This is a masterstroke. Osborne is already committed to running a surplus during the good times (as should any sane Chancellor with our debt as high as it is currently). So its no skin off his nose.
Now any putative successors need to either make the next election's commitments with this restriction in mind - or formally propose to remove this restriction and be seen as being irresponsible.
The cherry atop the icing will be if it comes to be known as the anti-Gordo rule
Newspapers: I read the DM and Graun online, the latter more than the former plus I comment sometimes on CiF. I buy (occasionally) The Times in print, I look at the DT whenever it's lying around. I count myself a Times Reader.
Plus am an, um, true blue Cons.
On TVs - may I be the first to ask: what is a 4k TV?
Basically a Ultra High Definition TV. About 4 times better picture quality than a normal HD TV
V interesting. What this blog doesn't do is differentiate who they went into coalition with. There seems to be a generally accepted view that coalition in itself was a disaster for LibDems. I'm not convinced. It was coalition with the Tories that was the killer given that a vast chunk of LibDem voters are left-centre voters and not Orange bookers. It certainly killed off large numbers of their active members who left in droves in protest.
Will Hutton did an interesting piece on Sunday about where we would be now if Charles Kennedy had stayed as leader. There might even be a Lib-Lab coalition rather than a Tory majority government. They certainly would not have gone in with the Tories in 2010 and might now still have 30 or 40 MPs. Kennedy and a couple of others foresaw the disaster that awaited Clegg (who will go down in history as the only Liberal in 70 years or whatever to lead his party into the cabinet but also as the man who in the process destroyed the party for at least a generation).
Had they gone into coalition with Labour which seats do you think would have been saved?
I'd suggest the SNP surge would still have happened and the SNP would still have wiped out Scottish LDs. The Tories would have had a further swing to them that opposition parties typically get (and from a baseline of over 300 would have been expected to get a majority) but I'd suggest they'd have taken a clean sweep of the South West and South East still.
The LDs would likely have saved northern English seats from Labour but would have lost Tory tactical voters still so even those may not have been saved (for the same reason Southern seats weren't saved this time).
@MrHarryCole: Wow. MacShame just compared his faking of receipts and fraud, to Shapps' legit business. Also claims again there was no personal gain.
He really does appear a complete tosser.
Glad he ended up in jail. Pity he served only 6 weeks
It is not a little disturbing that someone who was for a while part of the process of making our laws shows such little understanding for the difference between bigging yourself up (aka being an arse) and theft under the criminal law.
If every politician who had bigged themselves up was prosecuted, they would need to double the size of the lifers wing at HMP Wakefield....
Newspapers: I read the DM and Graun online, the latter more than the former plus I comment sometimes on CiF. I buy (occasionally) The Times in print, I look at the DT whenever it's lying around. I count myself a Times Reader.
Plus am an, um, true blue Cons.
On TVs - may I be the first to ask: what is a 4k TV?
Basically a Ultra High Definition TV. About 4 times better picture quality than a normal HD TV
I think the other important reason for the LibDem's precipitous fall was that UKIP and the coalition de-toxified the Conservative Party. For LibDem-Conservative waverers who were happy with the coalition, voting Conservative seemed to be the best way to maintain the status quo.
So: they lost their right wing voters to the Conservatives, their left wing to Labour, and their NOTA to UKIP and the Greens.
I think we sometimes overcomplicate issues. Previously the Lib Dems could appeal as "not Labour" to swing Tories and "not Tories" to swing Labour, with a blank canvas everyone could project what they wanted onto them.
Coalition killed that. What had been the LD's strength became a fatal weakness - they suddenly became "not Labour" to swing Labour and "not Tories" to swing Tories. If the prospect of a hung Parliament is expected and the LD's have shown themselves willing to hook up with everyone then it makes more sense for voters to make a forced choice between Labour and the Tories.
Whereas previously a vote for LD was a vote against the party you disliked, now a vote for LD was a vote for allowing someone else to decide who formed the government. It became little more than a spoilt ballot. UKIP then hoovered up the remaining protest voters who weren't willing to chose either of the two main parties.
Yes. But it was also a great opportunity for the LDs to define themselves in terms more concrete than not-Lab-or-Cons. They failed to do this and dragged their meh positioning - give heart to the Cons, give head to Lab (!) - into the GE. So there was nothing actually to vote for.
Which lost it for them.
Agreed entirely. What was the purpose of the LDs other than "moderating" the two parties of government? From opposition they could pretend to be whatever any voter wanted, from government they didn't really guarantee anything they stood for.
Newspapers: I read the DM and Graun online, the latter more than the former plus I comment sometimes on CiF. I buy (occasionally) The Times in print, I look at the DT whenever it's lying around. I count myself a Times Reader.
Plus am an, um, true blue Cons.
On TVs - may I be the first to ask: what is a 4k TV?
Basically a Ultra High Definition TV. About 4 times better picture quality than a normal HD TV
Further to my post about cosmonauts - newspaper headline writers had a field day back in '57 with Sputnik and the next stories. The first dog in space Laika was Pupnik, whilst the launchpad explosion of the Vanguard rocket was Flopnik, Puffnik and my personal favourite Kaputnik [Daily Express]
Newspapers: I read the DM and Graun online, the latter more than the former plus I comment sometimes on CiF. I buy (occasionally) The Times in print, I look at the DT whenever it's lying around. I count myself a Times Reader.
Plus am an, um, true blue Cons.
On TVs - may I be the first to ask: what is a 4k TV?
Basically a Ultra High Definition TV. About 4 times better picture quality than a normal HD TV
Newspapers: I read the DM and Graun online, the latter more than the former plus I comment sometimes on CiF. I buy (occasionally) The Times in print, I look at the DT whenever it's lying around. I count myself a Times Reader.
Plus am an, um, true blue Cons.
On TVs - may I be the first to ask: what is a 4k TV?
Basically a Ultra High Definition TV. About 4 times better picture quality than a normal HD TV
I think the other important reason for the LibDem's precipitous fall was that UKIP and the coalition de-toxified the Conservative Party. For LibDem-Conservative waverers who were happy with the coalition, voting Conservative seemed to be the best way to maintain the status quo.
So: they lost their right wing voters to the Conservatives, their left wing to Labour, and their NOTA to UKIP and the Greens.
I think we sometimes overcomplicate issues. Previously the Lib Dems could appeal as "not Labour" to swing Tories and "not Tories" to swing Labour, with a blank canvas everyone could project what they wanted onto them.
Coalition killed that. What had been the LD's strength became a fatal weakness - they suddenly became "not Labour" to swing Labour and "not Tories" to swing Tories. If the prospect of a hung Parliament is expected and the LD's have shown themselves willing to hook up with everyone then it makes more sense for voters to make a forced choice between Labour and the Tories.
Whereas previously a vote for LD was a vote against the party you disliked, now a vote for LD was a vote for allowing someone else to decide who formed the government. It became little more than a spoilt ballot. UKIP then hoovered up the remaining protest voters who weren't willing to chose either of the two main parties.
The LibDems were themselves always an awkward coalition. That coalition fractured after May 2010, with those on the left rapidly disappearing to Labour, those on the right gradually dispersing to the Conservatives. The left were always gone; those on the right could perhaps have been kept, if the LibDems had not been so yeah-but-no-but-yeah about being in Govt.
Although, given the prospect of Ed Miliband being propped up by the SNP, it wasn't rocket science to see how that was going to play out.
Another day, another move to "enshrine" something in law, rather than actually doing it. I have no objection to the content of the rule, but is the political game playing really necessary?
If you swapped your eyes for an eagle's, you could see an ant crawling on the ground from the roof of a 10-story building. You could make out the expressions on basketball players' faces from the worst seats in the arena. Objects directly in your line of sight would appear magnified, and everything would be brilliantly colored, rendered in an inconceivable array of shades.
Newspapers: I read the DM and Graun online, the latter more than the former plus I comment sometimes on CiF. I buy (occasionally) The Times in print, I look at the DT whenever it's lying around. I count myself a Times Reader.
Plus am an, um, true blue Cons.
On TVs - may I be the first to ask: what is a 4k TV?
Basically a Ultra High Definition TV. About 4 times better picture quality than a normal HD TV
Further to my post about cosmonauts - newspaper headline writers had a field day back in '57 with Sputnik and the next stories. The first dog in space Laika was Pupnik, whilst the launchpad explosion of the Vanguard rocket was Flopnik, Puffnik and my personal favourite Kaputnik [Daily Express]
Newspapers: I read the DM and Graun online, the latter more than the former plus I comment sometimes on CiF. I buy (occasionally) The Times in print, I look at the DT whenever it's lying around. I count myself a Times Reader.
Plus am an, um, true blue Cons.
On TVs - may I be the first to ask: what is a 4k TV?
Basically a Ultra High Definition TV. About 4 times better picture quality than a normal HD TV
V interesting. What this blog doesn't do is differentiate who they went into coalition with. There seems to be a generally accepted view that coalition in itself was a disaster for LibDems. I'm not convinced. It was coalition with the Tories that was the killer given that a vast chunk of LibDem voters are left-centre voters and not Orange bookers. It certainly killed off large numbers of their active members who left in droves in protest.
Will Hutton did an interesting piece on Sunday about where we would be now if Charles Kennedy had stayed as leader. There might even be a Lib-Lab coalition rather than a Tory majority government. They certainly would not have gone in with the Tories in 2010 and might now still have 30 or 40 MPs. Kennedy and a couple of others foresaw the disaster that awaited Clegg (who will go down in history as the only Liberal in 70 years or whatever to lead his party into the cabinet but also as the man who in the process destroyed the party for at least a generation).
In May 2010 Lab had 258 seats, LD 57; so a total of 315 and significantly short of a majority. Coalition was mathematically not possible. The only option that the LDs would have had to a Con/LD coalition would have been supporting a minority government. How this would have worked out electorally, well who knows? I suspect that it would have collapsed after a couple of years at most.
"[The] family [of Jean Charles de Menezes] claim the test to prosecute applied by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) - that there should be sufficient evidence for a "realistic prospect" of conviction - is too high a threshold."
On the flip side we no longer see Kippers calling the EU the EUSSR
@DanHannanMEP: Slightly shocked to see UKIP MEPs voting with the Front National, Jobbik etc in Putin's interests. Come on, guys: you're better than that.
This is a masterstroke. Osborne is already committed to running a surplus during the good times (as should any sane Chancellor with our debt as high as it is currently). So its no skin off his nose.
Now any putative successors need to either make the next election's commitments with this restriction in mind - or formally propose to remove this restriction and be seen as being irresponsible.
The New Statesman seems to think so - great politics, if poor policy:
On the flip side we no longer see Kippers calling the EU the EUSSR
@DanHannanMEP: Slightly shocked to see UKIP MEPs voting with the Front National, Jobbik etc in Putin's interests. Come on, guys: you're better than that.
UKIP's difficulties over Russia are entirely selfinflicted although granted they have not yet delivered a powerful blow to their electorability.
I think the other important reason for the LibDem's precipitous fall was that UKIP and the coalition de-toxified the Conservative Party. For LibDem-Conservative waverers who were happy with the coalition, voting Conservative seemed to be the best way to maintain the status quo.
So: they lost their right wing voters to the Conservatives, their left wing to Labour, and their NOTA to UKIP and the Greens.
I think we sometimes overcomplicate issues. Previously the Lib Dems could appeal as "not Labour" to swing Tories and "not Tories" to swing Labour, with a blank canvas everyone could project what they wanted onto them.
Coalition killed that. What had been the LD's strength became a fatal weakness - they suddenly became "not Labour" to swing Labour and "not Tories" to swing Tories. If the prospect of a hung Parliament is expected and the LD's have shown themselves willing to hook up with everyone then it makes more sense for voters to make a forced choice between Labour and the Tories.
Whereas previously a vote for LD was a vote against the party you disliked, now a vote for LD was a vote for allowing someone else to decide who formed the government. It became little more than a spoilt ballot. UKIP then hoovered up the remaining protest voters who weren't willing to chose either of the two main parties.
The LibDems were themselves always an awkward coalition. That coalition fractured after May 2010, with those on the left rapidly disappearing to Labour, those on the right gradually dispersing to the Conservatives. The left were always gone; those on the right could perhaps have been kept, if the LibDems had not been so yeah-but-no-but-yeah about being in Govt.
Although, given the prospect of Ed Miliband being propped up by the SNP, it wasn't rocket science to see how that was going to play out.
Correct. If the LDs had made the decision finally on which side they stood, then they could have had a chance of staying in government. Its not a question of who you ally yourself with but who you ally yourself against.
On the flip side we no longer see Kippers calling the EU the EUSSR
@DanHannanMEP: Slightly shocked to see UKIP MEPs voting with the Front National, Jobbik etc in Putin's interests. Come on, guys: you're better than that.
UKIP's difficulties over Russia are entirely selfinflicted although granted they have not yet delivered a powerful blow to their electorability.
On the flip side we no longer see Kippers calling the EU the EUSSR
@DanHannanMEP: Slightly shocked to see UKIP MEPs voting with the Front National, Jobbik etc in Putin's interests. Come on, guys: you're better than that.
UKIP's difficulties over Russia are entirely selfinflicted although granted they have not yet delivered a powerful blow to their electorability.
There is no difficulty over Russia. UKIP's view is a triumph of realpolitik over whipped up and dangerous hysteria.
I think it's great that Osborne has finally got round to calling another meeting of the Committee of the Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt. Presumably they'll start by approving the minutes of the last meeting (October 1860), and going through the Actions Arising to make sure nothing got overlooked.
I wouldn't be surprised if they are in a file somewhere awaiting the Chairman's signature!
On the flip side we no longer see Kippers calling the EU the EUSSR
@DanHannanMEP: Slightly shocked to see UKIP MEPs voting with the Front National, Jobbik etc in Putin's interests. Come on, guys: you're better than that.
UKIP's difficulties over Russia are entirely selfinflicted although granted they have not yet delivered a powerful blow to their electorability.
I think it's 85 beheadings they've had this year. Not to mention unilaterally launched a full scale military assault on a neighbouring country. I'm sure it's on Dave's list to do something about.
On the flip side we no longer see Kippers calling the EU the EUSSR
@DanHannanMEP: Slightly shocked to see UKIP MEPs voting with the Front National, Jobbik etc in Putin's interests. Come on, guys: you're better than that.
UKIP's difficulties over Russia are entirely selfinflicted although granted they have not yet delivered a powerful blow to their electorability.
There is no difficulty over Russia. UKIP's view is a triumph of realpolitik over whipped up and dangerous hysteria.
I think UKIP are the past masters of whipping up dangerous hysteria.
We do at least get some clue as to UKIPs attitude to human rights in Russia. Can they be trusted with our domestic human rights? And what is wrong with criticising Russia for funding nationalist movements in the EU?
On the other hand at least the UKIP MEPs dragged themselves in to vote, an unusual event in itself!
On the flip side we no longer see Kippers calling the EU the EUSSR
@DanHannanMEP: Slightly shocked to see UKIP MEPs voting with the Front National, Jobbik etc in Putin's interests. Come on, guys: you're better than that.
UKIP's difficulties over Russia are entirely selfinflicted although granted they have not yet delivered a powerful blow to their electorability.
UKIP = The Party of Putin.
Tories = The Party of In.
I've been reading a novel by Olen Steinhauer where the Russians are funnelling money into a Nationalist party in the Uk to forment dischord and weaken the EU.
On the flip side we no longer see Kippers calling the EU the EUSSR
@DanHannanMEP: Slightly shocked to see UKIP MEPs voting with the Front National, Jobbik etc in Putin's interests. Come on, guys: you're better than that.
UKIP's difficulties over Russia are entirely selfinflicted although granted they have not yet delivered a powerful blow to their electorability.
Libya and Syria nearly cost us the election, thank fully they seem to have learnt their lessons.
"Will Hutton did an interesting piece on Sunday about where we would be now if Charles Kennedy had stayed as leader. There might even be a Lib-Lab coalition rather than a Tory majority government."
He started with "let us first assume that the LDs have twenty more seats" without saying from which party they came from.
On the flip side we no longer see Kippers calling the EU the EUSSR
@DanHannanMEP: Slightly shocked to see UKIP MEPs voting with the Front National, Jobbik etc in Putin's interests. Come on, guys: you're better than that.
All too close the Americans is Dan, it's not just the left who find that off putting.
In Holyrood there's currently a wave of SNP Alte Kampfers preparing to retire.
Cuckoo halfwitted moron
Love you too, Malc xx
If you don't like these allusions perhaps you had better have a word with Alex Salmond, George Kerevan (who seems to have it on the brain) and all the rest...
Newspapers: I read the DM and Graun online, the latter more than the former plus I comment sometimes on CiF. I buy (occasionally) The Times in print, I look at the DT whenever it's lying around. I count myself a Times Reader.
Plus am an, um, true blue Cons.
On TVs - may I be the first to ask: what is a 4k TV?
Basically a Ultra High Definition TV. About 4 times better picture quality than a normal HD TV
On the flip side we no longer see Kippers calling the EU the EUSSR
@DanHannanMEP: Slightly shocked to see UKIP MEPs voting with the Front National, Jobbik etc in Putin's interests. Come on, guys: you're better than that.
UKIP's difficulties over Russia are entirely selfinflicted although granted they have not yet delivered a powerful blow to their electorability.
On the flip side we no longer see Kippers calling the EU the EUSSR
@DanHannanMEP: Slightly shocked to see UKIP MEPs voting with the Front National, Jobbik etc in Putin's interests. Come on, guys: you're better than that.
In Holyrood there's currently a wave of SNP Alte Kampfers preparing to retire.
Cuckoo halfwitted moron
Love you too, Malc xx
If you don't like these allusions perhaps you had better have a word with Alex Salmond, George Kerevan (who seems to have it on the brain) and all the rest...
Newspapers: I read the DM and Graun online, the latter more than the former plus I comment sometimes on CiF. I buy (occasionally) The Times in print, I look at the DT whenever it's lying around. I count myself a Times Reader.
Plus am an, um, true blue Cons.
On TVs - may I be the first to ask: what is a 4k TV?
Basically a Ultra High Definition TV. About 4 times better picture quality than a normal HD TV
It is literally four times the pixels. The change from traditional SDTV to HDTV was four times, which is the same as from HDTV to UHD.
Yes and to your eyes looks just the same
I can most definitely tell the difference (just can't currently afford it). It depends on the size of the screen but the bigger the screen the more noticeable the difference.
My Laptop I'm typing on now is 1920x1080 (the same resolution as full HDTV), there's no reason a 50" TV can't have a higher resolution than a Laptop.
This is a masterstroke. Osborne is already committed to running a surplus during the good times (as should any sane Chancellor with our debt as high as it is currently). So its no skin off his nose.
Now any putative successors need to either make the next election's commitments with this restriction in mind - or formally propose to remove this restriction and be seen as being irresponsible.
The cherry atop the icing will be if it comes to be known as the anti-Gordo rule
Ironic too, since Gordon Brown inherited a deficit and ran a surplus for a bit, while paying off debt. Still, this is politics so it may well happen.
Newspapers: I read the DM and Graun online, the latter more than the former plus I comment sometimes on CiF. I buy (occasionally) The Times in print, I look at the DT whenever it's lying around. I count myself a Times Reader.
Plus am an, um, true blue Cons.
On TVs - may I be the first to ask: what is a 4k TV?
Basically a Ultra High Definition TV. About 4 times better picture quality than a normal HD TV
It is literally four times the pixels. The change from traditional SDTV to HDTV was four times, which is the same as from HDTV to UHD.
Yes and to your eyes looks just the same
I can most definitely tell the difference (just can't currently afford it). It depends on the size of the screen but the bigger the screen the more noticeable the difference.
My Laptop I'm typing on now is 1920x1080 (the same resolution as full HDTV), there's no reason a 50" TV can't have a higher resolution than a Laptop.
I din't mean than 4k couldn't be a small improvement, but there's no way your viewing experience will be anything like 4 times better.
This is a masterstroke. Osborne is already committed to running a surplus during the good times (as should any sane Chancellor with our debt as high as it is currently). So its no skin off his nose.
Now any putative successors need to either make the next election's commitments with this restriction in mind - or formally propose to remove this restriction and be seen as being irresponsible.
The cherry atop the icing will be if it comes to be known as the anti-Gordo rule
Ironic too, since Gordon Brown inherited a deficit and ran a surplus for a bit, while paying off debt. Still, this is politics so it may well happen.
Gordon Brown inherited a path to a surplus and followed it for a little bit, before he changed things and we had a major deficit for seven years before recession. Utter madness.
On the flip side we no longer see Kippers calling the EU the EUSSR
@DanHannanMEP: Slightly shocked to see UKIP MEPs voting with the Front National, Jobbik etc in Putin's interests. Come on, guys: you're better than that.
Why shocked Mr Hannan, they are obvious bedfellows and aren't 'better than that'.
Mr. Rabbit, I concur. It's like people who spend a thousand pounds on a watch. Fair enough to spend your money as you will, but you don't get a better quality of time.
This is a masterstroke. Osborne is already committed to running a surplus during the good times (as should any sane Chancellor with our debt as high as it is currently). So its no skin off his nose.
Now any putative successors need to either make the next election's commitments with this restriction in mind - or formally propose to remove this restriction and be seen as being irresponsible.
The cherry atop the icing will be if it comes to be known as the anti-Gordo rule
Ironic too, since Gordon Brown inherited a deficit and ran a surplus for a bit, while paying off debt. Still, this is politics so it may well happen.
Gordon Brown inherited a path to a surplus and followed it for a little bit, before he changed things and we had a major deficit for seven years before recession. Utter madness.
Gordon proved that the UK could run a normal surplus, then proceeded not to.
Newspapers: I read the DM and Graun online, the latter more than the former plus I comment sometimes on CiF. I buy (occasionally) The Times in print, I look at the DT whenever it's lying around. I count myself a Times Reader.
Plus am an, um, true blue Cons.
On TVs - may I be the first to ask: what is a 4k TV?
Basically a Ultra High Definition TV. About 4 times better picture quality than a normal HD TV
It is literally four times the pixels. The change from traditional SDTV to HDTV was four times, which is the same as from HDTV to UHD.
Yes and to your eyes looks just the same
I can most definitely tell the difference (just can't currently afford it). It depends on the size of the screen but the bigger the screen the more noticeable the difference.
My Laptop I'm typing on now is 1920x1080 (the same resolution as full HDTV), there's no reason a 50" TV can't have a higher resolution than a Laptop.
I din't mean than 4k couldn't be a small improvement, but there's no way your viewing experience will be anything like 4 times better.
I agree that four times better is an overstatement (as it was for HDTV), but it will be better. Its an understatement to say you can't see the difference.
I'm looking forward to 4k gaming though I suspect we'll need to wait for PS5 or PS6 to make the most of it. By which point at this rate we could be talking about 16k TVs and so it goes on!
This is a masterstroke. Osborne is already committed to running a surplus during the good times (as should any sane Chancellor with our debt as high as it is currently). So its no skin off his nose.
Now any putative successors need to either make the next election's commitments with this restriction in mind - or formally propose to remove this restriction and be seen as being irresponsible.
The cherry atop the icing will be if it comes to be known as the anti-Gordo rule
Ironic too, since Gordon Brown inherited a deficit and ran a surplus for a bit, while paying off debt. Still, this is politics so it may well happen.
Gordon Brown inherited a path to a surplus and followed it for a little bit, before he changed things and we had a major deficit for seven years before recession. Utter madness.
Gordon proved that the UK could run a normal surplus, then proceeded not to.
Newspapers: I read the DM and Graun online, the latter more than the former plus I comment sometimes on CiF. I buy (occasionally) The Times in print, I look at the DT whenever it's lying around. I count myself a Times Reader.
Plus am an, um, true blue Cons.
On TVs - may I be the first to ask: what is a 4k TV?
Basically a Ultra High Definition TV. About 4 times better picture quality than a normal HD TV
It is literally four times the pixels. The change from traditional SDTV to HDTV was four times, which is the same as from HDTV to UHD.
Yes and to your eyes looks just the same
I can most definitely tell the difference (just can't currently afford it). It depends on the size of the screen but the bigger the screen the more noticeable the difference.
My Laptop I'm typing on now is 1920x1080 (the same resolution as full HDTV), there's no reason a 50" TV can't have a higher resolution than a Laptop.
I din't mean than 4k couldn't be a small improvement, but there's no way your viewing experience will be anything like 4 times better.
I agree that four times better is an overstatement (as it was for HDTV), but it will be better. Its an understatement to say you can't see the difference.
I'm looking forward to 4k gaming though I suspect we'll need to wait for PS5 or PS6 to make the most of it. By which point at this rate we could be talking about 16k TVs and so it goes on!
It's not much of an understatement to say you can't see the difference n the sense that, if you were buying a TV today, you could get a better viewing experience on a non-4k than a 4k model, because resolution isn't everything. Good black performance and build quality would be more valuable.
Mr. Rabbit, I concur. It's like people who spend a thousand pounds on a watch. Fair enough to spend your money as you will, but you don't get a better quality of time.
She just made a series of accusations against Cameron, things like he should show a bit more class and that he shouldn't gloat.
She also did not seem to listen to his answers (or at least, as far as I could tell).
Mr. Rabbit, I concur. It's like people who spend a thousand pounds on a watch. Fair enough to spend your money as you will, but you don't get a better quality of time.
Surely a thousand pound watch is essentially a form of jewellery. It's like wearing a thousand pound ring or necklace.
In Holyrood there's currently a wave of SNP Alte Kampfers preparing to retire.
Cuckoo halfwitted moron
Love you too, Malc xx
If you don't like these allusions perhaps you had better have a word with Alex Salmond, George Kerevan (who seems to have it on the brain) and all the rest...
Matt, you are a sicko , get some help
When the senior leadership of the SNP, who set the culture of their party, stop being routinely abusive of other people - verging on racist - I'll stop mocking them.
I don't see that happening any time soon, since their politics is founded on a victim myth.
Let me know how you get on.
It would be preferable for there to be a degree of honesty in SNP rhetoric, but I don't see that happening soon either.
On the flip side we no longer see Kippers calling the EU the EUSSR
@DanHannanMEP: Slightly shocked to see UKIP MEPs voting with the Front National, Jobbik etc in Putin's interests. Come on, guys: you're better than that.
Why shocked Mr Hannan, they are obvious bedfellows and aren't 'better than that'.
There is a rather ominous aspect to europhobia that does not merely wish the UK out of the EU, but also is actively trying to collapse the European Institutions. It does not surprise me that we see so many pro-Putin kippers.
Indeed one wonders whether the expressed interest in expanding our military is so that we can open a second front against the dastardly continentals.
Mr. Foxinsox, those sceptical of the EU shouldn't be described as Europhobes. Dislike of the EU does not mean fear, and does not mean dislike of Europe.
I wonder what Xbox will do, though. They've gone from Xbox, to Xbox 360, to Xbox One. It's an unconventional naming approach to say the least.
[On that note, XCOM 2 is actually the 11th game. Even if you only count reboots, it's the 3rd].
Very unconventional. One of my favourite scenes from The Big Bang Theory is where Sheldon discusses the new consoles. "Why one, maybe that's how many seconds thought they put into naming it?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-E9cYyaSRI
XCOM 2 follows more traditional naming guidelines. Enemy Unknown was a reboot and so "one". Enemy Within was an expansion not a sequel and so wouldn't get the next iteration. The Bureau: XCOM declassified is a side-game and not part of the main series. XCOM 2 is only the second full game of the series since the reboot.
Mr. Rabbit, I concur. It's like people who spend a thousand pounds on a watch. Fair enough to spend your money as you will, but you don't get a better quality of time.
Surely a thousand pound watch is essentially a form of jewellery. It's like wearing a thousand pound ring or necklace.
A friend's wife bought him a Rolex for his fortieth birthday, and he mentioned something about having to take some form of purchase proof and customs disclaimer with him when he goes to some countries (e.g. US). Someone on here must know if this is true.
You also make yourself a mugging target.
If the lovely Mrs J ever bought me one, I would probably immediately sell it on. Then again, a Rolex would look distinctly odd on the wrist of the Beast of Bodmin Moor. ;-)
On the flip side we no longer see Kippers calling the EU the EUSSR
@DanHannanMEP: Slightly shocked to see UKIP MEPs voting with the Front National, Jobbik etc in Putin's interests. Come on, guys: you're better than that.
UKIP's difficulties over Russia are entirely selfinflicted although granted they have not yet delivered a powerful blow to their electorability.
Mr. Thompson, nice clip. Haven't watched The Big Bang Theory for a few years, so I hadn't seen it before [although I'm surprised Sheldon thinks Kinect is a good thing].
Not sure I agree on not counting The Bureau as a proper XCOM game, though.
Mildly miffed XCOM 2's PC-only, but the mood music suggests it may come out on consoles next year.
Why was Soubry taking part in Scottish Questions when she's not a Scottish Minister?
PMQs a bit flatter than last week. Probably a bit of a non-event until Labour gets a new leader, Hattie is not really able to cut the mustard and she knows it.
Shame Andrea Jenkyns fluffed her question (several times), it was a big moment for the first question at PMQs from the Tory MP for Morley & Outwood (the cheer when she mentioned the constituency name got what will probably remain the biggest cheer of the whole Parliament!)
This is a masterstroke. Osborne is already committed to running a surplus during the good times (as should any sane Chancellor with our debt as high as it is currently). So its no skin off his nose.
Now any putative successors need to either make the next election's commitments with this restriction in mind - or formally propose to remove this restriction and be seen as being irresponsible.
The cherry atop the icing will be if it comes to be known as the anti-Gordo rule
Ironic too, since Gordon Brown inherited a deficit and ran a surplus for a bit, while paying off debt. Still, this is politics so it may well happen.
Gordon Brown inherited a path to a surplus and followed it for a little bit, before he changed things and we had a major deficit for seven years before recession. Utter madness.
That path to a surplus being a deficit and the complete collapse of Conservatives' economic policy.
Newspapers: I read the DM and Graun online, the latter more than the former plus I comment sometimes on CiF. I buy (occasionally) The Times in print, I look at the DT whenever it's lying around. I count myself a Times Reader.
Plus am an, um, true blue Cons.
On TVs - may I be the first to ask: what is a 4k TV?
Basically a Ultra High Definition TV. About 4 times better picture quality than a normal HD TV
The one thing I find quite amusing is the way TV manufacturers advertise their new super duper HD 4k whatsit mega pixel ultra stupendous picture with cars driving around and paint pots exploding in glorious multi colour..........
........In an advert on your existing Tv screen.
....and some out there must say hell yes !!! .....That looks really good better than my existing picture?
MD glad you liked the clip. The XCOM series is a strategy series, not an FPS one. The Bureau is an FPS game set in the XCOM universe but its surely not part of the same series of strategy games so couldn't be called XCOM 2.
Its like how in the Marvel Cinematic Universe you wouldn't call Captain America a sequel of Iron Man. Its the same Universe but its not the same series. Iron Man 2 and 3 both had films set in the same Universe between them in as much as XCOM 1 (Enemy Unknown) and 2 have The Bureau released in-between.
I saw an advert for a Samsung Black TV the other day - it looked about as black as my TV too.
Frankly, I think good black is essential for clarity - but too many shows and films are filmed in Black-O-Vision and I can't see WTF is going on.
The worst example was some Clint Eastwood film I saw at the flicks - Escape From Alcatraz. I gave up squinting at the screen as I may as well have had my eyes shut.
Newspapers: I read the DM and Graun online, the latter more than the former plus I comment sometimes on CiF. I buy (occasionally) The Times in print, I look at the DT whenever it's lying around. I count myself a Times Reader.
Plus am an, um, true blue Cons.
On TVs - may I be the first to ask: what is a 4k TV?
Basically a Ultra High Definition TV. About 4 times better picture quality than a normal HD TV
The one thing I find quite amusing is the way TV manufacturers advertise their new super duper HD mega pixel ultra stupendous picture with cars driving around and pint pots exploding in glorious multi colour..........
........In an advert on your existing Tv screen.
....and some out there must say hell yes !!! .....That looks really good better than my existing picture?
I saw an advert for a Samsung Black TV the other day - it looked about as black as my TV too.
Frankly, I think good black is essential for clarity - but too many shows and films are filmed in Black-O-Vision and I can't see WTF is going on.
The worst example was some Clint Eastwood film I saw at the flicks - Escape From Alcatraz. I gave up squinting at the screen as I may as well have had my eyes shut.
Newspapers: I read the DM and Graun online, the latter more than the former plus I comment sometimes on CiF. I buy (occasionally) The Times in print, I look at the DT whenever it's lying around. I count myself a Times Reader.
Plus am an, um, true blue Cons.
On TVs - may I be the first to ask: what is a 4k TV?
Basically a Ultra High Definition TV. About 4 times better picture quality than a normal HD TV
The one thing I find quite amusing is the way TV manufacturers advertise their new super duper HD mega pixel ultra stupendous picture with cars driving around and pint pots exploding in glorious multi colour..........
........In an advert on your existing Tv screen.
....and some out there must say hell yes !!! .....That looks really good better than my existing picture?
This is a masterstroke. Osborne is already committed to running a surplus during the good times (as should any sane Chancellor with our debt as high as it is currently). So its no skin off his nose.
Now any putative successors need to either make the next election's commitments with this restriction in mind - or formally propose to remove this restriction and be seen as being irresponsible.
The cherry atop the icing will be if it comes to be known as the anti-Gordo rule
Ironic too, since Gordon Brown inherited a deficit and ran a surplus for a bit, while paying off debt. Still, this is politics so it may well happen.
Gordon Brown inherited a path to a surplus and followed it for a little bit, before he changed things and we had a major deficit for seven years before recession. Utter madness.
That path to a surplus being a deficit and the complete collapse of Conservatives' economic policy.
There was a recession in the early 90s leading to a deficit peaking in 1993 and then on a path to surplus that was followed until 2000. That's a budget cycle, but then turned this upside down from 2002-2007 running a major deficit during the good times rather than during/after a recession. When the recession hit then we were already on a major deficit (rather than the surplus we had in 1989 before the last recession).
On the other hand, it has meant embracing the left’s version of the culture wars that characterised those campaigns in the United States. In the UK, it is not religious fundamentalists or shock jocks who insist on controlling the tone of national debate, but their mirror-image on the left: the self-appointed, state-funded popes of received wisdom in the universities and the arts. To many British academics – or, at least, to the noisiest ones – there could not be anything more sacrilegious than promoting British values. National identity is contested terrain, of course. But what the liberal left contests is that we should be proud to be British at all.
Pseudo-radical academics do the same damage to the cause of the political left in Britain as the populist American right does to the Republican Party. Outraged of Oxbridge are the first out of the traps to convey their horror at anything that offends their world-view.
According to The Times, he made a helpful call to Ed just before the exit poll was released
It was Mr Miliband himself who tried to ease the mood in the room. Half an hour before the exit poll, after he and Justine Thornton, his wife, had taken a call from his brother, David, congratulating him on his campaign, he asked those with him to think about something fun they would like to do in the event of defeat.
Harman stands there reading from bits of paper for over 5 minutes going on about what she stated journalist on the plane heard him say including that cabinet members had to toe the line etc etc etc.
The PM sat then stands up and says he really like the speech she made but would like to correct her on point:
" there were no journalist on the plane"
How people like Harmen get to those positions of power and responsibility is utterly beyond me. She wouldn't survive for 5 seconds in a mid management meeting.
Harman stands there reading from bits of paper for over 5 minutes going on about what she stated journalist on the plane heard him say including that cabinet members had to toe the line etc etc etc.
The PM sat then stands up and says he really like the speech she made but would like to correct her on point:
" there were no journalist on the plane"
How people like Harmen get to those positions of power and responsibility is utterly beyond me. She wouldn't survive for 5 seconds in a mid management meeting.
I saw an advert for a Samsung Black TV the other day - it looked about as black as my TV too.
Frankly, I think good black is essential for clarity - but too many shows and films are filmed in Black-O-Vision and I can't see WTF is going on.
The worst example was some Clint Eastwood film I saw at the flicks - Escape From Alcatraz. I gave up squinting at the screen as I may as well have had my eyes shut.
Newspapers: I read the DM and Graun online, the latter more than the former plus I comment sometimes on CiF. I buy (occasionally) The Times in print, I look at the DT whenever it's lying around. I count myself a Times Reader.
Plus am an, um, true blue Cons.
On TVs - may I be the first to ask: what is a 4k TV?
Basically a Ultra High Definition TV. About 4 times better picture quality than a normal HD TV
The one thing I find quite amusing is the way TV manufacturers advertise their new super duper HD mega pixel ultra stupendous picture with cars driving around and pint pots exploding in glorious multi colour..........
........In an advert on your existing Tv screen.
....and some out there must say hell yes !!! .....That looks really good better than my existing picture?
Some of the recent TV dramas are getting slated as well not only for background music overriding what the actors are saying but also some scenes are so dark you cannot see the actors irrespective of what your TV is like.
"We have become those people that the public doesn’t understand"
No Sunny, the title is right.
Given that Sunny has spent 10 years talking about the need to seed "media narratives" and get more differential coverage for that selection of stories that he deems to be in his side's interest, it is highly ironic.
Perhaps the public don't listen to media froth after all :-).
This is a masterstroke. Osborne is already committed to running a surplus during the good times (as should any sane Chancellor with our debt as high as it is currently). So its no skin off his nose.
Now any putative successors need to either make the next election's commitments with this restriction in mind - or formally propose to remove this restriction and be seen as being irresponsible.
The cherry atop the icing will be if it comes to be known as the anti-Gordo rule
Ironic too, since Gordon Brown inherited a deficit and ran a surplus for a bit, while paying off debt. Still, this is politics so it may well happen.
Gordon Brown inherited a path to a surplus and followed it for a little bit, before he changed things and we had a major deficit for seven years before recession. Utter madness.
That path to a surplus being a deficit and the complete collapse of Conservatives' economic policy.
There was a recession in the early 90s leading to a deficit peaking in 1993 and then on a path to surplus that was followed until 2000. That's a budget cycle, but then turned this upside down from 2002-2007 running a major deficit during the good times rather than during/after a recession. When the recession hit then we were already on a major deficit (rather than the surplus we had in 1989 before the last recession).
Shouldn't the last section be blue/yellow striped.
Harman stands there reading from bits of paper for over 5 minutes going on about what she stated journalist on the plane heard him say including that cabinet members had to toe the line etc etc etc.
The PM sat then stands up and says he really like the speech she made but would like to correct her on point:
" there were no journalist on the plane"
How people like Harmen get to those positions of power and responsibility is utterly beyond me. She wouldn't survive for 5 seconds in a mid management meeting.
Remember, these are people for whom the *only* real qualification for the job, is persuading enough individuals to vote for you. That's it.
And IPSA wants to give them a 10% pay rise!
I believe a failed MP who posts here, claims that they can all earn a lot more outside politics. The mind boggles.
I saw an advert for a Samsung Black TV the other day - it looked about as black as my TV too.
Frankly, I think good black is essential for clarity - but too many shows and films are filmed in Black-O-Vision and I can't see WTF is going on.
The worst example was some Clint Eastwood film I saw at the flicks - Escape From Alcatraz. I gave up squinting at the screen as I may as well have had my eyes shut.
Newspapers: I read the DM and Graun online, the latter more than the former plus I comment sometimes on CiF. I buy (occasionally) The Times in print, I look at the DT whenever it's lying around. I count myself a Times Reader.
Plus am an, um, true blue Cons.
On TVs - may I be the first to ask: what is a 4k TV?
Basically a Ultra High Definition TV. About 4 times better picture quality than a normal HD TV
The one thing I find quite amusing is the way TV manufacturers advertise their new super duper HD mega pixel ultra stupendous picture with cars driving around and pint pots exploding in glorious multi colour..........
........In an advert on your existing Tv screen.
....and some out there must say hell yes !!! .....That looks really good better than my existing picture?
I quite like the fact that there is a perpetual quest for new 'blacker' surfaces, leading to claims that a new material is "ten times blacker than any previous surface!" Apparently the materials are needed for optical instruments, e.g. telescopes.
Harman stands there reading from bits of paper for over 5 minutes going on about what she stated journalist on the plane heard him say including that cabinet members had to toe the line etc etc etc.
The PM sat then stands up and says he really like the speech she made but would like to correct her on point:
" there were no journalist on the plane"
How people like Harmen get to those positions of power and responsibility is utterly beyond me. She wouldn't survive for 5 seconds in a mid management meeting.
Remember, these are people for whom the *only* requirement for the job, is persuading enough individuals to vote for you. That's it.
And IPSA wants to give them a 10% pay rise!
I believe a failed MP who posts here, claims that they can all earn a lot more outside politics. The mind boggles.
Except that we have ultra-low interest rates because the market has confidence in Osborne's policies, if he were to divert from that and seek to be continuing to borrow ever more then interest rates would spike up. Given the massive deficit the cost of that wouldn't just be the cost of borrowing the extra bit at a higher rate but the extra cost of covering the entire deficit (and rolling over old debts when they mature).
The cost of a higher interest rate when we're this much in debt is considerable. Those who want to "take advantage" of low rates put the cart before the horse.
Comments
You could say it is my Achilles' elbow.
I'd suggest the SNP surge would still have happened and the SNP would still have wiped out Scottish LDs. The Tories would have had a further swing to them that opposition parties typically get (and from a baseline of over 300 would have been expected to get a majority) but I'd suggest they'd have taken a clean sweep of the South West and South East still.
The LDs would likely have saved northern English seats from Labour but would have lost Tory tactical voters still so even those may not have been saved (for the same reason Southern seats weren't saved this time).
If every politician who had bigged themselves up was prosecuted, they would need to double the size of the lifers wing at HMP Wakefield....
The marginal improvement is insignificant.
If you are on a PC/laptop you are probably reading this on a resolution that's no improved in a decade and is much closer to your eyes.
Although, given the prospect of Ed Miliband being propped up by the SNP, it wasn't rocket science to see how that was going to play out.
http://www.livescience.com/18658-humans-eagle-vision.html
You're lucky I display all the humility of Crassus at Carrhae.
On the flip side we no longer see Kippers calling the EU the EUSSR
@DanHannanMEP: Slightly shocked to see UKIP MEPs voting with the Front National, Jobbik etc in Putin's interests. Come on, guys: you're better than that.
http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2015/06/osbornes-budget-surplus-trap-will-force-labour-finally-offer-economic-clarity
Tories = The Party of In.
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/multimedia/archive/00353/116100073_353237c.jpg
I think it's 85 beheadings they've had this year. Not to mention unilaterally launched a full scale military assault on a neighbouring country. I'm sure it's on Dave's list to do something about.
We do at least get some clue as to UKIPs attitude to human rights in Russia. Can they be trusted with our domestic human rights? And what is wrong with criticising Russia for funding nationalist movements in the EU?
On the other hand at least the UKIP MEPs dragged themselves in to vote, an unusual event in itself!
Entirely fictional of course...
Foreign funding of our political parties is a massive problem.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/9740044/The-cowardice-at-the-heart-of-our-relationship-with-Israel.html
He started with "let us first assume that the LDs have twenty more seats" without saying from which party they came from.
Queue howls of laughter
If you don't like these allusions perhaps you had better have a word with Alex Salmond, George Kerevan (who seems to have it on the brain) and all the rest...
Very poor.
My Laptop I'm typing on now is 1920x1080 (the same resolution as full HDTV), there's no reason a 50" TV can't have a higher resolution than a Laptop.
Thought they were predominantly named after fish.
Mr. Rabbit, I concur. It's like people who spend a thousand pounds on a watch. Fair enough to spend your money as you will, but you don't get a better quality of time.
I'm looking forward to 4k gaming though I suspect we'll need to wait for PS5 or PS6 to make the most of it. By which point at this rate we could be talking about 16k TVs and so it goes on!
I wonder what Xbox will do, though. They've gone from Xbox, to Xbox 360, to Xbox One. It's an unconventional naming approach to say the least.
[On that note, XCOM 2 is actually the 11th game. Even if you only count reboots, it's the 3rd].
She also did not seem to listen to his answers (or at least, as far as I could tell).
This, good governance does not make.
I don't see that happening any time soon, since their politics is founded on a victim myth.
Let me know how you get on.
It would be preferable for there to be a degree of honesty in SNP rhetoric, but I don't see that happening soon either.
Indeed one wonders whether the expressed interest in expanding our military is so that we can open a second front against the dastardly continentals.
http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2015/06/culture-wars-left-have-contributed-labour-becoming-unelectable
http://labourlist.org/2015/06/we-failed-to-defeat-the-tories-because-the-left-has-stopped-understanding-the-public/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-E9cYyaSRI
XCOM 2 follows more traditional naming guidelines. Enemy Unknown was a reboot and so "one". Enemy Within was an expansion not a sequel and so wouldn't get the next iteration. The Bureau: XCOM declassified is a side-game and not part of the main series. XCOM 2 is only the second full game of the series since the reboot.
You also make yourself a mugging target.
If the lovely Mrs J ever bought me one, I would probably immediately sell it on. Then again, a Rolex would look distinctly odd on the wrist of the Beast of Bodmin Moor. ;-)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-33077107
A bit like the "Fast and Furious" movies. No F and F 3 or 4.
Not sure I agree on not counting The Bureau as a proper XCOM game, though.
Mildly miffed XCOM 2's PC-only, but the mood music suggests it may come out on consoles next year.
PMQs a bit flatter than last week. Probably a bit of a non-event until Labour gets a new leader, Hattie is not really able to cut the mustard and she knows it.
Shame Andrea Jenkyns fluffed her question (several times), it was a big moment for the first question at PMQs from the Tory MP for Morley & Outwood (the cheer when she mentioned the constituency name got what will probably remain the biggest cheer of the whole Parliament!)
........In an advert on your existing Tv screen.
....and some out there must say hell yes !!! .....That looks really good better than my existing picture?
Its like how in the Marvel Cinematic Universe you wouldn't call Captain America a sequel of Iron Man. Its the same Universe but its not the same series. Iron Man 2 and 3 both had films set in the same Universe between them in as much as XCOM 1 (Enemy Unknown) and 2 have The Bureau released in-between.
Frankly, I think good black is essential for clarity - but too many shows and films are filmed in Black-O-Vision and I can't see WTF is going on.
The worst example was some Clint Eastwood film I saw at the flicks - Escape From Alcatraz. I gave up squinting at the screen as I may as well have had my eyes shut.
"Are right-wingers evil? Yes" by Sunny Hundal
http://liberalconspiracy.org/2013/07/17/are-right-wingers-evil-yes/
Spot the turning points in this graph: http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2010/oct/18/deficit-debt-government-borrowing-data#img-
There was a recession in the early 90s leading to a deficit peaking in 1993 and then on a path to surplus that was followed until 2000. That's a budget cycle, but then turned this upside down from 2002-2007 running a major deficit during the good times rather than during/after a recession. When the recession hit then we were already on a major deficit (rather than the surplus we had in 1989 before the last recession).
According to The Times, he made a helpful call to Ed just before the exit poll was released http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/politics/article4465637.ece
The PM sat then stands up and says he really like the speech she made but would like to correct her on point:
" there were no journalist on the plane"
How people like Harmen get to those positions of power and responsibility is utterly beyond me. She wouldn't survive for 5 seconds in a mid management meeting.
"We have become those people that the public doesn’t understand"
No Sunny, the title is right.
Given that Sunny has spent 10 years talking about the need to seed "media narratives" and get more differential coverage for that selection of stories that he deems to be in his side's interest, it is highly ironic.
Perhaps the public don't listen to media froth after all :-).
And IPSA wants to give them a 10% pay rise!
I believe a failed MP who posts here, claims that they can all earn a lot more outside politics. The mind boggles.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2732487.stm
has the following quote:
"It's a very interesting surface to look at because it's so black."
On-topic - curious that there's no FT in the table.
Except that we have ultra-low interest rates because the market has confidence in Osborne's policies, if he were to divert from that and seek to be continuing to borrow ever more then interest rates would spike up. Given the massive deficit the cost of that wouldn't just be the cost of borrowing the extra bit at a higher rate but the extra cost of covering the entire deficit (and rolling over old debts when they mature).
The cost of a higher interest rate when we're this much in debt is considerable. Those who want to "take advantage" of low rates put the cart before the horse.