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RT @philipjcowley: "Labour will replace the House of Lords with a Senate of the Nations and Regions" (p.69). Good luck with that one…
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I have never before done as much as skim-read a Labour GE manifesto.
But I have speed-read this one, and I have to say, as someone who is very much a "One Nation Tory", I find it hard to see much in it that scares the horses, and much of which I approve. Indeed, there are many things I know will simply not be in the Tory manifesto.
I do find Ed is cutting an increasingly credible figure as prospective PM, in the face of the media and political onslaught against him, far more than Dave is with his "can't be arsed" coasting which has infuriated me for at least the past 6 years as regular PBers will know.
Given that some of the few Tory announcements made already either unenthuse me or I disagree with them as priorities, I do increasingly wonder whether 5 years of Labour accompanied by a Boris-led renewal and reunion of the centre-right (patently impossible under Cameron) might be in the best interests of everyone?
And with that in mind, perhaps a Labour Government not in hock to the nationalists would be preferable.
Gosh, me contemplating voting Labour. What is the world coming to?
Dave - you need to do something very special tomorrow and beyond. You are failing to excite and enthuse me, so god knows what message you're sending to the key voters you need to retain/win over!
ICM and Ashcroft will be interesting - is there another Com-Res due this week?
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RT @philipjcowley: "Labour will replace the House of Lords with a Senate of the Nations and Regions" (p.69). Good luck with that one...
12:58 PM - 13 Apr 2015
I can't wait till the whole of southern England gets 'gerrymandered' into a couple of seats
I feel (almost!) embarrassed at winning such a no-brainer of a bet.
Does this gender shenanigans have any effect on VI ?
Line up for BBC debate on Thursday announced (left- right): Miliband, Wood, Bennett, Sturgeon, Farage
Send me your bank details and I will transfer dough
But we're definitely getting ICM, Lord A today and Ipsos Mori later on this week
I'm hoping these Nats do show up !
British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies will be required to produce publicly available registries of the real owners of companies based there.
How, exactly?
I'd have it down as something like;
EdM 66%
DC 32%
Someone else 2%
What probabilities do the other serious punters assign?
www.msf.org.uk
Any the wiser?
Also Murphy's quiet/preachy/angry tones are enough to wind anyone up in a way that Miliband isn't.
She'll be looking forward to this debate I suspect.
Having left the UK some years ago I've been observing the run up to this election with a detached fascination. The country is undoubtedly sleepwalking into a Miliband-led government. One can only hope that when the Right is reunited, under Boris or whoever, there is a country left to govern.
12:14PM
ydoethur said:
» show previous quotes
Cyclefree said:
Teaching British history and the arguments of political thinkers and writers like Locke, Hobbes, Mill, Wilkes, Paine, Burke and Orwell would do far more.
Not sure Wilkes or Paine are good examples - neither were exactly perfectly behaved and Paine in particular had a bit of a penchant for violence and terrorism. Locke, Mill (and Bentham) were both very arrogant, but neither said anything new or meaningful. Burke might be a better example - but at the same time, he was prone to angry outbursts that might not exactly encourage rational thought.
As for Enlightenment values - I teach the French Revolution and Soviet Russia. They are both based on those values and they are both damning indictments of the logical results of them. As a result the idea of teaching 'values' leaves me fairly uneasy.
What I would rather see is a commitment to uphold and promote the value of democracy and the rule of law. I'm happy to go with that because it's (a) simple to understand and (b) allows for some flexibility as the law changes.
In response to ydoethur:
I wasn't suggesting teaching them as exemplars of moral behaviour but I do think that to understand why we think the way we do we need to understand what people in our past have said, why they said it and how those ideas have developed and been taken up by others.
Re Enlightenment ideasI think the Russian revolution is an example of a reaction to Western liberalism rather than being based on its concepts. I would say the same about the French revolution as well. France is one country where the concept of liberalism as we understand it here is not really understood at all.
Personally I think the ideas that developed from the time of the Civil War onwards and in the 18th century (based on earlier ideas of course) and which were taken up, in part, by the American revolutionaries are tremendously interesting and, IMO, essential to an understanding of British history and politics, as well as European and other history, and where we are today.
Another thing: Mr Murphy was saying at the last debate that Labour would not make any cuts [edit: in Scotland, IIRC]. To use his own favoured fitba metaphor, it's now not so wee an open goal just waiting for Ms Sturgeon ...
ICM is the big one today - I'm nervous - are you?
If Ed has made progress on the leader ratings then it should show up in the gold standard of leader ratings.
Mr. Me, a dog's breakfast? You're too kind, unless you refer to a dog's breakfast after it's passed through the dog's digestive system.
Unless that itself is a rounded figure from 431.81+...
Still, I really dislike the idea of an "English Devolution Act". I'm pretty fundamentally opposed to localism and the additional layers of bureaucracy involved. I feel its often used as a backdoor way to entrench right-wing values. For example, look at how the Tories claim localism... then freeze council budgets and issue diktats from up-high. That's how I feel "localism" ends up working in practice.
There you go. All the best
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Umunna slapdown for Jim Murphy: "The leader of the Scottish Labour Party will not be in charge of the UK budget"
Not good for labour north of the border
Personally I always have grave suspicions about this sort of thing. Labour rigged the devolution referenda to ensure both Scotland and Wales devolved - with the aim of Labour voters in Glasgow and the Valleys ensuring that Labour remained in control of the two countries for ever. (Which was also why Durham became Unitary - the old pit-villages on the East coast overriding the more conservative west of the county.)
"invest £2.5 billion more that (sic) the Conservatives to recruit 8,000 more GPs, 20,000 more nurses and 3,000 more midwives"
On top of the Tory £8bn/year? That's expensive
http://www.labour.org.uk/page/-/BritainCanBeBetter-TheLabourPartyManifesto2015.pdf
The simple truth is, we don't know.
Leaving aside the question of how credible this is, it is interesting because it demonstrates that Labour think that the perception that they are fiscally irresponsible is their biggest weakness. In other words, Osborne has suceeded in moving the debate onto precisely the area that Labour don't want. It's very much at odds with their 'core vote' strategy - many Labour supporters will I think be bemused by the emphasis on the deficit - and of course also very much plays into the hands of the SNP and other parties of profligacy trying to poach votes from Labour's left.
One thought does strike me: that page might be a last-minute addition. It's certainly very odd in terms of the structure of the document as a whole.
Incidentally, in 2010 when Osborne introduced the OBR, Labour supporters were on here in droves rubbishing it. I predicted then exactly what has happened: that Labour would end up relying on the OBR in an attempt to gain some credibility on the economy. IIRC, Hopi Sen was the only Labour supporter at the time who got it.
(Also a repost...actually in reply to the one about tpries borrowing more than Lab etc etc zzz)
They inherited a £156bn deficit. In order to not borrow as much as Labour, they would have had to cut this by ~75% more or less immediately.
I am going to go out on a limb and say that you would not have been cheering the cuts this would have entailed.
Instead they have cut the deficit by 40-odd%, more in terms of Debt:GDP ratio, it is still falling and furthermore they have got the economy growing nicely again.
You are, I contend, one of those types on internet forums who pose as a supporter of X, who is now mysteriously in the process of being persuaded by Y, when Y is in fact what you have supported for some time.
Yawn
Enormo-haddock, prepare thyselves for grievous battle!
It sounds great for them tbh.
You always know they're fibbing....whenever they speak!
Meantime, the Tories can play the same trick they recently did on VAT with Labour. take a few days of pain, get Labour to go definitive on NHS spending, then show how you do it.
It might not win for the tory party, but right wing fiscal responsiblity seems to be the order of the day, which is excellent as a whole.
You can be sure that if they get away with this you will never see again another government other than Labour. They will secure their fiefdoms for ever.
on the subject of bets I believe you and I had one from a couple of years ago on the basis of whether or not Cameron would win the next election without tracking to the right.
A couple of questions on it.
Do you still have the original terms of the bet (or does Peter who I believe we registered it with?)
Would you agree that Cameron has not tacked to the right so we are really now betting on whether or not he wins?
"I do find Ed is cutting an increasingly credible figure as prospective PM, in the face of the media and political onslaught against him, far more than Dave is with his "can't be arsed" coasting which has infuriated me for at least the past 6 years ---"
Some of us altacockers have been saying this for a while.
Chuka Umunna’s brutal line that leader of the Scottish Labour party doesn’t set UK Budget, suggests party beginning to write off Scotland
With Labour, Britain will continue to have the most competitive rate of Corporation Tax in the G7
I don't want to be seen not to be holding up my end in any bets.
Financial irresponsibility is Labour's DNA.
What happens if I don't keep my passport number on me at all times? I sure as heck do not at the moment.
No EU referendum promise in the Labour manifesto: isam owes me £25.
I feel (almost!) embarrassed at winning such a no-brainer of a bet.
So there you have it... no referendum. Get that Kippers NO REFERENDUM.
The most interesting thing now is watching UKIP with there massive opportunity to get possibly a whole two seats on a good night, split the vote with the one party that actually does offer them a referendum and by doing splitting the vote forever removes any chance of what they crave most
Way to go guys...way to go! and they said trying to ban horse racing was a mad idea
LOL
There's a candidate in Hampstead called Robin Ellison standing for the 'U party'. I used to know him well. Any idea what the party is all about?
What happens if I don't keep my passport number on me at all times? I sure as heck do not at the moment.
Lynton Crosby is poisoning the tories.
It is not easy to reconcile much of what Labour has said and done in the last 5 years with this Manifesto. Opposition for opposition's sake: meet reality (with some added fluffy bits).
Insanity.
Anyone in need of urgent medical attention for an injury suffered should get treated
Farages latest idea, which I of course agree with having suggested it months ago, is for drunks to be charged for A&E use
What happens if I don't keep my passport number on me at all times? I sure as heck do not at the moment.
A&E is unaffected I think.
So if asked, you would have time to find details.
I suspect this measure will be VERY popular on the doorsteps....even though the practicalities may need some ironing out. I imagine a DVLC drivers licence could be used to the same effect for Brits.
It may also have a significant impact on the NHS, if anecdotal evidence is anything to go by.
Farages latest idea, which I of course agree with having suggested it months ago, is for drunks to be charged for A&E use
What happens if they're too pished to remember their PIN?