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politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » CON might have big leads with all voters on best PM and ec

SystemSystem Posts: 11,702
edited April 2014 in General

politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » CON might have big leads with all voters on best PM and economy but it’s a different picture with the key swing group

The two big reasons, it is argued, why Labour should not put place too much confidence in current poll ratings are Ed’s personal poll numbers in relation to Dave and the ongoing Tory lead on the economy. No party, it is said, has ever won power when it is behind on both.

Read the full story here


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    dr_spyndr_spyn Posts: 11,290
    edited April 2014
    Good morning. First.
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    dr_spyndr_spyn Posts: 11,290
    How many of these LD switchers were Lab : LD switchers cos they couldn't stomach Brown?
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    BenMBenM Posts: 1,795
    Interesting.

    But probably needs to be set alongside overall sentiment on the economy which has shifted more towards the Tories in the past 6 months.

    Some up-to-date polling would be helpful.
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    AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    The three charts suggest to me that we may see movement to the Conservatives from other voters outside these particular subsets. If David Cameron and George Osborne are so far behind with 2010 Labour voters and Lib-Lab switchers, logically they are far ahead elsewhere if they are in substantial overall leads. Not all of those can be Conservative supporters if the Conservatives are behind Labour in the opinion polls.

    And to have nearly 20% of 2010 Labour voters say that they prefer David Cameron is noteworthy - that must be 4 or 5% of the electorate.
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    FPT, there was some talk about Cameron resigning if Scotland votes yes, which got me thinking.

    Even if Cameron wins in 2015 (never mind how) I can't see him standing in 2020, asking for another five years. Fifteen years would just be too long to ask for, and the party would know it. I'd expect Cameron to resign in 18/19, if he didn't get pushed out first, allowing his successor time to bed in.

    Thus, win or lose, it looks a pretty good bet that Cameron won't be Conservative leader in 2020, though not quite a certainty.
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    CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 59,787
    FPT:
    malcolmg said:
    » show previous quotes
    Optimistic to think they will be ripples. Unless Westminster play ball it will be breakers
    The biggest issue for rUK will be "what to do with Trident" - but hardly a bread and butter issue like "currency" or "interest rates" that will confront the Scottish electorate.....

    I think you have a rather optimistic view on Scotland's bargaining position.

    You want things in the gift of the rUK, which barely applies the other way round.....the big thing rUK want isn't on the table, but it's only one thing and does not affect day-to-day issues......

    And if there are breakers, remember "who is in the bigger boat".....
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    AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    For those that want to think about how the bookies are rating the Conservatives' chances, I've put up a post here:

    http://newstonoone.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/once-in-blue-moon-first-cut-on-chances.html

    This is the horses doofers - the epic stuff is coming in the next few days.
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    CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 59,787
    dr_spyn said:

    How many of these LD switchers were Lab : LD switchers cos they couldn't stomach Brown?

    And is Miliband a sufficient antidote to get them out to vote....Or were they Lab voters who got swept up in the Cleggasm.....the question is whether they will vote in 2015, and how many 2010 Lab stay at home are now supporting UKIP?

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    SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 38,970

    FPT, there was some talk about Cameron resigning if Scotland votes yes, which got me thinking.

    Even if Cameron wins in 2015 (never mind how) I can't see him standing in 2020, asking for another five years. Fifteen years would just be too long to ask for, and the party would know it. I'd expect Cameron to resign in 18/19, if he didn't get pushed out first, allowing his successor time to bed in.

    Thus, win or lose, it looks a pretty good bet that Cameron won't be Conservative leader in 2020, though not quite a certainty.

    Offering to resign is not the same thing as resigning. I imagine Dave will go to the Queen and she will say No. Especially as an election will be due in under a year.

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    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 61,005
    Good morning, everyone.
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    timmotimmo Posts: 1,469
    Don't we need an up to date Ashcroft poll considering all that has happened in the last 8 months.
    OGH puts a lot of store in this large poll but it is now somewhat historic.
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    CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 59,787

    FPT, there was some talk about Cameron resigning if Scotland votes yes, which got me thinking.

    Even if Cameron wins in 2015 (never mind how) I can't see him standing in 2020, asking for another five years. Fifteen years would just be too long to ask for, and the party would know it. I'd expect Cameron to resign in 18/19, if he didn't get pushed out first, allowing his successor time to bed in.

    Thus, win or lose, it looks a pretty good bet that Cameron won't be Conservative leader in 2020, though not quite a certainty.

    Offering to resign is not the same thing as resigning. I imagine Dave will go to the Queen and she will say No. Especially as an election will be due in under a year.

    I doubt it - that would lay Cameron open to the (justifiable, in my view) charge of embroiling the queen in politics......much as I'd enjoy "queen endorses Cameron" he shouldn't do it.

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    BobaFettBobaFett Posts: 2,789
    There is a fantastic video on the Red Liberals on the C4 News Catch Up website - absolute required viewing for all political punters. The Red Liberals are deepest Red...
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    Scott_PScott_P Posts: 51,453
    @BBCNormanS: The @UKIP leader Nigel Farage warns of possible legal action against Times over claims he abused EU Parliament allowances

    @BBCNormanS: "I will never speak to the Times again" says @nigel_farage following report he abused EU Parliamentary allowances
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    SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 38,970

    FPT:

    malcolmg said:
    » show previous quotes
    Optimistic to think they will be ripples. Unless Westminster play ball it will be breakers
    The biggest issue for rUK will be "what to do with Trident" - but hardly a bread and butter issue like "currency" or "interest rates" that will confront the Scottish electorate.....

    I think you have a rather optimistic view on Scotland's bargaining position.

    You want things in the gift of the rUK, which barely applies the other way round.....the big thing rUK want isn't on the table, but it's only one thing and does not affect day-to-day issues......

    And if there are breakers, remember "who is in the bigger boat".....



    Project Fib is holding because it is telling voters what they want to hear. It's a great strategy for winning a referendum, but that's really all that it has going for it. The reality of negotiation will be a sobering one for many who voted for independence. Others will not care, of course, because the line in the ground is all that they really want.

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    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 54,061
    @timmo: we should. However, it's worth noting that the polling averages haven't (excepting the last week's UKIP surge, LibDem plunge) moved around that much.
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    MonikerDiCanioMonikerDiCanio Posts: 5,792
    antifrank said:

    For those that want to think about how the bookies are rating the Conservatives' chances, I've put up a post here:

    http://newstonoone.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/once-in-blue-moon-first-cut-on-chances.html

    This is the horses doofers - the epic stuff is coming in the next few days.

    Very interesting.
    All the best for your beautifully named blog.

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    BobaFettBobaFett Posts: 2,789
    rcs1000 said:

    @timmo: we should. However, it's worth noting that the polling averages haven't (excepting the last week's UKIP surge, LibDem plunge) moved around that much.

    With most pollsters now showing Lab +5/6 I suspect we are back to where we were when milord was in the field

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    AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    @MonikerDiCanio It's not a permanent fixture. It's just somewhere to put all my thoughts together on the betting for convenience (pb2 isn't working for posting, so like Morris Dancer I have created an overflow site).

    After a couple of weeks of getting my betting notes down, it will go dormant again.

    But I was rather pleased with the name!
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    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 61,005
    Completely random story, but a nice little article about a 13 year old girl who hunts with a golden eagle:
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-26969150

    On-topic: not a new observation, but the switchers are like a woman scorned. They just want to hurt Clegg because he's not the Messiah, he's just a very naughty boy. It's their own damned fault. Lib Dems always wanted coalition and when they finally got it half the party threw their toys out of the pram because they had to, shockingly, make some compromises.

    Of course, that's a good reason to dislike coalition, but if you like it and even want to ruin the electoral system to practically guarantee we always have coalitions then it's bizarre to suddenly realise coalition means you don't get everything you want and desert your party over it.
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    timmotimmo Posts: 1,469
    BobaFett said:

    rcs1000 said:

    @timmo: we should. However, it's worth noting that the polling averages haven't (excepting the last week's UKIP surge, LibDem plunge) moved around that much.

    With most pollsters now showing Lab +5/6 I suspect we are back to where we were when milord was in the field

    The evening standard poll yesterday though showed a big move away from the LDs in the capital where They hold 4 councils I believe...
    Does OGH believe hey will change because if they do the incumbency factor for the MPs In those constituencies won't mean a jot
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    SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 38,970

    FPT, there was some talk about Cameron resigning if Scotland votes yes, which got me thinking.

    Even if Cameron wins in 2015 (never mind how) I can't see him standing in 2020, asking for another five years. Fifteen years would just be too long to ask for, and the party would know it. I'd expect Cameron to resign in 18/19, if he didn't get pushed out first, allowing his successor time to bed in.

    Thus, win or lose, it looks a pretty good bet that Cameron won't be Conservative leader in 2020, though not quite a certainty.

    Offering to resign is not the same thing as resigning. I imagine Dave will go to the Queen and she will say No. Especially as an election will be due in under a year.

    I doubt it - that would lay Cameron open to the (justifiable, in my view) charge of embroiling the queen in politics......much as I'd enjoy "queen endorses Cameron" he shouldn't do it.

    It would not be an endorsement, it would be a recognition that there is a fixed term Parliament and no obvious replacement. Better to leave it to the voters to pass judgement.

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    Scott_PScott_P Posts: 51,453
    @Markfergusonuk: “I’m seeking legal advice” appears to be Farage’s way of trying to discourage follow-up reporting on his expenses. Cynical ploy…

    Tomorrow's Times headline?
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    AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    I can understand successful football managers boycotting media outlets that displease them. But leaders of fringe political parties need all the publicity that they can get.
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    Scott_PScott_P Posts: 51,453
    @patrickwintour: There are limits under UK law on what MEPs allowances can be spent. http://t.co/dDTMBbYH21

    @PSbook: NEW --> When Nigel Farage admitted: 'We trousered EU expenses to fund UKIP' http://t.co/iHIeLEjzz6
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    SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 38,970
    BobaFett said:

    rcs1000 said:

    @timmo: we should. However, it's worth noting that the polling averages haven't (excepting the last week's UKIP surge, LibDem plunge) moved around that much.

    With most pollsters now showing Lab +5/6 I suspect we are back to where we were when milord was in the field

    I'm not sure that works. Pollsters are also showing a swing to the Tories on the economy since the Ashcroft poll.

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    SimonStClareSimonStClare Posts: 7,976
    edited April 2014
    antifrank said:

    I can understand successful football managers boycotting media outlets that displease them. But leaders of fringe political parties need all the publicity that they can get.

    Do they, isn't that what Clegg is for?
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    SlackbladderSlackbladder Posts: 9,713
    BobaFett said:

    There is a fantastic video on the Red Liberals on the C4 News Catch Up website - absolute required viewing for all political punters. The Red Liberals are deepest Red...

    The lib dems were always in the past able to get support from people which projected things onto them, and the attraction being able to vote for people which have never been in government so were 'pure' in terms of having to actually do things.

    It's no suprise they've lost that USP.

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    isamisam Posts: 40,990
    edited April 2014
    antifrank said:

    I can understand successful football managers boycotting media outlets that displease them. But leaders of fringe political parties need all the publicity that they can get.

    Clegg joke too easy, I'll let someone else do it ;)
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    AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    isam said:

    antifrank said:

    I can understand successful football managers boycotting media outlets that displease them. But leaders of fringe political parties need all the publicity that they can get.

    Clegg joke too easy, I'll let someone else do it ;)
    It's not a joke. He's doing the LBC show for a reason.
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    SimonStClareSimonStClare Posts: 7,976

    BobaFett said:

    There is a fantastic video on the Red Liberals on the C4 News Catch Up website - absolute required viewing for all political punters. The Red Liberals are deepest Red...

    The lib dems were always in the past able to get support from people which projected things onto them, and the attraction being able to vote for people which have never been in government so were 'pure' in terms of having to actually do things.

    It's no suprise they've lost that USP.
    Clegg has repeatedly attempted to woo the RedLibs back into the fold with er, to be polite, ‘limited success’. - Recent VI polls put the LibDems at sub 10 points and yet every day we read that those figures bare no reflection on what the LDs will actually achieve at the next GE due to the ‘incumbency factor’ and what not. – So where are these votes going to come from?



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    AveryLPAveryLP Posts: 7,815
    BenM said:

    Interesting.

    But probably needs to be set alongside overall sentiment on the economy which has shifted more towards the Tories in the past 6 months.

    Some up-to-date polling would be helpful.

    The best regular poll of sentiment on the economy is Markit's Household Finances Index, which is prepared with IPSOS-MORI.

    The next publication is due tomorrow, so you won't have long to wait.

    The trend on almost all their metrics has been steadily upward since the beginning of 2013 but last month went into a holding pattern (a few up, a few down, most flat). This mirrors other quantitative data on the economy.

    I doubt tomorrow's survey will show a big uplift but May's might as the sampling period will fall after most respondents have benefitted from the tax and allowance changes introduced in April.
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    TGOHFTGOHF Posts: 21,633
    This old poll has been wheeled out again ?
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    MonikerDiCanioMonikerDiCanio Posts: 5,792
    Red Ed Liberals must be the stupidest and most contemptible part of the electorate. They act as a useful litmus test, whatever they support should be opposed.
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    isamisam Posts: 40,990
    antifrank said:

    isam said:

    antifrank said:

    I can understand successful football managers boycotting media outlets that displease them. But leaders of fringe political parties need all the publicity that they can get.

    Clegg joke too easy, I'll let someone else do it ;)
    It's not a joke. He's doing the LBC show for a reason.
    It's obvious from their response to the Times accusations that UKIP are painting the paper as the media arm of the political elite.

    Not talking to them plays into that easily enough. The voters UKIP are after/are attracting probably see the Times as distant from their lives anyway
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    anotherDaveanotherDave Posts: 6,746
    antifrank said:

    isam said:

    antifrank said:

    I can understand successful football managers boycotting media outlets that displease them. But leaders of fringe political parties need all the publicity that they can get.

    Clegg joke too easy, I'll let someone else do it ;)
    It's not a joke. He's doing the LBC show for a reason.
    Yesterday's London YouGov did show more LD support than I was expecting. 2009: 13.7%, YouGov: 11%.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Parliament_election,_2014_(United_Kingdom)#London_Polls
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    In this week's LRB, [36(8), (17/04/2014), pp. 13-14], there's an excellent piece by Colin Kidd, entitled 'A British Bundesrat?'. His discussion of Lord Justice General Cooper of Culross' judgment in MacCormick v Lord Advocate [1953] SC 396 is worth quoting from (p. 14), if only to inform the Scots nationalists:
    Cooper's intervention marked a major turning-point in constitutional interpretation - though only in Scotland. It gave birth to the widespread delusion that from the 14th-century Declaration of Arbroath Scots inherited a distinctive tradition of popular sovereignty, a historical nonsense that has become the new orthodoxy in Scottish political culture, espoused by Labour and Liberals as well as by the SNP.
    This attempt to pervert the historical record is blatant nationalist propaganda, and ought to be called out for what it is. There is no more of a tradition of 'popular sovereignty' in Scotland than there is in England.
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    Scott_PScott_P Posts: 51,453
    UKIP pre-empted the Times splash yesterday by naming the anonymous ex-party official who has grassed Farage up to the EU anti-fraud office as Jasna Badzak:

    Just one problem: the Times tells Guido that Badzak was not the source of the story. This could get messy…
    http://order-order.com/2014/04/15/farage-fingers-wrong-blonde/
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    AveryLPAveryLP Posts: 7,815
    edited April 2014
    antifrank said:

    I can understand successful football managers boycotting media outlets that displease them. But leaders of fringe political parties need all the publicity that they can get.

    They get that publicity by saying something silly like "I will never speak to The Times again".

    The problem for College was that the same story was also covered in the Independent, The Mirror and The Guardian.

    There are going to be a lot of disappointed journalists and editors out there!

    Links for today's UKIP expenses story:

    http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/politics/article4063594.ece
    http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/ukips-nigel-farage-could-face-3414955
    http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/ukip-leader-nigel-farage-accused-over-expenses-claims-9260542.html
    http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/apr/15/nigel-farage-under-fire-over-office-expenses
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    BenMBenM Posts: 1,795
    Oh God.

    You can bet Tories are going to be all over the internets in half an hour trying to claim the end to the ongoing cost of living crisis just because CPI plummets towards deflation.

    Careful you galactically out of touch Tories. No one feels better off with pay rises of less than 2% regardless of CPI.
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    TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 41,403
    isam said:

    antifrank said:

    isam said:

    antifrank said:

    I can understand successful football managers boycotting media outlets that displease them. But leaders of fringe political parties need all the publicity that they can get.

    Clegg joke too easy, I'll let someone else do it ;)
    It's not a joke. He's doing the LBC show for a reason.
    It's obvious from their response to the Times accusations that UKIP are painting the paper as the media arm of the political elite.

    Not talking to them plays into that easily enough. The voters UKIP are after/are attracting probably see the Times as distant from their lives anyway
    Yes agree with that but his main challenge is to avoid being categorised as another dodgy, denying politician, a la Miller. Not so easy as we head into a lazy summer. The media isn't just The Times....
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    AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340

    BobaFett said:

    There is a fantastic video on the Red Liberals on the C4 News Catch Up website - absolute required viewing for all political punters. The Red Liberals are deepest Red...

    The lib dems were always in the past able to get support from people which projected things onto them, and the attraction being able to vote for people which have never been in government so were 'pure' in terms of having to actually do things.

    It's no suprise they've lost that USP.
    Clegg has repeatedly attempted to woo the RedLibs back into the fold with er, to be polite, ‘limited success’. - Recent VI polls put the LibDems at sub 10 points and yet every day we read that those figures bare no reflection on what the LDs will actually achieve at the next GE due to the ‘incumbency factor’ and what not. – So where are these votes going to come from?



    The question is not so much where the votes have come from as where the votes have gone. I looked at this for betting purposes this morning on the post I linked to below:

    http://newstonoone.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/once-in-blue-moon-first-cut-on-chances.html

    "Here are the constituencies that the Conservatives would need to make inroads into if they were to achieve an overall majority:

    https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bygi8eZw-4q1aXdyMFd2MGwzcnc/edit?usp=sharing

    The Conservatives would need to take a minimum of 19 to get a majority. Measured by size of majority, the bookies aren't remotely convinced. Number 19 on this list is Newcastle-under-Lyme, and the best price that you can get is 8/1. But let's sort them by odds instead. And here a very different picture emerges:

    https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bygi8eZw-4q1VVVzb3dlblRob3c/edit?usp=sharing

    It seems that the bookies regard the Lib Dems as much easier pickings than Labour-held seats. As if by magic, the yellow rises to the top...

    But I note that on today's ICM poll, where the Conservatives polled 32% and the Lib Dems polled just 12%, there has been a swing from the Lib Dems to the Conservatives of 3% from the last election. On a uniform swing, that would give the Tories just eight of these target seats. The Lib Dems may have lost half their support, but the Conservatives have also lost some vote share. We shall need to work out what will happen in Lib Dem-held constituencies in particular: what will happen to the Lib Dem vote? And what will happen to the Conservative vote?"
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    JackWJackW Posts: 14,787
    edited April 2014
    As you indicate Mike, this polling is old and will it have much relevance in thirteen months time ? - Answer - No.

    Within five months, after the Euros, locals and Indy referendum the board will be cleared for the general election. Clearly these three polls will have an impact on the political scene but it's likely by the late Autumn that minds will slowly start to turn to the formation of the next government.

    Presently Labour lead by about 4 points. Will this be enough for them to cross the line a little over a year from now ? The answer to this is a resounding no. Few Labour oppositions have been in a weaker electoral positions having recently left government and no Labour opposition, in modern times, has increased its share of the vote in their first post government general election.

    That said, is it likely that Labour will poll less than PM Brown ? - Again the answer is no. Thus a record will be broken but likely only by the odd few points from the dire score of 29% in 2010.

    The slow death spiral for Labour is of course linked in reverse by the continuing excellent news on the economy that will run through to the general election. Labour's only hope will be the "Reagan Question" - Are you better off now than five years ago ? . The Coalition parties will counter with the "Brown Question" - Do you want to go back to the Labour recession years ?

    The last question to be answered by the voters will be - How badly will Labour lose ? .... The losing is now no longer if but by how much ?

    Place your bets ....

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    AveryLPAveryLP Posts: 7,815
    edited April 2014
    BenM said:

    Oh God.

    You can bet Tories are going to be all over the internets in half an hour trying to claim the end to the ongoing cost of living crisis just because CPI plummets towards deflation.

    Careful you galactically out of touch Tories. No one feels better off with pay rises of less than 2% regardless of CPI.

    The story Ben is crossover. The first time for six years - i.e. since Gordon b*ggered up the economy - that wages have grown faster than inflation.

    It is symbolic. A beacon of hope for the future. A glimpse of the sunlit uplands.

    We shall all be celebrating.

    But we shall have to wait until Wednesday before popping the corks as we only get half the equation today.

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    Paul_Mid_BedsPaul_Mid_Beds Posts: 1,409
    My gut feel is that with the fixed term parliaments act and no election until May 2015 a known, voters will continue to to use opinion polls as a "mid term" tool, ie a retort to the party in power without considering much about whether they actually like the alternative, until after Christmas or perhaps just before. After Christmas when voters actually take a good look at Ed & Ed I suspect there will be a shift.

    Not enough for a tory majority, but enough for a tory minority government propped up by supply and confidence agreement with the DUP, with another election within two years.
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    isamisam Posts: 40,990
    edited April 2014
    TOPPING said:

    isam said:

    antifrank said:

    isam said:

    antifrank said:

    I can understand successful football managers boycotting media outlets that displease them. But leaders of fringe political parties need all the publicity that they can get.

    Clegg joke too easy, I'll let someone else do it ;)
    It's not a joke. He's doing the LBC show for a reason.
    It's obvious from their response to the Times accusations that UKIP are painting the paper as the media arm of the political elite.

    Not talking to them plays into that easily enough. The voters UKIP are after/are attracting probably see the Times as distant from their lives anyway
    Yes agree with that but his main challenge is to avoid being categorised as another dodgy, denying politician, a la Miller. Not so easy as we head into a lazy summer. The media isn't just The Times....
    Well yes. He has already admitting taking as much as he can from the EU and using it to fund the party. To me, that is a different kettle of fish to Westminster expenses being used to buy houses, etc etc, and as "honourable" to UKIP voters as Sinn Fein using Westminster expenses to fund their cause.

    All the links to Farage admitting that are pointless really... he is proud of it, he said so in last weeks interview with Jon Snow.

    If he has trousered the money to spend on himself, that is different. Nowhere near as bad as taking from Westminster, mind.

    At least maybe now, after Snow's "black" smear, and now this, people will stop saying UKIP get a free ride from the media
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    anotherDaveanotherDave Posts: 6,746
    Scott_P said:

    UKIP pre-empted the Times splash yesterday by naming the anonymous ex-party official who has grassed Farage up to the EU anti-fraud office as Jasna Badzak:

    Just one problem: the Times tells Guido that Badzak was not the source of the story. This could get messy…
    http://order-order.com/2014/04/15/farage-fingers-wrong-blonde/How messy can it get? The Times are hardly going to admit they got the story from CCHQ.

    http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/Politics/article1296205.ece
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    BenMBenM Posts: 1,795
    AveryLP said:



    But we shall have to wait until Wednesday before popping the corks as we only get half the equation today.

    Popping corks over 1.4% pay rises? Kindly refer to my last paragraph.
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    isamisam Posts: 40,990
    edited April 2014
    Lizzy Vaid ‏@LizzyVaid 43m

    The story about @Nigel_Farage in The Times today is completely untrue and without substance. Just another #UKIP smear attempt by lefties.

    norman smith ‏@BBCNormanS 1h

    UKIP leader @nigel_farage says claims he abused EU Parliament expenses are part of "a politically motivated campaign by the establishment "
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    MrJonesMrJones Posts: 3,523
    The idea that all Lib voters are centrist is a myth. A sizable chunk are leftier than Lab - but weighted much more towards non-economic or not obviously economic issues i.e. more economic centrist than Lab but *much* more social left than Lab can afford to be just yet. Hence why Con were so dumb to think they could recruit them.
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    MikeKMikeK Posts: 9,053
    Now Cammo facing questions on dodgy use of public funds.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/conservative/10762922/Cameron-accused-of-using-public-funds-for-Tory-spin.html

    A case of pot calling kettle, re Farage, methinks.
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    MikeSmithsonMikeSmithson Posts: 7,382
    @JackW PB's new Stuart Truth refusing to believe the polling.
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    Scott_PScott_P Posts: 51,453
    isam said:

    Lizzy Vaid ‏@LizzyVaid 43m

    The story about @Nigel_Farage in The Times today is completely untrue and without substance. Just another #UKIP smear attempt by lefties.

    isam said:

    Well yes. He has already admitting taking as much as he can from the EU and using it to fund the party.

    So has he admitted is, or is it completely untrue?
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    BobaFettBobaFett Posts: 2,789

    My gut feel is that with the fixed term parliaments act and no election until May 2015 a known, voters will continue to to use opinion polls as a "mid term" tool, ie a retort to the party in power without considering much about whether they actually like the alternative, until after Christmas or perhaps just before. After Christmas when voters actually take a good look at Ed & Ed I suspect there will be a shift.

    Not enough for a tory majority, but enough for a tory minority government propped up by supply and confidence agreement with the DUP, with another election within two years.

    Whatever gets you through the night.
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    I can't look at any betting sites from work, but does anyone know offhand what odds you could get on a bet that UKIP will win no seats in the 2015 GE?
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    BobaFettBobaFett Posts: 2,789
    JackW said:

    As you indicate Mike, this polling is old and will it have much relevance in thirteen months time ? - Answer - No.

    Within five months, after the Euros, locals and Indy referendum the board will be cleared for the general election. Clearly these three polls will have an impact on the political scene but it's likely by the late Autumn that minds will slowly start to turn to the formation of the next government.

    Presently Labour lead by about 4 points. Will this be enough for them to cross the line a little over a year from now ? The answer to this is a resounding no. Few Labour oppositions have been in a weaker electoral positions having recently left government and no Labour opposition, in modern times, has increased its share of the vote in their first post government general election.

    That said, is it likely that Labour will poll less than PM Brown ? - Again the answer is no. Thus a record will be broken but likely only by the odd few points from the dire score of 29% in 2010.

    The slow death spiral for Labour is of course linked in reverse by the continuing excellent news on the economy that will run through to the general election. Labour's only hope will be the "Reagan Question" - Are you better off now than five years ago ? . The Coalition parties will counter with the "Brown Question" - Do you want to go back to the Labour recession years ?

    The last question to be answered by the voters will be - How badly will Labour lose ? .... The losing is now no longer if but by how much ?

    Place your bets ....

    A very long post saying "I don't believe the polling".

    Presumably if Milord released a similar poll today, showing similar things, you would reverse your forecast?

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    TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 41,403
    isam said:

    TOPPING said:

    isam said:

    antifrank said:

    isam said:

    antifrank said:

    I can understand successful football managers boycotting media outlets that displease them. But leaders of fringe political parties need all the publicity that they can get.

    Clegg joke too easy, I'll let someone else do it ;)
    It's not a joke. He's doing the LBC show for a reason.
    It's obvious from their response to the Times accusations that UKIP are painting the paper as the media arm of the political elite.

    Not talking to them plays into that easily enough. The voters UKIP are after/are attracting probably see the Times as distant from their lives anyway
    Yes agree with that but his main challenge is to avoid being categorised as another dodgy, denying politician, a la Miller. Not so easy as we head into a lazy summer. The media isn't just The Times....
    Well yes. He has already admitting taking as much as he can from the EU and using it to fund the party. To me, that is a different kettle of fish to Westminster expenses being used to buy houses, etc etc, and as "honourable" to UKIP voters as Sinn Fein using Westminster expenses to fund their cause.

    All the links to Farage admitting that are pointless really... he is proud of it, he said so in last weeks interview with Jon Snow.

    If he has trousered the money to spend on himself, that is different. Nowhere near as bad as taking from Westminster, mind.

    At least maybe now, after Snow's "black" smear, and now this, people will stop saying UKIP get a free ride from the media
    You see once the "story" is out there as soon as you start on the "yes but...no but...it's different but..." you are playing into their hands.

    As he is leader and as I suppose there are precious few able or in a position to "brief against" him, if he keeps quiet he may have a chance.
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    foxinsoxukfoxinsoxuk Posts: 23,548
    Social liberalism is a separate domain to financial centrism. It is quite possible to be in favor of both gay marriage and sound finances in the Conservative party as in the LDs.

    The LibDems will rise again, not least because a fair chunk of the electorate are in the sensible middle.
    MrJones said:

    The idea that all Lib voters are centrist is a myth. A sizable chunk are leftier than Lab - but weighted much more towards non-economic or not obviously economic issues i.e. more economic centrist than Lab but *much* more social left than Lab can afford to be just yet. Hence why Con were so dumb to think they could recruit them.

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    isamisam Posts: 40,990
    edited April 2014
    Scott_P said:

    isam said:

    Lizzy Vaid ‏@LizzyVaid 43m

    The story about @Nigel_Farage in The Times today is completely untrue and without substance. Just another #UKIP smear attempt by lefties.

    isam said:

    Well yes. He has already admitting taking as much as he can from the EU and using it to fund the party.

    So has he admitted is, or is it completely untrue?
    He has admitted he takes as much as possible from the EU to fund the party, but denies The Times story which says he has personally benefitted to the tune of £60,000
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    AveryLPAveryLP Posts: 7,815
    edited April 2014
    BenM said:

    AveryLP said:



    But we shall have to wait until Wednesday before popping the corks as we only get half the equation today.

    Popping corks over 1.4% pay rises? Kindly refer to my last paragraph.
    Please refer to St George's speech to the faithful in Washington.

    We no longer have welfare cuts: the new name is "entitlement reform".

    What makes you think that the people of the UK are entitled to have their earnings increased by more than the rate of inflation? By what wave of a magic wand can governments grant such wishes?

    It is not an entitlement but a reward earned by hard work, output growth and increased productivity. It may seem small change to you but this will be the first positive balance for six years.

    And it has been earned too. The UK has not only topped the IMF G7 figures on the rate of fiscal consolidation (since 2010, 1.6% average annual reduction in the ratio of the Cyclically Adjusted Current Budget deficit to GDP) but also our economy grew faster than our competitors in 2013 and is forecast by the IMF to repeat this competitive feat in 2014.

    Now name me a single year in which the Blair-Brown government managed to reduce current spending and grow the economy by the same margins. I suspect Labour wouldn't even know they had achieved it if it happened by accident!

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    BobaFettBobaFett Posts: 2,789

    Red Ed Liberals must be the stupidest and most contemptible part of the electorate. They act as a useful litmus test, whatever they support should be opposed.

    LOL. If you don't like what the electorate is saying, attack the electorate. Great election winning advice from a party that hasn't won a majority for 22 years.

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    isamisam Posts: 40,990

    @JackW PB's new Stuart Truth refusing to believe the polling.

    Even money bet on LDs vs UKIP at GE 2015?

    If LD wins I pay the site, If UKIP win you pay UKIP?
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    MikeSmithsonMikeSmithson Posts: 7,382
    On the age of the Ashcroft poll I have seen private polling from last month that had almost exactly the same picture.
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    SimonStClareSimonStClare Posts: 7,976
    @antifrank – cheers for that and good luck with the new ‘blog’ – great title btw ; )
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    isamisam Posts: 40,990
    TOPPING said:

    isam said:

    TOPPING said:

    isam said:

    antifrank said:

    isam said:

    antifrank said:

    I can understand successful football managers boycotting media outlets that displease them. But leaders of fringe political parties need all the publicity that they can get.

    Clegg joke too easy, I'll let someone else do it ;)
    It's not a joke. He's doing the LBC show for a reason.
    It's obvious from their response to the Times accusations that UKIP are painting the paper as the media arm of the political elite.

    Not talking to them plays into that easily enough. The voters UKIP are after/are attracting probably see the Times as distant from their lives anyway
    Yes agree with that but his main challenge is to avoid being categorised as another dodgy, denying politician, a la Miller. Not so easy as we head into a lazy summer. The media isn't just The Times....
    Well yes. He has already admitting taking as much as he can from the EU and using it to fund the party. To me, that is a different kettle of fish to Westminster expenses being used to buy houses, etc etc, and as "honourable" to UKIP voters as Sinn Fein using Westminster expenses to fund their cause.

    All the links to Farage admitting that are pointless really... he is proud of it, he said so in last weeks interview with Jon Snow.

    If he has trousered the money to spend on himself, that is different. Nowhere near as bad as taking from Westminster, mind.

    At least maybe now, after Snow's "black" smear, and now this, people will stop saying UKIP get a free ride from the media
    You see once the "story" is out there as soon as you start on the "yes but...no but...it's different but..." you are playing into their hands.

    As he is leader and as I suppose there are precious few able or in a position to "brief against" him, if he keeps quiet he may have a chance.
    Yeah I reckon he's got a chance too!
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    AveryLPAveryLP Posts: 7,815
    edited April 2014
    Yet more good news

    CPI down, as expected, to 1.6%.
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    BobaFettBobaFett Posts: 2,789

    On the age of the Ashcroft poll I have seen private polling from last month that had almost exactly the same picture.

    Presumably Mike our Conservative friends will now be in denial about that too? Not sure why you bother...

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    BobaFettBobaFett Posts: 2,789
    isam said:

    @JackW PB's new Stuart Truth refusing to believe the polling.

    Even money bet on LDs vs UKIP at GE 2015?

    If LD wins I pay the site, If UKIP win you pay UKIP?
    For that to be a fair exchange @Isam you should offer to donate to the LibDems!
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    AveryLP [9.26am] you can do better than that. Every penny spent on wages is a penny stolen from shareholders and other business owners. I know this because many, many years ago I asked a friend of my father's why he was a dispensing chemist - his reply: "because there's a law against robbing banks". Would you like all my money, given that I'm a "leftie" and you're a Tory (of sorts)? Of course you would. Why do you think lefties are entitled to anything? Wouldn't England be far better off if we all dropped dead? Speak from the heart, Avery, come on now (if John Loony can do it, calling for my children to be put to death, so can you) ...
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    BobaFettBobaFett Posts: 2,789
    AveryLP said:

    Yet more good news

    CPI down, as expected, to 1.6%.

    They'll be popping the champagne corks in the streets of Doncaster, eh Avery?
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    anotherDaveanotherDave Posts: 6,746

    On the age of the Ashcroft poll I have seen private polling from last month that had almost exactly the same picture.

    Then the number of 2010 LD undecided voters is almost as large as the number of 2010 LD > Lab defectors.

    http://lordashcroftpolls.com/2013/03/what-are-the-liberal-democrats-for/
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    BobaFettBobaFett Posts: 2,789

    On the age of the Ashcroft poll I have seen private polling from last month that had almost exactly the same picture.

    Then the number of 2010 LD undecided voters is almost as large as the number of 2010 LD > Lab defectors.

    http://lordashcroftpolls.com/2013/03/what-are-the-liberal-democrats-for/
    Survey after survey after analysis after analysis shows that DKs pretty much always end up breaking pretty much in line with the pledges.
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    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 61,005
    Mr. Fett, I do not think Ed Miliband's office will be celebrating the increasing weakness of one of his attack lines.
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    TGOHFTGOHF Posts: 21,633
    isam said:

    Scott_P said:

    isam said:

    Lizzy Vaid ‏@LizzyVaid 43m

    The story about @Nigel_Farage in The Times today is completely untrue and without substance. Just another #UKIP smear attempt by lefties.

    isam said:

    Well yes. He has already admitting taking as much as he can from the EU and using it to fund the party.

    So has he admitted is, or is it completely untrue?
    He has admitted he takes as much as possible from the EU to fund the party, but denies The Times story which says he has personally benefitted to the tune of £60,000
    Given that the Uk is a net contributor to the EU - he is taking Uk taxpayers money to fund his own lifestyle as the head of the "peoples army"..

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    BobaFettBobaFett Posts: 2,789

    Mr. Fett, I do not think Ed Miliband's office will be celebrating the increasing weakness of one of his attack lines.

    Given that 81% of the public think there's a cost of living crisis – on recent polling – I doubt he'll be that worried either.
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    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 61,005
    Mr. Fett, we abuse the term 'crisis' in the same way 'human rights' and 'poverty' have become practically meaningless.

    Reminds me slightly of IngSoc's mad approach towards language.
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    timmotimmo Posts: 1,469
    BobaFett said:

    On the age of the Ashcroft poll I have seen private polling from last month that had almost exactly the same picture.

    Presumably Mike our Conservative friends will now be in denial about that too? Not sure why you bother...

    On the age of the Ashcroft poll I have seen private polling from last month that had almost exactly the same picture.

    If that's the case Mike I stand corrected....
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    isamisam Posts: 40,990
    TGOHF said:

    isam said:

    Scott_P said:

    isam said:

    Lizzy Vaid ‏@LizzyVaid 43m

    The story about @Nigel_Farage in The Times today is completely untrue and without substance. Just another #UKIP smear attempt by lefties.

    isam said:

    Well yes. He has already admitting taking as much as he can from the EU and using it to fund the party.

    So has he admitted is, or is it completely untrue?
    He has admitted he takes as much as possible from the EU to fund the party, but denies The Times story which says he has personally benefitted to the tune of £60,000
    Given that the Uk is a net contributor to the EU - he is taking Uk taxpayers money to fund his own lifestyle as the head of the "peoples army"..

    If the Times allegations are true then I guess so

    Let's see how it plays out in public. He has denied it, UKIP have denied it, we wouldn't like to call innocent people guilty now would we?

    I understand you getting excited but I don't think this going to be a big deal
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    AveryLPAveryLP Posts: 7,815
    edited April 2014

    Scott_P said:

    UKIP pre-empted the Times splash yesterday by naming the anonymous ex-party official who has grassed Farage up to the EU anti-fraud office as Jasna Badzak:

    Just one problem: the Times tells Guido that Badzak was not the source of the story. This could get messy…
    http://order-order.com/2014/04/15/farage-fingers-wrong-blonde/
    How messy can it get? The Times are hardly going to admit they got the story from CCHQ.

    http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/Politics/article1296205.ece


    The Times is quite open about where it got confirmation of the story.

    It was from the former manager of UKIP's Littlehampton office, a certain "David Samuel-Camps, 69".

    This source is stated and quoted in the article.

    Samuel-Camps is probably someone else College "is no longer speaking to".
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    isamisam Posts: 40,990

    Mr. Fett, we abuse the term 'crisis' in the same way 'human rights' and 'poverty' have become practically meaningless.

    Reminds me slightly of IngSoc's mad approach towards language.

    You're bang right. Scarily realistic book.
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    SocratesSocrates Posts: 10,322
    AveryLP said:

    Scott_P said:

    UKIP pre-empted the Times splash yesterday by naming the anonymous ex-party official who has grassed Farage up to the EU anti-fraud office as Jasna Badzak:

    Just one problem: the Times tells Guido that Badzak was not the source of the story. This could get messy…
    http://order-order.com/2014/04/15/farage-fingers-wrong-blonde/
    How messy can it get? The Times are hardly going to admit they got the story from CCHQ.

    http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/Politics/article1296205.ece
    The Times is quite open about where it got confirmation of the story.

    It was from the former manager of UKIP's Littlehampton office, a certain "David Samuel-Camps, 69".

    This source is stated and quoted in the article.

    Samuel-Camps is probably someone else College "is no longer speaking to".

    I understand it is standard practice in journalism to require at least two sources before running a story. That is, if your intent to run actual stories rather than just being a Tory-supporting newspaper that wants to smear an opponent. The timing of this is pretty clear it's just a hit job.
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    JackWJackW Posts: 14,787
    edited April 2014

    @JackW PB's new Stuart Truth refusing to believe the polling.

    Ouch .....

    I believe the polling Mike .... but THE poll isn't until 7th May 2015 and our hilarious friend "Mr Truth" popped up during the last few months of the US campaign.

    It's like saying the polls of April 2009 are the results of 2010 or more accurately for 2015 that the polls for April 1991 were the result for Apr 1992 :

    ICM Poll :

    06 Apr 91 - Con 39 .. Lab 43 .. LibDem 13

    Result :

    09 Apr 92 - Con 43 .. Lab 35 .. LibDem 18

    So Mike, do you believe the polling today is the result for May 2015 ?




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    NickPalmerNickPalmer Posts: 21,363
    The idea among some here that Lib-Lab switchers are an absent-minded bunch of vague centrists is fundamentally wrong - at least in my patch, they are largely highly politicised people who voted LibDem because they thought Labour had moved too far to the right. Good luck to Cameron with chasing them with inheritance tax cuts or whatever.

    Today's YG also polls people on approval (down to -25 again) and party preference on everything you can think of. Mostly pretty much even splits and where there are differences they are narrowing, but Tories ahead on the economy and Labour ahead on the NHS. Labour marginally ahead on Europe :-). None of the ratings give the impression on being election-deciders, to be honest, partly as nobody gets more than 35% on anything and the support they get is mostly their own voters saying they're cool.

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    dr_spyndr_spyn Posts: 11,290
    Miliband has been very quiet, likewise Cable, over the huge can of worms spilling out from the omnishambles at the Co-Op. Huge loses, shambolic management structures, political unqualified appointees at the board, irresponsible lending, resignation of CEO, and others - on top of the old stories about the Chrystal Methodist. Isn't it time for a judge led inquiry into the ethics, lending practices and culture at The Co-Op.
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    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 61,005
    Mr. Socrates, there's a danger that attacking Farage in most ways serves only (to quote[ish] Rule Britannia) to root thy native oak. If it looks like the Establishment attacking him it'll just reinforce his insurgent [to use a Mandelson term] status.
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    CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 59,787
    BobaFett said:

    JackW said:

    As you indicate Mike, this polling is old and will it have much relevance in thirteen months time ? - Answer - No.

    Within five months, after the Euros, locals and Indy referendum the board will be cleared for the general election. Clearly these three polls will have an impact on the political scene but it's likely by the late Autumn that minds will slowly start to turn to the formation of the next government.

    Presently Labour lead by about 4 points. Will this be enough for them to cross the line a little over a year from now ? The answer to this is a resounding no. Few Labour oppositions have been in a weaker electoral positions having recently left government and no Labour opposition, in modern times, has increased its share of the vote in their first post government general election.

    That said, is it likely that Labour will poll less than PM Brown ? - Again the answer is no. Thus a record will be broken but likely only by the odd few points from the dire score of 29% in 2010.

    The slow death spiral for Labour is of course linked in reverse by the continuing excellent news on the economy that will run through to the general election. Labour's only hope will be the "Reagan Question" - Are you better off now than five years ago ? . The Coalition parties will counter with the "Brown Question" - Do you want to go back to the Labour recession years ?

    The last question to be answered by the voters will be - How badly will Labour lose ? .... The losing is now no longer if but by how much ?

    Place your bets ....

    A very long post saying "I don't believe the polling".
    If you'd read it, you'd realise it was a concise explanation of why JackW thinks the polling will change.

    Do you think it will stay the same, as circumstances, inevitably, change?

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    BobaFettBobaFett Posts: 2,789
    JackW said:

    @JackW PB's new Stuart Truth refusing to believe the polling.

    Ouch .....

    I believe the polling Mike .... but THE poll isn't until 7th May 2015 and our hilarious friend "Mr Truth" popped up during the last few months of the US campaign.

    It's like saying the polls of April 2009 are the results of 2010 or more accurately for 2015 that the polls for April 1991 were the result for Apr 1992 :

    ICM Poll :

    06 Apr 91 - Con 39 .. Lab 43 .. LibDem 13

    Result :

    09 Apr 92 - Con 43 .. Lab 35 .. LibDem 18

    So Mike, do you believe the polling today is the result for May 2015 ?




    Single data point from the days before the spiral of shame adjustment. As I said yesterday, and which you ignored.
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    BobaFettBobaFett Posts: 2,789

    Mr. Fett, we abuse the term 'crisis' in the same way 'human rights' and 'poverty' have become practically meaningless.

    Reminds me slightly of IngSoc's mad approach towards language.

    Why has the word poverty become almost meaningless? In what respect?
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    anotherDaveanotherDave Posts: 6,746
    BobaFett said:

    On the age of the Ashcroft poll I have seen private polling from last month that had almost exactly the same picture.

    Then the number of 2010 LD undecided voters is almost as large as the number of 2010 LD > Lab defectors.

    http://lordashcroftpolls.com/2013/03/what-are-the-liberal-democrats-for/
    Survey after survey after analysis after analysis shows that DKs pretty much always end up breaking pretty much in line with the pledges.
    But the 2010 LD > Lab defectors were a distinct group, weren't they?

    "...a group of voters who did not want to vote for Gordon Brown and thought they had the luxury of voting against Labour without helping to elect a Conservative government. These people are numerous, and furious. What the Lib Dems have achieved, or how different from the Conservatives they can claim to be, is for them neither here nor there. As far as these people were concerned, the Lib Dems’ most important job – their only job – was to keep the Tories out, and now look what they’ve done."

    http://lordashcroftpolls.com/2013/03/what-are-the-liberal-democrats-for/
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    CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 59,787
    Andrew Neil tweets: "Wages up 1.4% in Jan. Tomorrow average earnings are expected to grow 1.8% in Feb. So pay would be ahead of prices by 0.1%."
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    AveryLPAveryLP Posts: 7,815

    AveryLP [9.26am] you can do better than that. Every penny spent on wages is a penny stolen from shareholders and other business owners. I know this because many, many years ago I asked a friend of my father's why he was a dispensing chemist - his reply: "because there's a law against robbing banks". Would you like all my money, given that I'm a "leftie" and you're a Tory (of sorts)? Of course you would. Why do you think lefties are entitled to anything? Wouldn't England be far better off if we all dropped dead? Speak from the heart, Avery, come on now (if John Loony can do it, calling for my children to be put to death, so can you) ...

    Nothing to do with "lefties" or "righties", IA.

    I shall let St. George do the talking:

    In simple terms, I believe that if we reward hard work and support people’s aspirations to provide a better life for their family then there is no limit to what human enterprise can achieve.

    I bring this same optimism to the second of today’s pessimistic predictions – that even if growth is sustained the benefits will accrue to the few not the many.

    This prediction – that the link between living standards and economic growth has broken – also leads its proponents to the same prescription: more government spending on welfare and the costs of economic dependency.

    But it too can be proved wrong if we follow a different approach.

    To begin with it is not well supported by the facts.

    As Greg Mankiw has pointed out for the US, on a superficial reading the data appears to show that real median incomes grew by only 3% over the entire period from 1979 to 2007. That sounds like there is a big problem.

    But in fact once you take account of changes in household composition, lower taxes, healthcare benefits and other forms of remuneration then that number turns into a 37% real terms increase.

    Of course that’s not to say that inequality doesn’t matter – it does.

    The Great Recession made our countries poorer and times have been difficult for British and American families.

    But in the UK the evidence shows that growth supports rising living standards.


    [Words of wisdom to be continued...]
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    AveryLPAveryLP Posts: 7,815
    @Innocent_Abroad

    [... The Gospel according to S. George continued]

    Recent work by academics at the London School of Economics and our own analysis at the Treasury has found no evidence that employee compensation has become detached from GDP growth in recent decades.

    Previous results that appear to show a break disappear once you take account of rising pension contributions and payroll taxes.

    That is one reason why the labour share of national income in the UK has stayed constant over the last decade.

    Nor does the evidence support the so-called “hollowing out” hypothesis in the UK – the idea that middle-skill and middle-income jobs are disappearing with most of the growth in employment either at the top or the bottom of the distribution.

    While some traditional mid-level occupations have shrunk or moved down the income scale, new ones have been created to take their place.

    So we have fewer middle-paid production line and secretarial jobs, but a lot more middle-paid jobs in IT and professional services.

    Overall there has been little change in the proportion of people in middle-income jobs in recent years.

    And after rising during the industrial restructuring of the 1980s, as it did in many countries, the level of inequality in the UK has been fairly constant for two decades, and according to the latest data is at its lowest level since 1986.

    So the long term link between economic growth and living standards has not been broken.

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    isamisam Posts: 40,990
    edited April 2014
    BobaFett said:

    Mr. Fett, we abuse the term 'crisis' in the same way 'human rights' and 'poverty' have become practically meaningless.

    Reminds me slightly of IngSoc's mad approach towards language.

    Why has the word poverty become almost meaningless? In what respect?
    Isn't it's meaning in political terms "relative poverty"?

    So whereas someone of my age hears the word poverty and thinks of dying malnourished children in Ethiopia, an 18 year old now thinks it means being on benefits and not having sky tv

    "Relative poverty lines: These are defined in relation to the overall distribution of income or consumption in a country; for example, the poverty line could be set at 50 percent of the country’s mean income or consumption...

    Ultimately, the choice of a poverty line is arbitrary. In order to ensure wide understanding and wide acceptance of a poverty line, it is therefore important to ensure that the poverty line chosen does resonate with social norms (with the common understanding of what represents a minimum). "

    http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTPOVERTY/EXTPA/0,,contentMDK:20242879~menuPK:435055~pagePK:148956~piPK:216618~theSitePK:430367,00.html
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    anotherDaveanotherDave Posts: 6,746
    edited April 2014
    TGOHF said:

    isam said:

    Scott_P said:

    isam said:

    Lizzy Vaid ‏@LizzyVaid 43m

    The story about @Nigel_Farage in The Times today is completely untrue and without substance. Just another #UKIP smear attempt by lefties.

    isam said:

    Well yes. He has already admitting taking as much as he can from the EU and using it to fund the party.

    So has he admitted is, or is it completely untrue?
    He has admitted he takes as much as possible from the EU to fund the party, but denies The Times story which says he has personally benefitted to the tune of £60,000
    Given that the Uk is a net contributor to the EU - he is taking Uk taxpayers money to fund his own lifestyle as the head of the "peoples army"..

    The EU Parliament system is different to the Westminster system. All MEPs are given lump sum allowances, they don't reclaim permissible expenses like MPs.

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    OllyTOllyT Posts: 4,918
    @ Morris Dancer
    Doubt that most 2010 LibDem to Labour switchers are like "a woman scorned" and are disappointed that Clegg didn't turn out to be the Messiah.

    Whilst I admit it is anecdotal I know a lot of people who moved to the Lib Dems in 2005 & 2010 because they were anti-Iraq, anti-Blair and believed the Lib Dems to be a radical left of centre alternative. All the ones I know were livid when the coalition was formed, switched back to Labour and have become very strong and vocal in their support as they don't see Milliband as from the same mould as Blair.

    Whether they will be enough to see Labour home I don't know but I don't see many of them switching from Labour this side of next May
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    BobaFettBobaFett Posts: 2,789
    AveryLP said:

    @Innocent_Abroad

    [... The Gospel according to S. George continued]

    Recent work by academics at the London School of Economics and our own analysis at the Treasury has found no evidence that employee compensation has become detached from GDP growth in recent decades.

    Previous results that appear to show a break disappear once you take account of rising pension contributions and payroll taxes.

    That is one reason why the labour share of national income in the UK has stayed constant over the last decade.

    Nor does the evidence support the so-called “hollowing out” hypothesis in the UK – the idea that middle-skill and middle-income jobs are disappearing with most of the growth in employment either at the top or the bottom of the distribution.

    While some traditional mid-level occupations have shrunk or moved down the income scale, new ones have been created to take their place.

    So we have fewer middle-paid production line and secretarial jobs, but a lot more middle-paid jobs in IT and professional services.

    Overall there has been little change in the proportion of people in middle-income jobs in recent years.

    And after rising during the industrial restructuring of the 1980s, as it did in many countries, the level of inequality in the UK has been fairly constant for two decades, and according to the latest data is at its lowest level since 1986.

    So the long term link between economic growth and living standards has not been broken.

    A good way to reduce the gigantic deficit Ozzy has presided over would be a tax per word on the propaganda you cut and paste.
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    BobaFettBobaFett Posts: 2,789

    Andrew Neil tweets: "Wages up 1.4% in Jan. Tomorrow average earnings are expected to grow 1.8% in Feb. So pay would be ahead of prices by 0.1%."

    Wahey! No mention of spiralling housing costs, nor the fact that prices have been ahead of wages for years under this lot.
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    AnorakAnorak Posts: 6,621
    edited April 2014
    isam said:

    BobaFett said:

    Mr. Fett, we abuse the term 'crisis' in the same way 'human rights' and 'poverty' have become practically meaningless.

    Reminds me slightly of IngSoc's mad approach towards language.

    Why has the word poverty become almost meaningless? In what respect?
    Isn't it's meaning in political terms "relative poverty"?

    So whereas someone of my age hears the word poverty and thinks of dying malnourished children in Ethiopia, an 18 year old now thinks it means being on benefits and not having sky tv
    An 18 year old thinks of it as being on benefits and having Sky but not having the full Sky Sports package, more like.
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    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 61,005
    edited April 2014
    Mr. Fett, because we have 'relative poverty' (as well as other categories such as fuel/food poverty, but 'relative poverty' is by far the worst).

    Relative poverty is defined as being an income which is only a certain percentage of the average of the whole country. As such, it's insane. If you can afford fuel, food, shelter, new clothes when necessary, little luxuries like books, cinema trips, eating out occasionally and 1-2 holidays a year then you are *not* poor.

    Moreover, if, suddenly, every millionaire left the country it would 'lift' huge numbers out of this deranged definition of poverty. If every billionaire in the world suddenly entered the UK it would plunge huge numbers 'into' poverty.

    We've utterly devalued an important piece of language (well, political idiots have).

    Edited extra bit: this matters because when a politician talks about 'poverty' they often mean 'relative poverty'.
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    TGOHFTGOHF Posts: 21,633

    TGOHF said:

    isam said:

    Scott_P said:

    isam said:

    Lizzy Vaid ‏@LizzyVaid 43m

    The story about @Nigel_Farage in The Times today is completely untrue and without substance. Just another #UKIP smear attempt by lefties.

    isam said:

    Well yes. He has already admitting taking as much as he can from the EU and using it to fund the party.

    So has he admitted is, or is it completely untrue?
    He has admitted he takes as much as possible from the EU to fund the party, but denies The Times story which says he has personally benefitted to the tune of £60,000
    Given that the Uk is a net contributor to the EU - he is taking Uk taxpayers money to fund his own lifestyle as the head of the "peoples army"..

    The EU Parliament system is different to the Westminster system. All MEPs are given lump sum allowances, they don't reclaim permissible expenses like MPs.

    As Miller's case proves - the smell test >>> "da rools"

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