Friday 5th May 2023

[refitman]

Morning all.

[frog222]

Morning refit
Mowing to day as rain tomorrow, will there be a fly-past ?

[refitman]

Labour seem to be sweeping the councils. I guess they can fix the NHS now?

[frog222]

Thanks as usual to @sky, the Report is much appreciated !

[frog222]

Labour seem to be sweeping the councils. I guess they can fix the NHS now?

Refit -- with the Streeting in charge of efficiency savings, whatculd possibly go wrong ?

Listening to R4 , lots of piss taken about Welby's wheeze on pledges/oaths of allegiance chorused in front of your tellies .

Interviewee** reckons that it's NOT at all KC3's cup of tea .

**Jonathan Dimbleby

[RogerOThornhill]

Good morning.

Today looks slightly more promising in more ways than one - 'er indoors seems a bit better today although still very tired.

Early results looking good - Windsor & Maidenhead fallen? Oh dear...

[refitman]

Something to watch later

[frog222]

Good morning.
Today looks slightly more promising in more ways than one - 'er indoors seems a bit better today although still very tired.

Good to see that Roger .

[gilsey]

Labour has pulled off a significant political shock, defeating Andy Preston in a tight mayoral race in Middlesbrough.

The party’s candidate Chris Cooke has swept to victory in an incredibly narrow contest, which came down to just 760 votes. Labour won with 10,956 votes to Independent Mr Preston’s 10,196.
.............
During his campaign, the Labour candidate .......... committed to scrapping the Linthorpe Road cycle lane.

That last bit is probably no small part of why he won. I'm all for encouraging cycling but if there is a good way to make Linthorpe Road bike friendly the current scheme definitely isn't it. I can't believe it even looked good on paper.

[AnatolyKasparov]

Some *really* bad Tory results coming through now - the totemic 1000-plus losses remains highly plausible.

[refitman]

[AnatolyKasparov]

Labour has pulled off a significant political shock, defeating Andy Preston in a tight mayoral race in Middlesbrough.

The party’s candidate Chris Cooke has swept to victory in an incredibly narrow contest, which came down to just 760 votes. Labour won with 10,956 votes to Independent Mr Preston’s 10,196.
.............
During his campaign, the Labour candidate .......... committed to scrapping the Linthorpe Road cycle lane.

That last bit is probably no small part of why he won. I'm all for encouraging cycling but if there is a good way to make Linthorpe Road bike friendly the current scheme definitely isn't it. I can't believe it even looked good on paper.

The hilarious thing about this result is that Labour probably have the Tories changing the voting system to thank for it.

[refitman]

Labour's actions in Liverpool don't seem to have worked out. Massive swings to the (formerly Labour) independent councillors

[refitman]

[refitman]

[AnatolyKasparov]

I mean, all well and good but these are just drops in the ocean in the wider scheme of things.

[tinyclanger2]

Is it nearly over? (I remember saying the same that night that the fishpointer was voted in along with his undead bezzie mate, George. This time I'm talking about our Eurovision Odyssey.)

Suffice it to say that San Morino failed to hold my attention for very long with this one, which was basically:

- More sequins
- More moustaches
- And more dire lyrics (specifically: "I get butterflies in my ears")

Is it me?

Clanger rating:
Was it fun: is that the time?
Was it dancey: what?
What would Terry have said about it: If he'd had any sense he would have stayed at the bar for a bit longer after his trip their during Romania

[RogerOThornhill]

Good evening.

Day in the library, back home and 'er indoors eats some dinner for the first time in a few days.

And this...

[AnatolyKasparov]

Labour have won Brighton/Hove outright, and comfortably retained Liverpool. Considering these are (in slightly different ways) maybe the two most left wing places in England (and indeed Labour's recent problems in the latter) this maybe puts some of the wilder anti-Starmer stuff into perspective.

[refitman]

Labour have won Brighton/Hove outright, and comfortably retained Liverpool. Considering these are (in slightly different ways) maybe the two most left wing places in England (and indeed Labour's recent problems in the latter) this maybe puts some of the wilder anti-Starmer stuff into perspective.

They have lost seats to former Labour councillors, in Liverpool though.

[AnatolyKasparov]

Yes I know, you are aware of the issues there right?

The point being that given the circumstances most people (myself included) were expecting a worse Labour result, possibly even losing overall control.

[refitman]

Labour have won Brighton/Hove outright, and comfortably retained Liverpool. Considering these are (in slightly different ways) maybe the two most left wing places in England (and indeed Labour's recent problems in the latter) this maybe puts some of the wilder anti-Starmer stuff into perspective.

They held Liverpool, but lost 3 seats to Indy candidates, two of which they could have retained if they didn't decide to boot out the lefties.

[refitman]

It's amazing how you'll never concede Starmer has done anything wrong.

[AnatolyKasparov]

Again, yes I know.

But it is also, as I said, fairly minor in the greater scheme of things - and I'm not going to claim the leadership gets all its decisions right anyway.

(which crosses with your above post, heh)

And btw it is being claimed that Tory losses have hit the now semi-legendary 1000 mark - despite against the trend gains in places like Slough and Leicester.

[RogerOThornhill]

Yes, Tories down 1,031 according to the BBC.

[refitman]

[AnatolyKasparov]

That "prediction" is rubbish, it assumes the SNP get over 50 seats again for a start.

The BBC one not only has Labour much closer to an overall majority, but admits it isn't taking Scotland/Wales into account because they aren't having elections.

And anyway, "national projections" are pretty meaningless when the Tories are being battered on so many fronts.

Also think about this - unlike pre-2021 local elections there is no significant right wing force leaching away Tory support (but which they might hope to win back some of in a GE) But what happens if Reform UK holds to its promise to run candidates in nearly all Westminster seats next time?

With that, widespread tactical voting, and around 70% of the population hating the Tories guts - it could actually be a massacre.

[RogerOThornhill]

This is hilarious.

Fury as 'arrogant' BBC threatens Coronation TV BLACKOUT - 'Deeply concerning behaviour'

https://www.gbnews.com/royal/bbc-coronation-tv-blackout

The BBC has sparked outrage by threatening a TV blackout of King Charles III's Coronation.

With just hours to go until the historic ceremony, the corporation is threatening to restrict UK media access to live footage of the event.

It means UK licence fee payers, who have funded the coverage, may not be able to see the first Coronation in the UK since 1953, while foreign media companies will be given it for free.

1. I don't blame the BBC for telling them, effectively, to fuck off.
2. BBC licence fee payers will probably, and I know this sounds odd, simply watch it on the BBC...or ITV...or Sky.

The Telegraph were whining about this last night - all the media orgs that snipe at the BBC on every opportunity and give Defund the BBC maximum coverage...and the BBC sticks two fingers up. Excellent.

[gilsey]

With that, widespread tactical voting, and around 70% of the population hating the Tories guts - it could actually be a massacre.

Let's hope not. Clare Short was on WAtO, said she'd be very happy if Labour had to work with other parties after the next election and hoped it would lead to PR.

The SNP's current woes have certainly thrown a spanner in the works where predictions for the next GE result are concerned.

[RogerOThornhill]

Excellent news.

[refitman]

Excellent news.

Wes will be annoyed.

[AnatolyKasparov]

With that, widespread tactical voting, and around 70% of the population hating the Tories guts - it could actually be a massacre.

Let's hope not. Clare Short was on WAtO, said she'd be very happy if Labour had to work with other parties after the next election and hoped it would lead to PR.

The SNP's current woes have certainly thrown a spanner in the works where predictions for the next GE result are concerned.

I mean, part of me agrees with all this - but the Tories *deserve* to be slaughtered.

The more optimistic take might be that a big win could make even Starmer a bit less cautious.

[refitman]