Mr. Eagles, I'm significantly unimpressed by that move on election spending.
Oh it's fine, it's not the Tories' fault that people want to donate money to them and the other parties haven't got a pot to piss in.
Money = Free Speech
Theoretically it does have major betting implications.
Do you really want to get into the situation they have in the States where elections come down to who has the most money to spend?
I have thought long and hard about this issue. Because it's two friends butting up against each other: free of speech, versus diversity of speech.
And I think we have to come down on the side of freedom of speech. It's simply too dangerous to disallow people from having a voice (i.e., say that someone cannot buy advertising time to promote their candidate), just because the consequences bother us.
Likewise, the rules on media exposure must be changed. If The Times or Sky wishes to pretend the Liberal Democrats do not exist, that is there concern.
Obviously the BBC is a problem, but it is one that can be sorted by simply closing it down.
I simply do not equate money with freedom of speech. As long as we have a state broadcaster who behaves in an even handed manner during elections (and whatever people might say the BBC and the other stations do seem to stick to fairness during election campaigns) and also have a reasonable limit on spending that allows everyone to get their message out then I do not believe that anyone can reasonably claim there is any lack of freedom of speech.
For all that I am in favour of a (very) small state, the way we choose who runs that state does seem to me to be a legitimate area for the state to have some controls to ensure fairness.
That's very interesting TSE. YouGov's is of course a very small sample and potentially therefore highly atypical on this particular aspect. That said 26% for Hamilton compared with just 9% for McIlroy is one hell of a difference and worthy of a couple of pints' worth of Old Speckled Hen on the former in my opinion. BTW the bookie offering the 15/8 odds is SportingBet, although others are close to this price.
Before so people have an aneurysm, I disagree with what the Tories have done re campaign spending, and the way they did it.
Though it shows how crap Labour are in not spotting in, and desperately need a decent legal mind in the Commons.
Huzzah for Keir Starmer
Amazing that the law can be changed to the detriment of other parties and nobody even notices. One doesn't require a forensic legal mind to read, yet apparently nobody did. Someone, I think it was young Mr. Dancer, was arguing on here earlier for MPs to be paid more. This event blows that out of the water; my cat can fail to read legislation as well as anyone on £60k let alone more.
That's very interesting TSE. YouGov's is of course a very small sample and potentially therefore highly atypical on this particular aspect. That said 26% for Hamilton compared with just 9% for McIlroy is one hell of a difference and worthy of a couple of pints' worth of Old Speckled Hen on the former in my opinion. BTW the bookie offering the 15/8 odds is SportingBet, although others are close to this price.
Before so people have an aneurysm, I disagree with what the Tories have done re campaign spending, and the way they did it.
Though it shows how crap Labour are in not spotting in, and desperately need a decent legal mind in the Commons.
Huzzah for Keir Starmer
Amazing that the law can be changed to the detriment of other parties and nobody even notices. One doesn't require a forensic legal mind to read, yet apparently nobody did. Someone, I think it was young Mr. Dancer, was arguing on here earlier for MPs to be paid more. This event blows that out of the water; my cat can fail to read legislation as well as anyone on £60k let alone more.
The YouGov in the Sunday Times tomorrow finds
55% of voters think MPs are poor value for money; 45% say they are lazy
We will have 2 English seat polls out next week and the first Scottish polling post Jim Murphy's appointment as SLAB Leader. Stay tuned!
The Conservative share will be down. Most private schools broke up yesterday so it's holiday season.
Kind-of-kidding but not entirely. For all sorts of reasons polls will be pretty pointless until well into January.
I would have though that Christmas & the New Year would be a good time for any governing party on account of [relative] plenty of food and drink, holiday from work [but relatives to contend with], Christmas bonuses [if any] and annual salary reviews [if any]. Equally I would expect things to turn sour by the end of January when the Christmas binging starts to appear on the plastic.
The serious bit behind my joking is that holidays frequently seem to skew polls. A lot of people travel, whether that's within or beyond these shores.
I'm not sure Christmas is a time of unbridled joy for everyone. Some people find the whole thing a pain in the arse, at least by Boxing Day.
We will have 2 English seat polls out next week and the first Scottish polling post Jim Murphy's appointment as SLAB Leader. Stay tuned!
The Conservative share will be down. Most private schools broke up yesterday so it's holiday season.
Kind-of-kidding but not entirely. For all sorts of reasons polls will be pretty pointless until well into January.
I would have though that Christmas & the New Year would be a good time for any governing party on account of [relative] plenty of food and drink, holiday from work [but relatives to contend with], Christmas bonuses [if any] and annual salary reviews [if any]. Equally I would expect things to turn sour by the end of January when the Christmas binging starts to appear on the plastic.
The serious bit behind my joking is that holidays frequently seem to skew polls. A lot of people travel, whether that's within or beyond these shores.
I'm not sure Christmas is a time of unbridled joy for everyone. Some people find the whole thing a pain in the arse, at least by Boxing Day.
The general sample size of a ComRes online poll is around 2,000.
The embargoed press release said 2,014, and the data tables confirm it
Mr. Llama, paying more would improve the quality of MPs.
Really? What evidence is there for that remarkable prediction?
I seem to recall that argument was used as justification for paying councillors but the quality doesn't seem to have improved. Just the same people but now they are making a living from it. One local bloke sits on the district and county councils and coins twice but as he runs under a Conservative banner he is immovable.
If MPs can't be bothered even to read the legislation that they are asked to pass then pay them nothing or at worst the national median wage (currently about £26k, I think) plus reimbursement of actual expenses against a receipt.
In terms of right/left, people probably attach more weight to economic, rather than social, policies, which is probably why they rate the Conservatives as more right wing than Labour.
It also shows why left wing voters won't back the Conservatives to keep out UKIP.
Left wing voters will make the supreme sacrifice, if needed, to vote UKIP, even with that obnoxious Farage at the helm, to keep the Tories out. Why ? UKIP is seen as a temporary phenomena, the Tories are a permanent enemy.
Have been away a while due to working my ass off at a new job. Hope everyone's well and that you've all been enjoying your politics.
I've spent my only time thinking of politics recently trying to imagine weird Ed as my boss. I tried but I couldn't imagine it.
I then put my efforts into considering him as headmaster of my school. All I could see was chaos; the man would plainly be incapable of controlling teenagers, how anyone could think he would be up to the job of running the country mystifies me.
Can any Labour supporter explain why they think he's suitable for the top job?
TSE, I note that you do not refute the premise that Cameron is unprincipled, you merely state that other politicians are as well. On the basis that they are all liars if one is going to vote for anyone then one may as well vote for a liar whose lies most represent ones' views.
All politicians have principles and policies that change.
I prefer to vote not on the chap or lady who might or might not be a liar, but the one going to do best for the country, or more likely the least harm.
OMRLP then? John Loony will be overjoyed.
John Loony saw sense, and joined the Tory party a year or so ago.
I did like it when a few years ago, a OMRLP proposal actually became law, passports for pets.
I believe they claim credit for all-day pub opening as well.
The Ukip activist picked last week to fight a key Parliamentary seat made homophobic, racist and obscene comments and accused Nigel Farage of corruption, it was revealed last night.
In tape-recorded phone calls leaked to The Mail on Sunday, Kerry Smith, chosen to fight Ukip target seat of Basildon South in Essex:
The Ukip activist picked last week to fight a key Parliamentary seat made homophobic, racist and obscene comments and accused Nigel Farage of corruption, it was revealed last night.
In tape-recorded phone calls leaked to The Mail on Sunday, Kerry Smith, chosen to fight Ukip target seat of Basildon South in Essex:
JACK STRAW, a former Labour foreign secretary, has been questioned by police investigating the abductions of two Libyan dissidents who say they were handed to Colonel Muammar Gadaffi and tortured by his regime.
Straw was interviewed as a “witness” by Scotland Yard following claims the British government was complicit in the rendition of the two men and their families. The dissidents, Abdel Hakim Belhadj and Sami al-Saadi, believe Straw authorised the operations in 2004 which led to their mistreatment in Libya.
The former head of counterterrorism at MI6, Sir Mark Allen, is also expected to be questioned in the same inquiry.
The Sunday Times has learnt that an initial file on the case has been sent by the Metropolitan police to the Crown Prosecution Service. A decision on whether to lay any charges could be made in the new year.
David Cameron has been accused of an unjustifiable bid to “buy the general election” as it emerged that ministers have quietly slipped through an unprecedented hike in the amount that parties can spend during the campaign.
Before this week’s official start to the runup to the 2015 general election, the Observer can reveal that the Conservatives have ignored Electoral Commission recommendations and secured a 23% increase in spending. With the Tories having amassed a £78m war chest over the past four years, they can now funnel huge amounts of cash into key seats.
The change to the law on candidates’ election spending, passed without parliamentary debate, was made despite a direct warning by the commission against such “excessive spending to prevent the perception of undue influence over the outcome of the election”.
That's appalling. They overspent and have then changed the rules to retroactively make it legal? Disgusting. Dirty, sleazy Tories.
Do you have a link for that accusation? It didn't seem to be in the article.
Although the non sequitur by the Guardian. "Hedge funds gave X. In 2013 George Osborne changed the rules to in a give away to hedge funds" is pretty grubby journalism.
The Ukip activist picked last week to fight a key Parliamentary seat made homophobic, racist and obscene comments and accused Nigel Farage of corruption, it was revealed last night.
In tape-recorded phone calls leaked to The Mail on Sunday, Kerry Smith, chosen to fight Ukip target seat of Basildon South in Essex:
The Ukip activist picked last week to fight a key Parliamentary seat made homophobic, racist and obscene comments and accused Nigel Farage of corruption, it was revealed last night.
In tape-recorded phone calls leaked to The Mail on Sunday, Kerry Smith, chosen to fight Ukip target seat of Basildon South in Essex:
The Ukip activist picked last week to fight a key Parliamentary seat made homophobic, racist and obscene comments and accused Nigel Farage of corruption, it was revealed last night.
In tape-recorded phone calls leaked to The Mail on Sunday, Kerry Smith, chosen to fight Ukip target seat of Basildon South in Essex:
UKIP doing fine, until they open their mouths. The Neo-Nasty Party indeed.
And to think the Kippers had a go at me for doing a thread on polling saying UKIP are more likely to have candidates with racist or offensive views than other political parties
OT I generally dislike U2, but a couple of their tracks are appealing - Sunday Bloody Sunday and Desire [a cover IIRC]. What made them so popular?
Never heard of "Desire". But everybody can sympathise with that awful feeling as Sunday thunders past far too quickly and you know it's back to the office on Monday morning. Saturday is much nicer.
I can't see how Kerry Smith can stay as UKIP's PPC after that, they'd be more or less writing off their chances in the seat if they don't replace him. If they get a proper candidate in, people will have forgotten about all these shenanigans by the time of the election. I don't see why the choice is just Hamilton or Smith, they have plenty of Essex councillors.
The Ukip activist picked last week to fight a key Parliamentary seat made homophobic, racist and obscene comments and accused Nigel Farage of corruption, it was revealed last night.
In tape-recorded phone calls leaked to The Mail on Sunday, Kerry Smith, chosen to fight Ukip target seat of Basildon South in Essex:
UKIP doing fine, until they open their mouths. The Neo-Nasty Party indeed.
And to think the Kippers had a go at me for doing a thread on polling saying UKIP are more likely to have candidates with racist or offensive views than other political parties
And a seat they had high hopes of winning. Makes you wonder what their no-hoper candidates must be like....
The Ukip activist picked last week to fight a key Parliamentary seat made homophobic, racist and obscene comments and accused Nigel Farage of corruption, it was revealed last night.
In tape-recorded phone calls leaked to The Mail on Sunday, Kerry Smith, chosen to fight Ukip target seat of Basildon South in Essex:
UKIP doing fine, until they open their mouths. The Neo-Nasty Party indeed.
And to think the Kippers had a go at me for doing a thread on polling saying UKIP are more likely to have candidates with racist or offensive views than other political parties
And still your party continues to support and condone a councillor who said he hoped a gay colleague would die of Aids.
As long as that man remains a Tory councillor you have absolutely no right to claim your party is any better than any other.
I will happily raise this every time you attack UKIP over this because your continued hypocrisy on this subject is shameful.
The Ukip activist picked last week to fight a key Parliamentary seat made homophobic, racist and obscene comments and accused Nigel Farage of corruption, it was revealed last night.
In tape-recorded phone calls leaked to The Mail on Sunday, Kerry Smith, chosen to fight Ukip target seat of Basildon South in Essex:
The Ukip activist picked last week to fight a key Parliamentary seat made homophobic, racist and obscene comments and accused Nigel Farage of corruption, it was revealed last night.
In tape-recorded phone calls leaked to The Mail on Sunday, Kerry Smith, chosen to fight Ukip target seat of Basildon South in Essex:
UKIP doing fine, until they open their mouths. The Neo-Nasty Party indeed.
And to think the Kippers had a go at me for doing a thread on polling saying UKIP are more likely to have candidates with racist or offensive views than other political parties
And still your party continues to support and condone a councillor who said he hoped a gay colleague would die of Aids.
As long as that man remains a Tory councillor you have absolutely no right to claim your party is any better than any other.
I will happily raise this every time you attack UKIP over this because your continued hypocrisy on this subject is shameful.
I've said in the past he has no place in the Tory party.
The Ukip activist picked last week to fight a key Parliamentary seat made homophobic, racist and obscene comments and accused Nigel Farage of corruption, it was revealed last night.
In tape-recorded phone calls leaked to The Mail on Sunday, Kerry Smith, chosen to fight Ukip target seat of Basildon South in Essex:
CIA torture: Tony Blair and Jack Straw 'must account for what they knew'
In an interview with The Telegraph, Michael Fallon, the Defence Secretary, intensifies the pressure on Tony Blair and Jack Straw over their knowledge - or otherwise - of the US policy
The Ukip activist picked last week to fight a key Parliamentary seat made homophobic, racist and obscene comments and accused Nigel Farage of corruption, it was revealed last night.
In tape-recorded phone calls leaked to The Mail on Sunday, Kerry Smith, chosen to fight Ukip target seat of Basildon South in Essex:
UKIP doing fine, until they open their mouths. The Neo-Nasty Party indeed.
And to think the Kippers had a go at me for doing a thread on polling saying UKIP are more likely to have candidates with racist or offensive views than other political parties
And still your party continues to support and condone a councillor who said he hoped a gay colleague would die of Aids.
As long as that man remains a Tory councillor you have absolutely no right to claim your party is any better than any other.
I will happily raise this every time you attack UKIP over this because your continued hypocrisy on this subject is shameful.
I've said in the past he has no place in the Tory party.
Yep and then you try to pretend the Tory party is better than UKIP on the issue as you have just done on a previous post. I am not the one trying to take the moral high ground on behalf of any party like you are. I think they all fail on this issue. You are the one trying to pretend your party is better than UKIP even though they still allow racists and homophobes to remain as Tory councillors
I can't see how Kerry Smith can stay as UKIP's PPC after that, they'd be more or less writing off their chances in the seat if they don't replace him. If they get a proper candidate in, people will have forgotten about all these shenanigans by the time of the election. I don't see why the choice is just Hamilton or Smith, they have plenty of Essex councillors.
Good chance to put Hamilton in I'd say. I don't think he'll win, but if he wants it that much, and UKIP have been damaged in the seat already by this oaf, why not give him a shot?
We will have 2 English seat polls out next week and the first Scottish polling post Jim Murphy's appointment as SLAB Leader. Stay tuned!
The Conservative share will be down. Most private schools broke up yesterday so it's holiday season.
Kind-of-kidding but not entirely. For all sorts of reasons polls will be pretty pointless until well into January.
I would have though that Christmas & the New Year would be a good time for any governing party on account of [relative] plenty of food and drink, holiday from work [but relatives to contend with], Christmas bonuses [if any] and annual salary reviews [if any]. Equally I would expect things to turn sour by the end of January when the Christmas binging starts to appear on the plastic.
The serious bit behind my joking is that holidays frequently seem to skew polls. A lot of people travel, whether that's within or beyond these shores.
I'm not sure Christmas is a time of unbridled joy for everyone. Some people find the whole thing a pain in the arse, at least by Boxing Day.
The general sample size of a ComRes online poll is around 2,000.
The embargoed press release said 2,014, and the data tables confirm it
OT I generally dislike U2, but a couple of their tracks are appealing - Sunday Bloody Sunday and Desire [a cover IIRC].
What made them so popular? I'm very fond of Latino and some covers are much better than the originals. As ever.
I hate Sunday Bloody sunday and New Year's Day with a vengeance. They're not bad songs, but were played incessantly at every student union event I ever went to.
The Ukip activist picked last week to fight a key Parliamentary seat made homophobic, racist and obscene comments and accused Nigel Farage of corruption, it was revealed last night.
In tape-recorded phone calls leaked to The Mail on Sunday, Kerry Smith, chosen to fight Ukip target seat of Basildon South in Essex:
The Ukip activist picked last week to fight a key Parliamentary seat made homophobic, racist and obscene comments and accused Nigel Farage of corruption, it was revealed last night.
In tape-recorded phone calls leaked to The Mail on Sunday, Kerry Smith, chosen to fight Ukip target seat of Basildon South in Essex:
UKIP doing fine, until they open their mouths. The Neo-Nasty Party indeed.
And to think the Kippers had a go at me for doing a thread on polling saying UKIP are more likely to have candidates with racist or offensive views than other political parties
And still your party continues to support and condone a councillor who said he hoped a gay colleague would die of Aids.
As long as that man remains a Tory councillor you have absolutely no right to claim your party is any better than any other.
I will happily raise this every time you attack UKIP over this because your continued hypocrisy on this subject is shameful.
I've said in the past he has no place in the Tory party.
Yep and then you try to pretend the Tory party is better than UKIP on the issue as you have just done on a previous post. I am not the one trying to take the moral high ground on behalf of any party like you are. I think they all fail on this issue. You are the one trying to pretend your party is better than UKIP even though they still allow racists and homophobes to remain as Tory councillors
I've said it before Richard, all parties have fruitcakes, racists and loons in them.
My point was, as it was back in October, the voters think it is more likely than UKIP have candidates that hold racist/offensive views, then that harms UKIP.
Ditto Kerry Smith's now withdrawn comment about Farage being corrupt, only this week polling showed UKIP viewed as the most sleazy and disreputable party.
In politics, perceptions sometimes matter more than the facts.
I think they've botched the 'Which of these politicians would you want to "have a meal with/on a pub quiz team/etc" by including Boris Johnson, thereby probably disproportionately distorting the Con vote, but on one question - 'run the country' Boris entertainment value does not apply so strongly:
Run the country: Cameron: 31 Miliband: 26 Clegg: 8 Farage: 15 Johnson: 19
And on a more neutral 'give you first aid treatment' (a proxy for "general competence"?) a similar pattern - and not much joy for 'NHS Ed':
The Ukip activist picked last week to fight a key Parliamentary seat made homophobic, racist and obscene comments and accused Nigel Farage of corruption, it was revealed last night.
In tape-recorded phone calls leaked to The Mail on Sunday, Kerry Smith, chosen to fight Ukip target seat of Basildon South in Essex:
UKIP doing fine, until they open their mouths. The Neo-Nasty Party indeed.
And to think the Kippers had a go at me for doing a thread on polling saying UKIP are more likely to have candidates with racist or offensive views than other political parties
And a seat they had high hopes of winning. Makes you wonder what their no-hoper candidates must be like....
The interesting twist in the Mail story was that Kerry Smith was originally sacked months ago as a result of the NEC being sent a copy of the tape.
They then panicked over the Hamilton noise, appointed Smith, and hoped that the tape wouldn't get leaked to the media...
CIA torture: Tony Blair and Jack Straw 'must account for what they knew'
In an interview with The Telegraph, Michael Fallon, the Defence Secretary, intensifies the pressure on Tony Blair and Jack Straw over their knowledge - or otherwise - of the US policy
If the Government is so keen on openness, why did it ask for (and one assumes get) redactions in the US Senate report on the grounds of British 'national security'?
The Blair/Bush era seems to be becoming a sort of 'dirty bank' -all the torture, rape, and unjustified invasions to be contained within. It's all bubbling to the surface, and can no longer be concealed, but if it can all be pinned on that era of 'Amurka', we can all thank our stars that it doesn't happen any more and look away.
The Ukip activist picked last week to fight a key Parliamentary seat made homophobic, racist and obscene comments and accused Nigel Farage of corruption, it was revealed last night.
In tape-recorded phone calls leaked to The Mail on Sunday, Kerry Smith, chosen to fight Ukip target seat of Basildon South in Essex:
UKIP doing fine, until they open their mouths. The Neo-Nasty Party indeed.
And to think the Kippers had a go at me for doing a thread on polling saying UKIP are more likely to have candidates with racist or offensive views than other political parties
And still your party continues to support and condone a councillor who said he hoped a gay colleague would die of Aids.
As long as that man remains a Tory councillor you have absolutely no right to claim your party is any better than any other.
I will happily raise this every time you attack UKIP over this because your continued hypocrisy on this subject is shameful.
I've said in the past he has no place in the Tory party.
Yep and then you try to pretend the Tory party is better than UKIP on the issue as you have just done on a previous post. I am not the one trying to take the moral high ground on behalf of any party like you are. I think they all fail on this issue. You are the one trying to pretend your party is better than UKIP even though they still allow racists and homophobes to remain as Tory councillors
I've said it before Richard, all parties have fruitcakes, racists and loons in them.
My point was, as it was back in October, the voters think it is more likely than UKIP have candidates that hold racist/offensive views, then that harms UKIP.
Ditto Kerry Smith's now withdrawn comment about Farage being corrupt, only this week polling showed UKIP viewed as the most sleazy and disreputable party.
In politics, perceptions sometimes matter more than the facts.
I agree with both TSE and Richard. Perhaps I'm a lib dem?
The new pleasantly moist Tory party nowlgoeu will not accept any such low lifes - or piers morgan.
Someone last night was tweeting Mrs Hamilton's forboding tweets suggesting someone was in for a shoeing.... was it relating to the downfall of the 'a bit UKIP' looking Mr. Smith I wonder?
I can't see how Kerry Smith can stay as UKIP's PPC after that, they'd be more or less writing off their chances in the seat if they don't replace him. If they get a proper candidate in, people will have forgotten about all these shenanigans by the time of the election. I don't see why the choice is just Hamilton or Smith, they have plenty of Essex councillors.
Good chance to put Hamilton in I'd say. I don't think he'll win, but if he wants it that much, and UKIP have been damaged in the seat already by this oaf, why not give him a shot?
The problem is, right or wrong, fair or not, Hamilton has become the poster child for 1990s sleaze / cash for questions (who remembers Ian Greer or Tim Smith, for instance, who arguably behaved far worse)
I agree with both TSE and Richard. Perhaps I'm a lib dem?
The new pleasantly moist Tory party nowlgoeu will not accept any such low lifes - or piers morgan.
Someone last night was tweeting Mrs Hamilton's forboding tweets suggesting someone was in for a shoeing.... was it relating to the downfall of the 'a bit UKIP' looking Mr. Smith I wonder?
I bet you need to lie down, now that you agree with former Arsenal striker, Ian Wright
Ian Wright labels section of Arsenal fans 'prized w*****s'
CIA torture: Tony Blair and Jack Straw 'must account for what they knew'
In an interview with The Telegraph, Michael Fallon, the Defence Secretary, intensifies the pressure on Tony Blair and Jack Straw over their knowledge - or otherwise - of the US policy
If the Government is so keen on openness, why did it ask for (and one assumes get) redactions in the US Senate report on the grounds of British 'national security'?
The Blair/Bush era seems to be becoming a sort of 'dirty bank' -all the torture, rape, and unjustified invasions to be contained within. It's all bubbling to the surface, and can no longer be concealed, but if it can all be pinned on that era of 'Amurka', we can all thank our stars that it doesn't happen any more and look away.
Probably. It all seems fairly predictable. You deny, then justify, then apologise and condemn (to some extent), then down the line you claim the condemnation has prevented necessary work and it turns out it is going on again, if it ever really stopped.
JACK STRAW, a former Labour foreign secretary, has been questioned by police investigating the abductions of two Libyan dissidents who say they were handed to Colonel Muammar Gadaffi and tortured by his regime.
Straw was interviewed as a “witness” by Scotland Yard following claims the British government was complicit in the rendition of the two men and their families. The dissidents, Abdel Hakim Belhadj and Sami al-Saadi, believe Straw authorised the operations in 2004 which led to their mistreatment in Libya.
The former head of counterterrorism at MI6, Sir Mark Allen, is also expected to be questioned in the same inquiry.
The Sunday Times has learnt that an initial file on the case has been sent by the Metropolitan police to the Crown Prosecution Service. A decision on whether to lay any charges could be made in the new year.
I agree with both TSE and Richard. Perhaps I'm a lib dem?
The new pleasantly moist Tory party nowlgoeu will not accept any such low lifes - or piers morgan.
Someone last night was tweeting Mrs Hamilton's forboding tweets suggesting someone was in for a shoeing.... was it relating to the downfall of the 'a bit UKIP' looking Mr. Smith I wonder?
I bet you need to lie down, now that you agree with former Arsenal striker, Ian Wright
Ian Wright labels section of Arsenal fans 'prized w*****s'
A Mr G Lineker I remember from a while ago...a Mr Klinsmann, Messrs Falco, Archibald and Crooks... Galvin too and don't forget old Rick, he done the trick, scored the best goal you ever saw and now ....
I agree with both TSE and Richard. Perhaps I'm a lib dem?
The new pleasantly moist Tory party nowlgoeu will not accept any such low lifes - or piers morgan.
Someone last night was tweeting Mrs Hamilton's forboding tweets suggesting someone was in for a shoeing.... was it relating to the downfall of the 'a bit UKIP' looking Mr. Smith I wonder?
I bet you need to lie down, now that you agree with former Arsenal striker, Ian Wright
Ian Wright labels section of Arsenal fans 'prized w*****s'
A Mr G Lineker I remember from a while ago...a Mr Klinsmann, Messrs Falco, Archibald and Crooks... Galvin too and don't forget old Rick, he done the trick, scored the best goal you ever saw and now ....
The best goal I ever saw was Gary McAllister's 44 yard free kick, better than sex, injury time winner in the Merseyside derby at Goodison in the treble season.
My wife had her car hand washed outside Asda in Colchester earlier today by some Eastern Europeans....
Had much the same experience - an Albanian team washed my car so thoroughly that I gave them something extra, and they insisted on doing the inside as well. I took the trouble to go back to them next time I needed a carwash. The lead washer embraced me enthusiastically when I did, not having absorbed proper British cultural restraint.
Amazing that the law can be changed to the detriment of other parties and nobody even notices. One doesn't require a forensic legal mind to read, yet apparently nobody did. Someone, I think it was young Mr. Dancer, was arguing on here earlier for MPs to be paid more. This event blows that out of the water; my cat can fail to read legislation as well as anyone on £60k let alone more.
I rather agree. The culture of that type of committee is "Oh God let's get it over with" - MPs from all parties are drafted in on the basis of having time to do it and not having done one lately. You can ask to go on a particular one, but the request is greeted with surprise. (The same was true in spades on the European Scrutiny Committee - Bill Cash and I were the only members who regularly wanted to discuss stuff.)
In their defence, I'd add that secondary legislation is not always easy to follow, though I'm sure your cat would be equal to it - typically they will contain an amendment to another Act ("Replace 50,000 by 78,000 in Section 11, paragraph b, line 46"), not necessarily supplied to the MP, so he needs to take the trouble to order the background Act and get his head round it. Since 99% of such committees are minor tweaks to regulations on labelling etc., very few bother. I was a nerd in this sort of thing, and irritated to read Chris Mullin's memoirs later where he confessed to not reading the briefings to secondary legislation that he had to introduce ("I was a backbencher and I read the effing briefing, you were PAID EXTRA to do it..."). But anything on campaign funding should have triggered alarm signals anyway.
I once discovered a serious drafting error (reversing the obviously intended meaning) in one such Bill and pointed it out to the clerk before the meeting. He wasn't too pleased - said frostily that this sort of thing was not normally raised by MPs but sorted out at a later stage as required. I shrugged and he reluctantly said he'd have the change made.
If the fall in oil prices is sustained, and it seems very likely to do so, it will be a political game-changer. Saving £10 every time you fill your car up with petrol is equivalent to a £10 tax cut. It will also put downward pressure on prices for energy and a whole range of services, as well as air fares. Lower inflation will also push down prices which are linked to inflation (such as train fares). Potentially it will create a fell good factor which will enormously assist the Conservatives (and undermine Millibands "cost of living crisis"
Well this is a first for me!! My post of the day! FPT. @Roger - "A tour de force of a speech by Murphy. I know some have their reservations about his lack of left wing credentials but it has to be remembered that in Scotland the primary qualification for a successful Westminster campaign is not being Tory. That doesn't mean not being right wing.
I was told by friends in Scotland that Murphy whatever one's reservations was politically streets better than Nicola.
From his opening salvo I'd say the danger is he also sounds streets better than Ed.!"
Roger gets it where some have been far too quick to believe the SNP spin on here about Jim Murphy!! Just one question Roger, what took you so long? I rated Jim Murphy as more than a match for both Salmond and Sturgeon seven years ago, and to much mocking from our SNP posters on here.
Jim Murphy has just shown the Labour party and all the other runners and riders hoping to succeed the poorly performing Ed Miliband how you can go about proving you are better party Leader with a very gutsy proactive approach. Oh to be a fly on the wall the next time Tom Watson and Len McCluskey meet up...
The Scots(4.95) do not see themselves as significantly more left wing than EW (5.29), but do see Ed Miliband and Labour as significantly less left wing than EW do, whereas the other parties are seen in more or less similar positions across the countries of the UK:
I agree with both TSE and Richard. Perhaps I'm a lib dem?
The new pleasantly moist Tory party nowlgoeu will not accept any such low lifes - or piers morgan.
Someone last night was tweeting Mrs Hamilton's forboding tweets suggesting someone was in for a shoeing.... was it relating to the downfall of the 'a bit UKIP' looking Mr. Smith I wonder?
I bet you need to lie down, now that you agree with former Arsenal striker, Ian Wright
Ian Wright labels section of Arsenal fans 'prized w*****s'
A Mr G Lineker I remember from a while ago...a Mr Klinsmann, Messrs Falco, Archibald and Crooks... Galvin too and don't forget old Rick, he done the trick, scored the best goal you ever saw and now ....
The best goal I ever saw was Gary McAllister's 44 yard free kick, better than sex, injury time winner in the Merseyside derby at Goodison in the treble season.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-bc0wWMNT0
Not bad.
I'm thinking yoy may not yet have done a nighthawks based on mr Charles and David???
At least it will give you an idea of what I'm talking about - no mainstream Western publication is going to cover this stuff.
I read about it in either the NYT or the WSJ - forget which one I picked up at the airport. Both both are pretty mainstream.
Except the NYT and the WSJ didn't add on the ridiculous claim that the US was using the hip hop movement to "overthrow the Cuban government". USAID was building civil society in a totalitarian country, with the design of pressuring the government to reform and give people their democratic rights. That was a good thing and entirely legitimate. In the same way Luckyguy's anti-Americanism causes him to take a few talking points on the melting point of steel to believe the Americans caused 9/11, he takes efforts to by an aid organisation to build civil society and democratic pressure groups as evidence that the US is trying to overthrow the government.
Mr. Eagles, I'm significantly unimpressed by that move on election spending.
Oh it's fine, it's not the Tories' fault that people want to donate money to them and the other parties haven't got a pot to piss in.
Money = Free Speech
Theoretically it does have major betting implications.
Do you really want to get into the situation they have in the States where elections come down to who has the most money to spend?
I have thought long and hard about this issue. Because it's two friends butting up against each other: free of speech, versus diversity of speech.
And I think we have to come down on the side of freedom of speech. It's simply too dangerous to disallow people from having a voice (i.e., say that someone cannot buy advertising time to promote their candidate), just because the consequences bother us.
Likewise, the rules on media exposure must be changed. If The Times or Sky wishes to pretend the Liberal Democrats do not exist, that is there concern.
Obviously the BBC is a problem, but it is one that can be sorted by simply closing it down.
So you've thought long and hard about and come down on the side the massively favours rich people to distort our democracy to their advantage? Why am I not surprised.
The story in the Observer is a fuss about nothing. The government creates new criminal offences affecting the liberty of the subject on a regular basis via statutory instruments which are subject to annulment by the Crown in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament. Given there is never any complaint about this from the likes of the Observer and the Labour Party, it is utterly hypocritical that they should complain about the procedure being used to make a relatively minor alteration to the level of total permitted campaign expenditure. It was of course the Labour Government which introduced the primary legislation giving Ministers of the Crown this power. The reason why there was no parliamentary debate about the change was because the Labour Party were so incompetent that they failed to table a prayer for the annulment of the resolution in time.
Ms Powell should spend more time doing what she was elected to do, viz. the scrutiny of delegated legislation, rather than sounding off in the press about the consequences of her own incompetence.
Mr. Eagles, I'm significantly unimpressed by that move on election spending.
Oh it's fine, it's not the Tories' fault that people want to donate money to them and the other parties haven't got a pot to piss in.
Money = Free Speech
Theoretically it does have major betting implications.
Do you really want to get into the situation they have in the States where elections come down to who has the most money to spend?
It's pretty clear the Tories are the party of the rich, and want to make it easier to distort elections towards the rich even further. I didn't think they could add another issue I'd detest them for, but they've managed to do it. It doesn't matter whether it's the intelligence services, the media magnates, the European Union or wealthy donors, the Tories will always come down on the side of the rich and powerful.
At least it will give you an idea of what I'm talking about - no mainstream Western publication is going to cover this stuff.
I read about it in either the NYT or the WSJ - forget which one I picked up at the airport. Both both are pretty mainstream.
Except the NYT and the WSJ didn't add on the ridiculous claim that the US was using the hip hop movement to "overthrow the Cuban government". USAID was building civil society in a totalitarian country, with the design of pressuring the government to reform and give people their democratic rights. That was a good thing and entirely legitimate. In the same way Luckyguy's anti-Americanism causes him to take a few talking points on the melting point of steel to believe the Americans caused 9/11, he takes efforts to by an aid organisation to build civil society and democratic pressure groups as evidence that the US is trying to overthrow the government.
It's rather sad actually. He strikes me as a pretty smart guy, just utterly deluded.
Comments
For all that I am in favour of a (very) small state, the way we choose who runs that state does seem to me to be a legitimate area for the state to have some controls to ensure fairness.
https://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/1o150dfzov/YG-Archives-Pol-Trackers-Voting-Trends-with-UKIP-111214.pdf
I meant Lab ahead by 2%,
I thought you were just trying to wind everyone up.
Voters will shortly switch off until the New Year. I'm doing on more canvass round tomorrow and will then call it a day till Jan 2.
55% of voters think MPs are poor value for money; 45% say they are lazy
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B4xF-U-IYAAtQOZ.png
I'm not sure Christmas is a time of unbridled joy for everyone. Some people find the whole thing a pain in the arse, at least by Boxing Day.
In the past, when ministers resigned and earned a severance payoff, Norman Baker criticised these dubious pay offs.
You will be all shocked to learn, that when Norman Baker resigned a few weeks ago, he took the full £7,920 tax free severance allowance
The embargoed press release said 2,014, and the data tables confirm it
http://comres.co.uk/polls/IoS_SM_Political_Poll_December_2014.pdf
I seem to recall that argument was used as justification for paying councillors but the quality doesn't seem to have improved. Just the same people but now they are making a living from it. One local bloke sits on the district and county councils and coins twice but as he runs under a Conservative banner he is immovable.
If MPs can't be bothered even to read the legislation that they are asked to pass then pay them nothing or at worst the national median wage (currently about £26k, I think) plus reimbursement of actual expenses against a receipt.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/london-forest-keepers-prowl-woods-for-mushroom-thieves-1418350368?mod=e2tw
Now we know whereto go for the ingredients of a good soup for Xmas. See you there!
I've spent my only time thinking of politics recently trying to imagine weird Ed as my boss. I tried but I couldn't imagine it.
I then put my efforts into considering him as headmaster of my school. All I could see was chaos; the man would plainly be incapable of controlling teenagers, how anyone could think he would be up to the job of running the country mystifies me.
Can any Labour supporter explain why they think he's suitable for the top job?
What made them so popular? I'm very fond of Latino and some covers are much better than the originals. As ever.
At least it will give you an idea of what I'm talking about - no mainstream Western publication is going to cover this stuff.
I thinx so....
In tape-recorded phone calls leaked to The Mail on Sunday, Kerry Smith, chosen to fight Ukip target seat of Basildon South in Essex:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2872943/Farage-s-golden-boy-s-rant-pooftahs-Chigwell-Peasants-Chinky-bird-Astonishing-leaked-phone-calls-expose-outbursts-Ukip-man-sent-replace-Neil-Hamilton.html
My wife had her car hand washed outside Asda in Colchester earlier today by some Eastern Europeans.
She asked them to wash the outside only but when she went to pay they asked her for more money than she had expected.
when queried it turned out they had valeted the inside too.
She explained she had not asked for that and they agreed she should just pay as if they had washed it only.
She gets back to the car and finds that they have done an outstanding job.
So, she goes back to pay them the extra for such a great job.
She asks which one of them was it that she had spoken to earlier.
They all look terrified and all say it wasn't me (she is 5 foot nothing :-)
In the end she managed to pay them the extra :-)
JACK STRAW, a former Labour foreign secretary, has been questioned by police investigating the abductions of two Libyan dissidents who say they were handed to Colonel Muammar Gadaffi and tortured by his regime.
Straw was interviewed as a “witness” by Scotland Yard following claims the British government was complicit in the rendition of the two men and their families. The dissidents, Abdel Hakim Belhadj and Sami al-Saadi, believe Straw authorised the operations in 2004 which led to their mistreatment in Libya.
The former head of counterterrorism at MI6, Sir Mark Allen, is also expected to be questioned in the same inquiry.
The Sunday Times has learnt that an initial file on the case has been sent by the Metropolitan police to the Crown Prosecution Service. A decision on whether to lay any charges could be made in the new year.
http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/uk_news/article1496023.ece?CMP=OTH-gnws-standard-2014_12_13
Although the non sequitur by the Guardian. "Hedge funds gave X. In 2013 George Osborne changed the rules to in a give away to hedge funds" is pretty grubby journalism.
Saturday is much nicer.
Can you link to the Yougov SPOTY poll
As long as that man remains a Tory councillor you have absolutely no right to claim your party is any better than any other.
I will happily raise this every time you attack UKIP over this because your continued hypocrisy on this subject is shameful.
Thanks. Can you link to just the headline figures?
https://twitter.com/charleshymas/status/543880169703079937
isam • Posts: 10,707
December 10
Right back to where we started... a good, honest local boy!
Gawain Towler @GawainTowler · 26m26 minutes ago
Cllr Kerry Smith selected for Thurrock and South Basildon @ukip
In an interview with The Telegraph, Michael Fallon, the Defence Secretary, intensifies the pressure on Tony Blair and Jack Straw over their knowledge - or otherwise - of the US policy
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/11292428/CIA-torture-Tony-Blair-and-Jack-Straw-must-account-for-what-they-knew.html
Con: 17 (35)
Lab: 23 (35)
LibD: 5 (8)
UKIP: 6 (19)
Green: 5 (2)
SNP: 43 (0)
Just a racist bigot. But then he is standing for Ukip - you don't expect Toynbees.
My point was, as it was back in October, the voters think it is more likely than UKIP have candidates that hold racist/offensive views, then that harms UKIP.
Ditto Kerry Smith's now withdrawn comment about Farage being corrupt, only this week polling showed UKIP viewed as the most sleazy and disreputable party.
In politics, perceptions sometimes matter more than the facts.
Malcolm Rifkind to demand unredacted report on Britain’s role in CIA’s abduction and torture programme
Run the country:
Cameron: 31
Miliband: 26
Clegg: 8
Farage: 15
Johnson: 19
And on a more neutral 'give you first aid treatment' (a proxy for "general competence"?) a similar pattern - and not much joy for 'NHS Ed':
Cameron: 29
Miliband: 21
Clegg: 25
Farage: 11
Johnson: 15
They then panicked over the Hamilton noise, appointed Smith, and hoped that the tape wouldn't get leaked to the media...
The Blair/Bush era seems to be becoming a sort of 'dirty bank' -all the torture, rape, and unjustified invasions to be contained within. It's all bubbling to the surface, and can no longer be concealed, but if it can all be pinned on that era of 'Amurka', we can all thank our stars that it doesn't happen any more and look away.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/getting-it-right/11171179/Telegraph-latest-cartoon-gallery.html
The new pleasantly moist Tory party nowlgoeu will not accept any such low lifes - or piers morgan.
Someone last night was tweeting Mrs Hamilton's forboding tweets suggesting someone was in for a shoeing.... was it relating to the downfall of the 'a bit UKIP' looking Mr. Smith I wonder?
Thanks for the link. Interesting - and surprising.
Ian Wright labels section of Arsenal fans 'prized w*****s'
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/ian-wright-labels-section-of-arsenal-fans-prized-ws-in-alcoholfuelled-twitter-outburst-9920315.html
Night all.
http://hastingsonlinetimes.co.uk/hastings-life/hastings-people/inspiring-an-aspiring-generation
Why blimey?
the amount of times Straws name has come up over the years regarding various activities this should surprise no one.
As always though it somehow always get dropped / kicked into long grass as it will this time yet again.
A Mr G Lineker I remember from a while ago...a Mr Klinsmann, Messrs Falco, Archibald and Crooks... Galvin too and don't forget old Rick, he done the trick, scored the best goal you ever saw and now ....
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-bc0wWMNT0
In their defence, I'd add that secondary legislation is not always easy to follow, though I'm sure your cat would be equal to it - typically they will contain an amendment to another Act ("Replace 50,000 by 78,000 in Section 11, paragraph b, line 46"), not necessarily supplied to the MP, so he needs to take the trouble to order the background Act and get his head round it. Since 99% of such committees are minor tweaks to regulations on labelling etc., very few bother. I was a nerd in this sort of thing, and irritated to read Chris Mullin's memoirs later where he confessed to not reading the briefings to secondary legislation that he had to introduce ("I was a backbencher and I read the effing briefing, you were PAID EXTRA to do it..."). But anything on campaign funding should have triggered alarm signals anyway.
I once discovered a serious drafting error (reversing the obviously intended meaning) in one such Bill and pointed it out to the clerk before the meeting. He wasn't too pleased - said frostily that this sort of thing was not normally raised by MPs but sorted out at a later stage as required. I shrugged and he reluctantly said he'd have the change made.
He went down a hit.
Potentially it will create a fell good factor which will enormously assist the Conservatives (and undermine Millibands "cost of living crisis"
FPT. @Roger - "A tour de force of a speech by Murphy. I know some have their reservations about his lack of left wing credentials but it has to be remembered that in Scotland the primary qualification for a successful Westminster campaign is not being Tory. That doesn't mean not being right wing.
I was told by friends in Scotland that Murphy whatever one's reservations was politically streets better than Nicola.
From his opening salvo I'd say the danger is he also sounds streets better than Ed.!"
Roger gets it where some have been far too quick to believe the SNP spin on here about Jim Murphy!! Just one question Roger, what took you so long? I rated Jim Murphy as more than a match for both Salmond and Sturgeon seven years ago, and to much mocking from our SNP posters on here.
Jim Murphy has just shown the Labour party and all the other runners and riders hoping to succeed the poorly performing Ed Miliband how you can go about proving you are better party Leader with a very gutsy proactive approach. Oh to be a fly on the wall the next time Tom Watson and Len McCluskey meet up...
The Scots(4.95) do not see themselves as significantly more left wing than EW (5.29), but do see Ed Miliband and Labour as significantly less left wing than EW do, whereas the other parties are seen in more or less similar positions across the countries of the UK:
Scotland (EW)
Cameron: 6.98 (6.80)
Miliband: 4.75 (4.05)
Clegg: 5.17 (5.05)
Farage: 6.77 (6.57)
And its a general party perception - not only Ed:
Con: 7.01 (6.90)
Lab: 4.66 (4.08)
LibD: 5.21 (4.84)
UKIP: 6.52 (6.62)
I'm thinking yoy may not yet have done a nighthawks based on mr Charles and David???
Ms Powell should spend more time doing what she was elected to do, viz. the scrutiny of delegated legislation, rather than sounding off in the press about the consequences of her own incompetence.
Cos I'm such a nice man...
Hopefully he will grow out of it