Blair seems like a pretty toxic figure within the country tbh; it's only a small group of Blairites within the Conservative party (Cameron, Osborne etc.), and his remaining American admirers who still think Blair is god's greatest gift to the earth. New Labour was great at acquiring power; pretty shite at actually knowing what to do with it, though.
Amazingly stupid analysis on virtually every level.
On 25 October 1924 the Daily Mail published the forged Zinoviev letter, which cost Ramsay MacDonald's Labour Party in the 1924 general election, held four days later.
The aim and intent of the smear on Nicola Sturgeon was the same and Michael White thinks it is OK - the mind boggles. The problem with people like White is that their hatred of the NATS obsures any semblence of rational judgement.
Unfortunately for the Nats they have no , zero, zip , nada, nil history of honourable resignations themselves despite a plethora of shameful incidents from their top brass. We can list them all again if you like. Toast seems to be off the menu.
@fitalass Agree completely on Kendall. It's interesting how two leading Labour bloggers, Hopi Sen and Mark Ferguson have come out strongly for her - the latter quitting his job so he can work on her campaign.
On 25 October 1924 the Daily Mail published the forged Zinoviev letter, which cost Ramsay MacDonald's Labour Party in the 1924 general election, held four days later.
The aim and intent of the smear on Nicola Sturgeon was the same and Michael White thinks it is OK - the mind boggles. The problem with people like White is that their hatred of the NATS obsures any semblence of rational judgement.
Unfortunately for the Nats they have no , zero, zip , nada, nil history of honourable resignations themselves despite a plethora of shameful incidents from their top brass. We can list them all again if you like. Toast seems to be off the menu.
I'm not sure that the LD setting up the SNP as their bar for probity is a good look for the party of liberalism, tolerance and honesty. Carmichael should do the honourable thing and submit himself to the voters of O&S if he wishes to retain even a modicum of respectability for both himself and his party.
These people are going to be so disappointed when the EU finds yet another way of kicking the can down the road.
Agreed - it looks very much on the cards that another fudge will be made - bad for Greece, bad for the Euro but it's the way things are done in the EU.
These people are going to be so disappointed when the EU finds yet another way of kicking the can down the road.
Agreed - it looks very much on the cards that another fudge will be made - bad for Greece, bad for the Euro but it's the way things are done in the EU.
They will fudge together something, they always do. Probably now has to involve printing Euros to pay the IMF, despite them explicitly not being allowed to do that.
Mr. kle4, not played that. Some old stuff's very good (Vagrant Story springs to mind).
Mr. kle4 (part 2), indeed, and it's in stark contrast to the Death to the West march in 2005 (responding to the Danish cartoons) which were ok to go ahead. The father of a Syrian-bound schoolgirl, who knew nothing about extremism, also attended such an event more recently.
For a bit of political history: BBC2 this evening.
Churchill: When Britain Said No Today on BBC2 Wales from 9:00pm to 10:00pm Documentary covering Winston Churchill's failure to be re-elected following the Second World War. Just weeks after VE day, Britain's great war leader Churchill found himself in another battle - to be elected prime minister.
Different faith groups also gave very different responses, with BAME Christians and Muslims preferring Labour to the Conservatives, but Hindus and Sikhs preferring the Conservatives to Labour:
Christian: 56% Labour, 31% Conservative Muslim: 64% Labour, 25% Conservative Hindu: 41% Labour, 49% Conservative Sikh (based on a small sample): 41% Labour, 49% Conservative
Ipsos Mori had BME Labour 65% and Conservative 23%. Those figures are wrong and don't tally with the electoral results in different areas.
Given the think tank is a minority lobby group I think their data and conclusions can be questioned.
On 25 October 1924 the Daily Mail published the forged Zinoviev letter, which cost Ramsay MacDonald's Labour Party in the 1924 general election, held four days later.
The aim and intent of the smear on Nicola Sturgeon was the same and Michael White thinks it is OK - the mind boggles. The problem with people like White is that their hatred of the NATS obsures any semblence of rational judgement.
Unfortunately for the Nats they have no , zero, zip , nada, nil history of honourable resignations themselves despite a plethora of shameful incidents from their top brass. We can list them all again if you like. Toast seems to be off the menu.
I'm not sure that the LD setting up the SNP as their bar for probity is a good look for the party of liberalism, tolerance and honesty. Carmichael should do the honourable thing and submit himself to the voters of O&S if he wishes to retain even a modicum of respectability for both himself and his party.
Isn't it only a month since Sturgeon simply lied to the press about the Murphy harrassers having no links to the SNP.
Then a couple of days later one turned out to be a former SNP Council candidate, and 2 were expelled from the SNP.
Presumably all the SNP's cybernuts are going to demand that she submit herself to a byelection?
The SNP in a fit of demanding integrity. Priceless.
These people are going to be so disappointed when the EU finds yet another way of kicking the can down the road.
The EU will come up with some sort of temporary fix. There is no chance they will allow Greece to default, especially with a referendum in the UK coming up.
I see Michael White is supporting the notion that politicians who lie and smear should be given a second chance. I presume this 'principal's is to be enshrined in the LD constitution so they remember to apply it to other parties in the future. I mean they wouldn't wish to be tainted by hypocrisy as well as chicanery, would they?
If the LibDems haven't got hypocrisy and chicanery, what have they got left? What would be the point?
Well, OK, stabbing their leader in the back. But these days, my modest kitchen knife-rack would do for that job....
With Labour trying to win the Muslim vote and having idiotic policies making any kind of criticism of Islam an aggravated criminal offence I expect this to go even further among non Muslim Asians and possibly even African Christians, many of whom have escaped from Islamofascist dictators or terrorists in their home countries.
Labour deserve it, playing identity politics is divisive and the whole BAME manifesto idea was patronising.
Agree with the comments about kicking the can etc but I'm looking at this from an in/out point of view. It hardly strengthens the IN case when we'll be chucking money at the basket case that is Greece at a time people will be up in arms about domestic cuts. Labour won't have a clue where they stand.
Off topic looks like Greece are about to default, not good news for IN supporters.
There will definitely be another fudge. Plus a default to the IMF still gives them a month to make the payment and do a deal with the EU.
SYRIZA need the balls to just tell the EU to bugger off, default on the EU/ECB portion of the debt, repay the IMF as and when they have to and start to print Drachma, devalue their way out of recession and ride a tourism boom over the summer to pay some bills and rebuild their economy a bit. There is no mechanism for the EU to throw a country out, so unless Greece chooses to leave, they could remain in the EU and have access to the benefits while dumping the Euro.
With Labour trying to win the Muslim vote and having idiotic policies making any kind of criticism of Islam an aggravated criminal offence I expect this to go even further among non Muslim Asians and possibly even African Christians, many of whom have escaped from Islamofascist dictators or terrorists in their home countries.
Labour deserve it, playing identity politics is divisive and the whole BAME manifesto idea was patronising.
It only takes a handful of "community leaders" to turn away - and Labour has lost the Muslim vote too....
On 25 October 1924 the Daily Mail published the forged Zinoviev letter, which cost Ramsay MacDonald's Labour Party in the 1924 general election, held four days later.
The aim and intent of the smear on Nicola Sturgeon was the same and Michael White thinks it is OK - the mind boggles. The problem with people like White is that their hatred of the NATS obsures any semblence of rational judgement.
Unfortunately for the Nats they have no , zero, zip , nada, nil history of honourable resignations themselves despite a plethora of shameful incidents from their top brass. We can list them all again if you like. Toast seems to be off the menu.
I'm not sure that the LD setting up the SNP as their bar for probity is a good look for the party of liberalism, tolerance and honesty. Carmichael should do the honourable thing and submit himself to the voters of O&S if he wishes to retain even a modicum of respectability for both himself and his party.
These lowlifes will do anything to stay at the trough, hopefully he will get his dues sooner rather than later but given he is a Libdem he could brassneck it for the 5 years. Hopefully his constituents will cold shoulder the bounder.
On 25 October 1924 the Daily Mail published the forged Zinoviev letter, which cost Ramsay MacDonald's Labour Party in the 1924 general election, held four days later.
The aim and intent of the smear on Nicola Sturgeon was the same and Michael White thinks it is OK - the mind boggles. The problem with people like White is that their hatred of the NATS obsures any semblence of rational judgement.
Unfortunately for the Nats they have no , zero, zip , nada, nil history of honourable resignations themselves despite a plethora of shameful incidents from their top brass. We can list them all again if you like. Toast seems to be off the menu.
I'm not sure that the LD setting up the SNP as their bar for probity is a good look for the party of liberalism, tolerance and honesty. Carmichael should do the honourable thing and submit himself to the voters of O&S if he wishes to retain even a modicum of respectability for both himself and his party.
Isn't it only a month since Sturgeon simply lied to the press about the Murphy harrassers having no links to the SNP.
Then a couple of days later one turned out to be a former SNP Council candidate, and 2 were expelled from the SNP.
Presumably all the SNP's cybernuts are going to demand that she submit herself to a byelection?
The SNP in a fit of demanding integrity. Priceless.
A complete nutter, what rock did you crawl out from under.
Great job they did but given it is my local hospital I am crossing my fingers I don't need to go there any time soon. How any fool can think our NHS is world leading beats me.
Off topic looks like Greece are about to default, not good news for IN supporters.
There will definitely be another fudge. Plus a default to the IMF still gives them a month to make the payment and do a deal with the EU.
SYRIZA need the balls to just tell the EU to bugger off, default on the EU/ECB portion of the debt, repay the IMF as and when they have to and start to print Drachma, devalue their way out of recession and ride a tourism boom over the summer to pay some bills and rebuild their economy a bit. There is no mechanism for the EU to throw a country out, so unless Greece chooses to leave, they could remain in the EU and have access to the benefits while dumping the Euro.
Tourist boom? Hyper Inflation boom more like. Austerity by another name.
With Labour trying to win the Muslim vote and having idiotic policies making any kind of criticism of Islam an aggravated criminal offence I expect this to go even further among non Muslim Asians and possibly even African Christians, many of whom have escaped from Islamofascist dictators or terrorists in their home countries.
Labour deserve it, playing identity politics is divisive and the whole BAME manifesto idea was patronising.
It only takes a handful of "community leaders" to turn away - and Labour has lost the Muslim vote too....
No way, they will go down the Ken Livingstone route and ramp up the rhetoric and support questionable characters to ensure they hold on to it. Labour must have made the calculation that the Muslim vote is the highest growth immigrant bloc and so are betting the house on it. It is the only way to explain some of their daft policy positions and that patronising BAME manifesto from Sadiq Khan.
In a few election cycles I wouldn't be surprised to see the Tories get a majority of the BAME vote on the back of non-Muslim Asians, Christian Africans and Christian/Orthodox Eastern Europeans, but Labour will utterly dominate the Muslim vote. It will make them unelectable to the wider country as well.
Surbiton and IOS both flatly denied this outcome but in just two cycles the Tories have turned the Hindu and Sikh vote to their favour, I expect if the Tories choose correctly they can continue to eat into Labour's stronghold of Black and Eastern European voters, especially if they lead an IN victory with a few decent concessions.
Agree with the comments about kicking the can etc but I'm looking at this from an in/out point of view. It hardly strengthens the IN case when we'll be chucking money at the basket case that is Greece at a time people will be up in arms about domestic cuts. Labour won't have a clue where they stand.
We are not in the euro. However we are in the IMF.
These people are going to be so disappointed when the EU finds yet another way of kicking the can down the road.
Greece really needs to be kicked out the EU tbh. This sort of forever pandering crap could make Britain more likely to leave.
Agreed. It was ridiculous enough years ago when EU leaders pretended they were providing am loan to Greece that would be paid back, when it was abundantly clear it was just a gift, but it's equally clear they are unwilling or unable to do what is demanded. Whether that's fair or not I cannot say for certain, but the impression they give is obstruction at every turn. Plenty of other places in a bad way, we are still not great, but if they are still in permanent crisis after this long and after so much leeway? It seems fair to think the problem is the patient not the medicine.
Not sure what else the surgeon was supposed to have done. Surely there would have been a risk in only partially completing the operation and trying again another day. I suppose the moral of the story is they should have had an x-ray done first.
On 25 October 1924 the Daily Mail published the forged Zinoviev letter, which cost Ramsay MacDonald's Labour Party in the 1924 general election, held four days later.
The aim and intent of the smear on Nicola Sturgeon was the same and Michael White thinks it is OK - the mind boggles. The problem with people like White is that their hatred of the NATS obsures any semblence of rational judgement.
Unfortunately for the Nats they have no , zero, zip , nada, nil history of honourable resignations themselves despite a plethora of shameful incidents from their top brass. We can list them all again if you like. Toast seems to be off the menu.
I'm not sure that the LD setting up the SNP as their bar for probity is a good look for the party of liberalism, tolerance and honesty. Carmichael should do the honourable thing and submit himself to the voters of O&S if he wishes to retain even a modicum of respectability for both himself and his party.
Isn't it only a month since Sturgeon simply lied to the press about the Murphy harrassers having no links to the SNP.
Then a couple of days later one turned out to be a former SNP Council candidate, and 2 were expelled from the SNP.
Presumably all the SNP's cybernuts are going to demand that she submit herself to a byelection?
The SNP in a fit of demanding integrity. Priceless.
I don't know about priceless, but seeing a series of plastic Jocks and reactionaries lumbering into ever more specious SNP whataboutteries in defence of a lying Libdem is certainly worth a small entrance fee.
These people are going to be so disappointed when the EU finds yet another way of kicking the can down the road.
Greece really needs to be kicked out the EU tbh. This sort of forever pandering crap could make Britain more likely to leave.
Agreed. It was ridiculous enough years ago when EU leaders pretended they were providing am loan to Greece that would be paid back, when it was abundantly clear it was just a gift, but it's equally clear they are unwilling or unable to do what is demanded. Whether that's fair or not I cannot say for certain, but the impression they give is obstruction at every turn. Plenty of other places in a bad way, we are still not great, but if they are still in permanent crisis after this long and after so much leeway? It seems fair to think the problem is the patient not the medicine.
No, what was ridiculous was when they gave Greece a massive loan and pretended that it was anything other than a bailout of German and French banks through the back door. A Greek default back in 2011 would have wiped out around 6 banks in Germany and France requiring a second round of toxic bailouts at home for bankers after the public had been told that it wouldn't happen again.
The bailout for Greece was never anything more than a bailout of German and French banks who lent irresponsibly to the Greek government, businesses and people because the rates were a bit better than they could get back home.
Not sure what else the surgeon was supposed to have done. Surely there would have been a risk in only partially completing the operation and trying again another day. I suppose the moral of the story is they should have had an x-ray done first.
There are a few questions; not least why the operation was being done so late at night by a junior. Amputations are rarely emergencies. It should also be possible to do an x ray in theatre, and identify the metal plate with a view to removing it.
Off topic looks like Greece are about to default, not good news for IN supporters.
There will definitely be another fudge. Plus a default to the IMF still gives them a month to make the payment and do a deal with the EU.
SYRIZA need the balls to just tell the EU to bugger off, default on the EU/ECB portion of the debt, repay the IMF as and when they have to and start to print Drachma, devalue their way out of recession and ride a tourism boom over the summer to pay some bills and rebuild their economy a bit. There is no mechanism for the EU to throw a country out, so unless Greece chooses to leave, they could remain in the EU and have access to the benefits while dumping the Euro.
A default on the EU/ECB portion would trigger the cross-default provisions on all their other debt. Not pretty.
Different faith groups also gave very different responses, with BAME Christians and Muslims preferring Labour to the Conservatives, but Hindus and Sikhs preferring the Conservatives to Labour:
Christian: 56% Labour, 31% Conservative Muslim: 64% Labour, 25% Conservative Hindu: 41% Labour, 49% Conservative Sikh (based on a small sample): 41% Labour, 49% Conservative
Ipsos Mori had BME Labour 65% and Conservative 23%. Those figures are wrong and don't tally with the electoral results in different areas.
Given the think tank is a minority lobby group I think their data and conclusions can be questioned.
Not sure what your point is - this survey shows Lab 52 Con 33 overall, which is narrower than the Ipsos poll but not that different (taken at a different time, maybe?). It feels about right to me. Second (or third) generation ethnic voters tend to be less inclined to follow a community leader recommendation of any variety (which is normally a good thing for integration, though it means that radical fashions are harder to squash by just getting the community leaders to condemn them). Controlling the results by other factors like income and occupation would I suspect show smaller differences from non-ethnic minority voters than many people would expect. In my area you could predict voting intention by the ward better than by the ethnic group: a Muslim family in a wealthy area might well be Tory.
On the Labour leadership, I'm surprised so many people are lining up passionately already - BigJohn and Danny even threatening resignation if the wrong person wins. I don't think we know enough about the candidates' platforms and approach yet. Will AB pursue a core vote or strike out in new directions, as he's shown he's able to in the past? Will LK prove as fluent in debate as she did in one interview, and is she a Blairite or just showing independence? What are YC's distinctive policy views? Dunno, and reserving judgment for now.
Comments
Mr. kle4, not played that. Some old stuff's very good (Vagrant Story springs to mind).
Mr. kle4 (part 2), indeed, and it's in stark contrast to the Death to the West march in 2005 (responding to the Danish cartoons) which were ok to go ahead. The father of a Syrian-bound schoolgirl, who knew nothing about extremism, also attended such an event more recently.
Churchill: When Britain Said No
Today on BBC2 Wales from 9:00pm to 10:00pm
Documentary covering Winston Churchill's failure to be re-elected following the Second World War. Just weeks after VE day, Britain's great war leader Churchill found himself in another battle - to be elected prime minister.
Given the think tank is a minority lobby group I think their data and conclusions can be questioned.
Then a couple of days later one turned out to be a former SNP Council candidate, and 2 were expelled from the SNP.
Presumably all the SNP's cybernuts are going to demand that she submit herself to a byelection?
The SNP in a fit of demanding integrity. Priceless.
Well, OK, stabbing their leader in the back. But these days, my modest kitchen knife-rack would do for that job....
Labour deserve it, playing identity politics is divisive and the whole BAME manifesto idea was patronising.
Mr. Max, spot on. Identity politics is despicable.
SYRIZA need the balls to just tell the EU to bugger off, default on the EU/ECB portion of the debt, repay the IMF as and when they have to and start to print Drachma, devalue their way out of recession and ride a tourism boom over the summer to pay some bills and rebuild their economy a bit. There is no mechanism for the EU to throw a country out, so unless Greece chooses to leave, they could remain in the EU and have access to the benefits while dumping the Euro.
As in....
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/11627214/Patients-leg-allegedly-amputated-with-hacksaw.html
In a few election cycles I wouldn't be surprised to see the Tories get a majority of the BAME vote on the back of non-Muslim Asians, Christian Africans and Christian/Orthodox Eastern Europeans, but Labour will utterly dominate the Muslim vote. It will make them unelectable to the wider country as well.
Surbiton and IOS both flatly denied this outcome but in just two cycles the Tories have turned the Hindu and Sikh vote to their favour, I expect if the Tories choose correctly they can continue to eat into Labour's stronghold of Black and Eastern European voters, especially if they lead an IN victory with a few decent concessions.
The bailout for Greece was never anything more than a bailout of German and French banks who lent irresponsibly to the Greek government, businesses and people because the rates were a bit better than they could get back home.
On the Labour leadership, I'm surprised so many people are lining up passionately already - BigJohn and Danny even threatening resignation if the wrong person wins. I don't think we know enough about the candidates' platforms and approach yet. Will AB pursue a core vote or strike out in new directions, as he's shown he's able to in the past? Will LK prove as fluent in debate as she did in one interview, and is she a Blairite or just showing independence? What are YC's distinctive policy views? Dunno, and reserving judgment for now.
Nice cartoon as usual!
Carlotta Exactly much of the membership were true Thatcherites, some of the MPs less so