Anthony Wells: " The party I’d probably watch is UKIP – Farage wasn’t a big winner, but he outperformed his party’s national support in all of the instant verdict polls, and unlike the SNP, UKIP have candidates across GB that people can vote for."
A thought about Sturgeon/SNP. If the SNP are a major player/hold balance of power post election then it will be interesting to see who calls the shots - the SNP Westminster MPs or the SNP leader at Holyrood. Because it will make passing knife-edge legislation very difficult if reference always has to be made to an individual calling the shots from Scotland. Difficult to hammer out back room deals, establish personal relationships etc in those circumstances.
Very interesting - and I think a major worry for the rUK. If Miliband does squeeze in with SNP support it'd be by far the worst possible outcome for the country.
I w\as going to say there was this Scot called Alexander Graham Bell who had invented this fancy thing called a ... but Malky has got in afore me.
Huge blow for SLAB. With just 5 weeks to go until the GE Jim McGovern the defending Labour MP in Dundee West has apparently withdrawn his nomination and retired. The story is being reported by the Dundee Courier.
Gordon Macdonald MSP @GMacdonaldMSP Jim McGovern quits as Dundee West MP fw.to/820lyuY
This seems very odd. Is this not seriously prejudicial to his finances? Is someone being parachuted in?
Can someone against debates tell me what we lose if the debates happen, even if we as people who follow politics don't get much substance from them?
I am not against the debate per se, the problem is they are seen as almost the entire TV commitment for politicians in the short campaign. Twenty years ago the campaign would have been full of ministers and the PM desperate to get on Newsnight, or to be interviewed by Robin Day, Parkinson, Wogan etc because that was how they got mass publicity. That brief interview with Paxman is probably all we will see of senior politicians getting grilled in the whole campaign, and that was the first time Cameron has done a proper political interview in at least a couple of years. I feel we are missing more interviews with senior politicians, with wide ranging discussion of their policy aspirations and reviews of their record.
Can anyone who is in favour of the debates answer this question:
What did we learn last night that we did not already know?
We political nerds seriously underestimate how the great British public react to these events...
Hmmm. Is there a link to the article covering this, showing numbers and how they were collated?
I smell b/s.
Hmmm. Damned if I can find it. The Guardian do however say "But according to Google, the SNP leader was the most searched for participant midway through the debate, and by the end of the evening the sixth most googled question was “Can I vote for the SNP?”"
This is a good thread. Anyways its not about who won the debates, its about voting intention opinion polls & we need to wait and see. With Easter bank holiday shenanigans it may take a couple of weeks to see the shakedown. But heres my take:
1. Cameron will be happy & I expect tories support to shore up. we might see some polls nudging 40% in next few weeks. 2. Miliband. SLAB's the big problem for him 3. SNP will be happy 4. Ukip. I cant tell. I hate Farage & so do lots of pple but thats not the point. Did he boost support? Don't know. He looked very ill whatever. 5. Clegg. Stabbed Cameron early on which made him look a bit of a dick really & may do him no favours in Sheffield Hallam. Thought he was very boring but don't know what else he could've done. My guess is LDs will go up to double figures.
I thought Clegg looked exactly what he is an over smug , look I am loaded , lying unprincipled bragging toerag. A would be if he could be. Fake as a three bob bit.
Newspapers make themselves look silly with OTT headlines, almost certainly written before
Yes, the 'Cam hit for Six' and Ed 'losing' the election stuff is pretty risible.
Am I the only person who thinks Ed might come out of the next events pretty well? I know the others could gang up on him next time without Cameron there, but several people seem to think Cameron did well with the additional airtime from his responding to people challenging him, and Ed seems to have prepared very well for these things. And come the final event, he's at the least as good in that scenario as Clegg and Cameron, without the record of hits and misses to defend of the latter (in the last five years at least - Cameron and Clegg's efforts notwithstanding, Ed seems to have escaped most of the blowback on his record in the last government) or the atrocious image problem of the latter (he's 'weird', not hated or dismissed as irrelevant, and he can do something about the weird thing - in fact he seemed perfectly normal compared to the stories).
Have you missed the fact that he sounds and looks like a duffer of the first order. God help us if he ever gets to be PM.
I have a boss who sounds like Ed, so to me Ed sounds plenty authoritative, if nasal, though I can see it grating with many people. The actual content of his words do not stand out as poor compared to his peers either, so outside the superficial even though I do not think he is great, I think the people may be less harsh on him than many think.
Sturgeon stood out from the rest easily. Nicola is definitely First Minister , Cameron, Milliband were not Prime in comparison.
Yes effective at promising magic money trees of spending.... A product of our welfare state. Would fit very well with Syriza in Greece, such a shame they voted No.
Ha Ha Ha, you not listen to anyone else then , they were throwing billions about as if it was small change. Sounds like green cheese as cameron looked the fake he is , Clegg a failed snake oil salesman and Ed as just useless. Westminster is second league, with second rate leaders and you boys don't like it.
Malcolmg, so you agree that we should reduce our Govt deficit at a slower rate and that the markets will not increase interest charges accordingly?
I don't personally but neither Labour or Tories are doing it fast enough and SNP will not either. I am all for helping people but what this country needs to do for a start is get rid of vanity projects , start hitting tax avoider/evaders , drop Trident , foreign aid , sort out a proper immigration system , decent minimum wage and make sure that no-one in work gets benefits and no-one out of work can get as much in benefits as someone who is working. Invest in infrastructure in other places apart from London.
Thanks for the clarity. I agree with most. What do you want for foreign aid?
Can anyone who is in favour of the debates answer this question:
What did we learn last night that we did not already know?
What do you mean by "we"?
I know more about Leanne than I did; and many, many voters know today what they did not know yesterday, that Ed is crap. Rejoice!
Not sure why, but Leanne is growing on me.
Maybe it was because in talking about the debates people made the Borgen comparison as an example of Danish politics, but she made me think of the lead lady from that show.
(5) Clegg looked a bit 2nd division - a few good lines but no clear message.
I disagree. If anything his message was too clear and he made it a little too much without reference to what was actually being discussed. It's just that the message is not that appealing for many people, being essentially an appeal to not go too far in either direction about anything.
Clegg had the dignity of someone bowing out, knowing they had done their best. But he should have been repla
I ageree with the comment about Clegg; I really can’t understand why he didsn’t resign as LD leader six or so months ago.
Agreed. I almost admire his sheer stubborness though. Could another leader have appealed to a few more percent, who are willing to consider voting LD again but cannot internally justify it while the 'traitor' is still leader? Eh, maybe, it's hard to say, but worth a try probably. But he just keeps going.
I really hope he retains his seat. It would be easy on the LDs when they have to rebuild if they can just ignore Clegg's leadership, pretend he never existed, but if he is still there, though clearly not as leader anymore, he and they have to confront matters more.
I thought Leanne Wood came across well, obviously not as experienced but sounded like a real person unlike the Westminster lot who you just know had bathed in snake oil before coming on. I counted my fingers after each one of them spoke.
Can anyone who is in favour of the debates answer this question:
What did we learn last night that we did not already know?
We political nerds seriously underestimate how the great British public react to these events...
Hmmm. Is there a link to the article covering this, showing numbers and how they were collated?
I smell b/s.
Hmmm. Damned if I can find it. The Guardian do however say "But according to Google, the SNP leader was the most searched for participant midway through the debate, and by the end of the evening the sixth most googled question was “Can I vote for the SNP?”"
Huge blow for SLAB. With just 5 weeks to go until the GE Jim McGovern the defending Labour MP in Dundee West has apparently withdrawn his nomination and retired. The story is being reported by the Dundee Courier.
Gordon Macdonald MSP @GMacdonaldMSP Jim McGovern quits as Dundee West MP fw.to/820lyuY
Juat another donkey going before he gets kicked out. Assume he gets more cash going now than getting thrashed in a few weeks.
IIRC, yes, which is why Hancock is standing again. Some years ago Willie Hamilton wanted to retire as Lab MP for (?) West Fife but realised that if he did that he’d lose quite a lot of money. So instead of defending his Scots seat, where he was a shoo-in, he stood for Totnes or some other rock-sold Tory seat thereabouts, was defeated and duly collected the allowances.
I have been trying to work out what it is about Ed which makes me feel uncomfortable. just realised that he looks like the man attending a wedding or funeral who has been made to wear an ill-fitting suit and a white shirt with a new collar. He just looks and acts awkward.
He kept grinning like a Cheshire cat last night and when he was speaking, he noticeably turned his head like a learner driver making a point of turning his head to look at the mirrors so the examiner realises he is doing so. In short nothing about his performance last night seemed natural. However to be fair to him he didn't commit any major gaffe though the Clegg exchange will be used over and over again in the next 5 weeks.
Can someone against debates tell me what we lose if the debates happen, even if we as people who follow politics don't get much substance from them?
I feel we are missing more interviews with senior politicians, with wide ranging discussion of their policy aspirations and reviews of their record.
Now that I would very much like. I don't recall 2005, the last one we had before the debate-era, did we get that? Really I would like leaders debates and those sort of interviews, get as wide a range of content as possible. But politicians seem averse to interviews, and the recent intakes seem terrible at them, trained to go on the counter attack they often start complaining about the interviewer before the interviewer even does something to complain about.
Can anyone who is in favour of the debates answer this question:
What did we learn last night that we did not already know?
What do you mean by "we"?
I know more about Leanne than I did; and many, many voters know today what they did not know yesterday, that Ed is crap. Rejoice!
Not sure why, but Leanne is growing on me.
Maybe it was because in talking about the debates people made the Borgen comparison as an example of Danish politics, but she made me think of the lead lady from that show.
(5) Clegg looked a bit 2nd division - a few good lines but no clear message.
I disagree. If anything his message was too clear and he made it a little too much without reference to what was actually being discussed. It's just that the message is not that appealing for many people, being essentially an appeal to not go too far in either direction about anything.
Clegg had the dignity of someone bowing out, knowing they had done their best. But he should have been repla
I ageree with the comment about Clegg; I really can’t understand why he didsn’t resign as LD leader six or so months ago.
Agreed. I almost admire his sheer stubborness though. Could another leader have appealed to a few more percent, who are willing to consider voting LD again but cannot internally justify it while the 'traitor' is still leader? Eh, maybe, it's hard to say, but worth a try probably. But he just keeps going.
I really hope he retains his seat. It would be easy on the LDs when they have to rebuild if they can just ignore Clegg's leadership, pretend he never existed, but if he is still there, though clearly not as leader anymore, he and they have to confront matters more.
I thought Leanne Wood came across well, obviously not as experienced but sounded like a real person unlike the Westminster lot who you just know had bathed in snake oil before coming on. I counted my fingers after each one of them spoke.
A thought about Sturgeon/SNP. If the SNP are a major player/hold balance of power post election then it will be interesting to see who calls the shots - the SNP Westminster MPs or the SNP leader at Holyrood. Because it will make passing knife-edge legislation very difficult if reference always has to be made to an individual calling the shots from Scotland. Difficult to hammer out back room deals, establish personal relationships etc in those circumstances.
Very interesting - and I think a major worry for the rUK. If Miliband does squeeze in with SNP support it'd be by far the worst possible outcome for the country.
I w\as going to say there was this Scot called Alexander Graham Bell who had invented this fancy thing called a ... but Malky has got in afore me.
Huge blow for SLAB. With just 5 weeks to go until the GE Jim McGovern the defending Labour MP in Dundee West has apparently withdrawn his nomination and retired. The story is being reported by the Dundee Courier.
Gordon Macdonald MSP @GMacdonaldMSP Jim McGovern quits as Dundee West MP fw.to/820lyuY
This seems very odd. Is this not seriously prejudicial to his finances? Is someone being parachuted in?
Has to be either a health issue or he makes more money going early , being labour he would not go if losing money.
Wow my MP is standing down. Excellent news. He is a plonker of the first water.
Who will Labour get to replace him on this suicide run for 34 days? Jenny Marra MSP would be the obvious choice but will she want a defeat on her record? It would be interesting if they got someone I could actually vote for.
Can anyone who is in favour of the debates answer this question:
What did we learn last night that we did not already know?
What do you mean by "we"?
I know more about Leanne than I did; and many, many voters know today what they did not know yesterday, that Ed is crap. Rejoice!
Not sure why, but Leanne is growing on me.
Maybe it was because in talking about the debates people made the Borgen comparison as an example of Danish politics, but she made me think of the lead lady from that show.
(5) Clegg looked a bit 2nd division - a few good lines but no clear message.
I disagree. If anything his message was too clear and he made it a little too much without reference to what was actually being discussed. It's just that the message is not that appealing for many people, being essentially an appeal to not go too far in either direction about anything.
Clegg had the dignity of someone bowing out, knowing they had done their best. But he should have been repla
I ageree with the comment about Clegg; I really can’t understand why he didsn’t resign as LD leader six or so months ago.
Agreed. I almost admire his sheer stubborness though. Could another leader have appealed to a few more percent, who are willing to consider voting LD again but cannot internally justify it while the 'traitor' is still leader? Eh, maybe, it's hard to say, but worth a try probably. But he just keeps going.
I really hope he retains his seat. It would be easy on the LDs when they have to rebuild if they can just ignore Clegg's leadership, pretend he never existed, but if he is still there, though clearly not as leader anymore, he and they have to confront matters more.
I thought Leanne Wood came across well, obviously not as experienced but sounded like a real person unlike the Westminster lot who you just know had bathed in snake oil before coming on. I counted my fingers after each one of them spoke.
I agree - I think all the women did well- Leanne came across as the most natural - and took Miliband off at the knees on ZHC - while Sturgeon was a professional politician who was still a human being.
Sturgeon stood out from the rest easily. Nicola is definitely First Minister , Cameron, Milliband were not Prime in comparison.
Yes effective at promising magic money trees of spending.... A product of our welfare state. Would fit very well with Syriza in Greece, such a shame they voted No.
Ha Ha Ha, you not listen to anyone else then , they were throwing billions about as if it was small change. Sounds like green cheese as cameron looked the fake he is , Clegg a failed snake oil salesman and Ed as just useless. Westminster is second league, with second rate leaders and you boys don't like it.
Malcolmg, so you agree that we should reduce our Govt deficit at a slower rate and that the markets will not increase interest charges accordingly?
I don't personally but neither Labour or Tories are doing it fast enough and SNP will not either. I am all for helping people but what this country needs to do for a start is get rid of vanity projects , start hitting tax avoider/evaders , drop Trident , foreign aid , sort out a proper immigration system , decent minimum wage and make sure that no-one in work gets benefits and no-one out of work can get as much in benefits as someone who is working. Invest in infrastructure in other places apart from London.
Thanks for the clarity. I agree with most. What do you want for foreign aid?
Big reduction and clarity on what is spent and where it is spent and by whom. Hard to believe that 50 years on with constant foreign aid and never ending requests for funds by charities etc that large parts of Africa etc are still basket cases. Something far wrong going on with the money given by both governments and public. Either being syphoned off locally , wasted before getting there or being spent badly on the wrong things.
So Fisher gives the Tories a 4/1 chance of achieving an overall majority. This compares with Betfair's current offer price of 7.8 which translates to fractional odds of 6.5/1 net of their commission ..... Hmm.
Can anyone who is in favour of the debates answer this question:
What did we learn last night that we did not already know?
What do you mean by "we"?
I know more about Leanne than I did; and many, many voters know today what they did not know yesterday, that Ed is crap. Rejoice!
Not sure why, but Leanne is growing on me.
Maybe it was because in talking about the debates people made the Borgen comparison as an example of Danish politics, but she made me think of the lead lady from that show.
(5) Clegg looked a bit 2nd division - a few good lines but no clear message.
I disagree. If anything his message was too clear and he made it a little too much without reference to what was actually being discussed. It's just that the message is not that appealing for many people, being essentially an appeal to not go too far in either direction about anything.
Clegg had the dignity of someone bowing out, knowing they had done their best. But he should have been repla
I ageree with the comment about Clegg; I really can’t understand why he didsn’t resign as LD leader six or so months ago.
Agreed. I almost admire his sheer stubborness though. Could another leader have appealed to a few more percent, who are willing to consider voting LD again but cannot internally justify it while the 'traitor' is still leader? Eh, maybe, it's hard to say, but worth a try probably. But he just keeps going.
I really hope he retains his seat. It would be easy on the LDs when they have to rebuild if they can just ignore Clegg's leadership, pretend he never existed, but if he is still there, though clearly not as leader anymore, he and they have to confront matters more.
I thought Leanne Wood came across well, obviously not as experienced but sounded like a real person unlike the Westminster lot who you just know had bathed in snake oil before coming on. I counted my fingers after each one of them spoke.
I could have listened to her accent all night. Very pleasant lilt. It was interesting that she was so focussed on Wales whilst Sturgeon was more focussed on coming across as a national player (something she succeeded in). Shows the relative confidence of the 2 parties I suppose.
Can anyone who is in favour of the debates answer this question:
What did we learn last night that we did not already know?
What do you mean by "we"?
I know more about Leanne than I did; and many, many voters know today what they did not know yesterday, that Ed is crap. Rejoice!
Not sure why, but Leanne is growing on me.
Maybe it was because in talking about the debates people made the Borgen comparison as an example of Danish politics, but she made me think of the lead lady from that show.
(5) Clegg looked a bit 2nd division - a few good lines but no clear message.
I disagree. If anything his message was too clear and he made it a little too much without reference to what was actually being discussed. It's just that the message is not that appealing for many people, being essentially an appeal to not go too far in either direction about anything.
Clegg had the dignity of someone bowing out, knowing they had done their best. But he should have been repla
I ageree with the comment about Clegg; I really can’t understand why he didsn’t resign as LD leader six or so months ago.
Agreed. I al
I thought Leanne Wood came across well, obviously not as experienced but sounded like a real person unlike the Westminster lot who you just know had bathed in snake oil before coming on. I counted my fingers after each one of them spoke.
As the leader with the least grandiose ambitions, I felt like she was under less pressure and could concentrate on making simple, earnest appeals to the voters. Certainly no negatives I could see.
Nicola was as expected formidable, and an entirely different tone than I am used to seeing her in interviews. for the most part.
Bennett deserved a bit of a boost I felt. No one went after her and she was able to make arguments to distinguish herself from the rest, I feel she deserves some positive effect for that, even if only temporary.
Can anyone who is in favour of the debates answer this question:
What did we learn last night that we did not already know?
What do you mean by "we"?
I know more about Leanne than I did; and many, many voters know today what they did not know yesterday, that Ed is crap. Rejoice!
Not sure why, but Leanne is growing on me.
Maybe it was because in talking about the debates people made the Borgen comparison as an example of Danish politics, but she made me think of the lead lady from that show.
(5) Clegg looked a bit 2nd division - a few good lines but no clear message.
I disagree. If anything his message was too clear and he made it a little too much without reference to what was actually being discussed. It's just that the message is not that appealing for many people, being essentially an appeal to not go too far in either direction about anything.
Clegg had the dignity of someone bowing out, knowing they had done their best. But he should have been repla
I ageree with the comment about Clegg; I really can’t understand why he didsn’t resign as LD leader six or so months ago.
Agreed. I almost admire his sheer stubborness though. Could another leader have appealed to a few more percent, who are willing to consider voting LD again but cannot internally justify it while the 'traitor' is still leader? Eh, maybe, it's hard to say, but worth a try probably. But he just keeps going.
I really hope he retains his seat. It would be easy on the LDs when they have to rebuild if they can just ignore Clegg's leadership, pretend he never existed, but if he is still there, though clearly not as leader anymore, he and they have to confront matters more.
I thought Leanne Wood came across well, obviously not as experienced but sounded like a real person unlike the Westminster lot who you just know had bathed in snake oil before coming on. I counted my fingers after each one of them spoke.
Can anyone who is in favour of the debates answer this question:
What did we learn last night that we did not already know?
What do you mean by "we"?
I know more about Leanne than I did; and many, many voters know today what they did not know yesterday, that Ed is crap. Rejoice!
Not sure why, but Leanne is growing on me.
Maybe it was because in talking about the debates people made the Borgen comparison as an example of Danish politics, but she made me think of the lead lady from that show.
(5) Clegg looked a bit 2nd division - a few good lines but no clear message.
I disagree. If anything his message was too clear and he made it a little too much without reference to what was actually being discussed. It's just that the message is not that appealing for many people, being essentially an appeal to not go too far in either direction about anything.
Clegg had the dignity of someone bowing out, knowing they had done their best. But he should have been repla
I ageree with the comment about Clegg; I really can’t understand why he didsn’t resign as LD leader six or so months ago.
Agreed. I al
I thought Leanne Wood came across well, obviously not as experienced but sounded like a real person unlike the Westminster lot who you just know had bathed in snake oil before coming on. I counted my fingers after each one of them spoke.
As the leader with the least grandiose ambitions, I felt like she was under less pressure and could concentrate on making simple, earnest appeals to the voters. Certainly no negatives I could see.
Nicola was as expected formidable, and an entirely different tone than I am used to seeing her in interviews. for the most part.
Bennett deserved a bit of a boost I felt. No one went after her and she was able to make arguments to distinguish herself from the rest, I feel she deserves some positive effect for that, even if only temporary.
But she was trying to win a council election, while everyone else was trying to run the country.
Wow my MP is standing down. Excellent news. He is a plonker of the first water.
Who will Labour get to replace him on this suicide run for 34 days? Jenny Marra MSP would be the obvious choice but will she want a defeat on her record? It would be interesting if they got someone I could actually vote for.
David, Marra would be an apt replacement for a useless donkey for sure. A whining whinging one at that. Murphy will be at Blackpool shortly to see if he can borrow any of their donkeys till the summer.
Sturgeon stood out from the rest easily. Nicola is definitely First Minister , Cameron, Milliband were not Prime in comparison.
Yes effective at promising magic money trees of spending.... A product of our welfare state. Would fit very well with Syriza in Greece, such a shame they voted No.
Ha Ha Ha, you not listen to anyone else then , they were throwing billions about as if it was small change. Sounds like green cheese as cameron looked the fake he is , Clegg a failed snake oil salesman and Ed as just useless. Westminster is second league, with second rate leaders and you boys don't like it.
Malcolmg, so you agree that we should reduce our Govt deficit at a slower rate and that the markets will not increase interest charges accordingly?
I don't personally but neither Labour or Tories are doing it fast enough and SNP will not either. I am all for helping people but what this country needs to do for a start is get rid of vanity projects , start hitting tax avoider/evaders , drop Trident , foreign aid , sort out a proper immigration system , decent minimum wage and make sure that no-one in work gets benefits and no-one out of work can get as much in benefits as someone who is working. Invest in infrastructure in other places apart from London.
Thanks for the clarity. I agree with most. What do you want for foreign aid?
Big reduction and clarity on what is spent and where it is spent and by whom. Hard to believe that 50 years on with constant foreign aid and never ending requests for funds by charities etc that large parts of Africa etc are still basket cases. Something far wrong going on with the money given by both governments and public. Either being syphoned off locally , wasted before getting there or being spent badly on the wrong things.
You are wrong about Africa. It has large numbers of functioning democracies and quite brisk economic growth. Your ideas of africa are a few decades out of date.
I know more about Leanne than I did; and many, many voters know today what they did not know yesterday, that Ed is crap. Rejoice!
Not sure why, but Leanne is growing on me.
Maybe it was because in talking about the debates people made the Borgen comparison as an example of Danish politics, but she made me think of the lead lady from that show.
(5) Clegg looked a bit 2nd division - a few good lines but no clear message.
I disagree. If anything his message was too clear and he made it a little too much without reference to what was actually being discussed. It's just that the message is not that appealing for many people, being essentially an appeal to not go too far in either direction about anything.
Clegg had the dignity of someone bowing out, knowing they had done their best. But he should have been repla
I ageree with the comment about Clegg; I really can’t understand why he didsn’t resign as LD leader six or so months ago.
Agreed. I al
I thought Leanne Wood came across well, obviously not as experienced but sounded like a real person unlike the Westminster lot who you just know had bathed in snake oil before coming on. I counted my fingers after each one of them spoke.
As the leader with the least grandiose ambitions, I felt like she was under less pressure and could concentrate on making simple, earnest appeals to the voters. Certainly no negatives I could see.
Nicola was as expected formidable, and an entirely different tone than I am used to seeing her in interviews. for the most part.
Bennett deserved a bit of a boost I felt. No one went after her and she was able to make arguments to distinguish herself from the rest, I feel she deserves some positive effect for that, even if only temporary.
But she was trying to win a council election, while everyone else was trying to run the country.
I thought from last night it was quite obvious why Wales has a parish council and Scotland has a parliament.
Can someone against debates tell me what we lose if the debates happen, even if we as people who follow politics don't get much substance from them?
I feel we are missing more interviews with senior politicians, with wide ranging discussion of their policy aspirations and reviews of their record.
Now that I would very much like. I don't recall 2005, the last one we had before the debate-era, did we get that? Really I would like leaders debates and those sort of interviews, get as wide a range of content as possible. But politicians seem averse to interviews, and the recent intakes seem terrible at them, trained to go on the counter attack they often start complaining about the interviewer before the interviewer even does something to complain about.
Thatcher vs Robin Day 1987 Election
www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqKRkY30g6U
For more fireworks, Thatcher vs Day 1984 about the miners
Entirely O/T (as I didn't watch the debates): the news about the massacre in Kenya is truly awful. On this Good Friday worth sparing a thought for all those poor students murdered for being Christian and their families. RIP.
Can anyone who is in favour of the debates answer this question:
What did we learn last night that we did not already know?
What do you mean by "we"?
I know more about Leanne than I did; and many, many voters know today what they did not know yesterday, that Ed is crap. Rejoice!
Not sure why, but Leanne is growing on me.
Maybe it was because in talking about the debates people made the Borgen comparison as an example of Danish politics, but she made me think of the lead lady from that show.
(5) Clegg looked a bit 2nd division - a few good lines but no clear message.
I disagree. If anything his message was too clear and he made it a little too much without reference to what was actually being discussed. It's just that the message is not that appealing for many people, being essentially an appeal to not go too far in either direction about anything.
Clegg had the dignity of someone bowing out, knowing they had done their best. But he should have been repla
I ageree with the comment about Clegg; I really can’t understand why he didsn’t resign as LD leader six or so months ago.
Agreed. I al
I thought Leanne Wood came across well, obviously not as experienced but sounded like a real person unlike the Westminster lot who you just know had bathed in snake oil before coming on. I counted my fingers after each one of them spoke.
As the leader with the least grandiose ambitions, I felt like she was under less pressure and could concentrate on making simple, earnest appeals to the voters. Certainly no negatives I could see.
Nicola was as expected formidable, and an entirely different tone than I am used to seeing her in interviews. for the most part.
Bennett deserved a bit of a boost I felt. No one went after her and she was able to make arguments to distinguish herself from the rest, I feel she deserves some positive effect for that, even if only temporary.
But she was trying to win a council election, while everyone else was trying to run the country.
Dear Dear, megalomania complex showing. She was punting to her audience.
Wow my MP is standing down. Excellent news. He is a plonker of the first water.
Who will Labour get to replace him on this suicide run for 34 days? Jenny Marra MSP would be the obvious choice but will she want a defeat on her record? It would be interesting if they got someone I could actually vote for.
David, Marra would be an apt replacement for a useless donkey for sure. A whining whinging one at that. Murphy will be at Blackpool shortly to see if he can borrow any of their donkeys till the summer.
I got to know her quite well during the referendum. I said to her a few weeks ago she should have been the candidate and that I would vote for her. I think my family would do likewise. It is really a question of whether she fancies it. Dundee West is looking SNP by a mile at the moment.
But she was trying to win a council election, while everyone else was trying to run the country.
Actually I think Leanne Wood's real pitch was probably to get herself noticed as a serious player in advance of next year's Assembly elections. Labour will then have been in power for 17 years. They are collapsing in a worse heap than Major's Tories. The fact that the seriously unpleasant and talentless Leighton Andrews is the only passably competent minister apart from Carwyn Jones himself is an indication of just how far they have fallen in the last ten years.
If Plaid have a decent election this time around - hold their three seats, maybe pick up a couple more - they might just be in with a chance of using that as a springboard for 2016 and displacing Labour as the government. At that point, Wood might look to do what Salmond did - use power in Cardiff as a springboard to a more prominent role in Westminster.
Don't necessarily think it couldn't happen either - there's a growing disconnection between Labour in London and their voters in mostly South Wales. Most of them will have looked at Ed Miliband and seen somebody who has as much idea where Merthyr Tydfil is and what happens there as he does about life on Mars.
PS - the Assembly elections are definitely a lot more important than a council election. Anyone remember Tony Blair's comments that Edinburgh would be a 'parish council'? Look at it now...and by stealth, Cardiff has acquired many of the same powers.
Sturgeon stood out from the rest easily. Nicola is definitely First Minister , Cameron, Milliband were not Prime in comparison.
Yes effective at promising magic money trees of spending.... A product of our welfare state. Would fit very well with Syriza in Greece, such a shame they voted No.
Ha Ha Ha, you not listen to anyone else then , they were throwing billions about as if it was small change. Sounds like green cheese as cameron looked the fake he is , Clegg a failed snake oil salesman and Ed as just useless. Westminster is second league, with second rate leaders and you boys don't like it.
Malcolmg, so you agree that we should reduce our Govt deficit at a slower rate and that the markets will not increase interest charges accordingly?
I don't personally but neither Labour or Tories are doing it fast enough and SNP will not either. I am all for helping people but what this country needs to do for a start is get rid of vanity projects , start hitting tax avoider/evaders , drop Trident , foreign aid , sort out a proper immigration system , decent minimum wage and make sure that no-one in work gets benefits and no-one out of work can get as much in benefits as someone who is working. Invest in infrastructure in other places apart from London.
Thanks for the clarity. I agree with most. What do you want for foreign aid?
Big reduction and clarity on what is spent and where it is spent and by whom. Hard to believe that 50 years on with constant foreign aid and never ending requests for funds by charities etc that large parts of Africa etc are still basket cases. Something far wrong going on with the money given by both governments and public. Either being syphoned off locally , wasted before getting there or being spent badly on the wrong things.
You are wrong about Africa. It has large numbers of functioning democracies and quite brisk economic growth. Your ideas of africa are a few decades out of date.
The image of Africa as a passive participant in famine, war and corruption is perpetuated by an industry that is built on garnering sympathy and charitable donations. Capitalism has done a staggering job in africa, despite how it is ruled.
Sturgeon stood out from the rest easily. Nicola is definitely First Minister , Cameron, Milliband were not Prime in comparison.
Yes effective at promising magic money trees of spending.... A product of our welfare state. Would fit very well with Syriza in Greece, such a shame they voted No.
Ha Ha Ha, you not listen to anyone else then , they were throwing billions about as if it was small change. Sounds like green cheese as cameron looked the fake he is , Clegg a failed snake oil salesman and Ed as just useless. Westminster is second league, with second rate leaders and you boys don't like it.
Malcolmg, so you agree that we should reduce our Govt deficit at a slower rate and that the markets will not increase interest charges accordingly?
I don't personally but neither Labour or Tories are doing it fast enough and SNP will not either. I am all for helping people but what this country needs to do for a start is get rid of vanity projects , start hitting tax avoider/evaders , drop Trident , foreign aid , sort out a proper immigration system , decent minimum wage and make sure that no-one in work gets benefits and no-one out of work can get as much in benefits as someone who is working. Invest in infrastructure in other places apart from London.
Thanks for the clarity. I agree with most. What do you want for foreign aid?
Big reduction and clarity on what is spent and where it is spent and by whom. Hard to believe that 50 years on with constant foreign aid and never ending requests for funds by charities etc that large parts of Africa etc are still basket cases. Something far wrong going on with the money given by both governments and public. Either being syphoned off locally , wasted before getting there or being spent badly on the wrong things.
Indeed. There was an interesting observation made last week that the introduction of mobile phone technology into Africa has lifted more people out of poverty that the sum total of all the aid programs that Africa has received over the years, and the mobile phones were introduced by capitalists to make a profit.
Sturgeon stood out from the rest easily. Nicola is definitely First Minister , Cameron, Milliband were not Prime in comparison.
Yes effective at promising magic money trees of spending.... A product of our welfare state. Would fit very well with Syriza in Greece, such a shame they voted No.
Ha Ha Ha, you not listen to anyone else then , they were throwing billions about as if it was small change. Sounds like green cheese as cameron looked the fake he is , Clegg a failed snake oil salesman and Ed as just useless. Westminster is second league, with second rate leaders and you boys don't like it.
Malcolmg, so you agree that we should reduce our Govt deficit at a slower rate and that the markets will not increase interest charges accordingly?
I don't personally but neither Labour or Tories are doing it fast enough and SNP will not either. I am all for helping people but what this country needs to do for a start is get rid of vanity projects , start hitting tax avoider/evaders , drop Trident , foreign aid , sort out a proper immigration system , decent minimum wage and make sure that no-one in work gets benefits and no-one out of work can get as much in benefits as someone who is working. Invest in infrastructure in other places apart from London.
Thanks for the clarity. I agree with most. What do you want for foreign aid?
Big reduction and clarity on what is spent and where it is spent and by whom. Hard to believe that 50 years on with constant foreign aid and never ending requests for funds by charities etc that large parts of Africa etc are still basket cases. Something far wrong going on with the money given by both governments and public. Either being syphoned off locally , wasted before getting there or being spent badly on the wrong things.
You are wrong about Africa. It has large numbers of functioning democracies and quite brisk economic growth. Your ideas of africa are a few decades out of date.
It also has many basket cases , given what we see on a regular basis. If they are so great why are we pouring ever more money into them and TV is flooded daily with appeals etc. Hardly a day goes past without shooting , raping , kidnapping , disease , poverty , wars, blah , blah , blah.
Sturgeon stood out from the rest easily. Nicola is definitely First Minister , Cameron, Milliband were not Prime in comparison.
Yes effective at promising magic money trees of spending.... A product of our welfare state. Would fit very well with Syriza in Greece, such a shame they voted No.
Ha Ha Ha, you not listen to anyone else then , they were throwing billions about as if it was small change. Sounds like green cheese as cameron looked the fake he is , Clegg a failed snake oil salesman and Ed as just useless. Westminster is second league, with second rate leaders and you boys don't like it.
Malcolmg, so you agree that we should reduce our Govt deficit at a slower rate and that the markets will not increase interest charges accordingly?
I don't personally but neither Labour or Tories are doing it fast enough and SNP will not either. I am all for helping people but what this country needs to do for a start is get rid of vanity projects , start hitting tax avoider/evaders , drop Trident , foreign aid , sort out a proper immigration system , decent minimum wage and make sure that no-one in work gets benefits and no-one out of work can get as much in benefits as someone who is working. Invest in infrastructure in other places apart from London.
Thanks for the clarity. I agree with most. What do you want for foreign aid?
Big reduction and clarity on what is spent and where it is spent and by whom. Hard to believe that 50 years on with constant foreign aid and never ending requests for funds by charities etc that large parts of Africa etc are still basket cases. Something far wrong going on with the money given by both governments and public. Either being syphoned off locally , wasted before getting there or being spent badly on the wrong things.
You are right that of the problems is that there is not enough openness or publicity about where foreign aid money has spent. Some is hard to argue against; for instance the recently completed £200 million St Helena runway project, which will be a massive boon to the 4,000 people who live on the island. It was paid for from the DFID budget.
I know more about Leanne than I did; and many, many voters know today what they did not know yesterday, that Ed is crap. Rejoice!
Not sure why, but Leanne is growing on me.
Maybe it was because in talking about the debates people made the Borgen comparison as an example of Danish politics, but she made me think of the lead lady from that show.
(5) Clegg looked a bit 2nd division - a few good lines but no clear message.
I disagree. If anything his message was too clear and he made it a little too much without reference to what was actually being discussed. It's just that the message is not that appealing for many people, being essentially an appeal to not go too far in either direction about anything.
Clegg had the dignity of someone bowing out, knowing they had done their best. But he should have been repla
I ageree with the comment about Clegg; I really can’t understand why he didsn’t resign as LD leader six or so months ago.
Agreed. I al
I thought Leanne Wood came across well, obviously not as experienced but sounded like a real person unlike the Westminster lot who you just know had bathed in snake oil before coming on. I counted my fingers after each one of them spoke.
As the leader with the least grandiose ambitions, I felt like she was under less pressure and could concentrate on making simple, earnest appeals to the voters. Certainly no negatives I could see.
Nicola was as expected formidable, and an entirely different tone than I am used to seeing her in interviews. for the most part.
Bennett deserved a bit of a boost I felt. No one went after her and she was able to make arguments to distinguish herself from the rest, I feel she deserves some positive effect for that, even if only temporary.
But she was trying to win a council election, while everyone else was trying to run the country.
I thought from last night it was quite obvious why Wales has a parish council and Scotland has a parliament.
David, that is very unfair , sounds just like the nasty party.
It also has many basket cases , given what we see on a regular basis. If they are so great why are we pouring ever more money into them and TV is flooded daily with appeals etc. Hardly a day goes past without shooting , raping , kidnapping , disease , poverty , wars, blah , blah , blah.
I also rather suspect that quite a lot of the aid goes to the basket cases.
Moreover, there are some people who for whatever reason regard Zimbabwe as a functioning democracy, which only goes to show some people have the literary acumen of Lewis Caroll's Humpty Dumpty.
It also has many basket cases , given what we see on a regular basis. If they are so great why are we pouring ever more money into them and TV is flooded daily with appeals etc. Hardly a day goes past without shooting , raping , kidnapping , disease , poverty , wars, blah , blah , blah.
Campaigns to help people with AIDS and to combat malaria are great in my book. As are responding to the ebola outbreak or disaster recovery. Womens' education programs are also vital, and worth the spending IMHO.
But she was trying to win a council election, while everyone else was trying to run the country.
Leanne seemed to be focussing in local issues to persuade people to vote for her, but then PC is unlikely to hold the balance of power. Nicola was focussing more on UK issues presumably to attract Labour voters who might be persuaded to think that an SNP-influenced Labour minority govt might be better than a purely Labour one. Be interesting to see if the SNP can pull PC up on their coat tails. I probably wouldn't vote PC if I lived in Wales (too left wing, and they are allegedly not interested in the English incomer vote) but something needs to challenge the Labour hegemony there.
The image of Africa as a passive participant in famine, war and corruption is perpetuated by an industry that is built on garnering sympathy and charitable donations. Capitalism has done a staggering job in africa, despite how it is ruled.
The continent's central belt still has the world's lowest median ages. Click to enlarge...
But she was trying to win a council election, while everyone else was trying to run the country.
Leanne seemed to be focussing in local issues to persuade people to vote for her, but then PC is unlikely to hold the balance of power. Nicola was focussing more on UK issues presumably to attract Labour voters who might be persuaded to think that an SNP-influenced Labour minority govt might be better than a purely Labour one. Be interesting to see if the SNP can pull PC up on their coat tails. I probably wouldn't vote PC if I lived in Wales (too left wing, and they are allegedly not interested in the English incomer vote) but something needs to challenge the Labour hegemony there.
That's an interesting comment John, but not wholly accurate. Plaid Cymru is a politcal mix - it's a movement rather than a party. Leanne Wood is an unabashed socialist, but Dafydd Elis-Thomas could easily have been a Conservative politician (my own former AM, Elin Jones, was also quite right-wing). Even Ieuan Wyn Jones was definitely a New Labour part of the spectrum.
The socialists get more exposure because there are more of them and they tend to be concentrated in the South East where power lies in Wales. It's also of course more popular with the majority of voters in Wales, where the centre of gravity is far to the left of England or even Scotland.
(5) Clegg looked a bit 2nd division - a few good lines but no clear message.
I disagree. If anything his message was too clear and he made it a little too much without reference to what was actually being discussed. It's just that the message is not that appealing for many people, being essentially an appeal to not go too far in either direction about anything.
Clegg had the dignity of someone bowing out, knowing they had done their best. But he should have been repla
I ageree with the comment about Clegg; I really can’t understand why he didsn’t resign as LD leader six or so months ago.
Agreed. I almost admire his sheer stubborness though. Could another leader have appealed to a few more percent, who are willing to consider voting LD again but cannot internally justify it while the 'traitor' is still leader? Eh, maybe, it's hard to say, but worth a try probably. But he just keeps going.
I really hope he retains his seat. It would be easy on the LDs when they have to rebuild if they can just ignore Clegg's leadership, pretend he never existed, but if he is still there, though clearly not as leader anymore, he and they have to confront matters more.
I thought Leanne Wood came across well, obviously not as experienced but sounded like a real person unlike the Westminster lot who you just know had bathed in snake oil before coming on. I counted my fingers after each one of them spoke.
I could have listened to her accent all night. Very pleasant lilt. It was interesting that she was so focussed on Wales whilst Sturgeon was more focussed on coming across as a national player (something she succeeded in). Shows the relative confidence of the 2 parties I suppose.
I really liked her too, not the least bit over the top and got her point across well.
Sky News Newsdesk @SkyNewsBreak 2m2 minutes ago Labour's Caroline Flint tells Sky News that there will be no SNP ministers in a Labour-led govt & Alex Salmond will not be deputy PM #GE2015
It also has many basket cases , given what we see on a regular basis. If they are so great why are we pouring ever more money into them and TV is flooded daily with appeals etc. Hardly a day goes past without shooting , raping , kidnapping , disease , poverty , wars, blah , blah , blah.
I also rather suspect that quite a lot of the aid goes to the basket cases.
Moreover, there are some people who for whatever reason regard Zimbabwe as a functioning democracy, which only goes to show some people have the literary acumen of Lewis Caroll's Humpty Dumpty.
May be wrong but my belief is that most of the money is either being wasted on admin, on projects that are not the correct ones ie selling them guns etc , or being pocketed by a revolving set of dodgy leaders.
Sky News Newsdesk @SkyNewsBreak 2m2 minutes ago Labour's Caroline Flint tells Sky News that there will be no SNP ministers in a Labour-led govt & Alex Salmond will not be deputy PM #GE2015
Which is what we have known for the last, oh, six months?
Sturgeon stood out from the rest easily. Nicola is definitely First Minister , Cameron, Milliband were not Prime in comparison.
Yes effective at promising magic money trees of spending.... A product of our welfare state. Would fit very well with Syriza in Greece, such a shame they voted No.
Ha Ha Ha, you not listen to anyone else then , they were throwing billions about as if it was small change. Sounds like green cheese as cameron looked the fake he is , Clegg a failed snake oil salesman and Ed as just useless. Westminster is second league, with second rate leaders and you boys don't like it.
Malcolmg, so you agree that we should reduce our Govt deficit at a slower rate and that the markets will not increase interest charges accordingly?
I don't personally but neither Labour or Tories are doing it fast enough and SNP will not either. I am all for helping people but what this country needs to do for a start is get rid of vanity projects , start hitting tax avoider/evaders , drop Trident , foreign aid , sort out a proper immigration system , decent minimum wage and make sure that no-one in work gets benefits and no-one out of work can get as much in benefits as someone who is working. Invest in infrastructure in other places apart from London.
Thanks for the clarity. I agree with most. What do you want for foreign aid?
Big reduction and clarity on what is spent and where it is spent and by whom. Hard to believe that 50 years on with constant foreign aid and never ending requests for funds by charities etc that large parts of Africa etc are still basket cases. Something far wrong going on with the money given by both governments and public. Either being syphoned off locally , wasted before getting there or being spent badly on the wrong things.
You are right that of the problems is that there is not enough openness or publicity about where foreign aid money has spent. Some is hard to argue against; for instance the recently completed £200 million St Helena runway project, which will be a massive boon to the 4,000 people who live on the island. It was paid for from the DFID budget.
May be wrong but my belief is that most of the money is either being wasted on admin, on projects that are not the correct ones ie selling them guns etc , or being pocketed by a revolving set of dodgy leaders.
And that is of course one of the great problems with foreign aid to deprived/unstable countries. You can give it, but who ensures it is used in the way it should be? As a result, we seem to have comparatively little clear data on how well/badly it is being used.
This is why when it comes to foreign aid I prefer assisting charities who work directly on the ground rather than via my taxes to governments who work with other governments.
The spectacle of a debate is clearly designed to try to get people who do not obsessively follow politics to pay attention. ... Can someone against debates tell me what we lose if the debates happen, even if we as people who follow politics don't get much substance from them? ... The debates merely add another method of getting some people some level of information (how much is indeed questionable, but the leaders did occasionally put some detail, which for some people may have been the first time they heard them).
I think last night worked well: I felt you got enough time and detail from each player to at least form a preliminary judgement on their capabilities.
The issue I have with the 2010 structure is with 3x head to heads, in a 4 week campaign the entire media focus shifted to 2 days debate prep, 1 day of debate tension, 2 days of post date wrap up. That meant the whole election was about the media talking about media events - not much use.
I hope this structure - with different formats, and earlier in the campaign/pre-campaign is used again in future as I reckon it's a useful addition.
Trying to stand back from our personal impressions and going by the polls: (1) Sturgeon either won or got a score draw, both of them very creditable in this format. That will both help the SNP in Scotland and reduce any fear of the SNP elsewhere. (2) Miliband (pace Roger!) got a score draw, which again outperformed expectations. That will help with the people who want a change of government but weren't sure he was tough enough. (3) Farage spoke very clearly (simply good voice projection) and I thought his key point that if we stay in the EU then free movement is inevitable was well made, helped by the fact that it's correct. I think he was unwise to venture into HIV treatment but his core audience maybe doesn't mind. I expect a small UKIP bounce and he's certainly done enough to prevent a further slide in their ratings for now. (4) Cameron seemed to be going through the motions - it looked exactly as though he felt as PM he shouldn't need to be there. Not much effect either way. (5) Clegg looked a bit 2nd division - a few good lines but no clear message. Wood was the same only more so. Bennett was OK but low-key. Major effects? Media spin may affect it for a day or two, but nothing decisive. On balance I'd guess a UKIP plus, slowing the concentration on the Con/Lab battle.
Clegg dealt the knockout blow to your smarmy leader, you could tell he wasn't expecting it.
Come to think of it Nick you were part of that government, when are you going to apologise for what you did to this country.
I think when you see the polls come out today for last nights debate that there will be a sizeable uplift for the LDs. Clegg was reaching out to his core vote and to the soft Tories.. They have spent vast swathes of money on focus groups looking at what stirs that section of the electorate and that's what he played to yesterday. My guess is LDs up 2-3%
Dr. Spyn, presumably she also ruled out making Shergar attorney general?
Ruling out something nobody wants isn't exactly heroic.
To be fair - and I should have said this in my own posting - it wasn't Dr Spyn's opinion but Ms Flint's. But, as you say, it's pretty meaningless - and yet it's a way to sort of attack the SNP. One might think that Labour were worried.
It also has many basket cases , given what we see on a regular basis. If they are so great why are we pouring ever more money into them and TV is flooded daily with appeals etc. Hardly a day goes past without shooting , raping , kidnapping , disease , poverty , wars, blah , blah , blah.
Campaigns to help people with AIDS and to combat malaria are great in my book. As are responding to the ebola outbreak or disaster recovery. Womens' education programs are also vital, and worth the spending IMHO.
Of course but Ebola was ignored for decades and only tackled at great cost when it looked like troubling western countries. Most of these campaigns are the same. I cannot see why by now all of Africa cannot have basic provision of water and sanitation given the money poured in for 50 years. For all the do gooders I contend that a majority of the aid has been squandered , stolen , etc. Any time we see African leaders they have the biggest fleet of limousines, stay at the fanciest hotels, dripping in diamonds etc. Should be far more scrutiny and openness here. Over £12B going out and we have little clue where it is going and what it is spent on.
The image of Africa as a passive participant in famine, war and corruption is perpetuated by an industry that is built on garnering sympathy and charitable donations. Capitalism has done a staggering job in africa, despite how it is ruled.
The continent's central belt still has the world's lowest median ages. Click to enlarge...
Well Leanne Wood was a major disappointment. We can't rely on Plaid or the Greens taking too many votes from Labour so it will up to the impressive Nicola Sturgeon to clean up in Scotland
Dr. Spyn, presumably she also ruled out making Shergar attorney general?
Ruling out something nobody wants isn't exactly heroic.
Does a puppet (muppet?) master need to be a minister? For the SNP to be anywhere near a position of influence they will have wiped Labour out in Scotland. It's clear who would be the supplicant.
Tories' gameplan to promote Nicola Sturgeon over Ed Miliband falls flat as Bbc declares 'Miliband won in one debate and is level with Cameron in the other poll'.
7 million people watched it.That's 30% of the electorate who will make their own judgements about their vote.
I imagine that it will be the young who are most swayed by whatever went on.
Problem is, they don't vote, so it doesn't really matter what they think. Trying to run a mock election in a school is the pedagogic equivalent of taking coals to Newcastle while herding cats on the side.
We do seem to have a generation (maybe more) of people who would rather whinge than do something practical about their gripes. It worries me.
If I were Sturgeon , I would push her MP`s in any post election talks to have a red line. That each part of this United Kingdom must have a separate vote on staying in or leaving the EC. Nicola mentioned it last night , sets it up quite nicely, that the power might start to move from westminster London to the regional parliaments.
And I think that's a completely outrageous proposal.
Let's say - made up numbers, obviously - that England voted 90/10 to leave the EU and Scotland voted 51/49 to stay in. It would be wrong that Scotland could veto the overwhelming wishes of the British population as a whole
It also has many basket cases , given what we see on a regular basis. If they are so great why are we pouring ever more money into them and TV is flooded daily with appeals etc. Hardly a day goes past without shooting , raping , kidnapping , disease , poverty , wars, blah , blah , blah.
Campaigns to help people with AIDS and to combat malaria are great in my book. As are responding to the ebola outbreak or disaster recovery. Womens' education programs are also vital, and worth the spending IMHO.
Of course but Ebola was ignored for decades and only tackled at great cost when it looked like troubling western countries. Most of these campaigns are the same. I cannot see why by now all of Africa cannot have basic provision of water and sanitation given the money poured in for 50 years. For all the do gooders I contend that a majority of the aid has been squandered , stolen , etc. Any time we see African leaders they have the biggest fleet of limousines, stay at the fanciest hotels, dripping in diamonds etc. Should be far more scrutiny and openness here. Over £12B going out and we have little clue where it is going and what it is spent on.
Ebola was not ignored for decades as far as I'm aware: they've been working on drugs for at least a decade (which was why they had some experimental drugs ready to go), and action on the ground can only occur when there's an outbreak. And you are being unfair on the malaria and AIDS programs as well.
Your contention might be right about the money being squandered, and are right that there should be more scrutiny and openness. But there's also a heck of a lot of good that comes out of the DFID programs as well.
Cam and Clegg won't even be in the next debate.That's about 5 million viewers lost to them.
Very silly to deprive themselves of that. It's a gamble for Cameron to see how the others decide to go after Ed, and how effectively.
On the subject of modest LD boosts - certainly not guaranteed - if it did happen surely it would be at the expense of the Tories? The Red Liberals won't be tempted back by the 'don't go too far left or right' message, so they're going after people who are broadly ok with the government but not committed Tories, right?
Tories' gameplan to promote Nicola Sturgeon over Ed Miliband falls flat as Bbc declares 'Miliband won in one debate and is level with Cameron in the other poll'.
You dont think maybe in scotland Sturgeon might have performed better? She wont be unhappy with last night.
I'm curious on the notion that Miliband won the first debate. It all seems to ride upon one YouGov poll in the Sunday Times that seems to have been a rogue poll (even in the context of other YouGov polls).
Stephen Fisher's current projection shows the LibDems winning just 20 seats, down from 31 seats at Christmas, reflecting a near wipe-out in Scotland as well as the Yellow Team's continuing failure to make any substantial recocery in the polls with the sands of time now fast running out. Were the very clever Oxford Professor to be proved broadly correct, might now be the time to contemplate taking those 9/2 odds on offer from those nice folk at SkyBet on the LibDems winning between 11 - 20 seats at the GE, which isn't that far removed from Sporting's mid spread price of 24 seats? DYOR.
Clegg had the dignity of someone bowing out, knowing they had done their best. But he should have been replaced long ago. His presence makes the voters feel uncomfortable - like going to a party and being confronted by an embarrassing shag from your wilder youth....
For all his prep, no-one seemed to remember to tell Ed that when he wasn't speaking, don't smirk and don't gawp in incredulity. But his biggest problem isn't Ed. It's that with "steady as she goes", Cameron holds the Top Trumps. Ed made no case for taking the risk of backing Labour.
Farage tried to get people to board the Outrage Bus. But he can't deliver a referendum. He is dependent upon the Tories doing so - or replacing the Tories. But as the Tories rise to a point with YouGov where all their lost 2010 voters who have gone to UKIP have been replaced, it shows how forlorn that strategy looks now.
Yep nicely put. As Fraser Nelson says in the Spectator, this election is now Cameron's to lose
If I were Sturgeon , I would push her MP`s in any post election talks to have a red line. That each part of this United Kingdom must have a separate vote on staying in or leaving the EC. Nicola mentioned it last night , sets it up quite nicely, that the power might start to move from westminster London to the regional parliaments.
And I think that's a completely outrageous proposal.
Let's say - made up numbers, obviously - that England voted 90/10 to leave the EU and Scotland voted 51/49 to stay in. It would be wrong that Scotland could veto the overwhelming wishes of the British population as a whole
But, I suspect the SNP strategy is that this wish is overridden. Thereby setting up nicely an argument for an urgent new indie poll if UK leaves EU.
Tories' gameplan to promote Nicola Sturgeon over Ed Miliband falls flat as Bbc declares 'Miliband won in one debate and is level with Cameron in the other poll'.
Oh dear - get ready for a load of trolling to shore up the Miliwobble
Sky News Newsdesk @SkyNewsBreak 12s13 seconds ago Police are searching the home of #Rochdale Labour councillor Shakil Ahmed whose son Waheed was arrested in Turkey trying to cross into Syria.
This might not be be good news for the likes of Bennett & Ed Miliband or Simon Danzcuk.
The fact that everybody has come out of the debate with something means that overall Cameron is the "winner" because his game-plan (which was to have seven leaders muddying the waters and prevent Ed or Nigel getting a "gasm") has worked.
Ed Miliband is probably the net loser as being the main challenger he's the one that was looking for a "gasm" to change the game.
Sky News Newsdesk @SkyNewsBreak 12s13 seconds ago Police are searching the home of #Rochdale Labour councillor Shakil Ahmed whose son Waheed was arrested in Turkey trying to cross into Syria.
This might not be be good news for the likes of Bennett & Ed Miliband or Simon Danzcuk.
Well Leanne Wood was a major disappointment. We can't rely on Plaid or the Greens taking too many votes from Labour so it will up to the impressive Nicola Sturgeon to clean up in Scotland
I thought Wood did ok, but her strategy was odd for a national debate - she completely focussed on Wales and must have mentioned it by name about 100 times. Shows how odd this 7-way debate thing has become. Why weren't DUP there going 'Northern Ireland this' and 'Northern Ireland the other' all night?
If I were Sturgeon , I would push her MP`s in any post election talks to have a red line. That each part of this United Kingdom must have a separate vote on staying in or leaving the EC. Nicola mentioned it last night , sets it up quite nicely, that the power might start to move from westminster London to the regional parliaments.
And I think that's a completely outrageous proposal.
Let's say - made up numbers, obviously - that England voted 90/10 to leave the EU and Scotland voted 51/49 to stay in. It would be wrong that Scotland could veto the overwhelming wishes of the British population as a whole
To be fair many federal nations have similar requirements. In Australia to pass a constitutional amendment you require a majority of votes in the country as a whole, plus a majority of votes winning in a majority of states.
In your (extremely unlikely IMO) scenario I'd think we'd need a further referendum to sort it out. Would England like to leave Scotland and the EU?
It also has many basket cases , given what we see on a regular basis. If they are so great why are we pouring ever more money into them and TV is flooded daily with appeals etc. Hardly a day goes past without shooting , raping , kidnapping , disease , poverty , wars, blah , blah , blah.
Campaigns to help people with AIDS and to combat malaria are great in my book. As are responding to the ebola outbreak or disaster recovery. Womens' education programs are also vital, and worth the spending IMHO.
Of course but Ebola was ignored for decades and only tackled at great cost when it looked like troubling western countries. Most of these campaigns are the same. I cannot see why by now all of Africa cannot have basic provision of water and sanitation given the money poured in for 50 years. For all the do gooders I contend that a majority of the aid has been squandered , stolen , etc. Any time we see African leaders they have the biggest fleet of limousines, stay at the fanciest hotels, dripping in diamonds etc. Should be far more scrutiny and openness here. Over £12B going out and we have little clue where it is going and what it is spent on.
Ebola was not ignored for decades as far as I'm aware: they've been working on drugs for at least a decade (which was why they had some experimental drugs ready to go), and action on the ground can only occur when there's an outbreak. And you are being unfair on the malaria and AIDS programs as well.
Your contention might be right about the money being squandered, and are right that there should be more scrutiny and openness. But there's also a heck of a lot of good that comes out of the DFID programs as well.
They squander most of the money and only recently have started to stop the gravy train. They flew everywhere business class , stayed in fancy hotels , etc , etc, nothing was an issue, at least the Tories have cut it back a bit. If they were a private company they would have gone bankrupt long ago.
Ed did well and came over clear, cogent, and purposeful and would have shifted some voters his way. Moreover he seemed to capture the spirit and mood of the debate which challenged the Tory hegemony be it growing inequality, austerity bearing down on the weakest, low pay economy and the need to invest on the supply side , captured by the debate at one stage in the contrast of a bedroom tax and taking from the disabled while giving millions back to those over £150,000.
This debate too with 3 articulate women will have enthused female voters and rightly so. anyone who knew anything about the clever, articulate Nicola could guess her image would be empowered by this debate more so as she too captured that narrative which is politics enables opportunities ( she became a lawyer from her working class origins after having her uni. education) for all not just an upper middle class elite.
The BBC used to be known as the organ of truth. You could rely on what the BBC said. This is definitely no longer the case.
BBC Radio 5 9am News idea of impartial factual reporting. It stated that the polls after the Leaders debate called it 1 for Milliband 1 equal to Milliband and cameron and another 1 was for SNP.
Same as the first debate, the BBC talk up Milliband....
Both Sturgeon and Salmond are strong debaters so it was no surprise as a Scot to see Nicola performing well. The overwhelming impression as a Scot is that she is making the country further socialist. Not all of Scotland is like the Welsh Valleys.
The first personal tax the Scots were given (house stamp duty) has resulted in a substantial tax rise of which 50% of the rise has been paid for by Edinburgh and most of the rest by Aberdeen. This at the same time as research grants were cut to the best universities leading to 150 redundancies at Aberdeen University. Redistribution is happening within Scotland.
Last year I was asked to quote on a small contract for some tests at a Scottish NHS hospital. As we do the tests in volume our consumable costs were very low. The contract was vetoed from above and two full time staff were hired to do the job. Our costs to do the job would have been about £20k the NHS inhouse costs are closer to £100k. We will never privatise the NHS is a good sound bite but does not always provide the best results. SNP are even more in with the unions than SLAB.
I think the SNP make have hit their peak moment this year. They are too one dimensional and Scotland is moving on to the next stage of devolution. This will take time and the next Scottish election is when the fight really starts.
SNP will sweep Glasgow and Dundee but Aberdeen Edinburgh and the Borders may not be as fruitful for them.
Comments
" The party I’d probably watch is UKIP – Farage wasn’t a big winner, but he outperformed his party’s national support in all of the instant verdict polls, and unlike the SNP, UKIP have candidates across GB that people can vote for."
http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/blog/archives/9325
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/apr/03/revealed-the-winner-of-the-leaders-election-debate
Sign of things to come.
Worst first date ever
#leadersdebate pic.twitter.com/tdZiM20Kyg— General Boles (@GeneralBoles) April 2, 2015">"I thought Leanne Wood came across well, obviously not as experienced but sounded like a real person...."
Exactly what I thought.
How pleasant to find a point of agreement with you, Malcolm.
Happy Easter.
Who will Labour get to replace him on this suicide run for 34 days? Jenny Marra MSP would be the obvious choice but will she want a defeat on her record? It would be interesting if they got someone I could actually vote for.
Nicola was as expected formidable, and an entirely different tone than I am used to seeing her in interviews. for the most part.
Bennett deserved a bit of a boost I felt. No one went after her and she was able to make arguments to distinguish herself from the rest, I feel she deserves some positive effect for that, even if only temporary.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqKRkY30g6U
For more fireworks, Thatcher vs Day 1984 about the miners
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iGncXb_MGM
On this Good Friday worth sparing a thought for all those poor students murdered for being Christian and their families. RIP.
If Plaid have a decent election this time around - hold their three seats, maybe pick up a couple more - they might just be in with a chance of using that as a springboard for 2016 and displacing Labour as the government. At that point, Wood might look to do what Salmond did - use power in Cardiff as a springboard to a more prominent role in Westminster.
Don't necessarily think it couldn't happen either - there's a growing disconnection between Labour in London and their voters in mostly South Wales. Most of them will have looked at Ed Miliband and seen somebody who has as much idea where Merthyr Tydfil is and what happens there as he does about life on Mars.
PS - the Assembly elections are definitely a lot more important than a council election. Anyone remember Tony Blair's comments that Edinburgh would be a 'parish council'? Look at it now...and by stealth, Cardiff has acquired many of the same powers.
Hardly a day goes past without shooting , raping , kidnapping , disease , poverty , wars, blah , blah , blah.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Helena_Airport
http://www.sainthelenaaccess.com/news/
There's also the fact that it may be of strategic importance to the UK as well, although some doubt that.
Moreover, there are some people who for whatever reason regard Zimbabwe as a functioning democracy, which only goes to show some people have the literary acumen of Lewis Caroll's Humpty Dumpty.
http://www.mediafire.com/view/al9pjb4c2x1gybl/World median ages.jpg
The socialists get more exposure because there are more of them and they tend to be concentrated in the South East where power lies in Wales. It's also of course more popular with the majority of voters in Wales, where the centre of gravity is far to the left of England or even Scotland.
@rosschawkins: Labour bus leaves Salford http://t.co/rMCXucPAAI
I really hope he retains his seat. It would be easy on the LDs when they have to rebuild if they can just ignore Clegg's leadership, pretend he never existed, but if he is still there, though clearly not as leader anymore, he and they have to confront matters more.
I thought Leanne Wood came across well, obviously not as experienced but sounded like a real person unlike the Westminster lot who you just know had bathed in snake oil before coming on. I counted my fingers after each one of them spoke.
I could have listened to her accent all night. Very pleasant lilt. It was interesting that she was so focussed on Wales whilst Sturgeon was more focussed on coming across as a national player (something she succeeded in). Shows the relative confidence of the 2 parties I suppose.
I really liked her too, not the least bit over the top and got her point across well.
Labour's Caroline Flint tells Sky News that there will be no SNP ministers in a Labour-led govt & Alex Salmond will not be deputy PM #GE2015
Ruling out something nobody wants isn't exactly heroic.
This is why when it comes to foreign aid I prefer assisting charities who work directly on the ground rather than via my taxes to governments who work with other governments.
The issue I have with the 2010 structure is with 3x head to heads, in a 4 week campaign the entire media focus shifted to 2 days debate prep, 1 day of debate tension, 2 days of post date wrap up. That meant the whole election was about the media talking about media events - not much use.
I hope this structure - with different formats, and earlier in the campaign/pre-campaign is used again in future as I reckon it's a useful addition.
Average viewing figures for the debate were 9.4 million, with a peak of 10.3 million
Come to think of it Nick you were part of that government, when are you going to apologise for what you did to this country.
If you are dabbling yourself today you might like to invest a few chocolate buttons on....
Lingfield:
4.15 Harry Hurricane 7/1
4.45 Hidden Gold
Good luck if you follow me in, as PfP would say.
My guess is LDs up 2-3%
Any time we see African leaders they have the biggest fleet of limousines, stay at the fanciest hotels, dripping in diamonds etc.
Should be far more scrutiny and openness here. Over £12B going out and we have little clue where it is going and what it is spent on.
A discussion on foreign aid without mention of Lord Bauer. Ignorant and dangerous moral posturing.
http://tinyurl.com/n2wehs2
For the SNP to be anywhere near a position of influence they will have wiped Labour out in Scotland. It's clear who would be the supplicant.
We do seem to have a generation (maybe more) of people who would rather whinge than do something practical about their gripes. It worries me.
Let's say - made up numbers, obviously - that England voted 90/10 to leave the EU and Scotland voted 51/49 to stay in. It would be wrong that Scotland could veto the overwhelming wishes of the British population as a whole
Assuming Mr. Smithson wasn't repeatedly mistaken, and you're being accurate, that sounds like shoddy reporting during an election campaign.
Your contention might be right about the money being squandered, and are right that there should be more scrutiny and openness. But there's also a heck of a lot of good that comes out of the DFID programs as well.
On the subject of modest LD boosts - certainly not guaranteed - if it did happen surely it would be at the expense of the Tories? The Red Liberals won't be tempted back by the 'don't go too far left or right' message, so they're going after people who are broadly ok with the government but not committed Tories, right?
Were the very clever Oxford Professor to be proved broadly correct, might now be the time to contemplate taking those 9/2 odds on offer from those nice folk at SkyBet on the LibDems winning between 11 - 20 seats at the GE, which isn't that far removed from Sporting's mid spread price of 24 seats?
DYOR.
Well it was deathly dull. Job done by the tories then? ;-)
Sky News Newsdesk @SkyNewsBreak 12s13 seconds ago
Police are searching the home of #Rochdale Labour councillor Shakil Ahmed whose son Waheed was arrested in Turkey trying to cross into Syria.
This might not be be good news for the likes of Bennett & Ed Miliband or Simon Danzcuk.
Ed Miliband is probably the net loser as being the main challenger he's the one that was looking for a "gasm" to change the game.
In your (extremely unlikely IMO) scenario I'd think we'd need a further referendum to sort it out. Would England like to leave Scotland and the EU?
If they were a private company they would have gone bankrupt long ago.
This debate too with 3 articulate women will have enthused female voters and rightly so. anyone who knew anything about the clever, articulate Nicola could guess her image would be empowered by this debate more so as she too captured that narrative which is politics enables opportunities ( she became a lawyer from her working class origins after having her uni. education) for all not just an upper middle class elite.
Same as the first debate, the BBC talk up Milliband....
The first personal tax the Scots were given (house stamp duty) has resulted in a substantial tax rise of which 50% of the rise has been paid for by Edinburgh and most of the rest by Aberdeen. This at the same time as research grants were cut to the best universities leading to 150 redundancies at Aberdeen University. Redistribution is happening within Scotland.
Last year I was asked to quote on a small contract for some tests at a Scottish NHS hospital. As we do the tests in volume our consumable costs were very low. The contract was vetoed from above and two full time staff were hired to do the job. Our costs to do the job would have been about £20k the NHS inhouse costs are closer to £100k. We will never privatise the NHS is a good sound bite but does not always provide the best results. SNP are even more in with the unions than SLAB.
I think the SNP make have hit their peak moment this year. They are too one dimensional and Scotland is moving on to the next stage of devolution. This will take time and the next Scottish election is when the fight really starts.
SNP will sweep Glasgow and Dundee but Aberdeen Edinburgh and the Borders may not be as fruitful for them.