politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Remember: Next PB gathering: Friday May 2nd starting at 6.3

Would want to be there, but duty prevents.

Good pint Youngs, and most Youngs pubs do Beamish as I recall from my London student days.

Who is going?

I should be there. I don't really have an excuse, given how close I live and work to that pub.

isam said:

Who is going?

I'm hoping to.

I should be at the Ilkley gathering.

Today while driving home I was surprised to see a HUGE billboard for UKIP. It was one of the ones with a hand pointing at the viewer.
Obviously, as a PBer I was aware of the campaign but I live in a small industrial town in the North-East where you often see bus adverts or phone box posters stay the same for ages.
The particular billboard seems to usually have movie posters on. So they really must be splashing out.

isam said:

Fat_Steve said:

isam said:

Who is going?

I'm going isam.
You should come along - I don't think you have been before? (Though if you have, please don't be offended - I am stupidly forgetful).

I think I will

I haven't been before, so no offence taken

Do people go by their names on here or first name terms?

Obv my name is Sam!

Take your pick. I'll answer to antifrank or Alastair.

foxinsoxuk said:

Would want to be there, but duty prevents.

Good pint Youngs, and most Youngs pubs do Beamish as I recall from my London student days.

Yes, I too remember Beamish from my callow youth - it was a magnificent pint at that time.

Sadly it was acquired by Heineken some years ago (who also own Murphy's) and since 2009 it has not been distributed outside Ireland.

Of course Youngs beers are no longer brewed in fun-loving Wandsworth but rather in Bedford.

@Peter_from_putney

Went downhill when they retired the horses.

isam said:

Fat_Steve said:

isam said:

Who is going?

I'm going isam.
You should come along - I don't think you have been before? (Though if you have, please don't be offended - I am stupidly forgetful).

I think I will

I haven't been before, so no offence taken

Do people go by their names on here or first name terms?

Obv my name is Sam!

I'll be going, having gone to my first last time. It seemed to be a mix, with people introducing themselves and telling real names but since we mostly remembered usernames better occasionally you'd hear one used anyway.

@isam, I won't be there as I'll be on a plane. But I'll ask my dad to gove you the £20 owed, if that's OK with you.

Neil said:

Anyone running a book on where JohnO might wake up on May 3rd?

Bournemouth - 2/1
Brighton - 5/2
Between Brian Coleman and Anne Widdecombe - shudder

I'm going for Bruxelles.

London St Pancras can be so confusing when you've been drinking in Searcys

Ah that might explain why Brian destroyed his laptop

Disgraced councillor Brian Coleman has been reported to the information watchdog after failing to explain why he destroyed a laptop given to him by Barnet Council.

http://www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/disgraced_councillor_brian_coleman_reported_to_watchdog_after_destroying_laptop_1_3537798

rcs1000 said:

@isam, I won't be there as I'll be on a plane. But I'll ask my dad to gove you the £20 owed, if that's OK with you.

Freudian slip.. Gove?!

Yeah not a prob, thanks

IOS said:

Still haven't worked out the Tories strategy for dealing with UKIP. They seem all over the place again.

Labour strategy just seems to brand them as racist - brilliant.

Anyone know why Farage was in Sheffield today?

He's not going to stand in Hallam is he?

rcs1000 said:

In other news, it's clearly OK for Nigel Farage to hire a EU citizen as an employee, but not for the rest of us (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/ukip/10780516/Nigel-Farage-no-Briton-could-work-as-hard-as-my-German-wife.html).

A EU citizen he is married to,that makes her a british citizen in my book.

TheScreamingEagles said:

Anyone know why Farage was in Sheffield today?

He's not going to stand in Hallam is he?

Something about targeting the north.

(see latter half of video on article below)

http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/local/video-farage-launches-ukip-campaign-in-sheffield-1-6574064

Cyclefree said:

antifrank said:

I should be there. I don't really have an excuse, given how close I live and work to that pub.

I feel the same. It's 5 minutes from my office. However, on the 2nd I am meant to be having a day off (unless work commitments make that untenable) so may not be able to make it. TBH, last time I got an attack of cold feet and fled having made it half way up the stairs. A bit wussy of me I know but there you go. My only excuse is that I'm not a natural pub person and there are very very few women there.

Haha I read that last bit as if you were a non drinking male lothario!

corporeal said:

isam said:

Fat_Steve said:

isam said:

Who is going?

I'm going isam.
You should come along - I don't think you have been before? (Though if you have, please don't be offended - I am stupidly forgetful).

I think I will

I haven't been before, so no offence taken

Do people go by their names on here or first name terms?

Obv my name is Sam!

Based on my couple of attendances, an odd mix of both.

I think we've contemplated name tags in the past but never done it.

Considering I wear a balaklava in the only photo I've posted of myself on here, perhaps I should come suitably attired. But it might not be a good idea to walk around the City like that ...

(That would be a good bet: how long before one of the Met's special groups swoop on me?)

Tykejohnno said:

rcs1000 said:

In other news, it's clearly OK for Nigel Farage to hire a EU citizen as an employee, but not for the rest of us (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/ukip/10780516/Nigel-Farage-no-Briton-could-work-as-hard-as-my-German-wife.html).

A EU citizen he is married to,that makes her a british citizen in my book.

And therefore Nigel is German?

Tyke

Its to beat them on the ground. Something that will be evident when local election results are counted.

rcs1000 said:

Tykejohnno said:

rcs1000 said:

In other news, it's clearly OK for Nigel Farage to hire a EU citizen as an employee, but not for the rest of us (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/ukip/10780516/Nigel-Farage-no-Briton-could-work-as-hard-as-my-German-wife.html).

A EU citizen he is married to,that makes her a british citizen in my book.

And therefore Nigel is German?

What's that to do with the story,the farage's are living in Britain.

UKIP parodies are getting better.

pic.twitter.com/u2qOEGLilU

Big finger pointing poster, Immigrants set up 1 in 7 British companies, and whose jobs are they creating?

Sun Politics ‏@Sun_Politics 14s

YouGov/Sun poll tonight - Labour lead by three points: CON 34%, LAB 37%, LD 10%, UKIP 12%

FPT - to Barnesian

[The key to me is liberty - freedom. Personal freedom (no nanny state or surveillance), freedom to personally develop and prosper ( not kept back by being born into a poor family) freedom from oppression (law and order) and free trade.

Neo-liberalism takes this to extremes and applies it inappropriately - gun ownership, tea party politics, privatising public services (including natural monopolies such as water, roads and railways, electricity). The Orange Bookers are not tea party fanatics but they are ideologically driven to marketise public services (as was Blair).

I voted LibDem in 2010 because I was against the interfering nannyism of Labour (plus illegal wars and Blairism), and against the basic greed and lack of empathy of Tories. The libDems offered the best of personal freedom combined with social justice (a trade-off I know).

EdM seems to have turned his back on Blairism (that's appealing) and is personally brave (Murdoch, Syria, Uniosn etc). He has my vote for the time being.]

Now that I've read this properly - you do seem to make a compelling case. I do think you're mixing up neo-liberalism with Americanism a bit though. Having flicked through the infamous orange book I found their case to be sincere if a little over my head. I think that politics students and PBers should be reminded though that the orange bookers did win - They are now running the Westminster LDs

Julia Ioffe @juliaioffe

#Russia says all foreign Internet companies have to turn over data on their users or be banned in the country. What say you, Edward Snowden?

Cyclefree said:

JBriskin: the key to me is liberty too. But that is probably the key reason why I turned my back on Labour and cannot bring myself to vote for them. Their lurch into authoritarianism (ID cards etc/90-day detention without trial) was and remains repellent. Their belief that the state should boss the individual around rather than be our servant and act to serve us. The way they have been willing to abandon any belief in free speech. All these are reasons why - at some visceral level - but fundamentally because I believe in old-fashioned liberalism (certainly when it comes to civil liberties and the proper relationship between the individual and the state) - I cannot contemplate voting for Labour.

The Lib Dems do not seem to understand liberalism and the Tories are only too willing to lurch into authoritarianism when it suits them. But they at least get some small credit for abolishing ID cards.

All these are such fundamental issues for me that they outweigh arguments about tax etc. Money can be earnt. Freedoms - hard fought for over many many years - can quickly and easily be lost which is why I will not vote for a party which was so casually dismissive and contemptuous of the very idea of civil liberty let alone their practical and legislative expressions when they were in power.

Hear hear. I do not take it as far as yourself, I am far too indecisive to categorically rule out voting for any mainstream party, but the authoritarian streak of Labour as I was evolving my political views has left a deep impact.

Ninoinoz said:

corporeal said:

UKIP parodies are getting better.

pic.twitter.com/u2qOEGLilU

Big finger pointing poster, Immigrants set up 1 in 7 British companies, and whose jobs are they creating?

Where's the source for that statistic?

research by DueDil and Centre for Entrepeneurs

Front of mail = more help for UKIP.


Nick Sutton ✔ @suttonnick

Wednesday's Daily Mail front page - "Don't ask migrants how long they're staying" #tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers pic.twitter.com/FSTQqOr7Lv

on topic - very sadly will not be able to make it to DDs.

Still, at least the magic will remain a short while longer.

off topic-ish and a quick speed read of Barnesian's reasons for only being able to vote Lab not Cons while being a (non SDP) LD surely contained plenty of policies enacted between 1997 and 2010 when I believe the Cons were sadly far from power.

Unfortunately, I can't make it this time - it's the opening night of the always excellent Mayfield Festival:

http://www.mayfieldfestival.co.uk/

No_Offence_Alan said:

IOS said:

Still haven't worked out the Tories strategy for dealing with UKIP. They seem all over the place again.

Cameron just hasn't got the bottle to say that UKIP are wrong.

Nonsense - the Conservative response is boringly rational, indeed unarguable:

Labour and the Liberal Democrats will not stand up for Britain in Europe, and they refuse to give the British people a say in an in-out referendum. UKIP are neither credible nor competent and they can't deliver for Britain.

Only the Conservatives can deliver real change in Europe. We will renegotiate Britain's membership then hold an in-out referendum for the British people to decide our future in Europe.

http://www.conservatives.com/Landing_Pages/European_Election.aspx

Of course Eurosceptic voters may not be rational, but that's up to them. If they want to cement ever-closer union, they can help put Ed Miliband into No 10 by voting UKIP.

Gordon Brown declined to be interviewed on STV news after his Glasgow speech for the 'No' campaign.

No_Offence_Alan said:

Sorry, where does he say "Even without a re-negotiation, Britain is better off in the EU, than out" ?

Why should he say that? He's trying to get a better deal, retaining the good bits and freeing us, as far as possible, of the bad bits.

It might not work, of course; that will depend on how the negotiations with our EU friends go. Either way, the British people will be able to decide.

Of course, for anyone entirely happy with the status quo, voting UKIP is a safe option.

Interesting that someone is trying to play dirty tricks on UKIP members rather beyond the normal party bickering.

"Hi all
A former member has been circulating an anonymous letter trying to frighten
UKIP members and candidates into resigning with some blood-curdling tales
about impending legal actions and the threat of losing their houses.

It is a complete fantasy, but scares members by saying that, as political
parties are an 'unincorporated association', if the party is sued everyone
is liable and could lose large sums.

In fact, UKIP is a company limited by guarantee, so if we were bankrupted,
13 people would lose £1 each.

The rest of the letter is equally facile, but this is a cruel, cowardly hoax
which might worry some members. Please reassure your members that there is
not an iota of truth in it."

Richard_Nabavi said:

Socrates said:

The irrational ones are those that believe any meaningful renegotiation of Britain's membership will happen. Or eurosceptics who want out and vote Tory to get a referendum, when the Tories won't get in anyway and they deprive UKIP of votes that they need to get proper media coverage next time round.

If there's a Conservative majority government, there will be an In/Out referendum by the end of 2017. If there's a Labour or Labour-led government, there will not. If there's a Conservative minority government or Conservative-led coalition with the LibDems, there might just be a possibility of a referendum, but I wouldn't rely on it.

That's all you need to know. The rest is froth.

No. What we need to know is how there can be any meaningful negotiation resulting in a binding agreement with the other EU states in only two years. The rest is all Tory froth.

Classic headline in tomorrow's Daily Star on the news Ryan Giggs is Man U's temporary new manager

twitter.com/suttonnick/status/458717887222411264/photo/1

Sun YouGov poll on the Euros

Lab 30, UKIP 27, Tories 22, LD 10, Greens 6

Changes since last time Lab nc, UKIP minus 1, Con minus 1, LD plus 1, Green plus 1

corporeal said:

Richard_Tyndall said:

Interesting that someone is trying to play dirty tricks on UKIP members rather beyond the normal party bickering.

"Hi all
A former member has been circulating an anonymous letter trying to frighten
UKIP members and candidates into resigning with some blood-curdling tales
about impending legal actions and the threat of losing their houses.

It is a complete fantasy, but scares members by saying that, as political
parties are an 'unincorporated association', if the party is sued everyone
is liable and could lose large sums.

In fact, UKIP is a company limited by guarantee, so if we were bankrupted,
13 people would lose £1 each.

The rest of the letter is equally facile, but this is a cruel, cowardly hoax
which might worry some members. Please reassure your members that there is
not an iota of truth in it."

My honest instinct is that it sounds most like a very bitter former member who's a bit nuts and has an axe to grind.

Oh I agree. Which is why I said at the very start that it goes beyond party bickering.

Richard_Nabavi said:

Richard_Tyndall said:

No. What we need to know is how there can be any meaningful negotiation resulting in a binding agreement with the other EU states in only two years. The rest is all Tory froth.

I agree the timescale is too tight.

That's good from your point of view. If you are right, the referendum will take place in conditions making it easier for you to claim no progress is possible.

You can't have it both ways: do you want an In/Out referendum or not? Do you want the British people to have the choice, or do you want - like Labour and the LibDems - to deny them the choice?

No because Cameron has never intended there to be any meaningful renegotiation. All he wants is to be able to come back with 'a deal' which he can then use to fool the electorate into thinking something has changed. When it comes to the EU he is thoroughly and fundamentally dishonest.

My hunch is if UKIP are within 3% of leading in the polls for the Euros, they'll get most votes on the day, mainly because the pollsters haven't had enough experience dealing with the UKIP phenomenon.

Richard_Nabavi said:

Richard_Tyndall said:

No because Cameron has never intended there to be any meaningful renegotiation. All he wants is to be able to come back with 'a deal' which he can then use to fool the electorate into thinking something has changed. When it comes to the EU he is thoroughly and fundamentally dishonest.

He may well be dishonest or over-optimistic, or he might be a genius who can renegotiate our membership really effectively. So what? Why should you care? You'll get the referendum either way, if he's PM.

You don't want it, do you? Despite all the bluster, the last thing you, and UKIP generally, want is to give the British people a choice.

Actually, I was wrong to accuse UKIP of irrationality. It's entirely rational of them to want to avoid a referendum, which they know they'd lose. I just wish they could find some way of comforting themselves with myths which didn't involve the disaster of a Miliband government and reversing all the progress which has been made. Can't they go and do something harmless like singing patriotic songs and dressing up?

Just ask Nick Clegg on where a Tory referenda promise gets your policy. As Richard says you will lose a Tory Referendum. So what's the point.

2015 election set to be 'dirtiest for years!'

twitter.com/suttonnick/status/458722603616989184/photo/1

Nick Griffin offers to appoint a black head of the met and a black mayor of London if BNP get a majority... Is Doreen Lawrence being hypocritical if she doesn't vote BNP?

Socrates said:

corporeal said:

UKIP parodies are getting better.

pic.twitter.com/u2qOEGLilU

Big finger pointing poster, Immigrants set up 1 in 7 British companies, and whose jobs are they creating?

Their own kids, seeing as the vast majority of those companies are corner shops and take-aways?

Post of the day. But not the good kind.

Richard_Nabavi said:

Jonathan said:

Just ask Nick Clegg on where a Tory referenda promise gets your policy. As Richard says you will lose a Tory Referendum. So what's the point.

Sorry, I don't understand what you mean. How can I 'lose' a referendum when I don't know which side I'd vote on?

If you're like a lot of mainstream Tories who are unenthusiastic about the EU and don't want to positively support it but also don't want to leave, you lose the referendum either way, unless it has a third option, "in but generally grumpy and passive-aggressive".