Tamesaint

Clarke may well have been a "wet" but he was one of the very few to serve as a minister throughout Thatcher's leadership and I think that you dismiss his views far too readily. Thatcher was one of the principal architects of the Single Market and recognised its importance in maintaining Britain's prosperity: https://ukandeu.ac.uk/margaret-thatcher-the-critical-architect-of-european-integration/#:~:text=Thatcher’s dedication to the idea of a completed,legally binding treaty%2C rather than a mere agreement. Whilst recognising her Euro sceptic credentials, I do not believe that her commitment to and advocacy of the Single Market would mean that she would welcome the current position of the Conservative party or would endorse Lord Duckhunter's rosy tinted view of her.

😁😁😁 A strong candidate there for the "most deluded post of the year" title. Reading this from one of the few ministers who served under Thatcher throughout her premiership may put "the great lady" into the proper context. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/apr/09/ken-clarke-margaret-thatcher-rightwing

The bloke who has done the most for that club and who deserves a statue is whoever persuaded the qatar government to invest in City. Without him they would still be a mediocre Premier League team more concerned with avoiding relegation than with trophy winning.

Oh yes. Most definitely. He is "camping". Well there is a tent in the garden of the house where he is staying. The thought of a 55 year old bloke, who from the size of his belly clearly enjoys fine dining, taking his girlfriend, his 3 month old baby and dog on a camping holiday stetches credibility. Mind you some people believed the Barnard Castle eye test theory so they will believe anything.

I wonder how much longer this Johnson government can continue. The Guardian calls this past week in government an "omnishambles".... but they of course are a "lefty" rag so they would wouldn't they? The Times is openly taking the piss out of hapless Williamson and Mail headlines told him to "get a grip".... both a bit more concerning for Johnson. The time for him to really worry however is when the Telegraph, the newspaper for which until recently he used to write and which has in the past been such a loyal supporter, talks about "the stench of incompetence" that surrounds the Government. The Major government had an air of incompetence which damaged the Tory brand and kept them out of Government for well over a decade. I am sure that the Tory party does not want a repeat. The Parliamentary majority is large and an election is far away so there is no need to panic but this mess will not be allowed to continue indefinitely. The Conservative party is ruthless with its lame duck leaders and Johnson is definitely hobbling. A sweepstake anyone on when and how the Conservatives will boot Johnson out ? I go for early next summer and it will be justified on the grounds of "ill health".

Probably best not to go to Pompey Poly. You run the risk of ending up a bigoted, arrogant fool.😀

Good post. There are sone real crackers there. The Spurs goal was great but I think you cannot beat the second goal against Chelsea.

They only had 5 months to devise a fair way to estimate grades - clearly not long enough.

You don't need to have social distancing in schools. Pupils stay in year group bubbles and each year group has a particular area of the school. It will be chaotic as the teachers will move to the pupils so who will supervise the pupils in the classroom as the teachers move about ? You need additional teachers / teaching assistants for this role and in many cases additional space. Hence the need for "Nightingale schools" , rental of nearby closed buildings etc and a call for recently retired teachers to help out. None of which has happened or even been encouraged by dopey Williamson.

The sad thing is that some Americans will believe this tosh.

The same issue came up with hospitals... so they built Nightingale hospitals. Where are the "Nightingale schools"? What attempt is being made / was made to rent space in buildings which closed due to the pandemic? Recently retired NHS staff were encouraged to return to the Health Service ... but no similar call to teaching staff. Hancock has made many mistakes as Health Secretary but at least he has been in the limelight and attempted to solve problems. Williamson seems to have taken the opportunity afforded by Covid for a long holiday.

He has been incredibly quiet during the covid crisis. You would have thought that there would be some sort of plan if schools are so important that pubs will be shut to ensure that they can stay open. Has one been formulated? Has one been announced? What measures have been introduced to resolve the issues of distancing in the classroom? Maybe something is coming but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Dont worry. Sir Major Tom earned a fifth of the money that the Government's inefficiency wasted. If he could have walked a bit further he would have paid for the entire spaff.

Did Boris also ennoble Lord Duckhunter for his Brexit views? 😂

Oh the irony!!

Never mind. I am sure that his eyes will need testing so he will be able to break any quarantine rules.

Wait until Batman sees that!! I reckon that Batman's first prediction of our relegation will come in the first week of October.

When you are in a hole, why don't you just stop digging ?. Man up for once, admit that you were wrong and move on.

Interesting. I remember meeting Hughes when he was a player after the Great Escape match at Wimbledon. He signed quite happily then - much to my nipper's delight.

Stop being such a precious tart. You made a statement supposedly based on apparent facts and then got a hissy when it was pointed out that one of your "facts" was wrong. Most people in life base their opinions on facts. You seem to prefer opinions, don't like your "facts" being corrected and don't care if the facts don't support your opinions.

Steve Coogan

September 1977/78 - saints had just been thumped away by Millwall. I had travelled down from Brum for the match (where my parents lived at the time) and was returning home by train afterwards when I saw our centre half Chris Nicholl on the train. He had just signed from Villa and was still living in Brum. I asked him to sign my programme and he invited me to sit with him for the rest of the journey. When the train stopped at Coventry 2 Middlesborough fans got on the train. They had been playing at Coventry that day. The 2 Boro fans had been detained by the police after the game for "misdemeanours" and had missed their coach home. They joined our conversation and we had a great laugh for the rest of the journey. When I left them all at New Street to catch my bus home, Chris was helping the 2 reprobates to get back home. He was a lovely bloke and a real gent.

That may well be the case and I agree it will take time to assess the true impact of the virus. Duckie however was justifying a change of policy due to the "lack of mayhem" in Sweden and Japan when in fact these countries have suffered a great deal from their apparently lax lockdown measures.

You need to re consider the evidence. Sweden's deaths per capita from Covid is one of the worst in the world - worse than covid hotspots like Brazil and USA. Swedish opinion is that their government got it wrong. Japan has certainly had its own regional lockdowns. It also has the benefit of a public health system enabling track and trace that this country can only dream about. Your thought processes are seriously flawed if you have based your opinions on these countries.

I watched Who wants to be a Millionaire last night with Jeremy Clarkson as the host. In true Clarkson style he made a few contentious statements - partly to obtain a reaction. Duckie is very similar. He says things for effect to get a reaction. Dont take him seriously, laugh at his provocative comments and dont spend too long in spotting his inconsistencies.