Kin Hell, today's Sun has a bombshell and it involves Farage
NIGEL Farage is prepared to form a coalition government with David Cameron after the next General Election, The Sun can reveal.
The Ukip boss said he was willing "to put the interests of the country above the interests of my party" in order to guarantee an in-out referendum on Britain's membership of the EU.
The move marks a dramatic shift for the Ukip chief, who has previously ruled out doing any deals with the Conservative leader.
"If David Cameron came to me and said 'Nigel, could you help me to form a government so we can have a referendum?', of course I'd do it.
Well that's very strange Avery. I am friends with Bill and have just gone through all 644 of his Facebook likes. They include 9 different Conservative associations around the country, Ian Duncan Smith, Norman Tebbit and Joanna Lumley. But what a surprise, not one of those pictures that you link to appears as a like on his page... except the one of himself.
Do you think perhaps someone is once again trying to smear Bill? You perhaps? Not so surprising that he is a particular target given that he draws a very large amount of his support in Wolverhampton from the various ethnic minority groups in the area.
Maybe in future you should check your facts before posting such smears, at least when they can be so easily checked.
Richard
I am certain there are a very large number of people trying to smear UKIP and its candidates, ranging from the mainstream media and the political establishment through to left wing extremist groups and disgruntled former UKIP officers, elected representatives and supporters.
I take a quick look, for example, at Jasna Badzak's twitter feed a couple of times a day. Although her twitter page gives me a feel for all the slings and arrows being thrown at the party, I fully accept she is not the most impartial source of information on UKIP!. But this type of propaganda attack, for good or worse, is the main form of opposition to UKIP and Farage has to defend himself and his party intelligently and effectively from the incoming flak. You can't be an effective war reporter without visiting the battlefields.
It does appear from rereading the twitter feed that the likes appear on the Facebook page of a certain "@JennyVoteUkip" and that Bill Etherington's involvement is limited to being (probably not now!) her follower. So the association is secondary which I didn't notice when first posting and for that, I now apologise.
To balance the books, here is another tweetpic from the same twitter feed which did make me, and should make all kippers, laugh:
But back to the propaganda war. This is unavoidable and deconstructing each and every false attack is not the way to resist it. That way only gives further oxygen to the fire. Farage is doing very well in deflecting attack and repositioning his party. If only all his followers had his ability he would now be sailing to victory.
Mr. Eagles, if that's true it's great news for Labour.
Part of the WWC, to a degree at least, has shifted from red to purple (but would never vote blue). If Farage openly goes for a coalition with the blues it'll lose him much of that, but rightwing voters won't change.
And finally, the suggestion that UKIP might prop up Cameron in Downing Street collapses Farage’s strategic plan.
This has been predicated on the presumption that UKIP would never put its trust in the man some of its less excitable supporters label Cast Iron Dave – that fraud, that sellout, that agent of Brussels, that catspaw of the EUSSR, that deceiver of the sheeple, that pawn of Common Purpose, that shape-shifting lizard, that very worst feature of the LibLabCon. They might well ask: if UKIP is going to keep Cameron in Downing Street, what on earth is the point of it?
Perhaps Farage has some cunning plan that I am missing. Or perhaps he was paying his words even less attention than he does to the contents of UKIP manifestos. Maybe we have a “clarification” by mid-day.
Just an aside: can we stop using horrendous terms like Brexit? I was lazily perusing Googlenews to see if there was a prospect of a second referendum if the Scots didn't give Salmond the 'right' answer, and came across the even more horrendous 'Scoxit'.
Obviously it might be hard to form a coalition when you've got zero to 5 MPs. But hey.
Nigel should have waited until after the Euros to say this. It could annoy the foot soldiers for no benefit. It's when the general election approaches and the vote UKIP get Miliband line is rolled out that this becomes necessary. Still it's not the same as an electoral pact.
And finally, the suggestion that UKIP might prop up Cameron in Downing Street collapses Farage’s strategic plan.
This has been predicated on the presumption that UKIP would never put its trust in the man some of its less excitable supporters label Cast Iron Dave – that fraud, that sellout, that agent of Brussels, that catspaw of the EUSSR, that deceiver of the sheeple, that pawn of Common Purpose, that shape-shifting lizard, that very worst feature of the LibLabCon. They might well ask: if UKIP is going to keep Cameron in Downing Street, what on earth is the point of it?
Perhaps Farage has some cunning plan that I am missing. Or perhaps he was paying his words even less attention than he does to the contents of UKIP manifestos. Maybe we have a “clarification” by mid-day.
It is a ridiculous thing to say at this point. No idea why he has done it as whether you agree with the principle or not it is bound to drive away those supporters from the left who saw UKIP as a safe haven for their vote that would not risk a return of a Tory government.
If Labour have any sense they will be all over this.
Obviously it might be hard to form a coalition when you've got zero to 5 MPs. But hey.
Nigel should have waited until after the Euros to say this. It could annoy the foot soldiers for no benefit. It's when the general election approaches and the vote UKIP get Miliband line is rolled out that this becomes necessary. Still it's not the same as an electoral pact.
I'm glad Nigel's said it now.
Gives me so much material for trolling and to winding up the Kippers PB Threads and comments
"If David Cameron came to me and said 'Nigel, could you help me to form a government so we can have a referendum?', of course I'd do it.
Of course, the way to deliver that referendum is for Cameron to ask Nige to not stand candidates - and urge his supporters to lend the Tories their vote in 2015.
And finally, the suggestion that UKIP might prop up Cameron in Downing Street collapses Farage’s strategic plan.
This has been predicated on the presumption that UKIP would never put its trust in the man some of its less excitable supporters label Cast Iron Dave – that fraud, that sellout, that agent of Brussels, that catspaw of the EUSSR, that deceiver of the sheeple, that pawn of Common Purpose, that shape-shifting lizard, that very worst feature of the LibLabCon. They might well ask: if UKIP is going to keep Cameron in Downing Street, what on earth is the point of it?
Perhaps Farage has some cunning plan that I am missing. Or perhaps he was paying his words even less attention than he does to the contents of UKIP manifestos. Maybe we have a “clarification” by mid-day.
It is a ridiculous thing to say at this point. No idea why he has done it as whether you agree with the principle or not it is bound to drive away those supporters from the left who saw UKIP as a safe haven for their vote that would not risk a return of a Tory government.
If Labour have any sense they will be all over this.
Like Paul Goodman, I expect we'll have a clarification from Nigel soon.
Farage is doing very well in deflecting attack and repositioning his party. If only all his followers had his ability he would now be sailing to victory.
Is he bollocks.
He is sending out virulently anti-immigration election literature and you don't need a degree in semiotics to interpret its meaning.
" Mr Miliband has no stauncher ally than his shadow chancellor, not least because their aims, for now at least, are identical. If Ed B is consolidating his influence, then Ed M can expect to reap the benefit."
I'm not sure whether Mary Riddell is genuinely the stupidest person alive or if she has simply spotted a market niche for her garbage and peddles it without believing it in any way.
I wonder much the same about Bryony Gordon off the same paper. In fact it is not clear to me that either of them is a real person.
About Sean T, another DT blogger, there's no doubt.
Just an aside: can we stop using horrendous terms like Brexit? I was lazily perusing Googlenews to see if there was a prospect of a second referendum if the Scots didn't give Salmond the 'right' answer, and came across the even more horrendous 'Scoxit'.
Just an aside: can we stop using horrendous terms like Brexit? I was lazily perusing Googlenews to see if there was a prospect of a second referendum if the Scots didn't give Salmond the 'right' answer, and came across the even more horrendous 'Scoxit'.
It's bloody ugly.
Quite so, and it is also ambiguous - it could be taken to mean the expulsion of Scotland from the EU, on the same coinage. In fact more so, as the other situation is the dissolution of the UK rather than exit from it.
***** BREAKING GOOD NEWS ***** BREAKING GOOD NEWS *****
ONS Labour Market bulletin for April 2014
Key findings:
Latest estimates for December 2013 to February 2014 show that employment continued to increase, unemployment continued to fall, as did the number of economically inactive people aged from 16 to 64. These changes continue the general direction of movement over the past two years.
At 2.24 million for December 2013 to February 2014, unemployment was 77,000 lower than for September to November 2013 and 320,000 lower than a year earlier.
The unemployment rate was 6.9% of the labour force (those unemployed plus those employed) for December 2013 to February 2014, down from 7.1% for September to November 2013 and from 7.9% for a year earlier.
At 30.39 million for December 2013 to February 2014, employment was 239,000 higher than for September to November 2013 and 691,000 higher than a year earlier.
72.6% of people aged 16 to 64 were in work for December 2013 to February 2014, up from 72.1% for September to November 2013 and from 71.4% for a year earlier.
8.85 million people aged 16 to 64 were economically inactive (those out of work but not seeking or available to work) for December 2013 to February 2014. This was 86,000 lower than for September to November 2013 and 104,000 lower than a year earlier.
21.9% of people aged 16 to 64 were economically inactive for December 2013 to February 2014, down from 22.2% from both September to November 2013 and from a year earlier. The rate has not been lower since October to December 1990.
Pay including bonuses for employees in Great Britain for December 2013 to February 2014 was 1.7% higher than a year earlier, with pay excluding bonuses 1.4% higher.
It's the triumphalism - "Ed's GE campaign a car crash", "stick a skewer in Ed, he's done", etc etc. you can comment as you like. Just as I can comment on your comments.
Bob, as a Forest fan and with the prospect of Derby County being a division above us, you take your triumphalism where you can....
Your posts are so good and then you declare yourself a Forest fan. You have yourselves to blame the way you treated Mac and then hiring the poison dwarf again, getting rid of Will Hughes wasn't very clever either. You could have been watching great football with Mac if you gave him time in the gig league.
The Rams will win at Wembley and the boy Bryson will get the winner.
•There were 30.43 million people in work for January to March 2014, 283,000 more than for October to December 2013 and 722,000 more than a year earlier. These increases in employment are partly due to more self-employed people. •72.7% of people aged from 16 to 64 were in work for January to March 2014, up from 72.1% for October to December 2013 and up from 71.4% for a year earlier. •There were 2.21 million unemployed people for January to March 2014, 133,000 fewer than for October to December 2013 and 309,000 fewer than a year earlier. •The unemployment rate was 6.8% of the economically active population (those in work plus those seeking and available to work) for January to March 2014, down from 7.2% for October to December 2013 and down from 7.8% for a year earlier.
Labour need to go BIG on this Farage - Cameron deal.
Right now they are dropping too far, too fast.
Do we have any reason to believe that Labour defectors to UKIP will be any more amenable to a message of "Vote UKIP, get Cameron" than Conservative defectors to UKIP have proved amenable to a message of "Vote UKIP get Miliband"?
"I wonder much the same about Bryony Gordon off the same paper."
I think Bryony Gordon is actually an agent for the Society of Confirming Stereotypes - in her case the dumb blonde. How she got, and keeps, a job as a columnist on what is supposed to be a serious newspaper I don't know (someone's daughter or niece?). However, she often makes me laugh So I do not complain.
To be honest very few are going to notice that real wages have increased on these figures although the increase in personal allowances will have helped this month.
This problem at least remains for the government. Of course there is a link between the excellent unemployment figures and these wage figures but not one the 30m+ already in employment will be getting too excited about.
BBC - The number of people out of work in the UK fell by 133,000 to a fresh five-year low of 2.2 million in the three months to March, official figures indicate.
I prefer to see it as the death of David Blanchflower's economic credibility by 133K tiny cuts.
And finally, the suggestion that UKIP might prop up Cameron in Downing Street collapses Farage’s strategic plan.
This has been predicated on the presumption that UKIP would never put its trust in the man some of its less excitable supporters label Cast Iron Dave – that fraud, that sellout, that agent of Brussels, that catspaw of the EUSSR, that deceiver of the sheeple, that pawn of Common Purpose, that shape-shifting lizard, that very worst feature of the LibLabCon. They might well ask: if UKIP is going to keep Cameron in Downing Street, what on earth is the point of it?
Perhaps Farage has some cunning plan that I am missing. Or perhaps he was paying his words even less attention than he does to the contents of UKIP manifestos. Maybe we have a “clarification” by mid-day.
It is a ridiculous thing to say at this point. No idea why he has done it as whether you agree with the principle or not it is bound to drive away those supporters from the left who saw UKIP as a safe haven for their vote that would not risk a return of a Tory government.
If Labour have any sense they will be all over this.
Like Paul Goodman, I expect we'll have a clarification from Nigel soon.
I would have thought the reason he said it would be to encourage Ed Miliband to offer a referendum
BBC - The number of people out of work in the UK fell by 133,000 to a fresh five-year low of 2.2 million in the three months to March, official figures indicate.
I prefer to see it as the death of David Blanchflower's economic credibility by 133K tiny cuts.
Mr StClare wasn't Blanchflower suggesting 5m unemployed at one stage? If so Nostradamus he ain't.
I think one problem Labour suffers from is that they have the same protectionist, nepotistic approach internally as they have to the country. They are staffed at the highest levels by brothers, wives, sons, daughters, union placemen, etc. The incestuousness of their make-up surely stifles risk taking and innovation and a more external, market and realtity facing approach.
In fact, if Labour were any more in-bred they'd be a sandwich.
Mr. Isam, if Farage goes for a deal with Cameron the ex-Labour voters will abandon him and some will return to Labour, reducing the need (if there were one) for Miliband to offer a referendum.
It's a stupid move.
Mr. Patrick, reminds me of a good line from the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
Uncle Phil: Jazz, to what do we owe this pleasure?
Jeffrey [the butler]: Inbreeding would be my guess.
It's pretty simple really - there are elections approaching and people are taking some notice of politics for a change. And they are noticing that Labour has nothing to say. To be fair, a few posters on here called that. They were right. Those of us who believed not being the Tories would be enough were wrong. I decided - with regret - not to vote Labour a while back. I guess many others are reluctantly coming to the same conclusion. Labour could be the next government. They are nowhere near ready for it - especially with EdM in charge.
168k more EU citizens now working in the UK than a year ago. @ONS
Excellent news.
Contributing to a recovering economy and with unemployment down and employment up significantly I'm sure Nigel Farage will want to congratulate the Coalition.
It's pretty simple really - there are elections approaching and people are taking some notice of politics for a change. And they are noticing that Labour has nothing to say. To be fair, a few posters on here called that. They were right. Those of us who believed not being the Tories would be enough were wrong. I decided - with regret - not to vote Labour a while back. I guess many others are reluctantly coming to the same conclusion. Labour could be the next government. They are nowhere near ready for it - especially with EdM in charge.
Is that an abstention at the GE or does your constituency offer a tempting second choice ?
So...over time there will be pressure for living standards everywhere to harmonise (or at least towards as much harmony as unequal cultures of productivity, adaptability and innovation will permit).
What should politicians anywhere do to respond? COMPETE! Every nation needs its USP and its competitve advantage and should pursue them relentlessly.
Excellent post, Patrick.
Your point about every nation needing its USP is very well made, and comes back to what I've been saying for yonks. Our USP is the City, and it's a fantastic one. We are exceptionally lucky as reproducing the particular combination of advantages which we have in the City is very hard to do (which is why the Germans failed miserably when in the 1990s they tried so hard to make Frankfurt a global finance centre).
That doesn't mean we should be complacent, though - it's much easier to wreck things than to create them. Competitors will always be trying to chip away at our advantage, and we need to stay ahead.
Think Avery might have picked up April instead of May but the good news is consistent:
...
You are right, David. Not my morning for accuracy today! The ONS site goes crazy on me at 9:30 when a big bulletin is released: text mode only. I followed an old link!
Here is my shaded version of the correct May [for April] 2014 bulletin:
• Latest estimates for January to March 2014 show that employment continued to increase, unemployment continued to fall, as did the number of economically inactive people aged from 16 to 64. These changes continue the general direction of movement over the past two years.
• There were 30.43 million people in work for January to March 2014, 283,000 more than for October to December 2013 and 722,000 more than a year earlier. These increases in employment are partly due to more self-employed people.
• 72.7% of people aged from 16 to 64 were in work for January to March 2014, up from 72.1% for October to December 2013 and up from 71.4% for a year earlier.
• There were 2.21 million unemployed people for January to March 2014, 133,000 fewer than for October to December 2013 and 309,000 fewer than a year earlier.
• The unemployment rate was 6.8% of the economically active population (those in work plus those seeking and available to work) for January to March 2014, down from 7.2% for October to December 2013 and down from 7.8% for a year earlier.
• There were 8.85 million economically inactive people (those out of work but not seeking or available to work) aged from 16 to 64 for January to March 2014. This was 85,000 fewer than for October to December 2013 and 155,000 fewer than a year earlier.
• 21.9% of people aged from 16 to 64 were economically inactive for January to March 2014, down from 22.1% for October to December 2013 and down from 22.4% for a year earlier. The inactivity rate has not been lower since October to December 1990.
• Pay including bonuses for employees in Great Britain for January to March 2014 was 1.7% higher than a year earlier, with pay excluding bonuses 1.3% higher.
" Number of Australians + New Zealanders [in UK] up 10K."
Huzzah! That is great news, The more Aussies over here the better, marvellous people, genetically adapted for bar work. If the price of lots more Aussies is a few more Kiwis, well into every life a little rain must fall.
168k more EU citizens now working in the UK than a year ago. @ONS
Excellent news.
Contributing to a recovering economy and with unemployment down and employment up significantly I'm sure Nigel Farage will want to congratulate the Coalition.
Huzzah for the Coalition.
But it's very chicken and egg isn't it. Is it their arrival that is spurring growth or is it economic growth that's attracting them.
It's pretty simple really - there are elections approaching and people are taking some notice of politics for a change. And they are noticing that Labour has nothing to say. To be fair, a few posters on here called that. They were right. Those of us who believed not being the Tories would be enough were wrong. I decided - with regret - not to vote Labour a while back. I guess many others are reluctantly coming to the same conclusion. Labour could be the next government. They are nowhere near ready for it - especially with EdM in charge.
Is that an abstention at the GE or does your constituency offer a tempting second choice ?
It's Labour v Tory in my seat, which is marginal; so anything but a Labour vote helps the Tories. But at my age I have decided to look beyond that. Not being the Tories is just not a good enough reason to vote for a party that really does not seem to get the 21st century. Not that I think the Tories do, mind. I have no idea what I'll do next year, except I won't vote for either of the big two. Maybe I'll just stay in Hong Kong!!
Mr. Isam, if Farage goes for a deal with Cameron the ex-Labour voters will abandon him and some will return to Labour, reducing the need (if there were one) for Miliband to offer a referendum.
It's a stupid move.
Mr. Patrick, reminds me of a good line from the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
Uncle Phil: Jazz, to what do we owe this pleasure?
Jeffrey [the butler]: Inbreeding would be my guess.
"The Ukip boss said he was willing "to put the interests of the country above the interests of my party" in order to guarantee an in-out referendum on Britain's membership of the EU."
I don't see that this is anything new. UKIP want to leave the EU. In the past Mr Farage has said he'd do a deal with anyone to achieve that; I believe the papers then announced that as evidence of devil worship.
Labour have always underperformed in the Euros compared to their national polling. I hope they won't break that habit now. Labour 3rd is going to mean a nice payout...
Does anyone in government understand why unemployment did not explode? We seem to have been very fortunate when compared to many similarly indebted countries, but I'm not sure that it can be attributed to any particular policy.
168k more EU citizens now working in the UK than a year ago. @ONS
Excellent news.
Contributing to a recovering economy and with unemployment down and employment up significantly I'm sure Nigel Farage will want to congratulate the Coalition.
Huzzah for the Coalition.
But it's very chicken and egg isn't it. Is it their arrival that is spurring growth or is it economic growth that's attracting them.
On the Euro-elections, I have now received leaflets from the Lib Dems, the Communities United Party, the Conservatives and the Greens. Nothing yet from any of the Farage diaspora or Labour.
Labour have always underperformed in the Euros compared to their national polling. I hope they won't break that habit now. Labour 3rd is going to mean a nice payout...
It will also lead to labour going really wobbly, which will be fun to watch. The last thing Labour need is death by a thousand anonymous briefings.
Just an aside: can we stop using horrendous terms like Brexit? I was lazily perusing Googlenews to see if there was a prospect of a second referendum if the Scots didn't give Salmond the 'right' answer, and came across the even more horrendous 'Scoxit'.
BBC - The number of people out of work in the UK fell by 133,000 to a fresh five-year low of 2.2 million in the three months to March, official figures indicate.
I prefer to see it as the death of David Blanchflower's economic credibility by 133K tiny cuts.
Mr StClare wasn't Blanchflower suggesting 5m unemployed at one stage? If so Nostradamus he ain't.
Yup, back in 2009 Gordon Brown’s BoE placeman and Labour economist David Blanchflower predicted that unemployment would top 5 million if the Tories came into power. He has also consistently been wrong in predicting economic growth and UK inflation figures ever since.
A useful tool now utterly discredited, but Aunty still calls upon him when needs be.
That's a Deutsche Bank report. Should temper your germanophilia.
Definitely.
'Global exchange giant Deutsche Bank: indyref Yes would be negative for sterling
"When it comes to the impact on the financial markets, we suspect that the period of uncertainty during the negotiation phase that a Yes vote would generate would be negative for both gilts and sterling." It added: "Political uncertainty during the negotiation period is likely to be negative for the currency, with the scale of this depending on what monetary policy option Scotland eventually plumps for. A sterling currency union may prove the least negative, as it leaves the size of the economy covered by sterling the same and a formal agreement could help reduce the political risk premium."'
It's pretty simple really - there are elections approaching and people are taking some notice of politics for a change. And they are noticing that Labour has nothing to say. To be fair, a few posters on here called that. They were right. Those of us who believed not being the Tories would be enough were wrong. I decided - with regret - not to vote Labour a while back. I guess many others are reluctantly coming to the same conclusion. Labour could be the next government. They are nowhere near ready for it - especially with EdM in charge.
Is that an abstention at the GE or does your constituency offer a tempting second choice ?
It's Labour v Tory in my seat, which is marginal; so anything but a Labour vote helps the Tories. But at my age I have decided to look beyond that. Not being the Tories is just not a good enough reason to vote for a party that really does not seem to get the 21st century. Not that I think the Tories do, mind. I have no idea what I'll do next year, except I won't vote for either of the big two. Maybe I'll just stay in Hong Kong!!
I abstained in 2005.
Labour had lost the plot completely and the Conservatives under Howard were worse than under Hague.
However I ensured I positively abstained by marking the ballot "None Of The Above"
It's pretty simple really - there are elections approaching and people are taking some notice of politics for a change. And they are noticing that Labour has nothing to say. To be fair, a few posters on here called that. They were right. Those of us who believed not being the Tories would be enough were wrong. I decided - with regret - not to vote Labour a while back. I guess many others are reluctantly coming to the same conclusion. Labour could be the next government. They are nowhere near ready for it - especially with EdM in charge.
Is that an abstention at the GE or does your constituency offer a tempting second choice ?
It's Labour v Tory in my seat, which is marginal; so anything but a Labour vote helps the Tories. But at my age I have decided to look beyond that. Not being the Tories is just not a good enough reason to vote for a party that really does not seem to get the 21st century. Not that I think the Tories do, mind. I have no idea what I'll do next year, except I won't vote for either of the big two. Maybe I'll just stay in Hong Kong!!
By the way, since you mentioned Doncaster last week, I have been looking into it. Didnt realise there was an English Democrat Mayor there recently, so maybe there is fertile ground for UKIP.
Your question of how they would approcach the area should be answered soon as they are fielding a full slate of candidates in the upcoming local elections
What would you conider a successful UKIP operation there in terms of vote %?
Does anyone in government understand why unemployment did not explode? We seem to have been very fortunate when compared to many similarly indebted countries, but I'm not sure that it can be attributed to any particular policy.
Labour force flexibility? Employment laws and attitudes of employers and employees that enabled people to work less or for less rather than not at all? Remember at the depth of the recession when Honda put its people on very short time rather than laying them off as would have happened in many other countries?
Does anyone in government understand why unemployment did not explode? We seem to have been very fortunate when compared to many similarly indebted countries, but I'm not sure that it can be attributed to any particular policy.
They only promised sound money and gave cuts in employment and corporation tax - why on earth would business invest ?
Mr. Isam, if Farage goes for a deal with Cameron the ex-Labour voters will abandon him and some will return to Labour, reducing the need (if there were one) for Miliband to offer a referendum.
It's a stupid move.
Mr. Patrick, reminds me of a good line from the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
Uncle Phil: Jazz, to what do we owe this pleasure?
Jeffrey [the butler]: Inbreeding would be my guess.
"The Ukip boss said he was willing "to put the interests of the country above the interests of my party" in order to guarantee an in-out referendum on Britain's membership of the EU."
I don't see that this is anything new. UKIP want to leave the EU. In the past Mr Farage has said he'd do a deal with anyone to achieve that; I believe the papers then announced that as evidence of devil worship.
So it seems if there was a deal on the table after the election and Farage said no to a coalition with Cameron/getting a referendum.. that would be wrong I guess, as Richard Nabavi has alwways said
But if he said yes, that would be wrong as well according to everyone on here this morning?
Heads I win, tails you lose is how they play it on here!
It's pretty simple really - there are elections approaching and people are taking some notice of politics for a change. And they are noticing that Labour has nothing to say. To be fair, a few posters on here called that. They were right. Those of us who believed not being the Tories would be enough were wrong. I decided - with regret - not to vote Labour a while back. I guess many others are reluctantly coming to the same conclusion. Labour could be the next government. They are nowhere near ready for it - especially with EdM in charge.
Is that an abstention at the GE or does your constituency offer a tempting second choice ?
It's Labour v Tory in my seat, which is marginal; so anything but a Labour vote helps the Tories. But at my age I have decided to look beyond that. Not being the Tories is just not a good enough reason to vote for a party that really does not seem to get the 21st century. Not that I think the Tories do, mind. I have no idea what I'll do next year, except I won't vote for either of the big two. Maybe I'll just stay in Hong Kong!!
I abstained in 2005.
Labour had lost the plot completely and the Conservatives under Howard were worse than under Hague.
However I ensured I positively abstained by marking the ballot "None Of The Above"
It's pretty simple really - there are elections approaching and people are taking some notice of politics for a change. And they are noticing that Labour has nothing to say. To be fair, a few posters on here called that. They were right. Those of us who believed not being the Tories would be enough were wrong. I decided - with regret - not to vote Labour a while back. I guess many others are reluctantly coming to the same conclusion. Labour could be the next government. They are nowhere near ready for it - especially with EdM in charge.
Is that an abstention at the GE or does your constituency offer a tempting second choice ?
It's Labour v Tory in my seat, which is marginal; so anything but a Labour vote helps the Tories. But at my age I have decided to look beyond that. Not being the Tories is just not a good enough reason to vote for a party that really does not seem to get the 21st century. Not that I think the Tories do, mind. I have no idea what I'll do next year, except I won't vote for either of the big two. Maybe I'll just stay in Hong Kong!!
While in HK you need to pop along to Sam's Tailors and get measured for a solid blue suit, SO. You'll need it come 2015. Even if not, you'll still outsmart other Warwickshire doubters.
For the private sector, total pay rose by 1.8%, while regular pay rose by 1.6%. For the public sector, total pay rose by 0.7%, while regular pay rose by 1.1%. For the public sector excluding financial services, both total pay and regular pay rose by 1.5%.
In what people would normally think of as the public sector, it seems that pay is rising at only just below the average in the private sector.
It's only when you include those bits of the "public sector" that are the nationalised banks that the increase in pay falls markedly behind that of the private sector. The implication being that pay increase in RBS, etc, must be pretty low. If you knew the relative proportions you would be able to work it out from the figures above.
Does anyone in government understand why unemployment did not explode? We seem to have been very fortunate when compared to many similarly indebted countries, but I'm not sure that it can be attributed to any particular policy.
It is hard to understand why unemployment firstly increased so little and is now falling so sharply. Some suggestions:
(1) the depth of the UK recession was caused by the massive reduction in output in financial services as well as a very sharp fall in output from the north sea. Both of these did horrible things to our average productivity but they also meant that the reduction in employment was much smaller than would have been the case had such falls occurred in other sectors. (2) Britain benefits from a flexible labour market, certainly in comparison with most of the EU making employing people more attractive here than average. (3) Our trade unions in the private sector, particularly the car industry, really deserve gold stars for their flexible approach to falls in demand focussing on saving jobs rather than necessarily preserving wages. (4) Because of that flexibility and realism we have not inflated away the competitive advantages that we obtained from a major reduction in the value of our currency in 2008 as we have done in the past. This has resulted in some onshoring and import substitution. (5) Our government has run very aggressive policies to keep domestic demand at least stable from horrendous deficits, QE, 0.5% interest rates etc. (6) Our in work benefits system, although extremely expensive, subsidises low skill employment to a greater extent than many countries allowing people to actually live on the minimum wage, even when they have families.
No doubt there are other reasons as well but these factors all help to some degree.
Does anyone in government understand why unemployment did not explode? We seem to have been very fortunate when compared to many similarly indebted countries, but I'm not sure that it can be attributed to any particular policy.
They only promised sound money and gave cuts in employment and corporation tax - why on earth would business invest ?
I'm not knocking the things the government has done, but it does seem that the employment figures have been surprisingly good, and I was wondering if they were predicted to be this good.
Does anyone in government understand why unemployment did not explode? We seem to have been very fortunate when compared to many similarly indebted countries, but I'm not sure that it can be attributed to any particular policy.
Flexible labour laws and, outside of the public sector, a proactive and sensible strategy by the unions of engaging with management & coming up with creative solutions (e.g. lower wages for future upside, flexible working) that preserved jobs
Mr. Isam, if Farage goes for a deal with Cameron the ex-Labour voters will abandon him and some will return to Labour, reducing the need (if there were one) for Miliband to offer a referendum.
It's a stupid move.
Mr. Patrick, reminds me of a good line from the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
Uncle Phil: Jazz, to what do we owe this pleasure?
Jeffrey [the butler]: Inbreeding would be my guess.
"The Ukip boss said he was willing "to put the interests of the country above the interests of my party" in order to guarantee an in-out referendum on Britain's membership of the EU."
I don't see that this is anything new. UKIP want to leave the EU. In the past Mr Farage has said he'd do a deal with anyone to achieve that; I believe the papers then announced that as evidence of devil worship.
So it seems if there was a deal on the table after the election and Farage said no to a coalition with Cameron/getting a referendum.. that would be wrong I guess, as Richard Nabavi has alwways said
But if he said yes, that would be wrong as well according to everyone on here this morning?
Heads I win, tails you lose is how they play it on here!
For the private sector, total pay rose by 1.8%, while regular pay rose by 1.6%. For the public sector, total pay rose by 0.7%, while regular pay rose by 1.1%. For the public sector excluding financial services, both total pay and regular pay rose by 1.5%.
In what people would normally think of as the public sector, it seems that pay is rising at only just below the average in the private sector.
It's only when you include those bits of the "public sector" that are the nationalised banks that the increase in pay falls markedly behind that of the private sector. The implication being that pay increase in RBS, etc, must be pretty low. If you knew the relative proportions you would be able to work it out from the figures above.
Not sure why you are saying I am wrong. You are saying that public sector pay is rising by less than private sector pay and so am I. Inevitably this reduces the average. Maybe I overstated it in my brief summary but we seem to be on the same page.
Good point about the banks though. I wonder if this is pushing up or pushing down the average for the public sector.
The lack of rise in unemployment comes from wage restraint and reduced hours mostly, but both these are good things as hours and wages are easier to restore than long term unemployment.
I think also the changes in benefits and tax thresholds have helped. Not least in moving some self employment into the legitimate sphere from the hidden one, owing to changes in incentives.
BBC - The number of people out of work in the UK fell by 133,000 to a fresh five-year low of 2.2 million in the three months to March, official figures indicate.
I prefer to see it as the death of David Blanchflower's economic credibility by 133K tiny cuts.
Mr StClare wasn't Blanchflower suggesting 5m unemployed at one stage? If so Nostradamus he ain't.
Yup, back in 2009 Gordon Brown’s BoE placeman and Labour economist David Blanchflower predicted that unemployment would top 5 million if the Tories came into power. He has also consistently been wrong in predicting economic growth and UK inflation figures ever since.
A useful tool now utterly discredited, but Aunty still calls upon him when needs be.
@PickardJE: RT @JasonGroves1: Romanian immigration down since Keith Vaz formed welcoming committee at Luton Airport. Will ministers now station him there permanently?
@MattChorley: Biggest increase in the number of people in work EVER and Rachel Reeves describes it as a "so-called economic recovery"
Well they have to keep pretending that everything in the garden is weeds. To say otherwise would kick out the remaining plank of their strategy. Trouble is it makes them sound snippy, and unacquainted with reality.
It is hard to understand why unemployment firstly increased so little and is now falling so sharply. Some suggestions:
Those are all good points, and in particular your points about the sectors were output fell the most, and the actions of unions representing the private sector are good.
I was going to mention that we haven't seen particularly high levels of industrial action either. There are some good unions that see the bigger picture, that we can't pull up the drawbridge, we have to compete internationally, and the best thing to do for the employees in the long term is to keep UK production going, not throw it all away by striking.
Comments
NIGEL Farage is prepared to form a coalition government with David Cameron after the next General Election, The Sun can reveal.
The Ukip boss said he was willing "to put the interests of the country above the interests of my party" in order to guarantee an in-out referendum on Britain's membership of the EU.
The move marks a dramatic shift for the Ukip chief, who has previously ruled out doing any deals with the Conservative leader.
"If David Cameron came to me and said 'Nigel, could you help me to form a government so we can have a referendum?', of course I'd do it.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/politics/5625117/nigel-farage-ill-govern-with-david-cameron.html
Farage sells out to Cameron, principal agent of the EUSSR
http://www.conservativehome.com/thetorydiary/2014/05/farage-sells-out-to-cameron-principal-agent-of-the-eussr.html
Well that's very strange Avery. I am friends with Bill and have just gone through all 644 of his Facebook likes. They include 9 different Conservative associations around the country, Ian Duncan Smith, Norman Tebbit and Joanna Lumley. But what a surprise, not one of those pictures that you link to appears as a like on his page... except the one of himself.
Do you think perhaps someone is once again trying to smear Bill? You perhaps? Not so surprising that he is a particular target given that he draws a very large amount of his support in Wolverhampton from the various ethnic minority groups in the area.
Maybe in future you should check your facts before posting such smears, at least when they can be so easily checked.
Richard
I am certain there are a very large number of people trying to smear UKIP and its candidates, ranging from the mainstream media and the political establishment through to left wing extremist groups and disgruntled former UKIP officers, elected representatives and supporters.
I take a quick look, for example, at Jasna Badzak's twitter feed a couple of times a day. Although her twitter page gives me a feel for all the slings and arrows being thrown at the party, I fully accept she is not the most impartial source of information on UKIP!. But this type of propaganda attack, for good or worse, is the main form of opposition to UKIP and Farage has to defend himself and his party intelligently and effectively from the incoming flak. You can't be an effective war reporter without visiting the battlefields.
It does appear from rereading the twitter feed that the likes appear on the Facebook page of a certain "@JennyVoteUkip" and that Bill Etherington's involvement is limited to being (probably not now!) her follower. So the association is secondary which I didn't notice when first posting and for that, I now apologise.
To balance the books, here is another tweetpic from the same twitter feed which did make me, and should make all kippers, laugh:
twitter.com/antianti1978/status/465209563734900736/photo/1/large
But back to the propaganda war. This is unavoidable and deconstructing each and every false attack is not the way to resist it. That way only gives further oxygen to the fire. Farage is doing very well in deflecting attack and repositioning his party. If only all his followers had his ability he would now be sailing to victory.
Part of the WWC, to a degree at least, has shifted from red to purple (but would never vote blue). If Farage openly goes for a coalition with the blues it'll lose him much of that, but rightwing voters won't change.
It's great news, if you're pro-EU or Labour.
Who's toastier - Kippers, LDs, YES or Ed ?
This has been predicated on the presumption that UKIP would never put its trust in the man some of its less excitable supporters label Cast Iron Dave – that fraud, that sellout, that agent of Brussels, that catspaw of the EUSSR, that deceiver of the sheeple, that pawn of Common Purpose, that shape-shifting lizard, that very worst feature of the LibLabCon. They might well ask: if UKIP is going to keep Cameron in Downing Street, what on earth is the point of it?
Perhaps Farage has some cunning plan that I am missing. Or perhaps he was paying his words even less attention than he does to the contents of UKIP manifestos. Maybe we have a “clarification” by mid-day.
It's bloody ugly.
Still it's not the same as an electoral pact.
It also matches precisely the last McARSE projection of 17th Apr.
The next McARSE projection will be issued on Tuesday 20th May.
"how many divisions does he have?"
If Labour have any sense they will be all over this.
Ye cannae change the laws of physics, Jim.
Gives me so much material for trolling and to winding up the Kippers PB Threads and comments
"Of course I'd do it."
Hmmmmmmm...........
He is sending out virulently anti-immigration election literature and you don't need a degree in semiotics to interpret its meaning.
The fact is that after making some very modest progress over the winter the NO campaign has, in polling terms, effectively stalled.
The question appears to the scale of the NO victory and the level of turnout that IMO will exceed 80%.
I wonder much the same about Bryony Gordon off the same paper. In fact it is not clear to me that either of them is a real person.
About Sean T, another DT blogger, there's no doubt.
A better argument you could not have found!!!
Hopefully McLaren will continue his record of choking in showpiece finals ;-)
Then I remembered that the PB UKIPpers never are happy anyway.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/benedictbrogan/100271447/look-out-even-the-irreconcilables-are-on-side/
Why do I have the impression someone in CCHQ is currently chewing a giant Cuban muttering "I love it when a plan comes together"?
ONS Labour Market bulletin for April 2014
Key findings:
Latest estimates for December 2013 to February 2014 show that employment continued to increase, unemployment continued to fall, as did the number of economically inactive people aged from 16 to 64. These changes continue the general direction of movement over the past two years.
At 2.24 million for December 2013 to February 2014, unemployment was 77,000 lower than for September to November 2013 and 320,000 lower than a year earlier.
The unemployment rate was 6.9% of the labour force (those unemployed plus those employed) for December 2013 to February 2014, down from 7.1% for September to November 2013 and from 7.9% for a year earlier.
At 30.39 million for December 2013 to February 2014, employment was 239,000 higher than for September to November 2013 and 691,000 higher than a year earlier.
72.6% of people aged 16 to 64 were in work for December 2013 to February 2014, up from 72.1% for September to November 2013 and from 71.4% for a year earlier.
8.85 million people aged 16 to 64 were economically inactive (those out of work but not seeking or available to work) for December 2013 to February 2014. This was 86,000 lower than for September to November 2013 and 104,000 lower than a year earlier.
21.9% of people aged 16 to 64 were economically inactive for December 2013 to February 2014, down from 22.2% from both September to November 2013 and from a year earlier. The rate has not been lower since October to December 1990.
Pay including bonuses for employees in Great Britain for December 2013 to February 2014 was 1.7% higher than a year earlier, with pay excluding bonuses 1.4% higher.
Well that's PMQs sorted for Ed then...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2627589/Labour-panics-Eds-dismal-ratings-Four-years-hes-popular-Brown.html
@VickiYoung01: ONS says in last quarter there's been a drop in number of migrants from Romania and Bulgaria coming to UK to work.
@bbclaurak: Other crucial stats this morn - number of Romanians and Bulgarians coming to UK since controls lifted has gone DOWN
The Rams will win at Wembley and the boy Bryson will get the winner.
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lms/labour-market-statistics/may-2014/statistical-bulletin.html
•There were 30.43 million people in work for January to March 2014, 283,000 more than for October to December 2013 and 722,000 more than a year earlier. These increases in employment are partly due to more self-employed people.
•72.7% of people aged from 16 to 64 were in work for January to March 2014, up from 72.1% for October to December 2013 and up from 71.4% for a year earlier.
•There were 2.21 million unemployed people for January to March 2014, 133,000 fewer than for October to December 2013 and 309,000 fewer than a year earlier.
•The unemployment rate was 6.8% of the economically active population (those in work plus those seeking and available to work) for January to March 2014, down from 7.2% for October to December 2013 and down from 7.8% for a year earlier.
Right now they are dropping too far, too fast.
I think Bryony Gordon is actually an agent for the Society of Confirming Stereotypes - in her case the dumb blonde. How she got, and keeps, a job as a columnist on what is supposed to be a serious newspaper I don't know (someone's daughter or niece?). However, she often makes me laugh So I do not complain.
http://news.migrationwatch.org.uk/2013/07/immigration-undercounted-by-½-million-statisticians-refuse-to-publish-new-figures-revised-figures-wo.html
To be honest very few are going to notice that real wages have increased on these figures although the increase in personal allowances will have helped this month.
This problem at least remains for the government. Of course there is a link between the excellent unemployment figures and these wage figures but not one the 30m+ already in employment will be getting too excited about.
I have Internet Explorer at work and keep getting kicked off and having to re-sign-in. And when signing back in get an error message. Grrrrrr!
I prefer to see it as the death of David Blanchflower's economic credibility by 133K tiny cuts.
UK Unemployment
UK Unemployment Rate On 1st June 2015 Pending £5.00 <- Tim said this was a rick !
@Samfr: Forget Romanians and Bulgarians. Number of Australians + New Zealanders up 10K. We're being flooded. http://t.co/EpzQ3WplKy
Mr StClare wasn't Blanchflower suggesting 5m unemployed at one stage? If so Nostradamus he ain't.
In fact, if Labour were any more in-bred they'd be a sandwich.
168k more EU citizens now working in the UK than a year ago. @ONS
It's a stupid move.
Mr. Patrick, reminds me of a good line from the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
Uncle Phil: Jazz, to what do we owe this pleasure?
Jeffrey [the butler]: Inbreeding would be my guess.
Contributing to a recovering economy and with unemployment down and employment up significantly I'm sure Nigel Farage will want to congratulate the Coalition.
Huzzah for the Coalition.
Your point about every nation needing its USP is very well made, and comes back to what I've been saying for yonks. Our USP is the City, and it's a fantastic one. We are exceptionally lucky as reproducing the particular combination of advantages which we have in the City is very hard to do (which is why the Germans failed miserably when in the 1990s they tried so hard to make Frankfurt a global finance centre).
That doesn't mean we should be complacent, though - it's much easier to wreck things than to create them. Competitors will always be trying to chip away at our advantage, and we need to stay ahead.
Here is my shaded version of the correct May [for April] 2014 bulletin:
• Latest estimates for January to March 2014 show that employment continued to increase, unemployment continued to fall, as did the number of economically inactive people aged from 16 to 64. These changes continue the general direction of movement over the past two years.
• There were 30.43 million people in work for January to March 2014, 283,000 more than for October to December 2013 and 722,000 more than a year earlier. These increases in employment are partly due to more self-employed people.
• 72.7% of people aged from 16 to 64 were in work for January to March 2014, up from 72.1% for October to December 2013 and up from 71.4% for a year earlier.
• There were 2.21 million unemployed people for January to March 2014, 133,000 fewer than for October to December 2013 and 309,000 fewer than a year earlier.
• The unemployment rate was 6.8% of the economically active population (those in work plus those seeking and available to work) for January to March 2014, down from 7.2% for October to December 2013 and down from 7.8% for a year earlier.
• There were 8.85 million economically inactive people (those out of work but not seeking or available to work) aged from 16 to 64 for January to March 2014. This was 85,000 fewer than for October to December 2013 and 155,000 fewer than a year earlier.
• 21.9% of people aged from 16 to 64 were economically inactive for January to March 2014, down from 22.1% for October to December 2013 and down from 22.4% for a year earlier. The inactivity rate has not been lower since October to December 1990.
• Pay including bonuses for employees in Great Britain for January to March 2014 was 1.7% higher than a year earlier, with pay excluding bonuses 1.3% higher.
Huzzah! That is great news, The more Aussies over here the better, marvellous people, genetically adapted for bar work. If the price of lots more Aussies is a few more Kiwis, well into every life a little rain must fall.
I don't see that this is anything new. UKIP want to leave the EU. In the past Mr Farage has said he'd do a deal with anyone to achieve that; I believe the papers then announced that as evidence of devil worship.
@benedictbrogan: Why the #Union is in better shape than southern fearties think. Useful from Hammer of the Nats Cochrane http://t.co/lt0UWOAZ67
A useful tool now utterly discredited, but Aunty still calls upon him when needs be.
'Global exchange giant Deutsche Bank: indyref Yes would be negative for sterling
"When it comes to the impact on the financial markets, we suspect that the period of uncertainty during the negotiation phase that a Yes vote would generate would be negative for both gilts and sterling."
It added: "Political uncertainty during the negotiation period is likely to be negative for the currency, with the scale of this depending on what monetary policy option Scotland eventually plumps for. A sterling currency union may prove the least negative, as it leaves the size of the economy covered by sterling the same and a formal agreement could help reduce the political risk premium."'
http://tinyurl.com/m2h825a
It's almost as if the single currency is a demented concept dreamt up by deranged delinquents.
It's bloody mental. And they're going to try and make it work with more integration. Which won't work, but will make untangling it a horrific mess.
Labour had lost the plot completely and the Conservatives under Howard were worse than under Hague.
However I ensured I positively abstained by marking the ballot "None Of The Above"
Your question of how they would approcach the area should be answered soon as they are fielding a full slate of candidates in the upcoming local elections
What would you conider a successful UKIP operation there in terms of vote %?
But if he said yes, that would be wrong as well according to everyone on here this morning?
Heads I win, tails you lose is how they play it on here!
A reminder: http://samstailor.com/
It's only when you include those bits of the "public sector" that are the nationalised banks that the increase in pay falls markedly behind that of the private sector. The implication being that pay increase in RBS, etc, must be pretty low. If you knew the relative proportions you would be able to work it out from the figures above.
(1) the depth of the UK recession was caused by the massive reduction in output in financial services as well as a very sharp fall in output from the north sea. Both of these did horrible things to our average productivity but they also meant that the reduction in employment was much smaller than would have been the case had such falls occurred in other sectors.
(2) Britain benefits from a flexible labour market, certainly in comparison with most of the EU making employing people more attractive here than average.
(3) Our trade unions in the private sector, particularly the car industry, really deserve gold stars for their flexible approach to falls in demand focussing on saving jobs rather than necessarily preserving wages.
(4) Because of that flexibility and realism we have not inflated away the competitive advantages that we obtained from a major reduction in the value of our currency in 2008 as we have done in the past. This has resulted in some onshoring and import substitution.
(5) Our government has run very aggressive policies to keep domestic demand at least stable from horrendous deficits, QE, 0.5% interest rates etc.
(6) Our in work benefits system, although extremely expensive, subsidises low skill employment to a greater extent than many countries allowing people to actually live on the minimum wage, even when they have families.
No doubt there are other reasons as well but these factors all help to some degree.
It's only when you include those bits of the "public sector" that are the nationalised banks that the increase in pay falls markedly behind that of the private sector. The implication being that pay increase in RBS, etc, must be pretty low. If you knew the relative proportions you would be able to work it out from the figures above.
Not sure why you are saying I am wrong. You are saying that public sector pay is rising by less than private sector pay and so am I. Inevitably this reduces the average. Maybe I overstated it in my brief summary but we seem to be on the same page.
Good point about the banks though. I wonder if this is pushing up or pushing down the average for the public sector.
The lack of rise in unemployment comes from wage restraint and reduced hours mostly, but both these are good things as hours and wages are easier to restore than long term unemployment.
I think also the changes in benefits and tax thresholds have helped. Not least in moving some self employment into the legitimate sphere from the hidden one, owing to changes in incentives.
Osbourne and Alexander make a good team.
I was going to mention that we haven't seen particularly high levels of industrial action either. There are some good unions that see the bigger picture, that we can't pull up the drawbridge, we have to compete internationally, and the best thing to do for the employees in the long term is to keep UK production going, not throw it all away by striking.