He was definitely massaging his own ego, but the way he said he was self-employed was frankly ridiculous. I do feel some pity for him though, what a poor way to end a reasonably distinguished career.
I wonder if he will be ennobled if he is cleared by the standards commissioner, you could imagine Cameron offering him this, if he resigned immediately.
Two in a day.. i e mailed a pal in the uk about the first one he said it was so embarrassing he could not listen until the end. And a correction i am over 2000 miles away not 1500 as prev stated
I have the unfortunate duty to announce that following the political defenestration of Sir Malcie of Kensington and Chelsea of that Ilk that Nuala of this parish was this afternoon found slumped in a finely tooled leather armchair at a heath spa in Bedfordshire with a pink handled derringer pistol by her side.
Ms Nuala, age unknown, having just shot the footman who had bought a copy of the Bedford Bugle featuring the thread cartoon by "Marf" is said to be helping the police with their enquiries at an undisclosed interview room near Luton.
Relatives of Ms Nuala are said to shocked and stunned that she failed to take her full length sable fur coat and crocodile hand luggage to Smithson Towers Health Spa and clearly she has developed PRSD - Post Rikind Stress Disorder.
Just listened to the LBC interview and it was terrible. Dave may have slipped up in demanding the Greens take part. If the debates are anything like her interviews today I could see a fair few Green voters returning to Labour.
For all of those out there who want a good Spider-Man movie. Bad news, SPE (Sony) just hired Tom Rothman as their new studio head to replace Amy Pascal, he was directly involved in both X-Men The Last Stand and X-Men Origins Wolverine when he held the same position at Fox.
Horrible, horrible decision. The long term rating of Sony moves from buy to overweight because of this move, there is clearly no long-term vision at Sony wrt to SPE.
MP SE I doubt it will make much difference to the Green Party vote, which is mainly made up of leftwingers who think Ed Miliband is useless and hate Clegg, most probably still think Lucas is leader anyway and will not have heard of Bennett. However, when even CiF posters in the Guardian online think Bennett cocked up and should be replaced by the more charismatic and effective Caroline Lucas, it may well be she may not last too long in the leadership role and move to another position
Just listened to the LBC interview and it was terrible. Dave may have slipped up in demanding the Greens take part. If the debates are anything like her interviews today I could see a fair few Green voters returning to Labour.
I'm expecting an uptick in Green % over next few days.
I'm expecting an uptick in Green % over next few days.
There was certainly nothing in that interview, a mess though it certainly was, to put me off voting Green anyhow. I don't feel any less enthused than I did before hearing it this evening. Probably nothing much in it to put off any other existing Green voter either. Whether all publicity is good publicity remains to be seen though.
Straw and Rifkind show that MPs are remarkably cheap. I estimate that with a couple of million you could buy the unconditional support of Parliament for your interest.
For all of those out there who want a good Spider-Man movie. Bad news, SPE (Sony) just hired Tom Rothman as their new studio head to replace Amy Pascal, he was directly involved in both X-Men The Last Stand and X-Men Origins Wolverine when he held the same position at Fox.
Horrible, horrible decision. The long term rating of Sony moves from buy to overweight because of this move, there is clearly no long-term vision at Sony wrt to SPE.
Jewish male studio head, diverse! Where are the WASPs, the hispanics?
The interview was a total train crash but, like others, doubt it will put off too many existing Green supporters. What should, however, put them off is the pledge to build 500,000 new homes. Where? With what materials? What environments will be leveled under the new homes and ruined in the extraction of materials for build them?
He was definitely massaging his own ego, but the way he said he was self-employed was frankly ridiculous. I do feel some pity for him though, what a poor way to end a reasonably distinguished career.
I wonder if he will be ennobled if he is cleared by the standards commissioner, you could imagine Cameron offering him this, if he resigned immediately.
I think this sort of thing sometimes happens to distinguished figures in safe seats - they've rarely faced any very awkward situations and aggressive questions, and they struggle to handle them sensibly. Someone like George Galloway, of whom I'm not a fan at all but who is used to rough weather, would have emerged in better shape, but Rifkind was simply overwhelmed.
The Bennett car crash may have been similar in cause - it's almost the first time anyone has bothered to analyse Green policy in depth.
The interview was a total train crash but, like others, doubt it will put off too many existing Green supporters. What should, however, put them off is the pledge to build 500,000 new homes. Where? With what materials? What environments will be leveled under the new homes and ruined in the extraction of materials for build them?
Genuine question - Is Brain Fader an Aussie or a Brit?
Mate of mine is a developer. His expert view on house building is that all the regulations around new build houses is having 2 effects - makes houses unattractive and less saleable and makes them a lot more expensive to build. If the Green's got in, it wouldn't be a surprise is the cost of just meeting regulations would be £60k a house, excluding any build costs.
It is slightly depressing at a time when we are trying (some of us anyway) to reinstate a sense of morality - or at least good judgment - amongst our leaders and financial institutions to find that the lead candidate, according to press reports anyway, to become Chairman of RBS is one Sir Howard Davies.
The Sir Howard Davies who had to resign from the LSE over its links with the Gaddaffi regime? That Sir Howard? Yes indeed.
Oh dear! Just the man to set the tone from the top - to show bankers that money should not be allowed to blind people to the need - the urgent necessity - to use their judgment and that, sometimes, just because something can be done does not mean that it should.
Its quite possible that post the car crash interviews that anyone who is a green will still vote green... what is questionable that recently recruited greens will return to Labour.. They left Labour.. not voting is more likely imho than returning to Labour.
It is slightly depressing at a time when are trying (some of us anyway) to reinstate a sense of morality - or at least good judgment - amongst our leaders and financial institutions to find that the lead candidate, according to press reports anyway, to become Chairman of RBS is one Sir Howard Davies.
The Sir Howard Davies who had to resign from the LSE over its links with the Gaddaffi regime? That Sir Howard? Yes indeed.
Oh dear! Just the man to set the tone from the top - to show bankers that money should not be allowed to blind people to the need - the urgent necessity - to use their judgment and that, sometimes, just because something can be done does not mean that it should.
That talentless individual has haunted public life for time immemorial like a bad penny personified.
It is slightly depressing at a time when we are trying (some of us anyway) to reinstate a sense of morality - or at least good judgment - amongst our leaders and financial institutions to find that the lead candidate, according to press reports anyway, to become Chairman of RBS is one Sir Howard Davies.
The Sir Howard Davies who had to resign from the LSE over its links with the Gaddaffi regime? That Sir Howard? Yes indeed.
Oh dear! Just the man to set the tone from the top - to show bankers that money should not be allowed to blind people to the need - the urgent necessity - to use their judgment and that, sometimes, just because something can be done does not mean that it should.
You have to be kidding....Wasn't he also in charge of the FSA for a number of years, blindly unaware of the the s##t what was going on around him?
Its quite possible that post the car crash interviews that anyone who is a green will still vote green... what is questionable that recently recruited greens will return to Labour.. They left Labour.. not voting is more likely imho than returning to Labour.
Not sure. I can see a Green bounce in a few days ( all publicity and all that...) but surely a number of Labour waverers will be driven back into the fold longer term? Ed's crap, but not that crap.
David Axlerod @AxlerodDavid · 48s 49 seconds ago Thank Christ I'm not doing the Green's PR campaign for #GE2015 after that car crash interview with @natalieben today.
It is slightly depressing at a time when are trying (some of us anyway) to reinstate a sense of morality - or at least good judgment - amongst our leaders and financial institutions to find that the lead candidate, according to press reports anyway, to become Chairman of RBS is one Sir Howard Davies.
The Sir Howard Davies who had to resign from the LSE over its links with the Gaddaffi regime? That Sir Howard? Yes indeed.
Oh dear! Just the man to set the tone from the top - to show bankers that money should not be allowed to blind people to the need - the urgent necessity - to use their judgment and that, sometimes, just because something can be done does not mean that it should.
That talentless individual has haunted public life for time immemorial like a bad penny personified.
What those who recruit such people always always forget - if they ever knew it - is that while skills and experience are very useful, what really matters above all is character. Moral character. Integrity. Judgment.
And if you have a choice between character and skills, you choose character. Every single time.
Too many people who are trying to do a good job see too many people who have an elevated idea of their own importance really do a lot of important jobs really quite badly or in a mediocre way and still waltz into a lot of prestigious and highly paid jobs on the basis of, well, what?
It is slightly depressing at a time when we are trying (some of us anyway) to reinstate a sense of morality - or at least good judgment - amongst our leaders and financial institutions to find that the lead candidate, according to press reports anyway, to become Chairman of RBS is one Sir Howard Davies.
The Sir Howard Davies who had to resign from the LSE over its links with the Gaddaffi regime? That Sir Howard? Yes indeed.
Oh dear! Just the man to set the tone from the top - to show bankers that money should not be allowed to blind people to the need - the urgent necessity - to use their judgment and that, sometimes, just because something can be done does not mean that it should.
You have to be kidding....Wasn't he also in charge of the FSA for a number of years, blindly unaware of the the s##t what was going on around him?
It is slightly depressing at a time when are trying (some of us anyway) to reinstate a sense of morality - or at least good judgment - amongst our leaders and financial institutions to find that the lead candidate, according to press reports anyway, to become Chairman of RBS is one Sir Howard Davies.
The Sir Howard Davies who had to resign from the LSE over its links with the Gaddaffi regime? That Sir Howard? Yes indeed.
Oh dear! Just the man to set the tone from the top - to show bankers that money should not be allowed to blind people to the need - the urgent necessity - to use their judgment and that, sometimes, just because something can be done does not mean that it should.
That talentless individual has haunted public life for time immemorial like a bad penny personified.
What those who recruit such people always always forget - if they ever knew it - is that while skills and experience are very useful, what really matters above all is character. Moral character. Integrity. Judgment.
And if you have a choice between character and skills, you choose character. Every single time.
Too many people who are trying to do a good job see too many people who have an elevated idea of their own importance really do a lot of important jobs really quite badly or in a mediocre way and still waltz into a lot of prestigious and highly paid jobs on the basis of, well, what?
Meritocracy, my ar*e!
Bennett's LinkedIn profile highlights her skills of political communication and public speaking. I could almost fear that her account has been doctored...
Its quite possible that post the car crash interviews that anyone who is a green will still vote green... what is questionable that recently recruited greens will return to Labour.. They left Labour.. not voting is more likely imho than returning to Labour.
Not sure. I can see a Green bounce in a few days ( all publicity and all that...) but surely a number of Labour waverers will be driven back into the fold longer term? Ed's crap, but not that crap.
Dont bet your house on it yet.. the election campaign might be revalatory
Its quite possible that post the car crash interviews that anyone who is a green will still vote green... what is questionable that recently recruited greens will return to Labour.. They left Labour.. not voting is more likely imho than returning to Labour.
Not sure. I can see a Green bounce in a few days ( all publicity and all that...) but surely a number of Labour waverers will be driven back into the fold longer term? Ed's crap, but not that crap.
Dont bet your house on it yet.. the election campaign might be revalatory
Tories seem to be hoping EIC will be even worse than current expectations.
Unfortunately Dave the master debater is Frit of putting Ed to the sword in the debates
It is slightly depressing at a time when we are trying (some of us anyway) to reinstate a sense of morality - or at least good judgment - amongst our leaders and financial institutions to find that the lead candidate, according to press reports anyway, to become Chairman of RBS is one Sir Howard Davies.
The Sir Howard Davies who had to resign from the LSE over its links with the Gaddaffi regime? That Sir Howard? Yes indeed.
Oh dear! Just the man to set the tone from the top - to show bankers that money should not be allowed to blind people to the need - the urgent necessity - to use their judgment and that, sometimes, just because something can be done does not mean that it should.
You have to be kidding....Wasn't he also in charge of the FSA for a number of years, blindly unaware of the the s##t what was going on around him?
The very same.
He is a management consultant by background. So the sort of person who thinks that how an organisation is structured, not what it does or, even more importantly, who does it, is the most important thing about it.
The people who get to the top of these organisations are the cream of society: those who are thick and rich.
Incidentally anyone else think that Channel 4's piece of malevolence is the driver of the UKIP slide?
I think most people saw the program for what it was.
I will be interested to see whether they continually poll around the low double digits for the rest of the week. I expect a bounce after their spring conference and manifesto unveiling.
I find it hard to believe that the left wing parties have gained 8% in the last month, at the expense of UKIP and the tories.
I think it's more that last month's share for Con and UKIP was an abnormally high 54%. This month, the combined share is 47% (48% for the seat-specific question). That's in line with the average. Survation's weightings then push up the UKIP share, and depress the Conservative share (like TNS).
Incidentally anyone else think that Channel 4's piece of malevolence is the driver of the UKIP slide?
I think most people saw the program for what it was.
I will be interested to see whether they continually poll around the low double digits for the rest of the week. I expect a bounce after their spring conference and manifesto unveiling.
Perhaps although I checked on BBC Government and they don't seem to be showing it (but they are showing the Libdems Welsh conference this Saturday).
I've just watched the "racist rant" on the BBC "meet the kippers" programme from the now expelled UKIP councillor.
From the general fuss, I was expecting something resembling an Alf Garnet tirade. What I saw was a women apparing to admit she was frightened of people with African features, that she accepted she seemed to have a problem and didn't seem to know what to do about it. She didn't imply they were inferior or use intentionally derogatory language (albeit she used a different n word that was considered respectable to her generation but is no longer considered PC). She seemed to me to think she had a phobia, possibly, as she said, due to a long ago repressed bad experience.
Surely monstering her is in this way is wholly counter productive. It strikes me as a modern version of the people who used to go round Bedlam laughing at the inmates in the 18th Century?
Why she decided to discuss something so personal and controversial in front of the cameras only she knows, but it was clearly troubling her. Surely this is someone who needs help not monstering, making political capital out of and having people behaving like the crowd in the scene in Life of Brian when someone said J*****ah?
Well, GIN predicted a big Labour lead with Survation, and a Tory lead with YouGov. He's taking over the soothsayer role from SeanT. :-)
But yeah, I'm sceptical too. I think Labour has a modest lead and we're seeing normal noise around that. But I do reckon UKIP is off the boil, and that it's marginally benefiting Labour, because the later, less convinced UKIP adherents came from Labour.
David has always been like that - homeopathy is another of his fancies. He's a nice, gentle fellow and other MPs never liked to heckle him but he was always seen as a little...specialised.
Incidentally anyone else think that Channel 4's piece of malevolence is the driver of the UKIP slide?
I suspect not. UKIP were always going to be a midterm phenomenon - a bit of a jolly and a heady indulgence when it didn't matter. But as the witching hour draws closer people will start to appreciate that UKIP are a luxury we can't afford. They'll be put into a skip with the Christmas empties.
@Paul_Mid_Beds I have a lot of sympathy for any politician who gets the media spin cycle. Find a line, then edit out the context, and it becomes a fantastic headline. There have been several of those in the past few weeks, and we can expect a bulk delivery regularly right up to polling day.
Outlier I am sure...but no consistent trend of polling in the opposite direction which would prevent a Labour win, so it hardly matters if it is way out - only ones which are similarly out of the general range show anything that might help the Tories win, even if they might have had hopes in the past few months of limiting the scale of the loss.
sean thomas knox @thomasknox The "missing ISIS girls" have now crossed into Syria (says BBC news). So that's it. They've joined ISIS. Which is crime. They are criminals. Retweeted by Daniel Hannan
@Scrapheap_as_was I hereby charge you three with becoming brood mares for a bunch of psychopathic halfwits that we have no idea how to deal with in any sensible fashion?
28%? An outlier cry the Blue Boys...I say how on earth does a party that only represents the 1% get an astonishing 27% of other gullible cap doffers to say they will vote for them?
Coalition down from 61% in 2010 to 38% in this poll...looks like the "Booming Britain" garbage from people like Digby Jones and the obedient Tory lickspittle press isnt resonating with many sensible people who look at the reality of their lives and not the fairy tale fiddled figures and dodgy stats that are fed to them on a tediously regular basis
Incidentally anyone else think that Channel 4's piece of malevolence is the driver of the UKIP slide?
No.
They've just been out of the limelight for a bit. That will change and I would expect them to pick up again when it does.
But why the sudden drop now when they've been out of the limelight (intentionally) for at least a couple of months?
UKIP were never really on 23%. This is simply a reversion to a more normal score. Polling from Sunday onwards still puts UKIP on an average 14%.
19% is the lowest with Survation since last September and four out of the five polls prior to this one with Survation were 23% or higher. That would suggest in Survations eyes at least they were on 23%.
However, whether UKIP were actually on 23% is irrelevant. Its that we have seen similar drops in three polls in two days . That suggests there is some sort of event impact affecting their vote share.
sean thomas knox @thomasknox The "missing ISIS girls" have now crossed into Syria (says BBC news). So that's it. They've joined ISIS. Which is crime. They are criminals. Retweeted by Daniel Hannan
Laid messi first goalscorer for five Malcolm rifkind speeches at work so feel like a winner even though I've lost on the day!
@coolagorna No, I saw it in the news, our stock market is at levels not seen since the dot com bust......but this time it hasn't been artificially pumped up! It is as sound as our house prices.
Comments
I wonder if he will be ennobled if he is cleared by the standards commissioner, you could imagine Cameron offering him this, if he resigned immediately.
Survation - 5% Lab Lead
YG - 1% Con Lead
Ms Nuala, age unknown, having just shot the footman who had bought a copy of the Bedford Bugle featuring the thread cartoon by "Marf" is said to be helping the police with their enquiries at an undisclosed interview room near Luton.
Relatives of Ms Nuala are said to shocked and stunned that she failed to take her full length sable fur coat and crocodile hand luggage to Smithson Towers Health Spa and clearly she has developed PRSD - Post Rikind Stress Disorder.
@MP_SE - SKY headline URL says it all…!
http://news.sky.com/story/1433512/green-leaders-cock-up-will-have-consequences.
Horrible, horrible decision. The long term rating of Sony moves from buy to overweight because of this move, there is clearly no long-term vision at Sony wrt to SPE.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtJm3v42P7E
Spot on.
The Bennett car crash may have been similar in cause - it's almost the first time anyone has bothered to analyse Green policy in depth.
"What environments will be leveled under the new homes."
Indeed, think of the thousands of worms who will be mercilessly crushed under those mechanical monsters belching out world-destroying fumes.
The horror!
Mate of mine is a developer. His expert view on house building is that all the regulations around new build houses is having 2 effects - makes houses unattractive and less saleable and makes them a lot more expensive to build. If the Green's got in, it wouldn't be a surprise is the cost of just meeting regulations would be £60k a house, excluding any build costs.
The Sir Howard Davies who had to resign from the LSE over its links with the Gaddaffi regime? That Sir Howard? Yes indeed.
Oh dear! Just the man to set the tone from the top - to show bankers that money should not be allowed to blind people to the need - the urgent necessity - to use their judgment and that, sometimes, just because something can be done does not mean that it should.
David Axlerod @AxlerodDavid · 48s 49 seconds ago
Thank Christ I'm not doing the Green's PR campaign for #GE2015 after that car crash interview with @natalieben today.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2966804/Tory-MP-claims-ASTROLOGY-solve-health-service-crisis-taking-pressure-doctors-nurses.html
And if you have a choice between character and skills, you choose character. Every single time.
Too many people who are trying to do a good job see too many people who have an elevated idea of their own importance really do a lot of important jobs really quite badly or in a mediocre way and still waltz into a lot of prestigious and highly paid jobs on the basis of, well, what?
Meritocracy, my ar*e!
Ex chairman of FSA before HBOS collapsed. FT implying that an inquiry into its failure won't surface before summer.
Not sure this looks smart.
Unfortunately Dave the master debater is Frit of putting Ed to the sword in the debates
He is a management consultant by background. So the sort of person who thinks that how an organisation is structured, not what it does or, even more importantly, who does it, is the most important thing about it.
The people who get to the top of these organisations are the cream of society: those who are thick and rich.
LAB - 34% (+4)
CON - 28% (-3)
UKIP - 19% (-4)
LDEM - 10% (+3)
GRN - 4% (+1)
Outlandish outlier?
LAB 31
CON 31
UKIP 21
LD 7
GRN 3
EICIPM
Lab 33, Con 29, LD 10, Kippers 19
I think that's the only consistent thing in the polls
LAB+2
CON-2
UKIP-2
LD+3
GRN +1
Surely 28% is too low for Tories
LAB 33.7
CON 30.5
UKIP 21
LD 10.5
GRN 3
Labour a little more that 3% ahead in England and Wales.
I will be interested to see whether they continually poll around the low double digits for the rest of the week. I expect a bounce after their spring conference and manifesto unveiling.
They've just been out of the limelight for a bit. That will change and I would expect them to pick up again when it does.
From the general fuss, I was expecting something resembling an Alf Garnet tirade. What I saw was a women apparing to admit she was frightened of people with African features, that she accepted she seemed to have a problem and didn't seem to know what to do about it. She didn't imply they were inferior or use intentionally derogatory language (albeit she used a different n word that was considered respectable to her generation but is no longer considered PC). She seemed to me to think she had a phobia, possibly, as she said, due to a long ago repressed bad experience.
Surely monstering her is in this way is wholly counter productive. It strikes me as a modern version of the people who used to go round Bedlam laughing at the inmates in the 18th Century?
Why she decided to discuss something so personal and controversial in front of the cameras only she knows, but it was clearly troubling her. Surely this is someone who needs help not monstering, making political capital out of and having people behaving like the crowd in the scene in Life of Brian when someone said J*****ah?
But sell them if you think the decline will continue. I'm not doing so, not yet, and if I'm wrong I'll pay for it, not for the first time.
But yeah, I'm sceptical too. I think Labour has a modest lead and we're seeing normal noise around that. But I do reckon UKIP is off the boil, and that it's marginally benefiting Labour, because the later, less convinced UKIP adherents came from Labour. David has always been like that - homeopathy is another of his fancies. He's a nice, gentle fellow and other MPs never liked to heckle him but he was always seen as a little...specialised.
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/devolution-now-greater-manchester-gets-8712970
Devolution: Now Greater Manchester gets control of its entire £6bn NHS budget
I have a lot of sympathy for any politician who gets the media spin cycle.
Find a line, then edit out the context, and it becomes a fantastic headline.
There have been several of those in the past few weeks, and we can expect a bulk delivery regularly right up to polling day.
elsewhere:
sean thomas knox @thomasknox
The "missing ISIS girls" have now crossed into Syria (says BBC news). So that's it. They've joined ISIS. Which is crime. They are criminals.
Retweeted by Daniel Hannan
I hereby charge you three with becoming brood mares for a bunch of psychopathic halfwits that we have no idea how to deal with in any sensible fashion?
an astonishing 27% of other gullible cap doffers to say they will vote
for them?
Coalition down from 61% in 2010 to 38% in this poll...looks like
the "Booming Britain" garbage from people like Digby Jones
and the obedient Tory lickspittle press isnt resonating
with many sensible people who look at the reality of their
lives and not the fairy tale fiddled figures and dodgy stats that
are fed to them on a tediously regular basis
However, whether UKIP were actually on 23% is irrelevant. Its that we have seen similar drops in three polls in two days . That suggests there is some sort of event impact affecting their vote share.
I seem to remember Andrew Lloyd Webber threatening to leave in 1997. Dont think he ever did.
What stupid spending plans Let me guess the NHS or welfare state?
The IFS by the way thinks the Tory tax cut promises makes them the biggest black hole party
'the "Booming Britain"
At least we won't have to worry about that with the two Ed's, just remember to switch the lights off.
No, I saw it in the news, our stock market is at levels not seen since the dot com bust......but this time it hasn't been artificially pumped up!
It is as sound as our house prices.
it is.....isn't it?