Alf Bentley

You missed the bit where The Monks were implicated in a furore over sexism/feminism on Top of the Pops:

Team (11-0-0-0) Schmeichel Ward Jakupovic Weale Banks Shilton Keller Arphexad Kalac Flowers Walker Subs: Nielsen Logan Hamer Edit: Forgot Wallington - drop Hamer....14 keepers and Hamer still doesn't get a game!

Quite liked what little I've heard of his stuff, but a bit quiet and subtle for me. Wouldn't have to go beyond Topper and his reportedly massive contribution to the Sandinista album.

As older posters will recall, Cherie Lunghi has already managed in the men's game, back around 1989: Might have to re-watch "The Manageress", as it seems to be on YouTube....

I've never yet had root canal work so cannot comment on that. I do have a plate, though, and don't find it annoying at all - you need to make sure it fits OK and it then feels odd for a few days before you get used to it.....but fine ever since. Also have an unfilled gap after another extraction, but will need to have a few more removed before I get into serious "gumming".

The Wilko Johnson group just posted this on Facebook to mark the "blood wolf moon" eclipse or whatever it was last night...

I'm not aware of any famous musicians from the Folkestone area. So, I should presumably be obeying Topper Headon (Dover) or members of the 1970s prog/psychedelia "Canterbury scene", like Robert Wyatt or Caravan. I'm happy to accept Topper as my Lord and Master so long as he's still off the skag. North/West Kent offers better pickings: Bowie, Rolling Stones, Shane MacGowan, Kate Bush, Fatboy Slim, Siouxsie...

Who is "us, the people" who have supposedly taken power? Does that include us "Remoaners" or only you Brexshitters? It would be nice to know if, along with 48% of the country, I've been designated as subhuman or an alien interloper. Glorying in our democratic representatives supposedly being "cornered and isolated by Joe Public" seems sinister and anti-democratic at the very least.... as does your desire for a "powerful leader". Not sure who you mean by the "Irish politicians" brought in to support May? If you mean the DUP, they're elected members of the British parliament and entitled to promote the interests of their communities as they see fit. I'm not keen on them myself, but they're only supporting the Tory Govt insofar as it suits their interests - and the Tories only needed them because they performed disastrously in an election against a widely mistrusted opposition leader. If you're referring to politicians from the Irish Republic, they've just pursued their national interests through negotiations, seeking a friendly relationship with the UK but not at the cost of jeopardising their security or interests as a nation and a committed member of the EU. I'm not sure why "the Krankie" would be gloating if her power is non-existent? In truth, her power over Brexit is indeed limited (30-odd MPs voting at Westminster) as May has largely ignored her - ignoring, also, the large majority of Scots who opposed Brexit. In making these scornful comments about the Scots and Irish and their valid attempts to exercise democratic influence, you come across to me as an anti-democratic English nationalist extremist. You say it's "a mess we never could have seen coming", yet a lot of us DID see a mess coming. Admittedly, the mess is even greater than we could have imagined. But the UK was "negotiating from a seriously weak position" from the outset - as some of us pointed out. With the clock ticking, we were engaged in negotiations with an opposite number about 4-5 times bigger and more powerful than us - difficult enough, but we also did so despite having unrealistic expectations and no agreed govt stance, and being led by a PM whose main priority was to keep her divided party together through fudges, delays and dishonest rhetoric. Plus, the EU has its own obvious vulnerabilities so had no option to roll over and offer the super-generous deal that Brexiteers boasted we would get: "they need us more than we need them", "they can whistle for any divorce payment", they'll capitulate because of German car makers & French wine makers, "EU-UK: the easiest trade deal ever", "loads of global trade deals ready to go in March 2019", "no issue over the Irish border" etc. etc. I know there have been loudly-voiced concerns about immigration - and successive govts have been complacent about this. But who are these immigrants "putting the country and societal structure under pressure"? Most EU immigrants work - often in jobs where we are short of skilled natives or in jobs unattractive to locals - and unemployment is low, isn't it? Data shows that EU immigrants pay more in tax than they use in services. So, if the extra numbers caused a shortage of schools, hospitals, housing or roads, we had the extra revenue flows to fund that. It wasn't immigrants who instituted real-terms pay cuts, or who introduced Universal Credit or the bedroom tax, or who slashed public spending and starved councils of funds, or who handed out insecure employment contracts, or who cut funding for nurse training, or who presided over mushrooming inequality while offering tax giveaways to the higher-paid and to large corporations. Ain't it great? We now live in a country where being "welcoming" and espousing "fairness for all" are values to be despised as "right on".

The numbers: Haven't checked but the constituency & voting area figures look pretty accurate. I presume the "by party" numbers relate to who held the constituencies in 2016 - they would be inaccurate since the 2017 election. But while those numbers are interesting, they are irrelevant to the decision-making process (though not to the party political manoeuvring). The referendum was a national vote, so the only figure that matters is the national figure: 52%-48%. There were clearly a lot of marginally pro-Leave constituencies in 2016 and a smaller number of massively pro-Remain constituencies. The conclusion is "rancid", to quote the writer. MPs are elected to serve based on a wide political platform. They weren't elected as Brexit delegates in 2015. Also, the referendum was only a mandate to "Leave". How we were to leave was left up to negotiations. I'm not aware of any MPs who want to ignore the referendum result (something that would be possible as it had advisory status and the courts have confirmed that the govt could revoke its notice to leave). Of course, most of those calling for a second referendum hope that the result will be reversed by public vote - but even they will have to accept defeat (for many years, at least) if Leave wins again. Some feel that a second vote is justified on the specifics of a deal - or because parliament has rejected the deal proposed.....but an awful lot of MPs are working to find a better deal.....why is their definition of Brexit any less valid than the ERG's? But many, many MPs (both Labour and Tory) opposed May's deal and are working for a Softer Brexit (others trying to achieve a Harder Brexit). That is their right. We just need a democratic resolution. The mirror image of the stance Mr. Maher adopts is if the vote has been 52% Remain and hard-line Remainers insisted that this was a mandate for a federal European state, acceptance of Schengen, membership of the Euro etc.....and then condemned not just anyone who wanted a second vote but anyone working to achieve a more moderate form of Remain (the status quo, "remain and reform" or whatever) labeling them as "self-serving", "rancid", "traitors" and all the rest. Btw. If one accepts the idea that MPs are just "Brexit delegates" of their constituencies (I don't, but Mr. Maher seems to), then Dominic Raab, Liam Fox, Kate Hoey, Gisela Stuart, Nigel Dodds, Chris Grayling, John Redwood, Theresa Villiers and Peter Lilley are among the MPs supposedly betraying their Remain-voting constituents. The same might also apply to May herself and to Rees-Mogg (their voting areas voted Remain but each covered 2 constituencies). https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/pro-brexit-mps-represent-remain-constituencies/

Not often that I quote the Mail, but haven't seen any other coverage of this: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6612015/Nigel-Farage-adopts-brand-new-pro-Brexit-party.html Farage endorses new party "The Brexit Party" that is currently getting registered with the Electoral Commission. Probably won't greatly impact the imminent decisions in parliament. But could have a big impact if an election is called (and even over whether an election is called). Could also have a big impact on politics, particularly electoral politics over the coming years. I'm guessing that a "Brexit Party" fronted by Farage could pick up a fair few votes - mainly, but not entirely from the Tories or ex-Labour voters defecting because they strongly support Brexit. Labour has its own issues with voters defecting over Brexit - some to the Tories/UKIP/Brexit Party if it opposes Brexit, many more to the Lib Dems, Greens, SNP or abstention if it supports Brexit or blocks a second referendum. Though, on Marr, Starmer sounded as if he hoped to twist Corbyn's arm into supporting a referendum if no Soft Brexit deal becomes viable soon.... Party politics and electoral outcomes are starting to look very uncertain, potentially quite volatile....

That's enough of your negativity! Sod spring, cut out the middle man and get with the programme, Izzy!

Imagine if Phil had mistaken the brakes for the accelerator as he arrived at Sandringham.....with the Queen, Charles & Anne chatting out front.....to Mugabe who was on a state visit.....and Phil then reversed over the corgis.....and then had a heart attack at the carnage he had caused.... Full house (or Royal Flush, possibly)!

Stephen Bush of the New Statesman seems to be one of the most balanced and informed Brexit analysts. He reckons that May is winning the public PR battle with these "cross-party negotiations", while trying to run down the clock to use fear of No Deal to scare MPs into supporting her deal... But that she risks losing the parliamentary battle as a lot of Tory cabinet/junior ministers are close to rebellion about this tactic, whereas the larger number of anti-No Deal Labour MPs are showing few signs of blinking.....yet. https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/staggers/2019/01/her-brexit-stand-jeremy-corbyn-theresa-may-winning-pr-war-losing-her-mps

What? Skeggie wants independence now?! This mess just gets worse.....

A bit of Brexit light relief.... John Bercow has apparently become a cult comedy figure in the European media: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jan/17/more-animal-than-ever-europeans-find-joy-in-john-bercow Quite amusing, whatever you might think of him and his rulings....