@LordAshcroft: The campaign against Mark Reckless in Rochester & Strood is now sustained negative attacks against him rather than against UKIP. #willitwork
Which he invited with his duplicitous behaviour. Can't see this as a legitimate complaint.
Indeed. The traitorous pig dog deserves it all and more.
Britain Elects @britainelects 1m1 minute ago National Opinion Poll (Populus): LAB - 36% (+1) CON - 34% (+1) UKIP - 13% (-1) LDEM - 8% (-1) GRN - 4% (-)
35% strategy unnecessarily cautious?
Even as a hardened politico who's been saying for months that opinion is entrenched, I'm struck by the fact that this week seems to have done Labour's VI no damage whatsoever. But we'll see if Ashcroft or ICM suggest differently.
To me the Ukip share is too low (and I say that as a non Kipper!). However the "bad" publicity for Ed may well have not done any harm to your party.
Equally my impression is that the EU row doesn't seem to have done the Tories any damage. No one is buying Osborne's spin but people seem resigned to us paying the £1.7 billion and there isn't the anger out there you might have expected .Labour should be pushing the £1.7 billion is 60,000 nurses etc but they can't for obvious reasons.Surprised UKIP haven't made more of this.
No one is paying £1.7 billion so your equation with nurses is facile. Plus whatever the sums are its a one off so there would be no money for x nurses next year. On top of which the x nurses would pay tax but cost us all NI payments and holiday pay and pensions contributions.
Perhaps the general public other than UKIP members are more used to getting unexpected bills than politicians, and realise that however annoying they may be, they have to be paid.
Just seen Ben Bradshaw on the Daily Politics pretending that the EU has kept peace in Europe.
I suppose some mugs believe it.
A fair test would be to disband the EU for 50 years and see if the peace holds!
Disband NATO, you'd only have to wait a day or two.
Yeah I'd agree NATO was more responsible than the EU for maintaining peace.
In the early eighties the Soviets had three million men on the border, three, million and God knows how many tanks. If memory serves the British Army of the Rhine consisted of 20,000 men.
There was one thing stopping the Soviets, Mutually Assured Destruction.
The British Army trained for it, part of Corp training in some units was tactical nuclear warfare, this was, is no secret for a reason.
Guess what the TA were for, cannon fodder while the British Army retreated to prepared positions. Do you know what the German TA's job was, clear the roads of refugees for the retreating allied armies. 'Clear the roads' is a euphemism.
Whatever happened to personal responsibility for making your way in the world ?
The Labour Party, "if you keep voting for us, you can keep sitting on the sofa all day playing on your X-Box"
"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the majority discovers it can vote itself largess out of the public treasury."
@LordAshcroft: The campaign against Mark Reckless in Rochester & Strood is now sustained negative attacks against him rather than against UKIP. #willitwork
Which he invited with his duplicitous behaviour. Can't see this as a legitimate complaint.
What problem do they have with him, other than him leaving them?
Struggle to see how this will resonate with the public. He was a good guy in August when he was the Con candidate, now we are supposed to believe he is a bad guy?
That might work if they sacked him, but not when he left.. they just look bitter
Even Janan Ganesh was visibly embarrassed by their "US style" tv ad about Reckless on yesterdays Sunday Politics, and when voters were asked whether Reckless was fair game for abuse in Rochester , they came out for him
@LordAshcroft: The campaign against Mark Reckless in Rochester & Strood is now sustained negative attacks against him rather than against UKIP. #willitwork
For all its faults I cannot see how UKIP is any worse than Labour or the Tories.
I would not wish to bore everyone to death with my long, detailed and referenced diatribe justifying that but I'm sure those on both sides would agree that I can do it with reference to the 'other' side.
If you make the assumption that they would not be any 'different' then you may be right. Of course this assumption would send kippers into apolplexy. But the reality is that kipper ministers would make as many mistakes as the next one when confronted by impossible decisions and no matter how certain you are about anything the law of unintended consequences always comes back to haunt you.
My view is they would be a lot worse (unless what they are saying now is a total pack of lies) but then again the very effort they make only gifts us a europhile labour govt lef by a crypto markist.
Immigration will be a minor issue for WWC jobs, compared to this... ROBOTS of the FUTURE will EXTERMINATE UK jobs – study One in three UK jobs will be performed by machine in as little as 20 years, according to a new study carried out by Deloitte and the University of Oxford.
For all its faults I cannot see how UKIP is any worse than Labour or the Tories.
I would not wish to bore everyone to death with my long, detailed and referenced diatribe justifying that but I'm sure those on both sides would agree that I can do it with reference to the 'other' side.
For all its faults I cannot see how UKIP is any worse than Labour or the Tories.
I would not wish to bore everyone to death with my long, detailed and referenced diatribe justifying that but I'm sure those on both sides would agree that I can do it with reference to the 'other' side.
If you make the assumption that they would not be any 'different' then you may be right. Of course this assumption would send kippers into apolplexy. But the reality is that kipper ministers would make as many mistakes as the next one when confronted by impossible decisions and no matter how certain you are about anything the law of unintended consequences always comes back to haunt you.
My view is they would be a lot worse (unless what they are saying now is a total pack of lies) but then again the very effort they make only gifts us a europhile labour govt lef by a crypto markist.
As opposed to a europhile Tory government led by a very slippery individual? Tories v Labour is splitting hairs.
Britain Elects @britainelects 1m1 minute ago National Opinion Poll (Populus): LAB - 36% (+1) CON - 34% (+1) UKIP - 13% (-1) LDEM - 8% (-1) GRN - 4% (-)
35% strategy unnecessarily cautious?
Even as a hardened politico who's been saying for months that opinion is entrenched, I'm struck by the fact that this week seems to have done Labour's VI no damage whatsoever. But we'll see if Ashcroft or ICM suggest differently.
To me the Ukip share is too low (and I say that as a non Kipper!). However the "bad" publicity for Ed may well have not done any harm to your party.
Equally my impression is that the EU row doesn't seem to have done the Tories any damage. No one is buying Osborne's spin but people seem resigned to us paying the £1.7 billion and there isn't the anger out there you might have expected .Labour should be pushing the £1.7 billion is 60,000 nurses etc but they can't for obvious reasons.Surprised UKIP haven't made more of this.
No one is paying £1.7 billion so your equation with nurses is facile. Plus whatever the sums are its a one off so there would be no money for x nurses next year. On top of which the x nurses would pay tax but cost us all NI payments and holiday pay and pensions contributions.
It was an example and meant to be facile.As regards the £1.7 billion if it looks like an elephant etc. The electorate is not stupid- they know the cost is £1.7 billion ,not £850 million.This is way more than Labour will raise for the Mansion Tax ,if elected.
Immigration will be a minor issue for WWC jobs, compared to this... ROBOTS of the FUTURE will EXTERMINATE UK jobs – study One in three UK jobs will be performed by machine in as little as 20 years, according to a new study carried out by Deloitte and the University of Oxford.
@LordAshcroft: The campaign against Mark Reckless in Rochester & Strood is now sustained negative attacks against him rather than against UKIP. #willitwork
Is Ashcroft thinking of defecting to UKIP?
He'll be welcome. We could do with another lord in the other place.
For all its faults I cannot see how UKIP is any worse than Labour or the Tories.
I would not wish to bore everyone to death with my long, detailed and referenced diatribe justifying that but I'm sure those on both sides would agree that I can do it with reference to the 'other' side.
If you make the assumption that they would not be any 'different' then you may be right. Of course this assumption would send kippers into apolplexy. But the reality is that kipper ministers would make as many mistakes as the next one when confronted by impossible decisions and no matter how certain you are about anything the law of unintended consequences always comes back to haunt you.
My view is they would be a lot worse (unless what they are saying now is a total pack of lies) but then again the very effort they make only gifts us a europhile labour govt lef by a crypto markist.
You are absolutely correct with respect to the actual people involved, they would not in the long term be any different.
Where I would disagree is that UKIP have a visibly different political philosophy, which however inchoate at the moment has a following, the fact that they may be saying two different things to two differing constituencies doesn't really matter, it's not new.
I would hope that they can come up with a relatively right-wing economic policy while being socially liberal. And get us the heck out of that dead duck the EU.
@LordAshcroft: The campaign against Mark Reckless in Rochester & Strood is now sustained negative attacks against him rather than against UKIP. #willitwork
Which he invited with his duplicitous behaviour. Can't see this as a legitimate complaint.
Reckless U turned over the SSI/Nightingales/Housing Development.
As a Tory he was very much in favour, a hop and a skip to UKIP and in the blink of an eye he's vehemently against it. (Look's as if he enjoys the perks and benefits of being an MP too much to stick to any principles).
A bit like Carswell, and his newly found urges to smash the Westminster system, whilst he's happy to take the £285,000+ pension entitlements he gets from it.
In a couple of hours, I expect the conclusion will be reached that the sandwiches ought to make themselves.
Where the anti-immigration people's policy actually leads is that the people get replaced by imported sandwiches or a sandwich-making machine made somewhere with cheaper labour.
The Earl of Sandwich has opened a sandwich shop according to the press. Don't know where that leaves your point, but it does mean he can wrong-foot the apostrophe police by putting up a sign saying SANDWICH'S.
Immigration will be a minor issue for WWC jobs, compared to this... ROBOTS of the FUTURE will EXTERMINATE UK jobs – study One in three UK jobs will be performed by machine in as little as 20 years, according to a new study carried out by Deloitte and the University of Oxford.
Are Kippers anti-robots ? Coming over here taking our jobs !
Oh come on. We’ve heard this since the first powered loom was invented.
Well yes, except even burger flipping is about to disappear, these are being trialed right now and are proving a success http://momentummachines.com/
Kippers, the descendants of the Luddites. It makes a lot of sense.
Meanwhile, Britain has record numbers in employment.
There is a continuing trend for low skilled jobs to be replaced by machines, or moved off shore. A fair chunk of our population wasn't gifted with the abilities to do more than this. What's your great plan to give them the self respect and social contribution of a job then ? Sounds like "let them eat cake" to me.
I really can't understand the hatred of the WWW by the liberal metropolitan elite (middle classes) unless I see it as 'fear of'.
Is that right, do they scare you, those of the above bent (there seem plenty of you on here)?
As screaming eagles says, the hatred comes from UKIP. That you spout on about 'white' working class shows your prejudice and bigotry. What makes me laugh is you're so dim you cannot see how you are being played by Farage.
BBC Breaking News @BBCBreaking 25m25 minutes ago At least two Israelis wounded in a stabbing near West Bank settlement, reports say assailant shot dead http://bbc.in/1srGNSG
BBC Breaking News @BBCBreaking 12m12 minutes ago 14-year-old girl killed in West Bank stabbing hours hours after attack in Tel Aviv, Israeli medics say http://bbc.in/1yq8ikb
BBC Breaking News @BBCBreaking 3m3 minutes ago Update: Attacker in West Bank stabbing shot and in serious condition - earlier reports said assailant had died http://bbc.in/1yq8ikb
Even as a certified bleeding-heart liberal, the argument that immigrants "do jobs that Brits can't do / are unable to do" makes me wince. It wasn't that long ago that firms were expected to pay for young employees to have some training.
At some point, if we want to avoid "society" disintegrating altogether, we're going to have to ask ourselves whether businesses SHOULD be expected to have some social duties/responsibilities, rather than just being out to line their pockets as much as possible with the cheapest and most "efficient" labour they can find.
But what about the jobs that Brits 'won't' do?
They'll do them if you reduce their benefits for knocking jobs like that back
why would you take those jobs when you get more in benefits. It is the vicious circle of subsidised wages, so businesses can pay poverty wages and benefits that are much higher than the poverty wages. Lots and lots of people will just take the higher renumeration and who could blame them.
Conservative MPs who were sent to campaign in a crucial by-election have ended up licking envelopes in a back office after voters complained of too much “love-bombing” from the party.
As screaming eagles says, the hatred comes from UKIP. That you spout on about 'white' working class shows your prejudice and bigotry.
This kind of comment is the very thing Lord Ashcroft is annoyed about. The plain fact is that millions are either voting UKIP or contemplating it. The conservatives will need a deep reservoir of these votes to get anwhere close to the winning post.
In what world are you going to win someone's vote by labelling them a bigot.
Old Holborn @Holbornlolz 1h1 hour ago Government was invented to give us all a voice. We no longer need it. We haz Internetz.
Government was not invented to give us all a voice.
The internet has made one-to-many communication even more efficient than it was with radio and TV, it has made many-to-one communication possible to an extent never seen before, but it has thus far failed to crack the difficult problem of many-to-many communication that is necessary for a functioning democracy.
In some respects it has made many-to-many communication more difficult, because on the internet people inhabit closed silos - we choose who we communicate with, rather than having that choice made for us by circumstance and geography.
One voter told us she was going to vote UKIP because the personalised letter to her from Kelly Tolhurst contained lots of spelling errors.
I don't think that would make me vote UKIP, but it would definitely put me off voting for Tolhurst.
Amusing that really from Ukiper Taranto. For some years now Ukip have told us politicians are all the same which as a fair proportion of them originate from the public school, Oxbridge, lawyer/political adviser route and then choose the party most likely to further their career probably isn't that far off the truth. And I'm sure all of them can spell or use their spellcheckers very well. Tolhurst with her secondary modern education and small business background certainly doesn't fit that bill and just maybe given the pressures of her hectic campaigning she made a couple of spelling errors but then spelling isn't the strongest suit of a number of successful entrepreneurs I know. All parties need politicians cut from more than one cloth.
I remember my family receiving a letter from Caroline Bearder ,The Lib Dem MEP for the South East ,prior to the last Euro elections addressed to each of us as "Dear Friend". My wife immediately told me that she would never vote for anybody who called her a friend when she had never met them (though she would never have voted for them anyway of course). Little things...
Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet.
Or in UKIP land, enemies are just strangers you haven't met yet....
For all its faults I cannot see how UKIP is any worse than Labour or the Tories.
I would not wish to bore everyone to death with my long, detailed and referenced diatribe justifying that but I'm sure those on both sides would agree that I can do it with reference to the 'other' side.
If you make the assumption that they would not be any 'different' then you may be right. Of course this assumption would send kippers into apolplexy. But the reality is that kipper ministers would make as many mistakes as the next one when confronted by impossible decisions and no matter how certain you are about anything the law of unintended consequences always comes back to haunt you.
My view is they would be a lot worse (unless what they are saying now is a total pack of lies) but then again the very effort they make only gifts us a europhile labour govt lef by a crypto markist.
You are absolutely correct with respect to the actual people involved, they would not in the long term be any different.
Where I would disagree is that UKIP have a visibly different political philosophy, which however inchoate at the moment has a following, the fact that they may be saying two different things to two differing constituencies doesn't really matter, it's not new.
I would hope that they can come up with a relatively right-wing economic policy while being socially liberal. And get us the heck out of that dead duck the EU.
The direction of UKIP's travel is the reverse though isn't it? Socially conservative, economically liberal. The type of vote they're now getting is the WC Labour voters who voted for Thatcher.
I really can't understand the hatred of the WWW by the liberal metropolitan elite (middle classes) unless I see it as 'fear of'.
Is that right, do they scare you, those of the above bent (there seem plenty of you on here)?
As screaming eagles says, the hatred comes from UKIP. That you spout on about 'white' working class shows your prejudice and bigotry. What makes me laugh is you're so dim you cannot see how you are being played by Farage.
I don't 'spout on' about the WWC. Feel free to provide evidence.
There has been a long discussion today on sandwich making and whether we should import people to do it because 'workshy' Brits won't do it, and why they won't do it.
My comment was addressing some of those less than sympathetic to British workers, and previous comments, ineptly TLA'd as 'WWW'.
I 'spout on' about it so much I can't even get the TLA correct.
Not in particular disagreement. However, I would not have engaged Scipio in a stand up fight in those circumstances, fight them on the beaches? draw them out into line chasing a mirage as Wellington did to Marshall ? in Spain?
Mr. Bob, I can very strongly recommend the military histories/biographies by Theodore Ayrault Dodge of Alexander, Hannibal and Caesar, but be very wary when buying them as it seems abridged versions (which are *not* marked as abridged) have come onto the market. They're pretty hefty, around 700 pages for the first two and more for Caesar.
If you're considering buying one, I've got them and would be happy to confirm how many pages it should have (it looks like an identical [including typeface] version as the original release so the page number, I think, should remain consistent. Otherwise the maps and diagrams, of which there are many, may be missing).
For primary sources, Polybius and Livy are what you should go for. There's Appian too, apparently, but I've yet to read that. Polybius is more accurate but his account ends just after Cannae.
Dodge sounds very certain about stuff I thought was in doubt, such as how legions fought, for example. What, for example, are the contemporary sources that back up his claim the legions fought in a checkerboard pattern?
@GuidoFawkes: Uh oh. CBI aren't happy with Ed: "Labour’s tendency to market invention could deter investment."
@GuidoFawkes: So Ed Miliband went to see big business. He took awkward questions, said very little and then got a kicking from his hosts.
I remember Tony Blair at a CBI conference in Birmingham in 1997,shortly before the Election.He had the Midlands business community eating out of his hands and you knew he had the Election in the bag.Genuinely charismatic and charming but with apparent substance.We all know how it turned out of course but what a contrast with Ed.
'Someone linked on the last thread that there are 'secret' plans to further slash law & order and defence next year?'
What's the problem?
The UK has the most generous legal aid system by a country mile in the entire EU and our military spending is the highest of any EU country and we have the third largest military force in NATO. .
On legal aid I've been told by lawyer friends that it's been savagely cut back in the last year or so?
There was a lawyer on radio Scotland on Sunday whinging that he was only getting £48 an hour from the public to defend the great unwashed nowadays and what a travesty of justice it was to expect him to have to toil for such a pittance.
As screaming eagles says, the hatred comes from UKIP. That you spout on about 'white' working class shows your prejudice and bigotry.
This kind of comment is the very thing Lord Ashcroft is annoyed about. The plain fact is that millions are either voting UKIP or contemplating it. The conservatives will need a deep reservoir of these votes to get anwhere close to the winning post.
In what world are you going to win someone's vote by labelling them a bigot.
Yeah, I'm a terrible bigot because I want a a relatively right-wing economic policy while being socially liberal..
Immigration will be a minor issue for WWC jobs, compared to this... ROBOTS of the FUTURE will EXTERMINATE UK jobs – study One in three UK jobs will be performed by machine in as little as 20 years, according to a new study carried out by Deloitte and the University of Oxford.
Are Kippers anti-robots ? Coming over here taking our jobs !
Oh come on. We’ve heard this since the first powered loom was invented.
Well yes, except even burger flipping is about to disappear, these are being trialed right now and are proving a success http://momentummachines.com/
Kippers, the descendants of the Luddites. It makes a lot of sense.
Meanwhile, Britain has record numbers in employment.
There is a continuing trend for low skilled jobs to be replaced by machines, or moved off shore. A fair chunk of our population wasn't gifted with the abilities to do more than this. What's your great plan to give them the self respect and social contribution of a job then ? Sounds like "let them eat cake" to me.
In the longer run, we desperately need to improve our skills training and education for those in the middle. But while employment is still rising to record levels, worrying about where the jobs are coming from is all a bit chicken licken.
BBC Breaking News @BBCBreaking 25m25 minutes ago At least two Israelis wounded in a stabbing near West Bank settlement, reports say assailant shot dead http://bbc.in/1srGNSG
BBC Breaking News @BBCBreaking 12m12 minutes ago 14-year-old girl killed in West Bank stabbing hours hours after attack in Tel Aviv, Israeli medics say http://bbc.in/1yq8ikb
BBC Breaking News @BBCBreaking 3m3 minutes ago Update: Attacker in West Bank stabbing shot and in serious condition - earlier reports said assailant had died http://bbc.in/1yq8ikb
No doubt the left establishment will be up in arms at these wanton acts of brutal terrorism in Pales- oh wait....at these heroic acts against the evil Israel. Sorry got it right in the end.
I really can't understand the hatred of the WWW by the liberal metropolitan elite (middle classes) unless I see it as 'fear of'.
Is that right, do they scare you, those of the above bent (there seem plenty of you on here)?
As screaming eagles says, the hatred comes from UKIP. That you spout on about 'white' working class shows your prejudice and bigotry. What makes me laugh is you're so dim you cannot see how you are being played by Farage.
I do find it amusing to be told how much I hate. I am not sure what it is I hate but apparently I do and excessively so. I am grateful to Mr Eagles and Mr. Path for pointing this side of my personality/experience of life out to me, without them I might have gone on in a state of blissful ignorance.
I am also indebted to Mr. Path, and others, for pointing out how stupid I am. That came as quite a shock, having lived so long under the impression of being quite reasonably intelligent. Still at least I know now.
However, stupid and hate-filled though I am, I have never resorted to labelling people based on silly stereotypes. Saying all members of x group have y characteristic is at best rude at worst criminal. Regardless of where a particular example falls on the spectrum it is behaviour generally used, in my experience, by people who cannot make a coherent argument based on fact and logic.
For all its faults I cannot see how UKIP is any worse than Labour or the Tories.
I would not wish to bore everyone to death with my long, detailed and referenced diatribe justifying that but I'm sure those on both sides would agree that I can do it with reference to the 'other' side.
For all its faults I cannot see how UKIP is any worse than Labour or the Tories.
I would not wish to bore everyone to death with my long, detailed and referenced diatribe justifying that but I'm sure those on both sides would agree that I can do it with reference to the 'other' side.
If you make the assumption that they would not be any 'different' then you may be right. Of course this assumption would send kippers into apolplexy. But the reality is that kipper ministers would make as many mistakes as the next one when confronted by impossible decisions and no matter how certain you are about anything the law of unintended consequences always comes back to haunt you.
My view is they would be a lot worse (unless what they are saying now is a total pack of lies) but then again the very effort they make only gifts us a europhile labour govt lef by a crypto markist.
As opposed to a europhile Tory government led by a very slippery individual? Tories v Labour is splitting hairs.
You continue to demonstrate the dreamworld you live in. The tories nhave saisd they do not believem in and will not be a part of the EU's ever closer union. Osborne the other day said that the EU was turning in to a Euro Union and we were going to be outside it. The tories offer renegotiation and a referendum. The pretense you spout shows how far you have to go to justify your prejudice. Kippers hate. Its their common factor. In an earlier post you chastised Mr Smithson for pointing out Farage was happy to see us all poorer (except him of course) as part of leaving the EU the EU by quoting the same arguments as Ed Balls. UKIP are morphing into not just an intolerant party but a left wing totalitarian party - framed of course by crude nationalism.
@LordAshcroft: The campaign against Mark Reckless in Rochester & Strood is now sustained negative attacks against him rather than against UKIP. #willitwork
Which he invited with his duplicitous behaviour. Can't see this as a legitimate complaint.
Indeed. The traitorous pig dog deserves it all and more.
Tom Hulme @Thatcherite4 1h1 hour ago BBC interpretation of negative campaigning: Conservatives=desperate SNP=bullies UKIP=fascist and controversial Labour=making a good point
'Someone linked on the last thread that there are 'secret' plans to further slash law & order and defence next year?'
What's the problem?
The UK has the most generous legal aid system by a country mile in the entire EU and our military spending is the highest of any EU country and we have the third largest military force in NATO. .
On legal aid I've been told by lawyer friends that it's been savagely cut back in the last year or so?
There was a lawyer on radio Scotland on Sunday whinging that he was only getting £48 an hour from the public to defend the great unwashed nowadays and what a travesty of justice it was to expect him to have to toil for such a pittance.
How mean of the English not to give the whining Scotchman more English money! His arm must ache from holding his hand out for so long!
Why did George Osborne read the Guardian in the House of Commons?
Ed Balls did an article in the guardian last Friday about the 1.7bn.
George pointed out that not once did Ed mention the rebate.
Unlike the EU press release on 27/10/14
Which gave NO figures. Give it up - the public have spoken in favour of the government on this and Balls has been found out today by a cleverer opponent.
As screaming eagles says, the hatred comes from UKIP. That you spout on about 'white' working class shows your prejudice and bigotry.
This kind of comment is the very thing Lord Ashcroft is annoyed about. The plain fact is that millions are either voting UKIP or contemplating it. The conservatives will need a deep reservoir of these votes to get anwhere close to the winning post.
In what world are you going to win someone's vote by labelling them a bigot.
Then the intolerants should stop coming out with their racial 'ting tong' comments. They should also decide what the priorities of hate are. Poles are white and have a strong christian work ethic. But UKIP hate them. Putin of course is a totalitarian atheistic dictator and kippers love him. I guess because he is a crude nationalist which Farage and other thick kippers associate with 'strong'. Just how do you argue with proponents who spout this rubbish (as opposed to voters who are subject to the propaganda) without pointing out just what they are?
Not in particular disagreement. However, I would not have engaged Scipio in a stand up fight in those circumstances, fight them on the beaches? draw them out into line chasing a mirage as Wellington did to Marshall ? in Spain?
Mr. Bob, I can very strongly recommend the military histories/biographies by Theodore Ayrault Dodge of Alexander, Hannibal and Caesar, but be very wary when buying them as it seems abridged versions (which are *not* marked as abridged) have come onto the market. They're pretty hefty, around 700 pages for the first two and more for Caesar.
If you're considering buying one, I've got them and would be happy to confirm how many pages it should have (it looks like an identical [including typeface] version as the original release so the page number, I think, should remain consistent. Otherwise the maps and diagrams, of which there are many, may be missing).
For primary sources, Polybius and Livy are what you should go for. There's Appian too, apparently, but I've yet to read that. Polybius is more accurate but his account ends just after Cannae.
Dodge sounds very certain about stuff I thought was in doubt, such as how legions fought, for example. What, for example, are the contemporary sources that back up his claim the legions fought in a checkerboard pattern?
I'll get back to you when I find the £60 for "Hannibal: A History of the Art of War Among the Carthaginians and Romans Down to the Battle of Pydna, 168 BC, with a Detailed Account of the Second Punic War (Hardcover)" and I've read the ten volumes Livy wrote on the subject.
@LordAshcroft: The campaign against Mark Reckless in Rochester & Strood is now sustained negative attacks against him rather than against UKIP. #willitwork
Which he invited with his duplicitous behaviour. Can't see this as a legitimate complaint.
Indeed. The traitorous pig dog deserves it all and more.
For all its faults I cannot see how UKIP is any worse than Labour or the Tories.
I would not wish to bore everyone to death with my long, detailed and referenced diatribe justifying that but I'm sure those on both sides would agree that I can do it with reference to the 'other' side.
For all its faults I cannot see how UKIP is any worse than Labour or the Tories.
I would not wish to bore everyone to death with my long, detailed and referenced diatribe justifying that but I'm sure those on both sides would agree that I can do it with reference to the 'other' side.
If you make the assumption that they would not be any 'different' then you may be right. Of course this assumption would send kippers into apolplexy. But the reality is that kipper ministers would make as many mistakes as the next one when confronted by impossible decisions and no matter how certain you are about anything the law of unintended consequences always comes back to haunt you.
My view is they would be a lot worse (unless what they are saying now is a total pack of lies) but then again the very effort they make only gifts us a europhile labour govt lef by a crypto markist.
As opposed to a europhile Tory government led by a very slippery individual? Tories v Labour is splitting hairs.
You continue to demonstrate the dreamworld you live in. The tories nhave saisd they do not believem in and will not be a part of the EU's ever closer union. Osborne the other day said that the EU was turning in to a Euro Union and we were going to be outside it. The tories offer renegotiation and a referendum. The pretense you spout shows how far you have to go to justify your prejudice. Kippers hate. Its their common factor. In an earlier post you chastised Mr Smithson for pointing out Farage was happy to see us all poorer (except him of course) as part of leaving the EU the EU by quoting the same arguments as Ed Balls. UKIP are morphing into not just an intolerant party but a left wing totalitarian party - framed of course by crude nationalism.
You genuinely think that there are any circumstances under which Cameron will campaign for 'out' in an EU referendum? You are delusional.
As I've said before, I have no affiliation with UKIP. I'm a former Tory completely disillusioned with the party I was once a member of.
The only person on this website currently "spouting hate" is you - towards people who profess to sympathise with a political party you dislike.
If not minding that some people at the top get a little poorer if it led to the greater good of society makes me "intolerant", then, yes, I'm intolerant.
As screaming eagles says, the hatred comes from UKIP. That you spout on about 'white' working class shows your prejudice and bigotry.
This kind of comment is the very thing Lord Ashcroft is annoyed about. The plain fact is that millions are either voting UKIP or contemplating it. The conservatives will need a deep reservoir of these votes to get anwhere close to the winning post.
In what world are you going to win someone's vote by labelling them a bigot.
Then the intolerants should stop coming out with their racial 'ting tong' comments.
The Labour party has hired a Bolton-based betting expert to be its general election data guru after a bidding war with Ukip.
Ian Warren, 44, a self-taught election forecaster, spent the past 10 years working as a sole trader betting on election outcomes in the UK and the US.
Just like blogger Nate Silver across the Atlantic, Warren correctly predicted the electoral college in the 2008 and 2012 American elections, earning big money for his secretive corporate clients and funding his PhD in statistics and criminology at the University of Manchester.
He has no formal training in political science and operates outside the Westminster bubble, having just finished his thesis on the distribution of violence in Greater Manchester.
Why did George Osborne read the Guardian in the House of Commons?
Ed Balls did an article in the guardian last Friday about the 1.7bn.
George pointed out that not once did Ed mention the rebate.
Unlike the EU press release on 27/10/14
Which gave NO figures. Give it up - the public have spoken in favour of the government on this and Balls has been found out today by a cleverer opponent.
Which part of "Let me point out in this respect that the UK will benefit from the UK rebate for the additional payments in 2014. This will be budgeted in May 2015 when the UK rebate is recalculated." in the attached do you not understand.
The Labour party has hired a Bolton-based betting expert to be its general election data guru after a bidding war with Ukip.
Ian Warren, 44, a self-taught election forecaster, spent the past 10 years working as a sole trader betting on election outcomes in the UK and the US.
Just like blogger Nate Silver across the Atlantic, Warren correctly predicted the electoral college in the 2008 and 2012 American elections, earning big money for his secretive corporate clients and funding his PhD in statistics and criminology at the University of Manchester.
He has no formal training in political science and operates outside the Westminster bubble, having just finished his thesis on the distribution of violence in Greater Manchester.
Ashcroft's "UKIP shares my values" question, produces very similar numbers to Opinium's recent "I would vote UKIP if I thought they could win in my area" question.
The Labour party has hired a Bolton-based betting expert to be its general election data guru after a bidding war with Ukip.
Ian Warren, 44, a self-taught election forecaster, spent the past 10 years working as a sole trader betting on election outcomes in the UK and the US.
Just like blogger Nate Silver across the Atlantic, Warren correctly predicted the electoral college in the 2008 and 2012 American elections, earning big money for his secretive corporate clients and funding his PhD in statistics and criminology at the University of Manchester.
He has no formal training in political science and operates outside the Westminster bubble, having just finished his thesis on the distribution of violence in Greater Manchester.
As screaming eagles says, the hatred comes from UKIP. That you spout on about 'white' working class shows your prejudice and bigotry.
This kind of comment is the very thing Lord Ashcroft is annoyed about. The plain fact is that millions are either voting UKIP or contemplating it. The conservatives will need a deep reservoir of these votes to get anwhere close to the winning post.
In what world are you going to win someone's vote by labelling them a bigot.
Then the intolerants should stop coming out with their racial 'ting tong' comments. They should also decide what the priorities of hate are. Poles are white and have a strong christian work ethic. But UKIP hate them. Putin of course is a totalitarian atheistic dictator and kippers love him. I guess because he is a crude nationalist which Farage and other thick kippers associate with 'strong'. Just how do you argue with proponents who spout this rubbish (as opposed to voters who are subject to the propaganda) without pointing out just what they are?
I wonder if, while scheming behind Blair's back in support of his Master Mr Brown a decade ago, Ed Balls ever thought that a few years later he'd be so completely out-thought - nay utterly outclassed - on a daily basis by his opponent on what he must think is his home turf brief?
I secretly shuddered when I heard the news of Balls's Urgent Question this morning. Balls should have kept schtum. There was only going to be one outcome. Sigh.
That Conservative block is mighty solid. The essence of swingback, in fact - those that still support the government after 3+ years are genuinely a solid block, and the government will [normally] only add to them.
Comments
There was one thing stopping the Soviets, Mutually Assured Destruction.
The British Army trained for it, part of Corp training in some units was tactical nuclear warfare, this was, is no secret for a reason.
Guess what the TA were for, cannon fodder while the British Army retreated to prepared positions. Do you know what the German TA's job was, clear the roads of refugees for the retreating allied armies. 'Clear the roads' is a euphemism.
"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the majority discovers it can vote itself largess out of the public treasury."
Struggle to see how this will resonate with the public. He was a good guy in August when he was the Con candidate, now we are supposed to believe he is a bad guy?
That might work if they sacked him, but not when he left.. they just look bitter
Even Janan Ganesh was visibly embarrassed by their "US style" tv ad about Reckless on yesterdays Sunday Politics, and when voters were asked whether Reckless was fair game for abuse in Rochester , they came out for him
My view is they would be a lot worse (unless what they are saying now is a total pack of lies) but then again the very effort they make only gifts us a europhile labour govt lef by a crypto markist.
Old Holborn @Holbornlolz 1h1 hour ago
Government was invented to give us all a voice. We no longer need it. We haz Internetz.
@GuidoFawkes: So Ed Miliband went to see big business. He took awkward questions, said very little and then got a kicking from his hosts.
Meanwhile, Britain has record numbers in employment.
Where I would disagree is that UKIP have a visibly different political philosophy, which however inchoate at the moment has a following, the fact that they may be saying two different things to two differing constituencies doesn't really matter, it's not new.
I would hope that they can come up with a relatively right-wing economic policy while being socially liberal. And get us the heck out of that dead duck the EU.
As a Tory he was very much in favour, a hop and a skip to UKIP and in the blink of an eye he's vehemently against it. (Look's as if he enjoys the perks and benefits of being an MP too much to stick to any principles).
A bit like Carswell, and his newly found urges to smash the Westminster system, whilst he's happy to take the £285,000+ pension entitlements he gets from it.
BBC Breaking News @BBCBreaking 25m25 minutes ago
At least two Israelis wounded in a stabbing near West Bank settlement, reports say assailant shot dead http://bbc.in/1srGNSG
BBC Breaking News @BBCBreaking 12m12 minutes ago
14-year-old girl killed in West Bank stabbing hours hours after attack in Tel Aviv, Israeli medics say http://bbc.in/1yq8ikb
BBC Breaking News @BBCBreaking 3m3 minutes ago
Update: Attacker in West Bank stabbing shot and in serious condition - earlier reports said assailant had died http://bbc.in/1yq8ikb
Run for the hills, I'll bet.
Any normal person in there that night will be wondering which asylum is having their inmates Christmas party.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-29987033
Obviously, not everyone is happy: But environmental group WWF Scotland said the move was "irresponsible" and should be "a complete non-starter".
This kind of comment is the very thing Lord Ashcroft is annoyed about. The plain fact is that millions are either voting UKIP or contemplating it. The conservatives will need a deep reservoir of these votes to get anwhere close to the winning post.
In what world are you going to win someone's vote by labelling them a bigot.
And got smacked, again.
@DPJHodges: George Osborne has just given a masterclass in how to respond to a PNQ.
The internet has made one-to-many communication even more efficient than it was with radio and TV, it has made many-to-one communication possible to an extent never seen before, but it has thus far failed to crack the difficult problem of many-to-many communication that is necessary for a functioning democracy.
In some respects it has made many-to-many communication more difficult, because on the internet people inhabit closed silos - we choose who we communicate with, rather than having that choice made for us by circumstance and geography.
Stunning.
Ed Balls is crap as well.
Note to Labour, never appoint anyone called Ed as leader.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B2F0p0CIcAAPgtl.jpg
There has been a long discussion today on sandwich making and whether we should import people to do it because 'workshy' Brits won't do it, and why they won't do it.
My comment was addressing some of those less than sympathetic to British workers, and previous comments, ineptly TLA'd as 'WWW'.
I 'spout on' about it so much I can't even get the TLA correct.
Much better that pensioners freeze to death and people in heavy industry are sacked by the boatload.
http://www.lowestoftjournal.co.uk/news/loss_of_lowestoft_wind_turbine_project_is_major_blow_says_bob_blizzard_1_3835896
Sunil Prasannan @Sunil_P2 · 17h17 hours ago
Sunil on Sunday ELBOW (Electoral Leader-Board Of the Week) update 9th Nov. Lab 33.4%, Con 31.6%, UKIP 16.3%, LD 7.8%
https://twitter.com/Sunil_P2/status/531584914605764609
I'm such a bigot.
I am also indebted to Mr. Path, and others, for pointing out how stupid I am. That came as quite a shock, having lived so long under the impression of being quite reasonably intelligent. Still at least I know now.
However, stupid and hate-filled though I am, I have never resorted to labelling people based on silly stereotypes. Saying all members of x group have y characteristic is at best rude at worst criminal. Regardless of where a particular example falls on the spectrum it is behaviour generally used, in my experience, by people who cannot make a coherent argument based on fact and logic.
George pointed out that not once did Ed mention the rebate.
The tories nhave saisd they do not believem in and will not be a part of the EU's ever closer union. Osborne the other day said that the EU was turning in to a Euro Union and we were going to be outside it.
The tories offer renegotiation and a referendum.
The pretense you spout shows how far you have to go to justify your prejudice. Kippers hate. Its their common factor. In an earlier post you chastised Mr Smithson for pointing out Farage was happy to see us all poorer (except him of course) as part of leaving the EU the EU by quoting the same arguments as Ed Balls. UKIP are morphing into not just an intolerant party but a left wing totalitarian party - framed of course by crude nationalism.
Lord Ashcroft @LordAshcroft
Ashcroft National Poll, 7-9 November: CON 30%, LAB 29%, LDEM 10%, UKIP 16%, GRN 7%. Full details on @ConHome, 4pm.
Con (nc) Lab (nc) LD (nc) UKIP (no change) Greens (plus 1)
BBC interpretation of negative campaigning:
Conservatives=desperate
SNP=bullies
UKIP=fascist and controversial
Labour=making a good point
(though as its field-work ended on Sunday, we will include it in next week's ELBOW.)
#megapollingmonday
Just how do you argue with proponents who spout this rubbish (as opposed to voters who are subject to the propaganda) without pointing out just what they are?
I may be some time.
Proportion saying Labour were “a united party”, down eight points to 27% in @LordAshcroft
As I've said before, I have no affiliation with UKIP. I'm a former Tory completely disillusioned with the party I was once a member of.
The only person on this website currently "spouting hate" is you - towards people who profess to sympathise with a political party you dislike.
If not minding that some people at the top get a little poorer if it led to the greater good of society makes me "intolerant", then, yes, I'm intolerant.
http://littlebritain.wikia.com/wiki/Dudley_and_Ting_Tong
The Labour party has hired a Bolton-based betting expert to be its general election data guru after a bidding war with Ukip.
Ian Warren, 44, a self-taught election forecaster, spent the past 10 years working as a sole trader betting on election outcomes in the UK and the US.
Just like blogger Nate Silver across the Atlantic, Warren correctly predicted the electoral college in the 2008 and 2012 American elections, earning big money for his secretive corporate clients and funding his PhD in statistics and criminology at the University of Manchester.
He has no formal training in political science and operates outside the Westminster bubble, having just finished his thesis on the distribution of violence in Greater Manchester.
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/nov/10/labour-party-ukip-data-ian-warren?CMP=share_btn_tw
'Yeah, I'm a terrible bigot because I want a a relatively right-wing economic policy while being socially liberal..'
The perfect profile for the Lib Dems,at least the orange part.
Osbournes blatant lie will be found out
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_SPEECH-14-723_en.htm
@MSmithsonPB: Mid points on the SportingIndex http://t.co/ERIjhtuNTk Commons seats spreads
LAB 294 seats
CON 276
LD 28
UKIP 9
SNP 21
Not sure of the others.
Ashcroft: current-Con 31%, current-Lab 18%, current-LD 22%
Opinium: current-Con 33%, current-Lab 17%, current-LD 25%
p.19
http://lordashcroftpolls.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/ANP-141110-Full-tables.pdf
p.37
http://ourinsight.opinium.co.uk/sites/ourinsight.opinium.co.uk/files/vi_21_10_2014_tables.pdf
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B2F6KVACMAA3HMZ.jpg:large
Meanwhile, UKIP lite have lifted another policy from the party they apparently hate.. this time the Sovereign Wealth Fund from Shale Gas
I secretly shuddered when I heard the news of Balls's Urgent Question this morning. Balls should have kept schtum. There was only going to be one outcome. Sigh.
39% wrong IMO!!!
There were so many straw men in that post of Flightpath's it is untrue.