politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » SNP lose seat to LDs who lose to CON – all the latest local by election results
Bolsover South on Bolsover (Lab defence) Result: Labour 232 (43%), United Kingdom Independence Party 127 (23%), Conservative 109 (20%), Trade Unionist and Socialist 78 (14%) Labour HOLD with a majority of 105 (20%)
i'm surprised at James. I was always a fan of his posts when on here and though a devout SNP supporter he was never a mindless propagandist like Wings over Scotland
Thank goodness the owner of this site doesn't ban posters from linking to http://scotgoespop.blogspot.co.uk/, else he'd look a bit petty.
Mike's never done that - I've made the link a number of times and as far as I'm aware I'm still here. Never mind, Mick Pork will doubtless be a-chortlin'.
Thank goodness the owner of this site doesn't ban posters from linking to http://scotgoespop.blogspot.co.uk/, else he'd look a bit petty.
Mike's never done that - I've made the link a number of times and as far as I'm aware I'm still here. Never mind, Mick Pork will doubtless be a-chortlin'.
Thank goodness the owner of this site doesn't ban posters from linking to http://scotgoespop.blogspot.co.uk/, else he'd look a bit petty.
Mike's never done that - I've made the link a number of times and as far as I'm aware I'm still here. Never mind, Mick Pork will doubtless be a-chortlin'.
looking at the apparent NHS financial shortfall..it would suggest we are the sickest nation in the Western world or we have the worst hospital managers in the world...or maybe it is both..
A whole swathe of experienced managers retired or moved to different sectors when the PCTs went.
Apologies if it has been linked to but my better half has received an e-mail from Yougov saying she has made the news by taking part in a survey which gave Corbyn the worst leadership figures for a Labour leader in 60 years. Does anyone have the details of this?
Has the case actually been dropped, or just dropped in the sense that the alleged perpetrator has died so is no longer being pursued? I really don't see what Watson has done wrong here. Was he supposed to keep the reports to himself?
I have no time for this 'nonce-finder general' public backlash meme that seems popular here and in the Daily Mail. Do we really think the public are going to rally behind people like Harvey Proctor in righteous indignation? Let's be serious.
The proper thing to do if you are told of allegations of serious crimes is to refer these to the proper authorities for investigation. The criticisms of Watson are that he used these allegations in a party political way i.e. to suggest that Tories in the Establishment were both guilty of such crimes and of a cover up to protect their mates. (And the way that Watson went after Murdoch over phone hacking but was silent over the Mirror lends some support to the suggestion that Watson was as interested in party advantage as in justice.) And that - for no good reason - he abused Parliamentary privilege to spread the allegations.
People are innocent until proven guilty. This is an important principle and people who are accused of all crimes, particularly ones as vile as these, are entitled to have this principle respected, particularly by lawmakers.
The danger with grandstanding about these matters is that justice is not served because those involved are too busy pursuing other agendas or looking over their shoulders to make sure they don't get criticised by some self-important booby. There are times when the police and the lawyers and the justice system don't do their job properly - see, for instance, the Birmingham 6 and related cases. Chris Mullin and Sir John Farr: the two MPs who campaigned on this are the model for how to do this. Not Watson and his Daily Mailish conspiratorial ("they're out to get me") "Look at me" approach.
What does Corbyn truly think of Watson I wonder? I mean, the Corbynistas went for Watson, or weren't put off by him enough, to elect him as deputy, but what about the man himself?
i'm surprised at James. I was always a fan of his posts when on here and though a devout SNP supporter he was never a mindless propagandist like Wings over Scotland
He knows his readership and like any good editor is running the headline most likely to attract most of them into reading what he has to say. Nothing wrong with that.
More generally, nothing is going to stop the SNP getting a huge majority at the next Holyrood elections. The flag trumps all else. Poor old Jezza has not got a chance against that.
Apologies if it has been linked to but my better half has received an e-mail from Yougov saying she has made the news by taking part in a survey which gave Corbyn the worst leadership figures for a Labour leader in 60 years. Does anyone have the details of this?
It's been out for a while, there may even have been a mention or two of it on here.
On Sunday, I spent time among the anti-Tory marchers and asked them if they understood why people voted for the enemy. Granted, a demonstration is not the ideal place for deep thought, but the replies were still depressing. Conservative supporters were “uneducated”, “selfish”, and “brainwashed”. It is strange, perhaps, to meet socialists with such a dim view of their fellow human beings, but there we are.
Meanwhile, in the real world, a critical mass of people perceive politics as a choice between a left – whether New Labour-ish or Corbynite – which seems arrogant devoid of any notion of belonging, and estranged from the daily grind, and a right that, for all its faults, has a hard-headed grasp of reality, a clear patriotism, and an understanding of the speed at which the world is changing. As happened in the 1980s, the latter crushes the former, with ease.
Apologies if it has been linked to but my better half has received an e-mail from Yougov saying she has made the news by taking part in a survey which gave Corbyn the worst leadership figures for a Labour leader in 60 years. Does anyone have the details of this?
It's been out for a while, there may even have been a mention or two of it on here.
Tory tactical voting for the LDs in Aird and Loch Ness is encouraging for any Edinburgh West by election
I don't think Tory HQ will be soft-pedalling this one at all. A good 2nd would make it a viable target in 2020. They'd probably rather the SNP won than the LDs anyway.
All that said, Mike Crockart would have a fair chance at getting his old job back, as quite a few voters have a sense of natural justice.
I thought the most interesting speech of the Conservative week was Michael Gove's. Recognising the advantages of a liberal approach on prisons and penal reform with the aim of reducing recidivism is long overdue within Conservative circles and to be welcomed.
It's possible to believe in penal reform without being "soft" on crime and criminals. It's also possible to see the financial benefit in reducing the prison population given the cost of keeping each prisoner.
I've never found Gove an easy politician to read - he's said and done a lot of things I don't agree with but on this issue at least, I'm in agreement and if the Conservative Party has moved on from some of the attitudes to crime and punishment it held 30 years ago, I welcome that too.
"Apologies if it has been linked to but my better half has received an e-mail from Yougov saying she has made the news by taking part in a survey which gave Corbyn the worst leadership figures for a Labour leader in 60 years. Does anyone have the details of this? "
I think Labour can safely ignore these findings. People's opinions of Corbyn are just a reflection of the newspapers onslaught on him. I doubt any leader in the last 60 years had to contend with anything like this
As the public get to know him better they'll make up their own minds.
(I'm not keen on him but not because he doesn't grovel to her Maj)
Miss. P., the phrase that really caught my eye in that article was:
" [the Conservatives have] an understanding of the speed at which the world is changing"
Yet the lefties keep claiming to be the progressives. Living in the past is the sub-text of that article from a Tory hating, life-long member of Guardian writers' club.
"The man in the street is going to be bombarded with propaganda backed by the Prime Minister and countless business leaders claiming all manner of disaster if we leave the EU
90% or more of that can be nullified in one stroke if we make it clear the preferred option after leaving is the EEA. But Farage will not do that and so becomes a liability rather than an asset.
UKIP won 3.8 million votes at the GE. Show me where the other 10 to 15 million are going to come from under Nigel plans and I might start taking him seriously."
"Apologies if it has been linked to but my better half has received an e-mail from Yougov saying she has made the news by taking part in a survey which gave Corbyn the worst leadership figures for a Labour leader in 60 years. Does anyone have the details of this? "
I think Labour can safely ignore these findings. People's opinions of Corbyn are just a reflection of the newspapers onslaught on him. I doubt any leader in the last 60 years had to contend with anything like this
As the public get to know him better they'll make up their own minds.
So its all down hill from here then as everyone foolish enough to give him the benefit of the doubt finds out the truth?
"As the public get to know him [Corbyn] better they'll make up their own minds."
I remember reading similar things on here about Brown and Miliband. And, it has to be said, the public did make up their own minds, but perhaps not in the way that the authors of those comments, perhaps, expected.
On the one hand we are frequently told on here that the newspapers are far less influential than they were and, indeed, hardly matter these days when comes to shaping opinion. Yet on the other hand we are told that peoples are opinions are just a reflection of what they read in the newspapers.
"The man in the street is going to be bombarded with propaganda backed by the Prime Minister and countless business leaders claiming all manner of disaster if we leave the EU
90% or more of that can be nullified in one stroke if we make it clear the preferred option after leaving is the EEA. But Farage will not do that and so becomes a liability rather than an asset.
UKIP won 3.8 million votes at the GE. Show me where the other 10 to 15 million are going to come from under Nigel plans and I might start taking him seriously."
This is in answer to @Philip_Thompson as well who said "UKIP only got 12%" and we need 51%
For the last 5 years or so it is UKIP, fronted by Farage, that have been shouting the loudest about the need to leave the EU. Citing UKIPs 12% election score as the ceiling that a Farage led (not that I am suggesting it should be) campaign is ludicrous, as the Polling for LEAVE has been in the 40%s...
So not as offputting as people like to think.
I accept that the final push may need to be from someone more mainstream, but please don't mix up UKIPs vote with the LEAVE score... I repeat, while Farage has been the face of LEAVE, LEAVE has been polling in the 40s (after DKs removed)
But it’s equally clear that those behind the group have a different agenda. Their intentions are essentially to make Momentum a party within a party. Momentum spelt M-I-L-I-T-A-N-T.
The main organiser behind this successor organisation to the old Militant Tendency is a man called Jon Lansman. Lansman was one of Jeremy Corbyn’s key campaign aides. He cut his political teeth helping organise Tony Benn’s 1981 deputy leadership campaign, in which Benn came within 1 per cent of destroying the Labour Party for good. You can see the clip of him discussing the result below, (he’s the young guy in the red tie).
I am amazed that no-one in the media has tried to trap Cameron on his "Labour are a threat to national security" and selective quoting of the Osama Bin Laden comment.
They seem like two incredibly easy gotcha interview questions.
I thought the most interesting speech of the Conservative week was Michael Gove's. Recognising the advantages of a liberal approach on prisons and penal reform with the aim of reducing recidivism is long overdue within Conservative circles and to be welcomed.
It's possible to believe in penal reform without being "soft" on crime and criminals. It's also possible to see the financial benefit in reducing the prison population given the cost of keeping each prisoner.
I've never found Gove an easy politician to read - he's said and done a lot of things I don't agree with but on this issue at least, I'm in agreement and if the Conservative Party has moved on from some of the attitudes to crime and punishment it held 30 years ago, I welcome that too.
Gove is a genuine thinker who analyses the areas he is dealing with in original ways. This does not always make a comfortable minister as his experiences at education showed but it does make him one of the most interesting people in politics. For me, him explaining to that tosser that he really did need to understand the importance of free speech was one of the highlights of the last government.
His weakness is that he has shown real limitations in building coalitions behind his ideas. It would be a shame if this applies to prison reform but he does seem to have Cameron's backing for it.
Harry and Mike, I have a lot of respect for both of you, but your reporting of STV by-elections in Scotland is pants. Here's my STV 101 that explains why: http://ww2.ayellowguard.com/stv-101/
I am amazed that no-one in the media has tried to trap Cameron on his "Labour are a threat to national security" and selective quoting of the Osama Bin Laden comment.
They seem like two incredibly easy gotcha interview questions.
No one has told you about the giant right-wing media conspiracy?
"As the public get to know him [Corbyn] better they'll make up their own minds."
I remember reading similar things on here about Brown and Miliband. And, it has to be said, the public did make up their own minds, but perhaps not in the way that the authors of those comments, perhaps, expected.
On the one hand we are frequently told on here that the newspapers are far less influential than they were and, indeed, hardly matter these days when comes to shaping opinion. Yet on the other hand we are told that peoples are opinions are just a reflection of what they read in the newspapers.
Take it as read that what the papers say does matter... ask Charlotte Church if the Sun headline will dog her in the future...
The public has already made up their mind about Corbyn, I doubt his ratings will change much up.to.the GE... ..
I am amazed that no-one in the media has tried to trap Cameron on his "Labour are a threat to national security" and selective quoting of the Osama Bin Laden comment.
They seem like two incredibly easy gotcha interview questions.
There's nothing selective about it. He believes Osama Bin Laden's death was a tragedy. He then explained why he thinks it was a tragedy, but it's not incorrect to say he thought it was so.
And Labour are a threat to national security. They would not renew trident, they would announce the end to our nuclear deterrent by being in power, and they will reduce our conventional armed forces.
"Apologies if it has been linked to but my better half has received an e-mail from Yougov saying she has made the news by taking part in a survey which gave Corbyn the worst leadership figures for a Labour leader in 60 years. Does anyone have the details of this? "
I think Labour can safely ignore these findings. People's opinions of Corbyn are just a reflection of the newspapers onslaught on him. I doubt any leader in the last 60 years had to contend with anything like this
As the public get to know him better they'll make up their own minds.
(I'm not keen on him but not because he doesn't grovel to her Maj)
Where does he go?
a) I used to support the IRA because I believed in the 32-county solution but now I respect the views of the people of the north.
b) I used to support the IRA because I believed in the 32-county solution and still do.
a) shows he has u-turned and isn't the Jezza everyone joined for; b) shows he is still that Jezza and there is nothing more to get to know.
ad infinitum for just about every issue out there.
Harry and Mike, I have a lot of respect for both of you, but your reporting of STV by-elections in Scotland is pants. Here's my STV 101 that explains why: http://ww2.ayellowguard.com/stv-101/
It's because they aren't very interesting. Think parish council.
Harry and Mike, I have a lot of respect for both of you, but your reporting of STV by-elections in Scotland is pants. Here's my STV 101 that explains why: http://ww2.ayellowguard.com/stv-101/
Miss. P., the phrase that really caught my eye in that article was:
" [the Conservatives have] an understanding of the speed at which the world is changing"
Yet the lefties keep claiming to be the progressives. Living in the past is the sub-text of that article from a Tory hating, life-long member of Guardian writers' club.
"The man in the street is going to be bombarded with propaganda backed by the Prime Minister and countless business leaders claiming all manner of disaster if we leave the EU
90% or more of that can be nullified in one stroke if we make it clear the preferred option after leaving is the EEA. But Farage will not do that and so becomes a liability rather than an asset.
UKIP won 3.8 million votes at the GE. Show me where the other 10 to 15 million are going to come from under Nigel plans and I might start taking him seriously."
This is in answer to @Philip_Thompson as well who said "UKIP only got 12%" and we need 51%
For the last 5 years or so it is UKIP, fronted by Farage, that have been shouting the loudest about the need to leave the EU. Citing UKIPs 12% election score as the ceiling that a Farage led (not that I am suggesting it should be) campaign is ludicrous, as the Polling for LEAVE has been in the 40%s...
So not as offputting as people like to think.
I accept that the final push may need to be from someone more mainstream, but please don't mix up UKIPs vote with the LEAVE score... I repeat, while Farage has been the face of LEAVE, LEAVE has been polling in the 40s (after DKs removed)
Actually during the period you talk about support for Leave has dropped from a high of 54% in early 2011 to 27% in June 2015. Is that all thanks to Farage?
Gove is a genuine thinker who analyses the areas he is dealing with in original ways. This does not always make a comfortable minister as his experiences at education showed but it does make him one of the most interesting people in politics. For me, him explaining to that tosser that he really did need to understand the importance of free speech was one of the highlights of the last government.
His weakness is that he has shown real limitations in building coalitions behind his ideas. It would be a shame if this applies to prison reform but he does seem to have Cameron's backing for it.
Gove won't be the first who will face the formidable opponent that is Theresa May who I don't detect is a huge fan of the kind of ideas Gove is proposing. As Norman Baker found out to his chagrin, May dominates the Home Office and it has become her personal fiefdom.
Still plenty of post-Conference hubristic triumphalism from one or two of the Conservative members on here it would seem. The problems, oddly enough, start now with the ordinary boring day-to-day business of Government where things do go wrong and small problems can become crises.
The Conservative desire to build a tent so big it can encompass all opinions is staggering - pro-EU, anti-EU, pro-penal reform, anti-penal reform, supporter of City, supporter of United, there's a place for you all in the Party,
Well, perhaps, but I'm convinced politics doesn't work like that and since nature abhors a vacuum, voices of dissent can and will emerge. How that opposition manifests itself will be interesting - it may not be through the political party route but around potential successors to the Prime Minister or outside the "big tent" but as night follows day new or alternative solutions will develop and some of those will be outside the "big tent".
The BBC have an interesting report from the Open University on what happens to MPs when they lose their seat. Apparently there is now an organisation for former MPs. Some find jobs fairly easily - others struggle. So Julian Huppert has gone back to his old job at Cambridge University which was kept open for him. ( I know the same thing happened many years ago to Alan Beith at Newcastle - the problem was he never lost!) One unusual new job is Sarah Teather working for the Jesuit Refugee Service in South Sudan - a group I must admit I had never heard of before.
Gove is a genuine thinker who analyses the areas he is dealing with in original ways. This does not always make a comfortable minister as his experiences at education showed but it does make him one of the most interesting people in politics. For me, him explaining to that tosser that he really did need to understand the importance of free speech was one of the highlights of the last government.
His weakness is that he has shown real limitations in building coalitions behind his ideas. It would be a shame if this applies to prison reform but he does seem to have Cameron's backing for it.
Gove won't be the first who will face the formidable opponent that is Theresa May who I don't detect is a huge fan of the kind of ideas Gove is proposing. As Norman Baker found out to his chagrin, May dominates the Home Office and it has become her personal fiefdom.
Still plenty of post-Conference hubristic triumphalism from one or two of the Conservative members on here it would seem. The problems, oddly enough, start now with the ordinary boring day-to-day business of Government where things do go wrong and small problems can become crises.
The Conservative desire to build a tent so big it can encompass all opinions is staggering - pro-EU, anti-EU, pro-penal reform, anti-penal reform, supporter of City, supporter of United, there's a place for you all in the Party,
Well, perhaps, but I'm convinced politics doesn't work like that and since nature abhors a vacuum, voices of dissent can and will emerge. How that opposition manifests itself will be interesting - it may not be through the political party route but around potential successors to the Prime Minister or outside the "big tent" but as night follows day new or alternative solutions will develop and some of those will be outside the "big tent".
City supporters? Are you sure? Blimey. Need to think about that.
That said I think there is a lot more room on the centre ground than most politicians are willing to give credit for. We don't really go for ideologues in this country, we like people who make sensible and practical decisions. With most of the real world problems that government faces there are a number of possible actions that will work out pretty much as well as each other or at least are capable of being fixed when things go wrong.
It is the ideologues who refuse to recognise that things are going wrong that cause most of the problems, whatever party they are in.
Harry and Mike, I have a lot of respect for both of you, but your reporting of STV by-elections in Scotland is pants. Here's my STV 101 that explains why: http://ww2.ayellowguard.com/stv-101/
Having watched Zoe Williams on the Daily Politics, I was disgusted at her comments on 'spitting'. These lefties are so full of bile and have absolutely no self-awareness at all. She seems to be on DP almost every other day. I get the impression all the "political shows" are struggling to get people to come on, apart from ex-spin doctors and the usual suspects looking for their five minutes of fame. When Robert Peston gets up and running on ITV on Sunday's, we will have Marr, Sunday Politics, Murnaghan, Piennaar and Uncle Tom Cobley and all. That's way too much even for me.
Harry and Mike, I have a lot of respect for both of you, but your reporting of STV by-elections in Scotland is pants. Here's my STV 101 that explains why: http://ww2.ayellowguard.com/stv-101/
Having watched Zoe Williams on the Daily Politics, I was disgusted at her comments on 'spitting'. These lefties are so full of bile and have absolutely no self-awareness at all. She seems to be on DP almost every other day. I get the impression all the "political shows" are struggling to get people to come on, apart from ex-spin doctors and the usual suspects looking for their five minutes of fame. When Robert Peston gets up and running on ITV on Sunday's, we will have Marr, Sunday Politics, Murnaghan, Piennaar and Uncle Tom Cobley and all. That's way too much even for me.
I always found that the Daily Politics has a reasonably varied range of guests. Maybe it has been worse in the last week or so?
Neil's prog - was it HardTalk or StraightTalk? It was superb and reminiscent of Brian Walden's Weekend World or On The Record with Humphreys before he succumbed to his ego.
Having watched Zoe Williams on the Daily Politics, I was disgusted at her comments on 'spitting'. These lefties are so full of bile and have absolutely no self-awareness at all. She seems to be on DP almost every other day. I get the impression all the "political shows" are struggling to get people to come on, apart from ex-spin doctors and the usual suspects looking for their five minutes of fame. When Robert Peston gets up and running on ITV on Sunday's, we will have Marr, Sunday Politics, Murnaghan, Piennaar and Uncle Tom Cobley and all. That's way too much even for me.
England sleepwalking to disaster and not even noticing. Or if some notice, they are told not to worry.
I despise many aspects of modern Islam, an inert and often malignant force, I think we should accept there must be limits to Muslim immigration for that reason - but British citizens are allowed to pray and protest wherever they like, as long as they don't unduly inconvenience others.
Personally, I would keep all such expressions of faith to the private realm. There is no need for any religion to pray or worship in public. Keep that to your home or place of worship - don't force others to witness it.
England sleepwalking to disaster and not even noticing. Or if some notice, they are told not to worry.
I despise many aspects of modern Islam, an inert and often malignant force, I think we should accept there must be limits to Muslim immigration for that reason - but British citizens are allowed to pray and protest wherever they like, as long as they don't unduly inconvenience others.
Personally, I would keep all such expressions of faith to the private realm. There is no need for any religion to pray or worship in public. Keep that to your home or place of worship - don't force others to witness it.
"The man in the street is going to be bombarded with propaganda backed by the Prime Minister and countless business leaders claiming all manner of disaster if we leave the EU
90% or more of that can be nullified in one stroke if we make it clear the preferred option after leaving is the EEA. But Farage will not do that and so becomes a liability rather than an asset.
UKIP won 3.8 million votes at the GE. Show me where the other 10 to 15 million are going to come from under Nigel plans and I might start taking him seriously."
This is in answer to @Philip_Thompson as well who said "UKIP only got 12%" and we need 51%
For the last 5 years or so it is UKIP, fronted by Farage, that have been shouting the loudest about the need to leave the EU. Citing UKIPs 12% election score as the ceiling that a Farage led (not that I am suggesting it should be) campaign is ludicrous, as the Polling for LEAVE has been in the 40%s...
So not as offputting as people like to think.
I accept that the final push may need to be from someone more mainstream, but please don't mix up UKIPs vote with the LEAVE score... I repeat, while Farage has been the face of LEAVE, LEAVE has been polling in the 40s (after DKs removed)
Actually during the period you talk about support for Leave has dropped from a high of 54% in early 2011 to 27% in June 2015. Is that all thanks to Farage?
No doubt June 2015 was thanks to Farage failing to win a seat.. the LEAVErs felt like all was lost!
Joke, joke
I dont particularly want to row over this, I am saying in as nice a way as I can manage on the internet, that I feel your reasons for wanting to Leave the EU wouldn't be an easy sell to the man on the street.. theyre not interested
You asked where the extra votes above and beyond UKIPS election score of 12% were going to come from... my simple answer is that LEAVE has been polling way way above 12% even with Farage as the face of it, even at your cherry picked lowest point
James Bartholomew @JGBartholomew 42m42 minutes ago James Bartholomew Retweeted DailySunday Politics If you are wondering what sort of person would say this, she writes for the Guardian and New Statesman. James Bartholomew added,
England sleepwalking to disaster and not even noticing. Or if some notice, they are told not to worry.
I despise many aspects of modern Islam, an inert and often malignant force, I think we should accept there must be limits to Muslim immigration for that reason - but British citizens are allowed to pray and protest wherever they like, as long as they don't unduly inconvenience others.
Personally, I would keep all such expressions of faith to the private realm. There is no need for any religion to pray or worship in public. Keep that to your home or place of worship - don't force others to witness it.
Christians sing hymns and carols in the street. The Sally Army bangs its tambourines. Muslims must and should be given the same rights. This is a free country.
On the other hand, to protect that freedom, I would end Muslim immigration tomorrow. Essentially reduce it to zero, apart from very skilled migrants, who are well screened.
This isn't an Islam thing for me - it is an ANY religion thing. I don't want any street preaching, carol singing, tambourine banging, praying or other such activities in any public area. It is not appropriate to force your faith on any other being.
Churches and other religious buildings exist in a plentiful supply and enjoy a number of (unnecessary) tax benefits - they should be the focus for such activity. Not the streets or parks of any community.
The BBC have an interesting report from the Open University on what happens to MPs when they lose their seat. Apparently there is now an organisation for former MPs. Some find jobs fairly easily - others struggle. So Julian Huppert has gone back to his old job at Cambridge University which was kept open for him. ( I know the same thing happened many years ago to Alan Beith at Newcastle - the problem was he never lost!) One unusual new job is Sarah Teather working for the Jesuit Refugee Service in South Sudan - a group I must admit I had never heard of before.
Well an answer to this on PB is clearly best addressed by Mr Palmer. Real people have real needs in terms of pay or whatever. He's a real person with real experience of exactly this, and he's also a pretty straightforwards sort of a guy.
I do not believe for one moment that Cambridge somehow begged for this person's (Huppert's) return. In fact I would suggest that the notion that the university somehow kept a post open for him is nonsense. If he has returned then it will be under a much diminished star. Newcastle may set themselves lower standards. There's no comparison.
I am amazed that no-one in the media has tried to trap Cameron on his "Labour are a threat to national security" and selective quoting of the Osama Bin Laden comment.
They seem like two incredibly easy gotcha interview questions.
I've had shit like this from friends on Facebook.
It's bollocks: for the reasons JEO and SeanT cite.
I told them to continue to draw attention to it and keep up the good work for the Conservative Party.
There are a lot of worries I have about the present state of British Islam, but I have absolutely no problem with Muslims praying in the street as part of a polite, non-violent participation in public democratic debate. In fact, that's exactly the sort of thing we should expect to see from a moderate, integrated community. It's not just something I tolerate. It's something I welcome.
Thank goodness the owner of this site doesn't ban posters from linking to http://scotgoespop.blogspot.co.uk/, else he'd look a bit petty.
Mike's never done that - I've made the link a number of times and as far as I'm aware I'm still here. Never mind, Mick Pork will doubtless be a-chortlin'.
Like a pigs head at an Eton party :-)
squeal piggy squeal
It was - allegedly - an Oxonian party - though quite a few of the alleged attendees may have been OEs for all I know.
Tory tactical voting for the LDs in Aird and Loch Ness is encouraging for any Edinburgh West by election
Not a very good idea relying on the result of any seat in the rural Highlands and Islands (where the prevalence of Independents, local issues and of course the complicating factor of STV make it very difficult to infer anything accurately).
i'm surprised at James. I was always a fan of his posts when on here and though a devout SNP supporter he was never a mindless propagandist like Wings over Scotland
He knows his readership and like any good editor is running the headline most likely to attract most of them into reading what he has to say. Nothing wrong with that.
More generally, nothing is going to stop the SNP getting a huge majority at the next Holyrood elections. The flag trumps all else. Poor old Jezza has not got a chance against that.
"flag" and "trump" tells you all you need to know.
The BBC have an interesting report from the Open University on what happens to MPs when they lose their seat. Apparently there is now an organisation for former MPs. Some find jobs fairly easily - others struggle. So Julian Huppert has gone back to his old job at Cambridge University which was kept open for him. ( I know the same thing happened many years ago to Alan Beith at Newcastle - the problem was he never lost!) One unusual new job is Sarah Teather working for the Jesuit Refugee Service in South Sudan - a group I must admit I had never heard of before.
Well an answer to this on PB is clearly best addressed by Mr Palmer. Real people have real needs in terms of pay or whatever. He's a real person with real experience of exactly this, and he's also a pretty straightforwards sort of a guy.
I do not believe for one moment that Cambridge somehow begged for this person's (Huppert's) return. In fact I would suggest that the notion that the university somehow kept a post open for him is nonsense. If he has returned then it will be under a much diminished star. Newcastle may set themselves lower standards. There's no comparison.
That sounds odd. Is it not his Fellowship of Clare College that is in mind? It's not a University post.
Thoughts on those by-election results 1 Tories are the only party that stood everywhere. Was Labour not standing in Aird & Loch Ness a) a unionist conspiracy or b) a sign of Labour's weakness in some parts of Scotland? 2 Yes I know Aird & Loch Ness was an STV election; and yes Yellow Guard is right that people don't get STV.. Nevertheless, the Lib Dems won it. Mr Kelly wrote about it as if the SNP had won, that was the problem. 3 The Lib Dems held one, lost one, gained one, all narrowly. In the other two elections they (ok then, for transparency, "we") came second with massively increased vote share. Signs of a revival?
Thoughts on those by-election results 1 Tories are the only party that stood everywhere. Was Labour not standing in Aird & Loch Ness a) a unionist conspiracy or b) a sign of Labour's weakness in some parts of Scotland? 2 Yes I know Aird & Loch Ness was an STV election; and yes Yellow Guard is right that people don't get STV.. Nevertheless, the Lib Dems won it. Mr Kelly wrote about it as if the SNP had won, that was the problem. 3 The Lib Dems held one, lost one, gained one, all narrowly. In the other two elections they (ok then, for transparency, "we") came second with massively increased vote share. Signs of a revival?
Zoe Williams' remarks on spitting and egging are even worse in context. She later justifies that it's ok because it would only happen against the Tories!
"The man in the street is going to be bombarded with propaganda backed by the Prime Minister and countless business leaders claiming all manner of disaster if we leave the EU
90% or more of that can be nullified in one stroke if we make it clear the preferred option after leaving is the EEA. But Farage will not do that and so becomes a liability rather than an asset.
UKIP won 3.8 million votes at the GE. Show me where the other 10 to 15 million are going to come from under Nigel plans and I might start taking him seriously."
This is in answer to @Philip_Thompson as well who said "UKIP only got 12%" and we need 51%
For the last 5 years or so it is UKIP, fronted by Farage, that have been shouting the loudest about the need to leave the EU. Citing UKIPs 12% election score as the ceiling that a Farage led (not that I am suggesting it should be) campaign is ludicrous, as the Polling for LEAVE has been in the 40%s...
So not as offputting as people like to think.
I accept that the final push may need to be from someone more mainstream, but please don't mix up UKIPs vote with the LEAVE score... I repeat, while Farage has been the face of LEAVE, LEAVE has been polling in the 40s (after DKs removed)
Actually during the period you talk about support for Leave has dropped from a high of 54% in early 2011 to 27% in June 2015. Is that all thanks to Farage?
No doubt June 2015 was thanks to Farage failing to win a seat.. the LEAVErs felt like all was lost!
Joke, joke
I dont particularly want to row over this, I am saying in as nice a way as I can manage on the internet, that I feel your reasons for wanting to Leave the EU wouldn't be an easy sell to the man on the street.. theyre not interested
You asked where the extra votes above and beyond UKIPS election score of 12% were going to come from... my simple answer is that LEAVE has been polling way way above 12% even with Farage as the face of it, even at your cherry picked lowest point
Not cherry picked. It has often been noted on here that there is an inverse relationship between UKIP's popularity and the desire to leave the EU. The better UKIP does in the polls, the fewer people want to leave the the EU.
Harry and Mike, I have a lot of respect for both of you, but your reporting of STV by-elections in Scotland is pants. Here's my STV 101 that explains why: http://ww2.ayellowguard.com/stv-101/
nice piece.
Thanks!
Many thanks Plato, but I have been around for many's a long year, just under a different guise...
England sleepwalking to disaster and not even noticing. Or if some notice, they are told not to worry.
I despise many aspects of modern Islam, an inert and often malignant force, I think we should accept there must be limits to Muslim immigration for that reason - but British citizens are allowed to pray and protest wherever they like, as long as they don't unduly inconvenience others.
It'd be nice if Muslim's spotted at some point that most Western Europeans think that their beliefs are daft, and yet almost all of us are happy that they should believe what they like. This state of affairs is really as good as it gets.
Tory tactical voting for the LDs in Aird and Loch Ness is encouraging for any Edinburgh West by election
Not a very good idea relying on the result of any seat in the rural Highlands and Islands (where the prevalence of Independents, local issues and of course the complicating factor of STV make it very difficult to infer anything accurately).
I remember John McEnroe saying that you can't lose to the Brad Gilbert's of this world in the aftermath of suffering that humiliating fate. He soon thereafter retired from competitive tennis. If the SNP is losing to the LDs, then the SNP is in big trouble.
Zoe Williams' remarks on spitting and egging are even worse in context. She later justifies that it's ok because it would only happen against the Tories!
Comments
Tom Watson going down like a lead balloon with commentators at Huff Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/tom-watson-mp/tom-watson-leon-brittan_b_8268818.html?1444393349
"Of course there is a magic money tree... it's called the Bank of England. That's how countries make money."
Mr Smithson you have a wonderful sense of humour.
I suppose SGP will have a week's self righteous ranting now.
I wrote 'ban from', not 'ban for'.
squeal piggy squeal
tipping point
"Tom Watson going down like a lead balloon with commentators at Huff Post:"
The self righteous prat. They should put him in a sack with Danczuk until...... that would be punishment enough.
Sick aking opportunism.
but James still came 10th
More generally, nothing is going to stop the SNP getting a huge majority at the next Holyrood elections. The flag trumps all else. Poor old Jezza has not got a chance against that.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-34484606
http://tinyurl.com/q9cmllq
The Lib Dems really need to run him at the upcoming BE.
All that said, Mike Crockart would have a fair chance at getting his old job back, as quite a few voters have a sense of natural justice.
I thought the most interesting speech of the Conservative week was Michael Gove's. Recognising the advantages of a liberal approach on prisons and penal reform with the aim of reducing recidivism is long overdue within Conservative circles and to be welcomed.
It's possible to believe in penal reform without being "soft" on crime and criminals. It's also possible to see the financial benefit in reducing the prison population given the cost of keeping each prisoner.
I've never found Gove an easy politician to read - he's said and done a lot of things I don't agree with but on this issue at least, I'm in agreement and if the Conservative Party has moved on from some of the attitudes to crime and punishment it held 30 years ago, I welcome that too.
"Apologies if it has been linked to but my better half has received an e-mail from Yougov saying she has made the news by taking part in a survey which gave Corbyn the worst leadership figures for a Labour leader in 60 years. Does anyone have the details of this? "
I think Labour can safely ignore these findings. People's opinions of Corbyn are just a reflection of the newspapers onslaught on him. I doubt any leader in the last 60 years had to contend with anything like this
As the public get to know him better they'll make up their own minds.
(I'm not keen on him but not because he doesn't grovel to her Maj)
" [the Conservatives have] an understanding of the speed at which the world is changing"
Yet the lefties keep claiming to be the progressives. Living in the past is the sub-text of that article from a Tory hating, life-long member of Guardian writers' club.
I remember how he was running out of superlatives to describe how good the polls were for Yes in the run up to the referendum.
I remember reading similar things on here about Brown and Miliband. And, it has to be said, the public did make up their own minds, but perhaps not in the way that the authors of those comments, perhaps, expected.
On the one hand we are frequently told on here that the newspapers are far less influential than they were and, indeed, hardly matter these days when comes to shaping opinion. Yet on the other hand we are told that peoples are opinions are just a reflection of what they read in the newspapers.
For the last 5 years or so it is UKIP, fronted by Farage, that have been shouting the loudest about the need to leave the EU. Citing UKIPs 12% election score as the ceiling that a Farage led (not that I am suggesting it should be) campaign is ludicrous, as the Polling for LEAVE has been in the 40%s...
So not as offputting as people like to think.
I accept that the final push may need to be from someone more mainstream, but please don't mix up UKIPs vote with the LEAVE score... I repeat, while Farage has been the face of LEAVE, LEAVE has been polling in the 40s (after DKs removed)
They seem like two incredibly easy gotcha interview questions.
His weakness is that he has shown real limitations in building coalitions behind his ideas. It would be a shame if this applies to prison reform but he does seem to have Cameron's backing for it.
The public has already made up their mind about Corbyn, I doubt his ratings will change much up.to.the GE... ..
And Labour are a threat to national security. They would not renew trident, they would announce the end to our nuclear deterrent by being in power, and they will reduce our conventional armed forces.
a) I used to support the IRA because I believed in the 32-county solution but now I respect the views of the people of the north.
b) I used to support the IRA because I believed in the 32-county solution and still do.
a) shows he has u-turned and isn't the Jezza everyone joined for; b) shows he is still that Jezza and there is nothing more to get to know.
ad infinitum for just about every issue out there.
I liked this quote:
"elections which in Scotland, Wales and London were never going to be plain sailing whoever was leader of the Labour Party"
Yes, those are clearly some of the more difficult electorates for the Labour Party!
For the last 5 years or so it is UKIP, fronted by Farage, that have been shouting the loudest about the need to leave the EU. Citing UKIPs 12% election score as the ceiling that a Farage led (not that I am suggesting it should be) campaign is ludicrous, as the Polling for LEAVE has been in the 40%s...
So not as offputting as people like to think.
I accept that the final push may need to be from someone more mainstream, but please don't mix up UKIPs vote with the LEAVE score... I repeat, while Farage has been the face of LEAVE, LEAVE has been polling in the 40s (after DKs removed)
Actually during the period you talk about support for Leave has dropped from a high of 54% in early 2011 to 27% in June 2015. Is that all thanks to Farage?
Still plenty of post-Conference hubristic triumphalism from one or two of the Conservative members on here it would seem. The problems, oddly enough, start now with the ordinary boring day-to-day business of Government where things do go wrong and small problems can become crises.
The Conservative desire to build a tent so big it can encompass all opinions is staggering - pro-EU, anti-EU, pro-penal reform, anti-penal reform, supporter of City, supporter of United, there's a place for you all in the Party,
Well, perhaps, but I'm convinced politics doesn't work like that and since nature abhors a vacuum, voices of dissent can and will emerge. How that opposition manifests itself will be interesting - it may not be through the political party route but around potential successors to the Prime Minister or outside the "big tent" but as night follows day new or alternative solutions will develop and some of those will be outside the "big tent".
The lowering of expectations is comical - it's reminding me of the TV ad Dachshund shouting Goal as the rugby ball goes under the bar...
That said I think there is a lot more room on the centre ground than most politicians are willing to give credit for. We don't really go for ideologues in this country, we like people who make sensible and practical decisions. With most of the real world problems that government faces there are a number of possible actions that will work out pretty much as well as each other or at least are capable of being fixed when things go wrong.
It is the ideologues who refuse to recognise that things are going wrong that cause most of the problems, whatever party they are in.
England sleepwalking to disaster and not even noticing. Or if some notice, they are told not to worry.
I get the impression all the "political shows" are struggling to get people to come on, apart from ex-spin doctors and the usual suspects looking for their five minutes of fame.
When Robert Peston gets up and running on ITV on Sunday's, we will have Marr, Sunday Politics, Murnaghan, Piennaar and Uncle Tom Cobley and all. That's way too much even for me.
Neil's prog - was it HardTalk or StraightTalk? It was superb and reminiscent of Brian Walden's Weekend World or On The Record with Humphreys before he succumbed to his ego.
No doubt June 2015 was thanks to Farage failing to win a seat.. the LEAVErs felt like all was lost!
Joke, joke
I dont particularly want to row over this, I am saying in as nice a way as I can manage on the internet, that I feel your reasons for wanting to Leave the EU wouldn't be an easy sell to the man on the street.. theyre not interested
You asked where the extra votes above and beyond UKIPS election score of 12% were going to come from... my simple answer is that LEAVE has been polling way way above 12% even with Farage as the face of it, even at your cherry picked lowest point
James Bartholomew Retweeted DailySunday Politics
If you are wondering what sort of person would say this, she writes for the Guardian and New Statesman. James Bartholomew added,
DailySunday Politics @daily_politics
'I don't have a problem with protesters spitting at people' @zoesqwilliams told #bbcdp.
https://amp.twimg.com/v/45354e72-1f66-4c35-accb-38b1fe6edf13
Churches and other religious buildings exist in a plentiful supply and enjoy a number of (unnecessary) tax benefits - they should be the focus for such activity. Not the streets or parks of any community.
Keep the public realm free from it all.
I do not believe for one moment that Cambridge somehow begged for this person's (Huppert's) return. In fact I would suggest that the notion that the university somehow kept a post open for him is nonsense. If he has returned then it will be under a much diminished star. Newcastle may set themselves lower standards. There's no comparison.
It's bollocks: for the reasons JEO and SeanT cite.
I told them to continue to draw attention to it and keep up the good work for the Conservative Party.
Look at the LDs' results in the other Edinburgh seats... down 30% points in Leith and South, among their grimmest drops anywhere in the UK.
1 Tories are the only party that stood everywhere. Was Labour not standing in Aird & Loch Ness a) a unionist conspiracy or b) a sign of Labour's weakness in some parts of Scotland?
2 Yes I know Aird & Loch Ness was an STV election; and yes Yellow Guard is right that people don't get STV.. Nevertheless, the Lib Dems won it. Mr Kelly wrote about it as if the SNP had won, that was the problem.
3 The Lib Dems held one, lost one, gained one, all narrowly. In the other two elections they (ok then, for transparency, "we") came second with massively increased vote share. Signs of a revival?
http://order-order.com/2015/10/09/zoe-williams-i-really-dont-have-a-problem-with-protesters-spitting-at-journalists/#:NT0JMA6xi4qXFA
Joke, joke
I dont particularly want to row over this, I am saying in as nice a way as I can manage on the internet, that I feel your reasons for wanting to Leave the EU wouldn't be an easy sell to the man on the street.. theyre not interested
You asked where the extra votes above and beyond UKIPS election score of 12% were going to come from... my simple answer is that LEAVE has been polling way way above 12% even with Farage as the face of it, even at your cherry picked lowest point
Not cherry picked. It has often been noted on here that there is an inverse relationship between UKIP's popularity and the desire to leave the EU. The better UKIP does in the polls, the fewer people want to leave the the EU.
You work it out
If the SNP is losing to the LDs, then the SNP is in big trouble.