Definite trend seeing Labour's lead shrinking since this time last year.
You are a disgrace for saying I would cheer Jean de Menezes being shot. You misunderstood what I said and aren't man enough to admit it.
Joker
I think the bigger issue is your claim that you would take a baseball bat to a bound man. Cheering the death or not of someone you have never met pales into insignificance.
Stand by everything I said re Lee Rigby's killers... people can agree or disagree
But anyway...
Does anyone think that Ed Miliband's energy price freeze may have been pledged in order to make Cameron shift leftwards and therefore reinforce the view of Tory>UKIP switchers that Cameron is a lefty?
Could it be a tactic for Labour to manoeuvre Cameron into centre left policies to leave him stranded between a rock (LD) and a hard place (UKIP)
Amusement and a little snippet with betting implications in a single short piece on Boris:
The amusement: Boris Johnson has dismissed Nick Clegg's impact on government as little more than serving as "David Cameron's lapdog". The mayor of London said the Lib Dem leader was a "great yellow albatross" who had been "converted by taxidermy into a protective shield" for the prime minister.
The betting-related snippet: Speaking to journalists in Westminster on Tuesday, Boris insisted he would not be an MP before the next election. Asked if he would be in the Commons in 2015 he said: "No." However the mayor, who is long rumoured to be eying up a return to parliament, did not rule out ever standing for election to Westminster once his term runs out in 2016. "After two and a half years of being mayor, who knows?" he said.
Stand by everything I said re Lee Rigby's killers... people can agree or disagree
But anyway...
Does anyone think that Ed Miliband's energy price freeze may have been pledged in order to make Cameron shift leftwards and therefore reinforce the view of Tory>UKIP switchers that Cameron is a lefty?
Could it be a tactic for Labour to manoeuvre Cameron into centre left policies to leave him stranded between a rock (LD) and a hard place (UKIP)
Cameron is basically a centrist, like Clegg. Maybe a smidgen to the right of him. Not much. Spanning the bridge between his own backbenchers/UKIP incliners and the Lib Dems was always going to be tough. I don't think he's done too bad a job actually, but it leaves the play open for the LOTO as you describe and Miliband has taken advantage.
FPT, of course every Defendant must be given the opportunity to defend himself; and Counsel must be able to defend unpopular Defendants, without risk to themselves.
In advance of the verdict, I don't want to say what I think about the behaviour of Defence Counsel in this case. But, I think the opinions of our former LCJ, in the case cited by LIAMT, are apt.
Does anyone think that Ed Miliband's energy price freeze may have been pledged in order to make Cameron shift leftwards and therefore reinforce the view of Tory>UKIP switchers that Cameron is a lefty?
Could it be a tactic for Labour to manoeuvre Cameron into centre left policies to leave him stranded between a rock (LD) and a hard place (UKIP)
Not really. I doubt the UKIPers are that antagonistic to Miliband's clumsy interventionism anyway. To them, the energy companies are grasping Continental monoliths that have been allowed to infiltrate Britain and exploit the natives by a continuous line of traitors from MacMillan to Cameron. They'd probably quite relish Ed's suffocating them out of existence.
Jeremy Hunt doing his best to get out the NHS vote for Labour
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/nhs-staff-told-no-pay-2937572. I can see his point and its one I agree with, pay should be restrained. But MPs should lead by example - the 11% from IPSA is a great way to show solidarity with the workers. Tough times and all that.
Labour couldn't have written this better themselves. At a time when the public find out MP's are looking at getting an 11% rise, Jeremy Chum announces "that 1% we said the nurses were getting, do as we say or you are getting eff all".It's all about the delivery and the timing.He should have went for the full house and finished with "and don't forget.......we are all in this together".
Amusement and a little snippet with betting implications in a single short piece on Boris:
The amusement: Boris Johnson has dismissed Nick Clegg's impact on government as little more than serving as "David Cameron's lapdog". The mayor of London said the Lib Dem leader was a "great yellow albatross" who had been "converted by taxidermy into a protective shield" for the prime minister.
The betting-related snippet: Speaking to journalists in Westminster on Tuesday, Boris insisted he would not be an MP before the next election. Asked if he would be in the Commons in 2015 he said: "No." However the mayor, who is long rumoured to be eying up a return to parliament, did not rule out ever standing for election to Westminster once his term runs out in 2016. "After two and a half years of being mayor, who knows?" he said.
Gottlieb has brought the twittersphere's opprobrium on himself. Also hasn't he neglected his QC duties by not performing a cross examination ?! Or am I misreading Casciani's tweet.
He is implied > 50% chance to run again for Conservatives btw.
Too long to tie your money up.
I was thinking more about Next Con Leader, and also the markets on whether Boris will stand for parliament at or before the next election (Coral and Ladbrokes). Nothing I'd recommend there, though - the implications are more that there's no value at the moment.
Incidentally, I take it you've seen PP Hastings & Rye? Should be more like 2/1 or 3/1 at most.
Does anyone think that Ed Miliband's energy price freeze may have been pledged in order to make Cameron shift leftwards and therefore reinforce the view of Tory>UKIP switchers that Cameron is a lefty?
Could it be a tactic for Labour to manoeuvre Cameron into centre left policies to leave him stranded between a rock (LD) and a hard place (UKIP)
I think the main goal was for Labour to have a policy that low-information voters liked and understood, but there's certainly a common pre-election tactic here: You don't want your populist panders to be things that the other side can easily match. It's better if they do something they'll be ideologically opposed to, or that'll go down badly with an important part of their coalition. That way the other side loses whether they follow you or not. Often it helps for these policies to be really stupid ideas that wouldn't work in practice or at all, because the stupider they are, the harder it is for your opponent to get his people to agree to match them.
The current Tory attempt to use the same tactic is to pretend to think they're going to persuade 28 countries to rewrite the Treaty of Rome.
He is implied > 50% chance to run again for Conservatives btw.
Too long to tie your money up.
I was thinking more about Next Con Leader, and also the markets on whether Boris will stand for parliament at or before the next election (Coral and Ladbrokes). Nothing I'd recommend there, though - the implications are more that there's no value at the moment.
Incidentally, I take it you've seen PP Hastings & Rye? Should be more like 2/1 or 3/1 at most.
Have now. Hit max - Paddy has allowed me £13.92 this time. Taken at 6-1. Cheers Rich.
You know Christmas is upon us when the killjoys start bleating.
From the same group that is campaigning to kill the McDonalds Happy Meal comes criticism of the NORAD Santa Tracker, beloved of US and Canadian kids for decades.
One of their videos shows Santa's sleigh being accompaned by a pair of fighter jets. This according to the group will lead children to associate Santa with the military and brings violence and militarism.
Sorrry to keep commenting on it but Gottlieb has truly jumped the shark today in the Rigby case:
"He is a killer, he’s a monster, he said he will kill again."
Never noted he said that when I was originally panning him. Why bother to launch into 5 hours of politicised guff when you say that about your client ?!
My favorite - and there are some truly horrendous and egregious examples of waste - is the $400k the federal government spent on an intelligence study of the Tea Party.
The result - Tea Party members are more intelligent than the population at large.
My favorite - and there are some truly horrendous and egregious examples of waste - is the $400k the federal government spent on an intelligence study of the Tea Party.
The result - Tea Party members are more intelligent than the population at large.
Figures from the Department of Health show that one in six managers and administration workers made redundant in the last three years were taken on again by the NHS.
The Washington Post fact checker column has announced its Top Ten Lies of the year -Obama has THREE of them, including Number 1, which was also nominated Politifact's Lie Of The Year -
Yet more childish trolling. The Labour Lead was just 2% last night, and this news was also greeted with an opinion poll post desert on here.....Again, very similar to the equally quiet evening polling thread on here the night before you trolled with a similar meme at the weekend.
Sun Politics @Sun_Politics 1m YouGov/Sun poll tonight: Labour lead jumps back up to eight points: CON 33%, LAB 41%, LD 8%, UKIP 13%
Pity ! Crossover postponed yet again !!
Phew - I'd have lost £500 if Computerash did bet! I'd offered a bet that this poll would have the Blues 6% or less behind... he bottled it but was right - it was 7% or more...
Hoorar!!!
As I said last night I do not bet.
However, being correct about tonight's poll is enough for me.
PS - Opinion poll post desert on here tonight.....as I said it would be last night on here.
I cycled the sierra nevada stage of the Vuelta d'espana on a shopping bike (only one I could find for hire in Granada). My time wasn't great A basket is always a handy thing to have though!
In the previous thread there was a somewhat lively and unusual discussion about the practical or ethical uses of torture and/or other punishments for suspected or convicted terrorists and/or criminals, and/or the lawyers who defend them, and what the purpose or effect would be of such issues.
All of which pales into insignificance compared with the horrendous crimes of the despicable renegade counter-revolutionary thought-criminal terrorist Martin Clunes, whose unfathomable hatred and contempt for the Vast Majority Of Ordinary Normal Decent People led him on HIGNFY to refer to Kim Jong-un and Jang Song-thaek as "Kim Yong-un" and "Yang" respectively. We will all know whom to blame if the heroic People's Army of the DPRK drops a nuclear bomb on the BBC.
My favorite - and there are some truly horrendous and egregious examples of waste - is the $400k the federal government spent on an intelligence study of the Tea Party.
The result - Tea Party members are more intelligent than the population at large.
Figures from the Department of Health show that one in six managers and administration workers made redundant in the last three years were taken on again by the NHS.
Thats an astonishing %. What a waste of cash. No wonder theres no money for pay rises. The Gov't have completely f&cked this one up.
To be fair to the current Government (why??) this has always been the case. Every re-organisation I've seen since 1974 has either resulted in more people described as managers (although they may also be clinicians) or has meant that a sort of musical chairs has gone on, with nearly everyone whose previous job was "abolished" ending up in a new NHS one. Some of course took early retirement, which frequently meant that they returned as part-time "consultants". That's not necessarily DrFoxin etc's sort, although it may be!
Strangely, I think this is working well. At my hospital the director of strategy used to work for the strategic health authority, and some of the community managers used to work for us. These people switching sides is making for much more consensual negotiations. It is working better than I expected.
My favorite - and there are some truly horrendous and egregious examples of waste - is the $400k the federal government spent on an intelligence study of the Tea Party.
The result - Tea Party members are more intelligent than the population at large.
Figures from the Department of Health show that one in six managers and administration workers made redundant in the last three years were taken on again by the NHS.
Strangely, I think this is working well. At my hospital the director of strategy used to work for the strategic health authority, and some of the community managers used to work for us. These people switching sides is making for much more consensual negotiations. It is working better than I expected.
My favorite - and there are some truly horrendous and egregious examples of waste - is the $400k the federal government spent on an intelligence study of the Tea Party.
The result - Tea Party members are more intelligent than the population at large.
Figures from the Department of Health show that one in six managers and administration workers made redundant in the last three years were taken on again by the NHS.
Thats an astonishing %. What a waste of cash. No wonder theres no money for pay rises. The Gov't have completely f&cked this one up.
I think it often did work well. The problem is the worry (and resulting lack of focus) of the people who had to change, and just might lose, their jobs and frequent disruption of the essential work/social networks. I'm not entirely sure, looking at what's going on locally, that things are as good in my neck of the woods as they are in Leicester. Small sample: one of the two local GP's has just resigned "because he can't stand the politics." He's in his 40's.
Things are a long way from perfect here. Our main A/E is in crisis and the UHL Trust is forecasting a £40 million overspend this finyear.
But these are not due to the Lansley reforms, but to serial underinvestment in facilities locally and Gordon Browns profligacy. The Labour manifesto in 2010 did not have a commitment to ringfence the NHS budget. The misery would have been as bad, or worse under a continuity Brown regieme.
Strangely, I think this is working well. At my hospital the director of strategy used to work for the strategic health authority, and some of the community managers used to work for us. These people switching sides is making for much more consensual negotiations. It is working better than I expected.
My favorite - and there are some truly horrendous and egregious examples of waste - is the $400k the federal government spent on an intelligence study of the Tea Party.
The result - Tea Party members are more intelligent than the population at large.
Figures from the Department of Health show that one in six managers and administration workers made redundant in the last three years were taken on again by the NHS.
Thats an astonishing %. What a waste of cash. No wonder theres no money for pay rises. The Gov't have completely f&cked this one up.
I think it often did work well. The problem is the worry (and resulting lack of focus) of the people who had to change, and just might lose, their jobs and frequent disruption of the essential work/social networks. I'm not entirely sure, looking at what's going on locally, that things are as good in my neck of the woods as they are in Leicester. Small sample: one of the two local GP's has just resigned "because he can't stand the politics." He's in his 40's.
Today sees the 25th change in Spurs manager in my life.... 20 of those have been since 1991.
From 1898 to 1983 there were 16 changes.
Is it defo Tim ?
2. Notwithstanding paragraph 1, an individual appointed by Tottenham Hotspur FC on an ‘interim’, ‘caretaker’, ‘temporary’ (including an appointment described as ‘to the end of the season’) or similar basis who remains manager in that capacity for at least 10 completed consecutive English League games (including over the course of more than a single season), will be considered to have been appointed as the next first team manager for the purpose of this market and Betfair will settle the market accordingly on that person.
We are getting to the time of year where there is very little political news which might explain the drop in traffic (even allowing for Tim) but the unemployment figures out this morning will be noteworthy.
Unemployment is one of the few unalloyed successes of the Coalition and there have been lots of indications from PMIs etc that if anything job creation is accelerating. There is a lot of statistical noise in one month's figures but the government should get something to crow about today.
Agree that the NHS has been mis-funded for a long time, and I'm not saying that Labour did a lot better. In fact, the re-organisation under Labour caused almost as much trouble and confusion at ground level. I'm not sure either that the consequences of the re-organisation of public health services is for the better or worse. Some new brooms are asking new questions, which may be good!
A&E's problems seem to be related to some degree to shortcomings in the the GP service. Scotland has a Minor Ailments Scheme for easier access to medication; is the situation better there or about the same?
Btw I can see the potential for double upsides (Opposite to arb risk) on the Spurs manager if say he is replaced after 11 games. I would be wary of laying Sherwood on Betfair also for this reason. Best to back him on Betfair (I think)
For all except the already-politically-obsessed (that'll be us..), the autumn statement this year was as good as invisible, drowned out completely by Mandela
Apparently not turning up or bringing Parliament into disrepute should be considered cause for sanction. Before Clegg runs off making more promises he should get the recall law on the books (Cameron also deserves criticism for the failure of that to make progress, but I don't think he's made these remarks on the Lords).
"However, he said more root-and-branch change was needed and reiterated his party's commitment to an elected Lords - despite the coalition having to abandon plans last year in the face of Conservative opposition."
It'll be fascinating to see if he can come up with a madder scheme than one off 15 year terms. It'll be a hard task, though.
I thought 2013 would be the year Labour forged a commanding lead in the polls. It hasn't happened.
Many seasoned observers predicted the last election would be a hasrh one to win and would come with the millstone of dreadful midterm unpopularity.
I'm surprised Labour hasn't deveoped a bigger lead. I'm surprised on the basis that voters' memories are notoriously short, life is a financial struggle out there for many, the cuts have kicked in, and Labour - unprecedently - has the good fortune of having both their opposition parties together in government.
Of course, Ed can win in 2015 even by having less of the overall vote share than Cameron. But given that he'll be inheriting a difficult financial position (debt will be at a record high, the deficit will still be large, there will be no money to spend, the unions will be urging pay rises etc - all the fundamentals will be agitation against a rise in lving standards) he'll want as big a popular mandate as possible.
Cameron's popular mandate was 37%. Not exactly a ringing endorsement, especially against Brown. Will Labour under Ed achieve a figure as high as that, from where they are now?
I can see another coalition happening, between Labour and the Lib Dems. And that will be fraught with unpopular policy meddling, difficulties with the left of the party, and a need for patient, mature pragmatism from the leadership - much like we've seen from this government. That'll be hard going. But then my prediction are often miles out.
Apparently not turning up or bringing Parliament into disrepute should be considered cause for sanction. Before Clegg runs off making more promises he should get the recall law on the books (Cameron also deserves criticism for the failure of that to make progress, but I don't think he's made these remarks on the Lords).
"However, he said more root-and-branch change was needed and reiterated his party's commitment to an elected Lords - despite the coalition having to abandon plans last year in the face of Conservative opposition."
It'll be fascinating to see if he can come up with a madder scheme than one off 15 year terms. It'll be a hard task, though.
It is, of course, well worth remembering that a 'recall' law is effectively AV by another name. It's just the opportunity to force the run-off comes after the election, where the other candidates gang up together.
Mr. 1000, pish and piffle! Recall allows a chap or lady who has been bad to be kicked out posthaste. Nothing to do with AV.
Let us imagine a situation where there is a seat which is a four way marginal, between UKIP, Conservative, LibDem and UKIP.
UKIP wins the seat with 26% of the vote. (A little like Inverness in 1987).
Now post election there is a Conservative-LibDem coalition. So - having 50% of the vote between them in the constituency - they get together and decide to hunt down their voters, get the required signatures on the page, and force a recall by-election, where only one of the coalition members stand.
Btw I can see the potential for double upsides (Opposite to arb risk) on the Spurs manager if say he is replaced after 11 games. I would be wary of laying Sherwood on Betfair also for this reason. Best to back him on Betfair (I think)
The next Chelsea manager market will be open soon, my money will be on Simone though Steve Clarke would be my choice.
YouGov is of course nice for Labour, but I think it's an outlier, just as the 2-point one was. The only point to make is that those who were seduced into saying "The 2-point lead may be an outlier but it does show the downward trend" and the like were probably kidding themselves. The basic position is that Labour has been in the 37-43 range for THREE YEARS with occasional outliers and the Tories in the 29-33 range for EIGHTEEN MONTHS. Opinium has both parties slightly lower and UKIP higher, clearly for methodological reasons. There was a period when Labour was consistently in the upper end and that's not been true for nine months, but otherwise the electorate is as stable as a rock, and there's no reason to doubt that it's currently about 38/32.
Will it change radically in the last 16 months? Probably not. The voters seem unmoved by both good and bad news for the Government and Opposition. The reason that feels odd is that there's usually a frothy, dissatisfied slice of voters who jump around restlessly reacting against each party in turn, but this time they're feeling quite at home with UKIP.
Mr. 1000, the recall proposal, as I understand it, would necessitate criminal wrongdoing prior to any petition of apparently disgruntled voters. Otherwise the sort of scenario you outline would enable parties to get up to all kinds of mischief.
Mr. 1000, the recall proposal, as I understand it, would necessitate criminal wrongdoing prior to any petition of apparently disgruntled voters. Otherwise the sort of scenario you outline would enable parties to get up to all kinds of mischief.
How many MPs have remained MPs post-criminal conviction?
Com res q: Q.6 Which one of these do you think should be the most important priority for the British Government over the next five years?
Ensuring the economy continues to grow : 41% Ensuring wages rise faster than prices : 25% Keeping inflation down : 17% Reducing the Government deficit : 12% Other : 3%
So only 1 in 4 have the same priority as Ed - the rest are more concerned with the stuff the govt is achieving.
Mr. 1000, pish and piffle! Recall allows a chap or lady who has been bad to be kicked out posthaste. Nothing to do with AV.
Let us imagine a situation where there is a seat which is a four way marginal, between UKIP, Conservative, LibDem and UKIP.
UKIP wins the seat with 26% of the vote. (A little like Inverness in 1987).
Now post election there is a Conservative-LibDem coalition. So - having 50% of the vote between them in the constituency - they get together and decide to hunt down their voters, get the required signatures on the page, and force a recall by-election, where only one of the coalition members stand.
See my point? Unlikely, but a possible scenario.
Since when was more by-elections a problem for people of this parish ?
For all except the already-politically-obsessed (that'll be us..), the autumn statement this year was as good as invisible, drowned out completely by Mandela
As I said at the time perhaps Ed Balls is a lucky General.
I prefer the threads when they're not dominated by any one poster frankly, though some of the very recent ones have revealed some very surprising and - to me - unwelcome views.
I don't suppose anyone really cares about politics at the moment. I for one am more concerned about why John Lewis's Click and Collect is not working. I will not be a happy bunny if I have to go to the shops this week (Oxford Street and Brent X before Xmas are the secular equivalent of one of Dante's Circles of Hell), not least because I am recovering from a nasty chest infection and the revelation that I have an underlying long-term lung problem.
Comments
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/318967b2-6289-11e3-99d1-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2nmEBsktY
But it was rubbished by Miliband's crowd the very next day (as I predicted it would be):
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/dec/12/labour-dismisses-third-runway-uturn
Don't worry, I'll just do EVERYTHING myself.
But anyway...
Does anyone think that Ed Miliband's energy price freeze may have been pledged in order to make Cameron shift leftwards and therefore reinforce the view of Tory>UKIP switchers that Cameron is a lefty?
Could it be a tactic for Labour to manoeuvre Cameron into centre left policies to leave him stranded between a rock (LD) and a hard place (UKIP)
The amusement: Boris Johnson has dismissed Nick Clegg's impact on government as little more than serving as "David Cameron's lapdog". The mayor of London said the Lib Dem leader was a "great yellow albatross" who had been "converted by taxidermy into a protective shield" for the prime minister.
The betting-related snippet: Speaking to journalists in Westminster on Tuesday, Boris insisted he would not be an MP before the next election. Asked if he would be in the Commons in 2015 he said: "No." However the mayor, who is long rumoured to be eying up a return to parliament, did not rule out ever standing for election to Westminster once his term runs out in 2016. "After two and a half years of being mayor, who knows?" he said.
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/12/17/boris-johnson-nick-clegg_n_4458992.html?utm_hp_ref=uk
Lab 38%
Con 33%
LD 10%
http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/
In advance of the verdict, I don't want to say what I think about the behaviour of Defence Counsel in this case. But, I think the opinions of our former LCJ, in the case cited by LIAMT, are apt.
But he should be dropped for the next test.
He is implied > 50% chance to run again for Conservatives btw.
I was thinking more about Next Con Leader, and also the markets on whether Boris will stand for parliament at or before the next election (Coral and Ladbrokes). Nothing I'd recommend there, though - the implications are more that there's no value at the moment.
Incidentally, I take it you've seen PP Hastings & Rye? Should be more like 2/1 or 3/1 at most.
The current Tory attempt to use the same tactic is to pretend to think they're going to persuade 28 countries to rewrite the Treaty of Rome.
From the same group that is campaigning to kill the McDonalds Happy Meal comes criticism of the NORAD Santa Tracker, beloved of US and Canadian kids for decades.
One of their videos shows Santa's sleigh being accompaned by a pair of fighter jets. This according to the group will lead children to associate Santa with the military and brings violence and militarism.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/16/norad-santa-tracker_n_4455308.html
It's a great fun app and you can get it for android and iphone.
Should be the other way round !
"He is a killer, he’s a monster, he said he will kill again."
Never noted he said that when I was originally panning him. Why bother to launch into 5 hours of politicised guff when you say that about your client ?!
Compare and contrast:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2525241/Married-teacher-jailed-affair-pupil-sex-car.html?ico=home^headlines
18 months Jail. Sex offenders register for 10 years.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/10464642/Female-teacher-struck-off-for-seducing-student-16-on-Facebook.html
She was given an indefinite prohibition order and told she would have to wait two years before reapplying to teach.
My favorite - and there are some truly horrendous and egregious examples of waste - is the $400k the federal government spent on an intelligence study of the Tea Party.
The result - Tea Party members are more intelligent than the population at large.
Figures from the Department of Health show that one in six managers and administration workers made redundant in the last three years were taken on again by the NHS.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2525555/The-revolving-door-NHS-managers-3-200-pay-offs--return-new-jobs.html#ixzz2nmiJpylA
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Thats an astonishing %. What a waste of cash. No wonder theres no money for pay rises. The Gov't have completely f&cked this one up.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/wp/2013/12/16/the-biggest-pinocchios-of-2013/
The Coburn wastebook totals $30 billion of government waste
Poll......what poll?
All of which pales into insignificance compared with the horrendous crimes of the despicable renegade counter-revolutionary thought-criminal terrorist Martin Clunes, whose unfathomable hatred and contempt for the Vast Majority Of Ordinary Normal Decent People led him on HIGNFY to refer to Kim Jong-un and Jang Song-thaek as "Kim Yong-un" and "Yang" respectively. We will all know whom to blame if the heroic People's Army of the DPRK drops a nuclear bomb on the BBC.
I'm not entirely sure, looking at what's going on locally, that things are as good in my neck of the woods as they are in Leicester. Small sample: one of the two local GP's has just resigned "because he can't stand the politics." He's in his 40's.
Today sees the 25th change in Spurs manager in my life.... 20 of those have been since 1991.
From 1898 to 1983 there were 16 changes.
But these are not due to the Lansley reforms, but to serial underinvestment in facilities locally and Gordon Browns profligacy. The Labour manifesto in 2010 did not have a commitment to ringfence the NHS budget. The misery would have been as bad, or worse under a continuity Brown regieme.
2. Notwithstanding paragraph 1, an individual appointed by Tottenham Hotspur FC on an ‘interim’, ‘caretaker’, ‘temporary’ (including an appointment described as ‘to the end of the season’) or similar basis who remains manager in that capacity for at least 10 completed consecutive English League games (including over the course of more than a single season), will be considered to have been appointed as the next first team manager for the purpose of this market and Betfair will settle the market accordingly on that person.
Thin end of the wedge if we let some prisoners get the vote:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-25421082
If you want to vote don't bloody stab anyone.
Edited extra bit: F1: Allan McNish has retired from racing:
http://www.espn.co.uk/f1/motorsport/story/139809.html
I hope this means he'll become a regular on the BBC's F1 coverage.
Unemployment is one of the few unalloyed successes of the Coalition and there have been lots of indications from PMIs etc that if anything job creation is accelerating. There is a lot of statistical noise in one month's figures but the government should get something to crow about today.
A&E's problems seem to be related to some degree to shortcomings in the the GP service. Scotland has a Minor Ailments Scheme for easier access to medication; is the situation better there or about the same?
Before that (at 9am), we have German IFO business climate and current assessment data, as well as the Bank of Spain bad loan data.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-25421087
Apparently not turning up or bringing Parliament into disrepute should be considered cause for sanction. Before Clegg runs off making more promises he should get the recall law on the books (Cameron also deserves criticism for the failure of that to make progress, but I don't think he's made these remarks on the Lords).
"However, he said more root-and-branch change was needed and reiterated his party's commitment to an elected Lords - despite the coalition having to abandon plans last year in the face of Conservative opposition."
It'll be fascinating to see if he can come up with a madder scheme than one off 15 year terms. It'll be a hard task, though.
Many seasoned observers predicted the last election would be a hasrh one to win and would come with the millstone of dreadful midterm unpopularity.
I'm surprised Labour hasn't deveoped a bigger lead. I'm surprised on the basis that voters' memories are notoriously short, life is a financial struggle out there for many, the cuts have kicked in, and Labour - unprecedently - has the good fortune of having both their opposition parties together in government.
Of course, Ed can win in 2015 even by having less of the overall vote share than Cameron. But given that he'll be inheriting a difficult financial position (debt will be at a record high, the deficit will still be large, there will be no money to spend, the unions will be urging pay rises etc - all the fundamentals will be agitation against a rise in lving standards) he'll want as big a popular mandate as possible.
Cameron's popular mandate was 37%. Not exactly a ringing endorsement, especially against Brown. Will Labour under Ed achieve a figure as high as that, from where they are now?
I can see another coalition happening, between Labour and the Lib Dems. And that will be fraught with unpopular policy meddling, difficulties with the left of the party, and a need for patient, mature pragmatism from the leadership - much like we've seen from this government. That'll be hard going. But then my prediction are often miles out.
UKIP wins the seat with 26% of the vote. (A little like Inverness in 1987).
Now post election there is a Conservative-LibDem coalition. So - having 50% of the vote between them in the constituency - they get together and decide to hunt down their voters, get the required signatures on the page, and force a recall by-election, where only one of the coalition members stand.
See my point? Unlikely, but a possible scenario.
http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/voting-intention-2
Will it change radically in the last 16 months? Probably not. The voters seem unmoved by both good and bad news for the Government and Opposition. The reason that feels odd is that there's usually a frothy, dissatisfied slice of voters who jump around restlessly reacting against each party in turn, but this time they're feeling quite at home with UKIP.
[Well, it's almost Panto-time].
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/12/17/ban-christmas-muslims_n_4460151.html?utm_hp_ref=uk
Ensuring the economy continues to grow : 41%
Ensuring wages rise faster than prices : 25%
Keeping inflation down : 17%
Reducing the Government deficit : 12%
Other : 3%
So only 1 in 4 have the same priority as Ed - the rest are more concerned with the stuff the govt is achieving.
http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/12/17/syria-crisis-assad-idINDEE9BG0EB20131217
Comments from the often well-informed Yokel in particular would be interesting.
In his enforced absence I imagine he's met the spirit of PB past, the spirit of PB present and the spirit of PB yet to come.
He'll return blogging that Osborne is the best chancellor ever and urging Scott P and Fitalass to greater things in Scotland.
Then again..... :-)
I don't suppose anyone really cares about politics at the moment. I for one am more concerned about why John Lewis's Click and Collect is not working. I will not be a happy bunny if I have to go to the shops this week (Oxford Street and Brent X before Xmas are the secular equivalent of one of Dante's Circles of Hell), not least because I am recovering from a nasty chest infection and the revelation that I have an underlying long-term lung problem.