Sheaf Saint

Blimey! You must be minted if you think a salary of £70k is "poxy" (it's actually closer to £80k though). The thing is though, it doesn't matter if you pay £70k or £700k, the fact remains that literally anyone can become an MP - and rightly so. It shouldn't be the sole domain of only those who can afford a decent education, despite what the Tories may think. I would be happier knowing that people enter politics because they are passionate about their beliefs and have a genuine desire to improve other people's lives, rather than seeing it purely as a lucrative career.

Meanwhile... Less than a day after he had already done a massive u-turn and said he would support May's deal (remember him hiring a photographer to picture him signing his resignation letter from the cabinet in protest over it?), because he got a sniff of the chance to get the PM job if he did - He's now gone full 360 again. The most shameless, narcissistic charlatan that British politics has ever known.

Yeah I saw this earlier and found myself in complete agreement with her. Just like last week when he could have engaged with a huge number of his party's members and supporters marching in London, he chose to duck out of it and go and do some local election campaigning in Morecambe . Now I am familiar with Morecambe and how much it has gone downhill in recent years, so I can kind of understand why he would want to bring attention to the socio-economic problems in the town, but really? Was that the wisest use of the opposition leader's time on that day of all days? He won't commit to a policy of supporting a people's vote or 2nd referendum because, despite having campaigned for remain, he has always been a leaver at heart - albeit for very different reasons from the Tories/ERG. This has led to him becoming completely disconnected from his voters, leaving the opposition party completely lacking in any leadership when the government is not just on the ropes, but down on the canvass with a broken nose.

Well one thing has happened today which I never expected - I actually found myself feeling a modicum of respect for a handful of Tory MPs who have shown genuine integrity and concern for their constituents above their own self interest. Never thought I would see the day. I mean, I would still sooner shoot myself in the head than ever vote for them, but at least they've shown there are one or two decent human beings amongst them.

Yesterday it emerged the ERG extremists have chosen a name taken from the KKK, and now today another one is promoting a far-right conspiracy theory... https://www.businessinsider.com/conservative-mp-suella-braverman-far-right-anti-semitic-conspiracy-theory-cultural-marxism-2019-3?r=US&IR=T Lovely bunch, aren't they!

If you made the mistake of believing anything that any politician said then more fool you. Both sides promoted things that turned out to be untrue, this is correct. But the exaggeration of the economic effects of leaving put out by the Remain campaign pales into insignificance when compared to the endless list of complete untruths spouted by Leave. And as UJ rightly points out - by engaging in such whataboutery, you are actually just reinforcing the case for a second referendum now that so many more facts are available.

Hmmm. A poor choice of words, given the circumstances.

They seem to be trying to wriggle out of it on a technicality, due to the fact that the initial contract he signed was rejected by the PL over 'front-loading' of the signing on fee, rather than spreading it over the duration of the contract. But Nantes claim that FIFA registered the international transfer certificate earlier in the day of the crash, therefore he was Cardiff's player despite not having a valid contract to allow him to play in the PL. For them to claim "Once a Bluebird, forever a Bluebird", then try and wash their hands of it in order to avoid paying a fee is beyond the pale. We'll have to wait and see what FIFA and the PL think of their argument of course, but I expect they will be forced to either pay the fee or face a transfer ban and/or points deduction.

Oh dear. Liam Fox's previous comments blatantly contradicted by his former trade chief. I mean, it's not like anybody with an IQ above that of a llama didn't already recognise this, but.... https://www.businessinsider.com/says-liam-fox-former-trade-chief-2019-3?r=US&IR=T

I can see a number of people in that photo whose skin tones and facial features are quite clearly not of pure 'white' origin. I can also see a big sign that says "Workers Liberty" on the side of the green gazebo, which is a pretty large clue to the social class of the people who erected it. But yeah, apart from that, they're all just white and middle class aren't they

42% of people still believe the myth that we give £350m a week to the EU https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/vote-leave-brexit-lies-eu-pay-money-remain-poll-boris-johnson-a8603646.html?amp&__twitter_impression=true Edit: The tweet was a little misleading. The article doesn't actually say these 42% of people think the NHS will get that much money.

Mr Pie hits the nail on the head as usual.

Why is it?

Legally speaking, none. You know - just like the 2016 referendum But if it gets over 17. 4m (which I don't believe it will BTW) , and it can be shown that the overwhelming majority of signatures are genuine and not the result of fraudulent interference, then it makes a compelling case for holding a second referendum.

No evidence of any bot activity, and overseas signatories indicative of ex-pats signing. Reports of people being able to sign twice using same email are false. Evidence that disinformation is being spread to discredit the validity of the poll by known disinformation actors... https://britorbot.org/2019/03/22/revoke-article-50-petition/

Anecdotal evidence shows this to be quite true. I remember watching some TV interviews with 'the man in the street' after the result, asking what was the primary reason they voted why they did. One guy said "to stop bus-loads of Muslims coming into the country every day". When it was pointed out to him that exiting the EU would have no influence on immigration from outside the EU, he looked genuinely confused.

They signed 14 players during his 13-match spell in charge, but none of them were his signings. Right Harry, whatever you say.

1. You're not allowed to call it champagne if it's brewed in England. It's sparkling wine. 2. You might want to put it on ice for a while. The chances of us actually leaving the EU a week tomorrow are diminishing fast.

Make that 2-0!

And they're 1-0 down already

Starting for Scotland against Kazakhstan today - 3pm UK time.

Oh I know. I should have learned my lesson not to engage with him from his insane ramblings on the global warming thread. It's just that every now and again, I can't help myself.

Resorting to childish insults, as usual. No, I was quoting the actual applicant in the court case - versus you quoting an article from that well-known bastion of truth and balance Guido Fawkes. And my point was that whenever the possibility of dark money and foreign interference in the referendum is raised, leave voters just stick their fingers in their ears and go "LALALALAAAA. I'M NOT LISTENING". Which is exactly what you have done.

All of which is just a technicality on the basis of the fact that the 2016 referendum was non-legally binding. https://www.lbc.co.uk/radio/presenters/james-obrien/brexit-referendum-corruptly-won-but-result-stands/ But well done for further reinforcing my point.

So you're dismissing the petition due to the potential for foreign interference in the result, and that's fine. But if you're going to do that, then you also need to consider the well-evidenced widescale foreign interference in the 2016 referendum as well. There was an hour-long piece on the dark money and electoral fraud that went into the Leave campaign on German TV yesterday, which paints a very dire picture of the validity of the result. But I have yet to encounter a single leave voter who is willing to even acknowledge it, let alone accept that it might have influenced the result. No, it's always - "we would have won anyway" or "we won, you lost - get over it". Edit: You only have to look at how widely the petition is being shared on social media, and how passionately some people are promoting it, to see that there is genuine large scale engagement. There may well have been a few bots involved, but this has become the most viral thing I have seen for many years.