Friday 22nd May 2015

Post by **refitman** » Fri 22 May, 2015 7:14 am

Morning all.

frightful_oik · Post by **frightful_oik** » Fri 22 May, 2015 8:45 am

Morning all. I haven't done any politics yet today; a bit preoccupied with the manager situation at DCFC. What a saga!

LadyCentauria · Post by **LadyCentauria** » Fri 22 May, 2015 8:56 am

Morning

Hope the Ramsgate earthquake didn't cause anyone shock, damage or breakages?

Here's the list of people who've applied to become Labour's candidate for the London Mayoral Election next year: Diane Abbott, Tessa Jowell, Keran Kerai, Sadiq Khan, David Lammy, Neeraj Patil, Gareth Thomas, and Christian Wolmar. The next stage is for them to gain the nominations of Constituency Labour Parties and Affiliates, who are arranging dates for all-member nomination meetings before the closing date of June 10th. Don't know yet when ours will be and am not yet sure who I'll support because there are a couple of names I'm not yet familiar with.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Fri 22 May, 2015 9:03 am

David Cameron thanks fox hunters for helping him win election in celebratory text message
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/da ... rs-5730704" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
David Cameron sent fox hunters a text thanking them for their crucial election backing within minutes of realising he had snatched victory.

The Prime Minister went out of his way to pay tribute to bloodsports enthusiasts who had swooped on key battlegrounds to help boost the Tory vote.

And he is set to reward them in the Queen’s Speech by paving the way for MPs to scrap the 10-year-old hunting ban.

The PM’s text was revealed in a celebratory online message by the Ledbury Hunt in Gloucestershire.

It quoted an email sent at 11.19am on May 8 by Charles Mann, of pro-hunt group Vote-OK.

He boasted: “The Prime Minister sent this text to us early this morning ‘Please thank Vote-OK for all their amazing work’.”

Vote-OK was set-up the day after the Hunting Act was signed into law in November 2004. It is chaired by Mr Cameron’s father-in-law Viscount Astor, stepdad to the PM’s wife Samantha...

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Fri 22 May, 2015 9:07 am

Good morning. Wanted to keep my good morning separate from my previous post so it didn't get contaminated by Cameron nastiness. Grrrr.

It is a better morning than yesterday here - despite the rain - as we have just succeeded in getting the wormer tablet down our cat with serious attitude. It was our third try ... attempted on three consecutive mornings ... and took 2 people with 2 towels in a stealth exercise on a sleeping cat - just the one finger puncture in the effort.

LadyCentauria · Post by **LadyCentauria** » Fri 22 May, 2015 9:08 am

Has Cameron (or anyone in the Cabinet) actually laid out what reforms the UK 'wants' from the EU? Or is he just going to keep saying 'reforms' or what? Will he state it plainly and does he want us to judge him on his success or failure, like he did on the guff he promised in the run-up to the 2010 General Election?

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Fri 22 May, 2015 9:33 am

LadyCentauria wrote:Has Cameron (or anyone in the Cabinet) actually laid out what reforms the UK 'wants' from the EU? Or is he just going to keep saying 'reforms' or what? Will he state it plainly and does he want us to judge him on his success or failure, like he did on the guff he promised in the run-up to the 2010 General Election?

I haven't heard a clear set of points re the reforms wanted yet ... and I don't think we'll get that either. Cameron won't tell us in advance what he wants because it would provide an inconvenient baseline we could compare the eventual reform package he 'achieves' against it. I think it will be a lot of fudging like it was when he refused to pay that 'preposterous' EU bill and claimed he had had it substantially reduced when all he did was fiddle around with the figures and years certain payments and reimbursements fell in. He will be bargaining on the electorate being fools - and the media's able assistance in selling the rubbish - yet again.

The politician from Lithuania (I think ... apols if I'm wrong on the country) was totally unbending on the principle of free movement when asked by Radio 4 this morning ... and clearly sceptical about so called 'benefit tourism' and therefore the impact of any further restrictions on benefits.

The Lilico article I linked to yesterday set out a number of areas where Cameron could get some concessions that might look OK on the surface but actually mean diddly squat - mainly because the other EU countries know that any such concessions will become meaningless when further countries join the Eurozone in a few years time and existing clauses in the treaty come into play and will negate them.

danesclose · Post by **danesclose** » Fri 22 May, 2015 9:35 am

Morning all. As a Boro fan my sympathies to frightful oik. Unfortunately McLaren's ambition slightly outstrips his abilities.
Steve Gibson, Boro owner, once said of him "If he told me the grass was green I'd go outside & check"

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Fri 22 May, 2015 9:40 am

Would Britain be better off without the Greens?
The much-hyped Green surge has been petering out because the party has been putting left-wing concerns above environmental ones
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/general ... gn=DM19733" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There's been such a plethora of articles picking over the issues and problems for both Labour and the Lib Dems - and Conservatives actually - following the election but this is about the only thing I've seen on the Greens. It's a bit of a one-sided tack to say the least. Has anyone seen any other coverage / analysis re the Greens and their election?

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Fri 22 May, 2015 9:48 am

Michael Gove’s maths exams are too hard and must be rewritten, regulator says
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/educa ... 68264.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
... Ofqual, which has accredited new maths courses, announced plans to investigate the sample GCSE maths papers after concerns were raised last year by exam boards that those of their rival board AQA were too easy.

However, the investigation found that it was the papers of the other three boards that were too difficult.

Sample papers were sat by 4,000 students as part of the study. Even the most high-performing schools, including one in which 100 per cent of students normally achieved at least a grade C, did badly in the new papers...

This just sounds like an almighty mess ... found myself having to read and reread this article to try and understand what is going on.

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Fri 22 May, 2015 10:00 am

rebeccariots2 wrote:
LadyCentauria wrote:Has Cameron (or anyone in the Cabinet) actually laid out what reforms the UK 'wants' from the EU? Or is he just going to keep saying 'reforms' or what? Will he state it plainly and does he want us to judge him on his success or failure, like he did on the guff he promised in the run-up to the 2010 General Election?
I haven't heard a clear set of points re the reforms wanted yet ... and I don't think we'll get that either. Cameron won't tell us in advance what he wants because it would provide an inconvenient baseline we could compare the eventual reform package he 'achieves' against it. I think it will be a lot of fudging like it was when he refused to pay that 'preposterous' EU bill and claimed he had had it substantially reduced when all he did was fiddle around with the figures and years certain payments and reimbursements fell in. He will be bargaining on the electorate being fools - and the media's able assistance in selling the rubbish - yet again.

The politician from Lithuania (I think ... apols if I'm wrong on the country) was totally unbending on the principle of free movement when asked by Radio 4 this morning ... and clearly sceptical about so called 'benefit tourism' and therefore the impact of any further restrictions on benefits.

The Lilico article I linked to yesterday set out a number of areas where Cameron could get some concessions that might look OK on the surface but actually mean diddly squat - mainly because the other EU countries know that any such concessions will become meaningless when further countries join the Eurozone in a few years time and existing clauses in the treaty come into play and will negate them.

Well, this won't help you (and you've very likely already read it) - but, just as an example, the Government is on a mission to find things, as yet unnoticed, to take exception to.

A document leaked to the Times revealed that UK officials were suggesting that the EU should stop defining itself as a single-currency area, given that countries such as Britain and Denmark have kept their own. A Whitehall source said this was not the main thing on the UK’s wishlist, but that the government was on the lookout for anything that could be interpreted as discrimination against non-eurozone countries. (Guardian - my emphasis)

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... ian-summit

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Fri 22 May, 2015 10:01 am

Good morfternoon.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Fri 22 May, 2015 10:04 am

With everyone spouting aspiration, what’s in it for the 20 million in poverty?
http://www.michaelmeacher.info/weblog/2 ... n-poverty/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

... Aspiration for the bottom third means at least a Living Wage, ending zero hours contracts, stopping the aggressive sanctioning of the jobless, repealing the bedroom tax, removing the assessment of work capability for disabled people away from private multinationals and restoring it to the NHS, building houses for social renting at 50% of market rates, providing apprenticeships or in-work training for all young people, and a lot more. Who eulogising aspiration for all will promise all of these?

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Fri 22 May, 2015 10:05 am

rebeccariots2 wrote:
Michael Gove’s maths exams are too hard and must be rewritten, regulator says
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/educa ... 68264.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
... Ofqual, which has accredited new maths courses, announced plans to investigate the sample GCSE maths papers after concerns were raised last year by exam boards that those of their rival board AQA were too easy.

However, the investigation found that it was the papers of the other three boards that were too difficult.

Sample papers were sat by 4,000 students as part of the study. Even the most high-performing schools, including one in which 100 per cent of students normally achieved at least a grade C, did badly in the new papers...
This just sounds like an almighty mess ... found myself having to read and reread this article to try and understand what is going on.

It's the problem that you end up with by trying to change both curriculum and exams at one and the same time.

If you want more stretching exams at aged 16 then you need to put the curriculum in place years before so that when pupils get to GCSE they're prepared for it.

You would have thought this was obvious but Gove clearly knows better...

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Fri 22 May, 2015 10:09 am

I note that the story about Camilla Cavendish becoming head of the No 10 Policy Unit is up.

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... id-cameron" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And I bet we're all shocked, shocked to see this:

In 2008 Cavendish won the Paul Foot award for campaigning journalism for her investigation into the practices of family courts dealing with child protection issues. She is a former trustee of Policy Exchange and a board member of the Care Quality Commission.

Sod Common Purpose - this is the 'shadowy group that has an iron grip on government'. You might just as well ask them to move into Whitehall.

TheGrimSqueaker · Post by **TheGrimSqueaker** » Fri 22 May, 2015 10:24 am

LadyCentauria wrote:Morning Hope the Ramsgate earthquake didn't cause anyone shock, damage or breakages?

Morning all. Ramsgate earthquake, was that the UKIP one Farage was promising?

LadyCentauria wrote:Here's the list of people who've applied to become Labour's candidate for the London Mayoral Election next year: Diane Abbott, Tessa Jowell, Keran Kerai, Sadiq Khan, David Lammy, Neeraj Patil, Gareth Thomas, and Christian Wolmar. The next stage is for them to gain the nominations of Constituency Labour Parties and Affiliates, who are arranging dates for all-member nomination meetings before the closing date of June 10th. Don't know yet when ours will be and am not yet sure who I'll support because there are a couple of names I'm not yet familiar with.

I've said before Christian Wolmar would be my first choice, if for no other reason than the fact he really gets London's transport issues; but he is well versed on housing and local governmental issues generally which, in my eyes, should make him a serious candidate - the fact it doesn't shows how badly the role has become distorted by Boris (at least Ken cared about London and Londoners).

Diane is hoping to emulate Ken I guess, become the biggest fish in the smaller pond, but frankly she doesn't have his ability or savvy; Lammy and Thomas, to an extent, ditto. Neeraj Patil is a consultant in A & E medicine and was Mayor of Lambeth a year or so back, so obviously has a focus on medicine, heard him speak a couple of times, mildly impressed but he doesn't set the world alight; I confess to knowing nothing about Keran Kerai but nobody else does either, so also ran I suspect.

Realistically, as I said yesterday, this is a two horse race with two exceptionally strong candidates in the form of Sadiq and Tessa; to be honest I still don't understand why Sadiq is so set on this course when he has the ability to be a big fish (even the biggest fish) in the Westminster pond, but hey ho. Either of them will do a much better job for London and its inhabitants than the current part-time incumbent.

ohsocynical · Post by **ohsocynical** » Fri 22 May, 2015 10:26 am

rebeccariots2 wrote:Good morning. Wanted to keep my good morning separate from my previous post so it didn't get contaminated by Cameron nastiness. Grrrr.

It is a better morning than yesterday here - despite the rain - as we have just succeeded in getting the wormer tablet down our cat with serious attitude. It was our third try ... attempted on three consecutive mornings ... and took 2 people with 2 towels in a stealth exercise on a sleeping cat - just the one finger puncture in the effort.

Ouch!!! That evoked memories. My sister said of the one cat, 'you're doing it all wrong, here let me.' He bit through to the bone...

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Fri 22 May, 2015 10:27 am

More from the wacky world of education...

Primary schools celebrating the end of SATs criticised for throwing parties

http://schoolsweek.co.uk/primary-school ... riticesed/

Speaking exclusively to Schools Week on Monday, education secretary Nicky Morgan said that everyone had a role to play in ensuring children were not overly stressed.

“I think that a lot of this comes from the parents, and the schools and the language we use. When it is a test, it is a test, and not an exam.”

But as the twitter-er known as SchoolDuggery pointed out the Tory manifesto has this...

If children do not reach the required standards in their exams at the end of primary school, they will resit them at the start of secondary school, to make sure no pupil is left behind.

Oops.

SATs were designed as an accountability measure for primary schools and not really anything to do with the pupils themselves per se - no-one is ever asked on a CV how did they did in their SATs!

The usual muddled thinking.

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Fri 22 May, 2015 10:32 am

frightful_oik wrote:Morning all. I haven't done any politics yet today; a bit preoccupied with the manager situation at DCFC. What a saga!

At least you don't support Leeds

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Fri 22 May, 2015 10:42 am

AnatolyKasparov wrote:
frightful_oik wrote:Morning all. I haven't done any politics yet today; a bit preoccupied with the manager situation at DCFC. What a saga!
At least you don't support Leeds

Or Orient.

TheGrimSqueaker · Post by **TheGrimSqueaker** » Fri 22 May, 2015 10:43 am

RobertSnozers wrote:
TheGrimSqueaker wrote:
LadyCentauria wrote:Morning Hope the Ramsgate earthquake didn't cause anyone shock, damage or breakages?
Morning all. Ramsgate earthquake, was that the UKIP one Farage was promising?

LadyCentauria wrote:Here's the list of people who've applied to become Labour's candidate for the London Mayoral Election next year: Diane Abbott, Tessa Jowell, Keran Kerai, Sadiq Khan, David Lammy, Neeraj Patil, Gareth Thomas, and Christian Wolmar. The next stage is for them to gain the nominations of Constituency Labour Parties and Affiliates, who are arranging dates for all-member nomination meetings before the closing date of June 10th. Don't know yet when ours will be and am not yet sure who I'll support because there are a couple of names I'm not yet familiar with.
I've said before Christian Wolmar would be my first choice, if for no other reason than the fact he really gets London's transport issues; but he is well versed on housing and local governmental issues generally which, in my eyes, should make him a serious candidate - the fact it doesn't shows how badly the role has become distorted by Boris (at least Ken cared about London and Londoners).

Diane is hoping to emulate Ken I guess, become the biggest fish in the smaller pond, but frankly she doesn't have his ability or savvy; Lammy and Thomas, to an extent, ditto. Neeraj Patil is a consultant in A & E medicine and was Mayor of Lambeth a year or so back, so obviously has a focus on medicine, heard him speak a couple of times, mildly impressed but he doesn't set the world alight; I confess to knowing nothing about Keran Kerai but nobody else does either, so also ran I suspect.

Realistically, as I said yesterday, this is a two horse race with two exceptionally strong candidates in the form of Sadiq and Tessa; to be honest I still don't understand why Sadiq is so set on this course when he has the ability to be a big fish (even the biggest fish) in the Westminster pond, but hey ho. Either of them will do a much better job for London and its inhabitants than the current part-time incumbent.
I read Lammy's book on the 2012 riots and feel like he really gets the social issues affecting the poorer parts of London as well as having some good ideas about what to do about them. It seems as though he has more of a grip on this than Boris does, don't know why really, it's just a sense I get.

Oh, don't get me wrong, both Lammy and Gareth Thomas would do an excellent job as Mayor (in the way that Diane wouldn't); my comment was not about their ability, both are decent politicians who understand the needs of their own areas (and London in general) very well, I was simply showing my view of them in the fish/pond stakes.

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Fri 22 May, 2015 10:48 am

I don't share Tessa's position on the Labour spectrum in many respects, but IMO (from far away Cumbria FWIW) London Mayor is a job she was born to do.

Agree that Khan would be better off staying in the national Labour scene.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Fri 22 May, 2015 10:52 am

ohsocynical wrote:
rebeccariots2 wrote:Good morning. Wanted to keep my good morning separate from my previous post so it didn't get contaminated by Cameron nastiness. Grrrr.

It is a better morning than yesterday here - despite the rain - as we have just succeeded in getting the wormer tablet down our cat with serious attitude. It was our third try ... attempted on three consecutive mornings ... and took 2 people with 2 towels in a stealth exercise on a sleeping cat - just the one finger puncture in the effort.

Ouch!!! That evoked memories. My sister said of the one cat, 'you're doing it all wrong, here let me.' He bit through to the bone...

The other two were easy peasy - pill down the gullet almost before they knew anything was happening. But when you've got a 'characterful' cat ... it's a whole other game as you so well know. Indus - our current cat with serious attitude - has not yet achieved the infamy of my previous old cat though. He had BAD CAT written in large black felt tip capitals across the top of his veterinary records.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Fri 22 May, 2015 10:56 am

AnatolyKasparov wrote:I don't share Tessa's position on the Labour spectrum in many respects, but IMO (from far away Cumbria FWIW) London Mayor is a job she was born to do.

Agree that Khan would be better off staying in the national Labour scene.

When will the selection of candidates and subsequent election for Mayor be held? I hope the selection process is going to be over pretty quickly. If Khan doesn't get through then at least he can be around to be a more forceful voice in national Labour.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Fri 22 May, 2015 11:05 am

George Eaton @georgeeaton · 33s 33 seconds ago
Kezia Dugdale announces she will stand for Scottish Labour leadership: "We’ve been insurgent force before ... We will be that force again".

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Fri 22 May, 2015 11:08 am

I rate Kez, though I am aware not everybody does. It will at least be hard for her to generate the sheer amount of blind CyberNat hate that Jim Murphy did, which is something......

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Fri 22 May, 2015 11:15 am

On the subject of Scottish Labour leaders -

Has Johann Lamont ever been seen to smile in public (or at all, anywhere)? I've been puzzling over that for many a moon.

frightful_oik · Post by **frightful_oik** » Fri 22 May, 2015 11:16 am

There's a small article in the Torygraph today, (that's what the pub where I have my breakfast offers along with the Scum), about Ed also blaming 'lazy labour voters'. Can't find it online yet.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Fri 22 May, 2015 11:18 am

frightful_oik wrote:There's a small article in the Torygraph today, (that's what the pub where I have my breakfast offers along with the Scum), about Ed also blaming 'lazy labour voters'. Can't find it online yet.

They're still making up the story.
I don't trust reporters now.
They've destroyed their credibility.
Like Tory government.
to hell with the lot

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Fri 22 May, 2015 11:18 am

Good-morning, everyone

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Fri 22 May, 2015 11:20 am

frightful_oik wrote:There's a small article in the Torygraph today, (that's what the pub where I have my breakfast offers along with the Scum), about Ed also blaming 'lazy labour voters'. Can't find it online yet.

He was quoting pollsters such as MORI who also used that very same term. Complete non-story.

Eric_WLothian · Post by **Eric_WLothian** » Fri 22 May, 2015 11:23 am

AnatolyKasparov wrote:I rate Kez, though I am aware not everybody does. It will at least be hard for her to generate the sheer amount of blind CyberNat hate that Jim Murphy did, which is something......

Not convinced that she has the experience to turn the party round. Up to Sturgeon's coronation, all Holyrood FMs have had Westminster experience - from Dewar to Salmond.

As to the cybernats, I think you underestimate them.

TheGrimSqueaker · Post by **TheGrimSqueaker** » Fri 22 May, 2015 11:24 am

rebeccariots2 wrote:
AnatolyKasparov wrote:I don't share Tessa's position on the Labour spectrum in many respects, but IMO (from far away Cumbria FWIW) London Mayor is a job she was born to do.

Agree that Khan would be better off staying in the national Labour scene.
When will the selection of candidates and subsequent election for Mayor be held? I hope the selection process is going to be over pretty quickly. If Khan doesn't get through then at least he can be around to be a more forceful voice in national Labour.

I think the plan is that the votes for Leader, Deputy and Mayoral candidate will all be held at the same time; AK, please correct me if I'm wrong.

And, yes AK, my view too. Tessa was a decent constituency MP and with Harriet, Chuka and Kate Hoey being next door, so to speak, our part of South London was well represented; I can easily see her taking that to the wider stage of London as a whole and doing a damn fine job.

And I'm sure Sadiq would do an equally fine job but, as I say, I question his motives for standing; he is at the beginning (relatively speaking) of what could be a stellar career so this looks like a bit of a sidestep unless he is "doing a Boris" and using it to boost his own visibility. Just doesn't make sense.

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Fri 22 May, 2015 11:38 am

Genuinely don't know about the Mayoral vote, tbh. It was held at a different time to the main leadership contest in 2010 IIRC......

Anyhow, for those uninspired by the current leadership contenders there is only one option. Forget Jarvis, Creasy, Nandy or Starmer - draft BALUSTRADE LANYARD!

StephenDolan · Post by **StephenDolan** » Fri 22 May, 2015 12:06 pm

Words fail me. Again.

Sir Eric.
http://huff.to/1KozoRV" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Eric_WLothian · Post by **Eric_WLothian** » Fri 22 May, 2015 12:14 pm

StephenDolan wrote:Words fail me. Again.

Sir Eric.
http://huff.to/1KozoRV" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

For a moment, I thought you'd been hacking voicemails I hadn't received yet.

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Fri 22 May, 2015 12:21 pm

StephenDolan wrote:Words fail me. Again.

Sir Eric.
http://huff.to/1KozoRV" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"Arise, Sir Eric. Oh. Can someone help him to arise?"

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Fri 22 May, 2015 12:21 pm

StephenDolan wrote:Words fail me. Again.

Sir Eric.
http://huff.to/1KozoRV" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Arse, Sir Eric!

Post by **refitman** » Fri 22 May, 2015 12:23 pm

What the actual...????
Ex-Conservative Cabinet minister Eric Pickles is to be given a knighthood.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-32844276" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Post by **refitman** » Fri 22 May, 2015 12:26 pm

AnatolyKasparov wrote:Genuinely don't know about the Mayoral vote, tbh. It was held at a different time to the main leadership contest in 2010 IIRC......

Anyhow, for those uninspired by the current leadership contenders there is only one option. Forget Jarvis, Creasy, Nandy or Starmer - draft BALUSTRADE LANYARD!

For those unaware of the phenomenon: http://www.buzzfeed.com/jamieross/he-wa ... de-lanyard" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Fri 22 May, 2015 12:31 pm

refitman wrote:What the actual...????
Ex-Conservative Cabinet minister Eric Pickles is to be given a knighthood.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-32844276" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Eric Pickles receiving a knighthood.
The title of the BBC story gave me some little hope 'Ex-Conservative Cabinet Minister...'.
Alas, he's still Tory MP for Brentwood & Ongar.
Irrational, unjust & wrong.

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Fri 22 May, 2015 12:35 pm

citizenJA wrote:
refitman wrote:What the actual...????
Ex-Conservative Cabinet minister Eric Pickles is to be given a knighthood.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-32844276" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Eric Pickles receiving a knighthood.
The title of the BBC story gave me some little hope 'Ex-Conservative Cabinet Minister...'.
Alas, he's still Tory MP for Brentwood & Ongar.
Irrational, unjust & wrong.

The former leader of Bradford Council has taken on a new role as anti-corruption tsar.

Maybe he should start in his own party first.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Fri 22 May, 2015 12:37 pm

And housing costs a fortune in Essex; that's a depressing aside.
This here is depressing as hell.
I want some justice & prosperity for everyone.
It's not too much to ask.

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Fri 22 May, 2015 12:53 pm

Ah, now the decision to close the Black Country UTC becomes a bit clearer...

Back in April...

http://schoolsweek.co.uk/black-country- ... august-31/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Student numbers, financial challenges, staffing capacity and a second consecutive Ofsted inspection blow were said to be behind plans to shut the Black Country University Technical College (UTC) — one of the first UTCs to open.

Report finally out from the inspection in March and...it's horrid.

Ineffective leadership, badly behaved students, poor attendance and inadequate achievement have all been noted by education watchdogs following their inspection of Black Country University Technical College (BCUTC).

Ofsted rated the school's overall effectiveness as inadequate and said it required special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education – with the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school "not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school."

Leadership and management, behaviour and safety of pupils, quality of teaching, achievement of pupils and sixth form provision were all given the lowest possible rating by Ofsted.

http://www.walsalladvertiser.co.uk/Damn ... story.html

Not sure why it took two months to be published...election have something to do with it maybe?

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Fri 22 May, 2015 12:56 pm

Hunty sent me a copy of his speech given at Demos (Wednesday 20 May 2015).
Extract below.

"It was not until I went to study at the University of Chicago in the mid-1990s that I 'got' politics.
Whilst Milton Friedman, George Stigler and Gary Becker preached the virtues of monetarism, trickle-down and public choice theory, outside of the Ivory Tower stretched a waste-land of crack-houses, boarded-up projects, shoot outs, and deep, deep poverty.
I felt then and I feel now a sense of outrage about allowing this staggering inequity.

...the blindingly obvious fact that without shelter, food, warmth, people are not free; that in the so-called land of freedom and opportunity the rights that I had taken for granted when growing up were being denied to people on an epic scale.

I do not regard a stronger commitment to tackling inequality as a component in Labour's recent electoral failure."

- Tristram Hunt MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central

The entire speech is a good surprise.
I don't know Labour party leadership personally & so can't definitively say their integrity is rock solid.
I will say, when I read, listen & a few times meet with Labour party leaders, I'm impressed by their goodness.
There are a lot of good Labour MPs in the party now.
Some are disconcerting, yes.
Labour needs the help of us all if we'd like Labour to represent us in Parliament.

Temulkar · Post by **Temulkar** » Fri 22 May, 2015 1:01 pm

rebeccariots2 wrote:
Would Britain be better off without the Greens?
The much-hyped Green surge has been petering out because the party has been putting left-wing concerns above environmental ones
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/general ... gn=DM19733" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
There's been such a plethora of articles picking over the issues and problems for both Labour and the Lib Dems - and Conservatives actually - following the election but this is about the only thing I've seen on the Greens. It's a bit of a one-sided tack to say the least. Has anyone seen any other coverage / analysis re the Greens and their election?

Lib Dem supporter has tantrum. I think we underachieved in Bristol, but thats more to do with the candidate imo. Elsewhere were in a good position to build for the next GE.

Temulkar · Post by **Temulkar** » Fri 22 May, 2015 1:06 pm

As an aside now Hunt is not standing for the leadership he should have more time to read my book

ON pre-order now, featuring Cameron's 9 x great grandfather, and the real milady d'winter.

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Fri 22 May, 2015 1:08 pm

Temulkar wrote:
rebeccariots2 wrote:
Would Britain be better off without the Greens?
The much-hyped Green surge has been petering out because the party has been putting left-wing concerns above environmental ones
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/general ... gn=DM19733" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
There's been such a plethora of articles picking over the issues and problems for both Labour and the Lib Dems - and Conservatives actually - following the election but this is about the only thing I've seen on the Greens. It's a bit of a one-sided tack to say the least. Has anyone seen any other coverage / analysis re the Greens and their election?
Lib Dem supporter has tantrum. I think we underachieved in Bristol, but thats more to do with the candidate imo. Elsewhere were in a good position to build for the next GE.

Shurely your big underperformance was in Norwich S (one of a literal handful of seats where the Green share was down on 2010)?

If you mean Bristol W, then I certainly wasn't expecting the sitting LibDem MP to come a poor third (not that far ahead of the Tories, even)

Willow904 · Post by **Willow904** » Fri 22 May, 2015 1:13 pm

I've just caught up with Liz Kendall's speech from yesterday.

She said: “We decided the British public had shifted to the left because we wished it to be so. We rarely said what was good about our last government and never dealt with the central case of our opponents about where we really fell short.

“We didn’t have answers to the big questions that people were asking about jobs, immigration and public finances. Lots of people told me they couldn’t see Ed as prime minister. But we didn’t lose because of his personality. We lost because of our politics.”

Ed had a lot of answers to jobs, wages, immigration (which Dave is now busily poaching) and public finances. People have actually moved left, as exemplified by the success of the SNP with a (supposed) anti-austerity platform and the growth of the Greens - Labour beat the Conservatives in every age group except 65+, who were simply frightened and bullied into voting Tory by the MSM.

Labour didn't lose because of the politics of Ed Miliband, because the politics of Ed Miliband were smothered and squashed by the press, made easy by some Labour MPs who clearly couldn't be bothered to get behind Ed and his ideas. Labour lost because there still hadn't been enough distance from Blair. Miliband was judged on the actions of Labour past, not his Labour present. I'm starting to get very worried about Labour's future, if those with the power to shape it do not understand that Tony Blair lost Labour voters and members during his time as PM. The specific circumstances that loaned Blair some Tory voter support at the beginning of his premiership are very unlikely to be repeated and even if they are, how will Blair 2 pull off the same trick without winning back Scottish or Ukip voters which Blair 1 so relied upon in 1997 because they had nowhere else to go?

Quite apart from the fact that I think her analysis is just plain wrong, the way in which she appears to be trying to push herself forward by trampling on the corpse of the previous leader is quite unedifying. Burnham managed to disagree with Ed's policy of not holding an EU referendum without the unnecessary character assassination and complete trashing of everything Labour has been building over the last 5 years. Telling everyone who just voted for her party that she thinks the policies they all just voted for are all completely wrong is just about the strangest leadership bid ever!

TheGrimSqueaker · Post by **TheGrimSqueaker** » Fri 22 May, 2015 1:14 pm

Temulkar wrote:
rebeccariots2 wrote:
Would Britain be better off without the Greens?
The much-hyped Green surge has been petering out because the party has been putting left-wing concerns above environmental ones
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/general ... gn=DM19733" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
There's been such a plethora of articles picking over the issues and problems for both Labour and the Lib Dems - and Conservatives actually - following the election but this is about the only thing I've seen on the Greens. It's a bit of a one-sided tack to say the least. Has anyone seen any other coverage / analysis re the Greens and their election?
Lib Dem supporter has tantrum. I think we underachieved in Bristol, but thats more to do with the candidate imo. Elsewhere were in a good position to build for the next GE.

"Environmentalist has tantrum" would be more apt. Lean was writing about 'green' issues when Lucas was still at Malvern Girls' College, so I suspect you may have missed his point; he seems to be suggesting that the Green Party has abandoned its environmental roots in an attempt to assume the mantle of the Real Left, and there is some truth in that - not that they are "the Real Left" (much of the manifesto was indistinguishable from Labour, largely because the two parties have been 'borrowing' each others polices for years), but more that environmental issues seemed to be way down on Natalie's list of priorities. Still, as with a lot of his pieces, there is a lot more heat than light (somewhat ironically).