It wasn't just me that found Hugh's comment utterly contemptible, then...
Yep, I may not have a lot of time for Cameron politically but that is just a rotten thing to claim. I don't believe for a second Cameron was being anything less than utterly sincere in that part of his speech.
Very nasty comment by Hugh.
However, if he chooses to bring his dead son into the political arena then don't cry ! If you cannot take the heat, then don't enter the kitchen.
It's like those MPs who put the family portrait in the election leaflet, then shags some tart and promptly complains that it was a private matter.
Does anyone know if the Minister who recently resigned used his wife or family in election publicity ? If he did, then it's open game I am afraid.
Having said that, the manner in which the Mirror stung him, is plain wrong !
Mr. Pagan, my understanding is that taxes will only be cut when the deficit is eliminated (a delicious slice of cake after a strenuous workout, if you will).
And you believe that? Cameron and the tories will do whatever it takes to keep power just like labour. If that means tax cuts we can't afford then you really think they will not do it?
We have had a promise of cutting the deficit when I voted for them in 2010 look how that turned out. A severe deficiency in deficit cutting, a lot of excuses made for why it wasn't possible that were complete and utter bollocks, and a load of tax cuts we couldn't afford.
Cameron's credibility is zero. He is and the tories are now as believable on fiscal competence as Ed Balls. Both parties will drive us as a country to bankruptcy because the people in those parties at the top are wealthy enough to be insulated from driving our nation into the ground and once they have achieved it they will just shrug and do a blair and become foreign nationals.
It's pretty hard to dispute the progress towards a balanced budget. It certainly hasn't happened as quickly as hoped. Decent progress though. It's a really hard thing to do for a politician, and Labour haven't once got close to doing such a thing. The LDs deserve enormous credit for enabling this progress too.
I think realistically you have to give this government an outstanding rating for deficit cutting - and I agree that in real-world terms that's pathetic, but I'm happy to recognise that these things are very hard to do.
I think there's an interesting dynamic that will never come into play. Public sector workers really really should keep Labour out because if the state fails to pay its debts then their pensions are toast. Spend when you are young, and default before you are old is I guess the maxim.
It wasn't just me that found Hugh's comment utterly contemptible, then...
Yep, I may not have a lot of time for Cameron politically but that is just a rotten thing to claim. I don't believe for a second Cameron was being anything less than utterly sincere in that part of his speech.
Very nasty comment by Hugh.
However, if he chooses to bring his dead son into the political arena then don't cry ! If you cannot take the heat, then don't enter the kitchen.
It's like those MPs who put the family portrait in the election leaflet, then shags some tart and promptly complains that it was a private matter.
Does anyone know if the Minister who recently resigned used his wife or family in election publicity ? If he did, then it's open game I am afraid.
Having said that, the manner in which the Mirror stung him, is plain wrong !
I'll try and found out; I know people who live there, and he's due to turn up soon to a function I'm involved in organising.
It wasn't just me that found Hugh's comment utterly contemptible, then...
Yep, I may not have a lot of time for Cameron politically but that is just a rotten thing to claim. I don't believe for a second Cameron was being anything less than utterly sincere in that part of his speech.
Very nasty comment by Hugh.
However, if he chooses to bring his dead son into the political arena then don't cry ! If you cannot take the heat, then don't enter the kitchen.
It's like those MPs who put the family portrait in the election leaflet, then shags some tart and promptly complains that it was a private matter.
Does anyone know if the Minister who recently resigned used his wife or family in election publicity ? If he did, then it's open game I am afraid.
Having said that, the manner in which the Mirror stung him, is plain wrong !
Except it is not the same at all. There is no hypocrisy in Cameron's position. He has simply stated his commitment to the NHS and explained why it matters to him. The comparison with philandering MPs who had previously used family pictures is not accurate at all.
Hugh's comment was just plain wrong. And again I say that as someone who has very little time for Cameron. It is all about common decency, something Hugh clearly lacks.
I think we can all agree that it was a well-received speech that will get lots of good media coverage. As such, it will be a good test of the solidity of the voting blocks in the polls. I was predicting last week that the Labour lead would drop to zeroish this week before recovering in October. There should be a modest bump in tomorrow's YG and the effect should peak on Saturday. Any guesses?
Still think it means nothing Nick. People just aren't remotely GE switched. It's all pretty meaningless. Come February / March opinion polls will start being important.
The only caveat to that is that I think Cameron tried to do a PPB for the election in a way that Miliband didn't quite manage (although he tried), so I suppose, perhaps, a few people might suddenly twig there's a vote next year but I'm not holding my breath.
It's all in a bubble, but it has been very amusing to watch how excitable kippers can get.
Do we have a bet, by the way? I'm only on intermittently and may have missed your confirmation? You can email me on nickmp1 at aol dot com if you prefer.
Definitely! I'm on if you are. £10 that the Conservatives will post at least 6% ahead of Labour in the popular UK vote share. If they do I win a tenner, if they don't you do. (I stuck to UK because it's so much easier for data if that's ok?)
Cameron's made promises on the NHS before. He's used emotional examples before to try and convince us he was genuine about those promises. He lied. He broke those promises.
Who are UKIP parading tomorrow as new members of their party? Dennis Macshane? Damien McBride? Dave Lee Travis? Jim Sillars (merger with SNP)?
I would love for DLT to be a supporter. I think the witch hunt he was subjected to by the CPS and the eventual court decision was a true travesty of justice and I simply do not believe he should ever have been convicted.
I am sure there will be plenty who disagree but I think this was the classic mud sticks example and shows a real problem with our current system for dealing with such accusations.
Cameron's made promises on the NHS before. He's used emotional examples before to try and convince us he was genuine about those promises. He lied. He broke those promises.
Why should we believe him on the NHS this time?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH2EmVGowCk
well if you're stupid enough to believe Miliband, then why not Cameron too ?
tim/Hugh has never forgiven DC for using the NHS when his son was sick - he would have loved it if he had gone private.
There are certain health conditions that require the NHS, such as maternity and major injury. Complex neuro-disability in children is another. There simply is nearly no private provision in these areas.
The level of coordination and need for out of hours cover for these is expensive and requires a certain volume of work. There is little alternative for most of us, so even the richest of us requires aj NHS backup.
Cameron's made promises on the NHS before. He's used emotional examples before to try and convince us he was genuine about those promises. He lied. He broke those promises.
Why should we believe him on the NHS this time?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH2EmVGowCk
Why should we believe those who said Lansley reforms would be the end of days and that A and E would be in crisis last winter.
Particularly when it's lining the pockets of Tory donor Private Health companies after a multi-billion top-down reorganisation (he promised that would never happen, because he loves the NHS and it helped his poor son)
Cameron's made promises on the NHS before. He's used emotional examples before to try and convince us he was genuine about those promises. He lied. He broke those promises.
Why should we believe him on the NHS this time?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH2EmVGowCk
well if you're stupid enough to believe Miliband, then why not Cameron too ?
Cameron is PM, and has lied and lied and lied about his approach to the NHS. He has form.
Cameron's made promises on the NHS before. He's used emotional examples before to try and convince us he was genuine about those promises. He lied. He broke those promises.
Why should we believe him on the NHS this time?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH2EmVGowCk
Should we trust Labour on the NHS?
8% cut in funding in Wales, 1,200 victims of mid-Staffs, Burnham setting up Hitchenbrooke
If I was Labour the last thing I would do is enter a debate on the NHS given their current record in Wales and recent record in the rest of the UK.
Cameron's made promises on the NHS before. He's used emotional examples before to try and convince us he was genuine about those promises. He lied. He broke those promises.
Why should we believe him on the NHS this time?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH2EmVGowCk
Because he's trustworthy.
I don't know the details of what you list as broken promises, but I'm pretty happy that Cameron's intentions are pretty honest. He is of course a politician.
NickPalmer, without the defections a small lead from the Conservatives would be my expectation after that dire performance from EdM and the media reaction. But now my expectation is either level polls or a 1 to 2 point lead for Labour.
Cameron is PM, and has lied and lied and lied about his approach to the NHS. He has form.
IS the NHS still free at the point of use? Are people being presented with bills or being refused treatment because they can't pay, or being asked to take out insurance?
No. And it won;t be if the conservatives stay in government.
If (against my expectation) the Conservatives do move into a consistent lead on Labour, life will get very tough for EdM and could lead to a vicious circle of attacks and decline.
Cameron's made promises on the NHS before. He's used emotional examples before to try and convince us he was genuine about those promises. He lied. He broke those promises.
Why should we believe him on the NHS this time?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH2EmVGowCk
well if you're stupid enough to believe Miliband, then why not Cameron too ?
Cameron is PM, and has lied and lied and lied about his approach to the NHS. He has form.
Cameron's made promises on the NHS before. He's used emotional examples before to try and convince us he was genuine about those promises. He lied. He broke those promises.
Why should we believe him on the NHS this time?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH2EmVGowCk
well if you're stupid enough to believe Miliband, then why not Cameron too ?
Cameron is PM, and has lied and lied and lied about his approach to the NHS. He has form.
Don't get ill in Wales. The laboratory for Labour and the NHS, how did it turn out.
I agree - It turned into the most self-conscious, worthy, wishy-washy mess instead.
Everyone was trying to out do each other to be corporate goody-two shoes as well. And not really very British either. And everything was suffocated with PCness and greenie ambitions such as no-heating as the volume of vistors combined body heat would warm it up... ho hum.
And IIRC - the roof was made by a German firm. It just always felt that Labour were embarrassed about it for too long, then decided to try to make it work at the last minute. @Sunil_Prasannan mentioned it's reincarnation as the O2. And there it has a purpose. The Dome was missing a strategic objective - and it showed.
TBH, P-Y Gerbaut [sp] was the man who saved it from itself. That he went onto to save EuroDisney is a testament to his skills.
I've no problem with it being In Greenwich. That's the whole point of GMT after all. If Greenwich happened to be near Ludlow instead - fine by me.
The Dome brings back fond memories. Remember when everyone was outraged Labour wasted a billion quid on that white elephant?
In fairness, MD, it was commissioned by the Tories (Gillian Sheppard and Michael Heseltine in particular) after an absurdly rigged process that deposited a number of viable, intelligent and indeed interesting bids from provincial cities, especially Birmingham, into the long grass because they were (and Heseltine admitted this) 'not in Greenwich'. That was in fact the reason the Tories lost Edgbaston in 1997.
With regard to Sarah Teather and singing, I think the confusion is with Lembit Opik. They don't look very similar, but they are both arrogant, unpleasant, useless and believe they are charming and sophisticated. Maybe that's close enough?
I can't help thinking though that if the Tories had controlled the actual contents, we would have got a tump-thumping on-steroids version of the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, which whilst culturally ghastly, would have been extremely popular, both with British people, and tourists, and thus would have made the project successful and profitable. It could (and should -easy to say with hindsight) have been made into essentially the O2 from the very beginning.
Cameron's made promises on the NHS before. He's used emotional examples before to try and convince us he was genuine about those promises. He lied. He broke those promises.
Why should we believe him on the NHS this time?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH2EmVGowCk
Why should we believe those who said Lansley reforms would be the end of days and that A and E would be in crisis last winter.
Chicken Licken Hooogh
The rather banal explanation of the reason for no winter NHS crisis is that it was a warm and wet winter, not a cold and frozen one. We may not be so lucky this year.
Cameron's made promises on the NHS before. He's used emotional examples before to try and convince us he was genuine about those promises. He lied. He broke those promises.
Why should we believe him on the NHS this time?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH2EmVGowCk
well if you're stupid enough to believe Miliband, then why not Cameron too ?
Cameron is PM, and has lied and lied and lied about his approach to the NHS. He has form.
You're touching faith that Ed and Ed are paragons of truth will no doubt sustain you though their NHS meltdown.
Cameron's "breaky voice, emotions showing" thing when he uses his son to make a political point has been perfected though, I must admit.
I don't say this very often, to any poster Hugh, but that was an absolutely vile and disgusting post.
Cameron is talking about his own severely disabled son, who suffered his whole life with cerebral palsy and epilepsy who died - in quite a bit of pain - aged just six years old.
If you'd had a disabled son who'd died whilst just a small child, could you talk about him without your voice breaking?
I will never look on you or your posts, here, in the same way again. And I hope other posters won't either.
Mr. Pagan, if nothing a politician can say will sway you, then there's little point listening to the speeches.
I have never said nothing that politicians can say will sway me. However this is the view I take.
First we need to eliminate the deficit. Then we need to reduce the debt to much more manageable levels.
Until that point any politician talking about any tax cut or that any part of government spending is not going to be looked at to reduce spending frankly is not serious about doing the first two and should be called out for being a part of the problem.
Any party talking seriously about reforming our finances will get my vote. Cameron and Osborne showed today that they are not serious and therefore they are just part of the problem just like Millibrand and Balls or Clegg and Cable. Nor do I think any party including the Greens or UKIP is addressing this problem.
These people are intelligent they must realise that we cannot carry on this way. My question is this. Given they are supposedly intelligent and adults why can they not agree on a show of unity and come out and tell the electorate that whoever gets elected is going to need to do serious restructuring of the state then go away and each can produce their plan to restructure.
This to me at least gets around the problem of the electorate not voting in anyone who doesnt promise cake. If all the major parties participated I think most of Joe public would have to grudgingly concede that perhaps they really mean it
Cameron is a good speech-maker. I also think he's a good PM from a diplomatic point of view. It's a bit odd that he seems to get such a bad press from behind the scenes.
The Conservative plan is entirely sensible.
Something is going wrong in the Conservative party though I feel - my best guess is it's something to do with the unseen forces of the whips and the like. Cameron, Hague, and Osborne are really good, capable people (particularly Hague). I am beginning to think that it's the rest of the Tory MPs that are falling short. I really don't believe that Cameron et al are playing a purely politics-for-politics-sake game.
The BBC are running this as 'tax cuts for 30m'. That may be right, but it doesn't matter. The programme is for a smaller state (bureaucracy). That really does matter.
How is it for a smaller state? I accept I haven't been fully focussed on the their conference but I have neither heard the cheers of approval from the right or the squeals of anguish from the left that normally accompany such commitments. If anything I got the impression that the Conservatives were going to preserve the state much as it is.....
What plans for cutting the bureaucracy have they announced?
£25bn in cuts for the first two years, then a balanced budget by 2018 which implies a further 15bn cuts with nominal GDP growth of 5% pa.
5% growth seems optimistic (the last time we had 5% growth was 1987 and going back to the 50's I cannot find 5% growth PA covering a five year period) and what cuts? Just plucking some figures out of the air is all very well but actually telling people what you are going to cut is important.
I've no doubt that Cameron is being honest when he speaks about his dead son. Please think before you post. You may be very young and don't understand but certain things are above politics.
Who are UKIP parading tomorrow as new members of their party? Dennis Macshane? Damien McBride? Dave Lee Travis? Jim Sillars (merger with SNP)?
I would love for DLT to be a supporter. I think the witch hunt he was subjected to by the CPS and the eventual court decision was a true travesty of justice and I simply do not believe he should ever have been convicted.
I am sure there will be plenty who disagree but I think this was the classic mud sticks example and shows a real problem with our current system for dealing with such accusations.
Serious and distressing though sexual assault undoubtedly is, I did used to get a good chuckle over the lurid details of DLTs misadventures when reading them in the Metro on the morning train (and some weird looks). It was just so hilariously 'end of the pier'. 'Nearly caught by a member of the chuckle brothers when appearing in Aladdin in Bognor Regis'. You'd have to have a heart of stone not to find some of it funny. At one point DLT said he himself had been sexually assaulted by 'one of the most famous women in the world' -and you just knew he meant Su Pollard or Jeanette Kranky.
I've no doubt that Cameron is being honest when he speaks about his dead son. Please think before you post. You may be very young and don't understand but certain things are above politics.
I don't doubt it either.
He's lying through his teeth when he talks about the NHS though.
Cameron is a good speech-maker. I also think he's a good PM from a diplomatic point of view. It's a bit odd that he seems to get such a bad press from behind the scenes.
The Conservative plan is entirely sensible.
Something is going wrong in the Conservative party though I feel - my best guess is it's something to do with the unseen forces of the whips and the like. Cameron, Hague, and Osborne are really good, capable people (particularly Hague). I am beginning to think that it's the rest of the Tory MPs that are falling short. I really don't believe that Cameron et al are playing a purely politics-for-politics-sake game.
The BBC are running this as 'tax cuts for 30m'. That may be right, but it doesn't matter. The programme is for a smaller state (bureaucracy). That really does matter.
How is it for a smaller state? I accept I haven't been fully focussed on the their conference but I have neither heard the cheers of approval from the right or the squeals of anguish from the left that normally accompany such commitments. If anything I got the impression that the Conservatives were going to preserve the state much as it is.....
What plans for cutting the bureaucracy have they announced?
£25bn in cuts for the first two years, then a balanced budget by 2018 which implies a further 15bn cuts with nominal GDP growth of 5% pa.
5% growth seems optimistic (the last time we had 5% growth was 1987 and going back to the 50's I cannot find 5% growth PA covering a five year period) and what cuts just plucking some figures out of the air is all very well but actually telling people what you are going to cut is important
I think MaxPB stated nominal rather than inflation adjusted growth (I recall Carney has spoken of this too) so that 5% could be 2% growth and 3% inflation, or vice versa. It is not an unreasonable target, though as Gordon can tell you, we have not abolished boom and bust.
A depressingly left wing budget from a supposedly right wing party.
There should be no talk of tax cuts nor of ring fencing entire departments such as the NHS while we are still spending our childrens and grandchildrens taxes.
Politicians should be spelling out the hard choices ahead and I include all parties in this, not trying to bribe voters. It is time to send the british electorate a wake up call not pretend everything can carry on as it is.
A failure all around and absolutely nothing worth voting for from any party
Not funding proper healthcare will cost more in the long run, surely?
Who are UKIP parading tomorrow as new members of their party? Dennis Macshane? Damien McBride? Dave Lee Travis? Jim Sillars (merger with SNP)?
I would love for DLT to be a supporter. I think the witch hunt he was subjected to by the CPS and the eventual court decision was a true travesty of justice and I simply do not believe he should ever have been convicted.
I am sure there will be plenty who disagree but I think this was the classic mud sticks example and shows a real problem with our current system for dealing with such accusations.
Serious and distressing though sexual assault undoubtedly is, I did used to get a good chuckle over the lurid details of DLTs misadventures when reading them in the Metro on the morning train (and some weird looks). It was just so hilariously 'end of the pier'. 'Nearly caught by a member of the chuckle brothers when appearing in Aladdin in Bognor Regis'. You'd have to have a heart of stone not to find some of it funny. At one point DLT said he himself had been sexually assaulted by 'one of the most famous women in the world' -and you just knew he meant Su Pollard or Jeanette Kranky.
@MSmithsonPB: Today's non-defection to UKIP has a touch of Brown's non-election in October 2007 about it. After that the media turned on Gordon.
Tm Montgomerie, Mark Ferguson and Mike Smithson
hahahaha
I'll ask you as well, where are the people who are lauding this master stroke?
To be fair, Mike thought it was a step too far
Mike Smithson @MSmithsonPB · 14m14 minutes ago To defect like this is massive. To do it after the PM's final conference speech before GE2015 was a step too far.
The only ones on my twitter timeline that said it was great news were UKIP people, and I would hardly look credible if I quoted them as an unbiased source
I have a sneaking suspicion that a defector got cold feet if I am honest.. the 5pm press conference was about 5 mins late, which could be an indicator?
Nobody is saying that it isn't good news for UKIP, they are saying, correctly, that the handling has been a total abortion, more so now it appears they haven't even got the cash.
Nobody is saying it is good news are they?
Which it is
Its just a bit tiring to constantly read absolutely everything is always bad news for UKIP... any impartial observer would be staggered that people would try and justify such insanity day after day despite all empirical evidence pointing in the opposite direction.
Abortion isn't a nice word to use to describe anything, and I don't think it even fits here does it?
It's good news for UKIP the handling was an abortion. Killed stone dead by being dragged out of the womb early, should have let it come to a full and natural term before displaying it to an adoring audience.
Men boiling severed heads, as they taunt their rape victims.
F*ck you, George Monbiot.
Precisely. Which is why they should be ignored. When we tell KSA to stop funding these individuals; when we tell Turkey to stop training them and letting them over the Syrian border; when we help Assad to finish them off -THAT's when we'll be serious about ending ISIS. Until that time, I'm not watching their grotesque pantomime.
Cameron is a good speech-maker. I also think he's a good PM from a diplomatic point of view. It's a bit odd that he seems to get such a bad press from behind the scenes.
The Conservative plan is entirely sensible.
Something is going wrong in the Conservative party though I feel - my best guess is it's something to do with the unseen forces of the whips and the like. Cameron, Hague, and Osborne are really good, capable people (particularly Hague). I am beginning to think that it's the rest of the Tory MPs that are falling short. I really don't believe that Cameron et al are playing a purely politics-for-politics-sake game.
The BBC are running this as 'tax cuts for 30m'. That may be right, but it doesn't matter. The programme is for a smaller state (bureaucracy). That really does matter.
How is it for a smaller state? I accept I haven't been fully focussed on the their conference but I have neither heard the cheers of approval from the right or the squeals of anguish from the left that normally accompany such commitments. If anything I got the impression that the Conservatives were going to preserve the state much as it is.....
What plans for cutting the bureaucracy have they announced?
£25bn in cuts for the first two years, then a balanced budget by 2018 which implies a further 15bn cuts with nominal GDP growth of 5% pa.
5% growth seems optimistic (the last time we had 5% growth was 1987 and going back to the 50's I cannot find 5% growth PA covering a five year period) and what cuts? Just plucking some figures out of the air is all very well but actually telling people what you are going to cut is important.
Nominal 5% is perfectly feasible. Say real growth of 2.5% and 2.5% of GDP deflator (posh term for inflation) gives you 5%.
Current GDP deflator seems to be about 2%, say we are on 3% growth and we have the 5% nominal GDP growth already.
Miss Plato, some months ago it was reported some ISIS louts played football with the severed head of the enemy (probably a policeman or soldier).
It's thoroughly barbaric. There remains no guarantee they will be turned back. We (us, the West generally and the regional powers) cannot simply operate on cruise control. Iraq has reiterated it wants no foreign soldiers on the ground. Fine, but the Iraqi army needs to start pulling its weight.
Who are UKIP parading tomorrow as new members of their party? Dennis Macshane? Damien McBride? Dave Lee Travis? Jim Sillars (merger with SNP)?
I would love for DLT to be a supporter. I think the witch hunt he was subjected to by the CPS and the eventual court decision was a true travesty of justice and I simply do not believe he should ever have been convicted.
I am sure there will be plenty who disagree but I think this was the classic mud sticks example and shows a real problem with our current system for dealing with such accusations.
Serious and distressing though sexual assault undoubtedly is, I did used to get a good chuckle over the lurid details of DLTs misadventures when reading them in the Metro on the morning train (and some weird looks). It was just so hilariously 'end of the pier'. 'Nearly caught by a member of the chuckle brothers when appearing in Aladdin in Bognor Regis'. You'd have to have a heart of stone not to find some of it funny. At one point DLT said he himself had been sexually assaulted by 'one of the most famous women in the world' -and you just knew he meant Su Pollard or Jeanette Kranky.
How many millions were spent by the CPS and the police in their dramatic and relentless pursuit of the Hairy Cornflake for, as it turns, out, groping some 22 year old's knockers and making her unexpectedly unhappy, about 20 years later when she finally remembered what might have happened?
A cynic might wonder why they couldn't have diverted a fraction of this cash and effort into arresting some of the men responsible for one thousand four hundred underage child rapes in Rotherham over 15 years.
Ah well. Priorities. We all have priorities.
Good lord! If a bit of groping (without violence) twenty years ago can result in a conviction, then there are not many over 45 who can be safe. The photos of our med school bar in the eighties will see everyone behind bars.
Who are UKIP parading tomorrow as new members of their party? Dennis Macshane? Damien McBride? Dave Lee Travis? Jim Sillars (merger with SNP)?
I would love for DLT to be a supporter. I think the witch hunt he was subjected to by the CPS and the eventual court decision was a true travesty of justice and I simply do not believe he should ever have been convicted.
I am sure there will be plenty who disagree but I think this was the classic mud sticks example and shows a real problem with our current system for dealing with such accusations.
Serious and distressing though sexual assault undoubtedly is, I did used to get a good chuckle over the lurid details of DLTs misadventures when reading them in the Metro on the morning train (and some weird looks). It was just so hilariously 'end of the pier'. 'Nearly caught by a member of the chuckle brothers when appearing in Aladdin in Bognor Regis'. You'd have to have a heart of stone not to find some of it funny. At one point DLT said he himself had been sexually assaulted by 'one of the most famous women in the world' -and you just knew he meant Su Pollard or Jeanette Kranky.
How many millions were spent by the CPS and the police in their dramatic and relentless pursuit of the Hairy Cornflake for, as it turns, out, groping some 22 year old's knockers and making her unexpectedly unhappy, about 20 years later when she finally remembered what might have happened?
A cynic might wonder why they couldn't have diverted a fraction of this cash and effort into arresting some of the men responsible for one thousand four hundred underage child rapes in Rotherham over 15 years.
Ah well. Priorities. We all have priorities.
One of these cases had the potential to disrupt the whole PC-bandwagon. So the British Vishinshy´s cadres were let loose on DLT instead.
Turkey WANT to invade Syria. They have wanted to ever since the conflict began. Their twitter shut down earlier this year was to try and hide a false flag attack they planned on the tomb of Suleyman Shah. This is not disputed -it just wasn't published in any UK publication. Our 'free press' chose to completely ignore the false flag aspect of the story.
Miss Plato, some months ago it was reported some ISIS louts played football with the severed head of the enemy (probably a policeman or soldier).
It's thoroughly barbaric. There remains no guarantee they will be turned back. We (us, the West generally and the regional powers) cannot simply operate on cruise control. Iraq has reiterated it wants no foreign soldiers on the ground. Fine, but the Iraqi army needs to start pulling its weight.
How long before it transpires that if any ISIS member is caught, say by the SAS, he´ll need to be tried in the UK and then claim asylum. His yooman rights you see. ECHR and all that. Labour will scream blue murder. The BBC will omit to mention it was Labour who brought this in, etc...
So, to be clear, if William Hague had said 'Arron Banks is a splended fellow, he was perhaps the most distinguished Vice Chairman the Basingstoke Tories have ever had", would Mr Banks have given a million quid to the Tories instead?
LOL!
I'm from Basingstoke and *I* haven't heard of him!
I live near Basingstoke myself. Ditto.
Which part? I grew up near Wootton, but family links to Hackwood, Hook and Daneshill as well
Men boiling severed heads, as they taunt their rape victims.
F*ck you, George Monbiot.
I think ISIS are smoking the crack of absolute wickedness, the grade A, China White Powder of Pure Evil: only the Nazis and the Khmer Rouge have, to my mind, plumbed these depths so consistently and deliberately in modern history.
Put it another way, deliberate, debasing, quite outrageous sadism seems to be part of the Islamic State's ideological DNA, certainly it is a conscious part of their branding.
I believe it comes from their belief (like the Nazis) that they are the master religion/race. Everyone else is just an animal of no consequence, and their actions follow from that.
I confess that I switched off from Iraq in about 2009ish. I mentioned that I re-reading Charlie Wilson's War the other day. What the CIA did in Afghanistan as a secret war with the Mujahedin is just mind-bending.
That Charlie Wilson ended up being adopted by the CIA as a Most Honorable Colleague just puts the icing on it all. He's the only civvy to ever have such an accolade IIRC.
Mind, funny things happen with wars. When the Soviets invaded Afghanistan that Christmas, Jimmy Carter went from being Mr Squeaky Clean/ordering the CIA to stop all its dirty tricks into a Cold War Hawk of epic proportions. He clearly thought the USSR had lost their minds - he sanctioned the CIA to go all out.
I'd forgotten that during the Iran hostage crisis, one of the helicopters sent to rescue them in Desert One crashed into a parked plane/killing eight soldiers and causing the mission to be aborted. What a mess that all was... I remember the newscasts at the time Day 2XX... it seems inconceivable now.
Miss Plato, some months ago it was reported some ISIS louts played football with the severed head of the enemy (probably a policeman or soldier).
It's thoroughly barbaric. There remains no guarantee they will be turned back. We (us, the West generally and the regional powers) cannot simply operate on cruise control. Iraq has reiterated it wants no foreign soldiers on the ground. Fine, but the Iraqi army needs to start pulling its weight.
A depressingly left wing budget from a supposedly right wing party.
There should be no talk of tax cuts nor of ring fencing entire departments such as the NHS while we are still spending our childrens and grandchildrens taxes.
Politicians should be spelling out the hard choices ahead and I include all parties in this, not trying to bribe voters. It is time to send the british electorate a wake up call not pretend everything can carry on as it is.
A failure all around and absolutely nothing worth voting for from any party
Not funding proper healthcare will cost more in the long run, surely?
What has funding proper healthcare got to do with not looking at the money currently spent on the NHS.
For starters I am pretty sure that there is a huge level of waste in the NHS and that if we analysed spending we would find a huge proportion is not actually spent on health care at all but other stuff that can actually be trimmed without affecting primary care in the least.
Secondly a lot of things done on the National health frankly probably shouldnt be. Tattoo removal springs to mind as a prime example. There is also plenty of other ways that can be looked at such as co payments etc that would keep healthcare within reach for people while allowing less to be spent.
I think ISIS are smoking the crack of absolute wickedness, the grade A, China White Powder of Pure Evil: only the Nazis and the Khmer Rouge have, to my mind, plumbed these depths so consistently and deliberately in modern history.
Put it another way, deliberate, debasing, quite outrageous sadism seems to be part of the Islamic State's ideological DNA, certainly it is a conscious part of their branding.
You're right. The question has to be though why perfectly rational people might come to such a state.
How can I tell that I'm not currently part of a similar mass-delusion?
I think part of the answer is that you really shouldn't ever tell people how to live unless you positively have to. So, "don't kill me", is fair enough.
I hate this logic, but I actually think it's right.
UKIP SouthDerbyshire @UKIP_Derbyshire 1h42 minutes ago It's funny really, UKIP have had the no PAYE for minimum wage policy for awhile, the media slammed it as not possible, now Dave steals it...
Have the fiscally incontinent Tories said how they'll pay for this multi-billion splurge yet?
Oh no, political parties make promises they may find difficult to fund! I have never ever seen anyone but Tories do that, the evil, soulless devils. They hate the poor, you know. I read it on the internet.
Men boiling severed heads, as they taunt their rape victims.
F*ck you, George Monbiot.
I think ISIS are smoking the crack of absolute wickedness, the grade A, China White Powder of Pure Evil: only the Nazis and the Khmer Rouge have, to my mind, plumbed these depths so consistently and deliberately in modern history.
Put it another way, deliberate, debasing, quite outrageous sadism seems to be part of the Islamic State's ideological DNA, certainly it is a conscious part of their branding.
How else would they do their job? These things are designed to be so horrific that people give their consent to Governments to 'do something about it' just to make it stop. The voice of the people stopped us bombing Syria last time around. We are now united behind bombing Syria. Who cares if (for now) the enemy and purpose is different? The rubicund has been crossed. KSA (and at arms length the US) know this only too well.
Miss Plato, some months ago it was reported some ISIS louts played football with the severed head of the enemy (probably a policeman or soldier).
It's thoroughly barbaric. There remains no guarantee they will be turned back. We (us, the West generally and the regional powers) cannot simply operate on cruise control. Iraq has reiterated it wants no foreign soldiers on the ground. Fine, but the Iraqi army needs to start pulling its weight.
How long before it transpires that if any ISIS member is caught, say by the SAS, he´ll need to be tried in the UK and then claim asylum. His yooman rights you see. ECHR and all that. Labour will scream blue murder. The BBC will omit to mention it was Labour who brought this in, etc...
Miss Plato, some months ago it was reported some ISIS louts played football with the severed head of the enemy (probably a policeman or soldier).
It's thoroughly barbaric. There remains no guarantee they will be turned back. We (us, the West generally and the regional powers) cannot simply operate on cruise control. Iraq has reiterated it wants no foreign soldiers on the ground. Fine, but the Iraqi army needs to start pulling its weight.
They are fighting for their lives in the Sunni triangle today. They just are not very good. We still awaiting the planned Iraqi army offensive under western air cover west to relieve pressure in that area but its still not arrived. The army also continues to lose soldiers, mysteriously, hundreds, thousands gone into the ether.
ISIS despite its apparent Islamic philosophy to attract people doesn't have a philosophy other than violence. Ultimately its a movement for malcontents. Within any such movement, however, lie the seeds of its own potential defeat.
1 October 2014 Last updated at 20:47 BNP expels ex-leader Nick Griffin Breaking news The British National Party says it has expelled its former leader Nick Griffin.
Miss Plato, some months ago it was reported some ISIS louts played football with the severed head of the enemy (probably a policeman or soldier).
It's thoroughly barbaric. There remains no guarantee they will be turned back. We (us, the West generally and the regional powers) cannot simply operate on cruise control. Iraq has reiterated it wants no foreign soldiers on the ground. Fine, but the Iraqi army needs to start pulling its weight.
How long before it transpires that if any ISIS member is caught, say by the SAS, he´ll need to be tried in the UK and then claim asylum. His yooman rights you see. ECHR and all that. Labour will scream blue murder. The BBC will omit to mention it was Labour who brought this in, etc...
I think the intention (quite rightly) is to kill as many of these c*nts out there, as possible, so this won't become an issue. Suck in all the teenie jihadists from Britain, then slaughter them in-country.
Incidentally, for those who pooh-pooh the idea of air campaigns, I've just read the rather fine REBELS by Aris Roussinos, a Brit hack who went to the front line in Libya, Sudan, Mali, Syria.
He explains very eloquently - as an eye-witness - how the Anglo-French NATO air strikes on Gaddafi entirely turned the war there, in favour of some rag-tag rebels. Yes, Libya has since descended into chaos (tho it is arguably still a better place without Gaddafi), but the military lesson holds true.
Air power terrifies and obliterates. We have it. ISIS do not. We have to use it, and hope the locals can then exploit the advantage.
Miss Plato, some months ago it was reported some ISIS louts played football with the severed head of the enemy (probably a policeman or soldier).
It's thoroughly barbaric. There remains no guarantee they will be turned back. We (us, the West generally and the regional powers) cannot simply operate on cruise control. Iraq has reiterated it wants no foreign soldiers on the ground. Fine, but the Iraqi army needs to start pulling its weight.
How long before it transpires that if any ISIS member is caught, say by the SAS, he´ll need to be tried in the UK and then claim asylum. His yooman rights you see. ECHR and all that. Labour will scream blue murder. The BBC will omit to mention it was Labour who brought this in, etc...
1 October 2014 Last updated at 20:47 BNP expels ex-leader Nick Griffin Breaking news The British National Party says it has expelled its former leader Nick Griffin.
Miss Plato, some months ago it was reported some ISIS louts played football with the severed head of the enemy (probably a policeman or soldier).
It's thoroughly barbaric. There remains no guarantee they will be turned back. We (us, the West generally and the regional powers) cannot simply operate on cruise control. Iraq has reiterated it wants no foreign soldiers on the ground. Fine, but the Iraqi army needs to start pulling its weight.
How long before it transpires that if any ISIS member is caught, say by the SAS, he´ll need to be tried in the UK and then claim asylum. His yooman rights you see. ECHR and all that. Labour will scream blue murder. The BBC will omit to mention it was Labour who brought this in, etc...
I think the intention (quite rightly) is to kill as many of these c*nts out there, as possible, so this won't become an issue. Suck in all the teenie jihadists from Britain, then slaughter them in-country.
Incidentally, for those who pooh-pooh the idea of air campaigns, I've just read the rather fine REBELS by Aris Roussinos, a Brit hack who went to the front line in Libya, Sudan, Mali, Syria.
He explains very eloquently - as an eye-witness - how the Anglo-French NATO air strikes on Gaddafi entirely turned the war there, in favour of some rag-tag rebels. Yes, Libya has since descended into chaos (tho it is arguably still a better place without Gaddafi), but the military lesson holds true.
Air power terrifies and obliterates. We have it. ISIS do not. We have to use it, and hope the locals can then exploit the advantage.
Except in this instance ISIS *are* the rebels.
They still die when you bomb them and to be frank the more the better. If we can inflict mass casualties it will deter jihad tourists.
What has funding proper healthcare got to do with not looking at the money currently spent on the NHS.
For starters I am pretty sure that there is a huge level of waste in the NHS and that if we analysed spending we would find a huge proportion is not actually spent on health care at all but other stuff that can actually be trimmed without affecting primary care in the least.
Based on...? Payments to GPs, as well as payments to hospitals, are racheted down every year - so they have to do more and more to get the same money. Easy savings have been made already. The only way to make a big saving would be to make a fundamental change such as removing the market as a minimum, or removing the purchaser/provider split. Though that would just make it like the Scottish system and their outcomes and costs are very similar to ours.
Secondly a lot of things done on the National health frankly probably shouldnt be. Tattoo removal springs to mind as a prime example. There is also plenty of other ways that can be looked at such as co payments etc that would keep healthcare within reach for people while allowing less to be spent.
The NHS is good value for money (source: Commonwealth Fund) and any savings that can be made are dwarfed by the demographic tide. Believe it or not there are a lot of intelligent people trying to do more for the money and it's just not simple.
Miss Plato, some months ago it was reported some ISIS louts played football with the severed head of the enemy (probably a policeman or soldier).
It's thoroughly barbaric. There remains no guarantee they will be turned back. We (us, the West generally and the regional powers) cannot simply operate on cruise control. Iraq has reiterated it wants no foreign soldiers on the ground. Fine, but the Iraqi army needs to start pulling its weight.
How long before it transpires that if any ISIS member is caught, say by the SAS, he´ll need to be tried in the UK and then claim asylum. His yooman rights you see. ECHR and all that. Labour will scream blue murder. The BBC will omit to mention it was Labour who brought this in, etc...
I think the intention (quite rightly) is to kill as many of these c*nts out there, as possible, so this won't become an issue. Suck in all the teenie jihadists from Britain, then slaughter them in-country.
Incidentally, for those who pooh-pooh the idea of air campaigns, I've just read the rather fine REBELS by Aris Roussinos, a Brit hack who went to the front line in Libya, Sudan, Mali, Syria.
He explains very eloquently - as an eye-witness - how the Anglo-French NATO air strikes on Gaddafi entirely turned the war there, in favour of some rag-tag rebels. Yes, Libya has since descended into chaos (tho it is arguably still a better place without Gaddafi), but the military lesson holds true.
Air power terrifies and obliterates. We have it. ISIS do not. We have to use it, and hope the locals can then exploit the advantage.
A good old fashioned punitive expedition is what is needed. Wreck the infrastructure of the IS controlled areas. Roads, bridges, power stations, businesses, everything. The people there need to see what the future will look like under IS. Then some of the Sunni tribes will take notice and revolt against the IS incomers who rule them.
One thing I notice on the news is that the recaptured villages are empty. This is a hostage state that is imprisoning its own people.
Tony Blair has expressed dismay after the High Court ruled nine Afghan asylum seekers who hijacked a plane to Britain have won their bid to stay in the UK.
Mr Justice Sullivan said the nine could remain until it was safe to return.
The PM said the ruling was an "abuse of common sense" and should be overturned, and he is considering an appeal.
It followed the Afghan hostage drama at Stansted Airport in 2000 which led to a four day stand-off and asylum applications by 78 people on board.
"We can't have a situation in which people who hijack a plane, we're not able to deport back to their country," Mr Blair said.
"It's not an abuse of justice for us to order their deportation, it's an abuse of common sense frankly to be in a position where we can't do this.
Miss Plato, some months ago it was reported some ISIS louts played football with the severed head of the enemy (probably a policeman or soldier).
It's thoroughly barbaric. There remains no guarantee they will be turned back. We (us, the West generally and the regional powers) cannot simply operate on cruise control. Iraq has reiterated it wants no foreign soldiers on the ground. Fine, but the Iraqi army needs to start pulling its weight.
How long before it transpires that if any ISIS member is caught, say by the SAS, he´ll need to be tried in the UK and then claim asylum. His yooman rights you see. ECHR and all that. Labour will scream blue murder. The BBC will omit to mention it was Labour who brought this in, etc...
I know they had lots of US gear, but hadn't they been trained for some time as well? I'm just surprised that they were beaten back so swiftly early on, and that they abandoned so much gear.
1 October 2014 Last updated at 20:47 BNP expels ex-leader Nick Griffin Breaking news The British National Party says it has expelled its former leader Nick Griffin.
Have the fiscally incontinent Tories said how they'll pay for this multi-billion splurge yet?
Oh no, political parties make promises they may find difficult to fund! I have never ever seen anyone but Tories do that, the evil, soulless devils. They hate the poor, you know. I read it on the internet.
If Labour had done something like that,oh the howls there would have been on here.
The British National Party says it has expelled its ex-leader Nick Griffin.
In a statement, BNP party chairman Adam Walker said Mr Griffin had been informed of the decision on Wednesday.
In a tweet, Mr Griffin took issue with the decision, accusing the party leadership of "plastic gangster games". Mr Griffin stepped down as party leader in July after 15 years at the top. The party saw its vote collapse in May's elections, in which Mr Griffin lost his seat in the European Parliament.
What has funding proper healthcare got to do with not looking at the money currently spent on the NHS.
For starters I am pretty sure that there is a huge level of waste in the NHS and that if we analysed spending we would find a huge proportion is not actually spent on health care at all but other stuff that can actually be trimmed without affecting primary care in the least.
Based on...? Payments to GPs, as well as payments to hospitals, are racheted down every year - so they have to do more and more to get the same money. Easy savings have been made already. The only way to make a big saving would be to make a fundamental change such as removing the market as a minimum, or removing the purchaser/provider split. Though that would just make it like the Scottish system and their outcomes and costs are very similar to ours.
Secondly a lot of things done on the National health frankly probably shouldnt be. Tattoo removal springs to mind as a prime example. There is also plenty of other ways that can be looked at such as co payments etc that would keep healthcare within reach for people while allowing less to be spent.
The NHS is good value for money (source: Commonwealth Fund) and any savings that can be made are dwarfed by the demographic tide. Believe it or not there are a lot of intelligent people trying to do more for the money and it's just not simple.
There are still major amounts of waste, inefficiency and duplication of effort in the NHS. I see it nearly every day.
A lot of the problem is that the NHS is over-managed to meet artificial targets, but under administered. Some days I feel like a very well paid secretary. If I did have a competent secretary my clinical work productivity would increase very quickly.
Have the fiscally incontinent Tories said how they'll pay for this multi-billion splurge yet?
Oh no, political parties make promises they may find difficult to fund! I have never ever seen anyone but Tories do that, the evil, soulless devils. They hate the poor, you know. I read it on the internet.
If Labour had done something like that,oh the howls there would have been on here.
I certainly wouldn't dispute that. But as I have gone so far as to disagree that Ed M is crap (just uninspiring, but canny nonetheless), among other things, I feel I can get away with calling such things out. Gives me a warm feeling of smugness, gets me though the chillier evenings.
What has funding proper healthcare got to do with not looking at the money currently spent on the NHS.
For starters I am pretty sure that there is a huge level of waste in the NHS and that if we analysed spending we would find a huge proportion is not actually spent on health care at all but other stuff that can actually be trimmed without affecting primary care in the least.
Based on...? Payments to GPs, as well as payments to hospitals, are racheted down every year - so they have to do more and more to get the same money. Easy savings have been made already. The only way to make a big saving would be to make a fundamental change such as removing the market as a minimum, or removing the purchaser/provider split. Though that would just make it like the Scottish system and their outcomes and costs are very similar to ours.
Secondly a lot of things done on the National health frankly probably shouldnt be. Tattoo removal springs to mind as a prime example. There is also plenty of other ways that can be looked at such as co payments etc that would keep healthcare within reach for people while allowing less to be spent.
The NHS is good value for money (source: Commonwealth Fund) and any savings that can be made are dwarfed by the demographic tide. Believe it or not there are a lot of intelligent people trying to do more for the money and it's just not simple.
There are still major amounts of waste, inefficiency and duplication of effort in the NHS. I see it nearly every day.
A lot of the problem is that the NHS is over-managed to meet artificial targets, but under administered. Some days I feel like a very well paid secretary. If I did have a competent secretary my clinical work productivity would increase very quickly.
What do you think would happen if 18 weeks got scrapped?
Men boiling severed heads, as they taunt their rape victims.
F*ck you, George Monbiot.
I think ISIS are smoking the crack of absolute wickedness, the grade A, China White Powder of Pure Evil: only the Nazis and the Khmer Rouge have, to my mind, plumbed these depths so consistently and deliberately in modern history.
Put it another way, deliberate, debasing, quite outrageous sadism seems to be part of the Islamic State's ideological DNA, certainly it is a conscious part of their branding.
Not sure. Look at the Sierra Leone amputees, for instance. I suspect all civil wars descend rapidly to a lowest common denominator.
Comments
It's like those MPs who put the family portrait in the election leaflet, then shags some tart and promptly complains that it was a private matter.
Does anyone know if the Minister who recently resigned used his wife or family in election publicity ? If he did, then it's open game I am afraid.
Having said that, the manner in which the Mirror stung him, is plain wrong !
I think realistically you have to give this government an outstanding rating for deficit cutting - and I agree that in real-world terms that's pathetic, but I'm happy to recognise that these things are very hard to do.
I think there's an interesting dynamic that will never come into play. Public sector workers really really should keep Labour out because if the state fails to pay its debts then their pensions are toast. Spend when you are young, and default before you are old is I guess the maxim.
Rochester, a seat that has always been a Tory fortress. Except 1997-2010.
And with Chatham was a Labour/Tory marginal till 1979.
Hugh's comment was just plain wrong. And again I say that as someone who has very little time for Cameron. It is all about common decency, something Hugh clearly lacks.
Why should we believe him on the NHS this time?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH2EmVGowCk
I am sure there will be plenty who disagree but I think this was the classic mud sticks example and shows a real problem with our current system for dealing with such accusations.
The level of coordination and need for out of hours cover for these is expensive and requires a certain volume of work. There is little alternative for most of us, so even the richest of us requires aj NHS backup.
Chicken Licken Hooogh
Labour pioneered privatising the NHS in Cambridgeshire. Do keep up.
8% cut in funding in Wales, 1,200 victims of mid-Staffs, Burnham setting up Hitchenbrooke
If I was Labour the last thing I would do is enter a debate on the NHS given their current record in Wales and recent record in the rest of the UK.
I don't know the details of what you list as broken promises, but I'm pretty happy that Cameron's intentions are pretty honest. He is of course a politician.
Perhaps I'll get out my Tory bludgeon again once this all wears off.
For now keep me away from all lengths of rope and sharp implements.
Ed is crap. Don't blame me I voted for the other Miliband.
"Our Commitment: an income tax cut for 30 million people
We will increase the tax-free personal allowance and raise the threshold for the 40p tax rate - meaning more security for hardworking families.
Conservatives | Securing a better future"
http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/
IS the NHS still free at the point of use? Are people being presented with bills or being refused treatment because they can't pay, or being asked to take out insurance?
No. And it won;t be if the conservatives stay in government.
http://www.ukipdaily.com/todays-defector-william-hague/
Everyone was trying to out do each other to be corporate goody-two shoes as well. And not really very British either. And everything was suffocated with PCness and greenie ambitions such as no-heating as the volume of vistors combined body heat would warm it up... ho hum.
And IIRC - the roof was made by a German firm. It just always felt that Labour were embarrassed about it for too long, then decided to try to make it work at the last minute. @Sunil_Prasannan mentioned it's reincarnation as the O2. And there it has a purpose. The Dome was missing a strategic objective - and it showed.
TBH, P-Y Gerbaut [sp] was the man who saved it from itself. That he went onto to save EuroDisney is a testament to his skills.
I've no problem with it being In Greenwich. That's the whole point of GMT after all. If Greenwich happened to be near Ludlow instead - fine by me.
How's Wales going ?
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/09/turkey-syria-isis-tomb-turkish-troops-trapped.html?utm_source=Al-Monitor+Newsletter+[English]&utm_campaign=61dee17cef-October_1_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_28264b27a0-61dee17cef-102410225
Cameron is talking about his own severely disabled son, who suffered his whole life with cerebral palsy and epilepsy who died - in quite a bit of pain - aged just six years old.
If you'd had a disabled son who'd died whilst just a small child, could you talk about him without your voice breaking?
I will never look on you or your posts, here, in the same way again. And I hope other posters won't either.
First we need to eliminate the deficit. Then we need to reduce the debt to much more manageable levels.
Until that point any politician talking about any tax cut or that any part of government spending is not going to be looked at to reduce spending frankly is not serious about doing the first two and should be called out for being a part of the problem.
Any party talking seriously about reforming our finances will get my vote. Cameron and Osborne showed today that they are not serious and therefore they are just part of the problem just like Millibrand and Balls or Clegg and Cable. Nor do I think any party including the Greens or UKIP is addressing this problem.
These people are intelligent they must realise that we cannot carry on this way. My question is this. Given they are supposedly intelligent and adults why can they not agree on a show of unity and come out and tell the electorate that whoever gets elected is going to need to do serious restructuring of the state then go away and each can produce their plan to restructure.
This to me at least gets around the problem of the electorate not voting in anyone who doesnt promise cake. If all the major parties participated I think most of Joe public would have to grudgingly concede that perhaps they really mean it
Last price matched 1.93.
I've no doubt that Cameron is being honest when he speaks about his dead son. Please think before you post. You may be very young and don't understand but certain things are above politics.
Holy Hell, Sir. Those were words I never expected to see.
He's lying through his teeth when he talks about the NHS though.
If they went ten-pin bowling with them - I wouldn't be surprised either. They appear to have endless creativity when it comes to being monstrous.
You need to work a bit harder on your similes.
Say real growth of 2.5% and 2.5% of GDP deflator (posh term for inflation) gives you 5%.
Current GDP deflator seems to be about 2%, say we are on 3% growth and we have the 5% nominal GDP growth already.
Lord Hill: I will put EU laws above Britain's national interest
It's thoroughly barbaric. There remains no guarantee they will be turned back. We (us, the West generally and the regional powers) cannot simply operate on cruise control. Iraq has reiterated it wants no foreign soldiers on the ground. Fine, but the Iraqi army needs to start pulling its weight.
One of these cases had the potential to disrupt the whole PC-bandwagon. So the British Vishinshy´s cadres were let loose on DLT instead.
It´s a condition of being a Euro-commissar.
Of course some Euro-commissars ignore this. Ours just seem to go troppo.
http://rt.com/news/turkey-block-youtube-twitter-649/
How long before it transpires that if any ISIS member is caught, say by the SAS, he´ll need to be tried in the UK and then claim asylum. His yooman rights you see. ECHR and all that. Labour will scream blue murder. The BBC will omit to mention it was Labour who brought this in, etc...
On my way back from Perge to my hotel today I saw a couple of F-16s out the coach window (Antalya)
That Charlie Wilson ended up being adopted by the CIA as a Most Honorable Colleague just puts the icing on it all. He's the only civvy to ever have such an accolade IIRC.
Mind, funny things happen with wars. When the Soviets invaded Afghanistan that Christmas, Jimmy Carter went from being Mr Squeaky Clean/ordering the CIA to stop all its dirty tricks into a Cold War Hawk of epic proportions. He clearly thought the USSR had lost their minds - he sanctioned the CIA to go all out.
I'd forgotten that during the Iran hostage crisis, one of the helicopters sent to rescue them in Desert One crashed into a parked plane/killing eight soldiers and causing the mission to be aborted. What a mess that all was... I remember the newscasts at the time Day 2XX... it seems inconceivable now.
For starters I am pretty sure that there is a huge level of waste in the NHS and that if we analysed spending we would find a huge proportion is not actually spent on health care at all but other stuff that can actually be trimmed without affecting primary care in the least.
Secondly a lot of things done on the National health frankly probably shouldnt be. Tattoo removal springs to mind as a prime example. There is also plenty of other ways that can be looked at such as co payments etc that would keep healthcare within reach for people while allowing less to be spent.
How can I tell that I'm not currently part of a similar mass-delusion?
I think part of the answer is that you really shouldn't ever tell people how to live unless you positively have to. So, "don't kill me", is fair enough.
I hate this logic, but I actually think it's right.
It's funny really, UKIP have had the no PAYE for minimum wage policy for awhile, the media slammed it as not possible, now Dave steals it...
ISIS despite its apparent Islamic philosophy to attract people doesn't have a philosophy other than violence. Ultimately its a movement for malcontents. Within any such movement, however, lie the seeds of its own potential defeat.
BNP expels ex-leader Nick Griffin
Breaking news
The British National Party says it has expelled its former leader Nick Griffin.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-29453341
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YBumQHPAeU
Payments to GPs, as well as payments to hospitals, are racheted down every year - so they have to do more and more to get the same money. Easy savings have been made already. The only way to make a big saving would be to make a fundamental change such as removing the market as a minimum, or removing the purchaser/provider split. Though that would just make it like the Scottish system and their outcomes and costs are very similar to ours.
http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/2567.aspx?CategoryID=68&SubCategoryID=154
The NHS is good value for money (source: Commonwealth Fund) and any savings that can be made are dwarfed by the demographic tide. Believe it or not there are a lot of intelligent people trying to do more for the money and it's just not simple.
One thing I notice on the news is that the recaptured villages are empty. This is a hostage state that is imprisoning its own people.
I know they had lots of US gear, but hadn't they been trained for some time as well? I'm just surprised that they were beaten back so swiftly early on, and that they abandoned so much gear.
In other news I think we have seen the last Ed speech by walking about. We should be grateful for small mercies.
In a statement, BNP party chairman Adam Walker said Mr Griffin had been informed of the decision on Wednesday.
In a tweet, Mr Griffin took issue with the decision, accusing the party leadership of "plastic gangster games". Mr Griffin stepped down as party leader in July after 15 years at the top. The party saw its vote collapse in May's elections, in which Mr Griffin lost his seat in the European Parliament.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-29453341
Nothing on Sky.
BNP who, aren't they confused with a wunch of bankers?
http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/2567.aspx?CategoryID=68&SubCategoryID=154
The NHS is good value for money (source: Commonwealth Fund) and any savings that can be made are dwarfed by the demographic tide. Believe it or not there are a lot of intelligent people trying to do more for the money and it's just not simple.
There are still major amounts of waste, inefficiency and duplication of effort in the NHS. I see it nearly every day.
A lot of the problem is that the NHS is over-managed to meet artificial targets, but under administered. Some days I feel like a very well paid secretary. If I did have a competent secretary my clinical work productivity would increase very quickly.
A lot of the problem is that the NHS is over-managed to meet artificial targets, but under administered. Some days I feel like a very well paid secretary. If I did have a competent secretary my clinical work productivity would increase very quickly.
What do you think would happen if 18 weeks got scrapped?