Saturday 28th & Sunday 29th March 2015

gilsey · Post by **gilsey** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 12:41 pm

pk1 wrote:
In recent weeks the Conservatives have been under pressure to set out their plans but Mr Duncan Smith would not commit to precise proposals being in his party's manifesto.

"They know for certain that we are going to save that £12bn...we may, we may not decide that it's relevant to put something out there about those changes," he said.
https://www.politicshome.com/economy-an ... lfare-cuts" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Loathsome.

loathsome

adjective
causing hatred or disgust; repulsive.
"this loathsome little swine"
synonyms: hateful, detestable, abhorrent, repulsive, odious, repugnant, repellent, disgusting, revolting, sickening, nauseating, abominable, despicable, contemptible, reprehensible, execrable, damnable;

mikems · Post by **mikems** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 12:55 pm

In 1936, during the general election campaign, Leon Blum, the socialist leader, was attacked in the streets of Paris by right-wing thugs and had to be rescued by building workers coming from a site nearby.

The right was lurching towards extremism and was badly divided. Blum went on to win and form the Popular Front government.

tinybgoat · Post by **tinybgoat** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 12:56 pm

PorFavor wrote:Good morfternoon.

I'm so torn over this tee-shirt question (I'll make a donation, in any case). And even, after having decided - which one? The Labour Party one, I suppose, as I'm not sure where the proceeds of the unions' version is going. And do I have more important things to worry about?

Hell, yes!

Edited to add a comma. No - not that comma!

Well union's one is cheaper but has election date on,
Labour's should be reusable next election
(hopefully Ed, defending 5 yrs time):)

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 1:03 pm

Re the Conservatives' proposed benefits cuts -

Mr Duncan Smith said that the planned changes will have a “life-changing, dramatic” impact on claimants . . . . (Guardian)

Well, he got that bit right.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 1:05 pm

mikems wrote:My local tory's main pitch is that he will kill the city's gull population and deal with the traffic problem by some unspecified solution that has eluded all previous politicians here, tories included. Doesn't mention national policy at all. Don't know where all the money is coming from - it's not a target seat for them; 12,000 behind and predicted to suffer a drop in support with UKIP standing for the first time - but every week we have full colour tabloids, cards, letters etc, etc, all about killing bloody gulls!

Dave misses taking pot shots at defenceless animals, so maybe that could be his next job when he's booted out in May.

pk1 · Post by **pk1** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 1:09 pm

The arguments about 'that mug' (which thankfully I was blissfully unaware of on account of not checking my twitter a/c yesterday), the BBC at 11.28am says:

Labour is taking some flak over a series of mugs it released on its online shop to promote its five election pledges. The fourth pledge - "Controls on immigration" - has caused a bit of a stir, with the New Statesman saying the vessel has been condemned as "unspeakably naff at best and outright racist at worst". As it stands though, Labour has sold more than 160 of the mugs, while the best performing of the other four is on 11.

(my bold)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/election-2015-32057589" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 1:10 pm

Simon Danczuk has ordered a job lot, I suspect

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 1:13 pm

pk1 wrote:The arguments about 'that mug' (which thankfully I was blissfully unaware of on account of not checking my twitter a/c yesterday), the BBC at 11.28am says:

Labour is taking some flak over a series of mugs it released on its online shop to promote its five election pledges. The fourth pledge - "Controls on immigration" - has caused a bit of a stir, with the New Statesman saying the vessel has been condemned as "unspeakably naff at best and outright racist at worst". As it stands though, Labour has sold more than 160 of the mugs, while the best performing of the other four is on 11.
(my bold)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/election-2015-32057589" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I think it's all a bit of a storm in a tea mug.

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 1:15 pm

I see that the MoS is running a story about another report that has been blocked for publication.

NHS pays management experts £10million - to tell it to axe thousands of beds... but 'hushes up' bombshell reports as the Election looms

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

NHS bosses have been accused of covering up plans to close A&E units and cut hospital beds – after paying £10million for reports they are now refusing to publish.

They have paid management consultants including KPMG a total of £10,282,593 for advice on ‘improving long-term affordability’ across 11 regions that cover 13million people.

The Mail on Sunday has seen a leaked copy of one of the secret reports, recommending the closure of all emergency services at one hospital and the removal of potentially hundreds of beds, sparking fears of plans for widespread cuts in other areas.

Such concerns are stoked by an official, watered-down summary of the project, which mentions the need for ‘tough decisions’ to balance the books in the 11 ‘challenged’ areas, where budgets are being overspent.

Is anyone keeping count of the blocked reports?

Stuart Rose on NHS management
The "EU not really a problem" one

And now this from the most transparent government ever...

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 1:16 pm

Lots of people who don't like Labour could be buying them.

Would keep this meme running.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 1:16 pm

PorFavor wrote:
pk1 wrote:The arguments about 'that mug' (which thankfully I was blissfully unaware of on account of not checking my twitter a/c yesterday), the BBC at 11.28am says:

Labour is taking some flak over a series of mugs it released on its online shop to promote its five election pledges. The fourth pledge - "Controls on immigration" - has caused a bit of a stir, with the New Statesman saying the vessel has been condemned as "unspeakably naff at best and outright racist at worst". As it stands though, Labour has sold more than 160 of the mugs, while the best performing of the other four is on 11.
(my bold)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/election-2015-32057589" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I think it's all a bit of a storm in a tea mug.

Boom, boom!

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 1:17 pm

There's a lovely picture of the glossy and unbending one over at the Guardian (at the top of the Election coverage page). All that's missing is the undone shirt buttons.

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/liv ... y-29-march

Edited

"is" for "are" (Opinions?)

pk1 · Post by **pk1** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 1:20 pm

Tubby Isaacs wrote:Lots of people who don't like Labour could be buying them.

Would keep this meme running.

If I hadn't seen you mention over here in the first place, I still would be unaware of it so as a meme, it's not exactly cutting through.

I would regard myself as politically engaged so if I was unaware of it, what are the chances of Joe Public being a) aware & bb) upset enough to change their vote ?

I reckon the answer to both a) and b) is none.

tinyclanger2 · Post by **tinyclanger2** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 1:22 pm

Again from the G blog:

Salmond says criticism by 'metropolitan press' shd be taken "as a tartan badge of courage"... "U only get kicked if worth kicking" #SNP15

Where does that leave Miliband - who has truly taken a 5-year kicking from the "metropolitan" press, while Salmond has been entertaining a certain ozzie. (not to be confused with a certain ratio).

His obsession is in danger of becoming ludicrous.

pk1 · Post by **pk1** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 1:23 pm

PorFavor wrote:There's a lovely picture of the glossy and unbending one over at the Guardian (at the top of the Election coverage page). All that's missing is the undone shirt buttons.

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/liv ... y-29-march

Edited

"is" for "are" (Opinions?)

It's glorious isn't it.

We ought to start an FTN image gallery where we could save good as well as bad photos of politicians of all parties.

utopiandreams · Post by **utopiandreams** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 1:24 pm

ohsocynical wrote:... Dave misses taking pot shots at defenceless animals, so maybe that could be his next job when he's booted out in May.

I'd heard he wanted to order the Wrendale range from Spode for The Association of Conservative Clubs, ohsocynical. Sam advised him otherwise because they didn't want to be known as the Tea Party.

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 1:30 pm

tinyclanger2 wrote:
The fashionable Left’s loathing of Mr Miliband, and the incessant spiteful bullying and belittling of this man by much of my trade, make me want to stand up for him against this nasty mob, even though I disagree with him about almost everything.
Also from the Hitchens blog. Has marginally cheered me up.

Also from him.
''At least I actually know what the Labour leader’s true opinions are. This is more than can be said for Mr Cameron, whose real aims are harder to grasp than a lavishly greased piglet.

So you see how the world’s turning upside down. Nothing’s what it seems in this Election. For instance, I think the SNP actually want the Tories to dominate the next government...''

I agree with Hitchens. Strange days, indeed a topsy turvy world.

The screams of betrayal from newly converted SNP voters when they realise they've been played will be deafening.
Salmond set out to take Labour votes, he'd have posed in the clothes of whoever was necessary to push his agenda.

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 1:32 pm

More Hitchens, the man is on the button:

''Keen-eyed viewers will have noted the Prime Minister twice giving his nose a jolly good wipe with the back of his hand, as he chopped away at his groceries. Just imagine what would have happened to Ed Miliband if he’d done that: action replays and front-page pictures for days.

But Ed is a target, and Dave isn’t.

So I very much hope that the poor vegetables, so unhygienically treated, ended in the slop bucket, rather than being fed to the Camerons’ innocent children.''

Swarthlander · Post by **Swarthlander** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 1:33 pm

pk1 wrote:
Tubby Isaacs wrote:Lots of people who don't like Labour could be buying them.

Would keep this meme running.
If I hadn't seen you mention over here in the first place, I still would be unaware of it so as a meme, it's not exactly cutting through.

I would regard myself as politically engaged so if I was unaware of it, what are the chances of Joe Public being a) aware & bb) upset enough to change their vote ?

I reckon the answer to both a) and b) is none.

Huff Post has it.
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/03 ... _hp_ref=uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

tinyclanger2 · Post by **tinyclanger2** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 1:33 pm

http://i100.independent.co.uk/article/l ... paign=i100" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Number 4 in the Independent "list":

the Independent wrote:Labour is actually selling an antiimmigration mug.

utopiandreams · Post by **utopiandreams** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 1:35 pm

yahyah wrote:More Hitchens, the man is on the button:

''Keen-eyed viewers will have noted the Prime Minister twice giving his nose a jolly good wipe with the back of his hand, as he chopped away at his groceries. Just imagine what would have happened to Ed Miliband if he’d done that: action replays and front-page pictures for days.

But Ed is a target, and Dave isn’t.

So I very much hope that the poor vegetables, so unhygienically treated, ended in the slop bucket, rather than being fed to the Camerons’ innocent children.''

Perhaps even more worrying, yahyah, is what does he keep in his pocket?

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 1:40 pm

Tubby Isaacs wrote:Lots of people who don't like Labour could be buying them.

Would keep this meme running.

Well, it's nice of them to donate to a worthy cause.

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 1:42 pm

[From PF's link]

He really shouldn't have had baked beans for lunch.

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 1:43 pm

@ yahyah

Thanks for doing the biz!

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 1:59 pm

I'm sure you've all been on tenterthooks, so -

Tee-shirt ordered from the Labour Party. You can all calm down now (dears).

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 2:04 pm

My purchasing/donating to Labour is forced to be on hold, garage bill for car repair currently stands at £680 and may rise before the job is finished and we finally get the car back.

tinyclanger2 · Post by **tinyclanger2** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 2:05 pm

http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/scotland.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

: scottish polls.jpg (21.42 KiB) Viewed 7940 times

Seethe.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 2:06 pm

yahyah wrote:My purchasing/donating to Labour is forced to be on hold, garage bill for car repair currently stands at £680 and may rise before the job is finished and we finally get the car back.

Ouch !!!!!

tinyclanger2 · Post by **tinyclanger2** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 2:08 pm

PorFavor wrote:I'm sure you've all been on tenterthooks, so -

Tee-shirt ordered from the Labour Party. You can all calm down now (dears).

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 2:09 pm

Ouch indeed Oh So. & public transport here is virtually non existent.

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 2:09 pm

yahyah wrote:My purchasing/donating to Labour is forced to be on hold, garage bill for car repair currently stands at £680 and may rise before the job is finished and we finally get the car back.

Yes - I noticed your mentioning it the other day. Ouch! I hope you get the car back soon in full working order and that the bil doesn't get any higher. I imagine you feel the lack of private transport rather painfully, situated where you are. At times like this, you could probably do with a couple of Raisas.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 2:10 pm

Very, very windy here.

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 2:11 pm

PorFavor wrote:
yahyah wrote:My purchasing/donating to Labour is forced to be on hold, garage bill for car repair currently stands at £680 and may rise before the job is finished and we finally get the car back.
Yes - I noticed your mentioning it the other day. Ouch! I hope you get the car back soon in full working order and that the bill doesn't get any higher. I imagine you feel the lack of private transport rather painfully, situated where you are. At times like this, you could probably do with a couple of Raisas.

Edited to add an "l"

tinyclanger2 · Post by **tinyclanger2** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 2:12 pm

ohsocynical wrote:Very, very windy here.

Is that a caption for the fishpointer photo above?

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 2:12 pm

I keep doing that. Idiot.

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 2:12 pm

Lib Dems have spotted the mugs:

http://www.libdemvoice.org/wow-labour-r ... 45209.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 2:13 pm

And now Abbot's on Twitter with a photo of that mug...

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 2:13 pm

tinyclanger2 wrote:
ohsocynical wrote:Very, very windy here.
Is that a caption for the fishpointer photo above?

pk1 · Post by **pk1** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 2:23 pm

yahyah wrote:Lib Dems have spotted the mugs:

http://www.libdemvoice.org/wow-labour-r ... 45209.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

One poster has reminded them:

malc 28th Mar '15 - 11:23pm
Which is worse, the coalition hiring vans to drive around London telling immigrants to go home – which even UKIP found offensive or the Labour party selling mugs asking for immigration controls?

Bad news about the car yahyah.

I hope it's actually worth spending all that money on it.

TheGrimSqueaker · Post by **TheGrimSqueaker** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 2:26 pm

ohsocynical wrote:And now Abbot's on Twitter with a photo of that mug...

While some of the impetus behind it may well be tabloid driven there is a point to that pledge, and it appears to have gone straight over Abbott's head. As Ed tried to explain the other night, the big problem with immigration is that it is giving employers and/or BTL landlords a charter to exploit both the native and incoming population; so an immigration policy (and however much we might not be happy that there has to be one, there does have to be one) that is built on that premise, that seeks to manage things so that people are not exploited and get a fair deal wherever they come from, has to be worth looking at, yes? Abbott is playing to the gallery, yet again, and really not helping to take the debate forward at all.

danesclose · Post by **danesclose** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 2:31 pm

PorFavor wrote:
Shock as Mike Hancock announces he will stand in General Election

Asked if he thinks he can retain the seat he has held since 1997, he said: ‘If enough people realise I’m like everyone – I’m a fallible human being who made a mistake and paid a very high price – and can get over that and put it into perspective.’
I'm not so sure about it being a "shock". Neither am I sure that "everyone" will appreciate being told that they are just like Mike Hancock.

http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/local/ ... -1-6661288

Morning all. Very windy here today - woke up to find we've lost a couple of fence panels.

Regarding Hancock, I'm sure it's nothing but a cynical attempt to get a better pay off. As we discussed yesterday, an MP losing at an election gets more money than one standing down.

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 2:32 pm

pk1 wrote:
yahyah wrote:Lib Dems have spotted the mugs:

http://www.libdemvoice.org/wow-labour-r ... 45209.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
One poster has reminded them:

malc 28th Mar '15 - 11:23pm
Which is worse, the coalition hiring vans to drive around London telling immigrants to go home – which even UKIP found offensive or the Labour party selling mugs asking for immigration controls?
Bad news about the car yahyah. I hope it's actually worth spending all that money on it.

It's 11 years old but has only done 40,000 miles and we were going to run it as long as we can.
But am beginning to think it might not be worth another big mend.

TechnicalEphemera · Post by **TechnicalEphemera** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 2:33 pm

TheGrimSqueaker wrote:
ohsocynical wrote:And now Abbot's on Twitter with a photo of that mug...
While some of the impetus behind it may well be tabloid driven there is a point to that pledge, and it appears to have gone straight over Abbott's head. As Ed tried to explain the other night, the big problem with immigration is that it is giving employers and/or BTL landlords a charter to exploit both the native and incoming population; so an immigration policy (and however much we might not be happy that there has to be one, there does have to be one) that is built on that premise, that seeks to manage things so that people are not exploited and get a fair deal wherever they come from, has to be worth looking at, yes? Abbott is playing to the gallery, yet again, and really not helping to take the debate forward at all.

As a Labour election strategist the fact this has been picked up by the media would probably be music to your ears.

It puts the words - Labour wants Immigration control out there.

Look at the pathetic bleating on LDV to see why this is a good thing.

Eric_WLothian · Post by **Eric_WLothian** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 2:38 pm

tinyclanger2 wrote:http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/scotland.html
scottish polls.jpg
Seethe.

But there's a 'health warning' on the EC website:

There has been a dearth of Scotland-only polls of Westminster voting intention since spring 2012. To make an estimate of Scottish voting intention, the opinion poll data above now includes "aggregated polls". These are based on the daily YouGov polling for the Sun and the Sunday Times. These polls are nationwide, but they contain a separately-reported Scottish component. The Scottish sample size of each individual poll is small (around 150 voters), which is not usable in isolation. However, if we add up all the Scottish components over a full month, the total sample size is around 1,500 voters which is a usable total. Because the YouGov methodology is constant, the individual Scottish samples should be consistent and able to be aggregated.

This methodology has been tested against three YouGov Scotland-only polls in Jan 2012, Feb 2012 and May 2012. The maximum error was around 3%-4%, which is about the amount expected by random variation. But there was a small bias towards the Conservatives at the expense of the other three big Scottish parties fairly equally. So the aggregated polls may not be as accurate as pure Scotland-only polls, but they seem a reasonable second-best indicator in the absence of proper polling.

http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/polls_scot.html

I really can't see the LibDems losing Orkney & Shetland, or the Tories losing their one seat.

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 2:38 pm

All any Labour person needs to say to the LibDems about this is "racist van"!

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 2:43 pm

TheGrimSqueaker wrote:
ohsocynical wrote:And now Abbot's on Twitter with a photo of that mug...
While some of the impetus behind it may well be tabloid driven there is a point to that pledge, and it appears to have gone straight over Abbott's head. As Ed tried to explain the other night, the big problem with immigration is that it is giving employers and/or BTL landlords a charter to exploit both the native and incoming population; so an immigration policy (and however much we might not be happy that there has to be one, there does have to be one) that is built on that premise, that seeks to manage things so that people are not exploited and get a fair deal wherever they come from, has to be worth looking at, yes? Abbott is playing to the gallery, yet again, and really not helping to take the debate forward at all.

Well said, my thoughts as well.

Good-afternoon, everyone.

Tubby Isaacs · Post by **Tubby Isaacs** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 2:58 pm

Sunday Times report Police Scotland stopping and searching homeless people to make targets.

tinyclanger2 · Post by **tinyclanger2** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 3:00 pm

Tubby Isaacs wrote:Sunday Times report Police Scotland stopping and searching homeless people to make targets.

Ah. The Independent Utopia of Scotland.

tinyclanger2 · Post by **tinyclanger2** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 3:01 pm

Oh no!

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Sun 29 Mar, 2015 3:02 pm

Tubby Isaacs wrote:Sunday Times report Police Scotland stopping and searching homeless people to make targets.

In the Scottish socialist SNP paradise ?
Surely not.