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  • TGOHF said:

    Neil said:

    Charles said:

    If a £50,000 donation buys unparalleled access to the Tory leadership, what do the unions get in return for their investment in Labour?
    A government that represents ordinary working people? The scandal!
    Ordinary people in the private sector don't join unions..
    Must tell my son that -he's an USDAW rep in a Morrisons.
  • isamisam Posts: 41,118

    isam said:
    What was she doing in the Ukraine?
    No idea. It seems truly bizarre
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 82,507
    edited November 2014
    Anybody convinced by angry Ed? Nice easy questions / no real follow up from Robinson...with hard hitting ones like "aren't the media nasty to you"...

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-30025957
  • isamisam Posts: 41,118
    For any football fan with time to spare tomorrow, the Argentina team will be training in Rush Green, Romford, with the West Ham youth teams... Probably the best chance you'll get to see one if the worlds best ever players up close
  • NeilNeil Posts: 7,983

    Neil said:

    banning it seems a perverse measure to me.

    They werent banned.
    Ah, ok. Closing them seems so then
    Indeed. Not the Catholic church's finest hour but not her darkest hour of recent times either.

  • manofkent2014manofkent2014 Posts: 1,543
    edited November 2014
    HYUFD said:

    ManofKent But it was more his level!

    Well only in the sense that being in the Championship 'is more the level' of a Ryman Isthmian League player than the Premier League is....
  • JonnyJimmyJonnyJimmy Posts: 2,548
    @Neil‌ while you're here, and TSE maybe still too, does he think you're an idiot?

    Offering to close out your green/LD vote share at the rate he's offering when if you wanted to you could do it at less than half the price at ladbrokes.

    Aren't you insulted?
  • NeilNeil Posts: 7,983


    Aren't you insulted?

    Oh gosh. No reason to be that thin skinned about things. It's only the internet.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 123,880
    Charles After 10 years in government people want a change, and Umunna being the first black PM would help him too, Obama was never as good as Clinton, but he had some similarities and he won, just as Umunna has some Blair similarities too
  • NickPalmerNickPalmer Posts: 21,564

    Anybody convinced by angry Ed? Nice easy questions / no real follow up from Robinson...with hard hitting ones like "aren't the media nasty to you"...

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-30025957

    I thought it was exceptionally good - and I've not been saying that routinely.
  • JonnyJimmyJonnyJimmy Posts: 2,548
    edited November 2014
    Neil said:


    Aren't you insulted?

    Oh gosh. No reason to be that thin skinned about things. It's only the internet.
    But I know you know him off the internet, and I know others know you both as well, and he's proposing that you should accept his derisory offer.

    Can't you at least insult him back in a similar way? It would make it more fun for those of us keeping half an eye on your bet!
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 123,880
    ManofKent 2014 People invest in leaders what they want, Umunna basically has to beat his Hillary Clinton ie Yvette Cooper and John Edwards ie Andy Burnham and then his John McCain, say David Davis in 2020 and the premiership is his
  • HYUFD said:

    EdinTokyo Hague and Ed Miliband are OK cabinet minister material but disastrous as party leaders, by any objective measure other than party ideology Clarke would have been chosen to take on Blair not Hague or IDS and David Miliband would have been chosen to take on Cameron, not Brown or Ed Miliband. A similar error was made by Labour in 1983 when Foot was chosen instead of Healey and arguably in 1964 when Home was chosen instead of Butler

    Miliband designed the insane energy policies this country has! He was a bloody disaster as a minister!
    See the problem? This is the kind of thing first-time opposition leaders have to deal with.

    BTW on the specifics I don't think it's right. The energy markets were designed by Prescott and Mandelson, and as energy minister Ed Miliband wasn't able to enact the reform that he's now proposing. (This reform is basically, undo what Prescott and Mandelson did and go back to the John Major design.)
    From what I can see Prescott and Mandelson had nothing to do with it:Cameron did as did Ed's brother:

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/11171445/Ed-Miliband-and-Baroness-Worthington-the-most-expensive-man-and-woman-in-Britains-history.html
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 123,880
    ManofKent Obama can also be arrogant and sneery and went to private school and Harvard
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 123,880
    MofK I think we get the point he was not predestined for leadership
  • JonnyJimmyJonnyJimmy Posts: 2,548

    Anybody convinced by angry Ed? Nice easy questions / no real follow up from Robinson...with hard hitting ones like "aren't the media nasty to you"...

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-30025957

    I thought it was exceptionally good - and I've not been saying that routinely.
    I guess with so many of your past/future colleagues briefing against him you might be slightly improving your chances of a better job by being so supportive in the unlikely event of him winning
  • NinoinozNinoinoz Posts: 1,312
    Neil said:

    Ninoinoz said:

    SeanT said:

    SeanT said:

    Incendiary. If true.

    "School governor told to resign for being a member of UKIP".

    http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-London/2014/11/12/School-Governor-Told-to-Resign-For-Being-a-Member-of-UKIP/

    Whilst I think this is awful, if true, and though I'm definitely not trying to make any equivalence between the two parties, I'm tempted to ask.. Would anyone think it appalling if the same had happened to a BNP member? Or if BNP members had been prevented from adopting?

    Personally, I think it would be justified for BNP members. But where do we draw the line?

    If it were actually because the people are racists who happen to be UKIP members, would that make it ok?
    I think it would be appalling if they were BNP members. If a political party is legal, it is legal. End of. And I'd say the same about Sinn Fein or the SWP or the Lib Dems.
    If my sister and my parents had a fatal accident, and I were completely unable to look after my nephew, and I were to find out he'd been adopted by BNP members, I'd be appalled.

    And if I found out that he was at a school run by BNP members I'd feel similarly appalled.

    I don't have any kids of my own but I know you do. How would you feel about your daughter in an equivalent scenario?
    Well, perhaps you can understand my anger at the closure of the Catholic adoption agencies in England.
    It was a rather shocking abdication of responsibility on the part of the Catholic church, wasnt it? Sadly proving to be more interested in issues of private sexuality than the welfare of children yet again.
    This discussion will be continued at Dirty Dicks.

    See you there!
  • NeilNeil Posts: 7,983

    Neil said:


    Aren't you insulted?

    Oh gosh. No reason to be that thin skinned about things. It's only the internet.
    But I know you know him off the internet, and I know others know you both as well, and he's proposing that you should accept his derisory offer.

    Can't you at least insult him back in a similar way? It would make it more fun for those of us keeping half an eye on your bet!
    I'm not sure how having once met TSE at a PB drinks affects things. That's as often as I've met you at a PB drinks.

  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,578
    edited November 2014

    Anybody convinced by angry Ed? Nice easy questions / no real follow up from Robinson...with hard hitting ones like "aren't the media nasty to you"...

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-30025957

    I thought it was exceptionally good - and I've not been saying that routinely.
    I wouldn't say it was exceptional, but I do think if the debates happen (and Cameron is the most likely reason they wouldn't, which would make him look bad anyway), Miliband will surprise many. As someone said the other day, expectations of Ed M in such a setting are very low, but I've seen him deliver reasonable speeches, he is after all a political animal with decades of experience behind the scenes, so even lacking a lot of personal charisma, he can string words together decently enough on occasion, and whether one thinks his plans are nonsensical, there are plenty of his announcements which are popular, taking on energy companies and the like, and will play well to people seeing him prominently for the first time.

    I doubt he will be any more than a middling PM, given economic constraints it would be hard to be anyway, but the work has been started by his opponents, and so long as he can avoid the temptation to do some pointless and expensive restructuring of pet projects which end up as financial white elephants, he probably won't be a terrible one either.

    Ed M: Probably not as bad as you think.

    And good night.
  • manofkent2014manofkent2014 Posts: 1,543
    edited November 2014
    HYUFD said:

    ManofKent 2014 People invest in leaders what they want, Umunna basically has to beat his Hillary Clinton ie Yvette Cooper and John Edwards ie Andy Burnham and then his John McCain, say David Davis in 2020 and the premiership is his

    HYUFD said:

    ManofKent Obama can also be arrogant and sneery and went to private school and Harvard

    And the US is not the UK. The US is not as divided in its demographics as the UK. Unless you can contextualise between the two countries there is no point carrying on. We had our Obama moment with the Cleggasm and it came to nothing. We just don't get suckered the way America can. It will not repeat itself either and especially for such an unpleasant politician as Umunna but hey if you are wasting your money on him go for it.
  • john_zimsjohn_zims Posts: 3,399
    @manofkent2014

    'Chuckie is too sneery, too arrogant, too easily rattled and too easily ripped to shreds in interviews'

    Chuckie Umuna / Harrison is a Champagne socialist personified.
  • JonnyJimmyJonnyJimmy Posts: 2,548
    Neil said:

    Neil said:


    Aren't you insulted?

    Oh gosh. No reason to be that thin skinned about things. It's only the internet.
    But I know you know him off the internet, and I know others know you both as well, and he's proposing that you should accept his derisory offer.

    Can't you at least insult him back in a similar way? It would make it more fun for those of us keeping half an eye on your bet!
    I'm not sure how having once met TSE at a PB drinks affects things. That's as often as I've met you at a PB drinks.

    Wow, really only once! I thought you knew each other better. I didn't realise was there at such a moment
  • http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/nov/12/ched-evans-sheffield-united-pressure-grows

    "Clegg, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: “I think the owners need to think really long and hard about the fact that when you take a footballer on, you are not taking just a footballer these days, you are also taking on a role model.

    “You are taking on a role model, particularly for a lot of young boys who look up to their heroes on a football pitch in a team like that, and he has committed a very serious crime.”"

    Clearly I wasn't at the trial or anything, but..

    Are there any actual liberals in the liberal democrats? Why not just leave it and not say anthing?
  • AndyJSAndyJS Posts: 29,395
    edited November 2014
    "as the Telegraph goes through "the change": virtually all Telegraph bloggers are on ice."

    What change is this?
  • HYUFD said:

    Charles After 10 years in government people want a change, and Umunna being the first black PM would help him too, Obama was never as good as Clinton, but he had some similarities and he won, just as Umunna has some Blair similarities too

    Obama has been incredibly mediocre in so many ways. But this climate deal with the Chinese is soemthing pretty good. Though perhaps the Chinese were driving it. As, y'know , the lobbying industry may not be so strong in China, and they govt maybe have people in it who understand "the science bit"
  • NeilNeil Posts: 7,983
    Ninoinoz said:

    Neil said:

    Ninoinoz said:

    SeanT said:

    SeanT said:

    Incendiary. If true.

    "School governor told to resign for being a member of UKIP".

    http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-London/2014/11/12/School-Governor-Told-to-Resign-For-Being-a-Member-of-UKIP/

    Whilst I think this is awful, if true, and though I'm definitely not trying to make any equivalence between the two parties, I'm tempted to ask.. Would anyone think it appalling if the same had happened to a BNP member? Or if BNP members had been prevented from adopting?

    Personally, I think it would be justified for BNP members. But where do we draw the line?

    If it were actually because the people are racists who happen to be UKIP members, would that make it ok?
    I think it would be appalling if they were BNP members. If a political party is legal, it is legal. End of. And I'd say the same about Sinn Fein or the SWP or the Lib Dems.
    If my sister and my parents had a fatal accident, and I were completely unable to look after my nephew, and I were to find out he'd been adopted by BNP members, I'd be appalled.

    And if I found out that he was at a school run by BNP members I'd feel similarly appalled.

    I don't have any kids of my own but I know you do. How would you feel about your daughter in an equivalent scenario?
    Well, perhaps you can understand my anger at the closure of the Catholic adoption agencies in England.
    It was a rather shocking abdication of responsibility on the part of the Catholic church, wasnt it? Sadly proving to be more interested in issues of private sexuality than the welfare of children yet again.
    This discussion will be continued at Dirty Dicks.

    See you there!
    I'll be the one plying you with shots with a hopeful look in my eye.

  • hunchmanhunchman Posts: 2,591
    Scott_P said:

    @Election4castUK: Latest forecast update: Con 289, Lab 281, LD 19, SNP 35, UKIP 4. More details at http://t.co/xknSIRJugY

    Would be amazing to see a result like that, and all the chaos of the negotiations in the aftermath!

    One MP who I hope hangs on after I saw him give a very accomplished and polished speech on Pensions yesterday is Steve Webb - was very impressed. Equally I would be delighted to see Ed Davey lose his seat if Guido is correct. Still its a blessing that his time is taken with matters in Kingston and Surbiton, instead of dreaming up more ruinous AGW based legislation.

    8 days left to R&S, it seems to have crept up quickly over the past hectic 10 days that I've had since last commenting on here.
  • hunchmanhunchman Posts: 2,591
    Neil said:

    Ninoinoz said:

    Neil said:

    Ninoinoz said:

    SeanT said:

    SeanT said:

    Incendiary. If true.

    "School governor told to resign for being a member of UKIP".

    http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-London/2014/11/12/School-Governor-Told-to-Resign-For-Being-a-Member-of-UKIP/

    Whilst I think this is awful, if true, and though I'm definitely not trying to make any equivalence between the two parties, I'm tempted to ask.. Would anyone think it appalling if the same had happened to a BNP member? Or if BNP members had been prevented from adopting?

    Personally, I think it would be justified for BNP members. But where do we draw the line?

    If it were actually because the people are racists who happen to be UKIP members, would that make it ok?
    I think it would be appalling if they were BNP members. If a political party is legal, it is legal. End of. And I'd say the same about Sinn Fein or the SWP or the Lib Dems.
    If my sister and my parents had a fatal accident, and I were completely unable to look after my nephew, and I were to find out he'd been adopted by BNP members, I'd be appalled.

    And if I found out that he was at a school run by BNP members I'd feel similarly appalled.

    I don't have any kids of my own but I know you do. How would you feel about your daughter in an equivalent scenario?
    Well, perhaps you can understand my anger at the closure of the Catholic adoption agencies in England.
    It was a rather shocking abdication of responsibility on the part of the Catholic church, wasnt it? Sadly proving to be more interested in issues of private sexuality than the welfare of children yet again.
    This discussion will be continued at Dirty Dicks.

    See you there!
    I'll be the one plying you with shots with a hopeful look in my eye.

    And me too I hope Neil - thanks in advance!
  • Neil said:

    Neil said:


    Aren't you insulted?

    Oh gosh. No reason to be that thin skinned about things. It's only the internet.
    But I know you know him off the internet, and I know others know you both as well, and he's proposing that you should accept his derisory offer.

    Can't you at least insult him back in a similar way? It would make it more fun for those of us keeping half an eye on your bet!
    I'm not sure how having once met TSE at a PB drinks affects things. That's as often as I've met you at a PB drinks.

    Wow, really only once! I thought you knew each other better. I didn't realise was there at such a moment
    We've been chatting on PB for years so it's all fun.

    Plus I'm just winding up Neil.

    I know my bet's probably a loser so I'm trying to minimise my loss or call it a trading bet.

    Plus if I really wanted to insult Neil I'd tell him I'm contemplating a double bet on Ireland winning the Grand Slam and World Cup next year.
  • manofkent2014manofkent2014 Posts: 1,543
    edited November 2014

    http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/nov/12/ched-evans-sheffield-united-pressure-grows

    "Clegg, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: “I think the owners need to think really long and hard about the fact that when you take a footballer on, you are not taking just a footballer these days, you are also taking on a role model.

    “You are taking on a role model, particularly for a lot of young boys who look up to their heroes on a football pitch in a team like that, and he has committed a very serious crime.”"

    Clearly I wasn't at the trial or anything, but..

    Are there any actual liberals in the liberal democrats? Why not just leave it and not say anthing?

    Isn't it priceless reading such things from the lips of a drunken arsonist who keeps count of his conquests?
  • HYUFD said:

    EdinTokyo Hague and Ed Miliband are OK cabinet minister material but disastrous as party leaders, by any objective measure other than party ideology Clarke would have been chosen to take on Blair not Hague or IDS and David Miliband would have been chosen to take on Cameron, not Brown or Ed Miliband. A similar error was made by Labour in 1983 when Foot was chosen instead of Healey and arguably in 1964 when Home was chosen instead of Butler

    Miliband designed the insane energy policies this country has! He was a bloody disaster as a minister!
    See the problem? This is the kind of thing first-time opposition leaders have to deal with.

    BTW on the specifics I don't think it's right. The energy markets were designed by Prescott and Mandelson, and as energy minister Ed Miliband wasn't able to enact the reform that he's now proposing. (This reform is basically, undo what Prescott and Mandelson did and go back to the John Major design.)
    From what I can see Prescott and Mandelson had nothing to do with it:Cameron did as did Ed's brother:

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/11171445/Ed-Miliband-and-Baroness-Worthington-the-most-expensive-man-and-woman-in-Britains-history.html
    Ah, I see what you're getting at, you don't like renewables.
  • manofkent2014manofkent2014 Posts: 1,543
    edited November 2014

    HYUFD said:

    EdinTokyo Hague and Ed Miliband are OK cabinet minister material but disastrous as party leaders, by any objective measure other than party ideology Clarke would have been chosen to take on Blair not Hague or IDS and David Miliband would have been chosen to take on Cameron, not Brown or Ed Miliband. A similar error was made by Labour in 1983 when Foot was chosen instead of Healey and arguably in 1964 when Home was chosen instead of Butler

    Miliband designed the insane energy policies this country has! He was a bloody disaster as a minister!
    See the problem? This is the kind of thing first-time opposition leaders have to deal with.

    BTW on the specifics I don't think it's right. The energy markets were designed by Prescott and Mandelson, and as energy minister Ed Miliband wasn't able to enact the reform that he's now proposing. (This reform is basically, undo what Prescott and Mandelson did and go back to the John Major design.)
    From what I can see Prescott and Mandelson had nothing to do with it:Cameron did as did Ed's brother:

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/11171445/Ed-Miliband-and-Baroness-Worthington-the-most-expensive-man-and-woman-in-Britains-history.html
    Ah, I see what you're getting at, you don't like renewables.
    I have no problem with efficient renewables. No I don't like watching braindead politicians throwing away what little wealth we have!
  • hunchmanhunchman Posts: 2,591
    HYUFD said:

    Charles Butler did not give a good conference speech, but Wilson is said to have confided that had he faced Butler in 1964 and not Home he would never have entered Downing Street

    Was great to catch a bit of it earlier on this evening. I particularly like the pre-ordained assumed same order of the candidates on the results sheets before hand, with quite a few Liberals beating Labour or the Tories into 2nd place to mess things up! A little bit made of how the Labour vote only went up about 0.5%, and mainly Tory to Liberal swing did for Mr Douglas-Home. Also, would never have guessed that Lord Lawson would have been on the coverage 10 years before becoming an MP. And as for all those Norfolk marginals, just shows the incredible decline of the agricultural trade union vote that Labour enjoyed in that part of the world 50 years ago.
  • JonnyJimmyJonnyJimmy Posts: 2,548

    http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/nov/12/ched-evans-sheffield-united-pressure-grows

    "Clegg, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: “I think the owners need to think really long and hard about the fact that when you take a footballer on, you are not taking just a footballer these days, you are also taking on a role model.

    “You are taking on a role model, particularly for a lot of young boys who look up to their heroes on a football pitch in a team like that, and he has committed a very serious crime.”"

    Clearly I wasn't at the trial or anything, but..

    Are there any actual liberals in the liberal democrats? Why not just leave it and not say anthing?

    Isn't it priceless reading such things from the lips of a drunken arsonist who keeps count of his conquests?
    If I were him I'd offer a bet on England would do against the saffers compared to Ireland last week!
  • hunchmanhunchman Posts: 2,591

    HYUFD said:

    EdinTokyo Hague and Ed Miliband are OK cabinet minister material but disastrous as party leaders, by any objective measure other than party ideology Clarke would have been chosen to take on Blair not Hague or IDS and David Miliband would have been chosen to take on Cameron, not Brown or Ed Miliband. A similar error was made by Labour in 1983 when Foot was chosen instead of Healey and arguably in 1964 when Home was chosen instead of Butler

    Miliband designed the insane energy policies this country has! He was a bloody disaster as a minister!
    See the problem? This is the kind of thing first-time opposition leaders have to deal with.

    BTW on the specifics I don't think it's right. The energy markets were designed by Prescott and Mandelson, and as energy minister Ed Miliband wasn't able to enact the reform that he's now proposing. (This reform is basically, undo what Prescott and Mandelson did and go back to the John Major design.)
    From what I can see Prescott and Mandelson had nothing to do with it:Cameron did as did Ed's brother:

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/11171445/Ed-Miliband-and-Baroness-Worthington-the-most-expensive-man-and-woman-in-Britains-history.html
    Ah, I see what you're getting at, you don't like renewables.
    I have no problem with efficient renewables. No I don't like watching braindead politicians throwing away what little wealth we have!
    Quite right manofkent. Are we going to be graced by your company a week on Friday?
  • JonnyJimmyJonnyJimmy Posts: 2,548

    http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/nov/12/ched-evans-sheffield-united-pressure-grows

    "Clegg, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: “I think the owners need to think really long and hard about the fact that when you take a footballer on, you are not taking just a footballer these days, you are also taking on a role model.

    “You are taking on a role model, particularly for a lot of young boys who look up to their heroes on a football pitch in a team like that, and he has committed a very serious crime.”"

    Clearly I wasn't at the trial or anything, but..

    Are there any actual liberals in the liberal democrats? Why not just leave it and not say anthing?

    Isn't it priceless reading such things from the lips of a drunken arsonist who keeps count of his conquests?
    If I were him I'd offer a bet on England would do against the saffers compared to Ireland last week!
    Oops, meant to reply to TSE .. Definitely time for bed! ✌️
  • hunchmanhunchman Posts: 2,591
    Great to see that Steve Baker (my favourite Tory MP now Mr Carswell has left) has secured a debate on Money Creation and Society on the 20th November. The first time we've had such a debate in 170 years! Long long overdue!

    http://www.positivemoney.org/2014/11/uk-parliament-debate-money-creation-first-time-170-years/
  • hunchman said:

    HYUFD said:

    EdinTokyo Hague and Ed Miliband are OK cabinet minister material but disastrous as party leaders, by any objective measure other than party ideology Clarke would have been chosen to take on Blair not Hague or IDS and David Miliband would have been chosen to take on Cameron, not Brown or Ed Miliband. A similar error was made by Labour in 1983 when Foot was chosen instead of Healey and arguably in 1964 when Home was chosen instead of Butler

    Miliband designed the insane energy policies this country has! He was a bloody disaster as a minister!
    See the problem? This is the kind of thing first-time opposition leaders have to deal with.

    BTW on the specifics I don't think it's right. The energy markets were designed by Prescott and Mandelson, and as energy minister Ed Miliband wasn't able to enact the reform that he's now proposing. (This reform is basically, undo what Prescott and Mandelson did and go back to the John Major design.)
    From what I can see Prescott and Mandelson had nothing to do with it:Cameron did as did Ed's brother:

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/11171445/Ed-Miliband-and-Baroness-Worthington-the-most-expensive-man-and-woman-in-Britains-history.html
    Ah, I see what you're getting at, you don't like renewables.
    I have no problem with efficient renewables. No I don't like watching braindead politicians throwing away what little wealth we have!
    Quite right manofkent. Are we going to be graced by your company a week on Friday?
    A week on Friday? If thats the next DD's night no unfortunately. I do not travel up to town very often these days.
  • FlightpathFlightpath Posts: 4,012

    http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/nov/12/ched-evans-sheffield-united-pressure-grows

    "Clegg, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: “I think the owners need to think really long and hard about the fact that when you take a footballer on, you are not taking just a footballer these days, you are also taking on a role model.

    “You are taking on a role model, particularly for a lot of young boys who look up to their heroes on a football pitch in a team like that, and he has committed a very serious crime.”"

    Clearly I wasn't at the trial or anything, but..

    Are there any actual liberals in the liberal democrats? Why not just leave it and not say anthing?

    Isn't it priceless reading such things from the lips of a drunken arsonist who keeps count of his conquests?
    What comet have you landed on?
  • http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/nov/12/ched-evans-sheffield-united-pressure-grows

    "Clegg, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: “I think the owners need to think really long and hard about the fact that when you take a footballer on, you are not taking just a footballer these days, you are also taking on a role model.

    “You are taking on a role model, particularly for a lot of young boys who look up to their heroes on a football pitch in a team like that, and he has committed a very serious crime.”"

    Clearly I wasn't at the trial or anything, but..

    Are there any actual liberals in the liberal democrats? Why not just leave it and not say anthing?

    Isn't it priceless reading such things from the lips of a drunken arsonist who keeps count of his conquests?
    wow, that is pretty braindead. I hadn't read about the cacti before. if you're going to arson it would be good to get a worthwhile target, at least



  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 123,880
    ManofKent The similarities are there we had Callaghan the US had Carter, we had Thatcher, the US had Reagan, we had Major, they had Bush Snr, we had Blair, the US had Clinton, etc

    I also see no one else after Cameron who is a better bet than Umunna
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 123,880
    dugarbandier Indeed, just hope the GOP don't torpedo it
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 123,880
    hunchman Indeed, it was one of the tightest postwar elections
  • FlightpathFlightpath Posts: 4,012

    Neil said:

    Other players have played after convictions, though this fellow seems not to have expressed remorse.

    Tbf that is because he still maintains his innocence (which he is entitled to do even if others are entitled to presume his guilt given his conviction).

    There have been a number of high profile recent cases of sports stars losing contracts / being fined etc. over quite outrageous behaviour in their personal lives (google Ray Rice if you havent heard of the case already).

    The bottom line is that if you're an entertainer then you are subject to the whim of popular opinion. I dont expect Rolf Harris to be launching a comeback after he is released from prison.
    Leslie Grantham did all right for himself.
    Clunk. A nail being hit on the head there. But I doubt the BBC have such self awareness.
  • HYUFD said:

    dugarbandier Indeed, just hope the GOP don't torpedo it

    "the triumph of hope over experience"!

    I don't know how this works really, can the GOP derail it before Obama leaves office? My impression is that China is really serious about it so hopefully woould continue pressure into the next presidency

    not least because of this problem:

    http://www.tenki.jp/particulate_matter/
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 123,880
    dugarbandier Indeed, but now the GOP have the Senate as well as the House it will face a difficult passage, though they lack the 60 votes to force through their own laws
  • manofkent2014manofkent2014 Posts: 1,543
    edited November 2014
    HYUFD said:

    ManofKent The similarities are there we had Callaghan the US had Carter, we had Thatcher, the US had Reagan, we had Major, they had Bush Snr, we had Blair, the US had Clinton, etc

    I also see no one else after Cameron who is a better bet than Umunna

    If only politics were so simple. I'll tell you who is a better bet and that's Cooper and Burnham (and I do not rate Burnham) who have performed vastly better than Umunna in the last 4 years.

    Furthermore given Umunna is a Miliband loyalist if Miliband is thrown out its unlikely one of his supporters will succeed him. If I were going to make a guess it would be Cooper.

    With Brown still significant in the party a Brownite is the favourite. Cooper is probably the most competent Brownite there has been and of course hubby will provide additional muscle in her campaign. She is also from sound union stock, with a comp education and of course it would mean that Labour would have a woman leading them. She's been a government minister and has held a number of cabinet positions and has been an MP for 15 years. Umunna in comparison is a novice with little experience and none in government. Cooper also has major links with the US Democrats having worked for the Clintons. That she was born in Scotland given Labour's Scottish problems may well work in her favour as well. Certainly it would resonate up there far better than being a London public school boy come City lawyer.

    From that perspective its not even a contest between Cooper and Umunna. Cooper walks it.....

    PS And how do you think Dave will do up against a woman of Cooper's calibre in PMQ's?


  • PS And how do you think Dave will do up against a woman of Cooper's calibre in PMQ's?

    i dunno, boorish laddish nonsense seems to be popular around the world (cf Top Gear)
  • RodCrosbyRodCrosby Posts: 7,737
    hunchman said:

    HYUFD said:

    Charles Butler did not give a good conference speech, but Wilson is said to have confided that had he faced Butler in 1964 and not Home he would never have entered Downing Street

    Was great to catch a bit of it earlier on this evening. I particularly like the pre-ordained assumed same order of the candidates on the results sheets before hand, with quite a few Liberals beating Labour or the Tories into 2nd place to mess things up! A little bit made of how the Labour vote only went up about 0.5%, and mainly Tory to Liberal swing did for Mr Douglas-Home. Also, would never have guessed that Lord Lawson would have been on the coverage 10 years before becoming an MP. And as for all those Norfolk marginals, just shows the incredible decline of the agricultural trade union vote that Labour enjoyed in that part of the world 50 years ago.
    Interesting the Tories put up several 'celebrity' candidates in possibly winnable seats. The two McWhirters, Ted Dexter, Jimmy Edwards(!).

    The was a rumour earlier this year that Ken Dodd was seeking the Tory nomination in Cannock...
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 123,880
    ManofKent Burnham did not even come in the top 3 in the last Labour leadership contest and Yvette Cooper is basically a UK Hillary, good on substance but lacking flair, it would be tight but Umunna still beats her in my view and he did far better than her in Sunday's Survation poll. When Brown lost the election Miliband E, a Brown loyalist, succeeded him, but of course Umunna also has Blairite support too so backing across the party
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 123,880
    edited November 2014
    ManofKent Hillary made much of her lower middle class Midwestern, state high school background and her 'lifetime of experience' too as Cooper will, but in the end she lost to the slick privately educated, metropolitan, fresh faced black lawyer too
  • corporealcorporeal Posts: 2,549
    isam said:

    corporeal said:

    SeanT said:

    Charles said:

    Roger said:


    "So Dave was right about gay marriage it seems, though I think even the kippers are coming round to it. Small c conservatism is fading."

    Roger, you should listen with both ears.. many on r2 contradicted the police officer to say he had served long enough. I don't agree ,.. he should rot in prison for what he did...., but hey lets not let the truth get in the way of a political point.
    But surely the point is one of natural justice: he has served the penalty that the law deemed appropriate. Now that has been completed, he should be allowed to resume his humdrum existence without fear or favour.

    If you believe he served too short a sentence, get the law changed. Don't prevent him working.
    Interestingly on this, the "market" seems to be working. Two of Sheffield Utd's shirt sponsors have said they'll withdraw their support if they reemploy him.
    What I find odd about this. In recent years there have been 2 footballers jailed for killing people and a number of others for rape / sexual assault. The two killers came out and resumed their careers without hardly any of this noise.

    Where was the media outrage in relation to those cases?
    It's a f*cking disgrace is what it is. The man has served his time. Now, having repaid his debt to society, he is being randomly given an extra-judicial punishment, on top of his sentence. He is prevented from doing the only job at which he is any good, just because some people on Twitter are upset. So he must be forced into penury, too.

    I hope he takes his employers to Strasbourg and sues them to oblivion.


    Football is an entertainment industry, there's no value in being good at football as such, there's value in people paying to watch (etc) and sponsors wanted to be involved with you because of that.

    Off-field actions inevitably play a part in that value, if people feel that he is less entertaining because of his off-field actions then that means he is not as good at his job.
    The fans don't think that though, they literally sing his praises.. So does that make him better at his job now?
    Given a couple of sponsors have said they don't want to be associated with the club if he is, probably not.

  • JohnLoonyJohnLoony Posts: 1,790
    HYUFD said:

    Charles Butler did not give a good conference speech, but Wilson is said to have confided that had he faced Butler in 1964 and not Home he would never have entered Downing Street

    Charles Butler? Do you mean R[ichard] A[usten] "Rab" Butler?

  • manofkent2014manofkent2014 Posts: 1,543
    edited November 2014
    HYUFD said:

    ManofKent Hillary made much of her lower middle class Midwestern, state high school background and her 'lifetime of experience' too as Cooper will, but in the end she lost to the slick privately educated, metropolitan, fresh faced black lawyer too

    Then sell your house and all your possessions and back Umunna to the hilt but excuse me if I do not follow you into being a victim of political crassness. Umunna is no Obama. Umunna is not slick. He's a arrogant dick!
  • JohnLoonyJohnLoony Posts: 1,790
    Did somebody mention Chuka Umunna? People (i.e. the media) seem to have been tipping him as a future prime minister (the British Obama, if you like) ever since he was first elected as an MP in 2010. I don't understand why. Apart from being relatively young, relatively good-looking and relatively black compared with most MPs, what's he supposed to have achieved? What is his special talent or ability? Nothing out of the ordinary, as far as I can tell.
  • RodCrosbyRodCrosby Posts: 7,737
    edited November 2014
    On the subject of Norfolk Agricultural Socialism, it began with this guy:-
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Edwards_(British_politician)

    Although Wiki doesn't state it, I have read elsewhere that his defeated Tory opponent chivalrously bought him a suit to enable him to take his seat in Parliament.

    MacDonald's first government faced similar difficulties when meeting the King in 1924. History doesn't record how that was resolved... (^_-)
  • JohnLoony said:

    Did somebody mention Chuka Umunna? People (i.e. the media) seem to have been tipping him as a future prime minister (the British Obama, if you like) ever since he was first elected as an MP in 2010. I don't understand why. Apart from being relatively young, relatively good-looking and relatively black compared with most MPs, what's he supposed to have achieved? What is his special talent or ability? Nothing out of the ordinary, as far as I can tell.

    you could say the same of Obama before he became president?
  • TapestryTapestry Posts: 153
    election will be rigged to keep cameron in command. Like Blair he’s agreed to go into every war as required by washington. The rest is simply tosh to bamboozle the voters into thinking they chose him.
  • IndigoIndigo Posts: 9,966
    Ninoinoz said:

    SeanT said:

    SeanT said:

    Incendiary. If true.

    "School governor told to resign for being a member of UKIP".

    http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-London/2014/11/12/School-Governor-Told-to-Resign-For-Being-a-Member-of-UKIP/

    Whilst I think this is awful, if true, and though I'm definitely not trying to make any equivalence between the two parties, I'm tempted to ask.. Would anyone think it appalling if the same had happened to a BNP member? Or if BNP members had been prevented from adopting?

    Personally, I think it would be justified for BNP members. But where do we draw the line?

    If it were actually because the people are racists who happen to be UKIP members, would that make it ok?
    I think it would be appalling if they were BNP members. If a political party is legal, it is legal. End of. And I'd say the same about Sinn Fein or the SWP or the Lib Dems.
    If my sister and my parents had a fatal accident, and I were completely unable to look after my nephew, and I were to find out he'd been adopted by BNP members, I'd be appalled.

    And if I found out that he was at a school run by BNP members I'd feel similarly appalled.

    I don't have any kids of my own but I know you do. How would you feel about your daughter in an equivalent scenario?
    Well, perhaps you can understand my anger at the closure of the Catholic adoption agencies in England.

    Please note that my grandfather was adopted through the Church back in the old country.
    I struggle to understand how adoption agencies are not allow to act in accordance with their religious conscience, and yet apparently midwifes are.
  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 10,903
    If Ed wishes to hang on (and on) do Labour have a mechanism to force him out? It seems (based on my skimpy research this morning) that doing so requires an annual party conference. Is that right, or have I missed something.

    Of course practically if there's clamour enough they'll undoubtedly find a way to oust him.

    Yvette Cooper has publically stated she doesn't want to be leader, as has Johnson (more convincingly). Burnham who came 4th last time seems to have some momentum, but coming 4th last time - just marginally ahead of Diane Abbot is something of a millstone.

    So... Chuka.. he's hardly a heavyweight, and it seems pretty unlikely to me that he'd get the support of the front bench generally, but he's probably an upgrade to Ed!
  • Omnium said:

    If Ed wishes to hang on (and on) do Labour have a mechanism to force him out? It seems (based on my skimpy research this morning) that doing so requires an annual party conference. Is that right, or have I missed something.

    Of course practically if there's clamour enough they'll undoubtedly find a way to oust him.

    You are basically correct Mr Ominium - If a party leader refuses to step down, the first hurdle is to force a “no confidence” motion at Party conference – this requires 20 per cent of the party’s MPs calling for a change of leadership, which works out as 51 out of the party’s current 257 MPs I believe, however, all of the signatories must also back the same named alternative candidate.

    Should any rebels get as far as gathering enough names, they would get a “card vote” at a party conference. In theory this could be a specially-called conference taking place within weeks; in reality however, this would normally take place at Labour’s annual conference.
    Following the ‘rule book’ makes it rather difficult to oust a party leader whilst in opposition, the rules for ousting a sitting Labour PM are high on impossible.

  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 123,880
    dugarbandier/ManofKent Exactly
This discussion has been closed.