Saturday 7th March & Sunday 8th March 2015

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 1:38 pm

@Eric_WLothian

I cannot deny the wisdom in your response to my opinion about the plain-clothes police officers' breaking down the door of a person possibly in the act of committing suicide. That those in charge of the current DWP & law enforcement can't coordinate their efforts to deliver social security provision & peace keeping appropriately is a reflection on the failures of current government.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 1:38 pm

ErnstRemarx wrote:Oh looky, knives out chaps!

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/po ... 93587.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

They have no credibility. They are still supporting the Cons.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 1:43 pm

Eric_WLothian wrote:
citizenJA wrote:
Toby Latimer wrote: Thing is, the guy wasn't actually suicidal - he had been on the phone in frustration to the DWP earlier after his benefits were delayed. He relayed this frustration to the IDS stooge at the DWP & mentioned Channel 4 Dispatches that had reported on the increase in suicides amongst claimants.

“I said it was no wonder people did it because the DWP make life so difficult for them. I didn’t think any more about it.”

For this the DWP sent the police round who broke down his door, and left him all night without security.
Cops not in uniform? I don't understand that at all. The DWP's job is to make sure everyone entitled receive social security provision in a timely manner. Up is down with this Tory government. Sound likes a scene out of Brazil.
Presumably the non-uniformed officers happened to be the nearest when the call went out.
I don't see this reflecting badly on the police. They were alerted (wrongly) to a potential suicide. They attended and when they got no response, they broke in. Had it been a genuine attempted suicide, they would then have been in a position to help. They offered to secure the door.

A spokesman for Nottinghamshire Police said: ”The officers had shouted into Mr Ramsdale’s letter box three or four times and had knocked on the door for between 5-10 minutes to get his attention before deciding to break down the door. The police offered to secure the door afterwards.”
A lose-lose situation for them. Had they not attended or not forced entry they could have been leaving somebody dying in the house.

Agree with you. Horrible that we should have reached that state, but at least someone cared enough to raise the alarm.

I don't think blame or recriminations should be aimed at the police.

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 1:44 pm

letsskiptotheleft wrote:
ErnstRemarx wrote:Oh looky, knives out chaps!

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/po ... 93587.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Read that earlier this morning, too early.

Christ there's a paucity of talent on the Lib Dem benches, and that's now, quite what it will be like come May only time will tell.

It's going to be last man left standing after the election.

Very revealing to think that they chucked out Charles Kennedy and Ming Campbell, but haven't got near doing it to Clegg.

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 1:47 pm

Ha ha.

Clegg's closest ally as the new leader. That'll bring those millions of votes back.

frightful_oik · Post by **frightful_oik** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 1:50 pm

Re TV licence; I got rid of mine because I was fed up with paying for soubries* like Marr, Neil, Robinson and the Dimblebies to sit there looking pleased with themselves whilst denying anything but the tiniest of voices to the left. The money saved is irrelevant to me.

*A Soubry; n; the word she is alleged to have said but denies doing so.

As for BBC output apart from the news and current affairs, I don't expect more than a few programmes a year to be to my taste. But it's just cookery/property/reality/journey stuff virtually the whole time when it isn't sport. I'd rather stick hot needles in my eyes than watch that stuff. Or indeed pay for it. Last year there was Peaky Blinders and House of Fools; I think that's it. No culture, one decent drama and one decent comedy. I felt short-changed.

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 1:56 pm

pk1 wrote:
yahyah wrote:Saw a few minutes of Sky News last after turning over from the usual bland BBC News 24.

They did a very hard hitting report on Cameron, the Tories and the apparent cover up of files realting to paedophiles.
It was overtly critical of Cameron, exposing Tory hypocrisy in a week when he was copping headlines about action on child exploitation, much more so than the BBC would have dared to be.

Maybe Faisal Islam is having an influence ?
You should have been watching it just now.

They had Marilyn Halls, the lady that formed the victim support group.

She's on fire ! Her anger & frustration can be felt from here.

She doesn't believe a word coming from the Govt & says they should reveal the contents of those files immediately or be accused of being complicit & political cowardice. She said what Cameron did last week at a cost of £9m, is nothing more than political grand-standing.

She accuses the lack of urgent scrutiny as a further abuse on those already abused.

I can only imagine what those abused by those who've been shielded from scrutiny must feel like.
Anger can be empowering, but often it gnaws away and can be self-destructive.

& we hear today that Leon Brittan's home has been searched since his death, as well as the home of the ex-head of the British armed forces.
If Brittan or Bramall were Joe Bloggs from the council estate would they have been given so much leeway timewise ?

Cameron would have known that the Mail on Sunday would be publishing that story this weekend.
The cynical PR stunt earlier in the week where he posed in the Cabinet room pretending he cared.

& Clegg

Ok, the Mail will want to hit at him but he doesn't come out very well in their report today.

Eric_WLothian · Post by **Eric_WLothian** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 2:04 pm

citizenJA wrote:@Eric_WLothian

I cannot deny the wisdom in your response to my opinion about the plain-clothes police officers' breaking down the door of a person possibly in the act of committing suicide. That those in charge of the current DWP & law enforcement can't coordinate their efforts to deliver social security provision & peace keeping appropriately is a reflection on the failures of current government.

I don't disagree with your overall opinion of the DWP. However, in this particular case, it appears that somebody in DWP thought they were doing the right thing by calling the police, presumably with the thought that it might save a life. Whoever it was made an error of judgement.

On reflection, there is something strange in the report. Why did the police arrive at 8pm? I doubt whether the conversation with DWP had just taken place, so where was the delay?

Post by **refitman** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 2:08 pm

Cor! Caron's getting a right shoeing BTL, over at LDV:

http://www.libdemvoice.org/paddy-to-bro ... ent-341449" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Parroting Laws on Byrne's note, saying Ed has run away from Clegg on the debates. 'Tis delightful.

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 2:10 pm

@ StephenDolan

Hello. I've just had a cursory flick through the posts that I've missed reading and spotted your link to Andrew Rawnsley's article. I knew someone had to have linked to it!

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 2:12 pm

Re the LibDem leadership: if Clegg is ousted (from his seat as well?) after the GE - it is still Farron's to lose IMO.

Say what you like about him (and as he is one of my nextdoor MPs, I know his failings better than most) but he has both political nous and electoral appeal.

And he is young enough to take it on knowing that rebuilding the party will be a long term process (not unlike Jim Murphy and SLab, perhaps)

LadyCentauria · Post by **LadyCentauria** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 2:17 pm

citizenJA wrote:
Toby Latimer wrote:My local rag

Police break down door of Mansfield man’s flat after DWP told them he could be suicidal

http://www.chad.co.uk/news/local/police ... -1-7142688" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
This is not the way we provide assistance to the suicidal. Good lord. I don't have the courage to look at the link just yet - I'm rather down the well myself. Is the man still alive or did the police administer Tory therapy.

He's fine, cJA! He was never anything but fine! The DWP advisor had completely got the wrong end of the stick. You can read the article quite safely.

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 2:20 pm

LadyCentauria wrote:
citizenJA wrote:
Toby Latimer wrote:My local rag

Police break down door of Mansfield man’s flat after DWP told them he could be suicidal

http://www.chad.co.uk/news/local/police ... -1-7142688" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
This is not the way we provide assistance to the suicidal. Good lord. I don't have the courage to look at the link just yet - I'm rather down the well myself. Is the man still alive or did the police administer Tory therapy.
He's fine, cJA! He was never anything but fine! The DWP advisor had completely got the wrong end of the stick. You can read the article quite safely.

One of the GPs I worked for got worried when a patient wasn't answering the door when he did a follow-up home visit and got the police to break in. Turned out the patient had been invited out to tea. Said GP felt most embarrassed.

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 2:25 pm

From the New Statesman.

Couple of nice ones here- McVey and Rees-Mogg would be gone. Note the swing in Stafford (though not enough) despite all the Mid Staffs stuff.

Shame about Hughes leading in Bermondsey.

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 2:27 pm

Caron Lindsay doing her usual draconian modding !
Very Liberal isn't she ?

''stuart moran 8th Mar '15 - 2:16pm
Last two posts responding to a member of editorial team not been allowed to be shown! Typical!''

http://www.libdemvoice.org/paddy-to-bro ... ent-341455" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 2:28 pm

LadyCentauria wrote:
citizenJA wrote:
Toby Latimer wrote:My local rag

Police break down door of Mansfield man’s flat after DWP told them he could be suicidal

http://www.chad.co.uk/news/local/police ... -1-7142688" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
This is not the way we provide assistance to the suicidal. Good lord. I don't have the courage to look at the link just yet - I'm rather down the well myself. Is the man still alive or did the police administer Tory therapy.
He's fine, cJA! He was never anything but fine! The DWP advisor had completely got the wrong end of the stick. You can read the article quite safely.

I've done so, thank you, LC! I'm glad only the door suffered damage.

Not strictly related, the picture of the man reminded me of one of favourite University instructors - bohemian, intelligent, out-spoken - I realise an image isn't enough to transmit that information.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 2:32 pm

yahyah wrote:
LadyCentauria wrote:
citizenJA wrote:This is not the way we provide assistance to the suicidal. Good lord. I don't have the courage to look at the link just yet - I'm rather down the well myself. Is the man still alive or did the police administer Tory therapy.
He's fine, cJA! He was never anything but fine! The DWP advisor had completely got the wrong end of the stick. You can read the article quite safely.

One of the GPs I worked for got worried when a patient wasn't answering the door when he did a follow-up home visit and got the police to break in. Turned out the patient had been invited out to tea. Said GP felt most embarrassed.

That's a fine GP - just what I'd expect - of course, my GP acquaintance isn't large. Still.

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 2:36 pm

yahyah wrote:
LadyCentauria wrote:
citizenJA wrote:This is not the way we provide assistance to the suicidal. Good lord. I don't have the courage to look at the link just yet - I'm rather down the well myself. Is the man still alive or did the police administer Tory therapy.
He's fine, cJA! He was never anything but fine! The DWP advisor had completely got the wrong end of the stick. You can read the article quite safely.

One of the GPs I worked for got worried when a patient wasn't answering the door when he did a follow-up home visit and got the police to break in. Turned out the patient had been invited out to tea. Said GP felt most embarrassed.

I was about to relate a very similar story. Patient (who was suffering from mental health problems and was suicidal) failed to show for an emergency appointment. Wasn't answering the 'phone or the door so the GP called the police. It turned out that the patient had gone shopping. But I've always thought well of the GP for taking the steps that she did.

ErnstRemarx · Post by **ErnstRemarx** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 2:37 pm

AngryAsWell wrote:A bit of light laughter
Nigel Farage Tweeted A Simple Question And People Unsurprisingly Took The Piss

http://www.buzzfeed.com/hannahjewell/ni ... rq4QmJo232" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Very funny indeed. Nice to see so many people ripping the piss out of that numpty.

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 2:45 pm

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 2:48 pm

Baffled how that NS projection has the Tories with significantly more MPs if Somerset NE is going Labour.

Win the likes of that and Labour wouldn't be that far from an overall majority even if every single seat north of the border went SNP

SpinningHugo · Post by **SpinningHugo** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 2:51 pm

BBC licence fee.

I don't approve of this, and I doubt anyone here would either if the equivalent were to be proposed to be introduced for the first time in relation to something else.

Say the UK government were to propose the provision of some new near universal common good provided by a semi-autonomous national body (eg 5G super fast wifi for all mobile devices). Say it were proposed that this great thing were paid for by a flat (near universal) charge. Say the cost was very low (£3 per week) and seemed to be very good value compared to, say, the cost of a newspaper. Say we also exempted certain groups (eg the very poor and the elderly) from paying altogether.

Would that be ok?

It would not. It would be regressive. If this is to be paid for by the state it should be funded out of general taxation. Or not done by the State at all. The licence fee is a poll tax. A small one, but still a poll tax.

Which is why other countries which are just as leftwing, and in some ways more, as the UK do not have the equivalent of the BBC paid for out of flat rate charges.

When originally introduced the TV licence fee covered a tiny number of rich people. That isn't so any more. It should go.

Toby Latimer · Post by **Toby Latimer** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 2:53 pm

LadyCentauria wrote:
citizenJA wrote:
Toby Latimer wrote:My local rag

Police break down door of Mansfield man’s flat after DWP told them he could be suicidal

http://www.chad.co.uk/news/local/police ... -1-7142688" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
This is not the way we provide assistance to the suicidal. Good lord. I don't have the courage to look at the link just yet - I'm rather down the well myself. Is the man still alive or did the police administer Tory therapy.
He's fine, cJA! He was never anything but fine! The DWP advisor had completely got the wrong end of the stick. You can read the article quite safely.

Quite - i don't think ppl have bothered to read it. He wasn't in a state, or had even threatened anything - he was venting his wrath at the uselessness of the system, & was sat peacefully with headphones on when the ploice came round, unnecessarily I feel

LadyCentauria · Post by **LadyCentauria** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 3:00 pm

AngryAsWell wrote:We have got to get this lot out = simple as that.
One bath for 12 women and 11 babies: UK asylum housing by G4S
https://www.opendemocracy.net/ourkingdo ... 3g.twitter" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Teather in 2013 disclosed that the Coalition government had set up an inter-department ministerial group: “On the explicit instructions of the prime minister, it was called the hostile environment working group,” Teather said, “its job being to make Britain a hostile environment to unwanted immigrants.”

This, just one short paragraph in this excellent article, shows yet another reason why Cameron is unfit to be Prime Minister of this country!

The whole article sent me back to memories of the sort of awful hostels and B&B 'hotels' I was sent to, with my then-baby son, when we were homeless back in the seventies. At least I knew that, if I stuck it out, I would be housed by the local Council which had sent me there and moved us around as one place after the other was closed down – thanks to fierce campaigning by women's groups, the local Community Law Centres, and the local Fire Brigade – leaving of our own accord would have taken us, and other homeless families, straight off the homelessness list.

The women, men, and families, living in these privatised (G4S, Serco, etc.,) hostels do not have the scant protection afforded to British subjects/citizens but they are, surely, entitled to the same human right of a decent and safe roof over their heads for as long as they are in this country.

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 3:03 pm

Labour candidate turns down £1,000 donation from Tony Blair (BBC News website)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-t ... l-31788367

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 3:11 pm

Toby Latimer wrote:
LadyCentauria wrote:
citizenJA wrote:This is not the way we provide assistance to the suicidal. Good lord. I don't have the courage to look at the link just yet - I'm rather down the well myself. Is the man still alive or did the police administer Tory therapy.
He's fine, cJA! He was never anything but fine! The DWP advisor had completely got the wrong end of the stick. You can read the article quite safely.
Quite - i don't think ppl have bothered to read it. He wasn't in a state, or had even threatened anything - he was venting his wrath at the uselessness of the system, & was sat peacefully with headphones on when the ploice came round, unnecessarily I feel

If it were me, I'd always err on the side of caution. If the person's okay there's no harm done. I'd hate to live with myself if they weren't.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 3:28 pm

ohsocynical wrote:
Toby Latimer wrote:
LadyCentauria wrote: He's fine, cJA! He was never anything but fine! The DWP advisor had completely got the wrong end of the stick. You can read the article quite safely.
Quite - i don't think ppl have bothered to read it. He wasn't in a state, or had even threatened anything - he was venting his wrath at the uselessness of the system, & was sat peacefully with headphones on when the ploice came round, unnecessarily I feel
If it were me, I'd always err on the side of caution. If the person's okay there's no harm done. I'd hate to live with myself if they weren't.

Having read the article & the contributions of my friends here, if the heart was in the right place, saving the life of a human being, then well done. Hope his door gets fixed & his provision from the DWP gets to him soon.

Post by **letsskiptotheleft** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 3:35 pm

Gawking at the BBC lamentable politics page I had a look at two short items, Michael Sheen's appearance on Marr this morning and Hammond's remarks about defence spending and Cameron's views on it.

One of Alasdair Campbell's many criticism's of Cameron is his rhetoric about ''passionate'' about something every night on the news, in Hammond's article, Cameron is passionate about the armed forces, he then forgets about it and moving on to his next ''passionate'' concern, Sheen made the point in his short clip that it's difficult to argue with someone when you don't truly know what they believe in.

Something you can level at our PM. Worse ever.

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 3:38 pm

Don't suppose anyone's got access to the Sunday Times.

Tory Matthew Parris [husband of much loved Julian Glover, ex-Guardian leader writer & all round prat] has defended Harvey Proctor in a piece today.

Post by **refitman** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 3:39 pm

RobertSnozers wrote:
AnatolyKasparov wrote:Re the LibDem leadership: if Clegg is ousted (from his seat as well?) after the GE - it is still Farron's to lose IMO.

Say what you like about him (and as he is one of my nextdoor MPs, I know his failings better than most) but he has both political nous and electoral appeal.

And he is young enough to take it on knowing that rebuilding the party will be a long term process (not unlike Jim Murphy and SLab, perhaps)
Yes, but I just can't f***ing stand him!

Is there any effect of the fact that Farron pitches himself on being on the left of a party that has lost most of its left?

I think you need to start calling him "farcical, honking, perpetually constipation-faced grizzlewit Tim Farron"*, in the same vein as Expenses Cheat David Laws.

*™Michael Sylvain

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 3:41 pm

refitman wrote:
RobertSnozers wrote:
AnatolyKasparov wrote:Re the LibDem leadership: if Clegg is ousted (from his seat as well?) after the GE - it is still Farron's to lose IMO.

Say what you like about him (and as he is one of my nextdoor MPs, I know his failings better than most) but he has both political nous and electoral appeal.

And he is young enough to take it on knowing that rebuilding the party will be a long term process (not unlike Jim Murphy and SLab, perhaps)
Yes, but I just can't f***ing stand him!

Is there any effect of the fact that Farron pitches himself on being on the left of a party that has lost most of its left?
I think you need to start calling him "farcical, honking, perpetually constipation-faced grizzlewit Tim Farron"*, in the same vein as Expenses Cheat David Laws.

*™Michael Sylvain

LetsSkip and I call Farron 'a spud on a stick'

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 3:50 pm

AnatolyKasparov wrote:Baffled how that NS projection has the Tories with significantly more MPs if Somerset NE is going Labour.

Win the likes of that and Labour wouldn't be that far from an overall majority even if every single seat north of the border went SNP

Could be a reaction to Rees-Mogg personally? Though other Tory bellends don't seem to suffer that.

pk1 · Post by **pk1** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 3:51 pm

RobertSnozers wrote: What's the betting Upper Class Twit Of The Year Rees Mogg is right up there with the smirking idiots engaging in their antidemocratic practices?

There should be rules against this.

Probably safe to say Christopher Chope & Philip Davies were leading the charge of the filibuster brigade.

Despicable behaviour whenever it happens - no wonder there is such lack of faith in politicians.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 4:07 pm

Tubby Isaacs wrote:
AnatolyKasparov wrote:Baffled how that NS projection has the Tories with significantly more MPs if Somerset NE is going Labour.

Win the likes of that and Labour wouldn't be that far from an overall majority even if every single seat north of the border went SNP
Could be a reaction to Rees-Mogg personally? Though other Tory bellends don't seem to suffer that.

I've heard tell of Rees-Mogg being in some pretty sh** in his constituency long before this latest drivel from him.
Forgive me not having the data or reference at hand at the moment - I'll research it & post more.
It may have to do with the strong Labour party candidate standing against him.
I'll go search.

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 4:08 pm

RobertSnozers wrote:Email from Andy Burnham:

do you remember the crucial vote to end Tory privatisation of the NHS we won back in November? You were one of the incredible 136,000 people who signed the petition that helped make it happen.

Well, since then, things have got ugly. Reeling from their defeat in the Commons, the Tories have come up with a new plan to stop our anti-privatisation bill: filibuster it.

Before the bill can be passed, it has to be scrutinised by MPs in the "Committee Stage". But rather than discussing the bill, Tory MPs are deliberately wasting time so we can't get any changes agreed — and that means the bill can't go back for the final vote in the Commons.

Here are just some of the topics — completely unrelated to the NHS — that Tory MPs have been "debating" in the two days they've meant to have been talking about our NHS bill:
Asterix the Gaul
Affinity for Creme eggs
French sociologist Emile Durkheim
Tactics in the Napoleonic wars
The history of papal doctrine
Norse gods and their relationship to the Tory logo
Drinking habits of William Pitt the Younger
Medieval poet Geoffrey Chaucer
Bringing candles into the committee room
Why sleeping pills say "may cause drowsiness" on them...
...and popular '90s soft drink "Sunny Delight"
It's clear they're going to pull every dirty trick in the book to stop us getting our bill passed before the election. So if we want to end the privatisation of the NHS, we're going to have to do it ourselves, in government.
What's the betting Upper Class Twit Of The Year Rees Mogg is right up there with the smirking idiots engaging in their antidemocratic practices?

There should be rules against this.

Rees-Mogg was on that Inside the Commons series doing much the same thing - with a smirk - talking out a worthy bill from a LibDem on affordable housing.

Hopefully his constituents saw it and might vote with their feet.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 4:20 pm

Tubby Isaacs wrote:
AnatolyKasparov wrote:Baffled how that NS projection has the Tories with significantly more MPs if Somerset NE is going Labour.

Win the likes of that and Labour wouldn't be that far from an overall majority even if every single seat north of the border went SNP
Could be a reaction to Rees-Mogg personally? Though other Tory bellends don't seem to suffer that.

Labour have a very good PPC standing against Rees-Mogg.

Mogg will be one pissed off Tory if he loses....

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 4:23 pm

yahyah wrote:
refitman wrote:
RobertSnozers wrote: Yes, but I just can't f***ing stand him!

Is there any effect of the fact that Farron pitches himself on being on the left of a party that has lost most of its left?
I think you need to start calling him "farcical, honking, perpetually constipation-faced grizzlewit Tim Farron"*, in the same vein as Expenses Cheat David Laws.

*™Michael Sylvain

LetsSkip and I call Farron 'a spud on a stick'

He reminds me of a cross between a holiday camp comedian and a TV evangelist. Does that make him a funambulist?

Edited

To replace a comma with a full stop.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 4:25 pm

I think I read a Tweet that said the Somerset Labour PPC had set up a blog page which is updating what Reece-Mogg's getting up to.

TheGrimSqueaker · Post by **TheGrimSqueaker** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 4:27 pm

That sound you can hear is the bottom of the barrel being scraped paper thin.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/114575 ... ebate.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 4:29 pm

Todd Foreman - former Labour Councillor Notting Barns Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea from May 2010 - May 2014

Todd is a proud trade unionist who believes in the dignity of hard work and support for the rights of workers, for example through being paid a living wage. In North East Somerset, Todd is already delivering through his involvement in campaigns for better and more affordable rural bus service, to protect local children's centres, and for Bath & North East Somerset Council to become a Living Wage Employer.

Todd will be a full-time MP and he won't take paid outside employment while serving North East Somerset in Parliament. In everything Todd does as MP—be it voting in the House of Commons, assisting residents with casework, proposing legislation or campaigning on important issues—he will put North East Somerset first.

Labour candidate running against Rees-Mogg for the North East Somerset constituency.

Interesting man; no wonder Rees-Mogg is in a state.

http://www.labour.org.uk/people/detail/todd-foreman" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.todd4nesomerset.com/about" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 4:32 pm

TheGrimSqueaker wrote:That sound you can hear is the bottom of the barrel being scraped paper thin.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/114575 ... ebate.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Nicky Morgan: Tristram Hunt called me ‘love’ during debate

I call people 'love' during debate too.
No one's told me they've a problem with that.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 4:39 pm

ohsocynical wrote:I think I read a Tweet that said the Somerset Labour PPC had set up a blog page which is updating what Reece-Mogg's getting up to.

Mr. Todd Foreman is a long way from Kansas.
Spectacular man - check out his CV.

DonutHingeParty · Post by **DonutHingeParty** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 4:52 pm

Mini point of order, North Somerset is a separate constituency and is full of Liam Fox. Only UKIP and angry farmers can dislodge him.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 4:58 pm

Returning troops will build a better UK
THOUSANDS of returning military heroes will be retrained as builders to help construct a more prosperous Britain.

More than 100,000 jobs have been created in the UK by the increase in house building over the past two years, with an extra 44,000 more new homes started in 2014 compared with the figure for 2012.

Brandon Lewis told the Sunday Express yesterday: “With house building now at its highest annual level since 2007 thousands of construction jobs are up for grabs.

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/562584 ... y-recovery

Why do I find this suspicious?

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 4:59 pm

DonutHingeParty wrote:Mini point of order, North Somerset is a separate constituency and is full of Liam Fox. Only UKIP and angry farmers can dislodge him.

How about Somerset North East? Heh? Heh??

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 5:00 pm

ohsocynical wrote:Returning troops will build a better UK
THOUSANDS of returning military heroes will be retrained as builders to help construct a more prosperous Britain.

More than 100,000 jobs have been created in the UK by the increase in house building over the past two years, with an extra 44,000 more new homes started in 2014 compared with the figure for 2012.

Brandon Lewis told the Sunday Express yesterday: “With house building now at its highest annual level since 2007 thousands of construction jobs are up for grabs.

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/562584 ... y-recovery

Why do I find this suspicious?

Because it's a damned bizarre idea.
What do military troops know about constructing homes?

mbc1955 · Post by **mbc1955** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 5:02 pm

citizenJA wrote:
ohsocynical wrote:Returning troops will build a better UK
THOUSANDS of returning military heroes will be retrained as builders to help construct a more prosperous Britain.

More than 100,000 jobs have been created in the UK by the increase in house building over the past two years, with an extra 44,000 more new homes started in 2014 compared with the figure for 2012.

Brandon Lewis told the Sunday Express yesterday: “With house building now at its highest annual level since 2007 thousands of construction jobs are up for grabs.

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/562584 ... y-recovery

Why do I find this suspicious?
Because it's a damned bizarre idea.
What do military troops know about constructing homes?

What does it matter what they know? They know how to take orders...

Willow904 · Post by **Willow904** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 5:07 pm

There are so many reasons why Rees-Mogg may be personally unpopular it's hard to know where to start. There's his very vocal support for fracking, questions raised in the local press about whether he has properly declared interests in debates including re fracking, his mum has pissed off an entire village with a very unpopular housing development application but most of all he has put NE Somerset on the political map as a source of ridicule. At the end of the day Labour and the Libdems have more than enough votes between them to consign him to the dustbin of history and Rees-Mogg is just so embarrassing even a few die-hard Clegg fans may be considering lending Labour their vote just to get rid of him.

Edited to add the Labour PPC, Todd Foreman, is a very personable, warm friendly guy with an unusual ordinary American background and proudly gay. He couldn't be more different from Rees-Mogg. It's going to be an interesting contest.

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 5:07 pm

ohsocynical wrote:Returning troops will build a better UK
THOUSANDS of returning military heroes will be retrained as builders to help construct a more prosperous Britain.

More than 100,000 jobs have been created in the UK by the increase in house building over the past two years, with an extra 44,000 more new homes started in 2014 compared with the figure for 2012.

Brandon Lewis told the Sunday Express yesterday: “With house building now at its highest annual level since 2007 thousands of construction jobs are up for grabs.

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/562584 ... y-recovery

Why do I find this suspicious?

Weren't they all supposed to be retraining as teachers?

Eric_WLothian · Post by **Eric_WLothian** » Sun 08 Mar, 2015 5:15 pm

RogerOThornhill wrote:
ohsocynical wrote:Returning troops will build a better UK
THOUSANDS of returning military heroes will be retrained as builders to help construct a more prosperous Britain.

More than 100,000 jobs have been created in the UK by the increase in house building over the past two years, with an extra 44,000 more new homes started in 2014 compared with the figure for 2012.

Brandon Lewis told the Sunday Express yesterday: “With house building now at its highest annual level since 2007 thousands of construction jobs are up for grabs.

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/562584 ... y-recovery

Why do I find this suspicious?
Weren't they all supposed to be retraining as teachers?

If they're builders they'll be able to join the reserves - and no training overhead. Win-win.