Thursday 4th June 2015

Post by **refitman** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 7:07 am

Morning all.

*checks for missing d's*

Willow904 · Post by **Willow904** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 8:26 am

Morning

With all the talk of potential Labour deputy leaders, it occurs to me that I have no idea who the deputy leader of the Tory party is. John Prescott combined the role with deputy PM and Harman has played a similar high profile role of taking full responsibility in the absence of the leader but the Tories don't seem to have a similarly high profile deputy leader/ PM role. I suppose I expected someone to be officially annointed as a PM 'reserve' so to speak, even if not specifically a deputy leader/PM. In other words, if Cameron were indisposed, who runs the country? Labour party structures make this clear but Cameron seems to be keeping his deputy rather quiet. Do we assume Osborne would take the reins?

55DegreesNorth · Post by **55DegreesNorth** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 8:33 am

Willow904 wrote:Morning

With all the talk of potential Labour deputy leaders, it occurs to me that I have no idea who the deputy leader of the Tory party is. John Prescott combined the role with deputy PM and Harman has played a similar high profile role of taking full responsibility in the absence of the leader but the Tories don't seem to have a similarly high profile deputy leader/ PM role. I suppose I expected someone to be officially annointed as a PM 'reserve' so to speak, even if not specifically a deputy leader/PM. In other words, if Cameron were indisposed, who runs the country? Labour party structures make this clear but Cameron seems to be keeping his deputy rather quiet. Do we assume Osborne would take the reins?

He'll have outsourced the job to Serco.

Morning folks, a bit sunny here.

Edited to defeat spillchicken

seeingclearly · Post by **seeingclearly** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 8:39 am

Willow904 wrote:Morning

With all the talk of potential Labour deputy leaders, it occurs to me that I have no idea who the deputy leader of the Tory party is. John Prescott combined the role with deputy PM and Harman has played a similar high profile role of taking full responsibility in the absence of the leader but the Tories don't seem to have a similarly high profile deputy leader/ PM role. I suppose I expected someone to be officially annointed as a PM 'reserve' so to speak, even if not specifically a deputy leader/PM. In other words, if Cameron were indisposed, who runs the country? Labour party structures make this clear but Cameron seems to be keeping his deputy rather quiet. Do we assume Osborne would take the reins?

According to the Conservative party Wikipedia entry which contains a list of all PMs and DPMs it is George Osbourne.

Edited to remove a statement I couldn't confirm.

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 8:42 am

Morning.

Absolutely glorious here, hope same for everyone else.

Just popped in to say welcome back to Giselle - have missed you a lot !

Can understand why you have resigned, submitting a reason why & intending to rejoin Labour, but won't it mean you wouldn't have a vote in the leadership ?

That may not be a bad thing, it seems a difficult, uninspiring choice so far.
Corbyn at least adds some spice to the mix, and good to see an older head standing.
But will people view him as too old, would be 71 in 2015 ?
Not being ageist, just realistic. Ming Campbell got thrashed for looking old.

See you later, have two tons of gravel to wheelbarrow round the back of the house and spread.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 8:44 am

Morning all.

Leadership contender Liz Kendall is the fresh start Labour needs, say three Welsh heartland MPs
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales ... sh-9383428" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 8:46 am

Welcome back giselle (from yesterday).

Great to see you here. Please don't disappear again for a while.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 8:48 am

Happy gravel spreading yahyah. That's a job we are also very well skilled in!

Did you lose many plants or trees in the winds?

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 8:49 am

Morning Rebecca,

Thanks for the link...just wondering if you any views to share on Stephen Doughty, Nick Smith and Chris Evans and how seriously or otherwise we should take their opinion.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 8:49 am

BBC Politics ‏@BBCPolitics 1h1 hour ago
Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood applies to stand for two seats in next year's Assembly election, her party confirms http://bbc.in/1KFKEqb" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 8:52 am

rebeccariots2 wrote:Happy gravel spreading yahyah. That's a job we are also very well skilled in!

Did you lose many plants or trees in the winds?

Thanks for asking. We were amazingly lucky and no lasting damage. Thankfully the huge orange poppies came out yesterday so didn't get blasted.

Hope you were ok.

RogerOThornhill · Post by **RogerOThornhill** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 8:53 am

rebeccariots2 wrote:Morning all.

Leadership contender Liz Kendall is the fresh start Labour needs, say three Welsh heartland MPs
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales ... sh-9383428" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The message seems to be - Liz Kendall - the Labourite who won't upset the right since she'll do most of what they want...only in a nicer way.

Is that really all Labour has now?

Maybe 30 years of individualism, spite and nastiness have paid off and we really are all Thatcherites now.

frightful_oik · Post by **frightful_oik** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 8:57 am

RogerOThornhill wrote:
rebeccariots2 wrote:Morning all.

Leadership contender Liz Kendall is the fresh start Labour needs, say three Welsh heartland MPs
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales ... sh-9383428" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The message seems to be - Liz Kendall - the Labourite who won't upset the right since she'll do most of what they want...only in a nicer way.

Is that really all Labour has now?

Maybe 30 years of individualism, spite and nastiness have paid off and we really are all Thatcherites now.

Yes, the only considerations seem to be whether they're photogenic and business-friendly. I'd rather start with their values and work from there. The Labour party has to stand for something and then, if necessary, wait for the people to come to them; not keep shifting their values to chase votes.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 8:57 am

Emergency surveillance law faces legal challenge by MPs
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-33000160" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

... The Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act was fast-tracked through Parliament in three days last July.
It allows Britain's intelligence agencies to gather people's phone and internet communications data.
But former Conservative minister David Davis and Labour's Tom Watson will argue that the legislation is incompatible with human rights...

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 9:02 am

RogerOThornhill wrote:
rebeccariots2 wrote:Morning all.

Leadership contender Liz Kendall is the fresh start Labour needs, say three Welsh heartland MPs
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales ... sh-9383428" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The message seems to be - Liz Kendall - the Labourite who won't upset the right since she'll do most of what they want...only in a nicer way.

Is that really all Labour has now?

Maybe 30 years of individualism, spite and nastiness have paid off and we really are all Thatcherites now.

Depressing, isn't it. It seems virtually all someone needs to say is they will listen to Carwyn Jones to get the support of some. It's going to take an awful lot more than that to start fixing what is broken. It's the 'here's a plaster, slap it on and give me your vote' approach that feels very wrong. I'd be more willing to support someone who said they didn't yet know what the solutions are - and that it wasn't a quick fix situation. But then - that's me.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 9:04 am

yahyah wrote:
rebeccariots2 wrote:Happy gravel spreading yahyah. That's a job we are also very well skilled in!

Did you lose many plants or trees in the winds?

Thanks for asking. We were amazingly lucky and no lasting damage. Thankfully the huge orange poppies came out yesterday so didn't get blasted.

Hope you were ok.

Couple of trees down. One big one on our track that unnervingly came down just after we'd driven out in the morning. We came back to find the farmer had stacked it up on the side .... phew.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 9:12 am

yahyah wrote:Morning Rebecca,

Thanks for the link...just wondering if you any views to share on Stephen Doughty, Nick Smith and Chris Evans and how seriously or otherwise we should take their opinion.

I don't know very much about them I'm afraid. I just had a quick look to see which constituencies they represent - Blaenau Gwent, Cardiff South and Penarth, Islwyn. So yes, I guess those are 'heartlands'. When I've finished work for the day I will look and see what the voting percentages were in them.

tinybgoat · Post by **tinybgoat** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 9:35 am

By Patrick Wintour:

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... t-election

Still awaiting his "Ed Miliband, My part in his downfall."

Whilst googling to try and see if his middle name, has an 'e' in it (for anagrams)
found link to an old blog:

"The Incredibly Talentless Patrick Wintour."

https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives ... ncredibly/

seeingclearly · Post by **seeingclearly** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 9:46 am

Giselle, it was lovely to come onto FTN late last night and find your posts, you have been missed. Welcome back. I hope some of our other missing will be inspired to return too, all are missed, and diversity is needed and wanted.

Yahyah, your poppies sound wonderful, the gravel beyond my imaginative capacity, though if your day is as gorgeous as it is here you have inspiration on your side.

My FB page has been clogged up this morning with dozens of pictures of Corbyn, complete with many favourable comments on the lines of 'at last someone from the left'. I'm being cautious about them as we know online sentiments don't translate into political reality. Nevertheless it was better than seeing the almost universal rejection of Kendall and earlier Umunna, and the lack of anything good to say about anyone except Burnham, who seems to come in for an equal amount of opprobrium as praise. Personally I'd love to see a return to more seasoned politicians, since Blair there's been a tendency for younger and younger people to make it into the higher ranks of all parties, I'm not sure that's been a good thing.

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 10:29 am

Good morfternoon.

This - in case anyone is interested in taking part:

09:45

I’d be interested to know what readers think about the candidates for the Labour leadership. I have seen people discussing this BTL for a few days now, but I would like to hear more views because I’m thinking of posting a round-up of reader opinion at some point in the future (if it’s doable and worthwhile).

I’m particularly keen to hear from people who are party members and planning to vote, but others are welcome to contribute too. (Politics Blog, Guardian)

@giselle97

Hello, again! (Not that you appear in the cast list, as I type this.)

Edited

"p" for "P"

giselle97 · Post by **giselle97** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 10:31 am

Trouble at mill. Anyone care to place a bet on the chances of Parliamentarians (why is that capitalised?) and civil society getting a say?

: 2015-06-04_102639.jpg (78.19 KiB) Viewed 12621 times

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/0 ... rade-deals

Morning everyone, and it's a lovely sunny day here ..... but I've got to sit in waiting for a landlord's inspection (un-timed). Darn it. He could have come yesterday when it was wet.

10:35 whoopee. The door bell rang and the chap's here so ...

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 10:36 am

@giselle97

Ah - there you are! Hello, again. Again.

giselle97 · Post by **giselle97** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 10:53 am

Hello PorFavor and thank you to all for welcome back!

giselle97 · Post by **giselle97** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 11:00 am

From last night's post, thank you @thatchersorphan for this as I would have been oblivious to the fact it was programmed. I'm going to write to ask why it's been pulled. Don't expect an answer of merit but will report back!

thatchersorphan wrote:The NHS is at the centre of a `perfect storm'. Caught between huge increases in demand and the prospect of a projected £30billion deficit, it faces a desperate fight for survival. Pulled at the last minute - replace by allegations of doping in athletics.
Status now is
This episode is not scheduled for broadcast.
http://www.radiotimes.com/episode/dm8gf ... fect-storm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 11:07 am

14m ago10:45
ComRes unveils new polling method to better assess likelihood to vote

We have not heard much from the polling companies since the election, but ComRes has been in touch this morning, with the results of the first poll it has conducted since polling day.

And here are the poll results.

Conservatives: 41%

Labour: 29%

Ukip: 10%

Lib Dems: 8%

Greens: 5% (Politics Blog, Guardian)

Is there any way of calculating, on the basis of this new methodology, what the polls would have been pre-election?

Has Labour's rating plummeted, and the Conservatives' rocketed since Ed Miliband resigned - or would the figures have still been fairly similar to those being bandied about back in April\May even with the new methodology?

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 11:09 am

rebeccariots2 wrote:Morning all.

Leadership contender Liz Kendall is the fresh start Labour needs, say three Welsh heartland MPs
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales ... sh-9383428" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

But I think its as simple as that - she is simply a "fresh start" and the small trifling matter of what she actually stands for is unimportant

(no coincidence she has used that as her campaign slogan)

If she can get enough people to think like that, it is her one chance of winning.

Still don't expect it to work, though - have a hunch that the hustings might not be that good for her. We shall see.......

frightful_oik · Post by **frightful_oik** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 11:19 am

PorFavor wrote:
14m ago10:45
ComRes unveils new polling method to better assess likelihood to vote

We have not heard much from the polling companies since the election, but ComRes has been in touch this morning, with the results of the first poll it has conducted since polling day.

And here are the poll results.

Conservatives: 41%

Labour: 29%

Ukip: 10%

Lib Dems: 8%

Greens: 5% (Politics Blog, Guardian)
Is there any way of calculating, on the basis of this new methodology, what the polls would have been pre-election?

Has Labour's rating plummeted, and the Conservatives' rocketed since Ed Miliband resigned - or would the figures have still been fairly similar to those being bandied about back in April\May even with the new methodology?

Wouldn't have thought so. Although we do know what the poll ratings were by the election result. Honeymoon for Tories will last until end of this year I expect unless the budget is a real shocker.

giselle97 · Post by **giselle97** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 11:28 am

yahyah wrote:Morning.

Absolutely glorious here, hope same for everyone else.

Just popped in to say welcome back to Giselle - have missed you a lot !

Can understand why you have resigned, submitting a reason why & intending to rejoin Labour, but won't it mean you wouldn't have a vote in the leadership ?

That may not be a bad thing, it seems a difficult, uninspiring choice so far.
Corbyn at least adds some spice to the mix, and good to see an older head standing.
But will people view him as too old, would be 71 in 2015 ?
Not being ageist, just realistic. Ming Campbell got thrashed for looking old.

See you later, have two tons of gravel to wheelbarrow round the back of the house and spread.

Don't do your back in Yahyah! I'm at MATS Physio at 14:45 today for my second exquisite agony session on the table!

There's currently no choice of leader up there for me right now and it would be infuriating to end up not having a say. It looks as though it's Andy Burnham, Liz Kendall and Yvette Cooper. I don't think any of those will win Labour an election. Unlike many, I actually quite like YC on the basis that she's been to Peterborough no end of times to meet members and came over as intelligent, sensible and, oddly enough, caring. But .... baggage.

ANECDOTAL ALERT!
My friend Eric does volunteering and a part time job at the Museum, Longthorpe Tower, Key Theatre, Flag Fen, etc., for Vivacity in Peterborough. He was the key holder for the night that Tom Watson came up. Eric (a Tory) said that TW "was an arrogant, ill-mannered, pumped up bully" when giving Eric orders as to where chairs should be placed for his audience. He said there's a way to speak to people and he doesn't know how to do it! Eric doesn't tell lies or exaggerate so I figure if there were votes for the Deputy Leader, I hadn't better vote for him! TW blocked me on Twitter ages ago so .....

Here's the time-table to enable ability to vote.

The National Executive Committee met on 13 May 2015 and determined the timetable for the leadership and deputy leadership elections:
 Friday 15 May: Election period opens
 Monday 8 June: PLP nomination hustings for Leader
 Tuesday 9 June: PLP nomination ustings for Deputy Leader
 Tuesday 9 June: PLP nominations open
 22 noon Monday 15 June: PLP nominations (Leader) close
 12 noon Wednesday 17 June: PLP nominations (Deputy Leader) close
 Wednesday 17 June: Hustings period opens
 12 noon Friday 31 July: Supporting nominations close
 12 noon Wednesday 12 August: Last date to join as member, affiliated supporter, or registered supporter
 Friday 14 August: Ballot mailing despatched
 12 noon Thursday 10 September: Ballot closes
 Saturday 12 September: Special conference to announce result

http://researchbriefings.files.parliame ... N03938.pdf

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 11:29 am

Good morning, everyone.
Outstanding post here late last night including a comment from below the line elsewhere.
Thank you, giselle97, for posting link.
If anyone hasn't read it, it's well worth checking out.

http://flythenest.org/viewtopic.php?p=55984#p55984" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 11:29 am

Tories up 3 on the GE result, Labour down 2 - as with the YouGov poll earlier this week, I expect the unweighted figures will give a rather smaller Tory lead.

(adjusting according to what happened last month, especially re turnout, has its own problems - we shouldn't assume future GE's will follow the same pattern as the most recent one)

tinybgoat · Post by **tinybgoat** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 11:59 am

PorFavor wrote:
14m ago10:45
ComRes unveils new polling method to better assess likelihood to vote

We have not heard much from the polling companies since the election, but ComRes has been in touch this morning, with the results of the first poll it has conducted since polling day.

And here are the poll results.

Conservatives: 41%

Labour: 29%

Ukip: 10%

Lib Dems: 8%

Greens: 5% (Politics Blog, Guardian)
Is there any way of calculating, on the basis of this new methodology, what the polls would have been pre-election?

Has Labour's rating plummeted, and the Conservatives' rocketed since Ed Miliband resigned - or would the figures have still been fairly similar to those being bandied about back in April\May even with the new methodology?

We have since gone back to our campaign polls to measure the impact of
this model. If we were using this method for GE2015, and made no other
adjustments to our methodology, our final poll would have had a 5 point
Conservative lead over Labour. We have also applied this model to our first
post-election voting intention poll. Were we simply using the same approach
as before the election, our poll would give the Conservatives an 8 point lead.
Using the new ComRes Voter Turnout Model the poll produces a 12 point
Conservative lead.

http://www.comres.co.uk/statement-comre ... out-model/

PorFavor · Post by **PorFavor** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 12:08 pm

@tinybgoat

Thank you.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 12:25 pm

Afternoon peeps. So he did say it.

: Salmond Says Behave Yourself Woman.jpg (46.75 KiB) Viewed 12537 times

Anne Begg retweeted
Caroline CriadoPerez ‏@CCriadoPerez 1h1 hour ago
Holy shit. Alex Salmond, ladies and gentlemen. (Via @tori_tweets)

Not even the knowledge that it was aimed at Anna Soubry makes that acceptable.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 12:50 pm

Re the polls.

I've not wanted to take a look at Mike Smithson's tweets or site, or UK polling report or any other polling connected media since May 8th. I don't know when - or if - I will recover from this aversion.

giselle97 · Post by **giselle97** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 12:56 pm

Warning - if you can curb your anger, you're way ahead of me.

Editorial 4th June 2015: Rough transcript of Jeremy Hunt's speech to NHS Confederation conference
http://www.healthpolicyinsight.com/?q=node/1598

giselle97 · Post by **giselle97** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 1:01 pm

: 2015-06-04_125957.jpg (43.53 KiB) Viewed 12508 times

https://twitter.com/THEEDGELondon/statu ... 2323129344

giselle97 · Post by **giselle97** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 1:03 pm

rebeccariots2 wrote:Re the polls.

I've not wanted to take a look at Mike Smithson's tweets or site, or UK polling report or any other polling connected media since May 8th. I don't know when - or if - I will recover from this aversion.

Deprive them of their importance RR2 - I am with you!

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 1:08 pm

Osborne is misleading over cuts needed to balance books, says IFS
Thinktank says though numbers government quote are not inaccurate, spending squeeze of £1 in every £100 spent ‘seriously underestimates size of challenge’

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

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 1:08 pm

George Osborne to announce 5% budget cuts to non-protected government departments - Politics live
Rolling coverage of all the day’s political developments as they happen
No 10 to write to Ipsa demanding rethink on MPs’ 10% pay rise

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/blo ... e#comments" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

giselle97 · Post by **giselle97** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 1:09 pm

Shadow care minister Liz Kendall said: "This Government has failed to address the desperate and growing crisis in older people's care. "300,000 fewer older people are now getting the crucial help they need than when David Cameron came to power - meaning more older people ending up in hospital and delayed discharges at a record high. "Cuts of this level would put even more pressure on the NHS, and have a devastating impact on service that are essential to thousands of vulnerable people and their families."

(ITV doesn't seem to know where to put the ").

http://www.itv.com/news/2015-06-04/star ... care-cuts/

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 1:11 pm

The undoing of Ed Miliband – and how Labour lost the election
It was Labour’s most stunning defeat since 1983. This exclusive account, based on unique access to the party leader’s closest aides, tells the inside story of what went wrong

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

I've posted a link to my response to Wintour's bullshit below.

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... t-53263978" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

yahyah · Post by **yahyah** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 1:12 pm

Just been reading about the Coulson aquittal over lunch.
This is from James Doleman:

'...and there is embarrassment amongst the Scottish legal community about the botched prosecution. Suspicions have been raised that the Crown was more interested in avoiding an appeal against Sheridan's conviction that they were in securing one against Andy Coulson....''

&
''Coincidently, the night before Coulson was acquitted the Scottish Crown office announced it was dropping charges against the only two former News of the World staff north of the border who had been charged in relation to allegations of illegal activities at the Scottish News of the World.
Unless something surprising happens the official investigation into phone-hacking in Scotland is as good as over.''

https://www.byline.com/project/8/article/70" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Would loved to have been a fly on the wall during all those Murdoch/Salmond meetings.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 1:13 pm

Sophy Ridge ‏@SophyRidgeSky 1m1 minute ago
George Osborne announces the Government is to sell its remaining 30% stake in Royal Mail, worth around £1.5bn

Sophy Ridge ‏@SophyRidgeSky 1m1 minute ago
George Osborne: Holding £1.5bn of Royal Mail shares is "not a sensible use of taxpayers money"

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 1:16 pm

rebeccariots2 wrote:Re the polls.

I've not wanted to take a look at Mike Smithson's tweets or site, or UK polling report or any other polling connected media since May 8th. I don't know when - or if - I will recover from this aversion.

Good, don't.
When something doesn't work, it's broken & no longer a useful instrument.
I don't trust known liars, faulty equipment or Tories, ever.

Eric_WLothian · Post by **Eric_WLothian** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 1:16 pm

rebeccariots2 wrote:Afternoon peeps. So he did say it.
Salmond Says Behave Yourself Woman.jpg

Anne Begg retweeted
Caroline CriadoPerez ‏@CCriadoPerez 1h1 hour ago
Holy shit. Alex Salmond, ladies and gentlemen. (Via @tori_tweets)
Not even the knowledge that it was aimed at Anna Soubry makes that acceptable.

Yet the cybernats spring to his defence (no surprise there).

http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/t ... -1-3792650

AnatolyKasparov · Post by **AnatolyKasparov** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 1:19 pm

giselle97 wrote:
2015-06-04_125957.jpg
https://twitter.com/THEEDGELondon/statu ... 2323129344

Leslie's interview in the latest Observer was almost unspeakably bad. Strange to think that he had (by general agreement) a good GE campaign, too........

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 1:26 pm

rebeccariots2 wrote:
Sophy Ridge ‏@SophyRidgeSky 1m1 minute ago
George Osborne announces the Government is to sell its remaining 30% stake in Royal Mail, worth around £1.5bn

Sophy Ridge ‏@SophyRidgeSky 1m1 minute ago
George Osborne: Holding £1.5bn of Royal Mail shares is "not a sensible use of taxpayers money"

It is unfortunate the beautiful day outside is currently marred for everyone in my area by an incessant sound of headache-inducing, high-powered, drilling tools squealing like nothing nature ever intended life to hear. It's been going on for hours.

I've read Wintour's made-for-television, crap screenplay based loosely on the May 2015 GE result for Labour, profoundly uninspiring comments below the line full of more lies & headlines indicating catastrophic, shit Tory government plans for offloading most regular people & the country to some dystopia marketplace.

Good luck people, we gonna need it.

citizenJA · Post by **citizenJA** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 1:28 pm

yahyah wrote:Just been reading about the Coulson aquittal over lunch.
This is from James Doleman:

'...and there is embarrassment amongst the Scottish legal community about the botched prosecution. Suspicions have been raised that the Crown was more interested in avoiding an appeal against Sheridan's conviction that they were in securing one against Andy Coulson....''

&
''Coincidently, the night before Coulson was acquitted the Scottish Crown office announced it was dropping charges against the only two former News of the World staff north of the border who had been charged in relation to allegations of illegal activities at the Scottish News of the World.
Unless something surprising happens the official investigation into phone-hacking in Scotland is as good as over.''

https://www.byline.com/project/8/article/70" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Would loved to have been a fly on the wall during all those Murdoch/Salmond meetings.

The people in power right now are laughing their asses off at the expense of decent people.
This is corrupt.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 1:30 pm

Eric_WLothian wrote:
rebeccariots2 wrote:Afternoon peeps. So he did say it.
Salmond Says Behave Yourself Woman.jpg

Anne Begg retweeted
Caroline CriadoPerez ‏@CCriadoPerez 1h1 hour ago
Holy shit. Alex Salmond, ladies and gentlemen. (Via @tori_tweets)
Not even the knowledge that it was aimed at Anna Soubry makes that acceptable.
Yet the cybernats spring to his defence (no surprise there).

http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/t ... -1-3792650

What does surprise me is how many people don't seem to understand why it's sexist ... hint to them, it's not just because he used the word woman.

rebeccariots2 · Post by **rebeccariots2** » Thu 04 Jun, 2015 1:31 pm

James Kirkup ‏@jameskirkup 3m3 minutes ago
Key point abt Ed Miliband's good Commons speech is how many Tories quietly agree w him that inequality = problem for Right as well as Left

James Landale ‏@BBCJLandale 5m5 minutes ago
Ed Miliband making generous, self-deprecating, thoughtful & unrepentant speech, saying inequality challenges Tory one nation pitch