Kevin Rudd is now leader of the Australian Labor Party but he isn't prime minister yet. The governor general may ask him to prove that he has the support of Parliament.
Two independents who were supporting the government announced their retirements in the last few hours.
» show previous quotes The charitable might describe them as 'disciplined'.....lets face it, they tested 'loyal to a bad leader' to destruction under Brown....
Can only speak for myself. I hinted at the time (here and elsewhere) that I was open to supporting a challenge, but when none appeared I wasn't up for a "let's replace Gordon with someone, we'll work it out later" revolt. In the event I think we did as well as we could reasonably have expected in mid-crisis after 13 years in power, and I've no regrets at all for not supporting a headless revolt.
I've only seen the Gillard/Rudd wotsit on twitter and assumed the jokes about knitting were to do with the French Revolution - apparently not - she really was knitting.
I've no regrets at all for not supporting a headless revolt.
And why were there no 'heads'? Hadn't Brown seen them all off? I think the Labour Backbenchers deserve credit for their discipline (something the Tories could learn from) - but I also think the Labour Front Bench/senior MPs could also learn from the Tories, on dumping past it PMs....
I've only seen the Gillard/Rudd wotsit on twitter and assumed the jokes about knitting were to do with the French Revolution - apparently not - she really was knitting.
Matt Chorley tweets: "Somewhere in Ed Miliband's office someone is dropping knitting needles and a ball of wool into a bin"
I'd just like to declare that I am a knitter, and the first male British political leader who comes out as a knitter - rather than claiming some absurd level of sexual prowess - will win my eternal loyalty.
YES! I knew it. PR disaster, hopeless spin, laughably out of touch, this truly was a job for John McTernan.
Man makes Prime Minister Gillard knit him a kangaroo
But more importantly, the image perfectly illustrates not just that Julia Gillard is obsessed with spin, but is so bad at it that everything screams “fake!”:
The remarkable image, on sale tomorrow in the latest Australian Women’s Weekly, was not the magazine’s idea. Instead, the concept of a cosy PM knitting a toy kangaroo - while in the company of her cavoodle Reuben - came directly from Ms Gillard’s own staff.
The Prime Minister’s chief press officer John McTernan is credited by the Weekly for coming up with the idea.
After the magazine approached Ms Gillard’s office in April for an interview, Mr McTernan responded that the PM wanted to pose for shots as she knitted a toy kangaroo for the baby of Prince William and expectant wife Catherine.
“It was a no-brainer,” Mr McTernan told the magazine…
Ms Gillard took five hours out of her schedule on May 25 to pose for the photograph at a studio in Alexandria.
Six prime ministerial staffers, including personal stylists and make-up artists, accompanied Ms Gillard to the shoot.
The PM brought several changes of outfit but ended up choosing clothes selected by Women’s Weekly…
“I think I can explain (why I’m doing it),” Ms Gillard tells the Weekly about posing for the photograph. “If there is something I hope that I’ve done for the image of women in public life is that we can go into an adversarial environment like parliament and we can dominate it and make it our own, and we can conquer it.”
Despite being an avowed republican, Gillard said she was happy to knit a royal baby’s gift…
During the actual photographic session, Ms Gillard seemed to have second thoughts. As she took her place in the armchair and took up the knitting needles, the Prime Minister told staffers: “This feels slightly absurd.”
Slightly absurd?
She’s a republican knitting a present for the baby of the monarch’s grandson.
She’s a Prime Minister who has spent five hours of her day- with six staff in attendance - simply to pose with knitting needles.
She is a modern feminist posing with the tools of a domestic lifestyle of a pre-feminist era.
She uses stylists to pose in a dress that clashes violently with the chair.
She is showing she is her own woman by adopting a PR stunt dreamed up by her male PR adviser.
She is giving encouragement to young female politicians by plying a hobby now synonymous with mad old aunts.
She is showing her authenticity by spending five hours in a photographer’s studio pretending to knit.
I thought the “blue tie” speech marked the nadir of her spin. Now it’s knitting the bush kangaroo.
For those who don't know who McTernan is he is a SLAB/Labour 'luminary' who was frequently mocked for his astonishingly out of touch spin and commentary. Poor old Australia, you didn't deserve him.
Never been to Oz but there was a couple of interesting tweets from the Sun cricket correspondent this morning after the vote...
John Etheridge @JohnSunCricket 2h Australia is country swamped by infringement of personal liberty. The mindset undermines sport. 'Can't do this or that.' Land of free? No. John Etheridge @JohnSunCricket 2h
To understand why Australia is a diminished sporting nation, you need only sit in a taxi. List of 8 dos and don'ts. #nannystate #elfnsafety
Morning all. I've been away walking, and eating and drinking, in the Südtirol/Alto Adige (partly thanks to SeanT's recommendation a while back), which is much to be recommended.
Interesting development in Australia. I think a big difference compared with Gordon Brown is that there was a single, clear alternative leader. Even so, I wonder how much good it will do Labor.
YES! I knew it. PR disaster, hopeless spin, laughably out of touch, this truly was a job for John McTernan.
Perhaps it means a return to the UK for the McTerminator so he can give Bettertogether that final gloss of toxic negativity they've been so lacking. We can only hope!
@isam said: When was the last time backing ukip to do well didn't pay off?
My losing political bets in 2013 have been on UKIP
They failed in Eastleigh They failed to get 30%+ in South Shields
That is crazy talk
They were 5/6 over or under 18% in South Shields... 50/50 in other words and they whacked it You chose to go for big odds with the bar set a lot higher. You backed them at EVS to come 2nd I believe?
What price were they to win Eastleigh? It was hardly a failure But the derivatives ie to come 2nd, the match with the Tories and vote share they all beat expectation.
Find a 50/50 bet that ukip have failed to win this year
Dan Hodges @DPJHodges Yougov poll finds 3% of people believe Ed is a natural leader. Another poll found 4% believe “lizard people” control our societies.
"According to Ipsos MORI, only 20 per cent of 18-34-year-olds agree with the statement "the creation of the welfare state is one of Britain's proudest achievements". How dare they?!? Most amazingly of all – to Harris, anyway – is that Generation Y don't blame the "Con-Dem cuts" for youth unemployment. Haven't they been listening to Len McCluskey?"
"The most telling passage in the article comes at the end, when Harris meets a 27-year-old in Warrington who's just got a job after a bout of unemployment thanks to the government's Work Programme. Harris asks him whether he thinks his joblessness was his fault.
"Yeah," he says. "I do. I think I should have applied for more. I should have picked myself up in the morning, got out, come to a place like this – tried more. When you're feeling down, you start blaming the world for your mistakes – you feel the world owes you. And it doesn't. You owe the world: you have to motivate yourself, and get out there, and try."
Harris describes this reply as – wait for it – "heartbreaking". "
I've no regrets at all for not supporting a headless revolt.
And why were there no 'heads'? Hadn't Brown seen them all off? I think the Labour Backbenchers deserve credit for their discipline (something the Tories could learn from) - but I also think the Labour Front Bench/senior MPs could also learn from the Tories, on dumping past it PMs....
I think it is pretty clear that by 2009 if David Miliband had stood against him Darling would have backed him. He said as much in his book. Unfortunately for the country David could not be persuaded so the country remained in limbo until 2010. After that performance David did not deserve the leadership.
I suspect that all leaders of Parliamentary groups, including Mr Cameron and Ed Miliband, will sleep just a little less easily in their beds after this. Good.
YES! I knew it. PR disaster, hopeless spin, laughably out of touch, this truly was a job for John McTernan.
Perhaps it means a return to the UK for the McTeminator so he can give Bettertogether that final gloss of toxic negativity they've been so lacking. We can only hope!
Perhaps Brown needs a PR advisor for his "Better Together" splinter group "United with Labour". (no I'm not making that up, that's all true) Imagine the hilarity.
YES! I knew it. PR disaster, hopeless spin, laughably out of touch, this truly was a job for John McTernan.
Perhaps it means a return to the UK for the McTeminator so he can give Bettertogether that final gloss of toxic negativity they've been so lacking. We can only hope!
Well, you need something to even the game.....
Alex Massie tweets: "Now that Julia Gillard's a corpse, I'd suggest @UK_Together hire @johnmcternan to run their #indyref shop."
South Tyrol is just gorgeous, innit? Glad my advice was helpful. I'm actually back there again in about a week, writing about the south South Tyrol (Lake Molveno and the like)
I didn't get to that bit, so I shall await your report.
I've no regrets at all for not supporting a headless revolt.
And why were there no 'heads'? Hadn't Brown seen them all off? I think the Labour Backbenchers deserve credit for their discipline (something the Tories could learn from) - but I also think the Labour Front Bench/senior MPs could also learn from the Tories, on dumping past it PMs....
I think it is pretty clear that by 2009 if David Miliband had stood against him Darling would have backed him. He said as much in his book. Unfortunately for the country David could not be persauded so the country remained in limbo until 2010. After that performance David did not deserve the leadership.
I suspect that all leaders of Parliamentary groups, including Mr Cameron and Ed Miliband, will sleep just a little less easily in their beds after this. Good.
Was David M not persuaded by Ed M to wait until after the election before challenging for leadership?
George Osborne ridiculed over [man-of-the-people] burger tweet http://is.gd/b73Klg pic.twitter.com/TSjiYoKOtX
First the pasty, now the fop burger. Where next for the PR master strategists? There's likely a Kebab with Cammie's name on it somewhere out there. ;^ )
I've no regrets at all for not supporting a headless revolt.
And why were there no 'heads'? Hadn't Brown seen them all off? I think the Labour Backbenchers deserve credit for their discipline (something the Tories could learn from) - but I also think the Labour Front Bench/senior MPs could also learn from the Tories, on dumping past it PMs....
I think it is pretty clear that by 2009 if David Miliband had stood against him Darling would have backed him. He said as much in his book. Unfortunately for the country David could not be persauded so the country remained in limbo until 2010. After that performance David did not deserve the leadership.
I suspect that all leaders of Parliamentary groups, including Mr Cameron and Ed Miliband, will sleep just a little less easily in their beds after this. Good.
Was David M not persuaded by Ed M to wait until after the election before challenging for leadership?
I don't know. Presumably that bit will have to wait for David's book. I have no doubt he would have debated the issue with him at length. After all, if you can't rely on the loyalty of your brother who can you rely on?
I fear the dreadful truth is that Ed was less conviced of Brown's terminal lunacy than his brother.
"...I think there are two problems with Unite’s attempted hijacking of Labour selections, neither of which are actually based on any great abuse of principle. The first is that this is not actually being done in the name of any grand political strategy. Oh, that’s the pretext: more good, honest working-class people in a position to pass more laws that benefit good, honest workers. And yes, Unite want to see Ed Miliband dancing to their tune.
But that’s not what it’s really about. Unite are trying to fix selections simply because they can. Lots of middle-aged men, (it’s still always men), wandering around showing how big and hard they are. They should just go the whole hog and rename themselves the National Union of Willy Wavers.
The second problem is the new politics wasn’t supposed to be like this. Ed Miliband’s party spent the best part of a year going through an entire, tortuous process called “Refounding Labour”. It was a total and utter waste of time. Nothing has been “refounded”. People are fitting-up selections for their mates and their cliques in the same way that they always did.
Not that you’ll hear many people complaining. That’s because they can’t. If you’re an MP, you need Unite’s votes to ensure your reselection. If you’re a wannabe MP, you need Unite’s votes to ensure your selection. So today, those people who are normally up in arms at the merest procedural missteps within the party machine will stay silent.
I don’t care about the abuse. What I object to is the hypocrisy..."
Alex Massie tweets: "Now that Julia Gillard's a corpse, I'd suggest @UK_Together hire @johnmcternan to run their #indyref shop."
I think we'll rely on our positive message. However if BT choose the likes of Blair McDougall (organiser of failed D.Millband leadership bid), McTernan (organiser of SLAB's failed 2007 Holyrood campaign and comms director for booted-out Gillard), failed chancellor Darling and failed PM Brown, who are we to interrupt them.
"Wimbledon 2013: the tournament that divides fans into haves and have-nots
For all the romanticism and mythology that surrounds Wimbledon, there is a truth that few tell: as a spectator experience, it consists largely of waiting":
Alex Massie tweets: "Now that Julia Gillard's a corpse, I'd suggest @UK_Together hire @johnmcternan to run their #indyref shop."
I think we'll rely on our positive message. However if BT choose the likes of Blair McDougall (organiser of failed D.Millband leadership bid), McTernan (organiser of SLAB's failed 2007 Holyrood campaign and comms director for booted-out Gillard), failed chancellor Darling and failed PM Brown, who are we to interrupt them.
McTernan almost makes Dan Hodges look sane. Almost. ;^ )
Why couldn't our own lefties have evicted that destoyer of worlds Gordon Brown?
Because as Nick intimates, it's only possible to do that if there's someone to replace them with *and* if the process and aftermath is not so damaging as to make the exercise worthless. Those conditions were never adequately met.
I've no regrets at all for not supporting a headless revolt.
And why were there no 'heads'? Hadn't Brown seen them all off? I think the Labour Backbenchers deserve credit for their discipline (something the Tories could learn from) - but I also think the Labour Front Bench/senior MPs could also learn from the Tories, on dumping past it PMs....
I think it is pretty clear that by 2009 if David Miliband had stood against him Darling would have backed him. He said as much in his book. Unfortunately for the country David could not be persauded so the country remained in limbo until 2010. After that performance David did not deserve the leadership.
I suspect that all leaders of Parliamentary groups, including Mr Cameron and Ed Miliband, will sleep just a little less easily in their beds after this. Good.
Was David M not persuaded by Ed M to wait until after the election before challenging for leadership?
I don't know. Presumably that bit will have to wait for David's book. I have no doubt he would have debated the issue with him at length. After all, if you can't rely on the loyalty of your brother who can you rely on?
I fear the dreadful truth is that Ed was less conviced of Brown's terminal lunacy than his brother.
Or that he always had an evil master plan for ultimate power in mind...
Why couldn't our own lefties have evicted that destoyer of worlds Gordon Brown?
Because as Nick intimates, it's only possible to do that if there's someone to replace them with *and* if the process and aftermath is not so damaging as to make the exercise worthless. Those conditions were never adequately met.
A condition that also makes Cameron feel pretty secure since there is also no obvious replacement for him. No matter how 'swivel-eyed' some of his backbenchers may well get.
Lets face it - Nick Palmer was scared and he was right - he's just about allowed to apply to be considered for selection for 2015 - and depending how many new members Unite parachute into Broxtowe before the selection he's got a chance.
For all the laughter at Gillard losing her back-me-or-sack-me vote, the alternative was equally unpaletable i.e. letting the current situation drag on until the electorate, parliament or party dumps her at a time of their, rather than her, choosing. Once things have deteriorated so far, taking action is usually the best course. Whether it will save Labor is a different matter.
I've no regrets at all for not supporting a headless revolt.
And why were there no 'heads'? Hadn't Brown seen them all off? I think the Labour Backbenchers deserve credit for their discipline (something the Tories could learn from) - but I also think the Labour Front Bench/senior MPs could also learn from the Tories, on dumping past it PMs....
I think it is pretty clear that by 2009 if David Miliband had stood against him Darling would have backed him. He said as much in his book. Unfortunately for the country David could not be persauded so the country remained in limbo until 2010. After that performance David did not deserve the leadership.
I suspect that all leaders of Parliamentary groups, including Mr Cameron and Ed Miliband, will sleep just a little less easily in their beds after this. Good.
Was David M not persuaded by Ed M to wait until after the election before challenging for leadership?
I don't know. Presumably that bit will have to wait for David's book. I have no doubt he would have debated the issue with him at length. After all, if you can't rely on the loyalty of your brother who can you rely on?
I fear the dreadful truth is that Ed was less conviced of Brown's terminal lunacy than his brother.
Or that he always had an evil master plan for ultimate power in mind...
Nah...he's not that clever. FWIW I don't think he ever expected to win the leadership. I remember the pictures at the time and he looked even more shell shocked than his brother when the result was announced.
My guess is that he wanted to be seen to do well in the contest, ideally coming second, so that no one could ever claim nepotism when David gave him a senior job. The best laid plans of mice and men...
I know Michael Fabricant loves to change his avatar on Twitter - but is he now Matt Damon aka Liberace's boyfriend? It's a brilliant pix if you haven't seen it yet.
RE: Gillard, good to read about another of those infamous SLAB tools doing so well for other parties. "In 2007 McTernan was seconded to the Scottish Labour Party to run its campaign for the May Scottish Parliament general election...... The Scottish Labour Party lost power."
Dan seems really narked - genuinely narked not just for the pence-per-word. "...I think there are two problems with Unite’s attempted hijacking of Labour selections, neither of which are actually based on any great abuse of principle. The first is that this is not actually being done in the name of any grand political strategy. Oh, that’s the pretext: more good, honest working-class people in a position to pass more laws that benefit good, honest workers. And yes, Unite want to see Ed Miliband dancing to their tune. But that’s not what it’s really about. Unite are trying to fix selections simply because they can. "
Unite's growing domination of the Labour party was actually the subject of an article on here by OGH a few years ago which was then featured in a R5 radio programme slot.
"In addition, the overall amount of arrears has fallen slightly as a proportion of the amount of Council Tax that should have been collected in the year, when compared with the previous year. From 31 March 2012 to 31 March 2013 it was £689 million in 2011 to 2012 compared to £691 million in 2012 to 2013. These figures dispute recent suggestions that Council Tax arrears have risen."
RE: Gillard, good to read about another of those infamous SLAB tools doing so well for other parties. "In 2007 McTernan was seconded to the Scottish Labour Party to run its campaign for the May Scottish Parliament general election...... The Scottish Labour Party lost power."
He did far more than just that. McTernan was a self-publicist rivalled only by the likes of Dan Hodges and was rarely away from the likes of Newsnicht Scotland and the scottish media putting in his 'sage advice' well after 2007.
For example the election of the presiding officer was fairly uncontroversial in 2011. Until McTernan stuck his oar in and said he must be a certain SLAB MSP to "interpret" the legality of the referendum process and other government bills. Needless to say that well and truly scuppered the labour man's chances as everyone but McTernan would have known.
Ed Miliband's attack on the reduction of capital spending by the Coalition after the election is rank hypocrisy as the Coalition went no further than Darling had set out in his budget.
Clearly the attack on Osborne is going to change from "too deep, too fast" to "too little, too late" on capital spending as a way of countering what is going to be announced today.
Of course in the real world a government that inherits a deficit of £157bn a year on the books and goodness knows what off it in PFI has rather few choices...
Of course in the real world a government that inherits a deficit of £157bn a year on the books and goodness knows what off it in PFI has rather few choices...
I suggest the government should choose not to listen to daft partisans (the Tory voter base) who don't understand economics.
Of course in the real world a government that inherits a deficit of £157bn a year on the books and goodness knows what off it in PFI has rather few choices...
I suggest the government should choose not to listen to daft partisans (the Tory voter base) who don't understand economics.
BenM, why in their 2010 budget do you think Labour and Darling were planning to slash capital expenditure for the 2010 - 2015 period?
@iainmartin1: In 2010 they slashed UK infrastructure spending, and put up foreign aid. Genius. #PMQs
Isnt that what Labour planned to do too?
Cameron can't exactly retort that Osborne is following Darling's spending plans, can he?
The infrastructure stats are appalling, and there was no escaping that for Cameron. Reckon he should have simply stuck tot he line of it being difficult, as he did with the nuclear power station, and stating that there are no quick fixes.
@ShippersUnbound: Cameron still refusing to say whether he has talked to Crosby about alcohol or cigarettes. Never having been 'lobbied' suspiciously precise
Cameron has obviously got something to hide here, and he's making it more obvious each week
Crosby the new Ashcroft ?
Oh God,not another lord Ashcroft week in/week out attacks.
So people who know about Australia, do we reckon there's any chance Rudd might turn this around and actually win the election off the bounce?
If he did it might set people thinking in Britain. One difficulty with ditching a losing leader is that you don't really know if they're heading for defeat until a couple of months before the election, and by then it's thought to be too late. But if it turns out the model works...
Tweetminster @tweetminster #France in recession - Q1 2013 GDP: -0.2%, follows a -0.2% drop in Q4 2012
Hollande is doing so well.
Hollande is forced to follow an Austerity programme.
Osborne elected to follow an austerity programme.
The UK economy is growing.
UK economy is flat in last 6 months of hard quarterly data (to end of Q1).
In 2010 over 50% of electorate voted for Parties who prior to the coalition wanted nothing to do with Austerity.
Neat little sidestepping of the 'Olympics' quarter there, Ben.
The truth is that the economy has been growing at an annual rate of around 1.2% since mid 2012. It is almost certainly now growing at a higher rate.
My use of "elect" in context meant choose.
The Olympics Quarter - a spike driven by government spending and action.
An excellent idea. Lets have an olympics every quarter so as to boost the GDP figures. You know it makes sense.
Perhaps best to stick to Labours workfare plans, and dig some canals with teaspoons?
Or why dont we follow Keynes and spend the money that we put aside in the boom years, saved up for the bad times.
An "Olympics every quarter" is effectively infrastructure spending which the Tories foolishly cut - a disastrous policy with which Ed has just floored Cameron.
The pay restraints apply across all government departments (i.e. including Health and Education).
Are the savings here included in the £11.5 bn total of cuts or additional?
It is almost certainly the latter. The NPV saving of abolishing automatic progression pay and reducing public sector headcount by a further 140,000 is likely to be considerable.
These are much bigger savings than the £11.5 bn headline suggests.
Of course in the real world a government that inherits a deficit of £157bn a year on the books and goodness knows what off it in PFI has rather few choices...
I suggest the government should choose not to listen to daft partisans (the Tory voter base) who don't understand economics.
I suggest no-one listens to daft idiots (okay, idiot) who believes that just 'possibly one' person died at Stafford, that relatives wanting to get the truth are 'loudmouths', and that giving the unemployed shovels to dig canals is a wizard wheeze.
If you're so utterly wrong on those, why should anyone take your views on economics seriously?
Comments
Kevin Rudd is now leader of the Australian Labor Party but he isn't prime minister yet. The governor general may ask him to prove that he has the support of Parliament.
Two independents who were supporting the government announced their retirements in the last few hours.
CarlottaVance said:
» show previous quotes
The charitable might describe them as 'disciplined'.....lets face it, they tested 'loyal to a bad leader' to destruction under Brown....
Can only speak for myself. I hinted at the time (here and elsewhere) that I was open to supporting a challenge, but when none appeared I wasn't up for a "let's replace Gordon with someone, we'll work it out later" revolt. In the event I think we did as well as we could reasonably have expected in mid-crisis after 13 years in power, and I've no regrets at all for not supporting a headless revolt.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyXffVbO2kU
WTF is going on?!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quentin_Bryce
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/25/gillard-ridiculed-knitting-royal-kangaroo
PR disaster, hopeless spin, laughably out of touch, this truly was a job for John McTernan. For those who don't know who McTernan is he is a SLAB/Labour 'luminary' who was frequently mocked for his astonishingly out of touch spin and commentary.
Poor old Australia, you didn't deserve him.
John Etheridge @JohnSunCricket 2h
Australia is country swamped by infringement of personal liberty. The mindset undermines sport. 'Can't do this or that.' Land of free? No.
John Etheridge @JohnSunCricket 2h
To understand why Australia is a diminished sporting nation, you need only sit in a taxi. List of 8 dos and don'ts. #nannystate #elfnsafety
Interesting development in Australia. I think a big difference compared with Gordon Brown is that there was a single, clear alternative leader. Even so, I wonder how much good it will do Labor.
@isam said:
When was the last time backing ukip to do well didn't pay off?
My losing political bets in 2013 have been on UKIP
They failed in Eastleigh
They failed to get 30%+ in South Shields
That is crazy talk
They were 5/6 over or under 18% in South Shields... 50/50 in other words and they whacked it
You chose to go for big odds with the bar set a lot higher.
You backed them at EVS to come 2nd I believe?
What price were they to win Eastleigh? It was hardly a failure
But the derivatives ie to come 2nd, the match with the Tories and vote share they all beat expectation.
Find a 50/50 bet that ukip have failed to win this year
Dan Hodges @DPJHodges
Yougov poll finds 3% of people believe Ed is a natural leader. Another poll found 4% believe “lizard people” control our societies.
POJGWAS - back me or sack me.
As Nelson Muntz said it: Ha, Ha.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tobyyoung/100223531/guardian-robot-simply-cannot-understand-why-generation-y-arent-all-good-socialists-does-not-compute-does-not-compute/
"According to Ipsos MORI, only 20 per cent of 18-34-year-olds agree with the statement "the creation of the welfare state is one of Britain's proudest achievements". How dare they?!? Most amazingly of all – to Harris, anyway – is that Generation Y don't blame the "Con-Dem cuts" for youth unemployment. Haven't they been listening to Len McCluskey?"
"The most telling passage in the article comes at the end, when Harris meets a 27-year-old in Warrington who's just got a job after a bout of unemployment thanks to the government's Work Programme. Harris asks him whether he thinks his joblessness was his fault.
"Yeah," he says. "I do. I think I should have applied for more. I should have picked myself up in the morning, got out, come to a place like this – tried more. When you're feeling down, you start blaming the world for your mistakes – you feel the world owes you. And it doesn't. You owe the world: you have to motivate yourself, and get out there, and try."
Harris describes this reply as – wait for it – "heartbreaking". "
" I've no regrets at all for not supporting a headless revolt."
That last person in France to be executed by guillotine was 1977!
I suspect that all leaders of Parliamentary groups, including Mr Cameron and Ed Miliband, will sleep just a little less easily in their beds after this. Good.
Alex Massie tweets: "Now that Julia Gillard's a corpse, I'd suggest @UK_Together hire @johnmcternan to run their #indyref shop."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjrTR5aeHpI&
http://tinyurl.com/oz3yzxx
Was David M not persuaded by Ed M to wait until after the election before challenging for leadership?
There's likely a Kebab with Cammie's name on it somewhere out there. ;^ )
http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/news/gillard-quail-small-breasts-big-thighs-brough-says/1904355/
I fear the dreadful truth is that Ed was less conviced of Brown's terminal lunacy than his brother.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/danhodges/100223536/unite-should-change-their-name-to-the-national-union-of-willy-wavers/
"...I think there are two problems with Unite’s attempted hijacking of Labour selections, neither of which are actually based on any great abuse of principle. The first is that this is not actually being done in the name of any grand political strategy. Oh, that’s the pretext: more good, honest working-class people in a position to pass more laws that benefit good, honest workers. And yes, Unite want to see Ed Miliband dancing to their tune.
But that’s not what it’s really about. Unite are trying to fix selections simply because they can. Lots of middle-aged men, (it’s still always men), wandering around showing how big and hard they are. They should just go the whole hog and rename themselves the National Union of Willy Wavers.
The second problem is the new politics wasn’t supposed to be like this. Ed Miliband’s party spent the best part of a year going through an entire, tortuous process called “Refounding Labour”. It was a total and utter waste of time. Nothing has been “refounded”. People are fitting-up selections for their mates and their cliques in the same way that they always did.
Not that you’ll hear many people complaining. That’s because they can’t. If you’re an MP, you need Unite’s votes to ensure your reselection. If you’re a wannabe MP, you need Unite’s votes to ensure your selection. So today, those people who are normally up in arms at the merest procedural missteps within the party machine will stay silent.
I don’t care about the abuse. What I object to is the hypocrisy..."
However if BT choose the likes of Blair McDougall (organiser of failed D.Millband leadership bid), McTernan (organiser of SLAB's failed 2007 Holyrood campaign and comms director for booted-out Gillard), failed chancellor Darling and failed PM Brown, who are we to interrupt them.
For all the romanticism and mythology that surrounds Wimbledon, there is a truth that few tell: as a spectator experience, it consists largely of waiting":
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/tennis/wimbledon/10142532/Wimbledon-2013-the-tournament-that-divides-fans-into-haves-and-have-nots.html
However if BT choose the likes of Blair McDougall (organiser of failed D.Millband leadership bid), McTernan (organiser of SLAB's failed 2007 Holyrood campaign and comms director for booted-out Gillard), failed chancellor Darling and failed PM Brown, who are we to interrupt them.
McTernan almost makes Dan Hodges look sane. Almost. ;^ )
My guess is that he wanted to be seen to do well in the contest, ideally coming second, so that no one could ever claim nepotism when David gave him a senior job. The best laid plans of mice and men...
"In 2007 McTernan was seconded to the Scottish Labour Party to run its campaign for the May Scottish Parliament general election...... The Scottish Labour Party lost power."
#France in recession - Q1 2013 GDP: -0.2%, follows a -0.2% drop in Q4 2012
Hollande is doing so well.
#France in recession - Q1 2013 GDP: -0.2%, follows a -0.2% drop in Q4 2012
Hollande is doing so well.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/council-tax-collection-rate-improves-but-councils-can-deliver-more-savings
"In addition, the overall amount of arrears has fallen slightly as a proportion of the amount of Council Tax that should have been collected in the year, when compared with the previous year. From 31 March 2012 to 31 March 2013 it was £689 million in 2011 to 2012 compared to £691 million in 2012 to 2013. These figures dispute recent suggestions that Council Tax arrears have risen."
I won,burt from the muppets thou,sesame street more like Cameron,I mentioned this yesterday about burt been mentioned today for ed.
Bit cheap and childish or fair game?
The UK economy is growing.
He did far more than just that. McTernan was a self-publicist rivalled only by the likes of Dan Hodges and was rarely away from the likes of Newsnicht Scotland and the scottish media putting in his 'sage advice' well after 2007.
For example the election of the presiding officer was fairly uncontroversial in 2011. Until McTernan stuck his oar in and said he must be a certain SLAB MSP to "interpret" the legality of the referendum process and other government bills. Needless to say that well and truly scuppered the labour man's chances as everyone but McTernan would have known.
In 2010 over 50% of electorate voted for Parties who prior to the coalition wanted nothing to do with Austerity.
and when he uses the burt quote,he used it today when he was panicking.
Clearly the attack on Osborne is going to change from "too deep, too fast" to "too little, too late" on capital spending as a way of countering what is going to be announced today.
Of course in the real world a government that inherits a deficit of £157bn a year on the books and goodness knows what off it in PFI has rather few choices...
http://lordashcroftpolls.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Political-recognition-summary.pdf
He said "half the British public" thought he was like Bert... Don't think it was quite that many
Fed up with Cameron saying "Under this government unemployment is coming down". May 2010, it was 2.47 million. Currently: 2.51 million
BenM, why in their 2010 budget do you think Labour and Darling were planning to slash capital expenditure for the 2010 - 2015 period?
Ed wouldn't fit on Sesame St - they are implementing 10% cuts:
"Job ax falling on 'Sesame Street' company
Sesame Workshop, nonprofit behind beloved public TV children's show, to cut 10% of its employees."
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/sesame-workshop-organization-backs-sesame-street-cutting-10-workforce-article-1.1382550#ixzz2XJvqlEdF
The truth is that the economy has been growing at an annual rate of around 1.2% since mid 2012. It is almost certainly now growing at a higher rate.
My use of "elect" in context meant choose.
The infrastructure stats are appalling, and there was no escaping that for Cameron. Reckon he should have simply stuck tot he line of it being difficult, as he did with the nuclear power station, and stating that there are no quick fixes.
Oh God,not another lord Ashcroft week in/week out attacks.
If he did it might set people thinking in Britain. One difficulty with ditching a losing leader is that you don't really know if they're heading for defeat until a couple of months before the election, and by then it's thought to be too late. But if it turns out the model works...
Now Osborne gets up and tells us how much extra his economic failure will cost us all over the next few years.
The good news just keeps on coming huh.
Take Public Sector Net Borrowing for example.
Perhaps best to stick to Labours workfare plans, and dig some canals with teaspoons?
Or why dont we follow Keynes and spend the money that we put aside in the boom years, saved up for the bad times.
Most of the infrastructure spend had already been booked to prior periods.
The largest distorting factor was the booking of all Olympic Ticket sales to Q3 2012.
140k fewer people working for the government by 2016.
Boy George at last gets the jokes right.
Not getting a great reaction on Twitter:
Brogan: GO praises Pickles as the 'model of lean govt'. Weight joke tells us relations aren't great. Take his money, then laugh? Dangerous
Are the savings here included in the £11.5 bn total of cuts or additional?
It is almost certainly the latter. The NPV saving of abolishing automatic progression pay and reducing public sector headcount by a further 140,000 is likely to be considerable.
These are much bigger savings than the £11.5 bn headline suggests.
If you're so utterly wrong on those, why should anyone take your views on economics seriously?