Neil

Compared to most bands duplicating dates, there's reasons to think this one might not happen. They were a late booking, and stepped on the IoW exclusive; BST will have more options available to them next year and IoW might want their exclusive back.

Really? Have you forgotten Sturgeon backing her own rule breaker? because of course that's got nothing to do with Sturgeon playing things off Spaffer. Perhaps instead look at the facts of the handling of the pandemic? Mass Nike outbreak known about by Sturgeon: no action. Acting too late, fuck all different to Spaffer: check. Happy discharge of covid to care homes: check. etc, etc, etc. Surrounding the same poor response with fluffy kittens and pointing at Spaffer gets extra devotion from the true believers and suckers a big chuck of the standard 50% who don't pay attention (just as Spaffer suckers a big chunk of the standard 50% who don't pay attention).

Barnard Castle - not to be confused with DC's wife's actual castle. A birthday day out at her own castle wouldn't be a day out.

yep, that would be fair enough. But it also needs to be recognised that Cummings position of setting policy and the messaging makes them different.

the most is being kicked out of the party - tho that's normally reserved for serious crime rather than the more-minor.

oh, I don't think anyone is disagreeing with "as an MP he should have set an example for everyone else". He's certainly been criticised for it. But MPs don't get sacked, it's ministers, etc, who do. And he's still in a different position to Cummings, who has set the policy and then taken the piss in about the biggest way possible (because he thought he was infected when doing his travelling).

Sturgeon has played politics all the way thru (tho like Starmer played it carefully; there's risk of a backlash), and is happy to soak up the praise while running away from answering a question about the biggest error of all - an error that falls within her powers, not Spaffer's. (some of how she's gently pointed fingers at Spaffer is justified. It's the other stuff which gives her away). those contradictions of yours highlights exactly what I was getting at. Snippers galore are heaping praise on her doing a better job, when better job is much more about geography than policy. (and where she had the chance to do a properly better job she happily took her cue from Spaffer).

oh, I think Cooper is one of the more-able Labour MPs. But that doesn't make any of it what TGT claimed for it. She doesn't have to be superb to wipe the floor with either Spaffer or Corbyn.

one was Stephen Kinnock, who apparently tweeted a pic of him in his dad's back garden in London. But sacked for what? MPs don't get sacked. And people like Kinnock aren't responsible for setting a policy which they haven't followed themselves. It's awkward tho for Labour, and might have something to do with Starmer's restraint.

who do you think those large corporations are making product for...?

I've got no doubts about festies happening next summer, in all scenarios except if covid mutates into something more deadly. Because the UK just can't afford to have the hospitality sector shut down for so long, and it's impossible to justify certain sectors being open (as they will be) without all sectors being open. (it's a bit easier at the mo, because the weather is good enough to be outside. That ends in Sept). I think it's possible gigs & festies going ahead will have the condition that attending might require every attendee to isolate if there's a cluster of infections linked to any event, but not if there's just one or two.

he's worried WHU are going down.

Nah, just a better PM that never was than Corbyn - not a high bar at all. Just as her getting the better of your man isn't a high bar either.

without wanting to defend Spaffer or Hancock, the difference is they've got no one to point the finger of blame at. Sturgeon loves to portray the idea that she's in charge, but did you notice how she ducked the "did we lock down too late?" question the other day? That's not great communication, that's a running line in bullshit. And we have snippers galore saying how Scotland has done much better than England - a conclusion that can only be reached by ignoring all context for what has actually happened. (PS: here's one to stick in any snipper's pipe: Cornwall has done waaay better than Scotland despite being chock-full of oldies. It must be because Sturgeon is crap and Spaffer's great )

so we're leaving lockdown with a much higher death rate than we had when we started lockdown. We're following the science.