Sat 11 and Sun 12 April

[rebeccariots2]

I find myself obsessed with Scottish polls (though feel I made a good job of hiding this so far ...).
Any good links on stuff around said polls and discussions about them I can tune into (eg; is there a #scottishpollsareinpracticequitemisleadingforonereasonoranother or such like).

tc - get a grip. I recommend a very strong black coffee - and maybe some dark chocolate too - to put you back on the level.

[tinyclanger2]

I have also prepared a spreadsheet ready for the evening of Thursday May 7.

By 4.00 am on Friday 8th we should know the results of the following proportion (%) of targeted marginals (listed on ukpollingreport):

labour tory snp libdem
40 37.3 64.4 36.0

[AngryAsWell]

Murray and his like whip up hatred against the evil Westminster parties and then act all disbelieving when there are consequences. Surprised no-one has accused Labour and the Tories of vandalising their own offices to smear the poor old SNP

Actually I saw that one whip by on twitter last night! Not sure who, and it didn't seem to be gaining any traction, but they are on it. It was along the lines of "Ah see the red and blues are collaborating an vandalising their own offices now"

[gilsey]

Richard Murphy ‏@RichardJMurphy 12 hrs12 hours ago

Looks like Tories are adding massive new complexity to tax system to pay for their inheritance tax giveaway. I sense a policy backfire

Osborne seems to be very specific that the £1m limit would be for 'the family home'. Currently inheritance tax doesn't distinguish between different assets, so singling out the house would cause complexity in itself. Whether that's what Murphy means, I don't know.
I'm an accountant by training and I can tell you that completing the inheritance tax forms (in a personal capacity not at work), is a nightmare already. Obviously, tax wasn't my speciality.

The threshold of £325k is passed on between a married couple, so the change would be from £650k to £1m in most cases, so the cost of the policy wouldn't be so huge.

Not going to happen anyway. 316 I tell you.

[rebeccariots2]

Off topic - update from the Riots domicile.

We are relieved to find out we don't need to make a visit to the police station today to report curious events in the night. We had turned in and were reading in bed when I realised the sounds I had thought were the beef cattle lowing occasionally were getting louder and louder and more frequent and had turned into revving and roaring engines. It got so loud and continuous we actually got up and Mr Riots went outside and climbed up a ladder against the house to see what he could see on the horizon in the direction it was coming from. He came back in and said there were lights flashing on the top of the hill to our south and it sounded like motorbikes whizzing around in a loop to him. This went on for about two hours - very loud - too loud to go to sleep with. We thought it might be an impromptu after the pubs close trail bike circuit around bridleways ... which wouldn't be good news if it became a regular fixture. I was worried about the wildlife. It settled down at about 2.30am. We decided to check with our farmer neighbours this am - and then, if necessary, go in and let the police know about it so we knew what to do if it happened again.

Well - we've just been told by our friendly farmer's wife that it was the annual Tivyside Rally last night - and it was rally cars zooming up and along the road to Moylegrove we must have heard. We've never known about this event ... despite having lived here for some time ... and certainly never heard it before. Just goes to show how wind direction and conditions affect sound. I am amazed at the idea of so many cars charging around at night on the tiny country lanes here - very glad I wasn't out and driving home, I'd have been terrified. Yesterday was obviously a big day in our rural events calendar - I was held up for about half an hour by a tractor rally going through Newport ... It's all go here.

[RogerOThornhill]

Dave's lying about inheritance tax to make it seem like it's going to help those poor struggling teachers and nurses...

Yes, it’s right that we as a nation have inheritance tax. Yes, it’s right that the wealthiest pay that tax.

But no – it was never meant for people who spent their working lives as teachers or nurses or running small businesses. It was never meant for people in modest homes, on middle incomes. But that’s who has been sucked into paying this tax. Look at the level that inheritance tax is currently set at: £325,000 per individual.

Do you know how many homes in our country fall above that amount? Almost a quarter of them. I wouldn’t describe a quarter of the people in our country as super rich.

Spot the deliberate error - that unused inheritance tax allowance is passed to a surviving partner and thus the effective threshold for couples is £650k.

There'd be a lot more than 4% of estates paying this if it was only £325k per household rather than individual.

Edit - oops, that'll learn me to update before posting. Noted above. Apologies.

[AngryAsWell]

A returnee - formerly blamebertwilliams but I forgot my password and the site is extremely slow at sending a reminder.

I watched Marr-Osborne and attach (I hope) a frame from the last split second before the cameras cut away.

My complaint to the BBC says:

At the end of his interview with George Osborne and clearly not realising that the camera had yet to cut away, Marr gave a thumbs-up to Osborne. I have a screen grab of this which I am happy to provide should technical problems prevent you from finding it. I have no doubt that others will post something similar on social media. Under what conceivable circumstances can Marr's action be considered acceptable behaviour from a supposedly unbiased political commentator?


Anyone up for twitterising this?

This is just bloody amazing! Good job with the screen shot!

[PorFavor]

Pass the sick-bag, Alice.

David Cameron speaking in Gloucestershire

I remember so well the day my first son was born and in that moment – when you become a parent, absolutely everything changes. Everything you do is for your children. You’ve got this huge responsibility not just to love them but to provide for them. And though my children are still small, I know that never goes away that when they’re in their twenties, thirties, forties – that desire to be there for them is as strong as ever.

And yes, you want to know that even after you’re gone, when you’re not on the phone and not physically there – you can still provide for them. That wish to pass something on is about the most basic, human and natural instinct there is. And that’s why for a long, long time I have wanted to act on inheritance. (Guardian Election Blog)

[ohsocynical]

Pass the sick-bag, Alice.

David Cameron speaking in Gloucestershire

I remember so well the day my first son was born and in that moment – when you become a parent, absolutely everything changes. Everything you do is for your children. You’ve got this huge responsibility not just to love them but to provide for them. And though my children are still small, I know that never goes away that when they’re in their twenties, thirties, forties – that desire to be there for them is as strong as ever.

And yes, you want to know that even after you’re gone, when you’re not on the phone and not physically there – you can still provide for them. That wish to pass something on is about the most basic, human and natural instinct there is. And that’s why for a long, long time I have wanted to act on inheritance. (Guardian Election Blog)

Amazing how they can twist a perfectly good and sincere sentiment and make it vomit inducing.

[PorFavor]

We still seem to have more than our fair share of Prime Ministers (and other post-holders).

That's not a complaint, by the way, just me showing off about how on the ball I am . . .

[ohsocynical]

Mike Smithson ‏@MSmithsonPB 12 mins12 minutes ago

Mail on Sunday reporting private poll that Mark Reckless set to lose Rochester where he fought by election in Nov-

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

Edited to add, scroll down to the bottom of the page, it's beneath the article about the inheritance tax.

[Lonewolfie]

Adam Feneley ‏@AJFeneley 12 mins12 minutes ago
Had been waiting for calcs on how much Gov. subsidises big businesses paying low wages. £11bn just for supermarkets!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-32272817 …

Hah. Just found this. Been wondering for a long time just how much the subsidies to big business were costing.

Frightening isn't it, ohso? What I would also like to see however is some breakdown of how much subsidy is paid to outsourced companies, those that replace public sector provision, the resultant in-work benefits or tax credits payed to their staff compared to the public sector employees they replaced. That would put a different perspective on all the private sector jobs this government have created, aside of zhc, rapid rise in nominal self-employment, etc., etc.

Morfington!

Wolfie reporting from - what could be termed a 'hope from hope' - just north of the Mynydd Preseli - and wow - it gets windy in Wales - this a.m. was supposed to walk/climb to Carn Goedog to try and find the holes from which they extracted the bluestones for Stonehenge.....but it seems my companions feel that the conditions are a bit tricky (Gusting winds up to 45 mph) So maybe next time!(...and reading updates, RR2, yesterday we were stopped on the road to allow the tractors to pass - making the Wolfies and our companions extremely happy )

Anyhow, wanted to add a bit to this as it's been a constant annoyance to me - whilst I'm aware that without Foodbanks our fellow citizens run the risk of starvation (just typing that brings on the red mist) this is the most perverse of ironies.

45% of world food production is wasted.
Supermarkets take FULL PROFIT on goods purchased and then donated to foodbanks.
Vast numbers of supermarket workers are in receipt of tax credits/housing benefit due to the disgraceful wage levels.
Vast numbers 'working' in supermarkets are on Workfare.
Supermarkets make vast profits for shareholders whilst receiving eye-watering subsidies.
Any supermarket workers forced to use foodbanks?
Any supermarket 'leaders' in the HoL? (As ever, rhetoricals)

Cucking funts.

TTFN (Not much tinterweb so may not report back until I've returned to Hope, just north of Peterborough and 3 1/2 wks from LANDSLIDE )

[RogerOThornhill]

This idea of "passing down a family home" is pretty much nonsense anyway.

My wife's parents moved back down to Sussex after my father in law retired so when they go that house will go to their three kids...but none of them have actually lived in that house for any significant period of time. My BIL for a few months in between college but that's it. Their family home where they were all brought up was sold up 28 years ago!

Wrong policy at the wrong time - we can't afford to simply give away tax receipts which don't hurt anyone.

[tinyclanger2]

Danny Alexander. Graun blog. That's all I'm saying.

[PorFavor]

The photograph of Danny Alexander over at the Guardian Election Blog shows him looking more like Nicky Morgan than ever. Childish - but true.

[Willow904]

A returnee - formerly blamebertwilliams but I forgot my password and the site is extremely slow at sending a reminder.

I watched Marr-Osborne and attach (I hope) a frame from the last split second before the cameras cut away.

My complaint to the BBC says:

At the end of his interview with George Osborne and clearly not realising that the camera had yet to cut away, Marr gave a thumbs-up to Osborne. I have a screen grab of this which I am happy to provide should technical problems prevent you from finding it. I have no doubt that others will post something similar on social media. Under what conceivable circumstances can Marr's action be considered acceptable behaviour from a supposedly unbiased political commentator?


Anyone up for twitterising this?

Not sure it's much use for twitter without Osborne in shot. Complaining to the BBC about impartiality is clearly pointless, as the responses people have posted here so eloquently illustrate. I think any really worrying signs of bias should be reported to Ofcom, as they are the regulator responsible for ensuring tv impartiality during election periods, I believe, and I suspect they wouldn't be able to fob people off in the way the BBC does.

Anyway, afternoon all. I take it the latest Tory election "winner" of raising the inheritance tax threshold was received with similar snorts of derision as it was in our household. They seem hellbent on re-enforcing the party of the rich stereotype, don't they? They really are out of touch. Don't they realise most pensioners on modest incomes living in high value homes are more worried about having to spend the lot on social care needs, than they are about the relatively small amounts of tax the kids might have to pay out of the estate when they inherit?

[TheGrimSqueaker]

Sturgeon described Labour attacks on her proposals for full fiscal autonomy – which she said SNP MPs would vote for in the next Westminister parliament should they get the chance – were reminiscent of the “Project Fear campaign that dominated the referendum”. She said that figures from the IFS projecting a £7.6bn shortfall in Scotland’s economy should the country get full control of its tax and spending were “irrelevant” to the argument because it was a “snapshot one year figure”. She added: “I don’t accept the point that a deficit means that you can’t be in control of your own economy”.

Libby Brooks, at the Guardian, the emphasis is mine. I leave you to draw your own conclusions.

[tinyclanger2]

Did someone say "Scotland"?

[ohsocynical]

Hah. Just found this. Been wondering for a long time just how much the subsidies to big business were costing.

Frightening isn't it, ohso? What I would also like to see however is some breakdown of how much subsidy is paid to outsourced companies, those that replace public sector provision, the resultant in-work benefits or tax credits payed to their staff compared to the public sector employees they replaced. That would put a different perspective on all the private sector jobs this government have created, aside of zhc, rapid rise in nominal self-employment, etc., etc.

Morfington!

Wolfie reporting from - what could be termed a 'hope from hope' - just north of the Mynydd Preseli - and wow - it gets windy in Wales - this a.m. was supposed to walk/climb to Carn Goedog to try and find the holes from which they extracted the bluestones for Stonehenge.....but it seems my companions feel that the conditions are a bit tricky (Gusting winds up to 45 mph) So maybe next time!(...and reading updates, RR2, yesterday we were stopped on the road to allow the tractors to pass - making the Wolfies and our companions extremely happy )

Anyhow, wanted to add a bit to this as it's been a constant annoyance to me - whilst I'm aware that without Foodbanks our fellow citizens run the risk of starvation (just typing that brings on the red mist) this is the most perverse of ironies.

45% of world food production is wasted.
Supermarkets take FULL PROFIT on goods purchased and then donated to foodbanks.
Vast numbers of supermarket workers are in receipt of tax credits/housing benefit due to the disgraceful wage levels.
Vast numbers 'working' in supermarkets are on Workfare.
Supermarkets make vast profits for shareholders whilst receiving eye-watering subsidies.
Any supermarket workers forced to use foodbanks?
Any supermarket 'leaders' in the HoL? (As ever, rhetoricals)

Cucking funts.

TTFN (Not much tinterweb so may not report back until I've returned to Hope, just north of Peterborough and 3 1/2 wks from LANDSLIDE )

One of Mr Ohso's ex-workmates [Mr Ohso's retired] along with other long term contract employers of the council landscaping team, has been made redundant.

The workmate has been in the same job for over 25 years...He was just offered a job stacking shelves in Tesco. He told them to f**k off.
Not sure if he's fully aware of sanctions. Suspect he's going to find out soon.

[TheGrimSqueaker]

Sorry TC.

[PorFavor]

Did someone say "Scotland"?

No. I think you must be delirious . . . .

[Swarthlander]

Just been reading LabourList..
http://labourlist.org/2015/04/what-does ... y-justice/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And I’m still very troubled by the term “community justice”.

Wasn't that kristallnacht?

I do not like Nationalism in any form.

[ohsocynical]

Anyone but Salmond: campaign to stop former SNP leader gathers pace

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... thers-pace

Who thinks politics is boring now?

[pk1]

Can we believe a story in the Telegraph (that isn't based on a UK government leak). A fairly damning indictment of a previously serious newspaper.

Why those Scottish polls may not be as bad as they look (at this level of intimidation who admits to anything).

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/general ... miles.html

Not just that, but its written by Gilligan. Still, all depressingly believable in this instance

I think we can trust him on this occasion simply because we can verify the truth.

Here's a piece quoting the abuse towards Margaret Curran's facebook page:

http://news.stv.tv/scotland-decides/ana ... ok-trolls/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And here's a BBC account of the man that was jailed for abusing her in the street:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-g ... t-26671333" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Some SNP supporters are vile in the way they attack voters & spokespersons for other parties.

Whoops, that should read MI5 in disguise, not genuine SNP supporters......

[citizenJA]

Off topic - update from the Riots domicile.

We are relieved to find out we don't need to make a visit to the police station today to report curious events in the night. We had turned in and were reading in bed when I realised the sounds I had thought were the beef cattle lowing occasionally were getting louder and louder and more frequent and had turned into revving and roaring engines. It got so loud and continuous we actually got up and Mr Riots went outside and climbed up a ladder against the house to see what he could see on the horizon in the direction it was coming from. He came back in and said there were lights flashing on the top of the hill to our south and it sounded like motorbikes whizzing around in a loop to him. This went on for about two hours - very loud - too loud to go to sleep with. We thought it might be an impromptu after the pubs close trail bike circuit around bridleways ... which wouldn't be good news if it became a regular fixture. I was worried about the wildlife. It settled down at about 2.30am. We decided to check with our farmer neighbours this am - and then, if necessary, go in and let the police know about it so we knew what to do if it happened again.

Well - we've just been told by our friendly farmer's wife that it was the annual Tivyside Rally last night - and it was rally cars zooming up and along the road to Moylegrove we must have heard. We've never known about this event ... despite having lived here for some time ... and certainly never heard it before. Just goes to show how wind direction and conditions affect sound. I am amazed at the idea of so many cars charging around at night on the tiny country lanes here - very glad I wasn't out and driving home, I'd have been terrified. Yesterday was obviously a big day in our rural events calendar - I was held up for about half an hour by a tractor rally going through Newport ... It's all go here.

I'm not reassured. Please be careful. What's the speed limit on those roads? Depressing.

[citizenJA]

Just been reading LabourList..
http://labourlist.org/2015/04/what-does ... y-justice/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And I’m still very troubled by the term “community justice”.

Wasn't that kristallnacht?

I do not like Nationalism in any form.

I don't dig that sort of thing at all.

[Spacedone]

Nick Clegg did actually turn up to that Sheffield Hallam debate on BBC Sunday Politics but he was a bit two dimensional...



Also, he should really have ironed out that crease in his jacket. Lazy.

[citizenJA]

Pass the sick-bag, Alice.

David Cameron speaking in Gloucestershire

I remember so well the day my first son was born and in that moment – when you become a parent, absolutely everything changes. Everything you do is for your children. You’ve got this huge responsibility not just to love them but to provide for them. And though my children are still small, I know that never goes away that when they’re in their twenties, thirties, forties – that desire to be there for them is as strong as ever.

And yes, you want to know that even after you’re gone, when you’re not on the phone and not physically there – you can still provide for them. That wish to pass something on is about the most basic, human and natural instinct there is. And that’s why for a long, long time I have wanted to act on inheritance. (Guardian Election Blog)

What I need from you isn't money, Dad, it's love & compassion.

[ohsocynical]

THE ANDREW MARR SHOW
INTERVIEW:
GEORGE OSBORNE, MP
CHANCELLOR OF THE
EXCHEQUER
APRIL 12th 2015


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/p ... sborne.pdf

[PorFavor]

George Osborne refuses to answer how Tories will fund £8bn NHS pledge 15 times

Chancellor dodges grilling on key Conservative pledge in excruciating interview (Independent - my bold)

[citizenJA]

A returnee - formerly blamebertwilliams but I forgot my password and the site is extremely slow at sending a reminder.

I watched Marr-Osborne and attach (I hope) a frame from the last split second before the cameras cut away.

My complaint to the BBC says:

At the end of his interview with George Osborne and clearly not realising that the camera had yet to cut away, Marr gave a thumbs-up to Osborne. I have a screen grab of this which I am happy to provide should technical problems prevent you from finding it. I have no doubt that others will post something similar on social media. Under what conceivable circumstances can Marr's action be considered acceptable behaviour from a supposedly unbiased political commentator?


Anyone up for twitterising this?

This is just bloody amazing! Good job with the screen shot!

Forgive me, but do we know what the 'thumbs up' gesture was for? It could've been for making it through the interview without Chancellor Jeff having a seizure.

[citizenJA]

ANDREW MARR:
As Tory election strategist, you have just blown a huge hole in your own strategy by
making an £8 billion unfunded pledge on the NHS, exactly what you said you were
not going to do. Why?

GEORGE OSBORNE:
Well I don’t accept that at all.

[Spacedone]

Dr Kailash Chand OBE @KailashChandOBE · 4 hrs 4 hours ago
Deeply dishonest from Osborne on #Marr. He claimed he increased NHS Spending "every year". I promise you he did not

[ohsocynical]

George Osborne refuses to answer how Tories will fund £8bn NHS pledge 15 times

Chancellor dodges grilling on key Conservative pledge in excruciating interview (Independent - my bold)

It is isn't it.
I am increasingly baffled as to how a long term but not rolling in it Conservative voter can watch a programme like that and be content confident that the party they're putting their faith in knows what it's doing.

[pk1]

Cons to win 7 seats in Scotland is the prediction of this guy:

http://moneyweek.com/election-2015-why- ... -minister/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[ErnstRemarx]

THE ANDREW MARR SHOW
INTERVIEW:
GEORGE OSBORNE, MP
CHANCELLOR OF THE
EXCHEQUER
APRIL 12th 2015


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/p ... sborne.pdf

It's Marr, Jim, but not as we know it....

[PorFavor]

A returnee - formerly blamebertwilliams but I forgot my password and the site is extremely slow at sending a reminder.

I watched Marr-Osborne and attach (I hope) a frame from the last split second before the cameras cut away.

My complaint to the BBC says:

At the end of his interview with George Osborne and clearly not realising that the camera had yet to cut away, Marr gave a thumbs-up to Osborne. I have a screen grab of this which I am happy to provide should technical problems prevent you from finding it. I have no doubt that others will post something similar on social media. Under what conceivable circumstances can Marr's action be considered acceptable behaviour from a supposedly unbiased political commentator?


Anyone up for twitterising this?

This is just bloody amazing! Good job with the screen shot!

Forgive me, but do we know what the 'thumbs up' gesture was for? It could've been for making it through the interview without Chancellor Jeff having a seizure.

Quite possibly - a bit akin to Jeremy Paxman's, "Are you alright, Ed?" (Although I now tend to think (benefit of the doubt, and all that) that that question was actually a reference back to the earlier attack which Ed Miliband had suffered.)

[pk1]

Polling on some of Labour's pledges in today's yougov:

[frightful_oik]

Saw my first and only poster today. Labour in the Erewash seat. V. marginal. Nearby there was a Labour campaign team out canvassing. That seat should be a Lab gain next month. Afternoon all.

[tinyclanger2]

From the Clanger GE spreadsheet:

03:00 am Erewash currently Tory Majority 2501 (5.3%)

How is that looking on the ground frightful?

[yahyah]

From the Clanger GE spreadsheet:

03:00 am Erewash currently Tory Majority 2501 (5.3%)

How is that looking on the ground frightful?

Hope you going to be here in the early hours of May 8th with that spread sheet Tiny.

[tinyclanger2]

From the Clanger GE spreadsheet:

03:00 am Erewash currently Tory Majority 2501 (5.3%)

How is that looking on the ground frightful?

Hope you going to be here in the early hours of May 8th with that spread sheet Tiny.

I most certainly am!

[ErnstRemarx]

Saw my first and only poster today. Labour in the Erewash seat. V. marginal. Nearby there was a Labour campaign team out canvassing. That seat should be a Lab gain next month. Afternoon all.

http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/conl ... ml#Erewash" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[citizenJA]

Osborne struggles to explain how £8bn NHS pledge would be funded - live
"Osborne says NHS money would come from ‘balanced plan’'

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/liv ... mily-homes

Pick up a bottle of Balanced Plan today - a little dab will do 'ya

[tinyclanger2]

Saw my first and only poster today. Labour in the Erewash seat. V. marginal. Nearby there was a Labour campaign team out canvassing. That seat should be a Lab gain next month. Afternoon all.

http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/conl ... ml#Erewash" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Excellent - thanks

[yahyah]

From the Clanger GE spreadsheet:

03:00 am Erewash currently Tory Majority 2501 (5.3%)

How is that looking on the ground frightful?

Hope you going to be here in the early hours of May 8th with that spread sheet Tiny.

I most certainly am!

Excellent.

[RogerOThornhill]

ANDREW MARR:
As Tory election strategist, you have just blown a huge hole in your own strategy by
making an £8 billion unfunded pledge on the NHS, exactly what you said you were
not going to do. Why?

GEORGE OSBORNE:
Well I don’t accept that at all.

Yes, "I don't accept that" has become the answer that actually means "Well, I know it is the case but saying this means I'm not telling a direct lie".

[gilsey]

A rare article touching on one of my personal hobby horses.

Pitt’s rule for non-doms is only one tax that belongs in the dustbin of history
Heather Stewart
http://www.theguardian.com/business/201 ... of-history" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Margaret Thatcher’s deeply regressive poll tax, abandoned in the face of mass public protest, was replaced with a council tax based on 1991 property values. It was never completely proportional, but the intention was for regular revaluations, so that the tax would keep pace with house-price inflation.

Yet successive governments wary of upsetting a key demographic – the comfortable homeowner – have repeatedly failed to carry out revaluations, despite rocketing prices. As the Institute for Fiscal Studies’ authoritative Mirrlees Review of Britain’s tax system put it, “any revaluation inevitably creates losers and winners – and losers tend to be very vocal”. It called the failure to revalue council tax bands, “one of the most egregious demonstrations of the ‘tyranny of the status quo’ as a block to desirable change”.

I would be very pleased if EdB announced on 8 May that the Mansion Tax would be temporary while they sorted out the council tax revaluation. Just Do It. (they won't)

[citizenJA]

ANDREW MARR:
As Tory election strategist, you have just blown a huge hole in your own strategy by
making an £8 billion unfunded pledge on the NHS, exactly what you said you were
not going to do. Why?

GEORGE OSBORNE:
Well I don’t accept that at all.

Yes, "I don't accept that" has become the answer that actually means "Well, I know it is the case but saying this means I'm not telling a direct lie".

Some jeering from a group of regular people ought to clear that up.

[ohsocynical]

Diane Soye ‏@disoye 15 mins15 minutes ago


@chipshopforks @dimayray @Nick_Pettigrew Andrew Neil has said OSBORNE & CAMERON have refused to be interviewed by him for 5 years!!!!!!

I didn't know that