Voll Blau

Haha thay was dreadful.

Get in. Got to cut out these silly errors with the ball though.

Went for the first time in quite a few years not too long ago. Still does the business.

Strong Northern Superchargers, Strong England...

Not saying they'd have beaten us, but Scotland were in with a shout the other day.

Had a Tory one through today, all decked out in their traditional... er... red. Can't even stand by their own colours now. Absolute weasels.

One thing I will say is the Yanks who've got into it are properly into it. Fair play.

Such a shame that the ICC's ridiculous scheduling of this tournament means that win won't capture the imagination in the way that it should.

This is tremendous.

Remember running an STV electoral calculator a few years ago (god, I was bored) on what would have happened if Leicestershire was a 10-seat multi-member constituency in recent elections. It actually tended to deliver pretty representative results (Labour and Tory generally taking eight or nine between them, with other parties taking the remaining one or two). A regionalised PR system like that could work as it'd keep the local link, give people greater local representation from the party they voted for and encourage cross-party collaboration on regional issues.

I watched it back. That wasn't what she asked at all. My previous post paraphrased as best I could what was actually asked, without transcribing it verbatim. Etchingham did make reference to the woman in the audience before asking the question, but from the way it was asked I'd highly doubt either candidate would have inferred that she was asking about a life or death scenario. I certainly didn't take it that way.

But it wasn't a question about life or death surgery, it was a question about long waiting lists for surgery. People have surgery for all sorts of non-life threatening issues. "only way forward" can mean multiple things including "only way forward to having better health".

They were both asked if they would use private healthcare if they had a loved one "on a long waiting list" and felt it "was the only way forward". Etchingham even clarified to Starmer that the question was about "a waiting list for surgery", after he said no. So you're accusing him of lying about a hypothetical life and death scenario that was never even put to him.

Just because it's a given doesn't mean it's not relevant. He's had to row back on a number of pledges because of the state of the economy he would inherit if elected. Nobody (rightly) would expect a Tory candidate not to mention that there had been three Prime Ministers, and complete chaos, since the last election if the roles were reversed. I'll look forward to seeing your proof about him lying about his views on private healthcare.

So is him bringing that up a good thing or a bad thing for him then? You seem to be suggesting it's both. Or should he just be making a comedy wink to the camera when bringing that subject up?

That's where we are with the Overton Window and the Americanisation of our politics, I'm afraid. I do think the country will become a bit more serious and honest if he gets in, but right now he's got to go for the lowest common denominator stuff because it's the only way you get in here.

Preferred format for next time...

And that's why it's such a dreadful format. It always resorts to slanging matches and isn't a true reflection of either candidates's policies or personalities.

I wish public affairs were better taught in schools. That'd be a start.

Disagree, I'm afraid. I find the bullet points of manifestos are usually pretty clear and put in reasonably clear language. I'm all for making politics more accessible, but this kind of shouting match doesn't do that. It disenfranchises, rather than engages. Reading as much as I can, listening to in-depth interviews and finding out as much detail of each party's policies as I can. That's what matters more than who can be the biggest giobshite in 45 seconds.

it's a great advert for reading more and watching less TV.

It's not great viewing (they never are), but then you're a complete fvcking idiot if you'd let these programmes influence your vote in any way at all tbh.

"Gentlemen, please!" It's just one gentleman continuing to talk over you though...

Doesn't help with the scheduling being all over the shop either. West Indies were playing on a Sunday morning in Guyana FFS. If you want proper Caribbean atmospheres then at least play at a decent time that's conducive to that.

Big fan of the multiple Simpsons references on the last couple of pages. Reckon Sunak's 48 hours from saying "When I was a young boy I dreamed of being a baseball" in a speech.