I'm late to this appalling 'gaffe' but he said this
" “I mean there obviously are, in beautiful natural areas, worries about not just the drilling and the fracking, which I think are exaggerated, but about the trucks, and the delivery, and the roads, and the disturbance, and those about justified worries,” he said.
“But there are large and uninhabited and desolate areas. Certainly in part of the North East where there’s plenty of room for fracking, well away from anybody’s residence where we could conduct without any kind of threat to the rural environment.”
I'm struggling to see what's so bad about it if it helps create jobs - coal mining isn't exactly the most picturesque industry either.
Indeed.
I can't understand why everyone is so slow to embrace Shale Gas. It could provide unlimited, cheap, energy for decades, thousands of jobs directly and countless more employment opportunities indirectly, in some of the most deprived places in the country - We should get on with it ASAP, IMO.
People have concerns about environmental damage and that it does nothing to reduce dependency on carbon fossil fuels. It just kicks the can down the road.
I'm late to this appalling 'gaffe' but he said this
" “I mean there obviously are, in beautiful natural areas, worries about not just the drilling and the fracking, which I think are exaggerated, but about the trucks, and the delivery, and the roads, and the disturbance, and those about justified worries,” he said.
“But there are large and uninhabited and desolate areas. Certainly in part of the North East where there’s plenty of room for fracking, well away from anybody’s residence where we could conduct without any kind of threat to the rural environment.”
I'm struggling to see what's so bad about it if it helps create jobs - coal mining isn't exactly the most picturesque industry either.
Indeed.
I can't understand why everyone is so slow to embrace Shale Gas. It could provide unlimited, cheap, energy for decades, thousands of jobs directly and countless more employment opportunities indirectly, in some of the most deprived places in the country - We should get on with it ASAP, IMO.
You're missing the point. Shale Gas exploration has been licensed on the South Downs, Lord Howell is arguing that there are desolate and uninhabited areas of the NE (there aren't any licensed areas in the NE, no idea what he means by that)
There are very few licensed vehicles in the North East, tim.
Presumably they would say the same about any housing developments etc being built nearby..
Balcombe used to have the most wonderful railway station smothered in flowers,hanging baskets and bedding plants - then some H&S clipboard wielder moaned that it wasn't authorised or something like it and it was stopped.
Presumably they would say the same about any housing developments etc being built nearby..
Balcombe used to have the most wonderful railway station smothered in flowers,hanging baskets and bedding plants - then some H&S clipboard wielder moaned that it wasn't authorised or something like it and it was stopped.
This sums up a certain mentality to me.
OK, NOW I'm confused. "I wish they'd have the mentality to put the pretty hanging baskets back, oh, and build a massive dirty fracking rig"
Taken as a whole, he is obviously NOT referring to the middle of Newcastle, Hull, Sunderland or Middlesborough (Or other large urban) conurbations, rather the large areas of open geography outside these areas (North Yorkshire, Northumberland) where the shale would be found. Note he uses the word 'uninhabited' in the same sentence.
There's plenty of shale gas under Lancashire, Merseyside and Cheshire, so let's get fracking. Hopefully, the NIMBYs will keep quiet. They tend to be the poshos anyway.
I thought the Sussex ones fitted the stereotypes - a few locals and loads of hangers-on, and the sight of children parading around with banners they didn't understand completed the picture.
Mind you, wine merchants tend to be posh fops, so I hope they don't get involved in the north-west
Nice bit of fracking will give a welcome boost to the local economy.
There's no point in finding somwhere you consider desolate in the North and imagining there's shale gas underneath it just becasue a Troy twit has put his foot in it.
Here are the licensed areas for Shale gas exploration/
On 31st July the US will be reworking GDP calculations by reclassifying R&D spending as an investment rather than as an expense. It's a very good idea and presumably everyone else will follow suit at some stage. Our companies' relative reluctance to spend on R£D will then become more of an issue; which will be good news as it may lead to some serious efforts and initiatives to change what is a pretty poor state of affairs. someone on here was posting about the UK's management class the other day. Its short-termism and saving money at all costs approach has really held us back over the years in my view.
Need to be very careful when classifying "investment" - Labour called all expenditure as investment when in fact we know that much of it was sprayed up the wall.
Recently spent few days in Wrexham Maelor. Had first class treatment and a consultant who was available anytime. Thank you Labour Wales Government. Can I post this on Trip Advisor?
"Yes, you were wrong. All the people you mention had more than a minimal chance of becoming PM, especially Kinnock."
Incorrect.
Odds are only ever relevant if you hold the winning slip !!
Since 1964 I have never been wrong about those who I considered to be a future Prime Minister and those who would clearly have minimal to zero chance of becoming the Queen's First Lord of the Treasury in contested elections.
Wilson .. Heath .. Thatcher .. Blair and Cameron - Not difficult.
You noted Kinnock in particular. Even Kinnock knew on the Sunday before polling in 1992 that he would lose. He noted that voters would no longer "look me in the eye". The only difference is that many of us knew it many years before.
@BBCNormanS: Archbishop of Cantebury @abcjustin joins in criticism of Tory peer Lord Howell over "desolate" North east -"NE beatiful,rugged, welcoming"
It might be "beautiful, rugged and welcoming" but I bet the Church Commissioners don't invest there.
But even on the output of your pert ARSE Ed isnt *that* far away from ending up in a position where he is PM with Lib Dem (and possibly other) support.
@BBCNormanS: Archbishop of Cantebury @abcjustin joins in criticism of Tory peer Lord Howell over "desolate" North east -"NE beatiful,rugged, welcoming"
It might be "beautiful, rugged and welcoming" but I bet the Church Commissioners don't invest there.
That ABCWelby chose to stick his size 9s in here looks a lot a squirrel to me.
I think the Tories should concentrate on Europe and Immigration. That is where their true strength lies and what their supporters would like them to do.
2012 election in Woking's Maybury and Sheerwater ward has been ruled void by a Court because of corrupt and illegal practices used by the winning candidate. In the original election, Liberal Democrat Mohammed Bashir defeated Labour Mohammad Ali by 16 votes.
The Tory's are making fools of themselves ever time they open their mouths at the moment. I am quite happy for them to talk about the NHS as every sane person in this country knows they are fecking it up.
2012 election in Woking's Maybury and Sheerwater ward has been ruled void by a Court because of corrupt and illegal practices used by the winning candidate. In the original election, Liberal Democrat Mohammed Bashir defeated Labour Mohammad Ali by 16 votes.
A fresh election will be held soon.
Do we know what the winner did to break the rules?
Taken as a whole, he is obviously NOT referring to the middle of Newcastle, Hull, Sunderland or Middlesborough (Or other large urban) conurbations, rather the large areas of open geography outside these areas (North Yorkshire, Northumberland) where the shale would be found. Note he uses the word 'uninhabited' in the same sentence.
"Yes, you were wrong. All the people you mention had more than a minimal chance of becoming PM, especially Kinnock."
Incorrect.
Odds are only ever relevant if you hold the winning slip !!
Since 1964 I have never been wrong about those who I considered to be a future Prime Minister and those who would clearly have minimal to zero chance of becoming the Queen's First Lord of the Treasury in contested elections.
Yeah, OK. You won't enter into a bet. But, with no obligation of a wager, tell us roughly what chance (in numerical terms, decimal or fraction) you think Ed Miliband has of being next PM.
1/1,000,000,000? Is that close enough to "minimal or zero"?
Taken as a whole, he is obviously NOT referring to the middle of Newcastle, Hull, Sunderland or Middlesborough (Or other large urban) conurbations, rather the large areas of open geography outside these areas (North Yorkshire, Northumberland) where the shale would be found. Note he uses the word 'uninhabited' in the same sentence.
The Tory's are making fools of themselves ever time they open their mouths at the moment. I am quite happy for them to talk about the NHS as every sane person in this country knows they are fecking it up.
Wouldn't want to be getting ill in those valleys under the NHS in Wales...
"Yes, you were wrong. All the people you mention had more than a minimal chance of becoming PM, especially Kinnock."
Incorrect.
Odds are only ever relevant if you hold the winning slip !!
Since 1964 I have never been wrong about those who I considered to be a future Prime Minister and those who would clearly have minimal to zero chance of becoming the Queen's First Lord of the Treasury in contested elections.
What chance (in numerical terms, decimal or fraction) you think Ed Miliband has of being next PM?
1/1,000,000,000? Is that close enough to "minimal or zero"?
Another trio of noughts and that starts to look value, Carl.
"Yes, you were wrong. All the people you mention had more than a minimal chance of becoming PM, especially Kinnock."
Incorrect.
Odds are only ever relevant if you hold the winning slip !!
Since 1964 I have never been wrong about those who I considered to be a future Prime Minister and those who would clearly have minimal to zero chance of becoming the Queen's First Lord of the Treasury in contested elections.
What chance (in numerical terms, decimal or fraction) you think Ed Miliband has of being next PM?
1/1,000,000,000? Is that close enough to "minimal or zero"?
Another trio of noughts and that starts to look value, Carl.
False names or people (relatives and friends of the candidate) living somewhere else enrolled in the electoral register and fake signatures on postal votes.
"Yes, you were wrong. All the people you mention had more than a minimal chance of becoming PM, especially Kinnock."
Incorrect.
Odds are only ever relevant if you hold the winning slip !!
Since 1964 I have never been wrong about those who I considered to be a future Prime Minister and those who would clearly have minimal to zero chance of becoming the Queen's First Lord of the Treasury in contested elections.
Yeah, OK. You won't enter into a bet. But, with no obligation of a wager, tell us roughly what chance (in numerical terms, decimal or fraction) you think Ed Miliband has of being next PM.
1/1,000,000,000? Is that close enough to "minimal or zero"?
"Yes, you were wrong. All the people you mention had more than a minimal chance of becoming PM, especially Kinnock."
Incorrect.
Odds are only ever relevant if you hold the winning slip !!
Since 1964 I have never been wrong about those who I considered to be a future Prime Minister and those who would clearly have minimal to zero chance of becoming the Queen's First Lord of the Treasury in contested elections.
What chance (in numerical terms, decimal or fraction) you think Ed Miliband has of being next PM?
1/1,000,000,000? Is that close enough to "minimal or zero"?
Another trio of noughts and that starts to look value, Carl.
False names or people (relatives and friends of the candidate) living somewhere else enrolled in the electoral register and fake signatures on postal votes.
This is off topic, and may well have been dealt with earlier today but how come Vicky Pryce loses her honour yet it's still Lords Archer and Hanningfield?
False names or people (relatives and friends of the candidate) living somewhere else enrolled in the electoral register and fake signatures on postal votes.
"Yes, you were wrong. All the people you mention had more than a minimal chance of becoming PM, especially Kinnock."
Incorrect.
Odds are only ever relevant if you hold the winning slip !!
Since 1964 I have never been wrong about those who I considered to be a future Prime Minister and those who would clearly have minimal to zero chance of becoming the Queen's First Lord of the Treasury in contested elections.
Yeah, OK. You won't enter into a bet. But, with no obligation of a wager, tell us roughly what chance (in numerical terms, decimal or fraction) you think Ed Miliband has of being next PM.
1/1,000,000,000? Is that close enough to "minimal or zero"?
2012 election in Woking's Maybury and Sheerwater ward has been ruled void by a Court because of corrupt and illegal practices used by the winning candidate. In the original election, Liberal Democrat Mohammed Bashir defeated Labour Mohammad Ali by 16 votes.
A fresh election will be held soon.
Do we know what the winner did to break the rules?
Indeed he isn't. For one thing, Ed Miliband is yet another male establishment figure in a long line of Labour Leaders. As of 2013, and nearly forty years after Maggie won a leadership contest in that great male bastion of the Conservative party, Labour has still failed to elect a female leader. Maggie broke the political glass ceiling in UK politics by becoming the first female leader of the Conservative party, Ed on the other hand, was and remains the Unions anyone but David choice in the Labour contest.
You simple cannot compare their polling in Opposition nearly forty years apart without that context, it simple not comparing like with like. I suspect that back then, Maggie's achievements may have divided opinion, but it gave her a perception of strength as a female politician, as well as an Opposition Leader who aspired to become the UK's first female PM. Ed Miliband is currently perceived as weak and *effectual in the polls, and without any ground breaking positives going for him to counter this current perception he will continue to struggle between now and the next GE.
"Yes, you were wrong. All the people you mention had more than a minimal chance of becoming PM, especially Kinnock."
Incorrect.
Odds are only ever relevant if you hold the winning slip !!
Since 1964 I have never been wrong about those who I considered to be a future Prime Minister and those who would clearly have minimal to zero chance of becoming the Queen's First Lord of the Treasury in contested elections.
Yeah, OK. You won't enter into a bet. But, with no obligation of a wager, tell us roughly what chance (in numerical terms, decimal or fraction) you think Ed Miliband has of being next PM.
1/1,000,000,000? Is that close enough to "minimal or zero"?
NONE.
So the true odds of Ed Miliband being next PM should be infinity/1 rather than around 4/6.
You heard it from a poster on 'Political Betting' first, folks.
This is off topic, and may well have been dealt with earlier today but how come Vicky Pryce loses her honour yet it's still Lords Archer and Hanningfield?
It's something to do with the Lords awards system isn't it and how they censure or rather don't. Lord Taylor is another one who served time. Whatever happened to the Scottish one who set fire to a hotel??
This is off topic, and may well have been dealt with earlier today but how come Vicky Pryce loses her honour yet it's still Lords Archer and Hanningfield?
From HoL website FAQs:
Can a Member lose his or her peerage or membership?
A peerage is created by Letters Patent and it can only be removed by an Act of Parliament.
The last time a peerage was removed was in 1917 under the Titles Deprivation Act, which provided for peers who fought against the Crown in the First World War – and thus were guilty of treason – to be deprived of their titles.
Members convicted of a crime and sent to jail cannot sit due to their imprisonment but do not lose their peerage or membership (ie sitting and voting resumes when the custodial sentence finishes).
A Member who is declared bankrupt under the Insolvency Act 1986 is disqualified from sitting and voting in the House during the period of bankruptcy. Once the period is over he or she can resume sitting and voting.
Odds are only ever relevant if you hold the winning slip !!
That is logically wrong ! If you hold the winning slip in your hand, then the outcome is certain - 100%. Before the outcome, there will be always be odds, however small or large.
"Yes, you were wrong. All the people you mention had more than a minimal chance of becoming PM, especially Kinnock."
Incorrect.
Odds are only ever relevant if you hold the winning slip !!
Since 1964 I have never been wrong about those who I considered to be a future Prime Minister and those who would clearly have minimal to zero chance of becoming the Queen's First Lord of the Treasury in contested elections.
Yeah, OK. You won't enter into a bet. But, with no obligation of a wager, tell us roughly what chance (in numerical terms, decimal or fraction) you think Ed Miliband has of being next PM.
1/1,000,000,000? Is that close enough to "minimal or zero"?
NONE.
So the true odds of Ed Miliband being next PM should be infinity/1 rather than around 4/6.
You heard it from a poster on 'Political Betting' first, folks.
To be precise, you heard it first from a poster who is reigning "Political Betting Tipster of the Year" for the past 5 years.
On 31st July the US will be reworking GDP calculations by reclassifying R&D spending as an investment rather than as an expense. It's a very good idea and presumably everyone else will follow suit at some stage. Our companies' relative reluctance to spend on R£D will then become more of an issue; which will be good news as it may lead to some serious efforts and initiatives to change what is a pretty poor state of affairs. someone on here was posting about the UK's management class the other day. Its short-termism and saving money at all costs approach has really held us back over the years in my view.
Personally I'd rather we handled research and development in accordance with IAS 38: http://www.iasplus.com/en/standards/ias/ias38 I wish the states would too. Homogenized accounting standards allow for easier international tax agreements and so forth. I thought under US GAAP that they already classified R&D as an investment at any rate.
Odds are only ever relevant if you hold the winning slip !!
That is logically wrong ! If you hold the winning slip in your hand, then the outcome is certain - 100%. Before the outcome, there will be always be odds, however small or large.
Whenever I wager to win I'm always certain I'll collect.
Why would one bet to lose unless you're Gordon Brown flogging off the nations gold reserves ?!?
Another two found guilty - in addition to the two struck off so far. They didn't bother to read the patient's notes.
BBC Radio Stoke @BBCRadioStoke Two nurses who failed to spot that a patient who died at Stafford Hospital was diabetic - have been found guilty of misconduct.
"Mr. Miliband, I served with Margaret Thatcher. I knew Margaret Thatcher. Margaret Thatcher was a friend of mine. Mr. Miliband, you're no Margaret Thatcher."
I wonder if, before they started using coal to power the industrial revolution, whether NIMBYS, hand-wringers and luvvies tried to hold up the advancement of society because they thought the mines might spoil the "natural beauty" of the countryside and knock a few thousand off their house prices?
There was a 'Long View' programme on R4 recently which looked at exactly this issue. As I remember there was little problem with coal because most of the mines were sunk on land owned by aristocrats. The Fitzwilliams were a case in point in my part of the world.
On 31st July the US will be reworking GDP calculations by reclassifying R&D spending as an investment rather than as an expense. It's a very good idea and presumably everyone else will follow suit at some stage. Our companies' relative reluctance to spend on R£D will then become more of an issue; which will be good news as it may lead to some serious efforts and initiatives to change what is a pretty poor state of affairs. someone on here was posting about the UK's management class the other day. Its short-termism and saving money at all costs approach has really held us back over the years in my view.
Personally I'd rather we handled research and development in accordance with IAS 38: http://www.iasplus.com/en/standards/ias/ias38 I wish the states would too. Homogenized accounting standards allow for easier international tax agreements and so forth. I thought under US GAAP that they already classified R&D as an investment at any rate.
Here is a good Businessweek article on the changes to GDP calculation being implemented by the US Bureau for Economic Analysis:
The article covers the main arguments in favour of the change, dating back to Schumpeter's theories on intangibles in the mid 20th century.
The immediate impact of the change is covered in this paragraph:
The effect of the revision will be immediate. Measured GDP will get a one-time boost of about 2.7 percent when the government starts counting R&D and artistic creation as investments. (New Mexico and Maryland will get the biggest lifts.) The future growth rate will probably be fractionally higher, too. With R&D treated as an investment, measured economic growth from 1959 to 2007 would have been 3.39 percent annually instead of 3.32 percent, the BEA estimates.
It might be a good idea for George to get the ONS to follow suit. If for no better reason than annoying Balls and the lefties in the run up to the 2015 GE.
I don't suppose now would be a good moment to mention Speaker Beckett.
I think you'll find she didn't win .... You didn't back her did you ?!? ... I think she was last seen canvassing in Watford during the last general election ....
A fool and his money .... a fool and his money ....
James Tapsfield @JamesTapsfield 6m Lord Howell apologises "for any offence caused" by fracking comments, insists he does not believe North East is "desolate"
This is a comment on the YouGov site over the van posters
"Also why's this van not outside big businesses saying; "Do you pay your corporation tax? If not text this number and we'll help you pay or remove your business from this country!"
This is a comment on the YouGov site over the van posters
"Also why's this van not outside big businesses saying; "Do you pay your corporation tax? If not text this number and we'll help you pay or remove your business from this country!"
Labour party hq would be an appropriate spot too !
This is a comment on the YouGov site over the van posters
"Also why's this van not outside big businesses saying; "Do you pay your corporation tax? If not text this number and we'll help you pay or remove your business from this country!"
Labour party hq would be an appropriate spot too !
This is a comment on the YouGov site over the van posters
"Also why's this van not outside big businesses saying; "Do you pay your corporation tax? If not text this number and we'll help you pay or remove your business from this country!"
Labour party hq would be an appropriate spot too !
This is a comment on the YouGov site over the van posters
"Also why's this van not outside big businesses saying; "Do you pay your corporation tax? If not text this number and we'll help you pay or remove your business from this country!"
Labour party hq would be an appropriate spot too !
Why ?
Why not?
Because if there is no sensible reason they may as well park a van outside your home .
This is a comment on the YouGov site over the van posters
"Also why's this van not outside big businesses saying; "Do you pay your corporation tax? If not text this number and we'll help you pay or remove your business from this country!"
Labour party hq would be an appropriate spot too !
Why ?
Why not?
Because if there is no sensible reason they may as well park a van outside your home .
This is a comment on the YouGov site over the van posters
"Also why's this van not outside big businesses saying; "Do you pay your corporation tax? If not text this number and we'll help you pay or remove your business from this country!"
Labour party hq would be an appropriate spot too !
Why ?
Why not?
Because if there is no sensible reason they may as well park a van outside your home .
I'd just send it on to Woking to catch some real criminals.
This is a comment on the YouGov site over the van posters
"Also why's this van not outside big businesses saying; "Do you pay your corporation tax? If not text this number and we'll help you pay or remove your business from this country!"
Labour party hq would be an appropriate spot too !
Why ?
Why not?
Because if there is no sensible reason they may as well park a van outside your home .
Thanks for that post Plato, really puts this isolated 'quote' back into some context. Although I must admit that I was struggling to understand all the fuss anyway, maybe its because I live up in the real North of Scotland.
I'm late to this appalling 'gaffe' but he said this
" “I mean there obviously are, in beautiful natural areas, worries about not just the drilling and the fracking, which I think are exaggerated, but about the trucks, and the delivery, and the roads, and the disturbance, and those about justified worries,” he said.
“But there are large and uninhabited and desolate areas. Certainly in part of the North East where there’s plenty of room for fracking, well away from anybody’s residence where we could conduct without any kind of threat to the rural environment.”
I'm struggling to see what's so bad about it if it helps create jobs - coal mining isn't exactly the most picturesque industry either.
Yes, on a non-political note I wonder why this isn't done more. It's commonplace in Denmark with communal licences, and accounts for the facts that wind turbines are ubiquitous - nearly every community was keen to get a share. And it's reasonable, really, isn't it? If you want to build a fracking well outside my window, of course I'll object. If you offer me £1000 to agree, I might warm to the idea.
@kiranstacey: Interesting that Lord Howell made his comments in context of a discussion about NW. Did he mean to insult a different region altogether?
It would explain it, there are lots of fracking sites licensed in the NW and none in the NE.
Eton geography dept strikes again.
The battle was won on the playing fields of Eltham said a spokesman.
tim
I think Lord Howell was trying to emulate Macmillan:
It breaks my heart to see—and I cannot interfere—what is happening in our country today. There is the growing division of Conservative prosperity in the south and the ailing north and Midlands. We used to have battles and rows but they were quarrels. Now there is a new kind of wicked hatred that has been brought in by different types of people. We must move the fracking rigs from Goodwood to Northumberland. The Geordies, the best men in the world, who beat the Kaiser's and Hitler's armies, need the dignity of work and the reward of our earthly riches".
Great Tories are always deliberately misunderstood.
I would prefer it to be an on going arrangement rather than a one off payment. WRT Wind turbines, offer nearby residents free or extremely cheap power when drawing from it. AIUI Electricity is lost the further the distance it is transmitted, it should therefore be a more efficient use of what is generated. Nimbyism is encouraged when people can see the cost to them personally without getting any benefit.
Yes, on a non-political note I wonder why this isn't done more. It's commonplace in Denmark with communal licences, and accounts for the facts that wind turbines are ubiquitous - nearly every community was keen to get a share. And it's reasonable, really, isn't it? If you want to build a fracking well outside my window, of course I'll object. If you offer me £1000 to agree, I might warm to the idea.
@tim - if you think I can be bothered to trawl through over 7,000 posts you'll be disappointed - however, I'm delighted to learn you do not believe they were racist....
Twitter Iain Martin @iainmartin1 17m Late to this row, but word desolate gets a hard time. As a Scot, some of my favourite places are desolate. Much of Highlands + Glasgow.
Not sure about the North East,but a big metal structure would look completely out of place in the South-Downs...No wonder people in the area don`t want fracking nearby.Feel a bit sorry for Lord Howell who seemed to want to make a joke of it than anything else.
When you say a big metal structure, do you mean something like a great big wind turbine or an oil rig because we have plenty of both up here in the real North.
Not sure about the North East,but a big metal structure would look completely out of place in the South-Downs...No wonder people in the area don`t want fracking nearby.Feel a bit sorry for Lord Howell who seemed to want to make a joke of it than anything else.
I love wind turbines and think they add to the scenic value but something like an oil rig would look completely out of place in the South Downs.I confess I am not sure what a fracking field would look like but am assuming it will be similiar to an oil rig.
Twitter The New York Times @nytimes 55m Breaking News: Manning Not Guilty of Aiding the Enemy but Convicted of Multiple Other Counts http://nyti.ms/Zf40cq
Was there approval ratings as well as the best PM metric back then?
Be interesting to see them if there was.
Thatcher led on approval ratings at the election
I suspected as much. Best PM will never be a particularly good guide. To be fair there was also likely some pushback back then because Thatcher would be the first woman PM which would impact best PM harder than the more straightforward and accurate approval ratings.
This post is kinda what I was on about a week or two back when I suggested that GEs are usually won by whichever party, to a thoughtful person, most obviously has the best leader.
Thatcher vs Callaghan Thatcher vs Foot Thatcher vs Kinnochio Major versus Kinnochio Blair versus Major Blair versus Hague Blair versus Howard Cameron versus Brown Cameron versus Miliband?
I don't mean the winner is whoever's leader is more popular. The popularity rating includes the views of people who mostly aren't thoughtful. I mean the winner is whoever an honest and intelligent person would think the better leader.
On that basis, it seems obvious that Miliband won't win in 2015, although as in 2010, this isn't to say that Cameron therefore will.
It doesn't work well outside GEs. Every Scottish politician is necessarily a nonentity or a buffoon, for example, so choosing between Salmond and one of the others (I can't name any others) is a mug's game. It does work quite well for assessing Salmond's chances versus Westminster, though. Will Scotland get independence? Clearly not, if he has to get it past Cameron.
Comments
Is it no wonder Weee Timmy admires German football. The management of Bayern has the same traits as that of the Labour Party....
Never stopped them driving.
Perhaps by "locals" Plato means "me".
This sums up a certain mentality to me.
It's also naive to lump everybody north of the wash into some lumpen 'its grim up North' mass.
I'm sure people in the north west, or yorkshire, have no special regard for those in the north east.
Isn't Pippa dating a Percy?
Why does this one bother you so much?
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jul/30/penis-toaster-message-fire-brigade-fiftyshadesofred
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/10211001/NHS-shame-list-of-wards-patients-did-not-recommend.html
Taken as a whole, he is obviously NOT referring to the middle of Newcastle, Hull, Sunderland or Middlesborough (Or other large urban) conurbations, rather the large areas of open geography outside these areas (North Yorkshire, Northumberland) where the shale would be found. Note he uses the word 'uninhabited' in the same sentence.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/desolate
@ 'solitary; lonely: a desolate place.' is the intended meaning no doubt.
13,000?
There's plenty of shale gas under Lancashire, Merseyside and Cheshire, so let's get fracking. Hopefully, the NIMBYs will keep quiet. They tend to be the poshos anyway.
I thought the Sussex ones fitted the stereotypes - a few locals and loads of hangers-on, and the sight of children parading around with banners they didn't understand completed the picture.
Mind you, wine merchants tend to be posh fops, so I hope they don't get involved in the north-west
http://www.espn.co.uk/india/motorsport/story/119165.html
Apparently there's a five year deal which should take it to 2016. Given the mood music it'd be unsurprising if it were axed after that.
tim,
"I'm a replace NIMBY's with immigrants man myself."
You've probably lost your posh fop membership then.
The problem is as ever that the media give less time to a Professor of Geology than to a concerned mother who "knows" better.
Can I post this on Trip Advisor?
"Yes, you were wrong. All the people you mention had more than a minimal chance of becoming PM, especially Kinnock."
Incorrect.
Odds are only ever relevant if you hold the winning slip !!
Since 1964 I have never been wrong about those who I considered to be a future Prime Minister and those who would clearly have minimal to zero chance of becoming the Queen's First Lord of the Treasury in contested elections.
Wilson .. Heath .. Thatcher .. Blair and Cameron - Not difficult.
Foot .. Kinnock .. Hague .. IDS .. Howard .. Miliband - Hardly rocket science.
And John Smith would have been PM in 1997.
You noted Kinnock in particular. Even Kinnock knew on the Sunday before polling in 1992 that he would lose. He noted that voters would no longer "look me in the eye". The only difference is that many of us knew it many years before.
But even on the output of your pert ARSE Ed isnt *that* far away from ending up in a position where he is PM with Lib Dem (and possibly other) support.
I think the Tories should concentrate on Europe and Immigration. That is where their true strength lies and what their supporters would like them to do.
A fresh election will be held soon.
1/1,000,000,000? Is that close enough to "minimal or zero"?
Keep up the good work...
False names or people (relatives and friends of the candidate) living somewhere else enrolled in the electoral register and fake signatures on postal votes.
http://www.wokinglabour.org/docs/Woking_Electoral_Fraud_Case.pdf
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BQbv5MHCQAEvLX_.jpg:large
You simple cannot compare their polling in Opposition nearly forty years apart without that context, it simple not comparing like with like. I suspect that back then, Maggie's achievements may have divided opinion, but it gave her a perception of strength as a female politician, as well as an Opposition Leader who aspired to become the UK's first female PM. Ed Miliband is currently perceived as weak and *effectual in the polls, and without any ground breaking positives going for him to counter this current perception he will continue to struggle between now and the next GE.
*edit
You heard it from a poster on 'Political Betting' first, folks.
http://yougov.co.uk/news/2013/07/30/majority-say-immigration-vans-not-racist/
Can a Member lose his or her peerage or membership?
A peerage is created by Letters Patent and it can only be removed by an Act of Parliament.
The last time a peerage was removed was in 1917 under the Titles Deprivation Act, which provided for peers who fought against the Crown in the First World War – and thus were guilty of treason – to be deprived of their titles.
Members convicted of a crime and sent to jail cannot sit due to their imprisonment but do not lose their peerage or membership (ie sitting and voting resumes when the custodial sentence finishes).
A Member who is declared bankrupt under the Insolvency Act 1986 is disqualified from sitting and voting in the House during the period of bankruptcy. Once the period is over he or she can resume sitting and voting.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-23500027
Go, go, go UKIP!
Just saying "folks"
Why would one bet to lose unless you're Gordon Brown flogging off the nations gold reserves ?!?
BBC Radio Stoke @BBCRadioStoke
Two nurses who failed to spot that a patient who died at Stafford Hospital was diabetic - have been found guilty of misconduct.
http://buswk.co/12CcmCJ
The article covers the main arguments in favour of the change, dating back to Schumpeter's theories on intangibles in the mid 20th century.
The immediate impact of the change is covered in this paragraph:
The effect of the revision will be immediate. Measured GDP will get a one-time boost of about 2.7 percent when the government starts counting R&D and artistic creation as investments. (New Mexico and Maryland will get the biggest lifts.) The future growth rate will probably be fractionally higher, too. With R&D treated as an investment, measured economic growth from 1959 to 2007 would have been 3.39 percent annually instead of 3.32 percent, the BEA estimates.
It might be a good idea for George to get the ONS to follow suit. If for no better reason than annoying Balls and the lefties in the run up to the 2015 GE.
I can't understand why they haven't been published - I was promised them during the day.
They have two working days following publication of the poll, which was last night, so I would expect to see it tomorrow.
A fool and his money .... a fool and his money ....
Titters
Lord Howell apologises "for any offence caused" by fracking comments, insists he does not believe North East is "desolate"
So that's over then
"Also why's this van not outside big businesses saying; "Do you pay your corporation tax? If not text this number and we'll help you pay or remove your business from this country!"
All that's left to discuss is what cut of the profits london gets. I thought 1% sounded a little high, personally.
'Lots of people (on both left and right) have made comments for and against fracking.
Why does this one bother you so much?'
It's because it was made by a Tory public school twit..
Strange though when a Labour public school twit referred to voters as trash,there was a deathly silence from wee Timmy.
I think Lord Howell was trying to emulate Macmillan:
It breaks my heart to see—and I cannot interfere—what is happening in our country today. There is the growing division of Conservative prosperity in the south and the ailing north and Midlands. We used to have battles and rows but they were quarrels. Now there is a new kind of wicked hatred that has been brought in by different types of people. We must move the fracking rigs from Goodwood to Northumberland. The Geordies, the best men in the world, who beat the Kaiser's and Hitler's armies, need the dignity of work and the reward of our earthly riches".
Great Tories are always deliberately misunderstood.
They say 'In the UK Illegally?'..
...the word 'immigrant' does not appear....
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2013/7/26/1374860544056/In-the-UK-illegally-mobil-008.jpg
I guess that's why the Great British Public did not reckon they were 'racist'.....unlike our friends on the left.....
WRT Wind turbines, offer nearby residents free or extremely cheap power when drawing from it.
AIUI Electricity is lost the further the distance it is transmitted, it should therefore be a more efficient use of what is generated.
Nimbyism is encouraged when people can see the cost to them personally without getting any benefit.
Iain Martin @iainmartin1 17m
Late to this row, but word desolate gets a hard time. As a Scot, some of my favourite places are desolate. Much of Highlands + Glasgow.
Bet he's feeling desolate now.
Here.
Be interesting to see them if there was.
The New York Times @nytimes 55m
Breaking News: Manning Not Guilty of Aiding the Enemy but Convicted of Multiple Other Counts http://nyti.ms/Zf40cq
Thatcher vs Callaghan
Thatcher vs Foot
Thatcher vs Kinnochio
Major versus Kinnochio
Blair versus Major
Blair versus Hague
Blair versus Howard
Cameron versus Brown
Cameron versus Miliband?
I don't mean the winner is whoever's leader is more popular. The popularity rating includes the views of people who mostly aren't thoughtful. I mean the winner is whoever an honest and intelligent person would think the better leader.
On that basis, it seems obvious that Miliband won't win in 2015, although as in 2010, this isn't to say that Cameron therefore will.
It doesn't work well outside GEs. Every Scottish politician is necessarily a nonentity or a buffoon, for example, so choosing between Salmond and one of the others (I can't name any others) is a mug's game. It does work quite well for assessing Salmond's chances versus Westminster, though. Will Scotland get independence? Clearly not, if he has to get it past Cameron.