"Social 'liberalism', mass immigration, an indiscriminate welfare state, crime and a weak economy harms the most vulnerable in society most of all. The moral bankruptcy of Labour can always be summarised by the daft idea of mega casinos. "
That isn't the caracature most people have of Labour but even if it was it doesn't show a malevolence towards les autres the like of which we often see from Tories.
Who would want to stand up for the views of 'Financier' for example? Because he's most people's idea of an archetypal Tory.
The general view of the Conservatives is that they're hard-hearted. The general view of Labour is that they're incompetent.
Careful Sean, that sounds awfully like a Cleggism.
As Sir Humphrey Appleby put it, it's better to be ruled by the heartless than the mindless.
Fascinating clip, and some interesting parallels with this year.
What we didn't have in 1992 though was UKIP splitting the Tory vote.
As I keep saying, like a broken record, it's UKIP that has prevented a near certain Tory majority and looks set to put Miliband into No 10 on a third of the vote backed by leftie nationalists.
In contrast I was speaking to one of my instructing agents yesterday whose partner is very active in the SNP. She was genuinely shocked that I was a Tory voter because I was "so normal". She seemed to have this caricature of a Tory that bears no relationship to reality. When I hear Nicola Sturgeon and read many of the comments from our Nat friends on here she is clearly not alone.
In part the SNP have inherited this from the SLAB who have demonised Tory supporters so successfully for so long to their advantage. It is a pretty strange way to treat 480K of their fellow citizens.
Anyway she was indicating that the SNP are increasingly confident in Edinburgh South which I had thought was one of the seats Labour might hang onto.
One thing you should have realised by now is that the SNP members think that they can never lose anything. They even believe that they won the referendum by increasing the share of the vote from 38% to 45% and that one more push will get them over the winning line.
Even in the face of reality, they insist that their view is the only one that can exist. Very religious, with the newly deified Nicola preaching to the converted, while all those who argue otherwise are apostate and to be literally burnt at the stake unless they recant.
Very scary for anyone who questions their "truths" and no, I am not exaggerating.
The answer you will get from MalcolmG, Dair and others (ad nauseum) on this site, implies that if you don't like it, leave.
Now think what it is actually like to live in Scotland today.
Calm down, dear, and consult a dictionary as to the meaning of "literally" and "exaggerating".
LD activity in Eastbourne has picked up but still only the odd street board giant triangle who are stalwarts. Few window posters.
I've seen many more at a local council election - it's really weird now we're almost in the last week.
I think the Tories are focusing on Lewes instead which surprises me out of the two. I've certainly had more invites to campaign there.
Danny565: personally I don't think the LDs will lose Yardley, Bermondsey, Leeds NW, Cheadle, North Cornwall, Torbay, Cheltenham, Brecon, Kingston, Hazel Grove, Yeovil, Bath.
I think they will hold some of these too, but am not convinced that they will hold all of Danny's 17.
Won't hold onto Caithness. Despite Thurso being mp since 2001 there and must have some personal vote, same could be said for Kennedy in Ross, and he will lose by some margin. Same will happen to Thurso I feel. LDs will win Lewes with a much reduced majority. Eastbourne may became LDs safest seat. Lloyd is very well liked and Ancell (Tory) not running a great campaign I feel. She has no links to Eastbourne, and her leaflet talks about the same proposals that Lloyd has been dealing with for the last few years, it won't win many voters over.
LDs (from what I have heard personally) seem reasonably confident in Eastbourne but not at all in Lewes. Greens appear to have taken a big bite out of NBs vote.
Not as big a bite as UKIP have taken out of the Conservative vote ( particularly in the Seaford area ).
There isn't a unionist community in remotely the meaning of that word in Northern Ireland. Perhaps up to a third of the Scottish electorate are totally committed unionists who would never, ever vote Yes because emotionally they feel their country to be UK/Britain.
That however will prove not to be the basis for massive tactical voting, for example.
In Scotland, virtually ever extended family (and many immediate families) have different views on Scottish independence, with occasional movement back and forward within the Yes/No category. That I suspect is one of the reasons that demonising the SNP and cybernats isn't working as everybody knows one-or many :-)
Naturally I find it highly amusing that currently Kezia Dugdale (SLAB Deputy Leader) has her father tweeting very favourably for the SNP on twitter-not a surprise as he is a long time SNP member.
Exactly. Despite what some like to claim on here and elsewhere, it's not primarily an ethnic*, linguistic or religious issue (though in practice it can seem to be for some subgroups of the opposition). That is why parallels with the Partie Quebecois etc. are difficult to sustain (one way or another): as I understand it, much of one's allegiance is determined by the language issue - which just doesn't apply in Scotland. (For that matter the language issue is pretty live in NI but I'm not familiar enough with it to judge if it is relevant to this.)
A single solitary orange diamond looking forlorn in an Oadby garden. The LDs once thought that they could take the seat.
One field near the private school voting Conservative.
Quite a bunch of Tory posters in Wardown Crescent, Luton South. But, this will be an easy Labour hold, as the Conservatives aren't putting any effort into winning it.
I counted 18 Tory posters to 8 Labour, in Winchmore Hill, Southgate, which is a surprisingly marginal ward.
I spotted a Labour canvass team in Finchley High Road, so they clearly think they can win there.
So how many pb posters, er, have posters in their windows/gardens etc?
I confess to three (including one 'nailed on' to the strategically located flowering cherry tree, oh yes, in front of the Leader-Bunker).
I notice that the Sporting Index has slipped the gap between the big 2 parties back up to 15, presumably on the back of the better Tory polling on Monday. If their central numbers are right forming any kind of a government is going to be a nightmare.
With every day closer we get to the election, it's looking more and more like the nightmare scenario of no obvious coalition having the numbers in Parliament.
I know that politicians say there's no such thing as a good election to lose but I can't see anyone wanting to have to cobble together 3 or 4 parties and still face defeat. It's going to be a very interesting few days and weeks ahead as the possibilities play out. FWIW I'm on the Grand Coalition - if only for a few months - on the basis that Labour know they'll face a backlash in England if they have anything to do with the SNP.
I don't get this talk of a grand coalition. Plenty of labour voters vote that way to keep the tories out. Like lots of lib voters used to do. And look what happened to them...
Heard Ed Balls waffling and dissembling on ITV about 06.45, he was using scare tactics that the Cons would destroy tax credits, neglecting the obvious that savings can be made on the elimination of fraud and as earnings increase. Obviously he wants Labour's people to keep being dependent on the State.
Hear the Cons want to put into law that up to 2020, there will be no increase in VAT, Income tax and NI, but that the personal allowance will rise to £12,500 over that period.
Balls was no better on the Today program, not helped by useless interviewing from Humphreys. When mini-Brown can get away with word-play and obfuscation on the debt and deficit, with Humphreys completely out of his depth, you can fully understand how the master G Brown screwed over the public finances using his "golden rules" and laughable "prudency" without anyone noticing
Humphreys likes his Welsh-Lefty roots. "He became a pupil at Cardiff High School (then a grammar school), but he did not fit into the middle-class environment there." (WIKI)
I notice that the Sporting Index has slipped the gap between the big 2 parties back up to 15, presumably on the back of the better Tory polling on Monday. If their central numbers are right forming any kind of a government is going to be a nightmare.
With every day closer we get to the election, it's looking more and more like the nightmare scenario of no obvious coalition having the numbers in Parliament.
I know that politicians say there's no such thing as a good election to lose but I can't see anyone wanting to have to cobble together 3 or 4 parties and still face defeat. It's going to be a very interesting few days and weeks ahead as the possibilities play out. FWIW I'm on the Grand Coalition - if only for a few months - on the basis that Labour know they'll face a backlash in England if they have anything to do with the SNP.
I don't get this talk of a grand coalition. Plenty of labour voters vote that way to keep the tories out. Like lots of lib voters used to do. And look what happened to them...
Not to mention what happened to SLAB in Scotland. A recipe for the same situation in Labour in Northern England and Wales, if not a split right down the middle of Labour. Whether it would see a split in the Tories I don't know enough to say.
Yeah agreed same down a lot of the main roads leading into Eastbourne. Although someone's kindly put moustaches on the Tory candidate for Lewes (Marie Caulfield) posters on the A26 Lewes. Certainly improved the appearance
Fascinating clip, and some interesting parallels with this year.
What we didn't have in 1992 though was UKIP splitting the Tory vote.
As I keep saying, like a broken record, it's UKIP that has prevented a near certain Tory majority and looks set to put Miliband into No 10 on a third of the vote backed by leftie nationalists.
Of course, if the Tories hadn't fought so hard to retain FPTP then the rise of UKIP would have been a non-issue
A single solitary orange diamond looking forlorn in an Oadby garden. The LDs once thought that they could take the seat.
One field near the private school voting Conservative.
Quite a bunch of Tory posters in Wardown Crescent, Luton South. But, this will be an easy Labour hold, as the Conservatives aren't putting any effort into winning it.
I counted 18 Tory posters to 8 Labour, in Winchmore Hill, Southgate, which is a surprisingly marginal ward.
I spotted a Labour canvass team in Finchley High Road, so they clearly think they can win there.
There was a spurt of Tory activity in my patch last week (a group came up by train from London for several hours) and the poster count is less embarrassing - the Conservative Club (which had 0 for weeks, then one) now has four, and several open fields along main roads have a series of them. Still don't get the impression they are trying very hard, with the candidate skipping three hustings events, one of them on local TV - these tend to attract the faithful, but it's unwise not to bother IMO. LibDem poster count is 0, though a borough candidate has lots of unbranded posters for himself. Green posters seen 1, UKIP 2.
I notice that the Sporting Index has slipped the gap between the big 2 parties back up to 15, presumably on the back of the better Tory polling on Monday. If their central numbers are right forming any kind of a government is going to be a nightmare.
With every day closer we get to the election, it's looking more and more like the nightmare scenario of no obvious coalition having the numbers in Parliament.
I know that politicians say there's no such thing as a good election to lose but I can't see anyone wanting to have to cobble together 3 or 4 parties and still face defeat. It's going to be a very interesting few days and weeks ahead as the possibilities play out. FWIW I'm on the Grand Coalition - if only for a few months - on the basis that Labour know they'll face a backlash in England if they have anything to do with the SNP.
I don't get this talk of a grand coalition. Plenty of labour voters vote that way to keep the tories out. Like lots of lib voters used to do. And look what happened to them...
Not to mention what happened to SLAB in Scotland. A recipe for the same situation in Labour in Northern England and Wales, if not a split right down the middle of Labour. Whether it would see a split in the Tories I don't know enough to say.
Although there is the question of where those voters would go. Disillusioned scots had the Nats. Where would English voters go? Green?
In contrast I was speaking to one of my instructing agents yesterday whose partner is very active in the SNP. She was genuinely shocked that I was a Tory voter because I was "so normal". She seemed to have this caricature of a Tory that bears no relationship to reality. When I hear Nicola Sturgeon and read many of the comments from our Nat friends on here she is clearly not alone.
In part the SNP have inherited this from the SLAB who have demonised Tory supporters so successfully for so long to their advantage. It is a pretty strange way to treat 480K of their fellow citizens.
Anyway she was indicating that the SNP are increasingly confident in Edinburgh South which I had thought was one of the seats Labour might hang onto.
SLAB did the SNP's work for them for two decades and now look horribly out of place as the SNP steal their clothes.
I think Alan that SLABs problem was that the demonisation policy was so successful that SLAB did not bother to do anything else. It worked very well until people had a non tory choice but when that choice arose they really didn't know what to do. Other than opposing the Tories they had forgotten what they were actually for. And now they are paying the price.
Unfortunately David , the Tory representatives tend to show exactly what people say about Tories. They come across as pompous , demonise the poor and unemployed etc, they just give it "why do they not just eat cake" and make people wonder how they can sleep at night. They do not need anyone to make it up , people make opinions from what they see and hear, it is Tories as a group that are disliked, not individual people.
Mr. Fenster, nonsense. If morris dancing, as alleged, originated in Spain than it did not migrate, but was seized in glorious triumph by the valiant men of this land, who burnished the rustic skill to glittering, golden perfection.
A single solitary orange diamond looking forlorn in an Oadby garden. The LDs once thought that they could take the seat.
One field near the private school voting Conservative.
Quite a bunch of Tory posters in Wardown Crescent, Luton South. But, this will be an easy Labour hold, as the Conservatives aren't putting any effort into winning it.
I counted 18 Tory posters to 8 Labour, in Winchmore Hill, Southgate, which is a surprisingly marginal ward.
I spotted a Labour canvass team in Finchley High Road, so they clearly think they can win there.
There was a spurt of Tory activity in my patch last week (a group came up by train from London for several hours) and the poster count is less embarrassing - the Conservative Club (which had 0 for weeks, then one) now has four, and several open fields along main roads have a series of them. Still don't get the impression they are trying very hard, with the candidate skipping three hustings events, one of them on local TV - these tend to attract the faithful, but it's unwise not to bother IMO. LibDem poster count is 0, though a borough candidate has lots of unbranded posters for himself. Green posters seen 1, UKIP 2.
You really are getting dangerously close to hubris.
Mr. Fenster, nonsense. If morris dancing, as alleged, originated in Spain than it did not migrate, but was seized in glorious triumph by the valiant men of this land, who burnished the rustic skill to glittering, golden perfection.
Do you know if Morris Dancing is popular in Norfolk?
In contrast I was speaking to one of my instructing agents yesterday whose partner is very active in the SNP. She was genuinely shocked that I was a Tory voter because I was "so normal". She seemed to have this caricature of a Tory that bears no relationship to reality. When I hear Nicola Sturgeon and read many of the comments from our Nat friends on here she is clearly not alone.
In part the SNP have inherited this from the SLAB who have demonised Tory supporters so successfully for so long to their advantage. It is a pretty strange way to treat 480K of their fellow citizens.
Anyway she was indicating that the SNP are increasingly confident in Edinburgh South which I had thought was one of the seats Labour might hang onto.
SLAB did the SNP's work for them for two decades and now look horribly out of place as the SNP steal their clothes.
I think Alan that SLABs problem was that the demonisation policy was so successful that SLAB did not bother to do anything else. It worked very well until people had a non tory choice but when that choice arose they really didn't know what to do. Other than opposing the Tories they had forgotten what they were actually for. And now they are paying the price.
Meanwhile across the North Channel the locals think a DUP\Labour deal is as likely as a DUP\Conservative one.
Did you see the Dodds article in the Grauniad last week? Very scathing of the Tory attacks on the SNP and the threats he said it posed to the Union.
I wonder if the DUP will be sticking up for the SNP next year given all the lovely 100 years of the Easter rising events that SNP MSP and candidates are backing.
I notice that the Sporting Index has slipped the gap between the big 2 parties back up to 15, presumably on the back of the better Tory polling on Monday. If their central numbers are right forming any kind of a government is going to be a nightmare.
With every day closer we get to the election, it's looking more and more like the nightmare scenario of no obvious coalition having the numbers in Parliament.
I know that politicians say there's no such thing as a good election to lose but I can't see anyone wanting to have to cobble together 3 or 4 parties and still face defeat. It's going to be a very interesting few days and weeks ahead as the possibilities play out. FWIW I'm on the Grand Coalition - if only for a few months - on the basis that Labour know they'll face a backlash in England if they have anything to do with the SNP.
I don't get this talk of a grand coalition. Plenty of labour voters vote that way to keep the tories out. Like lots of lib voters used to do. And look what happened to them...
Not to mention what happened to SLAB in Scotland. A recipe for the same situation in Labour in Northern England and Wales, if not a split right down the middle of Labour. Whether it would see a split in the Tories I don't know enough to say.
Although there is the question of where those voters would go. Disillusioned scots had the Nats. Where would English voters go? Green?
UKIP. For example, I think they are going to come second in Leicester West, the most WWC of Leicesters 3 seats. The delightful Liz Kendall should be safe though.
I notice that the Sporting Index has slipped the gap between the big 2 parties back up to 15, presumably on the back of the better Tory polling on Monday. If their central numbers are right forming any kind of a government is going to be a nightmare.
With every day closer we get to the election, it's looking more and more like the nightmare scenario of no obvious coalition having the numbers in Parliament.
I know that politicians say there's no such thing as a good election to lose but I can't see anyone wanting to have to cobble together 3 or 4 parties and still face defeat. It's going to be a very interesting few days and weeks ahead as the possibilities play out. FWIW I'm on the Grand Coalition - if only for a few months - on the basis that Labour know they'll face a backlash in England if they have anything to do with the SNP.
I don't get this talk of a grand coalition. Plenty of labour voters vote that way to keep the tories out. Like lots of lib voters used to do. And look what happened to them...
It's currently 33/1, that has to be value if there's no other possible coalitions without scraping around the independents for every Commons vote?
On reflection isn't this grand coalition idea something suggested mostly by conservatives who by definition regard the status quo as the best thing for the country in a crIsis. Whereas a progressive voter may prefer solutions via chang. and yes I know plenty of lab voters are small c conservative
LD activity in Eastbourne has picked up but still only the odd street board giant triangle who are stalwarts. Few window posters.
I've seen many more at a local council election - it's really weird now we're almost in the last week.
I think the Tories are focusing on Lewes instead which surprises me out of the two. I've certainly had more invites to campaign there.
Danny565: personally I don't think the LDs will lose Yardley, Bermondsey, Leeds NW, Cheadle, North Cornwall, Torbay, Cheltenham, Brecon, Kingston, Hazel Grove, Yeovil, Bath.
I think they will hold some of these too, but am not convinced that they will hold all of Danny's 17.
Won't hold onto Caithness. Despite Thurso being mp since 2001 there and must have some personal vote, same could be said for Kennedy in Ross, and he will lose by some margin. Same will happen to Thurso I feel. LDs will win Lewes with a much reduced majority. Eastbourne may became LDs safest seat. Lloyd is very well liked and Ancell (Tory) not running a great campaign I feel. She has no links to Eastbourne, and her leaflet talks about the same proposals that Lloyd has been dealing with for the last few years, it won't win many voters over.
LDs (from what I have heard personally) seem reasonably confident in Eastbourne but not at all in Lewes. Greens appear to have taken a big bite out of NBs vote.
Not as big a bite as UKIP have taken out of the Conservative vote ( particularly in the Seaford area ).
Lib Dems had real issues in Seaford with Conuncillors bullying etc. Even the Police were called to one meeting to calm them down.
A single solitary orange diamond looking forlorn in an Oadby garden. The LDs once thought that they could take the seat.
One field near the private school voting Conservative.
Quite a bunch of Tory posters in Wardown Crescent, Luton South. But, this will be an easy Labour hold, as the Conservatives aren't putting any effort into winning it.
I counted 18 Tory posters to 8 Labour, in Winchmore Hill, Southgate, which is a surprisingly marginal ward.
I spotted a Labour canvass team in Finchley High Road, so they clearly think they can win there.
There was a spurt of Tory activity in my patch last week (a group came up by train from London for several hours) and the poster count is less embarrassing - the Conservative Club (which had 0 for weeks, then one) now has four, and several open fields along main roads have a series of them. Still don't get the impression they are trying very hard, with the candidate skipping three hustings events, one of them on local TV - these tend to attract the faithful, but it's unwise not to bother IMO. LibDem poster count is 0, though a borough candidate has lots of unbranded posters for himself. Green posters seen 1, UKIP 2.
You really are getting dangerously close to hubris.
Though in truth, if Broxtowe is a Conservative hold, Labour will be down at least 20 seats on 2010.
I notice that the Sporting Index has slipped the gap between the big 2 parties back up to 15, presumably on the back of the better Tory polling on Monday. If their central numbers are right forming any kind of a government is going to be a nightmare.
With every day closer we get to the election, it's looking more and more like the nightmare scenario of no obvious coalition having the numbers in Parliament.
I know that politicians say there's no such thing as a good election to lose but I can't see anyone wanting to have to cobble together 3 or 4 parties and still face defeat. It's going to be a very interesting few days and weeks ahead as the possibilities play out. FWIW I'm on the Grand Coalition - if only for a few months - on the basis that Labour know they'll face a backlash in England if they have anything to do with the SNP.
I don't get this talk of a grand coalition. Plenty of labour voters vote that way to keep the tories out. Like lots of lib voters used to do. And look what happened to them...
It's currently 33/1, that has to be value if there's no other possible coalitions without scraping around the independents for every Commons vote?
More chance of a second election. it risks the break up of both parties.
I notice that the Sporting Index has slipped the gap between the big 2 parties back up to 15, presumably on the back of the better Tory polling on Monday. If their central numbers are right forming any kind of a government is going to be a nightmare.
With every day closer we get to the election, it's looking more and more like the nightmare scenario of no obvious coalition having the numbers in Parliament.
I know that politicians say there's no such thing as a good election to lose but I can't see anyone wanting to have to cobble together 3 or 4 parties and still face defeat. It's going to be a very interesting few days and weeks ahead as the possibilities play out. FWIW I'm on the Grand Coalition - if only for a few months - on the basis that Labour know they'll face a backlash in England if they have anything to do with the SNP.
I don't get this talk of a grand coalition. Plenty of labour voters vote that way to keep the tories out. Like lots of lib voters used to do. And look what happened to them...
Not to mention what happened to SLAB in Scotland. A recipe for the same situation in Labour in Northern England and Wales, if not a split right down the middle of Labour. Whether it would see a split in the Tories I don't know enough to say.
Although there is the question of where those voters would go. Disillusioned scots had the Nats. Where would English voters go? Green?
I was thinking of the parties not the voters - but you are quite right to pick me up on the lack of clarity. A good point. Where would the equivalent voters go? SNP if they ever get round to standing in England as a pro-leftie social democracy party? Or a split off part of the Labour Party? The Scots do have the SSP as well, which did fairly well for a while and may yet again next year at Holyrood.
" Here’s an astonishing statistic; more than 30pc of all government debt in the eurozone – around €2 trillion of securities in total – is trading on a negative interest rate.
With the advent of European Central Bank quantitative easing, what began four months ago when 10-year Swiss yields turned negative for the first time has snowballed into a veritable avalanche of negative rates across European government bond markets. In the hunt for apparently “safe assets”, investors have thrown caution to the wind, and collectively determined to pay governments for the privilege of lending to them.
On a country by country basis, the statistics are even more startling. According to investment bank Jefferies, some 70pc of all German bunds now trade on a negative yield. In France, it's 50pc, and even in Spain, which was widely thought insolvent only a few years ago, it's 17pc."
In contrast I was speaking to one of my instructing agents yesterday whose partner is very active in the SNP.
SLAB did the SNP's work for them for two decades and now look horribly out of place as the SNP steal their clothes.
Spot on. Labour took Scotland for granted and are gong to pay a massive price - deservedly so, I might add.
I don't think anyone would dispute that Nicola has played a remarkable role in this campaign for someone who is not even a candidate. The only time she looked seriously disconcerted was in the Aberdeen debate when faced with the frightening implications of Full Fiscal Autonomy and the devastation that would cause to Scottish public services.
I think a part of the reason is that so much of the traditional territory of elections, health and education, is no longer a part of Westminster elections in any direct way so there has been even less focus on policy in Scotland than there has been in England. It has also made it more difficult to hold the SNP to account for many of their poor decisions.
LOL, given the direness of Tories and Labour you could put a monkey up and it would be an improvement. People are sick of lying London sockpuppets. They have a choice and as SNP have shown what they can do with their hands tied in Holyrood the people realise they can get something different. They may not be perfect but impossible not to be better than the previous sets of garbage. Tories and Labourites cannot just grasp that they are crap and getting their just desserts. People trying to denigrate SNP but trying to say people are treating it like religion etc is pathetic, the SNP just come across as fresh and possibly a change from the previous rubbish and worth a punt , they want a change and have an option.
I notice that the Sporting Index has slipped the gap between the big 2 parties back up to 15, presumably on the back of the better Tory polling on Monday. If their central numbers are right forming any kind of a government is going to be a nightmare.
With every day closer we get to the election, it's looking more and more like the nightmare scenario of no obvious coalition having the numbers in Parliament.
I know that politicians say there's no such thing as a good election to lose but I can't see anyone wanting to have to cobble together 3 or 4 parties and still face defeat. It's going to be a very interesting few days and weeks ahead as the possibilities play out. FWIW I'm on the Grand Coalition - if only for a few months - on the basis that Labour know they'll face a backlash in England if they have anything to do with the SNP.
I don't get this talk of a grand coalition. Plenty of labour voters vote that way to keep the tories out. Like lots of lib voters used to do. And look what happened to them...
It's currently 33/1, that has to be value if there's no other possible coalitions without scraping around the independents for every Commons vote?
Outside a major war, I cannot see a grand coalition. At most there would be tacit confidence and supply.
Fascinating clip, and some interesting parallels with this year.
What we didn't have in 1992 though was UKIP splitting the Tory vote.
As I keep saying, like a broken record, it's UKIP that has prevented a near certain Tory majority and looks set to put Miliband into No 10 on a third of the vote backed by leftie nationalists.
It's so frustrating because some of us have been saying for years and years what a threat UKIP were, and the so-called 'modernisers' refused to see the wood for trees. I was told again and again by people that worked in CCHQ that UKIP were a 'flash in the pan' and that UKIP were 'the past, and we need to look to the future'. Now that future has arrived and UKIP will at least quadruple their vote, and Ed Miliband is heading to Downing Street.
If the great 'modernising' experiment of the Cameroons only achieves one coalition government, hamstrung by the Liberal Democrats, and one outright loss, then perhaps we need to course correct somewhat? One idea would be to actually look at the voters we've lost and respond to their concerns with actual policies, rather than rhetoric and gimmicks.
Fascinating clip, and some interesting parallels with this year.
What we didn't have in 1992 though was UKIP splitting the Tory vote.
As I keep saying, like a broken record, it's UKIP that has prevented a near certain Tory majority and looks set to put Miliband into No 10 on a third of the vote backed by leftie nationalists.
Of course, if the Tories hadn't fought so hard to retain FPTP then the rise of UKIP would have been a non-issue
I am not so sure - I think that the major changes of the last 12 or so months has been the red kippers joining - The Labour lead has steadily decreased, much more than the Tory rise. I would also expect (when push comes to shove) that blue kippers are more likely to vote blue in the ballot box. The latest Yougov shows UKIP voters about the same level through all social groups.
In contrast I was speaking to one of my instructing agents yesterday whose partner is very active in the SNP. She was genuinely shocked that I was a Tory voter because I was "so normal". She seemed to have this caricature of a Tory that bears no relationship to reality. When I hear Nicola Sturgeon and read many of the comments from our Nat friends on here she is clearly not alone.
In part the SNP have inherited this from the SLAB who have demonised Tory supporters so successfully for so long to their advantage. It is a pretty strange way to treat 480K of their fellow citizens.
Anyway she was indicating that the SNP are increasingly confident in Edinburgh South which I had thought was one of the seats Labour might hang onto.
SLAB did the SNP's work for them for two decades and now look horribly out of place as the SNP steal their clothes.
I think Alan that SLABs problem was that the demonisation policy was so successful that SLAB did not bother to do anything else. It worked very well until people had a non tory choice but when that choice arose they really didn't know what to do. Other than opposing the Tories they had forgotten what they were actually for. And now they are paying the price.
Meanwhile across the North Channel the locals think a DUP\Labour deal is as likely as a DUP\Conservative one.
Did you see the Dodds article in the Grauniad last week? Very scathing of the Tory attacks on the SNP and the threats he said it posed to the Union.
I wonder if the DUP will be sticking up for the SNP next year given all the lovely 100 years of the Easter rising events that SNP MSP and candidates are backing.
"THE role played by Scots in one of the most famous episodes in Irish history is to be examined by a new group being launched next week.
MSPs, academics and writers are expected to attend the event at the Irish Consulate in Edinburgh for the launch of the 1916 Rising Centenary Committee (Scotland).
The group is also planning a series of seminars and exhibitions over the next 12 months and wants to embrace both the Nationalist and Unionist traditions in Ireland as its marks the key anniversary next year."
In contrast I was speaking to one of my instructing agents yesterday whose partner is very active in the SNP.
SLAB did the SNP's work for them for two decades and now look horribly out of place as the SNP steal their clothes.
Spot on. Labour took Scotland for granted and are gong to pay a massive price - deservedly so, I might add.
I don't think anyone would dispute that Nicola has played a remarkable role in this campaign for someone who is not even a candidate. The only time she looked seriously disconcerted was in the Aberdeen debate when faced with the frightening implications of Full Fiscal Autonomy and the devastation that would cause to Scottish public services.
I think a part of the reason is that so much of the traditional territory of elections, health and education, is no longer a part of Westminster elections in any direct way so there has been even less focus on policy in Scotland than there has been in England. It has also made it more difficult to hold the SNP to account for many of their poor decisions.
LOL, given the direness of Tories and Labour you could put a monkey up and it would be an improvement. People are sick of lying London sockpuppets. They have a choice and as SNP have shown what they can do with their hands tied in Holyrood the people realise they can get something different. They may not be perfect but impossible not to be better than the previous sets of garbage. Tories and Labourites cannot just grasp that they are crap and getting their just desserts. People trying to denigrate SNP but trying to say people are treating it like religion etc is pathetic, the SNP just come across as fresh and possibly a change from the previous rubbish and worth a punt , they want a change and have an option.
Fascinating clip, and some interesting parallels with this year.
What we didn't have in 1992 though was UKIP splitting the Tory vote.
As I keep saying, like a broken record, it's UKIP that has prevented a near certain Tory majority and looks set to put Miliband into No 10 on a third of the vote backed by leftie nationalists.
It's so frustrating because some of us have been saying for years and years what a threat UKIP were, and the so-called 'modernisers' refused to see the wood for trees. I was told again and again by people that worked in CCHQ that UKIP were a 'flash in the pan' and that UKIP were 'the past, and we need to look to the future'. Now that future has arrived and UKIP will at least quadruple their vote, and Ed Miliband is heading to Downing Street.
If the great 'modernising' experiment of the Cameroons only achieves one coalition government, hamstrung by the Liberal Democrats, and one outright loss, then perhaps we need to course correct somewhat? One idea would be to actually look at the voters we've lost and respond to their concerns with actual policies, rather than rhetoric and gimmicks.
I think that was tried with IDS then Howard as leader. Not a notable success.
Cameron gained 97 seats in 2010, a historically very good performance, and became PM.
There isn't a unionist community in remotely the meaning of that word in Northern Ireland. Perhaps up to a third of the Scottish electorate are totally committed unionists who would never, ever vote Yes because emotionally they feel their country to be UK/Britain.
That however will prove not to be the basis for massive tactical voting, for example.
In Scotland, virtually ever extended family (and many immediate families) have different views on Scottish independence, with occasional movement back and forward within the Yes/No category. That I suspect is one of the reasons that demonising the SNP and cybernats isn't working as everybody knows one-or many :-)
Naturally I find it highly amusing that currently Kezia Dugdale (SLAB Deputy Leader) has her father tweeting very favourably for the SNP on twitter-not a surprise as he is a long time SNP member.
There is no unionist community in Scotland with exception of the LOL. It is just guff.
I notice that the Sporting Index has slipped the gap between the big 2 parties back up to 15, presumably on the back of the better Tory polling on Monday. If their central numbers are right forming any kind of a government is going to be a nightmare.
With every day closer we get to the election, it's looking more and more like the nightmare scenario of no obvious coalition having the numbers in Parliament.
I know that politicians say there's no such thing as a good election to lose but I can't see anyone wanting to have to cobble together 3 or 4 parties and still face defeat. It's going to be a very interesting few days and weeks ahead as the possibilities play out. FWIW I'm on the Grand Coalition - if only for a few months - on the basis that Labour know they'll face a backlash in England if they have anything to do with the SNP.
I don't get this talk of a grand coalition. Plenty of labour voters vote that way to keep the tories out. Like lots of lib voters used to do. And look what happened to them...
It's currently 33/1, that has to be value if there's no other possible coalitions without scraping around the independents for every Commons vote?
More chance of a second election. it risks the break up of both parties.
I think it could hold until the autumn - gives them both time to select new party leaders for the second election. They could get things through like Trident renewal, boundary changes, Royal Commission on HoL reform and further Scottish devolution/EV4EL etc.
I just can't see Miliband wanting to go into an unstable agreement with the SNP, with Salmond clearing running things until they decide to bring him down and force the second election - it would kill Labour in England as well as Scotland. I can't see Dave having the numbers to continue either, unless Con+LD have a majority if UKIP and a few helpful Ulstermen abstain.
"The 12% UKIP share in latest YouGov equals the lowest for the party since early August last year"
Odd tweet.
Would be like having a football team that has scored in every game since August winning 1-0 and saying "This equals the worst they have done in goalscoring since August"
I notice that the Sporting Index has slipped the gap between the big 2 parties back up to 15, presumably on the back of the better Tory polling on Monday. If their central numbers are right forming any kind of a government is going to be a nightmare.
With every day closer we get to the election, it's looking more and more like the nightmare scenario of no obvious coalition having the numbers in Parliament.
I know that politicians say there's no such thing as a good election to lose but I can't see anyone wanting to have to cobble together 3 or 4 parties and still face defeat. It's going to be a very interesting few days and weeks ahead as the possibilities play out. FWIW I'm on the Grand Coalition - if only for a few months - on the basis that Labour know they'll face a backlash in England if they have anything to do with the SNP.
I don't think a Grand Coalition is likely, but it can't be ruled out. They've certainly become popular in Europe, when centre-right and centre-left parties face insurgencies from their own side.
The Conservatives have made clear that an EU referendum is a red line in any coalition negotiations, and I can not see Ed Miliband signing up for that. Nick Clegg came out today and said he won't sign up for anything that puts membership of the EU at risk, so that suggests a Lib Dem-Tory deal is out too.
If EdM knows of Secret Tory plans and they are so toxic..why does he not tell us..or is it all hogwash..
I suspect that the 'secret Tory plans' are far less toxic than the Tories would wish us to know.
There is no doubt that cutting the deficit hurts economic growth (to what degree is probably a very complex economic argument) and that balancing the cuts/growth strategy is absolutely key to economic success.
It pains me to say it but Ed Balls was partly right on cuts as well as Osborne being largely right. Big borrowing would be a disaster but so would big cuts, such is the delicate state of the economy post-Brown. It was only when Osborne slowed the cuts around 2012 that the recovery started accelerating. Not ideal, because we still have a big deficit, but a harsh political reality/
I doubt the Tories will cut hard if they get back in. They know too many people are reliant/drunk/utterly dependant on state spending. They can't afford - politically - to let poorer people suffer from big, fast cuts.
Mr. Fenster, nonsense. If morris dancing, as alleged, originated in Spain than it did not migrate, but was seized in glorious triumph by the valiant men of this land, who burnished the rustic skill to glittering, golden perfection.
In contrast I was speaking to one of my instructing agents yesterday whose partner is very active in the SNP. She was genuinely shocked that I was a Tory voter because I was "so normal". She seemed to have this caricature of a Tory that bears no relationship to reality. When I hear Nicola Sturgeon and read many of the comments from our Nat friends on here she is clearly not alone.
In part the SNP have inherited this from the SLAB who have demonised Tory supporters so successfully for so long to their advantage. It is a pretty strange way to treat 480K of their fellow citizens.
Anyway she was indicating that the SNP are increasingly confident in Edinburgh South which I had thought was one of the seats Labour might hang onto.
SLAB did the SNP's work for them for two decades and now look horribly out of place as the SNP steal their clothes.
I think Alan that SLABs problem was that the demonisation policy was so successful that SLAB did not bother to do anything else. It worked very well until people had a non tory choice but when that choice arose they really didn't know what to do. Other than opposing the Tories they had forgotten what they were actually for. And now they are paying the price.
Meanwhile across the North Channel the locals think a DUP\Labour deal is as likely as a DUP\Conservative one.
Did you see the Dodds article in the Grauniad last week? Very scathing of the Tory attacks on the SNP and the threats he said it posed to the Union.
I wonder if the DUP will be sticking up for the SNP next year given all the lovely 100 years of the Easter rising events that SNP MSP and candidates are backing.
"THE role played by Scots in one of the most famous episodes in Irish history is to be examined by a new group being launched next week.
MSPs, academics and writers are expected to attend the event at the Irish Consulate in Edinburgh for the launch of the 1916 Rising Centenary Committee (Scotland).
The group is also planning a series of seminars and exhibitions over the next 12 months and wants to embrace both the Nationalist and Unionist traditions in Ireland as its marks the key anniversary next year."
But malc just told us there aren't any unionists in Scotland... they are down to the last 55%..
In contrast I was speaking to one of my instructing agents yesterday whose partner is very active in the SNP. She was genuinely shocked that I was a Tory voter because I was "so normal". She seemed to have this caricature of a Tory that bears no relationship to reality. When I hear Nicola Sturgeon and read many of the comments from our Nat friends on here she is clearly not alone.
In part the SNP have inherited this from the SLAB who have demonised Tory supporters so successfully for so long to their advantage. It is a pretty strange way to treat 480K of their fellow citizens.
Anyway she was indicating that the SNP are increasingly confident in Edinburgh South which I had thought was one of the seats Labour might hang onto.
One thing you should have realised by now is that the SNP members think that they can never lose anything. They even believe that they won the referendum by increasing the share of the vote from 38% to 45% and that one more push will get them over the winning line.
Even in the face of reality, they insist that their view is the only one that can exist. Very religious, with the newly deified Nicola preaching to the converted, while all those who argue otherwise are apostate and to be literally burnt at the stake unless they recant.
Very scary for anyone who questions their "truths" and no, I am not exaggerating.
The answer you will get from MalcolmG, Dair and others (ad nauseum) on this site, implies that if you don't like it, leave.
Now think what it is actually like to live in Scotland today.
Thick Labour drone tries to think and spouts drivel. You cretins have no answer to being thrashed by a political party that is streets ahead of the troughers. Only Labour fools believed they were unbeatable, any sensible person knows otherwise. Get over the fact that the SNP are popular because they do things people want done and they appear to be more honest than the robbers we are used to. Time will tell if that is correct but at least they have rid us of corrupt Labour. SNP at least sound as if they are telling the truth , rightly or wrongly, with labour and Tories and Lib Dems you know from history that they are lying through their teeth and will be ignoring you and filling their pockets as quick as they can , lots of them could not find their constituency.
PS: I am NOT and have never been associated with the SNP but currently vote for them as the best Scottish option , and only Scottish party option.
This is how cutting immigration works in practice...
Some of the immigration decisions seem very strange. We continue to have large amounts of low skill immigration from the EU and from family migration, we allow multinationals to bring virtually anyone here, and then we kick out highly skilled academics.
"Unfortunately David , the Tory representatives tend to show exactly what people say about Tories. They come across as pompous , demonise the poor and unemployed etc, they just give it "why do they not just eat cake" and make people wonder how they can sleep at night. They do not need anyone to make it up , people make opinions from what they see and hear, it is Tories as a group that are disliked, not individual people. "
For once we agree. You keep hearing from Conservatives the mantra 'Tories eat babies' as if it shows Tory malevolence is just an old wives tale peddled by primitives which bears no relation to reality.
The fact is that as malc suggests this is the view of many sane people who over the years have witnessed a ruthless insensitivity to those less fortunate than themselves. The oddity to me is that so few of their voters (nice people like David) can see it
I wonder if the DUP will be sticking up for the SNP next year given all the lovely 100 years of the Easter rising events that SNP MSP and candidates are backing.
"THE role played by Scots in one of the most famous episodes in Irish history is to be examined by a new group being launched next week.
MSPs, academics and writers are expected to attend the event at the Irish Consulate in Edinburgh for the launch of the 1916 Rising Centenary Committee (Scotland).
The group is also planning a series of seminars and exhibitions over the next 12 months and wants to embrace both the Nationalist and Unionist traditions in Ireland as its marks the key anniversary next year."
But malc just told us there aren't any unionists in Scotland... they are down to the last 55%..
You're just trolling (I hope), for, as you should know perfectly well, the report talks about the Unionist tradition in Ireland ... which, to my mind if not in that of many folk, is a different country from Scotland.
Fascinating clip, and some interesting parallels with this year.
What we didn't have in 1992 though was UKIP splitting the Tory vote.
As I keep saying, like a broken record, it's UKIP that has prevented a near certain Tory majority and looks set to put Miliband into No 10 on a third of the vote backed by leftie nationalists.
It's so frustrating because some of us have been saying for years and years what a threat UKIP were, and the so-called 'modernisers' refused to see the wood for trees. I was told again and again by people that worked in CCHQ that UKIP were a 'flash in the pan' and that UKIP were 'the past, and we need to look to the future'. Now that future has arrived and UKIP will at least quadruple their vote, and Ed Miliband is heading to Downing Street.
If the great 'modernising' experiment of the Cameroons only achieves one coalition government, hamstrung by the Liberal Democrats, and one outright loss, then perhaps we need to course correct somewhat? One idea would be to actually look at the voters we've lost and respond to their concerns with actual policies, rather than rhetoric and gimmicks.
In 2010 the Conservatives got 36% of the vote. The BBC poll of polls currently has them on 34%, and it is perfectly possible that in eight days they may get the same percentage as last time.
The major difference is little to do with UKIP: it is the Lib Dem's collapse and the consequent increase in Labour's vote from 29% to the mid-low thirties. If the Conservatives have lost voters to UKIP, they've picked others up from elsewhere.
Given the situation the coalition found itself in, and the polling from a couple of years ago showing double-digit Labour leads, it is quite surprising that the Conservatives are in this relatively good position. It's also remarkable that Labour are not rimping home.
The modernisation has been a qualified success. But then I would say that, as like the direction of travel. ;-)
This is how cutting immigration works in practice...
This is how the action of cutting immigration works while the large number of immigrants already in the country continue to be here. Had there been a point system applied to everyone equally (instead of being racially biased in favour of Europeans), then once the lady had qualified she would have been able to stay indefinitely.
LABOUR GAINS FROM LIB DEMS (12) Norwich South, Bradford East, Brent Central, Manchester Withington, Burnley, Birmingham Yardley, Redcar, Hornsey & Wood Green, Cardiff Central, Bermondsey, Bristol West, Leeds North West
TORY GAINS FROM LIB DEMS (20) Solihull, Mid Dorset, Wells, St Austell & Newquay, Somerton & Frome, St Ives, Chippenham, Cheadle, North Cornwall, Taunton Deane, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Torbay, Cheltenham, Brecon & Radnorshire, North Devon, Portsmouth South, Kingston & Surbiton, Hazel Grove, Yeovil, Bath
SNP GAINS FROM LIB DEMS (8) East Dunbartonshire, Argyll & Bute, Aberdeenshire West, Edinburgh West, Gordon, Inverness, North East Fife, Ross Skye & Lochaber
Re Colchester - it should be a nailed on hold.
For that reason I am finding it hard to fathom why both the tories and Lib Dems are bombarding my household with leaflets / fake newspapers etc.
Yesterday the tories sent us another leaflet - manily positive things about twhat they want to do if elected - one of which was a bit brave (going on immigration- considering the abject failure on cutting immigration in this term).
The Lib Dems sent us a leaflet EACH. Mostly negative about the tories and absolutely no mention of Nick Clegg. Interestingly they were claiming the tories challenge was falling away in Colchester which rather begs the question how close did they get and why are you bothering with ANOTHER leaflet if you comfortable you are going to win.
All this effort from both parties for vote share?
Had nothing else that I can recall from any other party.
In contrast I was speaking to one of my instructing agents yesterday whose partner is very active in the SNP. She was genuinely shocked that I was a Tory voter because I was "so normal". She seemed to have this caricature of a Tory that bears no relationship to reality. When I hear Nicola Sturgeon and read many of the comments from our Nat friends on here she is clearly not alone.
In part the SNP have inherited this from the SLAB who have demonised Tory supporters so successfully for so long to their advantage. It is a pretty strange way to treat 480K of their fellow citizens.
Anyway she was indicating that the SNP are increasingly confident in Edinburgh South which I had thought was one of the seats Labour might hang onto.
SLAB did the SNP's work for them for two decades and now look horribly out of place as the SNP steal their clothes.
I think Alan that SLABs problem was that the demonisation policy was so successful that SLAB did not bother to do anything else. It worked very well until people had a non tory choice but when that choice arose they really didn't know what to do. Other than opposing the Tories they had forgotten what they were actually for. And now they are paying the price.
Meanwhile across the North Channel the locals think a DUP\Labour deal is as likely as a DUP\Conservative one.
Did you see the Dodds article in the Grauniad last week? Very scathing of the Tory attacks on the SNP and the threats he said it posed to the Union.
I wonder if the DUP will be sticking up for the SNP next year given all the lovely 100 years of the Easter rising events that SNP MSP and candidates are backing.
"THE role played by Scots in one of the most famous episodes in Irish history is to be examined by a new group being launched next week.
MSPs, academics and writers are expected to attend the event at the Irish Consulate in Edinburgh for the launch of the 1916 Rising Centenary Committee (Scotland).
The group is also planning a series of seminars and exhibitions over the next 12 months and wants to embrace both the Nationalist and Unionist traditions in Ireland as its marks the key anniversary next year."
Harry is a little bit blinkered in his thinking on the topic.
On the Today programme this morning Ed Balls said about today's triple tax lock "Such promises from David Cameron are two a penny". I wondered if this could be the first plausible costing from the Labour side?
Anyone listening to the Woman's Hour election debate on R4 at the moment? It's quite well controlled, with May, Harman for the main parties.
Mr. Jessop, sad story. Sounds like a good change to introduce the kill switch.
American motorsport went through a disastrous time for about ten years (not just Nascar, but other formula as well). They've slowly changed; Nascar, and later Indy have become more innovative. For instance HANS was developed in the early 1980s, but only became common after many, many avoidable deaths. Since then it has saved many, many lives.
I notice that the Sporting Index has slipped the gap between the big 2 parties back up to 15, presumably on the back of the better Tory polling on Monday. If their central numbers are right forming any kind of a government is going to be a nightmare.
With every day closer we get to the election, it's looking more and more like the nightmare scenario of no obvious coalition having the numbers in Parliament.
I know that politicians say there's no such thing as a good election to lose but I can't see anyone wanting to have to cobble together 3 or 4 parties and still face defeat. It's going to be a very interesting few days and weeks ahead as the possibilities play out. FWIW I'm on the Grand Coalition - if only for a few months - on the basis that Labour know they'll face a backlash in England if they have anything to do with the SNP.
I don't get this talk of a grand coalition. Plenty of labour voters vote that way to keep the tories out. Like lots of lib voters used to do. And look what happened to them...
It's currently 33/1, that has to be value if there's no other possible coalitions without scraping around the independents for every Commons vote?
More chance of a second election. it risks the break up of both parties.
A second election is surely in Labour’s interest.
First, they can get rid of Miliband, who is a drag on their vote.
Second, after May, there will be many more Lab marginals than Tory marginals. That is, Labour will have a host of Tory-Lab and SNP-Lab marginals that it could realistically hope to attack & win back. A small uptick in the Labour percentage could deliver more marginals than a small uptick in the Tory percentage.
A single solitary orange diamond looking forlorn in an Oadby garden. The LDs once thought that they could take the seat.
One field near the private school voting Conservative.
Quite a bunch of Tory posters in Wardown Crescent, Luton South. But, this will be an easy Labour hold, as the Conservatives aren't putting any effort into winning it.
I counted 18 Tory posters to 8 Labour, in Winchmore Hill, Southgate, which is a surprisingly marginal ward.
I spotted a Labour canvass team in Finchley High Road, so they clearly think they can win there.
There was a spurt of Tory activity in my patch last week (a group came up by train from London for several hours) and the poster count is less embarrassing - the Conservative Club (which had 0 for weeks, then one) now has four, and several open fields along main roads have a series of them. Still don't get the impression they are trying very hard, with the candidate skipping three hustings events, one of them on local TV - these tend to attract the faithful, but it's unwise not to bother IMO. LibDem poster count is 0, though a borough candidate has lots of unbranded posters for himself. Green posters seen 1, UKIP 2.
You really are getting dangerously close to hubris.
He can't help himself. The thought of all those juicy expenses is making him giddy with excitement.
In contrast I was speaking to one of my instructing agents yesterday whose partner is very active in the SNP.
SLAB did the SNP's work for them for two decades and now look horribly out of place as the SNP steal their clothes.
Spot on. Labour took Scotland for granted and are gong to pay a massive price - deservedly so, I might add.
I don't think anyone would dispute that Nicola has played a remarkable role in this campaign for someone who is not even a candidate. The only time she looked seriously disconcerted was in the Aberdeen debate when faced with the frightening implications of Full Fiscal Autonomy and the devastation that would cause to Scottish public services.
I think a part of the reason is that so much of the traditional territory of elections, health and education, is no longer a part of Westminster elections in any direct way so there has been even less focus on policy in Scotland than there has been in England. It has also made it more difficult to hold the SNP to account for many of their poor decisions.
LOL, given the direness of Tories and Labour you could put a monkey up and it would be an improvement. People are sick of lying London sockpuppets. They have a choice and as SNP have shown what they can do with their hands tied in Holyrood the people realise they can get something different. They may not be perfect but impossible not to be better than the previous sets of garbage. Tories and Labourites cannot just grasp that they are crap and getting their just desserts. People trying to denigrate SNP but trying to say people are treating it like religion etc is pathetic, the SNP just come across as fresh and possibly a change from the previous rubbish and worth a punt , they want a change and have an option.
"People are sick of lying London sockpuppets"
what about lying Edinburgh sockpuppets ? :-)
Alan , you are too cynical , so far SNP have managed not to get caught at same tricks as the establishment parties , time will tell no doubt but at worst they are by a mile the best of the bunch.
"The 12% UKIP share in latest YouGov equals the lowest for the party since early August last year"
Odd tweet.
Would be like having a football team that has scored in every game since August winning 1-0 and saying "This equals the worst they have done in goalscoring since August"
Reasonable chance that one of the telephone polls pre GE will show UKIP in forth place behind Lib Dems.
"Unfortunately David , the Tory representatives tend to show exactly what people say about Tories. They come across as pompous , demonise the poor and unemployed etc, they just give it "why do they not just eat cake" and make people wonder how they can sleep at night. They do not need anyone to make it up , people make opinions from what they see and hear, it is Tories as a group that are disliked, not individual people. "
For once we agree. You keep hearing from Conservatives the mantra 'Tories eat babies' as if it shows Tory malevolence is just an old wives tale peddled by primitives which bears no relation to reality.
The fact is that as malc suggests this is the view of many sane people who over years and witnessed a ruthless insensitivity to those less fortunate than themselves. The oddity to me is that so few of their voters (nice people like David) can't see it
While I agree that there can be some rich people who show a ruthless insensitivity to those less fortunate than themselves, I do not think that DavidL is such a person and, for good measure, I don't think that a party, one of whose revered figures described Tories as "lower than vermin" is in a position to lecture others on demonisation.
It is possible to want the same ends - I do think that with wealth comes responsibility and that we need to make it possible for those who do not have good fortune to improve their lives and have the same chances as others - but disagree about means. And if someone does not share your view about the means that does not make them evil.
"Drawing room curtains will be twitching this morning in an exclusive part of leafy Harpenden as a Green party poster has sprung up."
Fear not. You can assure your neigbours it'll be recycled at exactly 10.pm on the 7th May and a tree has already been planted
I saw 3 labour signs in the badlands of St Albans yesterday and a teeny weeny orange lib dem sign for 'sandy' near a busy roundabout.... also went past the head office of Camra nearby ...co-incidence?
Anyone in the gambling game will know about the awful FOBT machines that are social menace particularly for the working class.. bookmakers are opening up shops in poor areas specifically to house these machines, known as the "crack cocaine of the gambling industry"
It seems UKIP have committed to reducing the max stake per spin to £2 from £100 .. hopefully whoever is PM will copy this idea
I notice that the Sporting Index has slipped the gap between the big 2 parties back up to 15, presumably on the back of the better Tory polling on Monday. If their central numbers are right forming any kind of a government is going to be a nightmare.
With every day closer we get to the election, it's looking more and more like the nightmare scenario of no obvious coalition having the numbers in Parliament.
I know that politicians say there's no such thing as a good election to lose but I can't see anyone wanting to have to cobble together 3 or 4 parties and still face defeat. It's going to be a very interesting few days and weeks ahead as the possibilities play out. FWIW I'm on the Grand Coalition - if only for a few months - on the basis that Labour know they'll face a backlash in England if they have anything to do with the SNP.
I don't get this talk of a grand coalition. Plenty of labour voters vote that way to keep the tories out. Like lots of lib voters used to do. And look what happened to them...
It's currently 33/1, that has to be value if there's no other possible coalitions without scraping around the independents for every Commons vote?
More chance of a second election. it risks the break up of both parties.
A second election is surely in Labour’s interest.
First, they can get rid of Miliband, who is a drag on their vote.
Second, after May, there will be many more Lab marginals than Tory marginals. That is, Labour will have a host of Tory-Lab and SNP-Lab marginals that it could realistically hope to attack & win back. A small uptick in the Labour percentage could deliver more marginals than a small uptick in the Tory percentage.
I was thinking about this the other day. *If* Labour were to lose the GE, there will be lots of seats in Scotland that they could win back, making a Labour win in the next GE more likely.
However I bet the Conservatives thought the same as their share in Scottish seats decreased GE after GE. It will be difficult (although possible) for a.n.other Labour leader to grab many of those Scottish seats back. But it's also possible that a leader will find it impossible to 'sell' policies that are equally attractive in England and Scotland, and that many of those Scottish seats are gone.
Fascinating clip, and some interesting parallels with this year.
What we didn't have in 1992 though was UKIP splitting the Tory vote.
As I keep saying, like a broken record, it's UKIP that has prevented a near certain Tory majority and looks set to put Miliband into No 10 on a third of the vote backed by leftie nationalists.
It's so frustrating because some of us have been saying for years and years what a threat UKIP were, and the so-called 'modernisers' refused to see the wood for trees. I was told again and again by people that worked in CCHQ that UKIP were a 'flash in the pan' and that UKIP were 'the past, and we need to look to the future'. Now that future has arrived and UKIP will at least quadruple their vote, and Ed Miliband is heading to Downing Street.
If the great 'modernising' experiment of the Cameroons only achieves one coalition government, hamstrung by the Liberal Democrats, and one outright loss, then perhaps we need to course correct somewhat? One idea would be to actually look at the voters we've lost and respond to their concerns with actual policies, rather than rhetoric and gimmicks.
I think that was tried with IDS then Howard as leader. Not a notable success.
Cameron gained 97 seats in 2010, a historically very good performance, and became PM.
The problem with IDS and Howard was that they were just not very charismatic leaders. Cameron did not win a majority despite the other side being in for three terms and completely tanking the UK economy.
More logically, you just need to look at the polling landscape right now and ask, which is the biggest pool of voters to fish from? Lib Dem voters or UKIP voters? Even if we look at Labour waiverers, they're more likely to go to UKIP than anyone else. We will never form a majority government again without them.
Did you see the Dodds article in the Grauniad last week? Very scathing of the Tory attacks on the SNP and the threats he said it posed to the Union.
I wonder if the DUP will be sticking up for the SNP next year given all the lovely 100 years of the Easter rising events that SNP MSP and candidates are backing.
"THE role played by Scots in one of the most famous episodes in Irish history is to be examined by a new group being launched next week.
MSPs, academics and writers are expected to attend the event at the Irish Consulate in Edinburgh for the launch of the 1916 Rising Centenary Committee (Scotland).
The group is also planning a series of seminars and exhibitions over the next 12 months and wants to embrace both the Nationalist and Unionist traditions in Ireland as its marks the key anniversary next year."
But malc just told us there aren't any unionists in Scotland... they are down to the last 55%..
Harry , you are sounding like a politician there, being economical with the truth. I said NO unionist "community" , other than LOL. Big difference.
I notice that the Sporting Index has slipped the gap between the big 2 parties back up to 15, presumably on the back of the better Tory polling on Monday. If their central numbers are right forming any kind of a government is going to be a nightmare.
With every day closer we get to the election, it's looking more and more like the nightmare scenario of no obvious coalition having the numbers in Parliament.
I know that politicians say there's no such thing as a good election to lose but I can't see anyone wanting to have to cobble together 3 or 4 parties and still face defeat. It's going to be a very interesting few days and weeks ahead as the possibilities play out. FWIW I'm on the Grand Coalition - if only for a few months - on the basis that Labour know they'll face a backlash in England if they have anything to do with the SNP.
I don't get this talk of a grand coalition. Plenty of labour voters vote that way to keep the tories out. Like lots of lib voters used to do. And look what happened to them...
It's currently 33/1, that has to be value if there's no other possible coalitions without scraping around the independents for every Commons vote?
More chance of a second election. it risks the break up of both parties.
A second election is surely in Labour’s interest.
First, they can get rid of Miliband, who is a drag on their vote.
Second, after May, there will be many more Lab marginals than Tory marginals. That is, Labour will have a host of Tory-Lab and SNP-Lab marginals that it could realistically hope to attack & win back. A small uptick in the Labour percentage could deliver more marginals than a small uptick in the Tory percentage.
On the other hand, a second election is also in the tories interest, If Farage fails, then UKIP could collapse, and plenty of juicy votes to hoover up there.
Without Cameron of course, but someone who might woo them a little better.
Anyone in the gambling game will know about the awful FOBT machines that are social menace particularly for the working class.. bookmakers are opening up shops in poor areas specifically to house these machines, known as the "crack cocaine of the gambling industry"
It seems UKIP have committed to reducing the max stake per spin to £2 from £100 .. hopefully whoever is PM will copy this idea
Agree; I'd love to see more emphasis on this. It's not an area I know a massive amount about, but on the face of it UKIP's proposal seems good.
"Unfortunately David , the Tory representatives tend to show exactly what people say about Tories. They come across as pompous , demonise the poor and unemployed etc, they just give it "why do they not just eat cake" and make people wonder how they can sleep at night. They do not need anyone to make it up , people make opinions from what they see and hear, it is Tories as a group that are disliked, not individual people. "
For once we agree. You keep hearing from Conservatives the mantra 'Tories eat babies' as if it shows Tory malevolence is just an old wives tale peddled by primitives which bears no relation to reality.
The fact is that as malc suggests this is the view of many sane people who over years and witnessed a ruthless insensitivity to those less fortunate than themselves. The oddity to me is that so few of their voters (nice people like David) can't see it
While I agree that there can be some rich people who show a ruthless insensitivity to those less fortunate than themselves, I do not think that DavidL is such a person and, for good measure, I don't think that a party, one of whose revered figures described Tories as "lower than vermin" is in a position to lecture others on demonisation.
It is possible to want the same ends - I do think that with wealth comes responsibility and that we need to make it possible for those who do not have good fortune to improve their lives and have the same chances as others - but disagree about means. And if someone does not share your view about the means that does not make them evil.
Didn’t Nye Bevan say that "as far as he was concerned the Tories were .......” quoting from his experience of dealing with mine-owners and their side-kicks.
"That will be little comfort for the offending household as they are removed from Residents Summer Ball invites and face the humiliation of not having their grocery orders executed by Fortnum and Harrods."
I can see that. You've been a bit unlucky. I thought the bikini demo would have occupied them for at least a couple of weeks
I notice that the Sporting Index has slipped the gap between the big 2 parties back up to 15, presumably on the back of the better Tory polling on Monday. If their central numbers are right forming any kind of a government is going to be a nightmare.
With every day closer we get to the election, it's looking more and more like the nightmare scenario of no obvious coalition having the numbers in Parliament.
I know that politicians say there's no such thing as a good election to lose but I can't see anyone wanting to have to cobble together 3 or 4 parties and still face defeat. It's going to be a very interesting few days and weeks ahead as the possibilities play out. FWIW I'm on the Grand Coalition - if only for a few months - on the basis that Labour know they'll face a backlash in England if they have anything to do with the SNP.
I don't get this talk of a grand coalition. Plenty of labour voters vote that way to keep the tories out. Like lots of lib voters used to do. And look what happened to them...
It's currently 33/1, that has to be value if there's no other possible coalitions without scraping around the independents for every Commons vote?
More chance of a second election. it risks the break up of both parties.
A second election is surely in Labour’s interest.
First, they can get rid of Miliband, who is a drag on their vote.
Second, after May, there will be many more Lab marginals than Tory marginals. That is, Labour will have a host of Tory-Lab and SNP-Lab marginals that it could realistically hope to attack & win back. A small uptick in the Labour percentage could deliver more marginals than a small uptick in the Tory percentage.
On the other hand, a second election is also in the tories interest, If Farage fails, then UKIP could collapse, and plenty of juicy votes to hoover up there.
Without Cameron of course, but someone who might woo them a little better.
Yes, I think that is true as well. So, it comes down to which party can conjure up a better leader.
This is how cutting immigration works in practice...
This is how the action of cutting immigration works while the large number of immigrants already in the country continue to be here. Had there been a point system applied to everyone equally (instead of being racially biased in favour of Europeans), then once the lady had qualified she would have been able to stay indefinitely.
The article says 143 000 non EU migrants last year. How are UKIP going to cut these by 2/3 or more to reach their 50 000 figure?
"Unfortunately David , the Tory representatives tend to show exactly what people say about Tories. They come across as pompous , demonise the poor and unemployed etc, they just give it "why do they not just eat cake" and make people wonder how they can sleep at night. They do not need anyone to make it up , people make opinions from what they see and hear, it is Tories as a group that are disliked, not individual people. "
For once we agree. You keep hearing from Conservatives the mantra 'Tories eat babies' as if it shows Tory malevolence is just an old wives tale peddled by primitives which bears no relation to reality.
The fact is that as malc suggests this is the view of many sane people who over years and witnessed a ruthless insensitivity to those less fortunate than themselves. The oddity to me is that so few of their voters (nice people like David) can't see it
While I agree that there can be some rich people who show a ruthless insensitivity to those less fortunate than themselves, I do not think that DavidL is such a person and, for good measure, I don't think that a party, one of whose revered figures described Tories as "lower than vermin" is in a position to lecture others on demonisation.
It is possible to want the same ends - I do think that with wealth comes responsibility and that we need to make it possible for those who do not have good fortune to improve their lives and have the same chances as others - but disagree about means. And if someone does not share your view about the means that does not make them evil.
Cyclefree, I agree , however many Tory representatives come across as insensitive and uncaring, with opinion that every poor person has brought it upon themselves and should get off their backsides and get lots of money like they have.
"Unfortunately David , the Tory representatives tend to show exactly what people say about Tories. They come across as pompous , demonise the poor and unemployed etc, they just give it "why do they not just eat cake" and make people wonder how they can sleep at night. They do not need anyone to make it up , people make opinions from what they see and hear, it is Tories as a group that are disliked, not individual people. "
For once we agree. You keep hearing from Conservatives the mantra 'Tories eat babies' as if it shows Tory malevolence is just an old wives tale peddled by primitives which bears no relation to reality.
The fact is that as malc suggests this is the view of many sane people who over years and witnessed a ruthless insensitivity to those less fortunate than themselves. The oddity to me is that so few of their voters (nice people like David) can't see it
While I agree that there can be some rich people who show a ruthless insensitivity to those less fortunate than themselves, I do not think that DavidL is such a person and, for good measure, I don't think that a party, one of whose revered figures described Tories as "lower than vermin" is in a position to lecture others on demonisation.
It is possible to want the same ends - I do think that with wealth comes responsibility and that we need to make it possible for those who do not have good fortune to improve their lives and have the same chances as others - but disagree about means. And if someone does not share your view about the means that does not make them evil.
The Tories win the prize for the most irresponsible pledge of the election. Removing the option to raise revenue to balance the books if growth falters, the only way is even more cuts in spending. Perhaps not surprising given its the Tories, it also rules out for five years any redistribution via the tax system to address the huge problem of increasing inequality. I noticed that that the one tax not covered was the highly inequitable council tax.No doubt local council will be given the unpopular job of raising more revenue.
This is how cutting immigration works in practice...
Some of the immigration decisions seem very strange. We continue to have large amounts of low skill immigration from the EU and from family migration, we allow multinationals to bring virtually anyone here, and then we kick out highly skilled academics.
The UK is currently particularly mental because of the combination of international treaties and political targets, but any government that tries to manage something like this is inevitably going to bollocks it up a lot of the time. Things that everyone knows the government are shit at, like running car manufacturing companies, are still far easier for centralized bureaucracies to do efficiently than working out who is going to be net beneficial to the country and who will tend to be harmful, or whether two people are genuinely in love.
The Tories win the prize for the most irresponsible pledge of the election. Removing the option to raise revenue to balance the books if growth falters, the only way is even more cuts in spending. Perhaps not surprising given its the Tories, it also rules out for five years any redistribution via the tax system to address the huge problem of increasing inequality. I noticed that that the one tax not covered was the highly inequitable council tax.No doubt local council will be given the unpopular job of raising more revenue.
Calm down. Revenues can be increased by moving the tax bands.
Fascinating clip, and some interesting parallels with this year.
What we didn't have in 1992 though was UKIP splitting the Tory vote.
As I keep saying, like a broken record, it's UKIP that has prevented a near certain Tory majority and looks set to put Miliband into No 10 on a third of the vote backed by leftie nationalists.
It's so frustrating because some of us have been saying for years and years what a threat UKIP were, and the so-called 'modernisers' refused to see the wood for trees. I was told again and again by people that worked in CCHQ that UKIP were a 'flash in the pan' and that UKIP were 'the past, and we need to look to the future'. Now that future has arrived and UKIP will at least quadruple their vote, and Ed Miliband is heading to Downing Street.
If the great 'modernising' experiment of the Cameroons only achieves one coalition government, hamstrung by the Liberal Democrats, and one outright loss, then perhaps we need to course correct somewhat? One idea would be to actually look at the voters we've lost and respond to their concerns with actual policies, rather than rhetoric and gimmicks.
Given the situation the coalition found itself in, and the polling from a couple of years ago showing double-digit Labour leads, it is quite surprising that the Conservatives are in this relatively good position. It's also remarkable that Labour are not romping home.
This. Remarkable turnaround from the omnishambles days. At that point in time I though it would be 1997 all over again.
This is how cutting immigration works in practice...
This is how the action of cutting immigration works while the large number of immigrants already in the country continue to be here. Had there been a point system applied to everyone equally (instead of being racially biased in favour of Europeans), then once the lady had qualified she would have been able to stay indefinitely.
The article says 143 000 non EU migrants last year. How are UKIP going to cut these by 2/3 or more to reach their 50 000 figure?
TBF there's a virtuous circle here, because if you bring in strict restrictions on bringing people in, businesses will move their operations abroad, resulting in some of the current immigrants (and British employees) leaving.
Comments
What we didn't have in 1992 though was UKIP splitting the Tory vote.
As I keep saying, like a broken record, it's UKIP that has prevented a near certain Tory majority and looks set to put Miliband into No 10 on a third of the vote backed by leftie nationalists.
"literally burnt at the stake unless they recant."
I think you have lost touch with the English language as well as with reality, especially as you claim to be "not exaggerating".
Goodness, aren't the SNP fortunate in the quality (not) of their opponents! :-)
*in the loose sense of one's origins
I confess to three (including one 'nailed on' to the strategically located flowering cherry tree, oh yes, in front of the Leader-Bunker).
Mr. Foxinsox, beards generally are to be avoided, unless you're Brian Blessed, villainous Alan Rickman, or a pirate.
His crest of pure bulldog spirit was fallen when a fellow debater pointed out that Morris Dancing was imported from Spain!
ps - I have no idea who was right
*Innocent Face*
Annoyingly the price changed to 11/8 when I tried to back it and max stake was £90... Great bet
Betting Emporium tipped under 3.5 as a bet maybe that's why
http://normanbaker.org.uk/2014/01/21/letter-to-the-audit-commission-regarding-seaford-town-council/
" Here’s an astonishing statistic; more than 30pc of all government debt in the eurozone – around €2 trillion of securities in total – is trading on a negative interest rate.
With the advent of European Central Bank quantitative easing, what began four months ago when 10-year Swiss yields turned negative for the first time has snowballed into a veritable avalanche of negative rates across European government bond markets. In the hunt for apparently “safe assets”, investors have thrown caution to the wind, and collectively determined to pay governments for the privilege of lending to them.
On a country by country basis, the statistics are even more startling. According to investment bank Jefferies, some 70pc of all German bunds now trade on a negative yield. In France, it's 50pc, and even in Spain, which was widely thought insolvent only a few years ago, it's 17pc."
If the great 'modernising' experiment of the Cameroons only achieves one coalition government, hamstrung by the Liberal Democrats, and one outright loss, then perhaps we need to course correct somewhat? One idea would be to actually look at the voters we've lost and respond to their concerns with actual policies, rather than rhetoric and gimmicks.
http://www.thenational.scot/news/scots-role-in-irelands-1916-rising-examined.2342
"THE role played by Scots in one of the most famous episodes in Irish history is to be examined by a new group being launched next week.
MSPs, academics and writers are expected to attend the event at the Irish Consulate in Edinburgh for the launch of the 1916 Rising Centenary Committee (Scotland).
The group is also planning a series of seminars and exhibitions over the next 12 months and wants to embrace both the Nationalist and Unionist traditions in Ireland as its marks the key anniversary next year."
what about lying Edinburgh sockpuppets ? :-)
Cameron gained 97 seats in 2010, a historically very good performance, and became PM.
This is how cutting immigration works in practice...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-32413903
I just can't see Miliband wanting to go into an unstable agreement with the SNP, with Salmond clearing running things until they decide to bring him down and force the second election - it would kill Labour in England as well as Scotland. I can't see Dave having the numbers to continue either, unless Con+LD have a majority if UKIP and a few helpful Ulstermen abstain.
Odd tweet.
Would be like having a football team that has scored in every game since August winning 1-0 and saying "This equals the worst they have done in goalscoring since August"
There is no doubt that cutting the deficit hurts economic growth (to what degree is probably a very complex economic argument) and that balancing the cuts/growth strategy is absolutely key to economic success.
It pains me to say it but Ed Balls was partly right on cuts as well as Osborne being largely right. Big borrowing would be a disaster but so would big cuts, such is the delicate state of the economy post-Brown. It was only when Osborne slowed the cuts around 2012 that the recovery started accelerating. Not ideal, because we still have a big deficit, but a harsh political reality/
I doubt the Tories will cut hard if they get back in. They know too many people are reliant/drunk/utterly dependant on state spending. They can't afford - politically - to let poorer people suffer from big, fast cuts.
ICM is well thought of on here and you can back UKIP over 3.5 seats now they have UKIP on13% at better odds than when they were on 7%, it is crazy
PS: I am NOT and have never been associated with the SNP but currently vote for them as the best Scottish option , and only Scottish party option.
"Unfortunately David , the Tory representatives tend to show exactly what people say about Tories. They come across as pompous , demonise the poor and unemployed etc, they just give it "why do they not just eat cake" and make people wonder how they can sleep at night. They do not need anyone to make it up , people make opinions from what they see and hear, it is Tories as a group that are disliked, not individual people. "
For once we agree. You keep hearing from Conservatives the mantra 'Tories eat babies' as if it shows Tory malevolence is just an old wives tale peddled by primitives which bears no relation to reality.
The fact is that as malc suggests this is the view of many sane people who over the years have witnessed a ruthless insensitivity to those less fortunate than themselves. The oddity to me is that so few of their voters (nice people like David) can see it
The major difference is little to do with UKIP: it is the Lib Dem's collapse and the consequent increase in Labour's vote from 29% to the mid-low thirties. If the Conservatives have lost voters to UKIP, they've picked others up from elsewhere.
Given the situation the coalition found itself in, and the polling from a couple of years ago showing double-digit Labour leads, it is quite surprising that the Conservatives are in this relatively good position. It's also remarkable that Labour are not rimping home.
The modernisation has been a qualified success. But then I would say that, as like the direction of travel. ;-)
For that reason I am finding it hard to fathom why both the tories and Lib Dems are bombarding my household with leaflets / fake newspapers etc.
Yesterday the tories sent us another leaflet - manily positive things about twhat they want to do if elected - one of which was a bit brave (going on immigration- considering the abject failure on cutting immigration in this term).
The Lib Dems sent us a leaflet EACH. Mostly negative about the tories and absolutely no mention of Nick Clegg. Interestingly they were claiming the tories challenge was falling away in Colchester which rather begs the question how close did they get and why are you bothering with ANOTHER leaflet if you comfortable you are going to win.
All this effort from both parties for vote share?
Had nothing else that I can recall from any other party.
Anyone listening to the Woman's Hour election debate on R4 at the moment? It's quite well controlled, with May, Harman for the main parties.
First, they can get rid of Miliband, who is a drag on their vote.
Second, after May, there will be many more Lab marginals than Tory marginals. That is, Labour will have a host of Tory-Lab and SNP-Lab marginals that it could realistically hope to attack & win back. A small uptick in the Labour percentage could deliver more marginals than a small uptick in the Tory percentage.
It is possible to want the same ends - I do think that with wealth comes responsibility and that we need to make it possible for those who do not have good fortune to improve their lives and have the same chances as others - but disagree about means. And if someone does not share your view about the means that does not make them evil.
It seems UKIP have committed to reducing the max stake per spin to £2 from £100 .. hopefully whoever is PM will copy this idea
Without Clegg, that might be unlikely, but with him a possibility.
However I bet the Conservatives thought the same as their share in Scottish seats decreased GE after GE. It will be difficult (although possible) for a.n.other Labour leader to grab many of those Scottish seats back. But it's also possible that a leader will find it impossible to 'sell' policies that are equally attractive in England and Scotland, and that many of those Scottish seats are gone.
More logically, you just need to look at the polling landscape right now and ask, which is the biggest pool of voters to fish from? Lib Dem voters or UKIP voters? Even if we look at Labour waiverers, they're more likely to go to UKIP than anyone else. We will never form a majority government again without them.
Without Cameron of course, but someone who might woo them a little better.
"That will be little comfort for the offending household as they are removed from Residents Summer Ball invites and face the humiliation of not having their grocery orders executed by Fortnum and Harrods."
I can see that. You've been a bit unlucky. I thought the bikini demo would have occupied them for at least a couple of weeks
http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/apr/27/mass-demonstration-planned-over-beach-body-ready-tube-advert
Hmmmm ....
Removing the option to raise revenue to balance the books if growth falters, the only way is even more cuts in spending.
Perhaps not surprising given its the Tories, it also rules out for five years any redistribution via the tax system to address the huge problem of increasing inequality.
I noticed that that the one tax not covered was the highly inequitable council tax.No doubt local council will be given the unpopular job of raising more revenue.
Royal Specials - William & Kate - First Leader To Tweet A Congrats Message
David Cameron 5/4
Ed Milliband 3/1
Nick Clegg 5/1
Nigel Farage 5/1
Leanne Wood 20/1
Natalie Bennett 20/1
Nicola Sturgeon 20/1
IMO, take all three 20/1 shots so you get 6/1 on *one* of the girls pipping the boys to the post.
Importantly, all are active on twitter.