It will be interesting to see which judge gets this case. Sir David Eady and Sir Michael Tugendhat have both now retired from the High Court. Sir Michael has presided at the preliminary hearings and could preside at trial, sitting as a Deputy Judge. Mark Warby QC, who is a media specialist, has just been appointed to the QB division, but it must be doubted whether the most junior QB judge will be assigned the case. Could it go to Mr Justice Jay, ex-counsel to the Leveson Inquiry?
So would you prefer to be in France, or Spain's or Portugals position?
False choices make for poor debate.
In simple terms Cameron and Osborne promised to cuterase the deficit by 2015. This they will fail to do. The argument of many of their defenders appears to be that to have attempted to do so would have been to cut "too far and too fast". LOL
...
Osborne told MPs that Britain had the largest structural budget deficit in Europe at £109bn, he said, with £43bn in debt interest paid back each year.
Capital spending will be £51bn next year, then £49bn, then £46bn and £47bn in 2014-15 – about £2bn a year higher than set out in the budget.
Total public expenditure, which includes debt interest payments, will be £702bn next year, then £713bn, £724bn and £740bn, bringing real terms public spending to the same level as 2008.
Debt interest payments will be lower by £1bn in 2012, £1.8bn in 2013 and £3bn in 2014, a total of £5bn lower over the course of the spending review period
How has he done against his own targets as stated in Oct 2010.
Pulpie
...
Why all the praise for Osborne? He gets to make the speeches but it is Danny Alexander who has done all the heavy lifting.
I have never stinted in my praise for the role played by Danny Alexander in the management of the economy and have consistently expressed my admiration for his achievements in posts on PB.
Inevitably though Osborne as Chancellor will get the lion's share of both informed praise as well as having to suffer the barbs of the dissolute and drunken.
What would have happened if the austerity was on the level Labour had planned? The americans did no austerity until last year and have a smaller deficit now and higher growth starting from the same point as Britain in 2010. Either Osborne is right or Geithner is right, they can't be both right.
Well UK GDP growth in Q1 2014 was 32 times the growth recorded by the US.
Need I say more?
*titters*
US GDP growth 2010-14 9.3% UK GDP growth 2010-14 5.9% That's 58% more.
And despite all that advanced publicity, UK still haven't crossed 2008 GDP level.
The austerity made the patient weak. Sooner or later, patients do recover.
The US didn't do the stupid austerity, much beloved of this governemnt and the EU [ but only for the smaller countries ].
What exactly is wrong with this? Considering the number non-English speaking women in the borough, this seems quite sensible.
Suppose a popish priest were to accompany divers members of his flock into the polling booth and tell them how God wanted them to vote. I can't imagine anything would be wrong with that either.
Very generous of you, LIAM T.
However, the priest could use a thing called a "pulpit" or could have postal votes delivered to the presbytery for him to fill out himself.
Also, he is very unlikely to be married to any of his parishioners.
The Austerity induced low growth model of this government has created a great achievement.
This government has borrowed more in 4 years than Labour managed in 13 years.
Avery is very quick to show us the growth rates today against Europe. He keeps the 2010 - 2013 hidden away.
Absurby, I have answered you twice already on this brazen effrontery.
Absurby tells such Dreadful Lies, It makes one Gasp and Stretch one's Eyes;
Here are the figures for 2010-14 as posted in answer to your previous calumny:
[Yellow boxes clipped]
Time to remain silent on this issue, Absurby, and join St. George and the PB Tories in celebrating the UK overtaking France to become the second largest economy in Europe.
Won't be a long wait for the party!
Well done.Avery. You have successfully chosen the weakest country to compare with. Screwed right royally by Lagarde.
You guys always blame the current malaise on the past Labour government. How come Hollande's travails is not given similar dispensation ? After all, Hollande took over even later.
Absurby, it was you who demanded the statistics from France back to 2010. All I did was supply what you asked for.
About the only European country which significantly outperformed the UK in 2010-11 was Germany which (from memory) recorded annual growth rates of 4% and 3%, mainly based on export demand from China.
The picture is somewhat reversed at present although Germany still leads the EZ countries and matched our quarterly growth rate in Q1 2014. It will be touch and go by mid 2015 whether Germany or the UK win the 2010-15 growth stakes.
Plebgate is the dullest story in Fleet St history. Reinstate Mitchell. Burn down the gates. Ban the word pleb.
Nobody cares.
It's gone on far too long to still grab interest, but it has hardly been a dull ride, what with all the police misconduct and claim and counter claim.
I think that is the real impact. I have certainly heard a lot more people willing to accept that the police are corrupt and untrustworthy as a result of the Mitchell case and other high profile examples. It certainly hasn't been solely responsible but there has certainly been the impression that if they are willing and able to so effectively stitch up a senior MP then what chance to normal people have.
If UKIP do not win Newark, the bubble will have burst.
Back to 6% for the GE.
Definitely one of the more absurd statements made this week.
That is not so absurd.
2009 Euros, UKIP = 16.5%
2010 GE, UKIP = 3.1%
All the polling evidence points to UKIP retaining far more of their vote than they have in the past.
And specifically on Newark this was never a possible win for UKIP. It is a hugely safe Tory seat with a substantial long established and integrated Eastern European community. The idea that UKIP were ever going to win this was and is just daft.
Plebgate is the dullest story in Fleet St history. Reinstate Mitchell. Burn down the gates. Ban the word pleb.
Nobody cares.
It's gone on far too long to still grab interest, but it has hardly been a dull ride, what with all the police misconduct and claim and counter claim.
I think that is the real impact. I have certainly heard a lot more people willing to accept that the police are corrupt and untrustworthy as a result of the Mitchell case and other high profile examples. It certainly hasn't been solely responsible but there has certainly been the impression that if they are willing and able to so effectively stitch up a senior MP then what chance to normal people have.
Quite so. Some pretty dispicable stuff even if it is small bore compared to genuine brutality and the like, given those implications. It would quite prejudice me from believing anything that bloke suing Mitchell says, given he must have known full well how much had been exagerrated and who had been making things up and who must have been able to leak things, and yet it took so long to come to light rather than just admitting it.
If UKIP do not win Newark, the bubble will have burst.
Back to 6% for the GE.
Definitely one of the more absurd statements made this week.
That is not so absurd.
2009 Euros, UKIP = 16.5%
2010 GE, UKIP = 3.1%
All the polling evidence points to UKIP retaining far more of their vote than they have in the past.
And specifically on Newark this was never a possible win for UKIP. It is a hugely safe Tory seat with a substantial long established and integrated Eastern European community. The idea that UKIP were ever going to win this was and is just daft.
Indeed. Add that to the fact that Ukip made it worse for themselves by selecting a hard right reactionary candidate when a Tyndallite Libertarian may have attracted a few tactical Labour votes, and you have as sure as eggs Tory hold.
If UKIP do not win Newark, the bubble will have burst.
Back to 6% for the GE.
Definitely one of the more absurd statements made this week.
That is not so absurd.
2009 Euros, UKIP = 16.5%
2010 GE, UKIP = 3.1%
2014 Euros, UKIP - 27%!
So, by the same ratio, 5% at the GE ?
Before and after the 2009 Euro elections UKIP were polling between 2 and 6% with Yougov. They fell back to that level of support at the 2010 GE.
Before and after the 2014 Euro elections UKIP have been polling between 12 and 15%. I expect that to be their level of support at the GE. I also expect them to beat the Lib Dems in terms of popular vote.
I do not however expect this to be translated into seats and think that 1 or 2 is probably the best they can hope for. .
If UKIP do not win Newark, the bubble will have burst.
Back to 6% for the GE.
Definitely one of the more absurd statements made this week.
That is not so absurd.
2009 Euros, UKIP = 16.5%
2010 GE, UKIP = 3.1%
All the polling evidence points to UKIP retaining far more of their vote than they have in the past.
And specifically on Newark this was never a possible win for UKIP. It is a hugely safe Tory seat with a substantial long established and integrated Eastern European community. The idea that UKIP were ever going to win this was and is just daft.
Indeed. Add that to the fact that Ukip made it worse for themselves by selecting a hard right reactionary candidate when a Tyndallite Libertarian may have attracted a few tactical Labour votes, and you have as sure as eggs Tory hold.
Plebgate is the dullest story in Fleet St history. Reinstate Mitchell. Burn down the gates. Ban the word pleb.
Nobody cares.
It's gone on far too long to still grab interest, but it has hardly been a dull ride, what with all the police misconduct and claim and counter claim.
I think that is the real impact. I have certainly heard a lot more people willing to accept that the police are corrupt and untrustworthy as a result of the Mitchell case and other high profile examples. It certainly hasn't been solely responsible but there has certainly been the impression that if they are willing and able to so effectively stitch up a senior MP then what chance to normal people have.
People who aren't football fans, or Black, or demonstrators, might have been surprised.
Edited to add, or Scottish, given the figures released the other day.
In political terms, will it shift votes? If so, which way? Theresa May's tour de force at the Police Federation conference might have been a cheap stunt in some ways -- it was not the Federation responsible for Hillsborough or the cover-up, for instance -- but will have done her chances of succeeding Cameron no harm. I doubt she's helped Tories win in 2015 though.
If Janrick wins on Thursday, then there will be a degree of closure on the recent euro election froth. Time to move on to world cup and indyref.
I think you are absolutely right there. It has been a turbulent time with so much 'real' politics as opposed to just opinion polls and I fully expect it to all quieten down now until the autumn. I would expect a small slippage on UKIP's vote although that will depend to a great extent on whether or not the EU decides to do anything stupid that gives the Eurosceptics yet more ammunition.
The shortening of odds on the Conservatives down to 1/10 on may be down to information filtering back from observers at the opening of the postal votes, leading some to conclude that the Conservatives have it in the bag. Postal votes can be misleading though. It's worth bearing in mind though that UKIP were reported to have done very poorly on postal votes at Eastleigh with the LDs odds shortening a day or two before polling day. Then things reversed and for a period the Betfair odds shortened on UKIP as actual votes were counted, only widening as the count drew to its conclusion by which time it was clear that the LDs would win by a narrow margin.
I wouldn't be surprised to see a repeat of the narrowing in the early stages of the count at Newark, assuming that UKIP are universally poor at garnering postal votes by comparison with established parties.
Are postal votes in fact "opened" prior to the election date (other than to access the outer sealed envelope to validate the credentials of the voter) ? If so this is surely entirely wrong.
Yes, and after verification the postal votes are placed in a sealed ballot box, which is only opened and counted at the same time as normal votes. The postal voting papers are supposed to be kept face down but I'm sure that both those handling the papers and those observing will catch glimpses of enough to get a reasonable idea of the way it's going, even though they're supposed not to.
And no-one is allowed to pass on any knowledge they glean before the votes are counted. But enforcing that is another matter.....
Plebgate is the dullest story in Fleet St history. Reinstate Mitchell. Burn down the gates. Ban the word pleb.
Nobody cares.
It's gone on far too long to still grab interest, but it has hardly been a dull ride, what with all the police misconduct and claim and counter claim.
I think that is the real impact. I have certainly heard a lot more people willing to accept that the police are corrupt and untrustworthy as a result of the Mitchell case and other high profile examples. It certainly hasn't been solely responsible but there has certainly been the impression that if they are willing and able to so effectively stitch up a senior MP then what chance to normal people have.
People who aren't football fans, or Black, or demonstrators, might have been surprised.
Edited to add, or Scottish, given the figures released the other day.
In political terms, will it shift votes? If so, which way? Theresa May's tour de force at the Police Federation conference might have been a cheap stunt in some ways -- it was not the Federation responsible for Hillsborough or the cover-up, for instance -- but will have done her chances of succeeding Cameron no harm. I doubt she's helped Tories win in 2015 though.
I would add miners to that list. Although I was a supporter of Maggie during the miners strike, the way the police behaved at the time changed my perception of them permanently. I was only in my late teens so had grown up believing the police to be the good guys but that changed after 1984.
When was the fieldwork for the Ashcroft poll conducted? The only possible problem with the poll is that it may be out of date by the time of polling day if there's a late swing.
When going through some council records today, found some documents and manuals of actions to be taken and preparations to be made in the event of a nuclear attack. A reminder that, while we still face threats today, there were significant tensions at the height of the Cold War
Plebgate is the dullest story in Fleet St history. Reinstate Mitchell. Burn down the gates. Ban the word pleb.
Nobody cares.
It's gone on far too long to still grab interest, but it has hardly been a dull ride, what with all the police misconduct and claim and counter claim.
I think that is the real impact. I have certainly heard a lot more people willing to accept that the police are corrupt and untrustworthy as a result of the Mitchell case and other high profile examples. It certainly hasn't been solely responsible but there has certainly been the impression that if they are willing and able to so effectively stitch up a senior MP then what chance to normal people have.
People who aren't football fans, or Black, or demonstrators, might have been surprised.
Edited to add, or Scottish, given the figures released the other day.
In political terms, will it shift votes? If so, which way? Theresa May's tour de force at the Police Federation conference might have been a cheap stunt in some ways -- it was not the Federation responsible for Hillsborough or the cover-up, for instance -- but will have done her chances of succeeding Cameron no harm. I doubt she's helped Tories win in 2015 though.
I would add miners to that list. Although I was a supporter of Maggie during the miners strike, the way the police behaved at the time changed my perception of them permanently. I was only in my late teens so had grown up believing the police to be the good guys but that changed after 1984.
Anecdote
When I was 20 me and a few mates were pissed up in a cab office and one of my mates had a row with the bloke behind the ramp, who called the police... we were walking home and got pulled over and when they asked our names/what we did for work we said "Neil Armstrong Astronaut" and "Derek Trotter, Market trader".. juvenile stuff
Couple of days later I was walking home from the pub and a girl was lying on the floor with her boyfriend next to her and the same police were there
I stopped to see what was going on and two of the coppers threw me on the floor and handcuffed me, scarring my wrists for about a year. I got banged up until 3am, when they let me phone my Dad. I told him what happened, and they said I had been lying and didnt let me out until 530am, by which time the old man had been and gone
Hardly Nelson Mandela or a black kid in S London, but still made me think they are pretty untrustworthy
I have posted quite a bit of trashy but fun criticism of UKIP.
Here is a very well written and gracious open letter to Nigel Farage explaining why he should not have defended Roger Helmer's 'homophobic' remarks on the grounds that Helmer was over 70 and of a different generation.
I have posted quite a bit of trashy but fun criticism of UKIP.
Here is a very well written and gracious open letter to Nigel Farage explaining why he should not have defended Roger Helmer's 'homophobic' remarks on the grounds that Helmer was over 70 and of a different generation.
Plebgate is the dullest story in Fleet St history. Reinstate Mitchell. Burn down the gates. Ban the word pleb.
Nobody cares.
It's gone on far too long to still grab interest, but it has hardly been a dull ride, what with all the police misconduct and claim and counter claim.
I think that is the real impact. I have certainly heard a lot more people willing to accept that the police are corrupt and untrustworthy as a result of the Mitchell case and other high profile examples. It certainly hasn't been solely responsible but there has certainly been the impression that if they are willing and able to so effectively stitch up a senior MP then what chance to normal people have.
People who aren't football fans, or Black, or demonstrators, might have been surprised.
Edited to add, or Scottish, given the figures released the other day.
In political terms, will it shift votes? If so, which way? Theresa May's tour de force at the Police Federation conference might have been a cheap stunt in some ways -- it was not the Federation responsible for Hillsborough or the cover-up, for instance -- but will have done her chances of succeeding Cameron no harm. I doubt she's helped Tories win in 2015 though.
I would add miners to that list. Although I was a supporter of Maggie during the miners strike, the way the police behaved at the time changed my perception of them permanently. I was only in my late teens so had grown up believing the police to be the good guys but that changed after 1984.
Apart from the brutality, waving tenners at blokes whose families were starving wasn't a good look, regardless of the rights and wrongs of Maggie and Scargill.
Richard Tyndall Newark is not that hugely safe for the Tories, Labour won it in 1997
A. That was 1997. In those days, the only places that returned a Tory were the sorts of seats where swivel-eyed men with pitchforks would burn you at the stake if you were thought to support Labour.
B. It wasn't the same seat. The boundaries have changed.
Oh to be 20 again, from the Times about the Tory campaign in Newark
The youth wing of the Conservative Newark campaign, dubbed “Road Trip 2015”, had 300 activists bussed in from universities on Saturday. One young organiser said that “a dozen or so” couples had got together among his friends alone during a day of frenzied campaigning.
Access to the individual campaigners is tightly controlled by the party. After the hard day’s campaigning, some 300 teenagers and twentysomethings went for a curry at a hotel in Nottingham, paid for by Conservative donors. They then decamped to a bar, Coco Lounge, before descending on a gay club called NG1 that stayed open until 6.30am.
Oh to be 20 again, from the Times about the Tory campaign in Newark
The youth wing of the Conservative Newark campaign, dubbed “Road Trip 2015”, had 300 activists bussed in from universities on Saturday. One young organiser said that “a dozen or so” couples had got together among his friends alone during a day of frenzied campaigning.
Access to the individual campaigners is tightly controlled by the party. After the hard day’s campaigning, some 300 teenagers and twentysomethings went for a curry at a hotel in Nottingham, paid for by Conservative donors. They then decamped to a bar, Coco Lounge, before descending on a gay club called NG1 that stayed open until 6.30am.
Oh to be 20 again, from the Times about the Tory campaign in Newark
The youth wing of the Conservative Newark campaign, dubbed “Road Trip 2015”, had 300 activists bussed in from universities on Saturday. One young organiser said that “a dozen or so” couples had got together among his friends alone during a day of frenzied campaigning.
Access to the individual campaigners is tightly controlled by the party. After the hard day’s campaigning, some 300 teenagers and twentysomethings went for a curry at a hotel in Nottingham, paid for by Conservative donors. They then decamped to a bar, Coco Lounge, before descending on a gay club called NG1 that stayed open until 6.30am.
See, if I had ended up in a gay bar, I wouldn't have left for days.
Somehow, I notice you do not give Darling the same room for manouvre despite the recession which virtually the entire world [ certainly the western world ] went into.
Was Brown and Darling also responsible for the collapse of Lehmann Bros. , bailing out Gen Motors, AIG, Citibank etc. etc. ?
No of course they weren't. Indeed Darling, quite rightly, doesn't get blamed at all for the crash, except for the (relatively) minor role he played in making an utter hash of the collapse of Northern Rock - the only bank run in the UK for 150 years. Otherwise he did OK, and I certainly wouldn't criticise him particularly, although cutting VAT was eccentric.
Brown is a different case. It was Brown, advised by Balls, who deliberately and despite explicit warnings trashed the financial supervision of banks, and set up the utterly bonkers tripartite regulation system - which achieved the remarkable feat of being both extraordinarily detailed and intrusive, and completely useless. It was Brown who ran up deficits and massive structural problems during a period of several years when money was pouring into the treasury at an unprecedented rate. It was Brown who prevented Darling from taking any action to start doing the detailed planning to get spending back under control when the crisis broke, wasting two entire years purely out of a cynical desire to run his infantile 'Labour investment versus Tory cuts' nonsense. It was Brown who exacerbated the problems in the banking system by pushing HBOS into Lloyds. And, most culpably of all, it was Brown who cancelled the desperately-needed Spending Review, purely for electoral reasons.
TSE And who said the YCs were no longer the best dating agency in town?
And it's just not shagging and gay bars
The Lord A poll showed 92 per cent of voters reporting some form of contact with the Tories, compared with 80 per cent for UKIP. Only 71 per cent said the same of Labour.
Oh to be 20 again, from the Times about the Tory campaign in Newark
The youth wing of the Conservative Newark campaign, dubbed “Road Trip 2015”, had 300 activists bussed in from universities on Saturday. One young organiser said that “a dozen or so” couples had got together among his friends alone during a day of frenzied campaigning.
Access to the individual campaigners is tightly controlled by the party. After the hard day’s campaigning, some 300 teenagers and twentysomethings went for a curry at a hotel in Nottingham, paid for by Conservative donors. They then decamped to a bar, Coco Lounge, before descending on a gay club called NG1 that stayed open until 6.30am.
Oh to be 20 again, from the Times about the Tory campaign in Newark
The youth wing of the Conservative Newark campaign, dubbed “Road Trip 2015”, had 300 activists bussed in from universities on Saturday. One young organiser said that “a dozen or so” couples had got together among his friends alone during a day of frenzied campaigning.
Access to the individual campaigners is tightly controlled by the party. After the hard day’s campaigning, some 300 teenagers and twentysomethings went for a curry at a hotel in Nottingham, paid for by Conservative donors. They then decamped to a bar, Coco Lounge, before descending on a gay club called NG1 that stayed open until 6.30am.
You've clearly never been to a Tory conference.
I have, and a Labour conference as well.
The last two have been in Manchester, so I wasn't a dirty stop out, and went back to my own place than stick around with the politicos.
Plebgate is the dullest story in Fleet St history. Reinstate Mitchell. Burn down the gates. Ban the word pleb.
Nobody cares.
It's gone on far too long to still grab interest, but it has hardly been a dull ride, what with all the police misconduct and claim and counter claim.
I think that is the real impact. I have certainly heard a lot more people willing to accept that the police are corrupt and untrustworthy as a result of the Mitchell case and other high profile examples. It certainly hasn't been solely responsible but there has certainly been the impression that if they are willing and able to so effectively stitch up a senior MP then what chance to normal people have.
People who aren't football fans, or Black, or demonstrators, might have been surprised.
Edited to add, or Scottish, given the figures released the other day.
In political terms, will it shift votes? If so, which way? Theresa May's tour de force at the Police Federation conference might have been a cheap stunt in some ways -- it was not the Federation responsible for Hillsborough or the cover-up, for instance -- but will have done her chances of succeeding Cameron no harm. I doubt she's helped Tories win in 2015 though.
I would add miners to that list. Although I was a supporter of Maggie during the miners strike, the way the police behaved at the time changed my perception of them permanently. I was only in my late teens so had grown up believing the police to be the good guys but that changed after 1984.
Oh to be 20 again, from the Times about the Tory campaign in Newark
The youth wing of the Conservative Newark campaign, dubbed “Road Trip 2015”, had 300 activists bussed in from universities on Saturday. One young organiser said that “a dozen or so” couples had got together among his friends alone during a day of frenzied campaigning.
Access to the individual campaigners is tightly controlled by the party. After the hard day’s campaigning, some 300 teenagers and twentysomethings went for a curry at a hotel in Nottingham, paid for by Conservative donors. They then decamped to a bar, Coco Lounge, before descending on a gay club called NG1 that stayed open until 6.30am.
You've clearly never been to a Tory conference.
I have, and a Labour conference as well.
The last two have been in Manchester, so I wasn't a dirty stop out, and went back to my own place than stick around with the politicos.
Did I miss out?
Tory conferences are the best place to score regardless of age or sexual preference, rather hedonistic.
Oh to be 20 again, from the Times about the Tory campaign in Newark
The youth wing of the Conservative Newark campaign, dubbed “Road Trip 2015”, had 300 activists bussed in from universities on Saturday. One young organiser said that “a dozen or so” couples had got together among his friends alone during a day of frenzied campaigning.
Access to the individual campaigners is tightly controlled by the party. After the hard day’s campaigning, some 300 teenagers and twentysomethings went for a curry at a hotel in Nottingham, paid for by Conservative donors. They then decamped to a bar, Coco Lounge, before descending on a gay club called NG1 that stayed open until 6.30am.
You've clearly never been to a Tory conference.
I have, and a Labour conference as well.
The last two have been in Manchester, so I wasn't a dirty stop out, and went back to my own place than stick around with the politicos.
Did I miss out?
Tory conferences are the best place to score regardless of age or sexual preference, rather hedonistic.
I'd like to stress that as a happily married man, I did NOT miss out.
I think that is the real impact. I have certainly heard a lot more people willing to accept that the police are corrupt and untrustworthy as a result of the Mitchell case and other high profile examples. It certainly hasn't been solely responsible but there has certainly been the impression that if they are willing and able to so effectively stitch up a senior MP then what chance to normal people have.
Another long-running story about to come to the boil is the trials into alleged phone hacking. We're into final barristers' speeches - then it's the summing up and the verdicts. A week or so to go?
Just back from a London Labour fund-raiser for Notts marginals, with three PBers there - produced around £4000 profit.
What would have happened if the austerity was on the level Labour had planned? The americans did no austerity until last year and have a smaller deficit now and higher growth starting from the same point as Britain in 2010. Either Osborne is right or Geithner is right, they can't be both right.
The USA continued with QE on a much bigger scale, which is kind of putting the deficit "off balance sheet".
Oh to be 20 again, from the Times about the Tory campaign in Newark
The youth wing of the Conservative Newark campaign, dubbed “Road Trip 2015”, had 300 activists bussed in from universities on Saturday. One young organiser said that “a dozen or so” couples had got together among his friends alone during a day of frenzied campaigning.
Access to the individual campaigners is tightly controlled by the party. After the hard day’s campaigning, some 300 teenagers and twentysomethings went for a curry at a hotel in Nottingham, paid for by Conservative donors. They then decamped to a bar, Coco Lounge, before descending on a gay club called NG1 that stayed open until 6.30am.
You've clearly never been to a Tory conference.
I have, and a Labour conference as well.
The last two have been in Manchester, so I wasn't a dirty stop out, and went back to my own place than stick around with the politicos.
Did I miss out?
Tory conferences are the best place to score regardless of age or sexual preference, rather hedonistic.
I'd like to stress that as a happily married man, I did NOT miss out.
Oh to be 20 again, from the Times about the Tory campaign in Newark
The youth wing of the Conservative Newark campaign, dubbed “Road Trip 2015”, had 300 activists bussed in from universities on Saturday. One young organiser said that “a dozen or so” couples had got together among his friends alone during a day of frenzied campaigning.
Access to the individual campaigners is tightly controlled by the party. After the hard day’s campaigning, some 300 teenagers and twentysomethings went for a curry at a hotel in Nottingham, paid for by Conservative donors. They then decamped to a bar, Coco Lounge, before descending on a gay club called NG1 that stayed open until 6.30am.
You've clearly never been to a Tory conference.
I have, and a Labour conference as well.
The last two have been in Manchester, so I wasn't a dirty stop out, and went back to my own place than stick around with the politicos.
Did I miss out?
Tory conferences are the best place to score regardless of age or sexual preference, rather hedonistic.
I'd like to stress that as a happily married man, I did NOT miss out.
Remind me of your mistake on facebook that time :-)
Oh to be 20 again, from the Times about the Tory campaign in Newark
The youth wing of the Conservative Newark campaign, dubbed “Road Trip 2015”, had 300 activists bussed in from universities on Saturday. One young organiser said that “a dozen or so” couples had got together among his friends alone during a day of frenzied campaigning.
Access to the individual campaigners is tightly controlled by the party. After the hard day’s campaigning, some 300 teenagers and twentysomethings went for a curry at a hotel in Nottingham, paid for by Conservative donors. They then decamped to a bar, Coco Lounge, before descending on a gay club called NG1 that stayed open until 6.30am.
Well, that's the next election lost by the Tories.
I can smell those Tories from my desk here.
Political activists have a certain 'air' about them. Was it really a good idea to recruit from the very rich or very clever from universities? No jobs, no children, no life experience. Shielded from the effects of immigration. These guys have 'Metropolitan Elite' written all over them.
It is as if they've had voter repellent sprayed all over them.
On a less abusive note, parachuting these guys in without knowing the local terrain can be counter-productive. Also, isn't the country's population getting older on average? Furthermore, they cannot blitz every constituency at election time.
Sounds like Shapps has a great vibe going on with the Tories again.
So do the Lib Dems, I'd like to point out that Young Mr Corporeal was at the last Lib Dem conference
The entire LibDem front bench and team of special advisers were booked into rooms on the 15th floor of the Crowne Plaza hotel in Glasgow, but it appears they didn’t get much sleep. The exertions of a bonking couple in one of the rooms kept the entire floor awake for most of Monday night.
They were apparently “at it” for several hours, and the identity of the couple caused much speculation the next morning. Your humble servant was lucky enough to be present (while waiting to interview the Cleggmeister) when a rather ashen-faced young man emerged from the room looking somewhat dishevelled. Discretion prevents me from identifying the poor bugger.
But he did have a smile on his face. I’m afraid I ducked out of asking the Deputy Prime Minister whether he got a full eight hours. Of sleep, that is.
Oh to be 20 again, from the Times about the Tory campaign in Newark
The youth wing of the Conservative Newark campaign, dubbed “Road Trip 2015”, had 300 activists bussed in from universities on Saturday. One young organiser said that “a dozen or so” couples had got together among his friends alone during a day of frenzied campaigning.
Access to the individual campaigners is tightly controlled by the party. After the hard day’s campaigning, some 300 teenagers and twentysomethings went for a curry at a hotel in Nottingham, paid for by Conservative donors. They then decamped to a bar, Coco Lounge, before descending on a gay club called NG1 that stayed open until 6.30am.
Well, that's the next election lost by the Tories.
I can smell those Tories from my desk here.
Political activists have a certain 'air' about them. Was it really a good idea to recruit from the very rich or very clever from universities? No jobs, no children, no life experience. Shielded from the effects of immigration. These guys have 'Metropolitan Elite' written all over them.
It is as if they've had voter repellent sprayed all over them.
On a less abusive note, parachuting these guys in without knowing the local terrain can be counter-productive. Also, isn't the country's population getting older on average? Furthermore, they cannot blitz every constituency at election time.
No constituencies can't all be blitzed in General Elections but then not all need to be. If you have a mobile campaign base and a well researched target list it will work.
Local knowledge isn't greatly necessary, a map, sense of direction, politeness and good sense is sufficient.
The great thing about younger activists is the active part, being young they're more likely to have the stamina than older volunteers.
Oh to be 20 again, from the Times about the Tory campaign in Newark
The youth wing of the Conservative Newark campaign, dubbed “Road Trip 2015”, had 300 activists bussed in from universities on Saturday. One young organiser said that “a dozen or so” couples had got together among his friends alone during a day of frenzied campaigning.
Access to the individual campaigners is tightly controlled by the party. After the hard day’s campaigning, some 300 teenagers and twentysomethings went for a curry at a hotel in Nottingham, paid for by Conservative donors. They then decamped to a bar, Coco Lounge, before descending on a gay club called NG1 that stayed open until 6.30am.
Well, that's the next election lost by the Tories.
I can smell those Tories from my desk here.
Political activists have a certain 'air' about them. Was it really a good idea to recruit from the very rich or very clever from universities? No jobs, no children, no life experience. Shielded from the effects of immigration. These guys have 'Metropolitan Elite' written all over them.
It is as if they've had voter repellent sprayed all over them.
On a less abusive note, parachuting these guys in without knowing the local terrain can be counter-productive. Also, isn't the country's population getting older on average? Furthermore, they cannot blitz every constituency at election time.
Oh to be 20 again, from the Times about the Tory campaign in Newark
The youth wing of the Conservative Newark campaign, dubbed “Road Trip 2015”, had 300 activists bussed in from universities on Saturday. One young organiser said that “a dozen or so” couples had got together among his friends alone during a day of frenzied campaigning.
Access to the individual campaigners is tightly controlled by the party. After the hard day’s campaigning, some 300 teenagers and twentysomethings went for a curry at a hotel in Nottingham, paid for by Conservative donors. They then decamped to a bar, Coco Lounge, before descending on a gay club called NG1 that stayed open until 6.30am.
You've clearly never been to a Tory conference.
I have, and a Labour conference as well.
The last two have been in Manchester, so I wasn't a dirty stop out, and went back to my own place than stick around with the politicos.
Did I miss out?
Tory conferences are the best place to score regardless of age or sexual preference, rather hedonistic.
They always had that reputation, but I was never too keen on the people who wanted to score with me (elderly ladies, randy male MPs).
Oh to be 20 again, from the Times about the Tory campaign in Newark
The youth wing of the Conservative Newark campaign, dubbed “Road Trip 2015”, had 300 activists bussed in from universities on Saturday. One young organiser said that “a dozen or so” couples had got together among his friends alone during a day of frenzied campaigning.
Access to the individual campaigners is tightly controlled by the party. After the hard day’s campaigning, some 300 teenagers and twentysomethings went for a curry at a hotel in Nottingham, paid for by Conservative donors. They then decamped to a bar, Coco Lounge, before descending on a gay club called NG1 that stayed open until 6.30am.
You've clearly never been to a Tory conference.
I have, and a Labour conference as well.
The last two have been in Manchester, so I wasn't a dirty stop out, and went back to my own place than stick around with the politicos.
Did I miss out?
Tory conferences are the best place to score regardless of age or sexual preference, rather hedonistic.
They always had that reputation, but I was never too keen on the people who wanted to score with me (elderly ladies, randy male MPs).
I have posted quite a bit of trashy but fun criticism of UKIP.
Here is a very well written and gracious open letter to Nigel Farage explaining why he should not have defended Roger Helmer's 'homophobic' remarks on the grounds that Helmer was over 70 and of a different generation.
Oh to be 20 again, from the Times about the Tory campaign in Newark
The youth wing of the Conservative Newark campaign, dubbed “Road Trip 2015”, had 300 activists bussed in from universities on Saturday. One young organiser said that “a dozen or so” couples had got together among his friends alone during a day of frenzied campaigning.
Access to the individual campaigners is tightly controlled by the party. After the hard day’s campaigning, some 300 teenagers and twentysomethings went for a curry at a hotel in Nottingham, paid for by Conservative donors. They then decamped to a bar, Coco Lounge, before descending on a gay club called NG1 that stayed open until 6.30am.
You've clearly never been to a Tory conference.
I have, and a Labour conference as well.
The last two have been in Manchester, so I wasn't a dirty stop out, and went back to my own place than stick around with the politicos.
Did I miss out?
Tory conferences are the best place to score regardless of age or sexual preference, rather hedonistic.
They always had that reputation, but I was never too keen on the people who wanted to score with me (elderly ladies, randy male MPs).
I have posted quite a bit of trashy but fun criticism of UKIP.
Here is a very well written and gracious open letter to Nigel Farage explaining why he should not have defended Roger Helmer's 'homophobic' remarks on the grounds that Helmer was over 70 and of a different generation.
Am I as a comprehensive schooled son of a salesman, working as a doctor in an unfashionable midlands city part of this lizard like metropolitan elite?
No, you are a public sector parasite who's shielded from the effects of immigration.
I am a comprehensive schooled son of immigrants who works in the private sector.
Consider yourself trumped.
Really? Please address your advice to David Cameron c/o Conservative Central Office because it seems to be unknown to him judging by their Euro Election campaign and, frankly, his utterances of the last eight years.
In any case, my comments were directed towards Team2015, combatants not civilians.
And remind me, which party am I espousing? I don't remember mentioning one.
I have posted quite a bit of trashy but fun criticism of UKIP.
Here is a very well written and gracious open letter to Nigel Farage explaining why he should not have defended Roger Helmer's 'homophobic' remarks on the grounds that Helmer was over 70 and of a different generation.
Lay the Con Maj is what I reckon, but then again I've done so and odds have moved in against me on that one so I'm sticking where I am - just my thoughts, DYOR.
I have posted quite a bit of trashy but fun criticism of UKIP.
Here is a very well written and gracious open letter to Nigel Farage explaining why he should not have defended Roger Helmer's 'homophobic' remarks on the grounds that Helmer was over 70 and of a different generation.
We will have to disagree. Just surprised anyone would have a problem with a well written blog about family life and adoption, and simple because the author quite correctly pulled Farage up when he yet again sought to stereotype a wide group of people in yet another gaffe prone attempt to defend the indefensible.
I have posted quite a bit of trashy but fun criticism of UKIP.
Here is a very well written and gracious open letter to Nigel Farage explaining why he should not have defended Roger Helmer's 'homophobic' remarks on the grounds that Helmer was over 70 and of a different generation.
We will have to disagree. Just surprised anyone would have a problem with a well written blog about family life and adoption, and simple because the author quite correctly pulled Farage up when he yet again sought to stereotype a wide group of people in yet another gaffe prone attempt to defend the indefensible.
I have posted quite a bit of trashy but fun criticism of UKIP.
Here is a very well written and gracious open letter to Nigel Farage explaining why he should not have defended Roger Helmer's 'homophobic' remarks on the grounds that Helmer was over 70 and of a different generation.
Or someone having a hissy fit because someone disagrees with him.
Here's an example:
Mr Helmer has been reported in The Sun and other places, of making a number of comments that could be construed as being homophobic. For example, that many people find homosexuality 'distasteful if not viscerally repugnant', or suggesting that homosexuality is akin to a mental health problem.
So, he condemns people comparing homosexuality to a mental illness but simultaneously accuses them of having a phobia, a mental disorder.
Also, if anyone has a complaint against stereotyping, it is Ukippers.
We will have to disagree. Just surprised anyone would have a problem with a well written blog about family life and adoption, and simple because the author quite correctly pulled Farage up when he yet again sought to stereotype a wide group of people in yet another gaffe prone attempt to defend the indefensible.
I have posted quite a bit of trashy but fun criticism of UKIP.
Here is a very well written and gracious open letter to Nigel Farage explaining why he should not have defended Roger Helmer's 'homophobic' remarks on the grounds that Helmer was over 70 and of a different generation.
Or someone having a hissy fit because someone disagrees with him.
Here's an example:
Mr Helmer has been reported in The Sun and other places, of making a number of comments that could be construed as being homophobic. For example, that many people find homosexuality 'distasteful if not viscerally repugnant', or suggesting that homosexuality is akin to a mental health problem.
So, he condemns people comparing homosexuality to a mental illness but simultaneously accuses them of having a phobia, a mental disorder.
Also, if anyone has a complaint against stereotyping, it is Ukippers.
c'mon now. any casual user of the English language can understand that there is a different usage for "xenophobe" and "homophobe" compared to "coulrophobia", for example.
The breaking news is that WIND is reporting to JNN the launch of the ARSE 2015 General Election "JackW Dozen" - 13 seats that will determine the nature of the contest.
The 13 seats are a geographically and political spread of various target and marginal seats - 3 seats from the joint London and the South region, 3 from the East including a Ukip target, 2 each from the North and Midlands and 1 seat each from the West country, Wales and Scotland.
From Tuesday 10th June the regular ARSE 2015 national projection will be joined by the "JackW Dozen" and will be called as follows :
TCTC - Too Close To Call - Under 500 votes. LIKELY HOLD/GAIN - 500 - 2500 votes. HOLD/GAIN - Over 2500 votes.
The "JackW Dozen" with the 2010 winner, majority and second placed party are :
Bury North - Con - 2,243 - Lab Pudsey - Con - 1,659 - Lab Broxtowe - Con - 389 - Lab Warwickshire North - Con - 54 - Lab Cambridge - LibDem - 6792 - Con - 3 way marginal. Ipswich - Con - 2,079 - Lab Watford - Con - 1,425 - LibDem - 3 way marginal. Croydon Central - Con - 2,879 - Lab Enfield North - Con - 1,692 - Lab Cornwall North - LibDem - 2,981- Con Vale of Glamorgan - Con - 4,276 - Lab Ochil & South Perthshire - Lab - 5,187 - SNP Great Yarmouth - Con - 4,276 - Lab - Ukip target
Oh to be 20 again, from the Times about the Tory campaign in Newark
The youth wing of the Conservative Newark campaign, dubbed “Road Trip 2015”, had 300 activists bussed in from universities on Saturday. One young organiser said that “a dozen or so” couples had got together among his friends alone during a day of frenzied campaigning.
Access to the individual campaigners is tightly controlled by the party. After the hard day’s campaigning, some 300 teenagers and twentysomethings went for a curry at a hotel in Nottingham, paid for by Conservative donors. They then decamped to a bar, Coco Lounge, before descending on a gay club called NG1 that stayed open until 6.30am.
I have posted quite a bit of trashy but fun criticism of UKIP.
Here is a very well written and gracious open letter to Nigel Farage explaining why he should not have defended Roger Helmer's 'homophobic' remarks on the grounds that Helmer was over 70 and of a different generation.
Comments
Nobody cares.
YouGov/Sun poll tonight - Labour lead down two to four points: CON 32%, LAB 36%, LD 8%, UKIP 14%
The austerity made the patient weak. Sooner or later, patients do recover.
The US didn't do the stupid austerity, much beloved of this governemnt and the EU [ but only for the smaller countries ].
However, the priest could use a thing called a "pulpit" or could have postal votes delivered to the presbytery for him to fill out himself.
Also, he is very unlikely to be married to any of his parishioners.
Back to 6% for the GE.
About the only European country which significantly outperformed the UK in 2010-11 was Germany which (from memory) recorded annual growth rates of 4% and 3%, mainly based on export demand from China.
The picture is somewhat reversed at present although Germany still leads the EZ countries and matched our quarterly growth rate in Q1 2014. It will be touch and go by mid 2015 whether Germany or the UK win the 2010-15 growth stakes.
"We believe the suspects are four armed men from Eastern Europe. This was a terrifying ordeal for the female victim."
http://news.sky.com/story/1274829/socialite-pistol-whipped-in-terrifying-raid
I'll take it you don't want to proceed with our little bet.
LAB 36%
Tory/UKIP 46%
Progressives 44%
2009 Euros, UKIP = 16.5%
2010 GE, UKIP = 3.1%
And specifically on Newark this was never a possible win for UKIP. It is a hugely safe Tory seat with a substantial long established and integrated Eastern European community. The idea that UKIP were ever going to win this was and is just daft.
but I think their deflation may fall short of that mark, though enough to put Ed into Downing st.
Night all.
Not necessarily.
As some of us said from the very beginning.
Before and after the 2014 Euro elections UKIP have been polling between 12 and 15%. I expect that to be their level of support at the GE. I also expect them to beat the Lib Dems in terms of popular vote.
I do not however expect this to be translated into seats and think that 1 or 2 is probably the best they can hope for. .
Edited to add, or Scottish, given the figures released the other day.
In political terms, will it shift votes? If so, which way? Theresa May's tour de force at the Police Federation conference might have been a cheap stunt in some ways -- it was not the Federation responsible for Hillsborough or the cover-up, for instance -- but will have done her chances of succeeding Cameron no harm. I doubt she's helped Tories win in 2015 though.
Any more repeat of these comments and your ability to instantly publish will be revoked.
And no-one is allowed to pass on any knowledge they glean before the votes are counted. But enforcing that is another matter.....
When I was 20 me and a few mates were pissed up in a cab office and one of my mates had a row with the bloke behind the ramp, who called the police... we were walking home and got pulled over and when they asked our names/what we did for work we said "Neil Armstrong Astronaut" and "Derek Trotter, Market trader".. juvenile stuff
Couple of days later I was walking home from the pub and a girl was lying on the floor with her boyfriend next to her and the same police were there
I stopped to see what was going on and two of the coppers threw me on the floor and handcuffed me, scarring my wrists for about a year. I got banged up until 3am, when they let me phone my Dad. I told him what happened, and they said I had been lying and didnt let me out until 530am, by which time the old man had been and gone
Hardly Nelson Mandela or a black kid in S London, but still made me think they are pretty untrustworthy
Here is a very well written and gracious open letter to Nigel Farage explaining why he should not have defended Roger Helmer's 'homophobic' remarks on the grounds that Helmer was over 70 and of a different generation.
The letter is not a rant or in any way abusive.
I recommend all read it.
http://bit.ly/U9LA27
"Get over it and stop being so sensitive" would be my reply
B. It wasn't the same seat. The boundaries have changed.
The youth wing of the Conservative Newark campaign, dubbed “Road Trip 2015”, had 300 activists bussed in from universities on Saturday. One young organiser said that “a dozen or so” couples had got together among his friends alone during a day of frenzied campaigning.
Access to the individual campaigners is tightly controlled by the party. After the hard day’s campaigning, some 300 teenagers and twentysomethings went for a curry at a hotel in Nottingham, paid for by Conservative donors. They then decamped to a bar, Coco Lounge, before descending on a gay club called NG1 that stayed open until 6.30am.
Brown is a different case. It was Brown, advised by Balls, who deliberately and despite explicit warnings trashed the financial supervision of banks, and set up the utterly bonkers tripartite regulation system - which achieved the remarkable feat of being both extraordinarily detailed and intrusive, and completely useless. It was Brown who ran up deficits and massive structural problems during a period of several years when money was pouring into the treasury at an unprecedented rate. It was Brown who prevented Darling from taking any action to start doing the detailed planning to get spending back under control when the crisis broke, wasting two entire years purely out of a cynical desire to run his infantile 'Labour investment versus Tory cuts' nonsense. It was Brown who exacerbated the problems in the banking system by pushing HBOS into Lloyds. And, most culpably of all, it was Brown who cancelled the desperately-needed Spending Review, purely for electoral reasons.
The Lord A poll showed 92 per cent of voters reporting some form of contact with the Tories, compared with 80 per cent for UKIP. Only 71 per cent said the same of Labour.
The last two have been in Manchester, so I wasn't a dirty stop out, and went back to my own place than stick around with the politicos.
Did I miss out?
Just back from a London Labour fund-raiser for Notts marginals, with three PBers there - produced around £4000 profit.
I can smell those Tories from my desk here.
Political activists have a certain 'air' about them. Was it really a good idea to recruit from the very rich or very clever from universities? No jobs, no children, no life experience. Shielded from the effects of immigration. These guys have 'Metropolitan Elite' written all over them.
It is as if they've had voter repellent sprayed all over them.
On a less abusive note, parachuting these guys in without knowing the local terrain can be counter-productive. Also, isn't the country's population getting older on average? Furthermore, they cannot blitz every constituency at election time.
The entire LibDem front bench and team of special advisers were booked into rooms on the 15th floor of the Crowne Plaza hotel in Glasgow, but it appears they didn’t get much sleep. The exertions of a bonking couple in one of the rooms kept the entire floor awake for most of Monday night.
They were apparently “at it” for several hours, and the identity of the couple caused much speculation the next morning. Your humble servant was lucky enough to be present (while waiting to interview the Cleggmeister) when a rather ashen-faced young man emerged from the room looking somewhat dishevelled. Discretion prevents me from identifying the poor bugger.
But he did have a smile on his face. I’m afraid I ducked out of asking the Deputy
Prime Minister whether he got a full eight hours. Of sleep, that is.
http://www.conservativehome.com/thecolumnists/2013/09/from-2-3.html
http://www.newark-sherwooddc.gov.uk/newarkbyelection/newarkby-electionresults/
They even have a countdown clock.
Local knowledge isn't greatly necessary, a map, sense of direction, politeness and good sense is sufficient.
The great thing about younger activists is the active part, being young they're more likely to have the stamina than older volunteers.
And Students are hardly the metropolitan elite, unless you draw the bounds of such a definition so wide as to be meaningless.
Am I as a comprehensive schooled son of a salesman, working as a doctor in an unfashionable midlands city part of this lizard like metropolitan elite?
http://www.newark-sherwooddc.gov.uk/seniorofficerpay/
Twitter
Has Merkel lost her touch? My blog post on the mess over #Merkel, #Cameron #Juncker http://ow.ly/xAEiR
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/eu/10872995/Nine-in-10-EU-voters-cannot-name-Jean-Claude-Juncker.html
They are:
Young
In good health
More than average intelligence
Urban
Inexperienced
Unmarried
No children
Saddoes No, you are a public sector parasite who's shielded from the effects of immigration.
I am a comprehensive schooled son of immigrants who works in the private sector.
Consider yourself trumped.
In any case, my comments were directed towards Team2015, combatants not civilians.
And remind me, which party am I espousing? I don't remember mentioning one.
Lab 3.3
Con 3.7
NOM 2.3
http://www.betfair.com/exchange/politics/market?id=1.101416490
Frankly, it was a bit pathetic. He's got himself into a tizzy because someone disagrees with him and nasty old Nigel won't beat them up for him.
God knows what mental state he'd be in if he had been a Catholic in 2010 or a Ukipper in the last few weeks.
Here's an example: So, he condemns people comparing homosexuality to a mental illness but simultaneously accuses them of having a phobia, a mental disorder.
Also, if anyone has a complaint against stereotyping, it is Ukippers.
I wouldn't want anyone to know that I was a Tory plant either ...
Also, if anyone has a complaint against stereotyping, it is Ukippers.
c'mon now. any casual user of the English language can understand that there is a different usage for "xenophobe" and "homophobe" compared to "coulrophobia", for example.