Saturday 3rd & Sunday 4th January 2015

[Tubby Isaacs]

Yes, that is encouraging.

But someone's still got to have a word. You do need people who get stuck in, but having your arse handed to you by people who know what they're talking about isn't good enough.

I don't understand your last two sentences.

Lots of rail people told him not to be so silly on Twitter apparently.

[citizenJA]

Yes, that is encouraging.

But someone's still got to have a word. You do need people who get stuck in, but having your arse handed to you by people who know what they're talking about isn't good enough.

I don't understand your last two sentences.

Lots of rail people told him not to be so silly on Twitter apparently.

Rail people on Twitter...they getcha ever' single time...

[StephenDolan]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... ister.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Why, just.... Why?

[citizenJA]

"Labour has a stubborn, though narrow, lead in the vast majority of surveys but both Cameron and Miliband concede the election is going to be an extremely close fight."

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... -falsehood

You're right, G, Labour won't just go away. Stubbornly vast.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Oh jeez.

Labour poster manages to muck up the "1930s spending" thing.

It's lowest SINCE the 30s, as the OBR said. It won't be at a level that happened in the 30s.

[TechnicalEphemera]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... ister.html

Why, just.... Why?

Can't his constituency deselect him?

I cannot imagine local activists are happy with the tosser talking about more private involvement in the NHS. Time to boot the tosser out.

I get extremely annoyed that local constituency parties do not flex their muscles more and get difficult MPs sorted out.

[Tubby Isaacs]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... ister.html

Why, just.... Why?

Can't his constituency deselect him?

I cannot imagine local activists are happy with the tosser talking about more private involvement in the NHS. Time to boot the tosser out.

I get extremely annoyed that local constituency parties do not flex their muscles more and get difficult MPs sorted out.

I do too.

He nearly went before 1992, IIRC.

[TechnicalEphemera]

Oh jeez.

Labour poster manages to muck up the "1930s spending" thing.

It's lowest SINCE the 30s, as the OBR said. It won't be at a level that happened in the 30s.

Not sure about that "last seen in the 1930s" is a line I see a lot.

In fact 33% would seem to be the peak in the 30's although the figure for 1939 must be questionable given the little local difficulty over Europe.

Good enough, good line use it.

[ErnstRemarx]

Labour published the research as it launched a campaign to protect local bus services, which are particularly valued by older people and teenagers.

“The bus market is clearly broken and the way local services are provided is not fit for purpose,” Dugher said. “Labour would change that and hand cities and county regions greater control over local bus services. We will ensure people get the local transport system they need.”

The figures emerged just days after Labour research found meals on wheel services for older and vulnerable people have declined by 63% under the coalition. The research into services offered by English councils revealed there are an estimated 220,000 fewer meals being served to older people today than when the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats came to power, with prices rising over that time by an average of £237 a year for those who receive the services every day.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015 ... e-isolated

Good. As a Labour councillor who's had to fight the closure of a service due to the cuts in subsidies to a rural service (to a Tory voting hamlet FFS, but they're in my ward so you have to do it), I get this entirely. A shitty mess created by the Tories back in the 80s through privatisation, and then finished off via cuts. And the daft bastards in the hamlet mentioned above will still, almost to a man/woman vote Tory. What can you do when faced with such stupidity?

[Tubby Isaacs]

Oh jeez.

Labour poster manages to muck up the "1930s spending" thing.

It's lowest SINCE the 30s, as the OBR said. It won't be at a level that happened in the 30s.

Not sure about that "last seen in the 1930s" is a line I see a lot.

In fact 33% would seem to be the peak in the 30's although the figure for 1939 must be questionable given the little local difficulty over Europe.

Good enough, good line use it.

It's not supposed to go down to 33%. Whatever it'll go down to will be higher than that, but 1939 will be the last year it was lower.

"Lowest levels since 1930s is true", and powerful. Use that.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Alan Beattie ‏@alanbeattie 10h10 hours ago
Come on, SNP. Buy March 2016 Brent at GBP67, sell for the GBP110 you're sure it's going to be, never need a fundraiser again.

[TechnicalEphemera]

Oh jeez.

Labour poster manages to muck up the "1930s spending" thing.

It's lowest SINCE the 30s, as the OBR said. It won't be at a level that happened in the 30s.

Not sure about that "last seen in the 1930s" is a line I see a lot.

In fact 33% would seem to be the peak in the 30's although the figure for 1939 must be questionable given the little local difficulty over Europe.

Good enough, good line use it.

It's not supposed to go down to 33%. Whatever it'll go down to will be higher than that, but 1939 will be the last year it was lower.

"Lowest levels since 1930s is true", and powerful. Use that.

But the Labour line will be Osborne is taking us back to the 1930s, which is more powerful.

[Tish]

This is an old (but great) article, which I've only just seen, about Boris Johnson and why satire fails to ever actually bring about the change it claims to want.

http://www.lrb.co.uk/v35/n14/jonathan-c ... to-the-sea" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I've been thinking a lot recently about how rubbish most so called satire is at the moment, especially after reading some of the dreadful stuff posted at the Guardian that's been linked to here, and I think this article makes some great points about how the "all politicians are shit" attitude of most comedians and satirists is poisoning the political debate. How its become a lazy trope that doesn't actually challenge anything anymore. Because if everything is shit, and everyone is a liar, then what's the point in trying to make things better, why would anyone believe in anything?

[RogerOThornhill]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... ister.html

Why, just.... Why?

We should do nothing short of split off the health service from day-to-day political control to create an NHS Mk II – one truly owned and run by the people through a new national mutual, of which we will all be members.

We would elect our own trustees and they would be responsible for spending the NHS budget, pushing through reforms and settling with us what future contributions should be.

There's what, 50m people in England? Does he seriously expect this to happen?

Pie in the sky nonsense.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Not sure about that "last seen in the 1930s" is a line I see a lot.

In fact 33% would seem to be the peak in the 30's although the figure for 1939 must be questionable given the little local difficulty over Europe.

Good enough, good line use it.

It's not supposed to go down to 33%. Whatever it'll go down to will be higher than that, but 1939 will be the last year it was lower.

"Lowest levels since 1930s is true", and powerful. Use that.

But the Labour line will be Osborne is taking us back to the 1930s, which is more powerful.

It's wrong though. Osborne isn't taking us back to 30s.

Say levels not seen since 30s. Powerful enough.

[citizenJA]

Labour published the research as it launched a campaign to protect local bus services, which are particularly valued by older people and teenagers.

“The bus market is clearly broken and the way local services are provided is not fit for purpose,” Dugher said. “Labour would change that and hand cities and county regions greater control over local bus services. We will ensure people get the local transport system they need.”

The figures emerged just days after Labour research found meals on wheel services for older and vulnerable people have declined by 63% under the coalition. The research into services offered by English councils revealed there are an estimated 220,000 fewer meals being served to older people today than when the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats came to power, with prices rising over that time by an average of £237 a year for those who receive the services every day.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015 ... e-isolated

Good. As a Labour councillor who's had to fight the closure of a service due to the cuts in subsidies to a rural service (to a Tory voting hamlet FFS, but they're in my ward so you have to do it), I get this entirely. A shitty mess created by the Tories back in the 80s through privatisation, and then finished off via cuts. And the daft bastards in the hamlet mentioned above will still, almost to a man/woman vote Tory. What can you do when faced with such stupidity?

I'm reading the new Nye Bevan biography & have discovered an interesting thing - from the man who called the Tories lower than vermin, he cooperated, he was a pragmatic man as well as an idealistic one - somehow without losing his personal integrity.

[Tubby Isaacs]

This is an old (but great) article, which I've only just seen, about Boris Johnson and why satire fails to ever actually bring about the change it claims to want.

http://www.lrb.co.uk/v35/n14/jonathan-c ... to-the-sea" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I've been thinking a lot recently about how rubbish most so called satire is at the moment, especially after reading some of the dreadful stuff posted at the Guardian that's been linked to here, and I think this article makes some great points about how the "all politicians are shit" attitude of most comedians and satirists is poisoning the political debate. How its become a lazy trope that doesn't actually challenge anything anymore. Because if everything is shit, and everyone is a liar, then what's the point in trying to make things better, why would anyone believe in anything?

I've been watching 80s Fleet Street satire, Hot Metal, today.

Much better than what we have now.

[citizenJA]

hey, three months instead four months, everyone!
hurrah!
I need to go to sleep now.
love
JA