pl
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Post by pl on Oct 16, 2023 21:09:12 GMT
I see there is not much interest in Rangers and Celtic joining the English Premier League. Some very hard questions need to be answered for that to happen. Question 1 - what happens if one of the two Glasgow teams ends up in a relegation spot? a) nothing - they stay up no matter how crap they are; b) they drop into the English Championship; or c) they get replaced by St. Mirren. Question 2 - how are Scotland's entrants in the European competitions to be determined? Answers on a postcard. Ermmm... same as the situation with Welsh clubs in the English pyramid now surely... Q1: They go into the Championship/League 1/League 2 etc Q2: Same as they are now, Scottish league and cup champions (and various runners up). |
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Post by East Anglian Lefty on Oct 17, 2023 8:23:12 GMT
And the SDLP have a loose affiliation to Fianna Fail which is nevertheless stronger than any affiliation they have to the UK Labour Party. Yet Fianna Fail and APNI are both in the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe. Because Fine Gael are in the EPP and not even the PES are daft enough to believe that Fianna Fail are social democrats. |
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rcronald
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Post by rcronald on Oct 17, 2023 8:24:58 GMT
Yet Fianna Fail and APNI are both in the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe. Because Fine Gael are in the EPP and not even the PES are daft enough to believe that Fianna Fail are social democrats. I genuinely have no idea why Fine Gael are in EPP. |
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Post by East Anglian Lefty on Oct 17, 2023 8:32:29 GMT
Because they are a right-of-centre party and clearly more economically conservative than FF.
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Post by timrollpickering on Oct 17, 2023 13:13:20 GMT
Because Fine Gael are in the EPP and not even the PES are daft enough to believe that Fianna Fail are social democrats. I genuinely have no idea why Fine Gael are in EPP. The legend is that back in 1973 their taxi was faster than Fianna Fáil's and so they got into what was then the Christian Democratic Group. Ideologically they're a fairly good fit. Fianna Fáil found itself unable to join the CDG/EPP and so spent the next 36 years allying with other centre right parties kept out of the EPP by domestic rivals, most notably the French Gaullists and later Forza Italia and the Polish PiS. Eventually they opted to join the Liberal group, helped by the Progressive Democrats' dissolution, largely because it was the biggest available grouping and offered a better route for any FFer with Eurojob ambitions. |
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rcronald
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Post by rcronald on Oct 17, 2023 13:19:20 GMT
I genuinely have no idea why Fine Gael are in EPP. The legend is that back in 1973 their taxi was faster than Fianna Fáil's and so they got into what was then the Christian Democratic Group. Ideologically they're a fairly good fit. Fianna Fáil found itself unable to join the CDG/EPP and so spent the next 36 years allying with other centre right parties kept out of the EPP by domestic rivals, most notably the French Gaullists and later Forza Italia and the Polish PiS. Eventually they opted to join the Liberal group, helped by the Progressive Democrats' dissolution, largely because it was the biggest available grouping and offered a better route for any FFer with Eurojob ambitions. I wouldn’t call Leo Varadker a good ideological fit… |
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Post by Davıd Boothroyd on Nov 14, 2023 13:09:51 GMT
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Post by ntyuk1707 on Nov 14, 2023 15:37:48 GMT
The SNP spent 2.5 times the amount of Labour per vote. |
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Post by jimboo2017 on Nov 15, 2023 1:35:33 GMT
The SNP spent 2.5 times the amount of Labour per vote. SSP spent £7 a vote for me,silly buggers |
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Post by Davıd Boothroyd on Oct 25, 2024 18:41:28 GMT
Just spotted the Electoral Commission's report (https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/research-reports-and-data/our-reports-and-data-past-elections-and-referendums/report-2023-recall-petition-rutherglen-and-hamilton-west) on the recall petition which includes the interesting stats on how the petition was signed. The threshold was 8,113.
Week One: 7,095
Week Two: 2,131 (going over the threshold sometime midweek)
Week Three: 1,126
Week Four: 750
Week Five: 584
Week Six: 687
The Returning Officer sent out 14,865 postal signing sheets for the recall petition, of which 6,869 were returned; 62 were ruled out due to mismatching signatures etc, so 6,807 were included in the count. That's 55% of all the signatures.
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Post by aargauer on Oct 25, 2024 18:55:22 GMT
Because Fine Gael are in the EPP and not even the PES are daft enough to believe that Fianna Fail are social democrats. I genuinely have no idea why Fine Gael are in EPP. So they aren't in the same group as FF, who are in ALDE to avoid being in the same group as FG. |
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rcronald
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Post by rcronald on Oct 25, 2024 19:32:20 GMT
I genuinely have no idea why Fine Gael are in EPP. So they aren't in the same group as FF, who are in ALDE to avoid being in the same group as FG. they should just switch the moment Michael Martin steps down as leader of FF and the party returns to a more socially conservative stance. |
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Post by greenhert on Oct 25, 2024 19:33:13 GMT
Because they are a right-of-centre party and clearly more economically conservative than FF. But more socially liberal. It is like comparing the Centre Party and Moderates of Finland, or Venstre and the Conservative People's Party of Denmark, or even (just about) the Liberal and National Parties of Australia. |
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Post by aargauer on Oct 25, 2024 19:45:30 GMT
Because they are a right-of-centre party and clearly more economically conservative than FF. But more socially liberal. It is like comparing the Centre Party and Moderates of Finland, or Venstre and the Conservative People's Party of Denmark, or even (just about) the Liberal and National Parties of Australia. Our FDP (ALDE) are definitely more economically right wing than Die Mitte (EPP), and quite possibly any EPP party. |
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Post by East Anglian Lefty on Oct 25, 2024 21:22:40 GMT
FG is far from uniformly socially liberal, as a brief look at the voting record of TDs on gay marriage and abortion would show. And in 1973 divorce was illegal in Ireland and they were not campaigning against this. They've never exactly been the poster children for libertarianism.
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Post by hullenedge on Oct 25, 2024 21:41:09 GMT
Wasn't it the case that both FF and FG had their eyes on joining the EPP from accession-ish and FG beat FF to the sign up? FF sat as unaligned and then ended up in the Liberal grouping (but not the easiest fit)? There's something in one of the European Times Guide or The Economist. It would have been unusual if they'd both joined the EPP. Of course neither would countenance joining the European Democrats group of Tories and Danish Conservatives. (Mrs T was hostile to the EPP hence the EDs).
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Post by Devil Wincarnate on Oct 26, 2024 0:07:04 GMT
The EPP is essentially little more than the political wing of the agricultural lobby. That is all there is to it.
That's why the Tories were never a good fit. The farmer vote might well be Tory leaning, but that doesn't really mean much here.
Whereas in Germany for example...the CDU and CSU are intrinsically linked to agriculture. Intertwined.
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The Bishop
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Post by The Bishop on Oct 26, 2024 9:25:53 GMT
Just spotted the Electoral Commission's report (https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/research-reports-and-data/our-reports-and-data-past-elections-and-referendums/report-2023-recall-petition-rutherglen-and-hamilton-west) on the recall petition which includes the interesting stats on how the petition was signed. The threshold was 8,113. Week One: 7,095 Week Two: 2,131 (going over the threshold sometime midweek) Week Three: 1,126 Week Four: 750 Week Five: 584 Week Six: 687 The Returning Officer sent out 14,865 postal signing sheets for the recall petition, of which 6,869 were returned; 62 were ruled out due to mismatching signatures etc, so 6,807 were included in the count. That's 55% of all the signatures. This is fascinating, I had no idea that the signatures were so "front loaded". Are similar stats available for other recall petitions, and if so how do they compare? |
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Post by LDCaerdydd on Oct 26, 2024 11:44:52 GMT
Just spotted the Electoral Commission's report (https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/research-reports-and-data/our-reports-and-data-past-elections-and-referendums/report-2023-recall-petition-rutherglen-and-hamilton-west) on the recall petition which includes the interesting stats on how the petition was signed. The threshold was 8,113. Week One: 7,095 Week Two: 2,131 (going over the threshold sometime midweek) Week Three: 1,126 Week Four: 750 Week Five: 584 Week Six: 687 The Returning Officer sent out 14,865 postal signing sheets for the recall petition, of which 6,869 were returned; 62 were ruled out due to mismatching signatures etc, so 6,807 were included in the count. That's 55% of all the signatures. This is fascinating, I had no idea that the signatures were so "front loaded". Are similar stats available for other recall petitions, and if so how do they compare? IIRC the threshold in Peterborough was passed very early on according to the RO when the petition ended. Not sure if a week by week (or day by day) count was released. |
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Post by irish observer on Oct 26, 2024 20:48:00 GMT
I genuinely have no idea why Fine Gael are in EPP. So they aren't in the same group as FF, who are in ALDE to avoid being in the same group as FG. FG joined the Christian Democrats during the first Session before the first Direct Elections to the EP in 1979. The Christian Democrats then merged into the EPP. Many in FG until relatively recently used highlight the importance of "Christian Democracy." Labour joined the PES. The Greens joined the Greens and SF the Nordic Left Group which DL may once have been party of. FF were originally aligned to the Gaullists of France due to the Francophile alliance stemming from the link between de Valera and de Gaulle. This remains the UEN until the Gaullists broke and joined the CD/EPP. FF didn't follow. Seemingly the story goes they tried to join the Liberals at the time but the PDs were still the Irish member designate even though they had no MEP so FF couldn't joined ALDE/ELDR until the PDs were gone. LibDems are gone from that group now also but Alliance are still sister parties perhaps! There was a famous conversation between Michael B. Yeats, son of William B. Yeats the poet, and head of FF Delegation and an Italian the head of the Christian Democrats in the Dáil Restaurant. Afterwards FF went with the Gaullists not the Christian Democrats. |
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