Cyclefree - ask yourself this. You complain about Labour not being on the side of aspirational, hard working, reasonably affluent and responsible people. Wouldn't those characteristics describe most senior people in the Labour party? Are they really likely to be so hostile towards their own kind?
Well, no, that's not what I see when I look at most senior people in the Labour party.
I see people who are far wealthier than me, who have come from more privileged backgrounds than me - (my parents never owned the home I grew up in and at one point the landlord kept it in such poor repair that the local council declared it unfit for human habitation under the 1952 Housing Act and mandated a huge amount of repairs) - who had more privileged schooling than my parents were able to get me and who then abolished the schooling I benefited from, who benefited from legal tax avoiding trusts (e.g. Mrs Hodge), who worked all their lives in well-paid jobs and who move in a rather closed social circle and who have a tendency to sneer at the views of Italian/Irish immigrants (my parents). I see people who are good at providing opportunities for their own offspring but see no equivalent desire to make it easy for others children to break into the charmed circles in which they operate. I see people who don't look as if they worry about where their children will live and how they will afford it or what happens if they're made redundant in their fifties or the value of their pension or how they're going to pay for their retirement or why their savings are being eaten away. I don't see people who feel that they will have to work forever to try and help their children with university fees and rent and house deposits and everything else. I see people who are exempt from the taxes they impose on others.
And when I look at them from the perspective of my husband's family in Cumbria, senior Labour politicians may as well come from that comet the Rosetta just landed on.
In fact, senior Labour politicians look rather more like senior Tory politicians than they do to me or any of my friends and colleagues.
Mr. Observer, Dyson recently complained that the EU was damaging innovation by excessive regulation, and that we should leave to escape German bullies.
It was more a complaint about how the regs were being rigged in favour of the Germans AND suppressing innovation which leads to uncompetitiveness in the global economy. What is sadly missing from our EC partners is any realisation amongst most of the Leaders that Europe's social costs and regulations have to be reduced. There is as yet no momentum for radical change outside of the UK.
Compare R&D spend in the UK to the rest of Europe. We are middling, at best, and below the European average:
Cyclefree - ask yourself this. You complain about Labour not being on the side of aspirational, hard working, reasonably affluent and responsible people. Wouldn't those characteristics describe most senior people in the Labour party? Are they really likely to be so hostile towards their own kind?
Well, no, that's not what I see when I look at most senior people in the Labour party.
I see people who are far wealthier than me, who have come from more privileged backgrounds than me - (my parents never owned the home I grew up in and at one point the landlord kept it in such poor repair that the local council declared it unfit for human habitation under the 1952 Housing Act and mandated a huge amount of repairs) - who had more privileged schooling than my parents were able to get me and who then abolished the schooling I benefited from, who benefited from legal tax avoiding trusts (e.g. Mrs Hodge), who worked all their lives in well-paid jobs and who move in a rather closed social circle and who have a tendency to sneer at the views of Italian/Irish immigrants (my parents). I see people who are good at providing opportunities for their own offspring but see no equivalent desire to make it easy for others children to break into the charmed circles in which they operate. I see people who don't look as if they worry about where their children will live and how they will afford it or what happens if they're made redundant in their fifties or the value of their pension or how they're going to pay for their retirement or why their savings are being eaten away. I don't see people who feel that they will have to work forever to try and help their children with university fees and rent and house deposits and everything else. I see people who are exempt from the taxes they impose on others.
And when I look at them from the perspective of my husband's family in Cumbria, senior Labour politicians may as well come from that comet the Rosetta just landed on.
In fact, senior Labour politicians look rather more like senior Tory politicians than they do to me or any of my friends and colleagues.
I could well have this wrong as have only just heard Cleggs comments about EU benefits...
Isnt a bit ridiculous to say EU citizens are only entitled to in work benefits once they have paid into the system for a while, so as to pay for them? If someone is earning so little they are entitled to in work benefits, they will barely pay any tax anyway will they?
Yes but it sounds rational. What we would get is a reduction in the attraction of low paid jobs here to Ec citizens. That is the gain.
Of course it may or may not have to be applied to the young UK people, which also reduces the attraction of benefit kids etc etc.
Ah yes that does make sense, although I don't think it will make much difference. Economic migrants don't come here for the state benefits, they are just a bonus
I'm not sure what data somebody could have to tempt them to lump on at odds on for SNP to get the most Scottish seats. It'd have to be something constituency based..
I could well have this wrong as have only just heard Cleggs comments about EU benefits...
Isnt a bit ridiculous to say EU citizens are only entitled to in work benefits once they have paid into the system for a while, so as to pay for them? If someone is earning so little they are entitled to in work benefits, they will barely pay any tax anyway will they?
Yes but it sounds rational. What we would get is a reduction in the attraction of low paid jobs here to Ec citizens. That is the gain.
Of course it may or may not have to be applied to the young UK people, which also reduces the attraction of benefit kids etc etc.
Ah yes that does make sense, although I don't think it will make much difference. Economic migrants don't come here for the state benefits, they are just a bonus
F1: more Twittery - apparently the radio restrictions are to be axed for 2015. Presumably the bigwigs realised all the info was just going to be sent via screens in the steering wheel and very subtle codes like "Fernando is faster than you".
Edited extra bit: with the scrapping of the standing start insanity and double points, F1's in danger of making rule changes that are sensible and popular.
Just in case anyone is wondering if SLab are still in the shit or not this tweet is not a spoof:
KatyClarkMP "abolishing Trident could win back 20% of the SNP vote"
Are we about to see a massive split in Labour over Trident?
Katy's a member of the Campaign Group and has always favoured getting rid of Trident. I agree with her and note that Tony Blair, not exactly a prominent leftie, says in his autobiography that he seriously considered scrapping it. But I don't think there's a massive split and it's not an argument I expect to win, partly because the savings are pretty long-term because of the different phasing of the contracts.
The curious thing about this - and some parts of her running mateMr Findlay's recent speeches - is that they are positive arguments for independence: they deal with matters which are retained by Westminster, so (edit: apart from their being irrelevant to campaigning for Holyrood leadership of what one of us calls the North British Branch of Labour), the only way the Scots can do anything about them is ...
You compete by being better in terms of quality and innovation.
I guess it depends on what your notion of society boils down to. For me - and I suspect most on the left - it is a consensual relationship based on the premise that its existence is about ensuring the best possible opportunities for the highest number of people. A race to the bottom in terms of wages, working conditions and job security does not deliver on that.
Would that the left did believe as you say. Miliband is still fighting his dad's class war. nothing very consensual in his approach - bash the bankers, bash the rich, bash private education.....
Mr. Observer, Dyson recently complained that the EU was damaging innovation by excessive regulation, and that we should leave to escape German bullies.
It was more a complaint about how the regs were being rigged in favour of the Germans AND suppressing innovation which leads to uncompetitiveness in the global economy. What is sadly missing from our EC partners is any realisation amongst most of the Leaders that Europe's social costs and regulations have to be reduced. There is as yet no momentum for radical change outside of the UK.
Compare R&D spend in the UK to the rest of Europe. We are middling, at best, and below the European average:
And yet we have annualised growth at 3% with unemployment lower than most of Europe. We're not where we need to be but let's not pretend the answer lies with european protectionism and pretend the rest of the world doesen't exist..
Normally polling averages are conducted using a [possibly weighted] arithmetic mean. But there are other averages!
So far this month there have been 37 GB opinion polls, of which 11 (30%) have given a Labour lead of 1%, which is the mode of the distribution.
Any idea on when the ComRes phone poll for November is due? It will be published either this evening, or tomorrow evening, if it will make a weekday Independent before the end of the month...
If a Labour government leant on the Charity Commission to introduce a similar rule change, it would likely meet with the same fate. It could try another method of forcing independent schools to comply with this new edict, such as amending a statutory instrument, but that would almost certainly fall foul of the Human Rights Act because it would be discriminatory to require certain charities to jump through various hoops and not others. The chances of Hunt's proposal ever seeing the light of day are, therefore, pretty remote.
My reluctant conclusion is that this is yet another gimmick, much like Hunt's suggestion that teachers should swear the educational equivalent of a Hippocratic oath. The difference is, this latest wheeze is unlikely to be mercilessly ridiculed on Twitter. Independent schools are a soft target and any attack on them will always go down well with Labour's base. But do they deserve to be constantly pilloried in this way, particularly by politicians who have themselves benefited from a public school education?
No to sure if it was entirely wise of that Labour MP to raise white van man......The Labour front bench was a picture when Cameron replied to the first white van question.....
Mr. Observer, Dyson recently complained that the EU was damaging innovation by excessive regulation, and that we should leave to escape German bullies.
It was more a complaint about how the regs were being rigged in favour of the Germans AND suppressing innovation which leads to uncompetitiveness in the global economy. What is sadly missing from our EC partners is any realisation amongst most of the Leaders that Europe's social costs and regulations have to be reduced. There is as yet no momentum for radical change outside of the UK.
Cyclefree - ask yourself this. You complain about Labour not being on the side of aspirational, hard working, reasonably affluent and responsible people. Wouldn't those characteristics describe most senior people in the Labour party? Are they really likely to be so hostile towards their own kind?
Well, no, that's not what I see when I look at most senior people in the Labour party.
I see people who are far wealthier than me, who have come from more privileged backgrounds than me - (my parents never owned the home I grew up in and at one point the landlord kept it in such poor repair that the local council declared it unfit for human habitation under the 1952 Housing Act and mandated a huge amount of repairs) - who had more privileged schooling than my parents were able to get me and who then abolished the schooling I benefited from, who benefited from legal tax avoiding trusts (e.g. Mrs Hodge), who worked all their lives in well-paid jobs and who move in a rather closed social circle and who have a tendency to sneer at the views of Italian/Irish immigrants (my parents). I see people who are good at providing opportunities for their own offspring but see no equivalent desire to make it easy for others children to break into the charmed circles in which they operate. I see people who don't look as if they worry about where their children will live and how they will afford it or what happens if they're made redundant in their fifties or the value of their pension or how they're going to pay for their retirement or why their savings are being eaten away. I don't see people who feel that they will have to work forever to try and help their children with university fees and rent and house deposits and everything else. I see people who are exempt from the taxes they impose on others.
And when I look at them from the perspective of my husband's family in Cumbria, senior Labour politicians may as well come from that comet the Rosetta just landed on.
In fact, senior Labour politicians look rather more like senior Tory politicians than they do to me or any of my friends and colleagues.
Cyclefree - ask yourself this. You complain about Labour not being on the side of aspirational, hard working, reasonably affluent and responsible people. Wouldn't those characteristics describe most senior people in the Labour party? Are they really likely to be so hostile towards their own kind?
Well, no, that's not what I see when I look at most senior people in the Labour party.
I see people who are far wealthier than me, who have come from more privileged backgrounds than me - (my parents never owned the home I grew up in and at one point the landlord kept it in such poor repair that the local council declared it unfit for human habitation under the 1952 Housing Act and mandated a huge amount of repairs) - who had more privileged schooling than my parents were able to get me and who then abolished the schooling I benefited from, who benefited from legal tax avoiding trusts (e.g. Mrs Hodge), who worked all their lives in well-paid jobs and who move in a rather closed social circle and who have a tendency to sneer at the views of Italian/Irish immigrants (my parents). I see people who are good at providing opportunities for their own offspring but see no equivalent desire to make it easy for others children to break into the charmed circles in which they operate. I see people who don't look as if they worry about where their children will live and how they will afford it or what happens if they're made redundant in their fifties or the value of their pension or how they're going to pay for their retirement or why their savings are being eaten away. I don't see people who feel that they will have to work forever to try and help their children with university fees and rent and house deposits and everything else. I see people who are exempt from the taxes they impose on others.
And when I look at them from the perspective of my husband's family in Cumbria, senior Labour politicians may as well come from that comet the Rosetta just landed on.
In fact, senior Labour politicians look rather more like senior Tory politicians than they do to me or any of my friends and colleagues.
Cyclefree - ask yourself this. You complain about Labour not being on the side of aspirational, hard working, reasonably affluent and responsible people. Wouldn't those characteristics describe most senior people in the Labour party? Are they really likely to be so hostile towards their own kind?
Well, no, that's not what I see when I look at most senior people in the Labour party.
I see people who are far wealthier than me, who have come from more privileged backgrounds than me - (my parents never owned the home I grew up in and at one point the landlord kept it in such poor repair that the local council declared it unfit for human habitation under the 1952 Housing Act and mandated a huge amount of repairs) - who had more privileged schooling than my parents were able to get me and who then abolished the schooling I benefited from, who benefited from legal tax avoiding trusts (e.g. Mrs Hodge), who worked all their lives in well-paid jobs and who move in a rather closed social circle and who have a tendency to sneer at the views of Italian/Irish immigrants (my parents). I see people who are good at providing opportunities for their own offspring but see no equivalent desire to make it easy for others children to break into the charmed circles in which they operate. I see people who don't look as if they worry about where their children will live and how they will afford it or what happens if they're made redundant in their fifties or the value of their pension or how they're going to pay for their retirement or why their savings are being eaten away. I don't see people who feel that they will have to work forever to try and help their children with university fees and rent and house deposits and everything else. I see people who are exempt from the taxes they impose on others.
And when I look at them from the perspective of my husband's family in Cumbria, senior Labour politicians may as well come from that comet the Rosetta just landed on.
In fact, senior Labour politicians look rather more like senior Tory politicians than they do to me or any of my friends and colleagues.
Laughable.
Then you go off and vote for the Party that encompasses all these privileges and a whole lot more.
As if the Tories give a stuff for people like you! Don't flatter youself, because they don't.
In fact, senior Labour politicians look rather more like senior Tory politicians than they do to me or any of my friends and colleagues.
Never has a quote needed a reference from Animal Farm more than this one.
Orwell is a particular hero of mine.
His essays are a model of clear thinking and good writing. He thought for himself. He had courage, moral clarity and decency.
We could do with someone like him today.
Very true. It's nearly 30 years since I read Animal Farm at school, and there are still passages which sit oh-so-brightly in my mind. Remarkable.
His essay on Politics and the English Language is brilliant.. He describes political language - and this could apply now just as much as it did in the 1940's - as"designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind."
And this - "The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one's real and one's declared aims, one turns as it were instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish spurting out ink."
F1: more Twittery - apparently the radio restrictions are to be axed for 2015. Presumably the bigwigs realised all the info was just going to be sent via screens in the steering wheel and very subtle codes like "Fernando is faster than you".
Edited extra bit: with the scrapping of the standing start insanity and double points, F1's in danger of making rule changes that are sensible and popular.
Oh I'm sure they'll think up some more WTFery for next season (as per usual)
In fact, senior Labour politicians look rather more like senior Tory politicians than they do to me or any of my friends and colleagues.
Never has a quote needed a reference from Animal Farm more than this one.
Orwell is a particular hero of mine.
His essays are a model of clear thinking and good writing. He thought for himself. He had courage, moral clarity and decency.
We could do with someone like him today.
Very true. It's nearly 30 years since I read Animal Farm at school, and there are still passages which sit oh-so-brightly in my mind. Remarkable.
His essay on Politics and the English Language is brilliant.. He describes political language - and this could apply now just as much as it did in the 1940's - as"designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind."
And this - "The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one's real and one's declared aims, one turns as it were instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish spurting out ink."
Quite right, and if I get the chance to debate Thornberry next year, I will use that essay as the inspiration for my approach
re Trident - scrapping it would only save Scotland 10% of the cost but a massive % of the impact of Faslane being shut.
Seems crazy to me - or is it just an intentional distraction from the epic welfare and education problems in Scotland that the "social justice" parties want to avoid talking about ?
Just in case anyone is wondering if SLab are still in the shit or not this tweet is not a spoof: KatyClarkMP "abolishing Trident could win back 20% of the SNP vote"
Are we about to see a massive split in Labour over Trident?
Katy's a member of the Campaign Group and has always favoured getting rid of Trident. I agree with her and note that Tony Blair, not exactly a prominent leftie, says in his autobiography that he seriously considered scrapping it. But I don't think there's a massive split and it's not an argument I expect to win, partly because the savings are pretty long-term because of the different phasing of the contracts.
Nick, thanks. I suggest that there is a massive difference between a member of a faction in the party holding a view fundamentally different to the main party's policy and one that could occupy a Leadrship role albeit in north britain. The manifesto that Labour will have in 2015 would become ... interesting?
PS Tone stood on any anti-nuke promise when first elected as an MP. A promise he never kept. He just dropped it before going for the Leader role.
amazing how kippers are pessimistic about everything apart from their MP prospects....
Dan Hodges@DPJHodges·4 mins4 minutes ago @oflynnmep No, you've got a good line going in nicking other people's MPs. Not so quite good at creating your own MPs though. 0 replies0 retweets1 favorite
Well, no, that's not what I see when I look at most senior people in the Labour party.
I see people who are good at providing opportunities for their own offspring but see no equivalent desire to make it easy for others children to break into the charmed circles in which they operate. I see people who don't look as if they worry about where their children will live and how they will afford it or what happens if they're made redundant in their fifties or the value of their pension or how they're going to pay for their retirement or why their savings are being eaten away. I don't see people who feel that they will have to work forever to try and help their children with university fees and rent and house deposits and everything else. I see people who are exempt from the taxes they impose on others.
Laughable.
Then you go off and vote for the Party that encompasses all these privileges and a whole lot more.
As if the Tories give a stuff for people like you! Don't flatter youself, because they don't.
How the hell do you know who I vote for? You don't. So don't make incorrect assumptions about me.
Labour increased the tax on my elderly widowed mother by 100% when they abolished the 10p tax rate. The NHS which Labour are elevating into a sacred cow killed my father because the junior doctors went on strike and so he did not get the operation to remove a cancerous tumour done early enough. And that happened long before Thatcher became PM and apparently invented selfishness. Those junior doctors were not being selfish, oh no. And when he died in early 1979 we had to worry about whether he was going to be buried.
One thing I do know is that Labour didn't give a stuff about my parents and don't give a stuff about me or my family. And that contempt is returned in kind. They may not want or need my vote, of course. One day they might and I have a long memory.
But this debate started because Nick Palmer pointed out - in relation to the Tories - that parties need to respect voters even if hey can do nothing for them and I pointed out that that applied to Labour too. Nick is, by the way, a polite and thoughtful poster who did me the honour of engaging with my comment not dismissing it and making unfounded accusations.
Orwell is rightly praised for the vigour of his writing and his independence of mind, but he was also very left-wing and anti-establishment in his views. He despised the monarchy, the British Empire and the House of Lords, and wanted to see the abolition of public schools. I'm not sure that his many fans on the right fully appreciate that.
Dan Hodges @DPJHodges 46s47 seconds ago London, England .@oflynnmep Let's test. I'll also streak naked down Whitehall if Mark Reckless holds his seat next May. You'll do it if he loses. Deal?
Dan would surely be better betting with ISAM at odds of 11/10 that Mr Reckless will lose.... like i have £100 on...
Dan Hodges@DPJHodges·2 mins2 minutes ago London, England .@oflynnmep Let's test. I'll also streak naked down Whitehall if Mark Reckless holds his seat next May. You'll do it if he loses. Deal?
Dan Hodges @DPJHodges 46s47 seconds ago London, England .@oflynnmep Let's test. I'll also streak naked down Whitehall if Mark Reckless holds his seat next May. You'll do it if he loses. Deal?
Not exactly a tempting deal for O'Flynn, as Hodges will have to do it anyway if UKIP have any MP, and also Hodges made his original pledge back when he thought UKIP had very little chance of getting an MP
Cyclefree - ask yourself this. You complain about Labour not being on the side of aspirational, hard working, reasonably affluent and responsible people. Wouldn't those characteristics describe most senior people in the Labour party? Are they really likely to be so hostile towards their own kind?
Well, no, that's not what I see when I look at most senior people in the Labour party.
I see people who are far wealthier than me, who have come from more privileged backgrounds than me - (my parents never owned the home I grew up in and at one point the landlord kept it in such poor repair that the local council declared it unfit for human habitation under the 1952 Housing Act and mandated a huge amount of repairs) - who had more privileged schooling than my parents were able to get me and who then abolished the schooling I benefited from, who benefited from legal tax avoiding trusts (e.g. Mrs Hodge), who worked all their lives in well-paid jobs and who move in a rather closed social circle and who have a tendency to sneer at the views of Italian/Irish immigrants (my parents). I see people who are good at providing opportunities for their own offspring but see no equivalent desire to make it easy for others children to break into the charmed circles in which they operate. I see people who don't look as if they worry about where their children will live and how they will afford it or what happens if they're made redundant in their fifties or the value of their pension or how they're going to pay for their retirement or why their savings are being eaten away. I don't see people who feel that they will have to work forever to try and help their children with university fees and rent and house deposits and everything else. I see people who are exempt from the taxes they impose on others.
And when I look at them from the perspective of my husband's family in Cumbria, senior Labour politicians may as well come from that comet the Rosetta just landed on.
In fact, senior Labour politicians look rather more like senior Tory politicians than they do to me or any of my friends and colleagues.
Candidate for Post of the Year. Bravo.
Agreed. Cyclefree "Well, no, that's not what I see when I look at most senior people in the Labour party."
Dan Hodges @DPJHodges 46s47 seconds ago London, England .@oflynnmep Let's test. I'll also streak naked down Whitehall if Mark Reckless holds his seat next May. You'll do it if he loses. Deal?
Not exactly a tempting deal for O'Flynn, as Hodges will have to do it anyway if UKIP have any MP, and also Hodges made his original pledge back when he thought UKIP had very little chance of getting an MP
If you are reading Patrick, don't agree!
Update..
Patrick O'Flynn @oflynnmep 5m5 minutes ago @DPJHodges Dan the idiotic "I will run naked if..." is regarded very much as your thing! Honestly not my style. Will source u a mankini tho!
Dan Hodges @DPJHodges 4m4 minutes ago London, England .@oflynnmep Yes, I thought that would be your response. Start phoning the recruitment consultants @MarkReckless...
Dan Hodges @DPJHodges 46s47 seconds ago London, England .@oflynnmep Let's test. I'll also streak naked down Whitehall if Mark Reckless holds his seat next May. You'll do it if he loses. Deal?
Not exactly a tempting deal for O'Flynn, as Hodges will have to do it anyway if UKIP have any MP, and also Hodges made his original pledge back when he thought UKIP had very little chance of getting an MP
If you are reading Patrick, don't agree!
The chance of Carswell losing his seat is quite remote, so Hodges better get in training now.
Dan would surely be better betting with ISAM at odds of 11/10 that Mr Reckless will lose.... like i have £100 on...
Dan Hodges@DPJHodges·2 mins2 minutes ago London, England .@oflynnmep Let's test. I'll also streak naked down Whitehall if Mark Reckless holds his seat next May. You'll do it if he loses. Deal?
Mental note: regardless of Rochester outcome, avoid Whitehall on May 8.
Orwell is rightly praised for the vigour of his writing and his independence of mind, but he was also very left-wing and anti-establishment in his views. He despised the monarchy, the British Empire and the House of Lords, and wanted to see the abolition of public schools. I'm not sure that his many fans on the right fully appreciate that.
They may not. I do. He's a writer I turn to over and over again.
Were I able to write commentary like his I would be delighted. There is a need for it.
So much of what passes for commentary nowadays is little more than the repetition of received cliche.
Dan Hodges @DPJHodges 46s47 seconds ago London, England .@oflynnmep Let's test. I'll also streak naked down Whitehall if Mark Reckless holds his seat next May. You'll do it if he loses. Deal?
Not exactly a tempting deal for O'Flynn, as Hodges will have to do it anyway if UKIP have any MP,
I thought the original DH bet was on Ukip vote shares - not MPs - may be wrong.
re Trident - scrapping it would only save Scotland 10% of the cost but a massive % of the impact of Faslane being shut.
Seems crazy to me - or is it just an intentional distraction from the epic welfare and education problems in Scotland that the "social justice" parties want to avoid talking about ?
Even the MOD say only 512 jobs in Scotland rely on Trident.
You can see in the first few seconds of this video on YouTube how quickly the moment passes. One blow and the attacker is gone, melting back into the crowd. The force used is actually fairly low, so I would say the intention was to strike the glass rather than break it.
Utter utter BS. Nobody goes up to a glass window with a piece of 2 by 4 just to give the window a tap. If you wanted to give people a shock inside, you just slap on the glass with your hand.
Dan Hodges @DPJHodges 46s47 seconds ago London, England .@oflynnmep Let's test. I'll also streak naked down Whitehall if Mark Reckless holds his seat next May. You'll do it if he loses. Deal?
Not exactly a tempting deal for O'Flynn, as Hodges will have to do it anyway if UKIP have any MP,
I thought the original DH bet was on Ukip vote shares - not MPs - may be wrong.
Actually I think you are right, it was 5% wasn't it?
Either way he is big odds on to have to do the streak though
Dan Hodges @DPJHodges 46s47 seconds ago London, England .@oflynnmep Let's test. I'll also streak naked down Whitehall if Mark Reckless holds his seat next May. You'll do it if he loses. Deal?
Not exactly a tempting deal for O'Flynn, as Hodges will have to do it anyway if UKIP have any MP,
I thought the original DH bet was on Ukip vote shares - not MPs - may be wrong.
You can see in the first few seconds of this video on YouTube how quickly the moment passes. One blow and the attacker is gone, melting back into the crowd. The force used is actually fairly low, so I would say the intention was to strike the glass rather than break it.
Utter utter BS. Nobody goes up to a glass window with a piece of 2 by 4 just to give the window a tap. If you wanted to give people a shock inside, you just slap on the glass with your hand.
It's bollocks, isn't it?
'Of course, we know that in an encounter between a small wooden pole and thick industrial glass, the latter will always win, so the people are safe. '
A small pole? Really? And if the glass is so strong, does the author not wonder why so many other similar windows broke?
You should listen to this programme, broadcast yesterday afternoon. Part of it was verging on an audio instruction manual for potential rioters.
Orwell is rightly praised for the vigour of his writing and his independence of mind, but he was also very left-wing and anti-establishment in his views. He despised the monarchy, the British Empire and the House of Lords, and wanted to see the abolition of public schools. I'm not sure that his many fans on the right fully appreciate that.
I dont think you have to agree with someone to appreciate the eloquence of their oratory or writing, I mean Bill Clinton sometimes talked the most awful tosh, but did it wonderfully. I dont agree with most of Orwell's politics, but his writing was superb
re Trident - scrapping it would only save Scotland 10% of the cost but a massive % of the impact of Faslane being shut.
Seems crazy to me - or is it just an intentional distraction from the epic welfare and education problems in Scotland that the "social justice" parties want to avoid talking about ?
This post isn't logical. The benefits of Faslane to the economy cannot be massive if the spend is small -they will be a percentage of the spend.
On topic, isn't it a case that Tories are the more optimistic, glass-half-full sorts? Whereas UKIP are glass completely empty sorts? They are stood at the bar, moaning - because "in the fifty nine years I've been coming to this pub, with my own dedicated pewter tankard hanging from that beam, no-one has EVER bought a round....."
Orwell is rightly praised for the vigour of his writing and his independence of mind, but he was also very left-wing and anti-establishment in his views. He despised the monarchy, the British Empire and the House of Lords, and wanted to see the abolition of public schools. I'm not sure that his many fans on the right fully appreciate that.
I dont think you have to agree with someone to appreciate the eloquence of their oratory or writing, I mean Bill Clinton sometimes talked the most awful tosh, but did it wonderfully. I dont agree with most of Orwell's politics, but his writing was superb
The interesting thing about him was that a lot of the Left at the time hated him for what he said about them and he has not always been appreciated by all on the Left since then.
The reason why he has endured is that there is a moral decency and clear-sightedness at the heart of his work. And that is a rare quality.
On topic, isn't it a case that Tories are the more optimistic, glass-half-full sorts? Whereas UKIP are glass completely empty sorts? They are stood at the bar, moaning - because "in the fifty nine years I've been coming to this pub, with my own dedicated pewter tankard hanging from that beam, no-one has EVER bought a round....."
Devastating insight
I suppose the Labour voters are all at the local subsidised Trade Union bar?
Does look like a licence to print none that one. The only slight wrinkle might be if Star Wars was say an hour longer, which means they could get less screenings per day. But even then....
Cyclefree - ask yourself this. You complain about Labour not being on the side of aspirational, hard working, reasonably affluent and responsible people. Wouldn't those characteristics describe most senior people in the Labour party? Are they really likely to be so hostile towards their own kind?
Well, no, that's not what I see when I look at most senior people in the Labour party.
I see people who are far wealthier than me, who have come from more privileged backgrounds than me - (my parents never owned the home I grew up in and at one point the landlord kept it in such poor repair that the local council declared it unfit for human habitation under the 1952 Housing Act and mandated a huge amount of repairs) - who had more privileged schooling than my parents were able to get me and who then abolished the schooling I benefited from, who benefited from legal tax avoiding trusts (e.g. Mrs Hodge), who worked all their lives in well-paid jobs and who move in a rather closed social circle and who have a tendency to sneer at the views of Italian/Irish immigrants (my parents). I see people who are good at providing opportunities for their own offspring but see no equivalent desire to make it easy for others children to break into the charmed circles in which they operate. I see people who don't look as if they worry about where their children will live and how they will afford it or what happens if they're made redundant in their fifties or the value of their pension or how they're going to pay for their retirement or why their savings are being eaten away. I don't see people who feel that they will have to work forever to try and help their children with university fees and rent and house deposits and everything else. I see people who are exempt from the taxes they impose on others.
And when I look at them from the perspective of my husband's family in Cumbria, senior Labour politicians may as well come from that comet the Rosetta just landed on.
In fact, senior Labour politicians look rather more like senior Tory politicians than they do to me or any of my friends and colleagues.
Rising real wages and creation of decent jobs - rather than forcing people into burger flipping ones - are the only things that matter.
Far too late for the Tories to turn that around now.
Tell me, how does the government create decent jobs ? Ones that make money for the country I mean ?
It doesn't cut spending.
Hate to break it to you, government jobs dont make money, they cost money. Private sector jobs make money, there's more of those been created in the UK than the rest of the EU put together.
Ah. I see you've been reading the Ladybird picture book "Rightwing Economics 101".
Private Sector Jobs have no greater value than any other job, as the UKs woeful productivity figures and dismal tax receipts make abundantly clear.
If zillions of burger flippers are so valuable to the economy - more so than, say, social workers - why is the deficit rising on the back of an undershoot in income tax receipts?
If you the government have £10, and give me a fiver to cut your lawn, then I give you back £2 in tax, do you have more money or less money?
That's just wrong.
If the government pays for people to do stuff, it gets all the money back in tax, less savings.
Does look like a licence to print none that one. The only slight wrinkle might be if Star Wars was say an hour longer, which means they could get less screenings per day. But even then....
Still, people sat through Revenge of the Sith and that was close to two and a half hours or 3 hours of Transformers IV in record numbers
The other thing against Jurassic World is that whilst Star Wars will be out in December 2015, and has pretty much nothing else on at the same time, Jurassic World is out next summer, and could get buried by other Blockbusters, such as Avengers, Age of Ultron, Antman, Fantastic Four and Minions.
Ted 2 and Terminator are also released within a fortnight of Jurassic World.
They may not. I do. He's a writer I turn to over and over again.
Orwell wrote from his experience, as all the best writers do, He was a captain in the colonial Burma police (Hence his dislike of empire).
Animal farm and 1984 come from his experiences during the Spanish civil war (he was appalled by the practices of the republican communist leadership).
Quite simply the most influential writer in any language of the 20th century.
I have read all his books; and agree over the quality of his writing.
He was an Etonian ex Colonial police who did record his discomfort around working class people in many of his works. Despite this (he famously pointed out that the problem was "the poor smell") he was both patriotic and on the side of the working class. I think he would have been pro EU, he certainly was quite open to Catalan and French working class culture.
Thought Owen Smith mounted a strong defence of the mansion tax on the Daily Politics. Now admittedly Smith had time to prepare, while Miliband was caught on the hop by Klass, but still you wonder why Miliband couldn't have made at least some of those arguments.
Thought Owen Smith mounted a strong defence of the mansion tax on the Daily Politics. Now admittedly Smith had time to prepare, while Miliband was caught on the hop by Klass, but still you wonder why Miliband couldn't have made at least some of those arguments.
Why was Milliband caught on the hop? It was his policy, proudly announced in his speech to the Labour conference. He should have had all the arguments in favour of it at his fingertips.
It wasn't like some debate about a bit of obscure VAT legislation.
Comments
I see people who are far wealthier than me, who have come from more privileged backgrounds than me - (my parents never owned the home I grew up in and at one point the landlord kept it in such poor repair that the local council declared it unfit for human habitation under the 1952 Housing Act and mandated a huge amount of repairs) - who had more privileged schooling than my parents were able to get me and who then abolished the schooling I benefited from, who benefited from legal tax avoiding trusts (e.g. Mrs Hodge), who worked all their lives in well-paid jobs and who move in a rather closed social circle and who have a tendency to sneer at the views of Italian/Irish immigrants (my parents). I see people who are good at providing opportunities for their own offspring but see no equivalent desire to make it easy for others children to break into the charmed circles in which they operate. I see people who don't look as if they worry about where their children will live and how they will afford it or what happens if they're made redundant in their fifties or the value of their pension or how they're going to pay for their retirement or why their savings are being eaten away. I don't see people who feel that they will have to work forever to try and help their children with university fees and rent and house deposits and everything else. I see people who are exempt from the taxes they impose on others.
And when I look at them from the perspective of my husband's family in Cumbria, senior Labour politicians may as well come from that comet the Rosetta just landed on.
In fact, senior Labour politicians look rather more like senior Tory politicians than they do to me or any of my friends and colleagues.
http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/R_&_D_expenditure
That's our fault and no-one else's.
http://order-order.com/2014/11/24/ending-the-migrant-worker-subsidy/
Edited extra bit: with the scrapping of the standing start insanity and double points, F1's in danger of making rule changes that are sensible and popular.
His essays are a model of clear thinking and good writing. He thought for himself. He had courage, moral clarity and decency.
We could do with someone like him today.
This is going to get tedious.......
Not sure he has got the bit about the photos.
You compete by being better in terms of quality and innovation.
I guess it depends on what your notion of society boils down to. For me - and I suspect most on the left - it is a consensual relationship based on the premise that its existence is about ensuring the best possible opportunities for the highest number of people. A race to the bottom in terms of wages, working conditions and job security does not deliver on that.
Would that the left did believe as you say. Miliband is still fighting his dad's class war. nothing very consensual in his approach - bash the bankers, bash the rich, bash private education..... And yet we have annualised growth at 3% with unemployment lower than most of Europe. We're not where we need to be but let's not pretend the answer lies with european protectionism and pretend the rest of the world doesen't exist..
Normally polling averages are conducted using a [possibly weighted] arithmetic mean. But there are other averages!
So far this month there have been 37 GB opinion polls, of which 11 (30%) have given a Labour lead of 1%, which is the mode of the distribution.
Any idea on when the ComRes phone poll for November is due? It will be published either this evening, or tomorrow evening, if it will make a weekday Independent before the end of the month...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/11254972/Tristram-Hunt-should-stop-bashing-independent-schools.html
Then you go off and vote for the Party that encompasses all these privileges and a whole lot more.
As if the Tories give a stuff for people like you! Don't flatter youself, because they don't.
And this - "The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one's real and one's declared aims, one turns as it were instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish spurting out ink."
If a CCHQ person is reading this, they should cut and paste that post and put it verbatim into a Cameron or Osborne speech.
Taking out the biog detail, naturally...
Seems crazy to me - or is it just an intentional distraction from the epic welfare and education problems in Scotland that the "social justice" parties want to avoid talking about ?
PS Tone stood on any anti-nuke promise when first elected as an MP. A promise he never kept. He just dropped it before going for the Leader role.
Good to see Ed cares about patients ...
It will be interesting to see how Miliband's plans to "weaponise the NHS" turns out......
"Laughable."
The truth often hurts. Which character in Animal Farm do you associate with?
Dan Hodges@DPJHodges·4 mins4 minutes ago
@oflynnmep No, you've got a good line going in nicking other people's MPs. Not so quite good at creating your own MPs though.
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Frank Fisher@frank_fisher·2 mins2 minutes ago
@DPJHodges @oflynnmep We'll have a couple of dozen in 2015, and you'll have pneumonia.
Labour increased the tax on my elderly widowed mother by 100% when they abolished the 10p tax rate. The NHS which Labour are elevating into a sacred cow killed my father because the junior doctors went on strike and so he did not get the operation to remove a cancerous tumour done early enough. And that happened long before Thatcher became PM and apparently invented selfishness. Those junior doctors were not being selfish, oh no. And when he died in early 1979 we had to worry about whether he was going to be buried.
One thing I do know is that Labour didn't give a stuff about my parents and don't give a stuff about me or my family. And that contempt is returned in kind. They may not want or need my vote, of course. One day they might and I have a long memory.
But this debate started because Nick Palmer pointed out - in relation to the Tories - that parties need to respect voters even if hey can do nothing for them and I pointed out that that applied to Labour too. Nick is, by the way, a polite and thoughtful poster who did me the honour of engaging with my comment not dismissing it and making unfounded accusations.
Wales and mid Staffs successful tests then...
The problem may be that the service is just not fit for purpose, and needs a radical redesign or increased limits to service.
(ducks for cover)
But saying you want to 'weaponise' the service is crass. If true, then Ed really is nasty.
Dan Hodges @DPJHodges 46s47 seconds ago London, England
.@oflynnmep Let's test. I'll also streak naked down Whitehall if Mark Reckless holds his seat next May. You'll do it if he loses. Deal?
Retirement age should be raised.
Alot.
Sounds like an opportunistic little shit, some might say.
Oldies double cost us - once for pensions, again for healthcare.
Look at the correlation between this graph and the last !
Dan Hodges@DPJHodges·2 mins2 minutes ago London, England
.@oflynnmep Let's test. I'll also streak naked down Whitehall if Mark Reckless holds his seat next May. You'll do it if he loses. Deal?
If you are reading Patrick, don't agree!
Patrick O'Flynn @oflynnmep 5m5 minutes ago
@DPJHodges Dan the idiotic "I will run naked if..." is regarded very much as your thing! Honestly not my style. Will source u a mankini tho!
Dan Hodges @DPJHodges 4m4 minutes ago London, England
.@oflynnmep Yes, I thought that would be your response. Start phoning the recruitment consultants @MarkReckless...
Using a trebuchet.....
Were I able to write commentary like his I would be delighted. There is a need for it.
So much of what passes for commentary nowadays is little more than the repetition of received cliche.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-30190961
Utter utter BS. Nobody goes up to a glass window with a piece of 2 by 4 just to give the window a tap. If you wanted to give people a shock inside, you just slap on the glass with your hand.
Borrow til we are bust - The Labour way of fiscal responsibility.
Either way he is big odds on to have to do the streak though
EDIT (it was 6%)
Orwell wrote from his experience, as all the best writers do, He was a captain in the colonial Burma police (Hence his dislike of empire).
Animal farm and 1984 come from his experiences during the Spanish civil war (he was appalled by the practices of the republican communist leadership).
Quite simply the most influential writer in any language of the 20th century.
'Of course, we know that in an encounter between a small wooden pole and thick industrial glass, the latter will always win, so the people are safe. '
A small pole? Really? And if the glass is so strong, does the author not wonder why so many other similar windows broke?
You should listen to this programme, broadcast yesterday afternoon. Part of it was verging on an audio instruction manual for potential rioters.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04ps6py
Which film will gross more at the box office six months after release.
http://www.paddypower.com/bet/novelty-betting/hollywood/box-office-specials?ev_oc_grp_ids=1607880
The reason why he has endured is that there is a moral decency and clear-sightedness at the heart of his work. And that is a rare quality.
I suppose the Labour voters are all at the local subsidised Trade Union bar?
Oh well said madam.
Sigh - Even Ed Balls could do better than that.
The other thing against Jurassic World is that whilst Star Wars will be out in December 2015, and has pretty much nothing else on at the same time, Jurassic World is out next summer, and could get buried by other Blockbusters, such as Avengers, Age of Ultron, Antman, Fantastic Four and Minions.
Ted 2 and Terminator are also released within a fortnight of Jurassic World.
He was an Etonian ex Colonial police who did record his discomfort around working class people in many of his works. Despite this (he famously pointed out that the problem was "the poor smell") he was both patriotic and on the side of the working class. I think he would have been pro EU, he certainly was quite open to Catalan and French working class culture.
26/11/2014 12:49
RT Chuka Umunna's race smear against @UKIP is quite extraordinary given the UKIP candidates Labour faces in London http://www.thecommentator.com/article/5374/tooting_view_we_re_back_to_racism_smears_against_ukip
SW IV (2)
SW V (12)
SW VI (15)
JP (16)
SW I (17)
SW III (60)
SW II (87)
TLW: JP (97)
It wasn't like some debate about a bit of obscure VAT legislation.
We have the bowlers to do much worse than that.