John – ‘liberal left’.. I don’t want to write it again, and cut-and-paste seems dismissive. But take a look at the Farage thread. Liberal left – it’s a logical jmpossibility. Libertarian left. Do you mean the SDLP, or the.. ahem.. Greens?

Or is there some bogeyman party behind the media, somehere off the scale to the bottom left of Mycroft’s diagram? Or.. and I sense I am getting warm.. you are so rammed into that top-right corner that the centre of the cross-hairs is ‘extreme’ Libertarian left to you?

Going back a bit.. you caught me being a bit pedantic. In fact I do agree with the basic point made by that table or diagram or whatever. Still, you will see that while your opponents may be libertarian or left, it is much rarer for them to be both. This impression that some in the top-right sector have that their opposition is a homogenous bottom left sector is totally false. Instead, we have you surrounded!

You really are confused. Deep breath. Read a book.

Not sure the road to Damascus is a good thing. I have heard it is full of swarthy foreign types.

It’s not often I spill my beer laughing.. it”s funny cos it’s true.

John, don’t read this. The images it conjours for you might be too much at your age.

Yes

Mycroft, do you ‘buy’ basic demographics? Or that getting A’s does not by itself mean automatic selection for any degree course, including (and especially) medicine?

My auntie has Medieval History, English Lit and Sociology ‘A’s. ..but thank the Lord she’s not a doctor!

Never thought I’d agree so much.

Not entirely, though.. I am not sure ‘entitlement to live and travel where they want’ is a motive for European federalists. That freedom comes with money, not Federalism, surely?

Their are many shades of ‘Liberal’ – and many misuses of the term. There is confusion aplenty here. Like the chap on the radio this morning complaining of ‘European Liberals saying that an onion has to be a particular shape’.

No freedom under this liberal regime. We need an illiberal one – that’ll give us back our liberties.. who needs logic anyway?

But ‘regressive liberals’ I like!