You hit the nail on the head with that point. Its yet another Ed Miliband bandwagon which will end up reminding us yet again it was the last Labour Government who spent all the money.
For those who missed Jeremy Clarkson's PPB for the Conservative Party, here is the last thirteen minutes of Top Gear 2013, with its very own 'march of the makers'.
Compulsory viewing for all. As British Cricket dies, its car manufacturing thrives.
Simply superb. British engineering is amongst the best in the world, especially at the top end. People diss it too much.
Although I think that video's the only time we'll see a Williams leading a Red Bull this season.
Oh, and if I were ever to get invited onto the Top Gear test track, I'd want to do it in a JCB 3CX (traditional) in honour of my childhood. Or a 4.5 tonne Thwaites dumper, which I learnt to drive on.
It was impressive, but have you seen the new Audi R8 V10 rolling road advert? It's just mesmerising, and the noise it makes is hypnotic, like a bear growling. I want one!
Good historical novels include Nero's Heirs, by Allan Massie: CS Forester's Hornblower Series; Funeral Games, by Mary Renault; Sword at Sunset, by Rosemary Sutcliffe; The Caspian Gates by Harry Sidebottom; the Deceivers, by John Masters; the first Three books of Bernard Cornwell's Saxon series; the Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory.
The Warlord Chronicles by Cornwell are excellent as Morris Dancer said, but In my view, they're more fantasy than history. George Martin's Fevre Dream is a really good historical horror novel.
You see it as a Tory PPB I see it as evidence of the extraordinary legacy of 13 years of Labour. A legacy I hope they use in their marketing. The Olympics showed us the the public service sid
The Pillars of the Earth was very readable. My criticism of it is that the main characters (with the exception of Prior Philip) are 21st century people parachuted into the 12th century.
You see it as a Tory PPB I see it as evidence of the extraordinary legacy of 13 years of Labour. A legacy I hope they use in their marketing. The Olympics showed us the the public service sid
So I assume you deplore Labour's attempts last year to make something out of the trade mission that Cameron went on with Anthony Bamford, who runs one of our most successful engineering companies?
And much of the legacy is down to Thatcher getting Nissan, Honda and Toyota into the UK.
Under that 'extraordinary legacy of 13 years' we lost MG Rover, and Jaguar/Land Rover was sold to the Indians for them to make a success of. How proud you must feel!
It is strange that Labour, which should be good at such things, always f's up engineering.
Actually George McDonald Fraser could write. His account of the retreat from Kabul, seen through Flashman's eyes, is very good.
I've recently enjoyed Philip Kerr's Bernie Gunther series - about a German police dectective before, after and during WWII - good thrillers and feels very realistic historically.
You see it as a Tory PPB I see it as evidence of the extraordinary legacy of 13 years of Labour. A legacy I hope they use in their marketing. The Olympics showed us the the public service sid
That would be 13 years when Rover closed, LDV closed, Ford began to close Southampton, Peugeot Ryton closed, TVR got junked, ERF trucks closed, Massey Ferguson Coventry closed and all because labour didn't give a shit about manufacturing.
Good historical novels include Nero's Heirs, by Allan Massie: CS Forester's Hornblower Series; Funeral Games, by Mary Renault; Sword at Sunset, by Rosemary Sutcliffe; The Caspian Gates by Harry Sidebottom; the Deceivers, by John Masters; the first Three books of Bernard Cornwell's Saxon series; the Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory.
The Warlord Chronicles by Cornwell are excellent as Morris Dancer said, but In my view, they're more fantasy than history. George Martin's Fevre Dream is a really good historical horror novel.
I really didn't like Pillars of the Earth, I thought it was skillfully done, but took a dislike to a major character the author really seemed to like and that put me off.
Cornwell does what he does and does it well, you either like his books or you don't really (I do).
I, Claudius remains a classic.
CJ Sansom is one I'd heavily recommend, a harder edged Eillis Peters too over-generalise. But excellent.
Hilary Mantel's very well-known now but justifiably so.
Of course British engineering is good quality. Just a shame we don't have an economic establishment in this country that gives a damn (and that will never change under the Tories) so we're reliant on the Japanese for mass production.
The attempt by both Avery and Roger to give the Tories or Labour credit for this is ludicrous. Why don't you thank the foreign investers for coming here or the British workforce for working hard? It's had nowt to do with the politicians.
You see it as a Tory PPB I see it as evidence of the extraordinary legacy of 13 years of Labour. A legacy I hope they use in their marketing. The Olympics showed us the the public service sid
That's the problem with advertising, Roger.
The ads may be clever and win all kinds of Lions awards but few people can identify the product being promoted.
Of course British engineering is good quality. Just a shame we don't have an economic establishment in this country that gives a damn (and that will never change under the Tories) so we're reliant on the Japanese for mass production.
The attempt by both Avery and Roger to give the Tories or Labour credit for this is ludicrous. Why don't you thank the foreign investers for coming here or the British workforce for working hard? It's had nowt to do with the politicians.
" we don't have an economic establishment in this country that gives a damn (and that will never change under the Tories)"
oh just grow up. For 13 years we had a Labour establishment funded by Unions which claimed to be based in manufacturing. And what did we get ? The fastest rate of off shoring, the biggest decline in manufacturing employment and a huge jump in policies that made life harder for btitish workers - pension raids, zero hour contracts and energy taxes. Blair killed off more manufacturing that Thatcher ever did.
I rather enjoyed Flashman, but also worth reading is "Quartered safe out here" by the authour concerning his WW2 service in Burma.
James was also interested in good books on sport strategy. I would recommend "Inverting the Pyramid" as the best book on the evolution of football formations.
Alanbrooke - I wasn't really referring to the politicians. We have a good workforce and impressive engineers in this country. Just a shame we're reliant on foreign owners because British business is so cr@p.
I rather enjoyed Flashman, but also worth reading is "Quartered safe out here" by the authour concerning his WW2 service in Burma.
James was also interested in good books on sport strategy. I would recommend "Inverting the Pyramid" as the best book on the evolution of football formations.
Alanbrooke - I wasn't really referring to the politicians. We have a good workforce and impressive engineers in this country. Just a shame we're reliant on foreign owners because British business is so cr@p.
british business isn't crap, it's financial sector is the weak link. A mix of eejits demanding daft returns and a banking oligopoly which suits itself.
Its Fitaloon who is the avid Follet and Cornwell fan in our house. I quite like Phillipa Gregory and Alison Weir, really enjoyed the Cousins war series.
Good historical novels include Nero's Heirs, by Allan Massie: CS Forester's Hornblower Series; Funeral Games, by Mary Renault; Sword at Sunset, by Rosemary Sutcliffe; The Caspian Gates by Harry Sidebottom; the Deceivers, by John Masters; the first Three books of Bernard Cornwell's Saxon series; the Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory.
The Warlord Chronicles by Cornwell are excellent as Morris Dancer said, but In my view, they're more fantasy than history. George Martin's Fevre Dream is a really good historical horror novel.
I really didn't like Pillars of the Earth, I thought it was skillfully done, but took a dislike to a major character the author really seemed to like and that put me off.
Cornwell does what he does and does it well, you either like his books or you don't really (I do).
I, Claudius remains a classic.
CJ Sansom is one I'd heavily recommend, a harder edged Eillis Peters too over-generalise. But excellent.
Hilary Mantel's very well-known now but justifiably so.
'Congratulations on your BMW award'. Thank you I did one of those as well...
Sorry about my truncated incoherent message but I wrote it on an ipad and was dragged off half way through. Fearful that you would proclaim a mighty victory for the near perfect chancellor and his production lines of Super-Tories I thought I better post and be damned.
Jesting aside, the high PMI does look like interest rates will have to start to rise to more normal levels shortly. If not then we risk some real inflation from the loose money policy. It takes over a year for these blunt instruments to work. Just a 0.25% rise would signal that we are re-entering the real world.
Alanbrooke - I wasn't really referring to the politicians. We have a good workforce and impressive engineers in this country. Just a shame we're reliant on foreign owners because British business is so cr@p.
If British business is so cr@p, explain JCB, BAE, Balfour Beatty or ARM.
The problems are multiple, and include: 1) Short-termism by financial institutions when it comes to investment 2) Business managers resting on their laurels and not being aggressive enough 3) Unions who did not see the success of the business as an aim 4) Management who saw the workers as enemies 5) A lack of protectionism by the government (when compared to other governments) 6) Politicians not being salesmen
There was a very good (although arguable) article on the BBC News website about where we went wrong compared to Germany recently.
Last week the official data was published which estimated that the economy had grown by 0.6% between April and June. From what you have experienced yourself, and what you have read or heard, would you say that this improvement in the economy has or has not been benefiting people on middle and lower incomes?
Has: 10 Has Not: 70
Last week a politician talking about family budget said that "disposable incomes grew by 1.4 per cent above inflation last year". From what you have experienced yourself, and what you have read or heard, would you say that household incomes have grown faster than prices over the last year or have prices grown faster than household incomes?
Incomes >. Prices: 3 Prices > Incomes: 81
Thinking about these comments by a politician, how in touch would you say that the comments show they are with the concerns of typical families in Britain?
I was a stay at home Mum for quite a while as it was the most practical choice for me back then with three lads under five. I had planned to go back to my job part time after son No1 was born, but the surprise of finding out son No2 was on the way before my maternity leave ended put paid to that plan.
Just a 0.25% rise would signal that we are re-entering the real world.
It ain't gonna happen. The central bankers are far more worried about growth than inflation.
Besides, the BoE will have to withdraw from QE before it can even think about putting up rates.
Plus they could tighten by unloading the vast amounts of gilts they own before they even got to rates...
The bottom line is the Central bankers have a vast store of options if they want to combat inflation. but almost nothing in the locker to get growth going.
Alanbrooke - I wasn't really referring to the politicians. We have a good workforce and impressive engineers in this country. Just a shame we're reliant on foreign owners because British business is so cr@p.
If British business is so cr@p, explain JCB, BAE, Balfour Beatty or ARM.
The problems are multiple, and include: 1) Short-termism by financial institutions when it comes to investment 2) Business managers resting on their laurels and not being aggressive enough 3) Unions who did not see the success of the business as an aim 4) Management who saw the workers as enemies 5) A lack of protectionism by the government (when compared to other governments) 6) Politicians not being salesmen
There was a very good (although arguable) article on the BBC News website about where we went wrong compared to Germany recently.
I sense this next election will be close. So close intact that I need Tim's reassuring presence to remind me that the fops can't win outright. My reservations about Ed are increasing by the day and I'm left wondering what sort of award winning campaign can turn this Triumph Herald into an E-Type Jag.
Last week the official data was published which estimated that the economy had grown by 0.6% between April and June. From what you have experienced yourself, and what you have read or heard, would you say that this improvement in the economy has or has not been benefiting people on middle and lower incomes?
Has: 10 Has Not: 70
Last week a politician talking about family budget said that "disposable incomes grew by 1.4 per cent above inflation last year". From what you have experienced yourself, and what you have read or heard, would you say that household incomes have grown faster than prices over the last year or have prices grown faster than household incomes?
Incomes >. Prices: 3 Prices > Incomes: 81
Thinking about these comments by a politician, how in touch would you say that the comments show they are with the concerns of typical families in Britain?
In touch: 11 Not in touch: 81
Now just the other day there were claims that nobody was telling Ed the bad news about the real world and that he was trapped in a bubble.
I sense this next election will be close. So close intact that I need Tim's reassuring presence to remind me that the fops can't win outright. My reservations about Ed are increasing by the day and I'm left wondering what sort of award winning campaign can turn this Triumph Herald into an E-Type Jag.
bollocks Roger, you're starting with an Austin Allegro, it will a huge job just to get Ed up to Triumph Herald level.
I sense this next election will be close. So close intact that I need Tim's reassuring presence to remind me that the fops can't win outright. My reservations about Ed are increasing by the day and I'm left wondering what sort of award winning campaign can turn this Triumph Herald into an E-Type Jag.
bollocks Roger, you're starting with an Austin Allegro, it will a huge job just to get Ed up to Triumph Herald level.
I sense this next election will be close. So close intact that I need Tim's reassuring presence to remind me that the fops can't win outright. My reservations about Ed are increasing by the day and I'm left wondering what sort of award winning campaign can turn this Triumph Herald into an E-Type Jag.
bollocks Roger, you're starting with an Austin Allegro, it will a huge job just to get Ed up to Triumph Herald level.
He has to get off the yoga matt, snuff out the joss sticks and pick up the keys first..
I sense this next election will be close. So close intact that I need Tim's reassuring presence to remind me that the fops can't win outright. My reservations about Ed are increasing by the day and I'm left wondering what sort of award winning campaign can turn this Triumph Herald into an E-Type Jag.
A small interlude caused by Adobe Shockwave crashing.
The F-Type is a fine car, but not quite the E-Type of yore. A bit like Cameron perhaps.
But then I doubt the E-Type made Jaguar any money but am confident the marketeers have got the F-Type right. A bit like Cameron perhaps.
I would say EdM is a bit better than either a Lada or Austin Allegro. A bit like a Triumph Dolomite perhaps.
Just a 0.25% rise would signal that we are re-entering the real world.
It ain't gonna happen. The central bankers are far more worried about growth than inflation.
Besides, the BoE will have to withdraw from QE before it can even think about putting up rates.
Plus they could tighten by unloading the vast amounts of gilts they own before they even got to rates...
The bottom line is the Central bankers have a vast store of options if they want to combat inflation. but almost nothing in the locker to get growth going.
Exactly.
Plus no new governor, even if he wanted to (and he doesn't), would u-turn quite so spectacularly having given unprecedented clarity on his views.
I sense this next election will be close. So close intact that I need Tim's reassuring presence to remind me that the fops can't win outright. My reservations about Ed are increasing by the day and I'm left wondering what sort of award winning campaign can turn this Triumph Herald into an E-Type Jag.
In fairness Roger the old Triumph, or rather the Triumph Vitesse Convertable was a pretty decent motor .... especially on Highland roads with the Dowager Lady Jack W piloting !!
My ipad keeps trying to write Jessie. Please don't tell me Anthony Bamford is the best British business has to odffer. I went to school with his younger brother who was famous for being the stupidest boy in the school-and I heard he was the brains in the family-and a father who embarrassed himself every sports day by arriving by helicopter.
The average Labour lead is about 5% at the moment which probably wouldn't have been enough for an overall majority if the boundary review had been implemented.
I sense this next election will be close. So close intact that I need Tim's reassuring presence to remind me that the fops can't win outright. My reservations about Ed are increasing by the day and I'm left wondering what sort of award winning campaign can turn this Triumph Herald into an E-Type Jag.
bollocks Roger, you're starting with an Austin Allegro, it will a huge job just to get Ed up to Triumph Herald level.
Ah Fitalass, I think he'll be sat on the forecourt with the bonnet open and mechanics tinkering at the engine for at least another year. The problem then comes when he hits the accelerator. Since he hasn't been out for a few practice runs he'll be chugging along and desperately hoping he doesn't stall and come to a grinding halt.
Alanbrooke - I wasn't really referring to the politicians. We have a good workforce and impressive engineers in this country. Just a shame we're reliant on foreign owners because British business is so cr@p.
If British business is so cr@p, explain JCB, BAE, Balfour Beatty or ARM.
The problems are multiple, and include: 1) Short-termism by financial institutions when it comes to investment 2) Business managers resting on their laurels and not being aggressive enough 3) Unions who did not see the success of the business as an aim 4) Management who saw the workers as enemies 5) A lack of protectionism by the government (when compared to other governments) 6) Politicians not being salesmen
There was a very good (although arguable) article on the BBC News website about where we went wrong compared to Germany recently.
Very few large firms have no international component. They need to to survive.
That's a pretty fair summary JJ. The question is why HMG and the british business class are content to leave it like that.
I'm not sure they are content to leave it like that, at least for many companies.
But not all. I used to work for Acorn Computers near the bitter end of that company. We were doing some excellent work with some brilliant engineers. I was very junior, and one morning I was upstairs having a coffee when the CEO came in.
He asked me what I was working on, and I excitedly told him about the really cool stuff we were doing. He shrugged and said he was basically waiting until retirement.
I had expected a 'Wow! that's amazing! Let's do some great shit!'. What I got was a talk with a man counting the days until he received whatever the management version of a carriage clock is.
And that was the problem: he had no love of what we were doing. From memory, he was ex-bbc ...
That's what companies need: people who love the business. Sadly, the money-men like similar-minded people in charge.
Alanbrooke - I wasn't really referring to the politicians. We have a good workforce and impressive engineers in this country. Just a shame we're reliant on foreign owners because British business is so cr@p.
If British business is so cr@p, explain JCB, BAE, Balfour Beatty or ARM.
There was a very good (although arguable) article on the BBC News website about where we went wrong compared to Germany recently.
Very few large firms have no international component. They need to to survive.
That's a pretty fair summary JJ. The question is why HMG and the british business class are content to leave it like that.
I'm not sure they are content to leave it like that, at least for many companies.
But not all. I used to work for Acorn Computers near the bitter end of that company. We were doing some excellent work with some brilliant engineers. I was very junior, and one morning I was upstairs having a coffee when the CEO came in.
He asked me what I was working on, and I excitedly told him about the really cool stuff we were doing. He shrugged and said he was basically waiting until retirement.
I had expected a 'Wow! that's amazing! Let's do some great shit!'. What I got was a talk with a man counting the days until he received whatever the management version of a carriage clock is.
And that was the problem: he had no love of what we were doing. From memory, he was ex-bbc ...
That's what companies need: people who love the business. Sadly, the money-men like similar-minded people in charge.
Most of the money men I meet are usually frustrated engineers ! Good science or technical degree but bought off by the easy rewards in the professions and then frustrated by the lack of job satisfaction.
My ipad keeps trying to write Jessie. Please don't tell me Anthony Bamford is the best British business has to odffer. I went to school with his younger brother who was famous for being the stupidest boy in the school-and I heard he was the brains in the family-and a father who embarrassed himself every sports day by arriving by helicopter.
Some phenomenally unattractive stealth boasting there, Rog. The rest of us would be inclined to judge JCB by its products.
You remind me of the old joke, "did you hear about the Millfield schoolboy who was so thick that the others actually noticed?"
My ipad keeps trying to write Jessie. Please don't tell me Anthony Bamford is the best British business has to odffer. I went to school with his younger brother who was famous for being the stupidest boy in the school-and I heard he was the brains in the family-and a father who embarrassed himself every sports day by arriving by helicopter.
It's sad to see you trot out the usual smears Labour has for anyone who has the temerity to support the opposition.
I've driven many JCB products in the past, and they are very good. Case's backhoe loaders were better in the early 1990s, but there was not much in it.
My ipad keeps trying to write Jessie. Please don't tell me Anthony Bamford is the best British business has to odffer. I went to school with his younger brother who was famous for being the stupidest boy in the school-and I heard he was the brains in the family-and a father who embarrassed himself every sports day by arriving by helicopter.
It's sad to see you trot out the usual smears Labour has for anyone who has the temerity to support the opposition.
I've driven many JCB products in the past, and they are very good. Case's backhoe loaders were better in the early 1990s, but there was not much in it.
This is beginning to look like a co-ordinated attempt to undermine Ed Miliband before the Conference season. But then he hasn't exactly made it hard for such criticism to stick. Guido Fawkes Blog - Balls Ally Turns on Union Reforms "Given how close Hayes is to Balls, the intervention is certainly well timed. The CWU all but ran his leadership campaign as well as endorsing it. As one Labour source put it to Guido, Hayes “doesn’t fart without Ed Balls’ permission.” What does his old chum have to say?" And from last week. Guido Fawkes Blog - Save Ed: Now Mirror Goes For Miliband "Looks like George Mudie was saying what everyone in the Labour Party is thinking yesterday. The Staggers, LabourList, even Owen Jones, have all broken ranks and given Miliband a kicking this week. Now it is the turn of Kevin Maguire to twist the knife in the Mirror:"
I liked the bit on Top Gear where they showed the world map where JCBs were sold to - everyone bar France!
My fave is the one where TG celebrated the return of the Jensen Interceptor with a very funny rip of of those 1970s Jason King 'Department S' type series.
They are meant be delivering the first ones in 2014.
Jesting aside, the high PMI does look like interest rates will have to start to rise to more normal levels shortly. If not then we risk some real inflation from the loose money policy. It takes over a year for these blunt instruments to work. Just a 0.25% rise would signal that we are re-entering the real world.
Is Osborne still planning his taxpayer subsidised house price inflation? Seriously?
Osborne is quite right, tim.
We need to build to house the cars.
Dr. Sox
The upcoming BoE Quarterly Inflation Report, due this month, is likely to be a key indicator. Carney is expected to introduce forward guidance on interest rates and a new 'qualitative' approach to monetary policy (employment and growth metrics to constrain inflation targetting).
For all the good news on UK economic growth, its broad base and the Eurozone promising to start growing again in the second half, we are still recovering from a low base and there remain many significant weaknesses and downside risks.
In the City, for example, job vacancies fell by 12,000 last month; the banks are recovering slowly mainly through cost reduction rather growth and capital adequacy continues to be a contraint on credit supply to the economy as a whole.
North Sea Oil and Gas extraction continues to fall, albeit at a short term declining rate, and we are years from fracking delivering the goods.
So two former pillars of the UK economy are showing signs of structural weakness and decline.
Construction remains dependent on residential house building stimulated by the Treasury, with civil and public sector major works not due to pick up until after 2015.
Consumption growth is coming more from a reduction in household savings than growth in real incomes and this source is finite.
Manufacturing growth appears limited to a handful of key global sectors.
Fiscal consolidation has been successful to date, and the deficit reduction figures and targets will look much better in September than they did in March, but we are still not yet half way towards the extent of consolidation needed to create the kind of surpluses which would reduce UK Debt to 60% of GDP by 2030.
And, most significantly for interest rates, there are few signs of inflationary pressures around in spite of the good growth figures. Quantitative Easing may have bolstered equity prices and bank balance sheets but nowhere near the desired amount of finance has reached the general economy.
If there is any short term pressure on interest rates it is more likely to be from short term increases in the value of the pound. Markets seem uncertain whether the pound should be in the mid to late forties ($1.45-$1.49 ) or mid to late fifties ($1.55-1.59). Much appears to be resting on BoE pronouncements. And the difference of the two rate bands on inflation and export performance would be marked.
So, all in all, I don't see any short term increase in interest rates and general consensus remains that the BoE will try to extend the current 0.5% rate as far into 2014 as possible.
I liked the bit on Top Gear where they showed the world map where JCBs were sold to - everyone bar France!
My fave is the one where TG celebrated the return of the Jensen Interceptor with a very funny rip of of those 1970s Jason King 'Department S' type series.
They are meant be delivering the first ones in 2014.
Wasn't it a map of countries which screen "British Motoring programmes" on TV?
I liked the bit on Top Gear where they showed the world map where JCBs were sold to - everyone bar France!
My fave is the one where TG celebrated the return of the Jensen Interceptor with a very funny rip of of those 1970s Jason King 'Department S' type series.
They are meant be delivering the first ones in 2014.
I thought the JCB bit was all over the world - the all-bar-France was the place Top Gear was shown in ...
JCB is a funny old company. Born out of a rivalry with the family business (Bamfords) in 1945, astute marketing and good engineering has seen them take on the big boys.
A possibly apocryphal JCB story. In the 1970s they took some of their wares to a show somewhere in America. The show was near the airport, and they paid to have a large passenger jet parked as near the entrance as possible, with the tail painted in the JCB colours. Hence making people think they owned the plane.
Another, until recent years the 'JCB' logo on the backactor was made out of steel welded on to the frame rather than painted on. This meant that even if people painted over it, the logo would still be visible.
And a final one: my dad was an early purchaser of their backhoe loaders in the 1970s. One day he got a phone call asking for his two most experienced drivers for a week. As they were local (Derby), he sent them and charged a whacking rate.
The drivers spent the week driving all the competing machines, and then JCB's new model. They were then questioned extensively about what they liked and disliked about each one, to be fed into the next model.
I went to a couple of their product launches, and the dry-ice and laser displays really wowed me in my pre-teen years.
It isn't just some in the Labour party who are getting restless and starting to stir up some serious criticism of their Leadership in the run up to the Conference season. Mark Pack Blog - Which Lib Dem ministers should Nick Clegg sack? "The party can’t afford the luxury of the invisible junior ministers – those who do a perfectly nice, decent job somewhere in the bowels of government but are almost never heard of and do almost nothing to win the party votes or attract new members.
Yes, it’s tough being a minister and an MP, taking up for the conscientious the amount of time that in any other profession would have people demanding huge cuts in the hours worked.
But the good ones know that communicating and winning support isn’t an optional extra to be postponed until that mythical free day finally arrives. The good ones know that it is an inherent part of the job – because without coverage, members and votes there ends up being no ministers either.
As for the bad ones, despite being a minister they email fewer party members, secure less press coverage and do less to build up the party than I do, despite me having a full time non-political job. (The same applies too of course to others in the party too. I just happen to notice my own activities more closely and so know the benchmark against which I’m judging others.)
There’s really no excuse for doing so badly as a minster.
Three years in, if a minister hasn’t worked out how to do better than that, should they still be a minister? I think not.
And if Nick Clegg is as serious about repeatedly winning power as he tells the rest of us to be, then he should be giving them all the simple choice: play your part in the party’s political success, or say goodbye to being a minister."
Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives are worried that strong mid-summer opinion poll numbers may be overstating their strength for a September 22 election after they suffered nasty surprises twice before, their campaign manager said on Monday.
Presenting a first batch of "feel-good" posters featuring giant pictures of smiling Germans that will blanket the country, campaign manager Hermann Groehe said he expects the race to tighten in the final seven weeks as it did in 2005 and 2009.
"The experience of the past serves as a warning to say that good opinion poll numbers 50 days before the vote aren't a guarantee for a good election result," Groehe told a news conference. Merkel is out of Germany on a three-week holiday.
Is on the cards for the Tories if they do well between now and the end of 2014.
Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives are worried that strong mid-summer opinion poll numbers may be overstating their strength for a September 22 election after they suffered nasty surprises twice before, their campaign manager said on Monday.
Presenting a first batch of "feel-good" posters featuring giant pictures of smiling Germans that will blanket the country, campaign manager Hermann Groehe said he expects the race to tighten in the final seven weeks as it did in 2005 and 2009.
"The experience of the past serves as a warning to say that good opinion poll numbers 50 days before the vote aren't a guarantee for a good election result," Groehe told a news conference. Merkel is out of Germany on a three-week holiday.
Is on the cards for the Tories if they do well between now and the end of 2014.
It is even more on the cards that tim will blame Cameron and Osborne for it when it happens. I would even go so far as to say the pack of cards will have undergone a Merseyside shuffle.
It sounds as JCB is run by good business people, who were smart enough to know that snobbery at Millfield matters little in the long run.
If they keep on employing and exporting they can fly their vulgar helicopters as much as they please as far as I am concerned.
ALP: not so convinced, Inflation is the thing that can spoil the party in 2015 for the economy. Probably will take off after that and be Milibands problem, like it was Wilsons in 74-5.
I liked the bit on Top Gear where they showed the world map where JCBs were sold to - everyone bar France!
My fave is the one where TG celebrated the return of the Jensen Interceptor with a very funny rip of of those 1970s Jason King 'Department S' type series.
They are meant be delivering the first ones in 2014.
I thought the JCB bit was all over the world - the all-bar-France was the place Top Gear was shown in ...
JCB is a funny old company. Born out of a rivalry with the family business (Bamfords) in 1945, astute marketing and good engineering has seen them take on the big boys.
A possibly apocryphal JCB story. In the 1970s they took some of their wares to a show somewhere in America. The show was near the airport, and they paid to have a large passenger jet parked as near the entrance as possible, with the tail painted in the JCB colours. Hence making people think they owned the plane.
Another, until recent years the 'JCB' logo on the backactor was made out of steel welded on to the frame rather than painted on. This meant that even if people painted over it, the logo would still be visible.
And a final one: my dad was an early purchaser of their backhoe loaders in the 1970s. One day he got a phone call asking for his two most experienced drivers for a week. As they were local (Derby), he sent them and charged a whacking rate.
The drivers spent the week driving all the competing machines, and then JCB's new model. They were then questioned extensively about what they liked and disliked about each one, to be fed into the next model.
I went to a couple of their product launches, and the dry-ice and laser displays really wowed me in my pre-teen years.
And yet hugging a hoodie or husky certainly kept Cameron in the news and filled the vacuum while he was putting together a raft of policies for Government. It also meant that by this stage of his Leadership, the public certainly knew who David Cameron was, and more importantly they liked him. LabourList - The phoney war is over – last days of calm before the storm
"Miliband has been praised for rejecting the photo opp and glib soundbite approach to party leadership. He has hugged no hoodies and wept no false tears over shrinking glaciers. With 22 months still to go to the election, it is probably right not to have revealed a fully worked out programme for government.
And yet one of the lessons from the New Labour era which should not be cast aside is Alastair Campbell’s observation that the media abhors a vacuum. If few announcements are made or positions set out, the space will be filled by opponents and by readily generated knocking copy. In the past I have praised the leadership’s “masterly inactivity”. It is now time to put apparent (if not actual) “inactivity” to one side. The game’s afoot, as Henry V says in that speech before the battle of Agincourt. Miliband’s conference speech in less exotic Brighton will have to be a good one, with plenty of content and a strong, clear sense of the direction policy will take."
"It's sad to see you trot out the usual smears Labour has for anyone who has the temerity to support the opposition."
The young Bamfords were born with a silver spoon the size of a house. They weren't gifted with brains but with a Daddy so rich that even among some very rich people they stood out.
Did these two realize they were the luckiest people alive and spend Daddy's money for philanthropic purposes or did they buy themselves properties all over the world and live the life of playboys paying as little tax as possible? They did of couse give some money to the Tory Party for which Anthony was enobled......
Ot. Any music lovers know the best version of Blueberry Hill. Fats Domino is good but anyone know another?
I believe Danny Boyle has produced a cover version, Roger.
Billy Bragg and Lily Allen lead in a duet orchestrated for the Grimethorpe Colliery Band with Rowan Atkinson on drums.
Nurses from Stafford General District Hospital provide the dancing troupe and backing harmonics come from the Three Sisters (Stella Creasey, Rachel Reeves and Diane Abbott).
You can find it on Youtube but note the first line has been changed to:
"However, the one thing that the Tories do massively better than Labour is this: When they are down, they come out fighting. Even when the world took note that Keynes had won and austerity lost, they carried on fighting. The question is, what does Labour do? Has Ed Miliband and Ed balls given up? Do we only have an opposition on a Wednesday lunchtime?
While the Conservative party refuses to publish their membership numbers, due to their decline, our party is fizzing with excitement. This whole party wants to take the fight to the Tories. The only thing that’s stopping us is that we need the leadership to show the way.
Forget about trade union reform. That stuff is history. The unions have shown contrition over that Scottish selection thing, and it’s over. What looked like a Clause 4 moment, has become navel gazing. Concentrate on what’s happening with the Tories. It’s interesting and dangerous, for them and us. Look.
The Tories want to turn defenders into attackers. Unlike us, they don’t have a vision beyond making lots of cuts, and the cuts agenda will soon be over. That’s why they keep making tiny announcements about parking on the drive or stop and search. They are trying to create the illusion of being busy, and we should be ridiculing them."
The Top Gear excerpt was excellent but it demeans it to suggest that it was a PPB for the tories (I fully realise that Avery has his tongue firmly in his cheek). It reminds people, as did the Olympics, that this is a great country with some problems, not a failure.
Labour supporters are, with no more exceptions than those who spend all their time stating that they want to emigrate and moaning about the youth of today, patriotic and want their country to do well. We should all take pride in something like that.
And we have retained the Ashes, despite TSE's best efforts (and mine according to SO). I am really looking forward to being at Chester-le-Street and hope that England can lift their game to match this new and welcome Aussie determination.
Just seen a report on Guido saying Spain is selling Argentina a fleet of Mirage jets.
'Our European Partners......'
"Falklands alert as Argentina strikes £145million deal for 20 Mirage warplanes 4 Aug 2013 00:01 President Cristina de Kirchner personally agreed the £145million deal to buy 20 second-hand Mirage F1 jets from Spain.
"It's sad to see you trot out the usual smears Labour has for anyone who has the temerity to support the opposition."
The young Bamfords were born with a silver spoon the size of a house. They weren't gifted with brains but with a Daddy so rich that even among some very rich people they stood out.
Did these two realize they were the luckiest people alive and spend Daddy's money for philanthropic purposes or did they buy themselves properties all over the world and live the life of playboys paying as little tax as possible? They did of couse give some money to the Tory Party for which Anthony was enobled......
What exactly is there to admire?
I don't know them, but somehow your rancid hate-filled spiel above makes you look bad, not them.
But we are talking about JCB the company. What is to admire? Well, the way they started in a small lock-up and created the third biggest construction equipment company in the world. The way they've managed to keep it in family hands without going public. The way they employ thousands of people in the UK and have a turnover of billions of pounds. The way they've created a brand that defined their market around the world. The way they've kept themselves on the forefront of technology in the market for nearly seventy years.
And it is family-run.
It possibly amounts to much more than you've achieved. Then again, you're probably just a sad little troll.
" Despite his use of La Lanterne, Mr Hollande intends to keep up public appearances throughout the summer, and has ordered his ministers to remain on call, avoid going abroad and hand in homework mid-August. In recent days, he has rushed around France, from Parisian suburbs to the depths of the Dordogne, to insist he is fighting unemployment.
Le Figaro noted wearily: "At this rate, he'll even end up presenting the weather reports himself." "
Spanish Mirage jets to Argentina..let us not forget our other staunch ally in the EU France and its Exocets...which probaly took a fair number of British lives..Some buddies..
Well worth reading both the LabourList and Labour Uncut articles I linked to in full to get a real sense of the growing panic which is now replacing the complacency in the Labour ranks despite the usual Tory/Crosby bashing.
Just seen a report on Guido saying Spain is selling Argentina a fleet of Mirage jets.
'Our European Partners......'
"Falklands alert as Argentina strikes £145million deal for 20 Mirage warplanes 4 Aug 2013 00:01 President Cristina de Kirchner personally agreed the £145million deal to buy 20 second-hand Mirage F1 jets from Spain.
For Dr Who Fans, and for Scots with a sense of humour. Twitter Better Together @UK_Together 4h A bit of fun sent to us by a supporter this morning. Made us laugh in the office. #indyref pic.twitter.com/HzsR9qEuEN
What's got to happen is that the Argentinians take 2 years to get their pilots up to speed and then launch an attack on the Falklands late in 2015, just after Ed takes over as PM.
He sends a task force down the the S Atlantic, stops the invasion and is consequently secure unitl 2028.
Buenos Aires was briefly held by British forces during the Napoleonic era, the summer of 1806 to be precise. Maybe we could have a territorial claim against the Argentine capital?
What's got to happen is that the Argentinians take 2 years to get their pilots up to speed and then launch an attack on the Falklands late in 2015, just after Ed takes over as PM.
He sends a task force down the the S Atlantic, stops the invasion and is consequently secure unitl 2028.
What's wrong with that scenario?
Watch out for Kerchner being invited to give the Ralf Miliband memorial lecture in 2014 ...
Quinnipiac 2016 Presidential Poll I’d like to get your feelings toward some of our political leaders and other people who have been in the news. I’ll read the name of a person and I’d like you to rate that person using something called the feeling thermometer. You can choose any number between 0 and 100. The higher the number, the warmer or more favorable you feel toward that person, the lower the number, the colder or less favorable. Mean Score Chris Christie 53.1 Hillary Clinton 52.1 Elizabeth Warren 49.2 Kirsten Gillibrand 47.6 Ted Cruz 46.8 Marco Rubio 46.5 Joe Biden 46.2 Martin O’Malley 45.7 Bobby Jindal 45.2 Rand Paul 44.8 Andrew Cuomo 43.9 Peter King 43.6 Paul Ryan 43.0 Scott Walker 41.1 Rick Santorum 40.7 Jeb Bush 40.4 Mark Warner 39.4
Among Independents Chris Christie 50.6 Ted Cruz 50.4 Rand Paul 49.1 Paul Ryan 48.0 Bobby Jindal 47.8 Scott Walker 45.9 Marco Rubio 45.0 Elizabeth Warren 44.2 Hillary Clinton 44.2 Peter King 43.6 Kirsten Gillibrand 42.1 Jeb Bush 41.8 Rick Santorum 41.5 Joe Biden 41.3 Andrew Cuomo 41.2 Mark Warner 39.9 Martin O’Malley 39.2 Percent Scoring >50 Hillary Clinton 49% Joe Biden 39% Chris Christie 37% Paul Ryan 28% Rand Paul 28% Marco Rubio 25% Rick Santorum 24% Jeb Bush 22% Elizabeth Warren 21% Andrew Cuomo 20% Bobby Jindal 16% Ted Cruz 15% Scott Walker 12% Peter King 10% Kirsten Gillibrand 9% Mark Warner 9% Martin O’Malley 7%
Haven’t Heard Enough About to Form an Opinion Martin O’Malley 78% Kirsten Gillibrand 75% Peter King 71% Scott Walker 65% Mark Warner 65% Ted Cruz 60% Bobby Jindal 56% Elizabeth Warren 51% Andrew Cuomo 41% Marco Rubio 36% Rick Santorum 30% Rand Paul 28% Paul Ryan 24% Chris Christie 21% Jeb Bush 20% Joe Biden 8% Hillary Clinton 2%
Quinnipiac 2016 Presidential Poll I’d like to get your feelings toward some of our political leaders and other people who have been in the news. I’ll read the name of a person and I’d like you to rate that person using something called the feeling thermometer. You can choose any number between 0 and 100. The higher the number, the warmer or more favorable you feel toward that person, the lower the number, the colder or less favorable.
Rating candidates out of 100... sounds like some form of nightmare PR voting system!
Britain's ageing fleet of hunter-killer nuclear submarines is suffering technical problems because of the decision to extend their service beyond their originally planned life-span, a watchdog's report has warned.
The report, released without fanfare by the Ministry of Defence, issued an "amber" warning about the Trafalgar-class subs...
The Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator's report for 2012/13 also raised a "red" alert about the shortage of trained experts available to the Royal Navy to maintain and repair reactors...
... it warned that the Vanguard class of subs which carry Britain's Trident nuclear deterrent can also be expected "to exhibit plant ageing effects as a result of the Strategic Defence and Security Review decision to extend their life to the late 2020s and early 2030s".
The Royal Navy base at Faslane on the Clyde is home to the submarines and the warheads are stored at Coulport on Loch Long when they are not at sea.
"Unlike the Tories, our party has a sense of direction and a purpose. We plan to have the biggest house building program since the World War II. We plan on putting a million young people back to work. We will stick to the Tory cuts, but we also want to invest in the country’s future. The Tories might argue that there is no money, but remember, they only won the cuts argument, while they lost the austerity argument. There is a big distinction, and we have to mercilessly push that point."
Well, its a point of view I suppose. Calling it wishful thinking might be a little kind.
your twitter link isn't working for me, possibly because I don't have a twitter account.
Sorry about that link, you may have to copy and paste it to get it to work. Seems to be some gremlins at work in vanilla as I keep getting signed out as well today.
"Unlike the Tories, our party has a sense of direction and a purpose. We plan to have the biggest house building program since the World War II. We plan on putting a million young people back to work. We will stick to the Tory cuts, but we also want to invest in the country’s future. The Tories might argue that there is no money, but remember, they only won the cuts argument, while they lost the austerity argument. There is a big distinction, and we have to mercilessly push that point."
Well, its a point of view I suppose. Calling it wishful thinking might be a little kind.
your twitter link isn't working for me, possibly because I don't have a twitter account.
Comments
You see it as a Tory PPB I see it as evidence of the extraordinary legacy of 13 years of Labour. A legacy I hope they use in their marketing. The Olympics showed us the the public service sid
The Pillars of the Earth was very readable. My criticism of it is that the main characters (with the exception of Prior Philip) are 21st century people parachuted into the 12th century.
And much of the legacy is down to Thatcher getting Nissan, Honda and Toyota into the UK.
Under that 'extraordinary legacy of 13 years' we lost MG Rover, and Jaguar/Land Rover was sold to the Indians for them to make a success of. How proud you must feel!
It is strange that Labour, which should be good at such things, always f's up engineering.
I've recently enjoyed Philip Kerr's Bernie Gunther series - about a German police dectective before, after and during WWII - good thrillers and feels very realistic historically.
I'd really like to see your advert.
Cornwell does what he does and does it well, you either like his books or you don't really (I do).
I, Claudius remains a classic.
CJ Sansom is one I'd heavily recommend, a harder edged Eillis Peters too over-generalise. But excellent.
Hilary Mantel's very well-known now but justifiably so.
The attempt by both Avery and Roger to give the Tories or Labour credit for this is ludicrous. Why don't you thank the foreign investers for coming here or the British workforce for working hard? It's had nowt to do with the politicians.
The ads may be clever and win all kinds of Lions awards but few people can identify the product being promoted.
Still, congratulations on your BMW ad.
oh just grow up. For 13 years we had a Labour establishment funded by Unions which claimed to be based in manufacturing. And what did we get ? The fastest rate of off shoring, the biggest decline in manufacturing employment and a huge jump in policies that made life harder for btitish workers - pension raids, zero hour contracts and energy taxes. Blair killed off more manufacturing that Thatcher ever did.
hmmmmmmm........
James was also interested in good books on sport strategy. I would recommend "Inverting the Pyramid" as the best book on the evolution of football formations.
I don;t know. Have mothers who work made a lifestyle choice?
'lifestyle choice' sounds a bit odd. My other half always has been a stay at home mum and she'd more likely call it 'sacred calling'
We need to build to house the cars.
'Congratulations on your BMW award'. Thank you I did one of those as well...
Sorry about my truncated incoherent message but I wrote it on an ipad and was dragged off half way through. Fearful that you would proclaim a mighty victory for the near perfect chancellor and his production lines of Super-Tories I thought I better post and be damned.
The problems are multiple, and include:
1) Short-termism by financial institutions when it comes to investment
2) Business managers resting on their laurels and not being aggressive enough
3) Unions who did not see the success of the business as an aim
4) Management who saw the workers as enemies
5) A lack of protectionism by the government (when compared to other governments)
6) Politicians not being salesmen
There was a very good (although arguable) article on the BBC News website about where we went wrong compared to Germany recently.
But it is not all one-way traffic. For instance, look at the size of the US arm of BAE. In 2009 it had a £12.3 billion turnover
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BAE_Systems_Inc.
Very few large firms have no international component. They need to to survive.
http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/uoipi75c98/YG-Archive-Labour-Party-results-020813.pdf
Last week the official data was published which estimated that the economy had grown by 0.6% between April and June. From what you have experienced yourself, and what you have read or heard, would you say that this improvement in the economy has or has not been benefiting people on middle and lower incomes?
Has: 10
Has Not: 70
Last week a politician talking about family budget said that "disposable incomes grew by 1.4 per cent above inflation last year". From what you have experienced yourself, and what you have read or heard, would you say that household incomes have grown faster than prices over the last year or have prices grown faster than household incomes?
Incomes >. Prices: 3
Prices > Incomes: 81
Thinking about these comments by a politician, how in touch would you say that the comments show they are with the concerns of typical families in Britain?
In touch: 11
Not in touch: 81
It ain't gonna happen. The central bankers are far more worried about growth than inflation.
Besides, the BoE will have to withdraw from QE before it can even think about putting up rates.
Plus they could tighten by unloading the vast amounts of gilts they own before they even got to rates...
The bottom line is the Central bankers have a vast store of options if they want to combat inflation. but almost nothing in the locker to get growth going.
I sense this next election will be close. So close intact that I need Tim's reassuring presence to remind me that the fops can't win outright. My reservations about Ed are increasing by the day and I'm left wondering what sort of award winning campaign can turn this Triumph Herald into an E-Type Jag.
This survey is absolutely not like that at all...
Trust (net)
Cameron: -16
Osborne: -31
Clegg: -50
Miliband: -32
Balls: -38
http://www.comres.co.uk/polls/ITV_News_Index_5.pdf
They used to describe a convertible Lada Riva as a skip so I started with that but then thought he had a great turning circle and blew a lot of smoke
Prefer at next GE:
Con Maj: 35
Con/LD: 11
Lab/LD: 17
Lab Maj: 37
The F-Type is a fine car, but not quite the E-Type of yore. A bit like Cameron perhaps.
But then I doubt the E-Type made Jaguar any money but am confident the marketeers have got the F-Type right. A bit like Cameron perhaps.
I would say EdM is a bit better than either a Lada or Austin Allegro. A bit like a Triumph Dolomite perhaps.
Plus no new governor, even if he wanted to (and he doesn't), would u-turn quite so spectacularly having given unprecedented clarity on his views.
Not working seeking work - next GE:
Con Maj: 22
Con/LD: 9
Lab/LD: 18
Lab Maj: 52
My ipad keeps trying to write Jessie. Please don't tell me Anthony Bamford is the best British business has to odffer. I went to school with his younger brother who was famous for being the stupidest boy in the school-and I heard he was the brains in the family-and a father who embarrassed himself every sports day by arriving by helicopter.
http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/mc55stn9u8/YouGov-Results-130729-Prosperity-Index.pdf
Financial situation over next 12 months - net better:
Con: +4
Lab: -37
LibD: -5
UKIP: -48
But not all. I used to work for Acorn Computers near the bitter end of that company. We were doing some excellent work with some brilliant engineers. I was very junior, and one morning I was upstairs having a coffee when the CEO came in.
He asked me what I was working on, and I excitedly told him about the really cool stuff we were doing. He shrugged and said he was basically waiting until retirement.
I had expected a 'Wow! that's amazing! Let's do some great shit!'. What I got was a talk with a man counting the days until he received whatever the management version of a carriage clock is.
And that was the problem: he had no love of what we were doing. From memory, he was ex-bbc ...
That's what companies need: people who love the business. Sadly, the money-men like similar-minded people in charge.
You remind me of the old joke, "did you hear about the Millfield schoolboy who was so thick that the others actually noticed?"
I hope the Bamford family sues the arse off you.
'I hope the bamford family sues the arse off you'
Why do you hope that?
No wonder the other centre-left parties are refusing to go into coalition with them.
I've driven many JCB products in the past, and they are very good. Case's backhoe loaders were better in the early 1990s, but there was not much in it.
Good luck to JCB.
Guido Fawkes Blog - Balls Ally Turns on Union Reforms
"Given how close Hayes is to Balls, the intervention is certainly well timed. The CWU all but ran his leadership campaign as well as endorsing it. As one Labour source put it to Guido, Hayes “doesn’t fart without Ed Balls’ permission.” What does his old chum have to say?"
And from last week. Guido Fawkes Blog - Save Ed: Now Mirror Goes For Miliband
"Looks like George Mudie was saying what everyone in the Labour Party is thinking yesterday. The Staggers, LabourList, even Owen Jones, have all broken ranks and given Miliband a kicking this week. Now it is the turn of Kevin Maguire to twist the knife in the Mirror:"
My fave is the one where TG celebrated the return of the Jensen Interceptor with a very funny rip of of those 1970s Jason King 'Department S' type series.
They are meant be delivering the first ones in 2014.
The upcoming BoE Quarterly Inflation Report, due this month, is likely to be a key indicator. Carney is expected to introduce forward guidance on interest rates and a new 'qualitative' approach to monetary policy (employment and growth metrics to constrain inflation targetting).
For all the good news on UK economic growth, its broad base and the Eurozone promising to start growing again in the second half, we are still recovering from a low base and there remain many significant weaknesses and downside risks.
In the City, for example, job vacancies fell by 12,000 last month; the banks are recovering slowly mainly through cost reduction rather growth and capital adequacy continues to be a contraint on credit supply to the economy as a whole.
North Sea Oil and Gas extraction continues to fall, albeit at a short term declining rate, and we are years from fracking delivering the goods.
So two former pillars of the UK economy are showing signs of structural weakness and decline.
[to be continued ... ]
[... continued]
Construction remains dependent on residential house building stimulated by the Treasury, with civil and public sector major works not due to pick up until after 2015.
Consumption growth is coming more from a reduction in household savings than growth in real incomes and this source is finite.
Manufacturing growth appears limited to a handful of key global sectors.
Fiscal consolidation has been successful to date, and the deficit reduction figures and targets will look much better in September than they did in March, but we are still not yet half way towards the extent of consolidation needed to create the kind of surpluses which would reduce UK Debt to 60% of GDP by 2030.
And, most significantly for interest rates, there are few signs of inflationary pressures around in spite of the good growth figures. Quantitative Easing may have bolstered equity prices and bank balance sheets but nowhere near the desired amount of finance has reached the general economy.
If there is any short term pressure on interest rates it is more likely to be from short term increases in the value of the pound. Markets seem uncertain whether the pound should be in the mid to late forties ($1.45-$1.49 ) or mid to late fifties ($1.55-1.59). Much appears to be resting on BoE pronouncements. And the difference of the two rate bands on inflation and export performance would be marked.
So, all in all, I don't see any short term increase in interest rates and general consensus remains that the BoE will try to extend the current 0.5% rate as far into 2014 as possible.
I thought it was a BBC in-joke.
JCB is a funny old company. Born out of a rivalry with the family business (Bamfords) in 1945, astute marketing and good engineering has seen them take on the big boys.
A possibly apocryphal JCB story. In the 1970s they took some of their wares to a show somewhere in America. The show was near the airport, and they paid to have a large passenger jet parked as near the entrance as possible, with the tail painted in the JCB colours. Hence making people think they owned the plane.
Another, until recent years the 'JCB' logo on the backactor was made out of steel welded on to the frame rather than painted on. This meant that even if people painted over it, the logo would still be visible.
And a final one: my dad was an early purchaser of their backhoe loaders in the 1970s. One day he got a phone call asking for his two most experienced drivers for a week. As they were local (Derby), he sent them and charged a whacking rate.
The drivers spent the week driving all the competing machines, and then JCB's new model. They were then questioned extensively about what they liked and disliked about each one, to be fed into the next model.
I went to a couple of their product launches, and the dry-ice and laser displays really wowed me in my pre-teen years.
But that's probably enough JCB-geekery ...
Mark Pack Blog - Which Lib Dem ministers should Nick Clegg sack?
"The party can’t afford the luxury of the invisible junior ministers – those who do a perfectly nice, decent job somewhere in the bowels of government but are almost never heard of and do almost nothing to win the party votes or attract new members.
Yes, it’s tough being a minister and an MP, taking up for the conscientious the amount of time that in any other profession would have people demanding huge cuts in the hours worked.
But the good ones know that communicating and winning support isn’t an optional extra to be postponed until that mythical free day finally arrives. The good ones know that it is an inherent part of the job – because without coverage, members and votes there ends up being no ministers either.
As for the bad ones, despite being a minister they email fewer party members, secure less press coverage and do less to build up the party than I do, despite me having a full time non-political job. (The same applies too of course to others in the party too. I just happen to notice my own activities more closely and so know the benchmark against which I’m judging others.)
There’s really no excuse for doing so badly as a minster.
Three years in, if a minister hasn’t worked out how to do better than that, should they still be a minister? I think not.
And if Nick Clegg is as serious about repeatedly winning power as he tells the rest of us to be, then he should be giving them all the simple choice: play your part in the party’s political success, or say goodbye to being a minister."
It is even more on the cards that tim will blame Cameron and Osborne for it when it happens. I would even go so far as to say the pack of cards will have undergone a Merseyside shuffle.
If they keep on employing and exporting they can fly their vulgar helicopters as much as they please as far as I am concerned.
ALP: not so convinced, Inflation is the thing that can spoil the party in 2015 for the economy. Probably will take off after that and be Milibands problem, like it was Wilsons in 74-5.
I see JCB licenses the brand out to make footwear etc, like CAT do
LabourList - The phoney war is over – last days of calm before the storm
"Miliband has been praised for rejecting the photo opp and glib soundbite approach to party leadership. He has hugged no hoodies and wept no false tears over shrinking glaciers. With 22 months still to go to the election, it is probably right not to have revealed a fully worked out programme for government.
And yet one of the lessons from the New Labour era which should not be cast aside is Alastair Campbell’s observation that the media abhors a vacuum. If few announcements are made or positions set out, the space will be filled by opponents and by readily generated knocking copy. In the past I have praised the leadership’s “masterly inactivity”. It is now time to put apparent (if not actual) “inactivity” to one side. The game’s afoot, as Henry V says in that speech before the battle of Agincourt. Miliband’s conference speech in less exotic Brighton will have to be a good one, with plenty of content and a strong, clear sense of the direction policy will take."
"It's sad to see you trot out the usual smears Labour has for anyone who has the temerity to support the opposition."
The young Bamfords were born with a silver spoon the size of a house. They weren't gifted with brains but with a Daddy so rich that even among some very rich people they stood out.
Did these two realize they were the luckiest people alive and spend Daddy's money for philanthropic purposes or did they buy themselves properties all over the world and live the life of playboys paying as little tax as possible? They did of couse give some money to the Tory Party for which Anthony was enobled......
What exactly is there to admire?
'Our European Partners......'
Billy Bragg and Lily Allen lead in a duet orchestrated for the Grimethorpe Colliery Band with Rowan Atkinson on drums.
Nurses from Stafford General District Hospital provide the dancing troupe and backing harmonics come from the Three Sisters (Stella Creasey, Rachel Reeves and Diane Abbott).
You can find it on Youtube but note the first line has been changed to:
I found my thrill .... on Primrose Hill
"However, the one thing that the Tories do massively better than Labour is this: When they are down, they come out fighting. Even when the world took note that Keynes had won and austerity lost, they carried on fighting. The question is, what does Labour do? Has Ed Miliband and Ed balls given up? Do we only have an opposition on a Wednesday lunchtime?
While the Conservative party refuses to publish their membership numbers, due to their decline, our party is fizzing with excitement. This whole party wants to take the fight to the Tories. The only thing that’s stopping us is that we need the leadership to show the way.
Forget about trade union reform. That stuff is history. The unions have shown contrition over that Scottish selection thing, and it’s over. What looked like a Clause 4 moment, has become navel gazing. Concentrate on what’s happening with the Tories. It’s interesting and dangerous, for them and us. Look.
The Tories want to turn defenders into attackers. Unlike us, they don’t have a vision beyond making lots of cuts, and the cuts agenda will soon be over. That’s why they keep making tiny announcements about parking on the drive or stop and search. They are trying to create the illusion of being busy, and we should be ridiculing them."
Labour supporters are, with no more exceptions than those who spend all their time stating that they want to emigrate and moaning about the youth of today, patriotic and want their country to do well. We should all take pride in something like that.
And we have retained the Ashes, despite TSE's best efforts (and mine according to SO). I am really looking forward to being at Chester-le-Street and hope that England can lift their game to match this new and welcome Aussie determination.
Mudie voted for Balls in the leadership election.
4 Aug 2013 00:01
President Cristina de Kirchner personally agreed the £145million deal to buy 20 second-hand Mirage F1 jets from Spain.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/falklands-alert-argentina-strikes-145million-2121901#ixzz2b73sO0Hj
Tho quite where Argentina will find the money is another question....
But we are talking about JCB the company. What is to admire? Well, the way they started in a small lock-up and created the third biggest construction equipment company in the world. The way they've managed to keep it in family hands without going public. The way they employ thousands of people in the UK and have a turnover of billions of pounds. The way they've created a brand that defined their market around the world. The way they've kept themselves on the forefront of technology in the market for nearly seventy years.
And it is family-run.
It possibly amounts to much more than you've achieved. Then again, you're probably just a sad little troll.
" Despite his use of La Lanterne, Mr Hollande intends to keep up public appearances throughout the summer, and has ordered his ministers to remain on call, avoid going abroad and hand in homework mid-August. In recent days, he has rushed around France, from Parisian suburbs to the depths of the Dordogne, to insist he is fighting unemployment.
Le Figaro noted wearily: "At this rate, he'll even end up presenting the weather reports himself." "
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dassault_Mirage_F1
Another article:
http://en.mercopress.com/2013/08/05/falklands-and-the-mirages-playing-with-the-islanders-worst-memories
Let's hope they treat them as badly as they have the ARA Santísima Trinidad
http://www.puntanoticias.com.ar/images/Imagenes Noticias II/Trinidad 3.jpg
EDIT: Ooops TSE said that a while ago
Twitter
Better Together @UK_Together 4h
A bit of fun sent to us by a supporter this morning. Made us laugh in the office. #indyref pic.twitter.com/HzsR9qEuEN
He sends a task force down the the S Atlantic, stops the invasion and is consequently secure unitl 2028.
What's wrong with that scenario?
I’d like to get your feelings toward some of our political leaders and other people who have been in the news. I’ll read the name of a person and I’d like you to rate that person using something called the feeling thermometer. You can choose any number between 0 and 100. The higher the number, the warmer or more favorable you feel toward that person, the lower the number, the colder or less favorable.
Mean Score
Chris Christie 53.1
Hillary Clinton 52.1
Elizabeth Warren 49.2
Kirsten Gillibrand 47.6
Ted Cruz 46.8
Marco Rubio 46.5
Joe Biden 46.2
Martin O’Malley 45.7
Bobby Jindal 45.2
Rand Paul 44.8
Andrew Cuomo 43.9
Peter King 43.6
Paul Ryan 43.0
Scott Walker 41.1
Rick Santorum 40.7
Jeb Bush 40.4
Mark Warner 39.4
Among Independents
Chris Christie 50.6
Ted Cruz 50.4
Rand Paul 49.1
Paul Ryan 48.0
Bobby Jindal 47.8
Scott Walker 45.9
Marco Rubio 45.0
Elizabeth Warren 44.2
Hillary Clinton 44.2
Peter King 43.6
Kirsten Gillibrand 42.1
Jeb Bush 41.8
Rick Santorum 41.5
Joe Biden 41.3
Andrew Cuomo 41.2
Mark Warner 39.9
Martin O’Malley 39.2
Percent Scoring >50
Hillary Clinton 49%
Joe Biden 39%
Chris Christie 37%
Paul Ryan 28%
Rand Paul 28%
Marco Rubio 25%
Rick Santorum 24%
Jeb Bush 22%
Elizabeth Warren 21%
Andrew Cuomo 20%
Bobby Jindal 16%
Ted Cruz 15%
Scott Walker 12%
Peter King 10%
Kirsten Gillibrand 9%
Mark Warner 9%
Martin O’Malley 7%
Haven’t Heard Enough About to Form an Opinion
Martin O’Malley 78%
Kirsten Gillibrand 75%
Peter King 71%
Scott Walker 65%
Mark Warner 65%
Ted Cruz 60%
Bobby Jindal 56%
Elizabeth Warren 51%
Andrew Cuomo 41%
Marco Rubio 36%
Rick Santorum 30%
Rand Paul 28%
Paul Ryan 24%
Chris Christie 21%
Jeb Bush 20%
Joe Biden 8%
Hillary Clinton 2%
From the Uncut article:
"Unlike the Tories, our party has a sense of direction and a purpose. We plan to have the biggest house building program since the World War II. We plan on putting a million young people back to work. We will stick to the Tory cuts, but we also want to invest in the country’s future. The Tories might argue that there is no money, but remember, they only won the cuts argument, while they lost the austerity argument. There is a big distinction, and we have to mercilessly push that point."
Well, its a point of view I suppose. Calling it wishful thinking might be a little kind.
your twitter link isn't working for me, possibly because I don't have a twitter account.
Bad news on contamination from Fukushima. It is Zero Hedge and is therefore up the scale on hyperbole but it also sounds fairly serious.
I fear these problems are not going to make selling any new nuclear plants into the UK any easier or politically more viable, for all the differences.
A French question: would The Five Villages become Les Cinq Villages or Les Cinques Villages en francais?
Not les cinqs villages.