Why doesn't Miliband use his bigger kitchen? Perhaps they also have a lovely ensuite that they don't use [it came with the house!], preferring to pull out a sofabed instead?
Sooner or later someone is going to photograph that bigger kitchen. There'd better not be so much as a salt shaker in there :-D
A family of four, and they don't use the large family kitchen in the basement, preferring to squeeze into the 'tea and snacks kitchenette'.
He's digging himself a bigger hole, and heading deep into 'lying politician' territory.
"the house we bought had a kitchen downstairs when we bought it. And it is not the one we use."
It all a bit silly....but just a reminder their journo friend that dropped them in it in the first place, said they have a lovely kitchen i.e implying that when she visits she is taken there i.e it isn't some mothballed unused room in the basement...I presume then that certain journos get taken to the special kitchen and others don't?
I think Ed spin team wants shooting. They could have come up with a better line that the above.
I think this is why Boris is so popular...people go RICH POSHHOOO...and he goes yes and what of it....where as Dave, Miliband and Clegg some how try to pretend / hide they aren't.
Another day, another poll - and one day closer to EdM becoming PM. Though I imagine some on here will still refuse to believe that EdM is remotely electable until 10.01pm on election night.
I suggest that as well as measuring up the curtains, he can now move to measuring up potential second kitchen space...
I wonder how the well the malcontents on the Tory benches will hold firm behind their soon to be booted out leader during what promises to be a difficult campaign for him?
A headline on a heraldscotland.com story earlier today said Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy had "admitted sniffing glue" as a youngster. This was incorrect. Mr Murphy told students "glue sniffing was the thing to do" on the housing estate he grew up in.'
What a complete and utter idiot. He should have just kept quiet and let it all disappear, now it is just going to lead to more questions about his character. Who the hell uses a small utility kitchen when they have a nice one. There isn't even any food in the one pictured.
1. A Nespresso coffee machine: unless George Clooney promises to turn up in my kitchen, make the bloody coffee and bring it to me in bed, not a must have at all. A small espresso machine of the type found in every Italian household is all that's needed. 2. One blender: have that. 3. A mini-chopper: I have some sharp knives. 4. What the hell is a Kenwood Chef Titanium?
My must haves: a cheese grater and a potato masher. A good vegetable peeler and good quality knives. A kettle. A steamer. Good quality pans. That's about it.
Another day, another poll - and one day closer to EdM becoming PM. Though I imagine some on here will still refuse to believe that EdM is remotely electable until 10.01pm on election night.
I suggest that as well as measuring up the curtains, he can now move to measuring up potential second kitchen space...
I wonder how the well the malcontents on the Tory benches will hold firm behind their soon to be booted out leader during what promises to be a difficult campaign for him?
Good to see you back Bob. In all honesty this poll is out of line with the general trend now. Not good for Ed. I still think Cameron will struggle for numbers though.
Despite the obvious outlier figs for Con and UKIP in todays's Populus, the renewed Tory lead in last night's YG helps maintain a Blue lead in ELBOW for the week so far - with just Sunday's YG and a possible ComRes online poll yet to come!
Con 33.1 Lab 32.5 UKIP 15.0 LD 7.7 Green 5.9
Lab lead -0.6 (was 0.3 last week!)
YouGov and Opinium tomorrow night for definite, fairly confident we'll see the ComRes online as well.
Mash - ED MILIBAND’S wife is banned from the proper kitchen where he cooks flamboyant gourmet meals, it has emerged.
The Labour leader’s wife is restricted to the small kitchenette in their north London home where she is allowed to microwaves pasties.
A source close to the couple said: “Ed has an induction hob, Sabatier knives and copper core pans up there, and he goes mental if Justine touches any of it.
Another day, another poll - and one day closer to EdM becoming PM. Though I imagine some on here will still refuse to believe that EdM is remotely electable until 10.01pm on election night.
I suggest that as well as measuring up the curtains, he can now move to measuring up potential second kitchen space...
I wonder how the well the malcontents on the Tory benches will hold firm behind their soon to be booted out leader during what promises to be a difficult campaign for him?
It is not unreasonable to think that Ed is unelectable, that is not the same as saying he will not be elected.
But my mind just draws a blank trying to conceive of him being Prime Minister.
Besides, the real election campaign starts next week with the budget. Until then, all bets are off.
As a cultured man, I'm sure you'll have read 'Wind in the Willows'. If I may refine your analogy of adults and children (or vulnerable adults if you like) ... I'd call it Ratty and Mole vs the Weasels and Stoats in the Wild wood. Not sure who Badger is though.
It's disappointing that you chuckle tolerantly at a man who advocates dismantling the race discrimination legislation and then directly lies about it when challenged.
I wish we didn't need race discrimination legislation. In the same way that I wish state schools were good enough that there was no demand for private education. I fear we have some way to travel until we reach Utopia.
Race/Religion legislation that curtails free speech is an atrocious idea. How will we know if someone holds unsavoury views if we don't permit them to express them. How will we challenge those views, and possibly lead them to reassess them if they cannot be engaged in debate and reason. All that happens is people internalise their nasty views and nurse their grievances until its erupts, potentially with a violent outcome. It's absurd, the Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006 is a disgrace to any free country.
I completely agree. That is the resentment I believe Farage is tapping into.
The sad fact is all over the world (and all over the UK) one lot of people don't get along or like another lot; divides are tribal, racial or religious; sometimes just pure prejudice. You can't use the law to force people to get along and like each other and laws that try and do that just stir up more resentment.
Was in The Times this morning. Puts it in a new light.
Unless Clarkson thought this is going to be all over the Daily Mirror within days and "I'd better fess up and get my story to the bosses first", this does seem rather bizarre - and just weeks before potential contract renewal. I wonder if he's testing his bosses, knowing he's possibly about to defect to a rival?
Or even forcing them to sack him so he doesn't bear the brunt of any fan backlash for leaving Top Gear/the Beeb, or maybe trigger some termination pay-out?
Despite the obvious outlier figs for Con and UKIP in todays's Populus, the renewed Tory lead in last night's YG helps maintain a Blue lead in ELBOW for the week so far - with just Sunday's YG and a possible ComRes online poll yet to come!
Con 33.1 Lab 32.5 UKIP 15.0 LD 7.7 Green 5.9
Lab lead -0.6 (was 0.3 last week!)
YouGov and Opinium tomorrow night for definite, fairly confident we'll see the ComRes online as well.
Ed's Schrodinger kitchens have become silly but that seems to be the nature of politics. I don't care if a future PM has seven kitchens as long as they're competent. It's Labour's Schrodinger policies I'd like to see.
Farage has been able to turn media hostility far more to his advantage than Ed Miliband. Fwiw I reckon they get about the same amount.
Apart from the Guardian end of the media, Farage has generally got a pretty good press - they've gone along with his 'smiling bloke in the pub' persona and portray him as the cheeky chappie who says things others don't dare say.
I reckon he always look like he's under tremendous tension and could explode at a second's notice. Farage in a rage is probably very, very nasty. He reminds me of Gordon Broon in that respect - an angry man trying without much success to hide it.
Why doesn't Miliband use his bigger kitchen? Perhaps they also have a lovely ensuite that they don't use [it came with the house!], preferring to pull out a sofabed instead?
Sooner or later someone is going to photograph that bigger kitchen. There'd better not be so much as a salt shaker in there :-D
A family of four, and they don't use the large family kitchen in the basement, preferring to squeeze into the 'tea and snacks kitchenette'.
He's digging himself a bigger hole, and heading deep into 'lying politician' territory.
It just keeps getting funnier. So if Miliband fancies a boiled egg, he goes down into the basement kitchen (that is bigger than most London flats) to get an egg out of the fridge, then goes back upstairs to the tea and snacks kitchenette to boil it. While it's boiling he goes back downstairs to the big kitchen to make toast in the Dualit, and when he's buttered his soldiers he takes them upstairs and eats his boiled egg and soldiers standing up in the kitchenette. While doing so he has a nice man-of-the-people chat with flinty-faced £200k a year lawyer Justine about some ordinary person he patronized, er made up, er met on Hampstead Heath that morning, before going back downstairs to put the plates in the crockery dishwasher and the wine glass in the glasses dishwasher. Because he's so normal and such a nice guy when you meet him.
What a complete and utter idiot. He should have just kept quiet and let it all disappear, now it is just going to lead to more questions about his character. Who the hell uses a small utility kitchen when they have a nice one. There isn't even any food in the one pictured.
It isn't possible to dig oneself out of a hole.
They've also got 6 bedrooms, but only use a tiny box room in the attic, Justine and Ed squeezing into a single bed they found in a skip, whilst the children sleep in an old chest of drawers.
Has there been any discussion of this yet? Sounds a promising scheme. But the only problem is that it's targeting many of the same young people who thought that the LDs meant it when they said they would abolish tuition fees in 2010.
The media doesn't do subtle or nuance where Ukip is involved, so even if Farage tried, it would still come out as black and white.
True, but it's the same for others.
Consider Miliband: he's trying to say that he doesn't really have two kitchens, as they are in a quantum state and only exist when he actually uses them.
However this subtlety is not accepted by the media who point out the black&white fact that he has in fact got two kitchens.
That is post of the week frankly. I literally cracked up laughing out loud.
Another day, another poll - and one day closer to EdM becoming PM. Though I imagine some on here will still refuse to believe that EdM is remotely electable until 10.01pm on election night.
I suggest that as well as measuring up the curtains, he can now move to measuring up potential second kitchen space...
I wonder how the well the malcontents on the Tory benches will hold firm behind their soon to be booted out leader during what promises to be a difficult campaign for him?
Looking at kitchengate and Ed's Law, I think the difficulty Cameron is going to have in the campaign is difficulty believing his own luck. This is a single poll, against the current run of play. And by Populus.
Why doesn't Miliband use his bigger kitchen? Perhaps they also have a lovely ensuite that they don't use [it came with the house!], preferring to pull out a sofabed instead?
Sooner or later someone is going to photograph that bigger kitchen. There'd better not be so much as a salt shaker in there :-D
Why doesn't Miliband use his bigger kitchen? Perhaps they also have a lovely ensuite that they don't use [it came with the house!], preferring to pull out a sofabed instead?
Sooner or later someone is going to photograph that bigger kitchen. There'd better not be so much as a salt shaker in there :-D
What a complete and utter idiot. He should have just kept quiet and let it all disappear, now it is just going to lead to more questions about his character. Who the hell uses a small utility kitchen when they have a nice one. There isn't even any food in the one pictured.
It isn't possible to dig oneself out of a hole.
They've also got 6 bedrooms, but only use a tiny box room in the attic, Justine and Ed squeezing into a single bed they found in a skip, whilst the children sleep in an old chest of drawers.
Sunil, I drove past the new Class 800 earlier today. It does seem a bit slow. (It was only doing 50 mph in a convoy of heavy haulers on the M25).
Class 800 as in the new version of the Hitachi Javelin (London to Kent) train intended for long-distance Itner-City services? Cool!
That's the one - looked impressive. I'm guessing it was heading north to Derby or Durham.
Train is going to the test track at Old Dalby. But we should get used to seeing them on the back of trucks. Every single train being "built" at Newton Aycliffe starts with a bodyshell transported by truck from Tyne Dock (having been built in Japan) and other trucks of traction motors control systems and diesel engines imported from Europe.
Alberto Nardelli reflects on this week's opinion polls as the Conservative party surges ahead in an ' il sorpasso' moment. Labour's lead has evaporated in recent weeks and Ed Miliband's party is now projected to win just 266 seats.
The Lib Dems, despite faring badly in national polls, are not facing a total wipeout. Our projection shows Nick Clegg's party retaining 27 seats
Despite the obvious outlier figs for Con and UKIP in todays's Populus, the renewed Tory lead in last night's YG helps maintain a Blue lead in ELBOW for the week so far - with just Sunday's YG and a possible ComRes online poll yet to come!
Con 33.1 Lab 32.5 UKIP 15.0 LD 7.7 Green 5.9
Lab lead -0.6 (was 0.3 last week!)
YouGov and Opinium tomorrow night for definite, fairly confident we'll see the ComRes online as well.
Oops, forgot Opinium, thanks
I'll go for it - Tories on 40% with opinium.
Would be a nice outlier to make everyone sweat.
Last four Opiniums:
12th Feb Lab +2 20th Feb Con +2 26th Feb Lab +2 6 Mar Tie
What a complete and utter idiot. He should have just kept quiet and let it all disappear, now it is just going to lead to more questions about his character. Who the hell uses a small utility kitchen when they have a nice one. There isn't even any food in the one pictured.
It isn't possible to dig oneself out of a hole.
Agreed - Ed is just clueless. He should have shut up.
People who use a small kitchen when they have a big one? People who are mostly not at home and do not eat together very often as a family.
@TheWatcher No, but then I don't have a large impractical one built when my father used to hold meetings and political discussions. Ed probably now has a tax payer funded place for that. On the other hand? He could invite the powerful elite round for a cheque and fee.... Damn, I meant a chat and tea of course!
Survation showed similar last month, about 52-48 No
Yep, the Tory voters who would always vote to stay in the union ain't going to help the sinking Labour lot though. And that is a fair chunk of votes despite their apparent non presence in terms of seats in Scotland.
What a complete and utter idiot. He should have just kept quiet and let it all disappear, now it is just going to lead to more questions about his character. Who the hell uses a small utility kitchen when they have a nice one. There isn't even any food in the one pictured.
It isn't possible to dig oneself out of a hole.
Agreed - Ed is just clueless. He should have shut up.
People who use a small kitchen when they have a big one? People who are mostly not at home and do not eat together very often as a family.
Even then they would have to go down to the nice kitchen to bring up anything they want to cook, there's no fridge or larder in the small one. Even so, he spends so much time trying to come across as a normal family man with a normal wife and normal kids, why would he suddenly go out of his way to say he doesn't do that and eats out all the time and doesn't spend time around the kitchen table with his family. Complete and utter fool.
The 3% swing from Tory to UKIP is likely linked to the further slashing of the defence budget while overseas aid is ringfenced, something the Telegraph has been pushing hard
What a complete and utter idiot. He should have just kept quiet and let it all disappear, now it is just going to lead to more questions about his character. Who the hell uses a small utility kitchen when they have a nice one. There isn't even any food in the one pictured.
It isn't possible to dig oneself out of a hole.
Agreed - Ed is just clueless. He should have shut up.
People who use a small kitchen when they have a big one? People who are mostly not at home and do not eat together very often as a family.
Even then they would have to go down to the nice kitchen to bring up anything they want to cook, there's no fridge or larder in the small one. Even so, he spends so much time trying to come across as a normal family man with a normal wife and normal kids, why would he suddenly go out of his way to say he doesn't do that and eats out all the time and doesn't spend time around the kitchen table with his family. Complete and utter fool.
I knew a very non posh family whose front room could only be entered at christmas, or if the queen or similar was expected as a guest. so perhaps ed was trying to prove his working class credentials ( and the chairs in the big kitchen are covered in plastic for preservation purposes)
What a complete and utter idiot. He should have just kept quiet and let it all disappear, now it is just going to lead to more questions about his character. Who the hell uses a small utility kitchen when they have a nice one. There isn't even any food in the one pictured.
It isn't possible to dig oneself out of a hole.
Agreed - Ed is just clueless. He should have shut up.
People who use a small kitchen when they have a big one? People who are mostly not at home and do not eat together very often as a family.
Even then they would have to go down to the nice kitchen to bring up anything they want to cook, there's no fridge or larder in the small one. Even so, he spends so much time trying to come across as a normal family man with a normal wife and normal kids, why would he suddenly go out of his way to say he doesn't do that and eats out all the time and doesn't spend time around the kitchen table with his family. Complete and utter fool.
I knew a very non posh family whose front room could only be entered at christmas, or if the queen or similar was expected as a guest. so perhaps ed was trying to prove his working class credentials ( and the chairs in the big kitchen are covered in plastic for preservation purposes)
Was the plastic wrapping still on the sofa and arm chairs?
What a complete and utter idiot. He should have just kept quiet and let it all disappear, now it is just going to lead to more questions about his character. Who the hell uses a small utility kitchen when they have a nice one. There isn't even any food in the one pictured.
It isn't possible to dig oneself out of a hole.
Agreed - Ed is just clueless. He should have shut up.
People who use a small kitchen when they have a big one? People who are mostly not at home and do not eat together very often as a family.
Even then they would have to go down to the nice kitchen to bring up anything they want to cook, there's no fridge or larder in the small one. Even so, he spends so much time trying to come across as a normal family man with a normal wife and normal kids, why would he suddenly go out of his way to say he doesn't do that and eats out all the time and doesn't spend time around the kitchen table with his family. Complete and utter fool.
I knew a very non posh family whose front room could only be entered at christmas, or if the queen or similar was expected as a guest. so perhaps ed was trying to prove his working class credentials ( and the chairs in the big kitchen are covered in plastic for preservation purposes)
Was the plastic wrapping still on the sofa and arm chairs?
What a complete and utter idiot. He should have just kept quiet and let it all disappear, now it is just going to lead to more questions about his character. Who the hell uses a small utility kitchen when they have a nice one. There isn't even any food in the one pictured.
It isn't possible to dig oneself out of a hole.
Agreed - Ed is just clueless. He should have shut up.
People who use a small kitchen when they have a big one? People who are mostly not at home and do not eat together very often as a family.
Even then they would have to go down to the nice kitchen to bring up anything they want to cook, there's no fridge or larder in the small one. Even so, he spends so much time trying to come across as a normal family man with a normal wife and normal kids, why would he suddenly go out of his way to say he doesn't do that and eats out all the time and doesn't spend time around the kitchen table with his family. Complete and utter fool.
I knew a very non posh family whose front room could only be entered at christmas, or if the queen or similar was expected as a guest. so perhaps ed was trying to prove his working class credentials ( and the chairs in the big kitchen are covered in plastic for preservation purposes)
Was the plastic wrapping still on the sofa and arm chairs?
ironically they spent all their time in the kitchen
What a complete and utter idiot. He should have just kept quiet and let it all disappear, now it is just going to lead to more questions about his character. Who the hell uses a small utility kitchen when they have a nice one. There isn't even any food in the one pictured.
It isn't possible to dig oneself out of a hole.
Agreed - Ed is just clueless. He should have shut up.
People who use a small kitchen when they have a big one? People who are mostly not at home and do not eat together very often as a family.
Even then they would have to go down to the nice kitchen to bring up anything they want to cook, there's no fridge or larder in the small one. Even so, he spends so much time trying to come across as a normal family man with a normal wife and normal kids, why would he suddenly go out of his way to say he doesn't do that and eats out all the time and doesn't spend time around the kitchen table with his family. Complete and utter fool.
I knew a very non posh family whose front room could only be entered at christmas, or if the queen or similar was expected as a guest. so perhaps ed was trying to prove his working class credentials ( and the chairs in the big kitchen are covered in plastic for preservation purposes)
Was the plastic wrapping still on the sofa and arm chairs?
@dugarbandier Both my grandparents had houses that had a "front room" like that. I was in them probably fewer than a dozen times (both not each) and it always struck me as odd, but probably practical to their minds.
They may look good, but they're going to be a disaster for the travelling public. The entire project has been centrally mismanaged (with both Labour and the coalition to blame), is late, and for trains that are overly expensive and may not be fit for purpose.
See the Public Accounts Committee's findings, and elsewhere.
"The Department for Transport’s decision to buy the new trains for Intercity Express and Thameslink itself has left the taxpayer bearing all the risk."
@dugarbandier Both my grandparents had houses that had a "front room" like that. I was in them probably fewer than a dozen times (both not each) and it always struck me as odd, but probably practical to their minds.
It's the same mindset which has the 'best' crockery/dinner service.
What a complete and utter idiot. He should have just kept quiet and let it all disappear, now it is just going to lead to more questions about his character. Who the hell uses a small utility kitchen when they have a nice one. There isn't even any food in the one pictured.
It isn't possible to dig oneself out of a hole.
Agreed - Ed is just clueless. He should have shut up.
People who use a small kitchen when they have a big one? People who are mostly not at home and do not eat together very often as a family.
Even then they would have to go down to the nice kitchen to bring up anything they want to cook, there's no fridge or larder in the small one. Even so, he spends so much time trying to come across as a normal family man with a normal wife and normal kids, why would he suddenly go out of his way to say he doesn't do that and eats out all the time and doesn't spend time around the kitchen table with his family. Complete and utter fool.
Why any politician bothers pretending or claiming to be "ordinary" is beyond me.
And there is a household rules in place on times of usage, maximum amount of time in one go, etc. I hear he is hoping to include it in the Labour manifesto as a nationwide law, to help hard pressed families ensure that bathroom usage is more efficient as the suffer under the weight of a bathroom crisis.
The 3% swing from Tory to UKIP is likely linked to the further slashing of the defence budget while overseas aid is ringfenced, something the Telegraph has been pushing hard
@dugarbandier Both my grandparents had houses that had a "front room" like that. I was in them probably fewer than a dozen times (both not each) and it always struck me as odd, but probably practical to their minds.
It's the same mindset which has the 'best' crockery/dinner service.
Which turns into the never never never used.
Having sod all can do strange things to you, I guess
What a complete and utter idiot. He should have just kept quiet and let it all disappear, now it is just going to lead to more questions about his character. Who the hell uses a small utility kitchen when they have a nice one. There isn't even any food in the one pictured.
It isn't possible to dig oneself out of a hole.
Agreed - Ed is just clueless. He should have shut up.
People who use a small kitchen when they have a big one? People who are mostly not at home and do not eat together very often as a family.
Even then they would have to go down to the nice kitchen to bring up anything they want to cook, there's no fridge or larder in the small one. Even so, he spends so much time trying to come across as a normal family man with a normal wife and normal kids, why would he suddenly go out of his way to say he doesn't do that and eats out all the time and doesn't spend time around the kitchen table with his family. Complete and utter fool.
I knew a very non posh family whose front room could only be entered at christmas, or if the queen or similar was expected as a guest. so perhaps ed was trying to prove his working class credentials ( and the chairs in the big kitchen are covered in plastic for preservation purposes)
The concept of rooms and clothes "for best" used to be quite widespread, and not just for non-posh folk.
That's one of the ironies of having large properties. I've never understood the need for separate TV/cinema/play/study /games rooms. In reality you always end up living in one or two rooms - at least in our family.
At the same point in March 2010 three polls gave the Tories leads of 4% – 7% – 3% respectively – an average of 4.7%. Eight weeks later the result was a Con lead of 7.3% – a swing to the Opposition of 1.3%.In other words swingback was pretty well at its peak. Going back further to the June 1987 election. Eight weeks before polling day NOP put the Tories 15% ahead – the actual result was a Tory lead of 11.8% – ie a swing to the Opposition of 1.6%.Again swingback had peaked!
I have to say a scandal about a second kitchen/kitchenette seems so petty and trivial. I know some might think it plays into an "Ed is not really like us" narrative, but who ever thought he was just a regular working man? No-one. If Ed really is crap, surely there are better approaches to proving he is than bitching about his kitchen(s).
I have been out of the UK so long now that I no longer have an intuitive feel for what Brits think. One of the welcome differences over here is that people actually expect politicians to be successful (and hence wealthy). Wealth for a politician is only a scandal if it is overtly ill-gotten or you claim to be 'dead broke' while earning $300,000 a talk [and, yes, I know that technically you can be dead broke while earning any amount of money, but it still doesn't wash with the working middle class].
@dugarbandier Both my grandparents had houses that had a "front room" like that. I was in them probably fewer than a dozen times (both not each) and it always struck me as odd, but probably practical to their minds.
One set of grandparents like that. The other - from lost wealth - used the 'best' tea set daily. Aspirational vs nostalgic?
They may look good, but they're going to be a disaster for the travelling public. The entire project has been centrally mismanaged (with both Labour and the coalition to blame), is late, and for trains that are overly expensive and may not be fit for purpose.
See the Public Accounts Committee's findings, and elsewhere.
"The Department for Transport’s decision to buy the new trains for Intercity Express and Thameslink itself has left the taxpayer bearing all the risk."
The madness of rail privatisation, in Private Eye every fortnight. We spend more on subsidising this shower than BR took from the taxpayer. Civil servants now run the railways ... BR had a Board which was set a commercial target and largely left to get on with it.
My MP seems to agree. He admits that a lot of trains he takes on FGW are unpunctual. Unfortunately he won't do anything about it ... the safe Tory seat syndrome.
What a complete and utter idiot. He should have just kept quiet and let it all disappear, now it is just going to lead to more questions about his character. Who the hell uses a small utility kitchen when they have a nice one. There isn't even any food in the one pictured.
It isn't possible to dig oneself out of a hole.
Agreed - Ed is just clueless. He should have shut up.
People who use a small kitchen when they have a big one? People who are mostly not at home and do not eat together very often as a family.
Even then they would have to go down to the nice kitchen to bring up anything they want to cook, there's no fridge or larder in the small one. Even so, he spends so much time trying to come across as a normal family man with a normal wife and normal kids, why would he suddenly go out of his way to say he doesn't do that and eats out all the time and doesn't spend time around the kitchen table with his family. Complete and utter fool.
I knew a very non posh family whose front room could only be entered at christmas, or if the queen or similar was expected as a guest. so perhaps ed was trying to prove his working class credentials ( and the chairs in the big kitchen are covered in plastic for preservation purposes)
The concept of rooms and clothes "for best" used to be quite widespread, and not just for non-posh folk.
That's one of the ironies of having large properties. I've never understood the need for separate TV/cinema/play/study /games rooms. In reality you always end up living in one or two rooms - at least in our family.
PS - not that we have any of these rooms anyway.
The rise of 'tear downs' and 'McMansions' in the US revived this concept of a kitchen, a breakfast area where most meals were taken, and a family room to supplement and formal dining room, a formal sitting area and a media room. Of course, everyone ends up spending most of their time in the (often open plan) kitchen/breakfast/family area and using the rest only for entertainment, which bizarrely in my experience is virtually never in the US.
I have to say a scandal about a second kitchen/kitchenette seems so petty and trivial. I know some might think it plays into an "Ed is not really like us" narrative, but who ever thought he was just a regular working man? No-one. If Ed really is crap, surely there are better approaches to proving he is than bitching about his kitchen(s).
I have been out of the UK so long now that I no longer have an intuitive feel for what Brits think. One of the welcome differences over here is that people actually expect politicians to be successful (and hence wealthy). Wealth for a politician is only a scandal if it is overtly ill-gotten or you claim to be 'dead broke' while earning $300,000 a talk [and, yes, I know that technically you can be dead broke while earning any amount of money, but it still doesn't wash with the working middle class].
It is really trivial...but the real issue is that Ed Miliband has been so pious about spin, photo ops, etc, then his team organize one and he has been caught out. That is really the thing here. Like tax avoidance, like hacking, he bangs on about standing up for the people etc, except you wont here a peep from him about Mirror Group hacking.
Lets not forget the left went massive on Cameron and his "I bike to work" routine [followed by a car with all his papers]. Again, really it was trivial, but again he was caught out not being straight. It the same thing. Nobody really expects that Cameron bikes everywhere and doesn't need all those documents transported around, but he made a big play of green biking credentials.
People don't like politicians in general, not because they are rich or have a second kitchen, it is because they aren't straight about who they are and the feeling they are in for themselves. Boris is so popular, because he manages to get a better of balance of well yeah i am a posho and very well off, but I don't try and hide that.
@MTimT On my mothers side, it might have been lost "wealth", her father was a foreman at the St Rollox locomotive works. On my fathers side, most of the time the family lived in a "single end" (look it up) During the war, one of the air raid wardens banged on the door to tell them to put the light out. On inspection, the light was coming out the crack that ran down the tenament wall.
What a complete and utter idiot. He should have just kept quiet and let it all disappear, now it is just going to lead to more questions about his character. Who the hell uses a small utility kitchen when they have a nice one. There isn't even any food in the one pictured.
It isn't possible to dig oneself out of a hole.
Agreed - Ed is just clueless. He should have shut up.
People who use a small kitchen when they have a big one? People who are mostly not at home and do not eat together very often as a family.
Even then they would have to go down to the nice kitchen to bring up anything they want to cook, there's no fridge or larder in the small one. Even so, he spends so much time trying to come across as a normal family man with a normal wife and normal kids, why would he suddenly go out of his way to say he doesn't do that and eats out all the time and doesn't spend time around the kitchen table with his family. Complete and utter fool.
Why any politician bothers pretending or claiming to be "ordinary" is beyond me.
Indeed. I was slightly reassured when given the choice between Harvester, a pub and Nandos the PM picked Nandos when the politically correct answer was probably Harvester.
What a complete and utter idiot. He should have just kept quiet and let it all disappear, now it is just going to lead to more questions about his character. Who the hell uses a small utility kitchen when they have a nice one. There isn't even any food in the one pictured.
It isn't possible to dig oneself out of a hole.
Agreed - Ed is just clueless. He should have shut up.
People who use a small kitchen when they have a big one? People who are mostly not at home and do not eat together very often as a family.
Even then they would have to go down to the nice kitchen to bring up anything they want to cook, there's no fridge or larder in the small one. Even so, he spends so much time trying to come across as a normal family man with a normal wife and normal kids, why would he suddenly go out of his way to say he doesn't do that and eats out all the time and doesn't spend time around the kitchen table with his family. Complete and utter fool.
Why any politician bothers pretending or claiming to be "ordinary" is beyond me.
Indeed. I was slightly reassured when given the choice between Harvester, a pub and Nandos the PM picked Nandos when the politically correct answer was probably Harvester.
whereas Ed would have said.. 'the first thing I think of when I see a Nandos...respect....'
@PCollinsTimes: I've always measured class by number of bathrooms. My history is: outside, inside, two, three. I didn't know you could do it with kitchens.
What a complete and utter idiot. He should have just kept quiet and let it all disappear, now it is just going to lead to more questions about his character. Who the hell uses a small utility kitchen when they have a nice one. There isn't even any food in the one pictured.
It isn't possible to dig oneself out of a hole.
Agreed - Ed is just clueless. He should have shut up.
People who use a small kitchen when they have a big one? People who are mostly not at home and do not eat together very often as a family.
Even then they would have to go down to the nice kitchen to bring up anything they want to cook, there's no fridge or larder in the small one. Even so, he spends so much time trying to come across as a normal family man with a normal wife and normal kids, why would he suddenly go out of his way to say he doesn't do that and eats out all the time and doesn't spend time around the kitchen table with his family. Complete and utter fool.
Why any politician bothers pretending or claiming to be "ordinary" is beyond me.
Indeed. I was slightly reassured when given the choice between Harvester, a pub and Nandos the PM picked Nandos when the politically correct answer was probably Harvester.
whereas Ed would have said.. 'the first thing I think of when I see a Nandos...respect....'
If that's right, the SNP aren't going below 40% in any plausibly likely circumstance. May2015's conclusion?
"Any which way, nothing seems likely to halt a once-in-a-generation election collapse in 55 days."
Actually, May2015 have read the wrong column - they've looked at 2010 SNP voters. The correct column of current intending SNP voters is as follows:
Definitely voting SNP: 69 Surprised if didn't end up voting SNP: 20 I could very possibly change my mind: 10 I haven't really made my mind up and it's as likely as not I'll change: 1 Don't know: 0
So 89% of those currently registering as SNP voters are basically over the line - that's 41% of the total.
They may look good, but they're going to be a disaster for the travelling public. The entire project has been centrally mismanaged (with both Labour and the coalition to blame), is late, and for trains that are overly expensive and may not be fit for purpose.
See the Public Accounts Committee's findings, and elsewhere.
"The Department for Transport’s decision to buy the new trains for Intercity Express and Thameslink itself has left the taxpayer bearing all the risk."
The madness of rail privatisation, in Private Eye every fortnight. We spend more on subsidising this shower than BR took from the taxpayer. Civil servants now run the railways ... BR had a Board which was set a commercial target and largely left to get on with it.
My MP seems to agree. He admits that a lot of trains he takes on FGW are unpunctual. Unfortunately he won't do anything about it ... the safe Tory seat syndrome.
We spend more on subsidizing trains because there are far more passengers using them. This is a combination of a rapidly rising population and greater propensity to use the rail networks due to road congestion. The transport networks around London are stretched to their limit at the moment, meaning any small thing going wrong causes severe disruption. The dangerous crushing that is happening at London Bridge is making the most news, but several other events have happened in just the last few weeks. Oxford Circus faced crisis some days ago, and that is part of the publicly managed TfL network, which shows that nationalization is not the magic bullet many hope for. There was also the tragic case of the woman that got dragged under an underground train in Clapham Junction yesterday, after she got pushed off an overcrowded platform. I know several people that commute through that station daily, and they all say it's long been an accident waiting to happen.
I do not know what the solution is. The status quo is not acceptable, and nationalization would likely mean limiting fare rises, which would mean less funds for investment. Yet new building work often means line and station closures, which then push the rest of the network over the limit - this is part of the reasons for the problems at London Bridge and Oxford Circus. It also seems like as soon as one project is completed another one is required. I struggle to see how London will cope with the 10 million population it is projected to have in a few years. Perhaps there needs to be strong government action to encourage home working or different work hours, because the rush hour period will not be able to deal with many more passengers.
Comments
Labour 293
Tories 238
SNP 54
Lib Dems 30
UKIP 12
It all a bit silly....but just a reminder their journo friend that dropped them in it in the first place, said they have a lovely kitchen i.e implying that when she visits she is taken there i.e it isn't some mothballed unused room in the basement...I presume then that certain journos get taken to the special kitchen and others don't?
I think Ed spin team wants shooting. They could have come up with a better line that the above.
I think this is why Boris is so popular...people go RICH POSHHOOO...and he goes yes and what of it....where as Dave, Miliband and Clegg some how try to pretend / hide they aren't.
I suggest that as well as measuring up the curtains, he can now move to measuring up potential second kitchen space...
I wonder how the well the malcontents on the Tory benches will hold firm behind their soon to be booted out leader during what promises to be a difficult campaign for him?
Herald Scotland @heraldscotland 10 mins10 minutes ago
A headline on a http://heraldscotland.com story today said Jim Murphy had “admitted sniffing glue”. This was incorrect. http://bit.ly/1NSwRQg
'Correction
Friday 13 March 2015
A headline on a heraldscotland.com story earlier today said Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy had "admitted sniffing glue" as a youngster. This was incorrect. Mr Murphy told students "glue sniffing was the thing to do" on the housing estate he grew up in.'
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/static/documents/promotions/West_Midlands_Ranger.pdf
It isn't possible to dig oneself out of a hole.
1. A Nespresso coffee machine: unless George Clooney promises to turn up in my kitchen, make the bloody coffee and bring it to me in bed, not a must have at all. A small espresso machine of the type found in every Italian household is all that's needed.
2. One blender: have that.
3. A mini-chopper: I have some sharp knives.
4. What the hell is a Kenwood Chef Titanium?
My must haves: a cheese grater and a potato masher. A good vegetable peeler and good quality knives. A kettle. A steamer. Good quality pans. That's about it.
Construction site at school apparently.
Children reported safe.
The Labour leader’s wife is restricted to the small kitchenette in their north London home where she is allowed to microwaves pasties.
A source close to the couple said: “Ed has an induction hob, Sabatier knives and copper core pans up there, and he goes mental if Justine touches any of it.
http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/politics/politics-headlines/justine-miliband-not-allowed-in-the-big-kitchen-2015031396238
But my mind just draws a blank trying to conceive of him being Prime Minister.
Besides, the real election campaign starts next week with the budget. Until then, all bets are off.
The sad fact is all over the world (and all over the UK) one lot of people don't get along or like another lot; divides are tribal, racial or religious; sometimes just pure prejudice. You can't use the law to force people to get along and like each other and laws that try and do that just stir up more resentment.
Unless Clarkson thought this is going to be all over the Daily Mirror within days and "I'd better fess up and get my story to the bosses first", this does seem rather bizarre - and just weeks before potential contract renewal. I wonder if he's testing his bosses, knowing he's possibly about to defect to a rival?
Or even forcing them to sack him so he doesn't bear the brunt of any fan backlash for leaving Top Gear/the Beeb, or maybe trigger some termination pay-out?
Would be a nice outlier to make everyone sweat.
Ed's Schrodinger kitchens have become silly but that seems to be the nature of politics. I don't care if a future PM has seven kitchens as long as they're competent. It's Labour's Schrodinger policies I'd like to see.
It just keeps getting funnier. So if Miliband fancies a boiled egg, he goes down into the basement kitchen (that is bigger than most London flats) to get an egg out of the fridge, then goes back upstairs to the tea and snacks kitchenette to boil it. While it's boiling he goes back downstairs to the big kitchen to make toast in the Dualit, and when he's buttered his soldiers he takes them upstairs and eats his boiled egg and soldiers standing up in the kitchenette. While doing so he has a nice man-of-the-people chat with flinty-faced £200k a year lawyer Justine about some ordinary person he patronized, er made up, er met on Hampstead Heath that morning, before going back downstairs to put the plates in the crockery dishwasher and the wine glass in the glasses dishwasher. Because he's so normal and such a nice guy when you meet him.
Yeah right.
Hope so anyway, assuming a blown up gas cylinder is less catastrophic than a plane/chopper crash.
This is the living room they actually watch telly in,
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/08/05/article-2022915-0D4F5B6C00000578-904_634x347.jpg
And the bedroom they sleep in,
http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/1c/c8/d9/trianon-tiny-room.jpg
He's taking us for fools.
Has there been any discussion of this yet? Sounds a promising scheme. But the only problem is that it's targeting many of the same young people who thought that the LDs meant it when they said they would abolish tuition fees in 2010.
Genius. Ed "Quantum Kitchens" Miliband.
Stuck Lib Dems down to 1%, they are still holding Eastleigh according to the calculator. 7 other seats more comfortably too.
Thornbury and Yate coming in will be a great test of the model.
Does he expect the public to think his isn't a "kitchen table" family but eats in their rooms/in front of the TV?
Nobody has to take you for a fool.
The evidence is overwhelming.
1, A wife
2. Somewhere she can cook
Do I receive honorary membership of Ukip?
I feel sorry for the cleaner...having to clean the living room after Ed has eaten off his lap every night...
http://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/article9409370.ece/binary/original/v3-miliband-selwynv2.jpg
http://www.conservativehome.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/BhoKgtcCcAEGN-d.jpg-large-e1395302061819.jpeg
Future leader of Scottish Labour right there.
The Lib Dems, despite faring badly in national polls, are not facing a total wipeout. Our projection shows Nick Clegg's party retaining 27 seats
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/video/2015/mar/13/alberto-nardelli-opinion-polls-video
http://lordashcroftpolls.com/2015/01/eastleigh/
12th Feb Lab +2
20th Feb Con +2
26th Feb Lab +2
6 Mar Tie
People who use a small kitchen when they have a big one? People who are mostly not at home and do not eat together very often as a family.
No, but then I don't have a large impractical one built when my father used to hold meetings and political discussions.
Ed probably now has a tax payer funded place for that.
On the other hand? He could invite the powerful elite round for a cheque and fee....
Damn, I meant a chat and tea of course!
The "tea and snacks" kitchen or the main one?
https://yougov.co.uk/news/2015/03/13/snp-remains-course-landslide/
Survation showed similar last month, about 52-48 No
https://yougov.co.uk/news/2015/03/13/snp-remains-course-landslide/
Nope, but I don't tend to wet myself over where they do live.
Or even if they can remember how many homes they actually own.
The Telegraph is the last bastion of quality journalism!
Perhaps we should introduce a 'spare kitchen subsidy'? ;-)
ironically they spent all their time in the kitchen
Both my grandparents had houses that had a "front room" like that. I was in them probably fewer than a dozen times (both not each) and it always struck me as odd, but probably practical to their minds.
They may look good, but they're going to be a disaster for the travelling public. The entire project has been centrally mismanaged (with both Labour and the coalition to blame), is late, and for trains that are overly expensive and may not be fit for purpose.
See the Public Accounts Committee's findings, and elsewhere.
http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/public-accounts-committee/news/report-procuring-new-trains/
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/ukip-reveals-list-of-12-seats-it-plans-to-target-in-general-election--and-nine-of-them-are-tory-9691712.html
Would SNP voters prefer
Con led government with large number of SNP MPs 46%
Lab led government with small number of SNP MPs 31%
Don't Know 24%
Which turns into the never never never used.
Buzzfeed: "Jim Murphy has been forced to issue a statement saying he's never sniffed glue". Labour campaign goes from strength to strength.
Put the top back on the pritt stick....
http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/03/e4/a7/68/hotel-milano.jpg
And there is a household rules in place on times of usage, maximum amount of time in one go, etc. I hear he is hoping to include it in the Labour manifesto as a nationwide law, to help hard pressed families ensure that bathroom usage is more efficient as the suffer under the weight of a bathroom crisis.
That's one of the ironies of having large properties. I've never understood the need for separate TV/cinema/play/study /games rooms. In reality you always end up living in one or two rooms - at least in our family.
PS - not that we have any of these rooms anyway.
Going back further to the June 1987 election. Eight weeks before polling day NOP put the Tories 15% ahead – the actual result was a Tory lead of 11.8% – ie a swing to the Opposition of 1.6%.Again swingback had peaked!
I have been out of the UK so long now that I no longer have an intuitive feel for what Brits think. One of the welcome differences over here is that people actually expect politicians to be successful (and hence wealthy). Wealth for a politician is only a scandal if it is overtly ill-gotten or you claim to be 'dead broke' while earning $300,000 a talk [and, yes, I know that technically you can be dead broke while earning any amount of money, but it still doesn't wash with the working middle class].
My MP seems to agree. He admits that a lot of trains he takes on FGW are unpunctual. Unfortunately he won't do anything about it ... the safe Tory seat syndrome.
Shock Poll Finds Indy Support Rising Despite Oil Price Crash.
The key stat in today's YGov Scotland poll—85% of SNP voters don't plan to change their minds. http://may2015.com/featured/the-8-key-points-from-todays-yougov-scotland-poll-none-are-good-for-labour/
If that's right, the SNP aren't going below 40% in any plausibly likely circumstance. May2015's conclusion?
"Any which way, nothing seems likely to halt a once-in-a-generation election collapse in 55 days."
Lets not forget the left went massive on Cameron and his "I bike to work" routine [followed by a car with all his papers]. Again, really it was trivial, but again he was caught out not being straight. It the same thing. Nobody really expects that Cameron bikes everywhere and doesn't need all those documents transported around, but he made a big play of green biking credentials.
People don't like politicians in general, not because they are rich or have a second kitchen, it is because they aren't straight about who they are and the feeling they are in for themselves. Boris is so popular, because he manages to get a better of balance of well yeah i am a posho and very well off, but I don't try and hide that.
On my mothers side, it might have been lost "wealth", her father was a foreman at the St Rollox locomotive works.
On my fathers side, most of the time the family lived in a "single end" (look it up)
During the war, one of the air raid wardens banged on the door to tell them to put the light out. On inspection, the light was coming out the crack that ran down the tenament wall.
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02179/miliband-greggs_2179492b.jpg
Definitely voting SNP: 69
Surprised if didn't end up voting SNP: 20
I could very possibly change my mind: 10
I haven't really made my mind up and it's as likely as not I'll change: 1
Don't know: 0
So 89% of those currently registering as SNP voters are basically over the line - that's 41% of the total.
Ed Miliband is talking about his various kitchens and Jim Murphy issues statement denying glue sniffing. Labour. 2015.
My MP seems to agree. He admits that a lot of trains he takes on FGW are unpunctual. Unfortunately he won't do anything about it ... the safe Tory seat syndrome.
We spend more on subsidizing trains because there are far more passengers using them. This is a combination of a rapidly rising population and greater propensity to use the rail networks due to road congestion. The transport networks around London are stretched to their limit at the moment, meaning any small thing going wrong causes severe disruption. The dangerous crushing that is happening at London Bridge is making the most news, but several other events have happened in just the last few weeks. Oxford Circus faced crisis some days ago, and that is part of the publicly managed TfL network, which shows that nationalization is not the magic bullet many hope for. There was also the tragic case of the woman that got dragged under an underground train in Clapham Junction yesterday, after she got pushed off an overcrowded platform. I know several people that commute through that station daily, and they all say it's long been an accident waiting to happen.
I do not know what the solution is. The status quo is not acceptable, and nationalization would likely mean limiting fare rises, which would mean less funds for investment. Yet new building work often means line and station closures, which then push the rest of the network over the limit - this is part of the reasons for the problems at London Bridge and Oxford Circus. It also seems like as soon as one project is completed another one is required. I struggle to see how London will cope with the 10 million population it is projected to have in a few years. Perhaps there needs to be strong government action to encourage home working or different work hours, because the rush hour period will not be able to deal with many more passengers.