Undefined discussion subject.

steve_garner said:

As a regular lurker I can't help laughing at OGH going on about Ed not looking weak in amidst the Labour meltdown. Think OGH needs a lie down.

The news cycle has not been kind to OGH.....mind you, some of his sweeping generalisations have done him no favours either....

Another front page on Cameron's Ed's weakness:

https://twitter.com/suttonnick/status/352901067467534336/photo/1

MikeSmithson said:

A simplistic view but then what did we expect.

A crisis shouldn't be regarded as a problem but an opportunity.

Scott_P said:

The fight with Len is great news for Ed, right?

@GdnPolitics
Labour crisis as Tom Watson quits and Unite union claims stitch-up http://bit.ly/17OMtyw

A crisis made by ed miliband,his weak leadership led to this crisis.

MikeSmithson said:

A crisis shouldn't be regarded as a problem but an opportunity.

Scott_P said:

The fight with Len is great news for Ed, right?

@GdnPolitics
Labour crisis as Tom Watson quits and Unite union claims stitch-up http://bit.ly/17OMtyw

Unless it involves Cameron...then its a problem and a sign of his weakness (sic)....

OGH- down here in Kent, yesterday DC opened the biggest windfarm off the coast in europe and made a verty good speech on the need for more renewable energy. Some staying stum on climate change I must say!

A genius strategy to defuse the crisis...

@DPJHodges
Labour now appear to be spinning Tom Watson was sacked after all.

My own little Tom Watson conspiracy theory over was he, wasn't he sacked.

- Ed Miliband didn't publicly defend him in yesterday's PMQs because Cameron didn't bring him up. Ed must've been relieved at this.

- Ed Miliband's briefing papers which contained a planned defence of Tom Watson are leaked.

- Tom Watson resigns.

- Ed MIliband now can't say he sacked Watson because onlu yesterday he was about to defend him

Hmm, I wonder who leaked those briefing papers.

Ed didn't mention Tom Watson yesterday, did he?

Fenster said:

My own little Tom Watson conspiracy theory over was he, wasn't he sacked.

- Ed Miliband didn't publicly defend him in yesterday's PMQs because Cameron didn't bring him up. Ed must've been relieved at this.

- Ed Miliband's briefing papers which contained a planned defence of Tom Watson are leaked.

- Tom Watson resigns.

- Ed MIliband now can't say he sacked Watson because onlu yesterday he was about to defend him

Hmm, I wonder who leaked those briefing papers.

Ed didn't mention Tom Watson yesterday, did he?

There's a simple explanation for those briefing papers leaking.

The aide ran out of bogroll, and let's be honest, given Ed's performance yesterday, those papers were best of being used as bog roll

The gaiety will continue...Stewart Jackson MP tweets:

"Delighted to hear that @NadineDorriesMP has been readopted as Conservative candidate for the 2015 general election tonight

Neil said:

Alanbrooke said:

So bigging up a million looks a bit desperate given the historical precedents.

Sigh, you were the one bigging up the single year with more than a million days lost due to a single one day action across the public sector.

If you've actually looked at the data you'll have seen that the days lost have been reduced since 1990 under Governments of both colours and in no way more reduced under the last Labour Government (or earlier Labour Governments) which was your main point.

Sigh back, then you've misunderstood what I said. My point was and is that Unions didn;t pushed induistrial action against a Labour government to protect their members interests. Whereas as soon as Labout goes ex govt the willingness to resort to strikes increases, hence the sudden jump in days lost.

peterbuss said:

OGH- down here in Kent, yesterday DC opened the biggest windfarm off the coast in europe and made a verty good speech on the need for more renewable energy. Some staying stum on climate change I must say!

Don't bring up awkward things like facts and reality... Labour have said he hasn't and therefore he hasn't.

Lib Dem gain Aylsham from Conservatives LD 688 Con 501 Lab 188

Angela Eagle draws the short straw....

CarlottaVance said:

Mick_Pork said:

MikeSmithson said:

A crisis shouldn't be regarded as a problem but an opportunity.

It certainly is by wee Dougie and Murphy. Of course the fact that they are involved in all this should be setting alarm bells off for little Ed but is he smart enough to realise the connection? Doubtful. We'll see if wee Dougie gets that election strategy job or not.

Just as well Labour's troubles are only making headlines in England:

https://twitter.com/Gareth_Rose/status/352902455492759552/photo/1

I posted a link regarding scotland already because the implications for SLAB are clear and far of far more consequence than PB tories wetting themselves because they hear the word "union" in this story.

The unions are symptom not cause. If there was harmony over the direction SLAB and scottish labour MPs were taking then it would not be an issue. The fact that it has escalated to 'funny business' shall we say (and on both sides lest anyone be under the illusion this is all about one type of candidate getting the sh*t end of the stick) is merely a measure of the chasm that still exists between the Blairites and the Brownites.

I posted a while back that the venue of that battle had merely changed from westminster to scotland and this is just yet more proof of it.

Newcastle

Lab 386, UKIP 254, Con 58, TUSC 14

Angela Eagle confirms that Ed decisively and swiftly dithered over Tom's resignation for days.

Weak, weak, weak.

@Scott_P

I think Angela Eagle did very well. They should make her Shadow Minister for the Today Programme.

I really don't know why the TUSC keep standing in local elections. They almost always get humiliating results.

@Andy_JS

They're standing to create the conditions for the revolution. I wouldnt get on the wrong side of them if I were you.

RichardNabavi said:

He's annoyed the unions, he's annoyed the Blairites,he's annoyed the Brownites, he's got every political journalist in the country running round saying how weak he is, and he's allowed Watson to make a laughing stock of him as well.

But he's not 'weak' - no sireee! That's that other fella - you know - the Prime Minister.....

MarkSenior said:

AndreaParma_82 said:

Newcastle

Lab 386, UKIP 254, Con 58, TUSC 14

I have the Labour figure as 387 . A poor result for UKIP

But zero votes for the LibDems, Mark?

Oxford West & Abingdon is one of the few seats where the LDs have realistic hopes of a gain in 2015.

CarlottaVance said:

RichardNabavi said:

He's annoyed the unions, he's annoyed the Blairites,he's annoyed the Brownites, he's got every political journalist in the country running round saying how weak he is, and he's allowed Watson to make a laughing stock of him as well.

But he's not 'weak' - no sireee! That's that other fella - you know - the Prime Minister.....

*chortle*

­Barbeque Dave gives his MPs a taste for EU victory: PM flips burgers during event in Downing Street

Prime Minister hosts Conservative get together to soothe relations

Labour and Lib Dems boycotting tomorrow's Commons vote on EU

Mr Cameron has promised an in-out referendum by 2017

Tories punished as 'rebels' for backing referendum now invited for bash

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2356219/David-Cameron-hosts-Downing-Street-barbecue-Tory-MPs-kept-London-EU-referendum-vote.htm

MikeSmithson said:

AndreaParma_82 said:

Newcastle

Lab 386, UKIP 254, Con 58, TUSC 14

That looks like a very poor result for UKIP

But zero votes for the LibDems, Mike?

Andy_JS said:

Oxford West & Abingdon is one of the few seats where the LDs have realistic hopes of a gain in 2015.

Who could vote against our Nicola ;-)

http://www.arashfatemian.com/wp-content/uploads/nicola.jpg

Swansea

Clay (Lab) 1368
Hatton (Con) 236
Rees (LD) 113
Thomas (NF) 108

Clay is the former MP for Sunderland North in the 80s and acted as Reg Keys' agent in Sedgefield 2005.

A tory candidate once got zero votes.

Two Tory seats lost to the LibDems, comfortable Labour holds from all comers - the electoral impact of the Tory spin is not immediately apparent.

Sunil_Prasannan said:

Andy_JS said:

A mainstream party never gets zero votes. It must be a typing error.

The closest in May was the LDs getting 13 votes in Bicester West.

LibDems didn't bother to stand in the Newcastle under Lyme by-election today - ergo, zero votes.

Ditto UKIP in Abingdon , Aylsham and Swansea

Neil
Got to say I am very sad to see Tom leave his post. But he is a fighter and not a quitter and will be back :-)

IOS said:

Neil
Got to say I am very sad to see Tom leave his post. But he is a fighter and not a quitter and will be back :-)

Tom is a three time quitter, IOS.

Are you saying he'll be back to quit again?

IOS said:

Neil
Got to say I am very sad to see Tom leave his post. But he is a fighter and not a quitter and will be back :-)

Precisely.

After all he has form.

smithersjones2013 said:

MikeSmithson said:

AndreaParma_82 said:

Newcastle

Lab 386, UKIP 254, Con 58, TUSC 14

That looks like a very poor result for UKIP

[Yawn] Vote Shares

Lab 54% (+17)
UKIP 35% (+7)
Con 8% (-12)
TUSC 4% (+4)
LD DNS (-16)

Well if its poor for UKIP (eventhough they increased their vote share by one fifth) its a bloody disaster for the Coalition parties......

It is a ward UKIP won easily in 2007 . The vote share changes you give are in fact incorrect . The result in 2011 was Lab 471 UKIP 431 Con 112 so the UKIP vote share was down . . I think for some reason you are giving the changes from 2010 .

AndreaParma_82 said:

Do you think the fact it's happening in Falkirk and not in a Welsh or English CLPs is not a pure coincidence but related to the state of SLAB?

Do I think Labour fiefdoms in scotland are ripe for such 'funny business'? Well we could always check with Glasgow council to see how squeaky clean things are there?

You misunderstand the SLAB/Scottish labour connection. This has exposed the likes of Lamont and Sarwar yet again as little more than impotent bystanders as little ED struggles to cope. Yet they too are struggling with the same deep divisions over direction exemplified by the Brown Blair chasm that simply will not go away.

When little Ed launched his "root and branch reform" of scottish labour he did it seemingly oblivious to the fact that he and his command structure was part of the problem. It was hardly all Gray's fault since little Ed still gave the orders. That situation still persists and though it might suit his purposes to paint this farce as all the fault out of control unions he won't be able to keep that up if the Blairites overplay their hand or the Brownites hit back.

It is most acute in scotland because that's where the uber-Blairites and Brownites are still fighting their proxy battles.

IOS said:

Neil

Also as much as this must be fun for the Tories it doesn't change the basics. It's on the ground campaigning that wins elections. Not blog posts, tweets or press endorsements.

And a leader of a party that doesn't look weak,and a party that wins on the economic argument,not a party that throws it's 5 point plan away because it mostly agree's with the governing party on the economy(or lost the argument)

Oh that last point must also make ed balls look weak ;-)

Tyke

Hate to say it mate but that don't matter as much as you think. In fact the whole weak thing you are wasting your time with.

I think 14 years of Tory government damaged Major. I think Blair managed to convince the press that a few lines of his did all of it.

Alan's jumped the shirt shark. He looks like Amy Turtle.

Carola said:

Alan's jumped the shirt shark. He looks like Amy Turtle.

My Grandma had a sofa like that in the 70s

@Mick_Pork

I still think one of the problems for SLAB is that many old Brownites and Blairite flag carriers comes from Scotland. And another, related to the previous point, is that too many Scottish MPs used to be big Westminster beasts.

Compared and contrast with Welsh Labour. Technically they had the same relationship as SLAB with UK Labour in terms of rules and commands, but you don't usually hear many fights or pseudo fights between Westminster and Cardiff Bay groups. WLAB is not known for its biggest fresh new ideas but because it's quite "managerial". That allows them to keep it going quite smoothly. If you aren't bright, be at least diligent and keep your house in order. Welsh Labour didn't have in the last decade many big beasts at Westminster though. Peter Hain was the highest profile MP but even they had little regard for him. They didn't have AMs leaving Cardiff Bay for Westminster either.

I'm quite tired tonight, so, sorry for grammar mistakes and senseless thoughts.

RodCrosby said:

electoral fact: the LibDems won the most votes across the city of Oxford in 2010, but won neither of its parliamentary seats....

By "most" I assume you mean a Plurality?

Katie Hopkins on This Morning today making the Bullingdon Club sound egalitarian!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edZjdgU0asM

RodCrosby said:

Sunil_Prasannan said:

By "most" I assume you mean a Plurality?

Well of course. They got 38% across the two seats.

In that case they would have won the whole city (if one combined seat) under FPTP!

Are you including the "and Abingdon" bit of Oxford West?

@AndyJS

'Oxford West & Abingdon is one of the few seats where the LDs have realistic hopes of a gain in 2015.'

Was that before or after Clegg reneged on his student fee pledge?

Did someone mention Ed's strong leadership?


'New Falkirk twist: Now Labour refuse to commit to pass evidence of law-breaking to the police
04/07/2013, 07:00:33 AM
by Atul Hatwal

Another day, another Falkirk West farrago. Labour has now managed to tie itself in knots over what to do with evidence of illegal activities, uncovered as a result of the party’s inquiries.

The current position is that Labour will not commit to handing over any evidence of suspected law-breaking to the police or relevant authorities.

To recap, this sorry affair was kicked off when local Unite members complained to the party about being recruited into Labour without their knowledge.

In late May, the Sunday Herald carried details of one of the letters of complaint, originally sent in March, that ultimately triggered the NEC inquiry,

“Myself and two family members have been enrolled by Unite…I or my family did not fill in or sign any forms and wish to know what information the party holds about my family… I have concerns as to the way Unite in Falkirk are recruiting party members.”

On this basis, two laws appear to have been broken – the 1998 Data Protection Act and the 2006 Fraud Act.

Just over a month ago Uncut reported that angry members in Falkirk West were considering reporting Unite to the Information Commissioner because of a breach of their data protection rights.

Under the terms of the Act, each individual must have agreed before their personal details are passed to a different organisation.

At the point where Unite members’ personal details were registered with the Labour party, without their consent being first granted, the law will have been broken.

Then, yesterday Uncut reported on the likelihood of a breach of the Fraud Act. Whoever completed the bogus applications and validated them would have contravened section 2 of the Act under the terms of “false misrepresentation”

Submitting completed forms to the Labour party, without the new members’ consent, would have constituted false misrepresentation.

Two laws, two breaches. One to do with peoples’ rights over their personal information, the other with the act of someone deliberately falsifying membership forms.'

O/T I have just been VI'd by YouGov. Supplementary questions on Ed M and unions, BBC pay and how you would vote on a fictional European election with ballot paper included.

@ smithersjones

As you haven't responded to Mark Senior re the change in vote percentages in the Newcastle council sward can I assume that Mark's figures are therefore correct?

If so isn't this really the sort of seat that UKIP ought to moving on to win rather than Labour widenng its majority significantly?