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Rejoice! Rejoice!

The evil homophobic bigot who openly condoned an arson attack on the offices of a gay magazine has, at long last, become a rotting corpse

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10681346/Dame-Elaine-Kellett-Bowman.html

Off-topic:

After "Lord" Chris Smith and Monbiot's stupidity, it seems wiser heads are prevailing:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-26455513

Remember, the Bridgwater tidal barrier was estimated to cost £25 million. Instead, the EA broke sea defences further downstream to create a £31 million bird sanctuary that did f'all to prevent the riverine floods.

Also note, as I have been wittering on about for a while:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-26466653

Chris Smith is not fit for purpose. Put an engineer or hydrologist as chair of the EA, not a failed, incompetent politician.

We should be looking after people first, not birds.

AveryLP said:

felix said:

surbiton said:

Even with a recovery apparently, the voters are saying to the Tories: THanks, but no thanks.

By the way, I sell to Manufacturing British industry only. And my sales per day this quarter is slightly below last quarter !

Maybe you're not much of a salesman.

Surby is a Labourite. Far more likely he miscounted his sales transactions.

compouter did the same last night at the Bury count. He calculated it was so close that the candidate would be selected by straw poll after multiple recounts. Turned out to be a 350 seat Tory majority.

Too many lefties can't count beyond the fingers on their hands and place their faith in YouGov outliers instead.

There will be tears in fourteen months, I tell you.

I'm sure there will - but whose?

In the meantime, perhaps someone could devise a contraption to measure the proportion of comments on a thread which are basically just abuse. Then OGH could place its output just below the advert and some of us would know whether or not to bother opening up the comments. Especially at this time in the morning...

Stuart_Dickson said:

JohnLoony said:

Why do some PBers refer to Alex Salmond as "Eck"?

It is not just PBers. 'Eck' is an affectionate diminutive of the Christian name 'Alexander'. Another popular diminutive for Alexander in Scotland in days gone by was 'Sandy'. One of my dad's pals was a gillie called Sandy Walker, which always struck me as a distinctive name, even as a child. However, you almost never hear it now, perhaps due to the Americans using the same name for girls (eg. Olivia Newton John in Grease).

The best-known example in popular culture is probably 'Wee Eck', from the DC Thomson comic character in Oor Wullie (the Sunday Post etc).

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b250/Zoom-Zoom/Eck.jpg

DC Thomson characters are quite commonly used as popular references in Scottish public life. For example, Gordon Brown was often referred to as 'Daphne', for a variety of reasons we will not go into here.

http://www.toonhound.com/broons-2.gif (Daphne is the less-glamorous young lady on the left)

You may well be right Stuart. I know of several "Sandys" (all male) in my generation but there is not one in my son's year at school and it seems to have fallen severely out of favour.

I have never known an Eck though. I wonder if that was (DC Thomson aside) more of a north east thing.

The influence of DC Thomson on the older generation (I have a good friend who consistently referred to as Pa Broon, largely as a result of his moustache and size) is hard to overstate. I don't believe that this will be the case with future generations. It is another common reference point that will not survive the digital age.

Stuart_Dickson said:

AveryLP said:

felix said:

surbiton said:

Even with a recovery apparently, the voters are saying to the Tories: THanks, but no thanks.

By the way, I sell to Manufacturing British industry only. And my sales per day this quarter is slightly below last quarter !

Maybe you're not much of a salesman.

There will be tears in fourteen months, I tell you.

There will be tears a lot sooner than that. When is Osborne next in Scotland?

Quite. There'll be tears before bedtime for YES on 19th September as a day of resounding defeats echo through Scotland.

Who will you blame for the YES defeat and why will it be so resoundingly rejected ?

DavidL said:

You may well be right Stuart. I know of several "Sandys" (all male) in my generation but there is not one in my son's year at school and it seems to have fallen severely out of favour.

I have never known an Eck though. I wonder if that was (DC Thomson aside) more of a north east thing.

The influence of DC Thomson on the older generation (I have a good friend who consistently referred to as Pa Broon, largely as a result of his moustache and size) is hard to overstate. I don't believe that this will be the case with future generations. It is another common reference point that will not survive the digital age.

I was at school with a Sandy, though I don't recall meeting one since.

I also worked for a number of years with a guy known universally as Fat Boab

Re: YouGov

In today's YouGov as compared with that of yesterday, the 2010 LD split has reverted in favour of Labour (37/36) and the 2010 Cons support by the Cons is down from 80 to 74.

surbiton said:

felix said:

surbiton said:

Even with a recovery apparently, the voters are saying to the Tories: THanks, but no thanks.

By the way, I sell to Manufacturing British industry only. And my sales per day this quarter is slightly below last quarter !

Maybe you're not much of a salesman.

My sales in the last 4 Tory recession years went up by 71%.

There are a number of right wing PB posters that luxuriate in their comfort zones. Anything that does not reconfirm their views of Labour supporters as feckless, immigrant, sponging, public sector workers in it only for themselves just does not compute.

Question for NPXMP: Where do you stand on Halal butchery?

I know you are a tireless promoter of animal welfare and have been quite active in the animal testing debate. I'd assume that allowing chickens and sheep to be slaughtered by simply having their throats cut is difficult to justify - as most abbatoirs are obliged to stun animals before before inflicting the fatal injury.

Is there not a direct conflict between the rights of the animal to a humane death and the religious views of Islam? I wonder what the law says on this one.

Good morning, everyone.

Ha, the headline is more or less what I wrote on the last thread. Great minds think alike.

Scott_P said:

DavidL said:

You may well be right Stuart. I know of several "Sandys" (all male) in my generation but there is not one in my son's year at school and it seems to have fallen severely out of favour.

I have never known an Eck though. I wonder if that was (DC Thomson aside) more of a north east thing.

The influence of DC Thomson on the older generation (I have a good friend who consistently referred to as Pa Broon, largely as a result of his moustache and size) is hard to overstate. I don't believe that this will be the case with future generations. It is another common reference point that will not survive the digital age.

I was at school with a Sandy, though I don't recall meeting one since.

I also worked for a number of years with a guy known universally as Fat Boab

"Ooh Hello PBers .... I'm Julian and this is my friend Sandy ....."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/roundthehorne/

SouthamObserver said:

Patrick said:

Question for NPXMP: Where do you stand on Halal butchery?

I know you are a tireless promoter of animal welfare and have been quite active in the animal testing debate. I'd assume that allowing chickens and sheep to be slaughtered by simply having their throats cut is difficult to justify - as most abbatoirs are obliged to stun animals before before inflicting the fatal injury.

Is there not a direct conflict between the rights of the animal to a humane death and the religious views of Islam? I wonder what the law says on this one.

Why not mention kosher slaughter too?

Good point.

JosiasJessop said:

Off-topic:

After "Lord" Chris Smith and Monbiot's stupidity, it seems wiser heads are prevailing:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-26455513

Remember, the Bridgwater tidal barrier was estimated to cost £25 million. Instead, the EA broke sea defences further downstream to create a £31 million bird sanctuary that did f'all to prevent the riverine floods.

Also note, as I have been wittering on about for a while:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-26466653

Chris Smith is not fit for purpose. Put an engineer or hydrologist as chair of the EA, not a failed, incompetent politician.

We should be looking after people first, not birds.

Monbiot is one of the few people who is assessing this through an understanding of how water moves through the whole catchment. In that he certainly trumps the idiotic Liddell Grainger. I have sympathy with your views on putting an expert in as chair of EA, but having just seen a developer and hedge fund manager (major Tory donor) placed in charge of Natural England, that isn't the way the world works is it? Partisan support is what earns these sinecures - not knowledge of the subject area.

If you think dredging is going to have a significant impact in preventing a repeat given similar levels of rainfall you are going to be sadly disappointed. This will happen again, just as it has before. We would do better to look at patterns of land management and development in the catchment, particularly the increase in arable cultivation.

Miles King has a good summary.. http://anewnatureblog.wordpress.com/2014/02/11/keeping-a-level-head/

SouthamObserver said:

Patrick said:

Question for NPXMP: Where do you stand on Halal butchery?

I know you are a tireless promoter of animal welfare and have been quite active in the animal testing debate. I'd assume that allowing chickens and sheep to be slaughtered by simply having their throats cut is difficult to justify - as most abbatoirs are obliged to stun animals before before inflicting the fatal injury.

Is there not a direct conflict between the rights of the animal to a humane death and the religious views of Islam? I wonder what the law says on this one.

Why not mention kosher slaughter too?

Halal, Kosher or even the poor conditions the Danish keep their pigs in compared to British ones (See CIWF website) there is no excuse for animals suffering in this day and age.

All animals intended as food should have a life with some degree of stimulation and a quick and clean death if it can possibly be helped.

Does Halal butchery/Kosher butchery cause unecessary suffering?

DaemonBarber said:

antifrank said:

The greater the sentience, the more responsibility on us.

or... "It's okay to eat fish 'Cause they don't have any feelings"

Sigh. I don't have a problem swatting flies or pouring boiling water on ants. I would have a problem with shooting cats with air rifles. On this I believe most would agree with me.

In terms of what we eat, I believe that as omnivores we may reasonably choose to eat a fully varied diet. I happily eat red meat. But with higher animals, we should seek to ensure that so far as consistent with our needs and beliefs they are treated well in life and in death. With fish, we should not catch 10,000 and throw 9,999 away.

Monksfield said:

JosiasJessop said:

Off-topic:

After "Lord" Chris Smith and Monbiot's stupidity, it seems wiser heads are prevailing:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-26455513

Remember, the Bridgwater tidal barrier was estimated to cost £25 million. Instead, the EA broke sea defences further downstream to create a £31 million bird sanctuary that did f'all to prevent the riverine floods.

Also note, as I have been wittering on about for a while:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-26466653

Chris Smith is not fit for purpose. Put an engineer or hydrologist as chair of the EA, not a failed, incompetent politician.

We should be looking after people first, not birds.

Monbiot is one of the few people who is assessing this through an understanding of how water moves through the whole catchment. In that he certainly trumps the idiotic Liddell Grainger. I have sympathy with your views on putting an expert in as chair of EA, but having just seen a developer and hedge fund manager (major Tory donor) placed in charge of Natural England, that isn't the way the world works is it? Partisan support is what earns these sinecures - not knowledge of the subject area.

If you think dredging is going to have a significant impact in preventing a repeat given similar levels of rainfall you are going to be sadly disappointed. This will happen again, just as it has before. We would do better to look at patterns of land management and development in the catchment, particularly the increase in arable cultivation.

Miles King has a good summary.. http://anewnatureblog.wordpress.com/2014/02/11/keeping-a-level-head/

I've said passim that dredging would not have stopped the flooding on the Levels this year; however, it may well have helped in the previous two winters when they flooded (and the link above seems to show that). It may also have prevented the worst excesses this year.

Sadly, Monbiot applied what works in upper catchments - slowing water's progression downstream - with what works in lower catchments - i.e. to speed the water out to the sea, or delay in in specially-built storage channels. It's made much more complex in the case of the Levels by the low-lying land and tidal nature of the rivers. In that, Monbiot showed that he had absolutely no clue about watercourses.

Miles King comes from a wildlife conservation angle, and this should always be secondary to the interests of humans. It's what's got us into this mess in the first place. He also says the 'blame game' started with Pickles, ignoring Maria Eagle's rather unfortunate comments much earlier against Patterson. He comes across as someone who puts wildlife ahead of people.

BTW, I agree about political appointees. When they've failed as badly as Smith, they should go.

the Ramsbottom ward was hilarious last time, counting and recounting until 4am with neither side willing to concede a result (as Labour had shot up to 25 seats, Tories/Pox on 25 with the final pivotal seat in the balance). Tellers protested, we all went home. Then a drawing of straws to win Labour an unlikely seat for a majority of 1. Now its a majority of 9 even with the return of a safe Tory seat to them.

Yes, proof indeed of swing back....

DaemonBarber said:

antifrank said:

The greater the sentience, the more responsibility on us.

or... "It's okay to eat fish 'Cause they don't have any feelings"

or... "It's okay to kill bacteria with antibiotics 'Cause bacteria don't have any feelings".

Maybe we should decriminalise cannibalism of lefties - they're not very sentient!

OldKingCole said:

JackW said:

Scott_P said:

DavidL said:

You may well be right Stuart. I know of several "Sandys" (all male) in my generation but there is not one in my son's year at school and it seems to have fallen severely out of favour.

I have never known an Eck though. I wonder if that was (DC Thomson aside) more of a north east thing.

The influence of DC Thomson on the older generation (I have a good friend who consistently referred to as Pa Broon, largely as a result of his moustache and size) is hard to overstate. I don't believe that this will be the case with future generations. It is another common reference point that will not survive the digital age.

I was at school with a Sandy, though I don't recall meeting one since.

I also worked for a number of years with a guy known universally as Fat Boab

"Ooh Hello PBers .... I'm Julian and this is my friend Sandy ....."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/roundthehorne/

I worked with a Sandy (male) in Essex until about 20 years ago. Originally from Aberdeenshire he went went back shortly after retiring.
He’d moved to Essex in his early 20’s, with his wife, and they’d brought up their children there. Both parents had distinctive (and very pleasant) NE Scottish accents; the children though were definitely N Essex!

I knew a Prof. Sandy Florence who was at Glasgow Uni. A very great man

Blue_rog said:

OldKingCole said:

JackW said:

Scott_P said:

DavidL said:

You may well be right Stuart. I know of several "Sandys" (all male) in my generation but there is not one in my son's year at school and it seems to have fallen severely out of favour.

I have never known an Eck though. I wonder if that was (DC Thomson aside) more of a north east thing.

The influence of DC Thomson on the older generation (I have a good friend who consistently referred to as Pa Broon, largely as a result of his moustache and size) is hard to overstate. I don't believe that this will be the case with future generations. It is another common reference point that will not survive the digital age.

I was at school with a Sandy, though I don't recall meeting one since.

I also worked for a number of years with a guy known universally as Fat Boab

"Ooh Hello PBers .... I'm Julian and this is my friend Sandy ....."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/roundthehorne/

I worked with a Sandy (male) in Essex until about 20 years ago. Originally from Aberdeenshire he went went back shortly after retiring.
He’d moved to Essex in his early 20’s, with his wife, and they’d brought up their children there. Both parents had distinctive (and very pleasant) NE Scottish accents; the children though were definitely N Essex!

I knew a Prof. Sandy Florence who was at Glasgow Uni. A very great man

Went on to London. And you’re right. IIRC, he retired to Scotland a few years ago.

antifrank said:

DaemonBarber said:

antifrank said:

The greater the sentience, the more responsibility on us.

or... "It's okay to eat fish 'Cause they don't have any feelings"

Sigh. I don't have a problem swatting flies or pouring boiling water on ants. I would have a problem with shooting cats with air rifles. On this I believe most would agree with me.

In terms of what we eat, I believe that as omnivores we may reasonably choose to eat a fully varied diet. I happily eat red meat. But with higher animals, we should seek to ensure that so far as consistent with our needs and beliefs they are treated well in life and in death. With fish, we should not catch 10,000 and throw 9,999 away.

No need for the sigh, I was being slightlyvery facetious.

There is Sandy Walkington, LD PPC for St Albans

Re. Eck, Alexander also has the the diminutives Lex, Lexxy and (for the posher sorts) Zander. I had a great uncle Eric who was always called Eck, though I guess he may have had Alexander as a second name.

DavidL: there is as you say more YG volatility but it's actually the previous stasis that was odd. In random samples from a big pool you'd expect exactly the sort of +/- movement shown in Mike's graph.

Patrick said:

Question for NPXMP: Where do you stand on Halal butchery?

I know you are a tireless promoter of animal welfare and have been quite active in the animal testing debate. I'd assume that allowing chickens and sheep to be slaughtered by simply having their throats cut is difficult to justify - as most abbatoirs are obliged to stun animals before before inflicting the fatal injury.

Is there not a direct conflict between the rights of the animal to a humane death and the religious views of Islam? I wonder what the law says on this one.

We've discussed this here before, but I think before you joined in. Twoe points:

- When Elliott Morley was animal welfare minister (and whatever his other issues he was genuinely keen on that) he toured the halal slaughterhouses and quietly persuaded all but one to introduce pre-stunning, with the help of a supportive imam who basically said that the Koran was ambiguous and they needn't annoy customers by insisting. He deliberately didn't publicise it to avoid both extreme zealots and extreme Islamophobes from weighing in. Whether the progress has been maintained or slipped back I don't know. Sadly he didn't have any success with the (much smaller in number) kosher slaughterhouses.

- I agree with antifrank and others that treatment should be as good as possible. Probably that should include a requirement for pre-stunning. But I'm wary of people who focus on that - basically slaughterhouses are very grim places and people who focus ONLY on what Muslims and Jews do in the final seconds sometimes have another agenda (I'm sure this doesn't apply to you). A general review of slaughterhouses to make them more humane including the stunning would be great.

F1: pre-season podcast up here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/cff1

18 minutes in. Interesting that they reckon Rosberg's a more engineering-oriented driver than Hamilton, (this being advantageous in 2014).

Duplicated

Mr. Divvie, indeed. He's also mentioned in the Koran, I believe (Alexander the Great, not Alex Salmond).

Stuart_Dickson said:

Vince Cable: Ukip supporters could push Scotland out of the UK
- Business Secretary Vince Cable will tell the Liberal Democrat spring conference that Ukip and Conservative Eurosceptics are "putting at risk the union of the UK" with their "British nationalism".

... “You are also putting at risk the union of the UK. How on Earth do you expect to persuade the Scots to ignore the siren voices of nationalism and separatism when you indulge in British nationalism and Euro-separatism?”

... “I meet businesses on a daily basis – from car makers to banks; big and small; British, Japanese, American, Indian, German. They tell me that they invest, or will invest, in Britain because they have guaranteed access to the EU Single Market. But they have other options: if that access is put at risk, they will look elsewhere.”

It comes after a Conservative backbencher said that some members of Ukip are "literally akin to the Nazis".

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/scotland/10682322/Vince-Cable-Ukip-supporters-could-push-Scotland-out-of-the-UK.html

The 'Project Fear' campaign being run by Alistair Darling and Blair McDougall is a molehill compared to the mountain of shite the Establishment are going to dump on the Brexit campaign.Roger Halfon MP (Con) has just labeled UKIP supporters 'Nazis'.

MikeK said:

MarkSenior said:

Wiltshire Ethandune result was a Con hold but a big swing to Lib Dems

Con 480 LD 372 UKIP 236 Ind 192 Lab 69

No news of the Burnham , Norfolk result

Yep, a whopping 3% swing to L/Dems and a more mundane swing of 17.5% to UKIP.

Nope , the swing to the Lib Dems was 14% .

Stuart_Dickson said:

You might consider doing your autopsy now as Con Maj is already dead in the water.

Who will you blame for the Conservatives' defeat and why will they be so resoundingly rejected?

Current Ladbrokes' YES price = 7/2
Current Ladbrokes' CON MAJ price = 7/2

Hmmm... identical prices. And yet, according to Jack YES is dead in the water while CON MAJ is nailed on.

More hot air than a well-used bagpipe.

Things I have read on PB regarding the the next UK GE.

Mainly from Tories, the Cons will need around a 7% swing to get a working majority, but it's still all to play for and it'll be the 6 month run-up to the GE that counts.

Mainly from Labour & LDs, it's boots on the ground and gotv that'll be crucial.

*strokes chin*

malcolmg said:

JackW said:

Stuart_Dickson said:

JackW said:

Stuart_Dickson said:

AveryLP said:

felix said:

surbiton said:

Even with a recovery apparently, the voters are saying to the Tories: THanks, but no thanks.

By the way, I sell to Manufacturing British industry only. And my sales per day this quarter is slightly below last quarter !

Maybe you're not much of a salesman.

There will be tears in fourteen months, I tell you.

There will be tears a lot sooner than that. When is Osborne next in Scotland?

Quite. There'll be tears before bedtime for YES on 19th September as a day of resounding defeats echo through Scotland.

Who will you blame for the YES defeat and why will it be so resoundingly rejected ?

I prefer to do my autopsies post-mortem. Unlike you and George Osborne, I don't yet know if Scotland is going to win or lose on 18 September. It is customary to let the electorate have their say before declaring a winner.

You might consider doing your autopsy now as YES is already dead in the water.

This being a political betting site it is customary to put your cash/opinion down before the voters choose as I've yet to find a bookie who's overly keen on letting one wager after the result is known !?!

Jack, stick to being a failed UKipper, your obviously going senile. Pontificating from the deep south shows how out of touch you are. You can wish all you want but it is very far from over as you will see.

To paraphrase defendants at the McCarthy Senate hearings of the 1950's :

"I am not now, nor have I ever been a member of the United Kingdom Independence Party"

I bear you no ill will at your crabby disposition as it is clearly a body blow to realize your cherished dream of independence is disappearing like @rcs1000 juvenile Easter egg horde down Mike Smithson's gannet like gullet.

300: Rise of an Empire.

One word. Wow

Ok, it was as historically accurate as Morris Dancer's observation on the Second Punic War Michael Gove's thoughts on The First World War.

I mean I can't ever imagine Athenian senators debating with each other and saying "Shut your cockhole"

At times it was (deliberately) camper than a row of pink tents, there were some genuinely laugh out loud moments.

But it was an enjoyable, story and visceral treat, if you loved the first one, you'll love this one.

Final thought, I would do horrible, unforgivable things to conquer Eva Green's [moderated]*

*Yes, I know a terrible human being, and deserve to be punished, by her.

TheScreamingEagles said:

300: Rise of an Empire.

One word. Wow

Ok, it was as historically accurate as Morris Dancer's observation on the Second Punic War Michael Gove's thoughts on The First World War.

I mean I can't ever imagine Athenian senators debating with each other and saying "Shut your cockhole"

At times it was (deliberately) camper than a row of pink tents, there were some genuinely laugh out loud moments.

But it was an enjoyable, story and visceral treat, if you loved the first one, you'll love this one.

Final thought, I would do horrible, unforgivable things to conquer Eva Green's [moderated]*

*Yes, I know a terrible human being, and deserve to be punished, by her.

How big a role does Lena Headey have?

@malcolmg wrote :

"Jack, .... your obviously going senile. Pontificating from the deep south shows how out of touch you are"

............................................................................

But clearly @Stuart_Dickson posting from nearby Sweden must indicate a clarity of observation and insight that puts us all to shame.

With such logic how could YES fail ? and yet .....

Jonathan said:

Stuart_Dickson said:

Theuniondivvie said:

Stuart_Dickson said:

You might consider doing your autopsy now as Con Maj is already dead in the water.

Who will you blame for the Conservatives' defeat and why will they be so resoundingly rejected?

Current Ladbrokes' YES price = 7/2
Current Ladbrokes' CON MAJ price = 7/2

Hmmm... identical prices. And yet, according to Jack YES is dead in the water while CON MAJ is nailed on.

More hot air than a well-used bagpipe.

Things I have read on PB regarding the the next UK GE.

Mainly from Tories, the Cons will need around a 7% swing to get a working majority, but it's still all to play for and it'll be the 6 month run-up to the GE that counts.

Mainly from Labour & LDs, it's boots on the ground and gotv that'll be crucial.

*strokes chin*

The Tories are addicted to "air war" guff, whereas Labour, the SNP and the Lib Dems are all devotees of boots on the ground and GOTV stuff.

Last Con Maj was in 1992.

Last Lab Maj was in 2005.

Last SNP Maj was in 2011.

Food for thought for the Tories and their BeTory Together chums.

The Tories got more votes winning London in 2012 than the SNP got winning Scotland in 2011.

Didn't Labour win London in 2012? Boris won the mayoral election.

The Pistorius trial is fascinating, for a number of reasons, Roxanne Adams being one of them!
Sometimes, Barry Roux seems so manic, I half expect him to call some poor witness a "fokking prawn"!

Jonathan said:

Stuart_Dickson said:

Theuniondivvie said:

Stuart_Dickson said:

You might consider doing your autopsy now as Con Maj is already dead in the water.

Who will you blame for the Conservatives' defeat and why will they be so resoundingly rejected?

Current Ladbrokes' YES price = 7/2
Current Ladbrokes' CON MAJ price = 7/2

Hmmm... identical prices. And yet, according to Jack YES is dead in the water while CON MAJ is nailed on.

More hot air than a well-used bagpipe.

Things I have read on PB regarding the the next UK GE.

Mainly from Tories, the Cons will need around a 7% swing to get a working majority, but it's still all to play for and it'll be the 6 month run-up to the GE that counts.

Mainly from Labour & LDs, it's boots on the ground and gotv that'll be crucial.

*strokes chin*

The Tories are addicted to "air war" guff, whereas Labour, the SNP and the Lib Dems are all devotees of boots on the ground and GOTV stuff.

Last Con Maj was in 1992.

Last Lab Maj was in 2005.

Last SNP Maj was in 2011.

Food for thought for the Tories and their BeTory Together chums.

The Tories got more votes winning London in 2012 than the SNP got winning Scotland in 2011.

Binary election at final round, and around a 20% bigger electorate?

Hmm, what a numpty this Plaid Cymru MP is.

Has he never heard of the British and Irish Lions?

A political spat has broken out after a Plaid Cymru MP questioned how Sam Warburton could captain the Wales rugby team if he considered himself British.

Warburton had said his nationality was British in response to comments from England players suggesting some of their Welsh rivals "hated" England.

Jonathan Edwards MP said on Twitter that it was hard to understand how Warburton could be skipper if he did not consider himself Welsh.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-26472782