The stats look super - but the missing stat is imports. The UK, despite things moving generally in the right direction, still has a huge trade balance problem. We need either a superhuman export success or to stop buying so much imported tat & energy.
It is quite difficult to raise exports and lower imports when the pound has risen in value by 10% in a year (against Bloomberg basket).
We are doing it though but at the pace of a snail on barbiturates.
Eurozone upturn should help.
What flavour of cheese do you favour you surrender monkey ? That's total bollocks. Productivity and innovation drive the BoP. That Osborne lacks policies to address either simply shows how little he understands the economy.
Markit's UK Manufacturing PMI comes in a 56.7, a touch down on December's 57.2, but still well above series average of 51.3.
Factory outputs up, strong inflow of orders, improved domestic demand and rising export orders all reported. Near record rates of new employment, across all enterprise sizes and sectors. Input and output prices rising but at a declining rate.
Who needs a new leader when we have an economy performing like this?
Unfortunately Mr Pole you didn't think to do some reforms in 2011, such as freeing up protecting these behemoths ? Much better to break them up and have a functioning banking sector.
Not rising to the bait this morning, Mr. Brooke.
There is a queue of yellow boxes waiting for your East Midlands twin and I have a strict 4 hour turnaround target to meet.
Bank recapitalisation and ring-fencing first. Better to be safe before the bankers go out a'courting the metal bashers.
Don't sell your Lloyds shares: they are about to pay a dividend.
Heard it all before - jam three weeks next Tuesday. world peace and free beer.
I used to think you southern finance chappies thought the rest were daft with your "simply adjusting" theme on banking now I think it's actually you that are deluded. Just how many "one-offs" do there have to be before you recognise there not one-offs but the trading reality. seeking to keep the Brown banking settlement which got us into the mess in the first place, just shows how removed from reality you are - Einstein's statement etc.
Technical point - if they get to 44 votes but not 45 - and then Cameron loses 4 MP's so he is at 299 instead of the current 303 - that makes the 15% requirement 44 not 45 - is a no confidence vote then triggered?
Presumably it would be - if not I guess one of the existing signatories could give the process a kick by withdrawing their letter then sending it in again...
If a number of Members of the House of Commons, in receipt of the Conservative Whip, amounting to not less than 15% of the members of the parliamentary party advise the Chairman of the 1922 Committee in writing, either collectively or separately, that they wish there to be a vote of confidence in the leader, the Chairman, without disclosing the names of any of the signatories, shall inform the leader of the party that a vote of confidence is to be held.
"The Chairman, after consultation with the leader, shall determine the actual date of such a vote which shall be held as soon as possible in the circumstances prevailing.
"If the leader receives a simple majority of the votes cast in such a ballot, he shall remain as leader and no further vote of confidence shall be called for a period of at least 12 months from the date of the ballot.
"If the leader fails to obtain a majority of the votes cast, he shall resign as leader of the party and shall not be permitted to stand in the election which follows."
So yeah, presumably it could be triggered by a death or resignation, since the parliamentary party will shrink at that point. (I suppose this is better for Cameron than it being triggered by the by-election loss that follows a death or resignation.)
Although given that the 44/45 still have to be holding the Conservative whip that avoids the issue of (say) 4 of them defecting to UKIP en masse post May, simultaneously triggering a leadership vote in the party in which they have just left.
The stats look super - but the missing stat is imports. The UK, despite things moving generally in the right direction, still has a huge trade balance problem. We need either a superhuman export success or to stop buying so much imported tat & energy.
It is quite difficult to raise exports and lower imports when the pound has risen in value by 10% in a year (against Bloomberg basket).
We are doing it though but at the pace of a snail on barbiturates.
Eurozone upturn should help.
What flavour of cheese do you favour you surrender monkey ? That's total bollocks. Productivity and innovation drive the BoP. That Osborne lacks policies to address either simply shows how little he understands the economy.
Markit's UK Manufacturing PMI comes in a 56.7, a touch down on December's 57.2, but still well above series average of 51.3.
Factory outputs up, strong inflow of orders, improved domestic demand and rising export orders all reported. Near record rates of new employment, across all enterprise sizes and sectors. Input and output prices rising but at a declining rate.
Who needs a new leader when we have an economy performing like this?
Unfortunately Mr Pole you didn't think to do some reforms in 2011, such as freeing up commercial finance, getting training programmes on a roll, encouraging capital investment. I suppose it's only a matter of time until we start to hit the capacity buffers in our shrunken manufacturing sector. If you had done some reforms the indices could keep rolling for some time yet.
In other good news LBG takes a £ 1.8bn charge for PPI. So with RBS I make that nearly £5 billion of misconduct charges for the tax payer to bail out in the last week. Why are we protecting these behemoths ? Much better to break them up and have a functioning banking sector.
Not rising to the bait this morning, Mr. Brooke.
There is a queue of yellow boxes waiting for your East Midlands twin and I have a strict 4 hour turnaround target to meet.
Bank recapitalisation and ring-fencing first. Better to be safe before the bankers go out a'courting the metal bashers.
Don't sell your Lloyds shares: they are about to pay a dividend.
You mean the prefs I bought a couple of years ago are finally going to pay out...?
Rather amusing portrait of tory Eurosceptics contained within.
"Sometimes you discover a gobbet of opinion to cut out and keep for future reference. Here, from a few days ago, is Matthew Parris, most feted of Times political observers, former Tory MP, Thatcher aide and EU agnostic, scenting a backbench Conservative "fifth column" bent on destroying David Cameron. "For these people the European Union is the Great Satan of their political lifetimes. All else is subordinated to fighting this evil.
"We are dealing here with a quasi-religious fanaticism, according to which even a referendum may be a snare because followers believe – like those Marxists with whom they have much in common – that the masses may be deluded into 'false consciousness' by a lying autocracy … They will never trust Mr Cameron with a referendum … They will not rest until he's gone. And they will never say so."
Bit hard to imagine why they hate the Cameroons so much after that.
Markit's UK Manufacturing PMI comes in a 56.7, a touch down on December's 57.2, but still well above series average of 51.3.
Factory outputs up, strong inflow of orders, improved domestic demand and rising export orders all reported. Near record rates of new employment, across all enterprise sizes and sectors. Input and output prices rising but at a declining rate.
Who needs a new leader when we have an economy performing like this?
Unfortunately Mr Pole you didn't think to do some reforms in 2011, such as freeing up commercial finance, getting training programmes on a roll, encouraging capital investment. I suppose it's only a matter of time until we start to hit the capacity buffers in our shrunken manufacturing sector. If you had done some reforms the indices could keep rolling for some time yet.
In other good news LBG takes a £ 1.8bn charge for PPI. So with RBS I make that nearly £5 billion of misconduct charges for the tax payer to bail out in the last week. Why are we protecting these behemoths ? Much better to break them up and have a functioning banking sector.
Not rising to the bait this morning, Mr. Brooke.
There is a queue of yellow boxes waiting for your East Midlands twin and I have a strict 4 hour turnaround target to meet.
Bank recapitalisation and ring-fencing first. Better to be safe before the bankers go out a'courting the metal bashers.
Don't sell your Lloyds shares: they are about to pay a dividend.
You mean the prefs I bought a couple of years ago are finally going to pay out...?
The stats look super - but the missing stat is imports. The UK, despite things moving generally in the right direction, still has a huge trade balance problem. We need either a superhuman export success or to stop buying so much imported tat & energy.
It is quite difficult to raise exports and lower imports when the pound has risen in value by 10% in a year (against Bloomberg basket).
We are doing it though but at the pace of a snail on barbiturates.
Eurozone upturn should help.
What flavour of cheese do you favour you surrender monkey ? That's total bollocks. Productivity and innovation drive the BoP. That Osborne lacks policies to address either simply shows how little he understands the economy.
Markit's UK Manufacturing PMI comes in a 56.7, a touch down on December's 57.2, but still well above series average of 51.3.
Factory outputs up, strong inflow of orders, improved domestic demand and rising export orders all reported. Near record rates of new employment, across all enterprise sizes and sectors. Input and output prices rising but at a declining rate.
Who needs a new leader when we have an economy performing like this?
The stats look super - but the missing stat is imports. The UK, despite things moving generally in the right direction, still has a huge trade balance problem. We need either a superhuman export success or to stop buying so much imported tat & energy.
It is quite difficult to raise exports and lower imports when the pound has risen in value by 10% in a year (against Bloomberg basket).
We are doing it though but at the pace of a snail on barbiturates.
Eurozone upturn should help.
What flavour of cheese do you favour you surrender monkey ? That's total bollocks. Productivity and innovation drive the BoP. That Osborne lacks policies to address either simply shows how little he understands the economy.
Port Salop, Mr. Brooke.
And Gruyère if cooked.
Boursin is a secret indulgence.
As ever imports.
get thee to Paxtons and find some real cheese.
I had my first job working the tills at Paxtons
Kudos Charles !
That's one of the shops I'd really enjoy working in, I never get bored when I walk in in, there's always something new to try.
Markit's UK Manufacturing PMI comes in a 56.7, a touch down on December's 57.2, but still well above series average of 51.3.
Factory outputs up, strong inflow of orders, improved domestic demand and rising export orders all reported. Near record rates of new employment, across all enterprise sizes and sectors. Input and output prices rising but at a declining rate.
Who needs a new leader when we have an economy performing like this?
The stats look super - but the missing stat is imports. The UK, despite things moving generally in the right direction, still has a huge trade balance problem. We need either a superhuman export success or to stop buying so much imported tat & energy.
It is quite difficult to raise exports and lower imports when the pound has risen in value by 10% in a year (against Bloomberg basket).
We are doing it though but at the pace of a snail on barbiturates.
Eurozone upturn should help.
What flavour of cheese do you favour you surrender monkey ? That's total bollocks. Productivity and innovation drive the BoP. That Osborne lacks policies to address either simply shows how little he understands the economy.
Port Salop, Mr. Brooke.
And Gruyère if cooked.
Boursin is a secret indulgence.
As ever imports.
get thee to Paxtons and find some real cheese.
I had my first job working the tills at Paxtons
Kudos Charles !
That's one of the shops I'd really enjoy working in, I never get bored when I walk in in, there's always something new to try.
It was a lot of fun. Unfortunately it has left me with a hatred of all things stilton - I had to carry a tonne and a half up (in 1lb baby truckles) up a flight of stairs one Christmas and the smell still gets me!
Markit's UK Manufacturing PMI comes in a 56.7, a touch down on December's 57.2, but still well above series average of 51.3.
Factory outputs up, strong inflow of orders, improved domestic demand and rising export orders all reported. Near record rates of new employment, across all enterprise sizes and sectors. Input and output prices rising but at a declining rate.
Who needs a new leader when we have an economy performing like this?
The stats look super - but the missing stat is imports. The UK, despite things moving generally in the right direction, still has a huge trade balance problem. We need either a superhuman export success or to stop buying so much imported tat & energy.
It is quite difficult to raise exports and lower imports when the pound has risen in value by 10% in a year (against Bloomberg basket).
We are doing it though but at the pace of a snail on barbiturates.
Eurozone upturn should help.
What flavour of cheese do you favour you surrender monkey ? That's total bollocks. Productivity and innovation drive the BoP. That Osborne lacks policies to address either simply shows how little he understands the economy.
Port Salop, Mr. Brooke.
And Gruyère if cooked.
Boursin is a secret indulgence.
As ever imports.
get thee to Paxtons and find some real cheese.
I had my first job working the tills at Paxtons
Floris would have improved your dating chances, Charles.
Born in 1937, she won the Cynon Valley by-election in 1984. She leaves a 32.2% majority over Plaid.
A little factoid about Cynon Valley and its predecessors: it has been Labour in one form or another longer than any other constituency in the country, going back to Keir Hardie's win in 1900 (though it was won by an independent Labour MP during WWI and retained by him in 1918).
The stats look super - but the missing stat is imports. The UK, despite things moving generally in the right direction, still has a huge trade balance problem. We need either a superhuman export success or to stop buying so much imported tat & energy.
It is quite difficult to raise exports and lower imports when the pound has risen in value by 10% in a year (against Bloomberg basket).
We are doing it though but at the pace of a snail on barbiturates.
Eurozone upturn should help.
What flavour of cheese do you favour you surrender monkey ? That's total bollocks. Productivity and innovation drive the BoP. That Osborne lacks policies to address either simply shows how little he understands the economy.
Port Salop, Mr. Brooke.
And Gruyère if cooked.
Boursin is a secret indulgence.
As ever imports.
get thee to Paxtons and find some real cheese.
I had my first job working the tills at Paxtons
Kudos Charles !
That's one of the shops I'd really enjoy working in, I never get bored when I walk in in, there's always something new to try.
Stinking Bishop is reasonably local to Warwickshire, Mr. Brooke.
Just leave it in the larder to mature for a couple of days.
I think the only reason the Gove story might have legs is because it involves Michael Gove. I refrain from using nasty and violent "face you want to punch" meme employed by many on here, but he is certainly a figure many find unpalatable. Short man syndrome and a general sneering disdain for normal people are epithets that follow him around.
His wife hasn't helped with her advocacy of violence against perfectly law-abiding cyclists recently.
Markit's UK Manufacturing PMI comes in a 56.7, a touch down on December's 57.2, but still well above series average of 51.3.
Factory outputs up, strong inflow of orders, improved domestic demand and rising export orders all reported. Near record rates of new employment, across all enterprise sizes and sectors. Input and output prices rising but at a declining rate.
Who needs a new leader when we have an economy performing like this?
Unfortunately Mr Pole you didn't think to do some reforms in 2011, such as freeing up commercial finance, getting training programmes on a roll, encouraging capital investment. I suppose it's only a matter of time until we start to hit the capacity buffers in our shrunken manufacturing sector. If you had done some reforms the indices could keep rolling for some time yet.
In other good news LBG takes a £ 1.8bn charge for PPI. So with RBS I make that nearly £5 billion of misconduct charges for the tax payer to bail out in the last week. Why are we protecting these behemoths ? Much better to break them up and have a functioning banking sector.
Not rising to the bait this morning, Mr. Brooke.
There is a queue of yellow boxes waiting for your East Midlands twin and I have a strict 4 hour turnaround target to meet.
Bank recapitalisation and ring-fencing first. Better to be safe before the bankers go out a'courting the metal bashers.
Don't sell your Lloyds shares: they are about to pay a dividend.
You mean the prefs I bought a couple of years ago are finally going to pay out...?
The stats look super - but the missing stat is imports. The UK, despite things moving generally in the right direction, still has a huge trade balance problem. We need either a superhuman export success or to stop buying so much imported tat & energy.
It is quite difficult to raise exports and lower imports when the pound has risen in value by 10% in a year (against Bloomberg basket).
We are doing it though but at the pace of a snail on barbiturates.
Eurozone upturn should help.
What flavour of cheese do you favour you surrender monkey ? That's total bollocks. Productivity and innovation drive the BoP. That Osborne lacks policies to address either simply shows how little he understands the economy.
Port Salop, Mr. Brooke.
And Gruyère if cooked.
Boursin is a secret indulgence.
As ever imports.
get thee to Paxtons and find some real cheese.
I had my first job working the tills at Paxtons
Floris would have improved your dating chances, Charles.
Markit's UK Manufacturing PMI comes in a 56.7, a touch down on December's 57.2, but still well above series average of 51.3.
Factory outputs up, strong inflow of orders, improved domestic demand and rising export orders all reported. Near record rates of new employment, across all enterprise sizes and sectors. Input and output prices rising but at a declining rate.
Who needs a new leader when we have an economy performing like this?
Unfortunately Mr Pole you didn't think to do some reforms in 2011, such as freeing up commercial finance, getting training programmes on a roll, encouraging capital investment. I suppose it's only a matter of time until we start to hit the capacity buffers in our shrunken manufacturing sector. If you had done some reforms the indices could keep rolling for some time yet.
In other good news LBG takes a £ 1.8bn charge for PPI. So with RBS I make that nearly £5 billion of misconduct charges for the tax payer to bail out in the last week. Why are we protecting these behemoths ? Much better to break them up and have a functioning banking sector.
Not rising to the bait this morning, Mr. Brooke.
There is a queue of yellow boxes waiting for your East Midlands twin and I have a strict 4 hour turnaround target to meet.
Bank recapitalisation and ring-fencing first. Better to be safe before the bankers go out a'courting the metal bashers.
Don't sell your Lloyds shares: they are about to pay a dividend.
You mean the prefs I bought a couple of years ago are finally going to pay out...?
As long as it was only two years ago, Mr. Brooke.
Six years ago would be a problem.
I'd need to check the exact numbers, but I only paid about 60p in the £
Has anyone noticed the latest LibDem get out of jail free plan?
You mean Clegg's ostrich faction of spinners latest attempts at 'differentiation' before a set of elections? Just like all the other times they've tried it and failed.
Vapid posturing on Ofsted won't make any difference. The lib dems have been flatlining on 10% since late 2010 so I somehow doubt Laws sounding off will miraculously change that.
I'm not convinced that bringing Laws into public view is a good LD move.
The Cleggites seem hell bent on having Clegg centre stage for an election campaign so it's not that surprising.
The stats look super - but the missing stat is imports. The UK, despite things moving generally in the right direction, still has a huge trade balance problem. We need either a superhuman export success or to stop buying so much imported tat & energy.
It is quite difficult to raise exports and lower imports when the pound has risen in value by
Eurozone upturn should help.
What flavour of cheese do you favour you surrender monkey ? That's total bollocks. Productivity and innovation drive the BoP. That Osborne lacks policies to address either simply shows how little he understands the economy.
Port Salop, Mr. Brooke.
And Gruyère if cooked.
Boursin is a secret indulgence.
As ever imports.
get thee to Paxtons and find some real cheese.
I had my first job working the tills at Paxtons
Kudos Charles !
That's one of the shops I'd really enjoy working in, I never get bored when I walk in in, there's always something new to try.
Stinking Bishop is reasonably local to Warwickshire, Mr. Brooke.
Just leave it in the larder to mature for a couple of days.
Oh don't be silly young Pole, we have lots of local cheeses in this region and a decent range of shops that sell them. Your tastes veer to the french which simply shows you've not bothered trying much of the local stuff, your loss as ever. However since you're that way inclined try Ami du chambertin which smells and tastes like a salope in any Port. ( french dictionary required ! )
I very much like the bet on David Cameron going before Nick Clegg at 7/1. If Nick Clegg makes it to the next election (which must now be quite short odds on), this is an even money bet if Labour have an overall majority, firmly odds on if Labour have most seats without an overall majority and not a bad bet otherwise so long as the Conservatives don't get an overall majority.
Others can do the maths more accurately, but I'd say it's no worse than a 2/1 shot and quite possibly shorter.
The stats look super - but the missing stat is imports. The UK, despite things moving generally in the right direction, still has a huge trade balance problem. We need either a superhuman export success or to stop buying so much imported tat & energy.
It is quite difficult to raise exports and lower imports when the pound has risen in value by
Eurozone upturn should help.
What flavour of cheese do you favour you surrender monkey ? That's total bollocks. Productivity and innovation drive the BoP. That Osborne lacks policies to address either simply shows how little he understands the economy.
Port Salop, Mr. Brooke.
And Gruyère if cooked.
Boursin is a secret indulgence.
As ever imports.
get thee to Paxtons and find some real cheese.
I had my first job working the tills at Paxtons
Kudos Charles !
That's one of the shops I'd really enjoy working in, I never get bored when I walk in in, there's always something new to try.
Stinking Bishop is reasonably local to Warwickshire, Mr. Brooke.
Just leave it in the larder to mature for a couple of days.
Oh don't be silly young Pole, we have lots of local cheeses in this region and a decent range of shops that sell them. Your tastes veer to the french which simply shows you've not bothered trying much of the local stuff, your loss as ever. However since you're that way inclined try Ami du chambertin which smells and tastes like a salope in any Port. ( french dictionary required ! )
The stats look super - but the missing stat is imports. The UK, despite things moving generally in the right direction, still has a huge trade balance problem. We need either a superhuman export success or to stop buying so much imported tat & energy.
It is quite difficult to raise exports and lower imports when the pound has risen in value by
Eurozone upturn should help.
What flavour of cheese do you favour you surrender monkey ? That's total bollocks. Productivity and innovation drive the BoP. That Osborne lacks policies to address either simply shows how little he understands the economy.
Port Salop, Mr. Brooke.
And Gruyère if cooked.
Boursin is a secret indulgence.
As ever imports.
get thee to Paxtons and find some real cheese.
I had my first job working the tills at Paxtons
Kudos Charles !
That's one of the shops I'd really enjoy working in, I never get bored when I walk in in, there's always something new to try.
Stinking Bishop is reasonably local to Warwickshire, Mr. Brooke.
Just leave it in the larder to mature for a couple of days.
Oh don't be silly young Pole, we have lots of local cheeses in this region and a decent range of shops that sell them. Your tastes veer to the french which simply shows you've not bothered trying much of the local stuff, your loss as ever. However since you're that way inclined try Ami du chambertin which smells and tastes like a salope in any Port. ( french dictionary required ! )
I think the only reason the Gove story might have legs is because it involves Michael Gove. I refrain from using nasty and violent "face you want to punch" meme employed by many on here, but he is certainly a figure many find unpalatable. Short man syndrome and a general sneering disdain for normal people are epithets that follow him around.
His wife hasn't helped with her advocacy of violence against perfectly law-abiding cyclists recently.
People are scared of him, intellectually. He could happily stand in front of you and debate his views on education and there aren't many SoSs that could do so with such a depth of knowledge.
So people (you in this instance) pick on a physical attribute, albeit backhandedly.
That his physiognomy will, sadly, rule him out of PM contendership, frees him up not to be ambitious but to pursue his undoubted passion, namely education.
I think the only reason the Gove story might have legs is because it involves Michael Gove. I refrain from using nasty and violent "face you want to punch" meme employed by many on here, but he is certainly a figure many find unpalatable. Short man syndrome and a general sneering disdain for normal people are epithets that follow him around.
His wife hasn't helped with her advocacy of violence against perfectly law-abiding cyclists recently.
It's an arms race - "I hate Gove", "No I hate him more"...
Can Mr Smithson Junior confirm that I am not SeanT, even if I do bear a certain resemblance, and hang out in strangely similar places? We're very close friends, but we're not identical.
Gove, intellectual powerhouse or just another second-rate Blair impersonator among many in Cammie's chumocracy?
Tony Blair's misleading lesson
They call Tony Blair the master and quote from his book. But Tories should beware the ex-PM's own hype
It's love. "I love A Journey," Michael Gove has confessed to this newspaper. Tony Blair's memoirs are like no other book he has ever read, he declared. And Gove's passion is shared by many in the cabinet. David Cameron has admitted how much he enjoyed the book; George Osborne is said to have an audio version, which allows him to hear the author telling his story in his own voice. At No 10 and No 11 Blair is known as "The Master".
I think the only reason the Gove story might have legs is because it involves Michael Gove. I refrain from using nasty and violent "face you want to punch" meme employed by many on here, but he is certainly a figure many find unpalatable. Short man syndrome and a general sneering disdain for normal people are epithets that follow him around.
His wife hasn't helped with her advocacy of violence against perfectly law-abiding cyclists recently.
People are scared of him, intellectually. He could happily stand in front of you and debate his views on education and there aren't many SoSs that could do so with such a depth of knowledge.
So people (you in this instance) pick on a physical attribute, albeit backhandedly.
That his physiognomy will, sadly, rule him out of PM contendership, frees him up not to be ambitious but to pursue his undoubted passion, namely education.
I have few strong feelings about him. I am merely trying to analyse why the press are so keen on the story.
Ukip supporters really dislike posh Dave… but they can't stand Ed Miliband either In different ways, both David Cameron, the Etonian Oxford graduate from the stockbroker belt, and Ed Miliband, the Oxford-educated policy wonk from the North London intelligentsia, alienate the struggling blue-collar voters who are defecting en masse to Ukip. Both leaders have led lives a million miles away from the life of the average Ukip voter. This makes it hard for them to credibly claim to understand or represent the struggles of these voters who feel insecure, left behind and angry....
According to this article, Conservatives would be best off asking Ukip voting ex Tories who should be next leader!
I don't think they're are right that ukip supporters dislike Cameron because of his privileged upbringing, Farage is hardly a kid from a council estate, Boris has the same background and is v popular and anyway it's a crass generalisation to assume that blue collar workers instinctively resent ex public schoolboys. It's more his decisions in government that they dislike.
Boris gets away with being a metropolitan luvvie because he only has to deal with London, which isn't anything like a representation of the rest of the country socially or economically
I think the only reason the Gove story might have legs is because it involves Michael Gove. I refrain from using nasty and violent "face you want to punch" meme employed by many on here, but he is certainly a figure many find unpalatable. Short man syndrome and a general sneering disdain for normal people are epithets that follow him around.
His wife hasn't helped with her advocacy of violence against perfectly law-abiding cyclists recently.
People are scared of him, intellectually. He could happily stand in front of you and debate his views on education and there aren't many SoSs that could do so with such a depth of knowledge.
So people (you in this instance) pick on a physical attribute, albeit backhandedly.
That his physiognomy will, sadly, rule him out of PM contendership, frees him up not to be ambitious but to pursue his undoubted passion, namely education.
I have few strong feelings about him. I am merely trying to analyse why the press are so keen on the story.
Perhaps they smell the desperation - as Brogan points out
"The Lib Dems may have misjudged this one. Admitting that they are motivated by polling showing that they could win vote among public sector workers, especially teachers, by attacking Mr Gove, is hardly admirable. Desperate, more like.
And the way David Laws briefed out that he was "absolutely furious at the blatant attempts by the Tories to politicise Ofsted" goes some way beyond the scripted discourtesies of Coalition politics. As Peter McKay rightly observes in the Mail, why not just come out and say it?
Far more than the question of public appointments, this morning's saga invites some searching questions about the politics of Gove and the state of the Lib Dems.""
I think the only reason the Gove story might have legs is because it involves Michael Gove. I refrain from using nasty and violent "face you want to punch" meme employed by many on here, but he is certainly a figure many find unpalatable. Short man syndrome and a general sneering disdain for normal people are epithets that follow him around.
His wife hasn't helped with her advocacy of violence against perfectly law-abiding cyclists recently.
People are scared of him, intellectually. He could happily stand in front of you and debate his views on education and there aren't many SoSs that could do so with such a depth of knowledge.
So people (you in this instance) pick on a physical attribute, albeit backhandedly.
That his physiognomy will, sadly, rule him out of PM contendership, frees him up not to be ambitious but to pursue his undoubted passion, namely education.
I have few strong feelings about him. I am merely trying to analyse why the press are so keen on the story.
So it wasn't you, gov.
K.
They are keen on the story (or indeed anything mid-term, need something to spice our lives up especially as The Voice is such a damp squib) because it has some bite-sized easy-to-interpret elements, namely Tory gets rid of Lab-er, plus the teachers (cf. NHS) as well as the opposition are up in arms, as usual, so there are plenty of soundbites to flesh it out.
I think the only reason the Gove story might have legs is because it involves Michael Gove. I refrain from using nasty and violent "face you want to punch" meme employed by many on here, but he is certainly a figure many find unpalatable. Short man syndrome and a general sneering disdain for normal people are epithets that follow him around.
His wife hasn't helped with her advocacy of violence against perfectly law-abiding cyclists recently.
People are scared of him, intellectually. He could happily stand in front of you and debate his views on education and there aren't many SoSs that could do so with such a depth of knowledge.
So people (you in this instance) pick on a physical attribute, albeit backhandedly.
That his physiognomy will, sadly, rule him out of PM contendership, frees him up not to be ambitious but to pursue his undoubted passion, namely education.
I have few strong feelings about him. I am merely trying to analyse why the press are so keen on the story.
Because Clegg got Laws to push it for a change which captured their interest. The polling among lib dems is clear and it's why Clegg uses Gove for his vapid 'differentiation' posturing.
It's still meaningless. If Clegg was that upset with Gove he would draw a red line and things would start to go the way of boundary changes. They won't though. Gove is far too useful where he is for Clegg's 'differentiation' posturing.
I think the only reason the Gove story might have legs is because it involves Michael Gove. I refrain from using nasty and violent "face you want to punch" meme employed by many on here, but he is certainly a figure many find unpalatable. Short man syndrome and a general sneering disdain for normal people are epithets that follow him around.
His wife hasn't helped with her advocacy of violence against perfectly law-abiding cyclists recently.
People are scared of him, intellectually. He could happily stand in front of you and debate his views on education and there aren't many SoSs that could do so with such a depth of knowledge.
So people (you in this instance) pick on a physical attribute, albeit backhandedly.
That his physiognomy will, sadly, rule him out of PM contendership, frees him up not to be ambitious but to pursue his undoubted passion, namely education.
I have few strong feelings about him. I am merely trying to analyse why the press are so keen on the story.
Because Clegg got Laws to push it for a change which captured their interest. The polling among lib dems is clear and it's why Clegg uses Gove for his vapid 'differentiation' posturing.
It's still meaningless. If Clegg was that upset with Gove he would draw a red line and things would start to go the way of boundary changes. They won't though. Gove is far too useful where he is for Clegg's 'differentiation' posturing.
You should check with your economic guru Ed Balls as he might be upset with that assumption.
[quotations got mangled - my bit begins here]
More specifically, as I noted the other day, the arithmetic in the same poll (if it is the TNS poll that is meant?) shows that either all those who said "don't know", when asked their intention in the referendum, want to hear Mr Cameron debate, or some permutation of DKs and outright Nos (assuming all the Yes intenders want to hear Mr C). That';s a lot of key target voters - in fact, perhaps all of them - to hack off.
SLAB is using the twinning system. They paired constituencies. The 2 CLPs would meet together and select a woman and a man. Then the winner of the respective ballot with the highest vote will choose 1 constituency and the other will take the other left. So far they seem to have selected
Edinburgh Central: Sarah Boyack MSP Edinburgh Southern: Daniel Johnson
Edinburgh Eastern: Kezia Dougdale MSP Midlothian North and Mussleburgh: Bernard Harkins (2011 candidate)
Cumbernauld & Kilsyth: Mark Griffin MSP Clydesdale: Claudia Beamish MSP
East Kilbride: Lizanne Handibode (from Unison. She got it over Margaret McCulloch MSP) Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse: Jackie Burns (South Lanarkshire Cllr. He's a man))
I see the Government is getting Orwellian in its interpretation of language again. After realising that its original classification of David Miranda as "not a terrorist" meant they couldn't search his stuff without probable cause, they made the laughable reclassification:
"We assess that MIRANDA is knowingly carrying material, the release of which would endanger people's lives. Additionally the disclosure, or threat of the disclosure, is designed to influence a government, and is made for the purpose of promoting a political or ideological cause. This therefore falls within the definition of terrorism."
So whistle-blowing against civil liberties infringements, in order to discourage the government to infringe on civil liberties in future, now makes you a terrorist! And, of course, this is all defended by David Cameron because he makes national security policy on the back of fictional TV dramas.
Ukip supporters really dislike posh Dave… but they can't stand Ed Miliband either In different ways, both David Cameron, the Etonian Oxford graduate from the stockbroker belt, and Ed Miliband, the Oxford-educated policy wonk from the North London intelligentsia, alienate the struggling blue-collar voters who are defecting en masse to Ukip. Both leaders have led lives a million miles away from the life of the average Ukip voter. This makes it hard for them to credibly claim to understand or represent the struggles of these voters who feel insecure, left behind and angry....
According to this article, Conservatives would be best off asking Ukip voting ex Tories who should be next leader!
I don't think they're are right that ukip supporters dislike Cameron because of his privileged upbringing, Farage is hardly a kid from a council estate, Boris has the same background and is v popular and anyway it's a crass generalisation to assume that blue collar workers instinctively resent ex public schoolboys. It's more his decisions in government that they dislike.
Boris gets away with being a metropolitan luvvie because he only has to deal with London, which isn't anything like a representation of the rest of the country socially or economically
Also, Boris comes across as intellectually brilliant. You can get away with a lot, if you're really smart.
By Nat logic, Salmond should debate Barroso before the European or Holyrood elections..
Give it up - it's not happening - still its a good excuse for defeat.
But Mr Salmond is not trying to leave the EU - surely it would be Mr Cameron who is seeking to debate with Mr Barroso on that logic.
In any case, the polling shows that it is not so much now what Mr S wants but what the voters want. That is a (reasonably) factual consideration, which in a sense trumps whatever logics the Yes and No sides might deploy (for instance, that the S of S for Scotland was happy to debate with the Deputy FM on TV, so if you go up one rank ... versus Mr C being head of the UK ... ad nauseam).
And remember Mr C is coming to Scotland very publicly this summer to launch his commemoration of going to war in 1914 - and in Glasgow, in one of the worst single places in the UK, perhaps, to do such a thing. If he's brave enough to do that, with its obvious political aims* (which trumps offering Blenheim Palace as a place to meet M. Hollande), then he's brave enough to debate indy in public.
* of which there can be no doubt after Mr Gove's helpful explanations and Lord Lang/s lordly interjections.
So whistle-blowing against civil liberties infringements, in order to discourage the government to infringe on civil liberties in future, now makes you a terrorist! And, of course, this is all defended by David Cameron because he makes national security policy on the back of fictional TV dramas.
The sooner this government falls the better.
No disagreeing with that, but I wouldn't expect the next one to be any better.
The fundamental problem here is that the voters hate freedom.
It will be interesting to see which list MSP will be overlooked for a target. 2 of the Glasgow MSPs are usually considered the most Z Team of the new list intake.
I don't know how many retirements are expected. But I can think of only 2-3 Lab constituency MSPs with the age profile for retirement.
Also interesting that these selections are taking place in 25 targets. Which is basically getting back to 2007 position. So to a tie.
Ukip supporters really dislike posh Dave… but they can't stand Ed Miliband either In different ways, both David Cameron, the Etonian Oxford graduate from the stockbroker belt, and Ed Miliband, the Oxford-educated policy wonk from the North London intelligentsia, alienate the struggling blue-collar voters who are defecting en masse to Ukip. Both leaders have led lives a million miles away from the life of the average Ukip voter. This makes it hard for them to credibly claim to understand or represent the struggles of these voters who feel insecure, left behind and angry....
According to this article, Conservatives would be best off asking Ukip voting ex Tories who should be next leader!
I don't think they're are right that ukip supporters dislike Cameron because of his privileged upbringing, Farage is hardly a kid from a council estate, Boris has the same background and is v popular and anyway it's a crass generalisation to assume that blue collar workers instinctively resent ex public schoolboys. It's more his decisions in government that they dislike.
Boris gets away with being a metropolitan luvvie because he only has to deal with London, which isn't anything like a representation of the rest of the country socially or economically
Also, Boris comes across as intellectually brilliant. You can get away with a lot, if you're really smart.
I think the only reason the Gove story might have legs is because it involves Michael Gove. I refrain from using nasty and violent "face you want to punch" meme employed by many on here, but he is certainly a figure many find unpalatable. Short man syndrome and a general sneering disdain for normal people are epithets that follow him around.
His wife hasn't helped with her advocacy of violence against perfectly law-abiding cyclists recently.
People are scared of him, intellectually. He could happily stand in front of you and debate his views on education and there aren't many SoSs that could do so with such a depth of knowledge.
So people (you in this instance) pick on a physical attribute, albeit backhandedly.
That his physiognomy will, sadly, rule him out of PM contendership, frees him up not to be ambitious but to pursue his undoubted passion, namely education.
Gove's temperament is not suited to be PM (or LotO, for that matter), never mind his appearance. He is not a team player.
That doesn't necessarily matter in a SoS, depending on circumstances. In his case, it's potentially an advantage given that the unions were always going to oppose everything he did anyway, so why allow them to slow things down? It does, however, mean he needs to get his own policy right in the first place (which by and large, he has). Education needed a battler and has been given one; leading a political party is a rather different matter.
So whistle-blowing against civil liberties infringements, in order to discourage the government to infringe on civil liberties in future, now makes you a terrorist! And, of course, this is all defended by David Cameron because he makes national security policy on the back of fictional TV dramas.
The sooner this government falls the better.
No disagreeing with that, but I wouldn't expect the next one to be any better.
The fundamental problem here is that the voters hate freedom.
I think they just don't care, and it's easier to make the case for "security" rather than an abstract concept.
By Nat logic, Salmond should debate Barroso before the European or Holyrood elections..
Give it up - it's not happening - still its a good excuse for defeat.
But Mr Salmond is not trying to leave the EU - surely it would be Mr Cameron who is seeking to debate with Mr Barroso on that logic.
In any case, it's not so much now what Mr S wants but what the voters want.
You are right - he is trying to join the EU.
NYT on the currency problem - a neutral view - pointing out the obvious :
"Mr. Carney pulled his punches. A currency union would require far more than this. It would need a mechanism to prevent the union from breaking apart in response to destabilizing speculation. The euro zone struggled for nearly three years until Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, pledged to ?do whatever it takes? to keep the currency together. Would the rest of Britain be prepared to do whatever it takes to keep Scotland in the sterling area, after its people had decided they did not want to be part of Britain?"
Ukip supporters really dislike posh Dave… but they can't stand Ed Miliband either In different ways, both David Cameron, the Etonian Oxford graduate from the stockbroker belt, and Ed Miliband, the Oxford-educated policy wonk from the North London intelligentsia, alienate the struggling blue-collar voters who are defecting en masse to Ukip. Both leaders have led lives a million miles away from the life of the average Ukip voter. This makes it hard for them to credibly claim to understand or represent the struggles of these voters who feel insecure, left behind and angry....
According to this article, Conservatives would be best off asking Ukip voting ex Tories who should be next leader!
I don't think they're are right that ukip supporters dislike Cameron because of his privileged upbringing, Farage is hardly a kid from a council estate, Boris has the same background and is v popular and anyway it's a crass generalisation to assume that blue collar workers instinctively resent ex public schoolboys. It's more his decisions in government that they dislike.
Boris gets away with being a metropolitan luvvie because he only has to deal with London, which isn't anything like a representation of the rest of the country socially or economically
UKIP supporters' dislike for Cameron and Milliband is not really based on their social background. They dislike what they stand for. But, in general, they dislike Milliband more.
So whistle-blowing against civil liberties infringements, in order to discourage the government to infringe on civil liberties in future, now makes you a terrorist! And, of course, this is all defended by David Cameron because he makes national security policy on the back of fictional TV dramas.
The sooner this government falls the better.
No disagreeing with that, but I wouldn't expect the next one to be any better.
The fundamental problem here is that the voters hate freedom.
I'm not disagreeing with that. I think the British have become an increasingly pliant society that go along with what our establishment tells us. Part of the problem is that the media is so oligopolistic. The vast majority of our news comes from the BBC, whose idea of balance is to just trot out the main party lines. Not really surprising when it's entirely dependent on government funds. Yet it's unfair financial leg-up means it can squeeze out alternative news channels.
UKIP supporters' dislike for Cameron and Milliband is not really based on their social background. They dislike what they stand for. But, in general, they dislike Milliband more.
Yes, I think that Robert Ford and Matthew Goodwin might be making the mistake of confusing cause and correlation. They conclude that the explanation for UKIPpers' dislike of Cameron (and Miliband) relates to background. It seems to me just as likely that the reason is elsewhere, in a completely different factor which the article does mention in passing: the need for the mainstream leaders to "bargain with voters over what is and is not possible politically".
''It's the way he's treating our education system as a personal ideological experiment. Pretty disgraceful really.''
Incredibly rich coming from a labour supporter. In Wales a whole generation of children are being condemned to rubbish education and poor life outcomes by a labour government whose only opposition to academies and free schools is ideological.
That is the beauty of devolution. For anything labour say about education, us tories can simply say one word.
WALES.
First world funding. Third world results. Labour leadership.
This is going to upset little Ed and Balls spinners even more than usual.
Unleashing a firestorm
It’s not as if the Financial Times doesn’t have history with dropping great big payloads of high explosive into the middle of the independence debate late on a Sunday night. But a piece coming up in Monday’s edition (and online tonight) is going to choke a few breakfasts in London tomorrow morning.
It’s not the information in itself that’s new. Most of it is stuff the likes of this site have been screaming for the last two years. But the starkness of the language, and more pertinently the source of it, is going to rock the boat some and no mistake.
On Scotland, the pound and the EU, I suspect that the EU would be tempted to say that a Scotland that had voted to keep the pound was not "independent" as far as the EU was concerned, and would continue to hold that view until Scotland was cowed into joining the euro. It would basically ignore Scotland and continue to deal with the UK as a unified entity, requiring full membership dues from rUK. That would certainly suit Spain and several others with likely breakaway regions looking enviously at a "free" Scotland.
Chris Huhne talking about loyalty in the Guardian, Cameron's Tories are even more rebellious than Major's. Whatever happened to loyalty? The Guardian - 17 hours ago
On Scotland, the pound and the EU, I suspect that the EU would be tempted to say that a Scotland that had voted to keep the pound was not "independent" as far as the EU was concerned, and would continue to hold that view until Scotland was cowed into joining the euro. It would basically ignore Scotland and continue to deal with the UK as a unified entity, requiring full membership dues from rUK. That would certainly suit Spain and several others with likely breakaway regions looking enviously at a "free" Scotland.
It's would be a wonderfully appropriate Euro-fudge...
Ukip supporters really dislike posh Dave… but they can't stand Ed Miliband either In different ways, both David Cameron, the Etonian Oxford graduate from the stockbroker belt, and Ed Miliband, the Oxford-educated policy wonk from the North London intelligentsia, alienate the struggling blue-collar voters who are defecting en masse to Ukip. Both leaders have led lives a million miles away from the life of the average Ukip voter. This makes it hard for them to credibly claim to understand or represent the struggles of these voters who feel insecure, left behind and angry....
According to this article, Conservatives would be best off asking Ukip voting ex Tories who should be next leader!
I don't think they're are right that ukip supporters dislike Cameron because of his privileged upbringing, Farage is hardly a kid from a council estate, Boris has the same background and is v popular and anyway it's a crass generalisation to assume that blue collar workers instinctively resent ex public schoolboys. It's more his decisions in government that they dislike.
Boris gets away with being a metropolitan luvvie because he only has to deal with London, which isn't anything like a representation of the rest of the country socially or economically
UKIP supporters' dislike for Cameron and Milliband is not really based on their social background. They dislike what they stand for. But, in general, they dislike Milliband more.
The dislike for Cameron and Milliband is not due to the class into which they were born. It is the fact they are the British equivalent of the French Enarques and have spent their entire career in politics - PPE at Oxford, SPAD, MP etc. Farage on the other hand is an outsider who has had a proper career before getting involved with politics. The other factor is that Milliband and Cameron shift with the political wind and neither seems to believe in anything, while UKIP has had a very consistent message on Europe and immigration.
The dislike for Cameron and Milliband is not due to the class into which they were born. It is the fact they are the British equivalent of the French Enarques and have spent their entire career in politics - PPE at Oxford, SPAD, MP etc. Farage on the other hand is an outsider who has had a proper career before getting involved with politics. The other factor is that Milliband and Cameron shift with the political wind and neither seems to believe in anything, while UKIP has had a very consistent message on Europe and immigration.
To a point. UKIP supporters would do well to bear in mind this is just one aspect. ALL politicians are regarded in very low esteem because they have gamed the system. And UKIP MEP's have a track record for gaming it more than most.
I suggest that you don't peddle the line that the people really miss conviction politicians.... Leave that to Chris Huhne.
The dislike for Cameron and Milliband is not due to the class into which they were born. It is the fact they are the British equivalent of the French Enarques and have spent their entire career in politics - PPE at Oxford, SPAD, MP etc. Farage on the other hand is an outsider who has had a proper career before getting involved with politics. The other factor is that Milliband and Cameron shift with the political wind and neither seems to believe in anything, while UKIP has had a very consistent message on Europe and immigration.
Consistent message? I think you can accuse UKIP of many things, but accusing them of consistency when their own leader has called their 2010 manifesto 'drivel' is going it a bit.
It's certainly true that UKIP supporters are alienated by a political elite that looks as if it had never fought for anything other than a table in a Michelin starred restaurant. But these same UKIP supporters are almost all loyal royalists and a lot of them like Boris Johnson, so this isn't just class war. The content of what the mainstream politicians is saying is wrong as well.
Instead of producing policies to deal with the little people, the mainstream parties need to start producing policies that are for them.
Ukip supporters really dislike posh Dave… but they can't stand Ed Miliband either In different ways, both David Cameron, the Etonian Oxford graduate from the stockbroker belt, and Ed Miliband, the Oxford-educated policy wonk from the North London intelligentsia, alienate the struggling blue-collar voters who are defecting en masse to Ukip. Both leaders have led lives a million miles away from the life of the average Ukip voter. This makes it hard for them to credibly claim to understand or represent the struggles of these voters who feel insecure, left behind and angry....
According to this article, Conservatives would be best off asking Ukip voting ex Tories who should be next leader!
I don't think they're are right that ukip supporters dislike Cameron because of his privileged upbringing, Farage is hardly a kid from a council estate, Boris has the same background and is v popular and anyway it's a crass generalisation to assume that blue collar workers instinctively resent ex public schoolboys. It's more his decisions in government that they dislike.
Boris gets away with being a metropolitan luvvie because he only has to deal with London, which isn't anything like a representation of the rest of the country socially or economically
UKIP supporters' dislike for Cameron and Milliband is not really based on their social background. They dislike what they stand for. But, in general, they dislike Milliband more.
The dislike for Cameron and Milliband is not due to the class into which they were born. It is the fact they are the British equivalent of the French Enarques and have spent their entire career in politics - PPE at Oxford, SPAD, MP etc. Farage on the other hand is an outsider who has had a proper career before getting involved with politics. The other factor is that Milliband and Cameron shift with the political wind and neither seems to believe in anything, while UKIP has had a very consistent message on Europe and immigration.
On Scotland, the pound and the EU, I suspect that the EU would be tempted to say that a Scotland that had voted to keep the pound was not "independent" as far as the EU was concerned, and would continue to hold that view until Scotland was cowed into joining the euro. It would basically ignore Scotland and continue to deal with the UK as a unified entity, requiring full membership dues from rUK. That would certainly suit Spain and several others with likely breakaway regions looking enviously at a "free" Scotland.
Interesting thought, and gets around the need to get all 28 member states to agree to the Treaty of Whose Country Is Going To Break Up Next, If This Works Out It Could Be Ours.
And remember Mr C is coming to Scotland very publicly this summer to launch his commemoration of going to war in 1914 - and in Glasgow, in one of the worst single places in the UK, perhaps, to do such a thing. If he's brave enough to do that, with its obvious political aims* (which trumps offering Blenheim Palace as a place to meet M. Hollande), then he's brave enough to debate indy in public.
* of which there can be no doubt after Mr Gove's helpful explanations and Lord Lang/s lordly interjections.
I wonder what happened to this?
'Sam Coates Times @SamCoatesTimes Jan 26 Just looking at Tory 2010 manifesto. Feels so dated. Whatever happened to: "The PM will go to Holyrood for questioning on a regular basis"
Cameron appears only to want no-risk engagement, plenty of discretion but no valour.
Ukip supporters really dislike posh Dave… but they can't stand Ed Miliband either In different ways, both David Cameron, the Etonian Oxford graduate from the stockbroker belt, and Ed Miliband, the Oxford-educated policy wonk from the North London intelligentsia, alienate the struggling blue-collar voters who are defecting en masse to Ukip. Both leaders have led lives a million miles away from the life of the average Ukip voter. This makes it hard for them to credibly claim to understand or represent the struggles of these voters who feel insecure, left behind and angry....
According to this article, Conservatives would be best off asking Ukip voting ex Tories who should be next leader!
I don't think they're are right that ukip supporters dislike Cameron because of his privileged upbringing, Farage is hardly a kid from a council estate, Boris has the same background and is v popular and anyway it's a crass generalisation to assume that blue collar workers instinctively resent ex public schoolboys. It's more his decisions in government that they dislike.
Boris gets away with being a metropolitan luvvie because he only has to deal with London, which isn't anything like a representation of the rest of the country socially or economically
UKIP supporters' dislike for Cameron and Milliband is not really based on their social background. They dislike what they stand for. But, in general, they dislike Milliband more.
The dislike for Cameron and Milliband is not due to the class into which they were born. It is the fact they are the British equivalent of the French Enarques and have spent their entire career in politics - PPE at Oxford, SPAD, MP etc. Farage on the other hand is an outsider who has had a proper career before getting involved with politics. ...
By Nat logic, Salmond should debate Barroso before the European or Holyrood elections..
Give it up - it's not happening - still its a good excuse for defeat.
And remember Mr C is coming to Scotland very publicly this summer to launch his commemoration of going to war in 1914 - and in Glasgow, in one of the worst single places in the UK, perhaps, to do such a thing. If he's brave enough to do that, with its obvious political aims* , then he's brave enough to debate indy in public.
Eh ? Whit ?
Is this the same Glasgow that - with total SNP support - is commemorating the Queen's commonwealth with a series of competitive sporting games, with her majesty the Queen attending the opening ceremony in the East end of Glasgow - with security provided by the British army ?
Rather deflates your argument against Cameron commemorating WWI war dead no ?
Personally I despise Gove for more than the way he comes across. It's the way he's treating our education system as a personal ideological experiment. Pretty disgraceful really.
Yes, an end to grade inflation, Dickens and Austen in the literature curriculum, OFSTED focusing on failing schools rather than effective ones, a comprehensive history syllabus, teaching of scientific principles in science, head-teachers rather than councillors responsible for running schools, good teachers being rewarded.... it's outrageous, I tell you.
Ukip supporters really dislike posh Dave… but they can't stand Ed Miliband either In different ways, both David Cameron, the Etonian Oxford graduate from the stockbroker belt, and Ed Miliband, the Oxford-educated policy wonk from the North London intelligentsia, alienate the struggling blue-collar voters who are defecting en masse to Ukip. Both leaders have led lives a million miles away from the life of the average Ukip voter. This makes it hard for them to credibly claim to understand or represent the struggles of these voters who feel insecure, left behind and angry....
According to this article, Conservatives would be best off asking Ukip voting ex Tories who should be next leader!
I don't think they're are right that ukip supporters dislike Cameron because of his privileged upbringing, Farage is hardly a kid from a council estate, Boris has the same background and is v popular and anyway it's a crass generalisation to assume that blue collar workers instinctively resent ex public schoolboys. It's more his decisions in government that they dislike.
Boris gets away with being a metropolitan luvvie because he only has to deal with London, which isn't anything like a representation of the rest of the country socially or economically
Also, Boris comes across as intellectually brilliant. You can get away with a lot, if you're really smart.
= why the Left is trying to take down Gove.
Can't say I have seen much evidence of Gove's intellectual brilliance. If he were that smart he would be learning a lot more lessons from the huge success of London's state schools over the last decade.
Can't say I have seen much evidence of Gove's intellectual brilliance. If he were that smart he would be learning a lot more lessons from the huge success of London's state schools over the last decade.
If anything, it seems like London is underperforming: getting similarly poor results to the rest of the country, despite being significantly higher income. Should we really be aspiring to be places like Islington? Home of millionaires and former PMs, yet can't get half of its kids to get five decent GCSEs?
Ukip supporters really dislike posh Dave… but they can't stand Ed Miliband either In different ways, both David Cameron, the Etonian Oxford graduate from the stockbroker belt, and Ed Miliband, the Oxford-educated policy wonk from the North London intelligentsia, alienate the struggling blue-collar voters who are defecting en masse to Ukip. Both leaders have led lives a million miles away from the life of the average Ukip voter. This makes it hard for them to credibly claim to understand or represent the struggles of these voters who feel insecure, left behind and angry....
According to this article, Conservatives would be best off asking Ukip voting ex Tories who should be next leader!
I don't think they're are right that ukip supporters dislike Cameron because of his privileged upbringing, Farage is hardly a kid from a council estate, Boris has the same background and is v popular and anyway it's a crass generalisation to assume that blue collar workers instinctively resent ex public schoolboys. It's more his decisions in government that they dislike.
Boris gets away with being a metropolitan luvvie because he only has to deal with London, which isn't anything like a representation of the rest of the country socially or economically
Also, Boris comes across as intellectually brilliant. You can get away with a lot, if you're really smart.
= why the Left is trying to take down Gove.
Can't say I have seen much evidence of Gove's intellectual brilliance. If he were that smart he would be learning a lot more lessons from the huge success of London's state schools over the last decade.
You mean the 'success' of Labour's education system that has seen us descend down the PISA rankings, and an exam system that Labour now admits suffered from grade inflation?
London may or may not be an exception to this, but if you don't trust Gove with education, you'd be mad to trust Labour. After all, Hunt himself says it was a 'great crime'.
Can't say I have seen much evidence of Gove's intellectual brilliance. If he were that smart he would be learning a lot more lessons from the huge success of London's state schools over the last decade.
If anything, it seems like London is underperforming: getting similarly poor results to the rest of the country, despite being significantly higher income.
I am a fan of Gove's, but IIRC, inner-London has dramatically improved in the last seven to ten years.
The extent to which this is underlying improvement, rather than a knock-on effect of gentrification is, of course, open to debate.
Populus data looks ( more than ) a bit weird . Labour ahead of Con in South East and everywhere else in England/Wales but Con ahead of Labour in Scotland .
The dislike for Cameron and Milliband is not due to the class into which they were born. It is the fact they are the British equivalent of the French Enarques and have spent their entire career in politics - PPE at Oxford, SPAD, MP etc. Farage on the other hand is an outsider who has had a proper career before getting involved with politics. The other factor is that Milliband and Cameron shift with the political wind and neither seems to believe in anything, while UKIP has had a very consistent message on Europe and immigration.
Consistent message? I think you can accuse UKIP of many things, but accusing them of consistency when their own leader has called their 2010 manifesto 'drivel' is going it a bit.
Consistent message on Europe and immigration.
Most people aren't political anoraks and just want to know the general direction of a party. I would think they are attracted to ukip because they have a clear objective, to get out of The EU, and be a self governing country.
I don't think ordinary people would be able to tell you what Labour or Conservatives objectives are
Chris Huhne talking about loyalty in the Guardian, Cameron's Tories are even more rebellious than Major's. Whatever happened to loyalty? The Guardian - 17 hours ago
Can't say I have seen much evidence of Gove's intellectual brilliance. If he were that smart he would be learning a lot more lessons from the huge success of London's state schools over the last decade.
If anything, it seems like London is underperforming: getting similarly poor results to the rest of the country, despite being significantly higher income.
I am a fan of Gove's, but IIRC, inner-London has dramatically improved in the last seven to ten years.
The extent to which this is underlying improvement, rather than a knock-on effect of gentrification is, of course, open to debate.
Dramatically improved, meaning "gone from way behind to below (an anyway poor) average"?
Can't say I have seen much evidence of Gove's intellectual brilliance. If he were that smart he would be learning a lot more lessons from the huge success of London's state schools over the last decade.
If anything, it seems like London is underperforming: getting similarly poor results to the rest of the country, despite being significantly higher income.
I am a fan of Gove's, but IIRC, inner-London has dramatically improved in the last seven to ten years.
The extent to which this is underlying improvement, rather than a knock-on effect of gentrification is, of course, open to debate.
Dramatically improved, meaning "gone from way behind to below (an anyway poor) average"?
Hey, don't knock it - direction of travel is very important
The dislike for Cameron and Milliband is not due to the class into which they were born. It is the fact they are the British equivalent of the French Enarques and have spent their entire career in politics - PPE at Oxford, SPAD, MP etc. Farage on the other hand is an outsider who has had a proper career before getting involved with politics. The other factor is that Milliband and Cameron shift with the political wind and neither seems to believe in anything, while UKIP has had a very consistent message on Europe and immigration.
Consistent message? I think you can accuse UKIP of many things, but accusing them of consistency when their own leader has called their 2010 manifesto 'drivel' is going it a bit.
Have they not been consistent with their message on Europe and immigration then, as stated in the post?
On topic, why on Earth is Theresa May rated so highly by Tories? She's appalling on civil liberties, buckled to the EU in a whole bunch of areas, and immigration went up last year despite her hammering universities...
Can't say I have seen much evidence of Gove's intellectual brilliance. If he were that smart he would be learning a lot more lessons from the huge success of London's state schools over the last decade.
If anything, it seems like London is underperforming: getting similarly poor results to the rest of the country, despite being significantly higher income. Should we really be aspiring to be places like Islington? Home of millionaires and former PMs, yet can't get half of its kids to get five decent GCSEs?
In line with Yougov latest, could be 50p bounce for Labour showing.
Maybe they should have set it at 60p....
60p would be too high, 50p just sets it back to where it was. The polling shows that the politics of envy and 'making the rich take some pain' is alive and well (People in favour, people realising it won't do owt for the deficit) . These things always take some time to come through to VI too.
People still mistrust Balls on the economy and he is still a liability, probably the most vulnerable of all the 4 main figures of Gov't and the shadow still. But the 50p move - with this seeming slight bump in VI - should sure him up some (The fact it was announced by him and not Miliband is important)
Can't say I have seen much evidence of Gove's intellectual brilliance. If he were that smart he would be learning a lot more lessons from the huge success of London's state schools over the last decade.
If anything, it seems like London is underperforming: getting similarly poor results to the rest of the country, despite being significantly higher income.
I am a fan of Gove's, but IIRC, inner-London has dramatically improved in the last seven to ten years.
The extent to which this is underlying improvement, rather than a knock-on effect of gentrification is, of course, open to debate.
Dramatically improved, meaning "gone from way behind to below (an anyway poor) average"?
Obviously Gove is pure voter repellent - the arrogance, the ignorance, the sneering Rightwing contempt - so a good target for "differentiating" Lib Dems.
Personally I despise Gove for more than the way he comes across. It's the way he's treating our education system as a personal ideological experiment. Pretty disgraceful really.
But the electorate as a whole will merely get a whiff of Tory cronyism from all this, which is probably "priced in" across the board.
Childish tribal politics at it's most depressing.
We have had a fifty year ideological experiment in education that has failed our kids miserably, Gove is trying to address that and deserves credit for doing so.
Populus data looks ( more than ) a bit weird . Labour ahead of Con in South East and everywhere else in England/Wales but Con ahead of Labour in Scotland .
Individual outliers for subsamples that coalesce in the round ? CON is not doing better than LAB in Scotland, but SNP is doing well there right now.
Can't say I have seen much evidence of Gove's intellectual brilliance. If he were that smart he would be learning a lot more lessons from the huge success of London's state schools over the last decade.
If anything, it seems like London is underperforming: getting similarly poor results to the rest of the country, despite being significantly higher income.
I am a fan of Gove's, but IIRC, inner-London has dramatically improved in the last seven to ten years.
The extent to which this is underlying improvement, rather than a knock-on effect of gentrification is, of course, open to debate.
Dramatically improved, meaning "gone from way behind to below (an anyway poor) average"?
Sorry, not quite true: 81.6 for Inner London, against 81.8 for England as a whole.
In '05/'06, the number was 53.6.
Even accounting for grade inflation, the extent to which Inner London lags the rest of the country has been essentially eliminated in the last eight years.
And remember Mr C is coming to Scotland very publicly this summer to launch his commemoration of going to war in 1914 - and in Glasgow, in one of the worst single places in the UK, perhaps, to do such a thing. If he's brave enough to do that, with its obvious political aims* (which trumps offering Blenheim Palace as a place to meet M. Hollande), then he's brave enough to debate indy in public.
* of which there can be no doubt after Mr Gove's helpful explanations and Lord Lang/s lordly interjections.
I wonder what happened to this?
'Sam Coates Times @SamCoatesTimes Jan 26 Just looking at Tory 2010 manifesto. Feels so dated. Whatever happened to: "The PM will go to Holyrood for questioning on a regular basis"
Cameron appears only to want no-risk engagement, plenty of discretion but no valour.
Do not confuse "regular" with "frequent". Halley's comet's orbit is "on a regular basis".
The polling shows that the politics of envy and 'making the rich take some pain' is alive and well
As long as people down the food chain are feeling the pinch, it always will be.
have just read an article saying Cameron should slow down cutting taxes for the very low paid - they will never vote for him - and start alleviating the pressure a little further up the pay scale.
And shows (Table 3) that Inner London had 63.1% of pupils achieving at least 5 good (A-C GCSE passes, including Maths and English), against 60.8% for England as a whole.
Have they not been consistent with their message on Europe and immigration then, as stated in the post?
No, they have not. At one point Nigel Farage was pointing to Norway as the model. That's the model where we get the same disadvantages as we currently get in terms of immigration and EU directives, without getting any say in those directives. If you can get a straight answer from UKIP as to whether they still think we should be members of the EEA, let me know.
Populus data looks ( more than ) a bit weird . Labour ahead of Con in South East and everywhere else in England/Wales but Con ahead of Labour in Scotland .
Individual outliers for subsamples that coalesce in the round ? CON is not doing better than LAB in Scotland, but SNP is doing well there right now.
Possibly , and just to make mslcolmg choke on his porridge LD's up to 12% in Scottish subsample .
Can't say I have seen much evidence of Gove's intellectual brilliance. If he were that smart he would be learning a lot more lessons from the huge success of London's state schools over the last decade.
If anything, it seems like London is underperforming: getting similarly poor results to the rest of the country, despite being significantly higher income.
I am a fan of Gove's, but IIRC, inner-London has dramatically improved in the last seven to ten years.
The extent to which this is underlying improvement, rather than a knock-on effect of gentrification is, of course, open to debate.
Dramatically improved, meaning "gone from way behind to below (an anyway poor) average"?
And shows (Table 3) that Inner London had 63.1% of pupils achieving at least 5 good (A-C GCSE passes, including Maths and English), against 60.8% for England as a whole.
That is a stunning improvement in performance.
What has happened in London over the last decade has been nothing short of stunning.
Comments
And Gruyère if cooked.
Boursin is a secret indulgence.
I used to think you southern finance chappies thought the rest were daft with your "simply adjusting" theme on banking now I think it's actually you that are deluded. Just how many "one-offs" do there have to be before you recognise there not one-offs but the trading reality. seeking to keep the Brown banking settlement which got us into the mess in the first place, just shows how removed from reality you are - Einstein's statement etc.
Although given that the 44/45 still have to be holding the Conservative whip that avoids the issue of (say) 4 of them defecting to UKIP en masse post May, simultaneously triggering a leadership vote in the party in which they have just left.
get thee to Paxtons and find some real cheese.
"Sometimes you discover a gobbet of opinion to cut out and keep for future reference. Here, from a few days ago, is Matthew Parris, most feted of Times political observers, former Tory MP, Thatcher aide and EU agnostic, scenting a backbench Conservative "fifth column" bent on destroying David Cameron. "For these people the European Union is the Great Satan of their political lifetimes. All else is subordinated to fighting this evil.
"We are dealing here with a quasi-religious fanaticism, according to which even a referendum may be a snare because followers believe – like those Marxists with whom they have much in common – that the masses may be deluded into 'false consciousness' by a lying autocracy … They will never trust Mr Cameron with a referendum … They will not rest until he's gone. And they will never say so."
Bit hard to imagine why they hate the Cameroons so much after that.
That's one of the shops I'd really enjoy working in, I never get bored when I walk in in, there's always something new to try.
Just leave it in the larder to mature for a couple of days.
His wife hasn't helped with her advocacy of violence against perfectly law-abiding cyclists recently.
Six years ago would be a problem.
Others can do the maths more accurately, but I'd say it's no worse than a 2/1 shot and quite possibly shorter.
You are confusing me, Mr. Brooke.
see economics. ;-)
So people (you in this instance) pick on a physical attribute, albeit backhandedly.
That his physiognomy will, sadly, rule him out of PM contendership, frees him up not to be ambitious but to pursue his undoubted passion, namely education.
Meanwhile the nation shrugs..
Thanks.
I don't think they're are right that ukip supporters dislike Cameron because of his privileged upbringing, Farage is hardly a kid from a council estate, Boris has the same background and is v popular and anyway it's a crass generalisation to assume that blue collar workers instinctively resent ex public schoolboys. It's more his decisions in government that they dislike.
Boris gets away with being a metropolitan luvvie because he only has to deal with London, which isn't anything like a representation of the rest of the country socially or economically
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/benedictbrogan/100257773/lib-dems-go-to-war-against-gove/
"The Lib Dems may have misjudged this one. Admitting that they are motivated by polling showing that they could win vote among public sector workers, especially teachers, by attacking Mr Gove, is hardly admirable. Desperate, more like.
And the way David Laws briefed out that he was "absolutely furious at the blatant attempts by the Tories to politicise Ofsted" goes some way beyond the scripted discourtesies of Coalition politics. As Peter McKay rightly observes in the Mail, why not just come out and say it?
Far more than the question of public appointments, this morning's saga invites some searching questions about the politics of Gove and the state of the Lib Dems.""
K.
They are keen on the story (or indeed anything mid-term, need something to spice our lives up especially as The Voice is such a damp squib) because it has some bite-sized easy-to-interpret elements, namely Tory gets rid of Lab-er, plus the teachers (cf. NHS) as well as the opposition are up in arms, as usual, so there are plenty of soundbites to flesh it out.
Plus as you say MG looks a bit funny.
Does this really need spelling out?
It's still meaningless. If Clegg was that upset with Gove he would draw a red line and things would start to go the way of boundary changes. They won't though. Gove is far too useful where he is for Clegg's 'differentiation' posturing.
oh yes that's right plus the whole Laws thing.
LOL
You should check with your economic guru Ed Balls as he might be upset with that assumption.
[quotations got mangled - my bit begins here]
More specifically, as I noted the other day, the arithmetic in the same poll (if it is the TNS poll that is meant?) shows that either all those who said "don't know", when asked their intention in the referendum, want to hear Mr Cameron debate, or some permutation of DKs and outright Nos (assuming all the Yes intenders want to hear Mr C). That';s a lot of key target voters - in fact, perhaps all of them - to hack off.
SLAB is using the twinning system. They paired constituencies. The 2 CLPs would meet together and select a woman and a man. Then the winner of the respective ballot with the highest vote will choose 1 constituency and the other will take the other left.
So far they seem to have selected
Edinburgh Central: Sarah Boyack MSP
Edinburgh Southern: Daniel Johnson
Edinburgh Eastern: Kezia Dougdale MSP
Midlothian North and Mussleburgh: Bernard Harkins (2011 candidate)
Cumbernauld & Kilsyth: Mark Griffin MSP
Clydesdale: Claudia Beamish MSP
East Kilbride: Lizanne Handibode (from Unison. She got it over Margaret McCulloch MSP)
Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse: Jackie Burns (South Lanarkshire Cllr. He's a man))
"We assess that MIRANDA is knowingly carrying material, the release of which would endanger people's lives. Additionally the disclosure, or threat of the disclosure, is designed to influence a government, and is made for the purpose of promoting a political or ideological cause. This therefore falls within the definition of terrorism."
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/02/david-miranda-detention-chilling-attack-journalism
So whistle-blowing against civil liberties infringements, in order to discourage the government to infringe on civil liberties in future, now makes you a terrorist! And, of course, this is all defended by David Cameron because he makes national security policy on the back of fictional TV dramas.
The sooner this government falls the better.
Thank you.
Give it up - it's not happening - still its a good excuse for defeat.
In any case, the polling shows that it is not so much now what Mr S wants but what the voters want. That is a (reasonably) factual consideration, which in a sense trumps whatever logics the Yes and No sides might deploy (for instance, that the S of S for Scotland was happy to debate with the Deputy FM on TV, so if you go up one rank ... versus Mr C being head of the UK ... ad nauseam).
And remember Mr C is coming to Scotland very publicly this summer to launch his commemoration of going to war in 1914 - and in Glasgow, in one of the worst single places in the UK, perhaps, to do such a thing. If he's brave enough to do that, with its obvious political aims* (which trumps offering Blenheim Palace as a place to meet M. Hollande), then he's brave enough to debate indy in public.
* of which there can be no doubt after Mr Gove's helpful explanations and Lord Lang/s lordly interjections.
The fundamental problem here is that the voters hate freedom.
It will be interesting to see which list MSP will be overlooked for a target. 2 of the Glasgow MSPs are usually considered the most Z Team of the new list intake.
I don't know how many retirements are expected. But I can think of only 2-3 Lab constituency MSPs with the age profile for retirement.
Also interesting that these selections are taking place in 25 targets. Which is basically getting back to 2007 position. So to a tie.
That doesn't necessarily matter in a SoS, depending on circumstances. In his case, it's potentially an advantage given that the unions were always going to oppose everything he did anyway, so why allow them to slow things down? It does, however, mean he needs to get his own policy right in the first place (which by and large, he has). Education needed a battler and has been given one; leading a political party is a rather different matter.
NYT on the currency problem - a neutral view - pointing out the obvious :
"Mr. Carney pulled his punches. A currency union would require far more than this. It would need a mechanism to prevent the union from breaking apart in response to destabilizing speculation. The euro zone struggled for nearly three years until Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, pledged to ?do whatever it takes? to keep the currency together. Would the rest of Britain be prepared to do whatever it takes to keep Scotland in the sterling area, after its people had decided they did not want to be part of Britain?"
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/03/business/international/scots-cant-completely-sever-their-ties-with-britain.html?smid=tw-share&_r=1
If Scotland has a currency union with rUK, it will have about as much independence as Greece does from Germany.
Incredibly rich coming from a labour supporter. In Wales a whole generation of children are being condemned to rubbish education and poor life outcomes by a labour government whose only opposition to academies and free schools is ideological.
That is the beauty of devolution. For anything labour say about education, us tories can simply say one word.
WALES.
First world funding. Third world results. Labour leadership.
This is going to upset little Ed and Balls spinners even more than usual.
Cameron's Tories are even more rebellious than Major's. Whatever happened to loyalty?
The Guardian - 17 hours ago
Irony meter now broken.
I suggest that you don't peddle the line that the people really miss conviction politicians.... Leave that to Chris Huhne.
Instead of producing policies to deal with the little people, the mainstream parties need to start producing policies that are for them.
'Sam Coates Times @SamCoatesTimes Jan 26
Just looking at Tory 2010 manifesto. Feels so dated. Whatever happened to: "The PM will go to Holyrood for questioning on a regular basis"
Cameron appears only to want no-risk engagement, plenty of discretion but no valour.
Is this the same Glasgow that - with total SNP support - is commemorating the Queen's commonwealth with a series of competitive sporting games, with her majesty the Queen attending the opening ceremony in the East end of Glasgow - with security provided by the British army ?
Rather deflates your argument against Cameron commemorating WWI war dead no ?
It would be interesting to see what 'policies for little people' look like.
The people who drive the vans, deliver the pizzas, clean the offices, fit the windows, work the call centres.
How can you really make their lives better? Because if you can, you win the election.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-16730017
If anything, it seems like London is underperforming: getting similarly poor results to the rest of the country, despite being significantly higher income. Should we really be aspiring to be places like Islington? Home of millionaires and former PMs, yet can't get half of its kids to get five decent GCSEs?
London may or may not be an exception to this, but if you don't trust Gove with education, you'd be mad to trust Labour. After all, Hunt himself says it was a 'great crime'.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/labour-admits-great-crime-on-education-tristram-hunt-says-his-party-encouraged-schools-to-aim-too-low--and-pupils-paid-the-price-9053693.html
The extent to which this is underlying improvement, rather than a knock-on effect of gentrification is, of course, open to debate.
Most people aren't political anoraks and just want to know the general direction of a party. I would think they are attracted to ukip because they have a clear objective, to get out of The EU, and be a self governing country.
I don't think ordinary people would be able to tell you what Labour or Conservatives objectives are
Maybe they should have set it at 60p....
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/telegraph-view/3616514/Hypocrisy-at-the-heart-of-Labours-education-policy.html
Diane Abbott
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3229453.stm
Harriet Harman
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/why-my-son-will-go-to-grammar-school-by-harriet-harman-1324835.html
People still mistrust Balls on the economy and he is still a liability, probably the most vulnerable of all the 4 main figures of Gov't and the shadow still. But the 50p move - with this seeming slight bump in VI - should sure him up some (The fact it was announced by him and not Miliband is important)
In there Inner London is now above the England average; see https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/219343/sfr02_202013at.xls
Table 16
We have had a fifty year ideological experiment in education that has failed our kids miserably, Gove is trying to address that and deserves credit for doing so.
In '05/'06, the number was 53.6.
Even accounting for grade inflation, the extent to which Inner London lags the rest of the country has been essentially eliminated in the last eight years.
As long as people down the food chain are feeling the pinch, it always will be.
have just read an article saying Cameron should slow down cutting taxes for the very low paid - they will never vote for him - and start alleviating the pressure a little further up the pay scale.
.
Actually I'm wrong again! (no great surprise there)
Those numbers I posted before are old. For 2013, the data is here (https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/274165/SFR05_2014_National_and_LA_tables.xls)
And shows (Table 3) that Inner London had 63.1% of pupils achieving at least 5 good (A-C GCSE passes, including Maths and English), against 60.8% for England as a whole.
That is a stunning improvement in performance.
http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2013/dec/11/educational-lottery-best-performing-schools-england-ofsted
http://www.itv.com/news/2013-12-11/bath-and-north-east-somerset-area-tops-best-performing-secondary-school-list/
http://www.demos.co.uk/press_releases/ataleoftwoclassroomslondonresultsskewnationalpictureaseducationalinequalityontherise