If shrunk to a comparable size, the earth would be smoother than a ping pong ball. The earth’s atmosphere is thinner than the skin on a ping pong ball. Most of the time we forget how much our whole life is lived in a tiny margin and how dependent we are on its seeming stability. Life does not feel stable now. Whole countries are being quarantined, the banalities of international travel are shuddering to a halt. In War Of The…
Given that 77 year old ex-VP, Joe Biden, is increasingly looking like a certainty for the Democratic nomination the main WH2020 betting market of interest has become who he will choose as his VP nominee. This is generally a personal choice of the nominee to be put before the party convention for approval.Because of his age, 77, there’ll be a greater interest than usual and the choice needs to add to the overall ticket. In the latest TV debate last…
Who can now remember that far off time – those few weeks between the election and Xmas – when it seemed as if the agonies of the previous three years were finally over? For good or ill, there was a government with a majority, Brexit (at least the departure) would no longer agonise the country (at least not quite so painfully and visibly), Corbyn was on his way out and there was the interesting spectacle of seeing how the Tories…
Amid all the panic buying, one thing that is still found in abundance is self-declared expertise. Social media is suddenly awash with new immunologists and virologists (BSc Twitter), all very ready to critique or bolster the government’s approach to the Covid-19 crisis. Is the government aiming for herd immunity? Should the government be aiming for herd immunity? What timeframe should we expect herd immunity in? Let me draw on my own area of expertise as a pensions lawyer. For if…
community links. You can’t just issue a 4-month quarantine order to them without explaining how they’re supposed to spend their time/get fresh air/physical and mental exercise. This risks secondary physical and mental health issues from an otherwise healthy population. Am not — Jane Merrick (@janemerrick23) March 15, 2020 becoming inadvertent spreaders? We – political class, media, society – largely don’t pay attention to social care because it’s been in the “too difficult box” for decades. Now the fragile system is…
If you have placed any Betfair bets on its London mayoral election market then I suggest you log into your account and check your account balance. For it appears that the betting exchange has voided the 2020 London election market following the decision to defer the vote until May 2021. Sometimes when a market is voided it can be unfortunate for punters who have had the foresight to back someone early on and then to see their choice rise and…
What is it about the European Convention on Human Rights which so riles some on the right (and, if reports are to be believed, the PM’s closest advisor)? It cannot surely be its name. Can it? A belief that it is a Brussels creation imposed on a reluctant Britain? Some may think this but politicians should know better. Even the PM said – (in 2016 so he may now have changed his mind) – “Keep the European Convention, it’s a…
The Conservatives won the 2019 election decisively. Received wisdom has it that it was won by demolishing a red wall in the north of England. Let’s take a look at how each constituency swung, seat by seat. Before the election, I posed some questions. One of them was whether seats would continue to sort by Leave/Remain or whether they would now swing more uniformly. It turns out that the answer is a bit more complicated than either of those answers….