No 16: It is not the first time Soames has been accused of using rather strong language in defence of his party leader.
Surely the bigger issue is the mixed metaphor? "chateau bottled nuclear powered ****" - I mean, what kind of grandson of Sir Winston Churchill could come up with that?
I dunno. Quite liked "chateau bottled" as a simile for poor quality.
Totally unrelated, this did bring a smile to my face at the time
A big round of applause to the Liberal Democrat activist Dan Falchikov who spent an entire train journey mouthing off about how he stirred up a rumour that had been picked up by the press about the closure of Kingston Hospital. Richmond MP Susan Kramer quickly got a campaign up but little did Mr Falchikov realise he was infact sitting opposite the Mirror’s Kevin Maguire, who was commuting in from his million pound suburban mansion
At least that’s the way Gov. Chris Christie saw it when the legendary singer, actress and Democratic supporter – “one of your most famous Californians,” as Christie told the California delegation to the Republican National Convention this morning — was booted out of the governor’s seats during a White House event for Chinese dignitaries.
Gov. Chris Christie speaks to the California delegation on Monday morning.
“As we’re walking over there, we see two people sit in our reserved seats, and their names were James Brolin and Barbra Streisand,” Christie told Republicans gathered at the Tradewinds conference center in St. Pete Beach. “And so, Mary Pat and I figure, well, it’s going to be back to getting seats apart because … who’s going to get a better deal in the Obama White House, me or Barbra Streisand, right.”
Christie said, however, that a Marine escorted them down to their seats.
“’Governor, I’ll handle this,’” Christie said the Marine told him.
“That great Marine walked Mary Pat and I over to the second row … and he tapped Barbra Streisand on the shoulder and said words that until the day I die I never thought I’d hear, he said, ‘Excuse me, Ms. Streisand, you’re in Gov. Christie’s seats,’” Christie said to loud applause.
Christie said that Streisand and Brolin then tried to sit in two other seats reserved for members of the Chinese delegation.
“And this Marine guard walks back to the end of the aisle, but then he sees them sit down in those seats,” Christie continued. “And he walks right back up – and I’m convinced this Marine was a Republican, I know he was, I know he was – he went up, he tapped her on the shoulder, he said, ‘Excuse me, ma’am, these are not your seats either, get out of these seats and go find other seats.’”
“And during that whole concert – I couldn’t help but glance over there, right – and every time I glanced over there, Barbra Streisand was glaring at me. And I said, ‘Another badge of honor for a Republican,’” Christie said
@TheScotsman tomorrow's front page: Salmond in hunt for Grangemouth buyer pic.twitter.com/fvj25AGlxw
Will he say to the buyers, I'm on the hunt I'm after you, Mouth is alive with juices like wine, And I'm hungry like the wolf?
I hope Salmond & Carmichael are taking it seriously - INEOS have a track record of carrying out the threats they make - when Labour wouldn't give them a VAT deferment in 2007 they upped sticks and relocated to Switzerland. They recently closed a Hull chemicals works.
@TheScotsman tomorrow's front page: Salmond in hunt for Grangemouth buyer pic.twitter.com/fvj25AGlxw
Will he say to the buyers, I'm on the hunt I'm after you, Mouth is alive with juices like wine, And I'm hungry like the wolf?
About ten years ago there were just over 120 oil refineries in western Europe, today there are less than 100. In the UK all the oil majors have sold off their refineries except Esso which still owns Fawley and the small Murco one in Wales.
Many of these refineries were reaching a part of their life where large capital expenditure was required to keep the plant going. Also oil majors focused more on exploration and production which is either offshore, in developing countries or both.
It is also cheaper to build new refineries in E Europe or nearer new oil fields where labour is cheaper or it is part of the local political deal. So if Grangemouth is not economic it could close,
Can't see Lucas getting far enough away from the fallout.
Lib Dem MPs do it all the time.
Don't LD councils usually do ok re popularity? I don't know, it's just the impression I get.
It goes in cycles. They get in ... eventually the charm wears off and they are booted out ... often the MP is well able to run against his / her own council and avoid the same swing. I dont expect the Greens to remain the largest party on B+H council in 2015, I do expect Caroline Lucas to hold on.
Any plans to try and focus on another area and snatch another marginal, a Brighton 2.0, or is that not a viable option?
It is interesting to see the different UKIP/Green tactics. The Greens built up some local support and focused their efforts intensely to sneak a win, and are not pursuing the kind of widely popular policies that would allow any other type of tactic as far as I can see, whereas UKIP seem to be throwing everything at the wall, being as broadly populist as they can be and maximising their total number of votes so that, on the balance of probabilities, eventually enough support will agglomerate in one area for them to sneak a win as well, despite not focusing intensely on it.
It would help their cause immensely if they could get a by-election win before the GE to prove it need not be a wasted vote, so I do hope for that option if only to make 2015 a bit more interesting.
The UKIP election strategy is in two stages: Stage 1. Go all out for the widest country wide presentation in order to win the EU elections next May. Concurrently with this is to put up candidates in local by-elections so the UKIP name and platform is before the nation.
Stage 2. After the EU elections and depending on the results, certain parlamentary seats will be picked out for intense electioneering. I don't know at this moment how many seats will be contested overall in the GE; nobody does, but i will very surprised if its the full monty.
I hear that certain parties are conjecturing when to call in Labour's overdraft, now, later next year or early 2015. Would the unions or some of its private backers bail it out to prevent closure?
I hear that certain parties are conjecturing when to call in Labour's overdraft, now, later next year or early 2015. Would the unions or some of its private backers bail it out to prevent closure?
Nah, it will probably go bankrupt and the Tories will win the next GE by default.
I hear that certain parties are conjecturing when to call in Labour's overdraft, now, later next year or early 2015. Would the unions or some of its private backers bail it out to prevent closure?
John Swinney wouldn't be drawn on the issue of either nationalisation or a new buyer when interviewed on Scotland Tonight. But he did talk of the Scottish and Westminster Government working in partnership to help to try and help resolve the situation, which indicates just how serious this stalemate has now become for Salmond and his Government in the last week.
Hunchman - still in hibernation, but may be coming back to life if the ending diagonal pattern on American financial markets plays out over the next few weeks.
Greens faring badly, now there's a surprise! Arctic ice 60% up on last year as Mr Farage delighted in showing Mr Barroso in the European parliament. I haven't heard the Beeb apologise to its audience for predicting all Arctic ice melted by 2013 back in 2007 - have you?
Hey Neil, I've been bullish since I was on here last time, and I've said many a time recently that I shouldn't have been calling for a market top until now. The great bear markets play out over a maximum of about 2 years 7/8 months....and I've long since had June 2016 nailed down for a major bottom. So now is about the earliest it can be....and technicals / cycles point to early to mid November being potentially very interesting - lets see. I can't wait for the discussions we'll have on here over the next 2.5 years or so - one way or another its going to be an amazing time to have a ringside seat at the greatest financial collapse of all time.
INEOS are really playing hard ball with these new terms and conditions as the dispute has escalated. The original Falkirk/Unite dispute was mentioned in an interview with their spokesman on Skynews earlier tonight. IIRC, it was later suggested that the longer running poor relations between the company and Unite is definitely another factor in this current dispute on Scotland tonight. Bernard Ponsonby reported that Alex Salmond's office has been turned into an off shoot of ACAS this last week.
@TheScotsman tomorrow's front page: Salmond in hunt for Grangemouth buyer pic.twitter.com/fvj25AGlxw
Will he say to the buyers, I'm on the hunt I'm after you, Mouth is alive with juices like wine, And I'm hungry like the wolf?
I hope Salmond & Carmichael are taking it seriously - INEOS have a track record of carrying out the threats they make - when Labour wouldn't give them a VAT deferment in 2007 they upped sticks and relocated to Switzerland. They recently closed a Hull chemicals works.
For the sake of those PBers still not on the streets selling the Big Issue (or worst still themselves) through following your advice-go back into hibernation for a very very long time.
INEOS are really playing hard ball with these new terms and conditions as the dispute has escalated. The original Falkirk/Unite dispute was mentioned in an interview with their spokesman on Skynews earlier tonight. IIRC, it was later suggested that the longer running poor relations between the company and Unite is definitely another factor in this current dispute on Scotland tonight. Bernard Ponsonby reported that Alex Salmond's office has been turned into an off shoot of ACAS this last week.
they make - when Labour wouldn't give them a VAT deferment in 2007 they upped sticks and relocated to Switzerland. They recently closed a Hull chemicals works.
The Falkirk union issues which messed up pre-selection and then expecting companies to accept Unite ideas are coming back to haunt them. Not Salmond's issue really as reserved matter but nobody else is going to care as much and has as much kudos. This assumes INEOS actually are open minded after Unite's threats.
Nick Soames nervously entered the doctor's surgery. One thing worried him - where was the doctor? Behind the desk at the far end of the room was the doctor’s chair. Its back was facing him, so Nick gingerly edged forward to investigate. However, he was barely halfway across the room when the chair swivelled round, and there, to his infinite horror, was the dread Adam Afriyie!
The younger man's mouth narrowed into a malicious grin, and he began to speak in his clipped Berkshire accent.
"Ah, my boy! I see you still haven't slimmed down yet! Why is that?" he asked, and he leaned across the desk menacingly.
"I tried, Adam! Honest, I tried!" Nick replied, quivering with fear!
"Trying is not good enough!" roared Adam, and quick as a flash he leapt out from his chair, grabbing Nick in the process, and using his immense strength, flinging him onto the nearby couch! Adam then leapt back behind the desk, and, laughing maniacally, opened a drawer and produced a massive hacksaw!
"No! Please, Adam!" whimpered Nick pathetically. "Please, don't!"
But the rising star was adamant to teach the old man a lesson. He leapt back towards the couch and proceeded to hack off Nick's pseudo-feminine man-boobs with a single scythe-like motion! Mutilated and bleeding, Nick begged for mercy. But Adam next did something that even Nick swore was just a myth: he extended his twelve-inch long proboscis, and used it to puncture the poor lad's blubbery abdominal region! And then to suck hard!
"Nooooooooo!" Nick screamed, as he felt his adversary guzzle up his precious life-fat, and within moments he was just a sack of skin and bones, fat-less it has to be admitted, but unfortunately life-less too. Once he had drained every last drop of his latest victim's, er, "load", Adam let out a satisfied belch and a soft, low growl of contentment, before leaving the doctor's surgery.
OK.... I think Sunil you have an overactive imagination...
One of the news stations was suggesting that Ed Davey will need to get his nuclear power station ambitions past the EU before it can start because it might breach competition laws.
I hear that certain parties are conjecturing when to call in Labour's overdraft, now, later next year or early 2015. Would the unions or some of its private backers bail it out to prevent closure?
I expect a) they'll be bailed out b) they'll carry on not saying a word about the Vickers report
@Roger - of the people who voted Con in 2010, 20% now say they will vote UKIP - and while that number has been lower in some recent polls, 20% is in my view far from atypical.
The killer numbers are the 2010 Lib Dems - many of whom were Labour supporters who voted tactically - funnily enough they've decided to take their vote back - they split:
Scottish Power have been fined £8.5m for misselling energy contracts. Cue the PB Tories defending Scottish Power's "need to invest".
Given that the fine was most likely significantly larger than any gains made through the mis-selling, I don't think there would have been much opportunity for investment! Anyway, I don't think any PB tories on here will condone mis-selling, despite what you say.
@jameschappers: EXC Theresa May to axe controversial ad vans telling illegal immigrants to 'go home' after deeming them 'ineffective' http://t.co/rYG1EeIGYY
@jameschappers: EXC Theresa May to axe controversial ad vans telling illegal immigrants to 'go home' after deeming them 'ineffective' http://t.co/rYG1EeIGYY
James Chapman tweets: Nick Clegg attacked Alan Sugar's free TV licence last night - will surprise the good Lord as he doesn't get one for another nine years...
@jameschappers: EXC Theresa May to axe controversial ad vans telling illegal immigrants to 'go home' after deeming them 'ineffective' http://t.co/rYG1EeIGYY
Popular, but ineffective, surely! ;-)
tim only reads polls he likes.....
The focus group of 8 posted over and over by the PB Tories who ignore the 12,000 sample marginals poll tells a different tale
That's like the power of eight anecdotes, combined into one!
Another non-trivial detail - the mis-selling started in 2009...
Had a really nasty experience with them in 2002. Bulldozed my wife into signing up. She felt really threatened; signed to get rid of the rep and rang me. I phoned them and told them that unless they cancelled immediately I'd go to whoever the authorities were atthe time, and also told our bank under no circumstances etc etc. Worked, but it was nasty for a while.
@tim - you've ignored two polls in two days - Brits enthusiasm for engagement with China and the popularity of immigration vans.....I wonder what you'll ignore today?
@Roger - of the people who voted Con in 2010, 20% now say they will vote UKIP - and while that number has been lower in some recent polls, 20% is in my view far from atypical.
The killer numbers are the 2010 Lib Dems - many of whom were Labour supporters who voted tactically - funnily enough they've decided to take their vote back - they split:
Con: 12 Lab: 37 Lib Dem: 32 UKIP: 8
Carlotta:
The 2010 Cons split for UKIP from the ST VI of 6th October to today have been:
16,15,13,19,13,15,14,13,16,14,14,20
So you would say over the last two weeks that the 19 and 20 results are atypical of the last two weeks or not?
@Roger - of the people who voted Con in 2010, 20% now say they will vote UKIP - and while that number has been lower in some recent polls, 20% is in my view far from atypical.
The killer numbers are the 2010 Lib Dems - many of whom were Labour supporters who voted tactically - funnily enough they've decided to take their vote back - they split:
Con: 12 Lab: 37 Lib Dem: 32 UKIP: 8
Carlotta:
The 2010 Cons split for UKIP from the ST VI of 6th October to today have been:
16,15,13,19,13,15,14,13,16,14,14,20
So you would say over the last two weeks that the 19 and 20 results are atypical of the last two weeks or not?
The last two weeks yes, longer term 20 has not been atypical.
The last two weeks' YouGov UKIP has also been down 1 point at 11% versus their August & September averages of 12% - so I'd wait to see where UKIP settles out before concluding the number of 2010 Con voters has shifted significantly.....
@tim - you've ignored two polls in two days - Brits enthusiasm for engagement with China and the popularity of immigration vans.....I wonder what you'll ignore today?
Your attempt to persuade me that a poll showing 37% support for increasing Chinese tourist visas
You really don't read the polls! That poll also asked about economic engagement - where China came top!
I note you, again, ignore the popularity of the immigration vans.....
Radio 5 live Alex Kemp, professor of petroleum economics at Aberdeen University tells Radio 5 live that Grangemouth is one of only seven oil refineries left in the UK and that while the market is "very fully supplied by imports" it is important not to lose any more domestic refineries so the country can be sure of having a secure supply of oil products.
If Grangemouth went before the polls open in Dunfermline, who loses most votes?
...The NHS's most important characteristic, in the eyes of its advocates, is that it offers everyone equal treatment. Its results may be poor – Britain is virtually the last industrialised country where you'd want to have cancer or heart disease or stroke – but at least it treats the dustman the same way as the duke.
Except, of course, that it doesn't. While it charges the duke and the dustman the same amount (nothing at all) the quality of the treatment they receive depends on where they live. The Keogh Report found widely divergent levels of unnecessary deaths across Britain. The pockets of mediocrity and lethality were not concentrated in any particular region: it can happen anywhere. Oddly, a system that elevates equality over quality falls down on both. We see precisely the same phenomenon in state education: GCSE results in the top quintile are nearly twice as good as those in the bottom quintile.
@tim - Labour supporters were most enthusiastic about economic engagement with......China.....as were 2010 Lib Dems......even UKIP supporters put China top....you're not suggesting you're more Sinophobic than UKIP voters are you?
Interesting discussion on "Health Tourism". One side of the argument from the doctors that if you charge non EU citizens a flat £200 for all medical treatment they might need then people would believe they have bought into the system and it would very likely cost more as people started coming here to have expensive treatment believing their £200 had bought it.
On the other side the argument people are getting free medical treatment here when UK citizens don't when they travel to non EU countries and it's costing the system.
My own feeling is that Jeremy Hunt is obsessed with getting himself onto radio and TV.
@tim - Labour supporters were most enthusiastic about economic engagement with......China.....as were 2010 Lib Dems......even UKIP supporters put China top....you're not suggesting you're more Sinophobic than UKIP voters are you?
tim has a blind spot about the Chinese for some reason. The wrong type of foreigner or the wrong type of left-winger, I'm not sure.
Strange really when you think of the huge strides out of and away from poverty the PRC has made and continues to make over the past 35 years while increasing engagement with the West and being exposed to human rights-promoting consensus thinking also.
It seems he would prefer to turn his back on them.
Radio 5 live Alex Kemp, professor of petroleum economics at Aberdeen University tells Radio 5 live that Grangemouth is one of only seven oil refineries left in the UK and that while the market is "very fully supplied by imports" it is important not to lose any more domestic refineries so the country can be sure of having a secure supply of oil products.
If Grangemouth went before the polls open in Dunfermline, who loses most votes?
The Prof is only telling partial truths. Actually the UK refineries make products of which some are exported as excess to UK market and others are imported as insufficient made for UK market. Two refineries on the east coast have closed in the last 4 years.
@tim - Labour supporters were most enthusiastic about economic engagement with......China.....as were 2010 Lib Dems......even UKIP supporters put China top....you're not suggesting you're more Sinophobic than UKIP voters are you?
Any polling on giving UK taxpayer green taxes to the Chinese Govt? Very little point in trying to invent polls that haven't been conducted.
Gordon Brown gave millions to the chinese to tackle climate change and he didnt even get a farmy farm for it nevermind a nuke power station.
@tim - Labour supporters were most enthusiastic about economic engagement with......China.....as were 2010 Lib Dems......even UKIP supporters put China top....you're not suggesting you're more Sinophobic than UKIP voters are you?
Any polling on giving UK taxpayer green taxes to the Chinese Govt? Very little point in trying to invent polls that haven't been conducted.
Very little point in constructing straw man polls when you ignore the ones that exist....
@tim - Labour supporters were most enthusiastic about economic engagement with......China.....as were 2010 Lib Dems......even UKIP supporters put China top....you're not suggesting you're more Sinophobic than UKIP voters are you?
tim has a blind spot about the Chinese for some reason. The wrong type of foreigner or the wrong type of left-winger, I'm not sure.
Strange really when you think of the huge strides out of and away from poverty the PRC has made and continues to make over the past 35 years while increasing engagement with the West and being exposed to human rights-promoting consensus thinking also.
It seems he would prefer to turn his back on them.
Very curious.
You want to use UK green taxes to prop up a totalitarian regime thats your decision, lets give Russia and Saudi a chunk too while we're at it.
@tim - Labour supporters were most enthusiastic about economic engagement with......China.....as were 2010 Lib Dems......even UKIP supporters put China top....you're not suggesting you're more Sinophobic than UKIP voters are you?
tim has a blind spot about the Chinese for some reason. The wrong type of foreigner or the wrong type of left-winger, I'm not sure.
Strange really when you think of the huge strides out of and away from poverty the PRC has made and continues to make over the past 35 years while increasing engagement with the West and being exposed to human rights-promoting consensus thinking also.
It seems he would prefer to turn his back on them.
Very curious.
You want to use UK green taxes to prop up a totalitarian regime thats your decision, lets give Russia and Saudi a chunk too while we're at it.
tim you have got this one wrong. Big time. Of course China is a totalitarian regime but we are where we are.
Since 1978 the country has made huge strides, bringing literally hundreds of millions of people out of poverty under the banner of Capitalism with Chinese Characteristics. It has worked inasmuch as fewer people are starving than they were while (if you like that sort of thing) an entrepreneurial culture is being allowed to flourish (it wasn't previously).
But my point is more that what do you think will help more? Constructive engagement with China or exclusion which could as easily make them turn back to face inwards?
To group them in with Saudi & Russia is to fundamentally misunderstand the nature of all three states.
John Swinney, cabinet secretary for finance, employment and sustainable growth in the Scottish Government tells Good Morning Scotland: "we've had discussions with other players" who could run Grangemouth but that government ownership is "not appropriate". Asked if he's confident there's a buyer for Grangemouth out there he replies: "I think there is".
BBC News ticker.
It all depends on the capital spend required to bring it up to economic efficiency. Companies like Valero (bought Chevron's refinery in SW Wales) and Essar (bought Shell's refinery at Stanlow) could be in the market.
"Very little point in constructing straw man polls when you ignore the ones that exist...."
I read two interesting things on polls this week on here.
The first was that when asked people will always say 'yes' to a call for a referendum unless it's about the Royal Family and the second was article about why a very subtle ambiguity in a polling question put it out of line with other pollsters.
The referendum one was particularly interesting because it was Adam Afriye's justification for calling a referendum in his spat with Soames
@tim - Labour supporters were most enthusiastic about economic engagement with......China.....as were 2010 Lib Dems......even UKIP supporters put China top....you're not suggesting you're more Sinophobic than UKIP voters are you?
tim has a blind spot about the Chinese for some reason. The wrong type of foreigner or the wrong type of left-winger, I'm not sure.
Strange really when you think of the huge strides out of and away from poverty the PRC has made and continues to make over the past 35 years while increasing engagement with the West and being exposed to human rights-promoting consensus thinking also.
It seems he would prefer to turn his back on them.
Very curious.
You want to use UK green taxes to prop up a totalitarian regime thats your decision, lets give Russia and Saudi a chunk too while we're at it.
tim you have got this one wrong. Big time. Of course China is a totalitarian regime but we are where we are.
Since 1978 the country has made huge strides, bringing literally hundreds of millions of people out of poverty under the banner of Capitalism with Chinese Characteristics. It has worked inasmuch as fewer people are starving than they were while (if you like that sort of thing) an entrepreneurial culture is being allowed to flourish (it wasn't previously).
But my point is more that what do you think will help more? Constructive engagement with China or exclusion which could as easily make them turn back to face inwards?
To group them in with Saudi & Russia is to fundamentally misunderstand the nature of all three states.
Who's arguing against constructive engagement and tourist visas etc I'm arguing that paying 35 years of green taxes to a totalitarian clique in China Russia or Saudi Arabia isn't wise
And three years ago Cameron was arguing that the instability of the Chines govt was a primary reason for Britain possessing a nuclear deterrent
So what's your answer? Instead of constantly carping, why not give us your vision of how we generate the electricity we need as a country?
@tim - Labour supporters were most enthusiastic about economic engagement with......China.....as were 2010 Lib Dems......even UKIP supporters put China top....you're not suggesting you're more Sinophobic than UKIP voters are you?
It seems he would prefer to turn his back on them.
Very curious.
To group them in with Saudi & Russia is to fundamentally misunderstand the nature of all three states.
Who's arguing against constructive engagement and tourist visas etc I'm arguing that paying 35 years of green taxes to a totalitarian clique in China Russia or Saudi Arabia isn't wise
And three years ago Cameron was arguing that the instability of the Chines govt was a primary reason for Britain possessing a nuclear deterrent
China, as you point out, is a totalitarian regime but more than that it is fiercely nationalist (witnessTaiwan and the Spratlys).
It is also trying to join the community of nations with all that that implies for human rights, etc.
It is not inconceivable that a territorial dispute (which the Chinese take _very_ seriously) will escalate into an international crisis. It is therefore understandable for Dave to cite China's possession of nukes as one reason why we should keep our own deterrent.
But, and this seems to be the bit you don't agree with, we should also engage with them on all levels to strengthen their resolve to become a modern democratic-with-Chinese-characteristics (!) nation and this venture does exactly that.
"tim has a blind spot about the Chinese for some reason."
I think so. Bizarrely it was a mystical book that I read by Shirley McLean years ago that persuaded me that it was one of the more ethical countries around.
By contrast anyone lending any support to Saudi Arabia should either work there or read Death of a Princess and they would understand it's the least ethical bar none.
"tim has a blind spot about the Chinese for some reason."
I think so. Bizarrely it was a mystical book that I read by Shirley McLean years ago that persuaded me that it was one of the more ethical countries around.
By contrast anyone lending any support to Saudi Arabia should either work there or read Death of a Princess and they would understand it's the least ethical bar none.
China's execution of its own nationals is really ethical innit Roger..
"China's execution of its own nationals is really ethical innit Roger."
All is secondary to feeding it's vast population and everything is geared to the greatest good for the greatest number. Both pretty reasonable socialist concepts.
Mick Twister @twitmericks Investors from China & France Will build British nuclear plants. Despite cushy terms No UK-based firms For some reason leapt at the chance.
@tim - Labour supporters were most enthusiastic about economic engagement with......China.....as were 2010 Lib Dems......even UKIP supporters put China top....you're not suggesting you're more Sinophobic than UKIP voters are you?
It seems he would prefer to turn his back on them.
Very curious.
To group them in with Saudi & Russia is to fundamentally misunderstand the nature of all three states.
I'd argue we should engage completely with Rouhani in Iran too. Whether the Iranian regime should be the recipient of green taxes over the next 35 years is an entirely different matter.
Much of this recent tonguing by Osborne is simply an overreaction to Dave annoying the Chinese with his Dalai Lama visit anyway isn't it?
Don't disagree about engagement with Iran.
But to google "totalitarian regime" and then try to draw a parallel with PRC is not a strong argument.
As for Dave and the DL I don't think I have been more sickened than I was when the police attempted to stop anti-China protests when the Chinese president visited London some years ago. Now remind me, who was PM then?
You want to use UK green taxes to prop up a totalitarian regime thats your decision, lets give Russia and Saudi a chunk too while we're at it.
tim you have got this one wrong. Big time. Of course China is a totalitarian regime but we are where we are.
Since 1978 the country has made huge strides, bringing literally hundreds of millions of people out of poverty under the banner of Capitalism with Chinese Characteristics. It has worked inasmuch as fewer people are starving than they were while (if you like that sort of thing) an entrepreneurial culture is being allowed to flourish (it wasn't previously).
But my point is more that what do you think will help more? Constructive engagement with China or exclusion which could as easily make them turn back to face inwards?
To group them in with Saudi & Russia is to fundamentally misunderstand the nature of all three states.
Who's arguing against constructive engagement and tourist visas etc I'm arguing that paying 35 years of green taxes to a totalitarian clique in China Russia or Saudi Arabia isn't wise
And three years ago Cameron was arguing that the instability of the Chines govt was a primary reason for Britain possessing a nuclear deterrent
So what's your answer? Instead of constantly carping, why not give us your vision of how we generate the electricity we need as a country?
Lets get some basics first, what return are the Chinese Govt getting on their £14 billion, annually?
That's not really the basics.
The basics are how you would generate the electricity.
And you appear not to have an answer. Which is hardly surprising, as Miliband did not have one when he was at DECC, either. It was much easier to kick the can down the road, instead of standing up to luvvies.
So go on: how would you generate the electricity we need?
Comments
A big round of applause to the Liberal Democrat activist Dan Falchikov who spent an entire train journey mouthing off about how he stirred up a rumour that had been picked up by the press about the closure of Kingston Hospital. Richmond MP Susan Kramer quickly got a campaign up but little did Mr Falchikov realise he was infact sitting opposite the Mirror’s Kevin Maguire, who was commuting in from his million pound suburban mansion
http://order-order.com/2010/01/30/loose-lips-sink-ships/
Barbra Streisand, apparently, was not amused.
At least that’s the way Gov. Chris Christie saw it when the legendary singer, actress and Democratic supporter – “one of your most famous Californians,” as Christie told the California delegation to the Republican National Convention this morning — was booted out of the governor’s seats during a White House event for Chinese dignitaries.
Gov. Chris Christie speaks to the California delegation on Monday morning.
“As we’re walking over there, we see two people sit in our reserved seats, and their names were James Brolin and Barbra Streisand,” Christie told Republicans gathered at the Tradewinds conference center in St. Pete Beach. “And so, Mary Pat and I figure, well, it’s going to be back to getting seats apart because … who’s going to get a better deal in the Obama White House, me or Barbra Streisand, right.”
Christie said, however, that a Marine escorted them down to their seats.
“’Governor, I’ll handle this,’” Christie said the Marine told him.
“That great Marine walked Mary Pat and I over to the second row … and he tapped Barbra Streisand on the shoulder and said words that until the day I die I never thought I’d hear, he said, ‘Excuse me, Ms. Streisand, you’re in Gov. Christie’s seats,’” Christie said to loud applause.
Christie said that Streisand and Brolin then tried to sit in two other seats reserved for members of the Chinese delegation.
“And this Marine guard walks back to the end of the aisle, but then he sees them sit down in those seats,” Christie continued. “And he walks right back up – and I’m convinced this Marine was a Republican, I know he was, I know he was – he went up, he tapped her on the shoulder, he said, ‘Excuse me, ma’am, these are not your seats either, get out of these seats and go find other seats.’”
“And during that whole concert – I couldn’t help but glance over there, right – and every time I glanced over there, Barbra Streisand was glaring at me. And I said, ‘Another badge of honor for a Republican,’” Christie said
I recall it being quite a major place, but if it really is losing a couple of million per day...
Many of these refineries were reaching a part of their life where large capital expenditure was required to keep the plant going. Also oil majors focused more on exploration and production which is either offshore, in developing countries or both.
It is also cheaper to build new refineries in E Europe or nearer new oil fields where labour is cheaper or it is part of the local political deal. So if Grangemouth is not economic it could close,
Stage 1.
Go all out for the widest country wide presentation in order to win the EU elections next May.
Concurrently with this is to put up candidates in local by-elections so the UKIP name and platform is before the nation.
Stage 2.
After the EU elections and depending on the results, certain parlamentary seats will be picked out for intense electioneering. I don't know at this moment how many seats will be contested overall in the GE; nobody does, but i will very surprised if its the full monty.
It reminds me of the Timex factory dispute - it was shut down.
Greens faring badly, now there's a surprise! Arctic ice 60% up on last year as Mr Farage delighted in showing Mr Barroso in the European parliament. I haven't heard the Beeb apologise to its audience for predicting all Arctic ice melted by 2013 back in 2007 - have you?
"Hunchman - still in hibernation"
For the sake of those PBers still not on the streets selling the Big Issue (or worst still themselves) through following your advice-go back into hibernation for a very very long time.
You'll get kicked out of the anti-tipster union for an attitude like that!
The first test is Nov 21. It seems like only a couple of months since the last one! Oh...
Daily Mail - Cat lends a paw to help his friend the dog escape daytime confinement in the kitchen
Is anyone else having the same problem?
Have you tried a different browser?
All I get is 'this page cannot be displayed'.
a) they'll be bailed out
b) they'll carry on not saying a word about the Vickers report
https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/1382938_622013911183791_1042019758_n.png
2010 Splits:
Cons: higher than recent trends UKIP at 20
LD: Favours Labour at 37 to LD at 32 and UKIP at 8
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-24607696
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2471071/Nuclear-plant-NOT-cut-bills-admits-Ed-Davey.html
"You'll get kicked out of the anti-tipster union for an attitude like that!"
I can't pretend there isn't an element of professional jealousy. He's left us all standing
"2010 Splits:
Cons: higher than recent trends UKIP at 20"
Perhaps its the early morning but I don't understand by this
Cue the PB Tories defending Scottish Power's "need to invest".
The killer numbers are the 2010 Lib Dems - many of whom were Labour supporters who voted tactically - funnily enough they've decided to take their vote back - they split:
Con: 12
Lab: 37
Lib Dem: 32
UKIP: 8
Which party presided over the collapse of the energy supplier market from 14 to 6 suppliers?
Thanks
"Scottish Power is to pay customers £8.5m after an investigation by industry regulator Ofgem into its doorstep and telephone selling."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24620304
Another non-trivial detail - the mis-selling started in 2009...
What`s the point of including immigrants who are working and paying taxes into this study?Are they not entitled to free NHS care?
Worked, but it was nasty for a while.
I'll get my coat.... ;-))
The 2010 Cons split for UKIP from the ST VI of 6th October to today have been:
16,15,13,19,13,15,14,13,16,14,14,20
So you would say over the last two weeks that the 19 and 20 results are atypical of the last two weeks or not?
The last two weeks' YouGov UKIP has also been down 1 point at 11% versus their August & September averages of 12% - so I'd wait to see where UKIP settles out before concluding the number of 2010 Con voters has shifted significantly.....
I note you, again, ignore the popularity of the immigration vans.....
If Grangemouth went before the polls open in Dunfermline, who loses most votes?
The Daily Politics segment on Dunfermline suggested it was very focussed on local issues:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-24611323
Except, of course, that it doesn't. While it charges the duke and the dustman the same amount (nothing at all) the quality of the treatment they receive depends on where they live. The Keogh Report found widely divergent levels of unnecessary deaths across Britain. The pockets of mediocrity and lethality were not concentrated in any particular region: it can happen anywhere. Oddly, a system that elevates equality over quality falls down on both. We see precisely the same phenomenon in state education: GCSE results in the top quintile are nearly twice as good as those in the bottom quintile.
Which brings us to one of the paradoxes of politics: free competition generally leads to more equal standards than does state control, at least when it comes to large operations. Consumers are less tolerant of failure than producers. When we buy a pint of milk, whether in a Tesco or a Morrisons, whether in Northampton or Southampton, we are guaranteed pretty much the same value for money. If one retailer suddenly dropped its standards or hiked its prices, it would soon close – unlike, say, a failing comprehensive... http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/danielhannan/100242450/supporters-of-the-nhs-like-to-claim-that-it-treats-us-all-the-same-way-but-does-it/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
Nationisation by propping up the weak in advance of the election.
Ed must be looking northwards enviously as they march to a statist system.
On the other side the argument people are getting free medical treatment here when UK citizens don't when they travel to non EU countries and it's costing the system.
My own feeling is that Jeremy Hunt is obsessed with getting himself onto radio and TV.
Strange really when you think of the huge strides out of and away from poverty the PRC has made and continues to make over the past 35 years while increasing engagement with the West and being exposed to human rights-promoting consensus thinking also.
It seems he would prefer to turn his back on them.
Very curious.
Go to http://www.ukpia.com/industry_information/refining-and-uk-refineries/refineries.aspx for a clickable map which shows refineries, ownership and pipelines.
Shape up, son, this is getting embarrassing. You may have to be saved by a new thread.
Since 1978 the country has made huge strides, bringing literally hundreds of millions of people out of poverty under the banner of Capitalism with Chinese Characteristics. It has worked inasmuch as fewer people are starving than they were while (if you like that sort of thing) an entrepreneurial culture is being allowed to flourish (it wasn't previously).
But my point is more that what do you think will help more? Constructive engagement with China or exclusion which could as easily make them turn back to face inwards?
To group them in with Saudi & Russia is to fundamentally misunderstand the nature of all three states.
BBC News ticker.
It all depends on the capital spend required to bring it up to economic efficiency. Companies like Valero (bought Chevron's refinery in SW Wales) and Essar (bought Shell's refinery at Stanlow) could be in the market.
"Very little point in constructing straw man polls when you ignore the ones that exist...."
I read two interesting things on polls this week on here.
The first was that when asked people will always say 'yes' to a call for a referendum unless it's about the Royal Family and the second was article about why a very subtle ambiguity in a polling question put it out of line with other pollsters.
The referendum one was particularly interesting because it was Adam Afriye's justification for calling a referendum in his spat with Soames
It is also trying to join the community of nations with all that that implies for human rights, etc.
It is not inconceivable that a territorial dispute (which the Chinese take _very_ seriously) will escalate into an international crisis. It is therefore understandable for Dave to cite China's possession of nukes as one reason why we should keep our own deterrent.
But, and this seems to be the bit you don't agree with, we should also engage with them on all levels to strengthen their resolve to become a modern democratic-with-Chinese-characteristics (!) nation and this venture does exactly that.
I think so. Bizarrely it was a mystical book that I read by Shirley McLean years ago that persuaded me that it was one of the more ethical countries around.
By contrast anyone lending any support to Saudi Arabia should either work there or read Death of a Princess and they would understand it's the least ethical bar none.
http://www.scmp.com/news/china-insider/article/1332237/chinas-top-judge-calls-fewer-executions
"China's execution of its own nationals is really ethical innit Roger."
All is secondary to feeding it's vast population and everything is geared to the greatest good for the greatest number. Both pretty reasonable socialist concepts.
http://blog.whatscotlandthinks.org
@twitmericks
Investors from China & France
Will build British nuclear plants.
Despite cushy terms
No UK-based firms
For some reason leapt at the chance.
"China is the death penalty capital of the world "
Nowhere's perfect but unlike countries like the US or Saudi China do it from the position of trying to have a reasonably equal society
But to google "totalitarian regime" and then try to draw a parallel with PRC is not a strong argument.
As for Dave and the DL I don't think I have been more sickened than I was when the police attempted to stop anti-China protests when the Chinese president visited London some years ago. Now remind me, who was PM then?
The basics are how you would generate the electricity.
And you appear not to have an answer. Which is hardly surprising, as Miliband did not have one when he was at DECC, either. It was much easier to kick the can down the road, instead of standing up to luvvies.
So go on: how would you generate the electricity we need?