Saturday & Sunday 4th & 5th June 2016

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 9:11 am

How long is it since Damian McBride has been a top Labour spin doctor ? Yet the Telegraph describe him as if he is still one.

The article claims he is two faced about Remain, and may actually be aiding the Leavers & Michael Gove. Or someone with the initials MG.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06 ... sed-after/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 9:18 am

Cameron again saying mortgages could rise after Brexit.
He needs to be careful. That could encourage pensioners who rely on savings income to vote Leave, in the hope of an interest rate rise.

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 9:37 am

Good morfternoon.

John Major on the Andrew Marr programme has just said that the NHS would be as safe with the leading "Brexit" (ugh!) players - Michael Gove, Boris Johnson and Iain Smith - as a hamster with a hungry python.

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 9:40 am

He's not wrong.

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 9:45 am

See you later. Have to check the seedlings haven't dried out.

gilsey · Post by **gilsey** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 10:07 am

I'd be pleased if the seedlings had dried out, cos that would mean it was warm. However, the sun is peeking out and we can see the top of the moor, hooray.
Awful weather for 10 of the last 12 days here, by my reckoning, glad we missed 3 of them by going away.

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 10:20 am

Playing the gender card against Corbyn is so pathetically transparent. And yes, Bennett is a mediocre writer.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 10:27 am

Tubby Isaacs wrote:
RobertSnozers wrote:
citizenJA wrote: making fun of the man, the referendum, the party and regular people trying to sort politics out
As I've said before, Alan bloody Johnson is the Chair of Labour In, why the hell isn't media on his case instead of Corbyn's?
The whole media in this country is warped and anyone who can't see it must frankly be thick as two short planks.
I don't think it washes for anyone but the leader to do leading on something like this.

I'd guess Alan Johnson is working hard, but can't cut through the focus on the PM and "his friends, Gove and Boris". Same as Corbyn really. It's very hard to do that.

I didn't read it past the headline.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 10:27 am

Good-morning, everyone.

Post by **refitman** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 10:38 am

StephenDolan wrote:Jeremy Corbyn’s male-only retinue will never tell him he has no clothes

http://gu.com/p/4k9ty" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And here's me thinking that her 'funny' SamCam diary pieces were poor. It appears that the Grant Shapps random press release generator (or is it the Ed Miliband summer of guff OP generator?) has been dusted off, tweaked and is being used with gay abandon at the leftie G.

It also contains a lie: she says that he proposed women only carriages, when he only responded to someone else's suggestion.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 10:47 am

The sun has got its hat on. Shout hip-hip hooray, the sun has got its hat on and its coming out to play

So - at ten last night, our hearts sank as cars drew up, the barbie was lit and the noisy neighbours began to party in their garden again.
We waited to see if they were set for another all nighter and sure enough by 12:30 they were at full pitch, so Mr Ohso called the police. A lovely lady controller explained they had very few powers, and were short handed but would see what they could do...
An hour later a patrol car arrived and it immediately went blissfully quiet...

Hateful to have to do it, but it was getting silly. They'll just have to have a barbie during the afternoon and evening like the rest of us.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 10:52 am

gilsey wrote:I'd be pleased if the seedlings had dried out, cos that would mean it was warm. However, the sun is peeking out and we can see the top of the moor, hooray.
Awful weather for 10 of the last 12 days here, by my reckoning, glad we missed 3 of them by going away.

Stunning day in Stoke

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 12:04 pm

Not as blue sky and sunny as they'd predicted for us, but at least the sun is out and it is warmer, although the wind is still from the North, so chilly in the shade when you're getting old like me and feel the cold.

I have just cut the grass; fed Dennis and Fluff, the two neglected, neighbourhood cats; upset Mr Ohso because he was being picky, and made a cup of tea.

Just another Sunday morning in suburbia

ScarletGas · Post by **ScarletGas** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 12:11 pm

AnatolyKasparov wrote:Playing the gender card against Corbyn is so pathetically transparent. And yes, Bennett is a mediocre writer.

However, not surprising considering her partner (John Humphries) is as poor an interviewer as she is a writer.

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 12:46 pm

ScarletGas wrote:
AnatolyKasparov wrote:Playing the gender card against Corbyn is so pathetically transparent. And yes, Bennett is a mediocre writer.
However, not surprising considering her partner (John Humphries) is as poor an interviewer as she is a writer.

Didn't know she was married to the old grump. That explains a lot.

TobyLatimer · Post by **TobyLatimer** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 12:53 pm

My daily visit

A couple of meme type thingies

: 13394085_10154405442704218_4907101253290469073_n.jpg (98.53 KiB) Viewed 4480 times

TobyLatimer · Post by **TobyLatimer** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 12:54 pm

: 13319964_10156872320270577_2733548539880558252_n.jpg (37.56 KiB) Viewed 4477 times

Back to bed for me now ho hum

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 1:04 pm

There's another nasty lie in that piece about Corbyn. It says he supported "legalisation" of prostitution, like he's some kind of devil may care libertarian.

He said decriminalisation, which is basically what we've got now., except the current laws leave sex workers vulnerable- if they bound together in one building, it's a brothel and illegal, so they have to take greater risk in flats alone.

I don't know exactly what his view is but I'd assume that it seeks to get rid of the counterproductive laws and adopts a harm reduction approach. Which isn't the sort of free for all implied at all.

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 1:24 pm

Phew...28 degrees c in the shade here. Too hot to be able to do anything outside.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 1:48 pm

yahyah wrote:Phew...28 degrees c in the shade here. Too hot to be able to do anything outside.

Not quite that hot here. Cloud every so often keeping it that much cooler.

I've been outside for half an hour. After last night, I was pondering suburban noise and listened.

South Hill Park Arts Centre has outdoor music in the park on Sundays. Today the wind is blowing from their direction, so I had to listen to opera and then top show songs including, 'Take me to the Church on Time'.

Not my cup of tea.
Planes go over ever minute or so, there is a far off hum from a dual carriageway and motor way, and cars constantly passing along the bottom of our turning because they're visiting Aldi, which is just across the road. All around dogs barking, children playing.

Because it's constant, we don't notice it most of the time ... But a peaceful Sunday afternoon in Suburbia? Forget about it.

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 1:52 pm

Labour to consider universal basic income:

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... ass-report" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 1:55 pm

McDonnell might be thinking he's funked if there's a Brexit, so get some radicalism out there now.

Not really the time for distractions,

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 2:24 pm

yahyah wrote:Labour to consider universal basic income:

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... ass-report" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I see the usual suspects are frothing about this but...

The Conservative Case for a Guaranteed Basic Income

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc ... me/375600/

The idea isn’t new. As Frum notes, Friederich Hayek endorsed it. In 1962, the libertarian economist Milton Friedman advocated a minimum guaranteed income via a “negative income tax.” In 1967, Martin Luther King Jr. said, “The solution to poverty is to abolish it directly by a now widely discussed measure: the guaranteed income.” Richard Nixon unsuccessfully tried to pass a version of Friedman’s plan a few years later, and his Democratic opponent in the 1972 presidential election, George McGovern, also suggested a guaranteed annual income.

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 2:36 pm

RogerOThornhill wrote:
yahyah wrote:Labour to consider universal basic income:

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... ass-report" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I see the usual suspects are frothing about this but...

The Conservative Case for a Guaranteed Basic Income

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc ... me/375600/

The idea isn’t new. As Frum notes, Friederich Hayek endorsed it. In 1962, the libertarian economist Milton Friedman advocated a minimum guaranteed income via a “negative income tax.” In 1967, Martin Luther King Jr. said, “The solution to poverty is to abolish it directly by a now widely discussed measure: the guaranteed income.” Richard Nixon unsuccessfully tried to pass a version of Friedman’s plan a few years later, and his Democratic opponent in the 1972 presidential election, George McGovern, also suggested a guaranteed annual income.

I'm guessing that Friedman and Hayek weren't anticipating a very generous payment, so that's not all that reassuring.

Anyway, it's hardly a brilliant hit back that two economists most people haven't heard of might have supported it 50 years ago. I think the Tories will be turning cartwheels. Free money for people who don't even try to find work, taxes up, that's how most people will see it.

There's quite enough to do making the running on anti-austerity. This sort "let's chuck this out there" Green Party stuff isn't what Labour need to be doing at all.

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 3:02 pm

Tubby Isaacs wrote:
I'm guessing that Friedman and Hayek weren't anticipating a very generous payment, so that's not all that reassuring.

Anyway, it's hardly a brilliant hit back that two economists most people haven't heard of might have supported it 50 years ago. I think the Tories will be turning cartwheels. Free money for people who don't even try to find work, taxes up, that's how most people will see it.

There's quite enough to do making the running on anti-austerity. This sort "let's chuck this out there" Green Party stuff isn't what Labour need to be doing at all.

It's an interesting idea and given the Swiss are voting on it, it's worth a look. Might not come to anything but if you can't put ideas out there with (probably) 4 years to go before an election, then when can you?

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 3:13 pm

The Swiss have voted no according to reports, by a big majority.

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 3:26 pm

Docking welfare payments is not incentive to work, report claims

Government-backed employment project found benefit cuts that push claimants further into poverty also create barriers to finding work

The findings emerged in an evaluation of a one-year EU-funded project aimed at helping unemployed claimants cope with cuts to their housing benefit as a result of the benefit cap, local housing allowance restrictions, and the bedroom tax.

The evaluation suggests cuts that push low-income claimants further into poverty, housing insecurity and debt, coupled with a lack of affordable childcare, create barriers and stresses that can inhibit their ability to find work. (Guardian - my emphasis)

Plus or minus for the EU in the referendum stakes? Or will it be ignored? (I'm thinking "Outers", here, primarily.)

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2016 ... ort-claims

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 3:26 pm

Well done, McDonnell.

Not that the Swiss are necessarily experts on anything, but it's dreadful timing, and easily foreseeable as such.

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 3:32 pm

RogerOThornhill wrote:
Tubby Isaacs wrote:
I'm guessing that Friedman and Hayek weren't anticipating a very generous payment, so that's not all that reassuring.

Anyway, it's hardly a brilliant hit back that two economists most people haven't heard of might have supported it 50 years ago. I think the Tories will be turning cartwheels. Free money for people who don't even try to find work, taxes up, that's how most people will see it.

There's quite enough to do making the running on anti-austerity. This sort "let's chuck this out there" Green Party stuff isn't what Labour need to be doing at all.
It's an interesting idea and given the Swiss are voting on it, it's worth a look. Might not come to anything but if you can't put ideas out there with (probably) 4 years to go before an election, then when can you?

Not the day the Swiss have voted against it by a street, as it looks like they will. And after the referendum.

I appreciate McDonnell and Corbyn are finding it hard to get notices among the "Dave and pals" media coverage, but they've got to keep bashing away on that and that alone. They're potentially huge assets to Remain, having been sceptics won over by EU membership. They can make some "pro-business" noises as well, "I've always supported investment, and I'm convinced that X is right that Brexit will reduce it".

That doesn't mean sharing a platform with Sir Stuart Rose or Cameron, of course.

mbc1955 · Post by **mbc1955** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 5:29 pm

It's gone seriously quiet around here: too many other 'better' or necessary things to do, it seems. It's a blazingly sunny afternoon here in Stockport where I'm idling with self-created compilation CDs, Killer Sudokus and desultory tidying of my pokey little quarters. But at least I'm in a positive frame of mind (personally) today. For the last few weeks of what we, self-misleadingly, still call civilization, that is.

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 5:34 pm

mbc1955 wrote:It's gone seriously quiet around here: too many other 'better' or necessary things to do, it seems. It's a blazingly sunny afternoon here in Stockport where I'm idling with self-created compilation CDs, Killer Sudokus and desultory tidying of my pokey little quarters. But at least I'm in a positive frame of mind (personally) today. For the last few weeks of what we, self-misleadingly, still call civilization, that is.

You think Brexit will prevail ?

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 5:42 pm

Sorry, tennis prevailed - watching one of the true greats. And Andy Murray.

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 5:49 pm

This is interesting, a view of Brexit from a Nobel Laureate psychologist, the founder of behavioural economics. Nice to know that he says just what I have thought.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/201 ... ger---and/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

mbc1955 · Post by **mbc1955** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 6:09 pm

yahyah wrote:
mbc1955 wrote:It's gone seriously quiet around here: too many other 'better' or necessary things to do, it seems. It's a blazingly sunny afternoon here in Stockport where I'm idling with self-created compilation CDs, Killer Sudokus and desultory tidying of my pokey little quarters. But at least I'm in a positive frame of mind (personally) today. For the last few weeks of what we, self-misleadingly, still call civilization, that is.

You think Brexit will prevail ?

I honestly don't know. I don't know what's the best outcome though my life, my opinions and my instincts have pointed to Remain all along. I don't know which way it's going to go and I don't believe anyone who says that they know what the result will be, even though, by the Law of Averages, 50% of them are bound to be true.

The only thing I'm certain of is that the result won't be clear cut either way. I would be astonished at a margin of victory greater than 5% for either side. Which means either that we will vote for Leave, in which case the country will fall into the hands of Johnson, Gove, Farage and all their ghastly ilk, or that we will vote for Remain and the Leave side claim all manner of lies, cheating and foul practice whilst being convinced that their massive minority proves that they were right and they'll continue to campaign, argue, undercut, undermine and do everything in their power to tip that balance in their favour.

The Press will continue to lie, mislead, misrepresent, lie, defame, hide truths, lie and in every way act as if a Remain result is meaningless (they'll do all these things anyway about everything else but they'll be particularly belligerent about this subject).

Because on June 23 the country will formally divide in two. The trenches will have been dug, the battlelines drawn up,the can of worms will be open and there just isn't going to be another can big enough to get them all in again. The last vestige of the country I believed in will be dead, Cameron will be his murderer for calling this referendum in the first place, and we will be in a civil war for the rest of my lifetime.

This doesn't look much like the last Golden Afternoon of the pre-Great War era, but it's all we've got left, so make the most of the sun, because it's setting fast. The lights are going out all over Europe. You know how the quote is completed.

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 6:33 pm

I think it's clear now that Cameron needs Corbyn's help. He might be wishing he hadn't done the "terrorist sympathizer" stuff now.

If direct cooperation isn't possible, he could at least point the media over to Corbyn to make his case to working class voters.

Post by **PaulfromYorkshire** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 6:50 pm

Here's another

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06 ... ure-to-ma/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

jeremy-corbyn-attacked-by-labour-grandees

The grandees seem to be John Prescott and Kate Hoey

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 7:11 pm

Hope you're getting some rays PF

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 7:18 pm

PaulfromYorkshire wrote:Here's another

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06 ... ure-to-ma/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

jeremy-corbyn-attacked-by-labour-grandees

The grandees seem to be John Prescott and Kate Hoey

What did Prescott actually say? He has been notably careful not to be too critical of JC in public.

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 7:20 pm

RobertSnozers wrote:
Tubby Isaacs wrote:I think it's clear now that Cameron needs Corbyn's help. He might be wishing he hadn't done the "terrorist sympathizer" stuff now.

If direct cooperation isn't possible, he could at least point the media over to Corbyn to make his case to working class voters.
I suspect Cameron would rather choke on someone else's vomit than call for help from Corbyn. Anyway, he did all the 'terrorist sympathiser' stuff with Khan and then happily shared a platform with him. I can't understand why Khan didn't tell him where to get off.

Mind you, Cameron was happy enough to let Brown win the Scottish referendum and then defecate liberally and lengthily all over Labour for their trouble.

Corbyn needs to stay the **** out of Cameron's referendum. He's doing as much as he needs to and more than he might.

I think Corbyn's established enough distance, which is the right thing to do. But they need all the Labour votes they can get to save us from the Tea Party taking over.

It doesn't have to be riding on buses together or anything. Cameron allowing some time for Corbyn to set the agenda and get his voters out would be very helpful.

The problem is that Brown and Miliband got stuck with "the vow" especially the silly timetable for it which Cameron had no interest in fulfilling. It doesn't have to be like that now.

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 7:21 pm

I think Cameron really wants to win this referendum. He's not held back against Johnson, Gove etc. I think he'd consider most stuff to win it.

But as ever, he didn't think ahead when trashing the Leader of the Opposition before the referendum.

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 7:36 pm

@ohsocynical

Hello! I'm pleased to be able to report that it's warm and sunny here. Or rather, it was. It's still sunny but it's got rather chilly now. Keep up the good work with Fluffy and Dennis(?). Sorry - memory fail.

Post by **PaulfromYorkshire** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 8:03 pm

AnatolyKasparov wrote:
PaulfromYorkshire wrote:Here's another

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06 ... ure-to-ma/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

jeremy-corbyn-attacked-by-labour-grandees

The grandees seem to be John Prescott and Kate Hoey
What did Prescott actually say? He has been notably careful not to be too critical of JC in public.

The former deputy prime minister said so-called blue on blue assaults were "destroying the Tory party hopefully" but questioned "where's Labour?" in the battle.

Remain campaigners could lose the June 23 vote because Labour is failing to secure backing from its supporters, he warned.

"It seems as if we are just enjoying the fight between them but that is not putting Labour's position," Lord Prescott told BBC One's Sunday Politics.

"We are not putting Labour's arguments."

The peer said Labour was "absolutely" failing to galvanise its supporters, admitting " Jeremy's not a passionate man".

Lord Prescott said Mr Corbyn was right to refuse to share a platform with the Conservatives.

He said: " Don't say, ah well, we all believe in Europe, let's travel on the same bus. Nonsense. No wonder our people are confused.

"Get a strong Labour voice. I'm glad Jeremy's said what he said but get putting out our case and point out what these beggers did in government."

Post by **PaulfromYorkshire** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 8:04 pm

Typical Prescott incoherence

you could use it to support almost any view

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 8:17 pm

PorFavor wrote:@ohsocynical

Hello! I'm pleased to be able to report that it's warm and sunny here. Or rather, it was. It's still sunny but it's got rather chilly now. Keep up the good work with Fluffy and Dennis(?). Sorry - memory fail.

They are sadly neglected. Always hungry, so I feed them most days...It's only cheap Aldi cat food but they don't care...I sneak wormer into their food every so often and put flea stuff on their necks when I can afford it.
Dennis isn't doctored and is always battered and bleeding from fighting. He's so thin he usually comes off worse.
Fluffy is so fluffy we can't tell whether its a he or a she. I suspect it's female because I've never seen it fight, and it's very nervous. After a year of my feeding them Fluff still won't come near us.
Dennis would love to adopt us, but I truly can't afford the vets fees he'd cost and we don't want any more pets. Mr Ohso might talk me around when we finally get re-housed and have some spare money because he's soppier over animals than I am, and I hear him chatting to Dennis when he's out the front. He's the one who named them. We haven't a clue what their real names are. I shall be reluctant though.
He tries to sneak in when we're not looking or answering the door, but he sprays so we daren't let him. Dennis I mean. Not Mr Ohso.

Post by **PaulfromYorkshire** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 8:19 pm

A couple of Twitter connections say they watched Prescott and he in no way attacked Corbyn. He did say he wasn't very passionate (or words to that effect).

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 8:22 pm

PaulfromYorkshire wrote:A couple of Twitter connections say they watched Prescott and he in no way attacked Corbyn. He did say he wasn't very passionate (or words to that effect).

I think that's what I took from the quote someone posted above. I actually found his statement 'Jeremy is not a very passionate man' very funny ... whether he meant it to be or not.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 8:25 pm

@Ohso

Do you have a local cat rescue lot who will come and trap / collect Dennis - neuter him - and then return him to his patch? That's what we have around here - and my mum had most of her feral buddies and visitors sorted like that when she was in London.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 8:29 pm

Is it me?
I'm finding it a bit of a cheek that the media is looking to Labour to pull off the Remain vote? And if Brexit wins, Labour will get the blame?

Willow904 · Post by **Willow904** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 8:30 pm

PaulfromYorkshire wrote:
AnatolyKasparov wrote:
PaulfromYorkshire wrote:Here's another

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06 ... ure-to-ma/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

jeremy-corbyn-attacked-by-labour-grandees

The grandees seem to be John Prescott and Kate Hoey
What did Prescott actually say? He has been notably careful not to be too critical of JC in public.

The former deputy prime minister said so-called blue on blue assaults were "destroying the Tory party hopefully" but questioned "where's Labour?" in the battle.

Remain campaigners could lose the June 23 vote because Labour is failing to secure backing from its supporters, he warned.

"It seems as if we are just enjoying the fight between them but that is not putting Labour's position," Lord Prescott told BBC One's Sunday Politics.

"We are not putting Labour's arguments."

The peer said Labour was "absolutely" failing to galvanise its supporters, admitting " Jeremy's not a passionate man".

Lord Prescott said Mr Corbyn was right to refuse to share a platform with the Conservatives.

He said: " Don't say, ah well, we all believe in Europe, let's travel on the same bus. Nonsense. No wonder our people are confused.

"Get a strong Labour voice. I'm glad Jeremy's said what he said but get putting out our case and point out what these beggers did in government."

Prescott definitely strikes a chord with me with the above. It's that whole underwhelming thing I've struggled with from the start. I don't know if it's lack of experience or lack of good script writers and advisors but although he's made some ok speeches and said the right things, there is a certain lack of intensity and passion to his leadership that continues to leave me pretty uninspired. He's good at getting behind campaigns, such as the mayoral campaign for Bristol, but seems less able to be the campaign that others get behind somehow. Though I do think it's up to Cameron to convince the undecideds - It's his gig after all. Miliband's refusal to hold a referendum continues to be hands and shoulders above Cameron's short termist pandering to the Eurosceptic right in terms of principle and strong leadership. He really should have been PM.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Sun 05 Jun, 2016 8:30 pm

We've had another very hot and balmy day here. I'm actually really wanting a spot of rain - the ground is like cement and managing to water all the things that need it is very time consuming.

Not been around much because we've had so much to do. Remember that young apprentice at our local market garden I mentioned? Well - he's coming to lodge in our cabin tomorrow. He needed cheap accommodation - we thought we'd have a trial run at letting it out and see how it feels. We've been cleaning and equipping it for him - refurbing old cupboards and tables etc etc.

I also allowed myself to watch the final of the French Open. Bit painful at times.