politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Labour MPs urge Alan Johnson to challenge for leader
Labour MPs in despair at Ed Miliband’s weak leadership are planning renewed efforts to tempt Alan Johnson into challenging for leader before the election.
Comments
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I thought Sadiq Khan was favourite? Of course, Johnson could still be value, even if he isn't odds-on.
He's very likeable, but completely screwed up the GP negotiation and is out of his depth on the economy. Labour have been led by Miliband for 3-4 years and it's not like people haven't suggested he's rubbish during that period.
As per Brown, they're only harming themselves by bitching uselessly instead of uniting behind their leader or just axing him.0 -
This is a bit rubbish. No viable alternative candidate, and the Telegraph manages to name a full two people complaining, Prescott saying they're not being bold enough, and a donor who would presumably have to pay the mansion tax and thinks they're being too bold. Then there's an anonymous "former minister", demonstrating that they couldn't even rustle up an anonymous senior former minister.0
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Journalists are famously lazy, so it makes sense to re-run all those 2009 articles, changing 'Gordon Brown' to 'Ed Miliband'.
Ain't gonna happen.0 -
Had a quick peak at the Populus cross tabs - Interesting to note the regional difference in "Absolutely Certain to Vote" figure between SCotland and the rest of the UK.
Has that been replicated across other pollsters? And how much do we think this will fade as we get closer to the election?0 -
Johnson would be a shoo-in for London Mayor.
Not sure he'll stand though, and the Party may prefer Jowell or Khan.
He won't challenge Ed, nor should he. Paper talk.0 -
Maybe they've learned their lesson from last time? Maybe Miliband just isn't feared the same way Brown was? Maybe given most Labour MPs didn't vote for him, they don't feel bound by him?
I agree, it's very unlikely. But not totally beyond the realms of possibility.0 -
Mind you, the very fact that such talk is being reported at all is itself a very significant pointer to what is likely to happen over the next couple of years.
(If TSE runs my guest article, you'll see how!)0 -
Old news
"Until 1968, it was illegal to put the name of a political party on a ballot paper. Voters were expected to vote for a person, not a party. "
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/douglascarswellmp/100288791/voters-have-turned-against-politics-as-usual/
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Alan Johnson is like your well meaning but not too bright uncle.
Sadly he'd probably be more popular than Ed Milliband, but I don't think that is a particular high praise.
Labour won't be changing anything this close to the election anyway and they probably don't need to.0 -
Do some Labour MPs want to ditch Ed because:
A) He might lose
or
He might win. 0 -
I suppose if Labour loses Heywood and Middleton , then some plot might materialize.0
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Unfortunately if they tried that now then spoiler candidates who change their name to the same as their opponents would be seen in every marginal seat in the country.anotherDave said:Old news
"Until 1968, it was illegal to put the name of a political party on a ballot paper. Voters were expected to vote for a person, not a party. "
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/douglascarswellmp/100288791/voters-have-turned-against-politics-as-usual/0 -
I maxed out on Ed Miliband to be Labour leader @ 1-7 at the GE recently with Paddy Power.
Very happy with that.0 -
I thought David Lammy was a good potential - even with his oddly bi-polar IQ that appears to be very clever one minute, and a general knowledge dunce the next.Morris_Dancer said:
I thought Sadiq Khan was favourite? Of course, Johnson could still be value, even if he isn't odds-on.
He's very likeable, but completely screwed up the GP negotiation and is out of his depth on the economy. Labour have been led by Miliband for 3-4 years and it's not like people haven't suggested he's rubbish during that period.
As per Brown, they're only harming themselves by bitching uselessly instead of uniting behind their leader or just axing him.0 -
Alan Johnson reckons he's not good enough to be Prime Minister - so who are we to disagree.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1565364/Alan-Johnson-not-good-enough-to-be-PM.html0 -
I don't think Alan Johnson will take the leadership, he lacks at least one crucial quality, that of timing.
A yougov poll shows the Tories slightly ahead and bang Alan Johnson wants to challenge for the leadership the very next day. What happens if yougov made an outlier? He could have waited a few days to see the clear picture, but no he had to make a rushed half baked move.
Today is Monday and as I said by tonight we will know if yougov had an outlier.
But Alan Johnson doesn't seem to have patience.0 -
Alan Johnson is like your well meaning but not too bright uncle.
It worked for Jim Callaghan...??
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Hope everyone is enjoying the latest party conference!
I've had a look at seats the Lib Dems are defending to see how many more seats they would hold onto, relative to UNS, for different levels of incumbency bonus. Obviously there are caveats, including that:
-The results are based on a UNS (apart from the incumbency effect, obviously) whereas in reality swings in contests involving Lib Dems can be are highly variable.
-The incumbency bonus is assumed to be equal for all Lib Dem incumbents
http://numbercruncheruk.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/the-lib-dem-incumbency-bonus-how-many.html
To cut to the chase, and bearing in mind all the caveats noted above and in the post, the analysis suggests that an incumbency effect of around 6 points would likely be needed to save more than ten seats relative to a uniform national swing. On current polling, this points to a seat total somewhere in the 20s. But I'll avoid making formal seat projections for the time being.0 -
Miss Plato, I have similar views about Lammy. Much sounder than Sadiq Khan, who (unless he's altered his policy) wants legislation to legalise discriminating against white people by having quotas for other ethnic groups.0
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Ed is safe because there is absolutely no one else who you can imagine doing a good job.
You could say Jim Murphy looked like he had more than two brain cells to rub together, but he's Scottish and they are going to get devomax at some point in the next year or so.
The fact that Alan Johnson is being mentioned shows the lack of viable alternatives at the top of the Labour party.0 -
The only thing going for Khan in London is the Tower Hamlets factor.Morris_Dancer said:Miss Plato, I have similar views about Lammy. Much sounder than Sadiq Khan, who (unless he's altered his policy) wants legislation to legalise discriminating against white people by having quotas for other ethnic groups.
That enough subcontinent people will vote for him purely because of his ethnicity and not his merits.0 -
It's pure hearsay of course but I have heard it said that there are minor background problems which would make it completely impossible for him to become leader. If that were the case, and he is aware of them, then the 'I'm not good enough line' is a decent cover story.logical_song said:Alan Johnson reckons he's not good enough to be Prime Minister - so who are we to disagree.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1565364/Alan-Johnson-not-good-enough-to-be-PM.html0 -
As a matter of interest, how much have you had on the sun to rise in the East tomorrow?Pulpstar said:I maxed out on Ed Miliband to be Labour leader @ 1-7 at the GE recently with Paddy Power.
Very happy with that.
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Well if Paddy offers a market on itPeter_the_Punter said:
As a matter of interest, how much have you had on the sun to rise in the East tomorrow?Pulpstar said:I maxed out on Ed Miliband to be Labour leader @ 1-7 at the GE recently with Paddy Power.
Very happy with that.
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:-) Wouldn't put it past them.Pulpstar said:
Well if Paddy offers a market on itPeter_the_Punter said:
As a matter of interest, how much have you had on the sun to rise in the East tomorrow?Pulpstar said:I maxed out on Ed Miliband to be Labour leader @ 1-7 at the GE recently with Paddy Power.
Very happy with that.0 -
Off topic:Peter_the_Punter said:
It's pure hearsay of course but I have heard it said that there are minor background problems which would make it completely impossible for him to become leader. If that were the case, and he is aware of them, then the 'I'm not good enough line' is a decent cover story.logical_song said:Alan Johnson reckons he's not good enough to be Prime Minister - so who are we to disagree.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1565364/Alan-Johnson-not-good-enough-to-be-PM.html
I bought a companion rabbit for our remaining Doe yesterday, one of them will have to be neutered eventually though.0 -
FPT @MorrisDancer
Well it's clear they [lucifer & prometheus] both had their roots in the same source beliefs.
But the difference was that while Lucifer got up and raged against God and publicly tried to encourage defecters, Prometheus snuck into Olympus one night and pinched some of the best goodies before handing them out willy-nilly with no thought given to the long-term consequences.
I'll leave it to you to figure out the simile.
@Plato
Don't go with the Jackson films. They're terrible. If you want to watch it, watch the cartoon from 1978.
Sadly they stopped it halfway through when the illustrator died, but it's far far better...
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings_(1978_film)0 -
Well his merits are actually pretty strong, but yes, there are areas where he could be expected to win about 120% of the votes.Speedy said:
The only thing going for Khan in London is the Tower Hamlets factor.Morris_Dancer said:Miss Plato, I have similar views about Lammy. Much sounder than Sadiq Khan, who (unless he's altered his policy) wants legislation to legalise discriminating against white people by having quotas for other ethnic groups.
That enough subcontinent people will vote for him purely because of his ethnicity and not his merits.0 -
One way for Turkey to manage their Kurdish Problem. What a bastard President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has turned out to be. Not a move against IS in Kobane.
#Kurdish fighter who appeared on a BBC report in Sept, shot herself to avoid #ISIS capture during fighting. #Kobane pic.twitter.com/JMEXd1vvMe
— Rudaw English (@RudawEnglish) October 6, 20140 -
OT I always wondered what the history was to the phrase "You are X, and I claim my £5", and after using it on a US website and met with ?? I looked it up on Wiki.
After discussing Party conferences and seasides - it seemed in keeping.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobby_LudLobby Lud is a fictional character invented in August 1927 by the Westminster Gazette, a British newspaper, now defunct. The name derives from the paper's telegraphic address, "Lobby, Ludgate". Anonymous employees of the newspaper visited seaside resorts. The paper printed details of the town, a description of that day's Lobby Lud and a pass phrase. Anyone carrying the newspaper could challenge Lobby Lud with the phrase and receive five pounds (about £260.00 in 2014).[1][2] People on holiday were known to be less likely to buy a newspaper. Some towns and large factories had holiday fortnights (called "wakes weeks" in the north of England); the town or works would all decamp at the same time. Circulation could drop considerably in the summer and proprietors hoped prizes would increase it.
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LOLPulpstar said:
Off topic:Peter_the_Punter said:
It's pure hearsay of course but I have heard it said that there are minor background problems which would make it completely impossible for him to become leader. If that were the case, and he is aware of them, then the 'I'm not good enough line' is a decent cover story.logical_song said:Alan Johnson reckons he's not good enough to be Prime Minister - so who are we to disagree.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1565364/Alan-Johnson-not-good-enough-to-be-PM.html
I bought a companion rabbit for our remaining Doe yesterday, one of them will have to be neutered eventually though.0 -
Sweet. I like rabbits.Pulpstar said:
Off topic:Peter_the_Punter said:
It's pure hearsay of course but I have heard it said that there are minor background problems which would make it completely impossible for him to become leader. If that were the case, and he is aware of them, then the 'I'm not good enough line' is a decent cover story.logical_song said:Alan Johnson reckons he's not good enough to be Prime Minister - so who are we to disagree.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1565364/Alan-Johnson-not-good-enough-to-be-PM.html
I bought a companion rabbit for our remaining Doe yesterday, one of them will have to be neutered eventually though.
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PtP,
"Well his merits are actually pretty strong, but yes, there are areas where he could be expected to win about 120% of the votes."
lol0 -
Will have a hunt for the cartoons - those sound much more my thing. Thanx.
And speaking of cartoon and Jim Murphy upthread - he really does look like Skeletor.Charles said:FPT @MorrisDancer
Well it's clear they [lucifer & prometheus] both had their roots in the same source beliefs.
But the difference was that while Lucifer got up and raged against God and publicly tried to encourage defecters, Prometheus snuck into Olympus one night and pinched some of the best goodies before handing them out willy-nilly with no thought given to the long-term consequences.
I'll leave it to you to figure out the simile.
@Plato
Don't go with the Jackson films. They're terrible. If you want to watch it, watch the cartoon from 1978.
Sadly they stopped it halfway through when the illustrator died, but it's far far better...
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings_(1978_film)0 -
Ha!Peter_the_Punter said:
Well his merits are actually pretty strong, but yes, there are areas where he could be expected to win about 120% of the votes.Speedy said:
The only thing going for Khan in London is the Tower Hamlets factor.Morris_Dancer said:Miss Plato, I have similar views about Lammy. Much sounder than Sadiq Khan, who (unless he's altered his policy) wants legislation to legalise discriminating against white people by having quotas for other ethnic groups.
That enough subcontinent people will vote for him purely because of his ethnicity and not his merits.0 -
Tories are getting more and more desperate.DT hyperbole gives it away,"a cohort" of Labour MPs.A cohort consisted of approximately 480 men and commanded by one man.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cohort_(military_unit)
2 jags might have taken the bait but some are much poorer than him,and a lot wiser.
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Just make sure you haven't made the same mistake that South Korean zoo did...Plato said:LOL
Pulpstar said:
Off topic:Peter_the_Punter said:
It's pure hearsay of course but I have heard it said that there are minor background problems which would make it completely impossible for him to become leader. If that were the case, and he is aware of them, then the 'I'm not good enough line' is a decent cover story.logical_song said:Alan Johnson reckons he's not good enough to be Prime Minister - so who are we to disagree.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1565364/Alan-Johnson-not-good-enough-to-be-PM.html
I bought a companion rabbit for our remaining Doe yesterday, one of them will have to be neutered eventually though.0 -
Vince being beastly about his coalition partners.0
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Cartoon may be the wrong word...Plato said:Will have a hunt for the cartoons - those sound much more my thing. Thanx.
And speaking of cartoon and Jim Murphy upthread - he really does look like Skeletor.Charles said:FPT @MorrisDancer
Well it's clear they [lucifer & prometheus] both had their roots in the same source beliefs.
But the difference was that while Lucifer got up and raged against God and publicly tried to encourage defecters, Prometheus snuck into Olympus one night and pinched some of the best goodies before handing them out willy-nilly with no thought given to the long-term consequences.
I'll leave it to you to figure out the simile.
@Plato
Don't go with the Jackson films. They're terrible. If you want to watch it, watch the cartoon from 1978.
Sadly they stopped it halfway through when the illustrator died, but it's far far better...
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings_(1978_film)
It's pretty dark...0 -
Is there some long running history between Paddy Ashdown and Andrew Neil?
That interview on the Daily Politics, Paddy Ashdown was incredibly prickly from the off. Either he got out of bed the wrong side or he has some serious issues with Neil.0 -
I recall there was a Welsh election where all three candidates were called Jones? I think that was one of the reasons for the change.CopperSulphate said:
Unfortunately if they tried that now then spoiler candidates who change their name to the same as their opponents would be seen in every marginal seat in the country.anotherDave said:Old news
"Until 1968, it was illegal to put the name of a political party on a ballot paper. Voters were expected to vote for a person, not a party. "
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/douglascarswellmp/100288791/voters-have-turned-against-politics-as-usual/
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Vince waving his big nuclear weapon around again?0
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An exercise in peeing in his pants. Gives a warm feeling at the time followed shortly by embarrassment and a further drop in support. Also leaves a nasty smell to potential partners.TwistedFireStopper said:Vince being beastly about his coalition partners.
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A la Dijonnaise, served with a stout Burgundy such as a Gevrey-Chambertin, is best, I think.Peter_the_Punter said:Sweet. I like rabbits.
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I have to say, ineffectual mutterings about replacing your leader is just about the worst backdrop to the start of the Labour Party's general election campaign.
Heh!0 -
Jeez. Meanings change and evolve, you know. See sense 2:volcanopete said:Tories are getting more and more desperate.DT hyperbole gives it away,"a cohort" of Labour MPs.A cohort consisted of approximately 480 men and commanded by one man.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cohort_(military_unit)
2 jags might have taken the bait but some are much poorer than him,and a lot wiser.
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/cohort0 -
Older pbers may remember similar promotions, and it is, of course, how Brighton Rock starts, with the newspaperman's murder.Plato said:OT I always wondered what the history was to the phrase "You are X, and I claim my £5", and after using it on a US website and met with ?? I looked it up on Wiki.
After discussing Party conferences and seasides - it seemed in keeping.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobby_LudLobby Lud is a fictional character invented in August 1927 by the Westminster Gazette, a British newspaper, now defunct. The name derives from the paper's telegraphic address, "Lobby, Ludgate". Anonymous employees of the newspaper visited seaside resorts. The paper printed details of the town, a description of that day's Lobby Lud and a pass phrase. Anyone carrying the newspaper could challenge Lobby Lud with the phrase and receive five pounds (about £260.00 in 2014).[1][2] People on holiday were known to be less likely to buy a newspaper. Some towns and large factories had holiday fortnights (called "wakes weeks" in the north of England); the town or works would all decamp at the same time. Circulation could drop considerably in the summer and proprietors hoped prizes would increase it.
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Not necessarily. Napoleon formed the National Guard into cohorts and these were neither 480 men nor commanded by one man.volcanopete said:Tories are getting more and more desperate.DT hyperbole gives it away,"a cohort" of Labour MPs.A cohort consisted of approximately 480 men and commanded by one man.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cohort_(military_unit)
2 jags might have taken the bait but some are much poorer than him,and a lot wiser.
/pedant0 -
You have to love the sheer desperation of the rightwing press (RWP).
This Telegraph piece and the Sunday Times one yesterday attempting to sow seeds of unrest within Labour.
Yet, er, the Tories are two MPs down!
Potentially about to lose the resulting 2 by elections on the spin (although I still fancy the Tories to hold in R&S despite Survation)! Hell maybe about to break loose, but it is the Tories who are in the path of the developing storm.
Look in your own back yard RWP.0 -
Populus looks decent for Labour.
Disappointing for the Tories so soon after their conference.
Interesting. More polls needed.0 -
I'm missing something here. Is there some Gordon Broonesque rocking horse / nappy rumour about Postman Al?Charles said:
Just make sure you haven't made the same mistake that South Korean zoo did...Plato said:LOL
Pulpstar said:
Off topic:Peter_the_Punter said:
It's pure hearsay of course but I have heard it said that there are minor background problems which would make it completely impossible for him to become leader. If that were the case, and he is aware of them, then the 'I'm not good enough line' is a decent cover story.logical_song said:Alan Johnson reckons he's not good enough to be Prime Minister - so who are we to disagree.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1565364/Alan-Johnson-not-good-enough-to-be-PM.html
I bought a companion rabbit for our remaining Doe yesterday, one of them will have to be neutered eventually though.
The current issue of Viz features a Roger Mellie idea for a new TV programme called "What's My Rumour?" where contestants have to guess what is the rumour circulating on the internet about celebrity guests.
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Once in my working life I walked passed a junior employee being comforted by her manager. The girl was worried about her cat, which was sick. "Don't worry", said her kindly manager. "Animals are tough!".Richard_Nabavi said:
A la Dijonnaise, served with a stout Burgundy such as a Gevrey-Chambertin, is best, I think.Peter_the_Punter said:Sweet. I like rabbits.
"Only" I commented "if they're not cooked properly!"
Took me quite a long time to become well thought of again, certainly by the younger female members of staff!0 -
Given my love of dark things - I think we're on pretty safe ground. Thanks for the heads-up though, my interest is piqued.Charles said:
Cartoon may be the wrong word...Plato said:Will have a hunt for the cartoons - those sound much more my thing. Thanx.
And speaking of cartoon and Jim Murphy upthread - he really does look like Skeletor.Charles said:FPT @MorrisDancer
Well it's clear they [lucifer & prometheus] both had their roots in the same source beliefs.
But the difference was that while Lucifer got up and raged against God and publicly tried to encourage defecters, Prometheus snuck into Olympus one night and pinched some of the best goodies before handing them out willy-nilly with no thought given to the long-term consequences.
I'll leave it to you to figure out the simile.
@Plato
Don't go with the Jackson films. They're terrible. If you want to watch it, watch the cartoon from 1978.
Sadly they stopped it halfway through when the illustrator died, but it's far far better...
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings_(1978_film)
It's pretty dark...0 -
This is just ridiculous. Alan Johnson has a reasonable future playing the well meaning straight guy on HIGNFY and other such tat until pretty much everyone has forgotten who he is, something I fear will not take as long as he would like.
His political career is over. Finished. An ex parrot etc.
It does show, however, that David Miliband was smart to get out of the building.0 -
Replace Miliband with Johnson?
Ahh! Labour to have it's Ming Moment.0 -
I was chatting to a very warm and fuzzy chappy last week and he mentioned how much he liked fly-fishing. I said I had no idea that fish screamed and couldn't imagine that. He replied "Not if you hit them hard enough!"
I was quite taken aback - then laughed out loud. I'll look at him in a whole new light from now on!OldKingCole said:
Once in my working life I walked passed a junior employee being comforted by her manager. The girl was worried about her cat, which was sick. "Don't worry", said her kindly manager. "Animals are tough!".Richard_Nabavi said:
A la Dijonnaise, served with a stout Burgundy such as a Gevrey-Chambertin, is best, I think.Peter_the_Punter said:Sweet. I like rabbits.
"Only" I commented "if they're not cooked properly!"
Took me quite a long time to become well thought of again, certainly by the younger female members of staff!0 -
And James Parnell.DavidL said:
This is just ridiculous. Alan Johnson has a reasonable future playing the well meaning straight guy on HIGNFY and other such tat until pretty much everyone has forgotten who he is, something I fear will not take as long as he would like.
His political career is over. Finished. An ex parrot etc.
It does show, however, that David Miliband was smart to get out of the building.0 -
Heywood and Middleton
Just looking at the Survation poll. 27% of 2010 Con voters are 'undecided', but 'likely to vote'.
Table 4, page 7
http://survation.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Heywood-Middleton-Tables.pdf0 -
Lord Ashcroft@LordAshcroft·25 mins25 minutes ago
This week's Ashcroft National Poll, plus Heywood & Middleton by-election poll, all on @ConHome today at 4pm.0 -
Cruel, but tasty!Richard_Nabavi said:
A la Dijonnaise, served with a stout Burgundy such as a Gevrey-Chambertin, is best, I think.Peter_the_Punter said:Sweet. I like rabbits.
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He was probably getting his retaliation in first. I cant understand how people can bear to watch Neil interview people.FrancisUrquhart said:
That interview on the Daily Politics, Paddy Ashdown was incredibly prickly from the off. Either he got out of bed the wrong side or he has some serious issues with Neil.0 -
It's the name isn't it?Neil said:
He was probably getting his retaliation in first. I cant understand how people can bear to watch Neil interview people.FrancisUrquhart said:
That interview on the Daily Politics, Paddy Ashdown was incredibly prickly from the off. Either he got out of bed the wrong side or he has some serious issues with Neil.0 -
Yep. Expect to see "Leverson implemented in full" to muzzle perceived right-wing publications when Milliband gets his hands on the controls.Charles said:
Thus it begins.BenM said:You have to love the sheer desperation of the rightwing press (RWP).
[Snip]
Look in your own back yard RWP.
Threatening the freedom of the press.0 -
Although I don't know if I'd like his policies (in his brief time as shadow chancellor, he was prattling on about being an "instinctive spending-cutter"), Alan Johnson would be a good choice for leader I think. People can call it shallow all they want, but politicians at the moment need to speak in something close to plain English, rather than the thinktank-ese that Miliband and most of the shadow cabinet speak in.0
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If he was a poster on pbc he'd be Pork - chortling away to himself about how incompetent everyone else is.DavidL said:
It's the name isn't it?Neil said:
He was probably getting his retaliation in first. I cant understand how people can bear to watch Neil interview people.FrancisUrquhart said:
That interview on the Daily Politics, Paddy Ashdown was incredibly prickly from the off. Either he got out of bed the wrong side or he has some serious issues with Neil.
0 -
Alan Johnson would be a Jim Callaghan de nos jours. That's a compliment by the way.
But no, I'm not betting on him taking over from Ed Miliband.0 -
Ouch.Neil said:
If he was a poster on pbc he'd be Pork - chortling away to himself about how incompetent everyone else is.DavidL said:
It's the name isn't it?Neil said:
He was probably getting his retaliation in first. I cant understand how people can bear to watch Neil interview people.FrancisUrquhart said:
That interview on the Daily Politics, Paddy Ashdown was incredibly prickly from the off. Either he got out of bed the wrong side or he has some serious issues with Neil.
Personally I just like interviewers who are functionally numerate. It is so rare. Neil and Evan Davis and then I have to think for a bit. Maybe it is that ability to count that makes them feel so superior in the media world?0 -
I was incited to look at http://www.food.com/recipes/rabbitPeter_the_Punter said:
Cruel, but tasty!Richard_Nabavi said:
A la Dijonnaise, served with a stout Burgundy such as a Gevrey-Chambertin, is best, I think.Peter_the_Punter said:Sweet. I like rabbits.
Good job I’d had lunch otherwise I’d have become hungry!0 -
Apparently, SeanT's books are banned in areas under ISIS control, so he's not exactly impartial.Smarmeron said:@SeanT
Time for you to lead an elite team of volunteer thriller writers into the jaws of hell in an attempt to rescue western civilization Sean.
Or you can stay at home, drink your wine, and let every other poor sod do the fighting for you.0 -
Once more I post and no one is taking the blind bit of notice, especially on PB.SeanT said:It is quite unbelievable that the West is failing to stop ISIS from taking Kobane.
ISIS will slaughter everyone they capture. It's like Genghis Khan is marching on Vienna and we're all watching the fucking Great British Bake Off.
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/10/05/world/meast/isis-kobani/
One way for Turkey to manage their Kurdish Problem. What a bastard President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has turned out to be. Not a move against IS in Kobane.
#Kurdish fighter who appeared on a BBC report in Sept, shot herself to avoid #ISIS capture during fighting. #Kobane pic.twitter.com/JMEXd1vvMe
— Rudaw English (@RudawEnglish)
October 6, 20140 -
A Labour party led by James Parnell would be out of sight by now. But he probably made the right call that it was never going to happen.Plato said:And James Parnell.
DavidL said:This is just ridiculous. Alan Johnson has a reasonable future playing the well meaning straight guy on HIGNFY and other such tat until pretty much everyone has forgotten who he is, something I fear will not take as long as he would like.
His political career is over. Finished. An ex parrot etc.
It does show, however, that David Miliband was smart to get out of the building.0 -
Neil is also willing to question from the Right, as well as the Left. This makes him fairly unique amongst political journalists.DavidL said:
Ouch.Neil said:
If he was a poster on pbc he'd be Pork - chortling away to himself about how incompetent everyone else is.DavidL said:
It's the name isn't it?Neil said:
He was probably getting his retaliation in first. I cant understand how people can bear to watch Neil interview people.FrancisUrquhart said:
That interview on the Daily Politics, Paddy Ashdown was incredibly prickly from the off. Either he got out of bed the wrong side or he has some serious issues with Neil.
Personally I just like interviewers who are functionally numerate. It is so rare. Neil and Evan Davis and then I have to think for a bit. Maybe it is that ability to count that makes them feel so superior in the media world?
For example, he challenged Hague on not meeting the immigration target at Conservative conference. He asked why the target hadn't been met and why people shouldn't vote UKIP given that failure; what was Hague going to do about it, to meet the pledge?
One gets the impression that had it been Naughtie, Mair or Snow they might have quoted someone in the Tory party who had reservations (e.g. Mark Field) and instead asked him why he didn't just abandon the target given it had failed.0 -
C) They are Blarites who don't get that their time is done.taffys said:Do some Labour MPs want to ditch Ed because:
A) He might lose
or He might win.0 -
Worth a view for the pics of some dynamic Lib Dems in the audience. This LD event is into the THIRD day with two more to follow....
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2781685/He-exhorted-dervishes-like-Mahdi-Omdurman-QUENTIN-LETTS-Lib-Dem-conference.html#ixzz3FM772cmG0 -
But what do you make of James Purnell David?DavidL said:
A Labour party led by James Parnell would be out of sight by now. But he probably made the right call that it was never going to happen.Plato said:And James Parnell.
DavidL said:This is just ridiculous. Alan Johnson has a reasonable future playing the well meaning straight guy on HIGNFY and other such tat until pretty much everyone has forgotten who he is, something I fear will not take as long as he would like.
His political career is over. Finished. An ex parrot etc.
It does show, however, that David Miliband was smart to get out of the building.0 -
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BBC reporting that IS flags and banners are flying over Kobane.0
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I can understand why Turkey thinks it is a great idea for the Peshmerga to be ground down somewhat, not least when people they thought were friends are insisting on giving them armaments that could give the Turkish army a problem in due course but basically only Turkey or Iran have the power to end ISIL locally.
There will come a point when it is in one or other of their interests to do so but at the moment their relative strength vis a vis their neighbours is simply being increased. The idea that token flights with strict instructions not to risk the lives of a civilian are going to make any difference are strictly for the fantasists amongst us.
Meanwhile the performance of that incredibly expensively created and trained Iraqi army is nothing short of completely embarrassing. Embarrassing for themselves and for the many units who claimed they had done good work training them.0 -
Agreed. Neil is well prepared and gives them all a challenge. Evan Davis is unfortunately not as good, but we wait to see how he develops on Newsnight.Casino_Royale said:
Neil is also willing to question from the Right, as well as the Left. This makes him fairly unique amongst political journalists.DavidL said:
Ouch.Neil said:
If he was a poster on pbc he'd be Pork - chortling away to himself about how incompetent everyone else is.DavidL said:
It's the name isn't it?Neil said:
He was probably getting his retaliation in first. I cant understand how people can bear to watch Neil interview people.FrancisUrquhart said:
That interview on the Daily Politics, Paddy Ashdown was incredibly prickly from the off. Either he got out of bed the wrong side or he has some serious issues with Neil.
Personally I just like interviewers who are functionally numerate. It is so rare. Neil and Evan Davis and then I have to think for a bit. Maybe it is that ability to count that makes them feel so superior in the media world?
For example, he challenged Hague on not meeting the immigration target at Conservative conference. He asked why the target hadn't been met and why people shouldn't vote UKIP given that failure; what was Hague going to do about it, to meet the pledge?
One gets the impression that had it been Naughtie, Mair or Snow they might have quoted someone in the Tory party who had reservations (e.g. Mark Field) and instead asked him why he didn't just abandon the target given it had failed.
0 -
ISIS and Sean T's books
One is full of brutal and sadistic treatment.
The other is a terrorist organisation.0 -
Its probably a 27 club flagTwistedFireStopper said:BBC reporting that IS flags and banners are flying over Kobane.
Oh different Cobane!!
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Betting Post .... Next LD Leader
I would not bet on Danny.
http://www.libdemvoice.org/whos-up-whos-down-how-party-members-rate-the-performances-of-leading-lib-dems-11-42765.html
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As ever, you are an idiot and have it completely wrong.SeanT said:It is quite unbelievable that the West is failing to stop ISIS from taking Kobane.
ISIS will slaughter everyone they capture. It's like Genghis Khan is marching on Vienna and we're all watching the fucking Great British Bake Off.
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/10/05/world/meast/isis-kobani/
We're all watching Strictly.0 -
Note the (deserved) ratings for Steve Webb. 20/1 widely available on him being the next Lib Dem leader. It's a mystery to me why the party doesn't make more of an undoubted asset.TCPoliticalBetting said:Betting Post .... Next LD Leader
I would not bet on Danny.
http://www.libdemvoice.org/whos-up-whos-down-how-party-members-rate-the-performances-of-leading-lib-dems-11-42765.html0 -
Who is left in Kobane now? From a tactical point of view all they have done is to concentrate some of their most committed fighters into one area, and supplies could rapidly become a problem if Turkey does decide to step in.
(I assume here that anyone with any sense of self preservation has got the hell out of town)0 -
I think it is worth remembering that he only had relatively modest jobs albeit he received rapid promotions to cabinet. He was involved in more than his fair share of controversy, not least in relation to expenses and CGT. It would be foolish to project Blairite ideals onto him in a way that might never have happened. The most impressive thing about his Parliamentary career was his resignation and, on one view, even that proved to be a miscalculation.___Bobajob___ said:
But what do you make of James Purnell David?DavidL said:
A Labour party led by James Parnell would be out of sight by now. But he probably made the right call that it was never going to happen.Plato said:And James Parnell.
DavidL said:This is just ridiculous. Alan Johnson has a reasonable future playing the well meaning straight guy on HIGNFY and other such tat until pretty much everyone has forgotten who he is, something I fear will not take as long as he would like.
His political career is over. Finished. An ex parrot etc.
It does show, however, that David Miliband was smart to get out of the building.
All that said I think the Labour party is desperately short of people with his level of competence and decision making skills. He would almost certainly have kept the Labour party in a position closer to that maintained by Blair and he would not have shied away from necessary modernisation of public services in fear of upsetting the Unions. I think he would have been a much more difficult person for the Tories to challenge than Ed is. But then there are a lot of people who fall within that definition.0 -
He was my boss at DWP for a bit. A nice and very ambitious/smart guy. He was the wrong sort of Labourite at the time. And wisely resigned. That caused quite a splash. IIRC he did it just as the 10pm news was starting.DavidL said:
I think it is worth remembering that he only had relatively modest jobs albeit he received rapid promotions to cabinet. He was involved in more than his fair share of controversy, not least in relation to expenses and CGT. It would be foolish to project Blairite ideals onto him in a way that might never have happened. The most impressive thing about his Parliamentary career was his resignation and, on one view, even that proved to be a miscalculation.___Bobajob___ said:
But what do you make of James Purnell David?DavidL said:
A Labour party led by James Parnell would be out of sight by now. But he probably made the right call that it was never going to happen.Plato said:And James Parnell.
DavidL said:This is just ridiculous. Alan Johnson has a reasonable future playing the well meaning straight guy on HIGNFY and other such tat until pretty much everyone has forgotten who he is, something I fear will not take as long as he would like.
His political career is over. Finished. An ex parrot etc.
It does show, however, that David Miliband was smart to get out of the building.
All that said I think the Labour party is desperately short of people with his level of competence and decision making skills. He would almost certainly have kept the Labour party in a position closer to that maintained by Blair and he would not have shied away from necessary modernisation of public services in fear of upsetting the Unions. I think he would have been a much more difficult person for the Tories to challenge than Ed is. But then there are a lot of people who fall within that definition.0 -
I'm not sure it's that easy to 'get the hell out of town'. You have people who are infirm, others who want to stay and help, and many who don't want to leave their lifetime home. Others will need transport, but not be able to get it, whilst others will fear the unknown of where they will be going, and the journey itself.Smarmeron said:Who is left in Kobane now? From a tactical point of view all they have done is to concentrate some of their most committed fighters into one area, and supplies could rapidly become a problem if Turkey does decide to step in.
(I assume here that anyone with any sense of self preservation has got the hell out of town)
Then there will be a few who think IS won't be as bad as they're painted and want to risk it.
It's easy to imagine circumstances where an elderly couple do not want to leave the home they've lived in for decades, their daughter doesn't want to leave them, her husband does not want to leave her, and they can't send their kids alone. So they all stay.
I hope to God known of us ever have to make such decisions ...0 -
JosiasJessop said:
I'm not sure it's that easy to 'get the hell out of town'. You have people who are infirm, others who want to stay and help, and many who don't want to leave their lifetime home. Others will need transport, but not be able to get it, whilst others will fear the unknown of where they will be going, and the journey itself.Smarmeron said:Who is left in Kobane now? From a tactical point of view all they have done is to concentrate some of their most committed fighters into one area, and supplies could rapidly become a problem if Turkey does decide to step in.
(I assume here that anyone with any sense of self preservation has got the hell out of town)
Then there will be a few who think IS won't be as bad as they're painted and want to risk it.
It's easy to imagine circumstances where an elderly couple do not want to leave the home they've lived in for decades, their daughter doesn't want to leave them, her husband does not want to leave her, and they can't send their kids alone. So they all stay.
I hope to God known of us ever have to make such decisions ...
And where exactly do they go? We going to take them?
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The tin-foil hatted conspiracy theorists would suggest America's problem is working out who is my enemy's enemy's enemy -- that while it wants ISIL defeated, it does not want any of ISIL's enemies (Iran, Kurds, Assad, Russia, and so on) to win. More likely it is that no-one wants to commit thousands of troops to a war that is likely to be open-ended since there is no state actor inn a position to surrender.SeanT said:
It's horrendous. There are still tens of thousands of people in that city, most of them Kurds. They will be raped and enslaved, many will be shot. Imagine the fate of any female Kurdish soldiers. Unspeakable.TwistedFireStopper said:BBC reporting that IS flags and banners are flying over Kobane.
If I was an American taxpayer, contributing to the world's mightiest military, at a cost of $650 BILLION a year, I'd be really quite angry. How mighty is the USA if it can't stop teenage jihad rapists in Toyotas?
It's not mighty at all. It is a chimera, a delusion, a fake. It's like buying the world's biggest golden dildo, to disguise the fact you are impotent, and you never meet any women anyway.0 -
That's an important question. Turkey's been doing a great job with the Syrian and Iraqi refugees so far. Perhaps we should be helping then with money to build and victual the camps; that way, when things are safe, the people can return home.Peter_the_Punter said:
And where exactly do they go? We going to take them?JosiasJessop said:
I'm not sure it's that easy to 'get the hell out of town'. You have people who are infirm, others who want to stay and help, and many who don't want to leave their lifetime home. Others will need transport, but not be able to get it, whilst others will fear the unknown of where they will be going, and the journey itself.Smarmeron said:Who is left in Kobane now? From a tactical point of view all they have done is to concentrate some of their most committed fighters into one area, and supplies could rapidly become a problem if Turkey does decide to step in.
(I assume here that anyone with any sense of self preservation has got the hell out of town)
Then there will be a few who think IS won't be as bad as they're painted and want to risk it.
It's easy to imagine circumstances where an elderly couple do not want to leave the home they've lived in for decades, their daughter doesn't want to leave them, her husband does not want to leave her, and they can't send their kids alone. So they all stay.
I hope to God known of us ever have to make such decisions ...0 -
Labour MPs urge Alan Johnson to challenge for the leadership.
Blimey, how desperate are things within Labour? - AJ is a nice guy, but not PM material imho.
I predicted last year that all three party leaders would still be there next May - nothing has made me change my mind.0 -
Civil wars end with one side winning. Not with an external power trying to force themselves into the conflict on behalf of one of the belligerents. Even as @DecrepitJohnL says, if they could work out whose side they wanted to be on.
The reality of it is that a surge was attempted and failed in Iraq so the chances of US+ dropping hundreds of thousands, literally hundreds of thousands of troops into the Levant to subdue IS (pls note: from 29 June 2014 = IS) is fantasy.
Some options (from a whole lot of very very bad ones) are a) send hundreds of thousands of allied troops to subdue IS, impose a legal, political, bureaucratic system on the region and then prop up their favoured government for the subsequent 50 years; b) to treat with them, draw a green line around where they are today or next week and say - here's your caliphate, please don't be so beastly; c) organise a (somehow anti-Sunni) Sunni coalition of the willing but frankly, it will be so US military advisor heavy we are kind of in "surge" territory again; d) impress upon Iran to reawaken it's Shia-Sunni, Iran-Iraq war consciousness and somehow what? Invade the Levant? Fund counter-groups? We are back in civil war territory and do we want Iran to win that one?
My $0.02? God that's tricky - probably "b)", realpolitikally. Not 100% sure that is the answer, can't think of any other options, however.0 -
I was at the CSA at the time.Another case of government being crap at buying IT software which only someone who is a black-belt in the World of Warcraft could make work.Plato said:He was my boss at DWP for a bit. A nice and very ambitious/smart guy. He was the wrong sort of Labourite at the time. And wisely resigned. That caused quite a splash. IIRC he did it just as the 10pm news was starting.
DavidL said:
I think it is worth remembering that he only had relatively modest jobs albeit he received rapid promotions to cabinet. He was involved in more than his fair share of controversy, not least in relation to expenses and CGT. It would be foolish to project Blairite ideals onto him in a way that might never have happened. The most impressive thing about his Parliamentary career was his resignation and, on one view, even that proved to be a miscalculation.___Bobajob___ said:
But what do you make of James Purnell David?DavidL said:
A Labour party led by James Parnell would be out of sight by now. But he probably made the right call that it was never going to happen.Plato said:And James Parnell.
DavidL said:This is just ridiculous. Alan Johnson has a reasonable future playing the well meaning straight guy on HIGNFY and other such tat until pretty much everyone has forgotten who he is, something I fear will not take as long as he would like.
His political career is over. Finished. An ex parrot etc.
It does show, however, that David Miliband was smart to get out of the building.
All that said I think the Labour party is desperately short of people with his level of competence and decision making skills. He would almost certainly have kept the Labour party in a position closer to that maintained by Blair and he would not have shied away from necessary modernisation of public services in fear of upsetting the Unions. I think he would have been a much more difficult person for the Tories to challenge than Ed is. But then there are a lot of people who fall within that definition.
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A wag under that article wrote
Nice of the LibDems to let in the homeless to have a sit in the warm, it was a bit parky up there yesterday.
TCPoliticalBetting said:Worth a view for the pics of some dynamic Lib Dems in the audience. This LD event is into the THIRD day with two more to follow....
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2781685/He-exhorted-dervishes-like-Mahdi-Omdurman-QUENTIN-LETTS-Lib-Dem-conference.html#ixzz3FM772cmG0 -
The BBC are saying that more than 160K have fled from the area across the border into Turkey. It is quite possible a lot of refugees have ended up there as a place of "safety".SeanT said:EDIT to my post below. Wiki says just 40,000 people live - or lived - in Kobane - not 400,000 as Al Jazeera claim.
However this might just be confusion over the definition of Kobane the city and Kobane the region.
The lack of drones etc is odd. Very odd.0
