FlyTheNest

Emily Ashton ‏@elashton 59m59 minutes ago
Lord Oakeshott has urged Lib Dems and "moderate" Tories to vote Labour in S Thanet to keep out Farage & Mackinlay: http://www.buzzfeed.com/emilyashton/loa ... n-the-road" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; …

Tubby Isaacs wrote:The CON score of 30 was very low, so not suspicious to get +4.

pk1 wrote:Survation/@DailyMirror (chg vs 09/04) CON 34% (+4); LAB 33% (-2); UKIP 17% (+1); LD 7% (-1); SNP 4% (NC); GRE 3% (-1); AP 1% (NC)

Mighty suspicious +4 for the Cons there..

pk1 wrote:Survation/@DailyMirror (chg vs 09/04) CON 34% (+4); LAB 33% (-2); UKIP 17% (+1); LD 7% (-1); SNP 4% (NC); GRE 3% (-1); AP 1% (NC)

Mighty suspicious +4 for the Cons there..

tinyclanger2 wrote:

Cameron says last night’s debate was a challengers’ debate. That was an idea from the broadcasters. He was not invited.

He is disgusting.

Mike Smithson ‏@MSmithsonPB 8m8 minutes ago
My guess is that the big announcement promised for midnight is about what Boris will do if Tories win.

ohsocynical wrote:Jack Blanchard ‏@Jack_Blanchard_ 6 hrs6 hours ago
25,000 people logged on to register to vote after last night's TV debate. Cameron said TV debates would "suck the life" out of the campaign.

Mike Smithson ‏@MSmithsonPB 9m9 minutes ago
Saying Boris would become DPM could help in the LD seats that Tories badly need.

UK nuclear strategy faces meltdown as faults are found in identical French project
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/ho ... 86163.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Mr Chevet, head of the nuclear safety watchdog, ASN, first revealed the fault a week ago. In more detailed public comments yesterday, he revealed that the steel ordered for the safety casings or “pressure vessels” for six EPR reactors – including those earmarked for Hinkley Point – appeared to have been made inaccurately...

Sources in the French nuclear industry told the newspaper Le Parisien yesterday that dismantling the faulty pressure vessel and ordering and manufacturing a new one could take several years. “If the weakness of the steel is proved, I don’t hold out much hope for the survival of the EPR project,” a former senior nuclear safety official told Le Parisien.

rebeccariots2 wrote:

Mike Smithson ‏@MSmithsonPB 8m8 minutes ago
My guess is that the big announcement promised for midnight is about what Boris will do if Tories win.

Why the **** should we care? Someone thinks that would be an announcement worth being up at midnight for?

RobertSnozers wrote:Interesting (and slightly positive!) column from Robin Lustig on The Scottish Question

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/robin-l ... _hp_ref=uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

graun wrote:During the referendum campaign last year, we were told repeatedly by politicians that wanted us to vote no that Scotland was an integral part of the UK, that our voice mattered and our voice will be heard, so it strikes me as completely unacceptable for those politicians to turn round now and when Scotland choose to make its voice be heard by voting SNP to say your voice cannot be heard.

RogerOThornhill wrote:

rebeccariots2 wrote:

Mike Smithson ‏@MSmithsonPB 8m8 minutes ago
My guess is that the big announcement promised for midnight is about what Boris will do if Tories win.

Why the **** should we care? Someone thinks that would be an announcement worth being up at midnight for?

I pointed out in my usual forthright manner that Boris had said that he ruled out standing as an MP this year.

One of the usual suspects wasn't impressed and suggested that Boris had changed his mind...not quite the point.

gilsey wrote:Speaking of Clarkson.

Hop Gear is a top tipple for Wensleydale Brewery

http://www.darlingtonandstocktontimes.c ... e_Brewery/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Allegra Stratton ‏@BBCAllegra 13m13 minutes ago
Farage statement re half hr Question Time slot: "I am absolutely delighted to accept the BBC's invitation to once again engage w the public"

PorFavor wrote:Goodnight, everyone.

Vets call for end to controlled badger shooting in pilot culls
http://www.fwi.co.uk/news/vets-call-for ... -culls.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Vets have called for an end to the shooting of free-running badgers in Defra’s two pilot culls in the west of England.

The British Veterinary Association (BVA) said it could no longer support so called controlled shooting, where marksman use high-powered rifles to cull free-running badgers.

Instead it has called for the four-year culls in west Somerset and west Gloucestershire to be completed using only the “tried and tested” method of cage trapping first and then shooting....

A BVA statement said council members had come to the conclusion “in light of the results from two years of culling in the two pilot areas”.

The statement said: “Following a full discussion at BVA council, members concluded that the results from the first two years of culling have not demonstrated conclusively that controlled shooting can be carried out effectively and humanely.

“BVA remains supportive of the use of badger culling as a necessary part of the comprehensive strategy for control and eradication of bovine TB.”

It added that the organisation wanted the government to revert to the method of cage trapping and shooting only, which it said could “deliver a safe, humane and effective cull, as demonstrated in the earlier Randomised Badger Culling Trial [RBCT]“.

David Cameron 'delighted' with hunt support to swing election
http://www.westerndailypress.co.uk/Davi ... story.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Prime Minister David Cameron said he is 'delighted' with the efforts of an army of hunt supporters being mobilised to help the Conservatives win in marginal seats across the West.

And Mr Cameron made his own pledge to vote to repeal the ban on hunting after the general election as he welcomed the practical help that Conservative candidates across the West are receiving from hunt supporters.

The Prime Minister has joined the campaigners co-ordinated by an organisation called Vote-OK, which matches coachloads of hunt supporters with general election candidates who support repealing the hated ban on hunting.

The Gloucestershire-based organisation said it is targeting specific seats with a strict set of criteria – they only send hunt supporters to canvas, deliver leaflets and stuff envelopes for candidates who support hunting and are in a marginal seat where the main opponent is anti-hunting...

David Cameron's 'not invited' line draws fire from party leaders
Conservatives’ claim that prime minister was deliberately excluded from final TV debate rubbished by opposition parties

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... t-50624792" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

...the Conservatives had a full spin operation in force, with three Tory ministers and Craig Oliver, the party’s head of communications, in attendance.

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg also tried to claim that he had not been asked along by the broadcasters, saying he had been barred because he was from a party of government. “For clarity, I was not invited to #BBCDebate. I would have happily taken part and proudly defended our strong @LibDems record in government,” he tweeted.

Outside the contest, Labour shadow leader of the house Angela Eagle tweeted: “Embarrassing from William Hague, pretending Cameron wasn’t invited. Cameron chose the format and then chose not to turn up #ChickenDave.”

citizenJA wrote:

David Cameron's 'not invited' line draws fire from party leaders
Conservatives’ claim that prime minister was deliberately excluded from final TV debate rubbished by opposition parties

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... t-50624792" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I realise this has been posted already but I'm just struck how offensive Dave is by blantantly lying about not being invited to attend the BBC television debates last night.

...the Conservatives had a full spin operation in force, with three Tory ministers and Craig Oliver, the party’s head of communications, in attendance.

Can someone explain this post of Clegg's, please?

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg also tried to claim that he had not been asked along by the broadcasters, saying he had been barred because he was from a party of government. “For clarity, I was not invited to #BBCDebate. I would have happily taken part and proudly defended our strong @LibDems record in government,” he tweeted.

'saying he had been barred because he was from a party of government.'
What an offensive, arrogant, shockingly inaccurate thing to write! It's three weeks prior to democratic accountability in the form of a General Election, Nick. You & your Dave were both invited to attend. You both refused to take responsibility for your five years in government.
Non-attendance because 'they were parties in government'?

Outside the contest, Labour shadow leader of the house Angela Eagle tweeted: “Embarrassing from William Hague, pretending Cameron wasn’t invited. Cameron chose the format and then chose not to turn up #ChickenDave.”

It's more than embarrassing, it's actionable. Someone call the authorities. The country has had enough of this.

For the benefit of Michael Crick – why Clegg wasn’t at the BBC’s challengers’ debate
http://stephentall.org/2015/04/17/for-t ... bate/?wt=3" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

rebeccariots2 wrote:For citizenja:

The Lib Dems are saying Clegg wasn't invited to yesterdays debate ... it was, according to them, one of Cameron's conditions because if Clegg had been there it would have effectively been the same as empty chairing him.

Check out this - Stephen Tall has apparently complained to the BBC for inaccurately reporting that Clegg had chosen not to attend.

For the benefit of Michael Crick – why Clegg wasn’t at the BBC’s challengers’ debate
http://stephentall.org/2015/04/17/for-t ... bate/?wt=3" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

rebeccariots2 wrote:For citizenja:

The Lib Dems are saying Clegg wasn't invited to yesterdays debate ... it was, according to them, one of Cameron's conditions because if Clegg had been there it would have effectively been the same as empty chairing him.

Check out this - Stephen Tall has apparently complained to the BBC for inaccurately reporting that Clegg had chosen not to attend.

For the benefit of Michael Crick – why Clegg wasn’t at the BBC’s challengers’ debate
http://stephentall.org/2015/04/17/for-t ... bate/?wt=3" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

GetYou wrote:

rebeccariots2 wrote:For citizenja:

The Lib Dems are saying Clegg wasn't invited to yesterdays debate ... it was, according to them, one of Cameron's conditions because if Clegg had been there it would have effectively been the same as empty chairing him.

Check out this - Stephen Tall has apparently complained to the BBC for inaccurately reporting that Clegg had chosen not to attend.

For the benefit of Michael Crick – why Clegg wasn’t at the BBC’s challengers’ debate
http://stephentall.org/2015/04/17/for-t ... bate/?wt=3" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The whole thing makes me more angry each time I think about it.

The "failing to turn up for the job interview" line is the only thing that is mellowing me on this for the moment.

citizenJA wrote:

rebeccariots2 wrote:For citizenja:

The Lib Dems are saying Clegg wasn't invited to yesterdays debate ... it was, according to them, one of Cameron's conditions because if Clegg had been there it would have effectively been the same as empty chairing him.

Check out this - Stephen Tall has apparently complained to the BBC for inaccurately reporting that Clegg had chosen not to attend.

For the benefit of Michael Crick – why Clegg wasn’t at the BBC’s challengers’ debate
http://stephentall.org/2015/04/17/for-t ... bate/?wt=3" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thank you for the article; Stephen Tall is an apologist for a lying pair of boys.

Cameron can't legally dictate conditions to another party leader in this matter prior to an election. Regardless of whatever Dave said to his deputy PM & broadcasters, Nick could have made it clear he was attending the debates last night. The country, the world knows the run up to all of Dave's freaked out, scared lying dithering over the debates & I'm shaking with anger over the contempt shown to people by this lie, this attempt at spinning something not true into Tory fact. The last five years are a testament to Dave's failed Tory government & 'he doesn't accept that'.

Electoral Statistics for UK, 2014
Part of Electoral Statistics for UK, 2014 Release
Released: 16 April 2015

The total number of UK parliamentary electors in 2014 was 45,325,100, a fall of 1.8% from 2013.

The total number of UK local government electors in 2014 was 46,828,200, a fall of 1.8% from 2013.

Between 2013 and 2014 the total number of both parliamentary and local government electors declined in England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland both had an increase.

The number of parliamentary electors declined in all regions of England between 2013 and 2014. The largest decrease (-3.5%) was in the North East.

Between 2013 and 2014, the number of local government electors declined in all regions of England. The largest decrease (-3.6%) was in the North East.

The 2014 electoral statistics are the first to have been produced following the introduction of Individual Electoral Registration (IER) in England, Wales and Scotland.

Electoral statistics are used by Boundary Commissions, the Electoral Commission, and central government to help with the improvement of electoral policies and for statutory reviews of parliamentary constituency boundaries.

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/pop-estim ... stics.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

onebuttonmonkey wrote:So here's the thing about Scotland. If the SNP are elected there on the basis of a promise to represent the left, then they're as trapped by that narrative as any other MPs. It means that, for all we know the SNP are not lefties, the people who elected them will mean they can't avoid supporting the left.

And there are far worse things than this outcome. After all, a government who had its agenda forced by the left is something that would be far better - and a far longer time coming - for ordinary people than any government of the last 40 years.

People forget that the SNP are as trapped by their populist narrative as those they oppose are. An SNP elected on the promise of opposing the right still has to live up to its own promise. A love of the left depends on the right policies winning not on a certain party winning. Wouldn't it be fantastic to see the SNP trapped by something they tried to co-opt?

Edit: typos because tipsy.

GetYou wrote:Good line on the Vote Now Show.

"if you don't vote, you do not have the right to complain"

Tubby Isaacs wrote:

onebuttonmonkey wrote:So here's the thing about Scotland. If the SNP are elected there on the basis of a promise to represent the left, then they're as trapped by that narrative as any other MPs. It means that, for all we know the SNP are not lefties, the people who elected them will mean they can't avoid supporting the left.

And there are far worse things than this outcome. After all, a government who had its agenda forced by the left is something that would be far better - and a far longer time coming - for ordinary people than any government of the last 40 years.

People forget that the SNP are as trapped by their populist narrative as those they oppose are. An SNP elected on the promise of opposing the right still has to live up to its own promise. A love of the left depends on the right policies winning not on a certain party winning. Wouldn't it be fantastic to see the SNP trapped by something they tried to co-opt?

Edit: typos because tipsy.

But the SNP have got a complete free lunch at Westminster- they just have to see what Labour wants to do and attack it from the left. That they've done the opposite in Holyrood will barely be of interest to anyone. It'll be "look at weaky old Labour".

They already have powers to make Scotland distinctly social democratic. There are tax powers they never use and stop other people using. And while debt's OK for councils and Westminster, Sturgeon was asked 8 times before she suggested it might have a role in Holyrood.

onebuttonmonkey wrote:

Tubby Isaacs wrote:

onebuttonmonkey wrote:So here's the thing about Scotland. If the SNP are elected there on the basis of a promise to represent the left, then they're as trapped by that narrative as any other MPs. It means that, for all we know the SNP are not lefties, the people who elected them will mean they can't avoid supporting the left.

And there are far worse things than this outcome. After all, a government who had its agenda forced by the left is something that would be far better - and a far longer time coming - for ordinary people than any government of the last 40 years.

People forget that the SNP are as trapped by their populist narrative as those they oppose are. An SNP elected on the promise of opposing the right still has to live up to its own promise. A love of the left depends on the right policies winning not on a certain party winning. Wouldn't it be fantastic to see the SNP trapped by something they tried to co-opt?

Edit: typos because tipsy.

But the SNP have got a complete free lunch at Westminster- they just have to see what Labour wants to do and attack it from the left. That they've done the opposite in Holyrood will barely be of interest to anyone. It'll be "look at weaky old Labour".

They already have powers to make Scotland distinctly social democratic. There are tax powers they never use and stop other people using. And while debt's OK for councils and Westminster, Sturgeon was asked 8 times before she suggested it might have a role in Holyrood.

I hate the SNP - but they've never been so visible, and therefore so accountable, outside Scotland. If politics is changing south of the border, don't forget it's reciprocal. After all, UKIP are just discovering that a higher profile works both ways. Why wouldn't that be the same for the SNP?

AngryAsWell wrote:Mark Ferguson ‏@Markfergusonuk · 15h15 hours ago
Some lads in my train carriage (who are admittedly drinking beers at 8.30 in the morning) just toasted Ed Miliband

..and on that I'll say goodnight - hoping for a better day tomorrow (personally that is, I'm really down at the moment)