Andrew Neil @afneil · 58m BBC reports that IS five miles from Baghdad defensive positions. The air war is going well ...
What will happen should ISIL or any other jihadist group capture SAM weapons and shoots down one or two British planes? Under Cammo, Britain has hardly any boots to put on the ground and sending only a battalion or two would only show up UK's military weakness.
What would Ukip do in the the unlikely event of 3 Britons being beheaded by ISIL ?
Cower and shake their fists at Calais ?
Kippers short on answers - long on grievances.
What would happen if UKIP were in power and the situation with ISIL maintained? First of all under UKIP, Britain would have an armed forces capable of defending the UK. The rest follows.
Is that in addition to increasing unemployment benefits and ending disability tests for welfare recipients and cancelling the spare room subsidy? Or is that another policy for 24 hours?
Farage is going to reinstate the handbag tax to pay for 60 Type 26's. Or something.
It is when Farage falls out with himself that the fun starts. We already saw signs of that with this u-turn. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5ShQlPVHkV4 UKIP Defence policy on the hoof. Planes being asked to turnaround mid-flight when Farage wakes up around lunch time and changes his mind.
I really must give TWD another go. I thought it was terrible in S1 - rammed with cliches and plot holes. I spent most of my time laughing - which I don't think was the desired reaction by the writers.
It's become terribly popular so either I missed something or it's got a lot better.
I didn't used to like zombies much - I find them so dull as baddies. Much prefer vampires or other lesser known varieties like wendigos or rugarus.
Miss Plato, a 30 part radio series?! Sounds enormous.
I hardly ever listen to the radio now (still got an ancient walkman which will effectively be defunct in the near future as it plays cassette tapes and can only pick up analogue radio). Might give that programme a listen, if I catch it in time (I have a bad habit of missing the start of series. Happened to both seasons of Alphas, and I missed the first six episodes of The Walking Dead, season just shown on 5*).
Andrew Neil @afneil · 58m BBC reports that IS five miles from Baghdad defensive positions. The air war is going well ...
What will happen should ISIL or any other jihadist group capture SAM weapons and shoots down one or two British planes? Under Cammo, Britain has hardly any boots to put on the ground and sending only a battalion or two would only show up UK's military weakness.
What would Ukip do in the the unlikely event of 3 Britons being beheaded by ISIL ?
Cower and shake their fists at Calais ?
Kippers short on answers - long on grievances.
Perhaps you'll tell us how six planes bombing (or not bombing as with yesterday) helps these potential beheadees any more than cowering and fist shaking?
Militarily it's here nor there.
Diplomatically it is very useful.
It is merely willy waving by someone with erectile dysfunction
A bit like Salmond, and the 12 Typhoons he was going to keep for the separatist air force.
12 would be more than sufficient for a small peaceful country.
Miss Plato, a 30 part radio series?! Sounds enormous.
I hardly ever listen to the radio now (still got an ancient walkman which will effectively be defunct in the near future as it plays cassette tapes and can only pick up analogue radio). Might give that programme a listen, if I catch it in time (I have a bad habit of missing the start of series. Happened to both seasons of Alphas, and I missed the first six episodes of The Walking Dead, season just shown on 5*).
It's on at 9.45 am in the slot usually reserved for book of the week. The presenter is Neil McGregor from the British Museum who did the history of the world in a hundred objects some time ago. I think the format is similar - the first one this morning looked at the Brandenburg gate.
@jimwaterson: Tory MP to BuzzFeed on Mark Reckless defecting: "I can't say the word c**t but he's a f**king c**t who deserves a hot poker up his arse."
That's the most interesting part to me.
Carswell's decision people seem to respect. He's liked, he's seen as thoughtful, and he didn't time his departure in a way that seemed to wound his former colleagues.
Reckless behaved in a much less honourable way.
It's not so much his departure, as the manner of his leaving that speaks volumes as to his character: and his elicited such a hostile reaction
Yup. Is why I want to campaign against Reckless
If any Tory MP defects during Dave's speech....
Do we have any odds from the bookies on this? - might be worth a speculative flutter...
Unfortunately the bookies have pulled their defection markets.
I thought maybe Gove could defect? Who wants to give me odds on that?
Andrew Neil @afneil · 58m BBC reports that IS five miles from Baghdad defensive positions. The air war is going well ...
What will happen should ISIL or any other jihadist group capture SAM weapons and shoots down one or two British planes? Under Cammo, Britain has hardly any boots to put on the ground and sending only a battalion or two would only show up UK's military weakness.
What would Ukip do in the the unlikely event of 3 Britons being beheaded by ISIL ?
Cower and shake their fists at Calais ?
Kippers short on answers - long on grievances.
Perhaps you'll tell us how six planes bombing (or not bombing as with yesterday) helps these potential beheadees any more than cowering and fist shaking?
Militarily it's here nor there.
Diplomatically it is very useful.
It is merely willy waving by someone with erectile dysfunction
A bit like Salmond, and the 12 Typhoons he was going to keep for the separatist air force.
12 would be more than sufficient for a small peaceful country.
Norway has 57 F16s, Denmark has 30........
malcolm's 12, equates to 3 airworthy, 3 spares, and 6 in maintenance/deep maintenance. Pointless.
@jimwaterson: Tory MP to BuzzFeed on Mark Reckless defecting: "I can't say the word c**t but he's a f**king c**t who deserves a hot poker up his arse."
That's the most interesting part to me.
Carswell's decision people seem to respect. He's liked, he's seen as thoughtful, and he didn't time his departure in a way that seemed to wound his former colleagues.
Reckless behaved in a much less honourable way.
It's not so much his departure, as the manner of his leaving that speaks volumes as to his character: and his elicited such a hostile reaction
Yup. Is why I want to campaign against Reckless
If any Tory MP defects during Dave's speech....
Do we have any odds from the bookies on this? - might be worth a speculative flutter...
Unfortunately the bookies have pulled their defection markets.
I thought maybe Gove could defect? Who wants to give me odds on that?
How much do you want?
Depends on the odds
What do you think fair?
That's for you to decide!
Its not a challenge, you don't have to offer any if you don't want to.. .no pressure at all
Andrew Neil @afneil · 58m BBC reports that IS five miles from Baghdad defensive positions. The air war is going well ...
What will happen should ISIL or any other jihadist group capture SAM weapons and shoots down one or two British planes? Under Cammo, Britain has hardly any boots to put on the ground and sending only a battalion or two would only show up UK's military weakness.
What would Ukip do in the the unlikely event of 3 Britons being beheaded by ISIL ?
Cower and shake their fists at Calais ?
Kippers short on answers - long on grievances.
Perhaps you'll tell us how six planes bombing (or not bombing as with yesterday) helps these potential beheadees any more than cowering and fist shaking?
Militarily it's here nor there.
Diplomatically it is very useful.
It is merely willy waving by someone with erectile dysfunction
A bit like Salmond, and the 12 Typhoons he was going to keep for the separatist air force.
12 would be more than sufficient for a small peaceful country.
Norway has 57 F16s, Denmark has 30........
And your point is, we need to avoid willy waving it is not a competition to see who has most planes. Fact that UK can only muster 6 is a real joke.
Andrew Neil @afneil · 58m BBC reports that IS five miles from Baghdad defensive positions. The air war is going well ...
What will happen should ISIL or any other jihadist group capture SAM weapons and shoots down one or two British planes? Under Cammo, Britain has hardly any boots to put on the ground and sending only a battalion or two would only show up UK's military weakness.
What would Ukip do in the the unlikely event of 3 Britons being beheaded by ISIL ?
Cower and shake their fists at Calais ?
Kippers short on answers - long on grievances.
Perhaps you'll tell us how six planes bombing (or not bombing as with yesterday) helps these potential beheadees any more than cowering and fist shaking?
Militarily it's here nor there.
Diplomatically it is very useful.
It is merely willy waving by someone with erectile dysfunction
A bit like Salmond, and the 12 Typhoons he was going to keep for the separatist air force.
12 would be more than sufficient for a small peaceful country.
Norway has 57 F16s, Denmark has 30........
malcolm's 12, equates to 3 airworthy, 3 spares, and 6 in maintenance/deep maintenance. Pointless.
Ha Ha Ha , we will see how long the 6 UK has last , wonder how many of them can fly at once , or are they maintenance free. They could always tow their mobile football field over and really have ISIS cowering in fear, it has ONE fibreglass model airplane to help out.
Andrew Neil @afneil · 58m BBC reports that IS five miles from Baghdad defensive positions. The air war is going well ...
What will happen should ISIL or any other jihadist group capture SAM weapons and shoots down one or two British planes? Under Cammo, Britain has hardly any boots to put on the ground and sending only a battalion or two would only show up UK's military weakness.
What would Ukip do in the the unlikely event of 3 Britons being beheaded by ISIL ?
Cower and shake their fists at Calais ?
Kippers short on answers - long on grievances.
Perhaps you'll tell us how six planes bombing (or not bombing as with yesterday) helps these potential beheadees any more than cowering and fist shaking?
Militarily it's here nor there.
Diplomatically it is very useful.
It is merely willy waving by someone with erectile dysfunction
A bit like Salmond, and the 12 Typhoons he was going to keep for the separatist air force.
12 would be more than sufficient for a small peaceful country.
Norway has 57 F16s, Denmark has 30........
And Norway is intending to buy F35s. It has more than 57 F16s I think, although not all may be operational. Norway has a significantly bigger defence budget than Salmond was proposing. Plus it would be pretty uneonomic to manage and service just 12 planes which would not all be operational at any one time anyway. Like everything else Salmonds defence policy was a joke. Well a barefaced lie really.
Andrew Neil @afneil · 58m BBC reports that IS five miles from Baghdad defensive positions. The air war is going well ...
What will happen should ISIL or any other jihadist group capture SAM weapons and shoots down one or two British planes? Under Cammo, Britain has hardly any boots to put on the ground and sending only a battalion or two would only show up UK's military weakness.
What would Ukip do in the the unlikely event of 3 Britons being beheaded by ISIL ?
Cower and shake their fists at Calais ?
Kippers short on answers - long on grievances.
Perhaps you'll tell us how six planes bombing (or not bombing as with yesterday) helps these potential beheadees any more than cowering and fist shaking?
Militarily it's here nor there.
Diplomatically it is very useful.
It is merely willy waving by someone with erectile dysfunction
A bit like Salmond, and the 12 Typhoons he was going to keep for the separatist air force.
12 would be more than sufficient for a small peaceful country.
Norway has 57 F16s, Denmark has 30........
And your point is, we need to avoid willy waving it is not a competition to see who has most planes. Fact that UK can only muster 6 is a real joke.
There's a difference between 'muster' and 'commit' - there are still plenty of Tornados thundering around Norfolk airfields.
What would the Scottish Separatist Air Force send - Eck on a Ryder Cup golf buggy with a kite?
I haven't got a clue what that Spectator item is about.
No, its a bit odd.. why wouldn't they say?
Reckless may well be unpopular with Tories, but the people who voted UKIP in the Euros are hardly going to be less likely to vote for them again now he is the candidate IMO.. the "traitor" tag isn't going to resonate with them
Will be interesting and exciting to see how this one pans out
Come on, chaps. We had a 2-3 year campaign, and the No vote was only a couple of weeks ago. Instead, why don't we contemplate the exciting race in Japan, and the reasons why my bets have been a bit rubbish recently?: http://enormo-haddock.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/japan-early-thoughts.html
Edited extra bit: and don't forget the timezone means all the sessions will be early this time. So, qualifying is 6-7am and the race is 7-9am (ish).
Has anyone worked out yet that "piloted" aircraft are becoming a thing of the past? One of the limitations of any fighter aircraft is the squishy bit that sits in the seats and is affected by G forces. Manned aircraft will still have a place, but less so.
Miss Plato, as a rule, I'm with you on zombies. The Walking Dead (and the videogame The Last Of Us) are the only recent exceptions.
Season 2 was so-so, but the third was very good, and most of the fourth likewise.
Still, it might just be that you don't (and won't) like it.
Walking Dead is awesome, although it shows the problem with zombies which is that being dead they don't develop any new strategies while the living get gradually better at dealing with them. So by Season 4 it's mostly humans fighting each other, with the zombies occasionally posing a minor inconvenience.
Andrew Neil @afneil · 58m BBC reports that IS five miles from Baghdad defensive positions. The air war is going well ...
What will happen should ISIL or any other jihadist group capture SAM weapons and shoots down one or two British planes? Under Cammo, Britain has hardly any boots to put on the ground and sending only a battalion or two would only show up UK's military weakness.
What would Ukip do in the the unlikely event of 3 Britons being beheaded by ISIL ?
Cower and shake their fists at Calais ?
Kippers short on answers - long on grievances.
Perhaps you'll tell us how six planes bombing (or not bombing as with yesterday) helps these potential beheadees any more than cowering and fist shaking?
Militarily it's here nor there.
Diplomatically it is very useful.
It is merely willy waving by someone with erectile dysfunction
A bit like Salmond, and the 12 Typhoons he was going to keep for the separatist air force.
12 would be more than sufficient for a small peaceful country.
Norway has 57 F16s, Denmark has 30........
And your point is, we need to avoid willy waving it is not a competition to see who has most planes. Fact that UK can only muster 6 is a real joke.
6 is pretty pathetic, but isn't that the number of planes we happened to have in Cyprus? I'm sure I read somewhere that the number of tornados would be increased, and supplemented with typhoons
@jimwaterson: Tory MP to BuzzFeed on Mark Reckless defecting: "I can't say the word c**t but he's a f**king c**t who deserves a hot poker up his arse."
That's the most interesting part to me.
Carswell's decision people seem to respect. He's liked, he's seen as thoughtful, and he didn't time his departure in a way that seemed to wound his former colleagues.
Reckless behaved in a much less honourable way.
It's not so much his departure, as the manner of his leaving that speaks volumes as to his character: and his elicited such a hostile reaction
Yup. Is why I want to campaign against Reckless
If any Tory MP defects during Dave's speech....
Do we have any odds from the bookies on this? - might be worth a speculative flutter...
Unfortunately the bookies have pulled their defection markets.
I thought maybe Gove could defect? Who wants to give me odds on that?
How much do you want?
Depends on the odds
What do you think fair?
That's for you to decide!
Its not a challenge, you don't have to offer any if you don't want to.. .no pressure at all
I don't bet for a living, so don't price as a rule.
Andrew Neil @afneil · 58m BBC reports that IS five miles from Baghdad defensive positions. The air war is going well ...
What will happen should ISIL or any other jihadist group capture SAM weapons and shoots down one or two British planes? Under Cammo, Britain has hardly any boots to put on the ground and sending only a battalion or two would only show up UK's military weakness.
What would Ukip do in the the unlikely event of 3 Britons being beheaded by ISIL ?
Cower and shake their fists at Calais ?
Kippers short on answers - long on grievances.
Perhaps you'll tell us how six planes bombing (or not bombing as with yesterday) helps these potential beheadees any more than cowering and fist shaking?
Militarily it's here nor there.
Diplomatically it is very useful.
It is merely willy waving by someone with erectile dysfunction
A bit like Salmond, and the 12 Typhoons he was going to keep for the separatist air force.
12 would be more than sufficient for a small peaceful country.
Norway has 57 F16s, Denmark has 30........
And your point is, we need to avoid willy waving it is not a competition to see who has most planes. Fact that UK can only muster 6 is a real joke.
There's a difference between 'muster' and 'commit' - there are still plenty of Tornados thundering around Norfolk airfields.
What would the Scottish Separatist Air Force send - Eck on a Ryder Cup golf buggy with a kite?
Think you need to concentrate on the reality instead of deflecting to fantasy. 6 poxy planes is all the UK can manage , what an embarrassing joke , and UK always boasting about being one of the worlds major powers. LOL hopefully Dave does not upset Norway or Denmark in near future.
Mr. Tokyo, yeah, that's the problem with zombies. I don't mind the shift towards human-on-human slaughter, though. Given the way our species works it's eminently plausible.
Andrew Neil @afneil · 58m BBC reports that IS five miles from Baghdad defensive positions. The air war is going well ...
What will happen should ISIL or any other jihadist group capture SAM weapons and shoots down one or two British planes? Under Cammo, Britain has hardly any boots to put on the ground and sending only a battalion or two would only show up UK's military weakness.
What would Ukip do in the the unlikely event of 3 Britons being beheaded by ISIL ?
Cower and shake their fists at Calais ?
Kippers short on answers - long on grievances.
Perhaps you'll tell us how six planes bombing (or not bombing as with yesterday) helps these potential beheadees any more than cowering and fist shaking?
Militarily it's here nor there.
Diplomatically it is very useful.
It is merely willy waving by someone with erectile dysfunction
A bit like Salmond, and the 12 Typhoons he was going to keep for the separatist air force.
12 would be more than sufficient for a small peaceful country.
Norway has 57 F16s, Denmark has 30........
And your point is, we need to avoid willy waving it is not a competition to see who has most planes. Fact that UK can only muster 6 is a real joke.
My point is that 'small peaceful countries' have airforces orders of magnitude greater than the SNP's fantasy scenario....oh, and the UK has 102 Tornados....
Andrew Neil @afneil · 58m BBC reports that IS five miles from Baghdad defensive positions. The air war is going well ...
What will happen should ISIL or any other jihadist group capture SAM weapons and shoots down one or two British planes? Under Cammo, Britain has hardly any boots to put on the ground and sending only a battalion or two would only show up UK's military weakness.
What would Ukip do in the the unlikely event of 3 Britons being beheaded by ISIL ?
Cower and shake their fists at Calais ?
Kippers short on answers - long on grievances.
Perhaps you'll tell us how six planes bombing (or not bombing as with yesterday) helps these potential beheadees any more than cowering and fist shaking?
Militarily it's here nor there.
Diplomatically it is very useful.
It is merely willy waving by someone with erectile dysfunction
A bit like Salmond, and the 12 Typhoons he was going to keep for the separatist air force.
12 would be more than sufficient for a small peaceful country.
Norway has 57 F16s, Denmark has 30........
And your point is, we need to avoid willy waving it is not a competition to see who has most planes. Fact that UK can only muster 6 is a real joke.
There's a difference between 'muster' and 'commit' - there are still plenty of Tornados thundering around Norfolk airfields.
What would the Scottish Separatist Air Force send - Eck on a Ryder Cup golf buggy with a kite?
Think you need to concentrate on the reality instead of deflecting to fantasy. 6 poxy planes is all the UK can manage , what an embarrassing joke , and UK always boasting about being one of the worlds major powers. LOL hopefully Dave does not upset Norway or Denmark in near future.
Are you really so dim as to think that there are only 6 serviceable Tornados?
There must be something in the water up there, that addles the brains of separatists.
Andrew Neil @afneil · 58m BBC reports that IS five miles from Baghdad defensive positions. The air war is going well ...
What will happen should ISIL or any other jihadist group capture SAM weapons and shoots down one or two British planes? Under Cammo, Britain has hardly any boots to put on the ground and sending only a battalion or two would only show up UK's military weakness.
What would Ukip do in the the unlikely event of 3 Britons being beheaded by ISIL ?
Cower and shake their fists at Calais ?
Kippers short on answers - long on grievances.
Perhaps you'll tell us how six planes bombing (or not bombing as with yesterday) helps these potential beheadees any more than cowering and fist shaking?
Militarily it's here nor there.
Diplomatically it is very useful.
It is merely willy waving by someone with erectile dysfunction
A bit like Salmond, and the 12 Typhoons he was going to keep for the separatist air force.
12 would be more than sufficient for a small peaceful country.
Norway has 57 F16s, Denmark has 30........
And your point is, we need to avoid willy waving it is not a competition to see who has most planes. Fact that UK can only muster 6 is a real joke.
What would the Scottish Separatist Air Force send - Eck on a Ryder Cup golf buggy with a kite?
Speaking of Eck and golf - Mrs Salmond is looking spritely for her age ...
It is unfair for pensioners and top earners to be excluded from next stage of cuts. Burden shouldn't fall so hard on working age population.
Osborne has wanted to do this for years. Lib Dems wouldnt let him (without going after benefits closer to his heart). Let's see whether the electorate gives him the majority he needs to do it.
It seems very inefficient for a these countries to own their own planes when they're hardly ever at war. Isn't there an Uber for fighter jets or something?
Blimmin' heck, George Osborne really actually did say "for the first time in my lifetime the march of the separatists has been reversed" in reference to Scotland.
That is a statement as thick as mince an beyond.
Yes - displays a certain simplicity of (not to say simplistic) analysis.....Its a bit more complicated than 'we won, they lost.....'
As the article itself points out the SNP have suffered far big reverses in Osborne's lifetime than getting support for a Yes vote from 25% to 45% in two years.
If he genuinely thinks what he said rather than just trying to create a reality bending soundbite then he is a buffoon.
The whole purpose of devolution way back in1998 was to stop the nationalists and create a labour hegemony. Devolution itself was a defeat for unionists. And what came as a result of devolution? More Nationalism. A nationalist government. To me that is a strange definition of nationalist reverses. What we have just had is a specific vote on independence and it failed by a significant majority. Mr Nelson's argument seems to me to be founded on the fact that many who voted Yes were not interested in 'independence' but theoir own miserable self esteeem and sense of entitlement.
I wonder if the comments space on this blog are becoming as big a haven for irrational malcontents as is Mr Nelsons own.
Andrew Neil @afneil · 58m BBC reports that IS five miles from Baghdad defensive positions. The air war is going well ...
What will happen should ISIL or any other jihadist group capture SAM weapons and shoots down one or two British planes? Under Cammo, Britain has hardly any boots to put on the ground and sending only a battalion or two would only show up UK's military weakness.
What would Ukip do in the the unlikely event of 3 Britons being beheaded by ISIL ?
Cower and shake their fists at Calais ?
Kippers short on answers - long on grievances.
Perhaps you'll tell us how six planes bombing (or not bombing as with yesterday) helps these potential beheadees any more than cowering and fist shaking?
Militarily it's here nor there.
Diplomatically it is very useful.
It is merely willy waving by someone with erectile dysfunction
A bit like Salmond, and the 12 Typhoons he was going to keep for the separatist air force.
12 would be more than sufficient for a small peaceful country.
Norway has 57 F16s, Denmark has 30........
And Norway is intending to buy F35s. It has more than 57 F16s I think, although not all may be operational. Norway has a significantly bigger defence budget than Salmond was proposing. Plus it would be pretty uneonomic to manage and service just 12 planes which would not all be operational at any one time anyway. Like everything else Salmonds defence policy was a joke. Well a barefaced lie really.
The SNP were proposing a defence budget of 1.7% of GDP, Norway's defence budget is 1.4%.
On topic, if the UKIP are on triple the support that the Liberal Democrats are, how on Earth can the latter be considered a "major party" and the former a "minor party"?
The popular vote is meaningless in a FPTP system.
Here's the real question: How many seats will UKIP be competitive in?
That's a tricky question to answer, but I suspect it's not enough for UKIP to reasonably be considered a major party.
Brooks Newmark sex sting: Ipso to investigate Sunday Mirror Complaint over ‘entrapment’ leading to minister’s resignation provides first big test for regulator set up after Leveson inquiry
Andrew Neil @afneil · 58m BBC reports that IS five miles from Baghdad defensive positions. The air war is going well ...
What will happen should ISIL or any other jihadist group capture SAM weapons and shoots down one or two British planes? Under Cammo, Britain has hardly any boots to put on the ground and sending only a battalion or two would only show up UK's military weakness.
What would Ukip do in the the unlikely event of 3 Britons being beheaded by ISIL ?
Cower and shake their fists at Calais ?
Kippers short on answers - long on grievances.
Perhaps you'll tell us how six planes bombing (or not bombing as with yesterday) helps these potential beheadees any more than cowering and fist shaking?
Militarily it's here nor there.
Diplomatically it is very useful.
It is merely willy waving by someone with erectile dysfunction
A bit like Salmond, and the 12 Typhoons he was going to keep for the separatist air force.
12 would be more than sufficient for a small peaceful country.
Norway has 57 F16s, Denmark has 30........
And your point is, we need to avoid willy waving it is not a competition to see who has most planes. Fact that UK can only muster 6 is a real joke.
What would the Scottish Separatist Air Force send - Eck on a Ryder Cup golf buggy with a kite?
Speaking of Eck and golf - Mrs Salmond is looking spritely for her age ...
Andrew Neil @afneil · 58m BBC reports that IS five miles from Baghdad defensive positions. The air war is going well ...
What will happen should ISIL or any other jihadist group capture SAM weapons and shoots down one or two British planes? Under Cammo, Britain has hardly any boots to put on the ground and sending only a battalion or two would only show up UK's military weakness.
What would Ukip do in the the unlikely event of 3 Britons being beheaded by ISIL ?
Cower and shake their fists at Calais ?
Kippers short on answers - long on grievances.
Perhaps you'll tell us how six planes bombing (or not bombing as with yesterday) helps these potential beheadees any more than cowering and fist shaking?
Militarily it's here nor there.
Diplomatically it is very useful.
It is merely willy waving by someone with erectile dysfunction
A bit like Salmond, and the 12 Typhoons he was going to keep for the separatist air force.
12 would be more than sufficient for a small peaceful country.
Norway has 57 F16s, Denmark has 30........
And Norway is intending to buy F35s. It has more than 57 F16s I think, although not all may be operational. Norway has a significantly bigger defence budget than Salmond was proposing. Plus it would be pretty uneonomic to manage and service just 12 planes which would not all be operational at any one time anyway. Like everything else Salmonds defence policy was a joke. Well a barefaced lie really.
The SNP were proposing a defence budget of 1.7% of GDP, Norway's defence budget is 1.4%.
Currently. A lot of the assets were built up when it was 3%.
Andrew Neil @afneil · 58m BBC reports that IS five miles from Baghdad defensive positions. The air war is going well ...
What will happen should ISIL or any other jihadist group capture SAM weapons and shoots down one or two British planes? Under Cammo, Britain has hardly any boots to put on the ground and sending only a battalion or two would only show up UK's military weakness.
UKIP will run around shouting and waving their arms.
It's a war there will be casualties, it's what happens.
It's an utterly fake war. Our six planes are simply props. If there are any casualties in this mess it will be a travesty.
Expensive props none the less
Precisely Malcolm. I'm very pleased that the SNP voted against this.
I doubt if any of the people flying or maintaining these planes will be calling them props. When the tour of duty is over the planes and pilots and groundcrew will be replaced by another squadron. So its not simply committing just 6 planes. They are part of a wider operation.
Blimmin' heck, George Osborne really actually did say "for the first time in my lifetime the march of the separatists has been reversed" in reference to Scotland.
That is a statement as thick as mince an beyond.
Yes - displays a certain simplicity of (not to say simplistic) analysis.....Its a bit more complicated than 'we won, they lost.....'
As the article itself points out the SNP have suffered far big reverses in Osborne's lifetime than getting support for a Yes vote from 25% to 45% in two years.
If he genuinely thinks what he said rather than just trying to create a reality bending soundbite then he is a buffoon.
The whole purpose of devolution way back in1998 was to stop the nationalists and create a labour hegemony. Devolution itself was a defeat for unionists. And what came as a result of devolution? More Nationalism. A nationalist government. To me that is a strange definition of nationalist reverses. What we have just had is a specific vote on independence and it failed by a significant majority. Mr Nelson's argument seems to me to be founded on the fact that many who voted Yes were not interested in 'independence' but theoir own miserable self esteeem and sense of entitlement.
I wonder if the comments space on this blog are becoming as big a haven for irrational malcontents as is Mr Nelsons own.
I would say that those who predicted that devolution would kill independence were vindicated by the Referendum result 11 days ago.
Now there's a surprise. On the Daily Politics it appears that delegates prefer to work with the LibDems rather than UKIP by about 2:1.
Doesn't surprise me as despite the carping of the more UKIP minded Tory right the LDs have by and large been good coalition partners getting on with the business of government rather than constantly filling the pages of the Telegraph and Spectator with their cybernat style bilge and invective against Cameron.
@jimwaterson: Tory MP to BuzzFeed on Mark Reckless defecting: "I can't say the word c**t but he's a f**king c**t who deserves a hot poker up his arse."
That's the most interesting part to me.
Carswell's decision people seem to respect. He's liked, he's seen as thoughtful, and he didn't time his departure in a way that seemed to wound his former colleagues.
Reckless behaved in a much less honourable way.
It's not so much his departure, as the manner of his leaving that speaks volumes as to his character: and his elicited such a hostile reaction
Yup. Is why I want to campaign against Reckless
If any Tory MP defects during Dave's speech....
Do we have any odds from the bookies on this? - might be worth a speculative flutter...
Unfortunately the bookies have pulled their defection markets.
I thought maybe Gove could defect? Who wants to give me odds on that?
How much do you want?
Depends on the odds
What do you think fair?
That's for you to decide!
Its not a challenge, you don't have to offer any if you don't want to.. .no pressure at all
I don't bet for a living, so don't price as a rule.
Its easy really, just think about what percentage chance you think something has of happening, then divide 100 by that number.. voila! You have your Betfair price
Don't worry about this one anyway if you don't want to, I don't mind
Blimmin' heck, George Osborne really actually did say "for the first time in my lifetime the march of the separatists has been reversed" in reference to Scotland.
That is a statement as thick as mince an beyond.
Yes - displays a certain simplicity of (not to say simplistic) analysis.....Its a bit more complicated than 'we won, they lost.....'
As the article itself points out the SNP have suffered far big reverses in Osborne's lifetime than getting support for a Yes vote from 25% to 45% in two years.
If he genuinely thinks what he said rather than just trying to create a reality bending soundbite then he is a buffoon.
The whole purpose of devolution way back in1998 was to stop the nationalists and create a labour hegemony. Devolution itself was a defeat for unionists. And what came as a result of devolution? More Nationalism. A nationalist government. To me that is a strange definition of nationalist reverses. What we have just had is a specific vote on independence and it failed by a significant majority. Mr Nelson's argument seems to me to be founded on the fact that many who voted Yes were not interested in 'independence' but theoir own miserable self esteeem and sense of entitlement.
I wonder if the comments space on this blog are becoming as big a haven for irrational malcontents as is Mr Nelsons own.
I would say that those who predicted that devolution would kill independence were vindicated by the Referendum result 11 days ago.
Independence is not dead, and it's already pulling the stake from its own chest.
Now there's a surprise. On the Daily Politics it appears that delegates prefer to work with the LibDems rather than UKIP by about 2:1.
Doesn't surprise me as despite the carping of the more UKIP minded Tory right the LDs have by and large been good coalition partners getting on with the business of government rather than constantly filling the pages of the Telegraph and Spectator with their cybernat style bilge and invective against Cameron.
Yes, quite the surprise that. Then again, not publicising coalition differences didn't help their image, nor did publicising them, so there's not been much point causing too much trouble and risking capsizing the ship of state.
The Tories had better hope Osborne is saving his best rabbits for Autumn Statement/Budget
I think that's exactly what he's doing. Osborne is pure politics.
It's a bit like deciding when to break for it in the velodrome sprint. He's been forced a bit higher up the track by slipping his wheel on a highly polished UKIP, and has fallen slightly behind the Labour leading rider. The rider who is quietly confident can maintain his lead for the next 2 laps.
Now, he's planning to get himself in position into Labour's slipstream, and save his legs so he can make a break for it and hopefully overtake him just before the line.
The ability of some Tories to see a way to win outright or even partially again in 2015 in the face of such information indicates either how far optimism can take someone, or else incredible insight to see to the heart of the key issues despite so much froth indicating an opposite position is likely.
The LDs meanwhike face the unenviable position of making an ok fallback coalition partner, vindicating coalition government I guess(?), but not likely to be in a position for people to follow through on that, as they will have been reduced so much because in reality people don't reward mostly diligent colaition partners.
The £23,000 welfare cap puts a big squeeze on private landlord's housing benefit within the London area.
More homelessness.
Or just move to a place like Luton, which is easily in commutable distance to London. Why on Earth should those without jobs get to live next to the King's Road when people working 70 hours in professional jobs have to head out to Zone 2 or 3?
Think you need to concentrate on the reality instead of deflecting to fantasy. 6 poxy planes is all the UK can manage , what an embarrassing joke , and UK always boasting about being one of the worlds major powers. LOL hopefully Dave does not upset Norway or Denmark in near future.
Is it 'all we can manage', or 'all we need' to meet current requirements in the theatre? I'm pretty sure we didn't send all our aviation assets to Operation Granby, which was a much bigger intervention.
On topic, if the UKIP are on triple the support that the Liberal Democrats are, how on Earth can the latter be considered a "major party" and the former a "minor party"?
The popular vote is meaningless in a FPTP system.
Here's the real question: How many seats will UKIP be competitive in?
That's a tricky question to answer, but I suspect it's not enough for UKIP to reasonably be considered a major party.
It's the Lib Dems that always bang on about the popular vote being what should matter...
Think you need to concentrate on the reality instead of deflecting to fantasy. 6 poxy planes is all the UK can manage , what an embarrassing joke , and UK always boasting about being one of the worlds major powers. LOL hopefully Dave does not upset Norway or Denmark in near future.
Is it 'all we can manage', or 'all we need' to meet current requirements in the theatre? I'm pretty sure we didn't send all our aviation assets to Operation Granby, which was a much bigger intervention.
Operation Flavius didn't involve many Typhoons but was a stunning success.
The Tories had better hope Osborne is saving his best rabbits for Autumn Statement/Budget
I think that's exactly what he's doing. Osborne is pure politics.
It's a bit like deciding when to break for it in the velodrome sprint. He's been forced a bit higher up the track by slipping his wheel on a highly polished UKIP, and has fallen slightly behind the Labour leading rider. The rider who is quietly confident can maintain his lead for the next 2 laps.
Now, he's planning to get himself in position into Labour's slipstream, and save his legs so he can make a break for it and hopefully overtake him just before the line.
The Tories had better hope Osborne is saving his best rabbits for Autumn Statement/Budget
I think that's exactly what he's doing. Osborne is pure politics.
It's a bit like deciding when to break for it in the velodrome sprint. He's been forced a bit higher up the track by slipping his wheel on a highly polished UKIP, and has fallen slightly behind the Labour leading rider. The rider who is quietly confident can maintain his lead for the next 2 laps.
Now, he's planning to get himself in position into Labour's slipstream, and save his legs so he can make a break for it and hopefully overtake him just before the line.
Prepare for a photo finish.
One thing the government could do on pension funds that would be really useful would be allow people to access them early, provided they were used to invest in home improvements or to pay off mortgages. I have capital in a pension fund which I cannot access, which I could convert into pure equity if only I could get my hands on it.
Michael Heaver @Michael_Heaver Spotted in Clacton - another window poster for @DouglasCarswell pic.twitter.com/y6tZrpo99r Retweeted by Douglas Carswell
Think you need to concentrate on the reality instead of deflecting to fantasy. 6 poxy planes is all the UK can manage , what an embarrassing joke , and UK always boasting about being one of the worlds major powers. LOL hopefully Dave does not upset Norway or Denmark in near future.
Is it 'all we can manage', or 'all we need' to meet current requirements in the theatre? I'm pretty sure we didn't send all our aviation assets to Operation Granby, which was a much bigger intervention.
Andrew Neil @afneil · 58m BBC reports that IS five miles from Baghdad defensive positions. The air war is going well ...
What will happen should ISIL or any other jihadist group capture SAM weapons and shoots down one or two British planes? Under Cammo, Britain has hardly any boots to put on the ground and sending only a battalion or two would only show up UK's military weakness.
What would Ukip do in the the unlikely event of 3 Britons being beheaded by ISIL ?
Cower and shake their fists at Calais ?
Kippers short on answers - long on grievances.
Perhaps you'll tell us how six planes bombing (or not bombing as with yesterday) helps these potential beheadees any more than cowering and fist shaking?
Militarily it's here nor there.
Diplomatically it is very useful.
It is merely willy waving by someone with erectile dysfunction
A bit like Salmond, and the 12 Typhoons he was going to keep for the separatist air force.
12 would be more than sufficient for a small peaceful country.
Norway has 57 F16s, Denmark has 30........
malcolm's 12, equates to 3 airworthy, 3 spares, and 6 in maintenance/deep maintenance. Pointless.
Ha Ha Ha , we will see how long the 6 UK has last , wonder how many of them can fly at once , or are they maintenance free. They could always tow their mobile football field over and really have ISIS cowering in fear, it has ONE fibreglass model airplane to help out.
Vacuous comments like that show what a better place this is when you are on holiday.
The Tories had better hope Osborne is saving his best rabbits for Autumn Statement/Budget
I think that's exactly what he's doing. Osborne is pure politics.
It's a bit like deciding when to break for it in the velodrome sprint. He's been forced a bit higher up the track by slipping his wheel on a highly polished UKIP, and has fallen slightly behind the Labour leading rider. The rider who is quietly confident can maintain his lead for the next 2 laps.
Now, he's planning to get himself in position into Labour's slipstream, and save his legs so he can make a break for it and hopefully overtake him just before the line.
Prepare for a photo finish.
Not sure I understand the metaphor, but I don't think there will be any rabbits in the sense of giveaways. You were right in what you said a few moments ago: "serious man you can trust with economic credibility". It would be absolutely crazy to torpedo that - which is after all the strongest card the Tories have got - with giveaways, which would only serve to make people think they prefer Labour's fudges and giveaways (whatever they are - will we ever know?).
Of course he might be able to pull out some inexpensive rabbits, and I expect he will. The pensions one today - an excellent measure in its own right, as Ros Altmann's article explains - is an example, but it's a small one in the overall scheme of things.
The Tories had better hope Osborne is saving his best rabbits for Autumn Statement/Budget
I think that's exactly what he's doing. Osborne is pure politics.
It's a bit like deciding when to break for it in the velodrome sprint. He's been forced a bit higher up the track by slipping his wheel on a highly polished UKIP, and has fallen slightly behind the Labour leading rider. The rider who is quietly confident can maintain his lead for the next 2 laps.
Now, he's planning to get himself in position into Labour's slipstream, and save his legs so he can make a break for it and hopefully overtake him just before the line.
Prepare for a photo finish.
Not sure I understand the metaphor, but I don't think there will be any rabbits in the sense of giveaways. You were right in what you said a few moments ago: "serious man you can trust with economic credibility". It would be absolutely crazy to torpedo that - which is after all the strongest card the Tories have got - with giveaways, which would only serve to make people think they prefer Labour's fudges and giveaways (whatever they are - will we ever know?).
Of course he might be able to pull out some inexpensive rabbits, and I expect he will. The pensions one today - an excellent measure in its own right, as Ros Altmann's article explains - is an example, but it's a small one in the overall scheme of things.
I'm a big fan of track cycling. Osborne is the Chris Hoy in the 1:1 economics sprint race final.
By giveaways, I don't mean unfunded giveaways. I mean highly targeted reforms that will speak to floating voters disproportionately. They must be structured around aspiration and rewarding hard work. Such as his pension reforms earlier this year. And his IHT pledge in 2007.
I gave a few ideas here a few days ago: a commitment to cut fuel duty, with a pre-annoucement of further future cuts; a reaffirmation to take all family homes out of inheritance tax (at £1m+); a 'ladder' to increase the 40% tax threshold over the next parliament to take out middle earners; a reform of council tax (to counter labours mansion tax) to extend bands at the upper end. All renters then get the 25% single person's discount, and the landlord pays the balance.
People need help to see the rewards that will ultimately result to buy into the tough choices now.
Sean Fear's earlier post confirmed. Labour conference boost...for the Tories
Latest Populus VI: Lab 36 (-1), Con 34 (+1), LD 7 (-2), UKIP 14 (+1), Oth 9 (+1)
Until very recently, I thought the Lib Dems would recover to 13-14%, come the election, but with so many polls now putting them on 6-8%, I wonder if they're past the point of no return. They're retention rate is just 28%.
Can we believe Osborne's promises? In 2010 he promised to cut the deficit in a parliament, how did that go?
It went extremely well, once you adjust for the changes in external circumstances, certainly better than Alastair Darling's of 2008.
You are correct to point this out. Its pretty tiresome to see plain facts so grossly misrepresented.
The policy was to cut the structural deficit. It was not a 'promise' to do something even if it made something else worse - it was a promise to proceed in a certain direction. And clearly that has been done. External events hace effected the cyclical deficit. http://www.economicsuk.com/blog/002037.html#more ''the striking thing is not that that spending has been relaxed but that it has been tightened – cut – relative to the 2010 plans. According to those plans, the government intended to spend £722bn in the 2013-14 fiscal year, that one that ended this spring. In fact it spent £714bn. '' Osborne gave a statement of intent and has lived up to it.
The Tories had better hope Osborne is saving his best rabbits for Autumn Statement/Budget
I think that's exactly what he's doing. Osborne is pure politics.
It's a bit like deciding when to break for it in the velodrome sprint. He's been forced a bit higher up the track by slipping his wheel on a highly polished UKIP, and has fallen slightly behind the Labour leading rider. The rider who is quietly confident can maintain his lead for the next 2 laps.
Now, he's planning to get himself in position into Labour's slipstream, and save his legs so he can make a break for it and hopefully overtake him just before the line.
Prepare for a photo finish.
Not sure I understand the metaphor, but I don't think there will be any rabbits in the sense of giveaways. You were right in what you said a few moments ago: "serious man you can trust with economic credibility". It would be absolutely crazy to torpedo that - which is after all the strongest card the Tories have got - with giveaways, which would only serve to make people think they prefer Labour's fudges and giveaways (whatever they are - will we ever know?).
Of course he might be able to pull out some inexpensive rabbits, and I expect he will. The pensions one today - an excellent measure in its own right, as Ros Altmann's article explains - is an example, but it's a small one in the overall scheme of things.
I'm a big fan of track cycling. Osborne is the Chris Hoy in the 1:1 economics sprint race final.
By giveaways, I don't mean unfunded giveaways. I mean highly targeted reforms that will speak to floating voters disproportionately. They must be structured around aspiration and rewarding hard work. Such as his pension reforms earlier this year. And his IHT pledge in 2007.
I gave a few ideas here a few days ago: a commitment to cut fuel duty, with a pre-annoucement of further future cuts; a reaffirmation to take all family homes out of inheritance tax (at £1m+); a 'ladder' to increase the 40% tax threshold over the next parliament to take out middle earners; a reform of council tax (to counter labours mansion tax) to extend bands at the upper end. All renters then get the 25% single person's discount, and the landlord pays the balance.
People need help to see the rewards that will ultimately result to buy into the tough choices now.
Osborne ? Reforms ?
In your dreams. To appeal to voters that the slog is worth it he should have started 4 years ago to put some credibility behind the words and watch the benefits kick in around now.
He didn't ; so now anything he promises just looks like the empty electioneering it is.
"Decide or decline," says @George_Osborne. A new slogan is born. #cpc14
That is a brilliant slogan.
I like were all in it together
now benefits and wages are frozen
Just think - in a few months time all these problems might be your party's. No more equivocation and fudging. You'll actually have to start the cuts, and they'll be bigger than Osborne's because the financial markets will be very suspicious and capital will be reallocated away from the UK
Comments
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5ShQlPVHkV4
UKIP Defence policy on the hoof. Planes being asked to turnaround mid-flight when Farage wakes up around lunch time and changes his mind.
It's become terribly popular so either I missed something or it's got a lot better.
I didn't used to like zombies much - I find them so dull as baddies. Much prefer vampires or other lesser known varieties like wendigos or rugarus.
Season 2 was so-so, but the third was very good, and most of the fourth likewise.
Still, it might just be that you don't (and won't) like it.
This is the sort of thing R4 does very well.
BBC's Nick Robinson is right -UKIP defector Mark Reckless is loathed. Here's how the @spectator kept him out in 2005: http://specc.ie/1voFSXm
Its not a challenge, you don't have to offer any if you don't want to.. .no pressure at all
Norway has a significantly bigger defence budget than Salmond was proposing. Plus it would be pretty uneonomic to manage and service just 12 planes which would not all be operational at any one time anyway.
Like everything else Salmonds defence policy was a joke. Well a barefaced lie really.
What would the Scottish Separatist Air Force send - Eck on a Ryder Cup golf buggy with a kite?
I seem to recall the Spectator being very pro Bob MA due to his position (and strong defence) on civil liberties.
Reckless may well be unpopular with Tories, but the people who voted UKIP in the Euros are hardly going to be less likely to vote for them again now he is the candidate IMO.. the "traitor" tag isn't going to resonate with them
Will be interesting and exciting to see how this one pans out
http://enormo-haddock.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/japan-early-thoughts.html
Edited extra bit: and don't forget the timezone means all the sessions will be early this time. So, qualifying is 6-7am and the race is 7-9am (ish).
Beth Rigby ✔ @BethRigby
Austerity chancellor: £25bn of cuts, 13bn will come from central govt Rest from welfare: 1) working age benefits frozen 4 2yrs =3bn savings
Tom Newton Dunn @tnewtondunn
Breaking: Osborne pledges to freeze all working age benefits for two years; 2015-17
One of the limitations of any fighter aircraft is the squishy bit that sits in the seats and is affected by G forces.
Manned aircraft will still have a place, but less so.
Nick Robinson ✔ @bbcnickrobinson
Tory squeeze on working age benefits in 3 stages - rise with CPI not RPI ('10-), 1% below inflation increase ('12-'15), freeze ('16 on?)
Robert Peston ✔ @Peston
Osborne: says big global tech companies must start paying proper corporation tax in UK
It is unfair for pensioners and top earners to be excluded from next stage of cuts. Burden shouldn't fall so hard on working age population.
BBC Breaking News ✔ @BBCBreaking
Osborne to freeze:
Jobseekers' allowance
Income support
Tax credits
Housing & child benefits
Not frozen:
Disability benefits
Pensions
There must be something in the water up there, that addles the brains of separatists.
Laura Kuenssberg ✔ @bbclaurak
Osborne biggest cheer line in audience so far - scrapping pension tax
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/09/28/article-2772519-21BE428000000578-686_964x1263.jpg
http://markreckless.com/2012/08/20/has-evan-harris-any-idea-how-much-we-pay-to-the-eu/
Tom Newton Dunn @tnewtondunn
"Decide or decline," says @George_Osborne. A new slogan is born. #cpc14
And what came as a result of devolution? More Nationalism. A nationalist government. To me that is a strange definition of nationalist reverses.
What we have just had is a specific vote on independence and it failed by a significant majority. Mr Nelson's argument seems to me to be founded on the fact that many who voted Yes were not interested in 'independence' but theoir own miserable self esteeem and sense of entitlement.
I wonder if the comments space on this blog are becoming as big a haven for irrational malcontents as is Mr Nelsons own.
Ryan Bourne @MrRBourne
Good speech by Osborne. Now clear choice on economy. #cpc14
Here's the real question: How many seats will UKIP be competitive in?
That's a tricky question to answer, but I suspect it's not enough for UKIP to reasonably be considered a major party.
Complaint over ‘entrapment’ leading to minister’s resignation provides first big test for regulator set up after Leveson inquiry
http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/sep/29/brooks-newmark-sex-sting-ipso-sunday-mirror?CMP=twt_gu
A digital version of lend/lease?
Populus has Lab 36%, Con 34%, UKIP 14%, Lib Dem 7%.
George Eaton @georgeeaton
The Tories had better hope Osborne is saving his best rabbits for Autumn Statement/Budget
I wonder if he did have something else up his sleeve but tactically decided to pull it due to the adverse news cycle?
Perhaps he might pull that out of the hat in the March budget instead.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/sep/28/us-military-limits-warplanes-used-for-isis-bombing/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS
I doubt if any of the people flying or maintaining these planes will be calling them props. When the tour of duty is over the planes and pilots and groundcrew will be replaced by another squadron. So its not simply committing just 6 planes. They are part of a wider operation.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/benefits-street-star-white-dee-4344287
"Benefits Street star White Dee tells Tory conference meeting: I may vote for Ukip"
Don't worry about this one anyway if you don't want to, I don't mind
I'm pretty sure someone will on Cammo-wednesday, any bookies offering possible odds on this please?
The first #Conservative councillor in Rochester has just announced their defection to #UKIP.
It's a bit like deciding when to break for it in the velodrome sprint. He's been forced a bit higher up the track by slipping his wheel on a highly polished UKIP, and has fallen slightly behind the Labour leading rider. The rider who is quietly confident can maintain his lead for the next 2 laps.
Now, he's planning to get himself in position into Labour's slipstream, and save his legs so he can make a break for it and hopefully overtake him just before the line.
Prepare for a photo finish.
The LDs meanwhike face the unenviable position of making an ok fallback coalition partner, vindicating coalition government I guess(?), but not likely to be in a position for people to follow through on that, as they will have been reduced so much because in reality people don't reward mostly diligent colaition partners.
Decide to vote Tory or decide which way to vote?
if you say so.
Can we believe Osborne's promises? In 2010 he promised to cut the deficit in a parliament, how did that go?
Michael Heaver @Michael_Heaver
Spotted in Clacton - another window poster for @DouglasCarswell pic.twitter.com/y6tZrpo99r
Retweeted by Douglas Carswell
Of course he might be able to pull out some inexpensive rabbits, and I expect he will. The pensions one today - an excellent measure in its own right, as Ros Altmann's article explains - is an example, but it's a small one in the overall scheme of things.
Latest Populus VI: Lab 36 (-1), Con 34 (+1), LD 7 (-2), UKIP 14 (+1), Oth 9 (+1)
Peter Hitchens says the rise of UKIP is the result of Tory failure, not the cause of it: http://hitchensblog.mailonsunday.co.uk/2014/09/a-tory-ukip-pact-would-be-bad-for-britain.html …
By giveaways, I don't mean unfunded giveaways. I mean highly targeted reforms that will speak to floating voters disproportionately. They must be structured around aspiration and rewarding hard work. Such as his pension reforms earlier this year. And his IHT pledge in 2007.
I gave a few ideas here a few days ago: a commitment to cut fuel duty, with a pre-annoucement of further future cuts; a reaffirmation to take all family homes out of inheritance tax (at £1m+); a 'ladder' to increase the 40% tax threshold over the next parliament to take out middle earners; a reform of council tax (to counter labours mansion tax) to extend bands at the upper end. All renters then get the 25% single person's discount, and the landlord pays the balance.
People need help to see the rewards that will ultimately result to buy into the tough choices now.
now benefits and wages are frozen
Told by a normally reliable source another Tory UKIP defection is imminent. Stand by your beds.
ooer
The policy was to cut the structural deficit. It was not a 'promise' to do something even if it made something else worse - it was a promise to proceed in a certain direction. And clearly that has been done. External events hace effected the cyclical deficit.
http://www.economicsuk.com/blog/002037.html#more
''the striking thing is not that that spending has been relaxed but that it has been tightened – cut – relative to the 2010 plans.
According to those plans, the government intended to spend £722bn in the 2013-14 fiscal year, that one that ended this spring. In fact it spent £714bn. ''
Osborne gave a statement of intent and has lived up to it.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-29405195
In your dreams. To appeal to voters that the slog is worth it he should have started 4 years ago to put some credibility behind the words and watch the benefits kick in around now.
He didn't ; so now anything he promises just looks like the empty electioneering it is.
I hope you're prepared for the shock.