Tuesday 31st March 2015
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Welcome to FTN. New posters are welcome to join the conversation. You can follow us on Twitter @FlythenestHaven You are responsible for the content you post. This is a public forum. Treat it as if you are speaking in a crowded room. Site admin and Moderators are volunteers who will respond as quickly as they are able to when made aware of any complaints. Please do not post copyrighted material without the original authors permission.
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Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
Just spotted this from Dr Jazz:
'11m pensioners won't think much of it either.
My pension has gone up by less than the triple-lock 2.5% figure. That's because one third of it has been hit by the 1% freeze on "benefits". My Pre 97 additional state pension is now deemed to be a benefit. That's where a chunk of Osborne's £60bn will be coming from.''
So SERPS used to be upgraded at more than the 1% 'benefit' freeze and the Coalition have changed that since they've been in because they've conveniently changed its status ?
Anyone here been claiming a pension for some years, with an additional state pension amount, to confirm that please ?
If it's true, tell your older relatives !
'11m pensioners won't think much of it either.
My pension has gone up by less than the triple-lock 2.5% figure. That's because one third of it has been hit by the 1% freeze on "benefits". My Pre 97 additional state pension is now deemed to be a benefit. That's where a chunk of Osborne's £60bn will be coming from.''
So SERPS used to be upgraded at more than the 1% 'benefit' freeze and the Coalition have changed that since they've been in because they've conveniently changed its status ?
Anyone here been claiming a pension for some years, with an additional state pension amount, to confirm that please ?
If it's true, tell your older relatives !
Last edited by yahyah on Tue 31 Mar, 2015 1:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
The recent Ashcroft poll in VoG wasn't great for Labour, but it had Plaid support at a surprisingly high level (his polls seem generous to them more generally)letsskiptotheleft wrote:I suppose if pushed most have a particular MP they want to see fall on May 7th, someone who you will actively seek out, apart from the usual suspects, mine is, and I may have mentioned it once or twice is Alun Cairns, a midget of a politician which matches his physical statue, if that sounds shortist so be it, I am one myself.
http://electoralcalculus.co.uk/conlist_ ... fGlamorgan" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Labour is putting in a gargantuan effort down there, in fact I just phoned and volunteered a few days, turn out last time knocked 70%, Lib Dems fairly high, question is where have they gone to, and what impact will UKIP have, Barry if you listen to reports seems pretty sown up for Labour, good news coming from there, but Labour are clearly in with a strong shout and its all to play for.
Re the polls as a whole right now - what people need to remember is that governing parties hardly ever gain support during the actual election campaign (due to the greater visibility and airtime granted to alternatives, amongst other things) So if the Tories can't get a clear lead now, it doesn't historically bode well for them.
"IS TONTY BLAIR BEHIND THIS???!!!!111???!!!"
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Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
One of these days I'll read the YouGov polling figures and not see the scum/Star reweighted by at least 35% and the Guardian by at least - 50%.
Today is not that day.
Today is not that day.
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Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
Thanks for that Anatoly. Always admire your clear, cool head.
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Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
I read this as being quite, um, pointed, if not critical:PaulfromYorkshire wrote:On the other hand this from Carole Walker is just dreadful sycophantic bullshit.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2015-32123528" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Absolutely appalling.
But perhaps that was just me thinking, gosh how generous to spare his activists ten whole minutes of his oh so precious time. And note, again, no mention of meeting and greeting those troops on the ground who probably gave up considerably more of than ten minutes of their own time for him...Mr Cameron - jacket off, sleeves rolled up - spoke for no more than 10 minutes to about 300 Tory activists in a small school hall, then headed straight back to London. That was sufficient to deliver the key lines in time for the evening television bulletins and Tuesday's papers.
Aftevemorn, all
This time, I'm gonna be stronger I'm not giving in...
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Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
Leanne Wood was smirking when she spieled her pitch for BBC Wales news.
You'd think she didn't even believe her own words.
You'd think she didn't even believe her own words.
Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
I think that some of us are sometimes part of a YouGov poll. Say you read the SUN and make your vote count by a factor of 1.3StephenDolan wrote:One of these days I'll read the YouGov polling figures and not see the scum/Star reweighted by at least 35% and the Guardian by at least - 50%.
Today is not that day.
Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
Paul Johnson, the Institute for Fiscal Studies director, has said the Conservative claim to be able to raise £5bn from tackling tax avoidance is “very flaky”. Only 24 hours after the IFS said Tory claims about Labour tax plans were unfounded, Johnson told Sky News. (Andrew Sparrow, Guardian)
- TheGrimSqueaker
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Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
Well said. However you cut it, the Tories aren't even coming close to matching their 2010 result, let alone improving on it; as we all know the last time they won a majority was 1992, and it looks unlikely that trend will be bucked this time.AnatolyKasparov wrote:Re the polls as a whole right now - what people need to remember is that governing parties hardly ever gain support during the actual election campaign (due to the greater visibility and airtime granted to alternatives, amongst other things) So if the Tories can't get a clear lead now, it doesn't historically bode well for them.
The same can't be said for Labour, who have improved significantly on their 2010 showing, even in the most pessimistic polls; take out the drag factor of the SNP (as per Mike Smithson's comment on Twitter today), add in a sprinkling of marginal and that majority is still a possibility, albeit maybe not a great one.
COWER BRIEF MORTALS. HO. HO. HO.
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Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
How did your phone canvassing go Por Favor ?
Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
Some people here say they never get asked who they'll vote for in the election when doing Yougov online surveys, but I've actually had quite a few since Christmas. I did wonder if it was because I'm down as a Mirror reader (which I am btw. I've never bought the Guardian and haven't read the Sunday Observer in years). As tabloids easily outsell the broadsheets in general, I have to give Yougov the benefit of the doubt a little. Guardian circulation is so small, I can see why they would feel the need to weight it down. The only real criticism I would have is how useful using what print newspaper someone reads as a criteria at all, given how much the print newspaper industry has declined in recent years. I would have thought a lot of people would be "none" these days. How are the non-newspaper readers quantified?minch wrote:I think that some of us are sometimes part of a YouGov poll. Say you read the SUN and make your vote count by a factor of 1.3StephenDolan wrote:One of these days I'll read the YouGov polling figures and not see the scum/Star reweighted by at least 35% and the Guardian by at least - 50%.
Today is not that day.
"Fall seven times, get up eight" - Japanese proverb
Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
@ yahyah
Thanks for asking about the 'phone canvassing.
Well, it's still going. But the other, completed, lot was about a three-way split between: Genuine (I think)Don't Knows; Against\Conservative\Won't say (who I always think are Againsts); and Labour. I haven't come across any stated LibDems or Ukips. Or, indeed, any hostility towards Ed Miliband. This is, however, a safe Conservative seat so we're not going to win it.
I hate 'phone canvassing, because I doubt its real value. Lots of outs, lots of people who, I think, screen their calls via their answer-'phone, and lots of disconnected numbers. You also tend only to get to speak to the person who answers the 'phone as distinct from getting to speak to everyone registered at that address. I've always found that door-knocking is much better from that point of view. No body language. I could go on. Oh, I have . . . .
Edited to make it clear to whom, and about what I was speaking! Warned you I'd be a bit disconnected!
Edited again - brackets
Thanks for asking about the 'phone canvassing.
Well, it's still going. But the other, completed, lot was about a three-way split between: Genuine (I think)Don't Knows; Against\Conservative\Won't say (who I always think are Againsts); and Labour. I haven't come across any stated LibDems or Ukips. Or, indeed, any hostility towards Ed Miliband. This is, however, a safe Conservative seat so we're not going to win it.
I hate 'phone canvassing, because I doubt its real value. Lots of outs, lots of people who, I think, screen their calls via their answer-'phone, and lots of disconnected numbers. You also tend only to get to speak to the person who answers the 'phone as distinct from getting to speak to everyone registered at that address. I've always found that door-knocking is much better from that point of view. No body language. I could go on. Oh, I have . . . .
Edited to make it clear to whom, and about what I was speaking! Warned you I'd be a bit disconnected!
Edited again - brackets
Last edited by PorFavor on Tue 31 Mar, 2015 2:52 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
"How are the non-newspaper readers quantified?"Good question. Or are non-newspaper readers included at all?Willow904 wrote:Some people here say they never get asked who they'll vote for in the election when doing Yougov online surveys, but I've actually had quite a few since Christmas. I did wonder if it was because I'm down as a Mirror reader (which I am btw. I've never bought the Guardian and haven't read the Sunday Observer in years). As tabloids easily outsell the broadsheets in general, I have to give Yougov the benefit of the doubt a little. Guardian circulation is so small, I can see why they would feel the need to weight it down. The only real criticism I would have is how useful using what print newspaper someone reads as a criteria at all, given how much the print newspaper industry has declined in recent years. I would have thought a lot of people would be "none" these days. How are the non-newspaper readers quantified?minch wrote:I think that some of us are sometimes part of a YouGov poll. Say you read the SUN and make your vote count by a factor of 1.3StephenDolan wrote:One of these days I'll read the YouGov polling figures and not see the scum/Star reweighted by at least 35% and the Guardian by at least - 50%.
Today is not that day.
Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
Grant Shapps interview on Newsnight.
He's a bullying Tory attempting to mow down all facts placed before him
'You will believe what I tell you is true'
That seems to be the Tory party motto.
He's a bullying Tory attempting to mow down all facts placed before him
'You will believe what I tell you is true'
That seems to be the Tory party motto.
Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
Look at the last page of http://cdn.yougov.com/cumulus_uploads/d ... 300315.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;citizenJA wrote:"How are the non-newspaper readers quantified?"Good question. Or are non-newspaper readers included at all?Willow904 wrote:Some people here say they never get asked who they'll vote for in the election when doing Yougov online surveys, but I've actually had quite a few since Christmas. I did wonder if it was because I'm down as a Mirror reader (which I am btw. I've never bought the Guardian and haven't read the Sunday Observer in years). As tabloids easily outsell the broadsheets in general, I have to give Yougov the benefit of the doubt a little. Guardian circulation is so small, I can see why they would feel the need to weight it down. The only real criticism I would have is how useful using what print newspaper someone reads as a criteria at all, given how much the print newspaper industry has declined in recent years. I would have thought a lot of people would be "none" these days. How are the non-newspaper readers quantified?minch wrote: I think that some of us are sometimes part of a YouGov poll. Say you read the SUN and make your vote count by a factor of 1.3
These are the raw results for the latest poll.
- ErnstRemarx
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Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
Hmm. Just had the mother of all hail storms - the stuff coming practically horizontally - with matching high winds as the sky suddenly went horribly dark. Well, that was 5 minutes ago. Sun's out now and the wind's mostly dropped. God only knows what it'll be doing in 10 minutes time. No canvassing or leafleting today, I suspect.
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Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
And don't forget how it's looking in the marginals - that's where it'll be won and lost.AnatolyKasparov wrote:The recent Ashcroft poll in VoG wasn't great for Labour, but it had Plaid support at a surprisingly high level (his polls seem generous to them more generally)letsskiptotheleft wrote:I suppose if pushed most have a particular MP they want to see fall on May 7th, someone who you will actively seek out, apart from the usual suspects, mine is, and I may have mentioned it once or twice is Alun Cairns, a midget of a politician which matches his physical statue, if that sounds shortist so be it, I am one myself.
http://electoralcalculus.co.uk/conlist_ ... fGlamorgan" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Labour is putting in a gargantuan effort down there, in fact I just phoned and volunteered a few days, turn out last time knocked 70%, Lib Dems fairly high, question is where have they gone to, and what impact will UKIP have, Barry if you listen to reports seems pretty sown up for Labour, good news coming from there, but Labour are clearly in with a strong shout and its all to play for.
Re the polls as a whole right now - what people need to remember is that governing parties hardly ever gain support during the actual election campaign (due to the greater visibility and airtime granted to alternatives, amongst other things) So if the Tories can't get a clear lead now, it doesn't historically bode well for them.
Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
Thank you for the numbers on the polling data.
691 out of 2001 people don't affliate themselves or read a newspaper according to the figures.
691 out of 2001 people don't affliate themselves or read a newspaper according to the figures.
Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
Reading some commentary below the line in the other place I'm seeing a lot of posts something like this...
'I'm only voting for my local candidate, so here's why I'm unbiased...' or 'here's why I'm above the fray here - I'm only voting for my local candidate'
Aren't we all voting for a local candidate?
'I'm only voting for my local candidate, so here's why I'm unbiased...' or 'here's why I'm above the fray here - I'm only voting for my local candidate'
Aren't we all voting for a local candidate?
- frightful_oik
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Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
Trial starts 21st April. I wonder if there will be another adjournment?yahyah wrote:Afternoon.
A timely piece by Peter Jukes, reminding us how politically targeted News of the World phone hacking was 'mainly under the editorship of Andy Coulson'.
What's odd is that the media seem to have ignored the implications of the fact that the News of the World was 'seven times more likely to hack a Labour politician than a Conservative one.'
I hope after Coulson's perjury trial the press will push questions about what really happened in the run up to the 2010 election, and whether information gathered through hacking or other illegal/immoral means may have been passed onto the Tories for political gain. The latter is a reasonable question to ask in the circumstances.
& Jukes also points out....'the odd thing about the occasional Tory target of phone hacking is that, by and large, they were rivals to David Cameron such as Boris Johnson or David Davies.''
Funny that isn't it ?
https://fothom.wordpress.com/2015/03/30 ... e-hacking/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Good to have the site back up.
Shake your chains to earth like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you-
Ye are many - they are few."
Which in sleep had fallen on you-
Ye are many - they are few."
Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
My (limited!) understanding of Yougov is that they use a pool of people, and keep records of their voting tendencies etc for profiling & weighting.citizenJA wrote:"How are the non-newspaper readers quantified?"Good question. Or are non-newspaper readers included at all?Willow904 wrote:Some people here say they never get asked who they'll vote for in the election when doing Yougov online surveys, but I've actually had quite a few since Christmas. I did wonder if it was because I'm down as a Mirror reader (which I am btw. I've never bought the Guardian and haven't read the Sunday Observer in years). As tabloids easily outsell the broadsheets in general, I have to give Yougov the benefit of the doubt a little. Guardian circulation is so small, I can see why they would feel the need to weight it down. The only real criticism I would have is how useful using what print newspaper someone reads as a criteria at all, given how much the print newspaper industry has declined in recent years. I would have thought a lot of people would be "none" these days. How are the non-newspaper readers quantified?minch wrote: I think that some of us are sometimes part of a YouGov poll. Say you read the SUN and make your vote count by a factor of 1.3
If they already know how individuals are likely to respond, then they could then pick who to include in a poll and skew results to give a desired result, but still appearing to give a balanced sample
Not saying this is happening, but does anyone know there any restrictions to stop this happening?
Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
Lord Ashcroft resigns from the House of Lords
https://www.politicshome.com/party-poli ... ouse-lords" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
https://www.politicshome.com/party-poli ... ouse-lords" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
Lord Ashcroft Quits House Of Lords To Spend More Time With His Opinion Polls
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/03 ... _hp_ref=uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Yeah, okay whatever, Busta
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/03 ... _hp_ref=uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Yeah, okay whatever, Busta
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Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
Thanks Lady CLadyCentauria wrote:I read this as being quite, um, pointed, if not critical:PaulfromYorkshire wrote:On the other hand this from Carole Walker is just dreadful sycophantic bullshit.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2015-32123528" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Absolutely appalling.But perhaps that was just me thinking, gosh how generous to spare his activists ten whole minutes of his oh so precious time. And note, again, no mention of meeting and greeting those troops on the ground who probably gave up considerably more of than ten minutes of their own time for him...Mr Cameron - jacket off, sleeves rolled up - spoke for no more than 10 minutes to about 300 Tory activists in a small school hall, then headed straight back to London. That was sufficient to deliver the key lines in time for the evening television bulletins and Tuesday's papers.
Aftevemorn, all
I just read that as "isn't he slick and well organised". But your reading certainly cheered me up
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Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
Wimps you LancastriansErnstRemarx wrote:Hmm. Just had the mother of all hail storms - the stuff coming practically horizontally - with matching high winds as the sky suddenly went horribly dark. Well, that was 5 minutes ago. Sun's out now and the wind's mostly dropped. God only knows what it'll be doing in 10 minutes time. No canvassing or leafleting today, I suspect.
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Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
And right on cue I had a YouGov political survey
Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
I'm getting my ass kicked with this weather, I've been in pain since a hike a couple weeks ago. My fingers aren't working well on the keyboard. I realise the amount of pain & the fumbling on the keyboard may be contributing to frustration, impatience & rudeness I'd otherwise not display. Please excuse me. I'll have to get the pain under control.PaulfromYorkshire wrote:Wimps you LancastriansErnstRemarx wrote:Hmm. Just had the mother of all hail storms - the stuff coming practically horizontally - with matching high winds as the sky suddenly went horribly dark. Well, that was 5 minutes ago. Sun's out now and the wind's mostly dropped. God only knows what it'll be doing in 10 minutes time. No canvassing or leafleting today, I suspect.
Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
I gather that David Cameron is to get the last word in the 7-way leader thing.
Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/po ... 46767.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The Tories represent the interests of landlords, say landlords
The Tories represent the interests of landlords, say landlords
- ErnstRemarx
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Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
I'd just like to remind you who won the bloody War of the Roses, Tyke boy...PaulfromYorkshire wrote:Wimps you LancastriansErnstRemarx wrote:Hmm. Just had the mother of all hail storms - the stuff coming practically horizontally - with matching high winds as the sky suddenly went horribly dark. Well, that was 5 minutes ago. Sun's out now and the wind's mostly dropped. God only knows what it'll be doing in 10 minutes time. No canvassing or leafleting today, I suspect.
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Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
Hopefully he'll be a blubbering mass of jelly by then.PorFavor wrote:I gather that David Cameron is to get the last word in the 7-way leader thing.
We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. – Aesop
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Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
It's been a very funny day.
Mr Ohso went to see the doctor today. He'd had to wait a week for an appointment and only a locum available.
Our doctor has two practices in Bracknell so we are always asked which one we want to attend. And we always say the nearest.
So, Mr Ohso turned up only to be told his appointment was at the other surgery. When he said no he'd booked the nearest to us he was told he hadn't and if he couldn't get there it was his hard luck.
An older receptionist recognised Mr Ohso was about to explode and told him it was ok he could see the doctor. The really funny thing was the doctor he was booked to see was - you guessed it - at our local surgery.
He saw the doctor and got told off for not going sooner. Never mind that the doc raised his eyes when he saw what had been prescribed for the same ailment a few months ago, so the doc got an earful. He protested he was only the locum. Mr Ohso said he was only a patient so buck his fucking ideas up.
Mr Ohso trotted off to the chemist to get the prescription filled. Sorry we don't have that in stock, they said. You'll need to get the doc to prescribe something else.
Back to the doctors & got it changed, went back to the chemist, they looked at the prescription and said, sorry we haven't got that either. You'll need to go back and get it changed. We have a generic substitute. Here's a note asking him to okay it.
At this point Mr Ohso came home...And had a general rant and rave.
I calmed him down and he drove me to another chemist who didn't have it either, so back I go to the doctors get it changed, then back to the chemist, got the prescription and home...
All I could think was, thank God we're still up to running around like that - just. What if we weren't?
Mr Ohso says the country is going to hell in a hand basket.
Mr Ohso went to see the doctor today. He'd had to wait a week for an appointment and only a locum available.
Our doctor has two practices in Bracknell so we are always asked which one we want to attend. And we always say the nearest.
So, Mr Ohso turned up only to be told his appointment was at the other surgery. When he said no he'd booked the nearest to us he was told he hadn't and if he couldn't get there it was his hard luck.
An older receptionist recognised Mr Ohso was about to explode and told him it was ok he could see the doctor. The really funny thing was the doctor he was booked to see was - you guessed it - at our local surgery.
He saw the doctor and got told off for not going sooner. Never mind that the doc raised his eyes when he saw what had been prescribed for the same ailment a few months ago, so the doc got an earful. He protested he was only the locum. Mr Ohso said he was only a patient so buck his fucking ideas up.
Mr Ohso trotted off to the chemist to get the prescription filled. Sorry we don't have that in stock, they said. You'll need to get the doc to prescribe something else.
Back to the doctors & got it changed, went back to the chemist, they looked at the prescription and said, sorry we haven't got that either. You'll need to go back and get it changed. We have a generic substitute. Here's a note asking him to okay it.
At this point Mr Ohso came home...And had a general rant and rave.
I calmed him down and he drove me to another chemist who didn't have it either, so back I go to the doctors get it changed, then back to the chemist, got the prescription and home...
All I could think was, thank God we're still up to running around like that - just. What if we weren't?
Mr Ohso says the country is going to hell in a hand basket.
We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. – Aesop
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Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
How embarrassing. I don't know which Re Tweet it could be...I send so many.@oldsilvertone 2 hrs
@dimayray Thanks For your R/T Diane. ITV News Has Covered the Storyx
I'll have to have look....
We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. – Aesop
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Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
Joel Taylor @JoelTaylorMetro 13 mins
Intriguing; Lord Ashcroft is resigning from the House of Lords http://ln.is/www.lordashcroft.com/ugYEK" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; … Considering the trouble it took to get him there...
Duncan Hothersall @dhothersall 18 mins
Lord Ashcroft is keeping the peerage, you realise. He's just not going to do any of the work. That's all he's saying.
Intriguing; Lord Ashcroft is resigning from the House of Lords http://ln.is/www.lordashcroft.com/ugYEK" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; … Considering the trouble it took to get him there...
Duncan Hothersall @dhothersall 18 mins
Lord Ashcroft is keeping the peerage, you realise. He's just not going to do any of the work. That's all he's saying.
We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. – Aesop
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Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
deleted because youtube video link was not the right one.
Last edited by yahyah on Tue 31 Mar, 2015 5:09 pm, edited 2 times in total.
- ErnstRemarx
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Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
Your other half's an American isn't he? His comment to you is pure Americana, but I like it almost as much as his response:ohsocynical wrote:It's been a very funny day.
Mr Ohso went to see the doctor today. He'd had to wait a week for an appointment and only a locum available.
Our doctor has two practices in Bracknell so we are always asked which one we want to attend. And we always say the nearest.
So, Mr Ohso turned up only to be told his appointment was at the other surgery. When he said no he'd booked the nearest to us he was told he hadn't and if he couldn't get there it was his hard luck.
An older receptionist recognised Mr Ohso was about to explode and told him it was ok he could see the doctor. The really funny thing was the doctor he was booked to see was - you guessed it - at our local surgery.
He saw the doctor and got told off for not going sooner. Never mind that the doc raised his eyes when he saw what had been prescribed for the same ailment a few months ago, so the doc got an earful. He protested he was only the locum. Mr Ohso said he was only a patient so buck his fucking ideas up.
Mr Ohso trotted off to the chemist to get the prescription filled. Sorry we don't have that in stock, they said. You'll need to get the doc to prescribe something else.
Back to the doctors & got it changed, went back to the chemist, they looked at the prescription and said, sorry we haven't got that either. You'll need to go back and get it changed. We have a generic substitute. Here's a note asking him to okay it.
At this point Mr Ohso came home...And had a general rant and rave.
I calmed him down and he drove me to another chemist who didn't have it either, so back I go to the doctors get it changed, then back to the chemist, got the prescription and home...
All I could think was, thank God we're still up to running around like that - just. What if we weren't?
Mr Ohso says the country is going to hell in a hand basket.
Which, frankly, has both genius and incredulity oozing through. Please give Mr. Ohso my very best regards, and inform him that I'd either like very much to meet him in person, or to avoid meeting him at all costs, given that I am a local politician.He protested he was only the locum. Mr Ohso said he was only a patient so buck his fucking ideas up.
Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/liv ... 9fe8b1f6ee" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Madness & absurdity
Madness & absurdity
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Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
ErnstRemarx wrote:Your other half's an American isn't he? His comment to you is pure Americana, but I like it almost as much as his response:ohsocynical wrote:It's been a very funny day.
Mr Ohso went to see the doctor today. He'd had to wait a week for an appointment and only a locum available.
Our doctor has two practices in Bracknell so we are always asked which one we want to attend. And we always say the nearest.
So, Mr Ohso turned up only to be told his appointment was at the other surgery. When he said no he'd booked the nearest to us he was told he hadn't and if he couldn't get there it was his hard luck.
An older receptionist recognised Mr Ohso was about to explode and told him it was ok he could see the doctor. The really funny thing was the doctor he was booked to see was - you guessed it - at our local surgery.
He saw the doctor and got told off for not going sooner. Never mind that the doc raised his eyes when he saw what had been prescribed for the same ailment a few months ago, so the doc got an earful. He protested he was only the locum. Mr Ohso said he was only a patient so buck his fucking ideas up.
Mr Ohso trotted off to the chemist to get the prescription filled. Sorry we don't have that in stock, they said. You'll need to get the doc to prescribe something else.
Back to the doctors & got it changed, went back to the chemist, they looked at the prescription and said, sorry we haven't got that either. You'll need to go back and get it changed. We have a generic substitute. Here's a note asking him to okay it.
At this point Mr Ohso came home...And had a general rant and rave.
I calmed him down and he drove me to another chemist who didn't have it either, so back I go to the doctors get it changed, then back to the chemist, got the prescription and home...
All I could think was, thank God we're still up to running around like that - just. What if we weren't?
Mr Ohso says the country is going to hell in a hand basket.
Which, frankly, has both genius and incredulity oozing through. Please give Mr. Ohso my very best regards, and inform him that I'd either like very much to meet him in person, or to avoid meeting him at all costs, given that I am a local politician.He protested he was only the locum. Mr Ohso said he was only a patient so buck his fucking ideas up.
I'll pass the message on.
He is normally very quiet and unassuming and gets on with practically everyone. This morning he wasn't feeling very well and the service at the doctors and adjoining chemist is becoming farcical.
Normally it's me running around like a blue ass fly between doctors and chemist. Today it was his turn. He was going to leave getting the final - he hoped - prescription sorted until tomorrow, but I feared for his blood pressure so did it for him.
Later I tried telling him his SERPS pension has been mucked around with as per YahYah's post at the top of the page, but when he started to turn puce - I dropped it.
We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. – Aesop
Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
Francis Maude is going to be taking viewers' questions on BBC News24 later on. Yes, I know. That's what I thought, too.
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Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
My favourite Americanism is Mr Ohso when he doesn't believe someone.
He says, 'Oh yeah. My ass is a bloater and we aint got fish for tea.' I've ever been quite sure that it makes complete sense but I always get the drift.
And: 'Yes sure. And you can kiss my ass in Time Square.'
He says, 'Oh yeah. My ass is a bloater and we aint got fish for tea.' I've ever been quite sure that it makes complete sense but I always get the drift.
And: 'Yes sure. And you can kiss my ass in Time Square.'
We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. – Aesop
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Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/econo ... did-ids-do" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Is this satirical?Duncan Smith was the first secretary of state with responsibility for welfare ever to be appointed to the job actually to have a proper background in the subject. He arrived in Whitehall with a clear vision and a determination to put it through. David Cameron tried to move him from the job, but Duncan Smith was committed to the task and stayed with it. He understood, like his lieutenant David Freud, that this is extraordinarily important. Getting a million and more people into jobs means that they feel better, are better off, more secure, more independent, happier and literally healthier. They are also more likely to be good citizens.
This transformation has surely been the greatest improvement to have been made by a British government in the last 30 years. Duncan Smith and Freud are doubtless aware of what they have achieved. But they also know that after the election, they are probably going to be moved aside. The question then will be the following: will those who take over at the DWP understand what has been achieved and how? Will they take unemployment to even lower levels or will they—as politicians in the 1960s and 1970s did—gradually ruin what they have inherited?
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Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
Right wing thinking Tubby, not thinking as we know it.
- ErnstRemarx
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Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
Oh, I get that one. He'll have told you what bloaters are, no doubt. One of my personal faves comes from my Scouse father in law (from Birkenhead): "Son, don't piss down me back an' tell me's it rainin'", also used to good effect by his darling daughter and, I've little doubt, in years to come by his doted upon grand daughter.ohsocynical wrote:My favourite Americanism is Mr Ohso when he doesn't believe someone.
He says, 'Oh yeah. My ass is a bloater and we aint got fish for tea.' I've ever been quite sure that it makes complete sense but I always get the drift.
And: 'Yes sure. And you can kiss my ass in Time Square.'
- mbc1955
- Lord Chancellor
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Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
I very much fear not. Not even the most able satirist could be that laudatory without puking.Tubby Isaacs wrote:http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/econo ... did-ids-do
Is this satirical?Duncan Smith was the first secretary of state with responsibility for welfare ever to be appointed to the job actually to have a proper background in the subject. He arrived in Whitehall with a clear vision and a determination to put it through. David Cameron tried to move him from the job, but Duncan Smith was committed to the task and stayed with it. He understood, like his lieutenant David Freud, that this is extraordinarily important. Getting a million and more people into jobs means that they feel better, are better off, more secure, more independent, happier and literally healthier. They are also more likely to be good citizens.
This transformation has surely been the greatest improvement to have been made by a British government in the last 30 years. Duncan Smith and Freud are doubtless aware of what they have achieved. But they also know that after the election, they are probably going to be moved aside. The question then will be the following: will those who take over at the DWP understand what has been achieved and how? Will they take unemployment to even lower levels or will they—as politicians in the 1960s and 1970s did—gradually ruin what they have inherited?
The truth ferret speaks!
- ErnstRemarx
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Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
It's grossly fucking stupid, whatever it is.Tubby Isaacs wrote:http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/econo ... did-ids-do
Is this satirical?Duncan Smith was the first secretary of state with responsibility for welfare ever to be appointed to the job actually to have a proper background in the subject. He arrived in Whitehall with a clear vision and a determination to put it through. David Cameron tried to move him from the job, but Duncan Smith was committed to the task and stayed with it. He understood, like his lieutenant David Freud, that this is extraordinarily important. Getting a million and more people into jobs means that they feel better, are better off, more secure, more independent, happier and literally healthier. They are also more likely to be good citizens.
This transformation has surely been the greatest improvement to have been made by a British government in the last 30 years. Duncan Smith and Freud are doubtless aware of what they have achieved. But they also know that after the election, they are probably going to be moved aside. The question then will be the following: will those who take over at the DWP understand what has been achieved and how? Will they take unemployment to even lower levels or will they—as politicians in the 1960s and 1970s did—gradually ruin what they have inherited?
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Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
I suspect that's one locum who won't go on to become an GP....ErnstRemarx wrote:Your other half's an American isn't he? His comment to you is pure Americana, but I like it almost as much as his response:ohsocynical wrote:It's been a very funny day.
Mr Ohso went to see the doctor today. He'd had to wait a week for an appointment and only a locum available.
Our doctor has two practices in Bracknell so we are always asked which one we want to attend. And we always say the nearest.
So, Mr Ohso turned up only to be told his appointment was at the other surgery. When he said no he'd booked the nearest to us he was told he hadn't and if he couldn't get there it was his hard luck.
An older receptionist recognised Mr Ohso was about to explode and told him it was ok he could see the doctor. The really funny thing was the doctor he was booked to see was - you guessed it - at our local surgery.
He saw the doctor and got told off for not going sooner. Never mind that the doc raised his eyes when he saw what had been prescribed for the same ailment a few months ago, so the doc got an earful. He protested he was only the locum. Mr Ohso said he was only a patient so buck his fucking ideas up.
Mr Ohso trotted off to the chemist to get the prescription filled. Sorry we don't have that in stock, they said. You'll need to get the doc to prescribe something else.
Back to the doctors & got it changed, went back to the chemist, they looked at the prescription and said, sorry we haven't got that either. You'll need to go back and get it changed. We have a generic substitute. Here's a note asking him to okay it.
At this point Mr Ohso came home...And had a general rant and rave.
I calmed him down and he drove me to another chemist who didn't have it either, so back I go to the doctors get it changed, then back to the chemist, got the prescription and home...
All I could think was, thank God we're still up to running around like that - just. What if we weren't?
Mr Ohso says the country is going to hell in a hand basket.
Which, frankly, has both genius and incredulity oozing through. Please give Mr. Ohso my very best regards, and inform him that I'd either like very much to meet him in person, or to avoid meeting him at all costs, given that I am a local politician.He protested he was only the locum. Mr Ohso said he was only a patient so buck his fucking ideas up.
We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. – Aesop
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Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
I read stuff like that and feel a scream boiling up in my throat.mbc1955 wrote:I very much fear not. Not even the most able satirist could be that laudatory without puking.Tubby Isaacs wrote:http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/econo ... did-ids-do
Is this satirical?Duncan Smith was the first secretary of state with responsibility for welfare ever to be appointed to the job actually to have a proper background in the subject. He arrived in Whitehall with a clear vision and a determination to put it through. David Cameron tried to move him from the job, but Duncan Smith was committed to the task and stayed with it. He understood, like his lieutenant David Freud, that this is extraordinarily important. Getting a million and more people into jobs means that they feel better, are better off, more secure, more independent, happier and literally healthier. They are also more likely to be good citizens.
This transformation has surely been the greatest improvement to have been made by a British government in the last 30 years. Duncan Smith and Freud are doubtless aware of what they have achieved. But they also know that after the election, they are probably going to be moved aside. The question then will be the following: will those who take over at the DWP understand what has been achieved and how? Will they take unemployment to even lower levels or will they—as politicians in the 1960s and 1970s did—gradually ruin what they have inherited?
We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. – Aesop
- TechnicalEphemera
- Speaker of the House
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Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
From Andy McSmith in the Indy.
Jesus Christ, anybody know how to complain to the BBC?Interesting that the BBC gave the job of interviewing David Cameron on the Today programme to Sarah Montague. It is not being suggested that she gave the Prime Minister an unnecessarily easy ride, but there is a family link which may have helped put Cameron at his ease. Montague is married to Sir Christoph Brooke, the 12th baronet Brooke, who was at Eton with Cameron – they are just three months apart in age. The couple were among the guests at the party the Camerons’ Christmas party at Chequers three months ago.
Release the Guardvarks.
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Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
Don't bother TE, they'll patronise you in response telling why you are wrong and they are right.
Re: Tuesday 31st March 2015
So help with promoting Marr's book and apparently close enough friends with a R4 reporter's spouse that they're invited to the Christmas party.TechnicalEphemera wrote:From Andy McSmith in the Indy.
Jesus Christ, anybody know how to complain to the BBC?Interesting that the BBC gave the job of interviewing David Cameron on the Today programme to Sarah Montague. It is not being suggested that she gave the Prime Minister an unnecessarily easy ride, but there is a family link which may have helped put Cameron at his ease. Montague is married to Sir Christoph Brooke, the 12th baronet Brooke, who was at Eton with Cameron – they are just three months apart in age. The couple were among the guests at the party the Camerons’ Christmas party at Chequers three months ago.
Is there anyone in our supposedly neutral broadcaster who isn't on personal terms with Cameron?