Thursday, February 13, 2020

IndyLive Radio interview

Just a quick note to let you know that I was on IndyLive Radio yesterday for quite a lengthy interview about last week's Scot Goes Pop / Panelbase poll, and also about polling more generally.  I don't think there's any catch-up option, but I gather the interview will be streamed again at around 8pm tonight.  So if you happen to be around, the link to the website is HERE.

32 comments:

  1. Yougov Scotland.

    Do you support or oppose building a new high-speed rail line between
    London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds?
    27% Support
    39% Oppose


    Interesting, with respect to party vote, after SNP voters, Tories are most opposed:
    28% Support
    42% oppose

    What's really great though, is the over 65's really hate the Boris Express, more than any other age group by a country mile:
    18% Support
    58% Oppose

    Ergo, current No and leave voters are most opposed to it. Bozo really is great at wrecking the union.

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    Replies
    1. Scots are a dull lot who oppose progress. Many were against the hydro projects. Trains/Trams are the future.

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    2. Leave voters are much more opposed than indy supporters.

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    3. Elderly leave voters absolutely hate HS2 more than any other group.

      If you wanted to pick something to 'bring the union together', this was probably the worst idea possible.

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    4. They probably hated the train from Haymarket to London. Scots just want the But an Ben with whale oil lamps and feeding the mice in the dark.

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    5. Nazi House-Jock and his vitriolic nonsense, once again. Is there anyone more pointless than GWC? That's a rhetorical question!

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    6. Elderly leavers mainly identify as British.

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  2. Eck said in a speech in Carlisle during 2014 that he wanted high speed rail from Scotland and hold a feasibility study.

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    Replies
    1. Cordelia does things on trains.

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    2. Sure, it's anti-Scottish if England doesn't do that.

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    3. "Cordelia does things on trains."

      Never been caught yet.

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    4. It will never venture further than Leeds.

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  3. Nazi House-Jock and his vitriolic nonsense, once again. Is there anyone more pointless than GWC? That's a rhetorical question!

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  4. My concern about HS2 is that it should have been built 30 years ago. It's based on old technology. Countries like Japan and China (that did build their HS railways 30 years ago) are already working on the next generation trains (magalev monorail etc).

    Could it be yet another case of too little too late? By the time the British build their line to Birmingham, it may be obselete. Like those aircraft carriers - an expensive vanity project. Not that the politicians care - after all, YOU will be paying for it.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, and in some ways it seems strangely lacking in populism – seems likely to annoy some people in the leafy “Home Counties” and disappoint most people north of Manchester.
      It's been noted that it might have been better to pitch the railway in terms of capacity rather than speed. I wonder if the line had started at Coventry and dealt with the bottleneck between there and Birmingham then gone Crewe – Manchester – Leeds (or Birmingham – E. Midlands – Don Valley – Leeds) it might have been better value for money. Given the land purchase and clearance which has already happened then maybe a short commuter link between Old Oak Common and Aylesbury Vale. And that might still leave some money to beef up a Sunderland – Teesside route linking with the main East Coast line. All in England, of course.
      But imagine what we could do with £10 bn of “consequentials”. I fancy spending some of that on an electrified “Scot I” Glasgow – Aberdeen line, maybe branching north from some sort of Dundee Interchange station on the west of the city and going via Forfar and Brechin (Parkway). And there's always that idea for a rail bridge at Dornoch – a mere hop and jump.

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    2. The early engineering arguments in favour of HS2 were based upon capacity, in that taking the longer distance trains off the existing lines frees up more capacity for freight and local trains. Not sure if Tesco et al are still running their train from Spain that brings the fresh produce across to southern England, but there was talk of extending services like that and finally making Eurocentral / Mossend,'properly' attached to the European links.
      That all seems a very long time ago, and I suspect that big rail infrastructure projects, much like roads and ferries, becomes too big for any of the management cogs to control, and has to surrender to the politics of the day (and then to the politics of the next day)

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  5. By the time the British build their 200 mph railway, the Chinese will have a 500 mph one. Guaranteed.

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    Replies
    1. Sure, but lets not describe a railway entirely within the borders of England (southern England for the only section likely to ever be built) as 'British'.

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    2. Punters just want good public transport. The name is of no importance. The two Jock ferry boats could be completed by 2030!Mibbie.

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    3. Punters want public transport investment in their country. When their stolen taxes are invested in the country next door while that country tries to prevent them running their own affairs, it annoys them a lot and they stop supporting unionism.

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    4. Agreed skier, except it'll be paid for by all UK taxpayers which includes Scotland.
      Shame it won't come within 200 miles of Scotland.

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  6. James, thanks for the heads up for your radio stardom. I listened to your segment last night - very interesting.

    I'll be quite happy to chip in again for another poll when the time is right (might that simply be after some elapsed time rather than a potentially blip making one off political event?)

    In between times, I am looking forward to hearing your playlist! Maybe you could publish on Spotify for our greater listening enjoyment...

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    Replies
    1. and on a tech note, can I ask again why I cannot publish replies/comments from an iPhone or iMac? I have to go seek out a windows machine to add my voice.

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  7. Not enough attention is being paid to the Friarton Bridge.
    It is important that it should be able to carry heavy loads.

    #I Get People

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  8. One of the great things about being retired is that when companies screw up you can devote some time to getting satisfaction. Between them, @boxcouk and @parcelforce have made a total arse of a simple job. I feel duty-bound to let people know. Repeatedly.

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    Replies
    1. Big Eater From PerthFebruary 14, 2020 at 1:18 PM

      All credit to the Parcel Force employee involved in the 'issue' with delivering my new laptop. The guy just came to my door to offer an obviously sincere apology. He didn't have to do that. I very much appreciate it. Just not enough to feel bad about giving his employers shit.

      Success! Now I just have to get Kelly to change his ways...

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  9. 80 m.p.h. in the fog, that's me. The pile-up has begun!

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    Replies
    1. I hope Dominic Cummings will be advising the Tories for Holyrood 2021.

      So far he's won a landslide for the SNP at Westminster, cutting the Tory seat count in half, and cost the unionists N. Ireland too, with SF+SDLP winning a historic victory.

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  10. HS2. Along with climate change sometimes biodiversity is thrown in as a threat to our sustainability. Most folk have new idea of why this is so important. An example : if we extrapolate the current rate of loss, we're on track to lose up to 50 % of insect species by 2050 and all insects by 2100. This won't happen because the loss will slow down . We'll be left with the pests that eat our crops .
    The species that eat the pests will be gone! We'll throw more and more pesticides at the problem leading to further loss of biodiversity. Eventually we'll live in a chemical waste land unable to feed us. I am giving a very simplistic analysis here , of course the matter is complex , nevertheless this is an illustration of our possible future. Insects are just an example, this applies across the board to all plant , animal and fungal species - we've lost much of the vertebrate species all ready.

    HS 2 is going through and will distroy some of England's remaining biodiversity hot spots (especially remaining fragments of ancient woodland). This has a knock on effect throughout the biosphere.

    HS2 is going to be another environmental disaster.

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    Replies
    1. Possibly the UK population rising 3 million by 2030 and the housing required could be more damaging followed by further population explosion.

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  11. Sods law. What's the betting the Labour leadership candidate with the least respect for Scottish democratic rights ends up fighting it out for the right to overrule us.

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  12. If I need to point it out- Lisa Nandy!

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