OldKingCole said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

The Regional list vote is

SNP 50%
LAB 19%
CON 14%
GRN 10%
LD 5%
UKIP 2%

Is that a slight recovery for the LD’s?

Disraeli said:

O/T: Inmate to be freed after 43 years in US solitary confinement.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-33059012

The eighth amendment to the US constitution:
"Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted."

I suppose it's just my "bleeding heart liberal" view, but 43 years in solitary seems "cruel and unusual" to me.

TheScreamingEagles said:

Thank you Tissue Price!

Tory MP Zac Goldsmith announces his bid to run for London Mayor

EXCLUSIVE: MP Zac Goldsmith wants to stand as successor to Boris Johnson

http://bit.ly/1AZwU9R

rottenborough said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Thank you Tissue Price!

Tory MP Zac Goldsmith announces his bid to run for London Mayor

EXCLUSIVE: MP Zac Goldsmith wants to stand as successor to Boris Johnson

http://bit.ly/1AZwU9R

But he will ballot his constituents first. Interesting approach. Do they want an by-election?

Morris_Dancer said:

Mr. Eagles, you make it sound like PB would've been pro-Guy Fawkes' plot.

MarqueeMark said:

OldKingCole said:

MarqueeMark said:

OldKingCole said:

MarqueeMark said:

MonikerDiCanio said:

malcolmg said:

Scott_P said:

@GdnPolitics: 'You think you're Saddam Hussein?' Jon Stewart tackles Nicola Sturgeon on SNP success http://t.co/CwwUlG3Bsp

Do you ever have an original thought

PS: Even the Guardian are writing good stories on her now. She was very very good.

I find Sturgeon as dull as ditchwater. Her success mystifies me. It can only be a matter of time before she gets found out and comes a cropper.
vv overrated.

Sturgeon was the Tories' best recruiting sergeant in the general election. Won't have a word said against her.

Her strength - for the both the SNP and the Tories - is that she is so disliked in England.

Being a sometime listener to conversations, I've heard Nick Clegg disliked, Nigel Farage disliked and Ed Milliband disliked, but not Nicola S.

Of course I'm not often in the company of rabid Daily Heil types!

You should holiday in the South West then! If you'd followed my reporting back on here during the election campaign, you would have heard me relating my first-hand accounts of just how toxic Sturgeon was on the doorstep. Unprompted.

.....and "Daily Heil types"? Puh....surprisingly few Daily Mails in the recycling boxes outside the doors of Torbay. Maybe time to recalibrate your smug stereotype settings?

I'm in the East! And not in an area where the Tories were, apparently running a coach and horses through the financial provisions of the Representation of the People Act.

Strange how we never heard any complaints along these lines in the days when the LibDems would bus in hundreds to a by-election. Nor when the unions were swamping seats with their ground game.

Where did it all get to be so much of a problem, having a coach load of active Tories paying for their own accommodation whilst delivering leaflets and canvassing rising at 6.00 am and getting to bed at 11.00 pm for a week at a time?

Carnyx said:

Morris_Dancer said:

Mr. Eagles, you make it sound like PB would've been pro-Guy Fawkes' plot.

But only if it went off before James arrived. No value in betting on the Royal succession (and it would be in bad taste anyway).

TGOHF said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Thank you Tissue Price!

Tory MP Zac Goldsmith announces his bid to run for London Mayor

EXCLUSIVE: MP Zac Goldsmith wants to stand as successor to Boris Johnson

http://bit.ly/1AZwU9R

Come come - the PB experts have decreed that S. Khan is "nailed on".

TheScreamingEagles said:

Full details on that TNS poll


http://bit.ly/1KSJIii

Life_ina_market_town said:

The Labour Party has tabled some very interesting amendments to the Scotland Bill. If agreed to, they would make the commencement of Part 1 of the Bill on Constitutional Arrangements (which deals with the Sewel Convention and the Scottish Parliament's power to make provisions about elections) dependent on the report of a "Constitutional Convention", which would examine constitutional arrangements throughout the United Kingdom. Their amendments would also make the commencement of Part 2 of the Bill (on tax) dependent on the report of an "Independent Commission on Full Fiscal Autonomy". Although the amendments would oblige the Convention and Commission to report by March 2016, the Labour Party now seem to be implying that further devolution to Scotland should be dependent on UK-wide considerations. A change of position?

TheScreamingEagles said:

Thank you Tissue Price!

Tory MP Zac Goldsmith announces his bid to run for London Mayor

EXCLUSIVE: MP Zac Goldsmith wants to stand as successor to Boris Johnson

http://bit.ly/1AZwU9R

Richard_Tyndall said:

She provides a clear and unequivocal positive message to her constituency (the people of Scotland.) She has taken a defeat and turned it into as close to a victory as it can be and has not retreated into recrimination after the referendum but rather has looked at the positives and used that to build success.

Personally I think she is one of the most talented politicians in the UK at the moment and is only let down by the rather childish behaviour of some of her party at Westminster.

Dair said:

Life_ina_market_town said:

The Labour Party has tabled some very interesting amendments to the Scotland Bill. If agreed to, they would make the commencement of Part 1 of the Bill on Constitutional Arrangements (which deals with the Sewel Convention and the Scottish Parliament's power to make provisions about elections) dependent on the report of a "Constitutional Convention", which would examine constitutional arrangements throughout the United Kingdom. Their amendments would also make the commencement of Part 2 of the Bill (on tax) dependent on the report of an "Independent Commission on Full Fiscal Autonomy". Although the amendments would oblige the Convention and Commission to report by March 2016, the Labour Party now seem to be implying that further devolution to Scotland should be dependent on UK-wide considerations. A change of position?

Labour deciding that the other parts of the UK should get a final say on Scottish constitutional matters will go down REALLY well in Scotland.....

TheWhiteRabbit said:

rottenborough said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Thank you Tissue Price!

Tory MP Zac Goldsmith announces his bid to run for London Mayor

EXCLUSIVE: MP Zac Goldsmith wants to stand as successor to Boris Johnson

http://bit.ly/1AZwU9R

But he will ballot his constituents first. Interesting approach. Do they want an by-election?

Has the selection process been determined yet?

Seems pretty good value at 10/11 for the candidacy although shame only Ladbrokes offer odds on that...

The_Apocalypse said:

There seems to be this assumption on this side that there is significant room for a centre-right party in Scotland. Yet, if you were to introduce the notion there was room for a centre-left party in England, you'd get laughed at. ...

MikeK said:

Nice one DavidL. Keep it up. As you say, an Alice in Wonderland landscape in Slab land. Or could it be "Through the Looking Glass" for potential leaders; where is Tweedledum and Tweedledee when you want them?

Richard_Nabavi said:

It will be a very interesting political position if we end up with a Tory government promoting expansion of Heathrow, and a Tory Mayor opposing it. This is a big headache for Cameron and Osborne.

Charles said:

Richard_Nabavi said:

It will be a very interesting political position if we end up with a Tory government promoting expansion of Heathrow, and a Tory Mayor opposing it. This is a big headache for Cameron and Osborne.

Not really:

It's in the country's interest for airport capacity to be expanded. Heathrow is objectively the logical place. Hence it is supported by the national leadership.

It's not in the interests of west London for Heathrow to be expanded, hence it is opposed by the regional leadership

TheWhiteRabbit said:

Zac has made it clear it's not his first (Heathrow) or second (environment) priority, and since governments nor mayors of either colour have resolved the crisis, it would need to be top priority.

Richard_Nabavi said:

Oddly enough I had just been adjusting my London Mayor position when the Zac announcement came through. (As things stand +£207 Tessa, +£615 Sadiq, +£317 Zac, -£10 other, which isn't too bad a book for this stage of the contest).

I agree with Tissue Price that Zac has a very good chance. I think the Richmond constituents will overwhelmingly support his candidacy, so it's highly likely he'll get the Tory nomination.

It will be a very interesting political position if we end up with a Tory government promoting expansion of Heathrow, and a Tory Mayor opposing it. This is a big headache for Cameron and Osborne.

logical_song said:

Isn't that what we already have now?

GIN1138 said:

Hmmmmm...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/11661391/Driver-ran-over-drunk-student-as-he-lay-asleep-in-the-road.html

Tissue_Price said:

A comic we should all take note of in the run up to the referendum:

https://twitter.com/PeterRNeumann/status/608221508671053824

Indigo said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

I say, I think Boris is on manoeuvres.

@AndrewSparrow: Britain should leave EU if it cannot change rules to block EU migrants claiming benefits for 4 yrs, Boris says http://t.co/7qCTYZNLPk

Nah, its all part of the strategy. Its obvious that the benefit restrictions is a done deal, with Merkel all but publicly banging the drum for it. The Polish PM is providing the necessary covering fire so that politicians here can claim it was a tough fight but they wrestled these large and meaningful concessions (*cough*) from the Europeans.

Boris has been signed up to look like his is flirting with going with OUT, which will scare off any other senior Tories that might have been thinking of quitting to lead the out campaign, because they won't want to play second fiddle to Boris.

In a few months time Dave will annouce that the deal has been done ( as opposed for been done for ages which is conspicuously the case) and Boris will row in behind him, but it will be too late for anyone else to jump on the OUT bandwagon,

Indigo said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

I say, I think Boris is on manoeuvres.

@AndrewSparrow: Britain should leave EU if it cannot change rules to block EU migrants claiming benefits for 4 yrs, Boris says http://t.co/7qCTYZNLPk

Nah, its all part of the strategy. Its obvious that the benefit restrictions is a done deal, with Merkel all but publicly banging the drum for it. The Polish PM is providing the necessary covering fire so that politicians here can claim it was a tough fight but they wrestled these large and meaningful concessions (*cough*) from the Europeans.

Boris has been signed up to look like his is flirting with going with OUT, which will scare off any other senior Tories that might have been thinking of quitting to lead the out campaign, because they won't want to play second fiddle to Boris.

In a few months time Dave will annouce that the deal has been done ( as opposed for been done for ages which is conspicuously the case) and Boris will row in behind him, but it will be too late for anyone else to jump on the OUT bandwagon,

Morris_Dancer said:

Mr. Rog, I had similar thoughts reading the story on the BBC website.

They're banning it on the basis it might be a gateway to 'proper' smoking. But it has helped smokers to quit (a gateway, but the other direction), and by making it, or seeking to make it, as socially taboo as real smoking why wouldn't kids prefer the real deal? If vaping's seen as ok and smoking's seen as bad, those tempted might opt for vaping.

david_herdson said:

The_Apocalypse said:

There seems to be this assumption on this side that there is significant room for a centre-right party in Scotland. Yet, if you were to introduce the notion there was room for a centre-left party in England, you'd get laughed at. ...

There is a centre-left party in England. It's Labour and polled 30% at the last election. The Lib Dems, depending on how they're feeling, are also frequently a centre-left party. The Greens are very much a left-of-centre party. UKIP has equally been flirting with the same economically collectivist voters. There's no shortage.

If England splits roughly 50-50 (and you can make a case for pretty much anything between 2:1 one way and much the same the other), then I don't see why Scotland should be as much as 85-15 (or, if it's argued that there's no need for a centre-right Scottish party, close to unanimity).

Indeed, it isn't. There are plenty of SNP and Lib Dem voters who are essentially economically conservative and plenty of Labour voters who are socially conservative. The biggest problem the Tories have in winning these voters over remains the brand, which is a shame as a great many of them are currently 'in play' and might be won over now or in the near future if they were willing to consider the option.

TGOHF said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Richard_Nabavi said:

Oddly enough I had just been adjusting my London Mayor position when the Zac announcement came through. (As things stand +£207 Tessa, +£615 Sadiq, +£317 Zac, -£10 other, which isn't too bad a book for this stage of the contest).
I agree with Tissue Price that Zac has a very good chance. I think the Richmond constituents will overwhelmingly support his candidacy, so it's highly likely he'll get the Tory nomination.
It will be a very interesting political position if we end up with a Tory government promoting expansion of Heathrow, and a Tory Mayor opposing it. This is a big headache for Cameron and Osborne.

We should have a referendum on Heathrow expansion and give the Scots a veto over it.

Heathrow expansion is a betrayal of the Vow and justifies an new referendum.
Ditto blocking Heathrow expansion.

Blue_rog said:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/11661984/The-Welsh-ban-on-vaping-indoors-makes-no-sense.html

Ridiculous suggestion. I've also heard that the Welsh Assembly will legislate to make pi = 3 as it makes maths easier to understand.

Theuniondivvie said:

david_herdson said:

Theuniondivvie said:

TheScreamingEagles said:

Bugger me with a fishfork.

New TNS poll has SNP on 60%, Lab on 19%

I'm guessing SCons trailing well behind SLab then? The shame...

Behind but not well behind. Still flatlining in the mid-teens. Which in the face of the SNP surge is actually quite reasonable. I'd still hope that as and when the Nattophilia wears off - and all parties who achieve such heights inevitably fall back from them sooner or later - it'll be the centre-right wing of the SNP electoral coalition that will go first. And that will push the Tories into second.

I was being somewhat facetious, but yes, anything can happen when you get such a sudden implosion of a major party.

I'm still unconvinced Ruth is anything more than Aunty Bella Mk II, i.e. personally popular but adding very little to their party's vote. This polling is only MOE above the SCon 2011 result (at that point 'the Conservatives’ worst ever election result north of the Border'), and MOE below their 2007 result.

Just as SLab need to find some of that 'vision thing' to break out of their death spiral, the SCons perhaps also need something extra to get above flatlining. Of course as you suggest, flatlining is a fairly respectable achievement in the current Scottish climate.