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politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Big boost for the Tories in tonight’s ComRes phone poll

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  • RodCrosbyRodCrosby Posts: 7,737
    1992 was really uncertain, even as the results were coming in. The pundits were all over the place, still holding out for some sort of Labour victory...
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 78,415

    Scott_P said:

    Am I reading the tables correctly - the tories leading labour in Scotland 24/21

    *cough*ScottishTorySurge*cough*
    http://iaindale.com/posts/2015/03/29/tales-from-an-edinburgh-taxi
    SNP won't be displeased to hear that lot :)
  • Richard_NabaviRichard_Nabavi Posts: 30,821


    What's interesting about that article is (if you read it) that the policy is not very different from Cameron's Conservatives.

    Well, quite. The idea that Cameron is 'not a real Conservative' is bonkers.
  • RobDRobD Posts: 60,043
    Pulpstar said:

    Scott_P said:

    Am I reading the tables correctly - the tories leading labour in Scotland 24/21

    *cough*ScottishTorySurge*cough*
    http://iaindale.com/posts/2015/03/29/tales-from-an-edinburgh-taxi
    SNP won't be displeased to hear that lot :)
    Tory surge nailed on!
  • hunchmanhunchman Posts: 2,591
    Plato said:

    Are you a chess player too? I was ace at backgammon but can't play chess to save my life.

    hunchman said:

    Plato said:

    That's great - they still make Tomb Raider?? I played the first version of Doom and loved it. I come from the era of arcade games, Atari and Amiga...

    I was very good at linear games - and crap at ones with lots of stuff happening at the same time like Defender. Strategy games feel like hard work - I never saw the point of Sim City et al. Loads of levels suits me fine.

    Showing my age - my favourite games in my 20s were Fish! and Monkey Island... and Captain Blood...

    kle4 said:

    Plato said:

    Totally OT but I think this is the forum to ask.

    I haven't been a gamer in 20yrs and used to love it. So what would you recommend as a platform and a handful of games to get me going again? I'm a scrolling shoot em up sort.

    Well, it's not a shoot 'em up, but if you want the feel of a scrolling game from 20 years ago, last year's Shovel Knight was a joyous modern aping of old school Nes titles.

    The 'action-rpg' is the generic game genre of today I feel, games which are mostly based around combat in linear (but sometimes expansive) environments and levels, but with 'roel playing elements' in terms of upgrades based around whatever the main gimmick of the game is.

    I'd go with a PC, as you can get lots of small independent stuff as well as the big stuff easier, controller compatibility is much much better than it once was, games are usually cheaper too. Personally I'm a huge fan of shooters with indepth stories like the Mass Effect series, but the latest Tomb Raider and the Uncharted (on Playstation) series are great fun. Not side scrolly, but pretty linear and mostly to do with shooting, with some story but not as much as Mass Effect.

    It's a tough question though - I find my tastes in games today does not really match what I used to play 20 or even 10 years ago. It used to be sports games, JRPGs and platformers, but thesedays it's all story driven shooters, western RPGs, tactical combat games and strategy titles (if played on easy mode).
    Sim City, Civilization, Railroad Tycoon and other strategy games as well as Flight Sims were always my favourite games - the more strategy the better. Very time consuming, but lots of fun!
    Played quite a fair bit when I was a teenager at school but not since. Always take an interest, but not got enough time to get back into it properly.
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 60,711


    What's interesting about that article is (if you read it) that the policy is not very different from Cameron's Conservatives.

    Well, quite. The idea that Cameron is 'not a real Conservative' is bonkers.
    But then, you have to accept he hasn't done a stellar job of explaining that to his party and activist base, has he?

    So many of his problems could have been avoided if he'd just been less dismissive, diffident of the voluntary party (and ensured some of his inner circle were less rude) and been all-round more attentive, respectful and appreciative toward them.

    Anyway, must get some shut-eye. Goodnight.
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,590
    edited March 2015


    What's interesting about that article is (if you read it) that the policy is not very different from Cameron's Conservatives.

    Well, quite. The idea that Cameron is 'not a real Conservative' is bonkers.
    A 'perception is more important than reality' sort of situation perhaps, or that 'real' conservatism has moved on, or people think it has. I found it amusing talking to an american who moved to the UK that over there he was a lefty, he thought through and through, but over here he is considered a definite conservative.
    Scott_P said:

    This is the key bit of the Times story, if Cameron gets an extra month in No 10

    "Meanwhile, members of Mr Miliband’s office have assembled the contact details of returning Labour MPs and candidates likely to win
    They didn't already have a single list of these, or even all candidates?

    RobD said:

    The Times also has the story on the front of Indy.

    Labour is exploring whether it could oust Mr Cameron earlier than the start of June by putting down a confidence motion once parliament assembles. However, disputed interpretations of the Fixed Term Parliament Act mean there is deep confusion over this.

    What a crap piece of legislations. Unfortunately, I think they've let the cat out of the bag with this one; I'm not sure it is possible to reinstate a royal prerogative, even by repealing the act which removed it originally.
    I don't think the Fixed Term Act make any difference one way or the other to possible post-election horse-trading.
    But like many of the problems it supposedly 'causes', it will be a convenient scapegoat for somebody I am sure.
  • surbitonsurbiton Posts: 13,549

    Just for fun, Baxtering this poll

    Con 313, Lab 295.

    This makes no adjustment for Lab's anticipated shellacking in Scotland.

    You opened the Bollinger a bit too early ! Your figures add up to 608. Add 18 for NI, 1 for Speaker. That is 627.

    All others: Green, PC, [old ] SNP, LD = just 23 ?
  • SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 39,672
    Surely the SNP's strategy is to get as many MPs as possible and then hope for a Tory-led government that calls an EU referendum. The SNP can then put an independence referendum in the case if a Brexit in its Holyrood manifesto for 2016.
  • Richard_NabaviRichard_Nabavi Posts: 30,821
    RobD said:

    I think they are worried about the period after a vote of no confidence. The Fixed Term Act means that a dissolution is not immediate after that.

    A dissolution wouldn't have been immediate under the previous system. What would have happened is that Her Majesty's advisers would have 'taken soundings' to see if some alternative government could be formed. That could easily take a week or two in a chaotic hung parliament. There would have been a great reluctance to call another immediate election.
  • RobDRobD Posts: 60,043
    hunchman said:

    Plato said:

    Are you a chess player too? I was ace at backgammon but can't play chess to save my life.

    hunchman said:

    Plato said:

    That's great - they still make Tomb Raider?? I played the first version of Doom and loved it. I come from the era of arcade games, Atari and Amiga...

    I was very good at linear games - and crap at ones with lots of stuff happening at the same time like Defender. Strategy games feel like hard work - I never saw the point of Sim City et al. Loads of levels suits me fine.

    Showing my age - my favourite games in my 20s were Fish! and Monkey Island... and Captain Blood...

    kle4 said:

    Plato said:

    Totally OT but I think this is the forum to ask.

    I haven't been a gamer in 20yrs and used to love it. So what would you recommend as a platform and a handful of games to get me going again? I'm a scrolling shoot em up sort.

    Well, it's not a shoot 'em up, but if you want the feel of a scrolling game from 20 years ago, last year's Shovel Knight was a joyous modern aping of old school Nes titles.

    The 'action-rpg' is the generic game genre of today I feel, games which are mostly based around combat in linear (but sometimes expansive) environments and levels, but with 'roel playing elements' in terms of upgrades based around whatever the main gimmick of the game is.

    I'd go with a PC, as you can get lots of small independent stuff as well as the big stuff easier, controller compatibility is much much better than it once was, games are usually cheaper too. Personally I'm a huge fan of shooters with indepth stories like the Mass Effect series, but the latest Tomb Raider and the Uncharted (on Playstation) series are great fun. Not side scrolly, but pretty linear and mostly to do with shooting, with some story but not as much as Mass Effect.

    It's a tough question though - I find my tastes in games today does not really match what I used to play 20 or even 10 years ago. It used to be sports games, JRPGs and platformers, but thesedays it's all story driven shooters, western RPGs, tactical combat games and strategy titles (if played on easy mode).
    Sim City, Civilization, Railroad Tycoon and other strategy games as well as Flight Sims were always my favourite games - the more strategy the better. Very time consuming, but lots of fun!
    Played quite a fair bit when I was a teenager at school but not since. Always take an interest, but not got enough time to get back into it properly.
    Have you played Europa Universalis? My favourite grand strategy by far.
  • BaskervilleBaskerville Posts: 391


    What's interesting about that article is (if you read it) that the policy is not very different from Cameron's Conservatives.

    Well, quite. The idea that Cameron is 'not a real Conservative' is bonkers.
    And remember DC was elected for the first time on that platform.
  • Plato said:

    I played the first version of Pong. When it became Red Square Shoots Green Square = we were impressed.

    Things have moved on a lot since loading a game from a cassette tape...

    kle4 said:

    Plato said:

    That's great - they still make Tomb Raider?? I played the first version of Doom and loved it. I come from the era of arcade games, Atari and Amiga...

    I was very good at linear games - and crap at ones with lots of stuff happening at the same time like Defender. Strategy games feel like hard work - I never saw the point of Sim City et al. Loads of levels suits me fine.

    Showing my age - my favourite games in my 20s were Fish! and Monkey Island... and Captain Blood...

    kle4 said:

    Plato said:

    Totally OT but I think this is the forum to ask.

    I haven't been a gamer in 20yrs and used to love it. So what would you recommend as a platform and a handful of games to get me going again? I'm a scrolling shoot em up sort.

    Well, it'smode).
    This is actually probably the best time to get back into gaming - loads of nostalgia for older titles and big and small games trying to capture that essence with updated hardware, which can ease a transition into the very modern stuff.

    I never really liked the old Tomb Raiders, but the latest rebooted version (just called 'Tomb Raider' to confuse matters) was a brilliant game. Strategy games I always love the idea of, but am not patient enough to learn how to play well. Oh well.

    I believe there is a new version of Doom coming out as it happens - though unlike Tomb Raider it hasn't had a dozen iterations since the earlier titles, it's just taken this long to get back to it.

    If you liked turn based tactical combat at all, I'd recommend Xcom:Enemy Unknown - on the easy and normal settings far less challenging than the games of the 80s it spawned from, and simple enough for a newbie like me to get into it. Great fun, I've logged something like 150 hours with it.

    Games are great things for feeling older than you are I find - my first console was a Nes, but people only 5 years younger than me say they only remember things from the Playstation 1 era, makes me feel like a caveman by comparison. :)
    Yeah, 10 minutes of squawking and screeching, followed by the blank screen of a failed load. You'd invoke any god, sell your mother's soul to Satan, if only Commando would bloody load before it was time to do your homework!

  • RodCrosbyRodCrosby Posts: 7,737
    So Ed relying on the SNP and Queen's Bench to prise open the door of Downing Street...
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,590
    RobD said:

    hunchman said:

    Plato said:

    Are you a chess player too? I was ace at backgammon but can't play chess to save my life.

    hunchman said:

    Plato said:

    That's great - they still make Tomb Raider?? I played the first version of Doom and loved it. I come from the era of arcade games, Atari and Amiga...

    I was very good at linear games - and crap at ones with lots of stuff happening at the same time like Defender. Strategy games feel like hard work - I never saw the point of Sim City et al. Loads of levels suits me fine.

    Showing my age - my favourite games in my 20s were Fish! and Monkey Island... and Captain Blood...

    kle4 said:

    Plato said:

    Totally OT but I think this is the forum to ask.

    I haven't been a gamer in 20yrs and used to love it. So what would you recommend as a platform and a handful of games to get me going again? I'm a scrolling shoot em up sort.

    Well, it's not a shoon easy mode).
    Sim City, Civilization, Railroad Tycoon and other strategy games as well as Flight Sims were always my favourite games - the more strategy the better. Very time consuming, but lots of fun!
    Played quite a fair bit when I was a teenager at school but not since. Always take an interest, but not got enough time to get back into it properly.
    Have you played Europa Universalis? My favourite grand strategy by far.
    Is it easier or harder to get into than Crusader Kings II, do you know? I was really intrigued by the level of detail in CK2, but was intimidated out by the tutorial sections.
  • hunchmanhunchman Posts: 2,591
    chestnut said:

    Regions (and 2010):

    Scotland: C 24 L 21 SNP 39 (C16 L42 SNP20) - Lab To Con 14.5
    Nth East: C 21 L 58 (C24 L 44) - Con To Lab 8.5
    Nth West: C 30 L 42 (C32 L 40) - Con To Lab 2
    Yorks/H: C 44 L 35 ( C 33 L 35) - Lab to Con 5.5
    W Mids: C 37 L 29 (C 40 L 31) - Con to lab 0.5
    E Mids: C 41 L 29 (C 41 L 30) - Lab to Con 0.5
    E Anglia: C 33 L 34 (C 47 L 20) - Con to lab 14
    Wales: C 24 L 35 (C26 L 36) - Con to lab 0.5
    London: C 33 L 44 (C35 L 37) - Con to lab 4.5
    Sth east: C 50 L 22 (C 50 L16) - Con to lab 3.0
    Sth west: C 39 L13 LD 21 (C 43 L 15) Con to Lab 3.0 ( LD to Con 5.0)

    Whilst some of those are obviously non-sensical breakdowns, not least Scotland, Labour piling up votes in the north-east, and getting a better vote share in the SW is hardly going to help them in seat terms. Apart from the swing in London, its hard to see on the broad trends we're seeing where Labour is really getting the vote where it really needs it. Failure to do well in councils such as Swindon, Tamworth et al over the past few years gives another good indication that the Labour vote is not going to be nearly as efficiently spread as it was back in 2010.
  • surbitonsurbiton Posts: 13,549

    Fat_Steve said:

    So, on post-Paxman-Not-A-Real-Debate polling, The proportion of people favouring Cameron as best PM has increased, decreased for Ed Milliband?
    Didn't a contributor here some time ago suggest that "Ed Milliband on television is bad for Labour"?
    And did some contributors here furiously pour scorn on the idea?
    My recollection is a little hazy.

    Well, I recall being shot down by the right every time I point out that Cameron ought to want more debates against Miliband to drive home his advantage, not fewer.

    Already I fear this election is about who can make the bigger cods of their campaign: Lynton or Lucy?
    The problem with Cameron even metaphorically skewering anybody even if they deserve it, is that they would get sympathy and Cameron would be called a bully. For Neil it's different.
    Even if Yougov was an outlier, how much was the Sunday Times headline worth along with that being the dominant story in the media all Sunday.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 78,415
    Tories to take Dumfries & Galloway I reckon.
  • hunchmanhunchman Posts: 2,591
    RobD said:

    hunchman said:

    Plato said:

    Are you a chess player too? I was ace at backgammon but can't play chess to save my life.

    hunchman said:

    Plato said:

    That's great - they still make Tomb Raider?? I played the first version of Doom and loved it. I come from the era of arcade games, Atari and Amiga...

    I was very good at linear games - and crap at ones with lots of stuff happening at the same time like Defender. Strategy games feel like hard work - I never saw the point of Sim City et al. Loads of levels suits me fine.

    Showing my age - my favourite games in my 20s were Fish! and Monkey Island... and Captain Blood...

    kle4 said:

    Plato said:

    Totally OT but I think this is the forum to ask.

    I haven't been a gamer in 20yrs and used to love it. So what would you recommend as a platform and a handful of games to get me going again? I'm a scrolling shoot em up sort.

    Well, it's not a shoot 'em up, but if you want the feel of a scrolling game from 20 years ago, last year's Shovel Knight was a joyous modern aping of old school Nes titles.

    The 'action-rpg' is the generic game genre of today I feel, games which are mostly based around combat in linear (but sometimes expansive) environments and levels, but with 'roel playing elements' in terms of upgrades based around whatever the main gimmick of the game is.

    I'd go with a PC, as you can get lots of small independent stuff as well as the big stuff easier, controller compatibility is much much better than it once was, games are usually cheaper too. Personally I'm a huge fan of shooters with indepth stories like the Mass Effect series, but the latest Tomb Raider and the Uncharted (on Playstation) series are great fun. Not side scrolly, but pretty linear and mostly to do with shooting, with some story but not as much as Mass Effect.

    It's a tough question though - I find my tastes in games today does not really match what I used to play 20 or even 10 years ago. It used to be sports games, JRPGs and platformers, but thesedays it's all story driven shooters, western RPGs, tactical combat games and strategy titles (if played on easy mode).
    Sim City, Civilization, Railroad Tycoon and other strategy games as well as Flight Sims were always my favourite games - the more strategy the better. Very time consuming, but lots of fun!
    Played quite a fair bit when I was a teenager at school but not since. Always take an interest, but not got enough time to get back into it properly.
    Have you played Europa Universalis? My favourite grand strategy by far.
    No, I'm afraid not. Always had a thing for Sid Meier games myself.
  • GrandioseGrandiose Posts: 2,323
    RobD said:

    hunchman said:

    Plato said:

    Are you a chess player too? I was ace at backgammon but can't play chess to save my life.

    hunchman said:

    Plato said:

    That's great - they still make Tomb Raider?? I played the first version of Doom and loved it. I come from the era of arcade games, Atari and Amiga...

    I was very good at linear games - and crap at ones with lots of stuff happening at the same time like Defender. Strategy games feel like hard work - I never saw the point of Sim City et al. Loads of levels suits me fine.

    Showing my age - my favourite games in my 20s were Fish! and Monkey Island... and Captain Blood...

    kle4 said:

    Plato said:

    Totally OT but I think this is the forum to ask.

    I haven't been a gamer in 20yrs and used to love it. So what would you recommend as a platform and a handful of games to get me going again? I'm a scrolling shoot em up sort.

    Well, it's not a shoot 'em up, but if you want the feel of a scrolling game from 20 years ago, last year's Shovel Knight was a joyous modern aping of old school Nes titles.

    The 'action-rpg' is the generic game genre of today I feel, games which are mostly based around combat in linear (but sometimes expansive) environments and levels, but with 'roel playing elements' in terms of upgrades based around whatever the main gimmick of the game is.

    I'd go with a PC, as you can get lots of small independent stuff as well as the big stuff easier, controller compatibility is much much better than it once was, games are usually cheaper too. Personally I'm a huge fan of shooters with indepth stories like the Mass Effect series, but the latest Tomb Raider and the Uncharted (on Playstation) series are great fun. Not side scrolly, but pretty linear and mostly to do with shooting, with some story but not as much as Mass Effect.

    It's a tough question though - I find my tastes in games today does not really match what I used to play 20 or even 10 years ago. It used to be sports games, JRPGs and platformers, but thesedays it's all story driven shooters, western RPGs, tactical combat games and strategy titles (if played on easy mode).
    Sim City, Civilization, Railroad Tycoon and other strategy games as well as Flight Sims were always my favourite games - the more strategy the better. Very time consuming, but lots of fun!
    Played quite a fair bit when I was a teenager at school but not since. Always take an interest, but not got enough time to get back into it properly.
    Have you played Europa Universalis? My favourite grand strategy by far.
    Mine too (well, EUII onwards) - racked up many many hours
  • RobDRobD Posts: 60,043
    kle4 said:

    RobD said:

    hunchman said:

    Plato said:

    Are you a chess player too? I was ace at backgammon but can't play chess to save my life.

    hunchman said:

    Plato said:

    That's great - they still make Tomb Raider?? I played the first version of Doom and loved it. I come from the era of arcade games, Atari and Amiga...

    I was very good at linear games - and crap at ones with lots of stuff happening at the same time like Defender. Strategy games feel like hard work - I never saw the point of Sim City et al. Loads of levels suits me fine.

    Showing my age - my favourite games in my 20s were Fish! and Monkey Island... and Captain Blood...

    kle4 said:

    Plato said:

    Totally OT but I think this is the forum to ask.

    I haven't been a gamer in 20yrs and used to love it. So what would you recommend as a platform and a handful of games to get me going again? I'm a scrolling shoot em up sort.

    Well, it's not a shoon easy mode).
    Sim City, Civilization, Railroad Tycoon and other strategy games as well as Flight Sims were always my favourite games - the more strategy the better. Very time consuming, but lots of fun!
    Played quite a fair bit when I was a teenager at school but not since. Always take an interest, but not got enough time to get back into it properly.
    Have you played Europa Universalis? My favourite grand strategy by far.
    Is it easier or harder to get into than Crusader Kings II, do you know? I was really intrigued by the level of detail in CK2, but was intimidated out by the tutorial sections.
    yeah, much less micromanagement than ck2, where you have to worry about all your vassals. There are some good videos on YouTube of people playing, and there is a demo (which may be out of date, the game has changed a lot since release)
  • surbitonsurbiton Posts: 13,549
    hunchman said:

    chestnut said:

    Regions (and 2010):

    Scotland: C 24 L 21 SNP 39 (C16 L42 SNP20) - Lab To Con 14.5
    Nth East: C 21 L 58 (C24 L 44) - Con To Lab 8.5
    Nth West: C 30 L 42 (C32 L 40) - Con To Lab 2
    Yorks/H: C 44 L 35 ( C 33 L 35) - Lab to Con 5.5
    W Mids: C 37 L 29 (C 40 L 31) - Con to lab 0.5
    E Mids: C 41 L 29 (C 41 L 30) - Lab to Con 0.5
    E Anglia: C 33 L 34 (C 47 L 20) - Con to lab 14
    Wales: C 24 L 35 (C26 L 36) - Con to lab 0.5
    London: C 33 L 44 (C35 L 37) - Con to lab 4.5
    Sth east: C 50 L 22 (C 50 L16) - Con to lab 3.0
    Sth west: C 39 L13 LD 21 (C 43 L 15) Con to Lab 3.0 ( LD to Con 5.0)

    Whilst some of those are obviously non-sensical breakdowns, not least Scotland, Labour piling up votes in the north-east, and getting a better vote share in the SW is hardly going to help them in seat terms. Apart from the swing in London, its hard to see on the broad trends we're seeing where Labour is really getting the vote where it really needs it. Failure to do well in councils such as Swindon, Tamworth et al over the past few years gives another good indication that the Labour vote is not going to be nearly as efficiently spread as it was back in 2010.
    You are reading too much. The poll itself was only 1000. Now you are looking at sub-samples of that poll ? Yougov was close to 2000.
  • RodCrosbyRodCrosby Posts: 7,737
    Pulpstar said:

    Tories to take Dumfries & Galloway I reckon.

    It's possible. I think there'll be several Inverness-'92-style results in Scotland...
  • surbiton said:

    Just for fun, Baxtering this poll

    Con 313, Lab 295.

    This makes no adjustment for Lab's anticipated shellacking in Scotland.

    You opened the Bollinger a bit too early ! Your figures add up to 608. Add 18 for NI, 1 for Speaker. That is 627.

    All others: Green, PC, [old ] SNP, LD = just 23 ?
    Clearly you can't read and don't know things.

    Baxtering this poll without adjustment for the SNP (as I caveated) lelads

    https://twitter.com/TSEofPB/status/582310316039602176
  • hunchmanhunchman Posts: 2,591
    edited March 2015
    Pulpstar said:

    Tories to take Dumfries & Galloway I reckon.

    If Russell Brown wasn't standing, I'd say a possibility, but in the absence of that, I've got it as one of the relatively few Labour holds in Scotland.

    On my latest list I've got SNP gaining / winning everything apart from the following, although Roxburgh & Berwickshire TCTC but going SNP on that one:

    Lib Dem - Orkney & Shetland
    Labour - Ed South, Ed North, East Lothian, Glasgow NE, Renfrewshire East, Dumfries & Galloway
    Tories - Dumfrieshire, Clydesdale & Tweedale
  • surbitonsurbiton Posts: 13,549
    RodCrosby said:

    Pulpstar said:

    Tories to take Dumfries & Galloway I reckon.

    It's possible. I think there'll be several Inverness-'92-style results in Scotland...
    Best odds you can get for D&G, Tories 5/1, SNP 6/4 , Labour 5/4
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 96,590
    SeanT said:

    RodCrosby said:

    1992 was really uncertain, even as the results were coming in. The pundits were all over the place, still holding out for some sort of Labour victory...

    I recall being quietly confident of a Tory victory. Though I was almost certainly on heroin at the time (1992) so take that into consideration.

    Hard to know how to factor in that consideration as it depends on how well your predictions panned out during those times when you were not on heroin I would say.

    Night all.
  • SeanT said:

    SeanT said:

    Barnesian said:

    Would it cruel of me to start copying and pasting what some of the PB's most excitable Labour supporters were posting exactly 24 hours ago?

    24 hours ago

    SeanT Posts: 7,189
    March 28

    Cowardly Cameron missed a big opportunity IMO
    I agree entirely. I've been saying for yonks that Cameron should only refuse proper debates if he was minimum 65% sure of winning the election. The polls have never given him a reason to be that confident, all along they have implied he is the underdog, headed for (narrow) defeat, if anything, so I don't know why he refused. Cameron is the one that needed the gamechanger, not Miliband.

    Too late now.
    As I have already admitted, I am a halfwit.

    That said, the pleasure of this election is that any self-declared "pundit" who makes any definitive prediction is probably going to look a total tit about three days later.

    I can, nonetheless, still make one confident prediction. This election is going to be a lot more fun than 2005, surely the worst election any of us can remember, for so many reasons.
    2005 was entertaining up to a point.

    2001 was the worst one. Absolutely feck all happened.
    Actually, I now realise I meant to say 2001, not 2005. 2001 was dull, dull, dull.

    In my defence I have just spent the day solo-parenting two very excitable eight year olds (my eldest and her friend) to, from and around Legoland, during several wintry monsoons.

    "F*cking Spavined" doesn't begin to describe my state of mental exhaustion.

    Tomorrow: Woburn Safari Park.
    I sympathise.
    I've just found out that grandchild number seven is on the way, bear in mind that we look after them in school holidays etc and I pick two of them up from school three days a week, I'm getting too old for this lark!
    Congratulations.
  • weejonnieweejonnie Posts: 3,820
    Am I right in assuming that BBC and Sky will be analysing this poll to death pointing out how favourable it is to the Conservatives and that Cameron is close to remaining in 10 Downing Street?

    Hell No!
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 82,533

    SeanT said:

    SeanT said:

    Barnesian said:

    Would it cruel of me to start copying and pasting what some of the PB's most excitable Labour supporters were posting exactly 24 hours ago?

    24 hours ago

    SeanT Posts: 7,189
    March 28

    Cowardly Cameron missed a big opportunity IMO
    I agree entirely. I've been saying for yonks that Cameron should only refuse proper debates if he was minimum 65% sure of winning the election. The polls have never given him a reason to be that confident, all along they have implied he is the underdog, headed for (narrow) defeat, if anything, so I don't know why he refused. Cameron is the one that needed the gamechanger, not Miliband.

    Too late now.
    As I have already admitted, I am a halfwit.

    That said, the pleasure of this election is that any self-declared "pundit" who makes any definitive prediction is probably going to look a total tit about three days later.

    I can, nonetheless, still make one confident prediction. This election is going to be a lot more fun than 2005, surely the worst election any of us can remember, for so many reasons.
    2005 was entertaining up to a point.

    2001 was the worst one. Absolutely feck all happened.
    Actually, I now realise I meant to say 2001, not 2005. 2001 was dull, dull, dull.

    In my defence I have just spent the day solo-parenting two very excitable eight year olds (my eldest and her friend) to, from and around Legoland, during several wintry monsoons.

    "F*cking Spavined" doesn't begin to describe my state of mental exhaustion.

    Tomorrow: Woburn Safari Park.
    I sympathise.
    I've just found out that grandchild number seven is on the way, bear in mind that we look after them in school holidays etc and I pick two of them up from school three days a week, I'm getting too old for this lark!
    Congratulations.
    It is becoming increasingly common to see this arrangement. I am surprised politicians haven't come with some sort of "perk", as it hits two demographics at once. Oldies (who vote) and young working families who child care is a huge issue.
  • surbitonsurbiton Posts: 13,549

    surbiton said:

    Just for fun, Baxtering this poll

    Con 313, Lab 295.

    This makes no adjustment for Lab's anticipated shellacking in Scotland.

    You opened the Bollinger a bit too early ! Your figures add up to 608. Add 18 for NI, 1 for Speaker. That is 627.

    All others: Green, PC, [old ] SNP, LD = just 23 ?
    Clearly you can't read and don't know things.

    Baxtering this poll without adjustment for the SNP (as I caveated) lelads

    https://twitter.com/TSEofPB/status/582310316039602176
    I read that well. It still does not make any sense. You need to "baxter" [ used as a verb ], England only. Add Scotland and Wales separately.
  • isamisam Posts: 41,118
    edited March 2015
    Blah blah blah
  • Tissue_PriceTissue_Price Posts: 9,039
    surbiton said:

    surbiton said:

    Just for fun, Baxtering this poll

    Con 313, Lab 295.

    This makes no adjustment for Lab's anticipated shellacking in Scotland.

    You opened the Bollinger a bit too early ! Your figures add up to 608. Add 18 for NI, 1 for Speaker. That is 627.

    All others: Green, PC, [old ] SNP, LD = just 23 ?
    Clearly you can't read and don't know things.

    Baxtering this poll without adjustment for the SNP (as I caveated) lelads

    https://twitter.com/TSEofPB/status/582310316039602176
    I read that well. It still does not make any sense. You need to "baxter" [ used as a verb ], England only. Add Scotland and Wales separately.
    Well that wouldn't be "just for fun"...
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 22,406
    edited March 2015
    I note below the discussion about government formation and dissolution. The procedure is covered in the Cabinet Manual[1][2]. The relevant section is 2.12

    "...2.12 Where an election does not result in an overall majority for a single party, the incumbent government remains in office unless and until the Prime Minister tenders his...resignation and the Government’s resignation to the Sovereign. An incumbent government is entitled to wait until the new Parliament has met to see if it can command the confidence of the House of Commons, but is expected to resign if it becomes clear that it is unlikely to be able to command that confidence and there is a clear alternative..."

    In the event of a government hanging on without commanding the confidence of the house on the first meeting[3] of the new Parliament (June?), then section 2.19 kicks in

    "...2.19 Under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011, if a government is defeated on a...[confidence motion, then]...there is then a 14-day period during which an alternative government can be formed from the House of Commons...or the incumbent government can seek to regain the confidence of the House. If no government can secure the confidence of the House of Commons during that period...[then]...a general election will take place...."

    I'm not sure if a failure to pass a Queen's Speech still constitutes a failure of confidence since the FTPA, but I assume it wouldn't be too difficult to link the two if need be.

    If you have a few minutes, I heartily recommend the Cabinet Manual incidentally.

    NOTES
    [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/60641/cabinet-manual.pdf
    [2] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-manual
    [3] Apparently the Queen's Speech isn't the first day of the new Parliament, but a couple of days later
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 78,415

    surbiton said:

    surbiton said:

    Just for fun, Baxtering this poll

    Con 313, Lab 295.

    This makes no adjustment for Lab's anticipated shellacking in Scotland.

    You opened the Bollinger a bit too early ! Your figures add up to 608. Add 18 for NI, 1 for Speaker. That is 627.

    All others: Green, PC, [old ] SNP, LD = just 23 ?
    Clearly you can't read and don't know things.

    Baxtering this poll without adjustment for the SNP (as I caveated) lelads

    https://twitter.com/TSEofPB/status/582310316039602176
    I read that well. It still does not make any sense. You need to "baxter" [ used as a verb ], England only. Add Scotland and Wales separately.
    Well that wouldn't be "just for fun"...
    Yes, it looks far worse for Labour if you do it for Scotland.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 78,415
    Pulpstar said:

    surbiton said:

    surbiton said:

    Just for fun, Baxtering this poll

    Con 313, Lab 295.

    This makes no adjustment for Lab's anticipated shellacking in Scotland.

    You opened the Bollinger a bit too early ! Your figures add up to 608. Add 18 for NI, 1 for Speaker. That is 627.

    All others: Green, PC, [old ] SNP, LD = just 23 ?
    Clearly you can't read and don't know things.

    Baxtering this poll without adjustment for the SNP (as I caveated) lelads

    https://twitter.com/TSEofPB/status/582310316039602176
    I read that well. It still does not make any sense. You need to "baxter" [ used as a verb ], England only. Add Scotland and Wales separately.
    Well that wouldn't be "just for fun"...
    Yes, it looks far worse for Labour if you do it for Scotland.
    And potentially better for the CONs...
  • Scott_PScott_P Posts: 51,453
    @timespolitics: Labour are happy to borrow £30bn a year, says IFS chief http://t.co/psM5QweZr8
  • surbitonsurbiton Posts: 13,549
    Scott_P said:

    @timespolitics: Labour are happy to borrow £30bn a year, says IFS chief http://t.co/psM5QweZr8

    Only ? I would have gone for more for now and then settle at about 3% of GDP.
  • Tissue_PriceTissue_Price Posts: 9,039
    isam said:

    Blah blah blah

    Magnificently lucid, witty, clever and revealing :p
  • surbitonsurbiton Posts: 13,549
    Pulpstar said:

    surbiton said:

    surbiton said:

    Just for fun, Baxtering this poll

    Con 313, Lab 295.

    This makes no adjustment for Lab's anticipated shellacking in Scotland.

    You opened the Bollinger a bit too early ! Your figures add up to 608. Add 18 for NI, 1 for Speaker. That is 627.

    All others: Green, PC, [old ] SNP, LD = just 23 ?
    Clearly you can't read and don't know things.

    Baxtering this poll without adjustment for the SNP (as I caveated) lelads

    https://twitter.com/TSEofPB/status/582310316039602176
    I read that well. It still does not make any sense. You need to "baxter" [ used as a verb ], England only. Add Scotland and Wales separately.
    Well that wouldn't be "just for fun"...
    Yes, it looks far worse for Labour if you do it for Scotland.
    Actually, it doesn't. By baxtering the whole of GB together, you are "giving" some votes to Labour in Scotland from Labour votes in England. We know the Labour score in Scotland but those extra "votes" in England gives Labour more gains from the Tories.
  • isamisam Posts: 41,118
    edited March 2015

    isam said:

    Blah blah blah

    Magnificently lucid, witty, clever and revealing :p
    Posted something that could have started tit for tat.. Thought better of it

    Though blah blah blah probably more helpful than drawing conclusions from every poll the instant it is released
  • FloaterFloater Posts: 14,207
    hunchman said:

    RobD said:

    hunchman said:

    Plato said:

    Are you a chess player too? I was ace at backgammon but can't play chess to save my life.

    hunchman said:

    Plato said:

    That's great - they still make Tomb Raider?? I played the first version of Doom and loved it. I come from the era of arcade games, Atari and Amiga...

    I was very good at linear games - and crap at ones with lots of stuff happening at the same time like Defender. Strategy games feel like hard work - I never saw the point of Sim City et al. Loads of levels suits me fine.

    Showing my age - my favourite games in my 20s were Fish! and Monkey Island... and Captain Blood...

    kle4 said:

    Plato said:

    Totally OT but I think this is the forum to ask.

    I haven't been a gamer in 20yrs and used to love it. So what would you recommend as a platform and a handful of games to get me going again? I'm a scrolling shoot em up sort.

    Well, it's not a shoot 'em up, but if you want the feel of a scrolling game from 20 years ago, last year's Shovel Knight was a joyous modern aping of old school Nes titles.

    The 'action-rpg' is the generic game genre of today I feel, games which are mostly based around combat in linear (but sometimes expansive) environments and levels, but with 'roel playing elements' in terms of upgrades based around whatever the main gimmick of the game is.

    I'
    It used to be sports games, JRPGs and platformers, but thesedays it's all story driven shooters, western RPGs, tactical combat games and strategy titles (if played on easy mode).
    Sim City, Civilization, Railroad Tycoon and other strategy games as well as Flight Sims were always my favourite games - the more strategy the better. Very time consuming, but lots of fun!
    Played quite a fair bit when I was a teenager at school but not since. Always take an interest, but not got enough time to get back into it properly.
    Have you played Europa Universalis? My favourite grand strategy by far.
    No, I'm afraid not. Always had a thing for Sid Meier games myself.
    Europe is a good gamebut Civ is even better.

    Matrix games are my favourite though


  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,736
    Well just back from A&E with my Mum who has fractured her Collar Bone.

    COM RES and YG surely cant both be right.

    As i said after YG expect any post debate movement to be short lived and both parties still effectively level.

    Any way fracture clinic in the morning and a parent to look after so may not be around much in next few days
  • RobDRobD Posts: 60,043

    Well just back from A&E with my Mum who has fractured her Collar Bone.

    COM RES and YG surely cant both be right.

    As i said after YG expect any post debate movement to be short lived and both parties still effectively level.

    Any way fracture clinic in the morning and a parent to look after so may not be around much in next few days

    All the best to your Mum.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 123,963
    SO The SNP would then open a hornets nest for itself given some polls have showed a plurality of SNP voters would back an EU exit
  • viewcodeviewcode Posts: 22,406

    Well just back from A&E with my Mum who has fractured her Collar Bone

    Ouch! Major sympathy

  • bigjohnowlsbigjohnowls Posts: 22,736
    RobD said:

    Well just back from A&E with my Mum who has fractured her Collar Bone.

    COM RES and YG surely cant both be right.

    As i said after YG expect any post debate movement to be short lived and both parties still effectively level.

    Any way fracture clinic in the morning and a parent to look after so may not be around much in next few days

    All the best to your Mum.
    Thanks Rob

    I am knackered off to bed now
  • MonkeysMonkeys Posts: 758
    Plato said:

    Totally OT but I think this is the forum to ask.

    I haven't been a gamer in 20yrs and used to love it. So what would you recommend as a platform and a handful of games to get me going again? I'm a scrolling shoot em up sort.

    If you can handle linear games that extend into the third dimension, the two Portal games are a stupid amount of fun.
  • noisywinternoisywinter Posts: 249
    Wonder if there are any odds on the Tories picking up more seats in Scotland than Labour?

    Would be somewhat amusing in any case
  • ZenPaganZenPagan Posts: 689
    Floater said:

    hunchman said:

    RobD said:

    hunchman said:

    Plato said:

    Are you a chess player too? I was ace at backgammon but can't play chess to save my life.

    hunchman said:

    Plato said:

    That's great - they still make Tomb Raider?? I played the first version of Doom and loved it. I come from the era of arcade games, Atari and Amiga...

    I was very good at linear games - and crap at ones with lots of stuff happening at the same time like Defender. Strategy games feel like hard work - I never saw the point of Sim City et al. Loads of levels suits me fine.

    Showing my age - my favourite games in my 20s were Fish! and Monkey Island... and Captain Blood...

    kle4 said:

    Plato said:

    Totally OT but I think this is the forum to ask.

    I haven't been a gamer in 20yrs and used to love it. So what would you recommend as a platform and a handful of games to get me going again? I'm a scrolling shoot em up sort.

    Well, it's not a shoot 'em up, but if you want the feel of a scrolling game from 20 years ago, last year's Shovel Knight was a joyous modern aping of old school Nes titles.

    The 'action-rpg' is the generic game genre of today I feel, games which are mostly based around combat in linear (but sometimes expansive) environments and levels, but with 'roel playing elements' in terms of upgrades based around whatever the main gimmick of the game is.

    I'
    It used to be sports games, JRPGs and platformers, but thesedays it's all story driven shooters, western RPGs, tactical combat games and strategy titles (if played on easy mode).
    Sim City, Civilization, Railroad Tycoon and other strategy games as well as Flight Sims were always my favourite games - the more strategy the better. Very time consuming, but lots of fun!
    Played quite a fair bit when I was a teenager at school but not since. Always take an interest, but not got enough time to get back into it properly.
    Have you played Europa Universalis? My favourite grand strategy by far.
    No, I'm afraid not. Always had a thing for Sid Meier games myself.
    Europe is a good gamebut Civ is even better.

    Matrix games are my favourite though


    There is only one video game and that is Eve Online all others are mere pretenders :)

  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 78,415

    Wonder if there are any odds on the Tories picking up more seats in Scotland than Labour?

    Would be somewhat amusing in any case

    Not sure what prices I'd like to be a backer or layer at on that one.
  • RobDRobD Posts: 60,043
    ZenPagan said:

    Floater said:

    hunchman said:

    RobD said:

    hunchman said:

    Plato said:

    Are you a chess player too? I was ace at backgammon but can't play chess to save my life.

    hunchman said:

    Plato said:

    That's great - they still make Tomb Raider?? I played the first version of Doom and loved it. I come from the era of arcade games, Atari and Amiga...

    I was very good at linear games - and crap at ones with lots of stuff happening at the same time like Defender. Strategy games feel like hard work - I never saw the point of Sim City et al. Loads of levels suits me fine.

    Showing my age - my favourite games in my 20s were Fish! and Monkey Island... and Captain Blood...

    kle4 said:

    Plato said:

    Totally OT but I think this is the forum to ask.

    I haven't been a gamer in 20yrs and used to love it. So what would you recommend as a platform and a handful of games to get me going again? I'm a scrolling shoot em up sort.

    Well, it's not a shoot 'em up, but if you want the feel of a scrolling game from 20 years ago, last year's Shovel Knight was a joyous modern aping of old school Nes titles.

    The 'action-rpg' is the generic game genre of today I feel, games which are mostly based around combat in linear (but sometimes expansive) environments and levels, but with 'roel playing elements' in terms of upgrades based around whatever the main gimmick of the game is.

    I'
    It used to be sports games, JRPGs and platformers, but thesedays it's all story driven shooters, western RPGs, tactical combat games and strategy titles (if played on easy mode).
    Sim City, Civilization, Railroad Tycoon and other strategy games as well as Flight Sims were always my favourite games - the more strategy the better. Very time consuming, but lots of fun!
    Played quite a fair bit when I was a teenager at school but not since. Always take an interest, but not got enough time to get back into it properly.
    Have you played Europa Universalis? My favourite grand strategy by far.
    No, I'm afraid not. Always had a thing for Sid Meier games myself.
    Europe is a good gamebut Civ is even better.

    Matrix games are my favourite though


    There is only one video game and that is Eve Online all others are mere pretenders :)

    I used to play that, but took up way too much time.
  • ZenPaganZenPagan Posts: 689
    RobD said:

    ZenPagan said:

    Floater said:

    hunchman said:

    RobD said:

    hunchman said:

    Plato said:

    Are you a chess player too? I was ace at backgammon but can't play chess to save my life.

    hunchman said:

    Plato said:

    That's great - they still make Tomb Raider?? I played the first version of Doom and loved it. I come from the era of arcade games, Atari and Amiga...

    I was very good at linear games - and crap at ones with lots of stuff happening at the same time like Defender. Strategy games feel like hard work - I never saw the point of Sim City et al. Loads of levels suits me fine.

    Showing my age - my favourite games in my 20s were Fish! and Monkey Island... and Captain Blood...

    kle4 said:

    Plato said:

    Totally OT but I think this is the forum to ask.

    I haven't been a gamer in 20yrs and used to love it. So what would you recommend as a platform and a handful of games to get me going again? I'm a scrolling shoot em up sort.

    Well, it's not a shoot 'em up, but if you want the feel of a scrolling game from 20 years ago, last year's Shovel Knight was a joyous modern aping of old school Nes titles.

    The 'action-rpg' is the generic game genre of today I feel, games which are mostly based around combat in linear (but sometimes expansive) environments and levels, but with 'roel playing elements' in terms of upgrades based around whatever the main gimmick of the game is.

    I'
    It used to be sports games, JRPGs and platformers, but thesedays it's all story driven shooters, western RPGs, tactical combat games and strategy titles (if played on easy mode).
    Sim City, Civilization, Railroad Tycoon and other strategy games as well as Flight Sims were always my favourite games - the more strategy the better. Very time consuming, but lots of fun!
    Played quite a fair bit when I was a teenager at school but not since. Always take an interest, but not got enough time to get back into it properly.
    Have you played Europa Universalis? My favourite grand strategy by far.
    No, I'm afraid not. Always had a thing for Sid Meier games myself.
    Europe is a good gamebut Civ is even better.

    Matrix games are my favourite though


    There is only one video game and that is Eve Online all others are mere pretenders :)

    I used to play that, but took up way too much time.
    It certainly can eat up the hours it is true but that is the point of hobbies surely

  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 78,415
    Rounding has saved Labour's bacon on that Comres - 36.0% vs 31.6% !
  • RobDRobD Posts: 60,043
    Pulpstar said:

    Rounding has saved Labour's bacon on that Comres - 36.0% vs 31.6% !

    Waiting for the first 37% for the blues, hopefully not too long to wait...
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,216
    fitalass said:
    That interview was a "triumph" doncha know?
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,216
    RodCrosby said:

    1992 was really uncertain, even as the results were coming in. The pundits were all over the place, still holding out for some sort of Labour victory...

    IIRC the consensus was PM Kinnock - I had pink champagne on ice to toast the brave new socialist dawn. ITN was first to call it "too close to call", then "Tories largest in hung parliament" - the BBC lagging.....I went to bed to "Tories largest", and woke to Tory government......
  • fitalassfitalass Posts: 4,320
    In 1992 GE, only Conservative gain from Labour was Aberdeen South in Scotland.
    Pulpstar said:

    Wonder if there are any odds on the Tories picking up more seats in Scotland than Labour?

    Would be somewhat amusing in any case

    Not sure what prices I'd like to be a backer or layer at on that one.
  • edmundintokyoedmundintokyo Posts: 17,708

    RobD said:

    I think they are worried about the period after a vote of no confidence. The Fixed Term Act means that a dissolution is not immediate after that.

    A dissolution wouldn't have been immediate under the previous system. What would have happened is that Her Majesty's advisers would have 'taken soundings' to see if some alternative government could be formed. That could easily take a week or two in a chaotic hung parliament. There would have been a great reluctance to call another immediate election.
    Yup, I don't think the Fixed Terms act does much to the immediate post-election situation at all, except for formalising the couple of weeks you'd spend trying to make a government before giving up and having a new election at a maximum of two weeks.

    The main effect of the law is to extend the rules from the beginning of the parliament to the rest of the parliament, rather than the old system where dissolution turned into a prime ministerial prerogative (even if someone else could govern) at some unspecified time.
  • scotslassscotslass Posts: 912
    Scott_P

    Not like you to fall for such a obviously placed Labour briefing and not a very clever one. Up until now they have been claiming that the most seats forms the Government. Now they are saying that Cameron could only hide in Downing Street for up to a month!

    It doesn't really matter. The person who becomes Prime Minister is the one who can command a House of Commons majority full stop. The briefing only means that Labour realise that Salmond and Sturgeon have shot their last remaining fox this week and are now struggling to work out a response.
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 60,216
    This election is set to be dominated by political divides that are new, and much larger. Instead of micro-demographic categories, what we’ll need to understand are dreams. These can be reduced to three geospatial identities, which I’ve labelled Scandi-Scotland, the asset-rich south-east and post-industrial Britain.......If you look at this election as a contest between three geographically determined dreams, here’s the problem. The only one of these groups plagued by doubt and incoherence is post-industrial Britain. The SNP and the Tories seem to have captured the zeitgeist of their heartlands well. Labour has not.

    http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/29/three-new-tribes-of-voters-will-dominate-this-election?CMP=share_btn_fb

  • Tim_BTim_B Posts: 7,669
    For those who care, on Talking Dead after the season finale of The Walking Dead season finale, it was announced that there will be a season 6.

    There is also a show called "Fear the Walking Dead" coming this summer.

    Maybe it's about the Liberal Democrats :)
  • RodCrosbyRodCrosby Posts: 7,737
    Tim_B said:

    For those who care, on Talking Dead after the season finale of The Walking Dead season finale, it was announced that there will be a season 6.

    There is also a show called "Fear the Walking Dead" coming this summer.

    Maybe it's about the Liberal Democrats :)

    I heard it's going on to at least 2020, or something...
  • fitalassfitalass Posts: 4,320
    edited March 2015
    A week is a long time in politics, but a year is even longer....
    Lets hope that all those SNP chickens come home to roost as they face an election that sees them trying to get re-elected for a third term Holyrood after all their claims, threats and shannigans in the run up to, and after the Indy Referendum and the Westminster GE.

    I for one, will laugh like a drain if the SNP are again left in the position of being a minority Government. And also again, if they are then left relying on the Scottish Conservatives if they want to even get their budget passed. Unlike 2007, this SNP administration may quite rightly face a much higher price of full Coalition for any such co-operation. I certainly wouldn't prop up the SNP for a cheap Confidence & Supply nod through after their current behaviour. It would be ironic if the Scottish Conservatives finally shot the SNP fox at Holyrood, or even better, made them do a perp walk into a formal coalition at Holyrood.
    scotslass said:

    Scott_P

    Not like you to fall for such a obviously placed Labour briefing and not a very clever one. Up until now they have been claiming that the most seats forms the Government. Now they are saying that Cameron could only hide in Downing Street for up to a month!

    It doesn't really matter. The person who becomes Prime Minister is the one who can command a House of Commons majority full stop. The briefing only means that Labour realise that Salmond and Sturgeon have shot their last remaining fox this week and are now struggling to work out a response.

  • SimonStClareSimonStClare Posts: 7,976
    Morning all.

    ComRes showing quite a large post debate bounce for Ed.
  • IndigoIndigo Posts: 9,966
    Why do we still have this sort of idiocy with a Conservative government ?

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/11502515/Parents-who-let-kids-play-Call-of-Duty-could-be-reported-to-police.html
    Primary school headteachers have warned parents who allow their children to play video games such as Call Of Duty and Grand Theft Auto will be reported to police and social services for neglect.
  • edmundintokyoedmundintokyo Posts: 17,708
    Indigo said:

    Why do we still have this sort of idiocy with a Conservative government ?

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/11502515/Parents-who-let-kids-play-Call-of-Duty-could-be-reported-to-police.html

    Primary school headteachers have warned parents who allow their children to play video games such as Call Of Duty and Grand Theft Auto will be reported to police and social services for neglect.
    You can't expect central government to have all this covered. The country has loads of head-teachers, statistically you'll sometimes get clusters of morons. Also if you have one lot of people setting rules (the local authority) and someone else applying them (the head-teachers) you'll sometimes end up with rules getting applied the way the people who wrote them hadn't imagined. The solution is that somebody makes a fuss and they fix the rules.

    And all this assumes the reporting is fair and accurate, which would be unusual.
  • IndigoIndigo Posts: 9,966
    edited March 2015

    Indigo said:

    Why do we still have this sort of idiocy with a Conservative government ?

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/11502515/Parents-who-let-kids-play-Call-of-Duty-could-be-reported-to-police.html

    Primary school headteachers have warned parents who allow their children to play video games such as Call Of Duty and Grand Theft Auto will be reported to police and social services for neglect.
    You can't expect central government to have all this covered. The country has loads of head-teachers, statistically you'll sometimes get clusters of morons. Also if you have one lot of people setting rules (the local authority) and someone else applying them (the head-teachers) you'll sometimes end up with rules getting applied the way the people who wrote them hadn't imagined. The solution is that somebody makes a fuss and they fix the rules.

    And all this assumes the reporting is fair and accurate, which would be unusual.

    What are the odds that the morons will still be in their job being moronic in six months time ? What are the odds that anyone even questions it ? The problem is that interfering in this sort of authoritarianism is for some bizarre reason seen as illiberal!

    Also reported by the BBC, The Guardian. This sort of action by the government "This month David Cameron announced that adults in positions of responsibility could face prison sentences of up to five years if they failed to report allegations of neglect or abuse of children." really doesn't help, it just makes people jump at shadows and cover their asses.
  • AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 25,516

    Indigo said:

    Why do we still have this sort of idiocy with a Conservative government ?

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/11502515/Parents-who-let-kids-play-Call-of-Duty-could-be-reported-to-police.html

    Primary school headteachers have warned parents who allow their children to play video games such as Call Of Duty and Grand Theft Auto will be reported to police and social services for neglect.
    You can't expect central government to have all this covered. The country has loads of head-teachers, statistically you'll sometimes get clusters of morons. Also if you have one lot of people setting rules (the local authority) and someone else applying them (the head-teachers) you'll sometimes end up with rules getting applied the way the people who wrote them hadn't imagined. The solution is that somebody makes a fuss and they fix the rules.

    And all this assumes the reporting is fair and accurate, which would be unusual.

    maybe we should just have fewer rules.
  • felixfelix Posts: 15,173
    Indigo said:

    Why do we still have this sort of idiocy with a Conservative government ?

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/11502515/Parents-who-let-kids-play-Call-of-Duty-could-be-reported-to-police.html

    Primary school headteachers have warned parents who allow their children to play video games such as Call Of Duty and Grand Theft Auto will be reported to police and social services for neglect.
    We don't have a Conservative govt. Where have you been?
  • IndigoIndigo Posts: 9,966
    edited March 2015
    felix said:

    Indigo said:

    Why do we still have this sort of idiocy with a Conservative government ?

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/11502515/Parents-who-let-kids-play-Call-of-Duty-could-be-reported-to-police.html

    Primary school headteachers have warned parents who allow their children to play video games such as Call Of Duty and Grand Theft Auto will be reported to police and social services for neglect.
    We don't have a Conservative govt. Where have you been?

    Any Conservative government worth the name would be speaking out about this sort of leftie authoritarian nonsense, and letting the LDs publicly oppose them if they are brave enough, especially since its a painless way to gather in wavering right wing voters. The problem is Cameron is an LD in all but name, and paternalist at that, and probably thinks this sort of stuff is a good idea.
  • AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 25,516
    I've got to admit I like the SNP policies for the GE.

    It's extremely generous of Sturgeon to want the rest of us to spend all the oil money even faster. Only thing is what will they live on when it's gone ?


    http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/top-stories/snp-names-price-of-power-in-labour-deal-1-3732692
  • SimonStClareSimonStClare Posts: 7,976
    edited March 2015
    Indigo said:

    Why do we still have this sort of idiocy with a Conservative government ?

    Primary school headteachers have warned parents who allow their children to play video games such as Call Of Duty and Grand Theft Auto will be reported to police and social services for neglect.
    Contrary to popular belief, it is not the responsibility of Government to routinely send round the SAS, when primary school head teachers say something daft…!
This discussion has been closed.