FlyTheNest

AngryAsWell wrote:

PaulfromYorkshire wrote:Should FTN retweet this?

Dr Éoin Clarke ‏@LabourEoin 9h9 hours ago
Ed Miliband has ordered Labour MPs to vote to recognise the State of Palestine in Monday's vote. Retweet if you think he made right call...
Belfast, Belfast

I think this is one of the reasons the press are so anti Ed, given the make up of the press ownership that is.
Even the President of the USA is frightened of upsetting the - what do they call it over there - is it the Jewish vote or Israeli vote?

This vote could precede the re shuffle, and may dictate who is shuffled. Some in the shadow cabinet oppose recognition of Palestine, particularly those in Labour Friends of Israel, like RR.

PaulfromYorkshire wrote:

AngryAsWell wrote:

PaulfromYorkshire wrote:Should FTN retweet this?

Dr Éoin Clarke ‏@LabourEoin 9h9 hours ago
Ed Miliband has ordered Labour MPs to vote to recognise the State of Palestine in Monday's vote. Retweet if you think he made right call...
Belfast, Belfast

I think this is one of the reasons the press are so anti Ed, given the make up of the press ownership that is.
Even the President of the USA is frightened of upsetting the - what do they call it over there - is it the Jewish vote or Israeli vote?

This vote could precede the re shuffle, and may dictate who is shuffled. Some in the shadow cabinet oppose recognition of Palestine, particularly those in Labour Friends of Israel, like RR.

Thanks AAW. Of course it would be better if there were a single secular state in the Israel / Palestine region. But getting from where we are now to that endpoint seems an impossibly huge leap currently. In which case I personally feel it would be right to recognise an independent Palestine.

Dan Hodges ‏@DPJHodges 6m6 minutes ago
Watching all these people criticising Ed Miliband is making me feel a bit odd. I've got this sudden urge to write a piece defending him.

ErnstRemarx wrote:

AnatolyKasparov wrote:He "denied" that it will happen - that's all right, then

Latest review of yesterday's (other!) byelections up in the other place, btw

Hi Anatoly, any chance of posting the roundup here? Perhaps first in future, and leave a link at the Graun to guide readers here?

Away from the by-election excitement, five local council vacancies yesterday:

Chelmsford DC - Tory hold in a super safe two member ward (they were last seriously challenged by an Independent back in 2003) though their winning percentage was well down on both 2011 and 2007 as UKIP (who also polled decently in the Essex CC division here last year) took second with 31% in their first outing at this level. Labour thus relegated to third with their share also well down on last time, whilst the Greens tried their luck here and got just 3% - though they pipped the LibDems (who were second here in 2007) for the wooden spoon by a single vote.

Rushmoor DC - UKIP hold with half the vote, a slight increase on this May; this will please them even more given the circumstances of the poll (the incumbent had to resign after being convicted for arson following a domestic dispute) Before recent boundary changes this was a safe Tory area, but UKIP sprung a surprise when they took all three seats in the 2012 all-outs here (and then won one of the Hants CC divisions covering this area last year, whilst narrowly missing out on the other) Tories beaten 2 to 1 here now as they saw their share drop further, whilst Labour in 3rd were almost unchanged on May but a bit up compared to 2012. LibDems last, up slightly on this year but down on the all-outs (when they finished 3rd)

Crawley DC - Labour gain from Tory in this "bellwether" council (and constituency) though the incumbent had defected to UKIP before his resignation. This seat had originally elected 3 Labour councillors at the "all out" post boundary change polls in 2004, but they lost them to the Tories in the next three elections and the latter held on in both 2011 and 2012, despite Labour gains elsewhere on the council - they only made the breakthrough here in May when they won back majority control, so they will be pleased to have augmented their position now. As in most elections in the past decade, the (pro-Labour) swing here was modest in what is evidently a highly polarised ward - both Labour and Tory gained some ground since May whilst third placed UKIP declined (the swing was a bit bigger since 2012) Last placed was the local perennial one-man "Justice Party" with less than 1% (worse than the LibDems in Clacton!)

Essex CC - talking of which, this division - which is partly in the Clacton constituency - gave local Tories a morsel of cheer today as it saw them gain the seat from UKIP. The previous incumbent here was, of course, one Roger Lord - who achieved his 15 minutes of political fame just after Carswell's defection. Tories came from third last year to win, with a 9% increase in share, whilst UKIP (who caused a surprise when taking this previously safe Tory division in 2013) remained almost unchanged. Despite an endorsement from Lord, the LibDems dropped from a close second then - and a more distant runners-up spot in 2009 - to third (though their candidate still quite possibly polled as many votes in the Clacton bit of the seat as their hapless parliamentary hopeful did in the whole constituency) Labour - second here in 2005 - drifted down a tad further, whilst the Greens in last place were little changed.

Blackpool - Tory hold in a ward which split 1Lab/1Tory in 2011 and this time saw a close 3 way finish as UKIP - which has polled increasingly strongly in a series of by-elections here in the last few years - came closer than ever to winning their initial seat on the council, scoring over 31% in their first appearance here. Labour will be disappointed to have been edged into third given that they topped the poll here last time (though Tories won both seats here in 2007 and narrowly won most votes when it again split in 2003, so this is on the whole one of their better areas) This has also in recent years been one of the stronger LibDem parts of the town, but their vote collapsed to less than 3% this time - that they still managed to beat the moribund BNP into last will likely be cold comfort.

No fewer than ten contests next week.

Retweeted by Guido Fawkes
fleetstreetfox ‏@fleetstreetfox 5m5 minutes ago
Dear @Ed_Miliband: Just go. Please just go.

rebeccariots2 wrote:

Retweeted by Guido Fawkes
fleetstreetfox ‏@fleetstreetfox 5m5 minutes ago
Dear @Ed_Miliband: Just go. Please just go.

Now that makes me angry, very angry.

PaulfromYorkshire wrote:

PorFavor wrote:Goodnight, everyone.

Retweeted by Adam Boulton
Nick Pisani ‏@nickpisani1 21m21 minutes ago
Can this picture really be true? Astonishing if it is, but I'm not convinced. Yet.

ErnstRemarx wrote:

PaulfromYorkshire wrote:

AngryAsWell wrote: I think this is one of the reasons the press are so anti Ed, given the make up of the press ownership that is.
Even the President of the USA is frightened of upsetting the - what do they call it over there - is it the Jewish vote or Israeli vote?

This vote could precede the re shuffle, and may dictate who is shuffled. Some in the shadow cabinet oppose recognition of Palestine, particularly those in Labour Friends of Israel, like RR.

Thanks AAW. Of course it would be better if there were a single secular state in the Israel / Palestine region. But getting from where we are now to that endpoint seems an impossibly huge leap currently. In which case I personally feel it would be right to recognise an independent Palestine.

I'd go with all of that.

Curiously enough, you're the only other person I've come across who believes (as I do) in a single state solution. The other guy was a bloke I met at a party in Derbyshire, and he was quite adamant about it. I hadn't thought of it until that point, but as I did, I realised that it was the best - perhaps the only - solution there.

It's just depressing that Israel as a whole seems to have lurched to the right in the last 20-30 years, and is effectively held to ransom by a small but apparently influential clique of doctrinaire (and somewhat racist) religious fruitcakes.

refitman wrote:Wow, Andrew's blog has less than 700 comments today. Normally I would expect it to be 1000+, for a day like today. Looks like the Beta's working wonders.

pk1 wrote:http://www.lbc.co.uk/this-ukip-voter-is ... rien-98492

tinyclanger2 wrote:

PorFavor wrote:Goodnight, everyone.

Night PF

Lord Ashcroft ‏@LordAshcroft 1h1 hour ago
@AndrewCooper__ looks like they're briefing against you...sadly par for the course #nasty

Retweeted by Mehdi Hasan
Andrew Cooper ‏@AndrewCooper__ 39m39 minutes ago
@LordAshcroft And I never thought or said any of what is attributed to me. Nasty, dishonest, cowardly smear.

Lord Ashcroft ‏@LordAshcroft 33m33 minutes ago
@AndrewCooper__ .@ConHome is there should you wish to respond...

51A wrote:Did I just hear right? 35% turnout for the Greater Manchester byelection? That means that 65% is totally disinterested. That is worrying.

RobertSnozers wrote:

RogerOThornhill wrote:Talking of the AS blog...whatever happened to that belligerent UKIP member who disappeared for a year and turned up worse than ever - he seems to have vanished again. You'd think he'd be all over it like a rash right now.

What, laverda?

RobertSnozers wrote:

RogerOThornhill wrote:Talking of the AS blog...whatever happened to that belligerent UKIP member who disappeared for a year and turned up worse than ever - he seems to have vanished again. You'd think he'd be all over it like a rash right now.

What, laverda?

AngryAsWell wrote:

51A wrote:Did I just hear right? 35% turnout for the Greater Manchester byelection? That means that 65% is totally disinterested. That is worrying.

You mean the H&M ?
Being told Labour have up to 50% lead the day before the election tends to make people complacent and perhaps not vote if they are busy, by-elections tend to have lower turn outs - esp this close to an GE.
...and it was raining most of the day.

RobertSnozers wrote:

RogerOThornhill wrote:Talking of the AS blog...whatever happened to that belligerent UKIP member who disappeared for a year and turned up worse than ever - he seems to have vanished again. You'd think he'd be all over it like a rash right now.

What, laverda?

51A wrote:

AngryAsWell wrote:

51A wrote:Did I just hear right? 35% turnout for the Greater Manchester byelection? That means that 65% is totally disinterested. That is worrying.

You mean the H&M ?
Being told Labour have up to 50% lead the day before the election tends to make people complacent and perhaps not vote if they are busy, by-elections tend to have lower turn outs - esp this close to an GE.
...and it was raining most of the day.

But on the day that came down to 617 votes, far too bloomin' close for my liking. My local polling station, instead of being in one of the many community buildings down by the shops is in another building way out of anyone's way. I've wondered for ages why they have it there and I'm going to suggest to our sitting Labour MP (safe Labour here too, I want to keep it that way) that it's moved to the Communities First building or the Community Centre down there, where people actually go and the bus passes. Off to email him. Back in a min.

RobertSnozers wrote:

AnatolyKasparov wrote:

RobertSnozers wrote: What, laverda?

I think he detests the new format as much as we do, tbf......

Didn't he leave over nesting?

Did he come out as a Kipper then? I thought he was always cagey about his allegiences, being chiefly anti-Labour but taking the 'they're all as bad as each other' line when his position became indefensible

RobertSnozers wrote:

AnatolyKasparov wrote:

RobertSnozers wrote: What, laverda?

I think he detests the new format as much as we do, tbf......

Didn't he leave over nesting?

Did he come out as a Kipper then? I thought he was always cagey about his allegiences, being chiefly anti-Labour but taking the 'they're all as bad as each other' line when his position became indefensible

AngryAsWell wrote:Kevin Brennan retweeted


Cllr Ralph Berry ‏@CllrRalphBerry · 52m52 minutes ago
Exclusive: Police pass Bradford free school ‘fraud’ file to prosecutors - Yorkshire Post http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/mai ... -1-6890207" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; … @KevinBrennanMP #donorgate

PaulfromYorkshire wrote:Should FTN retweet this?

Dr Éoin Clarke ‏@LabourEoin 9h9 hours ago
Ed Miliband has ordered Labour MPs to vote to recognise the State of Palestine in Monday's vote. Retweet if you think he made right call...
Belfast, Belfast

AngryAsWell wrote:

51A wrote:

AngryAsWell wrote: You mean the H&M ?
Being told Labour have up to 50% lead the day before the election tends to make people complacent and perhaps not vote if they are busy, by-elections tend to have lower turn outs - esp this close to an GE.
...and it was raining most of the day.

But on the day that came down to 617 votes, far too bloomin' close for my liking. My local polling station, instead of being in one of the many community buildings down by the shops is in another building way out of anyone's way. I've wondered for ages why they have it there and I'm going to suggest to our sitting Labour MP (safe Labour here too, I want to keep it that way) that it's moved to the Communities First building or the Community Centre down there, where people actually go and the bus passes. Off to email him. Back in a min.

I do agree, but at the GE it will improve

TechnicalEphemera wrote:Oh here we go.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 88395.html

Bunch of Z listers the lot of them. If they don't turn up sack the lot and replace them with charismatic MPs.

None of them would be missed, and none of them have a support base. A great little opportunity.

Rachel Reeves, the shadow Work and Pension Secretary, and Michael Dugher, the shadow Cabinet Office minister, are both officers of Labour Friends of Israel.
The shadow Chancellor Ed Balls and shadow Cabinet ministers Caroline Flint, Liam Byrne, Ivan Lewis and Jim Murphy are all listed as supporters.

AngryAsWell wrote:

TechnicalEphemera wrote:Oh here we go.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 88395.html

Bunch of Z listers the lot of them. If they don't turn up sack the lot and replace them with charismatic MPs.

None of them would be missed, and none of them have a support base. A great little opportunity.

I think this is what I was saying further up there /\ about the (alleged) coming reshuffle, if shadow cabinet ministers ignore the whip it may well be a blood letting. There is no urgency at this point in time to force this vote.....unless it makes it easier to shift some people..... ?

Rachel Reeves, the shadow Work and Pension Secretary, and Michael Dugher, the shadow Cabinet Office minister, are both officers of Labour Friends of Israel.
The shadow Chancellor Ed Balls and shadow Cabinet ministers Caroline Flint, Liam Byrne, Ivan Lewis and Jim Murphy are all listed as supporters.

Note : Never play chess with EdM...

AngryAsWell wrote:

TechnicalEphemera wrote:Oh here we go.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 88395.html

Bunch of Z listers the lot of them. If they don't turn up sack the lot and replace them with charismatic MPs.

None of them would be missed, and none of them have a support base. A great little opportunity.

I think this is what I was saying further up there /\ about the (alleged) coming reshuffle, if shadow cabinet ministers ignore the whip it may well be a blood letting. There is no urgency at this point in time to force this vote.....unless it makes it easier to shift some people..... ?

Rachel Reeves, the shadow Work and Pension Secretary, and Michael Dugher, the shadow Cabinet Office minister, are both officers of Labour Friends of Israel.
The shadow Chancellor Ed Balls and shadow Cabinet ministers Caroline Flint, Liam Byrne, Ivan Lewis and Jim Murphy are all listed as supporters.

Note : Never play chess with EdM...

One senior pro-Israeli Labour MP said: “To say that there is a row going on it putting it very mildly. People are furious. This is an attempt to rip up 13 years of carefully calibrated policy. It total madness and makes the prospect of peace less rather than more likely.”

TechnicalEphemera wrote:

AngryAsWell wrote:

TechnicalEphemera wrote:Oh here we go.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 88395.html

Bunch of Z listers the lot of them. If they don't turn up sack the lot and replace them with charismatic MPs.

None of them would be missed, and none of them have a support base. A great little opportunity.

I think this is what I was saying further up there /\ about the (alleged) coming reshuffle, if shadow cabinet ministers ignore the whip it may well be a blood letting. There is no urgency at this point in time to force this vote.....unless it makes it easier to shift some people..... ?

Rachel Reeves, the shadow Work and Pension Secretary, and Michael Dugher, the shadow Cabinet Office minister, are both officers of Labour Friends of Israel.
The shadow Chancellor Ed Balls and shadow Cabinet ministers Caroline Flint, Liam Byrne, Ivan Lewis and Jim Murphy are all listed as supporters.

Note : Never play chess with EdM...

It is a high risk strategy as it will add to the disgruntled brigade which I think is currently:

Stringer, Danczuk, Byrne and Murphy.

On the other hand he can bring in AJ and Darling; the question is who does he have up and coming to add to the mix. We could really do with a recognised disability rights campaigner lining up against IDS.

I actually doubt Balls will rebel, too invested in an election victory.

TechnicalEphemera wrote:

AngryAsWell wrote:

TechnicalEphemera wrote:Oh here we go.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 88395.html

Bunch of Z listers the lot of them. If they don't turn up sack the lot and replace them with charismatic MPs.

None of them would be missed, and none of them have a support base. A great little opportunity.

I think this is what I was saying further up there /\ about the (alleged) coming reshuffle, if shadow cabinet ministers ignore the whip it may well be a blood letting. There is no urgency at this point in time to force this vote.....unless it makes it easier to shift some people..... ?

Rachel Reeves, the shadow Work and Pension Secretary, and Michael Dugher, the shadow Cabinet Office minister, are both officers of Labour Friends of Israel.
The shadow Chancellor Ed Balls and shadow Cabinet ministers Caroline Flint, Liam Byrne, Ivan Lewis and Jim Murphy are all listed as supporters.

Note : Never play chess with EdM...

It is a high risk strategy as it will add to the disgruntled brigade which I think is currently:

Stringer, Danczuk, Byrne and Murphy.

On the other hand he can bring in AJ and Darling; the question is who does he have up and coming to add to the mix. We could really do with a recognised disability rights campaigner lining up against IDS.

I actually doubt Balls will rebel, too invested in an election victory.

RogerOThornhill wrote:From my FB feed...

"I voted UKIP. The Tory MP has done nothing for years" Clacton voter on BBC. Brilliant "

On the other hand he can bring in AJ and Darling; the question is who does he have up and coming to add to the mix. We could really do with a recognised disability rights campaigner lining up against IDS.

RogerOThornhill wrote:Looking at that Times article and seeing Osborne to the side...I bet he's getting worried now.

By the time of the election the first quarter's growth figures will be out - if growth slows in the next few months he could be looking at not only no real increase in wages but no growth in the economy as well.

Labour should jump straight in if he starts a "But...it's all because of the EU!" given that the last recession was all due to Labour.