Neil Henderson @hendopolis 4m SCOTSMAN: Cameron chips in to 'no women' golf row #todayspaperstoday #sorryitslate pic.twitter.com/Z5IP98r8ms
Who gave up his membership of an all male club in 2008.
So we can add that U turn to his conversion to believing gay people shouldn't be legally discriminated against around the same time.
Where Alex leads , Cameron follows
Cameron seems to be unaware of the fact that single-sex organisations are quite lawful and that thousands of them exist nationwide.
Sean I think it's not that single sex clubs are legal, which of course they are, but that golf and golf of all sports, should portray its greatest championship, the course clubs that have the honour of hosting and the RA that run the game as banning women.
It's risible in this age.
I suppose my views are coloured by the fact that I'd rather stick needles in my eyes than watch golf being played.
Lord Ashcroft tweets: "How many Unite union members would opt IN to their political fund? How many would join Labour? See my #UnitePoll, out next week."
If this is a trend, for Fridays, then one day it is going to be very horrible, as it is Ramadan, for the next 3 weeks or so, and Mosques are packed on Fridays, more so during Ramadan.
Neil Henderson @hendopolis 4m SCOTSMAN: Cameron chips in to 'no women' golf row #todayspaperstoday #sorryitslate pic.twitter.com/Z5IP98r8ms
Who gave up his membership of an all male club in 2008.
So we can add that U turn to his conversion to believing gay people shouldn't be legally discriminated against around the same time.
Where Alex leads , Cameron follows
Cameron seems to be unaware of the fact that single-sex organisations are quite lawful and that thousands of them exist nationwide.
Sean I think it's not that single sex clubs are legal, which of course they are, but that golf and golf of all sports, should portray its greatest championship, the course clubs that have the honour of hosting and the RA that run the game as banning women.
It's risible in this age.
I suppose my views are coloured by the fact that I'd rather stick needles in my eyes than watch golf being played.
A blind spot then ....
Ha! I loathe golf - but its rather good on the radio during the Masters. Given that 99% of TV coverage involves following a ball we can't see - the radio is surprisingly interesting in comparison.
Lord Ashcroft tweets: "How many Unite union members would opt IN to their political fund? How many would join Labour? See my #UnitePoll, out next week."
Paul Kenny of the GMB thinks his members would be under 10% on a good day.
Mr. Fear, it's worth adding that attacking male-only clubs but not female-only clubs is pathetic (and ironic).
Quite. I've always been of the opinion that a private club should be entitled to be as inclusive or exclusive as its members wish.
As exclusive as no blacks or Jews ?!?
Their club, their rules. My brother once adopted the pseudonym "Michael Goldberg" to join a very popular Jewish youth club. His deception was exposed when he was chosen to take part in a swimming contest in Israel, and was asked to produce a certificate from his Rabbi.
Neil Henderson @hendopolis 4m SCOTSMAN: Cameron chips in to 'no women' golf row #todayspaperstoday #sorryitslate pic.twitter.com/Z5IP98r8ms
Who gave up his membership of an all male club in 2008.
So we can add that U turn to his conversion to believing gay people shouldn't be legally discriminated against around the same time.
Where Alex leads , Cameron follows
Cameron seems to be unaware of the fact that single-sex organisations are quite lawful and that thousands of them exist nationwide.
Sean I think it's not that single sex clubs are legal, which of course they are, but that golf and golf of all sports, should portray its greatest championship, the course clubs that have the honour of hosting and the RA that run the game as banning women.
It's risible in this age.
I suppose my views are coloured by the fact that I'd rather stick needles in my eyes than watch golf being played.
A blind spot then ....
Ha! I loathe golf - but its rather good on the radio during the Masters. Given that 99% of TV coverage involves following a ball we can't see - the radio is surprisingly interesting in comparison.
Indeed.
I've always enjoyed golf. One of the few remaining sports where a sense of decency, fair play and honesty still prevails.
Mr. Fear, it's worth adding that attacking male-only clubs but not female-only clubs is pathetic (and ironic).
Quite. I've always been of the opinion that a private club should be entitled to be as inclusive or exclusive as its members wish.
As exclusive as no blacks or Jews ?!?
Their club, their rules. My brother once adopted the pseudonym "Michael Goldberg" to join a very popular Jewish youth club. His deception was exposed when he was chosen to take part in a swimming contest in Israel, and was asked to produce a certificate from his Rabbi.
Interesting story in the Times, moot anyway as Scotland will be independent away by then
The UK Government would allow the devolved Scottish government to go bust rather than step in to rescue it from creditors, The Times has learnt.
Senior Treasury sources have disclosed that the UK will not underwrite any loans taken out by the Scottish Government after it gets the power to borrow money in two years’ time.
I'd expect nothing else from HMG - if Scotland want to stand on their own two feet - let them and be damned. Why should other bits of the UK give them a free pass? Does any other part of the UK public sector get to spend what it doesn't have with alacrity?
There was a discussion last night on ITV Wales 10.30pm regarding tax raising powers for Wales - waiting for an OK from HMG (Silk Commission).
Lot of insistent Plaid LD & Labour wanting them without another referendum. The Con man was more ambivalent.
Not one of them raised the matter that if Wales raised some of their own taxes (and so less from HMG Barnett formula) that taxes in Wales would have to increase- just assumed people would be happy to pay them for being part of an independent Wales!!
Mr. Fear, it's worth adding that attacking male-only clubs but not female-only clubs is pathetic (and ironic).
Quite. I've always been of the opinion that a private club should be entitled to be as inclusive or exclusive as its members wish.
As exclusive as no blacks or Jews ?!?
No that's just the Lib Dem parliamentary group.
Mr @corporeal said the other day that Mr Ward was only the second time that a LDer had the whip withdrawn for making anti-Israel remarks. I assume the other one was Tonge.
The LDs do however seem to be picking up a rep for this - have any others said similar stuff?
I'm bored stiff by the whole Israel-Palestine hoo-haa so have no dog in this fight, but would like to know the background given LDs have a pretty small number of MPs.
Mr. Fear, it's worth adding that attacking male-only clubs but not female-only clubs is pathetic (and ironic).
Quite. I've always been of the opinion that a private club should be entitled to be as inclusive or exclusive as its members wish.
As exclusive as no blacks or Jews ?!?
Their club, their rules. My brother once adopted the pseudonym "Michael Goldberg" to join a very popular Jewish youth club. His deception was exposed when he was chosen to take part in a swimming contest in Israel, and was asked to produce a certificate from his Rabbi.
Mr. Fear, it's worth adding that attacking male-only clubs but not female-only clubs is pathetic (and ironic).
Quite. I've always been of the opinion that a private club should be entitled to be as inclusive or exclusive as its members wish.
As exclusive as no blacks or Jews ?!?
Their club, their rules. My brother once adopted the pseudonym "Michael Goldberg" to join a very popular Jewish youth club. His deception was exposed when he was chosen to take part in a swimming contest in Israel, and was asked to produce a certificate from his Rabbi.
Another piece of Labour propaganda by HGM. Having a job outside parliament where you have to understand and abide by the conventions of the real world brings a useful perspective to parliament. Too many politicians think that by banning something, ordering people about and passing laws make for a better life for their constituents. It ain't necessarily so.
Mr. Fear, it's worth adding that attacking male-only clubs but not female-only clubs is pathetic (and ironic).
Quite. I've always been of the opinion that a private club should be entitled to be as inclusive or exclusive as its members wish.
As exclusive as no blacks or Jews ?!?
No that's just the Lib Dem parliamentary group.
Mr @corporeal said the other day that Mr Ward was only the second time that a LDer had the whip withdrawn for making anti-Israel remarks. I assume the other one was Tonge.
The LDs do however seem to be picking up a rep for this - have any others said similar stuff?
I'm bored stiff by the whole Israel-Palestine hoo-haa so have no dog in this fight, but would like to know the background given LDs have a pretty small number of MPs.
Off the top of my head they're the only two.
(Others have made remarks strongly critical of the state of Israel's actions, but iirc without a racial aspect to them).
(The top of my head is fallible and sometimes needs correction).
Mr. Fear, it's worth adding that attacking male-only clubs but not female-only clubs is pathetic (and ironic).
Quite. I've always been of the opinion that a private club should be entitled to be as inclusive or exclusive as its members wish.
As exclusive as no blacks or Jews ?!?
If they want. But if they do, they should rightly expect criticism for their policy, investigations from local media and social exclusion for their members.
However, there's a substantial difference between whether a discriminatory membership policy of an individual club should be legal, and whether or not a sporting authority should choose to honour such a club with hosting its most prestigious competition.
Very true, apart from the Jewish Lib Dem MPs of course, but outside that detail true.
Yes I overlooked Lynne Featherstone. The only one.
She really is a silly moo. This reminds me of Life of Brian.
"The fact women ‘still have babies’ is to blame for the lack of gender equality in Britain today, according to a Lib Dem minister.
Lynne Featherstone, an international development minister who was in charge of equalities until September’s reshuffle, said childbirth was a ‘barrier’ to women’s career success.
She said women who devoted time to bringing up children suffer a ‘setback’ because it gives ‘mediocre’ men an opportunity to leapfrog them on the corporate ladder.
Her forthright remarks come as her party leader Nick Clegg announced plans to allow men and women to share their parental leave.
Very true, apart from the Jewish Lib Dem MPs of course, but outside that detail true.
Yes I overlooked Lynne Featherstone. The only one.
Well to be pedantic you said parliamentary group, and since parliamentary groups include both houses you'd have to include the various Jewish Lib Dem members of the HoL.
Very true, apart from the Jewish Lib Dem MPs of course, but outside that detail true.
Yes I overlooked Lynne Featherstone. The only one.
She really is a silly moo. This reminds me of Life of Brian. "The fact women ‘still have babies’ is to blame for the lack of gender equality in Britain today, according to a Lib Dem minister. Lynne Featherstone, an international development minister who was in charge of equalities until September’s reshuffle, said childbirth was a ‘barrier’ to women’s career success. She said women who devoted time to bringing up children suffer a ‘setback’ because it gives ‘mediocre’ men an opportunity to leapfrog them on the corporate ladder. Her forthright remarks come as her party leader Nick Clegg announced plans to allow men and women to share their parental leave.
Yes, she is rather "wonderful". "Featherstone submitted a question to a government minister inquiring as to "what assessment he has made of the use of progesterex in cases of date rape". Paul Goggins replied in the House of Commons that Progesterex did not exist: "It has been the subject of a hoax e-mail".[22][23] The hoax first originated in 1999.[24] Featherstone criticised the minister's response, stating "they need to do more to discover the unearthly monster who sends them out" and that "their cavalier attitude will not do".[25][26] However, critics such as fellow Liberal Democrat James Graham castigated Featherstone's conduct in "criticising the Home Office for not having a response to made up drugs and made up crimes", stating "trivialising rape in this way without bothering to do basic research first doesn’t help anybody".[27] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynne_Featherstone
Very true, apart from the Jewish Lib Dem MPs of course, but outside that detail true.
Yes I overlooked Lynne Featherstone. The only one.
She really is a silly moo. This reminds me of Life of Brian.
"The fact women ‘still have babies’ is to blame for the lack of gender equality in Britain today, according to a Lib Dem minister.
Lynne Featherstone, an international development minister who was in charge of equalities until September’s reshuffle, said childbirth was a ‘barrier’ to women’s career success.
She said women who devoted time to bringing up children suffer a ‘setback’ because it gives ‘mediocre’ men an opportunity to leapfrog them on the corporate ladder.
Her forthright remarks come as her party leader Nick Clegg announced plans to allow men and women to share their parental leave.
Once you push past the Daily Mail spin then it's fact.
Women who take years out of work to raise children fall behind in their careers compared to men who don't. This is rather obvious and a contributing factor to the gender disparity at the higher levels of companies (although the Mail puts 'setback' in quotes like it can't comprehend the idea).
Shared parental leave is a good thing, as is encouraging greater involvement of men in raising children.
Cammo on TMS - sounds like he was throwing pies in the charity net that broke the world record.... Cammo blamed a tennis injury for that, Aggers says his pressman said he'd been bowling nicely in practice but the 'pressure' must have got to him when the cameras were on...
this is a clear discrepancy, tim and ed should call for a full judge-led enquiry and whether crosby told him to change his bowling action!
Very true, apart from the Jewish Lib Dem MPs of course, but outside that detail true.
Yes I overlooked Lynne Featherstone. The only one.
She really is a silly moo. This reminds me of Life of Brian. "The fact women ‘still have babies’ is to blame for the lack of gender equality in Britain today, according to a Lib Dem minister. Lynne Featherstone, an international development minister who was in charge of equalities until September’s reshuffle, said childbirth was a ‘barrier’ to women’s career success. She said women who devoted time to bringing up children suffer a ‘setback’ because it gives ‘mediocre’ men an opportunity to leapfrog them on the corporate ladder. Her forthright remarks come as her party leader Nick Clegg announced plans to allow men and women to share their parental leave.
Yes, she is rather "wonderful". "Featherstone submitted a question to a government minister inquiring as to "what assessment he has made of the use of progesterex in cases of date rape". Paul Goggins replied in the House of Commons that Progesterex did not exist: "It has been the subject of a hoax e-mail".[22][23] The hoax first originated in 1999.[24] Featherstone criticised the minister's response, stating "they need to do more to discover the unearthly monster who sends them out" and that "their cavalier attitude will not do".[25][26] However, critics such as fellow Liberal Democrat James Graham castigated Featherstone's conduct in "criticising the Home Office for not having a response to made up drugs and made up crimes", stating "trivialising rape in this way without bothering to do basic research first doesn’t help anybody".[27] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynne_Featherstone
Oh dear. I thought 'women still having babies' was her low point.
Very true, apart from the Jewish Lib Dem MPs of course, but outside that detail true.
Yes I overlooked Lynne Featherstone. The only one.
She really is a silly moo. This reminds me of Life of Brian.
"The fact women ‘still have babies’ is to blame for the lack of gender equality in Britain today, according to a Lib Dem minister.
Lynne Featherstone, an international development minister who was in charge of equalities until September’s reshuffle, said childbirth was a ‘barrier’ to women’s career success.
She said women who devoted time to bringing up children suffer a ‘setback’ because it gives ‘mediocre’ men an opportunity to leapfrog them on the corporate ladder.
Her forthright remarks come as her party leader Nick Clegg announced plans to allow men and women to share their parental leave.
Once you push past the Daily Mail spin then it's fact.
Women who take years out of work to raise children fall behind in their careers compared to men who don't. This is rather obvious and a contributing factor to the gender disparity at the higher levels of companies (although the Mail puts 'setback' in quotes like it can't comprehend the idea).
Shared parental leave is a good thing, as is encouraging greater involvement of men in raising children.
A song from 2 decades ago. It is increasingly males who are underperforming in society and have an education ceiling. And there are no programmes to equal out the imbalance or advocates to stop the trend.
OECD shows Britain is the least responsive housing market to price rises, what makes you think the Osborne bubble will be different from all the others.
UK housing is massively overvalued still and you think inflating a bubble from this position makes sense.
Osborne has chosen deliberately to make the UKs biggest economic problem worse
The relative high level of house prices in the UK are not the UK's biggest economic problem.
What would be a far worse problem would be a fall in house prices equivalent in scale to that seen, say, in Spain or Ireland. Spanish property fell by 7.9% last year (to Q1 2013) following a 7.3% fall the previous year. In Ireland, prices fell by 3% following a prior year fall of 16%.
The UK's residential housing stock is estimated to be worth £5.5 trillion with some £2.2 trillion of mortgage loans sitting on UK bank balance sheets. Major changes in house prices therefore threaten the whole banking sector and economy. The drive to increase capital buffers in the banking sector is designed, in major part, to protect the taxpayer against such catastrophic falls in housing values.
In contrast to Spain and Ireland, UK property prices have risen in value by 0.2% over the past two years. Nominal value of course so this means they have still fallen in real terms with rent to value and income to value ratios improving accordingly.
But even if, in the next two years, prices rise above inflation rates we are very far away from bubble type growth, You only need to look at Hong Kong, China and Dubai where house prices increased by 28%, 23.8% and 21.1% last year to understand the volatility and range of house price fluctuations in domestic markets across the globe.
As to the size of Osborne's intervention in the housing markets it is capped at £130 bn which is around 5% of total mortgage loans. Hardly a "massive" subsidy by any reasonable definition of the word.
As to the OECD, it does show UK prices are over valued in terms of price to income and price to rent ratios, but they are far from the extreme end of the range with Belgium, Norway, Canada, New Zealand, France, Australia and Sweden all above the UK. A slow descent and soft landing should be the policy of any government.
Very true, apart from the Jewish Lib Dem MPs of course, but outside that detail true.
Yes I overlooked Lynne Featherstone. The only one.
She really is a silly moo. This reminds me of Life of Brian.
"The fact women ‘still have babies’ is to blame for the lack of gender equality in Britain today, according to a Lib Dem minister.
Lynne Featherstone, an international development minister who was in charge of equalities until September’s reshuffle, said childbirth was a ‘barrier’ to women’s career success.
She said women who devoted time to bringing up children suffer a ‘setback’ because it gives ‘mediocre’ men an opportunity to leapfrog them on the corporate ladder.
Her forthright remarks come as her party leader Nick Clegg announced plans to allow men and women to share their parental leave.
Once you push past the Daily Mail spin then it's fact.
Women who take years out of work to raise children fall behind in their careers compared to men who don't. This is rather obvious and a contributing factor to the gender disparity at the higher levels of companies (although the Mail puts 'setback' in quotes like it can't comprehend the idea).
Shared parental leave is a good thing, as is encouraging greater involvement of men in raising children.
A song from 2 decades ago. It is increasingly males who are underperforming in society and have an education ceiling. And there are no programmes to equal out the imbalance or advocates to stop the trend.
Hardly, the comparative underperformance of males in the education system is certainly concerning, but afaik to date this hasn't echoed through the rest of society, women still tend to fall behind.
Is Cameron trying to get children to take up smoking ?. Is there a link where he has said that or is it a smear/lie again. Parents are responsible for monitoring their offspring, not the PM.
Has anyone else noticed that the Sun is really very anti-Labour and rather pro-Dave these days?
Of course in its day it was ever thus (hard not to really with the likes of Foot, Kinnock etc running the reds). But during the New Labour years it became much more accommodative of Labour and was never nice to IDS or Hague and gave Dave a hard time for a period.
But now things seem back to where they should be. Is this because the coalition under Dave is delivering? (See today's Sun Says re the police and public sector reforms). Or this because the Labour leadership quality is back to the good old days under Crappy Ed? Is it coz Murdoch now hates Labour and Ed with a new passion post Leveson? All of the above?
Anyway, I think this is a notable new normal and one which may impact polls and politics. The Sun is still important. And what they're saying these days is right too.
Has anyone else noticed that the Sun is really very anti-Labour and rather pro-Dave these days?
Of course in its day it was ever thus (hard not to really with the likes of Foot, Kinnock etc running the reds). But during the New Labour years it became much more accommodative of Labour and was never nice to IDS or Hague and gave Dave a hard time for a period.
But now things seem back to where they should be. Is this because the coalition under Dave is delivering? (See today's Sun Says re the police and public sector reforms). Or this because the Labour leadership quality is back to the good old days under Crappy Ed? Is it coz Murdoch now hates Labour and Ed with a new passion post Leveson? All of the above?
Anyway, I think this is a notable new normal and one which may impact polls and politics. The Sun is still important. And what they're saying these days is right too.
Very true, apart from the Jewish Lib Dem MPs of course, but outside that detail true.
Yes I overlooked Lynne Featherstone. The only one.
Once you push past the Daily Mail spin then it's fact.
Women who take years out of work to raise children fall behind in their careers compared to men who don't. This is rather obvious and a contributing factor to the gender disparity at the higher levels of companies (although the Mail puts 'setback' in quotes like it can't comprehend the idea).
Shared parental leave is a good thing, as is encouraging greater involvement of men in raising children.
A song from 2 decades ago. It is increasingly males who are underperforming in society and have an education ceiling. And there are no programmes to equal out the imbalance or advocates to stop the trend.
Hardly, the comparative underperformance of males in the education system is certainly concerning, but afaik to date this hasn't echoed through the rest of society, women still tend to fall behind.
You're simply ignoring a time lag, roll 20years hence and the ratios will be quite different. Women have been catching up and overtaking men for 30 years or so on education and now economic prospects. The next time you sit next to a young woman odds are she's earning more than you.
Has anyone else noticed that the Sun is really very anti-Labour and rather pro-Dave these days?.
The biggest change has been on Osborne - when they ran the Half-Eton Burger story, that tim or Sausages would have been proud of, they got a good kicking from their readers - "what about the economy, rather than this nonsense...."
Very true, apart from the Jewish Lib Dem MPs of course, but outside that detail true.
Yes I overlooked Lynne Featherstone. The only one.
Once you push past the Daily Mail spin then it's fact.
Women who take years out of work to raise children fall behind in their careers compared to men who don't. This is rather obvious and a contributing factor to the gender disparity at the higher levels of companies (although the Mail puts 'setback' in quotes like it can't comprehend the idea).
Shared parental leave is a good thing, as is encouraging greater involvement of men in raising children.
A song from 2 decades ago. It is increasingly males who are underperforming in society and have an education ceiling. And there are no programmes to equal out the imbalance or advocates to stop the trend.
Hardly, the comparative underperformance of males in the education system is certainly concerning, but afaik to date this hasn't echoed through the rest of society, women still tend to fall behind.
You're simply ignoring a time lag, roll 20years hence and the ratios will be quite different. Women have been catching up and overtaking men for 30 years or so on education and now economic prospects. The next time you sit next to a young woman odds are she's earning more than you.
But keep fighting to widen the gap.
Even adjusting for time lag your claim that "this is the song of twenty years ago" doesn't stand up.
Are you really going for the "men are the ones really oppressed" angle?
On MPs' pay, the most imaginative solution I've seen is to replace salaries with an MP Loan Scheme along the lines of student loans. The MPs will be able to draw down on the loan while in office and then repay it from future income once they leave parliament. The theory being that most MPs will see a dramatic increase in their future earning power as a result of serving in parliament.
OECD shows Britain is the least responsive housing market to price rises, what makes you think the Osborne bubble will be different from all the others.
UK housing is massively overvalued still and you think inflating a bubble from this position makes sense.
Osborne has chosen deliberately to make the UKs biggest economic problem worse
The UK's residential housing stock is estimated to be worth £5.5 trillion with some £2.2 trillion of mortgage loans sitting on UK bank balance sheets. Major changes in house prices therefore threaten the whole banking sector and economy. The drive to increase capital buffers in the banking sector is designed, in major part, to protect the taxpayer against such catastrophic falls in housing values.
House price inflation shifts wealth up the generations - the huge increases of the last 20 years buggered my generation (mid-20's) to buy the votes of the 'boomers.
Yes, I blame Gordon Brown & Labour for that.
But now we have the Tories (and LD's) picking the pockets of today's teenagers to try to buy the 2015 election. It's morally repugnant, whichever way you spin it.
On education males perform worse than females. At the entry end of the labour market females already out perform males on salary By 2024 females will outperform males on salaries in the major professions. the number of female directors and senior managers is on a constant increase.
call it what you like but there's a steady imbalance creeping in to the workplace which is the corollary of the one legislation has sought to correct.
On education males perform worse than females. At the entry end of the labour market females already out perform males on salary By 2024 females will outperform males on salaries in the major professions. the number of female directors and senior managers is on a constant increase.
call it what you like but there's a steady imbalance creeping in to the workplace which is the corollary of the one legislation has sought to correct.
At the entry end yes, but that hasn't been continuing through the ranks.
Whining PB Tories on a Friday whenever Henry's piece gets posted are bloody embarrassing.
The criticism is because on reading the headline, one can tell the content of the piece and the conclusion. It's formulaic and (and this applies equally to your 6,340 posts) because of that missable.
On education males perform worse than females. At the entry end of the labour market females already out perform males on salary By 2024 females will outperform males on salaries in the major professions. the number of female directors and senior managers is on a constant increase.
call it what you like but there's a steady imbalance creeping in to the workplace which is the corollary of the one legislation has sought to correct.
At the entry end yes, but that hasn't been continuing through the ranks.
Men now only overtake women on salary in their 40s. The trend will eventually continue until it encompasses working life.
Which then raises the question why isn't a rebalancing being sought to educational underperformance ?
Clearly could do better -deduction of pocket money perhaps. Would DM have got a better report?
"The parliamentary term came juddering to an end yesterday. MPs have packed up their files and returned to their constituencies, holidays have been booked and passports searched for. There are now less than two years until the election, so with that in mind – how’s Ed Miliband doing?
Here’s his end of term report – this year focussing on the delivery on The Three Ps – Polling, Policies and Party:
Polling – the question is, which polling? At present it’s unclear whether Labour’s lead is in double digits or low single digits – if there’s a lead at all – as the polls leap around all over the place. .... But of far more concern for Miliband personally are his troubling (and falling) personal ratings, with IPSOS MORI rating him as unpopular as William Hague was at a similar point in his party leadership tenure. GRADE – B-
Policies – what policies? No, that’s unfair – the party does now have a range of policies that have been unveiled over the last 12 months or so. The problem is that none of them are, so far, the kind of barnstorming, pledge-card adorning, attention grabbing ideas that the party probably needs....................Clearly there’s an agenda under the surface, but when will be see it? And what will it look like. I’d bet the house on a house building programme – but it hasn’t been announced. Yet. GRADE – C
Party – Until a few weeks ago, it might have been possible to argue that Ed Miliband didn’t really have a passion for party organisation. Sure, he cares hugely about the kind of organisation that Arnie Graf is trying to deliver across the country. ...But the passion Miliband had during the leadership election for doing Labour politics differently and changing the party fundamentally appeared to have fallen by the wayside.........But we now have to say – whatever we think of Ed’s plans – that he has been “brave”, and that he’s sure as hell going to have to be passionate about the minutiae of party organisation now GRADE – B+
Overall – Not a bad year for Miliband or the Labour Party by any stretch of the imagination, although it looks worse right now, following the events of Falkirk, the resignation of Tom Watson and everything that came after. ....If everyone is still saying the same next year, start worrying. GRADE – B"
The clock tick tocked for 13 years under Labour until the spring bust.
Labour moved things a long way, even you can admit that @JackW. Pubs are a massive improvement.
There is only one refuge of cigarette marketing left. Just get rid.
Indeed so but according to "tim" you'd think the Coalition was force feeding babies in incubators 40 senior service a day !!
The present situation is sensible. Let the aussies do the research and review the issue accordingly.
Ahh Senior Service a trully terrible smoke. About the only filterless snout on the market these days! I'll stick to the rich full flavour of Davidoff.
Which for tim's benfit are covered in gruesome Australian-style images. Something he seems unaware of.
My paternal grandmother, late Dowager Lady W, was partial to the filterless ciggies but was notorious for bumming fags off family and the staff as she refused to carry a cigarette case or lighter as being rather unseemly for a woman.
Woodbine or Capstan were the ciggie of choice. My father when he was younger smoked up to 100 woodbine a day but gave them up on doctors advice and moved to a pipe.
Interesting story in the Times, moot anyway as Scotland will be independent away by then
The UK Government would allow the devolved Scottish government to go bust rather than step in to rescue it from creditors, The Times has learnt.
Senior Treasury sources have disclosed that the UK will not underwrite any loans taken out by the Scottish Government after it gets the power to borrow money in two years’ time.
I'd expect nothing else from HMG - if Scotland want to stand on their own two feet - let them and be damned. Why should other bits of the UK give them a free pass? Does any other part of the UK public sector get to spend what it doesn't have with alacrity?
There is also a story on small Scottish firms being forced to sign contracts under English law because of confusion over currency:
Comments
Third one in recent times
Debris from an explosive device has been found close to a mosque in Wolverhampton, a police statement has said.
http://news.sky.com/story/1117832/wolverhampton-mosque-explosive-device-found
If this is a trend, for Fridays, then one day it is going to be very horrible, as it is Ramadan, for the next 3 weeks or so, and Mosques are packed on Fridays, more so during Ramadan.
Discuss.
http://order-order.com/2013/07/19/hancock-tries-to-dodge-portsmouth-investigation/
For me golf is a lot like women; if she isn't holding my wood, she should be holding an iron.
"Two men aged 25 and 22, both of Eastern European origin, were arrested in Small Heath, Birmingham, on Thursday in connection with the blasts."
I've always enjoyed golf. One of the few remaining sports where a sense of decency, fair play and honesty still prevails.
We had this meme tested to destructed over YouKnowWho - I'm really surprised that Labour and OGH think it has vote changing legs.
Oswald Mosley would be turning in his grave
Your brother a complete prick then ??
There was a discussion last night on ITV Wales 10.30pm regarding tax raising powers for Wales - waiting for an OK from HMG (Silk Commission).
Lot of insistent Plaid LD & Labour wanting them without another referendum. The Con man was more ambivalent.
Not one of them raised the matter that if Wales raised some of their own taxes (and so less from HMG Barnett formula) that taxes in Wales would have to increase- just assumed people would be happy to pay them for being part of an independent Wales!!
The LDs do however seem to be picking up a rep for this - have any others said similar stuff?
I'm bored stiff by the whole Israel-Palestine hoo-haa so have no dog in this fight, but would like to know the background given LDs have a pretty small number of MPs.
No need to be offensive.
Sexism remains hilarious.
Reminds me of the debate I once had about why no one shows reruns of The Benny Hill Show
"French company Spotter has developed an analytics tool that claims to be able to identify sarcastic comments posted online.
Spotter says its clients include the Home Office, EU Commission and Dubai Courts.
The algorithm-based analytics software generates reputation reports based on social and traditional media material.
However some experts say such tools are often inadequate because of the nuance of language. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23160583
Two Ukrainian men have been arrested under the Terrorism Act in connection with explosions in Walsall and Tipton, also in the West Midlands.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-23372217#TWEET827116
On the off chance you're so bored you're reading PB;
If you could arrange to do the royal duty sometime between midnight tonight & midnight tomorrow, I would be most appreciative.
Ta
*Clutches 20/1 betting slip*
"A wood created for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee has been accidently mowed down by a council workman.
The 2,000 saplings planted in December 21012 in Nidd Gorge, near Harrogate, recreated an ancient woodland.
Keith Wilkinson, chairman of the Bilton Conservation Group which planted the trees, said the workman had "turned left instead of right".
Harrogate Borough Council apologised for the error and said it would help with replanting the area.
Bilton Fields had been planted over 1.25 acres as part of a UK-wide project to plant six million trees native to Britain.
It had taken 40 volunteers about 200 hours in total and Mr Wilkinson said just two oak saplings had survived the mowing... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-23375580
http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/Prime-Minister-David-Cameron-summer-holiday/story-19543424-detail/story.html?565185000=783307681
Lab hv unveiled new online campaign tool to push yr tweets to the PM. Will it work? Will other parties copy? http://bit.ly/1aXaI2f
http://action.labour.org.uk/page/content/david-cameron-answer-the-question/
(Others have made remarks strongly critical of the state of Israel's actions, but iirc without a racial aspect to them).
(The top of my head is fallible and sometimes needs correction).
However, there's a substantial difference between whether a discriminatory membership policy of an individual club should be legal, and whether or not a sporting authority should choose to honour such a club with hosting its most prestigious competition.
"The fact women ‘still have babies’ is to blame for the lack of gender equality in Britain today, according to a Lib Dem minister.
Lynne Featherstone, an international development minister who was in charge of equalities until September’s reshuffle, said childbirth was a ‘barrier’ to women’s career success.
She said women who devoted time to bringing up children suffer a ‘setback’ because it gives ‘mediocre’ men an opportunity to leapfrog them on the corporate ladder.
Her forthright remarks come as her party leader Nick Clegg announced plans to allow men and women to share their parental leave.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2232346/Having-babies-stops-women-equal-men-says-Lib-Dem-minister-Lynne-Featherstone.html#ixzz2ZUZtjpxE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFBOQzSk14c
Lib Dem leader is working with Genna, a pharmacy technician apprentice, in Sheffield today
https://twitter.com/LibDemPress/status/358195594038235136/photo/1
"Featherstone submitted a question to a government minister inquiring as to "what assessment he has made of the use of progesterex in cases of date rape". Paul Goggins replied in the House of Commons that Progesterex did not exist: "It has been the subject of a hoax e-mail".[22][23] The hoax first originated in 1999.[24] Featherstone criticised the minister's response, stating "they need to do more to discover the unearthly monster who sends them out" and that "their cavalier attitude will not do".[25][26] However, critics such as fellow Liberal Democrat James Graham castigated Featherstone's conduct in "criticising the Home Office for not having a response to made up drugs and made up crimes", stating "trivialising rape in this way without bothering to do basic research first doesn’t help anybody".[27]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynne_Featherstone
Women who take years out of work to raise children fall behind in their careers compared to men who don't. This is rather obvious and a contributing factor to the gender disparity at the higher levels of companies (although the Mail puts 'setback' in quotes like it can't comprehend the idea).
Shared parental leave is a good thing, as is encouraging greater involvement of men in raising children.
this is a clear discrepancy, tim and ed should call for a full judge-led enquiry and whether crosby told him to change his bowling action!
this is a serious, election-changing interview.... Reds nailed on!
Thankfully, she is no longer a minister.
'he's doing good, he's trying to save us' (the country)
disastrous coverage, almost as bad as having John Inverdale ever coming out to say he thinks Gove is a looker...
What would be a far worse problem would be a fall in house prices equivalent in scale to that seen, say, in Spain or Ireland. Spanish property fell by 7.9% last year (to Q1 2013) following a 7.3% fall the previous year. In Ireland, prices fell by 3% following a prior year fall of 16%.
The UK's residential housing stock is estimated to be worth £5.5 trillion with some £2.2 trillion of mortgage loans sitting on UK bank balance sheets. Major changes in house prices therefore threaten the whole banking sector and economy. The drive to increase capital buffers in the banking sector is designed, in major part, to protect the taxpayer against such catastrophic falls in housing values.
In contrast to Spain and Ireland, UK property prices have risen in value by 0.2% over the past two years. Nominal value of course so this means they have still fallen in real terms with rent to value and income to value ratios improving accordingly.
But even if, in the next two years, prices rise above inflation rates we are very far away from bubble type growth, You only need to look at Hong Kong, China and Dubai where house prices increased by 28%, 23.8% and 21.1% last year to understand the volatility and range of house price fluctuations in domestic markets across the globe.
As to the size of Osborne's intervention in the housing markets it is capped at £130 bn which is around 5% of total mortgage loans. Hardly a "massive" subsidy by any reasonable definition of the word.
As to the OECD, it does show UK prices are over valued in terms of price to income and price to rent ratios, but they are far from the extreme end of the range with Belgium, Norway, Canada, New Zealand, France, Australia and Sweden all above the UK. A slow descent and soft landing should be the policy of any government.
OECD chart here: http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02576/Over-valued_and_un_2576718b.jpg
I'm looking forward to 1000's of excitable posts from Tim about Dave buying Pringles in the Padstow Aldi.
Channel 4 News ✔ @Channel4News
Bert Trautmann, the goalkeeper who played in the 1956 FA Cup final with a broken neck, dies at the age of 89 #c4news
There have been others previously; Harris, Carlile, Freud, Kramer, etc..
Parents are responsible for monitoring their offspring, not the PM.
Of course in its day it was ever thus (hard not to really with the likes of Foot, Kinnock etc running the reds). But during the New Labour years it became much more accommodative of Labour and was never nice to IDS or Hague and gave Dave a hard time for a period.
But now things seem back to where they should be. Is this because the coalition under Dave is delivering? (See today's Sun Says re the police and public sector reforms). Or this because the Labour leadership quality is back to the good old days under Crappy Ed? Is it coz Murdoch now hates Labour and Ed with a new passion post Leveson? All of the above?
Anyway, I think this is a notable new normal and one which may impact polls and politics. The Sun is still important. And what they're saying these days is right too.
But keep fighting to widen the gap.
I think they listened.
Then there is Gordon Brown... a disgrace of a PM follwed by a piss take of his constituents as a real part time MP.
Not all Germans are bad. Sure the same could be said about others (though not around here)....
http://order-order.com/2013/07/19/dave-does-tms/
Are you really going for the "men are the ones really oppressed" angle?
'If Ed Miliband gets elected today please will the last one to leave the UK turn off the lights'
Yes, I blame Gordon Brown & Labour for that.
But now we have the Tories (and LD's) picking the pockets of today's teenagers to try to buy the 2015 election. It's morally repugnant, whichever way you spin it.
Who do I vote for to stop this insanity?
@corporeal
On education males perform worse than females.
At the entry end of the labour market females already out perform males on salary
By 2024 females will outperform males on salaries in the major professions.
the number of female directors and senior managers is on a constant increase.
call it what you like but there's a steady imbalance creeping in to the workplace which is the corollary of the one legislation has sought to correct.
Which then raises the question why isn't a rebalancing being sought to educational underperformance ?
Clearly could do better -deduction of pocket money perhaps. Would DM have got a better report?
"The parliamentary term came juddering to an end yesterday. MPs have packed up their files and returned to their constituencies, holidays have been booked and passports searched for. There are now less than two years until the election, so with that in mind – how’s Ed Miliband doing?
Here’s his end of term report – this year focussing on the delivery on The Three Ps – Polling, Policies and Party:
Polling – the question is, which polling? At present it’s unclear whether Labour’s lead is in double digits or low single digits – if there’s a lead at all – as the polls leap around all over the place. .... But of far more concern for Miliband personally are his troubling (and falling) personal ratings, with IPSOS MORI rating him as unpopular as William Hague was at a similar point in his party leadership tenure. GRADE – B-
Policies – what policies? No, that’s unfair – the party does now have a range of policies that have been unveiled over the last 12 months or so. The problem is that none of them are, so far, the kind of barnstorming, pledge-card adorning, attention grabbing ideas that the party probably needs....................Clearly there’s an agenda under the surface, but when will be see it? And what will it look like. I’d bet the house on a house building programme – but it hasn’t been announced. Yet. GRADE – C
Party – Until a few weeks ago, it might have been possible to argue that Ed Miliband didn’t really have a passion for party organisation. Sure, he cares hugely about the kind of organisation that Arnie Graf is trying to deliver across the country. ...But the passion Miliband had during the leadership election for doing Labour politics differently and changing the party fundamentally appeared to have fallen by the wayside.........But we now have to say – whatever we think of Ed’s plans – that he has been “brave”, and that he’s sure as hell going to have to be passionate about the minutiae of party organisation now
GRADE – B+
Overall – Not a bad year for Miliband or the Labour Party by any stretch of the imagination, although it looks worse right now, following the events of Falkirk, the resignation of Tom Watson and everything that came after. ....If everyone is still saying the same next year, start worrying. GRADE – B"