Gus O’Donnell on Daily Politics: 'He confirmed that, if a second election ends up being held in November, the Fixed-term Parliaments Act means all future general elections would be held in November. Because of the weather, this would be very bad news for campaigners.'
I think Carswell will survive. But he may be on his own!
I could see that being more likely than these projections showing UKIP getting extra seats, but given the closeness of this election I could also see UKIP being less attractive to voters who know that the real battle in England & Wales is between the big three parties and that, for once, every vote may count.
UKIP is going nowhere. Why waste a vote on it? The other small parties in E&W will face a similar problem.
Daily Mail missed a trick with their tactical voting guide - they should have added a dozen seats where tories should vote UKIP - Rotherham, Rother Valley etc. Had they done that then UKIP voters would have been more likely to vote Tory on a 'you scratch my back...' basis.
I have a feeling that a few of the Northern towns where certain problems occurred could be surprises on the night. Places where a single party has dominated for decades on small turnouts and they don't have the machinery in place to canvass or GOTV because they've never had to bother before. No-one will really see it coming until the result is declared, same as Galloway's by-election (which was of course tipped by OGH at long odds!).
Agree. The North will be the most interesting region tomorrow because of that.
Think I would trust Clegg most to babysit of the main 4 English party leaders, though I would be concerned that if he read them a bedtime story they might end up with £9000 debt each
Video chat software Skype's name is so similar to the broadcaster Sky's that the public is likely to be confused between the two, an EU court has ruled.
The judgement prevents Microsoft from registering a trademark for Skype's name and bubble-design logo.
Think I would trust Clegg most to babysit of the main 4 English party leaders, though I would be concerned that if he read them a bedtime story they might end up with £9000 debt each
He's one of those guys who turns out to be alright once you delouse him of politics
Still nothing further as regards tomorrow night's would-be bunfight at the Finborough Arms and there's nothing on the pub's website either, so I'm assuming it's all died a death .... pity really as it could have been fun, particularly during the early hours of Friday. I shall keep Her Indoors entertained instead.
I think Stonch posted an update in PB yesterday or day before.
Reminds me of when Bethesda were dicks about a game called Fallout Something-or-other (I forget the latter half, but it was immediately recognisably as not being an RPG in the Fallout 3 vein) and forced it to change the title.
Still nothing further as regards tomorrow night's would-be bunfight at the Finborough Arms and there's nothing on the pub's website either, so I'm assuming it's all died a death .... pity really as it could have been fun, particularly during the early hours of Friday. I shall keep Her Indoors entertained instead.
I think Stonch posted an update in PB yesterday or day before.
Will you be there, and will the pollsters know their ARSE from their ELBOW ?
Gus O’Donnell on Daily Politics: 'He confirmed that, if a second election ends up being held in November, the Fixed-term Parliaments Act means all future general elections would be held in November. Because of the weather, this would be very bad news for campaigners.'
Cant we repeal this bloody awful law!
I think we should institute "The Random Term Parliaments Act (2015)". Every day there would be a 1-in-1,500 chance of parliament being dissolved for an election 28 days hence.
Alternatively, we could do it on a seat-by-seat basis, with two (randomly selected) by-elections every week.
It would allow for many more betting opportunities.
So is everyone agreed that the exit poll is going to be bollocks, or can we put some confidence intervals around it?
My guess is that Prof. Curtice is trying to manage expectations, it will probably be more accurate than most of the final opinion polls, if not quite as good as last time. There's lots of very clever people involved in putting it all together...
Still nothing further as regards tomorrow night's would-be bunfight at the Finborough Arms and there's nothing on the pub's website either, so I'm assuming it's all died a death .... pity really as it could have been fun, particularly during the early hours of Friday. I shall keep Her Indoors entertained instead.
I think Stonch posted an update in PB yesterday or day before.
Will you be there, and will the pollsters know their ARSE from their ELBOW ?
I don't think I can make Finborough, but wish I could!
If those SPIN numbers come to pass it will be absolute deadlock.
Lab+LD+SNP for 335? Con+LD+UKIP for 320, helped by a few Ulstermen abstaining?
A good election to lose, me thinks!
If those numbers come to pass, Cameron will be PM, but of a horribly weak admin.
Miliband will want to challenge him, using the SNP's help, but if he is 20+ seats behind AND (presumably) behind on votes, his fellow MPs will see this for the deathwish it is, and stop him.
Far better for Labour to let Cameron stumble on, then collapse a year down the line.
Yes, it will be absolute chaos. I wonder how much work the parties have done in wargaming what happens after that sort of result?
Last time it was clear cut that only one option existed for a two-party coalition, which is how it played out.
This time we will have a decimated LD group who surely won't want to go in for a formal deal again, Con will have a lost a few seats and Lab are clearly behind the Tories and dead in Scotland. Everyone's lost (except the SNP and possibly UKIP).
One thing's for sure, no-one will want to work with the SNP because of how it will look to their supporters in England.
Ha Ha Ha , they don't like democracy breaking out do they
Is it just me, or does it surprise people how popular the right wing parties are among the young in that ComRes polling? I would like to see of those also broken down with certainty to vote.
The perception is that you 18-30 group are dominated by idealistic left wingers, and it is over time that there is a drift to the right.
This polling certainly goes against that perception.
No, on the receiving end of the new left policies of mass immigration. Few jobs, lowly paid, declining living standards, chronic housing issues and a reaction against the baby boomers.
How do you explain that young people are significantly more keen on EU membership then?
My first chance to comment for a couple of days as I've been doing my small bit for the LD cause in the darker recesses of south-west London.
From a London perspective, the final MORI poll is very good for Labour - it represents a 5.5% swing to Labour from the Conservatives and a 7% swing from the Liberal Democrats to the Conservatives.
The Standard endorsement for the Conservatives could have been written by Boris himself and isn't surprising given the paper's pro-Boris credentials and total hostility to the Mansion Tax.
When OGH published my Capital City Blues piece I predicted Labour 45 seats, Conservative 24 seats and Liberal Democrats 4 seats as the outcome and I'm not minded to move far from that though the swing would put Ilford North on the cusp for Labour though I suspect it will be a narrow CON hold (could be a recount).
The LD prospects are confusing - I don't have any inside information and a troll who came on here yesterday didn't either. I've not been to either Bermondsey & Southwark (B&S) or Hornsey & Wood Green (H&WG) - the party is fighting hard in K&S, C&W and S&C (work it out for yourselves) as well as Twickenham. I'm not close to any of the campaigns in those seats and have just done a little leafleting and recalling. The polling day effort will be critical.
Labour have abandoned East Ham - Stephen Timms gallantly struggling to defend his 27,000 majority - which makes me think they are going to other prospects (unless UKIP are doing much better in B&D) such as Ilford North. Last time there were Borough elections and it's fair to say the Tory effort here has been almost nil. The TUSC candidate apparently has a stall outside an empty shop in East Ham High Street and she may do enough to finish fourth.
As an LD, I was quietly encouraged by the Independent's endorsement of the Coalition, particularly when they stated Coalition 2.0 should be "much more liberal and much less conservative" and even the Times had a generous word for Nick Clegg.
I think Carswell will survive. But he may be on his own!
I could see that being more likely than these projections showing UKIP getting extra seats, but given the closeness of this election I could also see UKIP being less attractive to voters who know that the real battle in England & Wales is between the big three parties and that, for once, every vote may count.
UKIP is going nowhere. Why waste a vote on it? The other small parties in E&W will face a similar problem.
Daily Mail missed a trick with their tactical voting guide - they should have added a dozen seats where tories should vote UKIP - Rotherham, Rother Valley etc. Had they done that then UKIP voters would have been more likely to vote Tory on a 'you scratch my back...' basis.
I have a feeling that a few of the Northern towns where certain problems occurred could be surprises on the night. Places where a single party has dominated for decades on small turnouts and they don't have the machinery in place to canvass or GOTV because they've never had to bother before. No-one will really see it coming until the result is declared, same as Galloway's by-election (which was of course tipped by OGH at long odds!).
Yeah, I can see that. Almost hoping for it, as it'll at least be tragi-comic.
Think I would trust Clegg most to babysit of the main 4 English party leaders, though I would be concerned that if he read them a bedtime story they might end up with £9000 debt each
Is it just me, or does it surprise people how popular the right wing parties are among the young in that ComRes polling? I would like to see of those also broken down with certainty to vote.
The perception is that you 18-30 group are dominated by idealistic left wingers, and it is over time that there is a drift to the right.
This polling certainly goes against that perception.
No, on the receiving end of the new left policies of mass immigration. Few jobs, lowly paid, declining living standards, chronic housing issues and a reaction against the baby boomers.
Plus the hundreds of thousands who were lured into going to University over the past decade, taking useless, meaningless degrees and now find themselves in crap mundane jobs still shouldering huge debts from their student days.
If those SPIN numbers come to pass it will be absolute deadlock.
Lab+LD+SNP for 335? Con+LD+UKIP for 320, helped by a few Ulstermen abstaining?
A good election to lose, me thinks!
If those numbers come to pass, Cameron will be PM, but of a horribly weak admin.
Miliband will want to challenge him, using the SNP's help, but if he is 20+ seats behind AND (presumably) behind on votes, his fellow MPs will see this for the deathwish it is, and stop him.
Far better for Labour to let Cameron stumble on, then collapse a year down the line.
Yes, it will be absolute chaos. I wonder how much work the parties have done in wargaming what happens after that sort of result?
Last time it was clear cut that only one option existed for a two-party coalition, which is how it played out.
This time we will have a decimated LD group who surely won't want to go in for a formal deal again, Con will have a lost a few seats and Lab are clearly behind the Tories and dead in Scotland. Everyone's lost (except the SNP and possibly UKIP).
One thing's for sure, no-one will want to work with the SNP because of how it will look to their supporters in England.
Ha Ha Ha , they don't like democracy breaking out do they
I quite agree. You can't campaign to keep the Union then refuse to deal with the representatives sent by that part of the Union to parliament. Whomever has minority will need to account for this and react.
From Nats brownshirting around Glasgow to lefties writing "Tory Whore" on Tory cars to the anti-Semitic thuggery of Respect, something quite sad has happened to UK politics, and its happened quite suddenly.
You neglected to mention the Kipper who wants to 'put a bullet between the eyes' of his opponent.
From Nats brownshirting around Glasgow to lefties writing "Tory Whore" on Tory cars to the anti-Semitic thuggery of Respect, something quite sad has happened to UK politics, and its happened quite suddenly.
Does the Muslim electorate know or care that Red Ed is from a Jewish family I wonder?
Could the Tories take one of the SNP's current seats, perhaps Perth & North Perthshire?
Almost certainly not, but it is striking how much SNP support is breaking down on Yes/No independence lines: in the latest YouGov, they've got 89% of "Yes" voters, and just 13% of "No" voters. Since Perthshire was such a strong "No" area, surely their 2010 result must be close to their possible ceiling this time, perhaps even a slight fall?
If those SPIN numbers come to pass it will be absolute deadlock.
Lab+LD+SNP for 335? Con+LD+UKIP for 320, helped by a few Ulstermen abstaining?
A good election to lose, me thinks!
If those numbers come to pass, Cameron will be PM, but of a horribly weak admin.
Miliband will want to challenge him, using the SNP's help, but if he is 20+ seats behind AND (presumably) behind on votes, his fellow MPs will see this for the deathwish it is, and stop him.
Far better for Labour to let Cameron stumble on, then collapse a year down the line.
Yes, it will be absolute chaos. I wonder how much work the parties have done in wargaming what happens after that sort of result?
Last time it was clear cut that only one option existed for a two-party coalition, which is how it played out.
This time we will have a decimated LD group who surely won't want to go in for a formal deal again, Con will have a lost a few seats and Lab are clearly behind the Tories and dead in Scotland. Everyone's lost (except the SNP and possibly UKIP).
One thing's for sure, no-one will want to work with the SNP because of how it will look to their supporters in England.
I would work with the SNP or form an alliance if access to No 10 were the result (there are no keys IIRC). It is not that it would be wrong - it is just that their policies would bankrupt the country even faster than Labour's. (an extra £180 billion for Scotland FFS + and extra £90 billion Labour intends to borrow + and extra £200 billion caused by Ed Miliband's energy act = an extra £470.00 billion debt. I'll write that out. £470,000,000,000. Given a UK population of 60 million, it would be the equivalent of EVERYONE in the country buying a new car on the never-never, whether or not they could afford it. Interest would be £14,000,000,000 a year additional (assuming interest at 3%)
You thick turnip , it is £180 Billion across the UK in 5 years. Assume you are used to getting pocket money from your Mum given your level of fiscal competence. Get to Specsavers
I'm saddened nobody reacted to my breaking news of Mr Lawrence jumping over the fence and turning blue. Surely Conti is more down with the kidz than Brand?!
Tomorrow, somehow I have to leave Coventry to get to London Euston, get the Tube to Gants Hill, vote, get the Tube back from Gants Hill to Euston, then get to Birmingham (where I'm staying this week). Complicating things is a one hour meeting at work at 2.45!
Reminds me of when Bethesda were dicks about a game called Fallout Something-or-other (I forget the latter half, but it was immediately recognisably as not being an RPG in the Fallout 3 vein) and forced it to change the title.
Reminds me of when Bethesda were dicks about a game called Fallout Something-or-other (I forget the latter half, but it was immediately recognisably as not being an RPG in the Fallout 3 vein) and forced it to change the title.
I believe that story was actually about a game to be called 'Scrolls', which clearly means it similar to the Elder Scrolls series. But maybe it was just another instance - Bethesda's legal department is well known for enforcing their copyrights rigorously I hear.
From Nats brownshirting around Glasgow to lefties writing "Tory Whore" on Tory cars to the anti-Semitic thuggery of Respect, something quite sad has happened to UK politics, and its happened quite suddenly.
I disagree, its been brewing since 1992 at least.
As it wasn't so close between then and 2010, its just not been as important.
Is it just me, or does it surprise people how popular the right wing parties are among the young in that ComRes polling? I would like to see of those also broken down with certainty to vote.
The perception is that you 18-30 group are dominated by idealistic left wingers, and it is over time that there is a drift to the right.
This polling certainly goes against that perception.
No, on the receiving end of the new left policies of mass immigration. Few jobs, lowly paid, declining living standards, chronic housing issues and a reaction against the baby boomers.
How do you explain that young people are significantly more keen on EU membership then?
I don't understand, why do think young people should be anti EU? We are a European country, the Empire ended along time ago and the Yanks are threat to world stability.
Could the Tories take one of the SNP's current seats, perhaps Perth & North Perthshire?
Almost certainly not, but it is striking how much SNP support is breaking down on Yes/No independence lines: in the latest YouGov, they've got 89% of "Yes" voters, and just 13% of "No" voters. Since Perthshire was such a strong "No" area, surely their 2010 result must be close to their possible ceiling this time, perhaps even a slight fall?
Not this time round, but it'll be a Tory gain in 2020 if the Union still exists.
Could the Tories take one of the SNP's current seats, perhaps Perth & North Perthshire?
Almost certainly not, but it is striking how much SNP support is breaking down on Yes/No independence lines: in the latest YouGov, they've got 89% of "Yes" voters, and just 13% of "No" voters. Since Perthshire was such a strong "No" area, surely their 2010 result must be close to their possible ceiling this time, perhaps even a slight fall?
Of the four straight Con/SNP fights of last time - P and NP, Angus, Moray and Banff and Buchan, the Tories are going generally backwards in Moray and Angus, but moving forwards or holding firm in Bed and Brekkie and Perth. the former really because of the departure of the big beast himself. Their challenge is to get within 10 percent on the latter three, at least holding the gap in Banff. Perth is the best hope, but very little hope, and a good result would be getting within, say, 7 percent?
Tomorrow, somehow I have to leave Coventry to get to London Euston, get the Tube to Gants Hill, vote, get the Tube back from Gants Hill to Euston, then get to Birmingham (where I'm staying this week). Complicating things is a one hour meeting at work at 2.45!
I'll probably leave after my meeting
Speaking of postal ballots, after my initial despair at the USPS, it seems my ballot may arrive in time after all.
Reminds me of when Bethesda were dicks about a game called Fallout Something-or-other (I forget the latter half, but it was immediately recognisably as not being an RPG in the Fallout 3 vein) and forced it to change the title.
Reminds me of when Bethesda were dicks about a game called Fallout Something-or-other (I forget the latter half, but it was immediately recognisably as not being an RPG in the Fallout 3 vein) and forced it to change the title.
I believe that story was actually about a game to be called 'Scrolls', which clearly means it similar to the Elder Scrolls series. But maybe it was just another instance - Bethesda's legal department is well known for enforcing their copyrights rigorously I hear.
Not quite as bad as the makes of Candy Crush Saga suing/threatening the makers of Banner Saga
From Nats brownshirting around Glasgow to lefties writing "Tory Whore" on Tory cars to the anti-Semitic thuggery of Respect, something quite sad has happened to UK politics, and its happened quite suddenly.
You really are a stupid twit, only sad thing in UK is sad turnips like you exaggerating and making things up. You down behind the sofa posting I suppose.
Tomorrow, somehow I have to leave Coventry to get to London Euston, get the Tube to Gants Hill, vote, get the Tube back from Gants Hill to Euston, then get to Birmingham (where I'm staying this week). Complicating things is a one hour meeting at work at 2.45!
I'll probably leave after my meeting
Speaking of postal ballots, after my initial despair at the USPS, it seems my ballot may arrive in time after all.
From Nats brownshirting around Glasgow to lefties writing "Tory Whore" on Tory cars to the anti-Semitic thuggery of Respect, something quite sad has happened to UK politics, and its happened quite suddenly.
You neglected to mention the Kipper who wants to 'put a bullet between the eyes' of his opponent.
Yep, them too. Our politics has become coarser and nastier, tinged with race-baiting, race hatred and ugly Nationalism. It's not pretty.
I reckon it began with Labour demonising Tories - baby eaters. That brought the discourse of hatred into British politics. And now it has spread. If you dehumanise the enemy it is OK to abuse him, or even assault him, as Hitler knew well.
It wasn't the bullet comment that I found the most worrying.
Questioning Mr Jayawardena's background, he said: ''His family have only been here since the 70s. You are not British enough to be in our parliament.
''I've got 400 years of ancestry where I live. He hasn't got that.''
And he told the investigators of the safe seat: ''But I've always said in my constituency you could put a monkey out there with a blue rosette on and it would win.''
you must be livid the UKIP vote hasn't dropped during the campaign
Livid? No not at all.
I would prefer to believe that significant numbers of the electorate will not fall for the messages of intolerance that come from the likes of UKIP.
I also find the intolerance of many Labour people - branding others who disagree with them as "scum", "filth", etc - just as upsetting and as for the almost visceral hatred that seems to emanate from scottish politics....
I find the tories unbelievably dense and insular and the Lib Dems lacking in common sense. The Greens are plain crazy and I will not vote for cranks / haters.
Is it just me, or does it surprise people how popular the right wing parties are among the young in that ComRes polling? I would like to see of those also broken down with certainty to vote.
The perception is that you 18-30 group are dominated by idealistic left wingers, and it is over time that there is a drift to the right.
This polling certainly goes against that perception.
No, on the receiving end of the new left policies of mass immigration. Few jobs, lowly paid, declining living standards, chronic housing issues and a reaction against the baby boomers.
Plus the hundreds of thousands who were lured into going to University over the past decade, taking useless, meaningless degrees and now find themselves in crap mundane jobs still shouldering huge debts from their student days.
Lured?
"Hey, do you want to spend three years drinking and not doing much work?"
"Sounds like a plan."
And that's exactly what 18 year olds get.
They could apply for hard courses if they wanted to. But drinking and getting up late sounds like much more fun.
Video chat software Skype's name is so similar to the broadcaster Sky's that the public is likely to be confused between the two, an EU court has ruled.
The judgement prevents Microsoft from registering a trademark for Skype's name and bubble-design logo.
From Nats brownshirting around Glasgow to lefties writing "Tory Whore" on Tory cars to the anti-Semitic thuggery of Respect, something quite sad has happened to UK politics, and its happened quite suddenly.
You neglected to mention the Kipper who wants to 'put a bullet between the eyes' of his opponent.
Yep, them too. Our politics has become coarser and nastier, tinged with race-baiting, race hatred and ugly Nationalism. It's not pretty.
I reckon it began with Labour demonising Tories - baby eaters. That brought the discourse of hatred into British politics. And now it has spread. If you dehumanise the enemy it is OK to abuse him, or even assault him, as Hitler knew well.
Somehow I knew you'd manage to pin the blame on lefties.
And he told the investigators of the safe seat: ''But I've always said in my constituency you could put a monkey out there with a blue rosette on and it would win.''
Yes, Sheffield was part of Northumbria (just). The boundary was the rivers Sheaf, Limb Brook and Meers Brook. "Sheaf" means boundary, so Sheffield is the "field by the boundary river". The nearby village of Dore means "gateway", (as in "door"). It is also where England was united in 827AD (or possibly 829AD). England is the oldest nation in the whole of Europe.
Tomorrow, somehow I have to leave Coventry to get to London Euston, get the Tube to Gants Hill, vote, get the Tube back from Gants Hill to Euston, then get to Birmingham (where I'm staying this week). Complicating things is a one hour meeting at work at 2.45!
I'll probably leave after my meeting
Speaking of postal ballots, after my initial despair at the USPS, it seems my ballot may arrive in time after all.
Yep, them too. Our politics has become coarser and nastier, tinged with race-baiting, race hatred and ugly Nationalism. It's not pretty.
I reckon it began with Labour demonising Tories - baby eaters. That brought the discourse of hatred into British politics. And now it has spread. If you dehumanise the enemy it is OK to abuse him, or even assault him, as Hitler knew well.
@rowenamason: Fight! Labour aide tries to eject C4's Michael Crick from campaign stop in Yorkshire, calls him a rude word that rhymes with his name
Yep, he's talking down his own work, despite having got it pretty much spot on the last two elections. I think he sees too many variables at play here, with large changes in UKIP, LD and SNP votes making for some surprising results. A couple of Tory gains in Scotland maybe, or more LDs hanging on than expected?
The big problem they have with the exit poll is that it relies on the change from the samples they took in the same key seats last time. However, some of the seats that might change hands this time will be ones which they didn't sample last time, notably formerly safe Labour seats in Scotland, and most of the seats where UKIP are a significant factor. As a result they haven't got a complete baseline to work against.
There is still a fairly good chance that they will have the Lab/Con, Lab/Lib and Con/Lib contests well determined, so it should be a pretty good steer on who will be PM.
As far as portents go I think Mel Stride could be in trouble in central Devon - the cows are not fans and have been trampling some of his placards...
I picked up the Hills General Election betting coupon on my way out last night and it makes for some interesting reading.
Looking at the odds, they go 10/11 CON seats 276-300. Reasonable but no value - I'm more interested in 7/2 about CON seats 251-275. I don't believe the Conservatives will be anywhere near 250 but if they were to be, say, 273, you'd win.
The LD seats are 10/11 for 21-30 which is fair enough - 5/2 for 31-40 isn't that tempting.
UKIP seats - one at 11/4 looks possible, two at 7/2 looks better value than three at 9/2.
SNP seats - 46-50 at 9/2 if Labour get half a dozen, the LDs hold three and the Conservatives win one - may be worth a small investment.
Only Singles of course which is a shame but they let me have my double on LAB winning Battersea and CON winning Twickenham. Not hopeful as even on a 5.5% swing CON will hold on in Battersea and there isn't a big LD vote (around 15%) to squeeze.
Still nothing further as regards tomorrow night's would-be bunfight at the Finborough Arms and there's nothing on the pub's website either, so I'm assuming it's all died a death .... pity really as it could have been fun, particularly during the early hours of Friday. I shall keep Her Indoors entertained instead.
I think Stonch posted an update in PB yesterday or day before.
It really needed to have been on at least 2 or 3 thread headers over the past 2-3 weeks. Too little, too late 3 days before the GE.
Yep, them too. Our politics has become coarser and nastier, tinged with race-baiting, race hatred and ugly Nationalism. It's not pretty.
I reckon it began with Labour demonising Tories - baby eaters. That brought the discourse of hatred into British politics. And now it has spread. If you dehumanise the enemy it is OK to abuse him, or even assault him, as Hitler knew well.
@rowenamason: Fight! Labour aide tries to eject C4's Michael Crick from campaign stop in Yorkshire, calls him a rude word that rhymes with his name
Looks like Tories are only leading in the smallest voting group, the 65 plus group. I wonder if certainty to vote negates this.
Are there really fewer over-65s than there are 18-24s? Seems unlikely.
Given that its the world's worst spoof poster, what do you think?
Taking the last census, so ever so slightly out of date and cutting their last category proportionally, I make the populations, to the nearest thousand
From Nats brownshirting around Glasgow to lefties writing "Tory Whore" on Tory cars to the anti-Semitic thuggery of Respect, something quite sad has happened to UK politics, and its happened quite suddenly.
You neglected to mention the Kipper who wants to 'put a bullet between the eyes' of his opponent.
Yep, them too. Our politics has become coarser and nastier, tinged with race-baiting, race hatred and ugly Nationalism. It's not pretty.
I reckon it began with Labour demonising Tories - baby eaters. That brought the discourse of hatred into British politics. And now it has spread. If you dehumanise the enemy it is OK to abuse him, or even assault him, as Hitler knew well.
Somehow I knew you'd manage to pin the blame on lefties.
We could all blame Alastair Campbell and probably find some agreement.
Yes, Sheffield was part of Northumbria (just). The boundary was the rivers Sheaf, Limb Brook and Meers Brook. "Sheaf" means boundary, so Sheffield is the "field by the boundary river". The nearby village of Dore means "gateway", (as in "door"). It is also where England was united in 827AD (or possibly 829AD). England is the oldest nation in the whole of Europe.
Quite so! Although technically, it was England East of the Tamar that was united, and of course there remained the thorny problem of the kingdom of Jorvik. England as it is now you're looking at, what, 910 ad once the Cornish were finally brought to heel rather than being tributary payers?
From Nats brownshirting around Glasgow to lefties writing "Tory Whore" on Tory cars to the anti-Semitic thuggery of Respect, something quite sad has happened to UK politics, and its happened quite suddenly.
You neglected to mention the Kipper who wants to 'put a bullet between the eyes' of his opponent.
Yep, them too. Our politics has become coarser and nastier, tinged with race-baiting, race hatred and ugly Nationalism. It's not pretty.
I reckon it began with Labour demonising Tories - baby eaters. That brought the discourse of hatred into British politics. And now it has spread. If you dehumanise the enemy it is OK to abuse him, or even assault him, as Hitler knew well.
Somehow I knew you'd manage to pin the blame on lefties.
Actually I think the Tories must take some blame as well. Thatcher describing striking miners as "the enemy within" was a low point for the Tory party.
However it is pretty much undeniable that the relentless discourse of dehumanising hatred mainly comes from the Left, directed at Tories for decades now - evil bankers, baby eaters, posh scum destroying the NHS etc etc. Nye Bevan called Tories "vermin" back in the 40s.
As long as this rhetoric was restricted to a few loopier lefties it was OK, but it has infected mainstream Labour discourse, and has - as I say - now spread far and wide to other parties. Indeed it is being turned ON Labour by the Nats.
It needs to stop.
It is the end of days, SeanT calls for more civility, and less insults in the world!
Could the Tories take one of the SNP's current seats, perhaps Perth & North Perthshire?
Almost certainly not, but it is striking how much SNP support is breaking down on Yes/No independence lines: in the latest YouGov, they've got 89% of "Yes" voters, and just 13% of "No" voters. Since Perthshire was such a strong "No" area, surely their 2010 result must be close to their possible ceiling this time, perhaps even a slight fall?
Of the four straight Con/SNP fights of last time - P and NP, Angus, Moray and Banff and Buchan, the Tories are going generally backwards in Moray and Angus, but moving forwards or holding firm in Bed and Brekkie and Perth. the former really because of the departure of the big beast himself. Their challenge is to get within 10 percent on the latter three, at least holding the gap in Banff. Perth is the best hope, but very little hope, and a good result would be getting within, say, 7 percent?
How long can the SNP hold on to its traditional rural/posh vote in areas like Perthshire & Aberdeenshire, along with its new-found urban lefty 'Yes' vote? It seems to me they are 2 different blocks?
Yep, them too. Our politics has become coarser and nastier, tinged with race-baiting, race hatred and ugly Nationalism. It's not pretty.
I reckon it began with Labour demonising Tories - baby eaters. That brought the discourse of hatred into British politics. And now it has spread. If you dehumanise the enemy it is OK to abuse him, or even assault him, as Hitler knew well.
@rowenamason: Fight! Labour aide tries to eject C4's Michael Crick from campaign stop in Yorkshire, calls him a rude word that rhymes with his name
Struggling with that one. What rude word rhymes with Michael?
From Nats brownshirting around Glasgow to lefties writing "Tory Whore" on Tory cars to the anti-Semitic thuggery of Respect, something quite sad has happened to UK politics, and its happened quite suddenly.
You neglected to mention the Kipper who wants to 'put a bullet between the eyes' of his opponent.
Yep, them too. Our politics has become coarser and nastier, tinged with race-baiting, race hatred and ugly Nationalism. It's not pretty.
I reckon it began with Labour demonising Tories - baby eaters. That brought the discourse of hatred into British politics. And now it has spread. If you dehumanise the enemy it is OK to abuse him, or even assault him, as Hitler knew well.
Somehow I knew you'd manage to pin the blame on lefties.
Actually I think the Tories must take some blame as well. Thatcher describing striking miners as "the enemy within" was a low point for the Tory party.
Worse than Churchill saying that Labour would inevitably need to establish a form of gestapo to stay in power? I'm afraid I think your entire thesis is bunkem. It's almost impossible to envisage a mainstream candidate using the slogan "If you want a nigger for a neighbour, vote Labour" today. I cant agree that, for example, there is more race-baiting today than in the past.
Could the Tories take one of the SNP's current seats, perhaps Perth & North Perthshire?
Almost certainly not, but it is striking how much SNP support is breaking down on Yes/No independence lines: in the latest YouGov, they've got 89% of "Yes" voters, and just 13% of "No" voters. Since Perthshire was such a strong "No" area, surely their 2010 result must be close to their possible ceiling this time, perhaps even a slight fall?
Of the four straight Con/SNP fights of last time - P and NP, Angus, Moray and Banff and Buchan, the Tories are going generally backwards in Moray and Angus, but moving forwards or holding firm in Bed and Brekkie and Perth. the former really because of the departure of the big beast himself. Their challenge is to get within 10 percent on the latter three, at least holding the gap in Banff. Perth is the best hope, but very little hope, and a good result would be getting within, say, 7 percent?
How long can the SNP hold on to its traditional rural/posh vote in areas like Perthshire & Aberdeenshire, along with its new-found urban lefty 'Yes' vote? It seems to me they are 2 different blocks?
Well probably not beyond this election, and maybe 2016. Id say Tories should be favourites for Perth and WAK for 2020 as things stand
Is it just me, or does it surprise people how popular the right wing parties are among the young in that ComRes polling? I would like to see of those also broken down with certainty to vote.
The perception is that you 18-30 group are dominated by idealistic left wingers, and it is over time that there is a drift to the right.
This polling certainly goes against that perception.
No, on the receiving end of the new left policies of mass immigration. Few jobs, lowly paid, declining living standards, chronic housing issues and a reaction against the baby boomers.
Plus the hundreds of thousands who were lured into going to University over the past decade, taking useless, meaningless degrees and now find themselves in crap mundane jobs still shouldering huge debts from their student days.
Be interesting to see it broken down by ethnicity, in the US the Republicans have a majority of young whites.
But Dair has solemnly told us that the DUP can only support a Labour government. So this is just softening them up for the negotiations. Or Dair is bonkers. One of those.
From Nats brownshirting around Glasgow to lefties writing "Tory Whore" on Tory cars to the anti-Semitic thuggery of Respect, something quite sad has happened to UK politics, and its happened quite suddenly.
You neglected to mention the Kipper who wants to 'put a bullet between the eyes' of his opponent.
Yep, them too. Our politics has become coarser and nastier, tinged with race-baiting, race hatred and ugly Nationalism. It's not pretty.
I reckon it began with Labour demonising Tories - baby eaters. That brought the discourse of hatred into British politics. And now it has spread. If you dehumanise the enemy it is OK to abuse him, or even assault him, as Hitler knew well.
Somehow I knew you'd manage to pin the blame on lefties.
Because he's dead right. New Labour (Alastair Campbell) politicised everything. Every quango job. Every political appointee. Every message. Every thought. Every day. 'We are the political wing of the British people'. Nasty Tories. Nice Labour. Right wing = nasty. Left wing = compassionate. Vote Tory = masturbate to pictures of Adolf. Progressive = nice. Not 'progressive' = evil. etc. etc. Ad nauseam. Blair fucked up this country in more ways than can be counted. And now we reap what he sowed. The cunt.
Given the accuracy of the exit poll, for the general result, is there a need to stay up to see it constituency-by-constituency, unless there are of course bets on...?
The 1992 exit polls gave it to Lab.
I was watching Peter Snow's Sixty Years of Swing the other night (worth a look on iPlayer), and the BBC interpreted the 1992 exit poll as TCTC with Tories in a range X to Y and Labour X to Y but with a 'midpoint' prediction of "Tories short by 21". I think in the end Major won a majority of 21.
The only light I can shed on any of those areas concerns Bermondsey, where Labour are fighting hard. Personally I think they would have been better off deploying resources elsewhere and I expect Simon Hughes to hang on.
Ilford North will certainly be close, but I expect Labour will fall short (unless Sir Sunil surprises us all and declares for them.)
From Nats brownshirting around Glasgow to lefties writing "Tory Whore" on Tory cars to the anti-Semitic thuggery of Respect, something quite sad has happened to UK politics, and its happened quite suddenly.
You neglected to mention the Kipper who wants to 'put a bullet between the eyes' of his opponent.
Yep, them too. Our politics has become coarser and nastier, tinged with race-baiting, race hatred and ugly Nationalism. It's not pretty.
I reckon it began with Labour demonising Tories - baby eaters. That brought the discourse of hatred into British politics. And now it has spread. If you dehumanise the enemy it is OK to abuse him, or even assault him, as Hitler knew well.
Somehow I knew you'd manage to pin the blame on lefties.
But Dair has solemnly told us that the DUP can only support a Labour government. So this is just softening them up for the negotiations. Or Dair is bonkers. One of those.
PB is truly blessed with some of the best spoof posters on the internet.
Politics is getting nastier, but it seems to me to be a combination of the "narcissism of small differences" together with the fact that our politicians are increasingly powerless compared and constrained by a combination of the Civil Service, EU and World Trade agreements.
We expect people to vote for governments who share 95% of their electoral platform and who are more comfortable with their "opposition" fellows than with ordinary members of the public.
The missing bit from Mr. Wells was "As it is though, my personal best guess is Conservatives around 277 seats, Labour around 267, the Lib Dems around 29 and the SNP around 52. I’ll revisit those once we have the final polls."
My first chance to comment for a couple of days as I've been doing my small bit for the LD cause in the darker recesses of south-west London.
From a London perspective, the final MORI poll is very good for Labour - it represents a 5.5% swing to Labour from the Conservatives and a 7% swing from the Liberal Democrats to the Conservatives.
The Standard endorsement for the Conservatives could have been written by Boris himself and isn't surprising given the paper's pro-Boris credentials and total hostility to the Mansion Tax.
When OGH published my Capital City Blues piece I predicted Labour 45 seats, Conservative 24 seats and Liberal Democrats 4 seats as the outcome and I'm not minded to move far from that though the swing would put Ilford North on the cusp for Labour though I suspect it will be a narrow CON hold (could be a recount).
The LD prospects are confusing - I don't have any inside information and a troll who came on here yesterday didn't either. I've not been to either Bermondsey & Southwark (B&S) or Hornsey & Wood Green (H&WG) - the party is fighting hard in K&S, C&W and S&C (work it out for yourselves) as well as Twickenham. I'm not close to any of the campaigns in those seats and have just done a little leafleting and recalling. The polling day effort will be critical.
Labour have abandoned East Ham - Stephen Timms gallantly struggling to defend his 27,000 majority - which makes me think they are going to other prospects (unless UKIP are doing much better in B&D) such as Ilford North. Last time there were Borough elections and it's fair to say the Tory effort here has been almost nil. The TUSC candidate apparently has a stall outside an empty shop in East Ham High Street and she may do enough to finish fourth.
As an LD, I was quietly encouraged by the Independent's endorsement of the Coalition, particularly when they stated Coalition 2.0 should be "much more liberal and much less conservative" and even the Times had a generous word for Nick Clegg.
Both West Ham & East Ham labour parties have been campaigning in Newham (there was even a joint street stall on Green St on Saturday) but I dont think it is any great secret that most efforts have been aimed elsewhere - a little digging on twitter will reveal where. I personally think it is not a good thing that the voters of Newham or Kensington & Chelsea are pretty much ignored at election time whilst those in Ilford or Southwark are deluged with leaflets and door knocking but that is the inevitable result of the current system.
From my observations around various London marginals (backed by the polls) is that labour will end up with between 46 and 49 seats in London, I cant see the LDs loosing either Sutton or Carshalton and will take your word for it that they will hang on in Kingston despite the polls
Yep, them too. Our politics has become coarser and nastier, tinged with race-baiting, race hatred and ugly Nationalism. It's not pretty.
I reckon it began with Labour demonising Tories - baby eaters. That brought the discourse of hatred into British politics. And now it has spread. If you dehumanise the enemy it is OK to abuse him, or even assault him, as Hitler knew well.
No, it didn't. Of course, the violence and intimidation has to be condemned and countered but it's nothing new. Go back to Smethwick in 1964 and the campaign slogan of the Conservative candidate.
Go back to the racial intimidation of the 1930s and then take a look at the endemic corruption of politics in the 18th and 19th Centuries when votes and voters were quite literally bought and sold and violence between the supporters of rival candidates was commonplace.
Politics is a passionate business - people care and rightly about how their country is run - but that's no excuse for some of the things which crawl out of the darkness let alone that which is still hidden. Nor is it all one way or from one side.
From Nats brownshirting around Glasgow to lefties writing "Tory Whore" on Tory cars to the anti-Semitic thuggery of Respect, something quite sad has happened to UK politics, and its happened quite suddenly.
You neglected to mention the Kipper who wants to 'put a bullet between the eyes' of his opponent.
Yep, them too. Our politics has become coarser and nastier, tinged with race-baiting, race hatred and ugly Nationalism. It's not pretty.
I reckon it began with Labour demonising Tories - baby eaters. That brought the discourse of hatred into British politics. And now it has spread. If you dehumanise the enemy it is OK to abuse him, or even assault him, as Hitler knew well.
Somehow I knew you'd manage to pin the blame on lefties.
Because he's dead right. New Labour (Alastair Campbell) politicised everything. Every quango job. Every political appointee. Every message. Every thought. Every day. 'We are the political wing of the British people'. Nasty Tories. Nice Labour. Right wing = nasty. Left wing = compassionate. Vote Tory = masturbate to pictures of Adolf. Progressive = nice. Not 'progressive' = evil. etc. etc. Ad nauseam. Blair fucked up this country in more ways than can be counted. And now we reap what he sowed. The cunt.
You've lost me with your vague, wishy-washy statements. What do you really think?
From Nats brownshirting around Glasgow to lefties writing "Tory Whore" on Tory cars to the anti-Semitic thuggery of Respect, something quite sad has happened to UK politics, and its happened quite suddenly.
You really are a stupid twit, only sad thing in UK is sad turnips like you exaggerating and making things up. You down behind the sofa posting I suppose.
Are you the scottish school caretaker off the simpsons??
From Nats brownshirting around Glasgow to lefties writing "Tory Whore" on Tory cars to the anti-Semitic thuggery of Respect, something quite sad has happened to UK politics, and its happened quite suddenly.
You neglected to mention the Kipper who wants to 'put a bullet between the eyes' of his opponent.
Yep, them too. Our politics has become coarser and nastier, tinged with race-baiting, race hatred and ugly Nationalism. It's not pretty.
I reckon it began with Labour demonising Tories - baby eaters. That brought the discourse of hatred into British politics. And now it has spread. If you dehumanise the enemy it is OK to abuse him, or even assault him, as Hitler knew well.
Somehow I knew you'd manage to pin the blame on lefties.
From Nats brownshirting around Glasgow to lefties writing "Tory Whore" on Tory cars to the anti-Semitic thuggery of Respect, something quite sad has happened to UK politics, and its happened quite suddenly.
What was even more disturbing there was the line “Let’s call the police. Let’s get him arrested.” He speaks as if they have some sort of leverage or control over the police. That has parallels with some of the police actions described in the reports on Rotherham and Tower Hamlets.
From Nats brownshirting around Glasgow to lefties writing "Tory Whore" on Tory cars to the anti-Semitic thuggery of Respect, something quite sad has happened to UK politics, and its happened quite suddenly.
Wow,the respect office is my families former locals.they were called the Gladstone pub and the sun club.
From Nats brownshirting around Glasgow to lefties writing "Tory Whore" on Tory cars to the anti-Semitic thuggery of Respect, something quite sad has happened to UK politics, and its happened quite suddenly.
You neglected to mention the Kipper who wants to 'put a bullet between the eyes' of his opponent.
Yep, them too. Our politics has become coarser and nastier, tinged with race-baiting, race hatred and ugly Nationalism. It's not pretty.
I reckon it began with Labour demonising Tories - baby eaters. That brought the discourse of hatred into British politics. And now it has spread. If you dehumanise the enemy it is OK to abuse him, or even assault him, as Hitler knew well.
Somehow I knew you'd manage to pin the blame on lefties.
Because he's dead right. New Labour (Alastair Campbell) politicised everything. Every quango job. Every political appointee. Every message. Every thought. Every day. 'We are the political wing of the British people'. Nasty Tories. Nice Labour. Right wing = nasty. Left wing = compassionate. Vote Tory = masturbate to pictures of Adolf. Progressive = nice. Not 'progressive' = evil. etc. etc. Ad nauseam. Blair fucked up this country in more ways than can be counted. And now we reap what he sowed. The cunt.
Yep, them too. Our politics has become coarser and nastier, tinged with race-baiting, race hatred and ugly Nationalism. It's not pretty.
I reckon it began with Labour demonising Tories - baby eaters. That brought the discourse of hatred into British politics. And now it has spread. If you dehumanise the enemy it is OK to abuse him, or even assault him, as Hitler knew well.
The vast majority of politicians - in the UK at least - are hard working and genuinely care about the future of this country.
Ed Miliband genuinely believes that what he does will be best for the people of the UK. David Cameron, Nigel Farage, Nick Clegg, Nicola Sturgeon, etc. etc.: all believe passionately in improving people's lives.
The only disagreement is on the exact vision of Jerusalem, and how we get there.
When we demonise and doubt the sincerity of people's convictions, we drag discourse down, and we drag politics down, and we drag Britain down.
We are incredibly lucky to live in the UK, where the worst political corruption has been caused by (now discovered) politcal correctness and the worst theft by a political was a duck house claimed on expenses. Far better to be here than in Russia where it is alleged that Putin has amassed a $200bn fortune off the back of his countrymen. And how lucky are we to have a press that reveals our leaders foibles.
The UK is one of the - if not the - greatest country in the world, and we should celebrate that and recognise that.
The missing bit from Mr. Wells was "As it is though, my personal best guess is Conservatives around 277 seats, Labour around 267, the Lib Dems around 29 and the SNP around 52. I’ll revisit those once we have the final polls."
Weird how OGH would accidentally misquote somehow to imply he's expecting a Lab lead when he's accidentally expecting a Tory lead.
At least we'll know who's right and wrong tomorrow. If we all expected the same thing it'd be boring.
From Nats brownshirting around Glasgow to lefties writing "Tory Whore" on Tory cars to the anti-Semitic thuggery of Respect, something quite sad has happened to UK politics, and its happened quite suddenly.
You neglected to mention the Kipper who wants to 'put a bullet between the eyes' of his opponent.
Yep, them too. Our politics has become coarser and nastier, tinged with race-baiting, race hatred and ugly Nationalism. It's not pretty.
I reckon it began with Labour demonising Tories - baby eaters. That brought the discourse of hatred into British politics. And now it has spread. If you dehumanise the enemy it is OK to abuse him, or even assault him, as Hitler knew well.
Somehow I knew you'd manage to pin the blame on lefties.
Actually I think the Tories must take some blame as well. Thatcher describing striking miners as "the enemy within" was a low point for the Tory party.
Worse than Churchill saying that Labour would inevitably need to establish a form of gestapo to stay in power? I'm afraid I think your entire thesis is bunkem. It's almost impossible to envisage a mainstream candidate using the slogan "If you want a nigger for a neighbour, vote Labour" today. I cant agree that, for example, there is more race-baiting today than in the past.
I don't remember Jews being punched and throttled and told to "get out, you fucking Jew" in any prior election. Do you?
How to say this without arousing the interests of George Galloway's lawyers...
How about: that kind of behaviour is not unheard of in relation to elections that George Galloway has contested?
Go back 10 years and I could tell you of worse things happening in BG+B.
Go back slightly further and far worse stuff was happening in and around Cable Street.
Yep, them too. Our politics has become coarser and nastier, tinged with race-baiting, race hatred and ugly Nationalism. It's not pretty.
I reckon it began with Labour demonising Tories - baby eaters. That brought the discourse of hatred into British politics. And now it has spread. If you dehumanise the enemy it is OK to abuse him, or even assault him, as Hitler knew well.
No, it didn't. Of course, the violence and intimidation has to be condemned and countered but it's nothing new. Go back to Smethwick in 1964 and the campaign slogan of the Conservative candidate.
Go back to the racial intimidation of the 1930s and then take a look at the endemic corruption of politics in the 18th and 19th Centuries when votes and voters were quite literally bought and sold and violence between the supporters of rival candidates was commonplace.
Politics is a passionate business - people care and rightly about how their country is run - but that's no excuse for some of the things which crawl out of the darkness let alone that which is still hidden. Nor is it all one way or from one side.
Interesting to see Cable on manoeuvres, arguing strongly against a 2017 EU referendum (and hence, implicitly, against a Con/LD coalition).
Thought for the day:
Would the LibDems be won round to a 2017 referendum if the EU were not the only question on the ballot paper? One question for the right of the coalition ("Do you want to leave the EU?") and one for the left?
Comments
'He confirmed that, if a second election ends up being held in November, the Fixed-term Parliaments Act means all future general elections would be held in November. Because of the weather, this would be very bad news for campaigners.'
Cant we repeal this bloody awful law!
Court says Skype's name is too similar to Sky's
Video chat software Skype's name is so similar to the broadcaster Sky's that the public is likely to be confused between the two, an EU court has ruled.
The judgement prevents Microsoft from registering a trademark for Skype's name and bubble-design logo.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-32593735
Absolutely bonkers.
Reminds me of when Bethesda were dicks about a game called Fallout Something-or-other (I forget the latter half, but it was immediately recognisably as not being an RPG in the Fallout 3 vein) and forced it to change the title.
Alternatively, we could do it on a seat-by-seat basis, with two (randomly selected) by-elections every week.
It would allow for many more betting opportunities.
So now I said that, it'll probably be bollocks!
My first chance to comment for a couple of days as I've been doing my small bit for the LD cause in the darker recesses of south-west London.
From a London perspective, the final MORI poll is very good for Labour - it represents a 5.5% swing to Labour from the Conservatives and a 7% swing from the Liberal Democrats to the Conservatives.
The Standard endorsement for the Conservatives could have been written by Boris himself and isn't surprising given the paper's pro-Boris credentials and total hostility to the Mansion Tax.
When OGH published my Capital City Blues piece I predicted Labour 45 seats, Conservative 24 seats and Liberal Democrats 4 seats as the outcome and I'm not minded to move far from that though the swing would put Ilford North on the cusp for Labour though I suspect it will be a narrow CON hold (could be a recount).
The LD prospects are confusing - I don't have any inside information and a troll who came on here yesterday didn't either. I've not been to either Bermondsey & Southwark (B&S) or Hornsey & Wood Green (H&WG) - the party is fighting hard in K&S, C&W and S&C (work it out for yourselves) as well as Twickenham. I'm not close to any of the campaigns in those seats and have just done a little leafleting and recalling. The polling day effort will be critical.
Labour have abandoned East Ham - Stephen Timms gallantly struggling to defend his 27,000 majority - which makes me think they are going to other prospects (unless UKIP are doing much better in B&D) such as Ilford North. Last time there were Borough elections and it's fair to say the Tory effort here has been almost nil. The TUSC candidate apparently has a stall outside an empty shop in East Ham High Street and she may do enough to finish fourth.
As an LD, I was quietly encouraged by the Independent's endorsement of the Coalition, particularly when they stated Coalition 2.0 should be "much more liberal and much less conservative" and even the Times had a generous word for Nick Clegg.
I had expected to be knee-deep in the buggers by now.
Almost certainly not, but it is striking how much SNP support is breaking down on Yes/No independence lines: in the latest YouGov, they've got 89% of "Yes" voters, and just 13% of "No" voters. Since Perthshire was such a strong "No" area, surely their 2010 result must be close to their possible ceiling this time, perhaps even a slight fall?
The Spectator put an image of a Nicola Sturgeon with her bewbs out on their front cover
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CEUsaLQWoAAXptT.jpg
Tomorrow, somehow I have to leave Coventry to get to London Euston, get the Tube to Gants Hill, vote, get the Tube back from Gants Hill to Euston, then get to Birmingham (where I'm staying this week). Complicating things is a one hour meeting at work at 2.45!
I'll probably leave after my meeting
As it wasn't so close between then and 2010, its just not been as important.
Questioning Mr Jayawardena's background, he said: ''His family have only been here since the 70s. You are not British enough to be in our parliament.
''I've got 400 years of ancestry where I live. He hasn't got that.''
And he told the investigators of the safe seat: ''But I've always said in my constituency you could put a monkey out there with a blue rosette on and it would win.''
I would prefer to believe that significant numbers of the electorate will not fall for the messages of intolerance that come from the likes of UKIP.
I also find the intolerance of many Labour people - branding others who disagree with them as "scum", "filth", etc - just as upsetting and as for the almost visceral hatred that seems to emanate from scottish politics....
I find the tories unbelievably dense and insular and the Lib Dems lacking in common sense. The Greens are plain crazy and I will not vote for cranks / haters.
Election day is something of a trial for me.....
I like Bethesda's RPGs, but they're far too aggressive with the legal stuff.
"Hey, do you want to spend three years drinking and not doing much work?"
"Sounds like a plan."
And that's exactly what 18 year olds get.
They could apply for hard courses if they wanted to. But drinking and getting up late sounds like much more fun.
Personally I'm always mixing up Sky and Skype.
Not.
Hope Banner Saga comes out for the PS4 fairly soon. It was meant to be 'early' 2015.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance looks good too (2016 for PS4, though).
Yes, Sheffield was part of Northumbria (just). The boundary was the rivers Sheaf, Limb Brook and Meers Brook. "Sheaf" means boundary, so Sheffield is the "field by the boundary river". The nearby village of Dore means "gateway", (as in "door"). It is also where England was united in 827AD (or possibly 829AD). England is the oldest nation in the whole of Europe.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dore
Christchurch still 1-10 for the Cons. #Betterthanabank
As far as portents go I think Mel Stride could be in trouble in central Devon - the cows are not fans and have been trampling some of his placards...
Looking at the odds, they go 10/11 CON seats 276-300. Reasonable but no value - I'm more interested in 7/2 about CON seats 251-275. I don't believe the Conservatives will be anywhere near 250 but if they were to be, say, 273, you'd win.
The LD seats are 10/11 for 21-30 which is fair enough - 5/2 for 31-40 isn't that tempting.
UKIP seats - one at 11/4 looks possible, two at 7/2 looks better value than three at 9/2.
SNP seats - 46-50 at 9/2 if Labour get half a dozen, the LDs hold three and the Conservatives win one - may be worth a small investment.
Only Singles of course which is a shame but they let me have my double on LAB winning Battersea and CON winning Twickenham. Not hopeful as even on a 5.5% swing CON will hold on in Battersea and there isn't a big LD vote (around 15%) to squeeze.
Taking the last census, so ever so slightly out of date and cutting their last category proportionally, I make the populations, to the nearest thousand
18-24 - 5896000
25-34 - 8433000
35-44 - 8820000
45-54 - 8738000
55-64 - 7421000
65+ - 10376000
More of them, more likely to vote.
(I do agree with you though)
Struggling with that one. What rude word rhymes with Michael?
Ed Miliband has 'zero economic common sense'' for defending New Labour spending, says Peter Robinson.
DUP leader and possible coalition kingmaker in warning over Ed Miliband's reliance on SNP and economic judgment
http://bit.ly/1cm7g4c
Thanks for your report and good luck tomorrow.
The only light I can shed on any of those areas concerns Bermondsey, where Labour are fighting hard. Personally I think they would have been better off deploying resources elsewhere and I expect Simon Hughes to hang on.
Ilford North will certainly be close, but I expect Labour will fall short (unless Sir Sunil surprises us all and declares for them.)
We expect people to vote for governments who share 95% of their electoral platform and who are more comfortable with their "opposition" fellows than with ordinary members of the public.
Is it any wonder that the frustration boils over?
"As it is though, my personal best guess is Conservatives around 277 seats, Labour around 267, the Lib Dems around 29 and the SNP around 52. I’ll revisit those once we have the final polls."
From my observations around various London marginals (backed by the polls) is that labour will end up with between 46 and 49 seats in London, I cant see the LDs loosing either Sutton or Carshalton and will take your word for it that they will hang on in Kingston despite the polls
Go back to the racial intimidation of the 1930s and then take a look at the endemic corruption of politics in the 18th and 19th Centuries when votes and voters were quite literally bought and sold and violence between the supporters of rival candidates was commonplace.
Politics is a passionate business - people care and rightly about how their country is run - but that's no excuse for some of the things which crawl out of the darkness let alone that which is still hidden. Nor is it all one way or from one side.
Anyone know of any reason not to put one's mortgage on it?
Not far from where I live,terrible story sean.
Ed Miliband genuinely believes that what he does will be best for the people of the UK.
David Cameron, Nigel Farage, Nick Clegg, Nicola Sturgeon, etc. etc.: all believe passionately in improving people's lives.
The only disagreement is on the exact vision of Jerusalem, and how we get there.
When we demonise and doubt the sincerity of people's convictions, we drag discourse down, and we drag politics down, and we drag Britain down.
We are incredibly lucky to live in the UK, where the worst political corruption has been caused by (now discovered) politcal correctness and the worst theft by a political was a duck house claimed on expenses. Far better to be here than in Russia where it is alleged that Putin has amassed a $200bn fortune off the back of his countrymen. And how lucky are we to have a press that reveals our leaders foibles.
The UK is one of the - if not the - greatest country in the world, and we should celebrate that and recognise that.
At least we'll know who's right and wrong tomorrow. If we all expected the same thing it'd be boring.
How about: that kind of behaviour is not unheard of in relation to elections that George Galloway has contested?
Go back 10 years and I could tell you of worse things happening in BG+B.
Go back slightly further and far worse stuff was happening in and around Cable Street.
"As it is though, my personal best guess is Conservatives around 277 seats, Labour around 267, the Lib Dems around 29 and the SNP around 52
Interesting to see Cable on manoeuvres, arguing strongly against a 2017 EU referendum (and hence, implicitly, against a Con/LD coalition).
Thought for the day:
Would the LibDems be won round to a 2017 referendum if the EU were not the only question on the ballot paper? One question for the right of the coalition ("Do you want to leave the EU?") and one for the left?