Towards a rational immigration policy

Towards a rational immigration policy

Turkey has mandatory conscription for men between 20 and 41.  Gay men, however, are exempt.  According to the official commentary to the army’s health regulation, to be exempted from service, “documentary evidence must prove that the defects in sexual behaviour are obvious and would create problems when revealed in a military context.”  Many gay men have to endure pseudo-scientific tests designed to appraise both their homosexuality and the extent to which it might render them “unfit” for service. Some are…

Read More Read More

McCluskey’s comments on Corbyn’s successor help move Emily Thornberry to 2nd favourite

McCluskey’s comments on Corbyn’s successor help move Emily Thornberry to 2nd favourite

The Unite boss’s backing could be crucial While all the focus has been on the Tory leadership there’s been a shake up in the Next LAB leader market after a report from Paul Waugh at HuffPost. He wrote: “Emily Thornberry is being backed by Unite boss Len McCluskey to become Labour’s first woman leader, HuffPost UK can reveal. The general secretary of the UK’s biggest trade union has told friends that he thinks Thornberry is a unifying figure who can…

Read More Read More

Once again Britain is split down the middle on Brexit while YouGov has the Tories within one point

Once again Britain is split down the middle on Brexit while YouGov has the Tories within one point

The last YouGov voting intention poll a month ago had with CON 3% behind so changes all within the margin of error. The regular Brexit tracker from the firm sees those saying it was wrong with a 2% lead. Last month those saying it was right were 2% ahead. Again this is all margin of error stuff and there is no indication of any BrexRegrets. UPDATE ICM also sees narrowing of gap New ICM polls has LAB & CON level…

Read More Read More

New study finds that in the key general election marginals candidates with local links are likely to have an edge

New study finds that in the key general election marginals candidates with local links are likely to have an edge

New study finds that fewer than ? CON. MPs elected at GE17 had constituency links compared with ? LAB MPs – Timeshttps://t.co/SoZfdOd4d2 pic.twitter.com/Wwtx49mh4c — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) August 29, 2017 86% of seats that changed hands at GE17 won by local candidates 35% higher than UK average https://t.co/SoZfdOd4d2 — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) August 29, 2017 There’s a fascinating report in the Times this morning linked to in the Tweets above about a study by the Think Tank, Demos, on the…

Read More Read More

It is a mistake to assume that LAB leave voters feel as strongly about Brexit as CON ones

It is a mistake to assume that LAB leave voters feel as strongly about Brexit as CON ones

If it comes to the crunch LAB leavers see jobs as more important With Labour apparently shifting its position on Brexit a notch or two there’s been a lot of interest about what Labour voters think particularly those who supported Leave at the referendum. There is not that much polling about where we can see specifically how LAB Leavers view an issue compared with CON ones and those of other parties. One of surveys that had this split and is…

Read More Read More

Regrets: They’ve Had a Few

Regrets: They’ve Had a Few

Cyclefree on Blair, Cameron, May and Corbyn On Radio 4 Peter Hennessey has been interviewing politicians who are no longer in the front line and asking them to reflect on their careers, mistakes, and things they might have done differently.  Blair does not regret Iraq, his view still being that it is better (for whom one wonders, surveying the state of Iraq these last 15 years) for Saddam to have been deposed. Perhaps politicians are not the best at analysing…

Read More Read More

After another stormy period punters make it a 56% chance that Trump won’t survive a full first term

After another stormy period punters make it a 56% chance that Trump won’t survive a full first term

Returning once again to what continues to be the biggest political betting market in the UK at the moment – is Trump going to complete a full first term? This is very much driven by the news coming across the Atlantic and the latest is his pardon to ex-county sheriff, Joe Arpaio. As has been widely reported he’s is a very controversial figure,particularly for his immigration sweeps in targeted Latino neighborhoods, and the conditions in his jail. Six years ago…

Read More Read More

If the S Mirror’s right about TMay’s exit date then the 2/1 on Betfair is a great punt

If the S Mirror’s right about TMay’s exit date then the 2/1 on Betfair is a great punt

TMay planning to quit as PM on Aug 30 2019 that is if there's not a move against her earlier as there could https://t.co/h1gfWAmLKN — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) August 26, 2017 As August starts to wind up and we enter normal politics again a big story this morning is the one above in the Sunday Mirror suggesting that Theresa May has set the end of August 2019 as the time when she will cease to be Party leader and presumably…

Read More Read More