Wednesday 3rd December 2014

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 3:57 am

Morning.

Westminster Hall debates into benefit sanctions and assistive technology for those interested.

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/p ... 0235000001" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

(of course feel free to change "subject "line I believe something of import happens today)

TheGrimSqueaker · Post by **TheGrimSqueaker** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 6:54 am

Couldn't sleep either, eh? Morning.

Comedy piece from Mary Riddell up at the Telegraph, "Are the Tories winning back Ukippers in the seats that matter?" Full of "why this is bad for Ed lines" (is this another Telegraph-related copyright violation, I hope she got Dan's permission?) despite the fact that this has always been a Tory constituency and so were the ones merged to form it; the fact that the next MP may well be a purple Tory rather than a blue one does not make this a Labour failure (despite Riddell's scrambling attempts to suggest as much), simply another colossal miscalculation on the part of Cameron et al.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politic ... atter.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

StephenDolan · Post by **StephenDolan** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 6:59 am

Morning all.

I can feel my blood boiling already at the thought of the inevitable BBC fawning over the Autumn Statement.

Political genius, yada yada yada.

TheGrimSqueaker · Post by **TheGrimSqueaker** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 7:02 am

And deary, deary me, the good news just keeps on coming for the Tories. Kwasi Kwarteng, a member of the Free Enterprise Group which contains the likes of Priti Patel and is (supposedly) influential within the Party, has been caught on tape admitting that even ring-fenced funding like the NHS is likely to be attacked under a future Tory Government. If this lot get back in we are all finished.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/po ... 99136.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

TheGrimSqueaker · Post by **TheGrimSqueaker** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 7:20 am

And another one.

Hundreds of Army widows owing council tax could be taken to court and forced to pay up in a single instalment by magistrates.

The “vulnerable” women and disabled veterans are among 950,000 in arrears in England after Communities Secretary Eric Pickles axed £500million of aid for low-income households.

Labour uncovered the figures through freedom of information requests to 326 councils now responsible for council tax benefit.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/hu ... it-4736909" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Yet, as StephenDolan rightly says, the BBC will ignore these stories and continue to laud Osborne as a political genius and Cameron as a colossus on the world stage.

Post by **PaulfromYorkshire** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 7:23 am

Morning!

Just been correcting a Torygraph leader that says that Osborne has presided over the fastest recovery in Europe.

Really how far wrong is that? The only fast bits were under Darling and six years after the crash when we finally started to catch up!

Post by **refitman** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 7:27 am

Morning. Labour lead at 1 point on Yougov:

Latest YouGov / The Sun results 2nd December -

Con 32%, (nc)
Lab 33%, (+1)
LD 7%, (-1)
UKIP 16%; (+1)
Grn 7%, (+1)

APP -26 (-6)

TheGrimSqueaker · Post by **TheGrimSqueaker** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 7:31 am

Ed Balls statement ahead of Osborne's (very late) Autumn Statement. Doesn't read like a man too worried about the super secret elephant trap Cunning George has planned for tomorrow.

http://press.labour.org.uk/post/1041885 ... now-failed" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Spacedone · Post by **Spacedone** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 7:43 am

Woke up at 7am to radio and the first thing they had on was views from members of the public about what they thought should be in the Autumn Statement... members of the public who were exclusively white van drivers who were going to vote UKIP...

Post by **PaulfromYorkshire** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 8:07 am

TheGrimSqueaker wrote:Ed Balls statement ahead of Osborne's (very late) Autumn Statement. Doesn't read like a man too worried about the super secret elephant trap Cunning George has planned for tomorrow.

http://press.labour.org.uk/post/1041885 ... now-failed" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Yes pretty straightforward stuff. Though I don't think this line quite works

This cost-of-living crisis is why the Chancellor will have to admit he has broken his promise to balance the books by next year

Post by **refitman** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 8:12 am

Apparently Farage didn't have a good time of the young voters debate last night: http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... ers-debate" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 8:13 am

Morning all.

"We're doing really, really well which is why my borrowing targets have gone horribly wrong and we need far more radical cuts in spending"

Have I got the line right?

Post by **PaulfromYorkshire** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 8:21 am

RogerOThornhill wrote:Morning all.

"We're doing really, really well which is why my borrowing targets have gone horribly wrong and we need far more radical cuts in spending"

Have I got the line right?

Pretty much, but you missed the bit about nevertheless splurging spending in a few key marginals.

Post by **PaulfromYorkshire** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 8:26 am

"Now Britain faces a choice. Do we squander the economic security we have gained, go back to the disastrous decisions on spending and borrowing and welfare that got us into this mess? Or do we finish the job? I say: ‘We stay the course to prosperity’. We support people who want to work hard and get on."

That "welfare" sneaked in there. Dishonest, devious and plain nasty.

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 8:48 am

@PaulfromYorkshire -as about nuanced as a sledgehammer to the face.

frightful_oik · Post by **frightful_oik** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 8:48 am

Spacedone wrote:Woke up at 7am to radio and the first thing they had on was views from members of the public about what they thought should be in the Autumn Statement... members of the public who were exclusively white van drivers who were going to vote UKIP...

In fairness, the one they had on just befoe 0800 was Labour, very good and female!

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 8:51 am

@PaulfromYorkshire -as about nuanced as a sledgehammer to the face.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 9:02 am

PaulfromYorkshire wrote:"Now Britain faces a choice. Do we squander the economic security we have gained, go back to the disastrous decisions on spending and borrowing and welfare that got us into this mess? Or do we finish the job? I say: ‘We stay the course to prosperity’. We support people who want to work hard and get on."

That "welfare" sneaked in there. Dishonest, devious and plain nasty.

You've just summarised Jeffery's speech, Paul, if not written it verbatim.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 9:06 am

Good-morning. How credible are the Yougov polls? Seriously.

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 9:07 am

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014 ... CMP=twt_gu" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"Evictions rocket as welfare reforms and rising property prices hit home"

mbc1955 · Post by **mbc1955** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 9:17 am

citizenJA wrote:Good-morning. How credible are the Yougov polls? Seriously.

As I've mentioned before, I'm clearly a left-oriented voter, and I don't get invited to participate in YouGov's political polls. Make of that what you will.

StephenDolan · Post by **StephenDolan** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 9:19 am

When the Express question how genuine Osborne is the alarm bells should be ringing in number 11. And 10.

' He barks at corporate tax avoiders in the Budget and conference speeches, only to do virtually nothing'
http://www.express.co.uk/comment/expres ... -statement" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 9:30 am

Morning all. A goodun from Monbiot.

No wonder landowners are scared. We are starting to learn who owns Britain
Scotland is breaking the cover-up that stifles our political thought. Bring the Highland Spring south
The land reform programme announced last week by the Scottish government is the end of civilised life on Earth, if you believe the corporate press. In a country where 432 people own half the private rural land, all change is Stalinism. The Telegraph has published a string of dire warnings – insisting, for example, that deer stalking and grouse shooting could come to an end if business rates are introduced for sporting estates. Moved to tears yet?

Yes, sporting estates – where the richest people in Britain, or oil sheikhs and oligarchs from elsewhere, shoot grouse and stags – are exempt from business rates, a present from John Major’s government in 1994. David Cameron has been just as generous with our money: as he cuts essential services for the poor, he has almost doubled the public subsidy for English grouse moors, and frozen the price of shotgun licences, at a public cost of £17m a year...

It’s no coincidence that the two most regressive forms of taxation in the UK – council tax banding and the payment of farm subsidies – both favour major owners of property. The capping of council tax bands ensures that the owners of £100m flats in London pay less than the owners of £200,000 houses in Blackburn. Farm subsidies, which remain limitless as a result of the Westminster government’s lobbying, ensure that every household in Britain hands £245 a year to the richest people in the land. The single farm payment system, under which landowners are paid by the hectare, is a reinstatement of a medieval levy called feudal aid, a tax the vassals had to pay to their lords.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 9:33 am

Got to own up to waking up late and rather befuddled this morning.

Had a dream in which (horror of horrors) George Osborne featured. He was sitting in a chair in my old office extolling the virtues of community and therapeutic horticultural projects to me ..... go figure as Mr Ohso might say. I will be pondering the 'meaning' of this for the rest of the day. Need more than one cup of tea to recover from it though.

Post by **letsskiptotheleft** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 9:37 am

I will be in work by the time Osborne performs his ''hey, look what I've found down the back of the sofa'' routine, I'll rely on everyone on here to spot the bullshit, a majority of the media won't, not this close to the election.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 9:38 am

TheGrimSqueaker wrote:And another one.

Hundreds of Army widows owing council tax could be taken to court and forced to pay up in a single instalment by magistrates.

The “vulnerable” women and disabled veterans are among 950,000 in arrears in England after Communities Secretary Eric Pickles axed £500million of aid for low-income households.

Labour uncovered the figures through freedom of information requests to 326 councils now responsible for council tax benefit.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/hu ... it-4736909" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Yet, as StephenDolan rightly says, the BBC will ignore these stories and continue to laud Osborne as a political genius and Cameron as a colossus on the world stage.

I'm really hoping that the removal of council tax benefit and the bedroom tax will have scuppered votes for the Tories in many quarters that they might not have realised would be so affected ... such as 'vulnerable Army widows'. That's if they put the blame for these moves where it belongs - on the government rather than local authority.

tinyclanger2 · Post by **tinyclanger2** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 9:40 am

#1 AutumnStatement
#2 CameronMustGo

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 9:52 am

Patrick Butler on the Community Links report I mentioned yesterday

http://www.theguardian.com/society/patr ... CMP=twt_gu" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

tinyclanger2 · Post by **tinyclanger2** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 9:52 am

http://www.opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom ... -our-rainb" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;?

David Cameron on immigration: “Bloody unicorns, coming here, takin' our rainbows

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 10:05 am

@RobertSnozers

tinyclanger2 · Post by **tinyclanger2** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 10:18 am

http://uk.businessinsider.com/a-bizarre ... ss-2014-12" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;?

quote within quote wrote:"This is not as simple as left versus right. It is rather different. The BBC’s political coverage operates on a default presumption of scepticism. Governments propose policy; the BBC subjects those proposals to intense scrutiny. It is reflexively opposed to change. Almost any change. The status quo – being known and therefore endurable – is preferable to the unknown risks of an alternative vision. In this respect it is actually a profoundly conservative institution."

Right.

StephenDolan · Post by **StephenDolan** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 10:29 am

tinyclanger2 wrote:http://uk.businessinsider.com/a-bizarre ... ss-2014-12?

quote within quote wrote:"This is not as simple as left versus right. It is rather different. The BBC’s political coverage operates on a default presumption of scepticism. Governments propose policy; the BBC subjects those proposals to intense scrutiny. It is reflexively opposed to change. Almost any change. The status quo – being known and therefore endurable – is preferable to the unknown risks of an alternative vision. In this respect it is actually a profoundly conservative institution."
Right.

They might want to clarify that with Marr. And Robinson. And Neil. And Keunessberg. And Humphrys. And Smith.

Rebecca · Post by **Rebecca** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 10:39 am

Morning all.
North of the border,3 SNP councillors from Renfrew film themselves burning a copy of the Smith Commission report.
Which has been agreed and signed by the SG.
They burnt it in a bin.
f.i.t.h.

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 10:58 am

citizenJA wrote:Good-morning. How credible are the Yougov polls? Seriously.

Their final polls for both the Euro elections and Scottish referendum were almost spot on.

Having said that, their regular VI polls do seem to get their raw figures "weighted" to the Tories more often than the opposite.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 11:13 am

AnatolyKasparov wrote:
citizenJA wrote:Good-morning. How credible are the Yougov polls? Seriously.
Their final polls for both the Euro elections and Scottish referendum were almost spot on.

Having said that, their regular VI polls do seem to get their raw figures "weighted" to the Tories more often than the opposite.

Thank you, AK. Those raw Tory figures are heavily weighted. Sometimes it feels as though the entire Tory party is standing on my rib cage. The entire Tory party doesn't hit six whole digits though they're claiming 130,000 members. Perhaps they're counting the ones who use a Tory logo mug. Purchased by Aunt Jane as a Black Friday present. Ah, you shouldn't have, Auntie, really....

StephenDolan · Post by **StephenDolan** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 11:32 am

citizenJA wrote:
AnatolyKasparov wrote:
citizenJA wrote:Good-morning. How credible are the Yougov polls? Seriously.
Their final polls for both the Euro elections and Scottish referendum were almost spot on.

Having said that, their regular VI polls do seem to get their raw figures "weighted" to the Tories more often than the opposite.
Thank you, AK. Those raw Tory figures are heavily weighted. Sometimes it feels as though the entire Tory party is standing on my rib cage. The entire Tory party doesn't hit six whole digits though they're claiming 130,000 members. Perhaps they're counting the ones who use a Tory logo mug. Purchased by Aunt Jane as a Black Friday present. Ah, you shouldn't have, Auntie, really....

I'd be half tempted to get one as a cruel secret Santa present but for who it's contributing to.

Post by **letsskiptotheleft** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 11:49 am

Bit bemused at the prospect of Bryant becoming shadow deputy for DCMS portfolio, if indeed it is true?

Post by **letsskiptotheleft** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 11:56 am

If Osborne spouts some nonsense about a Fiscal Responsibility Act, or some bloody thing else that sounds grand but is rather a pile of steaming cow dung bear this in mind...

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/12 ... 1417607059" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Post by **letsskiptotheleft** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 12:02 pm

Oh yeah, Osborne has trapped Labour with his brilliant rhetoric, guess who wrote that?

Of course it's that commentator who overplays his role in Labour at the height of it's popularity.. Our Dan, who is only a step up from Luke Bozier.

Post by **letsskiptotheleft** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 12:05 pm

Before I go to work, can someone keep a tab on the announcements today, which are basically just rehashes of what has been announced already, bound to more than a couple innit?

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 12:16 pm

letsskiptotheleft wrote:Bit bemused at the prospect of Bryant becoming shadow deputy for DCMS portfolio, if indeed it is true?

Hasn't he been quite big on press reform and similar stuff?

HindleA · Post by **HindleA** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 12:24 pm

6 policies Labour will introduce to help change the lives of disabled people

http://labourlist.org/2014/12/the-6-pol ... ed-people/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 12:35 pm

John Edginton ‏@JohnEdginton 10m10 minutes ago
Weakest leader, poorest tactician, least empathic, most slimiest schmoozer, most incompetent administrator ever for a UK PM #CameronMustGo

Good description of Dave. Particularly like Schmoozer. Describes him perfectly.

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 12:35 pm

James Forsyth
‏@JGForsyth
Miliband on his best PMQs form for a long time, fast and lively stuff.
Pity for him it will be drowned out by the autumn statement

tinyclanger2 · Post by **tinyclanger2** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 12:41 pm

David Cameron has said Ed Miliband will look as "awkward as when he ate that bacon sandwich" when he hears the state of the Government's finances in the Autumn Statement.

http://www.itv.com/news/update/2014-12- ... -sandwich/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;?

: cameronslobv2.jpg (21.2 KiB) Viewed 14681 times

tinyclanger2 · Post by **tinyclanger2** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 12:44 pm

#1 CameronMustGo

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 12:49 pm

Anyone watching ?
Several people [including Chris Bryant] say Osborne looked pale & unwell.

tinyclanger2 · Post by **tinyclanger2** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 12:54 pm

Autumn Statement back at #1 but still - excellent effort on part of CMG

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 1:01 pm

Channel 4 News ‏@Channel4News 30 secs31 seconds ago
Osborne: will be continuation of public sector pay restraint in next parliament

Post by **adam** » Wed 03 Dec, 2014 1:05 pm

A completely brilliant article from the New Statesman.

An Immigration Lawyer Reviews 'Paddington'