Thursday 2nd April 2015

[ohsocynical]

Ohso's Easter Bakery is open.

Dairy cream sponge, jam tarts, and Bakewell slices.
Home made sausage rolls, Danish pastries and a peach flan.

For the kids and those with enough teeth. Peanut brittle.

[pk1]

Did any of you see yesterdays Daily Politics ?

Andrew Neil was vile to Frances O'Grady & accused her of being a Labour party spokeswoman, not just a Union spokeswoman.

She dealt well with the attack but I cannot ever recall hearing Neil attack any of the right-wingers who so frequently appear on his show for being Tory party spokesmen.

He also should learn that Ed Miliband represents Doncaster North, not Darlington ! To err once is human, twice is stupidity.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 ... s-01042015" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[TheGrimSqueaker]

From AS blog:

Research from Talkwalker, one of Europe’s biggest providers of social analytics, shows that Ed Miliband was the favourite on social media in the weeks preceding the official start of the election campaign. In March, his party got 1.24m mentions on social media. In comparison, UKIP got 784,000 and the Tories 540,000.

On the night of the leaders’ election debate, 44.5% of overall conversation went to Labour, and just 17.6% to the Conservatives. Ed Miliband also registered 70% of commentary across all online media on that evening, while David Cameron registered 23%.

I doubt social media is too telling of general public opinion though.

So if you doubt social media is too telling of general public opinion though, how come hacks everywhere publish so many articles that were created on twitter ?

Nice to see Andrew and his colleagues have abandoned any pretence of even handedness; if social media is supporting Labour/Miliband that couldn't possibly be a reflection of how the unwashed masses really feel, could it. I know I've said it before, but the MSM have lost much of their influence although they refuse to admit it; I think AK pointed out yesterday, the Tories haven't won a majority post-internet age.

[AnatolyKasparov]

Good piece pointed to by AS blog:

http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolic ... ign=buffer" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Interestingly, in view of the social media points made ^^, it includes this para:

The rise of social media has also been another important countervailing force. Social media—Twitter and Facebook in particular— are now able to offer both alternative views and, at times, robust challenges to the political narrative of the mainstream media. Indeed, one of the major drivers of social media conversations is what the mainstream media is reporting, and whether or not it should be trusted.

(my bold)

Yep, which is why the likes of Murdoch hate it and wish (vainly) to control it.

Make no mistake, the 1992 GE was the peak of their power.

[ErnstRemarx]

Time for a gripe.

Miliband's rocking up to Bury today, and apparently the event is so oversubscribed that only disciples of the idiot PPC get to go, rather than the people who kept the flag flying and the party alive in the darkest days of 2010. Nice to know where you stand. Full council last night and said PPC, who's standing down as a councillor, apparently turned up for the first 20 minutes and then fucked off, absorbed by the contents of his mobile phone. Why don't other people - who should really know better - not have warning bells clanging away in their ears as they are in mine.

Gripe over. At least the weather's improved.

That's not fair. I take it you won't be able to get in?

Couldn't manage it. As I say, it'll probably be full of acolytes who've suddenly got active since our idiot PPC was selected, in other words, people who've refused to come out and campaign for years, but now see themselves as the arbiters of all knowledge regarding campaigning (it's painful to hear the shite they come out with).

I know MsRemarx has blagged her way in with another fellow councillor, and I hope it's worth attending. I'll ask her when I see her just how many of the recent zealots/converts attended - my bet is all of the fuckers.

It's a bad situation to be in: our current Tory MP is a complete arsehole, and yet his possible replacement is a Progress groupie and quite with the most dishonest and manipulative reptile I've met in decades, neither of whom have any interest in the area. Sometimes politics can be quite soul destroying.

Still, chin up. When he does drop the inevitable bollock - and he will - perhaps the scales will fall from the eyes of one or two of his fans, and the rest of us, who've never been fooled by him, can get down to the work of rebuilding the CLP.

[refitman]

Buenas Dias everyone. Please don't hate me too much, but for the benefit of the many green-fingered FTN'ers, I'm posting this from a shady corner of the gardens of the Alcazar in Seville. Nice plants.

We're here on a house swap, so we only had to pay for travel, which makes for a cheap way to experience life in different cultures (we did a swap to the Welsh Borders last year ). Being Easter week we're here in the middle of Semana Santa. Extraordinary atmosphere, I'll post more about it in the pub when we get home.

So I guess I'm indulging in International Lurking, and thanks for keeping me up to date with the electoral shenanigans.

Git!

[pk1]

Ohso's Easter Bakery is open.

Dairy cream sponge, jam tarts, and Bakewell slices.
Home made sausage rolls, Danish pastries and a peach flan.

For the kids and those with enough teeth. Peanut brittle.

Hmmm, can I place an order for 24 sausage rolls, 2 dairy cream sponge & 36 jam tarts (preferably 6 x raspberry and 6 x apricot jam)

Can you tell the kids are coming with their kids.....

[TheGrimSqueaker]

Ohso's Easter Bakery is open.

Dairy cream sponge, jam tarts, and Bakewell slices.
Home made sausage rolls, Danish pastries and a peach flan.

For the kids and those with enough teeth. Peanut brittle.

Hmmm, can I place an order for 24 sausage rolls, 2 dairy cream sponge & 36 jam tarts (preferably 6 x raspberry and 6 x apricot jam)

Can you tell the kids are coming with their kids.....

Like that order is for anybody else but yourself!

[youtube]8WrwN2VUQ5g[/youtube]

(Sorry, I've Got No Head - a clip for every occasion)

[Willow904]

Doncaster Councils response to the ZHC allegations:

Exactly Bury Council's stance on ZHCs. We have employees who cn run with 2-3-4 ZHCs, to fill out their working time to their satisfaction, and none of them are tied in exclusively to us. That's how ZHCs can and should be used.

Let's face it, the right-wing naysayers think we're all thick and don't understand what "employees who have been working full-time hours continually for 12 weeks should be entitled to be put on a regular contract" means. How thick do you have to be to think that applies to a nurse or care assistant who has signed up for bank work because they only want to work occasionally? Fans of zhc keep bandying around the word "flexible". There's nothing "flexible" about full-time work which can, at no notice, turn into no work at all, with no sick or holiday pay. That's just exploitation and I like the fact that Ed has been saying he wouldn't want to live like that and so wouldn't expect anyone else to either. Goodness knows how Cameron et al think they come across when they whine on about how it's 'only' 700,000 or so people who have to live with this insecurity, so that's alright then. They're getting hammered over this and they're so out of touch I don't think they even realise it!

[StephenDolan]

YouGov reweightings.

Scum/Star 230 to 337
Guardian/indy 150 to 74

The streak continues!

[pk1]

Like that order is for anybody else but yourself!

Oh bugger it - busted

[AnatolyKasparov]

I know YouGov will deny it, but I wonder if the Currant Bun being the conduit for their "regular" polling is a factor there......

[TheGrimSqueaker]

I know YouGov will deny it, but I wonder if the Currant Bun being the conduit for their "regular" polling is a factor there......

He who pays the piper ........

[Rebecca]

From AS blog:

Research from Talkwalker, one of Europe’s biggest providers of social analytics, shows that Ed Miliband was the favourite on social media in the weeks preceding the official start of the election campaign. In March, his party got 1.24m mentions on social media. In comparison, UKIP got 784,000 and the Tories 540,000.

On the night of the leaders’ election debate, 44.5% of overall conversation went to Labour, and just 17.6% to the Conservatives. Ed Miliband also registered 70% of commentary across all online media on that evening, while David Cameron registered 23%.

I doubt social media is too telling of general public opinion though.

So if you doubt social media is too telling of general public opinion though, how come hacks everywhere publish so many articles that were created on twitter ?

Nice to see Andrew and his colleagues have abandoned any pretence of even handedness; if social media is supporting Labour/Miliband that couldn't possibly be a reflection of how the unwashed masses really feel, could it. I know I've said it before, but the MSM have lost much of their influence although they refuse to admit it; I think AK pointed out yesterday, the Tories haven't won a majority post-internet age.

The thing is,if people using social media to voice their opinions are not the general public ,who are they?And why are the voices of thousands of 'not the general public' people worth less than those of well paid journalists writing for unashamedly biased media outlets?
I wonder if my house will be clean and tidy after thee election,12.30 and I haven't even washed the dishes.

[AngryAsWell]

"Two of the business leaders who signed the Telegraph letter supporting Conservative policies are from companies who were named by the Government for not paying the national minimum wage."

From AS blog, where they are named - falling apart at the seams

[pk1]

Found this great badge on twitter:



Video from Labour today:

[youtube]Wgf_Sj5f_AE[/youtube]

[pk1]

Some of you peeps 'oop north' might want to know this:

Paula Sherriff ‏@paulasherriff 1h1 hour ago
Proud to declare that my nomination papers have been accepted & I'm now officially the Labour Party candidate for the Dewsbury Constituency

Her twitter bio says:

Proud Healthcare worker, Feminist, Trade Unionist and lover of all things Yorkshire. Labour's PPC for Dewsbury and Mirfield http://www.paulasherriff.org.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

West Yorkshire

[ohsocynical]

Buenas Dias everyone. Please don't hate me too much, but for the benefit of the many green-fingered FTN'ers, I'm posting this from a shady corner of the gardens of the Alcazar in Seville. Nice plants.

We're here on a house swap, so we only had to pay for travel, which makes for a cheap way to experience life in different cultures (we did a swap to the Welsh Borders last year ). Being Easter week we're here in the middle of Semana Santa. Extraordinary atmosphere, I'll post more about it in the pub when we get home.

So I guess I'm indulging in International Lurking, and thanks for keeping me up to date with the electoral shenanigans.

Git!

Double Git!

[PorFavor]

That gore-fest, horror film still of David Cameron which I mentioned earlier -

Is there any way we* can promulgate that? A couple of people have had sharp intakes of breath when I've shown it (without comment) to them. I think it's rather a PR cock-up. A gift, in fact.

*When I say "we" . . . .

[ohsocynical]

Some of you peeps 'oop north' might want to know this:

Paula Sherriff ‏@paulasherriff 1h1 hour ago
Proud to declare that my nomination papers have been accepted & I'm now officially the Labour Party candidate for the Dewsbury Constituency

Her twitter bio says:

Proud Healthcare worker, Feminist, Trade Unionist and lover of all things Yorkshire. Labour's PPC for Dewsbury and Mirfield http://www.paulasherriff.org.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

West Yorkshire

I congratulated her on FTN Twitter and told her to go forth and multiply the Labour vote.

[ohsocynical]

That gore-fest, horror film still of David Cameron which I mentioned earlier -

Is there any way we* can promulgate that? A couple of people have had sharp intakes of breath when I've shown it (without comment) to them. I think it's rather a PR cock-up. A gift, in fact.

*When I say "we" . . . .

I've tried with photographs and graphs on Twitter & on here, but can't grasp it. Perhaps Dan?

[pk1]

Sophy Ridge ‏@SophyRidgeSky 16h16 hours ago
Hilarity on the train to Manchester...

[yahyah]

Can't seem to copy the Cameron horror image from the Guardian front page.

[PorFavor]

@ yahyah

What a shame. Thanks for trying!

[pk1]

Here it is

[PorFavor]

Here it is

Hooray! Thank you.

[yahyah]

Thanks PK, I can do copy image URL links but haven't graduated to those type.

[pk1]

Thanks PK, I can do copy image URL links but haven't graduated to those type.

The Graun could have helped by using the same image on both pages......it's a pain in the proverbial when the images need screen-shotting then editing

[refitman]

That gore-fest, horror film still of David Cameron which I mentioned earlier -

Is there any way we* can promulgate that? A couple of people have had sharp intakes of breath when I've shown it (without comment) to them. I think it's rather a PR cock-up. A gift, in fact.

*When I say "we" . . . .

I've tried with photographs and graphs on Twitter & on here, but can't grasp it. Perhaps Dan?

And @yahyah.

It was hard bloody work. Had to go into the page source to get the image.

Have tweeted it along with "Blood on his hands, @david_cameron takes a hammer to the country's poor and vulnerable".

[yahyah]

Post from usini on AS's blog:

''In the debate the Greens, Plaid and the SNP will concentrate on attacking Labour as that is where they see their chances of getting votes, as will the LibDems and the tories from a different perspective.
Only UKIP and Labour will concentrate on the tories.
You can see why Crosby preferred this format and vetoed a direct debate with Miliband.''

This is a worry. But Leanne Wood & Natalie Bennett are very poor, and the Greens & Plaid have been knocking each other here in Wales. Sturgeon is more of a threat, and Wood is in the SNP's pocket.

[ohsocynical]

That gore-fest, horror film still of David Cameron which I mentioned earlier -

Is there any way we* can promulgate that? A couple of people have had sharp intakes of breath when I've shown it (without comment) to them. I think it's rather a PR cock-up. A gift, in fact.

*When I say "we" . . . .

I've tried with photographs and graphs on Twitter & on here, but can't grasp it. Perhaps Dan?

And @yahyah.

It was hard bloody work. Had to go into the page source to get the image.

Have tweeted it along with "Blood on his hands, @david_cameron takes a hammer to the country's poor and vulnerable".

That's a brilliant tag line.

[AnatolyKasparov]

Post from usini on AS's blog:

''In the debate the Greens, Plaid and the SNP will concentrate on attacking Labour as that is where they see their chances of getting votes, as will the LibDems and the tories from a different perspective.
Only UKIP and Labour will concentrate on the tories.
You can see why Crosby preferred this format and vetoed a direct debate with Miliband.''

This is a worry. But Leanne Wood & Natalie Bennett are very poor, and the Greens & Plaid have been knocking each other here in Wales. Sturgeon is more of a threat, and Wood is in the SNP's pocket.

It is also a good chance for Ed to rebut their attacks of course, especially the "signed up to Tory austerity" myth.

(and maybe Clegg will be stupid enough to spend his time attacking Labour, but if I were him I would be desperately trying to distance myself from the Tories in any way possible)

[PaulfromYorkshire]

I know YouGov will deny it, but I wonder if the Currant Bun being the conduit for their "regular" polling is a factor there......

I've said a few times before that it may be something to do with the introduction of the Sun paywall, after which their readership plummeted.

[Willow904]

Post from usini on AS's blog:

''In the debate the Greens, Plaid and the SNP will concentrate on attacking Labour as that is where they see their chances of getting votes, as will the LibDems and the tories from a different perspective.
Only UKIP and Labour will concentrate on the tories.
You can see why Crosby preferred this format and vetoed a direct debate with Miliband.''

This is a worry. But Leanne Wood & Natalie Bennett are very poor, and the Greens & Plaid have been knocking each other here in Wales. Sturgeon is more of a threat, and Wood is in the SNP's pocket.

If they have any sense, all of them will concentrate on what their party has to offer, rather than taking potshots at each other. Ed, Natalie, Nicola and Leanne all came across as warm, intelligent and enthusiastic on Free Speech and they'll all do well if they keep that upbeat feel. Farage always comes across as chipper, whatever the occasion, which leaves just Cameron and Clegg - how are they going to make us feel optimistic for the future, given the gloom they've cast over the country for the last 5 years and all they have to offer is more of the same?

[PaulfromYorkshire]

Sophy Ridge ‏@SophyRidgeSky 16h16 hours ago
Hilarity on the train to Manchester...

Tell you what that joke wears thin when you travel on them regularly for a zillion quid a go

[55DegreesNorth]

Buenas Dias everyone. Please don't hate me too much, but for the benefit of the many green-fingered FTN'ers, I'm posting this from a shady corner of the gardens of the Alcazar in Seville. Nice plants.

We're here on a house swap, so we only had to pay for travel, which makes for a cheap way to experience life in different cultures (we did a swap to the Welsh Borders last year ). Being Easter week we're here in the middle of Semana Santa. Extraordinary atmosphere, I'll post more about it in the pub when we get home.

So I guess I'm indulging in International Lurking, and thanks for keeping me up to date with the electoral shenanigans.

Try to see the Penitente procession known as El Silencio. Very disturbing.

[mikems]

Re: councils and casual labour.

Have we not spent the last thirty years or so hearing how overstaffed and inefficient councils are? How essential it is to cut out waste etc? Yet now the tories seem to be demanding that casual workers - just like the people who will be counting their votes on May 7th - should be either done without altogether or put on full time contracts.

And Miliband's 'hypocrisy' amounts to his local council being obliged to follow tory rules on such things, and not having as many full time staff as they, or wider society, need.

[ErnstRemarx]

Just to let you know - Ed was worth it according to MsRemarx. She went in with the leader of the council, no questions asked, and, yes, the event was packed.

I later met a fellow councillor who was previously a David M. fan, and she reckoned that Ed Miliband's the real thing, and that the event was great. Idiot PPC made an idiot of himself, but that wasn't unexpected.

[ohsocynical]

Just to let you know - Ed was worth it according to MsRemarx. She went in with the leader of the council, no questions asked, and, yes, the event was packed.

I later met a fellow councillor who was previously a David M. fan, and she reckoned that Ed Miliband's the real thing, and that the event was great. Idiot PPC made an idiot of himself, but that wasn't unexpected.

He's on Twitter. - Not Ed. Your dork

[TheGrimSqueaker]

Re: councils and casual labour.

Have we not spent the last thirty years or so hearing how overstaffed and inefficient councils are? How essential it is to cut out waste etc? Yet now the tories seem to be demanding that casual workers - just like the people who will be counting their votes on May 7th - should be either done without altogether or put on full time contracts.

And Miliband's 'hypocrisy' amounts to his local council being obliged to follow tory rules on such things, and not having as many full time staff as they, or wider society, need.

The number the trolls like NickyB tend to trot out for Doncaster is about 2500ish, most of whom were doing exactly what you highlight there, counting votes on election night. I thought this fox had been shot a long time ago, but I underestimated the intransigence/stupidity of the Guardian's billygoat consuming community.

[frightful_oik]

From AS blog:
So if you doubt social media is too telling of general public opinion though, how come hacks everywhere publish so many articles that were created on twitter ?

Nice to see Andrew and his colleagues have abandoned any pretence of even handedness; if social media is supporting Labour/Miliband that couldn't possibly be a reflection of how the unwashed masses really feel, could it. I know I've said it before, but the MSM have lost much of their influence although they refuse to admit it; I think AK pointed out yesterday, the Tories haven't won a majority post-internet age.

The thing is,if people using social media to voice their opinions are not the general public ,who are they?And why are the voices of thousands of 'not the general public' people worth less than those of well paid journalists writing for unashamedly biased media outlets?
I wonder if my house will be clean and tidy after thee election,12.30 and I haven't even washed the dishes.

Ha! I'm thinking,'it's April and I haven't even washed the dishes!' My excuse is I'm a bloke and can thus ignore squalor.

[TechnicalEphemera]

Have we had this from the Tory Party SNP.

Scottish Health Secretary Shona Robison has said the SNP would not vote against privatisation in the English health service provided it has no impact on Scottish spending. Speaking in Edinburgh this morning, Robinson said:

Obviously we don’t think the NHS in England is going in the right direction with the involvement of the private sector and so on.

But that’s up to them if they want to structure the NHS in that way as long as the impact of that doesn’t affect public spending.

If we were to see a reduction in public spending in England, that’s where it gets into the territory of affecting public spending in Scotland.

We will define the votes according to whether it has an impact on the NHS in Scotland.

Source Guardian AS.

Since privatising the NHS in England would most likely render the Scottish NHS position very difficult (whatever she thinks), I hope Murphy campaigns hard on that. A vote for the SNP is a vote to privatise the NHS.

[pk1]

Ha! I'm thinking,'it's April and I haven't even washed the dishes!' My excuse is I'm a bloke and can thus ignore squalor.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Have we had this from the Tory Party SNP.

Scottish Health Secretary Shona Robison has said the SNP would not vote against privatisation in the English health service provided it has no impact on Scottish spending. Speaking in Edinburgh this morning, Robinson said:

Obviously we don’t think the NHS in England is going in the right direction with the involvement of the private sector and so on.

But that’s up to them if they want to structure the NHS in that way as long as the impact of that doesn’t affect public spending.

If we were to see a reduction in public spending in England, that’s where it gets into the territory of affecting public spending in Scotland.

We will define the votes according to whether it has an impact on the NHS in Scotland.

Source Guardian AS.

Since privatising the NHS in England would most likely render the Scottish NHS position very difficult (whatever she thinks), I hope Murphy campaigns hard on that. A vote for the SNP is a vote to privatise the NHS.

I don't think you can blame them too much there, because if they say they will vote against English privatisation they called Scotchies lording it over England.

But I think you're right that the Scottish NHS would be massively affected by the English NHS. Private companies who become very rich and have no solidarity with Scotland can poach medics away.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Post from usini on AS's blog:

''In the debate the Greens, Plaid and the SNP will concentrate on attacking Labour as that is where they see their chances of getting votes, as will the LibDems and the tories from a different perspective.
Only UKIP and Labour will concentrate on the tories.
You can see why Crosby preferred this format and vetoed a direct debate with Miliband.''

This is a worry. But Leanne Wood & Natalie Bennett are very poor, and the Greens & Plaid have been knocking each other here in Wales. Sturgeon is more of a threat, and Wood is in the SNP's pocket.

The Green-Plaid alliance looks very odd to me. The Plaid farmers aren't going to want the Greens anywhere near them. It happened before in the 90s, when there was actually a joint Plaid and Green MP election in Ceredigion, as you probably know. It didn't go that well.

[ErnstRemarx]

Just to let you know - Ed was worth it according to MsRemarx. She went in with the leader of the council, no questions asked, and, yes, the event was packed.

I later met a fellow councillor who was previously a David M. fan, and she reckoned that Ed Miliband's the real thing, and that the event was great. Idiot PPC made an idiot of himself, but that wasn't unexpected.

He's on Twitter. - Not Ed. Your dork

Ask him about academies.

[Rebecca]

Ha! I'm thinking,'it's April and I haven't even washed the dishes!' My excuse is I'm a bloke and can thus ignore squalor.

Squalor....oh,I have plenty of that,everywhere.2 large dogs who invariably get covered in mud(and worse) twice a day.So there is a muddy tide mark on every surface they can smearily walk past,plus a daily coating of thick brown dust from floor to ceiling.Maybe white walls and glass chandeliers were not such a good idea.

[pk1]

Fuss being made over an ex-soldier being evicted from their Dagenham council house.

http://www.barkinganddagenhampost.co.uk ... _1_4017281" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'm guessing the relevant paragraph will be completely overlooked.....

Originally taken out in his mother Eileen Higgins’ name, the tenancy passed to his father following her death in 2000.

But even though Nicky has paid the council tax for the property for the past three years, council housing rules prohibit tenancy agreements from being passed on more than once.

The rules the rest of us have to abide by get so overlooked for others on the basis they are ex-forces.

I'm glad the Council are sticking to the rules because you can be damn sure there would be an almighty fuss made if they didn't !

[PorFavor]

@ refitman

A belated thank you for your gore-fest contribution.

[TechnicalEphemera]

Have we had this from the Tory Party SNP.

Scottish Health Secretary Shona Robison has said the SNP would not vote against privatisation in the English health service provided it has no impact on Scottish spending. Speaking in Edinburgh this morning, Robinson said:

Obviously we don’t think the NHS in England is going in the right direction with the involvement of the private sector and so on.

But that’s up to them if they want to structure the NHS in that way as long as the impact of that doesn’t affect public spending.

If we were to see a reduction in public spending in England, that’s where it gets into the territory of affecting public spending in Scotland.

We will define the votes according to whether it has an impact on the NHS in Scotland.

Source Guardian AS.

Since privatising the NHS in England would most likely render the Scottish NHS position very difficult (whatever she thinks), I hope Murphy campaigns hard on that. A vote for the SNP is a vote to privatise the NHS.

I don't think you can blame them too much there, because if they say they will vote against English privatisation they called Scotchies lording it over England.

But I think you're right that the Scottish NHS would be massively affected by the English NHS. Private companies who become very rich and have no solidarity with Scotland can poach medics away.

I absolutely can blame these bastards. They campaigned for yes to stop NHS privatisation, which must have meant England's because Scotland's was devolved.

Now they are happy to allow asset stripping of England's NHS. Some anti Tory party those tossers are.