Question Time & This Week

Just generally. The reaction to his leadership was much more positive on today's QT than previously, although of course that could just be the selection of the audience.

I think he is underestimated though. He started the leadership election as an 100/1 outsider. He stood no chance of winning that contest in May. Four months later he won the largest mandate of any Labour leader. He has four years work on the next contest he stands no chance of winning.

I think he'll just go from blunder to blunder, the clowns he's brought in are as bad, or worse than him. You're very optimistic to think he has four years to do his mission, he's gone by 2017 at the latest.
 
I think he'll just go from blunder to blunder, the clowns he's brought in are as bad, or worse than him. You're very optimistic to think he has four years to do his mission, he's gone by 2017 at the latest.

And you're overly negative to think that a leader who won the support of more than 50% of the party membership will be gone in less than 2 years
 
During the rather lengthy debate on immigration i switched over to Newsnight, they were doing a feature about the upcoming Holyrood elections and the mood music is not good for Labour presently. According to their reporter, some in Scottish wing of the party fear that the Tories will end up with more MSPs next year.
 
During the rather lengthy debate on immigration i switched over to Newsnight, they were doing a feature about the upcoming Holyrood elections and the mood music is not good for Labour presently. According to their reporter, some in Scottish wing of the party fear that the Tories will end up with more MSPs next year.

Yeah they're just a bit dreadful, really. Dugdale's a fairly woeful leader who is heavily associated with previous figures who have failed, and they just don't really have any impressive names for Holyrood. Any of the talent generally went to Westminster...or they did, until May. Those looking for a really socialist, left-wing alternative that feel the SNP aren't as left-wing as they're sometimes made out to be will probably go for the Scottish Greens, who will pick up a decent number of seats in the list votes. Even the Scottish Socialists will probably manage to get a decent number of votes, even if it's not enough to get any seats.

I still think they'll get more seats than the Tories, but it won't be by much, and I'm not sure they'll manage to get any constituency seats; the SNP will probably sweep them all up apart from maybe Orkney/Shetlands, and potentially one or two Tory areas.
 
During the rather lengthy debate on immigration i switched over to Newsnight, they were doing a feature about the upcoming Holyrood elections and the mood music is not good for Labour presently. According to their reporter, some in Scottish wing of the party fear that the Tories will end up with more MSPs next year.
Labour and Tories polling about equal in the most recent Scottish polls I believe. SNP still 25-30 points ahead. Have to say that I thought Corbyn would at least have SOME impact up there, but maybe it's too soon. The ultimate worry is that Labour don't make any comeback in Scotland and Corbyn permanently damages their chances in England. Worst of both worlds.
 
I went to a grammar school. They do nothing to help social mobility, they just separate middle/upper class kids from the rest.

So did I and I disagree, there was a broad mix of people at my school. Kids who would never be able to afford a private education for example.
 
Labour and Tories polling about equal in the most recent Scottish polls I believe. SNP still 25-30 points ahead. Have to say that I thought Corbyn would at least have SOME impact up there, but maybe it's too soon. The ultimate worry is that Labour don't make any comeback in Scotland and Corbyn permanently damages their chances in England. Worst of both worlds.
Nah, only takes one recession to turn the tables.
 
Nah, only takes one recession to turn the tables.
It concerns me that this seems to be Labour's electoral strategy at the moment. Can't win the arguments, so just hope the economy tanks.
 
Farage on next week.Wonder what the subject is going to be. That mother who was in tears over the Tax Credit burst through the political bubble MPs like to live in.
 
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I went to a grammar school. They do nothing to help social mobility, they just separate middle/upper class kids from the rest.

I went to one too. Founded in 1612. Not the best time of my life.

Give Corbyn time and the public will come round

I think you've more chance of winning the lottery than Corbyn becoming PM.
 
I think you've more chance of winning the lottery than Corbyn becoming PM.

It must be nice being that confident! I think the odds are something like 8/1 at the moment. If I was calling it I'd go closer to 4/1, which presumably marks me out as a lunatic :lol:
 
Much earlier? You were in government for 13 years Alan.

I did agree with some of what Germaine Greer said mind. :nervous:
 
The question on 'cosying up' up to China is annoying. Britain the moral beacon.

Edit: go Greer!

Maybe we shouldn't deal with the US or Japan which both have death penalties.
 
Yeah, this is dull. When Alastair Darling's the topic of conversation, it's never going to be overly exciting.
 
How did this woman win The Apprentice?
She's from a shithole estate in Hull. The lass done good.
Each to their own Jip, but that's not a threesome i'd pay to watch.
I bet if it was starting on channel five right now you would flick over, if only out of morbid curiosity.
The healthy food is expensive argument is a crock. My veggie missus got through uni on a shoe-string buying fresh veg from markets.
Thankfully she works in hedge funds now so we can be more profligate.
 
Self-made shite gets paraded out constantly by Tories. Yeah, make money from hard work, then rob money from hard workers.

Tories pander to greed. They want everyone to try and get what they can at whatever cost -- and this can work tbf, and often does. It just creates a really crappy situation for the people who can't progress under that model. Ironically, it's working class people who buy the Tory greed mantra the most.
 
The healthy food is expensive argument is a crock. My veggie missus got through uni on a shoe-string buying fresh veg from markets.
Thankfully she works in hedge funds now so we can be more profligate.

Depends on your situation. My experience of uni (being vegan the whole time) was much the same as your partner's, but then I had a grocery store round the corner, a supermarket a £1 bus ride away (student fares) and a bunch of free time to shop around and cook (arts degree).

That's not a universal experience though. Where I live now the nearest grocery store is a mile or so away down a big hill and the nearest supermarket is maybe a 3 mile walk. Alternatively, there's a local branch of a supermarket across the road which has basically everything you need but at jacked up prices.

Luckily I have no kids to look after, am relatively fit and can drive so I manage pretty well balancing cost with nutrition, but I can definitely see why some others find it more difficult.
 
I don't like the "it's a tax on poor people" argument, if you reverse it it implies that you're okay with those without a lot of money being economically encouraged to have a terrible diet. And one of the worst things for sugar and obesity isn't even food, it's fizzy drinks. The healthy alternative to that doesn't cost much at all, you get it out of the tap.

Alan Johnson was bang on, as ever.
 
I don't like the "it's a tax on poor people" argument, if you reverse it it implies that you're okay with those without a lot of money being economically encouraged to have a terrible diet. And one of the worst things for sugar and obesity isn't even food, it's fizzy drinks. The healthy alternative to that doesn't cost much at all, you get it out of the tap.

Alan Johnson was bang on, as ever.

It's a minefield. Some people will be buying unhealthy stuff because it's cheap, some people will be buying it because they don't have the time or energy to cook something healthier and some people will be buying it because they like it. Regardless of the situation, I don't really see how taxing unhealthy food will make any difference.

What did Johnson say?
 
It's a minefield. Some people will be buying unhealthy stuff because it's cheap, some people will be buying it because they don't have the time or energy to cook something healthier and some people will be buying it because they like it. Regardless of the situation, I don't really see how taxing unhealthy food will make any difference.
hth
 
On the sugar tax....why should those of us who enjoy sugary foods without letting ourselves get fat have to pay a tax?

Sugar isn't comparable to alcohol and tobacco because it doesn't have any direct link to any negative health effect (aside from tooth decay) - some of us can consume lots of sugar and remain perfectly healthy which just isn't the case with alcohol and tobacco. But we have to pay a tax because some people cannot control their weight? Which by the way isn't just down to sugar...take away the sugar and people will just make up the calories with something else.
 
Sugar itself isn't even unhealthy. It's just a pure carbohydrate. If we are going to start putting a tax on food products, why not start with processed meat, which is a product that has been demonstrated to have direct links to cancer and heart disease.