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France has, probably, the most accurate figures of any European country. They've been counting deaths in hospitals, care homes and residences. Figures for excess deaths (above the mean) are roughly in line with the Covid deaths that have been announced.

That's quite a rant: now let's look at actual facts Current population is 66.65m - the population has grown by about 10m since 1981; at current levels of growth it will take about 40 years to reach, that's an interesting definition of 'rapidly' It's hard to quantify the amount of land that's...

It's true that Hague was good at PMQ but he was up against Blair, who was also very good (I'd say the best PM in my lifetime at handling PMQ) That's the difference with Starmer - he's up against a PM who's abysmal at PMQ. I'd say you are spot on with Starmer's positioning though

While Starmer brought it to people's attention, I think the pressure exerted by Jeremy Hunt (chair of the health select committee) and other Tory back benchers probably had more effect than Starmer. There were stories last week that Patel was pushing ahead with the policy even though members of...

I don't think Starmer is centrist, that's the point. I've argued on here many times that Corbyn was far from the extreme left - his economic policies would have fitted in with social democratic countries (and even centre-right ones like Germany). I do think Starmer is slightly to the right of...

I don't think it's strictly accurate to describe Starmer as centrist (unless you're talking about the Labour party of 40 years ago) - he's well to the left of Blair, for example. I think a more telling example of Corbyn's influence is the way that the Conservative government is splashing out -...

Yet, when a working class lad like Starmer betters himself and rises to high office, he's mocked for not knowing his place. Even buying a field for donkeys is seen as getting above himself.

I think you've got that one a bit wrong - he was head of the Crown Prosecution Service, not a defence counsel. And if you want to talk about nonces, you have the wrong party - it was Thatcher who protected Savile and Morrison

I'm not sure of that -he's no debater. Remember, this is the guy who wouldn't do interviews with Andrew Neil, this is a guy who hid in a fridge to avoid journalists, this is a guy who wouldn't attend hustings in his local constituency, this is the guy who bottled out of a debate with Corbyn...

Maybe. But Johnson struggled against Corbyn who, to say the least, is no sharp debater. There's a double-edged to this. Towards the end of her time as PM, there were fewer people shouting in support of May as the weeks went on. If support is ebbing away from Johnson, it will become very...

I think this is true enough but, there's one proviso. Tory MPs won't like seeing their leader get a kicking every week. Look at Iain Duncan Smith - he didn't lose an election, he didn't even fight one. He was booted out as leader as he couldn't lay a finger on Blair during PMQ - his performance...

Exactly. At times of national crisis in the past, goverments have sought an element of unity by forming a national government (Napoleonic War, WW1, Depression of the 20s, WW2); Johnson said no to that. If he wants it party political then it's incumbent on the opposition to criticise - that's...

I'm sure it will be but in five years time, we will be able to make international comparisons. There's one other factor that may come into play. Corbyn and Swinson were completely opposed to any sort of arrangement between Lab and LDs. That may be an option in 2024: it wouldn't need to be...

Yep. There was always going to be economic hit after Brexit - even Farage admitted that - but the thinking was that it was going to be short-lived. Covid has changed that - the likelihood is that we'll be in recession when we finally leave the EU and, as it's likely it will be a no-deal exit...

She's not in the cabinet, she's a junior minister Thirty years ago, this would have been a resignation matter but, sadly, that's no longer the case

Why do people keep going on about Momentum? Its numbers were small. At its peak, it was an organisation that represented about 10% of Labour members - I believe that it's currently about 8%. There is a sister organisation in parliament, the Socialist Campaign Group, that has strong links with...

Other countries are folllowing medical expert advice too and are reporting fewer deaths. As HWT pointed out earlier, the government shouldn't be allowed to use this an excuse. First of all, they pick the advisers themselves; second, it depends, as Harry WT explained, on the questions that are...

This is true. I've mentioned this before but it's now highly relevant - Johnson is deeply disliked by his fellow MPs (I've heard this from too many sources). When the going gets tough and he looks to his friends for support ... he won't find many

Yes, Johnson should have apologised. Sending a letter and doubling down on the lie must be music to Starmer's ears. (As legal commentator David Allen Green said of the exchange: "When asked by a lawyer why you said a specific thing in a specific document on a specific date, do not pretend you...

Exactly. I'm not sure why other people don't see this, it seems obvious to me. (It also doesn't help to have political advisers attending science conferences - that's going to skew advice too) If you put a hatstand next to Truss or Patel, it would look more like the next PM