"As to whether Blairites or Brownites were more culpable of spin gone toxic, take your pick. The Iraq war or the playground knee-cappings of Damian McBride? In the end the body count is the only measure."
Tory Treasury @ToryTreasury 39m Labour think they hv identified a tax rise on hedge funds. But it's a tax on pension pots and not a single hedge fund is affected. Oh dear
What's the full story on that? Why is TT so confident?
Interesting decision by Lord Stewart holding that seeking to ban smoking in the State Hospital in Scotland was illegal and a breach of the patients' human rights: http://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/opinions/2013CSOH143.html
The case distinguished between prisoners and patients but the underlying principles seem pretty similar to me.
@BBCAllegra: Lord Digby Jones turns up to address UKIP. I ask Jones if it's ok for their eco spokesman to call women "sluts"? No, he says, he should go
"Howard Archer at IHS Global Insight said. “If current trends were continued, underlying borrowing would come in at £107.2bn.” " As trends have been sharply improving throughout the year there must be a good chance that they will end up under £100bn. Not exactly party, party time let alone funding for budget give aways but signs of real progress.
Interesting that part of the improvement this last month was offset by additional capital spending of £500m too. Looking at the construction figures there seems to be a lot of that about. Either this spending is being front loaded to get the economy moving or there are going to be announcements of additional capital spending in the Autumn statement. Probably a bit of both actually.
It's not often that I find myself defending Godfrey Bloom, but why on earth should he lose the whip for making a harmless joke in response to references to his remark about cleaning behind the fridge, when he didn't lose it for the original remark?
This would be, oddly for UKIP, political correctness gone mad.
If they don't have adequate content, they shouldn't try to compensate by posting inadequate content.
Did you see the truly sickening one yesterday about who a woman should have the right to have an abortion on the basis of the sex of the child.
Sickening but logical. If you're going to allow abortion on demand as of right (which is the standard Guardianista position - a woman should be in control of her own body etc), you can hardly complain because you don't happen to like the reason for which the right is exercised.
If you are able to lock away cash for a year and want to earn the best guaranteed (and legal) return what do you do?
Portfolio of carefully selected zero dividend preference shares (can be structured to fit within your capital gains allowance). Of course there is equity risk, but if you select funds that are well above their threshold then you should be ok.
Just read the context on what Bloom said and whilst I can imagine the ultra PC Green party or so taking it seriously ,I am surprised UKIP are getting that bothered by it. Its not as if he said the word in insult only in jest (I imagine many a ;cutting edge' comedian has done the same tbh).
If the whip is withdrawn ,contrast that with what the Queen of PC Harriot Harman once said about Danny Alexander being a 'ginger rodent ' (and she meant it!!_) .Of course nothing happened to her for saying that as she is allowed to say things like that.
UKIP woudl be well advised to brush it off as nothing much as one of their selling points is being anti - overly PC
If women are to overthrow the tyranny of perpetual cleansing, we have to be able to say: "Yes, I am a slut. My house could be cleaner. My sheets could be whiter. I could be without sexual fantasies too – pure as the untrodden snow – but I'm not. I'm a slut and proud." The rejection by women of compulsory cleansing of mind, body and soul is a necessary pre-condition of liberation
Germaine Greer (!), from the first of the links I just posted.
Godfrey Bloom at the cutting edge of the new feminism.
Not available any more (except for renewing existing certificates reaching maturity), and not likely to be for some time.
Fair enough - am already fully invested in that asset class so don't follow it closely
Still very fond of ZIRPs. Made a nice amount when the press got all twitchy about then 10 (?) years ago and you could get them at a nice discount to fair value
So Nige is "hacked off" and that is it? Whip removed from an elected representative? Call this a party?
Add in the rough "justice" that David Kendrick seems to have got and you realise this is not a party but a one man ego trip. Not a stable scenario.
There are some very sensible contributors on here who are members. Do you think this is ok?
The tories need to get this lot down to 5%. Hmm...maybe offer them more opportunities to make fools of themselves?
You know my feelings on Farage and his leadership. No doubt MikeK will be on here at some point defending these decisions but my view is exactly yours - that UKIP can never really achieve anything substantial as long as Farage runs it as his own personal fiefdom.
It is a shame as I definitely want to see UKIP succeed and, as a result, force a change in the Tory party leadership but the chances of that happening are to my mind at least greatly reduced as long as Farage is the leader.
some of you may be interested in a chart I put together showing the predicted labour majority according to monthly yougov averages (taken from UKPR) put into baxter, since the start of the parliament.
An interesting chart James - of course we must be wary against becoming too hung up on either UKPR or Baxter, but at least it provides an interesting trend line.
Why has Tessa Jowell chosen to speak out – And why now ?
Mail – “Labour leader Ed Miliband found himself caught up in the explosive fall-out of memoirs of Gordon Brown's spin doctor Damien McBride who ran smear campaigns from Downing Street
And as Mr McBride's memoir revealed the toxic culture of spin, smears and feuding at the heart of New Labour, former Cabinet minister Dame Tessa Jowell, said Mr Miliband knew it was happening at the time.
Mr. Eagles, it sounds like Button's near certain to remain. Now, a Perez-Alonso decision is not one that would confound anybody, but the question is whether Alonso is willing and able to leave Ferrari.
He's contracted to Ferrari but, as I've written (not yet posted) in my pre-qualifying piece F1 contracts are like the rules of piracy: they're more like guidelines. It's possible he could leave Ferrari anyway.
McLaren have a dog of a car, but next year the regulations change enormously so they could bounce back very easily. In addition, in 2014 they'll have the probable best engine, whereas it now sounds like Ferrari will have the worst. Not only that, they've axed a man who Alonso likes and who acts as his wingman and hired someone not only likely to be competitive against Alonso but who is arguably the least likely to take team orders on the grid.
Earlier this season it appeared his agent was making inquiries at Red Bull, which would suggest Alonso has the ability to leave Ferrari if he wants to.
Lacking Eddie Jordan's sources *cough*Ecclestone*cough* I don't know for sure, but I'd say he's still likely to stay with Ferrari.
@tim - Indeed Crosby is working for the Tories and doing a quite superb job (Ed -16 in case you've forgotten) and Godfrey Bloomers is assuredly doing the same.
And we mustn't overlook the outstanding contribution from Damian McPr1ckface either, must we?
So Nige is "hacked off" and that is it? Whip removed from an elected representative? Call this a party?
Add in the rough "justice" that David Kendrick seems to have got and you realise this is not a party but a one man ego trip. Not a stable scenario.
There are some very sensible contributors on here who are members. Do you think this is ok?
The tories need to get this lot down to 5%. Hmm...maybe offer them more opportunities to make fools of themselves?
It's like Godfrey Bloom is working for the Tories while Lynton Crosby is working for UKIP.
When you look at the chart posted by our new poster @Jamesvanilla (I think) earlier today I don't think it can be said that Mr Crosby is doing too bad a job. Of course it is always easier to make money when the market is flowing your way and he has had an amazing amount of help from the Labour party.
I think there is a real chance now that UKIP is going to self destruct. That will really throw the cat amongst the pigeons.
As I mentioned on PB recently, the pollsters are concerned that their findings are understating the AfD's level of support on account of a perceived "shy" factor. If this in fact exists to any meaningful extent then the party appears like to exceed the required 5% threshold to win seats in the Bundestag.
@JGForsyth: The Tories should offer to pay for more UKIP conferences. Hard to think of a better advert for why people shouldn’t vote for them than today
@gabyhinsliff: Only thing that depresses me more than Godfrey Bloom is the number of UKIp voters presumably wondering why what he did is that big a deal.
@tim - So how are we feeling about Ed Balls this fine evening? You've been curiously hesitant, almost bashful, about to-day's big story. Now's your chance....
The Left is sick. I mean, really, mentally diseased. Liberalism and feminism have turned into something quite hideous. They fully support the niqab, they're cool with aborting girl babies.
"The belief that the State has no business interfering in the cultural affairs of individuals and groups is untenable in the face of the challenges to equality and liberty presented by regressive religious and cultural practices. ........But inegalitarian values are not a bit passive or abstract when put into practice - they have real ongoing consequences and victims."
And
"The laissez-faire approach to liberty in these circumstances is an act, not of principle, but of moral cowardice. Like the pacifist whose only concern is keeping his own hands free of blood, the liberal only concerned with his own reputation for tolerance ends up complicit in the crimes he ignores."
Why has Tessa Jowell chosen to speak out – And why now ?
Her estranged [sic] husband is a known, convicted, associate of an Italian "Don"*; She received a mortgage payment from the same "Don"**; and her brother-in-law has taken some famous tax-advice from the millionaire shadow-cabinet and former Goldman-Sachs employees that run the Labour Party: Hmmm, difficult....
* t'Economist: Finally they got their man. ** Italian Parliament's decision: Who am I to judge....?
@tim - So how are we feeling about Ed Balls this fine evening? You've been curiously hesitant, almost bashful, about to-day's big story. Now's your chance....
Tim has nothing to say about today's big story - can't imagine why....
I feel even more sorry for David Kendrick now - or perhaps he's dodged a bullet..
To be fair to UKIP, David K should have mentioned that story when asked whether there was anything that might come out which would embarrass the party. It's the failure to disclose, rather than the actual story itself, which I expect was the problem.
Mind you, it doesn't reflect well on their Googling skills that they didn't discover it themselves before confirming him as a candidate.
On the Bloom affair, what UKIP are discovering is the limit to the 'we're not like the other parties' approach. Yes, they are, or will need to be if they are to be taken seriously.
Excellent choice if I may say so - a true gent with the welfare of Londoners close to his heart. I say this in all sincerity, unbiased by the fifty nicker I had on him Henry first suggested he might run. Should he win however, I am be prepared to make a (very) small donation to either the Labour Party or The Henry Manson Poverty Alleviation Fund, whichever can prove itself the more needy.
And on the linguistic front, I have consulted my neighbours, Alf and Ada Garnett, and they inform me that the term slag can be used of either a male or a female, depending on context. The term is not complimentary, in either case; for a woman, it suggests a form of low-life that is in the habit of using knickers as ankle warmers. For a male, it again suggests lowlife, but the connotations are less sexual, and more likely to indicate the sort of toad who would pass information on to the police in return for favours, or bangers and mash.
Either way it is not the sort of language Mr Farage should be encouraging in his nice little Party.
On abortion - I understand the current law indicates that an abortion can be carried out if there is a risk to the physical or mental health of the woman. Suggests that sex-selective abortion would be legal, however sad that seems. I'm not sure what we can do about this one unless you move away from pro-choice. And the woman can always lie, so what difference would it make? Far better to try and tackle the cultural issues that are behind it.
Keir Starmer however did say that there was evidence of doctors breaking the law but amazingly he decided it wasn't in the public interest to prosecute. Bizarre.
I feel even more sorry for David Kendrick now - or perhaps he's dodged a bullet..
To be fair to UKIP, David K should have mentioned that story when asked whether there was anything that might come out which would embarrass the party. It's the failure to disclose, rather than the actual story itself, which I expect was the problem.
Mind you, it doesn't reflect well on their Googling skills that they didn't discover it themselves before confirming him as a candidate.
On the Bloom affair, what UKIP are discovering is the limit to the 'we're not like the other parties' approach. Yes, they are, or will need to be if they are to be taken seriously.
I was more comparing the embarrassment caused to Ukip that a small local rag article than compared to smacking a tv reporter live on camera plus the slags comment - all in one day..
On abortion - I understand the current law indicates that an abortion can be carried out if there is a risk to the physical or mental health of the woman. Suggests that sex-selective abortion would be legal, however sad that seems. ....
Feck me: Wodger we have found a bigger imbecile (as hard as it is to believe)....
They're trying to make the jump to being a serious party but as long as they're headed by a stand up comedian in the EU Parlt, they're just going to get lots of juvenile attention seekers trying to out do the boss. Cue Bloom and son.
I thought Nutall had done a credible job today but all the hard work he and others do will just be unpicked by cheeky chappy Nige and his travelling circus.
A really good day for Cameron bookended by McBride nailing Miliband and UKIP doing Animal House.
Would any BOOer like to hazard how well Farage will run an out referendum campaign ? Van Rompuy and Barroso will be putting Nige and Godfrey on their web site.
Tory Treasury @ToryTreasury 2h Labour think they hv identified a tax rise on hedge funds. But it's a tax on pension pots and not a single hedge fund is affected. Oh dear
I feel even more sorry for David Kendrick now - or perhaps he's dodged a bullet..
To be fair to UKIP, David K should have mentioned that story when asked whether there was anything that might come out which would embarrass the party. It's the failure to disclose, rather than the actual story itself, which I expect was the problem.
Mind you, it doesn't reflect well on their Googling skills that they didn't discover it themselves before confirming him as a candidate.
On the Bloom affair, what UKIP are discovering is the limit to the 'we're not like the other parties' approach. Yes, they are, or will need to be if they are to be taken seriously.
I was more comparing the embarrassment caused to Ukip that a small local rag article than compared to smacking a tv reporter live on camera plus the slags comment - all in one day..
Godfrey Bloom appears to be self-indulgent, and enjoys headlines. It is not his role to be deliberately provative. Only the leader has that responsibility and privilege (directly or indirectly). We all know it is tough to be noticed as a spokesman for any party: if you say something sensible; it is not a story. But that is not an excuse.
Should I have told UKIP about the BHA story? Possibly. Could I have reasonable forecast that I would have been dropped like a hot brick, when the maximum penalty which could have been imposed on me was zero? The story would have forgotten by Monday. Some have more rope than others, but that will always be the case.
For other party activists, it is hard to imaging quite what a shoe-string operation the adminstration at UKIP central actually is. Everybody is rushed off their feet, and decision taking is encouraged. I'm not complaining.
Oh dear - it's one thing to moan about the spare room subsidy being removed but quite another to actually reintroduce it. Are people renting in the private sector going to get it back as well?
Comments
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/maryriddell/100237070/judge-the-blairbrown-wars-of-attrition-by-the-body-count/
"As to whether Blairites or Brownites were more culpable of spin gone toxic, take your pick. The Iraq war or the playground knee-cappings of Damian McBride? In the end the body count is the only measure."
Labour think they hv identified a tax rise on hedge funds. But it's a tax on pension pots and not a single hedge fund is affected. Oh dear
What's the full story on that? Why is TT so confident?
The case distinguished between prisoners and patients but the underlying principles seem pretty similar to me.
http://www.wahlrecht.de/umfragen/index.htm
Nice write up of Mr Nuttall's speech from the Speccy.
http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2013/09/ukip-conference-paul-nuttall-a-very-different-ukipper-appeals-to-the-labour-vote/
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/sep/20/david-cameron-chillaxing-instagram
If they don't have adequate content, they shouldn't try to compensate by posting inadequate content.
"Howard Archer at IHS Global Insight said. “If current trends were continued, underlying borrowing would come in at £107.2bn.” "
As trends have been sharply improving throughout the year there must be a good chance that they will end up under £100bn. Not exactly party, party time let alone funding for budget give aways but signs of real progress.
Interesting that part of the improvement this last month was offset by additional capital spending of £500m too. Looking at the construction figures there seems to be a lot of that about. Either this spending is being front loaded to get the economy moving or there are going to be announcements of additional capital spending in the Autumn statement. Probably a bit of both actually.
Here is the video of the speech. I think his unaffected style of speaking is far more impressive and natural than any current party leader
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWLuykXWmbM&feature=youtu.be
This would be, oddly for UKIP, political correctness gone mad.
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/sep/20/ukip-godfrey-bloom-calls-women-sluts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7hHx7gdN68
Dave must be chuckling to himself and saying I was right about UKIP.
Thank you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZaiB9jYCxI
Alternatively NSI inflation linked bonds
'hacked-off' with Bloom. Will be recommending whip removal to party chairman at 6pm.
'I've had enough of him...and his 1960s mess-officer humour...'
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/women_shealth/8510743/These-slut-walk-women-are-simply-fighting-for-their-right-to-be-dirty.html
http://slutmeansspeakup.org.uk/
If the whip is withdrawn ,contrast that with what the Queen of PC Harriot Harman once said about Danny Alexander being a 'ginger rodent ' (and she meant it!!_) .Of course nothing happened to her for saying that as she is allowed to say things like that.
UKIP woudl be well advised to brush it off as nothing much as one of their selling points is being anti - overly PC
Yorkshire at it's finest! Somehow I think Doncaster-North's MP took this video too seriously.....
Disclosure: This video may have influenced my 'O'-Levels. Thank you Mr Wagstaff...!
Add in the rough "justice" that David Kendrick seems to have got and you realise this is not a party but a one man ego trip. Not a stable scenario.
There are some very sensible contributors on here who are members. Do you think this is ok?
The tories need to get this lot down to 5%. Hmm...maybe offer them more opportunities to make fools of themselves?
Germaine Greer (!), from the first of the links I just posted.
Godfrey Bloom at the cutting edge of the new feminism.
Still very fond of ZIRPs. Made a nice amount when the press got all twitchy about then 10 (?) years ago and you could get them at a nice discount to fair value
"Ferrari are believed to be behind both Mercedes and Renault on power-unit performance at this stage."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula-one/24171278
It is a shame as I definitely want to see UKIP succeed and, as a result, force a change in the Tory party leadership but the chances of that happening are to my mind at least greatly reduced as long as Farage is the leader.
Mail – “Labour leader Ed Miliband found himself caught up in the explosive fall-out of memoirs of Gordon Brown's spin doctor Damien McBride who ran smear campaigns from Downing Street
And as Mr McBride's memoir revealed the toxic culture of spin, smears and feuding at the heart of New Labour, former Cabinet minister Dame Tessa Jowell, said Mr Miliband knew it was happening at the time.
http://tinyurl.com/kd44ddl
He's contracted to Ferrari but, as I've written (not yet posted) in my pre-qualifying piece F1 contracts are like the rules of piracy: they're more like guidelines. It's possible he could leave Ferrari anyway.
McLaren have a dog of a car, but next year the regulations change enormously so they could bounce back very easily. In addition, in 2014 they'll have the probable best engine, whereas it now sounds like Ferrari will have the worst. Not only that, they've axed a man who Alonso likes and who acts as his wingman and hired someone not only likely to be competitive against Alonso but who is arguably the least likely to take team orders on the grid.
Earlier this season it appeared his agent was making inquiries at Red Bull, which would suggest Alonso has the ability to leave Ferrari if he wants to.
Lacking Eddie Jordan's sources *cough*Ecclestone*cough* I don't know for sure, but I'd say he's still likely to stay with Ferrari.
And we mustn't overlook the outstanding contribution from Damian McPr1ckface either, must we?
I think there is a real chance now that UKIP is going to self destruct. That will really throw the cat amongst the pigeons.
Putting it in perspective....
"The belief that the State has no business interfering in the cultural affairs of individuals and groups is untenable in the face of the challenges to equality and liberty presented by regressive religious and cultural practices. ........But inegalitarian values are not a bit passive or abstract when put into practice - they have real ongoing consequences and victims."
And
"The laissez-faire approach to liberty in these circumstances is an act, not of principle, but of moral cowardice. Like the pacifist whose only concern is keeping his own hands free of blood, the liberal only concerned with his own reputation for tolerance ends up complicit in the crimes he ignores."
Anyone think they will poll 10% in a GE ?
UKIP's PR team couldn't organise a pregnancy on a council estate
Sounds like he could be booted out of the party.
* t'Economist: Finally they got their man.
** Italian Parliament's decision: Who am I to judge....?
There we go Tim - read it and weep.
Mind you, it doesn't reflect well on their Googling skills that they didn't discover it themselves before confirming him as a candidate.
On the Bloom affair, what UKIP are discovering is the limit to the 'we're not like the other parties' approach. Yes, they are, or will need to be if they are to be taken seriously.
Excellent choice if I may say so - a true gent with the welfare of Londoners close to his heart. I say this in all sincerity, unbiased by the fifty nicker I had on him Henry first suggested he might run. Should he win however, I am be prepared to make a (very) small donation to either the Labour Party or The Henry Manson Poverty Alleviation Fund, whichever can prove itself the more needy.
And on the linguistic front, I have consulted my neighbours, Alf and Ada Garnett, and they inform me that the term slag can be used of either a male or a female, depending on context. The term is not complimentary, in either case; for a woman, it suggests a form of low-life that is in the habit of using knickers as ankle warmers. For a male, it again suggests lowlife, but the connotations are less sexual, and more likely to indicate the sort of toad who would pass information on to the police in return for favours, or bangers and mash.
Either way it is not the sort of language Mr Farage should be encouraging in his nice little Party.
Oe-er Missus! You been spending too much time with JackW.
Keir Starmer however did say that there was evidence of doctors breaking the law but amazingly he decided it wasn't in the public interest to prosecute. Bizarre.
Of course: Laws are for lickle peepals. Not for Mr and Mrs David Laws (at least within UK jurisidiction)....
He's lost it.... blaming Bloom for destroying the conference....
They're trying to make the jump to being a serious party but as long as they're headed by a stand up comedian in the EU Parlt, they're just going to get lots of juvenile attention seekers trying to out do the boss. Cue Bloom and son.
I thought Nutall had done a credible job today but all the hard work he and others do will just be unpicked by cheeky chappy Nige and his travelling circus.
A really good day for Cameron bookended by McBride nailing Miliband and UKIP doing Animal House.
Plenty of time for the Bloom story to blow over.
Meanwhile Ed's big policy launch goes ignored.
and Farage has zero political skills...
Tory Treasury @ToryTreasury 2h
Labour think they hv identified a tax rise on hedge funds. But it's a tax on pension pots and not a single hedge fund is affected. Oh dear
Bloom in 2006..
A little bit more meditation is needed.
Robin Brant @robindbrant 2m
Lab leader tells BBC he will ditch 'bedroom tax' in 2015 if he wins gen Elex.
Robin Brant @robindbrant 3m
BBC has exclusive 'bedroom tax/spare room subsidy' news from ed Miliband.
If Ed's first official policy announcement is an unfunded welfare give away then Dave's day just gets even better
"Labour will pay the unemployed to have empty rooms in their houses..."
Should I have told UKIP about the BHA story? Possibly. Could I have reasonable forecast that I would have been dropped like a hot brick, when the maximum penalty which could have been imposed on me was zero? The story would have forgotten by Monday. Some have more rope than others, but that will always be the case.
For other party activists, it is hard to imaging quite what a shoe-string operation the adminstration at UKIP central actually is. Everybody is rushed off their feet, and decision taking is encouraged. I'm not complaining.