sat 25 and sun 26 April

frightful_oik · Post by **frightful_oik** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 4:41 pm

You don't see so many election posters nowadays do you. On a drive from Derby to Leicester today I decided to keep count. UKIP 3; LibDems 1; Labour double figures but I lost count; Tories 0. Make of that what you will.

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 4:44 pm

Yet to see a Tory poster anywhere in Cumbria.......

rearofthestore · Post by **rearofthestore** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 4:57 pm

Just to add to every-bodies disquiet about polling just seen this exchange between Lord Ashcroft and Smithson about ComRes

Mike Smithson ‏@MSmithsonPB 25m25 minutes ago
Just been called by ComRes for political poll - the 7th time since GE2010 that my wife or I have been contacted by pollster on our landline.

Lord Ashcroft ‏@LordAshcroft 24m24 minutes ago
@MSmithsonPB random?

Mike Smithson ‏@MSmithsonPB 18m18 minutes ago
@LordAshcroft Yes. All supposed to be random calls. Makes me very uneasy

ephemerid · Post by **ephemerid** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 5:12 pm

frightful_oik wrote:You don't see so many election posters nowadays do you. On a drive from Derby to Leicester today I decided to keep count. UKIP 3; LibDems 1; Labour double figures but I lost count; Tories 0. Make of that what you will.

There are loads of Tory and Libbing Dead poster here - on the road from Hay to Brecon, there are corex boards all along the road.
Blue/yellow, blue yellow.....the monotony is broken once or twice with a few of Matthew's, but not many.
The fight here is assumed to be between the incumbent LibDem Roger Hugh Williams (who was supposed to be retiring) who is generally considered to be s good local MP, and a local estate agent Chris Davies who isn't as well-known as he thinks he is.

Matthew is working his socks off - and getting a lot of support from Welsh Labour; Carwyn's been out door-stepping with him a few times.
But I don't think he'll win. It's do-able, but he is facing a very determined and well-funded campaign from the others.

I'd like to ask this - does anyone here think that Cameron's losing/lost it completely?

I am now getting the impression that he has found being PM a lot of fun and a jolly jape until now; poncing about being important and thinking he's "rather good at it" for the past 5 years.
But now he's facing a real test,with an opponent who he assumed was weak because he decreed it was so, he is floundering. he looks like he's just running out of steam.

Some of us have been saying for several years that Miliband has the makings of a statesman - it has been a source of constant irritation to me that most of the media have failed to notice the quality of the man.
But Cameron woefully underestimated Miliband; buoyed up by his spats at PMQs and all the baying support of his MPs, he is absolutely hopeless on his own and has cocked up several times now.

He really IS a coward. It's not just the debates and the posed pre-vetted audiences etc. but his total lack of preparation or enthusiam for the real business of fighting for what he purports to believe in has shown him up for the lightweight he is.
I suspect he's bored now. I think he's affronted that sad little weak Ed has proven to have more style and wit in his little finger than Cameron has in his chubby body, and he can't cope with the effrontery of a man he thinks of as an upstart.

I think the wheels are coming off their bus at long last. Good.

55DegreesNorth · Post by **55DegreesNorth** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 5:26 pm

Afternoon folks.
Newcastle Rangers didn't do too well at St Johns Park today.
Regarding elections, there's no evidence here that there is one. No posters, no billboards, no canvassers. I assume they're all focussing their efforts on marginals, something in short supply here. Berwick & Stockton are the only ones I can think of.

tinyclanger2 · Post by **tinyclanger2** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 5:26 pm

David Cameron keeps quiet on Boris Johnson 'succession plan' http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/po ... 03855.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Yeah - that's all we need. A Midwich Cuckoo in charge.

gilsey · Post by **gilsey** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 5:37 pm

55DegreesNorth wrote:Afternoon folks.
Newcastle Rangers didn't do too well at St Johns Park today.
Regarding elections, there's no evidence here that there is one. No posters, no billboards, no canvassers. I assume they're all focussing their efforts on marginals, something in short supply here. Berwick & Stockton are the only ones I can think of.

If I remember, I'll go through Ingleby Barwick next time I go into M'bro, see what the poster situation is. #OneTermWharton.

The play-offs beckon.

Willow904 · Post by **Willow904** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 5:42 pm

ephemerid wrote:
frightful_oik wrote:You don't see so many election posters nowadays do you. On a drive from Derby to Leicester today I decided to keep count. UKIP 3; LibDems 1; Labour double figures but I lost count; Tories 0. Make of that what you will.

There are loads of Tory and Libbing Dead poster here - on the road from Hay to Brecon, there are corex boards all along the road.
Blue/yellow, blue yellow.....the monotony is broken once or twice with a few of Matthew's, but not many.
The fight here is assumed to be between the incumbent LibDem Roger Hugh Williams (who was supposed to be retiring) who is generally considered to be s good local MP, and a local estate agent Chris Davies who isn't as well-known as he thinks he is.

Matthew is working his socks off - and getting a lot of support from Welsh Labour; Carwyn's been out door-stepping with him a few times.
But I don't think he'll win. It's do-able, but he is facing a very determined and well-funded campaign from the others.

I'd like to ask this - does anyone here think that Cameron's losing/lost it completely?

I am now getting the impression that he has found being PM a lot of fun and a jolly jape until now; poncing about being important and thinking he's "rather good at it" for the past 5 years.
But now he's facing a real test,with an opponent who he assumed was weak because he decreed it was so, he is floundering. he looks like he's just running out of steam.

Some of us have been saying for several years that Miliband has the makings of a statesman - it has been a source of constant irritation to me that most of the media have failed to notice the quality of the man.
But Cameron woefully underestimated Miliband; buoyed up by his spats at PMQs and all the baying support of his MPs, he is absolutely hopeless on his own and has cocked up several times now.

He really IS a coward. It's not just the debates and the posed pre-vetted audiences etc. but his total lack of preparation or enthusiam for the real business of fighting for what he purports to believe in has shown him up for the lightweight he is.
I suspect he's bored now. I think he's affronted that sad little weak Ed has proven to have more style and wit in his little finger than Cameron has in his chubby body, and he can't cope with the effrontery of a man he thinks of as an upstart.

I think the wheels are coming off their bus at long last. Good.

I said just yesterday that I felt that even if the Tories manage to scrape together a minority, Cameron will be finished. He's stopped being an asset. The more we see of him actually interacting with voters and journalists, rather than just delivering a speech to camera, the more Obama's "lightweight" is visible.

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 5:51 pm

@ ephemerid

Yes - I do think David Cameron's "lost it".

I used to muse that I could see him doing a flounce when things didn't go his way (ie he was ridiculed, bested - whatever). Not that I thought that that would have been been helpful to Labour (his replacement could have been more convincing). Anyway, he didn't do a "flounce". But what he is doing now is a bad-tempered, "I don't know how I've ended up in the undignified situation where I'm meant to defend my record. It should have been automatic. Another 5 years swanning around with the trappings and all would be nice, though . . . ".

His sense of entitlement probably made him believe that the election campaign would be more or less some sort of royal progress. Lynton Crosby must wonder what on earth's going on, and probably has more in common with the likes of George Osborne than with David Cameron.

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 5:51 pm

@ ephemerid

Yes - I do think David Cameron's "lost it".

I used to muse that I could see him doing a flounce when things didn't go his way (ie he was ridiculed, bested - whatever). Not that I thought that that would have been been helpful to Labour (his replacement could have been more convincing). Anyway, he didn't do a "flounce". But what he is doing now is a bad-tempered, "I don't know how I've ended up in the undignified situation where I'm meant to defend my record. It should have been automatic. Another 5 years swanning around with the trappings and all would be nice, though . . . ".

His sense of entitlement probably made him believe that the election campaign would be more or less some sort of royal progress. Lynton Crosby must wonder what on earth's going on, and probably has more in common with the likes of George Osborne than with David Cameron.

frightful_oik · Post by **frightful_oik** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 5:55 pm

gilsey wrote:
55DegreesNorth wrote:Afternoon folks.
Newcastle Rangers didn't do too well at St Johns Park today.
Regarding elections, there's no evidence here that there is one. No posters, no billboards, no canvassers. I assume they're all focussing their efforts on marginals, something in short supply here. Berwick & Stockton are the only ones I can think of.
If I remember, I'll go through Ingleby Barwick next time I go into M'bro, see what the poster situation is. #OneTermWharton.

The play-offs beckon.

And you'll be playing us.

I'd book your hotel at Wembley now. We have turned to shite.

Sorry to go off topic.

Spacedone · Post by **Spacedone** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 6:00 pm

Mike Smithson ‏@MSmithsonPB 2m2 minutes ago

CON lead drops from 4 to 1 in tonight's Opinium Observer poll
CON 34 (-3)
LAB 33 (+1)
LD 9 (+1)
UKIP 13 (=)
GRN 6 (+1)

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 6:01 pm

Mike Smithson @MSmithsonPB · 3m 3 minutes ago
CON lead drops from 4 to 1 in tonight's Opinium Observer poll
CON 34 (-3)
LAB 33 (+1)
LD 9 (+1)
UKIP 13 (=)
GRN 6 (+1)

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 6:01 pm

tinyclanger2 wrote:
David Cameron keeps quiet on Boris Johnson 'succession plan' http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/po ... 03855.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Yeah - that's all we need. A Midwich Cuckoo in charge.

I'd thank you more than once for that if it were possible. Chuckled out loud - it's somehow so apt.

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 6:02 pm

@ yahyah

I like to be even-handed . . . .

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 6:03 pm

frightful_oik wrote:
gilsey wrote:
55DegreesNorth wrote:Afternoon folks.
Newcastle Rangers didn't do too well at St Johns Park today.
Regarding elections, there's no evidence here that there is one. No posters, no billboards, no canvassers. I assume they're all focussing their efforts on marginals, something in short supply here. Berwick & Stockton are the only ones I can think of.
If I remember, I'll go through Ingleby Barwick next time I go into M'bro, see what the poster situation is. #OneTermWharton.

The play-offs beckon.
And you'll be playing us. I'd book your hotel at Wembley now. We have turned to shite.

Sorry to go off topic.

No - you're alright - you're very on topic. Football is politics. Politics is football.

AngryAsWell · Post by **AngryAsWell** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 6:04 pm

yahyah wrote:Mike Smithson @MSmithsonPB · 3m 3 minutes ago
CON lead drops from 4 to 1 in tonight's Opinium Observer poll
CON 34 (-3)
LAB 33 (+1)
LD 9 (+1)
UKIP 13 (=)
GRN 6 (+1)

Hi yahya how's things?

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 6:05 pm

Darn it, Spacedone pipped me by one minute.

tinyclanger2 · Post by **tinyclanger2** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 6:06 pm

yahyah wrote:Darn it, Spacedone pipped me by one minute.

It's a cut-throat world here on FTN.

StephenDolan · Post by **StephenDolan** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 6:08 pm

tinyclanger2 wrote:
yahyah wrote:Darn it, Spacedone pipped me by one minute.
It's a cut-throat world here on FTN.

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 6:08 pm

Re Ed.

I wondered the other week whether any (possibly!) incoming PM has had the range of experience that Ed has and I do wonder whether the Tory campaign machine simply overlooked a lot of his experience as being irrelevant and just went for the "stabbed his brother in the back" as the only thing that mattered.

SpAd to GB
Chairman of HM Treasury's Council of Economic Advisers
Minister for the Third Sector
Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (cabinet post)
Sec of State for Energy and Climate Change

If you were looking for a potential leader then Treasury, Cabinet Office, and Cabinet Minister would be pretty high up on the list of 'must haves'.

Did they simply forget what he'd done before or just not think it mattered?

Spacedone · Post by **Spacedone** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 6:10 pm

yahyah wrote:Darn it, Spacedone pipped me by one minute.

You have to get up pretty early in the morning to get up early in the morning...

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 6:12 pm

AngryAsWell wrote:
yahyah wrote:Mike Smithson @MSmithsonPB · 3m 3 minutes ago
CON lead drops from 4 to 1 in tonight's Opinium Observer poll
CON 34 (-3)
LAB 33 (+1)
LD 9 (+1)
UKIP 13 (=)
GRN 6 (+1)
Hi yahya how's things?

Hi Angry.
Have been busy with the garden, a good distraction from things, but am keeping an eye on things.
Very nerve wracking, how are we going to survive the next 10 days ?

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 6:13 pm

That probably means Labour are ahead before Opinium's "adjustments", so I am not totally disappointed.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 6:16 pm

I see Labour have selected John Biggs as their candidate for the re run of the Tower Hamlets mayoral election - 11th June. Genuine question - can or will Tower Hamlets First put up a candidate given that the judicial ruling stated that they were simply a party that existed to put Lutfur Rahman in as Mayor? The ruling was also very damning about their lack of meeting the most basic of regulatory requirements for recognition as a party by the Electoral Commission (who were also found pretty wanting).

pk1 · Post by **pk1** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 6:21 pm

rebeccariots2 wrote:I see Labour have selected John Biggs as their candidate for the re run of the Tower Hamlets mayoral election - 11th June. Genuine question - can or will Tower Hamlets First put up a candidate given that the judicial ruling stated that they were simply a party that existed to put Lutfur Rahman in as Mayor? The ruling was also very damning about their lack of meeting the most basic of regulatory requirements for recognition as a party by the Electoral Commission (who were also found pretty wanting).

Can't help you there.

Did you see this comment on LList re John Biggs:

Biggs is the wrong candidate, he's a so full of himself abrasive and hostile.
Have another open selection, and hopefully a local candidate, reflecting the nature of the area will emerge. We don't want another 'Oona King' situation.

http://labourlist.org/2015/04/john-bigg ... r-hamlets/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I thought Biggs *was* local but if anybody can answer your question, hopefully they can also give us non-Londoners a clue about Biggs too.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 6:25 pm

Owen Jones ‏@OwenJones84 59m59 minutes ago
A government that wins support of a majority of MPs is legitimate. All this questioning of the legitimacy of such a government is sinister

That's the second time I've seen 'sinister' used to describe the tactics of the coalition government parties today (first time was Tory specific about that horrid poster).

What next ... are Cameron and Clegg working out if they can still rely on the military to undertake a coup if necessary - if things don't go their way on May 7th?

AngryAsWell · Post by **AngryAsWell** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 6:26 pm

RogerOThornhill wrote:Re Ed.

I wondered the other week whether any (possibly!) incoming PM has had the range of experience that Ed has and I do wonder whether the Tory campaign machine simply overlooked a lot of his experience as being irrelevant and just went for the "stabbed his brother in the back" as the only thing that mattered.

SpAd to GB
Chairman of HM Treasury's Council of Economic Advisers
Minister for the Third Sector
Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (cabinet post)
Sec of State for Energy and Climate Change

If you were looking for a potential leader then Treasury, Cabinet Office, and Cabinet Minister would be pretty high up on the list of 'must haves'.

Did they simply forget what he'd done before or just not think it mattered?

Yeah but, yeah well but he's never had a PROPER job has he???

AngryAsWell · Post by **AngryAsWell** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 6:29 pm

yahyah wrote:
AngryAsWell wrote:
yahyah wrote:Mike Smithson @MSmithsonPB · 3m 3 minutes ago
CON lead drops from 4 to 1 in tonight's Opinium Observer poll
CON 34 (-3)
LAB 33 (+1)
LD 9 (+1)
UKIP 13 (=)
GRN 6 (+1)
Hi yahya how's things?

Hi Angry.
Have been busy with the garden, a good distraction from things, but am keeping an eye on things.
Very nerve wracking, how are we going to survive the next 10 days ?

With a lot of

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 6:31 pm

pk1 wrote:
rebeccariots2 wrote:I see Labour have selected John Biggs as their candidate for the re run of the Tower Hamlets mayoral election - 11th June. Genuine question - can or will Tower Hamlets First put up a candidate given that the judicial ruling stated that they were simply a party that existed to put Lutfur Rahman in as Mayor? The ruling was also very damning about their lack of meeting the most basic of regulatory requirements for recognition as a party by the Electoral Commission (who were also found pretty wanting).
Can't help you there.

Did you see this comment on LList re John Biggs:

Biggs is the wrong candidate, he's a so full of himself abrasive and hostile.
Have another open selection, and hopefully a local candidate, reflecting the nature of the area will emerge. We don't want another 'Oona King' situation.
http://labourlist.org/2015/04/john-bigg ... r-hamlets/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I thought Biggs *was* local but if anybody can answer your question, hopefully they can also give us non-Londoners a clue about Biggs too.

From his website:

I have lived here for 30 years. I brought my family up here and my daughter went to a local school.

I believe in this area – it can be great – but it deserves better. I want to do more to make sure we unlock the potential of everyone who lives here.

I know you want clean politics and clean streets, a tough approach to crime and to prejudice. And more jobs and decent housing for all. These are the things I will fight for.

What I've done
Labour Party member since 1981
Tower Hamlets Councillor 1988-2002
Member of London Assembly, City and East London 2000-Present
Member of Police Authority 2000-03
Chair for Transport 2000-04
Member of London Health Commission 2009-10

Depends on which definition of 'local' gets applied I suppose. 30 years residency might not be enough for some.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 6:38 pm

Ian Austin ‏@IanAustinMP 2m2 minutes ago
Got "Dear Friend" email from CCHQ asking me to help "in most marginal seats". Told them I'm busy already working v hard in marginal seat ...

This just gets funnier and funnier. Shapps has surpassed himself. How many Labour MPs are they tapping up like this ....?

TheGrimSqueaker · Post by **TheGrimSqueaker** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 6:44 pm

rearofthestore wrote:Just to add to every-bodies disquiet about polling just seen this exchange between Lord Ashcroft and Smithson about ComRes
Mike Smithson ‏@MSmithsonPB 25m25 minutes ago
Just been called by ComRes for political poll - the 7th time since GE2010 that my wife or I have been contacted by pollster on our landline.

Lord Ashcroft ‏@LordAshcroft 24m24 minutes ago
@MSmithsonPB random?

Mike Smithson ‏@MSmithsonPB 18m18 minutes ago
@LordAshcroft Yes. All supposed to be random calls. Makes me very uneasy

Just confirms what many of us have been suspecting for some time, that they've found sample groups who give them the answer they want and are sticking with them; those outlying YouGov polls, which have the 18-24 age group and North of England showing Tory leads, make a lot more sense in the light of that exchange.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 6:45 pm

Karl Turner retweeted
Tony Phillips ‏@gotoutb4gove 34m34 minutes ago
If you spoke the truth more than occasionally you wouldn't make such mistakes. #villagate

danesclose · Post by **danesclose** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 6:48 pm

gilsey wrote:
55DegreesNorth wrote:Afternoon folks.
Newcastle Rangers didn't do too well at St Johns Park today.
Regarding elections, there's no evidence here that there is one. No posters, no billboards, no canvassers. I assume they're all focussing their efforts on marginals, something in short supply here. Berwick & Stockton are the only ones I can think of.
If I remember, I'll go through Ingleby Barwick next time I go into M'bro, see what the poster situation is. #OneTermWharton.

The play-offs beckon.

On my way back from Craven Cottage.. Once again robbed by a dodgy ref

LadyCentauria · Post by **LadyCentauria** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 6:55 pm

pk1 wrote:
rebeccariots2 wrote:I see Labour have selected John Biggs as their candidate for the re run of the Tower Hamlets mayoral election - 11th June. Genuine question - can or will Tower Hamlets First put up a candidate given that the judicial ruling stated that they were simply a party that existed to put Lutfur Rahman in as Mayor? The ruling was also very damning about their lack of meeting the most basic of regulatory requirements for recognition as a party by the Electoral Commission (who were also found pretty wanting).
Can't help you there.

Did you see this comment on LList re John Biggs:

Biggs is the wrong candidate, he's a so full of himself abrasive and hostile.
Have another open selection, and hopefully a local candidate, reflecting the nature of the area will emerge. We don't want another 'Oona King' situation.
http://labourlist.org/2015/04/john-bigg ... r-hamlets/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I thought Biggs *was* local but if anybody can answer your question, hopefully they can also give us non-Londoners a clue about Biggs too.

He's surely local enough, having lived in Stepney for 30 years and is a former leader of the council in Tower Hamlets:
http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor-assembly ... john-biggs

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 6:59 pm

ephemerid wrote:
frightful_oik wrote:You don't see so many election posters nowadays do you. On a drive from Derby to Leicester today I decided to keep count. UKIP 3; LibDems 1; Labour double figures but I lost count; Tories 0. Make of that what you will.

There are loads of Tory and Libbing Dead poster here - on the road from Hay to Brecon, there are corex boards all along the road.
Blue/yellow, blue yellow.....the monotony is broken once or twice with a few of Matthew's, but not many.
The fight here is assumed to be between the incumbent LibDem Roger Hugh Williams (who was supposed to be retiring) who is generally considered to be s good local MP, and a local estate agent Chris Davies who isn't as well-known as he thinks he is.

Matthew is working his socks off - and getting a lot of support from Welsh Labour; Carwyn's been out door-stepping with him a few times.
But I don't think he'll win. It's do-able, but he is facing a very determined and well-funded campaign from the others.

I'd like to ask this - does anyone here think that Cameron's losing/lost it completely?

I am now getting the impression that he has found being PM a lot of fun and a jolly jape until now; poncing about being important and thinking he's "rather good at it" for the past 5 years.
But now he's facing a real test,with an opponent who he assumed was weak because he decreed it was so, he is floundering. he looks like he's just running out of steam.

Some of us have been saying for several years that Miliband has the makings of a statesman - it has been a source of constant irritation to me that most of the media have failed to notice the quality of the man.
But Cameron woefully underestimated Miliband; buoyed up by his spats at PMQs and all the baying support of his MPs, he is absolutely hopeless on his own and has cocked up several times now.

He really IS a coward. It's not just the debates and the posed pre-vetted audiences etc. but his total lack of preparation or enthusiam for the real business of fighting for what he purports to believe in has shown him up for the lightweight he is.
I suspect he's bored now. I think he's affronted that sad little weak Ed has proven to have more style and wit in his little finger than Cameron has in his chubby body, and he can't cope with the effrontery of a man he thinks of as an upstart.

I think the wheels are coming off their bus at long last. Good.

I agree with Ephie, the wheels are coming off.

They say your sins catch up with you. The whole bunch have suddenly discovered their mistakes and collective inability to do the job has caught up with them.
If they had a proper plan with correct facts and figures that added up and made sense there would be no need for Dave to dodge meeting his rivals..
It's been said he refuses to listen to anyone and only employs his closest friends despite their being ill equipped for the job.

Has he ever been good at a job? Hard to say when mummy can pick up the phone and get you a well paying job thanks entirely to family connections.

Mediocrity has finally caught up with him.

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 7:31 pm

Goodnight, everyone.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 7:33 pm

Kevin Maguire ‏@Kevin_Maguire 22m22 minutes ago
In a Cardiff pub and everybody is talking politics. Brilliant. Bad news for Cameron is they're laughing at him

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 7:33 pm

PorFavor wrote:Goodnight, everyone.

Goodnight PF - on behalf of everyone.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 7:46 pm

PorFavor wrote:Goodnight, everyone.

Goodnight, PF.

ephemerid · Post by **ephemerid** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 7:49 pm

Por and OhSo - thanks for your responses.

Cameron has left the running of his various ministries to whoever he put in charge - which is only OK if you have some oversight.

He had no idea what Lansley had cooked up; on education and social security,he just parrots whatever the departmental spokespersons are saying - and as we know, they lie through their teeth.

I think he sees himself as some sort of overlord, with the ministers as his underlings getting on with things while he looks all important and doesn't do the detail because he's far too busy. Doing not a lot.

By contrast, Miliband seems to be on top of all his party's policies, and I think if he is PM he will have a much better grasp of what his ministers are up to than Cameron has.

I'm glad we are now getting some headlines about Cameron's gaffes and refusal to account for himself.

Things have come to a pretty pass when the most senior civilian in the country will not do his job and campaign as the other leaders do. He should be out there, talking to people and supporting his candidates, taking every opportunity to defend his record and tell us what his party's policies really are. But he won't. We need a bit more publicity about his failure to fight for his party and what he supposedly believes in.

He really is a bit of a prat.

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 8:01 pm

ephemerid wrote: By contrast, Miliband seems to be on top of all his party's policies, and I think if he is PM he will have a much better grasp of what his ministers are up to than Cameron has.

There was a story the other day about Ed -or rather Charlie Falconer - delivering a list of bills to the Cabinet Secretary (who Ed's worked with twice before), and the story said that he wanted the old PM's Delivery Unit resurrected.

we had a visit from them quite a long time ago in our school and they wanted to know about one bit of policy that had come out and what impact it had made. IIRC they were going round 4-5 schools in the area and presumably fed back to No 10 on impact of policies. If you rely on the sponsoring department they'll probably tell you what you want to hear rather than what has actually happened...

frightful_oik · Post by **frightful_oik** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 8:07 pm

RobertSnozers wrote:
rebeccariots2 wrote:
Owen Jones ‏@OwenJones84 59m59 minutes ago
A government that wins support of a majority of MPs is legitimate. All this questioning of the legitimacy of such a government is sinister
That's the second time I've seen 'sinister' used to describe the tactics of the coalition government parties today (first time was Tory specific about that horrid poster).

What next ... are Cameron and Clegg working out if they can still rely on the military to undertake a coup if necessary - if things don't go their way on May 7th?
I doubt they'd have the support of the military after the cuts to regular forces. Which is just as well, really.

Plus the fact that half of them are Scottish...

tinyclanger2 · Post by **tinyclanger2** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 8:28 pm

The Telegraph informs me that "a Labour-SNP pact would be an outrage to democracy".

All that voting crap. So undemocratic.

AngryAsWell · Post by **AngryAsWell** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 8:33 pm

Ross Kemp In Thanet To Witness Life On The Frontline In The Fight Against Ukip

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/04 ... 36000.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Disappointed, I didn't realise Will Scobie was so far behind

Spacedone · Post by **Spacedone** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 8:40 pm

tinyclanger2 wrote:The Telegraph informs me that "a Labour-SNP pact would be an outrage to democracy".

All that voting crap. So undemocratic.

There's definitely an attempt going on right now to implant the idea that any result that goes against the Tory Dems (might as well merge the parties and make it official) is illegitimate.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 8:40 pm

Labour supporters have to be ready not just for the election but its aftermath. This Conservative campaign has two sequential objectives. The first is to raise the ghost of antagonistic English nationalism. The most corrosive voices from the perspective of the Union have, amazingly, been Conservative rather than UKIP ones. The hope is that this will enable reclaimed UKIP voters to enable the Conservatives to squeak past 290. If that fails, the second objective is to de-legitimise a minority Labour Government. The Conservative campaign will go up a gear on May 8th rather than down tools. The aim will be to de-legitimise the Government in the mind of the public and, failing that, sow rancour between Labour and the parties with whom it would have to co-operate over the next few years.

http://labourlist.org/2015/04/this-elec ... to-govern/

A good article!

tinyclanger2 · Post by **tinyclanger2** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 8:46 pm

ohsocynical wrote:
Labour supporters have to be ready not just for the election but its aftermath. This Conservative campaign has two sequential objectives. The first is to raise the ghost of antagonistic English nationalism. The most corrosive voices from the perspective of the Union have, amazingly, been Conservative rather than UKIP ones. The hope is that this will enable reclaimed UKIP voters to enable the Conservatives to squeak past 290. If that fails, the second objective is to de-legitimise a minority Labour Government. The Conservative campaign will go up a gear on May 8th rather than down tools. The aim will be to de-legitimise the Government in the mind of the public and, failing that, sow rancour between Labour and the parties with whom it would have to co-operate over the next few years.

http://labourlist.org/2015/04/this-elec ... to-govern/
A good article!

Every time I think the Tories have disgusted me as much as they can, they manage to exceed my expectations.

AngryAsWell · Post by **AngryAsWell** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 9:08 pm

Ed Miliband will end tax breaks for 'rip-off landlords' and cap rents to protect tenants
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/ed ... ar_twitter" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Sat 25 Apr, 2015 9:08 pm

RobertSnozers wrote:
tinyclanger2 wrote:The Telegraph informs me that "a Labour-SNP pact would be an outrage to democracy".

All that voting crap. So undemocratic.
The following was written by George Steer, journalist with the Times and later freelance who witnessed genuine affronts to democracy perpetrated by fascists in Abyssinia and Spain in the 1930s. These words should be tattooed on every scrap of skin of every 'journalist' currently engaged in twisting the facts to present a particular view of the world.

A journalist is not a simple purveyor of news, whether sensational or controversial, or well-written, or merely funny. He is a historian of every day’s events … and as a historian must be filled with the most passionate and most critical attachment to the truth, so must the journalist, with the great power that he wields, see that the truth prevails.

I agree.
Do contemporary journalists?