fortnight being the first step. Then it was being briefed that we’d see a much bigger range of shops being allowed to remain open. That has…

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Who will be Sir Keir Starmer’s successor?

Who will be Sir Keir Starmer’s successor?

My 25/1 tip as next Labour leader. It might seem odd, even before a pandemic, to start looking at Sir Keir Starmer’s successor a fortnight after he was elected, in normal circumstances the earliest there might be a vacancy in 2024 and if Starmer takes power at the next general election there might not be a vacancy for a decade or longer so it is possible the next leader of the Labour party isn’t on this list. Things can rapidly…

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China Crisis

China Crisis

Covid-19 is careering in many directions but among the most predictable has been the outbreak of Sinophobia. China is being blamed for causing the outbreak itself, for concealing its extent, for providing faulty equipment, for being too important in the manufacturing chain. President Trump has pushed the idea of a China virus for all it is worth. Not to be outdone, Nigel Farage has claimed that many members of our big business class, of the civil service, and indeed of our political…

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Why I am betting more on Warren being Biden’s VP pick

Why I am betting more on Warren being Biden’s VP pick

Over the past 24 hours I’ve changed my betting position on Biden’s VP to put most of my money on Elizabeth Warren. This came after reading this from Taegan Goddard on his Politicalwire site under the heading “Warren Angling to Be Biden’s Veep” following her annoucement that she was seeking the job: ..Biden is making serious efforts to reach out to the progressive side of the Democratic party. For instance, he’s put Bernie Sanders loyalists on various committees to influence…

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When will the public start to notice that the government isn’t doing very well on Covid-19?

When will the public start to notice that the government isn’t doing very well on Covid-19?

By international standards, the British response has been poor If we’d been told a year ago that Boris Johnson would be prime minister, we could have accepted that as plausible. Theresa May’s authority was hopelessly undermined and Boris was well-placed to succeed her. Had we been told that he would now be sitting on an 80-seat majority, we might have been a little more taken aback but Johnson does have a record as an effective campaigner and Corbyn was suffering…

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Kamala Harris still clear betting favourite to be Biden’s running mate

Kamala Harris still clear betting favourite to be Biden’s running mate

If it hadn’t been for CO-19 we would be just three weeks away from the local elections including the big one for Mayor or London. Those, of course, got postponed and there will be an even bigger range of elections taking place in May 2021. In previous years the London Mayoral race has been a big betting event and the incument, Sadiq Khan, was the tight odds on favourite. My guess is that it will be the same in a…

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