Not many political signs or poster signs where I live,proberly more in final week.
The thing I did notice though that political posts signs were out side houses was on a long road that in the last election had all labour signs but now have all respect signs.
Perhaps a week's holiday and living in an ultra-safe Labour seat affords me a slightly different perspective from those fighting the good fight and living from poll to poll in the hyper-marginals.
First, all this nonsense from David Cameron about clinging on to power if he has more votes and seats can be dismissed - had you asked him five years ago on the weekend before the last election whether he would do a deal with Nick Clegg's Liberal Democrats, I don't expect he would have said "oh yes, we're not going to win a majority and I will make a full offer of talks to the Lib Dems on the day after the election".
In other words, the campaign rhetoric is just that - it's hyperbole meant to rally the troops. It's not meant to be taken seriously and shouldn't be by anyone with even a basic understanding of politics. Ed Miliband's dismissal of the SNP can be seen in a similar light/
I did expect the Conservatives to have opened a 3-5% lead across all polls and for the main three topics of conservation to be a) the ins and outs of the new Conservative Government, b) candidates for the Labour leadership election and c) the seats the Tories would be gaining from Labour.
Instead, little seems to have changed and Cowling's analysis on the BBC website seems reasonable - I expect the Conservatives to narrowly win the national vote but the seat picture remains unclear. The possibility of a Labour Government functioning with tacit SNP support of an informal S&C nature seems to be the most likely outcome as I suspect the Conservatives and Lib Dem attempts at Coalition 2.0 will come up well short.
I'm going to be controversial on topic and argue the 8th May at 5/1 is the bet here. It will be obvious by Friday lunchtime if the Conservatives have done well enough to hold on and for all the rhetoric, Cameron won't want to prolong the agony especially if, as I suspect, it becomes clear the Labour/SNP option is going to be a starter and will have a majority (given PC and a few of the Irish will support and the rump of the LDs and the DUP won't oppose).
About right I reckon. Though Cameron is one for the grand gesture, so I wonder if he's got one up his sleeve for the just short even with the Libs plus DUP scenario, say 285 seats with Ed on 260.
How about he says to Sturgeon - ok full fiscal autonomy ( 50% of all taxes raised/spent?) are transferred to Holyrood plus the right to call Indy ref 2.0 post 2020 in return for exactly the same fiscal arrangements for England based kn English MP's ( sort of super EV4L). One Act then you can no confidence me and Ed takes over shorn of a big chunk of power. English bit could then be repealed by Ed plus Scots thereafter but blinking risky for Ed to do that.
Probably nonsense but I bet the Tories have war gamed something given a close result has been likely for yonks.
EPG..The visitors would also have to go through Passport Control..when Scotland becomes the land of the Free
We can always break up scotland like we did with Ireland, keep the counties that are against independence in the UK like Ulster.
I'm not sure you quite grasp the history of how Ireland was partitioned.
Yes. Not exactly our finest hour as a nation. Unfortunately we have been paying for it off and on ever since. The idea of partitioning Scotland in the same way is ludicrous.
The idea that, say, the Borders would want to be separate from an independent Scotland is one of those things that doesn't even work as a joke.
If you are so confident then why not give them the right to democratically choose between joining an independent Scotland or remaining in the UK. Let the people decide.
It doesn't work like that. Borders is an integral part of Scotland. Borderers are bound to accept the will of their countrymen and women. If you start messing around with that principle where do you stop?
Just finished a day canvassing a hyper marginal north west con held seat with labour chasing. Canvassing those who either undecided or have not had contact with. I have to say the undecided are falling to the Cons more than Lab.
It is now becoming very clear that the Con support in this constituency is now a few percent above that which was won in 2010.
According to national and regional sub samples this seat should be long lost to Labour. There is *no* swing against Con in constituency (though of course the configuration of those who arent voting Con coalescing around the lab candidate could be enough ).
How visible was your party identification? Did you canvas the same areas in '10?
rosettes, we are experienced canvassers, using previous boards. We know what we are doing and we are comparing like with like.
In reference to canvass results saying whatever people want them to say, i can tell you i am not ramping here, i havent named the seat, and im answering with absolute honesty in my results.
There is *no* swing against the Cons in this hyper marginal seat. I am pretty darn certain that the Tories will get same percent as last time, if not a touch more, whether that is enough is a different matter though. SNP raised numerous times.
EPG..The visitors would also have to go through Passport Control..when Scotland becomes the land of the Free
We can always break up scotland like we did with Ireland, keep the counties that are against independence in the UK like Ulster.
I'm not sure you quite grasp the history of how Ireland was partitioned.
Yes. Not exactly our finest hour as a nation. Unfortunately we have been paying for it off and on ever since. The idea of partitioning Scotland in the same way is ludicrous.
The idea that, say, the Borders would want to be separate from an independent Scotland is one of those things that doesn't even work as a joke.
If you are so confident then why not give them the right to democratically choose between joining an independent Scotland or remaining in the UK. Let the people decide.
It doesn't work like that. Borders is an integral part of Scotland. Borderers are bound to accept the will of their countrymen and women. If you start messing around with that principle where do you stop?
Five hours later #EdStone is the top UK trend again.
I wonder if this will have an impact, now.
No. People don't care were politicians put their election pledges, as long as it's not toilet paper.
And I looked at the BBC's most read and watched and it's nowhere, the most interesting on the list was "Chernobyl Fox Makes Sandwich" on No.9.
The BBC are being very "kind" in not putting the EdStone story on the front page. That's the only reason it's not right up there. Anything else which had caused such a kerfuffle - and made the web-pages of every single newspaper - would have been given due prominence.
It is without doubt the biggest story of the election, today. It's also been on C4 News and SkyNews.
It's of what people read and watch on the BBC website, not what the BBC prefers.
And really the "Chernobyl Fox Makes Sandwich" story is far more interesting.
Not only this seat, i have heard a similar story in another hypermarginal (less than 1000 majority) in same region. No swing against first time incumbent, and very modest increase in pledge base on 2010.
EPG..The visitors would also have to go through Passport Control..when Scotland becomes the land of the Free
We can always break up scotland like we did with Ireland, keep the counties that are against independence in the UK like Ulster.
I'm not sure you quite grasp the history of how Ireland was partitioned.
Yes. Not exactly our finest hour as a nation. Unfortunately we have been paying for it off and on ever since. The idea of partitioning Scotland in the same way is ludicrous.
The idea that, say, the Borders would want to be separate from an independent Scotland is one of those things that doesn't even work as a joke.
If you are so confident then why not give them the right to democratically choose between joining an independent Scotland or remaining in the UK. Let the people decide.
It doesn't work like that. Borders is an integral part of Scotland. Borderers are bound to accept the will of their countrymen and women. If you start messing around with that principle where do you stop?
Like Eastern Ukraine.
I'd like to think we're a bit more civilised.
That is why I think we should give them the right to secede from Scotland if they wish.
Ed tweeted this earlier, he seems to be saying should he break any of his key election promises he will not stand for PM next time around. He's set a very high bar here not quite sure he thought this one through:
Five hours later #EdStone is the top UK trend again.
I wonder if this will have an impact, now.
No. People don't care were politicians put their election pledges, as long as it's not toilet paper.
And I looked at the BBC's most read and watched and it's nowhere, the most interesting on the list was "Chernobyl Fox Makes Sandwich" on No.9.
The BBC are being very "kind" in not putting the EdStone story on the front page. That's the only reason it's not right up there. Anything else which had caused such a kerfuffle - and made the web-pages of every single newspaper - would have been given due prominence.
It is without doubt the biggest story of the election, today. It's also been on C4 News and SkyNews.
It's of what people read and watch on the BBC website, not what the BBC prefers.
And really the "Chernobyl Fox Makes Sandwich" story is far more interesting.
Don't be a halfwit. If the story is not prominent, it won't be read by many. A front page headline of a newspaper will get more readers than a paragraph on page 46, no matter how newsworthy the 2nd might be.
Actually stories tend to get more hits than home/ index pages these days, with the lions share of referrals coming from search, social.
Not only this seat, i have heard a similar story in another hypermarginal (less than 1000 majority) in same region. No swing against first time incumbent, and very modest increase in pledge base on 2010.
Five hours later #EdStone is the top UK trend again.
I wonder if this will have an impact, now.
No. People don't care were politicians put their election pledges, as long as it's not toilet paper.
And I looked at the BBC's most read and watched and it's nowhere, the most interesting on the list was "Chernobyl Fox Makes Sandwich" on No.9.
The BBC are being very "kind" in not putting the EdStone story on the front page. That's the only reason it's not right up there. Anything else which had caused such a kerfuffle - and made the web-pages of every single newspaper - would have been given due prominence.
It is without doubt the biggest story of the election, today. It's also been on C4 News and SkyNews.
It's of what people read and watch on the BBC website, not what the BBC prefers.
And really the "Chernobyl Fox Makes Sandwich" story is far more interesting.
Don't be a halfwit. If the story is not prominent, it won't be read by many. A front page headline of a newspaper will get more readers than a paragraph on page 46, no matter how newsworthy the 2nd might be.
Why should it be frontpage news? People are not interested and it's not important.
Five hours later #EdStone is the top UK trend again.
I wonder if this will have an impact, now.
No. People don't care were politicians put their election pledges, as long as it's not toilet paper.
And I looked at the BBC's most read and watched and it's nowhere, the most interesting on the list was "Chernobyl Fox Makes Sandwich" on No.9.
The BBC are being very "kind" in not putting the EdStone story on the front page. That's the only reason it's not right up there. Anything else which had caused such a kerfuffle - and made the web-pages of every single newspaper - would have been given due prominence.
It is without doubt the biggest story of the election, today. It's also been on C4 News and SkyNews.
It's of what people read and watch on the BBC website, not what the BBC prefers.
And really the "Chernobyl Fox Makes Sandwich" story is far more interesting.
Don't be a halfwit. If the story is not prominent, it won't be read by many. A front page headline of a newspaper will get more readers than a paragraph on page 46, no matter how newsworthy the 2nd might be.
Actually stories tend to get more hits than home/ index pages these days, with the lions share of referrals coming from search, social.
For some websites, perhaps. But I doubt its true for the BBC. Frequently "most shared" and "most read" are very different.
Ed tweeted this earlier, he seems to be saying should he break any of his key election promises he will not stand for PM next time around. He's set a very high bar here not quite sure he thought this one through:
twitter.com/Ed_Miliband/status/594845887244931072
It's meaningless. For example, someone could pledge "no tax rises", and raise National Insurance instead.
Not only this seat, i have heard a similar story in another hypermarginal (less than 1000 majority) in same region. No swing against first time incumbent, and very modest increase in pledge base on 2010.
Morecambe or Carlisle?
There could easily be seats where the Tories get more votes than 2010, but still lose. Canvassing identifies supporters, but not opponents.
Five hours later #EdStone is the top UK trend again.
I wonder if this will have an impact, now.
No. People don't care were politicians put their election pledges, as long as it's not toilet paper.
And I looked at the BBC's most read and watched and it's nowhere, the most interesting on the list was "Chernobyl Fox Makes Sandwich" on No.9.
The BBC are being very "kind" in not putting the EdStone story on the front page. That's the only reason it's not right up there. Anything else which had caused such a kerfuffle - and made the web-pages of every single newspaper - would have been given due prominence.
It is without doubt the biggest story of the election, today. It's also been on C4 News and SkyNews.
It's of what people read and watch on the BBC website, not what the BBC prefers.
And really the "Chernobyl Fox Makes Sandwich" story is far more interesting.
Don't be a halfwit. If the story is not prominent, it won't be read by many. A front page headline of a newspaper will get more readers than a paragraph on page 46, no matter how newsworthy the 2nd might be.
Why should it be frontpage news? People are not interested and it's not important.
Ed tweeted this earlier, he seems to be saying should he break any of his key election promises he will not stand for PM next time around. He's set a very high bar here not quite sure he thought this one through:
twitter.com/Ed_Miliband/status/594845887244931072
It's meaningless. For example, someone could pledge "no tax rises", and raise National Insurance instead.
I wonder if anyone has done that?
The Tories tend to be more brazen - they pledge 'no VAT rise' then raise VAT.
Yarm is an Integral Part of the Borough of Stockton on Tees. That didn't stop them having a referendum to leave and join North Yorkshire.
Not sure what you mean by 'integral'. Yarm is part of Yorkshire which Stockton isn't. That's a divide far more profound that what some recent council boundary reform might have thrown up.
Also on EdStone, I'll be surprised if some of the tabloids don't run with this meme: a party leader in front of a ridiculous Policy Monolith. It's just so deliciously easy to spoof, and mock, and photoshop.
It could easily become the single defining image of the election (this doesn't mean it will necessarily harm Labour that much).
When we look back at 2015, what will we remember? What will lodge in the mind? Cameron's "career defining" gaffe, Sturgeon's chopper, Farage looking sweaty, nothing at all about Nick Clegg, Miliband's semi-trip on TV....
Riding above them all, I suggest, will be Ed Stone. The would-be prime minister with his Pound Shop Pyramid.
But it doesn't mean Ed will lose.
Lovers of barbarous neologisms can rejoice in agreeing that Ed has now sheffielded.
It's the sheer unforcedness of the error that has me rolling on the floor.
Yarm is an Integral Part of the Borough of Stockton on Tees. That didn't stop them having a referendum to leave and join North Yorkshire.
Not sure what you mean by 'integral'. Yarm is part of Yorkshire which Stockton isn't. That's a divide far more profound that what some recent council boundary reform might have thrown up.
On that basis Ingleby Barwick should be treated in the same way as Yarm, but the Yarmites want to be rid of them too.
KateMaltby (@KateMaltby) 03/05/2015 10:33 Wow. I ask @JackDromeyMP for comment on attending a sex-segregated event, before I can write it up for @spectator, and he blocks me.
Ed tweeted this earlier, he seems to be saying should he break any of his key election promises he will not stand for PM next time around. He's set a very high bar here not quite sure he thought this one through:
Worse for Labour, it's back up to trending number one on Twitter while the Chelsea championship trends down.
Think about that. An electoral gaffe which started trending at around 11am is now trending much more strongly than the winning of the Premiership at 4pm.
The odd thing about EdStone is that its so obviously prime meat for a send up. One wonders whether it was deliberate. A means to get attention and deny oxygen to other things. Eds keeping us entertained. We have to give him that.
Not only this seat, i have heard a similar story in another hypermarginal (less than 1000 majority) in same region. No swing against first time incumbent, and very modest increase in pledge base on 2010.
Morecambe or Carlisle?
If I identify the seat, then it just becomes ramping, and to be discounted as such.
Worse for Labour, it's back up to trending number one on Twitter while the Chelsea championship trends down.
Think about that. An electoral gaffe which started trending at around 11am is now trending much more strongly than the winning of the Premiership at 4pm.
I think about it and think 'political activists are typing on twitter while Chelsea fans are out on the lash'
Also on EdStone, I'll be surprised if some of the tabloids don't run with this meme: a party leader in front of a ridiculous Policy Monolith. It's just so deliciously easy to spoof, and mock, and photoshop.
It could easily become the single defining image of the election (this doesn't mean it will necessarily harm Labour that much).
When we look back at 2015, what will we remember? What will lodge in the mind? Cameron's "career defining" gaffe, Sturgeon's chopper, Farage looking sweaty, nothing at all about Nick Clegg, Miliband's semi-trip on TV....
Riding above them all, I suggest, will be Ed Stone. The would-be prime minister with his Pound Shop Pyramid.
But it doesn't mean Ed will lose.
The papers will cover it. It's very silly and invites ridicule. But the royal baby will probably make most of the tabloid leads and will take up many inside pages. There'll also be a fair bit of Chelsea. And it's a bank holiday tomorrow, so sales will be down.
Yarm is an Integral Part of the Borough of Stockton on Tees. That didn't stop them having a referendum to leave and join North Yorkshire.
Not sure what you mean by 'integral'. Yarm is part of Yorkshire which Stockton isn't. That's a divide far more profound that what some recent council boundary reform might have thrown up.
On that basis Ingleby Barwick should be treated in the same way as Yarm, but the Yarmites want to be rid of them too.
They might well but it was your assertion that Yarm was an Integral Part the borough of Stockton on Tees (capital letters, no less), that I was disputing. In fact, nothing is integral if the people concerned don't believe it to be so.
Worse for Labour, it's back up to trending number one on Twitter while the Chelsea championship trends down.
Think about that. An electoral gaffe which started trending at around 11am is now trending much more strongly than the winning of the Premiership at 4pm.
Can't find the energy to look, but I think twitter is being pooh-poohed today by the same rattled lefties who thought it was the revealed truth when the ridiculous twitter worm appeared to give QT to ed on Thursday.
How thoughtful of Kensington Palace not to spoil ed's moment by knocking him off the top spot with a name announcement, incidentally. Not that the Royal Family are remotely partisan, but it would counterbalance the BBC a bit if they were.
Five hours later #EdStone is the top UK trend again.
I wonder if this will have an impact, now.
No. People don't care were politicians put their election pledges, as long as it's not toilet paper.
And I looked at the BBC's most read and watched and it's nowhere, the most interesting on the list was "Chernobyl Fox Makes Sandwich" on No.9.
The BBC are being very "kind" in not putting the EdStone story on the front page. That's the only reason it's not right up there. Anything else which had caused such a kerfuffle - and made the web-pages of every single newspaper - would have been given due prominence.
It is without doubt the biggest story of the election, today. It's also been on C4 News and SkyNews.
The BBC are often very kind - like pulling the plug on a couple of Labour party spokesman train crashes and David Cameron's live speech this morning. Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, third time is enemy action. Presumably the champagne is NOT on a sale or return basis.
KateMaltby (@KateMaltby) 03/05/2015 10:33 Wow. I ask @JackDromeyMP for comment on attending a sex-segregated event, before I can write it up for @spectator, and he blocks me.
This is somewhat more serious than a large stone, it's about the fundamentals of what it means to be British.
I wonder if certain parts of the media can get it running tomorrow, DT and Sky news maybe? If I was writing the Mail's headline, I might even come up with "Back to the Stone Age" as a link between the two stories... (C)Sandpit 2015!
Worse for Labour, it's back up to trending number one on Twitter while the Chelsea championship trends down.
Think about that. An electoral gaffe which started trending at around 11am is now trending much more strongly than the winning of the Premiership at 4pm.
I think about it and think 'political activists are typing on twitter while Chelsea fans are out on the lash'
But people tweet while they are shagging these days. Tweeting is certainly not incompatible with being out on the lash.
I wander off for a bit...and when I return, my regular Twitter feed is 1020, while #EdStone is 3973.....and 6 hours later its still number 1 in the UK....the best comment I've read - He's a Limestone Vowboy......
KateMaltby (@KateMaltby) 03/05/2015 10:33 Wow. I ask @JackDromeyMP for comment on attending a sex-segregated event, before I can write it up for @spectator, and he blocks me.
This is somewhat more serious than a large stone, it's about the fundamentals of what is British.
I wonder if certain parts of the media can get it running tomorrow, DT and Sky news maybe? If I was writing the Mail's headline, I might even come up with "Back to the Stone Age" as a contrast... (C)Sandpit 2015!
Labour are supposed to be the progressives.
But when there are votes to be mined .. I mean had all that stuff goes out of the window.
Perhaps human rights and dignity should have been added to Ed's stone.
Five hours later #EdStone is the top UK trend again.
I wonder if this will have an impact, now.
Had a day off, tuned into PB, saw your comment. Wondered what it was, assumed some cannabis policy. Truth just plain weird.properly odd.
If they want me to deliver those they can forget it.
Very droll.
Ed's been rather fortunate that the royal baby's hidden the stone. I'd be surprised if the name isn't announced tomorrow given the potential clash with the election. By Tuesday, the story will probably have moved on.
If he is elected, I can see the Downing St garden getting several leylandii to plant in front of it pretty quickly.
Yarm is an Integral Part of the Borough of Stockton on Tees. That didn't stop them having a referendum to leave and join North Yorkshire.
Not sure what you mean by 'integral'. Yarm is part of Yorkshire which Stockton isn't. That's a divide far more profound that what some recent council boundary reform might have thrown up.
On that basis Ingleby Barwick should be treated in the same way as Yarm, but the Yarmites want to be rid of them too.
They might well but it was your assertion that Yarm was an Integral Part the borough of Stockton on Tees (capital letters, no less), that I was disputing. In fact, nothing is integral if the people concerned don't believe it to be so.
Worse for Labour, it's back up to trending number one on Twitter while the Chelsea championship trends down.
Think about that. An electoral gaffe which started trending at around 11am is now trending much more strongly than the winning of the Premiership at 4pm.
I think about it and think 'political activists are typing on twitter while Chelsea fans are out on the lash'
By out on the lash you mean in some trendy wine bar on the King's Road?
KateMaltby (@KateMaltby) 03/05/2015 10:33 Wow. I ask @JackDromeyMP for comment on attending a sex-segregated event, before I can write it up for @spectator, and he blocks me.
This is somewhat more serious than a large stone, it's about the fundamentals of what it means to be British.
I wonder if certain parts of the media can get it running tomorrow, DT and Sky news maybe? If I was writing the Mail's headline, I might even come up with "Back to the Stone Age" as a link between the two stories... (C)Sandpit 2015!
But the 'pledges' are just meaningless guff, aren't they? "An NHS with the time to care." I mean, come on. He did miss two though,
Five hours later #EdStone is the top UK trend again.
I wonder if this will have an impact, now.
No. People don't care were politicians put their election pledges, as long as it's not toilet paper.
And I looked at the BBC's most read and watched and it's nowhere, the most interesting on the list was "Chernobyl Fox Makes Sandwich" on No.9.
The BBC are being very "kind" in not putting the EdStone story on the front page. That's the only reason it's not right up there. Anything else which had caused such a kerfuffle - and made the web-pages of every single newspaper - would have been given due prominence.
It is without doubt the biggest story of the election, today. It's also been on C4 News and SkyNews.
It's of what people read and watch on the BBC website, not what the BBC prefers.
And really the "Chernobyl Fox Makes Sandwich" story is far more interesting.
Don't be a halfwit. If the story is not prominent, it won't be read by many. A front page headline of a newspaper will get more readers than a paragraph on page 46, no matter how newsworthy the 2nd might be.
Why should it be frontpage news? People are not interested and it's not important.
It's "dog bites man" news.
A dog bites man news story is when something predictable happens. Like, say, a dog biting a man. Or a politician getting caught telling a half truth. Or a football match ending in a draw.
A party leader deciding to have his six election pledges specially chiselled into an eight and half foot high limestone obelisk, which he hopes to have installed in the Garden of Number 10, and then being filmed and photographed in front of his Giant-size Electoral Menhir is not "predictable". It is utterly, utterly stupid, it is risibly insane, it is deliciously ridiculous, and it will enter political folklore, and we will still be referring to it fondly in five or ten years, just as we talk about Kinnock falling over on the beach and John Prescott's punch.
It is therefore newsworthy.
I also think the need to see yourself ceremonially castrated if you break a pointless pledge is a bit weak weak weak as well.
Ed tweeted this earlier, he seems to be saying should he break any of his key election promises he will not stand for PM next time around. He's set a very high bar here not quite sure he thought this one through:
"Other than Curran, Murphy and Alexander, Labour insiders are hopeful candidates Tom Greatrex, Tom Clarke, Willie Bain and Ian Murray will hold on."
Wasting resources on Curran and Alexander is utterly pointless.
Labour under 5 seats in Scotland and SNP to gain more than 51 seats look like very safe bets. I doubt that Labour is ahead in any of the seats listed and probably down by double digits in some. I seriously doubt that they will hold onto a single seat.
Also on EdStone, I'll be surprised if some of the tabloids don't run with this meme: a party leader in front of a ridiculous Policy Monolith. It's just so deliciously easy to spoof, and mock, and photoshop.
It could easily become the single defining image of the election (this doesn't mean it will necessarily harm Labour that much).
When we look back at 2015, what will we remember? What will lodge in the mind? Cameron's "career defining" gaffe, Sturgeon's chopper, Farage looking sweaty, nothing at all about Nick Clegg, Miliband's semi-trip on TV....
Riding above them all, I suggest, will be Ed Stone. The would-be prime minister with his Pound Shop Pyramid.
But it doesn't mean Ed will lose.
The papers will cover it. It's very silly and invites ridicule. But the royal baby will probably make most of the tabloid leads and will take up many inside pages. There'll also be a fair bit of Chelsea. And it's a bank holiday tomorrow, so sales will be down.
It is already THE image of the election, though, isn't it? It really is. Nothing will come close.
It is actually better (i.e. funnier and stupider) than the Elvis thing. It's more ambitiously absurd. More brilliantly misjudged.
I literally cannot think of an election stunt, in history, that matches it. Though perhaps some pb historians will remind me.
It's very Ed. That face is hilarious. But maybe I am too far away from the action here in Lynmouth. I just can't see this as much of a story with legs. There'll be a load of ridicule then everything will move on. I genuinely cannot remember the Elvis thing beyond it being an embarrassment of some kind. What was it?
Ed tweeted this earlier, he seems to be saying should he break any of his key election promises he will not stand for PM next time around. He's set a very high bar here not quite sure he thought this one through:
twitter.com/Ed_Miliband/status/594845887244931072
It's meaningless. For example, someone could pledge "no tax rises", and raise National Insurance instead.
I wonder if anyone has done that?
The Tories tend to be more brazen - they pledge 'no VAT rise' then raise VAT.
Which party ended up in court over their manifesto?
Five hours later #EdStone is the top UK trend again.
I wonder if this will have an impact, now.
No. People don't care were politicians put their election pledges, as long as it's not toilet paper.
And I looked at the BBC's most read and watched and it's nowhere, the most interesting on the list was "Chernobyl Fox Makes Sandwich" on No.9.
The BBC are being very "kind" in not putting the EdStone story on the front page. That's the only reason it's not right up there. Anything else which had caused such a kerfuffle - and made the web-pages of every single newspaper - would have been given due prominence.
It is without doubt the biggest story of the election, today. It's also been on C4 News and SkyNews.
The BBC are often very kind - like pulling the plug on a couple of Labour party spokesman train crashes and David Cameron's live speech this morning. Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, third time is enemy action. Presumably the champagne is NOT on a sale or return basis.
The Tory-run BBC seems to be leading on Cameron's EU referendum and does include Edstone. Doubtless if it promoted the stone above Cameron, you'd be complaining about that too.
KateMaltby (@KateMaltby) 03/05/2015 10:33 Wow. I ask @JackDromeyMP for comment on attending a sex-segregated event, before I can write it up for @spectator, and he blocks me.
This is somewhat more serious than a large stone, it's about the fundamentals of what it means to be British.
What would have happened if the audience had been divided into "black" and "white" sections?
The thing that I don't get is that 8 foot limestone tablets don't come cheap or quick - that means that many people over the space of many months could have pointed out just how stupid the EdStone was.
Yarm is an Integral Part of the Borough of Stockton on Tees. That didn't stop them having a referendum to leave and join North Yorkshire.
Not sure what you mean by 'integral'. Yarm is part of Yorkshire which Stockton isn't. That's a divide far more profound that what some recent council boundary reform might have thrown up.
On that basis Ingleby Barwick should be treated in the same way as Yarm, but the Yarmites want to be rid of them too.
They might well but it was your assertion that Yarm was an Integral Part the borough of Stockton on Tees (capital letters, no less), that I was disputing. In fact, nothing is integral if the people concerned don't believe it to be so.
So is Berwick an integral part of England?
Do the good folk there believe it to be? History matters; the current settlement matters; but neither is definitive.
KateMaltby (@KateMaltby) 03/05/2015 10:33 Wow. I ask @JackDromeyMP for comment on attending a sex-segregated event, before I can write it up for @spectator, and he blocks me.
This is somewhat more serious than a large stone, it's about the fundamentals of what it means to be British.
What would have happened if the audience had been divided into "black" and "white" sections?
Also on EdStone, I'll be surprised if some of the tabloids don't run with this meme: a party leader in front of a ridiculous Policy Monolith. It's just so deliciously easy to spoof, and mock, and photoshop.
It could easily become the single defining image of the election (this doesn't mean it will necessarily harm Labour that much).
When we look back at 2015, what will we remember? What will lodge in the mind? Cameron's "career defining" gaffe, Sturgeon's chopper, Farage looking sweaty, nothing at all about Nick Clegg, Miliband's semi-trip on TV....
Riding above them all, I suggest, will be Ed Stone. The would-be prime minister with his Pound Shop Pyramid.
But it doesn't mean Ed will lose.
The papers will cover it. It's very silly and invites ridicule. But the royal baby will probably make most of the tabloid leads and will take up many inside pages. There'll also be a fair bit of Chelsea. And it's a bank holiday tomorrow, so sales will be down.
It is already THE image of the election, though, isn't it? It really is. Nothing will come close.
Five hours later #EdStone is the top UK trend again.
I wonder if this will have an impact, now.
No. People don't care were politicians put their election pledges, as long as it's not toilet paper.
And I looked at the BBC's most read and watched and it's nowhere, the most interesting on the list was "Chernobyl Fox Makes Sandwich" on No.9.
The BBC are being very "kind" in not putting the EdStone story on the front page. That's the only reason it's not right up there. Anything else which had caused such a kerfuffle - and made the web-pages of every single newspaper - would have been given due prominence.
It is without doubt the biggest story of the election, today. It's also been on C4 News and SkyNews.
The BBC are often very kind - like pulling the plug on a couple of Labour party spokesman train crashes and David Cameron's live speech this morning. Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, third time is enemy action. Presumably the champagne is NOT on a sale or return basis.
The Tory-run BBC seems to be leading on Cameron's EU referendum and does include Edstone. Doubtless if it promoted the stone above Cameron, you'd be complaining about that too.
The BBC must be thinking,Christ,what have we done,Ed could be PM by end of the week.
Worse for Labour, it's back up to trending number one on Twitter while the Chelsea championship trends down.
Think about that. An electoral gaffe which started trending at around 11am is now trending much more strongly than the winning of the Premiership at 4pm.
I think about it and think 'political activists are typing on twitter while Chelsea fans are out on the lash'
But people tweet while they are shagging these days. Tweeting is certainly not incompatible with being out on the lash.
This is trending because people with a vested interest in seeing him fail are keeping it trending, so that the people who slavishly follow them report it trending
Yarm is an Integral Part of the Borough of Stockton on Tees. That didn't stop them having a referendum to leave and join North Yorkshire.
Not sure what you mean by 'integral'. Yarm is part of Yorkshire which Stockton isn't. That's a divide far more profound that what some recent council boundary reform might have thrown up.
On that basis Ingleby Barwick should be treated in the same way as Yarm, but the Yarmites want to be rid of them too.
They might well but it was your assertion that Yarm was an Integral Part the borough of Stockton on Tees (capital letters, no less), that I was disputing. In fact, nothing is integral if the people concerned don't believe it to be so.
So is Berwick an integral part of England?
Do the good folk there believe it to be? History matters; the current settlement matters; but neither is definitive.
On that basis we could have a referendum in every town and village asking who they want to be part of. Seems a bit extreme.
For all those tempted by PC at 7/5 in Ceredgion, can I just say 4-1 on LibDems 11-20 seats is much better value. I can see the LibDems keeping Ceredgion and getting more than 20 seats. I cannot see them losing it and getting more than 20.
Worse for Labour, it's back up to trending number one on Twitter while the Chelsea championship trends down.
Think about that. An electoral gaffe which started trending at around 11am is now trending much more strongly than the winning of the Premiership at 4pm.
I wouldn't call it a gaffe. I'd call it a smart move. Firstly, I think it makes Ed stand out from the crowd. To the ordinary voter, it distinguishes him from the other opportunists who live by the precept: "What do I care about the rubbish I talked yesterday to get elected?" It brings the issue into focus. Secondly, take note that there is nothing about the SNP on the pledges... Ed's killing 2 birds with 1 stone.
Interestingly it sounds like the SNP/Nicola's message for the final days of the campaign is giong to be "An opportunity for Scotland to Unite" - both behind the SNP and for a strong voice.
Ed tweeted this earlier, he seems to be saying should he break any of his key election promises he will not stand for PM next time around. He's set a very high bar here not quite sure he thought this one through:
I agree with her conclusion below but I would replace British with Scottish, as we Scots have been the subject of relentless abuse by the MSM and the 3 "mainstream parties":
"But here’s the thing: the British do not like being shouted at. They particularly dislike being threatened – as a number of foreign aggressors have learnt to their cost. Nor do they like being taken for fools – as Miliband appears to do, when he insists that he will make no concessions to the SNP. As often as not, they give no sign of their disgust. They do not shout back. They just wait quietly for the sanctity of the voting booth and then they do what they think is right without fear or favour."
My favourite is Kelvin MacKenzie's Sun article - I think we've found the new Top Gear host:
"Kelvin MacKenzie sparked outrage on after he said Scots living in England should be shipped back to Edinburgh as "McBoat people". In a rant in the Sun newspaper, MacKenzie used the humanitarian crisis in the Mediterranean to take yet another pop at Scotland, or “Jockestan. MacKenzie", the Tory paper's former editor, said: “Get those Libyan people smugglers to bring their boats to the Thames and we will load up all the Jocks and drop them off in Edinburgh.”
Five hours later #EdStone is the top UK trend again.
I wonder if this will have an impact, now.
No. People don't care were politicians put their election pledges, as long as it's not toilet paper.
And I looked at the BBC's most read and watched and it's nowhere, the most interesting on the list was "Chernobyl Fox Makes Sandwich" on No.9.
The BBC are being very "kind" in not putting the EdStone story on the front page. That's the only reason it's not right up there. Anything else which had caused such a kerfuffle - and made the web-pages of every single newspaper - would have been given due prominence.
It is without doubt the biggest story of the election, today. It's also been on C4 News and SkyNews.
The BBC are often very kind - like pulling the plug on a couple of Labour party spokesman train crashes and David Cameron's live speech this morning. Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, third time is enemy action. Presumably the champagne is NOT on a sale or return basis.
The Tory-run BBC seems to be leading on Cameron's EU referendum and does include Edstone. Doubtless if it promoted the stone above Cameron, you'd be complaining about that too.
The BBC must be thinking,Christ,what have we done,Ed could be PM by end of the week.
I think a few might be thinking that when their hand hovers over the ballot in the booth.
Sky: The EdStone is currently "in storage", location undisclosed.
The stone will now have a life of its own. It guarantees years of ridicule. Is he really going to put it up in his Number 10 garden? Every visitor will want to see it.
"Where's the stone? Can we see the stone?"
Diplomats will collapse with hysterics. Visiting presidents will stand, blinking, in disbelief, as their aides stuff hankies in their mouths to stifle the chortling.
The Stone. Show us the Stone. Oh look. There it is. An NHS With Time To Care.
*muffled cackles*
It reminds me of the Michael Jackson statue at Craven Cottage.
KateMaltby (@KateMaltby) 03/05/2015 10:33 Wow. I ask @JackDromeyMP for comment on attending a sex-segregated event, before I can write it up for @spectator, and he blocks me.
This is somewhat more serious than a large stone, it's about the fundamentals of what is British.
I wonder if certain parts of the media can get it running tomorrow, DT and Sky news maybe? If I was writing the Mail's headline, I might even come up with "Back to the Stone Age" as a contrast... (C)Sandpit 2015!
Labour are supposed to be the progressives.
But when there are votes to be mined .. I mean had all that stuff goes out of the window.
Perhaps human rights and dignity should have been added to Ed's stone.
They only get away with behaviour like this in front of certain audiences because it's not reported outside the 'communities' that consider it acceptable.
Imagine if last week's QT had started with Ed being asked if sex segregation should be allowed in 21st century Britain? It needs to be out in the open, same as problems in Rotherham and Tower Hamlets that seem to be ignored by a compliant media.
Maybe with the election so close some of the press can run with this, it's probably the only genuine potential game-changer left in the campaign.
Yarm is an Integral Part of the Borough of Stockton on Tees. That didn't stop them having a referendum to leave and join North Yorkshire.
Not sure what you mean by 'integral'. Yarm is part of Yorkshire which Stockton isn't. That's a divide far more profound that what some recent council boundary reform might have thrown up.
On that basis Ingleby Barwick should be treated in the same way as Yarm, but the Yarmites want to be rid of them too.
They might well but it was your assertion that Yarm was an Integral Part the borough of Stockton on Tees (capital letters, no less), that I was disputing. In fact, nothing is integral if the people concerned don't believe it to be so.
So is Berwick an integral part of England?
Do the good folk there believe it to be? History matters; the current settlement matters; but neither is definitive.
IIRC it was something like 70:30 to stay with England when polled by the local rag but I have no idea how scientific the polling was.
My expectation is there would be no huge demand initially but it is likely that over time the consensus would shift to rejoin Scotland, especially if Scottish GDP and earnings are significantly higher.
Also on EdStone, I'll be surprised if some of the tabloids don't run with this meme: a party leader in front of a ridiculous Policy Monolith. It's just so deliciously easy to spoof, and mock, and photoshop.
It could easily become the single defining image of the election (this doesn't mean it will necessarily harm Labour that much).
When we look back at 2015, what will we remember? What will lodge in the mind? Cameron's "career defining" gaffe, Sturgeon's chopper, Farage looking sweaty, nothing at all about Nick Clegg, Miliband's semi-trip on TV....
Riding above them all, I suggest, will be Ed Stone. The would-be prime minister with his Pound Shop Pyramid.
But it doesn't mean Ed will lose.
The papers will cover it. It's very silly and invites ridicule. But the royal baby will probably make most of the tabloid leads and will take up many inside pages. There'll also be a fair bit of Chelsea. And it's a bank holiday tomorrow, so sales will be down.
It is already THE image of the election, though, isn't it? It really is. Nothing will come close.
It is actually better (i.e. funnier and stupider) than the Elvis thing. It's more ambitiously absurd. More brilliantly misjudged.
I literally cannot think of an election stunt, in history, that matches it. Though perhaps some pb historians will remind me.
The thing I notice about the stone is not the font; it is the way everything is machine-cut and blandly perfect. They should really have employed a hundred interns on zero-hours contracts to carve it with brass chisels out of the purest Derbyshire millstone grit, before a hundred more polished it with toothbrushes, spit and diamond paste. Finally the letters should have been carved by machines powered by the infinitely renewable ire of trade unionists and feminists angry with whatever they've read in the Guardian that day.
Basically: it's naff with no detectable artistry. It's a gravestone, where it should be something more proud: for instance an obelisk, rudely cut.
Just finished a day canvassing a hyper marginal north west con held seat with labour chasing. Canvassing those who either undecided or have not had contact with. I have to say the undecided are falling to the Cons more than Lab.
It is now becoming very clear that the Con support in this constituency is now a few percent above that which was won in 2010.
According to national and regional sub samples this seat should be long lost to Labour. There is *no* swing against Con in constituency (though of course the configuration of those who arent voting Con coalescing around the lab candidate could be enough ).
A note of caution. I have been a party agent a number of times and I can tell you that impressions of how it is going based on the anecdotes of canvassers are hardly worth the breath of repeating them. People on the ground, particularly in marginals, tend to fluctuate between wild optimism and even wilder optimism. I have also known canvassers that put anyone that doesn't actually physically remove them from the doorstep as "undecided".
I wander off for a bit...and when I return, my regular Twitter feed is 1020, while #EdStone is 3973.....and 6 hours later its still number 1 in the UK....the best comment I've read - He's a Limestone Vowboy......
Yarm is an Integral Part of the Borough of Stockton on Tees. That didn't stop them having a referendum to leave and join North Yorkshire.
Not sure what you mean by 'integral'. Yarm is part of Yorkshire which Stockton isn't. That's a divide far more profound that what some recent council boundary reform might have thrown up.
On that basis Ingleby Barwick should be treated in the same way as Yarm, but the Yarmites want to be rid of them too.
They might well but it was your assertion that Yarm was an Integral Part the borough of Stockton on Tees (capital letters, no less), that I was disputing. In fact, nothing is integral if the people concerned don't believe it to be so.
So is Berwick an integral part of England?
Do the good folk there believe it to be? History matters; the current settlement matters; but neither is definitive.
I went through school in Berwick before moving to Edinburgh to start work (early 60's) and I always felt English, though there was a mixture of views, but mainly we felt proud of being from Berwick and Northumberland
Ed tweeted this earlier, he seems to be saying should he break any of his key election promises he will not stand for PM next time around. He's set a very high bar here not quite sure he thought this one through:
Five hours later #EdStone is the top UK trend again.
I wonder if this will have an impact, now.
No. People don't care were politicians put their election pledges, as long as it's not toilet paper.
And I looked at the BBC's most read and watched and it's nowhere, the most interesting on the list was "Chernobyl Fox Makes Sandwich" on No.9.
The BBC are being very "kind" in not putting the EdStone story on the front page. That's the only reason it's not right up there. Anything else which had caused such a kerfuffle - and made the web-pages of every single newspaper - would have been given due prominence.
It is without doubt the biggest story of the election, today. It's also been on C4 News and SkyNews.
The BBC are often very kind - like pulling the plug on a couple of Labour party spokesman train crashes and David Cameron's live speech this morning. Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, third time is enemy action. Presumably the champagne is NOT on a sale or return basis.
The Tory-run BBC seems to be leading on Cameron's EU referendum and does include Edstone. Doubtless if it promoted the stone above Cameron, you'd be complaining about that too.
The BBC must be thinking,Christ,what have we done,Ed could be PM by end of the week.
I think a few might be thinking that when their hand hovers over the ballot in the booth.
Strangely no mention of Ed Stone on R5, just more of his "Tory Secret Plan" revelations, this time that the Tories are going to put up Tuition fees.
The BBC report all this stuff as fact, rather than what Labour can think up today as the tax / fee the Tories will increase. If you are going to make these claims, you need evidence.
Interestingly it sounds like the SNP/Nicola's message for the final days of the campaign is giong to be "An opportunity for Scotland to Unite" - both behind the SNP and for a strong voice.
That could be a very effective message.
How much more effective can you be when its is predicted you could win all the seats in Scotland?
KateMaltby (@KateMaltby) 03/05/2015 10:33 Wow. I ask @JackDromeyMP for comment on attending a sex-segregated event, before I can write it up for @spectator, and he blocks me.
This is somewhat more serious than a large stone, it's about the fundamentals of what it means to be British.
What would have happened if the audience had been divided into "black" and "white" sections?
Would Labour have been OK with that?
Quite. What does Mr Harman think of the Equalities Act that Mrs Harman passed. Does it not apply to political rallies, and if not why the f... not?
Yarm is an Integral Part of the Borough of Stockton on Tees. That didn't stop them having a referendum to leave and join North Yorkshire.
Not sure what you mean by 'integral'. Yarm is part of Yorkshire which Stockton isn't. That's a divide far more profound that what some recent council boundary reform might have thrown up.
On that basis Ingleby Barwick should be treated in the same way as Yarm, but the Yarmites want to be rid of them too.
They might well but it was your assertion that Yarm was an Integral Part the borough of Stockton on Tees (capital letters, no less), that I was disputing. In fact, nothing is integral if the people concerned don't believe it to be so.
So is Berwick an integral part of England?
Do the good folk there believe it to be? History matters; the current settlement matters; but neither is definitive.
I went through school in Berwick before moving to Edinburgh to start work (early 60's) and I always felt English, though there was a mixture of views, but mainly we felt proud of being from Berwick and Northumberland
Maybe Scotland shouldn't stop are repatriating just Berwick and allow the whole of Northumbria and Cumbria to join.
KateMaltby (@KateMaltby) 03/05/2015 10:33 Wow. I ask @JackDromeyMP for comment on attending a sex-segregated event, before I can write it up for @spectator, and he blocks me.
This is somewhat more serious than a large stone, it's about the fundamentals of what it means to be British.
What would have happened if the audience had been divided into "black" and "white" sections?
Would Labour have been OK with that?
Quite. What does Mr Harman think of the Equalities Act that Mrs Harman passed. Does it not apply to political rallies, and if not why the f... not?
He might not have blocked her on purpose, we all know how fat fingered he is when it comes to interacting with ladies on twitter.
Just finished a day canvassing a hyper marginal north west con held seat with labour chasing. Canvassing those who either undecided or have not had contact with. I have to say the undecided are falling to the Cons more than Lab.
It is now becoming very clear that the Con support in this constituency is now a few percent above that which was won in 2010.
According to national and regional sub samples this seat should be long lost to Labour. There is *no* swing against Con in constituency (though of course the configuration of those who arent voting Con coalescing around the lab candidate could be enough ).
How visible was your party identification? Did you canvas the same areas in '10?
rosettes, we are experienced canvassers, using previous boards. We know what we are doing and we are comparing like with like.
In reference to canvass results saying whatever people want them to say, i can tell you i am not ramping here, i havent named the seat, and im answering with absolute honesty in my results.
There is *no* swing against the Cons in this hyper marginal seat. I am pretty darn certain that the Tories will get same percent as last time, if not a touch more, whether that is enough is a different matter though. SNP raised numerous times.
PB anecdote: Just had my kipper dad on the phone ranting about the SNP. Looks like he is back in the blue corner. He is in Romsey, reckons Eastleigh will go blue too.
PB anecdote 2: Big houses in Harborough constituency now often have either a Con or LD board up. Nothing on smaller properties. Same in East Leicester but big houses for Keith Vaz, nill on smaller terraces etc. ?Turnout low in CDE groups.
Ed tweeted this earlier, he seems to be saying should he break any of his key election promises he will not stand for PM next time around. He's set a very high bar here not quite sure he thought this one through:
If Ed scrapes home propped up by the SNP Labour will have bigger problems come the next election than student fees and I rather think he knows it.
Ed's only hope is that he can somehow get 300 seats and LD+DUP are over 25. I don't think there is much chance of either.
DUP will be 9. Not seen many predictions of LD below 16.
Perhaps.
But the underlying point is that Lab+LD+DUP is the only viable "get out of the trap" for Milimandias and it's one of the less likely options. It is also, completely overlooked by the Bubble Media (again for the reasons I gave before - ignorance of where the DUP really stand).
Comments
"The BBC's Peter Hunt says the name of the duke and duchess's second child - sister to Prince George - will not be announced on Sunday."
The thing I did notice though that political posts signs were out side houses was on a long road that in the last election had all labour signs but now have all respect signs.
How about he says to Sturgeon - ok full fiscal autonomy ( 50% of all taxes raised/spent?) are transferred to Holyrood plus the right to call Indy ref 2.0 post 2020 in return for exactly the same fiscal arrangements for England based kn English MP's ( sort of super EV4L). One Act then you can no confidence me and Ed takes over shorn of a big chunk of power. English bit could then be repealed by Ed plus Scots thereafter but blinking risky for Ed to do that.
Probably nonsense but I bet the Tories have war gamed something given a close result has been likely for yonks.
In reference to canvass results saying whatever people want them to say, i can tell you i am not ramping here, i havent named the seat, and im answering with absolute honesty in my results.
There is *no* swing against the Cons in this hyper marginal seat. I am pretty darn certain that the Tories will get same percent as last time, if not a touch more, whether that is enough is a different matter though. SNP raised numerous times.
And really the "Chernobyl Fox Makes Sandwich" story is far more interesting.
https://twitter.com/Ed_Miliband/status/594845887244931072
People are not interested and it's not important.
It's "dog bites man" news.
It's meaningless. For example, someone could pledge "no tax rises", and raise National Insurance instead.
I wonder if anyone has done that?
Anyway this story is on the front page of BBC news.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2015-32573812
I never thought Ed would outdo the Elvis impersonator, but, wow!
I'd quite forgotten (deliberately).
too much GE excitement .
It's the sheer unforcedness of the error that has me rolling on the floor.
KateMaltby (@KateMaltby)
03/05/2015 10:33
Wow. I ask @JackDromeyMP for comment on attending a sex-segregated event, before I can write it up for @spectator, and he blocks me.
https://twitter.com/Rhys_Jose/status/594905974110031872
Worse for Labour, it's back up to trending number one on Twitter while the Chelsea championship trends down.
Think about that. An electoral gaffe which started trending at around 11am is now trending much more strongly than the winning of the Premiership at 4pm.
Perhaps Ed just doesn't understand modern technology?
He struggled coming up with ideas when he just had a "blank piece of paper".
So someone suggested he could write them on a tablet...
How thoughtful of Kensington Palace not to spoil ed's moment by knocking him off the top spot with a name announcement, incidentally. Not that the Royal Family are remotely partisan, but it would counterbalance the BBC a bit if they were.
I wonder if certain parts of the media can get it running tomorrow, DT and Sky news maybe? If I was writing the Mail's headline, I might even come up with "Back to the Stone Age" as a link between the two stories... (C)Sandpit 2015!
Dumferline West Fife seems to be reasonably resistant for w/e reason in the models...
But when there are votes to be mined .. I mean had all that stuff goes out of the window.
Perhaps human rights and dignity should have been added to Ed's stone.
That said Tories would probably have offered eagles for Russian oligarchs and sparrows for the rest of us.
I bet the LDs are cross, they would have been particularly well placed.
Ed's been rather fortunate that the royal baby's hidden the stone. I'd be surprised if the name isn't announced tomorrow given the potential clash with the election. By Tuesday, the story will probably have moved on.
If he is elected, I can see the Downing St garden getting several leylandii to plant in front of it pretty quickly.
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/election-2015-best-reactions-ed-milibands-policy-rock-1499524
7. Motherhood.
8. Apple Pie.
What would have happened if the audience had been divided into "black" and "white" sections?
Would Labour have been OK with that?
£10 to win £60
That could be a very effective message.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/general-election-2015/11578417/Why-I-trust-in-the-voters-to-use-their-common-sense.html
I agree with her conclusion below but I would replace British with Scottish, as we Scots have been the subject of relentless abuse by the MSM and the 3 "mainstream parties":
"But here’s the thing: the British do not like being shouted at. They particularly dislike being threatened – as a number of foreign aggressors have learnt to their cost. Nor do they like being taken for fools – as Miliband appears to do, when he insists that he will make no concessions to the SNP. As often as not, they give no sign of their disgust. They do not shout back. They just wait quietly for the sanctity of the voting booth and then they do what they think is right without fear or favour."
My favourite is Kelvin MacKenzie's Sun article - I think we've found the new Top Gear host:
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/load-up-jocks-drop-edinburgh-5591890
"Kelvin MacKenzie sparked outrage on after he said Scots living in England should be shipped back to Edinburgh as "McBoat people". In a rant in the Sun newspaper, MacKenzie used the humanitarian crisis in the Mediterranean to take yet another pop at Scotland, or “Jockestan. MacKenzie", the Tory paper's former editor, said: “Get those Libyan people smugglers to bring their boats to the Thames and we will load up all the Jocks and drop them off in Edinburgh.”
Imagine if last week's QT had started with Ed being asked if sex segregation should be allowed in 21st century Britain? It needs to be out in the open, same as problems in Rotherham and Tower Hamlets that seem to be ignored by a compliant media.
Maybe with the election so close some of the press can run with this, it's probably the only genuine potential game-changer left in the campaign.
My expectation is there would be no huge demand initially but it is likely that over time the consensus would shift to rejoin Scotland, especially if Scottish GDP and earnings are significantly higher.
Basically: it's naff with no detectable artistry. It's a gravestone, where it should be something more proud: for instance an obelisk, rudely cut.
The BBC report all this stuff as fact, rather than what Labour can think up today as the tax / fee the Tories will increase. If you are going to make these claims, you need evidence.
PB anecdote: Just had my kipper dad on the phone ranting about the SNP. Looks like he is back in the blue corner. He is in Romsey, reckons Eastleigh will go blue too.
PB anecdote 2: Big houses in Harborough constituency now often have either a Con or LD board up. Nothing on smaller properties. Same in East Leicester but big houses for Keith Vaz, nill on smaller terraces etc. ?Turnout low in CDE groups.
But the underlying point is that Lab+LD+DUP is the only viable "get out of the trap" for Milimandias and it's one of the less likely options. It is also, completely overlooked by the Bubble Media (again for the reasons I gave before - ignorance of where the DUP really stand).