Thursday 6th August 2015

[RogerOThornhill]

Lady Brady, lest we forget, was the one who came up with that laughably poor "small-business owners don't like Labour" guff which had so many errors in it that the DT deleted the article. But not before Andrew Neil took the piss out of it.

[PorFavor]

... I will not make definitive accusations on the basis of one article or before seeing the programme but it looks like a reward to Baroness Brady (a director of said club) for services rendered...!

Exactly my thoughts too, ScarletGas, when I caught the news clip but thought her name was Karen, albeit probably won't iPlayer it (not on in my region).

Edit: I suppose that should be iPlay it.

Tis the very same. She was ennobled (I think that's the right word) a couple of years ago.

Our esteemed Prime Minister seems to have developed a penchant (mesmerised seems to be the word of the day....) for ladies of a certain age with an "interesting" history. This years version is the "classy" Lady Michelle Mone.

By the way I take it he is now on holiday....Yet to see any fishpointing.Imagine what the press would say if a Lefty PM took time off during a crisis invoking Cobra meetings!

I don't know where our illustrious leader has gone for this holiday. I just assume that, wherever it is, it's a fish-free zone.

[ohsocynical]

Rupert Murdoch’s business empire is due to design, build and run the software for digital voting at the next election.
Rupert Murdoch’s British telecommunications company Sky UK Limited is apparently holding secret talks with the newly elected Conservative Party about plans to fully digitise the UK voting process in time for the 2020 General Election.Our source describes the discussions as “well advanced”.

http://news.bfnn.co.uk/murdoch-to-be-in ... from-2020/

[rebeccariots2]

Rupert Murdoch’s business empire is due to design, build and run the software for digital voting at the next election.
Rupert Murdoch’s British telecommunications company Sky UK Limited is apparently holding secret talks with the newly elected Conservative Party about plans to fully digitise the UK voting process in time for the 2020 General Election.Our source describes the discussions as “well advanced”.

http://news.bfnn.co.uk/murdoch-to-be-in ... from-2020/

That's beyond depressing Ohso ... how to destroy any residual faith I have left in the electoral system.

[AngryAsWell]

Rupert Murdoch’s business empire is due to design, build and run the software for digital voting at the next election.
Rupert Murdoch’s British telecommunications company Sky UK Limited is apparently holding secret talks with the newly elected Conservative Party about plans to fully digitise the UK voting process in time for the 2020 General Election.Our source describes the discussions as “well advanced”.

http://news.bfnn.co.uk/murdoch-to-be-in ... from-2020/

That's beyond depressing Ohso ... how to destroy any residual faith I have left in the electoral system.

We've had this one before - scroll right to the very end of the page to read :

"DISCLAIMER: For the avoidance of doubt: All stories posted here are works of fiction, and you would have to be a moron to believe them!"

[rebeccariots2]

That's beyond depressing Ohso ... how to destroy any residual faith I have left in the electoral system.

We've had this one before - scroll right to the very end of the page to read :

"DISCLAIMER: For the avoidance of doubt: All stories posted here are works of fiction, and you would have to be a moron to believe them!"

Well thank you AAW! I took Ohso's post at face value and didn't read the article ... quite prepared to accept I am a moron though as that scenario is all too believable. Let's hope it hasn't given Cameron ideas.

[HindleA]

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015 ... gures-show" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Benefits cap hits single parents with children under five, figures show


Only 15% of those effected are jobseekers.6% receivers of Carers Allowance,21 %ESA Very popular policy.

[ohsocynical]

That's beyond depressing Ohso ... how to destroy any residual faith I have left in the electoral system.

We've had this one before - scroll right to the very end of the page to read :

"DISCLAIMER: For the avoidance of doubt: All stories posted here are works of fiction, and you would have to be a moron to believe them!"

Bugger!

[ohsocynical]

That's beyond depressing Ohso ... how to destroy any residual faith I have left in the electoral system.

We've had this one before - scroll right to the very end of the page to read :

"DISCLAIMER: For the avoidance of doubt: All stories posted here are works of fiction, and you would have to be a moron to believe them!"

Bugger!

The awful thing is, that this is entirely believable.

[AngryAsWell]

We've had this one before - scroll right to the very end of the page to read :

"DISCLAIMER: For the avoidance of doubt: All stories posted here are works of fiction, and you would have to be a moron to believe them!"

Bugger!

The awful thing is, that this is entirely believable.

Agreed, it is ....

[AngryAsWell]

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015 ... gures-show

Benefits cap hits single parents with children under five, figures show


Only 15% of those effected are jobseekers.6% receivers of Carers Allowance,21 %ESA Very popular policy.

Don't venture BtL on that one.... hope they are trolls or the country has really lost the plot. What a nasty bunch of barstewards !

[AngryAsWell]

David Cameron won general election with series of lies, says Yvette Cooper
The nine areas identified by Cooper are:
Cuts in child tax credits. Cooper said Cameron denied during the election that he would cut child tax credits. She said Osborne, the chancellor, unveiled £4.5bn of cuts to child tax credits in the budget which would hit women twice as hard as men.
Cuts to child benefit after Cameron said during the election there would be no cuts beyond a two-year freeze. Cooper says it will now be subject to a four-year freeze.
Cancellation of rail electrification plans.
Downgrading of the number of affordable homes due to be built. The Office for Budget Responsibility has said 14,000 fewer homes will be built.
Delaying of a decision on a new airport runway in south-east England. Downing Street says it is standing by its commitment to reach a decision by the end of this year.
Delay in the introduction of tax-free childcare from 2015 to 2017.
Shelving of an election pledge to give public officials three days off work to take part in volunteering.
Delay until 2020 in the introduction of the social care cap.
Reversal of pledge for greater government transparency after launch of review into freedom of information.

Cooper said: “It’s only three months since the election yet David Cameron has already ripped up nine major pre-election promises. It’s clear he never expected to deliver these plans in the first place.

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

[HindleA]

@AAW.Glad I didn't.No doubt ,such people would go ape-shit in the amounts we "cost"of course if they would like to swap circumstances...

[TechnicalEphemera]

I am increasingly of the opinion that the leadership contest needs immediate intervention to:

Roll the eligible voters back to GE+1 month.

Dump the 35K union registrations

Refund every genuine applicant their 3 pounds and apologise profusely.

In the old days you had a years qualifying as a member to stop this sort of thing.

If Corbyn wins on the basis of genuine Labour members good luck to him.

The election has to proceed on the basis it was set out - anything else would be an absolute disaster for the way the party looks. Seriously, the fallout from that - "you didn't like the way the result would go so you canned it". It would be shambolic and wrong. For better or worse, this was the way we said we would do it, so let's do it.

Qualifying periods stop the party responding to genuine upsurges in support. Times have changed. A party that doesn't take account of that is stuck in the past.

Do I like the registered supporters scheme? Not really. Join or don't join, offer a bigger discount for some people, sure. But it is open to abuse. That said, I know friends who are close to the party who wouldn't think of joining, but they've seen what's going on and have been engaged enough to join as supporters. They'll possibly upgrade later, they might not. I like the way a simple one-off fee gets them more involved even if the system is blatantly abusable.

As for the union registered voters? Why shouldn't they vote? I had a tiny automatic union vote years ago in 1994. Now, if people want to opt in, they can and they should and there's not a problem with that. If you think the "wrong kind" of people are being enrolled that way, get involved and enrol people who are more "your sort". But affiliated unions have a place.

It isn't ideal right now but it's better than it's ever been before and can be improved later. We'll see how much influence these other groups had later. Kicking out these new members or supporters - or stripping them of rights to vote that helped persuade them to join - as if they all weren't genuine or entitled to have a voice would do more damage than any number of false applicants. We're a party for our members. And we should keep our word.

Except it isn't better it is a bloody shambles, with entryism from a huge chunk of fringe left wing groups (which is much like the 80s) as well as political opponents from the right (which is entirely new). The whole thing is shot to hell and under the current mess if Corbyn wins the party will dump him in a fortnight arguing corruption of the process (with some serious justification).

Like an IT system that has been infected much better to accept the collateral damage of losing good stuff installed since the system became unstable and drop back to the last known good configuration, which I think was before Corbyn entered the fray and would include the people joining post election.

That way at least you get a result that people can vaguely trust. If it is the will of the party to elect Corbyn so be it, but screw the will of a bunch of left wing pressure groups and right wing wreckers. This is our democracy in play here. The muppet is already wittering on about unilateral nuclear disarmament, a policy even Kinnock dumped as an electoral albatross.

I am not a Blairite, I don't even like them. I am far more left wing than just about anybody I know and Corbyn is seriously off the reservation. Remember if the Tories know Labour will lose regardless of what they do in power then they will do anything they want (up to and including I suspect charging for healthcare).

[LadyCentauria]

And yet the Conservatives are planning to hold an 'open primary' to select their candidate for Mayor of London (I'm still not sure when 'Mayor for London' turned into 'Mayor of London'!) just as they did last time, which resulted in Boris getting the gig. I've lost count of the number of people who've told me, "I voted for Boris because he's funny!"

As linked to by someone yesterday - sorry I can't remember who it was but the article was on City AM - they're having an online-vote on a date, yet to be announced, in September. It's open to anyone who is already on the Electoral Register in the London area, as long as they pre-register. This link is to the Conservative Party's own page about their Open Primary:
https://www.conservatives.com/mayoroflondon

They've held a number of Open Primaries to select Parliamentary Candidates, since 2009, with Dr Sarah Wollaston being (probably) the most well-known of them. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservat ... _primaries
But, of course, throwing the selection process open to the public is only wrong when Labour does it because eek! Lefties!