Agreed. I feared we were terminally f*cked in 2008. It just turned out we were monumentally screwed, but it wasn't the end of British prosperity forever.
Remember David Blanchflower and his "five million unemployed" etc etc
Things have generally worked out better than I thought they would in 2010, which is why I'm willing to give Con (or the coalition) another go.
For our business 2011-2013 was grim, but things are definitely going well now.
I don't think there's any way that Cameron looks good over this, but that may well be better than giving Milliband or Farage the chance to shine in debate. It doesn't seem to be an issue that shifts votes.
So you dont think that during the closest election.in years the general public wont be thinking
Why is our PM going around pointing at fish whilst Miliband Farage and all the others are discussing the countrys future direction??
You PB Tories really dont get it do you? But you will..mark my words you will
Have a word with yourself. Hopefully, the Tories, and your lot of incompetents will both "get it". The general public don't want either of you in any great quantity. Hopefully, you'll both get a third of the vote each, and destroy yourselves in the recriminations after. I feckin despise the lot of them, and judging by the polls, so do most of the voters.
Whoever wins, we lose.
We the public have lost big time, due to the banking industry these past 8 years, and for at least another 5.
The banking industry played a part, they precipitated the bust, but they also precipitated the boom. Anyone who on here saw their property value increase played just as much a part in the boom and the bust.
notme.
I find that hard to believe, many bought their house to live in only, and had no part in any decisions to over inflate the price, or lend to people, who did not have the income to repay.
We are skill rabbiting on about 'debates'? Clearly the economy must be on the up. Still trying to defend Miliband for not having the sense to realise what an energy market is all about?
The Return of the Trolls. It looks like this site is becoming unreadable again.
Agreed. I feared we were terminally f*cked in 2008. It just turned out we were monumentally screwed, but it wasn't the end of British prosperity forever.
Remember David Blanchflower and his "five million unemployed" etc etc
Things have generally worked out better than I thought they would in 2010, which is why I'm willing to give Con (or the coalition) another go.
For our business 2011-2013 was grim, but things are definitely going well now.
I would say much the same about the NHS. Its been tough, but not a disaster. The winter blip was over by mid Jan, with targets looking good for year end.
I think that in a years time we will be looking back fondly at the golden era of sane government that was the coalition!
I have prepped my finances to cope with Ed, I am even coming round to the early retirement that his pension changes will force on me.
@Not me "to establish a tough new regulator with the power to force energy suppliers to pass on price cuts when wholesale costs fall, and to put all over-75-year-olds on the cheapest tariff."
@Not me "to establish a tough new regulator with the power to force energy suppliers to pass on price cuts when wholesale costs fall, and to put all over-75-year-olds on the cheapest tariff."
@Not me "to establish a tough new regulator with the power to force energy suppliers to pass on price cuts when wholesale costs fall, and to put all over-75-year-olds on the cheapest tariff."
I thank you.
You failed to read the whole motion. The setting of the freeze was to be immediate, the new regulator was to come after the freeze.
You monumentally messed this one up. Just move on.
@Not me "to establish a tough new regulator with the power to force energy suppliers to pass on price cuts when wholesale costs fall, and to put all over-75-year-olds on the cheapest tariff."
I thank you.
The price would have still been frozen for 20 months while that was going on...
I note that Lord Ashcroft had Jim Murphy 1% ahead of the SNP. I've just had a look at the tables and as far as I could see, the SNP seem to be ahead on all measures, even on the second stage think of candidates who might be standing question. Results below:
@Not me "to establish a tough new regulator with the power to force energy suppliers to pass on price cuts when wholesale costs fall, and to put all over-75-year-olds on the cheapest tariff."
I thank you.
The price would have still been frozen for 20 months while that was going on...
Precisely. The freeze until 2017 was just that, a freeze. They put no thought into the idea that energy prices would drop. The freeze only turned into the cap when oil prices collapsed.
@Not me "to establish a tough new regulator with the power to force energy suppliers to pass on price cuts when wholesale costs fall, and to put all over-75-year-olds on the cheapest tariff."
I thank you.
The idea is not practical. Energy suppliers buy much of their supply through forward purchases in the wholesale markets, not immediately influenced by changes in the spot markets.
he issue may be of low enough saliency to work to Dave's advantage.
Yes, it's a topic that's unlikely to excite anybody outside the Village and anoraks like us.
To the extent the more general public does form an opinion I would imagine it would split more or less equally between those who think Dave is chcken (wrong) and those who think he has been either astute or sneaky (both arguably correct).
On the whole, it won't sway many votes, so the damage is probably regarded as acceptable by CCHQ. Proper debates might have been catastrophic.
In this case, there's not much distinction between being chicken and being astute/sneaky. Cameron is both afraid of the debates, and acting rationally in avoiding them.
Impressively Cameron has come across as both untrustworthy and a coward. He should have just said no.
Of course I can understand his fear of debating Farage.
Cameron doesn't have a good record to defend, and I'm sure he knows it. His trump card is that a Labour/SNP coalition would be worse.
There'
Agreed. I feared we were terminally f*cked in 2008. It just turned out we were monumentally screwed, but it wasn't the end of British prosperity forever.
Remember David Blanchflower and his "five million unemployed" etc etc
Yes, he blocked me on twitter when I pointed out that he said it....
Hah. He blocked me as well, when I very gently (and rightly) mocked him for some other error.
So he's a coward as well as a cretin.
You'd have thought someone of his standing would be above blocking someone on twitter for such a thing!
Which way does it seem to be going in Loughbrough? Labour still invisible?
labour is invisible. Conservatives appear to be ramping up. UKIP were out and about in downtown Loughborough yesterday but no noticeable enthusiasm. Others irrelevant. I'm not convinced that outside enthusasists, the forthcoming election has in any way registered....
So if the TV debates fail to happen, the public will at least be left with the impression of the Prime Minister as an astute tactician. No. Most of the public won't care. Those that do will not have a favourable impression of the PM over this. Like the boundary changes for Clegg the issue may be of low enough saliency to work to Dave's advantage.
Yes, it's a topic that's unlikely to excite anybody outside the Village and anoraks like us. To the extent the more general public does form an opinion I would imagine it would split more or less equally between those who think Dave is chcken (wrong) and those who think he has been either astute or sneaky (both arguably correct). .
Impressively Cameron has come across as both untrustworthy and a coward. He should have just said no. Of course I can understand his fear of debating Farage.
Cameron doesn't have a good record to defend, and I'm sure he knows it. His trump card is that a Labour/SNP coalition would be worse.
There's a general optimism which I thought we might never ever get back. As if what happened in 2008 was the mark of our terminal decline. The city of london, gone for ever, unemployment never to get materially better. Our standard of living to just drop and drop and drop, with the USA dropping out of leading the free world. This is not the case. We have a lot of problems, but a lot to look forward to. I think it is absolutely extraordinary how changes to welfare have fundamentally altered what those who have been long term recipients expect for it. I think the next government is going to have a hell of a tough time managing the spending restraints necessary to get into balance, but the nation is a better off nation then it was in 2010. There might be points on a graph where we are not where we used to be, but the trajectory has been turned around.
Agreed. I feared we were terminally f*cked in 2008. It just turned out we were monumentally screwed, but it wasn't the end of British prosperity forever. Remember David Blanchflower and his "five million unemployed" etc etc
Do not worry Sean, the BBC will continue to present Blanchflower as an expert in such matters just as they continue to present that other left wing pillar of society, Will Hutton, as an expert on how business should function and never ask him about his record in driving an institution into a near bankruptcy....
Which way does it seem to be going in Loughbrough? Labour still invisible?
labour is invisible. Conservatives appear to be ramping up. UKIP were out and about in downtown Loughborough yesterday but no noticeable enthusiasm. Others irrelevant. I'm not convinced that outside enthusasists, the forthcoming election has in any way registered....
My impression too. How long can the phoney war last?
There is a palpable sense of apathy, even amongst otherwise intelligent people.
I note that Lord Ashcroft had Jim Murphy 1% ahead of the SNP. I've just had a look at the tables and as far as I could see, the SNP seem to be ahead on all measures, even on the second stage think of candidates who might be standing question. Results below:
Credibility is everything to a PM looking for votes. This nonsense about it not mattering or even more ludicrous that it shows him to be a sharp operator are delusional.
Oliver Reid was being paid £1,000,000 to do an ad for Bacardi which was being shot in the Bahamas. During the shoot he got pissed and involved in a punch-up and was jailed for the night. It was splashed all over the papers and the next day the shoot was called off and Ollie was fired.
The reason he was fired wasn't because he got involved in a fight-people expected that of him-it's that when he was photographed by the worlds media he was holding a bottle of scotch.
Do you really think the public want a shyster as PM because it shows he's a sharp operator?
Hah. He blocked me as well, when I very gently (and rightly) mocked him for some other error.
So he's a coward as well as a cretin.
Isn't that a bit harsh on cowards and cretins?
More seriously, I got him into a tangle over his attempts to label the 2008 crash the Second Great Depression. I asked him if he was aware that there had already been a Second Great Depression, between 1929 and 1932. Because he had been educated in America (where, for various reasons and uniquely among historians, they call the First Great Depression of 1877-1902 the 'Long Depression') he did not. Maybe it was a bit mean on my part to ask him whether it was because he is a much-promoted New Labour economist that he was unable to count up to two, but I did enjoy his spluttering.
It is somewhat disheartening to reflect that not only was he very influential in setting the disastrous monetary policy that stoked a housing boom, in turn causing the insolvency of our banking system, but that he is still in employment. It does rather give the lie to the notion of Britain or indeed Western civilization as a meritocracy.
Agreed. I feared we were terminally f*cked in 2008. It just turned out we were monumentally screwed, but it wasn't the end of British prosperity forever.
Remember David Blanchflower and his "five million unemployed" etc etc
Things have generally worked out better than I thought they would in 2010, which is why I'm willing to give Con (or the coalition) another go.
For our business 2011-2013 was grim, but things are definitely going well now.
Do not worry Sean, the BBC will continue to present Blanchflower as an expert in such matters just as they continue to present that other left wing pillar of society, Will Hutton, as an expert on how business should function and never ask him about his record in driving an institution into a near bankruptcy....
Funny you should say that...guess who R5 had on Friday afternoon...one Will Hutton, who has revised his previous works to be updated for the current situation. Tough questions, of course not.
BTW, our BRITISH tennis ace Andy Murray 2 sets up against USA's Isner in the Davis Cup
It should read: BTW, our BRITISH tennis ace Andy Murray, who supports independence for Scotland, 2 sets up against USA's Isner in the Davis Cup
Murray's extreme reluctance to speak out on indy, until the very last minute, when he tweeted something ambiguous, which could be construed as saying vote YES, but also denied, speaks to me of a Scot with lots of family investments in Scotland who was keen to keep the Scottish government onside - but not very keen on actual independence.
Quite the contrary - it was a past monstering from the Britnat media which was more likely to be the problem. He's been more categorical in recent months IIRC.
I note that Lord Ashcroft had Jim Murphy 1% ahead of the SNP. I've just had a look at the tables and as far as I could see, the SNP seem to be ahead on all measures, even on the second stage think of candidates who might be standing question. Results below:
Apologies if this is an old issue which has already been flagged.
Are you the chap who is going to clean up in Scotland ?
I'm certainly one of them, my strategy was to focus on the William Hill SLAB seats market. I was able to get £5 a day for the first few weeks in December on 0-5 seats at 125/1. I've got decent positions in 6-10 seats, 11-15 seats and will break even if SLAB get 16-20. Isam told me off a while back for talking up my book - so I've been keeping quiet and smiling !!
If he presented himself with some kind of independence it wouldnt be too bad. But you know an economist is talking rubbish when they start taking overt party political lines. He couldnt be took of the air to tell us that everything that went wrong in 2011/12 was due to the governments spending cuts. When there wasnt any!!!
Do not worry Sean, the BBC will continue to present Blanchflower as an expert in such matters just as they continue to present that other left wing pillar of society, Will Hutton, as an expert on how business should function and never ask him about his record in driving an institution into a near bankruptcy....
Funny you should say that...guess who R5 had on Friday afternoon...one Will Hutton, who has revised his previous works to be updated for the current situation. Tough questions, of course not.
I wonder if even with the benefit of hindsight, everyting Will Hutton writes is wrong?
I don't think there's any way that Cameron looks good over this, but that may well be better than giving Milliband or Farage the chance to shine in debate. It doesn't seem to be an issue that shifts votes.
So you dont think that during the closest election.in years the general public wont be thinking
Why is our PM going around pointing at fish whilst Miliband Farage and all the others are discussing the countrys future direction??
You PB Tories really dont get it do you? But you will..mark my words you will
Have a word with yourself. Hopefully, the Tories, and your lot of incompetents will both "get it". The general public don't want either of you in any great quantity. Hopefully, you'll both get a third of the vote each, and destroy yourselves in the recriminations after. I feckin despise the lot of them, and judging by the polls, so do most of the voters.
Whoever wins, we lose.
We the public have lost big time, due to the banking industry these past 8 years, and for at least another 5.
The banking industry played a part, they precipitated the bust, but they also precipitated the boom. Anyone who on here saw their property value increase played just as much a part in the boom and the bust.
notme.
I find that hard to believe, many bought their house to live in only, and had no part in any decisions to over inflate the price, or lend to people, who did not have the income to repay.
No-one was forced to borrow more from a bank than they could afford - you need to get real. When people sell houses they try to get as high a price as possible. The banks were neither less or more evil than millions of ordinary people. It's not always everyone else's fault.
Mrray's tweet was very clear "Let's Do This" (the YES slogan) and he has not denied it. Really you cannot change the world just because you don't like it.
Hah. He blocked me as well, when I very gently (and rightly) mocked him for some other error.
So he's a coward as well as a cretin.
Isn't that a bit harsh on cowards and cretins?
More seriously, I got him into a tangle over his attempts to label the 2008 crash the Second Great Depression. I asked him if he was aware that there had already been a Second Great Depression, between 1929 and 1932. Because he had been educated in America (where, for various reasons and uniquely among historians, they call the First Great Depression of 1877-1902 the 'Long Depression') he did not. Maybe it was a bit mean on my part to ask him whether it was because he is a much-promoted New Labour economist that he was unable to count up to two, but I did enjoy his spluttering.
It is somewhat disheartening to reflect that not only was he very influential in setting the disastrous monetary policy that stoked a housing boom, in turn causing the insolvency of our banking system, but that he is still in employment. It does rather give the lie to the notion of Britain or indeed Western civilization as a meritocracy.
Yes. He should be drawing the dole. One of the "five million".
But then again, consider all the experts, pundits and politicians who devised, promoted and evangelised the euro (a much greater sin than being a sad little pillock like Blanchflower): they have helped to impoverish half a continent. They should not only be unemployed, they should be in jail.
Yet still plenty of them strut the political stage.
Just for humour's sake, SeanT. Rank the following countries in terms of job creation 1999 to now:
BTW, our BRITISH tennis ace Andy Murray 2 sets up against USA's Isner in the Davis Cup
It should read: BTW, our BRITISH tennis ace Andy Murray, who supports independence for Scotland, 2 sets up against USA's Isner in the Davis Cup
Murray's extreme reluctance to speak out on indy, until the very last minute, when he tweeted something ambiguous, which could be construed as saying vote YES, but also denied, speaks to me of a Scot with lots of family investments in Scotland who was keen to keep the Scottish government onside - but not very keen on actual independence.
Quite the contrary - it was a past monstering from the Britnat media which was more likely to be the problem. He's been more categorical in recent months IIRC.
Not what I've heard, on the grapevine. At all. We must agree to differ.
Bit silly saying the following (as reported a week ago) if he didn't mean it.
'Murray, 27, tweeted support for independence on referendum day but admitted that maintaining silence on the matter had “felt like a lie”.
“I was lying awake at night, I wanted to say something. My feeling is that Scotland is it’s own country. I think every country would work better if it was in control of its own destiny.”'
Bravery is a double edged word, those who lack courage should be treated with some sympathy. Cameron can't like being thought of as weak and whoever is advising him need to consider the damage it is doing. It would be laughable if Cameron were given an extra political broadcast without challenge. Miliband would be within his rights to ask for a similar platform.
I note that Lord Ashcroft had Jim Murphy 1% ahead of the SNP. I've just had a look at the tables and as far as I could see, the SNP seem to be ahead on all measures, even on the second stage think of candidates who might be standing question. Results below:
Apologies if this is an old issue which has already been flagged.
Are you the chap who is going to clean up in Scotland ?
I'm certainly one of them, my strategy was to focus on the William Hill SLAB seats market. I was able to get £5 a day for the first few weeks in December on 0-5 seats at 125/1. I've got decent positions in 6-10 seats, 11-15 seats and will break even if SLAB get 16-20. Isam told me off a while back for talking up my book - so I've been keeping quiet and smiling !!
Amazing. You'll be POTY if it comes off (Punter of the year)
Mr. 1000, I meant 100% unacceptable for us to be involved.
It's 100% stupid whether we are or not. And how will it be funded? UK taxpayers shouldn't bankroll a euroland army.
as an aside, it won't happen because the french and the italians and the spanish won't hand their forces - beyond a token rapid-reaction force - to something they don't control
6.1k shares for the Cyril Smith story in the Mail on Sunday....
Does it mention either of his parties anywhere? Or does it focus on Thatcher?
They should be held to account in full without any doubt. The perpetrators, the cover uppers and the people who lost the evidence and files. The victims must have justice and some recompense.
However......
I just can't shake the thought that it what a sheer coincidence that they find files lost for years a matter of weeks before the most critical election for ever and they get Thatchers name in it.
BTW, our BRITISH tennis ace Andy Murray 2 sets up against USA's Isner in the Davis Cup
It should read: BTW, our BRITISH tennis ace Andy Murray, who supports independence for Scotland, 2 sets up against USA's Isner in the Davis Cup
Murray's extreme reluctance to speak out on indy, until the very last minute, when he tweeted something ambiguous, which could be construed as saying vote YES, but also denied, speaks to me of a Scot with lots of family investments in Scotland who was keen to keep the Scottish government onside - but not very keen on actual independence.
Quite the contrary - it was a past monstering from the Britnat media which was more likely to be the problem. He's been more categorical in recent months IIRC.
Not what I've heard, on the grapevine. At all. We must agree to differ.
Bit silly saying the following (as reported a week ago) if he didn't mean it.
'Murray, 27, tweeted support for independence on referendum day but admitted that maintaining silence on the matter had “felt like a lie”.
“I was lying awake at night, I wanted to say something. My feeling is that Scotland is it’s own country. I think every country would work better if it was in control of its own destiny.”'
Anyway, speaking as a travel journalist, good for Andy Murray and his family investing in the Scottish economy, so heavily. I see there was some controversy over his hotel conversion, though.
Mrray's tweet was very clear "Let's Do This" (the YES slogan) and he has not denied it. Really you cannot change the world just because you don't like it.
Perhaps Murray had access to the research by the secret Canadians ?
Does anyone seriously believe that Cameron's position on the debates, incoherent as it might be, is actually going to change the way a real person votes?
I note that Lord Ashcroft had Jim Murphy 1% ahead of the SNP. I've just had a look at the tables and as far as I could see, the SNP seem to be ahead on all measures, even on the second stage think of candidates who might be standing question. Results below:
Apologies if this is an old issue which has already been flagged.
Are you the chap who is going to clean up in Scotland ?
I'm certainly one of them, my strategy was to focus on the William Hill SLAB seats market. I was able to get £5 a day for the first few weeks in December on 0-5 seats at 125/1. I've got decent positions in 6-10 seats, 11-15 seats and will break even if SLAB get 16-20. Isam told me off a while back for talking up my book - so I've been keeping quiet and smiling !!
Amazing. You'll be POTY if it comes off (Punter of the year)
That would be a great honour. If it does come off I'll be donating a chunk of my winnings to my MND awareness campaign:
@DavidL It might be wise of us to move on, because none of our political commentators are going to ask Dave any awkward questions. "Tell me Prime Minister, what do you make of Ed Milliband's proposal to put into place legislation on future debates?" Now here is a word of warning, if he answers the question the same way it gets answered on here, he will get skewered. If he answers in a more nuanced way he might survive the follow up questions with a mere mauling.
Can't help daydreaming that Bruno Gianelli would be impressed with how DC has played these debate negotiations, as three options now remain:
- best case: no debates, no-one wins except PM who remains above the fray
- middle case: debate with 7 people, no-one wins and EdM looks as weak as Clegg/Bennett etc
- worst case: head to head debate with EdM head to head goes ahead, DC agrees at last minute to avoid empty chair, has lowered expectations so much that when Ed trips over the podium/his prepared sound bite words don't fit the question (as we've seen before, Ed is never afraid to sound like a soundbite robot with a malfunction when answering questions from journalists/public), DC triumphs with a normal mediocre performance.
The first rule of debate negotiations - never look desperate for them. The second rule of debate negotiations has just been written - never threaten to pass a law when it looks like you can't get your own way.
Mr. K, apologies if you noticed this before, but some time ago now you asked me my pen name [I'd left the thread, and then you were absent for about a week]: it's Thaddeus White.
Does anyone seriously believe that Cameron's position on the debates, incoherent as it might be, is actually going to change the way a real person votes?
No? Didn't think so. So let's move on.
Exactly,DC is playing to win,the possible downside of the debate exceeds any upside,anecdotally everyone I speak to thinks the debates are a boring waste of time and would rather watch some variant of strictly ,BGT,I am a celeb etc. So DC will just prevaricate and take what limited damage results.
@jayfdee The debates last time made little difference to the over 50's in general. Though studies did show some interesting facts about them and shed a different light on their salience to younger voters. It's why the "duck" became a "chicken"
BTW, our BRITISH tennis ace Andy Murray 2 sets up against USA's Isner in the Davis Cup
It should read: BTW, our BRITISH tennis ace Andy Murray, who supports independence for Scotland, 2 sets up against USA's Isner in the Davis Cup
Murray's extreme reluctance to speak out on indy, until the very last minute, when he tweeted something ambiguous, which could be construed as saying vote YES, but also denied, speaks to me of a Scot with lots of family investments in Scotland who was keen to keep the Scottish government onside - but not very keen on actual independence.
Quite the contrary - it was a past monstering from the Britnat media which was more likely to be the problem. He's been more categorical in recent months IIRC.
Not what I've heard, on the grapevine. At all. We must agree to differ.
Bit silly saying the following (as reported a week ago) if he didn't mean it.
'Murray, 27, tweeted support for independence on referendum day but admitted that maintaining silence on the matter had “felt like a lie”.
“I was lying awake at night, I wanted to say something. My feeling is that Scotland is it’s own country. I think every country would work better if it was in control of its own destiny.”'
Lots of very low quality partisan cheerleading on here as usual.
Whilst the debates may have had little impact on final voting intentions last time, as a Con supporter it seems blindingly obvious to me that IF the debates go ahead and if Cameron is not there (and if there is no alternative Con representative - eg Hague) then many people who don't follow politics that closely are going to think that Cameron's absence is very, very odd and that he does not want to expose himself to questioning.
In my view that will most certainly lead to some undecided voters ruling out voting Con.
Of course it could be argued he might lose more votes by taking part. But I am far from sure that that would be the case.
Mr. K, apologies if you noticed this before, but some time ago now you asked me my pen name [I'd left the thread, and then you were absent for about a week]: it's Thaddeus White.
Thanks for the info Morris, Thaddeus looks interesting, tomorrow I will be visiting my favourite fantasy and sci-fi bookshop and will, if I can, buy Bane of Souls and try you out. A critic, belies your lack of maps for the world. As a true fan, I love maps: as a retired graphics designer perhaps I can help you there.
The debates are a side show that may or may not influence some voters but it will be the economy and the Scottish question that will impact the most. Labour have identified the Mansion tax, high rate pension relief and a bank bonus tax (whatever that is) to fund their policies but what happens if George Osborne hijacks these income sources with a re valued high price homes council tax similar to the Lib Dems idea, accepts the tax take from the higher earners pension reliefs and introduces windfall taxes on Banks and Energy Companies and uses it all to increase the personal allowance to £11,000 and increase the NI start point substantially. Reckon that would check mate Labour and confirm him as one of the most political chancellors of all time
- worst case: head to head debate with EdM head to head goes ahead, DC agrees at last minute to avoid empty chair.
But just think about what that would mean. The whole of the election campaign will be dominated by the debates - which is exactly what Cameron said he didn't want. And it wouldn't be like last time. Every press conference would start with the media asking Cameron if he was going to attend the debate. The people might not care about the debates at the moment, but the press do care and they set the agenda.
It would be really interesting to be on the inside of the Tory camp at the moment. I suspect they weren't expecting it to get this far. Personally I hope the broadcasters dig their heels in. Okay, so I agree that Cameron is probably right not to want to debate - but that shouldn't mean that everyone has to do what he wants.
As an aside, I was less than impressed with Liz Truss on the Sunday Politics. She seemed to think that the broadcasters were still proposing a Dave/Ed/Nick three way debate and Andrew didn't pick her up on it.
The self confessed Tory Jeremy Paxman will grill Miliband. For balance Cameron should be questioned by PollyToynbee or some other left leaning journalist. Anything else would be unfair. Did they promote courage ar Eton?
Mr. VW, upon second reading, you're quite correct. Sorry about that, and well-spotted. [Makes me wonder how many mistakes I've made with the bit of writing I'm working on right now].
Mr. K, alas, not yet stocked in brick-and-mortar stores [this may change when Sir Edric's Temple is re-released and Sir Edric's Treasure is released via a small press]. Temple can be ordered, as a physical book, from Amazon or Lulu [the latter, despite being a couple of quid cheaper, is better for me]: http://www.lulu.com/gb/en/shop/thaddeus-white/sir-edrics-temple/paperback/product-21306938.html
On maps, I've almost finished a large(ish) scale map [too big for inclusion in a book but I'll put it up on my site at some point]. When I come to trying to sort out the two smaller ones I may include I'll try to remember to give you a bell.
The self confessed Tory Jeremy Paxman will grill Miliband. For balance Cameron should be questioned by PollyToynbee or some other left leaning journalist. Anything else would be unfair. Did they promote courage ar Eton?
Can I thank everyone for their replies wrt my tanks question. The problem is I cannot remember where I read it, although my possibly faulty memory says it might have been a written interview in a book or journal. Aside from that, I'm not sure of what I remember, but I *think* the purpose was not just to examine seized equipment, but to also see how the Russians were taking them down (e.g. "the Panthers have a weak spot below the turret that an H.E. round can damage," or somesuch, or "the Germans are using a new type of oil on their guns against the cold."). The guy was, I think, a pretty ordinary tanker who just so happened to be an engineer and speak Russian, so he was promoted and sent out.
Why I'm interested is that I also recall - possibly falsely - that every such engineer had a Russian officer assigned to him in a political role, and there was a great deal of both conflict and friendship. My memory gives me the impression that they often went onto recently-hot battlefields to check the Russians were not hiding anything.
I've never been able to track it down again, or find any references to it anywhere else. Then again, it's not my field. It's been nagging at me for years.
The reason I remember is that I thought it would make a heck of a WWII war novel, if such things sold any more ...
The self confessed Tory Jeremy Paxman will grill Miliband. For balance Cameron should be questioned by PollyToynbee or some other left leaning journalist. Anything else would be unfair. Did they promote courage ar Eton?
I never thought of him as a biased interviewer.
Leftie Andrew Marr is a perfect balance. Actually on second thoughts basically anybody at the BBC, except Andrew Neil, will fit the left learning journo criteria.
BTW, our BRITISH tennis ace Andy Murray 2 sets up against USA's Isner in the Davis Cup
It should read: BTW, our BRITISH tennis ace Andy Murray, who supports independence for Scotland, 2 sets up against USA's Isner in the Davis Cup
Murray's extreme reluctance to speak out on indy, until the very last minute, when he tweeted something ambiguous, which could be construed as saying vote YES, but also denied, speaks to me of a Scot with lots of family investments in Scotland who was keen to keep the Scottish government onside - but not very keen on actual independence.
Quite the contrary - it was a past monstering from the Britnat media which was more likely to be the problem. He's been more categorical in recent months IIRC.
Not what I've heard, on the grapevine. At all. We must agree to differ.
Bit silly saying the following (as reported a week ago) if he didn't mean it.
'Murray, 27, tweeted support for independence on referendum day but admitted that maintaining silence on the matter had “felt like a lie”.
“I was lying awake at night, I wanted to say something. My feeling is that Scotland is it’s own country. I think every country would work better if it was in control of its own destiny.”'
Mr. VW, upon second reading, you're quite correct. Sorry about that, and well-spotted. [Makes me wonder how many mistakes I've made with the bit of writing I'm working on right now].
Mr. K, alas, not yet stocked in brick-and-mortar stores [this may change when Sir Edric's Temple is re-released and Sir Edric's Treasure is released via a small press]. Temple can be ordered, as a physical book, from Amazon or Lulu [the latter, despite being a couple of quid cheaper, is better for me]: http://www.lulu.com/gb/en/shop/thaddeus-white/sir-edrics-temple/paperback/product-21306938.html
On maps, I've almost finished a large(ish) scale map [too big for inclusion in a book but I'll put it up on my site at some point]. When I come to trying to sort out the two smaller ones I may include I'll try to remember to give you a bell.
A good editor is priceless, alas not me in temperament alone. I love to handle a freshly printed 1st edition of a work. However, I will order it if I can get BoS as an iBook for my iPad. Ain't got a Kindle.
So if the TV debates fail to happen, the public will at least be left with the impression of the Prime Minister as an astute tactician.
Well I suppose the more 'optimistic' Tories might see it that way but I suspect the majority of voters will see it as a piece of base political maneuvering that demonstrates
1) That Cameron has no confidence in defending his government's record in a formal debate against his main opponents 2) That Cameron puts his own and his party's self interest before the reputation of our political system and the best interests of democracy 3) That Cameron fears his political abilities will be shown up as inadequate (much as they were in 2010) 4) That Cameron once again says one thing and does the opposite.
I note that Lord Ashcroft had Jim Murphy 1% ahead of the SNP. I've just had a look at the tables and as far as I could see, the SNP seem to be ahead on all measures, even on the second stage think of candidates who might be standing question. Results below:
So if the TV debates fail to happen, the public will at least be left with the impression of the Prime Minister as an astute tactician.
Well I suppose the more 'optimistic' Tories might see it that way but I suspect the majority of voters will see it as a piece of base political maneuvering that demonstrates
1) That Cameron has no confidence in defending his government's record in a formal debate against his main opponents 2) That Cameron puts his own and his party's self interest before the reputation of our political system and the best interests of democracy 3) That Cameron fears his political abilities will be shown up as inadequate (much as they were in 2010) 4) That Cameron once again says one thing and does the opposite.
I note that Lord Ashcroft had Jim Murphy 1% ahead of the SNP. I've just had a look at the tables and as far as I could see, the SNP seem to be ahead on all measures, even on the second stage think of candidates who might be standing question. Results below:
Lots of very low quality partisan cheerleading on here as usual.
Whilst the debates may have had little impact on final voting intentions last time, as a Con supporter it seems blindingly obvious to me that IF the debates go ahead and if Cameron is not there (and if there is no alternative Con representative - eg Hague) then many people who don't follow politics that closely are going to think that Cameron's absence is very, very odd and that he does not want to expose himself to questioning.
In my view that will most certainly lead to some undecided voters ruling out voting Con.
Of course it could be argued he might lose more votes by taking part. But I am far from sure that that would be the case.
I think the calculation is also that if Cameron doesn't participate then instead of Miliband being able to be largely be on the front foot in the debates he will have to spend much of them on the defensive from the certain attacks of the other parties and therefore will lose any advantage he might have gained and potentially lose more votes than Cameron's absence might for the Tories.
After all in a number of ways there is more value in the others besting Miliband than there is in them besting Cameron for the simple reason that they are all largely targetting Labour friendly voters at this stage.
Mr. VW, upon second reading, you're quite correct. Sorry about that, and well-spotted. [Makes me wonder how many mistakes I've made with the bit of writing I'm working on right now].
Mr. K, alas, not yet stocked in brick-and-mortar stores [this may change when Sir Edric's Temple is re-released and Sir Edric's Treasure is released via a small press]. Temple can be ordered, as a physical book, from Amazon or Lulu [the latter, despite being a couple of quid cheaper, is better for me]: http://www.lulu.com/gb/en/shop/thaddeus-white/sir-edrics-temple/paperback/product-21306938.html
On maps, I've almost finished a large(ish) scale map [too big for inclusion in a book but I'll put it up on my site at some point]. When I come to trying to sort out the two smaller ones I may include I'll try to remember to give you a bell.
A good editor is priceless, alas not me in temperament alone. I love to handle a freshly printed 1st edition of a work. However, I will order it if I can get BoS as an iBook for my iPad. Ain't got a Kindle.
So if the TV debates fail to happen, the public will at least be left with the impression of the Prime Minister as an astute tactician.
Well I suppose the more 'optimistic' Tories might see it that way but I suspect the majority of voters will see it as a piece of base political maneuvering that demonstrates
1) That Cameron has no confidence in defending his government's record in a formal debate against his main opponents 2) That Cameron puts his own and his party's self interest before the reputation of our political system and the best interests of democracy 3) That Cameron fears his political abilities will be shown up as inadequate (much as they were in 2010) 4) That Cameron once again says one thing and does the opposite.
Only if you are a lefty, Dave is astute.
So I am a leftie now am I? Clearly you know the square root of nothing.......
- worst case: head to head debate with EdM head to head goes ahead, DC agrees at last minute to avoid empty chair.
But just think about what that would mean. The whole of the election campaign will be dominated by the debates - which is exactly what Cameron said he didn't want. And it wouldn't be like last time. Every press conference would start with the media asking Cameron if he was going to attend the debate. The people might not care about the debates at the moment, but the press do care and they set the agenda.
It would be really interesting to be on the inside of the Tory camp at the moment. I suspect they weren't expecting it to get this far. Personally I hope the broadcasters dig their heels in. Okay, so I agree that Cameron is probably right not to want to debate - but that shouldn't mean that everyone has to do what he wants.
As an aside, I was less than impressed with Liz Truss on the Sunday Politics. She seemed to think that the broadcasters were still proposing a Dave/Ed/Nick three way debate and Andrew didn't pick her up on it.
No. Cameron would have to close the issue down, from the outset, by ruling out the debates so firmly that asking him if he was going to attend was pointless.
The empty chair in the head-to-head debate is a red herring. You can't have a 1 to 1 debate with an empty chair any more than you can have solo synchronised swimming. But if you tried, and the only participant was ed, the result would be hilarious, and not in a good way for ed.
A 6 way debate with empty chair is much more dangerous to Cameron, but does raise the pleasing possibility that the other 5 participants will gang up and debag Miliband minor, in the absence of Cameron. Actually I think the more likely victim of a debagging would be Farage, but then again how bad would that be for Cameron?
- worst case: head to head debate with EdM head to head goes ahead, DC agrees at last minute to avoid empty chair.
But just think about what that would mean. The whole of the election campaign will be dominated by the debates - which is exactly what Cameron said he didn't want. And it wouldn't be like last time. Every press conference would start with the media asking Cameron if he was going to attend the debate. The people might not care about the debates at the moment, but the press do care and they set the agenda.
It would be really interesting to be on the inside of the Tory camp at the moment. I suspect they weren't expecting it to get this far. Personally I hope the broadcasters dig their heels in. Okay, so I agree that Cameron is probably right not to want to debate - but that shouldn't mean that everyone has to do what he wants.
As an aside, I was less than impressed with Liz Truss on the Sunday Politics. She seemed to think that the broadcasters were still proposing a Dave/Ed/Nick three way debate and Andrew didn't pick her up on it.
No. Cameron would have to close the issue down, from the outset, by ruling out the debates so firmly that asking him if he was going to attend was pointless.
The empty chair in the head-to-head debate is a red herring. You can't have a 1 to 1 debate with an empty chair any more than you can have solo synchronised swimming. But if you tried, and the only participant was ed, the result would be hilarious, and not in a good way for ed.
A 6 way debate with empty chair is much more dangerous to Cameron, but does raise the pleasing possibility that the other 5 participants will gang up and debag Miliband minor, in the absence of Cameron. Actually I think the more likely victim of a debagging would be Farage, but then again how bad would that be for Cameron?
Well it could be but there will be few votes in debagging Farage especially if its seen that a bunch of bullying lefties are ganging up on him.
- worst case: head to head debate with EdM head to head goes ahead, DC agrees at last minute to avoid empty chair.
But just think about what that would mean. The whole of the election campaign will be dominated by the debates - which is exactly what Cameron said he didn't want. And it wouldn't be like last time. Every press conference would start with the media asking Cameron if he was going to attend the debate. The people might not care about the debates at the moment, but the press do care and they set the agenda.
It would be really interesting to be on the inside of the Tory camp at the moment. I suspect they weren't expecting it to get this far. Personally I hope the broadcasters dig their heels in. Okay, so I agree that Cameron is probably right not to want to debate - but that shouldn't mean that everyone has to do what he wants.
As an aside, I was less than impressed with Liz Truss on the Sunday Politics. She seemed to think that the broadcasters were still proposing a Dave/Ed/Nick three way debate and Andrew didn't pick her up on it.
No. Cameron would have to close the issue down, from the outset, by ruling out the debates so firmly that asking him if he was going to attend was pointless.
The empty chair in the head-to-head debate is a red herring. You can't have a 1 to 1 debate with an empty chair any more than you can have solo synchronised swimming. But if you tried, and the only participant was ed, the result would be hilarious, and not in a good way for ed.
A 6 way debate with empty chair is much more dangerous to Cameron, but does raise the pleasing possibility that the other 5 participants will gang up and debag Miliband minor, in the absence of Cameron. Actually I think the more likely victim of a debagging would be Farage, but then again how bad would that be for Cameron?
Well it could be but there will be few votes in debagging Farage especially if its seen that a bunch of bullying lefties are ganging up on him.
TV audiences seem to love partisan attacks on Ukip, and recent attacks have coincided with Ukip slipping in the polls. Correlation=/= causation, of course.
No. Cameron would have to close the issue down, from the outset, by ruling out the debates so firmly that asking him if he was going to attend was pointless.
I'd suggest that we're not at that stage yet - so the Tories are still probably hoping that the debates will just go away.
Some have suggested that Cameron could be replaced by Clegg, but it's hard to see how a broadcaster could change the rules of the debate if there is still the possibility that Cameron could change his mind at the last minute.
If Cameron was to completely rule out turning up for a head to head with Miliband, however, I'd suggest the broadcaster would be well within its right to seek a replacement and seeing as though Clegg has been Deputy PM for the last five years then that might not be such a silly idea.
on Friday, playing the 8th at the Blue Monster in the WGC-Cadillac tournament, Rory McIlroy threw his 3 iron into the lake in frustration and / or anger.
The owner of the course - its full name is Trump National Doral which will provide a clue - arranged for a scuba diver to retrieve the club from the lake.
On Saturday Rory Rory played with only 13 clubs.
On Sunday on the practice range, Trump gave McIlroy the club.
“Rory, I didn’t want you to play with 13 clubs again,” Trump said as he handed over the iron. “Thirteen is an unlucky number.”
McIlroy had a good laugh at the hand-off and thanked Trump. McIlroy immediately put the club in his bag. After the round, he will give it back to Trump, who said there were two options for the club’s future.
“We could auction it off to charity or we could put it in a trophy case here at Doral,” Trump said. “I give a lot of money to charity so I think we’ll have the club mounted and placed in the clubhouse somewhere.”
Only The Donald - a showman if ever there was one - could successfully pull off a stunt like this. I just wish he'd stay out of politics.
I note that Lord Ashcroft had Jim Murphy 1% ahead of the SNP. I've just had a look at the tables and as far as I could see, the SNP seem to be ahead on all measures, even on the second stage think of candidates who might be standing question. Results below:
Comments
I find that hard to believe, many bought their house to live in only, and had no part in any decisions to over inflate the price, or lend to people, who did not have the income to repay.
I think that in a years time we will be looking back fondly at the golden era of sane government that was the coalition!
I have prepped my finances to cope with Ed, I am even coming round to the early retirement that his pension changes will force on me.
You monumentally messed this one up. Just move on.
http://lordashcroftpolls.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Renfrewshire-East-Full-tables-Feb-15-LAM124A.pdf
Apologies if this is an old issue which has already been flagged.
Stonking odds on a penalty kick with an AWOL goalkeeper of 1-4 on the Tories in Truro.
No! No it's only a flesh wound, here is what they really meant.
Do you lot practice being stupid, or is it an inbuilt talent?
Which way does it seem to be going in Loughbrough? Labour still invisible?
labour is invisible. Conservatives appear to be ramping up. UKIP were out and about in downtown Loughborough yesterday but no noticeable enthusiasm. Others irrelevant. I'm not convinced that outside enthusasists, the forthcoming election has in any way registered....
labour is invisible. Conservatives appear to be ramping up. UKIP were out and about in downtown Loughborough yesterday but no noticeable enthusiasm. Others irrelevant. I'm not convinced that outside enthusasists, the forthcoming election has in any way registered....
My impression too. How long can the phoney war last?
There is a palpable sense of apathy, even amongst otherwise intelligent people.
Oliver Reid was being paid £1,000,000 to do an ad for Bacardi which was being shot in the Bahamas. During the shoot he got pissed and involved in a punch-up and was jailed for the night. It was splashed all over the papers and the next day the shoot was called off and Ollie was fired.
The reason he was fired wasn't because he got involved in a fight-people expected that of him-it's that when he was photographed by the worlds media he was holding a bottle of scotch.
Do you really think the public want a shyster as PM because it shows he's a sharp operator?
More seriously, I got him into a tangle over his attempts to label the 2008 crash the Second Great Depression. I asked him if he was aware that there had already been a Second Great Depression, between 1929 and 1932. Because he had been educated in America (where, for various reasons and uniquely among historians, they call the First Great Depression of 1877-1902 the 'Long Depression') he did not. Maybe it was a bit mean on my part to ask him whether it was because he is a much-promoted New Labour economist that he was unable to count up to two, but I did enjoy his spluttering.
It is somewhat disheartening to reflect that not only was he very influential in setting the disastrous monetary policy that stoked a housing boom, in turn causing the insolvency of our banking system, but that he is still in employment. It does rather give the lie to the notion of Britain or indeed Western civilization as a meritocracy.
Discuss.....
If he presented himself with some kind of independence it wouldnt be too bad. But you know an economist is talking rubbish when they start taking overt party political lines. He couldnt be took of the air to tell us that everything that went wrong in 2011/12 was due to the governments spending cuts. When there wasnt any!!!
Mrray's tweet was very clear "Let's Do This" (the YES slogan) and he has not denied it. Really you cannot change the world just because you don't like it.
UK
France
Spain
Germany
Ireland
Italy
Go on...
'Murray, 27, tweeted support for independence on referendum day but admitted that maintaining silence on the matter had “felt like a lie”.
“I was lying awake at night, I wanted to say something. My feeling is that Scotland is it’s own country. I think every country would work better if it was in control of its own destiny.”'
http://tinyurl.com/lwe7hha
Impression I got was that Murray came out for Yes, albeit in a perhaps feeble way (the 59th minute of the 11th hour).
Mr. T, saw on your Twitterfeed the desire for a euroland army. I am 100% unsurprised. It's totally unacceptable.
90 minutes with Paxman...
It's 100% stupid whether we are or not. And how will it be funded? UK taxpayers shouldn't bankroll a euroland army.
They should be held to account in full without any doubt. The perpetrators, the cover uppers and the people who lost the evidence and files. The victims must have justice and some recompense.
However......
I just can't shake the thought that it what a sheer coincidence that they find files lost for years a matter of weeks before the most critical election for ever and they get Thatchers name in it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4Gt3QJiAyA
Did you call UKIP liars?
UKIP currently have 602 PPCs, 'well on our way to 650'
Over 3,500 local council candidates so far.
https://www.youtube.com/user/ukipofficial/videos
Anyone hired them for the GE yet ?
No? Didn't think so. So let's move on.
https://www.justgiving.com/Calum-Ferguson1/
"Are you British or Scottish?......Depends if I win or not."
Many a true word spoken in jest.
If you've got a clear sky looking west, Venus is visible. And in the east, Jupiter is rising.
It might be wise of us to move on, because none of our political commentators are going to ask Dave any awkward questions.
"Tell me Prime Minister, what do you make of Ed Milliband's proposal to put into place legislation on future debates?"
Now here is a word of warning, if he answers the question the same way it gets answered on here, he will get skewered.
If he answers in a more nuanced way he might survive the follow up questions with a mere mauling.
Looks like the Canadians could be right - just six months later.
- best case: no debates, no-one wins except PM who remains above the fray
- middle case: debate with 7 people, no-one wins and EdM looks as weak as Clegg/Bennett etc
- worst case: head to head debate with EdM head to head goes ahead, DC agrees at last minute to avoid empty chair, has lowered expectations so much that when Ed trips over the podium/his prepared sound bite words don't fit the question (as we've seen before, Ed is never afraid to sound like a soundbite robot with a malfunction when answering questions from journalists/public), DC triumphs with a normal mediocre performance.
The first rule of debate negotiations - never look desperate for them.
The second rule of debate negotiations has just been written - never threaten to pass a law when it looks like you can't get your own way.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Thaddeus-White/e/B008C6RU98/
So DC will just prevaricate and take what limited damage results.
The debates last time made little difference to the over 50's in general.
Though studies did show some interesting facts about them and shed a different light on their salience to younger voters.
It's why the "duck" became a "chicken"
Uranus!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-31790574
Whilst the debates may have had little impact on final voting intentions last time, as a Con supporter it seems blindingly obvious to me that IF the debates go ahead and if Cameron is not there (and if there is no alternative Con representative - eg Hague) then many people who don't follow politics that closely are going to think that Cameron's absence is very, very odd and that he does not want to expose himself to questioning.
In my view that will most certainly lead to some undecided voters ruling out voting Con.
Of course it could be argued he might lose more votes by taking part. But I am far from sure that that would be the case.
A critic, belies your lack of maps for the world. As a true fan, I love maps: as a retired graphics designer perhaps I can help you there.
It would be really interesting to be on the inside of the Tory camp at the moment. I suspect they weren't expecting it to get this far. Personally I hope the broadcasters dig their heels in. Okay, so I agree that Cameron is probably right not to want to debate - but that shouldn't mean that everyone has to do what he wants.
As an aside, I was less than impressed with Liz Truss on the Sunday Politics. She seemed to think that the broadcasters were still proposing a Dave/Ed/Nick three way debate and Andrew didn't pick her up on it.
Mr. K, alas, not yet stocked in brick-and-mortar stores [this may change when Sir Edric's Temple is re-released and Sir Edric's Treasure is released via a small press]. Temple can be ordered, as a physical book, from Amazon or Lulu [the latter, despite being a couple of quid cheaper, is better for me]:
http://www.lulu.com/gb/en/shop/thaddeus-white/sir-edrics-temple/paperback/product-21306938.html
On maps, I've almost finished a large(ish) scale map [too big for inclusion in a book but I'll put it up on my site at some point]. When I come to trying to sort out the two smaller ones I may include I'll try to remember to give you a bell.
"That would be a great honour. If it does come off I'll be donating a chunk of my winnings to my MND awareness campaign: "
Great cause calum. Well done and good luck
Can I thank everyone for their replies wrt my tanks question. The problem is I cannot remember where I read it, although my possibly faulty memory says it might have been a written interview in a book or journal. Aside from that, I'm not sure of what I remember, but I *think* the purpose was not just to examine seized equipment, but to also see how the Russians were taking them down (e.g. "the Panthers have a weak spot below the turret that an H.E. round can damage," or somesuch, or "the Germans are using a new type of oil on their guns against the cold."). The guy was, I think, a pretty ordinary tanker who just so happened to be an engineer and speak Russian, so he was promoted and sent out.
Why I'm interested is that I also recall - possibly falsely - that every such engineer had a Russian officer assigned to him in a political role, and there was a great deal of both conflict and friendship. My memory gives me the impression that they often went onto recently-hot battlefields to check the Russians were not hiding anything.
I've never been able to track it down again, or find any references to it anywhere else. Then again, it's not my field. It's been nagging at me for years.
The reason I remember is that I thought it would make a heck of a WWII war novel, if such things sold any more ...
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/08/debate-gate-david-cameron-tv-debates
So if the TV debates fail to happen, the public will at least be left with the impression of the Prime Minister as an astute tactician.
Well I suppose the more 'optimistic' Tories might see it that way but I suspect the majority of voters will see it as a piece of base political maneuvering that demonstrates
1) That Cameron has no confidence in defending his government's record in a formal debate against his main opponents
2) That Cameron puts his own and his party's self interest before the reputation of our political system and the best interests of democracy
3) That Cameron fears his political abilities will be shown up as inadequate (much as they were in 2010)
4) That Cameron once again says one thing and does the opposite.
Lab: 226
SNP: 231
I have tweeted the Good Lord to see if an error has been made.
After all in a number of ways there is more value in the others besting Miliband than there is in them besting Cameron for the simple reason that they are all largely targetting Labour friendly voters at this stage.
The empty chair in the head-to-head debate is a red herring. You can't have a 1 to 1 debate with an empty chair any more than you can have solo synchronised swimming. But if you tried, and the only participant was ed, the result would be hilarious, and not in a good way for ed.
A 6 way debate with empty chair is much more dangerous to Cameron, but does raise the pleasing possibility that the other 5 participants will gang up and debag Miliband minor, in the absence of Cameron. Actually I think the more likely victim of a debagging would be Farage, but then again how bad would that be for Cameron?
Even the Roman Emperors knew that denying the public the gladiatorial spectacle was not very clever.
Some have suggested that Cameron could be replaced by Clegg, but it's hard to see how a broadcaster could change the rules of the debate if there is still the possibility that Cameron could change his mind at the last minute.
If Cameron was to completely rule out turning up for a head to head with Miliband, however, I'd suggest the broadcaster would be well within its right to seek a replacement and seeing as though Clegg has been Deputy PM for the last five years then that might not be such a silly idea.
on Friday, playing the 8th at the Blue Monster in the WGC-Cadillac tournament, Rory McIlroy threw his 3 iron into the lake in frustration and / or anger.
The owner of the course - its full name is Trump National Doral which will provide a clue - arranged for a scuba diver to retrieve the club from the lake.
On Saturday Rory Rory played with only 13 clubs.
On Sunday on the practice range, Trump gave McIlroy the club.
“Rory, I didn’t want you to play with 13 clubs again,” Trump said as he handed over the iron. “Thirteen is an unlucky number.”
McIlroy had a good laugh at the hand-off and thanked Trump. McIlroy immediately put the club in his bag. After the round, he will give it back to Trump, who said there were two options for the club’s future.
“We could auction it off to charity or we could put it in a trophy case here at Doral,” Trump said. “I give a lot of money to charity so I think we’ll have the club mounted and placed in the clubhouse somewhere.”
Only The Donald - a showman if ever there was one - could successfully pull off a stunt like this. I just wish he'd stay out of politics.
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/03/donald-trump-gives-rory-mcilroy-thrown-club