Come on Bob, Chukka has shown himself to be a vain, arrogant, rich-as-feck, out of touch poshlad. We've got more than enough of those in all our mainstream parties, so he deserves as much ridicule as the rest of 'em.
Total rubbish. He is rich. So what? He has a tough south London seat and, AFAIK, works hard for it. He's from a clubbing background, which is more in-touch with many of his trendy constituents that getting in a small-businessman from the Midlands or a miner's son from Sheffield.
My partner and I went to Esztergom a few years ago on a day trip from Budapest. We decided to walk across the Danube into Slovakia so that I could get better photos of the town. I got across and back OK because I have an EU passport. Alas, my partner who is American was detained for 10 minutes crossing and returning each way, and all for a 20 minute visit from Hungary to Slovakia.
Slightly off point, but Visegrád is well worth a visit. It's a former capital of Hungary with a ruined castle on top of a hill on the bend in the Danube, with fantastic views. The walk up from the river is quite stiff, mind. And it's pronounced Vish-eh-grad (not Visa-grad as I originally imagined).
Come on Bob, Chukka has shown himself to be a vain, arrogant, rich-as-feck, out of touch poshlad. We've got more than enough of those in all our mainstream parties, so he deserves as much ridicule as the rest of 'em.
Total rubbish. He is rich. So what? He has a tough south London seat and, AFAIK, works hard for it. He's from a clubbing background, which is more in-touch with many of his trendy constituents that getting in a small-businessman from the Midlands or a miner's son from Sheffield.
I understand that, and can appreciate that he works hard. He's Labour and that is good. From now on I will only attack hard working right wingers. Is that acceptable?
Come on Bob, Chukka has shown himself to be a vain, arrogant, rich-as-feck, out of touch poshlad. We've got more than enough of those in all our mainstream parties, so he deserves as much ridicule as the rest of 'em.
Total rubbish. He is rich. So what? He has a tough south London seat and, AFAIK, works hard for it. He's from a clubbing background, which is more in-touch with many of his trendy constituents that getting in a small-businessman from the Midlands or a miner's son from Sheffield.
Leave it out, Bob, he's no better, or worse than the other out of touch, rich, jetsetting, vain, arrogant poshlads in the Tory party. And, to make it worse, it appears he believes his own hype. You're welcome to him.
Curiously enough mentioned in neither his Wiki entry nor constituency profile.....
......just as well no one holds wealthy parents or going to a posh school against anyone......
Yet more envious drivel from you. He is from a rich family? So what? The Labour Party is a broad church made up of people from all social classes.
And Labour posters never ever make something of an MPs parents wealth or the educational choices they made for them....no siree!
Point me to a post where I showed class prejudice. Arguing with you is like debating a childish schoolboy. "Yeah but.."
I didn't - my point was about Labour posters making the same class/wealth observations now being made about Chuka. Are you claiming such comments are not made?
Since you are such a Chuka fanboy, perhaps you could clarify what is meant by "Jetrosexual"!
I guess jetrosexual means a trendy, well presented, straight man who travels.
No doubt your defence would be just as robust if he was a Tory!
I look forward to your future defences of Tories from "bumpkin prejudices"
His favoured holiday destinations appear to be Ibiza and South Beach....
A Labour councillor has been found guilty of falsely branding a Liberal Democrat rival a paedophile and telling electors he had sex with teenage boys. Miranda Grell slurred gay Lib Dem candidate Barry Smith while campaigning for the Leyton ward in Waltham Forest Council, east London, in 2006.
Grell, 29, was convicted by magistrates of two counts of making false statements about another candidate.
It's strange for a police officer to be anti-Thatcher.
If there's one thing you could say for absolute certain about Maggie it's that her support for the forces of law and order (police/army etc) was unbelievable.
Her moral belief in the law and the inate goodness of the police was a bit innocently naive in my view, but all the same, the coppers did alright with her.
Police - GOOD Football fans (all) - BAD
Army - GOOD Catholics in NI (nearly all) - BAD
There's much to admire in a conviction politician, but even reading her own words and own views there's no doubt she was infuriatingly black and white on some issues.
I suppose the Orgreave situation was an encapsulation of it. I know a miner who was picked up by the police, held with his arms behind him and dropped on to a kerb, breaking his ribs. He may have deserved it, I don't know, but - even as someone who thinks Scargill is a tw*t - I find it amusing how Maggie would consistently venerate the police despite so much talk of ill behaviour. And I think she truly believed they were all a force for good too.
Anyone who has been to a particularly tetchy football game will know what it's like to be on the receiving end of some good, old fashioned, moral policing!
Slightly off point, but Visegrád is well worth a visit. It's a former capital of Hungary with a ruined castle on top of a hill on the bend in the Danube, with fantastic views. The walk up from the river is quite stiff, mind. And it's pronounced Vish-eh-grad (not Visa-grad as I originally imagined).
It was also the answer to a clue in Tuesday's Telegraph crossword.
'I didn't - my point was about Labour posters making the same class/wealth observations now being made about Chuka. Are you claiming such comments are not made?'
Tory public school educated millionaire toffs = Bad.
Labour public school educated millionaire toffs = Good
I don't really get Guido-followers' sudden obsession with Chuka. Did he tweak his wikipedia entry or say something rude about clubbers before he was an MP? Who cares? It wouldn't really matter if he did it last week, and 7 years ago? Get a life, chaps.
And no, Carlotta, I've never criticised a Tory for where he went to school. Generalising about 'Labour posters' is like generalising about 'pbtories'. We vary. You vary. Variation is good.
@NickPalmer -I did not write "all" Labour posters write about where people went to school - but you wouldn't deny it does appear to obsess some of them, no?
The point on Chuka is that this sort of nonsense is flung about frequently by some on the left about Tories - but point it out about a Labour MP and they get entertainingly aerated.
And since 6 national newspapers have stories about Chuka today, it's hardly "Guido-followers"!
Do you seriously think the current tory leadership want to bring up friends,drugs,offshore tax havens,internet aliases or moneyed parents?
If it's that shocking it would make you wonder why Labour aren't briniging it up ? Any reasons apart from they've pretty much the unwashed laundry themselves ?
"... of deindustrialisation in the 1980s. That process had begun at least half a century earlier, and had accelerated through the Sixties and Seventies, when Harold Wilson closed nearly twice as many pits as Margaret Thatcher was to do. Of course, what we mean by 'closed' is that the Government discontinued the grants that had kept unprofitable mines in operation. Neither Wilson nor Thatcher prohibited the extraction of coal; they simply stopped obliging everyone else to subsidise it."
I was under the impression Margaret Thatcher closed pits, but she only stopped subsidies - like WIlson did before ? Surely not.
"Whereas New Labour clearly learnt the lesson of the importance of party discipline and pragmatism from the 1980s, the post-Thatcher Conservative Party has become more ideological and less disciplined, as exemplified in the bizarre murmurings over the prospect of replacing David Cameron, the first Conservative leader in a decade to make them a competitive electoral force, even if he was not able to win a majority against a deeply unpopular incumbent."
The final paragraph - Which Carlotta quotes just before me - is quite interesting.
Which party are they expecting to have a negative vote share in the near future? I've seen some dodgy axes in my time, but starting the vote share axis at -10% is one of the more bizarre.
Mr Fluffy, when it comes to ‘inappropriate’ awarding of gongs to foreigners of dubious merit, Gordon Brown’s knighthood to Ted Kennedy must be at the top of the list.
The only decent and honourable thing the old soak ever did was to pop his clogs before it arrived in the post.
The Daily Mail has outdone itself in the self parody stakes this week with its fawning over Thatcher and its manufactured outrage over anyone perceived not to be mourning her passing intensely enough.
Personally I think the BBC should acknowledge/announce the song in the chart rundown but not play it. Not playing isn't the same as banning, and anyone who has bought it already has it if they want a listen.
Although I can see why people think it should be played, if only for those who dance around in celebration to have something to be embarrassed about in later life. The heat from the shame may help them with their energy bills.
it could make for an interesting debate on "absolute values", if there are such things.
"The Daily Mail has outdone itself in the self parody stakes this week with its fawning over Thatcher and its manufactured outrage over anyone perceived not to be mourning her passing intensely enough"
I wouldn't know having never read the Mail - I'm sure they are pandering to their readers so what does it matter?
@old_labour Your partner is not the only one to have had problems crossing the river between the two countries. The Hungarians and the Slovaks have a scratchy relationship. This must rank as one of the silliest diplomatic incidents ever:
Anybody see Question Time last night? Couldn't believe how well Ming spoke about Mrs Thatcher. After all these years it appeared he outed himself as a closet Thatcherite.
Shame he could couldn't have done Mrs T's eulogy in the Commons. I'm sure he'd have made a better fist of it than Cleggs weak, embarrassment.
I think this particular song getting to No1 actually loses my compassion for the people who suffered as a result of Thatchers policies, and I am quite ambivalent about her. If they got 'The Red Flag' to No 1 I would think that a more fitting way of protesting about her. This just seems geared for students who want to have a cheap shot and probably weren't there in the 80s anyway.
Not yet, I'm trying another tack on the issue though. If you can translate I'm all ears.
I do German-English translations as a second job - drop me a note if you like? (nickmp1 at aol dot com) Missed the original post so I don't know if it's a sentence or a 1000-page book...
The lead author of the report, Martin Hoerling, a research meteorologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told the Associated Press he had tried to create computer simulations of the the drought, factoring in climate change conditions. Hoerling undertook a similar exercise with the 2011 drought in Texas, finding that climate change had indeed been a factor.
He was unable to do so in this case, Hoerling said, arguing that it demonstrated the drought had been a one-off event.
It's the first time I've heard of a study being published where someone had failed to find a link between a weather extreme and global warming. There have been previous studies linking extremes such as the 2000 south England floods, the 2003 European heatwave and the 2010 Russian heatwave with global warming.
I was beginning to wonder whether there was a publication bias involved - people rarely publish studies with a null result simply because they are less interesting.
It seems one of the East Midlands Euro candidates (the Gedling Cllr) was also sitting on the selection panel! She tweeted she was busy inerviewing Euro candidates...and then she pops up on the shortlist. How would it be possible? Did she interview herself? "Ask a question and give youself a reply" method?
I would bet on Rory Palmer from Leicester as number 2 right now....I am told he's good. Mike Dugher has already endorsed him.
Lessons from Thatcher haunt the utterly useless Osborne:
it is very hard to shrink the size of government even when a strong leader has complete control of the legislature, that it takes many years of arduous work to do so and that at the end of the day it won’t shrink very much.
Grove vindicated on history teaching as two university students on Pointless fail to identify any of the following five facts related to the Civil War having been given straightforward clues:
- Cavaliers - Oliver Cromwell - New Model Army - Edge Hill - Charles I
They plumped for "redcoats" as being the name given to the Royalists that was derived from the French for horseman.
@Tim@Smithson I see you have your bff supporting you now. It's so refreshing to see the site owner rushing to your defence. How very Bercow of him. BTW You wouldn't know a fact if it hit you in the face.
RT @Khyberman: Q:How many Socialists does it take to change a lightbulb? A: "Let's not change it. Let's just keep blaming Margaret Thatcher indefinitely."
Pointing out that someone who posts "hypocracy" next to "leftard" might not be very bright is hardly a smear, it's a statement of fact.
Leftard is, you know, like retard. It's hilarious. It implies left-wingers are, you know, retarded. How funny is that? It's nearly as hilarious (and clever) as Zanu Labour and Al-Beeb.
It was a lot of trouble for him so that I could take a few snaps from the other side of the Danube. The Hungarians have the city, but the Slovaks have the best view of it.
@old_labour Your partner is not the only one to have had problems crossing the river between the two countries. The Hungarians and the Slovaks have a scratchy relationship. This must rank as one of the silliest diplomatic incidents ever:
@Tim@Smithson I see you have your bff supporting you now. It's so refreshing to see the site owner rushing to your defence. How very Bercow of him. BTW You wouldn't know a fact if it hit you in the face.
The shark was jumped some months ago. Shame really.
Mr Fluffy, when it comes to ‘inappropriate’ awarding of gongs to foreigners of dubious merit, Gordon Brown’s knighthood to Ted Kennedy must be at the top of the list.
The only decent and honourable thing the old soak ever did was to pop his clogs before it arrived in the post.
Sadly not true Mr StClare: Labour awarded Ceaus' the highest noble award in chivalry! Sums-up their understanding of democracy and tradition...!
It's almost gone unnoticed but the Great Left Wing Hope known as Chuka Umanananananaanana has pretty much imploded in the last couple of weeks!
Of course if this was a potential Conservative leader imploding Tim would have gone into posting meltdown, but he's been strangely quiet about Chuka. Can't think why?
Anyway, I went on record on here the first time he appeared on Question Time and said I couldn't see what the fuss was about.
RT @Khyberman: Q:How many Socialists does it take to change a lightbulb? A: "Let's not change it. Let's just keep blaming Margaret Thatcher indefinitely."
West Wiltshire council has been abolished in 2009...but I guess they argue that they meant they can gain county council divisions located in west Wiltshire.
But the other 3 areas mentioned by the Indy aren't up this year.
The interesting question about the revelations about Chuka Umunna is why they are all coming out now. It looks suspiciously like a a dark arts operation. But for whom?
He's not an immediate threat to the leadership, so I think we can rule out anyone connected to Ed Miliband. The two obvious possibilities seem to me to be a Cabinet rival who is afraid that he might queue jump him for a prized job or a potential rival for the Mayor of London nomination (if he has ambitions in that direction). I know who looks the likeliest candidate, but with no evidence at all, I shall stay mute for now.
"Recent donors to the Conservative party are pledging large sums to the UK Independence party and have contributed funds to help fight 1,500 seats at next month's local elections, according to the party's treasurer."
So at the moment I really don't no how many candidates Ukip are putting up on May 2nd.
Grove vindicated on history teaching as two university students on Pointless fail to identify any of the following five facts related to the Civil War having been given straightforward clues:
- Cavaliers - Oliver Cromwell - New Model Army - Edge Hill - Charles I
They plumped for "redcoats" as being the name given to the Royalists that was derived from the French for horseman.
If you watched the extended version of HIGNFY then you would have heard Richard Osman say that in a show recently filmed but not yet shown, one round featured assassinations. To the question: "Who was shot in Dallas by Lee Harvey Oswald?", one woman answered: "J.R. Ewing."
Grove vindicated on history teaching as two university students on Pointless fail to identify any of the following five facts related to the Civil War having been given straightforward clues:
- Cavaliers - Oliver Cromwell - New Model Army - Edge Hill - Charles I
They plumped for "redcoats" as being the name given to the Royalists that was derived from the French for horseman.
Mr. Rexel, I am not surprised students knew nothing about the English Civil war (or the Wars of the Three Kingdoms as we are now supposed to call it), it has been skipped over in school history syllabus for donkey's years. The first time I studied it was a few years ago as part of a history degree, even then the course skimped on the military events in favour of social perspectives and a feminists view (part of the "Women's History quota).
Mind you how they got to "Redcoats" being derived for the French for Horseman let alone being applied to Royalists is beyond me.
"Recent donors to the Conservative party are pledging large sums to the UK Independence party and have contributed funds to help fight 1,500 seats at next month's local elections, according to the party's treasurer."
So at the moment I really don't no how many candidates Ukip are putting up on May 2nd.
1,727 although the UKIP candidate in one seat in Somerset has sadly died and the election there has been put back to May 16th . There can be a little confusion as to numbers . 5 candidates in Eden DC in Cumbria are on the ballot paper as " The Independence Party " but the analysis by Cumbria CC counts them as UKIP candidates and so therefore have I .
Have a look a Wiki for a more sober appraisal. IIRC one studious UK-blogger has even mapped-out all their artillery sites along the DMZ using Google-Maps (though I cannot remember the site's address)....
'Of course if this was a potential Conservative leader imploding Tim would have gone into posting meltdown, but he's been strangely quiet about Chuka. Can't think why?'
If it was a Tory public school educated, millionaire, toff referring to voters as 'trash' the PB server would have crashed by now.
'Of course if this was a potential Conservative leader imploding Tim would have gone into posting meltdown, but he's been strangely quiet about Chuka. Can't think why?'
If it was a Tory public school educated, millionaire, toff referring to voters as 'trash' the PB server would have crashed by now.
rEd seems to have learned a lot from Brown - cut your rivals off beneath the knee to ensure a long reign as leader.
Will be a while before anyone else puts their head above the parapet.
"Recent donors to the Conservative party are pledging large sums to the UK Independence party and have contributed funds to help fight 1,500 seats at next month's local elections, according to the party's treasurer."
So at the moment I really don't no how many candidates Ukip are putting up on May 2nd.
1,727 although the UKIP candidate in one seat in Somerset has sadly died and the election there has been put back to May 16th . There can be a little confusion as to numbers . 5 candidates in Eden DC in Cumbria are on the ballot paper as " The Independence Party " but the analysis by Cumbria CC counts them as UKIP candidates and so have therefore have I .
So there can be many a slip between cup and lip. I have asked Ukip for definite figures this morning and will probably have an answer tomorrow, but I perceive that all is still in flux at the moment.
Grove vindicated on history teaching as two university students on Pointless fail to identify any of the following five facts related to the Civil War having been given straightforward clues:
- Cavaliers - Oliver Cromwell - New Model Army - Edge Hill - Charles I
They plumped for "redcoats" as being the name given to the Royalists that was derived from the French for horseman.
Mr. Rexel, I am not surprised students knew nothing about the English Civil war (or the Wars of the Three Kingdoms as we are now supposed to call it), it has been skipped over in school history syllabus for donkey's years. The first time I studied it was a few years ago as part of a history degree, even then the course skimped on the military events in favour of social perspectives and a feminists view (part of the "Women's History quota).
Mind you how they got to "Redcoats" being derived for the French for Horseman let alone being applied to Royalists is beyond me.
Oh it was even more depressing. They suggested 'redcoats' on the basis that one of the girl's american boyfriend used that as a nickname for her...
West Wiltshire council has been abolished in 2009...but I guess they argue that they meant they can gain county council divisions located in west Wiltshire.
I think that was the Indy's entry to the "how many made-up facts can you get into a politics article" competition.
North Korea has a lot of stuff but most of it is obsolete and would really just be providing a target rich environment if war ever kicked off. Their forces are geared to fight a 1950s war not a modern one.
"Recent donors to the Conservative party are pledging large sums to the UK Independence party and have contributed funds to help fight 1,500 seats at next month's local elections, according to the party's treasurer."
So at the moment I really don't no how many candidates Ukip are putting up on May 2nd.
1,727 although the UKIP candidate in one seat in Somerset has sadly died and the election there has been put back to May 16th . There can be a little confusion as to numbers . 5 candidates in Eden DC in Cumbria are on the ballot paper as " The Independence Party " but the analysis by Cumbria CC counts them as UKIP candidates and so have therefore have I .
So there can be many a slip between cup and lip. I have asked Ukip for definite figures this morning and will probably have an answer tomorrow, but I perceive that all is still in flux at the moment.
It is certainly not in flux as all the SOPN have been published and are on my spreadsheet .
"Recent donors to the Conservative party are pledging large sums to the UK Independence party and have contributed funds to help fight 1,500 seats at next month's local elections, according to the party's treasurer."
So at the moment I really don't no how many candidates Ukip are putting up on May 2nd.
1,727 although the UKIP candidate in one seat in Somerset has sadly died and the election there has been put back to May 16th . There can be a little confusion as to numbers . 5 candidates in Eden DC in Cumbria are on the ballot paper as " The Independence Party " but the analysis by Cumbria CC counts them as UKIP candidates and so have therefore have I .
So there can be many a slip between cup and lip. I have asked Ukip for definite figures this morning and will probably have an answer tomorrow, but I perceive that all is still in flux at the moment.
It is certainly not in flux as all the SOPN have been published and are on my spreadsheet .
@MarkSenior: I'm not doubting your original figures Mark. In fact I just got an answer from a Ukip member that posits the same number as you, 1,727. However, published figures can be wrong on occasion.
"... of deindustrialisation in the 1980s. That process had begun at least half a century earlier, and had accelerated through the Sixties and Seventies, when Harold Wilson closed nearly twice as many pits as Margaret Thatcher was to do. Of course, what we mean by 'closed' is that the Government discontinued the grants that had kept unprofitable mines in operation. Neither Wilson nor Thatcher prohibited the extraction of coal; they simply stopped obliging everyone else to subsidise it."
I was under the impression Margaret Thatcher closed pits, but she only stopped subsidies - like WIlson did before ? Surely not.
That's an interesting article, thanks.
One thing people forget is that the traditional image of mining - the grimy men working in awful conditions underground (as shown in the picture in the article) is far from the whole story. A very large number of men worked above ground in a whole plethora of roles, from plant fitting, stockpile maintenance, to back-office. Much of it was still hard work, and many of them were tough men (some were older miners who had been medicalled off underground work). Strangely, every ex-miner I've known well worked above ground.
As for your question: ISTR that subsidies were reduced, not removed. But many mines shut, not because of any economic reasons, but because they were exhausted, with little obtainable coal left. This is a process that had been occurring for hundreds of years and was impossible to prevent.
Having said that, some mine closures were travesties.
I don't know if anyone knows definitively, but ISTR that several mine were closed immediately after the strike because the strikers had not allowed maintenance engineers in. This led to flooding and the destruction of underground machinery and support structures. Myth of truth?
"Recent donors to the Conservative party are pledging large sums to the UK Independence party and have contributed funds to help fight 1,500 seats at next month's local elections, according to the party's treasurer."
So at the moment I really don't no how many candidates Ukip are putting up on May 2nd.
It is certainly not in flux as all the SOPN have been published and are on my spreadsheet .
I suspect you have a better grasp of the numbers than UKIP's HQ.
It is almost impossible to be 100% accurate for various reasons . I know of 2 UKIP , 1 Lib Dem and 1 Labour candidate who are on the ballot paper with No Party Description probably because they simply forgot to bring the relevant signed documentation with them when they submitted their nomination papers . There have also been 2 withdrawals that I know of both Green candidates .
Comments
Come on Bob, Chukka has shown himself to be a vain, arrogant, rich-as-feck, out of touch poshlad.
We've got more than enough of those in all our mainstream parties, so he deserves as much ridicule as the rest of 'em.
Total rubbish. He is rich. So what? He has a tough south London seat and, AFAIK, works hard for it. He's from a clubbing background, which is more in-touch with many of his trendy constituents that getting in a small-businessman from the Midlands or a miner's son from Sheffield.
@ bobajob
"bumpkin prejudices", you don't see a slight contradiction in that phrasing ? :-)
My partner and I went to Esztergom a few years ago on a day trip from Budapest. We decided to walk across the Danube into Slovakia so that I could get better photos of the town. I got across and back OK because I have an EU passport. Alas, my partner who is American was detained for 10 minutes crossing and returning each way, and all for a 20 minute visit from Hungary to Slovakia.
I understand that, and can appreciate that he works hard. He's Labour and that is good. From now on I will only attack hard working right wingers. Is that acceptable?
Leave it out, Bob, he's no better, or worse than the other out of touch, rich, jetsetting, vain, arrogant poshlads in the Tory party. And, to make it worse, it appears he believes his own hype. You're welcome to him.
RT @HylandIan: To any BBC Radio 1 bosses thinking of banning Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead, I say this: "Relax - don't do it."
A Labour councillor has been found guilty of falsely branding a Liberal Democrat rival a paedophile and telling electors he had sex with teenage boys.
Miranda Grell slurred gay Lib Dem candidate Barry Smith while campaigning for the Leyton ward in Waltham Forest Council, east London, in 2006.
Grell, 29, was convicted by magistrates of two counts of making false statements about another candidate.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7006231.stm
"This is base politics of the worst kind and there will be no winners save for Cllr Grell when she clears her name." Chuka Umunna
http://www.libdemvoice.org/chuka-umunna-barack-obama-miranda-grell-2375.html
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/danielhannan/100211743/how-many-of-the-people-complaining-of-pit-closures-would-want-to-work-in-a-coal-mine/
If there's one thing you could say for absolute certain about Maggie it's that her support for the forces of law and order (police/army etc) was unbelievable.
Her moral belief in the law and the inate goodness of the police was a bit innocently naive in my view, but all the same, the coppers did alright with her.
Police - GOOD
Football fans (all) - BAD
Army - GOOD
Catholics in NI (nearly all) - BAD
There's much to admire in a conviction politician, but even reading her own words and own views there's no doubt she was infuriatingly black and white on some issues.
I suppose the Orgreave situation was an encapsulation of it. I know a miner who was picked up by the police, held with his arms behind him and dropped on to a kerb, breaking his ribs. He may have deserved it, I don't know, but - even as someone who thinks Scargill is a tw*t - I find it amusing how Maggie would consistently venerate the police despite so much talk of ill behaviour. And I think she truly believed they were all a force for good too.
Anyone who has been to a particularly tetchy football game will know what it's like to be on the receiving end of some good, old fashioned, moral policing!
Nicolae Ceaușescu - Knight Grand Cross of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, United Kingdom, 1978
Still, no doubt out of spite, Our Mags did rescind the leftards' favourite dictator's award. She had that evil streak did Maggie....
'I didn't - my point was about Labour posters making the same class/wealth observations now being made about Chuka. Are you claiming such comments are not made?'
Tory public school educated millionaire toffs = Bad.
Labour public school educated millionaire toffs = Good
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2058132/Tax-haven-riddle-British-Obama-familys-1m-home.html
And no, Carlotta, I've never criticised a Tory for where he went to school. Generalising about 'Labour posters' is like generalising about 'pbtories'. We vary. You vary. Variation is good.
"Total rubbish. He is rich. So what? "
Tell that to tim or ed the next time they witter on about tory posh boys. Hypocracy among leftards knows no bounds.
The point on Chuka is that this sort of nonsense is flung about frequently by some on the left about Tories - but point it out about a Labour MP and they get entertainingly aerated.
And since 6 national newspapers have stories about Chuka today, it's hardly "Guido-followers"!
I was under the impression Margaret Thatcher closed pits, but she only stopped subsidies - like WIlson did before ? Surely not.
"Whereas New Labour clearly learnt the lesson of the importance of party discipline and pragmatism from the 1980s, the post-Thatcher Conservative Party has become more ideological and less disciplined, as exemplified in the bizarre murmurings over the prospect of replacing David Cameron, the first Conservative leader in a decade to make them a competitive electoral force, even if he was not able to win a majority against a deeply unpopular incumbent."
Which party are they expecting to have a negative vote share in the near future? I've seen some dodgy axes in my time, but starting the vote share axis at -10% is one of the more bizarre.
Mr Fluffy, when it comes to ‘inappropriate’ awarding of gongs to foreigners of dubious merit, Gordon Brown’s knighthood to Ted Kennedy must be at the top of the list.
The only decent and honourable thing the old soak ever did was to pop his clogs before it arrived in the post.
did you get your german issue sorted ?
Although I can see why people think it should be played, if only for those who dance around in celebration to have something to be embarrassed about in later life. The heat from the shame may help them with their energy bills.
it could make for an interesting debate on "absolute values", if there are such things.
it will also be (the first?) question on AQ tonight.
I wouldn't know having never read the Mail - I'm sure they are pandering to their readers so what does it matter?
And what shall we call you, next time you make a tyop?
</blockquote>
You tell me who 'we' is and I'll let you know (or is that your wee tribute to granny Magrit?).
sometimes we all make shit typos.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_ban_of_Hungarian_President_from_Slovakia
Komárno is ethnically majority Hungarian (as is much of southern Slovakia).
Shame he could couldn't have done Mrs T's eulogy in the Commons. I'm sure he'd have made a better fist of it than Cleggs weak, embarrassment.
http://conservativehome.blogs.com/parliament/2013/04/karen-allen-chosen-s-conservative-candidate-for-south-shields-byelection.html
Sorry Tony - but being "dispassionate" would be a recipe for a bloodless technocracy.
Don't close your ears just because it's Tony.
Labour's angry brigade has misunderstood Blair's message.
www.lunchtime@labourlist.org
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BHpFA06CQAABMOW.jpg:large
An excerpt:It's the first time I've heard of a study being published where someone had failed to find a link between a weather extreme and global warming. There have been previous studies linking extremes such as the 2000 south England floods, the 2003 European heatwave and the 2010 Russian heatwave with global warming.
I was beginning to wonder whether there was a publication bias involved - people rarely publish studies with a null result simply because they are less interesting.
It seems one of the East Midlands Euro candidates (the Gedling Cllr) was also sitting on the selection panel! She tweeted she was busy inerviewing Euro candidates...and then she pops up on the shortlist.
How would it be possible? Did she interview herself? "Ask a question and give youself a reply" method?
I would bet on Rory Palmer from Leicester as number 2 right now....I am told he's good. Mike Dugher has already endorsed him.
Grove vindicated on history teaching as two university students on Pointless fail to identify any of the following five facts related to the Civil War having been given straightforward clues:
- Cavaliers
- Oliver Cromwell
- New Model Army
- Edge Hill
- Charles I
They plumped for "redcoats" as being the name given to the Royalists that was derived from the French for horseman.
A: "Let's not change it. Let's just keep blaming Margaret Thatcher indefinitely."
The Hungarians have the city, but the Slovaks have the best view of it.
"The anti-EU party is consistently in double figures in the opinion polls and is fielding 1,001 candidates, up from 319 last year."
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/tories-braced-for-heavy-losses-as-coalition-goes-headtohead-8569156.html
http://www7.politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2013/04/09/ukip-are-fielding-candidates-in-three-quarters-of-the-local-seats-up-on-may-2nd/
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BHozHFlCEAA4IM9.jpg:large
http://order-order.com/2013/04/12/labour-left-bury-blair-with-thatcher-labour-ppc-publicly-calls-prominent-blairite-jumped-up-turd/
Bad taste tweeting from the people's party.
Will the Tweeter be doing a Paris Brown, leaving the scene in floods of tears?
But i don't think Hull, Hartlepool and Stockton vote this year!
'Cameron's issue is his fakeness'
And Chuka Harrison is authentic,your having a laugh.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9989052/British-offshore-banking-under-fire-in-EU-tax-haven-battle.html
It's almost gone unnoticed but the Great Left Wing Hope known as Chuka Umanananananaanana has pretty much imploded in the last couple of weeks!
Of course if this was a potential Conservative leader imploding Tim would have gone into posting meltdown, but he's been strangely quiet about Chuka. Can't think why?
Anyway, I went on record on here the first time he appeared on Question Time and said I couldn't see what the fuss was about.
Couldn't have happened to a nicer chap. :^O
But the other 3 areas mentioned by the Indy aren't up this year.
http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/04/10/graphic-north-koreas-conventional-arms/
He's not an immediate threat to the leadership, so I think we can rule out anyone connected to Ed Miliband. The two obvious possibilities seem to me to be a Cabinet rival who is afraid that he might queue jump him for a prized job or a potential rival for the Mayor of London nomination (if he has ambitions in that direction). I know who looks the likeliest candidate, but with no evidence at all, I shall stay mute for now.
"Recent donors to the Conservative party are pledging large sums to the UK Independence party and have contributed funds to help fight 1,500 seats at next month's local elections, according to the party's treasurer."
So at the moment I really don't no how many candidates Ukip are putting up on May 2nd.
Mind you how they got to "Redcoats" being derived for the French for Horseman let alone being applied to Royalists is beyond me.
'Of course if this was a potential Conservative leader imploding Tim would have gone into posting meltdown, but he's been strangely quiet about Chuka. Can't think why?'
If it was a Tory public school educated, millionaire, toff referring to voters as 'trash' the PB server would have crashed by now.
http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/02/13/graphic-dprk-intentions/
Will be a while before anyone else puts their head above the parapet.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tobyyoung/100211811/it-would-be-an-insult-to-margaret-thatchers-memory-for-the-bbc-to-ban-ding-dong-the-witch-is-dead/
More money for tax-avoiding global corporations, I say!
Well jr. was one of the Forces From Hell.
'A guide to Ed Balls' London'
Did Chuka write the guide?
Forschungsgruppe Wahlen:
CDU/CSU: 42%
SPD: 27%
Green: 14%
Linke: 6%
FDP: 4%
Others: 7%
http://www.wahlrecht.de/umfragen/index.htm
" If it was a Tory public school educated, millionaire, toff referring to voters as 'trash' the PB server would have crashed by now."
I doubt it. We'd have had a thread and continuation thread to prevent a crash.
I'm not doubting your original figures Mark. In fact I just got an answer from a Ukip member that posits the same number as you, 1,727. However, published figures can be wrong on occasion.
One thing people forget is that the traditional image of mining - the grimy men working in awful conditions underground (as shown in the picture in the article) is far from the whole story. A very large number of men worked above ground in a whole plethora of roles, from plant fitting, stockpile maintenance, to back-office. Much of it was still hard work, and many of them were tough men (some were older miners who had been medicalled off underground work). Strangely, every ex-miner I've known well worked above ground.
As for your question: ISTR that subsidies were reduced, not removed. But many mines shut, not because of any economic reasons, but because they were exhausted, with little obtainable coal left. This is a process that had been occurring for hundreds of years and was impossible to prevent.
Having said that, some mine closures were travesties.
I don't know if anyone knows definitively, but ISTR that several mine were closed immediately after the strike because the strikers had not allowed maintenance engineers in. This led to flooding and the destruction of underground machinery and support structures. Myth of truth?
https://twitter.com/TweetBrooks
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2013/apr/10/tory-donors-switching-ukip-treasurer