Another few points on the likely unemployment rate during the 2015 election campaign.
I think the scope and rate of fall will accelerate over the coming year but even allowing for just the present rate of fall unemployment will go below 2 million for the first time since October 2008 and will be around 500,000 fewer than when the Coalition came to office.
I suppose we should all be thankful though that Plan A was abandoned. Radical deficit reduction being the rock on which a recovery led by a business investment boom must go down as one of the worst predictions a British chancellor has ever made.
The ONS numbers are not my stats and are comparing like with like.
You floundering around trying to rubbish transparently good news is simply delusional on your part and frankly so patently a poor effort as to make me wonder why you bothered.
We might also be grateful to see that the Labour party had an economic Plan A unless their current position of left the field of play is Plan A - ie - Abandonment
The Tories have long had form when it comes to massaging unemployment numbers. Remember the 1980s? I hold no candle for Labour and was suspicious of many of their own targets that were met with a great deal of self-congratulation.
You are fighting old battles over massaging of unemployment figures, not even Labour is suggesting that of the ONS.
You also keep remarking on the nonsense that the Coalition abandoned Plan A. It has done no such thing as indeed Ed Balls has been constantly reminding us all for several years.
Rarely have a pair of wrong uns been so wrong.
I don't care what Ed Balls says. I'm not suggesting the ONS is itself massaging figures, just that government is determined to get unemployed numbers down by any means necessary, even if that means a self-employed window cleaner works one day a week and claims benefits for the rest.
As for Plan A, here's Jonathan Portes from the NIESR.
There will indeed be some who break through the tax credit rate (though as with other businesses the optimum is below the threshold). You of course do not pay cash in hand?....as that way leads to temptation.
If he resigned, I would imagine most sensible Tories would want to replace him with whoever would take the firmest line on getting a good deal in the negotiations for independence.
Incidentally, I would be impressed that David actually fell on his sword over this. Lloyd George didn't over Ireland.
"I think the most important thing about this result is that we believe in self-determination, and the Falkland Islanders Scottish People have spoken so clearly about their future, and now other countries right across the world, I hope, will respect and revere this very, very clear result." - David Cameron, 19th September, 2014.
This change over the past two weeks is a result of a significant rise in support for EPP parties in Poland, perhaps related to insecurity as a result of the crisis in Ukraine. EPP parties have also made gains in France and picked up one more seat in several other member states. Meanwhile, S&D parties have declined slightly in Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, France, and Greece.
The whole reason that looking at the party totals is ridiculous is because it's not actually a contest between the EPP and the socialists. It's actually a couple dozen different elections that operate in national conditions and are utterly independent to each other and then randomly totted up at the end. And that shows why the whole concept of a European parliament is a mad idea: there's no demos here for them to be elected from.
(Also no one seems to be asking why all those 100s of billions are flooding in from the BRICs.)
No one's asking because we all know the answer
That's good then. So we can expect to see some stuff in the media about how this miracle growth mostly comes from importing 100,000s more people every year and 100s of billions flooding in from BRIC oligarchs into the property market?
Question being, if they made such huge amounts of money in the BRICs why aren't they reinvesting it in the BRICs?
There were c. 3,000 residential property transactions in the UK in 2012 with value > £2m, total value of £17bn/ I believe (from memory) around half of these were foreign investors, and they certainly weren't all oligarchs.
They are sending it over as a simple store of value. It can't be pinched by the next president of your country if you end up on his bad side. So, worst case, you still end up with a £70m house in Kensington (thinking of the Mayor of Kyiv's daughter as a random example) that you can sell and be very very rich even if your country disintegrates
"There were c. 3,000 residential property transactions"
"250 high rise developments planned for the capital"
They all from help to buy are they?
"Now you are being even sillier than usual."
right
"They are sending it over as a simple store of value."
Yes, risk assessment. They think all that money they made in the BRICs is safer in the London property market than if they reinvested it in the places they made it - which tells you a lot.
You're surprised the clickbaiting mockeny is plagiarising PB stupidity? He can't even get his anecdote straight and the Swiss has transformed into an American.
*chortle*
You still haven't answered TUD on how you can possibly claim Yes are Project 'Fib' when you yourself think it's NO who are lying about currency. Come on, speak up! At least you stood by your Romney idiocy.
No wonder you are so confused about which party you support.
To commemorate the outbreak of the first world war, two sides will build up forces in a military stand off. You have to love the irony. (BBC breaking ticker)
Never tried Bovril as a spread though I do like it as a drink, very fortifying. In the days when I did such things, after a night out in The City I used to get the cab to divert to Finsbury Square where, in the North East corner, used to be a burger stand mainly frequented by cab drivers. The chap sold strong Bovril drinks with pepper and, unless you stopped him, salt. One of those combined with a late night special (double cheese burger with bacon, a fried egg and so much saturated fat you feel your arteries wince) was enough to see me safe home to Sussex after the best of city functions. Not only that, if you included him in the round, the cab driver would normally switch off the meter while we dined. I wonder if it is still there.
My thanks to those who responded to my earlier post on the Marmite issue. An update. When Herself came back from the hairdressers I, very carefully and gently (didn't want a repeat of the ironing issue), raised my concerns. It turns out that she has been feeding me the Tesco's muck for weeks (spousal abuse for sure) and not only with my weekly eggs but also with my cheese on toast and various gravies and I never noticed. So perhaps Mr. Charles had a point - same stuff just cheaper. Its has gone in the bin, though, and I bought a jar of the real thing from the village Co-Op when I went for my morning walk.
As for Tesco brands... what can I say? Some people pay a premium for brands. FWIW, my wife complains that Tesco's brand cornflakes are the wrong shape. Apparently they are more "round" than Kellogg's and therefore I am not permitted to purchase them.
They do a very nice line in chocolate. Tesco's "finest swiss 72%" is officially yummy.
The thing about this latest economic boom nonsense is it shows both Lab and Con were half right.
Lab were right that "austerity" was only going to make things worse but Con were right the only way you could afford to pump loads of money into the economy is if you got it for free with no borrowing - which is what is happening with all the BRIC oligarchs off-loading their cash stashes into the London property market.
On the taxi hut at Finsbury Square (I thought it was Finsbury Circle mind), I used to use it occasionally, but it was closed during the redevelopment of the square a few years ago & I don't know if it reopened when all about was glitzed up
As for Tesco brands... what can I say? Some people pay a premium for brands. FWIW, my wife complains that Tesco's brand cornflakes are the wrong shape. Apparently they are more "round" than Kellogg's and therefore I am not permitted to purchase them.
You mustn't confuse Finsbury Square with Finsbury Circus, Mr Charles. The latter is just off London Wall, almost opposite Carpenters' Hall, and, incidentally, is one of the few places in the City where one can nearly always find a parking spot. The former is at the top end of Moorgate, and, is in fact, outside the city, which is probably why the Burger stand was allowed to exist - Islington Council being less fastidious about such things.
As to Cornflakes, my sympathies are with your, American, wife. Never eat the things myself (my kidney doctor warned me off because of the amount of salt they contain) but I am sure her instinct is right.
Serious question, could both the validity and interpretation of the referendum result not be subject to legal challenge if, say, a YES vote is narrowly carried by 50.5% to 49.5% on a 70% turnout?
You'd have a situation where the wording of the question may have had a material impact on the result, and no firm consensus to dissolve a union - and a nation - of over 300 years in standing.
I suspect the legal challenges would ultimately fail, and YES would get a much bigger mandate even if there were to be an enforced re-run, but it could delay separation negotiations for months, perhaps years.
I felt the phrase was part of the 'common currency' of pb opinion, and therefore you'd be happy for me to use it without asking you first. I got the idea from Stuart Dickson.
Where did you get the idea to change the Swiss anecdote into an American anecdote ? You could at least have given him an eyepatch and a hook for a hand while you were at it. Just to make it that much more convincing.
That's an idea. Maybe I should appraise your telegraph punters of your plagiarism and remarkable changing anecdotes? I've a good few tales of exciting death threats and terrible twitter spats over your boss who might "lose their job" too come to think of it.
This change over the past two weeks is a result of a significant rise in support for EPP parties in Poland, perhaps related to insecurity as a result of the crisis in Ukraine. EPP parties have also made gains in France and picked up one more seat in several other member states. Meanwhile, S&D parties have declined slightly in Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, France, and Greece.
The whole reason that looking at the party totals is ridiculous is because it's not actually a contest between the EPP and the socialists. It's actually a couple dozen different elections that operate in national conditions and are utterly independent to each other and then randomly totted up at the end. And that shows why the whole concept of a European parliament is a mad idea: there's no demos here for them to be elected from.
If you were right then they'd be moving at random, but they're not. They're following continent-wide trends.
If there is a Yes vote in September, that's still nine months or so until the GE. If it becomes clear in that space of time that much of what was said by the SNP during the referendum campaign is not going to happen - ie, a currency union, automatic EU entry, continued ship orders from HMG etc - then that might not work in the SNP's favour at the polls come May 2015. In many ways, therefore, it is actually in the SNP's favour not to have any serious separation negotiations before the GE takes place.
Interesting point. But I have a little trouble with the logic. That is because it is the unionist parties (assuming they bother to stand in Scotland in 2015) that will be on the 'other' side of the table for the self-same negotiations. So if X does not come about, despite the SNP's efforts, but precisely because of (say) the Labour efforts, who is going to attract the greater measure of blame?
I suspect it all depends on what is seen as reasonable and unreasonable by the voters. Of course, if the unionist parties evaporate after a Yes vote (or try to clothe themselves anew in a dead lamb's skin+) things would get more complex.
+local farming custom - get an ewe with a dead lamb to adopt an orphan or excess lamb by skinning the dead lamb and putting it on the orphan lamb to get her to smell the 'right' smell
If what the Better Together campaign says will happen in the event of a Yes vote does happen why would Scottish voters blame the Unionist parties for that? The SNP's case is that Better Together is Project Fear; ie, that what is predicted to happen in the event of a Yes will not transpire and that instead everything will work out just fine: there will be a currency union, there will be no flight of business or capital, pensions will be unaffected, EU entry will be automatic and immediate, the rUK government will still build ships in Scotland and so on. These things will either turn out to be true or they will not. And if they are not true, the SNP will be shown to be utterly naïve at best, unprincipled dissemblers at worst.
I did say 'what is seen as reasonable', and I think that is the key element. If someone threatened to smash the dinner service if his partner served broccoli again, then he would still get the blame even if broccoli was served.
Just so everyone's aware, SeanT thinks the economic collapse from Scottish independence would be so severe, it might not tip the UK into recession for a full two years after it happens.
This change over the past two weeks is a result of a significant rise in support for EPP parties in Poland, perhaps related to insecurity as a result of the crisis in Ukraine. EPP parties have also made gains in France and picked up one more seat in several other member states. Meanwhile, S&D parties have declined slightly in Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, France, and Greece.
The whole reason that looking at the party totals is ridiculous is because it's not actually a contest between the EPP and the socialists. It's actually a couple dozen different elections that operate in national conditions and are utterly independent to each other and then randomly totted up at the end. And that shows why the whole concept of a European parliament is a mad idea: there's no demos here for them to be elected from.
Even if it was it's tweedledum versus tweedledee. Neither of whom make any real impact on the direction and agenda of the EU in any event, although I expect EiT will be keen to pop up and tell us how untrue that is because the European Parliament voted to deregulate marketing regulations on paper clips sold outside normal working hours.
lol. Just doing my job as a good journalist. Speaking truth to stupidity.
What, by giving spiteful Jocks more reason to vote for a split, as it will screw the English over too?
Does Sean want a yes vote so that the Tories can rule England?
Who knows what a clickbaiter thinks from minute to minute. Apparently labour were complacent fools for getting the Yes campaign so wrong so now the best thing for a clickbaiter to do is copy their scaremongering to ensure a No??
This change over the past two weeks is a result of a significant rise in support for EPP parties in Poland, perhaps related to insecurity as a result of the crisis in Ukraine. EPP parties have also made gains in France and picked up one more seat in several other member states. Meanwhile, S&D parties have declined slightly in Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, France, and Greece.
The whole reason that looking at the party totals is ridiculous is because it's not actually a contest between the EPP and the socialists. It's actually a couple dozen different elections that operate in national conditions and are utterly independent to each other and then randomly totted up at the end. And that shows why the whole concept of a European parliament is a mad idea: there's no demos here for them to be elected from.
Even if it was it's tweedledum versus tweedledee. Neither of whom make any real impact on the direction and agenda of the EU in any event, although I expect EiT will be keen to pop up and tell us how untrue that is because the European Parliament voted to deregulate marketing regulations on paper clips sold outside normal working hours.
I don't follow paperclip issues do I can't comment on that one but I do follow IP and internet censorship issues. The EU parliament killed ACTA, which is far more consequential than any difference between what Con+Lib have been doing this parliament and what Lab would have done if they'd got in.
Let's all be a bit positive. What we're going to get is a narrow(ish) NO. Followed by devomax. Possibly followed by a more federal UK. We'll all end up happy.
If there is a Yes vote in September, that's still nine months or so until the GE. If it becomes clear in that space of time that much of what was said by the SNP during the referendum campaign is not going to happen - ie, a currency union, automatic EU entry, continued ship orders from HMG etc - then that might not work in the SNP's favour at the polls come May 2015. In many ways, therefore, it is actually in the SNP's favour not to have any serious separation negotiations before the GE takes place.
Interesting point. But I have a little trouble with the logic. That is because it is the unionist parties (assuming they bother to stand in Scotland in 2015) that will be on the 'other' side of the table for the self-same negotiations. So if X does not come about, despite the SNP's efforts, but precisely because of (say) the Labour efforts, who is going to attract the greater measure of blame?
I suspect it all depends on what is seen as reasonable and unreasonable by the voters. Of course, if the unionist parties evaporate after a Yes vote (or try to clothe themselves anew in a dead lamb's skin+) things would get more complex.
+local farming custom - get an ewe with a dead lamb to adopt an orphan or excess lamb by skinning the dead lamb and putting it on the orphan lamb to get her to smell the 'right' smell
If what the Better Together campaign says will happen in the event of a Yes vote does happen why would Scottish voters blame the Unionist parties for that? The SNP's case is that Better Together is Project Fear; ie, that what is predicted to happen in the event of a Yes will not transpire and that instead everything will work out just fine: there will be a currency union, there will be no flight of business or capital, pensions will be unaffected, EU entry will be automatic and immediate, the rUK government will still build ships in Scotland and so on. These things will either turn out to be true or they will not. And if they are not true, the SNP will be shown to be utterly naïve at best, unprincipled dissemblers at worst.
I did say 'what is seen as reasonable'
But its all been 'what is seen as reasonable to Scotland' After September 18th, what 8% of the UK thinks does not matter much compared to what 92% of the UK thinks.....
"Are UKIP confirming their a party of loonies if they're planning to burn an effigy of Tim Montgomerie"
confirming 'they're' a party of loonies - tish tish TSE.
As penance the afternoon thread will be about electoral reform.
Noooooooo! : (
Nonsense, Mr. St. Clare, It's just coming up to 13:00 and assuming NightHawks kicks off at about 21:00 that gives us 8 hours or so to debate the relative merits of AV, STV, D'Hont, PR^2 and all the others. What better way of spending a sunny Wednesday afternoon could you think of?
This change over the past two weeks is a result of a significant rise in support for EPP parties in Poland, perhaps related to insecurity as a result of the crisis in Ukraine. EPP parties have also made gains in France and picked up one more seat in several other member states. Meanwhile, S&D parties have declined slightly in Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, France, and Greece.
The whole reason that looking at the party totals is ridiculous is because it's not actually a contest between the EPP and the socialists. It's actually a couple dozen different elections that operate in national conditions and are utterly independent to each other and then randomly totted up at the end. And that shows why the whole concept of a European parliament is a mad idea: there's no demos here for them to be elected from.
Even if it was it's tweedledum versus tweedledee. Neither of whom make any real impact on the direction and agenda of the EU in any event, although I expect EiT will be keen to pop up and tell us how untrue that is because the European Parliament voted to deregulate marketing regulations on paper clips sold outside normal working hours.
Quite. The EPP, European Socialists, ALDE are pretty well indistinguishable at EU Parliament level (I accept, there can be significant differences between the member parties at national level) Whether Shultz or Junker gets elected, they'll be equally inimical to British interests.
I know a broadsheet is above your reading age, but I would have thought this phrase should still be within your comprehension:
'based in Switzerland'
Not what you claimed on here chum.
Somehow
"I was debating indy with a Swiss financier the other day,"
Has become
"An American verdict on the plan to saw Britain in half: 'You must be mad'"
Why, oh why, didn't you give him a cockney accent??
ROFL
No wonder the actual journos laugh at the clickbaiters so much.
Why don't you rebut my argument and refute my points in your own Telegraph blog or Guardian column?
Ah. See your problem. Sorry about that.
You mean the column you were p*ssing yourself in fear you would lose when Smithson tweeted your boast about your Telegraph overseer 'losing his job' if he published one of your clickbait pieces?
Shouldn't I just refute your points on your column or would you delete that pretty damn quickly? Do you make death threats against posters in your Telegraph column BTW or is it just on PB?
Even on here you were pulled up about about your anecdote being Swiss in case you have conveniently forgotten.
How many MPs do people here expect Labour to get in 2015 if there is a Yes vote ?
When you look at the data they still must be nailed on to get at least 30 seats - even if Scotland votes Yes. The central belt will still vote them in come hell or high water I believe.
Could well form part of the crucial numbers for any Ed M Gov't.
For a long time now people have been waiting for Labour’s big reveal. Ed Miliband and Jon Cruddas and Ed Balls and Harriet Harman would one day stand up and go “ta-dah!!!!!” and with a dramatic flourish unveil a raft of exciting and radical policies to amaze and excite us.
There is not going to be a big reveal. Sadly, Ed Miliband will not be sawn in half. Jon Cruddas will not emerge dripping but unscathed from a glass water tank. Ed Balls will not remove his mask to reveal the smiling face of the lovely Harriet Harman.
Is that a recent photograph of Dave - he certainly looks a great deal thinner in the face or is it just an optical illusion as he stands adjacent to Alex Salmond?
I know a broadsheet is above your reading age, but I would have thought this phrase should still be within your comprehension:
'based in Switzerland'
Not what you claimed on here chum.
Somehow
"I was debating indy with a Swiss financier the other day,"
Has become
"An American verdict on the plan to saw Britain in half: 'You must be mad'"
Why, oh why, didn't you give him a cockney accent??
ROFL
No wonder the actual journos laugh at the clickbaiters so much.
Why don't you rebut my argument and refute my points in your own Telegraph blog or Guardian column?
Ah. See your problem. Sorry about that.
You mean the column you were p*ssing yourself in fear you would lose when Smithson tweeted your boast about your Telegraph overseer 'losing his job' if he published one of your clickbait pieces?
Shouldn't I just refute your points on your column or would you delete that pretty damn quickly? Do you make death threats against posters in your Telegraph column BTW or is it just on PB?
Even on here you were pulled up about about your anecdote being Swiss in case you have conveniently forgotten.
Feel free to start a mad cyberNatty rant under any of my blogs. This will increase argumentation, and up my click rate, so I will get paid more.
You certainly proved me wrong about clickbaiters and why they are laughed at, didn't you?
Where did you get the idea to change the Swiss anecdote into an American anecdote ? You could at least have given him an eyepatch and a hook for a hand while you were at it. Just to make it that much more convincing.
I know a broadsheet is above your reading age, but I would have thought this phrase should still be within your comprehension:
'based in Switzerland'
I like what you did because as well as indy, you can now have a simultaneous parallel debate about whether a "Swiss Financier" is properly Swiss and how pre-existing Swiss people view him and what it means to be "Swiss" plus of course what are the boundaries of Swissdom.
A seven point turn?! I never knew Ed was a girl. *ducks* On the subject of trademarking terms, without bothering to check back, I am claiming Faragasm which I coined straight after the debate. And, for personal reasons, I would like the rights to Con Maj Nailed On, as I plan to use it at some point in the next 30 years to invade a socialist.
Is that a recent photograph of Dave - he certainly looks a great deal thinner in the face or is it just an optical illusion as he stands adjacent to Alex Salmond?
It's taken just after the signing of the Edinburgh agreement. Dave is now fatter and Eck thinner. Perhaps they'll soon be of a similar 'hanging' weight.
It rather looks like Dave squeezed out a 'silent but deadly' and Eck's just realised.
Just so everyone's aware, SeanT thinks the economic collapse from Scottish independence would be so severe, it might not tip the UK into recession for a full two years after it happens.
What do YOU think would be the economic consequences, for the RUK, following a YES vote?
Not a lot, Mr. T, not a lot. An increase in the debt interest payment, but nothing horrendous, rUK government might have to shift a few billion from DFiD to Defence, but that can only be good for rUk economy but, assuming rUk has a sensible negotiating team in place, I can't see why it should be a big deal.
Just so everyone's aware, SeanT thinks the economic collapse from Scottish independence would be so severe, it might not tip the UK into recession for a full two years after it happens.
What do YOU think would be the economic consequences, for the RUK, following a YES vote?
Not a lot, Mr. T, not a lot. An increase in the debt interest payment, but nothing horrendous, rUK government might have to shift a few billion from DFiD to Defence, but that can only be good for rUk economy but, assuming rUk has a sensible negotiating team in place, I can't see why it should be a big deal.
population wise (ie if assets & liabilities were divided according to population), iScotland's debt to GDP ratio would be 73%, although they would want it to be calculated on a different ("historic") basis taking it to 60%. The issue would be the degree of fiscal tightening required in particular if they wanted to join the Euro.
The Daily Express headline re "The War on Benefits" and IDS has led to some deserved criticism from organisations representing disabled people.
MS Society UK @mssocietyuk 1h Hmm, a *war* is being fought? With the most vulnerable in society, who're using a lifeline. Sounds like a fair fight. pic.twitter.com/HreH1s0xh9
Are the public really on board with IDS" Welfare Reform" with this sort of rhetoric which has encouraged hate crimes against disabled people?
The despicable portrayal of long-term,progressive conditions,as some sort of "lifestyle choice" is beyond inhuman.
Is that a recent photograph of Dave - he certainly looks a great deal thinner in the face or is it just an optical illusion as he stands adjacent to Alex Salmond?
It's taken just after the signing of the Edinburgh agreement. Dave is now fatter and Eck thinner. Perhaps they'll soon be of a similar 'hanging' weight.
It rather looks like Dave squeezed out a 'silent but deadly' and Eck's just realised.
Eck looks as if he's dreaming of a roast Pork curry.
Is that a recent photograph of Dave - he certainly looks a great deal thinner in the face or is it just an optical illusion as he stands adjacent to Alex Salmond?
It's taken just after the signing of the Edinburgh agreement. Dave is now fatter and Eck thinner. Perhaps they'll soon be of a similar 'hanging' weight.
It rather looks like Dave squeezed out a 'silent but deadly' and Eck's just realised.
keep in mind the incompetent fop actually believes he's a giant Dyno-Rod when Jesus isn't telling him about the Big Society.
The Daily Express headline re "The War on Benefits" and IDS has led to some deserved criticism from organisations representing disabled people.
MS Society UK @mssocietyuk 1h Hmm, a *war* is being fought? With the most vulnerable in society, who're using a lifeline. Sounds like a fair fight. pic.twitter.com/HreH1s0xh9
Are the public really on board with IDS" Welfare Reform" with this sort of rhetoric which has encouraged hate crimes against disabled people?
The despicable portrayal of long-term,progressive conditions,as some sort of "lifestyle choice" is beyond inhuman.
You're in the wrong place to be arguing for fairness, humanity and common decency to the disabled and those on welfare. This is PB. Where the right wingers and their anecdotes rule. Where there can be no poverty, suffering or hardship while flat screen TVs exist.
If there is a Yes vote in September, that's still nine months or so until the GE. If it becomes clear in that space of time that much of what was said by the SNP during the referendum campaign is not going to happen - ie, a currency union, automatic EU entry, continued ship orders from HMG etc - then that might not work in the SNP's favour at the polls come May 2015. In many ways, therefore, it is actually in the SNP's favour not to have any serious separation negotiations before the GE takes place.
Interesting point. But I have a little trouble with the logic. That is because it is the unionist parties (assuming they bother to stand in Scotland in 2015) that will be on the 'other' side of the table for the self-same negotiations. So if X does not come about, despite the SNP's efforts, but precisely because of (say) the Labour efforts, who is going to attract the greater measure of blame?
I suspect it all depends on what is seen as reasonable and unreasonable by the voters. Of course, if the unionist parties evaporate after a Yes vote (or try to clothe themselves anew in a dead lamb's skin+) things would get more complex.
+local farming custom - get an ewe with a dead lamb to adopt an orphan or excess lamb by skinning the dead lamb and putting it on the orphan lamb to get her to smell the 'right' smell
If what the Better Together campaign says will happen in the event of a Yes vote does happen why would Scottish voters blame the Unionist parties for that? The SNP's case is that Better Together is Project Fear; ie, that what is predicted to happen in the event of a Yes will not transpire and that instead everything will work out just fine: there will be a currency union, there will be no flight of business or capital, pensions will be unaffected, EU entry will be automatic and immediate, the rUK government will still build ships in Scotland and so on. These things will either turn out to be true or they will not. And if they are not true, the SNP will be shown to be utterly naïve at best, unprincipled dissemblers at worst.
I did say 'what is seen as reasonable'
But its all been 'what is seen as reasonable to Scotland' After September 18th, what 8% of the UK thinks does not matter much compared to what 92% of the UK thinks.....
Mr Observer and I were specifically discussing voters in Scotland at the 2015 GE, unless the SNP are going to put up candidates south of the border ...
I have finally registered here to say 'what a pile of crap'.
If Scotland votes yes, the Tories are much, much, much more likely to win general elections in the rest of the UK. If you're Dave, you don't resign, you start (secretly) opening the champagne.
I have finally registered here to say 'what a pile of crap'.
If Scotland votes yes, the Tories are much, much, much more likely to win general elections in the rest of the UK. If you're Dave, you don't resign, you start (secretly) opening the champagne.
Excellent and welcome - I would head over to the other thread as people are congregating there...!
Think poor Porky was hoping for better numbers from TNS no sign of an Eck speech bump - fire up the panelbase !
It would be my usual comment to say that Yes is toast
Whereas it will be my usual response to ask you just how big a triumph you predicted Clegg's Farage debate would be? Not a good day from Clegg's inept ostrich faction to pretend they aren't hopelessly out of touch with public opinion. But then again, when is it?
Sometimes it is right to put forward a minority view even though the majority of the public does not agree with it . Clegg did this in the Farage debates
That's the best spin Clegg's inept ostrich faction can come up with? It's fault of the current differential between IN and OUT that Clegg couldn't debate his way out of a paper bag? Even if that was the case then it was more than a bit stupid to have a debate on that in the first place then, wasn't it? Or didn't that occur to Clegg's incompetent supporters?
I thought they were getting truly desperate when they used the excuse that Farage was "telling the voters what they want to hear" to try and deflect attention away from calamity Clegg's excerable debate performance. It must be quite difficult to keep living in that bubble pathetically trying to pretend that Clegg isn't toxic.
Is the failure of the Yes campaign down to Salmond being toxic , Yes supporters being unable to debate their position out of a paper bag or the Yes position being a lost cause from the start ?
MarkSenile, LOL, will the LibDems be able to fill a taxi after the next election , or will they also have less representatives than there are panda's in the country.
David Cameron should be involved in the break up of the UK. He is an English voter and he should get a vote in a referendum on English independence. Why are we English never asked what we want?
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Европейский комиссар @MoodySlayerUK 35m
First video of Ed Balls' car crash emerges https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vA_8ixoQZuM …
I think that should be, "And some people from Sussex". We don't all go out and burn effigies of the Pope or caravans, thank you.
So regardless of what we call it, is it not abundantly clear that the economic policies of the Coalition are working ?
Do you concede that position or are you like much of the opposition shouting "squirrel" ?
There will indeed be some who break through the tax credit rate (though as with other businesses the optimum is below the threshold).
You of course do not pay cash in hand?....as that way leads to temptation.
Incidentally, I would be impressed that David actually fell on his sword over this. Lloyd George didn't over Ireland.
Anyway, it's all moot, as Scotland isn't leaving.
www.leemiller.co.uk/
- David Cameron, 19th September, 2014.
February 13, 2014 at 1:41 pm
Chasing the money..
1. Gordon signs the EU’s Lisbon treaty without holding the referendum he promised us.
2. The UK government gives the EU £58 million every day.
3. The EU pays Gordon to deliver speeches that no-one listens to.
4. Gordon becomes a millionaire.
I don't recall limiting it to residential.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2579770/St-Pauls-risks-rubbed-London-skyline-forever-nearly-250-high-rise-developments-planned-capital.html
"250 high rise developments planned for the capital"
They all from help to buy are they?
"Now you are being even sillier than usual."
right
"They are sending it over as a simple store of value."
Yes, risk assessment. They think all that money they made in the BRICs is safer in the London property market than if they reinvested it in the places they made it - which tells you a lot.
*chortle*
You still haven't answered TUD on how you can possibly claim Yes are Project 'Fib' when you yourself think it's NO who are lying about currency. Come on, speak up! At least you stood by your Romney idiocy.
No wonder you are so confused about which party you support.
You have to love the irony.
(BBC breaking ticker)
(see below)
http://www.tesco.com/groceries/Product/Details/?id=256176290
It's also much the same price as the Lindt though! (Asda)
Lab were right that "austerity" was only going to make things worse but Con were right the only way you could afford to pump loads of money into the economy is if you got it for free with no borrowing - which is what is happening with all the BRIC oligarchs off-loading their cash stashes into the London property market.
As to Cornflakes, my sympathies are with your, American, wife. Never eat the things myself (my kidney doctor warned me off because of the amount of salt they contain) but I am sure her instinct is right.
You'd have a situation where the wording of the question may have had a material impact on the result, and no firm consensus to dissolve a union - and a nation - of over 300 years in standing.
I suspect the legal challenges would ultimately fail, and YES would get a much bigger mandate even if there were to be an enforced re-run, but it could delay separation negotiations for months, perhaps years.
You could at least have given him an eyepatch and a hook for a hand while you were at it.
Just to make it that much more convincing.
That's an idea. Maybe I should appraise your telegraph punters of your plagiarism and remarkable changing anecdotes? I've a good few tales of exciting death threats and terrible twitter spats over your boss who might "lose their job" too come to think of it.
If you were right then they'd be moving at random, but they're not. They're following continent-wide trends.
confirming 'they're' a party of loonies - tish tish TSE.
Even if it was it's tweedledum versus tweedledee. Neither of whom make any real impact on the direction and agenda of the EU in any event, although I expect EiT will be keen to pop up and tell us how untrue that is because the European Parliament voted to deregulate marketing regulations on paper clips sold outside normal working hours.
http://www.lindt.co.uk/fileadmin/lindt_int/SOC_HTML/Recipes_EN/HotChocolate_en.pdf
http://www.lindt.co.uk/noswf/eng/secrets-of-chocolate/secrets-of-chocolate/recipes/
I'm blaming auto-correct.
As penance the afternoon thread will be about electoral reform.
However, happy for others to use it under Fair Use.
http://www.marlboroughnewsonline.co.uk/news/all-the-news/2850-daily-telegraph-s-co-owner-is-discreet-supporter-of-ukip-leader-nigel-farage-claims-private-eye
And more charitable than the 'Project Fantasy' that I would choose.......
Not only can Eck tell what 27 EU Governments will decide, he can also decide where a foreign government will build its warships!
I don't follow paperclip issues do I can't comment on that one but I do follow IP and internet censorship issues. The EU parliament killed ACTA, which is far more consequential than any difference between what Con+Lib have been doing this parliament and what Lab would have done if they'd got in.
Somehow
"I was debating indy with a Swiss financier the other day,"
Has become
"An American verdict on the plan to saw Britain in half: 'You must be mad'"
Why, oh why, didn't you give him a cockney accent??
ROFL
No wonder the actual journos laugh at the clickbaiters so much.
Quite. The EPP, European Socialists, ALDE are pretty well indistinguishable at EU Parliament level (I accept, there can be significant differences between the member parties at national level) Whether Shultz or Junker gets elected, they'll be equally inimical to British interests.
Shouldn't I just refute your points on your column or would you delete that pretty damn quickly? Do you make death threats against posters in your Telegraph column BTW or is it just on PB?
Even on here you were pulled up about about your anecdote being Swiss in case you have conveniently forgotten.
When you look at the data they still must be nailed on to get at least 30 seats - even if Scotland votes Yes. The central belt will still vote them in come hell or high water I believe.
Could well form part of the crucial numbers for any Ed M Gov't.
There is not going to be a big reveal. Sadly, Ed Miliband will not be sawn in half. Jon Cruddas will not emerge dripping but unscathed from a glass water tank. Ed Balls will not remove his mask to reveal the smiling face of the lovely Harriet Harman.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/danhodges/100267908/those-exciting-labour-policies-you-were-waiting-for-there-arent-any/
LOL
On the subject of trademarking terms, without bothering to check back, I am claiming Faragasm which I coined straight after the debate.
And, for personal reasons, I would like the rights to Con Maj Nailed On, as I plan to use it at some point in the next 30 years to invade a socialist.
Lord Ashcroft @LordAshcroft 35m
Bookies have tightened the odds from 5/1 to 3/1 that the Libdems will get zero seats at the European Elections.
It rather looks like Dave squeezed out a 'silent but deadly' and Eck's just realised.
Not impossible to manage.
MS Society UK @mssocietyuk 1h
Hmm, a *war* is being fought? With the most vulnerable in society, who're using a lifeline. Sounds like a fair fight. pic.twitter.com/HreH1s0xh9
Are the public really on board with IDS" Welfare Reform" with this sort of rhetoric which has encouraged hate crimes against disabled people?
The despicable portrayal of long-term,progressive conditions,as some sort of "lifestyle choice" is beyond inhuman.
If Scotland votes yes, the Tories are much, much, much more likely to win general elections in the rest of the UK. If you're Dave, you don't resign, you start (secretly) opening the champagne.
The Tories nearly won but have 1 MP and a handful of MSP's due to list system
UK PM should not be involved in break up of UK says sage who reckons every man and their dog should get a vote
Scottish Tories begged to be guinea pigs for Poll Tax