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Keeping up with the Milibands. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-31820175

An every day saga of Dartmouth Park folk.

FrancisUrquhart said:

Morris_Dancer said:

Clarkson suspended after an argument with a producer:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-31824040

According to Twitter, there will be no Top Gear on Sunday as a result.

Was on last warning...Big decision for the BBC, do they sack their massive cash cow?

New on ITV "Power with Jeremy Clarkson".

MarkSenior said:

blakmorerj said:

JackW said:

Bob__Sykes said:

JackW said:

Why is it so remote?

The Tories are going to hand over seats to Labour due to the UKIP surge, lose a handful to the purples themselves, and you know the SNP ain't gonna do anything like as well as the polls suggest. The LDs will lose seats to the Tories, but not that many.

The polls are better for the Tories, but still disastrous to hopes of remaining in power whilst UKIP polls so high.

It's the electoral system that will put Ed in power, not his charisma or recognised leadership star potential.

I'm feel you should urgently seek the advice of your physician as it's clear your brain has become badly addled by sustained absence from the portals of PB.

You need to closely analyse my ARSE, inwardly digest and repent of your wayward behaviour. We at PB central will welcome you back into the bosom of our fraternity in the fullness of time as and when this nasty affliction subsides on the 8th May.

@bob_sykes clearly does not live in Scotland if he doubts the SLAB clash and SNP surge. I have not come across a labour voter canvassing in Edinburgh East despite it being a notionally safe Labour seat. This is EDINBURGH- an area which voted comfortably NO.

Anyone who claims that they canvassed an area and not come across a single opposition voter is either telling porkies or a bloody awful canvasser . We remember for example Rik Willis saying on here he had not found a single Lib Dem voter shortly before he was defeated by them in Sutton and Cheam in 2005

Bad choice of words. People have told me they're CERTAINLY going to vote SNP and even CON. But I haven't come across anyone who is CERTAINLY voting Labour (or even mentioned) Labour I persume the one's who insist they are 'undecided' are the likely Labour voters.

dr_spyn said:

Keeping up with the Milibands. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-31820175

An every day saga of Dartmouth Park folk.

With a rebrand...

@jessicaelgot: Wondering if Justine Thornton being called ‘Miliband’ in BBC interview is slip-up, a change on her part, or just SEO? http://t.co/M0utGhCrSd

Mr. StClare, because in a few weeks the electoral impartiality rules kick in?

@SimonStClare
Try reading the article, or watch the video?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-31820175
(text is fairly short)

@MrHarryCole: Flashback: September - Justine Thornton becomes Justine Miliband for election campaign. http://t.co/4Fksa0myFd

@TheWatcher
You know? I honestly never noticed, I was to busy listening to the interview, and looking for "tells" when she spoke.

Pulpstar said:

FormerToryOrange said:

Since there will be very little prospect of anyone outside the Conservative party having any chance of forming a government, and the incumbent PM is in the Conservative party, the Queen will actually not need to do anything. If Cameron chooses not to resign (most likely) then the Queen has no decision to make, and if that turns out to be the wrong decision it reflects on Cameron politically, not on the Queen or constitution.

If Cameron does resign, presumably he will only do so if it is absolutely clear the Conservatives cannot govern, in which case it won't be remotely controversial for the Queen to ask Miliband whether he can form a government.

What would you advise people who followed your SPIN recommendations on the SNP to do now, hold out or cash out for a loss ?

Apologies for that. Can't remember now what I recommended to sell them at, and am not sure where they are pricing now. But for what it's worth I now expect them to get in the region of 40 seats.

blakmorerj said:

JackW said:

Bob__Sykes said:

JackW said:

Why is it so remote?

The Tories are going to hand over seats to Labour due to the UKIP surge, lose a handful to the purples themselves, and you know the SNP ain't gonna do anything like as well as the polls suggest. The LDs will lose seats to the Tories, but not that many.

The polls are better for the Tories, but still disastrous to hopes of remaining in power whilst UKIP polls so high.

It's the electoral system that will put Ed in power, not his charisma or recognised leadership star potential.

I'm feel you should urgently seek the advice of your physician as it's clear your brain has become badly addled by sustained absence from the portals of PB.

You need to closely analyse my ARSE, inwardly digest and repent of your wayward behaviour. We at PB central will welcome you back into the bosom of our fraternity in the fullness of time as and when this nasty affliction subsides on the 8th May.

@bob_sykes clearly does not live in Scotland if he doubts the SLAB clash and SNP surge. I have not come across a labour voter canvassing in Edinburgh East despite it being a notionally safe Labour seat. This is EDINBURGH- an area which voted comfortably NO.

Edinburgh might have voted comfortably NO but Edinburgh East voted 48% Yes.

SMAPSing that gives the SNP a 6 point lead.

TheWatcher said:

JosiasJessop said:

Bob__Sykes said:

Morris_Dancer said:

Mr. Sykes, why would any copycat show vanish?

You just said, and I agree, it's Clarkson + Wilman [I'd add the other presenters too]. There's nothing magical about the BBC.

Through BBC2 free to air broadcast and iPlayer, Top Gear gets something like 9m viewers a show, probably more. Plus the re-runs on Dave, partly owned by the BBC. It's one of the biggest shows on telly.

Move it to Sky, and like anything else on Sky, it will have an audience of about 1m tops, probably less over the long term, and no iPlayer. The heart will go out of the production team and presenting talent, like a theatrical company playing to an almost empty house night after night.

More importantly IMHO, Top Gear must cost an absolute arm and a leg to make. Even setting aside the presenters' salaries, there is oodles of dosh wrapped up in each one. The BBC's big enough to handle it; would other TV companies want the risk? Still, it's preferable to them spending money on yet more effing football.

And if they make it cheaper, the audience might well notice (ref. Scrapheap Challenge).

Salaries aside, it's notorious for being made on a shoestring. Portacabins and a hangar on an old BAE airfield in rural Surrey cost f'all.

Yes to those (although f'all's going a bit far, but flying around the world to do some of their stunts wouldn't be cheap, and neither would the insurance.

But I bow to better knowledge.

Pulpstar said:

MarkSenior said:

blakmorerj said:

JackW said:

Bob__Sykes said:

JackW said:

Why is it so remote?

The Tories are going to hand over seats to Labour due to the UKIP surge, lose a handful to the purples themselves, and you know the SNP ain't gonna do anything like as well as the polls suggest. The LDs will lose seats to the Tories, but not that many.

The polls are better for the Tories, but still disastrous to hopes of remaining in power whilst UKIP polls so high.

It's the electoral system that will put Ed in power, not his charisma or recognised leadership star potential.

I'm feel you should urgently seek the advice of your physician as it's clear your brain has become badly addled by sustained absence from the portals of PB.

You need to closely analyse my ARSE, inwardly digest and repent of your wayward behaviour. We at PB central will welcome you back into the bosom of our fraternity in the fullness of time as and when this nasty affliction subsides on the 8th May.

@bob_sykes clearly does not live in Scotland if he doubts the SLAB clash and SNP surge. I have not come across a labour voter canvassing in Edinburgh East despite it being a notionally safe Labour seat. This is EDINBURGH- an area which voted comfortably NO.

Anyone who claims that they canvassed an area and not come across a single opposition voter is either telling porkies or a bloody awful canvasser . We remember for example Rik Willis saying on here he had not found a single Lib Dem voter shortly before he was defeated by them in Sutton and Cheam in 2005

SNP probably ahead by ~ 20 points in Edinburgh East at the least.

SNP 49
Lab 27
Con 8
Green 7
LD 5

Something like that.

Also both the SNP and the SLAB are his opposition...

SMAPS has

SNP 39
Lab 33
Con 10
Green 10
LD 7

I suspect the Green figure will be lower due to tactical voting.

EDIT: That's on national vote shares of

SNP 44.0
Lab 29.7
Con 16.3
Green 1.75
LD 6.8

Pulpstar said:

Alistair said:

Pulpstar said:

MarkSenior said:

blakmorerj said:

JackW said:

Bob__Sykes said:

JackW said:

Why is it so remote?

The Tories are going to hand over seats to Labour due to the UKIP surge, lose a handful to the purples themselves, and you know the SNP ain't gonna do anything like as well as the polls suggest. The LDs will lose seats to the Tories, but not that many.

The polls are better for the Tories, but still disastrous to hopes of remaining in power whilst UKIP polls so high.

It's the electoral system that will put Ed in power, not his charisma or recognised leadership star potential.

I'm feel you should urgently seek the advice of your physician as it's clear your brain has become badly addled by sustained absence from the portals of PB.

You need to closely analyse my ARSE, inwardly digest and repent of your wayward behaviour. We at PB central will welcome you back into the bosom of our fraternity in the fullness of time as and when this nasty affliction subsides on the 8th May.

@bob_sykes clearly does not live in Scotland if he doubts the SLAB clash and SNP surge. I have not come across a labour voter canvassing in Edinburgh East despite it being a notionally safe Labour seat. This is EDINBURGH- an area which voted comfortably NO.

Anyone who claims that they canvassed an area and not come across a single opposition voter is either telling porkies or a bloody awful canvasser . We remember for example Rik Willis saying on here he had not found a single Lib Dem voter shortly before he was defeated by them in Sutton and Cheam in 2005

SNP probably ahead by ~ 20 points in Edinburgh East at the least.

SNP 49
Lab 27
Con 8
Green 7
LD 5

Something like that.

Also both the SNP and the SLAB are his opposition...

SMAPS has

SNP 39
Lab 33
Con 10
Green 10
LD 7

I suspect the Green figure will be lower due to tactical voting.

I'll send you my Scottish book when I've totalised it all up to check against SMAPS :P

You can see it here https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/12NKEIQU2XLtS1xEjnDh15ylV1oD2RJxWwe_99tN85eE/edit?usp=sharing

I'm improving the script that generates it to allow you to specify National Vote shares and then I'll put it online so you can generate your own SMAPS.

Bob__Sykes said:

Move it to Sky, and like anything else on Sky, it will have an audience of about 1m tops, probably less over the long term, and no iPlayer. The heart will go out of the production team and presenting talent, like a theatrical company playing to an almost empty house night after night.

I doubt that it would only be Sky in the running. Given how widely pirated Top Gear is it (or a new show starring the three of them) has a lot of attraction for a service like Netflix or Amazon.

Anyone published the Survation constituency poll in Hornsey/Wood Green

Lab 37 LD 36 Con 15 Green 7 UKIP 4 Others 1

SimonStClare said:

TGOHF said:

Looks like Labour have given up on the GE

Tom Newton Dunn ‏@tnewtondunn 1m1 minute ago
Ed Miliband's wife Justine has complained about the "really vicious, personal" attacks on him in an interview with the BBC.

Oh dear, this sort of chatter never goes down well. - If Ed can’t control his own MPs from sniping at him from the side-lines, or is thin skinned enough to worry about what the papers say, he really shouldn’t be in politics or get the wife involved.

Were they as "really vicious, personal" as the attacks launched by Brown and his office against Samantha Cameron and Frances Osborne, about which neither woman has commented despite being, I imagine - especially having some idea of what the attacks were - hurt by them?

She's not standing for election. She should butt out. If EdM doesn't have the requisite thick skin to be in politics he should get out of the game, particularly since his party has behaved pretty unpleasantly when it comes to personal attacks on others.

Its about time that the BBC learned how to manage its stars, Clarkson makes the BBC zillions.. without him, Top Gear is nothing, and the BBC ought to know it.

Unless Clarkson has punched the guys/gals lights out who cares about a fracas or rude words or whatever.

Maybe Clarkson was being told he was being sent on another diversity re-education, i mean training course? :-)

http://partsolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Smallest-Car-in-the-World_3.jpg

@Alistair

SMAPS suggests that Willie Bain and Charlie Kennedy are quite well thought of - particularly Willie Bain.

Also possibly that Alistair Darling had a decent personal vote in Edi SW, which is now gone !
Amazingly it predicts Kirkcaldy spot on, though the disparity with Glasgow NE is interesting and suggests incumbency at some level is stopping the Scottish Labour collapse heading sub 20 or some such.

Pulpstar said:

@Alistair

SMAPS suggests that Willie Bain and Charlie Kennedy are quite well thought of - particularly Willie Bain.

Also possibly that Alistair Darling had a decent personal vote in Edi SW, which is now gone !
Amazingly it predicts Kirkcaldy spot on, though the disparity with Glasgow NE is interesting and suggests incumbency at some level is stopping the Scottish Labour collapse heading sub 20 or some such.

Bain is a dumpling as well , must be some real dumb voters in that constituency.

initforthemoney said:

Got some (Argyll & Bute) propaganda today:

1) from HM Government: a weird leaflet presumably designed to make me think the new powers being given to the Scottish government are simultaneously extensive and reasonable (presumably designed to imply I don't need to vote snp).

No change in strategy there then.

2) 'Publication males it official - Conservatives can't win in Scotland.....The SNP's independence obsession is costing Scottish healthcare.......Only the Liberal Democrats can stop the SNP and fix our NHS'

'In large parts of Scotland it's a two-horse race between the lib Dems and the SNP. The Conservatives can't win.'

No change in strategy there then.

fwiw 2) features an odd photo of Cameron with his hand over his mouth which makes him look strangely like Clegg (or the GP who has a column in the local free monthly magazine).

Argyll and Bute looks like a one horse race to me.

When was the last time a party got over half the vote?

@Alistair Banff and Buchan projection is very interesting...

I don't believe it somehow though

Smarmeron said:

@SquareRoot
Did she scream? or did you just fantasise that she did in your imagination?

I mean hyperbole is expected here, but cool your burners rocket man?

she scweamed and scweamed until she wath thick.

dr_spyn said:

Smarmeron said:

@SquareRoot
Did she scream? or did you just fantasise that she did in your imagination?

I mean hyperbole is expected here, but cool your burners rocket man?

she scweamed and scweamed until she wath thick.

No thats just Ed that does that.

Mr Dancer
In 1931 Tories got 55% of the vote, so that may be the one you're after.

Mr. Gift, blimey, I thought it might've been in the fifties. Thanks.

Edited extra bit: thanks Dr. Prasannan as well

Morris_Dancer said:

Mr. Gift, blimey, I thought it might've been in the fifties. Thanks.

50% in 1955, albeit 49.7 rounded up.

Trying to find any remaining value in the Scottish constituency markets, conclusion I've reached is that no seat is safe from the SNP. A good example is Orkney & Shetland where Carmichael clearly has a fight on his hands. He is an Edinburgh lawyer in-comer, the SNP have selected a retired high school teacher who probably taught 75% of the electorate and knows the rest as parents, UKIP have selected a local fisherman:

http://www.shetnews.co.uk/news/10267-ukip-to-field-robert-smith-again

The UKIP candidate secured 7% in 2010 and will surely do much better this time around. As far as I can tell SLAB and the Tories are yet to select candidates, they will no doubt be selecting locals as well. I think Carmichael is toast - the SNP at 4/1 might be a value bet.

I really do think that - unless they are in the political game themselves - spouses should stay out of politics. Cherie did not do Tony any favours. Mrs Clegg seems feisty enough though I do wonder why the hell she settled for Nick. Sam C has had to endure more than any wife/mother should have to endure and should be off limits. Sarah Brown introducing her messy hero husband was just embarrassing. The best thing about Denis Thatcher was that he stayed quiet and loyal, even though his wife probably faced some of the most vicious attacks ever and real personal danger.

Mr. Pulpstar, really?!

That's fascinating.

Pulpstar said:

@Alistair Banff and Buchan projection is very interesting...

I don't believe it somehow though

All the existing SNP seats are interesting in SMAPS. Before adjusting for Lib Dem annihilation the Yes vote basically corresponds 1 to 1 with the 2010 SNP vote.

The Top Gear host has been suspended from the BBC after allegedly aiming a punch at a male producer in an incident last week.

The three remaining episodes of Top Gear have been pulled from the schedules after Jeremy Clarkson was accused of punching a producer.

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2015-03-10/top-gear-series-postponed-after-jeremy-clarkson-punches-producer

Trying to speak to someone at the Inland Revenue

Call 1 26 minutes had to hang us as I had to get back to work...
Call 2 last night 5 mins of listening to crap then told no one could speak to me.. bye..
Call 3 tonight 44 mins and waiting....

calum said:

Trying to find any remaining value in the Scottish constituency markets, conclusion I've reached is that no seat is safe from the SNP. A good example is Orkney & Shetland where Carmichael clearly has a fight on his hands. He is an Edinburgh lawyer in-comer, the SNP have selected a retired high school teacher who probably taught 75% of the electorate and knows the rest as parents, UKIP have selected a local fisherman:

http://www.shetnews.co.uk/news/10267-ukip-to-field-robert-smith-again

The UKIP candidate secured 7% in 2010 and will surely do much better this time around. As far as I can tell SLAB and the Tories are yet to select candidates, they will no doubt be selecting locals as well. I think Carmichael is toast - the SNP at 4/1 might be a value bet.

Hahaha

@nigel4england
Do they charge you for the waiting time like they do for those on Universal Credit?

calum said:

Trying to find any remaining value in the Scottish constituency markets, conclusion I've reached is that no seat is safe from the SNP. A good example is Orkney & Shetland where Carmichael clearly has a fight on his hands. He is an Edinburgh lawyer in-comer, the SNP have selected a retired high school teacher who probably taught 75% of the electorate and knows the rest as parents, UKIP have selected a local fisherman:

http://www.shetnews.co.uk/news/10267-ukip-to-field-robert-smith-again

The UKIP candidate secured 7% in 2010 and will surely do much better this time around. As far as I can tell SLAB and the Tories are yet to select candidates, they will no doubt be selecting locals as well. I think Carmichael is toast - the SNP at 4/1 might be a value bet.

Against that:

1. The LibDems kept exactly two constituency seats in the Scottish parliament last time: Orkney, and Shetland.
2. Orkney & Shetland had one of the lowest "Yes" votes in Scotland.
3. Alistair Carmichael clearly has established a personal vote as his share has gone from 41.3% in 2001 to 62% in 2010. That's a full 10% more than (local boy) Jim Wallace ever got.

I'd need 6 or 8-1 to tempt me to bet on the SNP here.

Now, the rest of the Scottish LibDems for that matter...

More news from the so-called Islamic Human Rights Commission:-

- Theresa May is Islamophobe of the year
- Maajid Nawaz is UK Islamophobe of the year.

And I wonder if Sadiq Khan will come to regret speaking at an event organised in Parliament by Cage in June 2012 in favour of Babar Ahmed, later sentenced in the UK to 12 years in prison for terrorist offences.

Apparently Khan has his own Labour campaigh for human rights, funded to the tune of £5000 by the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust, another branch of the same Joseph Rowntree trust which has funded Cage and which has been shamed/pressured into stopping.

Cyclefree said:

More news from the so-called Islamic Human Rights Commission:-

- Theresa May is Islamophobe of the year
- Maajid Nawaz is UK Islamophobe of the year.

And I wonder if Sadiq Khan will come to regret speaking at an event organised in Parliament by Cage in June 2012 in favour of Babar Ahmed, later sentenced in the UK to 12 years in prison for terrorist offences.

Apparently Khan has his own Labour campaigh for human rights, funded to the tune of £5000 by the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust, another branch of the same Joseph Rowntree trust which has funded Cage and which has been shamed/pressured into stopping.

So May is the World Islamaphobe of the year? Naively, I would have thought there would be better contenders in Israel...!

Pulpstar said:

I think Orkney and Shetland is a Lib Dem hold, but I'd be pleased to see Carmichael lose it since he's cost PBers cash on a few markets.

I thought he was next in line for LibDem leader,or was that just a trading bet?

RobD said:

Cyclefree said:

More news from the so-called Islamic Human Rights Commission:-

- Theresa May is Islamophobe of the year
- Maajid Nawaz is UK Islamophobe of the year.

And I wonder if Sadiq Khan will come to regret speaking at an event organised in Parliament by Cage in June 2012 in favour of Babar Ahmed, later sentenced in the UK to 12 years in prison for terrorist offences.

Apparently Khan has his own Labour campaigh for human rights, funded to the tune of £5000 by the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust, another branch of the same Joseph Rowntree trust which has funded Cage and which has been shamed/pressured into stopping.

So May is the World Islamaphobe of the year? Naively, I would have thought there would be better contenders in Israel...!

I thought they'd gone for Charlie Hebdo.

I mean, that's spectacular.

FrancisUrquhart said:

BannedInParis said:

RobD said:

Cyclefree said:

More news from the so-called Islamic Human Rights Commission:-

- Theresa May is Islamophobe of the year
- Maajid Nawaz is UK Islamophobe of the year.

And I wonder if Sadiq Khan will come to regret speaking at an event organised in Parliament by Cage in June 2012 in favour of Babar Ahmed, later sentenced in the UK to 12 years in prison for terrorist offences.

Apparently Khan has his own Labour campaigh for human rights, funded to the tune of £5000 by the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust, another branch of the same Joseph Rowntree trust which has funded Cage and which has been shamed/pressured into stopping.

So May is the World Islamaphobe of the year? Naively, I would have thought there would be better contenders in Israel...!

I thought they'd gone for Charlie Hebdo.

I mean, that's spectacular.

They have multiple categories....other winners included Maajid Nawaz

I fear for Maajid Nawaz's life: he must be on the hitlist for a lot of nutters.

rcs1000 said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

BannedInParis said:

RobD said:

Cyclefree said:

More news from the so-called Islamic Human Rights Commission:-

- Theresa May is Islamophobe of the year
- Maajid Nawaz is UK Islamophobe of the year.

And I wonder if Sadiq Khan will come to regret speaking at an event organised in Parliament by Cage in June 2012 in favour of Babar Ahmed, later sentenced in the UK to 12 years in prison for terrorist offences.

Apparently Khan has his own Labour campaigh for human rights, funded to the tune of £5000 by the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust, another branch of the same Joseph Rowntree trust which has funded Cage and which has been shamed/pressured into stopping.

So May is the World Islamaphobe of the year? Naively, I would have thought there would be better contenders in Israel...!

I thought they'd gone for Charlie Hebdo.

I mean, that's spectacular.

They have multiple categories....other winners included Maajid Nawaz

I fear for Maajid Nawaz's life: he must be on the hitlist for a lot of nutters.

Yes, it wouldn't surprise me to hear that he has round the clock security.

FrancisUrquhart said:

rcs1000 said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

BannedInParis said:

RobD said:

Cyclefree said:

More news from the so-called Islamic Human Rights Commission:-

- Theresa May is Islamophobe of the year
- Maajid Nawaz is UK Islamophobe of the year.

And I wonder if Sadiq Khan will come to regret speaking at an event organised in Parliament by Cage in June 2012 in favour of Babar Ahmed, later sentenced in the UK to 12 years in prison for terrorist offences.

Apparently Khan has his own Labour campaigh for human rights, funded to the tune of £5000 by the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust, another branch of the same Joseph Rowntree trust which has funded Cage and which has been shamed/pressured into stopping.

So May is the World Islamaphobe of the year? Naively, I would have thought there would be better contenders in Israel...!

I thought they'd gone for Charlie Hebdo.

I mean, that's spectacular.

They have multiple categories....other winners included Maajid Nawaz

I fear for Maajid Nawaz's life: he must be on the hitlist for a lot of nutters.

Yes, it wouldn't surprise me to hear that he has round the clock security.

I hope so. And I hope the voters (which include both Cyclefree and me) of Hampstead & Kilburn elect him. (Although I suspect it'll be an easy Labour hold.)

dr_spyn said:

Sky News Newsdesk ‏@SkyNewsBreak 23s24 seconds ago
Hillary #Clinton says she used private e-mail server to conduct government business while she was U.S. Secretary of State "for convenience"

Utter bollocks. Once it is set up, you cannot tell the difference between which server you are using on your mail client (unless the state department has additional security requiring more password prompts, which would be a stupid reason to not use it).

RobD said:

Cyclefree said:

More news from the so-called Islamic Human Rights Commission:-

- Theresa May is Islamophobe of the year
- Maajid Nawaz is UK Islamophobe of the year.

And I wonder if Sadiq Khan will come to regret speaking at an event organised in Parliament by Cage in June 2012 in favour of Babar Ahmed, later sentenced in the UK to 12 years in prison for terrorist offences.

Apparently Khan has his own Labour campaigh for human rights, funded to the tune of £5000 by the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust, another branch of the same Joseph Rowntree trust which has funded Cage and which has been shamed/pressured into stopping.

So May is the World Islamaphobe of the year? Naively, I would have thought there would be better contenders in Israel...!

Well, a phobia is an irrational fear. Any such fear in Israel is entirely rational.

Indeed, any fear here is pretty rational given what's going on.

So either there are no Islamophobes or we all are. A sort of Je suis un Islamophobe/Spartacus/Charlie moment.

Poking fun at these toads is necessary. Anger and sarcasm and contemptuous mockery are necessary tools. They're mine anyway.

This is one reason why I think the word "Islamophobia" should not be used. I know that Antifrank, a poster I much respect, disagreed because he felt that sometimes people did say horrible things about Muslims. And I agree that unnecessary impoliteness to people is unwarranted and uncivilised.

But "Islamophobia" is deliberately confusing attacks on people with attacks on a religion, on an idea - and we should refuse to allow that distinction to be muddied.

Islamophobia is a way of preventing any criticism at all of anything at all to do with Islam and it is particularly pushed by extremists and jihadists. Which is why we should have nothing to do with it.

As Maajid Nawaz put it so elegantly: "No idea above scrutiny. No people below dignity."

(Though on the latter I tend to the view that if people want dignity or respect, they need to show it and earn it.)