Just pile on any song that the gays would vote for ?
Nah. Is more sophisticated than that.
Just annoyed my £50 didn't get matched at 30s even though apparently Iceland went into 25-1. Should have probably done £30 at 50s or some such. Ah well.
A question: let's assume that UKIP does better than anyone (other than MikeK) anticipates in 2015, and secures 55 seats. Together with the Conservatives 280 odd, that gives a workable majority (and no other combination is remotely possible, so assume Libs 25 or so).
There is a UKIP/Con inspired EU referendum in 2016, with individuals in the Conservative Party allowed to campaign as they wish.
The referendum result comes in 55/45 to stay in.
Does the Con/UKIP coalition last?
What happens then?
You're a businessman, Smithson jr., how about the following scenario?
Tories (to UKIP): We'll offer an In/Out referendum in the coalition deal.
UKIP: F*ck off! You're committed to such a referendum anyway. Those adverts on PB say so. Offer us something you're not obliged to do anyway.
Tories: Leaving the EU without a referendum?
UKIP: It's a deal!
The Conservative Party will not leave the EU without a referendum because there would be at least 25 of my hypothetical 280 Conservative MPs would vote against it - either because they themselves opposed exit, or because they believed the political fall-out from not offering a referendum would be too great.
You would need UKIP with at least 250 MPs, not 50, to achieve that goal. And even there, if - say - UKIP had secured only 33% of the popular vote, it would be difficult given that is hardly a mandate to implement a change of that magnitude. Many UKIP supporters, like Richard Tyndall, believe that exit requires a referendum, so you may even get a few MPs uncomfortable with your proposal.
If a week is a long time in politics, what about 49 weeks? A lot can change in a year and if UKIP come top in the EU elections in 12 days; it's all to play for. Just to stir it I had a dream that UKIP would get 88 seats in 2015. My dream and most PBers nightmare. Oh well.
Just pile on any song that the gays would vote for ?
Nah. Is more sophisticated than that.
Just annoyed my £50 didn't get matched at 30s even though apparently Iceland went into 25-1. Should have probably done £30 at 50s or some such. Ah well.
Eurovision is like a cricket match, if you're going to lay, you need to lay whilst you watch.
@ZenPagan: Well, if UKIP want my vote, that's not a good way to start.
You see, the thing is, I have been watching politics for half a century, so I've got some pretty good comparisons. And Cameron, for all his faults (which are mostly minor) is the best PM for half a century apart from the special case of Maggie. [Anyone who doesn't believe me just needs to get a piece of paper and start writing out the other candidates for this accolade..]
As for policies, you have to be special kind of bonkers to think this government has 'no policies worth a damn'.
On a more trivial note I wonder if the Ukraine army will go all out to stop the referendum in Donbass tomorrow and if so will a Russki response start WWIII?
So very poor polls for Con tonight - bit of a surprise after a run of very good polls for them over the last few days - 10 polls up to yesterday (pre yesterday's Populus) had an average Lab lead of just 2.1%.
Then we get:
Populus - 4 Survation - 5 Opinium - 4
OK, all MOE from 2.1 but all in the same direction!
Just pile on any song that the gays would vote for ?
Nah. Is more sophisticated than that.
Just annoyed my £50 didn't get matched at 30s even though apparently Iceland went into 25-1. Should have probably done £30 at 50s or some such. Ah well.
Eurovision is like a cricket match, if you're going to lay, you need to lay whilst you watch.
Was out for a meal Wanted to come back to the whole £1500 lost !
On a more trivial note I wonder if the Ukraine army will go all out to stop the referendum in Donbass tomorrow and if so will a Russki response start WWIII?
After going through this beautiful, unifying song contest together I predict Ukraine and Russia will call an immediate ceasefire and get drunk together while serenading Austria
So very poor polls for Con tonight - bit of a surprise after a run of very good polls for them over the last few days - 10 polls up to yesterday (pre yesterday's Populus) had an average Lab lead of just 2.1%.
Then we get:
Populus - 5 Survation - 5 Opinium - 4
Don't worry, Dan Hodges has just seen an unpublished Tory Party poll for the marginals showing The Tory Party way ahead......only he has seen it though.
Well done the homosexuals of my facebook feed. They've been predicting an Austria win since the blinking Austrian qualifying competition. Given their record on almost everything else clearly Eurovision is to them what the Oscars were to the much missed Roger.
Well done the homosexuals of my facebook feed. They've been predicting an Austria win since the blinking Austrian qualifying competition. Given their record on almost everything else clearly Eurovision is to them what the Oscars were to the much missed Roger.
Well done the homosexuals of my facebook feed. They've been predicting an Austria win since the blinking Austrian qualifying competition. Given their record on almost everything else clearly Eurovision is to them what the Oscars were to the much missed Roger.
So why did you not tip off the PB Tories?
I did, the other day, kept on telling people to back Austria.
Well done the homosexuals of my facebook feed. They've been predicting an Austria win since the blinking Austrian qualifying competition. Given their record on almost everything else clearly Eurovision is to them what the Oscars were to the much missed Roger.
'The homosexuals of my facebook feed' - next year's entry, perhaps? Name is a bit on the nose.
Well done the homosexuals of my facebook feed. They've been predicting an Austria win since the blinking Austrian qualifying competition. Given their record on almost everything else clearly Eurovision is to them what the Oscars were to the much missed Roger.
I've been wondering where on earth Roger has got to?
Well done the homosexuals of my facebook feed. They've been predicting an Austria win since the blinking Austrian qualifying competition. Given their record on almost everything else clearly Eurovision is to them what the Oscars were to the much missed Roger.
So why did you not tip off the PB Tories?
I believe I may have noted this in the last thread! I meant to anyway. But I was quite drunk quite early so it all went horribly wrong. TSE is a b@stard. I'm clearly still drunk! I'll buy you a cocktail out of my modest winnings (I was slightly embarrassed to bet on Eurovision so didnt gamble much).
Well done the homosexuals of my facebook feed. They've been predicting an Austria win since the blinking Austrian qualifying competition. Given their record on almost everything else clearly Eurovision is to them what the Oscars were to the much missed Roger.
My friend gives me Eurovision advice, and his boyfriend gives me Championship football tips (being a Leeds fan). Any guesses who is the alpha male of the relationship?
On a more trivial note I wonder if the Ukraine army will go all out to stop the referendum in Donbass tomorrow and if so will a Russki response start WWIII?
After going through this beautiful, unifying song contest together I predict Ukraine and Russia will call an immediate ceasefire and get drunk together while serenading Austria
You would need UKIP with at least 250 MPs, not 50, to achieve that goal. And even there, if - say - UKIP had secured only 33% of the popular vote, it would be difficult given that is hardly a mandate to implement a change of that magnitude. Many UKIP supporters, like Richard Tyndall, believe that exit requires a referendum, so you may even get a few MPs uncomfortable with your proposal.
We entered the EEC without a referendum, we can leave without one.
We can always have one after the event if anyone's that concerned.
On a more trivial note I wonder if the Ukraine army will go all out to stop the referendum in Donbass tomorrow and if so will a Russki response start WWIII?
Well done the homosexuals of my facebook feed. They've been predicting an Austria win since the blinking Austrian qualifying competition. Given their record on almost everything else clearly Eurovision is to them what the Oscars were to the much missed Roger.
I've been wondering where on earth Roger has got to?
I don't know but I imagine Roger is sitting in a cafe in Cannes at some outrageous Eurovision party, stinking of Old Spice and stale cigars, dreaming up his next Tampax advert.
@ZenPagan: Well, if UKIP want my vote, that's not a good way to start.
You see, the thing is, I have been watching politics for half a century, so I've got some pretty good comparisons. And Cameron, for all his faults (which are mostly minor) is the best PM for half a century apart from the special case of Maggie. [Anyone who doesn't believe me just needs to get a piece of paper and start writing out the other candidates for this accolade..]
As for policies, you have to be special kind of bonkers to think this government has 'no policies worth a damn'.
I too have been watching politics for hald a century. Cameron is far from the best prime minister by a long shot.
Conservative policy is as close to new labour policy as makes no difference. New labour policy was worthless so is current conservative party policy. As long as the conservatives wish to mortgage future generations then they should rightly be regarded as no better than labour.
While a lot of those on here have big important jobs those of us who have normal jobs and hover around about the 40% tax bracket start see absolutely nothing from your vaunted economic policy. There is no recovery for us. Our pay remains static, our taxes rise, our bills rise. There is nothing for us whatsoever in your vision of government.
On top of this you shovel selling us out to european protectionism and allowing all and sundry to dip into our private lives at will via both state surveillance and selling our health and tax details.
Most of us normal people hate your precious conservatives and lib dems and labour with a passion. You don't govern for the benefit of the bulk of the country you govern in the interests of big corporations.
Eliminate the deficit.Start winding back the power of the state, the size of the state, and the intrusiveness of the state. This is why I voted conservative in 2010. You achieved of that list absolutely bugger all. I now pay more tax than ever for less services, my energy bills have all increased largely thanks to the green taxes. I still pay more for goods than people in other parts of the world because while you want free migration of labour to keep it cheap for you and your cronies you don't like free migration of goods so I can't buy of someone bringing in those cheap goods from india or south america.Quite happy to let in the workers though because that stops the amount you have to pay us rising.
I did, the other day, kept on telling people to back Austria.
Damn, with your taste in shoes I should have listened to you!
I promise, next year, I will make sure you don't miss my tips.
Looking at the calendar, Eurovision is going to be held the week after the UK General Election.
Blimey.
Speaking of which, is there a PB election night party where we hire out a pub or something with loads of screens? Because there should be, and we've got a year to plan one.
They are keen on referenda they might have a chance of winning, not ones that are fixed before they are even held by an utterly crooked and dishonest Prime Minister who believes in nothing except remaining in power.
I would have thought you would have got that message by now.
I did, the other day, kept on telling people to back Austria.
Damn, with your taste in shoes I should have listened to you!
I promise, next year, I will make sure you don't miss my tips.
Looking at the calendar, Eurovision is going to be held the week after the UK General Election.
Blimey.
Speaking of which, is there a PB election night party where we hire out a pub or something with loads of screens? Because there should be, and we've got a year to plan one.
From the Sunday Times, Farage is about to park his tanks and pretty much everything else on Ed's lawn.
The UKIP leader will release adverts arguing that it is Britain’s membership of the EU that has pushed up the price of food and fuel.....
Today Farage will unveil two campaign posters on the cost of living. The first tells voters to “Use your loaf” and claims food bills could be £400 a year cheaper in every UK household. In a reference to Miliband’s pledge to freeze fuel bills, the second, of a lightbulb, argues that “Without the EU, every UK fuel bill would be £112 cheaper.”
Farage said he believed the posters would “resonate with working-class voters”.
“I agree with Mr Miliband that there is a cost-of-living crisis going on. But I intend to expose the fact that much of it is down to Labour’s own policies when it was last in government and in particular its acquiescence to diktats coming out of Brussels,” he said. “Food prices and energy prices are two key components of the squeeze on living standards. And in both cases the EU is right at the heart of the squeeze.”
A question: let's assume that UKIP does better than anyone (other than MikeK) anticipates in 2015, and secures 55 seats. Together with the Conservatives 280 odd, that gives a workable majority (and no other combination is remotely possible, so assume Libs 25 or so).
There is a UKIP/Con inspired EU referendum in 2016, with individuals in the Conservative Party allowed to campaign as they wish.
The referendum result comes in 55/45 to stay in.
Does the Con/UKIP coalition last?
What happens then?
You're a businessman, Smithson jr., how about the following scenario?
Tories (to UKIP): We'll offer an In/Out referendum in the coalition deal.
UKIP: F*ck off! You're committed to such a referendum anyway. Those adverts on PB say so. Offer us something you're not obliged to do anyway.
Tories: Leaving the EU without a referendum?
UKIP: It's a deal!
The Conservative Party will not leave the EU without a referendum because there would be at least 25 of my hypothetical 280 Conservative MPs would vote against it - either because they themselves opposed exit, or because they believed the political fall-out from not offering a referendum would be too great.
You would need UKIP with at least 250 MPs, not 50, to achieve that goal. And even there, if - say - UKIP had secured only 33% of the popular vote, it would be difficult given that is hardly a mandate to implement a change of that magnitude. Many UKIP supporters, like Richard Tyndall, believe that exit requires a referendum, so you may even get a few MPs uncomfortable with your proposal.
Yep you are right Robert. I do believe that such an important change should be with the explicit approval of the British people via a referendum rather than the debatable implicit approval from a General Election. As to the comment earlier that because we went in without a referendum we should leave without one I would point out that the lack of a referendum was corrected in 1975 and also that two wrongs don't make a right.
Is Ed up to the job of PM, Yes 25%, No 56%, DK 19%
Has Ed made it clear what he stands for Yes 26%, No 58%, DK 16%
First question is to be expected (I'm sure it's been even more abysmal at times in the past), but such low responses to "made it clear what he stands for" is very disappointing after he's recently set out some more distinctive policies. He's just going to have to keep plugging away, keep making the argument that it's time for big businesses and the elites to start cutting normal people a fairer deal, and hope that public perceptions aren't so utterly entrenched that it has no impact.
I did, the other day, kept on telling people to back Austria.
Damn, with your taste in shoes I should have listened to you!
I promise, next year, I will make sure you don't miss my tips.
Looking at the calendar, Eurovision is going to be held the week after the UK General Election.
Blimey.
Speaking of which, is there a PB election night party where we hire out a pub or something with loads of screens? Because there should be, and we've got a year to plan one.
Good idea
Hire a Thames riverboat, have a party and invite the BBC.
@ZenPagan: Well, if UKIP want my vote, that's not a good way to start.
You see, the thing is, I have been watching politics for half a century, so I've got some pretty good comparisons. And Cameron, for all his faults (which are mostly minor) is the best PM for half a century apart from the special case of Maggie. [Anyone who doesn't believe me just needs to get a piece of paper and start writing out the other candidates for this accolade..]
As for policies, you have to be special kind of bonkers to think this government has 'no policies worth a damn'.
If shifty eyed liar like Cameron is your idea of one of the best PM's in the last 50 years, it shows what a lamentable lot the rest were. Most were content to manage Britains decline from the top table after the end of WW2. The only one that made an attempt to stop the rot (Maggie), was stabbed in the back by her own Tory grandees (Howe and Heseltine) and the other slippery slugs around her.
Is Ed up to the job of PM, Yes 25%, No 56%, DK 19%
Has Ed made it clear what he stands for Yes 26%, No 58%, DK 16%
And tonights top straw clutching post goes to.....TSE. You only just beat the post further down that said the subsection in tonights Yougov showing the Tory Party ahead among one legged Catholics that live in villages with populations less than 46 who can speak eight languages.....Tory majority nailed on!
Is Ed up to the job of PM, Yes 25%, No 56%, DK 19%
Has Ed made it clear what he stands for Yes 26%, No 58%, DK 16%
And tonights top straw clutching post goes to.....TSE. You only just beat the post further down that said the subsection in tonights Yougov showing the Tory Party ahead among one legged Catholics that live in villages with populations less than 46 who can speak eight languages.....Tory majority nailed on!
Errr no, I always post stuff from the Sunday Times/YouGov when it comes out.
From the Sunday Times, Farage is about to park his tanks and pretty much everything else on Ed's lawn.
The UKIP leader will release adverts arguing that it is Britain’s membership of the EU that has pushed up the price of food and fuel.....
Today Farage will unveil two campaign posters on the cost of living. The first tells voters to “Use your loaf” and claims food bills could be £400 a year cheaper in every UK household. In a reference to Miliband’s pledge to freeze fuel bills, the second, of a lightbulb, argues that “Without the EU, every UK fuel bill would be £112 cheaper.”
Farage said he believed the posters would “resonate with working-class voters”.
“I agree with Mr Miliband that there is a cost-of-living crisis going on. But I intend to expose the fact that much of it is down to Labour’s own policies when it was last in government and in particular its acquiescence to diktats coming out of Brussels,” he said. “Food prices and energy prices are two key components of the squeeze on living standards. And in both cases the EU is right at the heart of the squeeze.”
I think UKIP could do very well in some unlikely places in the local elections.
For example, Liverpool, where the party didn't stand at all 4 years ago. This time they're contesting most of the wards.
The Mail's response to the UKIP rise in the polls:
Married UKIP politician, 70, accused of taking young female researcher to a strip club, threatening to 'trash' her reputation if she told and then pressuring her to resign
First PBer to guess the name of the UKIP MEP wins a free download of Conchita's winning Eurovision song.
For those still unable to identify the old roué, here is the original article: http://dailym.ai/RAEOke
The polls this week have been hilarious. Taunting us with nigh on crossover and then tonight making it look like Labour will have a majority of 50+.
Titter. Yes, if Labour has a 7-point lead anyway, it doesn't really matter what voters think about Ed in the same poll.
That said, we should all be a bit careful about polls over the next few weeks - it's like conference season, with two big events (Euros and Newark) which may shift opinion in very unexpected directions.
Perhaps the Un-Incredible Shrinking Man has shored up Labour's vote for a few days?
Nah, I thought it was trashed on here? This crossover, the one that has been mooted on here for what seems ages.....just not happening. Wonder when the Tory Party will hit the self destruct button?
The polls this week have been hilarious. Taunting us with nigh on crossover and then tonight making it look like Labour will have a majority of 50+.
Titter. Yes, if Labour has a 7-point lead anyway, it doesn't really matter what voters think about Ed in the same poll.
That said, we should all be a bit careful about polls over the next few weeks - it's like conference season, with two big events (Euros and Newark) which may shift opinion in very unexpected directions.
I'm sure that's what SLAB supporters said in 2010 and 2011 when SLAB led SNP in the Holyrood VI polls, but Iain Gray trailed Alex Salmond in these sorts of questions.
I did, the other day, kept on telling people to back Austria.
Damn, with your taste in shoes I should have listened to you!
I promise, next year, I will make sure you don't miss my tips.
Looking at the calendar, Eurovision is going to be held the week after the UK General Election.
Blimey.
Speaking of which, is there a PB election night party where we hire out a pub or something with loads of screens? Because there should be, and we've got a year to plan one.
I am in two minds over this. I shall be going to the count in my local constituency just to see my local Tory MP get shafted, but I'd love to be with other PBers throughout the night and hear the banter as the results come in. Perhaps some of it could be posted online?
The polls this week have been hilarious. Taunting us with nigh on crossover and then tonight making it look like Labour will have a majority of 50+.
Titter. Yes, if Labour has a 7-point lead anyway, it doesn't really matter what voters think about Ed in the same poll.
That said, we should all be a bit careful about polls over the next few weeks - it's like conference season, with two big events (Euros and Newark) which may shift opinion in very unexpected directions.
I'm sure that's what SLAB supporters said in 2010 and 2011 when SLAB led SNP in the Holyrood VI polls, but Iain Gray trailed Alex Salmond in these sorts of questions.
Thanks for that pearler TSE, I have added it to all the others, there are now 42 classic PB Hodge reasons why Labour wont win the next election.
The Mail's response to the UKIP rise in the polls:
Married UKIP politician, 70, accused of taking young female researcher to a strip club, threatening to 'trash' her reputation if she told and then pressuring her to resign
First PBer to guess the name of the UKIP MEP wins a free download of Conchita's winning Eurovision song.
For those still unable to identify the old roué, here is the original article: http://dailym.ai/RAEOke
I will repeat it, Helmer is the worst choice for a prominent election for UKIP in years. Can UKIP withdraw him and put a decent candidate in his place?
The polls this week have been hilarious. Taunting us with nigh on crossover and then tonight making it look like Labour will have a majority of 50+.
Titter. Yes, if Labour has a 7-point lead anyway, it doesn't really matter what voters think about Ed in the same poll.
That said, we should all be a bit careful about polls over the next few weeks - it's like conference season, with two big events (Euros and Newark) which may shift opinion in very unexpected directions.
I'm sure that's what SLAB supporters said in 2010 and 2011 when SLAB led SNP in the Holyrood VI polls, but Iain Gray trailed Alex Salmond in these sorts of questions.
Thanks for that pearler TSE, I have added it to all the others, there are now 42 classic PB Hodge reasons why Labour wont win the next election.
Actually, it's not a PB Hodge, but Mike Smithson thought, many PBers won money on that election when Mike flagged up those stats.
Morris_Dancer said: "Just read the BBC story on Take That's taxes. I might be missing something, but isn't tax avoidance (by definition, and as opposed to tax evasion) legal?"
Something tells me that there is going to be another Take That tour sooner rather than later...
The polls this week have been hilarious. Taunting us with nigh on crossover and then tonight making it look like Labour will have a majority of 50+.
Titter. Yes, if Labour has a 7-point lead anyway, it doesn't really matter what voters think about Ed in the same poll.
That said, we should all be a bit careful about polls over the next few weeks - it's like conference season, with two big events (Euros and Newark) which may shift opinion in very unexpected directions.
I'm sure that's what SLAB supporters said in 2010 and 2011 when SLAB led SNP in the Holyrood VI polls, but Iain Gray trailed Alex Salmond in these sorts of questions.
Thanks for that pearler TSE, I have added it to all the others, there are now 42 classic PB Hodge reasons why Labour wont win the next election.
Actually, it's not a PB Hodge, but Mike Smithson thought, many PBers won money on that election when Mike flagged up those stats.
A bit touchy tonight TSE......don't worry it will be all over tomorrow when City win the title.
The polls this week have been hilarious. Taunting us with nigh on crossover and then tonight making it look like Labour will have a majority of 50+.
Titter. Yes, if Labour has a 7-point lead anyway, it doesn't really matter what voters think about Ed in the same poll.
That said, we should all be a bit careful about polls over the next few weeks - it's like conference season, with two big events (Euros and Newark) which may shift opinion in very unexpected directions.
I'm sure that's what SLAB supporters said in 2010 and 2011 when SLAB led SNP in the Holyrood VI polls, but Iain Gray trailed Alex Salmond in these sorts of questions.
Thanks for that pearler TSE, I have added it to all the others, there are now 42 classic PB Hodge reasons why Labour wont win the next election.
Actually, it's not a PB Hodge, but Mike Smithson thought, many PBers won money on that election when Mike flagged up those stats.
A bit touchy tonight TSE......don't worry it will be all over tomorrow when City win the title.
BLUE MOOOOOOOON!!!!
Not really, I'm on record saying many times, I'm expecting Ed to be PM next year.
Reading this thread reminds me of the heady days when there were ten grinning Gordon's on the thread header. Sometimes you just have to laugh at the gyrations of the opinion polls.
Reading this thread reminds me of the heady days when there were ten grinning Gordon's on the thread header. Sometimes you just have to laugh at the gyrations of the opinion polls.
I'm planning to bring back the smiling Eds in a few weeks time.
Ha. One form of bigotry is no response to another. I pointed this out to the Austrian Eurovision fan I spent the evening with who tried to pass the Blood Libel off as current affairs!
Right, this is my second favourite Kipper story after Professor Sked and the missing apostrophe.
A UKIP Member, Gary Robinson, tweeted a picture of the European Elections ballot paper suggesting UKIP had deliberately been put at the bottom of the list.
‘UK European Elections ballot paper 2014 – note #ukip at the very bottom’
Speaking of which, is there a PB election night party where we hire out a pub or something with loads of screens? Because there should be, and we've got a year to plan one.
I am in two minds over this. I shall be going to the count in my local constituency just to see my local Tory MP get shafted, but I'd love to be with other PBers throughout the night and hear the banter as the results come in. Perhaps some of it could be posted online?
We did something like this for the US elections and had a great evening - one of the pbers worked in an online trading centre and welcomed us to his multi-screen den. If that's still available, it'd be very popular.
Sadly I'll be otherwise engaged. It's one way that being a candidate is a pain - you miss most of the fun in the rest of the country as you're too busy peering at the forms from Box 17.
Ha. One form of bigotry is no response to another. I pointed this out to the Austrian Eurovision fan I spent the evening with who tried to pass the Blood Libel off as current affairs!
Just read Wikipedia.Nasty. I suppose the difference is that Jewish law forbids murder.
Speaking of which, is there a PB election night party where we hire out a pub or something with loads of screens? Because there should be, and we've got a year to plan one.
I am in two minds over this. I shall be going to the count in my local constituency just to see my local Tory MP get shafted, but I'd love to be with other PBers throughout the night and hear the banter as the results come in. Perhaps some of it could be posted online?
We did something like this for the US elections and had a great evening - one of the pbers worked in an online trading centre and welcomed us to his multi-screen den. If that's still available, it'd be very popular.
Sadly I'll be otherwise engaged. It's one way that being a candidate is a pain - you miss most of the fun in the rest of the country as you're too busy peering at the forms from Box 17.
Speaking of which, is there a PB election night party where we hire out a pub or something with loads of screens? Because there should be, and we've got a year to plan one.
I am in two minds over this. I shall be going to the count in my local constituency just to see my local Tory MP get shafted, but I'd love to be with other PBers throughout the night and hear the banter as the results come in. Perhaps some of it could be posted online?
We did something like this for the US elections and had a great evening - one of the pbers worked in an online trading centre and welcomed us to his multi-screen den. If that's still available, it'd be very popular.
Sadly I'll be otherwise engaged. It's one way that being a candidate is a pain - you miss most of the fun in the rest of the country as you're too busy peering at the forms from Box 17.
We could all come to the Broxtowe count, Nick.
Actually I could do that. Not so far away from me !
How on earth can you take a UKIP supporter seriously, especially when they claim not to trust Cameron rather than Miliband or the Labour party to deliver on Europe after the record of the last Labour Government or their current Leadership??!! Cameron was the Conservative Leader who led his party through the Yes Lobby on a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty while the last Labour Government reneged on its promise and the Libdems literally sat on their hands wringing them as if it was student union debate.
Cameron is currently the only Leader at Westminster promising an In/Out Referendum on Europe if his party wins the next GE, its not that UKIP supporters here distrust him on that pledge, its that he doesn't support their cause that triggers all the heat and wind on here. I followed the Lisbon Treaty vote very closely, even wrote to my Libdem MP criticising his and his party's behaviour on the issue. But trying to find a UKIP supporter on this site that can even recognise let alone praise what a party leader supporting and offering real democracy on our membership of the EU is like is like trying to find hens teeth.
Given the ever closing gap between UKIP and the conservatives I feel it is the right time to pose this question
Should the unlikely happen and UKIP overtake the conservatives in the GE polling and stay there can Mssr's Nabavi, ScottP etc all assure us now, given that they have been telling us all for weeks that we should vote for a party we despise in its current form and have little in common with in order to keep Milibrand and labour out, that they will indeed practice what they preach and hold their nose while putting a tick in the UKIP box?
Sure, if UKIP agrees to sensible policies, such as an In/Out referendum. Why not? Parties are a means to an end, not an end in themselves.
My gripe with UKIP is that they are deliberately sabotaging what they claim to want. Either they are bonkers, or they don't actually want it. Or both, I suppose.
Speaking of which, is there a PB election night party where we hire out a pub or something with loads of screens? Because there should be, and we've got a year to plan one.
I am in two minds over this. I shall be going to the count in my local constituency just to see my local Tory MP get shafted, but I'd love to be with other PBers throughout the night and hear the banter as the results come in. Perhaps some of it could be posted online?
We did something like this for the US elections and had a great evening - one of the pbers worked in an online trading centre and welcomed us to his multi-screen den. If that's still available, it'd be very popular.
Sadly I'll be otherwise engaged. It's one way that being a candidate is a pain - you miss most of the fun in the rest of the country as you're too busy peering at the forms from Box 17.
We could all come to the Broxtowe count, Nick.
Actually I could do that. Not so far away from me !
You'll be too busy trading your Labour bets, Pulpie!
The Mail's response to the UKIP rise in the polls:
Married UKIP politician, 70, accused of taking young female researcher to a strip club, threatening to 'trash' her reputation if she told and then pressuring her to resign
First PBer to guess the name of the UKIP MEP wins a free download of Conchita's winning Eurovision song.
For those still unable to identify the old roué, here is the original article: http://dailym.ai/RAEOke
Mr Farage said Ms Swann resigned when she wasn't selected as an MEP candidate. Lots of salt with that one.
It's funny how Cameron's principles on this referendum that you salute as being a mark of a "real leader" only emerged with UKIP's rise in the poll. Sounds more like a follower than a leader to me.
Yep you are right Robert. I do believe that such an important change should be with the explicit approval of the British people via a referendum rather than the debatable implicit approval from a General Election. As to the comment earlier that because we went in without a referendum we should leave without one I would point out that the lack of a referendum was corrected in 1975 and also that two wrongs don't make a right.
A number of points:
What do the Tories offer UKIP if UKIP hold the balance of power? They can't offer a referendum, they have already conceded that.
Referenda can be held after the event. (e.g.1975. This is what makes no referendum over Lisbon Treaty a stone cold breach of a promise by Cameron.)
The European Communities Act 1972 and 1975 referendum form a precedent.
In any case, does anyone seriously think UKIP would hold a referendum if they formed a majority government? And what if they lost it if they did?
Given the ever closing gap between UKIP and the conservatives I feel it is the right time to pose this question
Should the unlikely happen and UKIP overtake the conservatives in the GE polling and stay there can Mssr's Nabavi, ScottP etc all assure us now, given that they have been telling us all for weeks that we should vote for a party we despise in its current form and have little in common with in order to keep Milibrand and labour out, that they will indeed practice what they preach and hold their nose while putting a tick in the UKIP box?
Sure, if UKIP agrees to sensible policies, such as an In/Out referendum. Why not? Parties are a means to an end, not an end in themselves.
My gripe with UKIP is that they are deliberately sabotaging what they claim to want. Either they are bonkers, or they don't actually want it. Or both, I suppose.
Or they don't trust Cameron.
As Mr Farage reminded us in his recent QT outing, Mr Cameron made exactly the same promise during the 2009 EU Parliament election.
The Mail's response to the UKIP rise in the polls:
Married UKIP politician, 70, accused of taking young female researcher to a strip club, threatening to 'trash' her reputation if she told and then pressuring her to resign
First PBer to guess the name of the UKIP MEP wins a free download of Conchita's winning Eurovision song.
For those still unable to identify the old roué, here is the original article: http://dailym.ai/RAEOke
Mr Farage said Ms Swann resigned when she wasn't selected as an MEP candidate. Lots of salt with that one.
The issue isn't UKIP policy on immigration nor is it the reason for Ms. Swann's resignation: it is whether Helmer's behaviour in relation to his 24 year old female research assistant was appropriate.
He doesn't even go to any length to deny or justify it:
Last night Mr Helmer said: ‘I have a vague recollection of what she might be referring to. ‘After a meal with my staff, she wanted to have another drink and I took her to a bar. It became clear it was a bit of a dodgy bar, so we finished our beers and left. The detail is frankly a load of nonsense.’ [From Mail article linked below]
A reader has to be somewhat naive to believe that a man in his sixties with a girl in her twenties can enter a bar called "Manhattan" in Brussels sit down and have a beer before realising it is is a strip joint!
And in 2009, Cameron was still nearer delivering that promise in both words and actions than Farage and UKIP are right now..... Its worth pointing out that while some of UKIP's more recent support might be coming from voters/non voters more interested in immigration, that message is beginning to resonate.
Many of the UKIP supporters on this site may be frit about another Conservative Government under Cameron's leadership who delivers an In/Out EU referendum because Cameron isn't espousing their BOO out mantra. But there are other voters who are definitely being turned on to the fact that he is the only main stream party Leader who believes in giving the UK a nailed on say on this contentious issue. With the Indy Ref coming up in September, this is fast becoming a very powerful message, and one that Ed Miliband and the Labour party have badly miscalculated in the run up to the 2015 GE.
Given the ever closing gap between UKIP and the conservatives I feel it is the right time to pose this question
Should the unlikely happen and UKIP overtake the conservatives in the GE polling and stay there can Mssr's Nabavi, ScottP etc all assure us now, given that they have been telling us all for weeks that we should vote for a party we despise in its current form and have little in common with in order to keep Milibrand and labour out, that they will indeed practice what they preach and hold their nose while putting a tick in the UKIP box?
Sure, if UKIP agrees to sensible policies, such as an In/Out referendum. Why not? Parties are a means to an end, not an end in themselves.
My gripe with UKIP is that they are deliberately sabotaging what they claim to want. Either they are bonkers, or they don't actually want it. Or both, I suppose.
Or they don't trust Cameron.
As Mr Farage reminded us in his recent QT outing, Mr Cameron made exactly the same promise during the 2009 EU Parliament election.
It's become pretty damn clear that the Tories now have far more votes on their right than on their left. At what point do they wake up to this, stop fiddling round the edges, and start embracing some properly conservative positions:
- Start getting tough with Europe. Demand an upper limit on immigration from the EU in any one year. If we don't get it, argue for Better Off Out. - Proper action on wrong doers. Double prison sentences for violent crime and home burglaries, and get rid of concurrent sentencing. - Finally enact that British Bill of Rights, including requiring warrants or probably cause for government searches, a British court to examine evidence before extradition and stopping companies storing our personal communications without permission. - Get rid of these ridiculous bans on free speech for social media and real life. Just because we don't like an opinion doesn't mean we should ban it unless its an ongoing campaign of harassment against someone specific.
The Tories tried marching off to the right in 2005. They ended up in a wilderness.
They struggled because they had a poor leader, not because of their policies.
The Mail's response to the UKIP rise in the polls:
Married UKIP politician, 70, accused of taking young female researcher to a strip club, threatening to 'trash' her reputation if she told and then pressuring her to resign
First PBer to guess the name of the UKIP MEP wins a free download of Conchita's winning Eurovision song.
For those still unable to identify the old roué, here is the original article: http://dailym.ai/RAEOke
Mr Farage said Ms Swann resigned when she wasn't selected as an MEP candidate. Lots of salt with that one.
The issue isn't UKIP policy on immigration nor is it the reason for Ms. Swann's resignation: it is whether Helmer's behaviour in relation to his 24 year old female research assistant was appropriate.
He doesn't even go to any length to deny or justify it:
Last night Mr Helmer said: ‘I have a vague recollection of what she might be referring to. ‘After a meal with my staff, she wanted to have another drink and I took her to a bar. It became clear it was a bit of a dodgy bar, so we finished our beers and left. The detail is frankly a load of nonsense.’ [From Mail article linked below]
A reader has to be somewhat naive to believe that a man in his sixties with a girl in her twenties can enter a bar called "Manhattan" in Brussels sit down and have a beer before realising it is is a strip joint!
Come on 'Dave!
The Independent article was provoked by Ms Swann saying she could no longer campaign for UKIP due to their immigration policy.
Wrong. Cameron led his party through the lobbies to vote yes to a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty back before the last GE. Actions are what count, not words. And on this issue, Cameron's principles are far sounder than some of the UKIP posters on this site who constantly attempt to slag him off in an attempt to disguise their own dishonest agenda.
It's funny how Cameron's principles on this referendum that you salute as being a mark of a "real leader" only emerged with UKIP's rise in the poll. Sounds more like a follower than a leader to me.
Comments
Any sign of YouGov?
You see, the thing is, I have been watching politics for half a century, so I've got some pretty good comparisons. And Cameron, for all his faults (which are mostly minor) is the best PM for half a century apart from the special case of Maggie. [Anyone who doesn't believe me just needs to get a piece of paper and start writing out the other candidates for this accolade..]
As for policies, you have to be special kind of bonkers to think this government has 'no policies worth a damn'.
T minus 21 days for polling prediction reputations to be smashed to pieces.
Then we get:
Populus - 4
Survation - 5
Opinium - 4
OK, all MOE from 2.1 but all in the same direction!
Night all.
If the odds on a top 10 finish are below evens, lay that too.
We can always have one after the event if anyone's that concerned.
Basil is not convinced and muttered something about "bollocks" and wandered off with the goalposts.
Its like Vietnam with Russia playing the vietcong.
This video report can give you a clue.
http://www.itv.com/news/update/2014-05-09/mariupol-seethes-with-anger-after-a-day-of-deadly-clashes/
Looking at the calendar, Eurovision is going to be held the week after the UK General Election.
Blimey.
Conservative policy is as close to new labour policy as makes no difference. New labour policy was worthless so is current conservative party policy. As long as the conservatives wish to mortgage future generations then they should rightly be regarded as no better than labour.
While a lot of those on here have big important jobs those of us who have normal jobs and hover around about the 40% tax bracket start see absolutely nothing from your vaunted economic policy. There is no recovery for us. Our pay remains static, our taxes rise, our bills rise. There is nothing for us whatsoever in your vision of government.
On top of this you shovel selling us out to european protectionism and allowing all and sundry to dip into our private lives at will via both state surveillance and selling our health and tax details.
Most of us normal people hate your precious conservatives and lib dems and labour with a passion. You don't govern for the benefit of the bulk of the country you govern in the interests of big corporations.
Eliminate the deficit.Start winding back the power of the state, the size of the state, and the intrusiveness of the state. This is why I voted conservative in 2010. You achieved of that list absolutely bugger all. I now pay more tax than ever for less services, my energy bills have all increased largely thanks to the green taxes. I still pay more for goods than people in other parts of the world because while you want free migration of labour to keep it cheap for you and your cronies you don't like free migration of goods so I can't buy of someone bringing in those cheap goods from india or south america.Quite happy to let in the workers though because that stops the amount you have to pay us rising.
Con 31, Lab 38, LD 9, UKIP 13
I would have thought you would have got that message by now.
I reckon Boba was causing mischief.
Has Ed made it clear what he stands for Yes 26%, No 58%, DK 16%
There is currently one fuming squirrel with a gun looking for the person who started the rumour.
Now he has had a taste of public adulation I doubt he will be back to goal post duties.
Maybe you can find a kitten as a substitute?
TSE doesnt appear on my fb news feed.
The UKIP leader will release adverts arguing that it is Britain’s membership of the EU that has pushed up the price of food and fuel.....
Today Farage will unveil two campaign posters on the cost of living. The first tells voters to “Use your loaf” and claims food bills could be £400 a year cheaper in every UK household. In a reference to Miliband’s pledge to freeze fuel bills, the second, of a lightbulb, argues that “Without the EU, every UK fuel bill would be £112 cheaper.”
Farage said he believed the posters would “resonate with working-class voters”.
“I agree with Mr Miliband that there is a cost-of-living crisis going on. But I intend to expose the fact that much of it is down to Labour’s own policies when it was last in government and in particular its acquiescence to diktats coming out of Brussels,” he said. “Food prices and energy prices are two key components of the squeeze on living standards. And in both cases the EU is right at the heart of the squeeze.”
True picture is Lab 36, Con 33.
Top 3 Bottom 3
Cameron: Cockey,Bully,Sanctimonius Cameron: Thick, Naive, Sexless
Miliband: Wet, Naive, Sexless Miliband: Bully, Cruel, Cocky
Clegg: Naive, Wet, Remote Clegg: Cruel, Cocky, Bully
Farage: Cocky, Bully, Phoney Farage: Wet, Remote, Sexless
For example, Liverpool, where the party didn't stand at all 4 years ago. This time they're contesting most of the wards.
Married UKIP politician, 70, accused of taking young female researcher to a strip club, threatening to 'trash' her reputation if she told and then pressuring her to resign
First PBer to guess the name of the UKIP MEP wins a free download of Conchita's winning Eurovision song.
For those still unable to identify the old roué, here is the original article: http://dailym.ai/RAEOke
Has British military involvement in Afghanistan been worthwhile? Yes 13%, No 70%, DK 17%
Is Britain right to withdraw troops from Afghanistan? Right 82%, Wrong 6%, DK 12%
That said, we should all be a bit careful about polls over the next few weeks - it's like conference season, with two big events (Euros and Newark) which may shift opinion in very unexpected directions.
Can UKIP withdraw him and put a decent candidate in his place?
http://wikiislam.net/wiki/Islam_and_Homosexuality
Something tells me that there is going to be another Take That tour sooner rather than later...
I'll be partying at a wedding, where I'm best man, and it is somewhere with piss poor mobile signal.
See, if Dave hadn't allowed the gays to get married, then this wouldn't be a problem.
Allowing the gays to marry = PBers don't get their prompt fix of YouGov.
BLUE MOOOOOOOON!!!!
A UKIP Member, Gary Robinson, tweeted a picture of the European Elections ballot paper suggesting UKIP had deliberately been put at the bottom of the list.
‘UK European Elections ballot paper 2014 – note #ukip at the very bottom’
A response came in quickly:
@GaryJRobinson It's in alphabetical order Gary #UKIP
And a minute or too later still a new hashtag was created: #abcdefghijklmnopqrstU
Oh dear. I truly feel sorry for Richard Tyndall.
[Source: Metro - http://bit.ly/RyEpi4 ]
Sadly I'll be otherwise engaged. It's one way that being a candidate is a pain - you miss most of the fun in the rest of the country as you're too busy peering at the forms from Box 17.
Actually I could do that. Not so far away from me !
Cameron is currently the only Leader at Westminster promising an In/Out Referendum on Europe if his party wins the next GE, its not that UKIP supporters here distrust him on that pledge, its that he doesn't support their cause that triggers all the heat and wind on here. I followed the Lisbon Treaty vote very closely, even wrote to my Libdem MP criticising his and his party's behaviour on the issue. But trying to find a UKIP supporter on this site that can even recognise let alone praise what a party leader supporting and offering real democracy on our membership of the EU is like is like trying to find hens teeth.
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/ukip-is-not-antiimmigration-we-are-antiuncontrolled-immigration-9246861.html
http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/100000-yes-ballots-for-referendum-intercepted-2-347222.html
No wonder Ukraine wants to join the West.
It's funny how Cameron's principles on this referendum that you salute as being a mark of a "real leader" only emerged with UKIP's rise in the poll. Sounds more like a follower than a leader to me.
What do the Tories offer UKIP if UKIP hold the balance of power? They can't offer a referendum, they have already conceded that.
Referenda can be held after the event. (e.g.1975. This is what makes no referendum over Lisbon Treaty a stone cold breach of a promise by Cameron.)
The European Communities Act 1972 and 1975 referendum form a precedent.
In any case, does anyone seriously think UKIP would hold a referendum if they formed a majority government? And what if they lost it if they did?
twitter.com/SophyRidgeSky/status/462169908869341184
He doesn't even go to any length to deny or justify it:
Last night Mr Helmer said: ‘I have a vague recollection of what she might be referring to.
‘After a meal with my staff, she wanted to have another drink and I took her to a bar. It became clear it was a bit of a dodgy bar, so we finished our beers and left. The detail is frankly a load of nonsense.’ [From Mail article linked below]
A reader has to be somewhat naive to believe that a man in his sixties with a girl in her twenties can enter a bar called "Manhattan" in Brussels sit down and have a beer before realising it is is a strip joint!
Come on 'Dave!
Many of the UKIP supporters on this site may be frit about another Conservative Government under Cameron's leadership who delivers an In/Out EU referendum because Cameron isn't espousing their BOO out mantra. But there are other voters who are definitely being turned on to the fact that he is the only main stream party Leader who believes in giving the UK a nailed on say on this contentious issue. With the Indy Ref coming up in September, this is fast becoming a very powerful message, and one that Ed Miliband and the Labour party have badly miscalculated in the run up to the 2015 GE.
UKIP 25 (+12)
Lab 24 (+11)
Con 13 (-13)
LD 4 (-7)
Green* 1 (-1)
SNP 2 (nc)
Plaid 1 (nc)
* no Green figure given, estimate.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/rising-ukip-star-alexandra-swann-protests-her-own-partys-stance-on-immigration-9244746.html
Now we have this Helmer tale.
She seems to be a mini-Sked character.