Balls may have had a hard week last week, but polls show his cost of living message hit home and he is clearly the most heavyweight of the Labour frontbench with the best understanding of economics. Of those Mike suggests, Chuka Umunna is a lawyer and also will not take the job as he wants to be leader not Chancellor and does not want to be tainted with a Labour defeat; Rachel Reeves worked at HBOS during the crash which is hardly the best experience to commend her and Leslie studied politics and was an office administrator and political researcher before being elected. Of the above only Liam Byrne is a real prospect with qualifications and experience for the job, having an MBA from Harvard and City experience with Accenture and Rothschilds.
Also, Just been to an excellent ceremony for the enthronement of the 'Boy Bishop of Hereford' at Hereford Cathedral
Balls may have had a hard week last week, but polls show his cost of living message hit home and he is clearly the most heavyweight of the Labour frontbench with the best understanding of economics. Of those Mike suggests, Chuka Umunna is a lawyer and also will not take the job as he wants to be leader not Chancellor and does not want to be tainted with a Labour defeat; Rachel Reeves worked at HBOS during the crash which is hardly the best experience to commend her and Leslie studied politics and was an office administrator and political researcher before being elected. Of the above only Liam Byrne is a real prospect with qualifications and experience for the job, having an MBA from Harvard and City experience with Accenture and Rothschilds.
Also, Just been to an excellent ceremony for the enthronement of the 'Boy Bishop of Hereford' at Hereford Cathedral
When the only alternative is Liam Byrne, it is probably not worth taking the 11-4 from Hills that he will be out. Still probably a touch of value in Mike's 3 suggestions but he is probably safe.
Lenin toppled in Kiev..the cracks are beginning to appear...a whole Nation is about to become free
More than likely than not Ukrain will split between the Russian speaking east and the Polish and Hungarian speaking west.
Huh? The majority of Ukrainians speak... Ukrainian. Wikipedia says there are no more than 0.3% each of Poles and Hungarians, other minorities at less than 1% each include Belarussians, Romanians (Moldovans) and Crimean Tatars.
There is a whole East/West split in Ukraine: language (russian vs ukrainian), ethnicity (russian vs ukranian), industry (heavy industry concentrated in the east), religion (Orthodox vs Uniate/Catholic), politics (communist vs liberal), wealth (the west is richer), and history (Muskovite dominated vs part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania)
The split isn't that profound. 77.8% are Ukrainians, and 17.3% Russian. Russia took over the majority of the former Lithuanian parts by the Napoleonic era, so that when the first stirrings of Ukrainian nationalism emerged in the wake of WW1 and the 1917 Revolutions, the question was of joining Catholic Western Ukraine (formerly Austro-Hungarian) to the Russian part. As it happened, Western Ukraine was part of Poland from 1921 to 1939, then briefly Soviet, then occupied by Nazi Germany, before part of Soviet Ukraine again in 1945.
@MrHarryCole: Union candidate beats compelling bedroom tax campaigner in Falkirk. Pam Duncan, a grassroots voice for Labour shafted by vested interests.
With great respect I don't think that Harry Cole is an objective observer.
According to the Record, Duncan was the favourite:
Lenin toppled in Kiev..the cracks are beginning to appear...a whole Nation is about to become free
More than likely than not Ukrain will split between the Russian speaking east and the Polish and Hungarian speaking west.
Huh? The majority of Ukrainians speak... Ukrainian. Wikipedia says there are no more than 0.3% each of Poles and Hungarians, other minorities at less than 1% each include Belarussians, Romanians (Moldovans) and Crimean Tatars.
There is a whole East/West split in Ukraine: language (russian vs ukrainian), ethnicity (russian vs ukranian), industry (heavy industry concentrated in the east), religion (Orthodox vs Uniate/Catholic), politics (communist vs liberal), wealth (the west is richer), and history (Muskovite dominated vs part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania)
The split isn't that profound. 77.8% are Ukrainians, and 17.3% Russian. Russia took over the majority of the former Lithuanian parts by the Napoleonic era, so that when the first stirrings of Ukrainian nationalism emerged in the wake of WW1 and the 1917 Revolutions, the question was of joining Catholic Western Ukraine (formerly Austro-Hungarian) to the Russian part. As it happened, Western Ukraine was part of Poland from 1921 to 1939, then briefly Soviet, then occupied by Nazi Germany, before part of Soviet Ukraine again in 1945.
It's not just ethnicity. The Eastern Provinces are very Russian dominated: Russian language in schools, etc. The local Ukrainians also look to Moscow.
This map (2010 presidential results) sums it up very nicely
Lenin toppled in Kiev..the cracks are beginning to appear...a whole Nation is about to become free
More than likely than not Ukrain will split between the Russian speaking east and the Polish and Hungarian speaking west.
Huh? The majority of Ukrainians speak... Ukrainian. Wikipedia says there are no more than 0.3% each of Poles and Hungarians, other minorities at less than 1% each include Belarussians, Romanians (Moldovans) and Crimean Tatars.
There is a whole East/West split in Ukraine: language (russian vs ukrainian), ethnicity (russian vs ukranian), industry (heavy industry concentrated in the east), religion (Orthodox vs Uniate/Catholic), politics (communist vs liberal), wealth (the west is richer), and history (Muskovite dominated vs part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania)
The split isn't that profound. 77.8% are Ukrainians, and 17.3% Russian. Russia took over the majority of the former Lithuanian parts by the Napoleonic era, so that when the first stirrings of Ukrainian nationalism emerged in the wake of WW1 and the 1917 Revolutions, the question was of joining Catholic Western Ukraine (formerly Austro-Hungarian) to the Russian part. As it happened, Western Ukraine was part of Poland from 1921 to 1939, then briefly Soviet, then occupied by Nazi Germany, before part of Soviet Ukraine again in 1945.
It's not just ethnicity. The Eastern Provinces are very Russian dominated: Russian language in schools, etc. The local Ukrainians also look to Moscow.
This map (2010 presidential results) sums it up very nicely
Apart from Crimea/Sevastopol, and Odessa region, which borders ethincally mixed Moldova. Russian language is spoken by a majority in Donetsk and Lugansk regions:
Yes, we all know that it's OK to be racist towards the 'ethnic English', not that such a group exists as far as the left is concerned because then 'we' might have rights.
He'll be lucky if he survives Canada's hate speech laws but as it's the 'ethnic English' he's talking about he'll probably get a pass.
Especially when it is clear that the source information used to back up his claim about attainment levels by ethnicity were, lets just say, slightly rigged. They used a subsample of white English males (those on free school meals) and compared them to the wider group of other ethnic groups. You cant pick out a subsample and then compare it against the wider group and keep credibility.
Yes, we all know that it's OK to be racist towards the 'ethnic English', not that such a group exists as far as the left is concerned because then 'we' might have rights.
He'll be lucky if he survives Canada's hate speech laws but as it's the 'ethnic English' he's talking about he'll probably get a pass.
Especially when it is clear that the source information used to back up his claim about attainment levels by ethnicity were, lets just say, slightly rigged. They used a subsample of white English males (those on free school meals) and compared them to the wider group of other ethnic groups. You cant pick out a subsample and then compare it against the wider group and keep credibility.
Particularly when there is no such thing as 'ethnic English', anyone with a passing acquaintance with the genetic profile of the peoples of the British Isles would know that. We're all the same, English, Scots, Welsh and Irish.
Is there a statute of limitations on being a not-to-put-to-fine-a-point-on-it t*sser? Though t*ssing may be difficult without a full erection of course.
Is there a statute of limitations on being a not-to-put-to-fine-a-point-on-it t*sser? Though t*ssing may be difficult without a full erection of course.
There isn't a statute of limitations. On the second point, I really wouldn't know.
SMukesh .. I wondered how long it would take for the pathetic "If we announce policies then they will be stolen" nonsense would be the next line of defence..If Labour has policies it actually believes in and can realistically finance then they should publicise them with such a confident fanfare that it would be political insanity for the oppostion parties to steal them..It is obvious they do not have a single policy they feel confident about.
Yes, we all know that it's OK to be racist towards the 'ethnic English', not that such a group exists as far as the left is concerned because then 'we' might have rights.
He'll be lucky if he survives Canada's hate speech laws but as it's the 'ethnic English' he's talking about he'll probably get a pass.
Especially when it is clear that the source information used to back up his claim about attainment levels by ethnicity were, lets just say, slightly rigged. They used a subsample of white English males (those on free school meals) and compared them to the wider group of other ethnic groups. You cant pick out a subsample and then compare it against the wider group and keep credibility.
Particularly when there is no such thing as 'ethnic English', anyone with a passing acquaintance with the genetic profile of the peoples of the British Isles would know that. We're all the same, English, Scots, Welsh and Irish.
If Nick Griffin started talking about "Ethnic English" in reference to white people, I don't think a Lib Dem would link to it without criticism of the phrase and mentioning "theres no such thing" etc etc, & the Labour luvvies would be making a martyr of every non white Englishman before you could say double standards
I agree. It would be foolish and dangeous to put as COE a politician whose qualification was irrelevant, such as a history PhD. Imagine the chaos if that were to be the case for a decade!
Balls may have had a hard week last week, but polls show his cost of living message hit home and he is clearly the most heavyweight of the Labour frontbench with the best understanding of economics. Of those Mike suggests, Chuka Umunna is a lawyer and also will not take the job as he wants to be leader not Chancellor and does not want to be tainted with a Labour defeat; Rachel Reeves worked at HBOS during the crash which is hardly the best experience to commend her and Leslie studied politics and was an office administrator and political researcher before being elected. Of the above only Liam Byrne is a real prospect with qualifications and experience for the job, having an MBA from Harvard and City experience with Accenture and Rothschilds.
Also, Just been to an excellent ceremony for the enthronement of the 'Boy Bishop of Hereford' at Hereford Cathedral
@TheUnionDivvie - If you know anyone over at Wings over Scotland, it might be wise to tell them to take down that Darling is crap link you posted.
The Times lawyers get very upset at people violating their copyright and paywall.
PB has received warnings in the past, when posters have copied parts of Times articles here, I can only imagine how they'd react if they found if entire articles were being posted elsewhere.
After Macedonia broke away from Yugoslavia in 1991, it could only prevent Greece from blocking its UN entry by being admitted as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).
Obviously, it would be embarrassing for the Former UK (FUK) to highlight its initials, but the nomenclature is a real problem. The reduced entity could not accurately be called Great Britain, and ‘The United Kingdom of England, Wales and Northern Ireland’ is also inaccurate (since there is no Welsh or Northern Irish kingdom united with that of England).
@TheUnionDivvie - If you know anyone over at Wings over Scotland, it might be wise to tell them to take down that Darling is crap link you posted.
The Times lawyers get very upset at people violating their copyright and paywall.
PB has received warnings in the past, when posters have copied parts of Times articles here, I can only imagine how they'd react if they found if entire articles were being posted elsewhere.
Thanks, I'll mention it to them, though they get a bit feisty when threatened with lawyers.
Is Ashley Taylor Dawson defo out of Strictly btw ?
Yes, went out in the dance off with Patrick last night.
Still it was a profitable tip by me for him to be top male.
Spoilers! What's your source? Mind you, up against Patrick it would be a foregone conclusion......Sophie next out I reckon.....tho Susanna didn't shine this week.....
Sorry.
A very reputable source, you forget, I work near MediaCity.
I'm going to Salford Quays this week, will look out for a guy with dodgy shoes and a Star Trek uniform on
Chris Huhne: 'In Scotland, the unionists need to win hearts, not minds' - An economic argument won't decide the independence referendum. What matters is whether Scots feel British
None of the careful arguments to persuade the Scots to vote yes or no to independence next year will ultimately prove as important as raw emotion. Nationhood is an imagined space within which people feel comfortable taking and accepting decisions, even when they go against you.
... This issue of identity will ultimately determine the result of the referendum. Do the Scots still feel comfortable taking decisions with the English, Welsh and Northern Irish? Or will they go it alone? All the evidence about Scotland's sense of identity suggests that the rest of the UK could be in for a shock, whatever the polls now say. My guess is the result will be close.
The unionists may look as if they are winning comfortably until the last few weeks, and then the heart will take over.
... Remember the sources of British identity. Britain is a historically new construct, an accidental creation of Tudor infertility. The Scotland and England of a common throne were bound together in the Act of Union of 1707 because of fear on both sides that the Protestant ascendancy would be imperiled. British nationhood is just 300 years old, a blink in human history.
... Danny Boyle did his best to nourish post-imperial British pride with his Olympic tableau, but it is going to need more than dancing NHS nurses to persuade the Scots. If the unionists cannot articulate a new sense of British values and purpose, with which all the people of these islands can identify, the Scots may well vote for their auld country back again. It may be small. But it will be Scottish, and probably rather civilised and successful.
@TheUnionDivvie - If you know anyone over at Wings over Scotland, it might be wise to tell them to take down that Darling is crap link you posted.
The Times lawyers get very upset at people violating their copyright and paywall.
PB has received warnings in the past, when posters have copied parts of Times articles here, I can only imagine how they'd react if they found if entire articles were being posted elsewhere.
Thanks, I'll mention it to them, though they get a bit feisty when threatened with lawyers.
Yeah, that's why I thought it might come better from a fellow Nat than an English Tory.
In a separate interview, Lord Puttnam, the Labour peer and film producer, said the election of Ed Miliband as leader was "a considerable gift to the Tory party".
Puttnam, who backed David Miliband for the Labour leadership, said that having David as leader would have made life "a lot tougher" for the coalition. He said that Ed Miliband had done well, and that he was "prime ministerial material", but that he did not expect the party to win an outright majority at the election.
Is Ashley Taylor Dawson defo out of Strictly btw ?
Yes, went out in the dance off with Patrick last night.
Still it was a profitable tip by me for him to be top male.
Spoilers! What's your source? Mind you, up against Patrick it would be a foregone conclusion......Sophie next out I reckon.....tho Susanna didn't shine this week.....
Sorry.
A very reputable source, you forget, I work near MediaCity.
I'm going to Salford Quays this week, will look out for a guy with dodgy shoes and a Star Trek uniform on
I don't work those shoes to work. I normally wear my brown shoes to work.
I don't believe that Balls is tainted because of his "associations" with Brown. Most people either don't know or don't care about that.
That said, I'm still not sure he's a very good choice for shadow chancellor. The problem is that, whenever he makes an argument, the way he delivers it just comes across all wrong to an ordinary voter, even if they might agree with him if they just saw his words written down. Balls (and Osborne, and most of the Westminster village) seem to treat the whole economic debate as a game of poker, where whoever is proven right or whoever gets their opponent to back down automatically wins. But that's not how normal people see it, they're more concerned with which lot actually want to help them and are motivated by doing the best for the public. That's why politicians just bellowing words to the effect of "hahaha, I was right, you were wrong, everyone bask in my triumph" doesn't have any impact on the polls at all, whether it was Balls when the economy was in dire straits, or Osborne now it's recovering, because it just makes voters at home think "God, what w**kers, they just think this is a game". EdM has got much better in recent months at framing his arguments like he's saying it because he's concerned about what people are going through, rather than simply trying to just get one over on the other team, but I just don't know if Balls has it in him.
If he is replaced, I'd actually go with Andy Burnham. He actually sounds like a humanbeing who understands people's strife. And even though the Westminster bubble think he's tainted by the Mid-Staffordshire thing, noone outside cares about that (here in Merseyside, he's by far most famous for what he did on Hillsborough rather than anything else). If not him then Yvette Cooper would be a lesser evil than Balls, she atleast sounds a bit convincing at genuine concern, although she too can be a bit tribal when mindlessly attacking Theresa May over anything and everything.
Danny565 Andy Burnham would be a better leader than Miliband, but, like Alan Johnson, would be a terrible shadow chancellor, he is an English graduate again with a largely researcher background and has no real understanding of economics that I can see. Cooper would hardly agree to replace her husband
Is Ashley Taylor Dawson defo out of Strictly btw ?
Yes, went out in the dance off with Patrick last night.
Still it was a profitable tip by me for him to be top male.
Spoilers! What's your source? Mind you, up against Patrick it would be a foregone conclusion......Sophie next out I reckon.....tho Susanna didn't shine this week.....
Sorry.
A very reputable source, you forget, I work near MediaCity.
I'm going to Salford Quays this week, will look out for a guy with dodgy shoes and a Star Trek uniform on
I don't work those shoes to work. I normally wear my brown shoes to work.
Foxinsox As a history graduate myself, like Brown and Osborne, I feel I must defend my subject (although I did an Economics A Level), but yes you have a point, historians are better suited to the Foreign Office like Douglas Hurd, economics/PPE graduates like Healey or Lawson or indeed Balls to the Treasury and lawyers to the Home Office like Straw.
Danny565 Andy Burnham would be a better leader than Miliband, but, like Alan Johnson, would be a terrible shadow chancellor, he is an English graduate again with a largely researcher background and has no real understanding of economics that I can see. Cooper would hardly agree to replace her husband
Does it really matter if he doesn't have an economics background? The current chancellor doesn't. Burnham has been chief secretary to the treasury before, which isn't MUCH admittedly, but still more economics experience than Osborne had.
That said, comparison to Johnson is apt in that I worry Burnham, just like Johnson, would be sneered at by the snobbish Westminster media just because he doesn't sound like a ProfessionalPolitician with all humanity rinsed out of his soul, and would have his intelligence questioned just because of one or two errors like Johnson was (whereas anyone who doesn't sound working-class gets cut a lot more slack if they make mistakes, no matter which party they're from).
Is Ashley Taylor Dawson defo out of Strictly btw ?
Yes, went out in the dance off with Patrick last night.
Still it was a profitable tip by me for him to be top male.
Spoilers! What's your source? Mind you, up against Patrick it would be a foregone conclusion......Sophie next out I reckon.....tho Susanna didn't shine this week.....
Sorry.
A very reputable source, you forget, I work near MediaCity.
I'm going to Salford Quays this week, will look out for a guy with dodgy shoes and a Star Trek uniform on
I don't work those shoes to work. I normally wear my brown shoes to work.
Danny565 Yes, it should do, and there is hardly a point replacing someone like Balls who is heavyweight who studied economics with someone like Burnham who isn't and did not, and being Chief Sec is a world away from Chancellor. Of course Burnham or Johnson would be far better leaders than Miliband but that is a different job entirely. As for the professional class, well they sneered at Thatcher and Major for their background and little harm it did them!
What have you done with your life that compares to David's achievements?
Well. I definitely haven't shot a lion. I won't go down the 'erection' path...
How about (a) pluck an unknown women from where she worked in the library and give her the political support to build one of the world's best asset management firms; (b) build one of the best international banks; (c) be a highly effective director of the bank of england (d) transform the national portrait gallery;
Foxinsox As a history graduate myself, like Brown and Osborne, I feel I must defend my subject (although I did an Economics A Level), but yes you have a point, historians are better suited to the Foreign Office like Douglas Hurd, economics/PPE graduates like Healey or Lawson or indeed Balls to the Treasury and lawyers to the Home Office like Straw.
The problem with graduates in economics is that they think that the theories actually work.
What have you done with your life that compares to David's achievements?
Well. I definitely haven't shot a lion. I won't go down the 'erection' path...
How about (a) pluck an unknown women from where she worked in the library and give her the political support to build one of the world's best asset management firms; (b) build one of the best international banks; (c) be a highly effective director of the bank of england (d) transform the national portrait gallery;
You really must get that hair-trigger pomposity looked at. There's probably a pill for it.
Which is more stupid, Tories slagging immigrants or Tories slagging Alistair Darling?
Labour people slagging Alistair Darling.
Obviously they are stupid too, but it didn't really answer the question.
Tories not understanding Scotland, Tories not understanding modern Britain. And no matter how many times you parrott "Phil Woolas" nothing will change the fact that Tories have one Scottish MP and 16% of the non white vote. And they dont seem to want to learn
Getting accused of parroting by you? Irony overload.How many times have talked things like the Polzeath Porpoise or Dave in Morrisons or Latvian homophobes?
Right now, it has dawned on quite a few people (from Lab to the Tories) that the person who predicted the following, might not the be most credible person to lead better together, particularly against Salmond's bravado?
Britain is more resilient and more prepared to deal with global shocks.
The man who resigned from the faculty of advocates
Anybody who thinks Burnham has any ability or aptitude to be Labour leader or chancellor must be totally deluded. Mid-Staffs is all that needs to be said but I will add he must be the most odious, smug, careerist brown-noser in UK politics today and that is saying something. Balls and Miliband may not be ideal but both are a great deal more preferable to Burnham.
Which is more stupid, Tories slagging immigrants or Tories slagging Alistair Darling?
Labour people slagging Alistair Darling.
Obviously they are stupid too, but it didn't really answer the question.
Tories not understanding Scotland, Tories not understanding modern Britain. And no matter how many times you parrott "Phil Woolas" nothing will change the fact that Tories have one Scottish MP and 16% of the non white vote. And they dont seem to want to learn
Getting accused of parroting by you? Irony overload.How many times have talked things like the Polzeath Porpoise or Dave in Morrisons or Latvian homophobes?
Right now, it has dawned on quite a few people (from Lab to the Tories) that the person who predicted the following, might not the be most credible person to lead better together, particularly against Salmond's bravado?
Britain is more resilient and more prepared to deal with global shocks.
The man who resigned from the faculty of advocates
If you think none of this is going to be mentioned by the Yes side, then perhaps you're the one who doesn't want to learn.
You think Darling is doing a bad job, then I'm not surprised. Do you seriously want anyone to remind me about your judgement before the last election, let alone your inability to settle your bets.
Care to remind everyone about your calls on Eastleigh, Farrons seat?
I don't think Darling is doing a bad job, we're in the phoney war stage, but the battle will change come next summer, when the situation will slightly be different to now as the campaign starts proper.
I think when the UK's premier political betting blogger regularly asks to me edit his site, I think my judgement is respected by those who count.
Which is more stupid, Tories slagging immigrants or Tories slagging Alistair Darling?
Labour people slagging Alistair Darling.
Obviously they are stupid too, but it didn't really answer the question.
Tories not understanding Scotland, Tories not understanding modern Britain. And no matter how many times you parrott "Phil Woolas" nothing will change the fact that Tories have one Scottish MP and 16% of the non white vote. And they dont seem to want to learn
Getting accused of parroting by you? Irony overload.How many times have talked things like the Polzeath Porpoise or Dave in Morrisons or Latvian homophobes?
Right now, it has dawned on quite a few people (from Lab to the Tories) that the person who predicted the following, might not the be most credible person to lead better together, particularly against Salmond's bravado?
Britain is more resilient and more prepared to deal with global shocks.
The man who resigned from the faculty of advocates
If you think none of this is going to be mentioned by the Yes side, then perhaps you're the one who doesn't want to learn.
You think Darling is doing a bad job, then I'm not surprised. Do you seriously want anyone to remind me about your judgement before the last election, let alone your inability to settle your bets.
Care to remind everyone about your calls on Eastleigh, Farrons seat?
I don't think Darling is doing a bad job, we're in the phoney war stage, but the battle will change come next summer, when the situation will slightly be different to now as the campaign starts proper.
I think when the UK's premier political betting blogger regularly asks to me edit his site, I think my judgement is respected by those who count.
All I've seen is you call the last election wrong, badly.
Yet I still won money on the last election.
Guess what, some people make predictions that turn out accurate, some that didn't.
I'm sure you've won every bet since the election haven't you?
RAF chopper makes forced landing in the Palestinian West Bank, reportedly due to 'technical difficulties' during a run between Jordan and Cyprus.
Curious thing is why it was over that airspace at all. Perhaps the Israelis are comfortable with British choppers flying through its airspace, perhaps not.
What have you done with your life that compares to David's achievements?
Well. I definitely haven't shot a lion. I won't go down the 'erection' path...
How about (a) pluck an unknown women from where she worked in the library and give her the political support to build one of the world's best asset management firms; (b) build one of the best international banks; (c) be a highly effective director of the bank of england (d) transform the national portrait gallery;
You really must get that hair-trigger pomposity looked at. There's probably a pill for it.
Nah - I'm just p1ssed off with "banker" being used as an insult.
David Scholey was a great business man, who created two world class institutions (SG Warburg and MAM). Ok, so you don't like him shooting a lion (I don't particularly either) but it doesn't negate everything that he did with his life.
Which is more stupid, Tories slagging immigrants or Tories slagging Alistair Darling?
Labour people slagging Alistair Darling.
Obviously they are stupid too, but it didn't really answer the question.
Tories not understanding Scotland, Tories not understanding modern Britain. And no matter how many times you parrott "Phil Woolas" nothing will change the fact that Tories have one Scottish MP and 16% of the non white vote. And they dont seem to want to learn
Getting accused of parroting by you? Irony overload.How many times have talked things like the Polzeath Porpoise or Dave in Morrisons or Latvian homophobes?
Right now, it has dawned on quite a few people (from Lab to the Tories) that the person who predicted the following, might not the be most credible person to lead better together, particularly against Salmond's bravado?
Britain is more resilient and more prepared to deal with global shocks.
The man who resigned from the faculty of advocates
If you think none of this is going to be mentioned by the Yes side, then perhaps you're the one who doesn't want to learn.
You think Darling is doing a bad job, then I'm not surprised. Do you seriously want anyone to remind me about your judgement before the last election, let alone your inability to settle your bets.
Care to remind everyone about your calls on Eastleigh, Farrons seat?
I don't think Darling is doing a bad job, we're in the phoney war stage, but the battle will change come next summer, when the situation will slightly be different to now as the campaign starts proper.
I think when the UK's premier political betting blogger regularly asks to me edit his site, I think my judgement is respected by those who count.
All I've seen is you call the last election wrong, badly.
Yet I still won money on the last election.
Guess what, some people make predictions that turn out accurate, some that done.
I'm sure you've won every bet since the election haven't you?
Obviously not. But I know that when you eventually settled on the last election you lost badly
Which is more stupid, Tories slagging immigrants or Tories slagging Alistair Darling?
Labour people slagging Alistair Darling.
Obviously they are stupid too, but it didn't really answer the question.
Tories not understanding Scotland, Tories not understanding modern Britain. And no matter how many times you parrott "Phil Woolas" nothing will change the fact that Tories have one Scottish MP and 16% of the non white vote. And they dont seem to want to learn
Getting accused of parroting by you? Irony overload.How many times have talked things like the Polzeath Porpoise or Dave in Morrisons or Latvian homophobes?
Right now, it has dawned on quite a few people (from Lab to the Tories) that the person who predicted the following, might not the be most credible person to lead better together, particularly against Salmond's bravado?
Britain is more resilient and more prepared to deal with global shocks.
The man who resigned from the faculty of advocates
If you think none of this is going to be mentioned by the Yes side, then perhaps you're the one who doesn't want to learn.
You think Darling is doing a bad job, then I'm not surprised. Do you seriously want anyone to remind me about your judgement before the last election, let alone your inability to settle your bets.
Care to remind everyone about your calls on Eastleigh, Farrons seat?
I don't think Darling is doing a bad job, we're in the phoney war stage, but the battle will change come next summer, when the situation will slightly be different to now as the campaign starts proper.
I think when the UK's premier political betting blogger regularly asks to me edit his site, I think my judgement is respected by those who count.
Hear hear TSE, other than the footie betting natch.....
I quite like Andy Burnham, and think him second best of the Health Ministers during the last Labour government (after Frank Dobson- who had the wisdom to do very little apart from carry out the '97 pledge to abolish the internal market)
Burnam was Minister of Health for 12/12 in 2006-7, and Secretary of State for Health, from summer 2009. The Stafford Scandal went public in late 2008, and the first investigation was in March 2009, before Burnham became Secretary of State.
He is no more culpable than any other Labour Minister of that parliament.
He is one of the best communicators of the Labour front bench and has also the advantage of relatively modest upbringing in Liverpool, rather than the nepotistic inner circle of PPE MPs.
Anybody who thinks Burnham has any ability or aptitude to be Labour leader or chancellor must be totally deluded. Mid-Staffs is all that needs to be said but I will add he must be the most odious, smug, careerist brown-noser in UK politics today and that is saying something. Balls and Miliband may not be ideal but both are a great deal more preferable to Burnham.
Darling's financial expertise over his expenses doesn't show him in a good light. Setting taxes, yet doing his level best to limit his own exposure to them.
As for the resignation from Faculty of Advocates, such a rare event that it made the tabloids.
Would the SNP really not want to remind voters of honest Alistair's past, he's just another from the parcel of rogues who sold Scotland down the river to the Unionists...
Indeed John Major did the job without any degree at all, and not too bad at all, according to a friend who was a Treasury Economist at the time.
The Treasury has a considerable number of highly skilled Civil Servants with postgraduate degrees in economics. The better Chancellors listen to their advice, the less good ones think that they do not need advice as they know everything already. This was one of the many flaws in Gordon Browns character.
Anybody who thinks Burnham has any ability or aptitude to be Labour leader or chancellor must be tonally deluded. Mid-Staffs is all that needs to be said but I will add he must be the most odious, smug, careerist brown-noser in UK politics today and that is saying something. Balls and Miliband may not be ideal but both are a great deal more preferable to Burnham.
Thing is who else s there ? Labours patronage system unrelated to merit will come to haunt it in the future. Like their socialism in policy matters they are ignoring natural selection - MPs stuffed into seats for their Unite brown nosing. They will end up with a bunch of statist nodding dogs with a diminishing level of talent. Darling and Murphy are the two names of that list that aren't hopeless - but they don't scratch the right backs.
I'd have thought that a knowledge of economic history would be a better training for CoE. It might stop them confusing a bull market with their brains or spouting rubbish such as "no more boom and bust" or "the new paradigm".
Darling's financial expertise over his expenses doesn't show him in a good light. Setting taxes, yet doing his level best to limit his own exposure to them.
As for the resignation from Faculty of Advocates, such a rare event that it made the tabloids.
Would the SNP really not want to remind voters of honest Alistair's past, he's just another from the parcel of rogues who sold Scotland down the river to the Unionists...
Still 10 months to go. Can't spend all our pocketmoney in the first sweetie shop.
Tim (and Labour) ran a campaign for years trying to undermine George and persuade tories that their problems would be solved if only they had a more voter friendly face as Chancellor. Looks pretty ridiculous now but there were times after the media inspired omnishambles when a less confident leader than Cameron might have wobbled.
He and they did not do this out of the goodness of their hearts or a desire to improve the tories' chances. They did this because they knew fine well that replacing a Chancellor or Shadow Chancellor is an admission of failure, an admission that the argument has been lost and that new arguments are needed. This not only destroys the Chancellor, it profoundly undermines the Leader. Even Maggie was eventually brought down when she fell out with her Chancellors and neither Dave nor Ed are close to being a Maggie.
For these very compelling reasons of presentation Ed Balls is going nowhere. Ed Miliband has already lost one Shadow Chancellor, to lose another before the election would make him look incompetent and to have poor judgement. It is a price he cannot afford to pay. Ed Balls might quit on him (as the postie did) but he will not be sacked.
The Twitter address of the newly-selected UKIP candidate for Hayes and Harlington is maybe a slightly embarrassing reminder of the fact that he contested the seat in 2010 for the English Democrats:
Fox Burnham also has emotional intelligence, as can be seen in his Hillsborough statement, he also has a degree in English rather than PPE. I still think it will be Chukka Umunna though who will succeed Miliband if he falls short in 2015!
Tim (and Labour) ran a campaign for years trying to undermine George and persuade tories that their problems would be solved if only they had a more voter friendly face as Chancellor. Looks pretty ridiculous now but there were times after the media inspired omnishambles when a less confident leader than Cameron might have wobbled.
He and they did not do this out of the goodness of their hearts or a desire to improve the tories' chances. They did this because they knew fine well that replacing a Chancellor or Shadow Chancellor is an admission of failure, an admission that the argument has been lost and that new arguments are needed. This not only destroys the Chancellor, it profoundly undermines the Leader. Even Maggie was eventually brought down when she fell out with her Chancellors and neither Dave nor Ed are close to being a Maggie.
For these very compelling reasons of presentation Ed Balls is going nowhere. Ed Miliband has already lost one Shadow Chancellor, to lose another before the election would make him look incompetent and to have poor judgement. It is a price he cannot afford to pay. Ed Balls might quit on him (as the postie did) but he will not be sacked.
Fox Indeed, although Clarke read law and was also Home Secretary and Justice Minister, Lawson read PPE, including economics, and was arguably the most successful of recent Chancellors
Comments
At least he admits to white flight I suppose
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25290959
Also, Just been to an excellent ceremony for the enthronement of the 'Boy Bishop of Hereford' at Hereford Cathedral
Ah yes ....
Sir William Wyndham MP
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/falkirk-labour-hopeful-calls-fresh-2900681
Mind you, Labour have been making a mess of Falkirk since Canavan.....
This map (2010 presidential results) sums it up very nicely
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Другий_тур_2010_по_округах-en.png
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ukrainian_salary_map.png
Coalition breakup in 2014 9/2 with Paddy Power.
Is Gerrard going to be out too?
But, to be fair, there are some very poor parts of Western Ukraine (agricultural mainly)
'Millionaire banker & Tory party donor Sir David Scholey'
http://tinyurl.com/ngrmbyg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ukraine_cencus_2001_Ukrainian.svg
I think it is Gerrard's hamstring. So out for a while.
If you bet on Suarez, I'll bet on Spurs winning the FA Cup.
I remember the Mash's write up made me laugh
(Careful, this story make shock someone as innocent as you)
http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/environment/tory-donor-kills-lion-but-still-fails-to-get-full-erection-201109124291
Is there a statute of limitations on being a not-to-put-to-fine-a-point-on-it t*sser?
Limitation = 19 September 2014
odds on that currently?
Slightly interestingly, her s/o is David Meikle, Glasgow's only Tory councillor.
Don't mention her s/o or SLAB will put it on a leaflet.
The Times lawyers get very upset at people violating their copyright and paywall.
PB has received warnings in the past, when posters have copied parts of Times articles here, I can only imagine how they'd react if they found if entire articles were being posted elsewhere.
Let's face it, Boris Johnson is more likely....
- An economic argument won't decide the independence referendum. What matters is whether Scots feel British http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/08/scotland-unionists-hearts-independence-referendum
In a separate interview, Lord Puttnam, the Labour peer and film producer, said the election of Ed Miliband as leader was "a considerable gift to the Tory party".
Puttnam, who backed David Miliband for the Labour leadership, said that having David as leader would have made life "a lot tougher" for the coalition. He said that Ed Miliband had done well, and that he was "prime ministerial material", but that he did not expect the party to win an outright majority at the election.
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/dec/08/ed-balls-couldnt-give-toss-criticism
Ashley is a brilliant dancer and gawjuss too.
Len was so right.
That said, I'm still not sure he's a very good choice for shadow chancellor. The problem is that, whenever he makes an argument, the way he delivers it just comes across all wrong to an ordinary voter, even if they might agree with him if they just saw his words written down. Balls (and Osborne, and most of the Westminster village) seem to treat the whole economic debate as a game of poker, where whoever is proven right or whoever gets their opponent to back down automatically wins. But that's not how normal people see it, they're more concerned with which lot actually want to help them and are motivated by doing the best for the public. That's why politicians just bellowing words to the effect of "hahaha, I was right, you were wrong, everyone bask in my triumph" doesn't have any impact on the polls at all, whether it was Balls when the economy was in dire straits, or Osborne now it's recovering, because it just makes voters at home think "God, what w**kers, they just think this is a game". EdM has got much better in recent months at framing his arguments like he's saying it because he's concerned about what people are going through, rather than simply trying to just get one over on the other team, but I just don't know if Balls has it in him.
If he is replaced, I'd actually go with Andy Burnham. He actually sounds like a humanbeing who understands people's strife. And even though the Westminster bubble think he's tainted by the Mid-Staffordshire thing, noone outside cares about that (here in Merseyside, he's by far most famous for what he did on Hillsborough rather than anything else). If not him then Yvette Cooper would be a lesser evil than Balls, she atleast sounds a bit convincing at genuine concern, although she too can be a bit tribal when mindlessly attacking Theresa May over anything and everything.
That said, comparison to Johnson is apt in that I worry Burnham, just like Johnson, would be sneered at by the snobbish Westminster media just because he doesn't sound like a ProfessionalPolitician with all humanity rinsed out of his soul, and would have his intelligence questioned just because of one or two errors like Johnson was (whereas anyone who doesn't sound working-class gets cut a lot more slack if they make mistakes, no matter which party they're from).
I like to be memorable.
Christ is it the lagershed already?
* forgot to ignore
Right now, it has dawned on quite a few people (from Lab to the Tories) that the person who predicted the following, might not the be most credible person to lead better together, particularly against Salmond's bravado?
Britain is more resilient and more prepared to deal with global shocks.
The man who resigned from the faculty of advocates
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/labour/6968208/Alistair-Darling-resigns-from-law-body-as-it-investigates-his-conduct.html
or the man who managed his property portfolio better than he ever managed the economy.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/5418768/MPs-expenses-How-Alistair-Darling-nominated-four-properties-as-second-home-in-four-years.html
If you think none of this is going to be mentioned by the Yes side, then perhaps you're the one who doesn't want to learn.
Smart observation of Alastair Campbell's GE2015 role from @DPJHodges. He's being "humoured"
http://fw.to/6laYFMG
I think when the UK's premier political betting blogger regularly asks to me edit his site, I think my judgement is respected by those who count.
Guess what, some people make predictions that turn out accurate, some that didn't.
I'm sure you've won every bet since the election haven't you?
Curious thing is why it was over that airspace at all. Perhaps the Israelis are comfortable with British choppers flying through its airspace, perhaps not.
David Scholey was a great business man, who created two world class institutions (SG Warburg and MAM). Ok, so you don't like him shooting a lion (I don't particularly either) but it doesn't negate everything that he did with his life.
'All I've seen is you call the last election wrong, badly.'
Rod C & Jack W called the last election right,you didn't ,get over it.
So knock yourself out.
Hear hear TSE, other than the footie betting natch.....
Burnam was Minister of Health for 12/12 in 2006-7, and Secretary of State for Health, from summer 2009. The Stafford Scandal went public in late 2008, and the first investigation was in March 2009, before Burnham became Secretary of State.
He is no more culpable than any other Labour Minister of that parliament.
He is one of the best communicators of the Labour front bench and has also the advantage of relatively modest upbringing in Liverpool, rather than the nepotistic inner circle of PPE MPs.
As for the resignation from Faculty of Advocates, such a rare event that it made the tabloids.
Would the SNP really not want to remind voters of honest Alistair's past, he's just another from the parcel of rogues who sold Scotland down the river to the Unionists...
Please desist.
This topic is now closed.
The Treasury has a considerable number of highly skilled Civil Servants with postgraduate degrees in economics. The better Chancellors listen to their advice, the less good ones think that they do not need advice as they know everything already. This was one of the many flaws in Gordon Browns character.
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/the-polls-are-wrong-about-ukip--as-the-attack-on-victoria-ayling-shows-8991592.html
Verulamius If you include the 'E' in PPE, of recent Chancellors, Lawson, Jenkins, Wilson was an economics academic when he was shadow chancellor
Like all successful politicians he had a staff who gave good advice. Gordon Brown had Balls and McBride.
He and they did not do this out of the goodness of their hearts or a desire to improve the tories' chances. They did this because they knew fine well that replacing a Chancellor or Shadow Chancellor is an admission of failure, an admission that the argument has been lost and that new arguments are needed. This not only destroys the Chancellor, it profoundly undermines the Leader. Even Maggie was eventually brought down when she fell out with her Chancellors and neither Dave nor Ed are close to being a Maggie.
For these very compelling reasons of presentation Ed Balls is going nowhere. Ed Miliband has already lost one Shadow Chancellor, to lose another before the election would make him look incompetent and to have poor judgement. It is a price he cannot afford to pay. Ed Balls might quit on him (as the postie did) but he will not be sacked.
https://twitter.com/EngPatriot
Perhaps you would care in future to view your sources a little more critically.