Prime Minister backs high Speed rail in the north.

The same worry hasn't stopped them pissing away money for Crossrail hand over fist for the last decade. It's delayed by what, another year and it's cost has doubled. Yet no ****er complains about that because it's in London and TFL can do no wrong.

That's more or less my point.

These projects get the go ahead - despite them pissing the money up the wall - because they're in London.

We have been waiting two years for some of the modest schemes that the Barran Report advocated. It advocated Cross-Rail and suggested that trains could go from the Holborn Viaduct station through existing tunnels. It was a modest scheme. The track was there and was used by 20 goods trains a day until three years ago, when British Rail took the tracks up. But the route is there at very little cost. My right hon. Friend can announce vast sums for the electrification of St. Pancras at the drop of a hat. I would suggest that somewhere in his Department there is a good assessment with regard to how public moneys should be used for London railways. I asked his earlier predecessor, the right hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Peyton), Questions relating to the Great Northern electrification but I did not receive satisfactory answers.

Yes, I've been wondering about the budget. Are the likes of Ken Clarke, Dominic Grieve and yes, Hammond, likely to sign off an a wild surge in spending designed to keep Bojo in permanent office and deliver a Hard Brexit? And if not, if the spending promises are all just so much empty Trumpian frothing, won't that become completely clear on Mr Javid Esq's (I'm following Rees-Mogg rules on the use of 'Esq' now) first red case at the bar?

This is of course another reason why there is a pressing need for an election no later than 10 October.

Was the JRM Manual of Style a wind up or not? Agreed that Bercow (Remain) as the sole Tory majority is a bit of an untenable position for Boris. Is that with or without Sinn Fein?

No it wasn't a wind up

https://metro.co.uk/2019/07/28/jacob-rees-mogg-falls-foul-style-guide-issued-staff-10473815/

However to be fair to him, all ministers produce a style guide for their private offices. This is for correspondence that goes out in the minister's own name. If someone is writing your letters, it is very annoying to see phrases you would never use yourself.

Some of his rules are unworkable though. Which is better English?

"I met the Dean & Chapter of Wells Cathedral last night. It has spent £100,000 on a new music room at the Cathedral School. Barnaby Smith Esq., the headmaster, told me that he saw one of the boys, James Brown Esq., score a try from his own 72 foot line."

Or

"I met with the Dean & Chapter of Wells Cathedral last night. They have invested £100,000 in a new music room at the Cathedral School. Mr Smith, the headmaster, told me that he saw one of the boys, Jimmy Brown, score a try from his own 22 metre line."

On your other points; the photo was Hammond not Bercow. Bercow, as Speaker, is one of the most reliable MPs. He doesn't vote most of the time. When he does vote, Erskine May is very clear on which way he will vote in almost all circumstances.

The numbers are:

Government

Conservatives 311
Charlie Elphicke 1
DUP 10

Total 322

Less
Eleanor Lang (Deputy Speaker)

Total 321

Less 2 tellers on each division

Total 319

Opposition

Labour 247
SNP 35
Lib Dems 12
Change 5
PC 4
Green 1
Independents (including Jared O'Mara) 15

Total 319

Less 2 Deputy Speakers

Total 317

Less 2 tellers on each division

Total 315

So:-

Govt 319
Opp 315

Non-voting:-
Speaker+three deputies 4
Sinn Féin 7
Tellers 4
Vacant 1

How can we tell other countries to stop cutting down their rainforests and jungles when we just decimate our countryside

So Nulli, the media are generally reporting that the government majority next week, assuming that as predicted, they lose Brecon & Radnor, will be 1. Don't your figures, which I think are correct, mean that it will be 2, eg, Govt 318 and Opp 316? Have I missed something?

Unsure what to make of this given the seemingly widespread unpopularity of HS2.

No it wasn't a wind up

https://metro.co.uk/2019/07/28/jacob-rees-mogg-falls-foul-style-guide-issued-staff-10473815/

However to be fair to him, all ministers produce a style guide for their private offices. This is for correspondence that goes out in the minister's own name. If someone is writing your letters, it is very annoying to see phrases you would never use yourself.

Some of his rules are unworkable though. Which is better English?

"I met the Dean & Chapter of Wells Cathedral last night. It has spent £100,000 on a new music room at the Cathedral School. Barnaby Smith Esq., the headmaster, told me that he saw one of the boys, James Brown Esq., score a try from his own 72 foot line."

Or

"I met with the Dean & Chapter of Wells Cathedral last night. They have invested £100,000 in a new music room at the Cathedral School. Mr Smith, the headmaster, told me that he saw one of the boys, Jimmy Brown, score a try from his own 22 metre line."

On your other points; the photo was Hammond not Bercow. Bercow, as Speaker, is one of the most reliable MPs. He doesn't vote most of the time. When he does vote, Erskine May is very clear on which way he will vote in almost all circumstances.

The numbers are:

Government

Conservatives 311
Charlie Elphicke 1
DUP 10

Total 322

Less
Eleanor Lang (Deputy Speaker)

Total 321

Less 2 tellers on each division

Total 319

Opposition

Labour 247
SNP 35
Lib Dems 12
Change 5
PC 4
Green 1
Independents (including Jared O'Mara) 15

Total 319

Less 2 Deputy Speakers

Total 317

Less 2 tellers on each division

Total 315

So:-

Govt 319
Opp 315

Non-voting:-
Speaker+three deputies 4
Sinn Féin 7
Tellers 4
Vacant 1

Re the JRM style guide, I would word the sentence as:
Last night, I met the Dean and Chapter of Wells Cathedral. The Cathedral School has spent £100,000 on a new music room. Mr Smith, headmaster of the Cathedral School, has told me that he saw one of his pupils, Jimmy Smith, score a try from his 25 yard line.

I would say that a GE will occur sooner rather than later.

The "invested" point is JRM insisting on making a politically loaded comment, I think specifically about education.

You have just avoided the issue regarding organisations being singular or plural by changing the sentence. You are doing that to avoid JRM's rule that produces bad English. The correct position is that organisations take the singular or the plural depending on whether their names emphasize the unity of the organisation or the identity of its participators.

You agree with me that he is just wrong about the use of Esq.

It wasn't a 25 yard line though. The line wasn't converted from Imperial to metric; it was moved 30 years ago. Converting dimensions that were "born metric" into Imperial measurements (72 foot line/24 yard line) is doing a Harriet Harperson. Even worse is the Old Englisshe Tea Shoppe anachronism of saying that Usain Bolt won the Olympic 100 yards race (which is what you have done with the reference to the 25 yard line).

I agree with you that Ye Olde Englishe Tea Shoppe is not a good look, but the 22m line was historically the 25yd line.

I agree with you that Ye Olde Englishe Tea Shoppe is not a good look, but the 22m line was historically the 25yd line.

There have been some quite amusing put-downs on the Rees-Mogg today from experts in the English language, etc.

The biggest thing I noticed was no use of the word 'equal'. It would appear that even the very concept of equality is to be airbrushed from the House of Commons. How very Stalinist.

Everyone is all over the place with the figures.

This explains it nicely.

https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2019/07/what-governments-working-majority-parliament

There is only one problem. Adding back the Speaker and the vacant seat, there are only 649 MPs. They have knocked Elphicke off the Tories but not added him to the independents.


You can do no better with the Commons own website.

https://beta.parliament.uk/houses/1AFu55Hs/parties/current

There are 651 MPs on that list, not counting the vacant seat.

Elphicke is definitely counted twice
https://beta.parliament.uk/houses/1AFu55Hs/parties/DIifZMjq/members/current/a-z/e
https://beta.parliament.uk/houses/1AFu55Hs/parties/UeAtkxYY/members/current/a-z/e

The other error is that there aren't 248 Labour MPs, there are 247. I don't know who the fictitious Labour MP is.

This list is accurate but ignores the fact the deputy speakers don't vote.

https://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/mps/current-state-of-the-parties/

Here's what the BBC are saying today on the B & R results page:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-49200636



They put Labour on 245. (So they've correctly abolished Chris Williamson, Derby N.)

So this is correct, isn't it? The government's majority is now 1.