Countdown

Online polls and petitions are easy to scam so no surprise there.

Meanwhile the parliamentary paralysis this last 2 years has been great for the economy.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/simonconstable/2019/03/21/how-a-chaotic-brexit-has-been-great-for-britains-economy/

Question: How do they calculate "in employment" here? Is it like in the USA, where they don't bother to count anyone who has simply dropped out of the labor market (by choice of by being discouraged)? Do they also lump people on zero hour contracts, or who are only working a few hours a week (by choice or not) as "employed"?

And, of course, someone(s) will make a killing out of this all.    The UK govmt has the largest fiscal surplus it's had in years. It's a shame it's not trickling down to the people/organizations who really need it.

Online polls and petitions are easy to scam so no surprise there.

Of course they are. However, rather than taking the fact that the poll exists at all as significant, the BBC is planting subliminal landminds - oh, this can't really mean anything of value, it's probably the Russians (aka, the bogeyman) again. Seriously, BBC? Bad form.

It has always been interesting to watch various news channels/read the various "newspapers" (using that term lightly) to see their choice of words. Those choices do tend to influence people. It's not any secret the BBC is not operating in a vacuum (as far as the power structure goes), but I really had expected them to be at least a little bit more subtle.

I wonder how they'll treat the upcoming "we demand a vote" marches? (I assume there will be some. Hopefully they are sizeable, but I think I'll be relying on the foreign press coverage as I don't think the BBC will be impartial. At all.)

Wow, that is an epic number of people demonstrating in London right all afternoon.       It's been wall-to-wall people for miles. Too bad it's not on any of the national news channels live - Euronews has been streaming it on the Roku, no commentation, just livestream video.   

I do regret not traveling down there to join them to call for a "People's Vote", although the Daughter argues that we "do not have a horse in this race".  (I beg to differ with that.)

In any event, it is either:

7 days to Brexit (29 March)
21 days to Brexit (12 April) or, possibly,
a bit longer (22 May) until Brexit.

The pound/dollar is $1.32. The pound/euro is 1.17.

Question: How do they calculate "in employment" here? Is it like in the USA, where they don't bother to count anyone who has simply dropped out of the labor market (by choice of by being discouraged)? Do they also lump people on zero hour contracts, or who are only working a few hours a week (by choice or not) as "employed"?

And, of course, someone(s) will make a killing out of this all.    The UK govmt has the largest fiscal surplus it's had in years. It's a shame it's not trickling down to the people/organizations who really need it.

This is how they do it in the USA
https://www.bls.gov/cps/cps_htgm.htm

This is how they do it in the UK
https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/methodologies/aguidetolabourmarketstatistics

I don’t care to analyze the differences. I do know that in our area we see plenty of shops advertising jobs in their windows, and our son’s and my sister’s company have been desperately short of staff for over a year now. This is in the NE of England which has the highest level of unemployment in the country. 

And, on schedule, the BBC has come along and suggested that perhaps the Russians have a hand in it. So much for the BBC.

Do you have a link for this because I can’t find one?  My search for your story found the BBC saying the exact opposite.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-47678275

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-47668946

The BBC spoke to three cyber-security experts about how likely it is that a number of the 3m signatures gathered so far are not genuine.
They all agreed that the petition's email validation process would be a deterrent.
Each signatory has to supply a unique email address to which a verification link is sent before their signature can be accepted. UK-based signatories must also share a valid postcode.
While email addresses are easy enough to set up, doing that in real time at high volume is less straightforward.

I'll look for it - it was a couple of days ago.  They've changed their tone in the last 24 hours, definitely.

Edit - not finding the exact same one. But from your links:

Is it Russia?

Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage suggested that "Russian collusion" was behind the unprecedented traffic towards the Brexit petition.While Russia is notorious for seeking to meddle in the politics of the west, on this occasion there is a question mark over what its intentions would be, added Prof Woodward.  "All the evidence is that Russia was supporting the Leave campaign," he said.  "So why would they suddenly be supporting Remain?"

While the petition data (which is currently not updating) reveals that signatures are coming in from all over the world - including small numbers from Russia, China, Iran and one from North Korea where it is unlikely the page can be seen - the UK government said that any British resident or citizen can sign, wherever they are.  The BBC understands that fewer than 4% of signatures are coming from outside the UK at time of writing.

It is however not difficult to disguise or hide a location on the web.

That last bit is just enough to sew seeds in the minds of suggestible people.

Could try the wayback machine, but it's not really worth the time/effort.

This is how they do it in the USA
https://www.bls.gov/cps/cps_htgm.htm

This is how they do it in the UK
https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/methodologies/aguidetolabourmarketstatistics

I don’t care to analyze the differences. I do know that in our area we see plenty of shops advertising jobs in their windows, and our son’s and my sister’s company have been desperately short of staff for over a year now. This is in the NE of England which has the highest level of unemployment in the country.

Ah, so they count anyone who has done any work at all (paid or unpaid) as employed.

What kind of jobs are at your son's & sister's company? Are they paying a good living wage? Do they require specialist training?

There are lots of "help wanted" signs in shops here, too. But when you inquire, you find out it's 12 hours a week, or zero hour contracts, or they want you to be self-employed while still physically working for them, and/or pay the absolute minimum wage. Unfortunately.

Ah, so they count anyone who has done any work at all (paid or unpaid) as employed.

What kind of jobs are at your son's & sister's company? Are they paying a good living wage? Do they require specialist training?

There are lots of "help wanted" signs in shops here, too. But when you inquire, you find out it's 12 hours a week, or zero hour contracts, or they want you to be self-employed while still physically working for them, and/or pay the absolute minimum wage. Unfortunately.

My sister’s place is semi skilled work, assembling and testing electronic modules plus an opening in the purchasing department. Technical Qualifications are necessary but below degree level

My son’s company is a large company called Cubic Transportation Systems with the the parent company based in San Diego, it has openings for many disciplines but here in the NE it is mostly in the customer services and tech support area. Degrees preferred but not necessary if relevant experience is held.



https://www.cubic.com/

Michael Gove is not the answer.

Ah, so they count anyone who has done any work at all (paid or unpaid) as employed.

What kind of jobs are at your son's & sister's company? Are they paying a good living wage? Do they require specialist training?

There are lots of "help wanted" signs in shops here, too. But when you inquire, you find out it's 12 hours a week, or zero hour contracts, or they want you to be self-employed while still physically working for them, and/or pay the absolute minimum wage. Unfortunately.

I see a lot of 8 hour contracts... over 2 days. Weekends required.

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My sister’s place is semi skilled work, assembling and testing electronic modules plus an opening in the purchasing department. Technical Qualifications are necessary but below degree level

My son’s company is a large company called Cubic Transportation Systems with the the parent company based in San Diego, it has openings for many disciplines but here in the NE it is mostly in the customer services and tech support area. Degrees preferred but not necessary if relevant experience is held.



https://www.cubic.com/

Ah, Cubic. I know Cubic.

Interesting. If it was a bit closer ~I'd~ apply, although I'm lousy at customer service and my tech skills are 1996. 

I see a lot of 8 hour contracts... over 2 days. Weekends required.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

Yeah, same. And it seems, from the ones I've seen, that you are often called in "at will", which means you can't try to string two or three (or four) of those types of jobs together to make a living, as the scheduling becomes a nightmare.

There are days when I am ~very~ happy I have a pension and don't have to deal with any of that anymore unless I want to.

Yeah, same. And it seems, from the ones I've seen, that you are often called in "at will", which means you can't try to string two or three (or four) of those types of jobs together to make a living, as the scheduling becomes a nightmare.

There are days when I am ~very~ happy I have a pension and don't have to deal with any of that anymore unless I want to.

I fully agree, well into our 10th year of retirement and loving it.

Me too - loving retirement!

Tonight, it is either:

6 days to Brexit (29 March)
20 days to Brexit (12 April) or, possibly,
a bit longer (22 May) until Brexit.

The pound/dollar is $1.32. The pound/euro is 1.17.

And, as far as I can tell, nobody STILL has a clue what's going on down in London. Especially the people responsible down in London.