Monday 27th April 2015 - GE minus 10 days

gilsey · Post by **gilsey** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 10:43 am

Spacedone wrote:
yahyah wrote: Polar weather already here.

I left my Ammi Majus seedlings out last night, poor little blighters got frosted as the temperature fell to zero C. Have moved them into the shade to let them come round gently.
Gloriously sunny and clear blue skies here.

Just sayin'

Gloriously sunny here too, but it was -4 overnight.
My hh & tomato seedlings are in the greenhouse during the day and indoors at night.

Spacedone · Post by **Spacedone** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 10:47 am

pk1 wrote:Apparently today we are expected to get Populus, ICM/Guardian this afternoon, Ashcroft at 4, YouGov at 10:30pm

*deep breath*

A brief summary of how the polls will be reported by political journos:

Labour in big lead... no wait, Tories take the lead!... Yes! It's confirmed! Tories in big lead!... Oh bugger Labour are in the lead again.

*chucks polls in bin*

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 11:00 am

I see Nate Silver's election forecast - on the Beeb tonight - is being hyped up by them.

It would be churlish to mention that he got our last GE completely *wrong*, would it?

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 11:06 am

(And it's 'fed up with').

Hell, yes.

Good morfternoon, everyone.

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 11:07 am

Bumboils.

frightful_oik · Post by **frightful_oik** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 11:09 am

Spacedone wrote:
pk1 wrote:Apparently today we are expected to get Populus, ICM/Guardian this afternoon, Ashcroft at 4, YouGov at 10:30pm

*deep breath*
A brief summary of how the polls will be reported by political journos:

Labour in big lead... no wait, Tories take the lead!... Yes! It's confirmed! Tories in big lead!... Oh bugger Labour are in the lead again.

*chucks polls in bin*

Good job I finished reading the thread as your post was almost word for word what I was going to reply to pk1's post.

Morning all.

tinybgoat · Post by **tinybgoat** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 11:11 am

pk1 wrote:
LadyCentauria wrote:
If you unplug the mouse and use the track-pad on your laptop, instead, do you still have the same problems? And what sort of mouse are you using; ie., does it have a ball, and what make/model is it?
Nope, track-pad is fine. It's a Logitech M185

http://www.logitech.com/en-gb/product/w ... mouse-m185" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I have turned it off & restarted my laptop 3 times now & it seems to be resolved (for now......) but any tips are welcome in case it does it again

Could be "sticky keys"?
to turn on press shift key 5 times
to turn off press both shift keys at same time.

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 11:15 am

The BBC is totally (and probably deliberately) misinterpreting the "Twitter" reaction to David Cameron's "passion". The "Tweeters" are taking the piss out of our Glorious Leader. And not without good reason.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 11:17 am

The latest ONS data on the cost of houses released 14 April 2015

In February 2015, London continued to be the English region with the highest average house price at £490,000 and the North East had the lowest average house price at £153,000. London, the South East and the East all had prices higher than the UK average price of £268,000.

Excluding London and the South East, the average UK mix-adjusted house price was £207,000.

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/hpi/house ... nd-regions" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

(my bold)

Excluding London and the South East, UK house prices increased by 5.9% in the 12 months to February 2015.

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/hpi/house ... n-findings" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

(my bold)

edited to add
I posted these figures because of the £300,000 first time home buyer stamp duty exemption policy Labour is proposing.

pk1 · Post by **pk1** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 11:21 am

RobertSnozers wrote:Very confused piece on the Independent about Labour's housing policies, which can't make up its mind whether it's writing about the Greens thinking it doesn't go far enough or a presented throwing her toys out of the pram in a self-interested way - http://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/h ... 06034.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

BBC Radio 6 Music DJ Liz Kershaw told Labour’s Emma Reynolds that she was fed up of landlords like herself being “stigmatised” and predicted the policy to impose fixed-priced rents with increases limited to inflation would lead to homes being left empty.
Maybe don't be such an exploitative parasite then.

And is it entirely appropriate for BBC journalists to address their own financial interests when interviewing politicians?

(And it's 'fed up with').

You'd think Generation Rent would be a tad more supportive that the quote they gave te Torygraph:

Alexander Hilton, director of Generation Rent, said: "These loopholes are pretty scary when you think they’re attached to a big financial incentive to use them – because that’s the only way they will be able to put the rent up in the first three years.

"A lot of landlords would continue being decent human beings so they and their tenants would be unaffected by these proposals. But vulnerable tenants whose landlords are exploiting them could find the Labour proposals make very little difference."

He added, however, that the proposal is a "long way from [the] wild west situation we have today" and offered tenants more security.

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

A rent agreed at the start of a tenancy that is restricted to inflation for the following three years is a bloody site better than how it operates now. And if it hikes up after the three years, the tenant has the luxury of being able to negotiate with any number of landlords ahead of the three year cut off point.

But vested interests will always squeal, stamp their pretty little trotters & insist that their needs are more important than ours

There's a good blog here in response to Clegg's comments about this policy:

https://redbrickblog.wordpress.com/2015 ... -mr-clegg/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 11:25 am

RobertSnozers wrote:Very confused piece on the Independent about Labour's housing policies, which can't make up its mind whether it's writing about the Greens thinking it doesn't go far enough or a presented throwing her toys out of the pram in a self-interested way - http://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/h ... 06034.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

BBC Radio 6 Music DJ Liz Kershaw told Labour’s Emma Reynolds that she was fed up of landlords like herself being “stigmatised” and predicted the policy to impose fixed-priced rents with increases limited to inflation would lead to homes being left empty.
Maybe don't be such an exploitative parasite then.

And is it entirely appropriate for BBC journalists to address their own financial interests when interviewing politicians?

(And it's 'fed up with').

I nearly fainted the first two times I read & re-read your post, RobertSnozers.
Upon the third reading & more tea, I realised the landlord was BBC Radio 6 Music DJ Liz Kershaw.

edited to add
I'd be a lot happier if a lot of the private sector rental housing provision wasn't done by individual people. If it's non-exploitive, if people have genuine, affordable choice, fine. But it's not working as it is now.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 11:34 am

Spacedone wrote:
TheGrimSqueaker wrote:Morning Spacedone, morning all.

That Telegraph letter is funny, isn't it? Over at the Other Place NickyB insists that it is a 'FACT' that no businesses large or small support Labour, and this letter 'signed' by 0.1% of British businesses is proof of that. He really gets worse.

I'm off to work, but if anybody has some time on their hands today maybe they could have a dig through the list of businesses to see if any patterns emerge; just a quick glance revealed a fair number of building-related businesses in the Liverpool area where, of course, McVile's family operate - so, cronies or pressure exerted?

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/arc ... 81571a.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
There's something on Twitter where someone has looked at the metadata behind that PDF file (for non-techies, metadata means extra information about the file that is hidden in the background) and it states that the file was created by "CCHQ Admin".

Yesterday I read that the list had been hanging around on the Cons website for weeks.

StephenDolan · Post by **StephenDolan** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 11:35 am

Cameron isn’t wobbling. He knows victory is within reach

http://gu.com/p/47pe4" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

:lol!:

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 11:42 am

pk1 wrote:Techs - I'm hoping you can help me.

Today, my computer mouse seems to have a mind of its own. It is highlighting sections of pages that I haven't selected; it is randomly dropping the cursor somewhere in a sentence so that I end up having to delete half of what I had typed & start again, hoping that it doesn't do it again; the merest delay in moving the bloody thing means inadvertently hovering over a link that then ends up with me looking at something I hadn't chosen to look at.

I've restarted my laptop & it's still doing it; I've disconnected then reconnected the mouse & it's still doing it.

It's driving me do-lally & I'm hoping some of you clever folks out there can help before I take the bloody thing & chuck it in the bin.

New mouse time it sounds like..You could try taking it apart and seeing if it needs a clean. I have cleaned them in the past.

Paid nine pounds for a new one in Currys a couple of months ago. Now I've discovered you can get them in the Pound shop!

pk1 · Post by **pk1** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 11:44 am

Labour has a new pledge card:

pk1 · Post by **pk1** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 11:46 am

RobertSnozers wrote:
pk1 wrote:A rent agreed at the start of a tenancy that is restricted to inflation for the following three years is a bloody site better than how it operates now. And if it hikes up after the three years, the tenant has the luxury of being able to negotiate with any number of landlords ahead of the three year cut off point.

But vested interests will always squeal, stamp their pretty little trotters & insist that their needs are more important than ours

Absolutely. I'm 100% behind the Labour proposals because for so much of my recent life I've been beholden to private landlords and letting agents. Rolling six month contracts, so you can't plan for the future and you get stung by 'admin fees' twice a year in addition to your rent. Contracts that forbid you from doing any decorating but penalise you for the property not being in the same condition as when you started your tenancy. Landlords that don't do any improvements even when the place is falling down, getting rising damp or the heating/water failing (apparently we were given a good deal on the rent because of this). And the last one - landlord giving us a couple of months notice because he's decided to sell the place because we're asking for him to spend too much money.

Let me be clear about this. There are some good landlords, but a lot of them are scum. And the good landlords shouldn't mind giving their tenants a fair deal.

A thumbs up was inadequate hence my separate post to say thank you for you excellent post.

tinyclanger2 · Post by **tinyclanger2** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 11:51 am

Question (I don't have an answer). How can Sturgeon represent anyone at Westminster if she is not an MP?

How do the Holyrood/Westminster lines of responsiblity work?

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 11:54 am

yahyah wrote:
rebeccariots2 wrote:
BBC Radio 4 Today ‏@BBCr4today 9m9 minutes ago
UK temps set to plummet as polar plume blows in from North Pole. Bank Hol weekend may see snow and gales
FFS - that's exactly what I don't need for my last week of canvassing ... or for work.

We're going to have a job and a half getting out the reluctant to vote on polling day if it's that parky. I think I'll have to have a spare set of gloves, hat and scarf with me ... and maybe operate a St Bernard scheme with brandy round my neck too. Oh ... no that will be seen as treating rather than emergency medicine ... have to jettison that thought. But I might need a nip myself by the sound of it.

Polar weather already here.

I left my Ammi Majus seedlings out last night, poor little blighters got frosted as the temperature fell to zero C. Have moved them into the shade to let them come round gently.

We had a frost last night. It's 61 f in my living room at present! Woolly socks and two or three layers again methinks...

pk1 · Post by **pk1** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 11:59 am

tinyclanger2 wrote:Question (I don't have an answer). How can Sturgeon represent anyone at Westminster if she is not an MP?

How do the Holyrood/Westminster lines of responsiblity work?

They say jump, we ask how high ?

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 12:01 pm

"Let me end by saying this to the British people, as we enter the last ten days.
This election is not about any one politician.
Or any one political party.
It is about you: the people.
Elections are when you have the power.
You have got to decide how you use that power.
This is your time."

Ed Miliband’s speech in Stockton-on-Tees
APRIL 27, 2015 (11:47 AM)

http://press.labour.org.uk/post/1175084 ... on-on-tees" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 12:05 pm

General election 2015: why is Labour dominating polls in London?

http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablo ... n-polls-uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Because people you're polling there have told you they're voting for a Labour government.

StephenDolan · Post by **StephenDolan** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 12:08 pm

citizenJA wrote:
General election 2015: why is Labour dominating polls in London?

http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablo ... n-polls-uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Because people you're polling there have told you they're voting for a Labour government.

The sneering metropolitan champagne socialist hypocritical elite and the furriners imported en masse.

Post by **adam** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 12:14 pm

3 point labour lead in Populus

Lab 36
con 33
ukip 14
lib dem 8
green 5

Spacedone · Post by **Spacedone** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 12:15 pm

frightful_oik wrote:
Spacedone wrote:
pk1 wrote:Apparently today we are expected to get Populus, ICM/Guardian this afternoon, Ashcroft at 4, YouGov at 10:30pm

*deep breath*
A brief summary of how the polls will be reported by political journos:

Labour in big lead... no wait, Tories take the lead!... Yes! It's confirmed! Tories in big lead!... Oh bugger Labour are in the lead again.

*chucks polls in bin*
Good job I finished reading the thread as your post was almost word for word what I was going to reply to pk1's post.
Morning all.

Great minds etc...

TheGrimSqueaker · Post by **TheGrimSqueaker** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 12:16 pm

StephenDolan wrote:Cameron isn’t wobbling. He knows victory is within reach

http://gu.com/p/47pe4" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Even by D'Ancona's standards that is poor. Commenters BTL are, rightly, ripping him a new one.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 12:19 pm

Not sure about the time of this one...A goody if it's up to date though.

Latest Populus poll:
LAB 36%
CON 33%
UKIP 14%
LDEM 8%
GRN 5%

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 12:19 pm

TheGrimSqueaker wrote:
StephenDolan wrote:Cameron isn’t wobbling. He knows victory is within reach

http://gu.com/p/47pe4" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Even by D'Ancona's standards that is poor. Commenters BTL are, rightly, ripping him a new one.

Quite rightly too - though having said that I suspect d'Ancona is just being his masters voice on this. IMO what he says here *is* pretty much what Cameron "thinks"......

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 12:22 pm

Yep that's the latest Populus

Good innit...

pk1 · Post by **pk1** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 12:24 pm

I never knew:

You can report spam texts directly to your mobile phone provider. All operators now use 7726 - with the exception of vodafoneicon who uses 87726 - as the short code to report spam texts which is free of charge.

Once reported you should get an automated response thanking you for the report and giving you further instructions.

http://www.which.co.uk/news/2015/04/...-texts-399675/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 12:25 pm

Here's the fieldwork for that populus poll.

Fieldwork 24th-26th
N=2,072
Tabs http://www.populus.co.uk/Poll/Voting-Intention-183" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; …

SpinningHugo · Post by **SpinningHugo** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 12:28 pm

Top betting tip

Labour minority government, 13/8

http://www.oddschecker.com/politics/bri ... government" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Miliband's rejection of any deals with the SNP, along with Clegg's rejection of any deal with anyone who deals with the SNP, and everyone's dislike of Clegg, must make this a value bet.

best to draw a polite veil over Labour's housing proposals. The headline proposals (Stamp duty relief, 2nd gen rent controls) are dreadful, IMO.

Spacedone · Post by **Spacedone** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 12:31 pm

This is very funny.

Has the anti-Miliband rhetoric peaked too soon?
The rightwing press may have trouble sustaining its lunatic pitch of deranged – yet fully justified – hysteria about the threat posed by the Labour leader
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... d-too-soon" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Remember Ed Miliband when he was useless? It seems like such a long time ago, doesn’t it? All he ever did back then was blink and stutter and furtively unwrap mints that had long since gone warm in his pocket. He was charming back then. He was a danger to nobody. With the benefit of hindsight, maybe that’s when we should have killed him.

Because now Ed Miliband has turned into a supervillain. He’s bulletproof, he’s fiery-eyed, and he’s hellbent on destruction. All those “hell yeses” and hen parties and hormonally-addled young fans have warped his brain against humanity, and the threat he now poses to us all is real and urgent.

danesclose · Post by **danesclose** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 12:49 pm

RobertSnozers wrote:
Spacedone wrote:This is very funny.

Has the anti-Miliband rhetoric peaked too soon?
The rightwing press may have trouble sustaining its lunatic pitch of deranged – yet fully justified – hysteria about the threat posed by the Labour leader
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... d-too-soon" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Remember Ed Miliband when he was useless? It seems like such a long time ago, doesn’t it? All he ever did back then was blink and stutter and furtively unwrap mints that had long since gone warm in his pocket. He was charming back then. He was a danger to nobody. With the benefit of hindsight, maybe that’s when we should have killed him.

Because now Ed Miliband has turned into a supervillain. He’s bulletproof, he’s fiery-eyed, and he’s hellbent on destruction. All those “hell yeses” and hen parties and hormonally-addled young fans have warped his brain against humanity, and the threat he now poses to us all is real and urgent.
Who wrote it?

Stuart Heritage

Willow904 · Post by **Willow904** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 12:49 pm

SpinningHugo wrote:Top betting tip

Labour minority government, 13/8

http://www.oddschecker.com/politics/bri ... government" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Miliband's rejection of any deals with the SNP, along with Clegg's rejection of any deal with anyone who deals with the SNP, and everyone's dislike of Clegg, must make this a value bet.

best to draw a polite veil over Labour's housing proposals. The headline proposals (Stamp duty relief, 2nd gen rent controls) are dreadful, IMO.

Allowing councils to levy council tax on land with planning permission regardless of whether the houses are actually built is a decisive move to unlock the deadlock on house building, though. It's an element that takes us closer to countries like Germany which don't have our housing dysfunction. None of the housing elements are to be taken in isolation. And taking away tax relief from landlords who don't maintain properties to acceptable standards is so obvious I find it hard to understand how this doesn't happen already.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 12:57 pm

Mike Smithson ‏@MSmithsonPB 18 mins18 minutes ago

Judging by the Tweets this morning looks like an "interesting" ICM poll coming up. Last week CON 2% ahead. My guess is a bigger lead

Here we go again !!!!!

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 1:00 pm

Mike Smithson ‏@MSmithsonPB 2 hrs2 hours ago

New TNS Scotland poll has SNP with 32% lead

SNP 54% (+2), Lab 22% (-2), Con 13% (0), LD 6% (0), Green 2% (-1), UKIP 2% (+1)

pk1 · Post by **pk1** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 1:08 pm

ICM poll: Tory 3% lead

Tories: 35% (+1)
Lab: 32% (nc)
Ukip: 13% (+2)
LD: 9% (-1)
Green 5% (nc)

SpinningHugo · Post by **SpinningHugo** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 1:08 pm

Willow904 wrote:
SpinningHugo wrote:Top betting tip

Labour minority government, 13/8

http://www.oddschecker.com/politics/bri ... government" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Miliband's rejection of any deals with the SNP, along with Clegg's rejection of any deal with anyone who deals with the SNP, and everyone's dislike of Clegg, must make this a value bet.

best to draw a polite veil over Labour's housing proposals. The headline proposals (Stamp duty relief, 2nd gen rent controls) are dreadful, IMO.
Allowing councils to levy council tax on land with planning permission regardless of whether the houses are actually built is a decisive move to unlock the deadlock on house building, though. It's an element that takes us closer to countries like Germany which don't have our housing dysfunction. None of the housing elements are to be taken in isolation. And taking away tax relief from landlords who don't maintain properties to acceptable standards is so obvious I find it hard to understand how this doesn't happen already.

I tend to agree on that one, it is probably sensible. I don't think it will make much difference though, and plays to a narrative (that Miliband repeats) that the problem is 'land hoarding' which it is not. There is no evidence of any increase in land hoarding, and developers do it so that they can maintain a constant level of work (ie they can't afford to sack everyone if they happen t have no land to develop).

The one and only thing that could make a serious difference is a reform of planning laws, but we have been through this on this page.

The headline proposals are really daft. There is, just about, an argument to be had about second gen rent controls (although I think it is counterproductive overall). None at all on the stamp duty proposals which are just potty populism.

Post by **adam** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 1:11 pm

ICM tories increase lead from 2 to 3

Con 35+1
Lab 32 -
UKIP 13 +2
Lib Dem 9 -1
Green 5 -

Edit - PK1 snap!

FuriousGeorge · Post by **FuriousGeorge** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 1:15 pm

adam wrote:ICM tories increase lead from 2 to 3

Con 35+1
Lab 32 -
UKIP 13 +2
Lib Dem 9 -1
Green 5 -

Edit - PK1 snap!

Cant wait to see the tables on this oen!

"Away from the frenzied contest in Scotland, a subset of the poll shows the Conservatives are running at 38% in England and Wales, five points clear of Labour on 33%.

OK then.

FuriousGeorge · Post by **FuriousGeorge** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 1:18 pm

RobertSnozers wrote:
pk1 wrote:ICM poll: Tory 3% lead

Tories: 35% (+1)
Lab: 32% (nc)
Ukip: 13% (+2)
LD: 9% (-1)
Green 5% (nc)
Am I right in thinking that the last couple of ICMs were a tad barking in their samples or weighting?

One of them was so bad even the ICM man said it was a load of rubbish.

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 1:19 pm

BBC News seem to have allocated a sympathetic female reporter to cover the Tory campaign.
(Not sure what her name is, older, thin faced blonde/grey hair, she was described as being allocated to the Tory campaign last night).

Labour/Ed get the ever-smirking Ian Watson.

rearofthestore · Post by **rearofthestore** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 1:20 pm

pk1 wrote:ICM poll: Tory 3% lead

Tories: 35% (+1)
Lab: 32% (nc)
Ukip: 13% (+2)
LD: 9% (-1)
Green 5% (nc)

Weren't ICM supposed to be the cream of the polling community once. They don't seem to publish their poll data until at least a week after the headline figures are released so it is only possible to scrutinise them when no one gives a damn. Also this comment from Smithson

Mike Smithson ‏@MSmithsonPB 4m4 minutes ago
2 Mondays ago ICM had UKIP on 7%. Today they are on 13% with the firm

Near double support in a fortnight highly unlikely.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 1:22 pm

Martin Rowson ‏@MartinRowson 9 mins9 minutes ago

Oh God. In 2010 Cameron said he'd "hustle" for Britain; now he speaks of what "pumps" him up. I think he genuinely thinks he's a rent boy.

mikems · Post by **mikems** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 1:25 pm

There is no evidence of any increase in land hoarding, and developers do it so that they can maintain a constant level of work (ie they can't afford to sack everyone if they happen t have no land to develop).

Developers are not interested in maintaining a 'constant level of work', though, are they? They are interested in maintaining a constant level of profit, and if they think they will make more profit from restricting supply, they will restrict supply. They will not willingly build if their profits will be reduced. That is stating the obvious.

Housing should not be seen as a market, because it is not. It is rigged, like all other areas of life in the benighted UK, and rigged to benefit one section of society over another.

Criticism of these policies tend to come from the point of view that a real free market currently exists, that it is nearly perfect, and that it will all be ruined if anyone tries to tinker in any way at all. And they tend to come from those who benefit from the status quo - and from billions in public money that goes in subsidy to private landlords.

We used to have a much different housing sector, which has been 'reformed' to the point of our current crisis. We didn't used to need housing benefit of any sort. We had controls on rent instead, and no massive subsidy to the sector. We need 'counter-reform' and Miliband has made a start, even if only in changing perceptions about the inevitability of our current wasteful and bad system of housing the citizens.

pk1 · Post by **pk1** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 1:25 pm

ohsocynical wrote:
Martin Rowson ‏@MartinRowson 9 mins9 minutes ago

Oh God. In 2010 Cameron said he'd "hustle" for Britain; now he speaks of what "pumps" him up. I think he genuinely thinks he's a rent boy.

I wish he'd get so 'pumped up' that he'd finally go 'pop' & deflate like an old balloon - limp & useless !

(The dirty minds among you will not be thinking of other things that become limp & useless after being 'pumped up'.....)

mikems · Post by **mikems** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 1:29 pm

One of the first indicators of recession is that house building companies lay off their workers and stop building houses. Giving rise to the old saw that only capitalism can preside over a housing crisis when there are stockpiles of materials, land aplenty and tens of thousands of building workers idling on the dole at the same time as homelessness and over-crowding start to rise.

And, of course, one of the main ways of getting out of recession is to build lots of houses and put people back to work.

SpinningHugo · Post by **SpinningHugo** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 1:29 pm

If that ICM poll is true, it is in many ways bad for the Tories.

The Tories have two, last, faint hopes.

The first is either 'shy Tories' (now adjusted for in polling) or a 1992 style late swing. Neither very likely.

The second is winning back the kippers. The Kippers only got 3% in 2010, and disproportionately hurt the Tories (both because of where they take votes from and what their target seats are). The Tories would be hoping to be eating into the Kipper vote by now.

the opposite has happened. Almost unbelievably the only disernible movement in the polls is a pro-Kipper. A few weeks ago ICM had them on 7%, now 13%.

The last unknown is tactical voting. Can the Tories hold on by persuading people in marginals to abandon their Kipper preferences? That depends on the 'certain to vote' numbers, and those are pro-Kipper.

EM is PM.

rearofthestore · Post by **rearofthestore** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 1:31 pm

yahyah wrote:BBC News seem to have allocated a sympathetic female reporter to cover the Tory campaign.
(Not sure what her name is, older, thin faced blonde/grey hair, she was described as being allocated to the Tory campaign last night).

Labour/Ed get the ever-smirking Ian Watson.

Carol Walker I think.
I once did an election interview with her at King's Cross station for 2001 GE because I was supposed to be a 'railway expert'. She asked me if the different parties policies on Transport would sway the election. I said No its the economy. Not what she wanted to hear so they never used it but paid me my fee none the less.

frightful_oik · Post by **frightful_oik** » Mon 27 Apr, 2015 1:31 pm

Carole Walker I think.