The BBC have finally flipped their lids. QT in Joburg! I can hear the sound of thousands of TV sets being switched off in Britain. So ends a week of Mandela mongering; with a cruel pantomime of the BBC's own making.
And Damn you, your multi-quote reply is confusing me and making it hard to reply to it.
I dare say Eck was a little de-sensitized to such language after being continually referred to by his opponents as a Nazi, Fascist, Mussolini, North Korean Dictator, Genralissimo etc, etc. Certainly an unwise choice of words, but I don't think he's ever been noted for his Christian meekness.
If only he was like a North Korean Dictator, it might enliven the Indy Ref.
North Korean leader's uncle 'executed over corruption'
I suspect and fear, there's going to be hyperbole on both sides of the indy campaign next year.
But you're right, about his lack of meekness, that's one of the big issues of the campaign where the No side will struggle.
Who have they got who can combat that, Salmond can dish it out, without coming across as nasty, is a rare talent in politics, one that only Blair, Boris and Ken Clarke possess.
QT... What a joke... Can barely understand a word.... Reminds me of a cab journey home from the west end a decade ago where the driver was insisting Nwankwo Kanu was about 38
I suspect and fear, there's going to be hyperbole on both sides of the indy campaign next year.
But you're right, about his lack of meekness, that's one of the big issues of the campaign where the No side will struggle.
Who have they got who can combat that, Salmond can dish it out, without coming across as nasty, is a rare talent in politics, one that only Blair, Boris and Ken Clarke possess.
Something I don't think Darling has.
Maybe John Reid?
Reid has too much baggage - Iraq, Afghanistan, Blairite, possibly even his Celtic connections. I actually think what BT needs is not more aggression, but a bit of wit, charm and gut belief in the Union. Charlie Kennedy would be ideal, apart from his personal problems, being a Scottish LD and possibly not having the gut belief. Okay, maybe not so ideal.
Of course South Africa is still miles ahead of every other African country, in that ordinary people are prepared to go on television and criticise their leaders.
Not entirely true, there are several countries where there have been longstanding democracies, such as Botswana, as well as rampant despotism elsewhere.
I am quite interested in Africa, so have found QT quite interesting tonight.
Of course South Africa is still miles ahead of every other African country, in that ordinary people are prepared to go on television and criticise their leaders.
I suspect and fear, there's going to be hyperbole on both sides of the indy campaign next year.
But you're right, about his lack of meekness, that's one of the big issues of the campaign where the No side will struggle.
Who have they got who can combat that, Salmond can dish it out, without coming across as nasty, is a rare talent in politics, one that only Blair, Boris and Ken Clarke possess.
Something I don't think Darling has.
Maybe John Reid?
Reid has too much baggage - Iraq, Afghanistan, Blairite, possibly even his Celtic connections. I actually think what BT needs is not more aggression, but a bit of wit, charm and gut belief in the Union. Charlie Kennedy would be ideal, apart from his personal problems, being a Scottish LD and possibly not having the gut belief. Okay, maybe not so ideal.
How about Iain Gray?
::Innocent Face::
Sorry if that damages your sides.
But I wonder if No will struggle. They only have Darling to combat Salmond and Sturgeon.
Having seen her take on Lord Kill Nationalism Stone Dead Robertson recently, No have to find some quality.
I suspect and fear, there's going to be hyperbole on both sides of the indy campaign next year.
But you're right, about his lack of meekness, that's one of the big issues of the campaign where the No side will struggle.
Who have they got who can combat that, Salmond can dish it out, without coming across as nasty, is a rare talent in politics, one that only Blair, Boris and Ken Clarke possess.
Something I don't think Darling has.
Maybe John Reid?
Reid has too much baggage - Iraq, Afghanistan, Blairite, possibly even his Celtic connections. I actually think what BT needs is not more aggression, but a bit of wit, charm and gut belief in the Union. Charlie Kennedy would be ideal, apart from his personal problems, being a Scottish LD and possibly not having the gut belief. Okay, maybe not so ideal.
I suspect and fear, there's going to be hyperbole on both sides of the indy campaign next year.
But you're right, about his lack of meekness, that's one of the big issues of the campaign where the No side will struggle.
Who have they got who can combat that, Salmond can dish it out, without coming across as nasty, is a rare talent in politics, one that only Blair, Boris and Ken Clarke possess.
Something I don't think Darling has.
Maybe John Reid?
Reid has too much baggage - Iraq, Afghanistan, Blairite, possibly even his Celtic connections. I actually think what BT needs is not more aggression, but a bit of wit, charm and gut belief in the Union. Charlie Kennedy would be ideal, apart from his personal problems, being a Scottish LD and possibly not having the gut belief. Okay, maybe not so ideal.
George Galloway?
He was great on the QT special
I don't think the main Unionist parties could find barge poles long enough. Besides GG thrives on being the maverick, sitting at the front of a multi party campaign takes a lot of conciliating and zipping of lips.
'You're both cheeks of the same @rse, but on this occasion I'm going to nestle helpfully between you.'
I am still here, and it was fun to see that BBC QuestionTime popped up to Falkirk just recently to do their latest Scottish edition. I cannot possible imagine what suddenly made them decide to pick this wee Scottish town as a venue, but the audience certainly showed its cynicism at the Labour/Unite shannigans at a local level there.
I am still here, and it was fun to see that BBC QuestionTime popped up to Falkirk just recently to do their latest Scottish edition. I cannot possible imagine what suddenly made them decide to pick this wee Scottish town as a venue, but the audience certainly showed its cynicism at the Labour/Unite shannigans at a local level there.
I saw a pic of Sarkozy sat next to Hollande at the Mandela memorial tucked away amongst the hype of the Danish PM doing a selfie with Obama and Cameron. Lets face it, if Sarkozy throws himself back into front line French politics its going to be a fun spectacle to watch, especially among the leading ladies.
Times paywall fact: if asked to choose, 46 percent of French voters want Sarkozy as president, once more, against 27 percent who prefer to keep Hollande.
Fitalass SeanT Sarkozy would almost certainly win a straight rematch, but with Fillon splitting the vote of the centre-right in the first round, Hollande could win by default against Marine Le Pen in round 2
And a Merry Christmas to you Surbiton, and your family as well. I had a bit of a hiccup with remembering to order the Kerry Bronze Turkey this year, I forgot. So we are now stuck with a 8kg one! We are cooking for a big family gathering on Christmas day (combined effort), but still, lets just say that my best friend has just given me a Top 10 list of fun recipes with Turkey. Lets hope the electricity stays on this Christmas the minute the ovens get fired up for Christmas dinner in Aberdeenshire, we had our Christmas dinner on boxing day last year as a result of a lengthy outage. I know some lucky folk were able to use their caravan, and others even lit the barbecue to try to get their birds cooked in our village last year!
I am still here, and it was fun to see that BBC QuestionTime popped up to Falkirk just recently to do their latest Scottish edition. I cannot possible imagine what suddenly made them decide to pick this wee Scottish town as a venue, but the audience certainly showed its cynicism at the Labour/Unite shannigans at a local level there.
Times paywall fact: if asked to choose, 46 percent of French voters want Sarkozy as president, once more, against 27 percent who prefer to keep Hollande.
A very tough call considering how some Nats have questioned and called their fellow Scots loyalty and allegiance to the their Scottish identity into question for having the temerity to view themselves as both as Scottish and British in a positive way during the Indy debate. I am very comfortable a Highlander first, Scottish second and British third, and totally comfortable with Parliaments in Edinburgh and Westminster as a result. Between voting for my locals, Holyrood, Westminster and the EU, I am awash with democracy at every single level of Government and get to cast a vote almost every year as a result. Why would I want to give up that level of democracy?
"We are interested to know how people living in Scotland see themselves in terms of their nationality. Which of the statements best describes how you regard yourself?"
Scottish, not British 27% More Scottish than British 27% Equally Scottish and British 27% More British than Scottish 4% British, not Scottish 10% other 4% DK2%
Sorry Stuart, but that's not a winning position. You have 27%, plus maybe a few percent from the "more Scottish than British" sector.
Which closely mirrors the polling 30-35% Yes.
You need to convince 20% of Scots to relinquish their primary or secondary sense of Britishnesss. Tough call.
I know that is the settled view of some on here, but just look at Hollande's personal ratings. It reminds me a bit of the Labour party over here, they couldn't get rid of Blair fast enough, and then they got Brown in his place.....
Fitalass SeanT Sarkozy would almost certainly win a straight rematch, but with Fillon splitting the vote of the centre-right in the first round, Hollande could win by default against Marine Le Pen in round 2
Fitalass But the French system is a 2 round contest, Chirac won 80% of the vote in 2002 against Le Pen Senior despite low approval ratings because the left vote was split. The right vote is likely to be even more split in 2017 because Fillon, Sarkozy's PM, has vowed to run as an independent and with Marine polling strongly and Bayrou running as a nominal centre/centre right figure all Hollande has to do is scrape through the first round ahead of a split right and face Le Pen in round 2 who will probably have topped round 1!
dugarbandier I suppose that was a Christmas present for Romanians who had endured his rule, a similar fate may eventually fall the Kims!
With the French economy and Hollande's personal ratings going in the same direction, down the toilet fast, it makes for some exceptional circumstances in French politics. I wouldn't rule anything out at this stage.
Fitalass But the French system is a 2 round contest, Chirac won 80% of the vote in 2002 against Le Pen Senior despite low approval ratings because the left vote was split. The right vote is likely to be even more split in 2017 because Fillon, Sarkozy's PM, has vowed to run as an independent and with Marine polling strongly and Bayrou running as a nominal centre/centre right figure all Hollande has to do is scrape through the first round ahead of a split right and face Le Pen in round 2 who will probably have topped round 1!
dugarbandier I suppose that was a Christmas present for Romanians who had endured his rule, a similar fate may eventually fall the Kims!
Fitalass I would not rule anything out, but Sarkozy is no shoo-in, in 4 years time the economy may well have recovered a bit, the centre-right is hopelessly split and it is Le Pen and FN who are really making the big gains, and French presidents, like American presidents, are more often than not re-elected, especially after only 1 term of their party in the office. Night!
Totally agree with you, but I am just saying that he shouldn't be automatically ruled out completely considering the current political and economic turmoil afflicting France right now.
Fitalass I would not rule anything out, but Sarkozy is no shoo-in, in 4 years time the economy may well have recovered a bit, the centre-right is hopelessly split and it is Le Pen and FN who are really making the big gains, and French presidents, like American presidents, are more often than not re-elected, especially after only 1 term of their party in the office. Night!
The transition would be massively painful; think of the problems Germany has had since reunification and multiply by a couple of orders of magnitude. It may not be a case of the South raising the North up; it may be a case of the North dragging the South down.
Add in China as a neighbour, and it could get hot.
Yet if a chance came, the South would jump at it, just as Germany did.
IMHO, of course.
I think it would be South Korea lifting North Korea up, but it would be a joint effort by South Korea and China. China has the power to pull the plug on North Korea at any time it likes, and it doesn't like for obvious reasons of social and economic stability.
The recent TV documentary on DPRK showed that the flow of information from the outside world into the DPRK is increasing substantially and is probably unstoppable. Therefore the collapse of the DPRK is inevitable, and when it happens it will be very quick and unexpected. It might happen in 2014 or in 2034 or any time in between.
The recent development of the executed Uncle Jang is significant not because it has happened but because the DPRK has been so open about it. There are splits within the WPK and the army between the hardliners and the reformists in a way that has never happened before.
It was sensible to have the lefty Peter Hain on BBC Question Time. He sounded like a moderate right-winger in advising the South Africans not to be silly enough to redistribute land in the Zimbabwe style.
It reminded me of the QT episode in the USA in which the token British panellist was Richard Littlejohn, who came across as a sensible lefty liberal when compared with some of the redneck hanging-shooting opinions of the American politicians.
Comments
North Korean leader's uncle 'executed over corruption'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25359939
I suspect and fear, there's going to be hyperbole on both sides of the indy campaign next year.
But you're right, about his lack of meekness, that's one of the big issues of the campaign where the No side will struggle.
Who have they got who can combat that, Salmond can dish it out, without coming across as nasty, is a rare talent in politics, one that only Blair, Boris and Ken Clarke possess.
Something I don't think Darling has.
Maybe John Reid?
Con 422 UKIP 377 LD 101
Warwickshire - Bedworth West
Lab 904 Con 353 UKIP 142 TUSC 46
I've a reselection for you: Boy Sarwar tonight in Glasgow Central
Reid has too much baggage - Iraq, Afghanistan, Blairite, possibly even his Celtic connections. I actually think what BT needs is not more aggression, but a bit of wit, charm and gut belief in the Union. Charlie Kennedy would be ideal, apart from his personal problems, being a Scottish LD and possibly not having the gut belief. Okay, maybe not so ideal.
Britain's history is intertwined with South Africa's. It's right for the BBC to do this.
Edit: Whoops, quoted wrong post! Newbie error....
twitter.com/Conor_BurnsMP/status/411234747760009218
I am quite interested in Africa, so have found QT quite interesting tonight.
::Innocent Face::
Sorry if that damages your sides.
But I wonder if No will struggle. They only have Darling to combat Salmond and Sturgeon.
Having seen her take on Lord Kill Nationalism Stone Dead Robertson recently, No have to find some quality.
Darling can't do it alone.
To be fair I was just kidding, it was interesting... much livelier and less formulaic than usual
Didn't think Botha was gonna make it through the show
He was great on the QT special
You unaccountably forget the colossus that is Carmichael.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacqueline_Gold
This is why as Chief Executive she talks, with a total lack of self-awareness, about appointing "her" board.
'You're both cheeks of the same @rse, but on this occasion I'm going to nestle helpfully between you.'
•Chris Christie 17% [13%] (14%)
•Rand Paul 14% [17%] (15%)
•Ted Cruz 13% [10%]
•Jeb Bush 11% [11%] (10%)
•Paul Ryan 9% [10%] (17%)
•Marco Rubio 7% [12%] (19%)
•Scott Walker 5% [4%] (2%)
•Bobby Jindal 3% [3%] (3%)
•John Kasich 2%
•Don’t know 17% [19%] (18%)
Quinnipiac 2016 Democratic nomination
•Hillary Clinton 66% [61%] (65%)
•Joe Biden 8% [11%] (13%)
•Elizabeth Warren 7% [7%]
•Andrew Cuomo 3% [2%] (4%)
•Howard Dean 1%
•Brian Schweitzer 1%
•Martin O’Malley 0% [0%] (1%)
•Don’t know 12% [15%] (14%)
Quinnipiac 2016 national general election
•Chris Christie (R) 42% {43%} [36%] (40%) [37%]
•Hillary Clinton (D) 41% {42%} [49%] (46%) [45%]
•Hillary Clinton (D) 48% {49%} [53%] (50%) {49%}
•Rand Paul (R) 41% {40%} [36%] (38%) {41%}
•Hillary Clinton (D) 48% {48%}
•Jeb Bush (R) 39% {40%}
•Hillary Clinton (D) 50% {51%} [54%]
•Ted Cruz (R) 37% {36%} [31%]
•Hillary Clinton (D) 43% [44%]
•Chris Christie (R) 40% [38%]
•Hillary Clinton (D) 46% [51%]
•Jeb Bush (R) 42% [37%]
•Hillary Clinton (D) 48% [55%]
•Rand Paul (R) 39% [35%]
•Hillary Clinton (D) 49%
•Ted Cruz (R) 38%
•Chris Christie 19% [20%] (10%)
•Jeb Bush 15% [16%] (9%)
•Rand Paul 13% [12%] (6%)
•Ted Cruz 12% [12%]
•Marco Rubio 10% [10%] (21%)
•Paul Ryan 7% [7%] (12%)
•Scott Walker 5% [1%]
•Rick Santorum 5% [2%] (5%)
•Bobby Jindal 3% [6%]
•Someone else/Not sure 11% [13%] (8%)
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-12/high-court-decision-on-act-same-sex-marriage-laws/5152168
I am very comfortable a Highlander first, Scottish second and British third, and totally comfortable with Parliaments in Edinburgh and Westminster as a result. Between voting for my locals, Holyrood, Westminster and the EU, I am awash with democracy at every single level of Government and get to cast a vote almost every year as a result. Why would I want to give up that level of democracy?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2063523
think worst Xmas spirit ever may have been executing Ceaucescu on 25th dec '89. Surely they could have at least waited till boxing day.
dugarbandier I suppose that was a Christmas present for Romanians who had endured his rule, a similar fate may eventually fall the Kims!
https://twitter.com/msmithsonpb
It reminded me of the QT episode in the USA in which the token British panellist was Richard Littlejohn, who came across as a sensible lefty liberal when compared with some of the redneck hanging-shooting opinions of the American politicians.
- and there is worse to come next month.
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2013/dec/12/lie-year-if-you-like-your-health-care-plan-keep-it/