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politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » As the EU referendum bill is published the proportion of U

SystemSystem Posts: 11,006
edited June 2013 in General

politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » As the EU referendum bill is published the proportion of UKIP voters saying Europe is an important issue moves to just 32pc

Today sees the publication of the EU referendum bill and, coincidentally the latest issues tracker from YouGov which unlike Ipsos-MORI does prompt when asking respondents to name the important areas of concern.

Read the full story here


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    MillsyMillsy Posts: 900
    Looks to me like "welfare benefits" has been included as an option for the first time. And it comes in straight at number 4. Those polled can only pick 3 so this would have had an effect on all the others...
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    NickPalmerNickPalmer Posts: 21,319
    If the Tories, or anyone else, appeared to be remotely serious about leaving the EU, I think that many UKIP voters would sit up and pay attention. The underlying problem for the Tories and to some extent all main parties with respect to UKIP voters is a lack of trust and identification - the UKIP voters are alienated from all of us, and we can put forward Bills proposing universal happiness and they'll still think we're just kidding them around. In the case of the referendum bill, they are of course precisely right.
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    Mick_PorkMick_Pork Posts: 6,530
    edited June 2013
    "All this does suggests that the referendum bill is not going to be the magic bullet that many on the blue team are looking for. "

    Preposterous! Banging on about Europe is quite clearly going to troll the kippers into submission. Cammie has it all under control.
    James Landale ‏@BBCJLandale

    Commons clerks tell Cameron that as PM he can't sponsor James Wharton's EU referendum bill. Even though No10 helped draft it..
    Just wait till Cammie finally decides on whether he wants to stay IN or OUT of Europe.
    The kippers won't know what's hit them. ;)
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    CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 59,572
    Millsy said:

    Looks to me like "welfare benefits" has been included as an option for the first time. And it comes in straight at number 4. Those polled can only pick 3 so this would have had an effect on all the others...

    Well spotted!

    Interesting differences between voters on view of importance of benefits to the country vs themselves:

    Welfare important to Country (self)
    Con: 33 (7)
    Lab: 24 (19)
    LibDem: 20 (4)
    UKIP: 27 (18)
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    AveryLPAveryLP Posts: 7,815
    At this time of year the major concern to voters is prospects for our weather. As I type I hear the rumble of disruptive thunder.

    The Englishman in June cares far more for the going at Royal Ascot and ripeness of English strawberries than the politics of the EU.

    Only a cold and wet front emanating from the continent and flooding our rivers would cause the salience of Europe to rise as a poltical issue.
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    Mick_PorkMick_Pork Posts: 6,530
    edited June 2013
    Perhaps yougov should experiment with arming Syrian rebels as an important issue?

    It's certainly vexing the lib dems and top tories.
    Britain MUST protect Syrian rebels: William Hague hits back at Boris Johnson

    http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/408151/Britain-MUST-protect-Syrian-rebels-William-Hague-hits-back-at-Boris-Johnson
    Coffee House ‏@Spectator_CH 19h

    If the Tory right and Lib Dem left unite against #Syria, Cameron and Clegg could be in trouble, says @ProfTimBale http://specc.ie/12Gt3vV
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    DavidLDavidL Posts: 51,125

    If the Tories, or anyone else, appeared to be remotely serious about leaving the EU, I think that many UKIP voters would sit up and pay attention. The underlying problem for the Tories and to some extent all main parties with respect to UKIP voters is a lack of trust and identification - the UKIP voters are alienated from all of us, and we can put forward Bills proposing universal happiness and they'll still think we're just kidding them around. In the case of the referendum bill, they are of course precisely right.

    What the tories are promising through this bill and otherwise is the chance for those who are interested to vote on the issue. I am in my 50s and was too young to vote the last time that we were asked (probably would have voted to stay in to be honest).

    As we saw in the AV referendum there is a very big difference between giving someone the right to vote on an issue and supporting their point of view. The vast bulk, but not all of the tory party will campaign to stay in the EU on revised terms. But at least the sceptics/UKIP are being given a chance to argue the reverse.

    My suspicion is that quite a lot of sceptics would prefer to moan about the people not being given a choice than face the reality of a vote that they will probably lose. But that's politics I suppose.

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    DavidLDavidL Posts: 51,125
    The comments under the line on this are depressingly vitriolic:http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/06/18/ukip-nigel-farage-aberdeen-visit_n_3461458.html?utm_hp_ref=uk

    As was pointed out by several on last night's thread these stand offs seem to suit both UKIP and the SNP quite well. The poison that is being bled into the union in this way is a concern.
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    MillsyMillsy Posts: 900
    tim said:

    Millsy said:

    Looks to me like "welfare benefits" has been included as an option for the first time. And it comes in straight at number 4. Those polled can only pick 3 so this would have had an effect on all the others...

    Immigration is still rising among the "fruitcakes loonies and closet racists", encouraged by the man who coined the phrase and Lynton Crosby.
    Maybe, but it's rising from high to very high then.

    Here's a YouGov survey from May 2010:

    http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/today_uk_import/YG-Archives-Pol-Sun-results-250510.pdf

    Which of the following should be the new government's priorities?

    The economy and immigration, then as now, get the 1-2 across all groups except immigration just short of second place among Lib Dems.
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    Perhaps James Wharton's Bill will be capable of enactment, unlike the ramshackle and woefully drafted attempt at a Bill produced by the Conservatives earlier in the year. Good to know that the principal focus of Her Majesty's Government at the present time is grandstanding on Europe.
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    DavidLDavidL Posts: 51,125

    Perhaps James Wharton's Bill will be capable of enactment, unlike the ramshackle and woefully drafted attempt at a Bill produced by the Conservatives earlier in the year. Good to know that the principal focus of Her Majesty's Government at the present time is grandstanding on Europe.

    The principal concern of Her Majesty's Government is the economy as we will hear from Osborne in his Mansion House speech, which I think is tonight.

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    OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 31,918
    I wonder what the figures would have if Immigration had been
    a) separate from asylum and/or
    b) asked in conjunction with "Europe"
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    JackWJackW Posts: 14,787
    Absoulutely and completely off-topic but for those of a cycling bent in the Hertfordshire domain might I draw your attention to a charming little tearoom come cycling shop at the bottom of the High Street in Redbourn - quirky, charming and very British.

    The small independent butcher on the other side of the road is also worth a shout out .... especially for LibDems ....

    Our pedalling OGH can kill two birds with one stone here .....

    Titters ....
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    GeoffMGeoffM Posts: 6,071

    Good to know that the principal focus of Her Majesty's Government at the present time is grandstanding on Europe.

    Is that one of those irregular verbs?

    I do what is right,
    You work with situations
    He cynically exploits opportunities
    They shamelessly grandstand

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    MrJonesMrJones Posts: 3,523
    Slogans for a referendum campaign that would work a treat.

    "We can't control the border unless we come out of the EU."

    and

    "We can't deport radical preachers or foreign criminals unless we come out of the EU."

    They'd work a treat because they'd take a chunk out of most of the issues on the list.
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    RicardohosRicardohos Posts: 258
    Europe is a non-issue, as Mike says, at least for the majority. The problem for the Tories is that the small minority who think it matters will now vote UKIP, leaving them skewered.

    I am increasingly convinced that 1st May 1997 saw the end of the Conservative Party as a single governing force for the United Kingdom. Actually, I should correct that by saying that 16th September 1992 was the date from which, quite simply, they have never recovered ... and never will.
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    MrJonesMrJones Posts: 3,523
    "All this does suggests that the referendum bill is not going to be the magic bullet that many on the blue team are looking for."

    Thing is the trust issue. Both salient but no trust or not salient has the same effect i.e. not much. I can't see how Cameron could ever seriously try and front that policy and be believed genuine.
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    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 60,964
    Good morning, everyone.

    I'd be wary of saying 'never' so soon. Who would have imagined, before the Gothic Claudius and Aurelian, that Rome would've lasted so long after the Crisis of the Third Century? Even after Manzikert and the Fourth Crusade Byzantium staggeed on for centuries.

    The EU is the question, not Europe.
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    MrJonesMrJones Posts: 3,523

    I am increasingly convinced that 1st May 1997 saw the end of the Conservative Party as a single governing force for the United Kingdom. Actually, I should correct that by saying that 16th September 1992 was the date from which, quite simply, they have never recovered ... and never will.

    They'd fully recovered at the Crewe by-election and then threw it away. Although depending on what you think the "why" of that was then yes they will probably always repeat the same process even if they did manage to recover again.

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    TGOHFTGOHF Posts: 21,633
    The europe issue has the potential to hurt rEd and Clegg - esp if the Eurozone blows up.

    Cam has taken his medicine already.

    YG a mere 7 gap. Drifty.
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    MonikerDiCanioMonikerDiCanio Posts: 5,792

    Europe is a non-issue, as Mike says, at least for the majority. The problem for the Tories is that the small minority who think it matters will now vote UKIP, leaving them skewered.

    I am increasingly convinced that 1st May 1997 saw the end of the Conservative Party as a single governing force for the United Kingdom. Actually, I should correct that by saying that 16th September 1992 was the date from which, quite simply, they have never recovered ... and never will.


    Ricardohos says that europe is a non-issue but then claims that the events of september 1992 ruined the Tories.

    What happened in september 1992 ?

    " Black Wednesday refers to 16 September 1992 when the British Conservative government was forced to withdraw the pound sterling from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM). "

    Non-issue , my arse.

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    RicardohosRicardohos Posts: 258
    The reason I think 'never' is correct is that Conservatism is anathema. Most people no longer wish to conserve. The world is fast-changing. Now thrust those linguistics into politics: socially there's no desire for 'back to basics' - the sort of retro nonsense Michael Gove is spouting. But when Cammo attempts social liberal, he loses the ageing minority of hangers, floggers and xenophobes on the right. I re-watched Election night 1997 the other day and what struck me was the staggering arrogance of the then Nasty Party.

    The Conservative party have lost their raison d'etre. Their only hope is a socially liberal economically liberating agenda, which is fine, but it's not Conservative. Boris is probably the closest to it, and it's no accident he appeals across parties and as Mayor doesn't have to fly the true blue flag.

    Theyjustdontgeddit.
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    MrJonesMrJones Posts: 3,523
    http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/408151/Britain-MUST-protect-Syrian-rebels-William-Hague-hits-back-at-Boris-Johnson

    "The conflict has become the "worst human tragedy of our times", Mr Hague said."

    I'd have thought the Congo was easily the worst. I think that's still going - although not 100% sure as it was never in the news much?
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    CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    Sorry to be picky OGH, but your tweet is very misleading.

    Based on the YouGov poll the statement would have to be "fewer than 1 in three ... [see it] as a top 3 issue".

    I'm not a UKIP supporter, and Europe isn't in my top 3 issues. But is it important? Hell, yes!
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    RicardohosRicardohos Posts: 258
    Moniker,

    The reason 16/9/92 matters is not Europe but that it removed the last reason for voting Conservative: economic competence. In one fell swoop, or a bad day at Lamont's office, they showed they hadn't a bloody clue what they were doing.

    It's amusing, but slightly sad, there are Tories still bleating on about Europe as if that was the issue.
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    MikeSmithsonMikeSmithson Posts: 7,382
    A fair point Charles which I have taken note of and made an amendment
    Charles said:

    Sorry to be picky OGH, but your tweet is very misleading.

    Based on the YouGov poll the statement would have to be "fewer than 1 in three ... [see it] as a top 3 issue".

    I'm not a UKIP supporter, and Europe isn't in my top 3 issues. But is it important? Hell, yes!

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    another_richardanother_richard Posts: 25,046

    If the Tories, or anyone else, appeared to be remotely serious about leaving the EU, I think that many UKIP voters would sit up and pay attention. The underlying problem for the Tories and to some extent all main parties with respect to UKIP voters is a lack of trust and identification - the UKIP voters are alienated from all of us, and we can put forward Bills proposing universal happiness and they'll still think we're just kidding them around. In the case of the referendum bill, they are of course precisely right.

    Indeed.

    For someone who has lost trust making ever more promises doesn't win back support it simply makes those lost supporters even angrier.

    Cameron needs to DO things not promise to do things.

    But Cameron is so in love with his own self-perceived cleverness he cannot see this.

    Whereas he's seen as a "at the correct juncture, in the fullness of time, no you failed to understand the exactititude of my commitment" phony.

    Just as Clegg's broken promises on tuition fees permanently damaged his credibility even though few people were directly affected Cameron's broken promises on the EU permanently damaged his credibility even though few people few people were interested in the issue itself.
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    CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758

    Europe is a non-issue, as Mike says, at least for the majority. The problem for the Tories is that the small minority who think it matters will now vote UKIP, leaving them skewered.

    I am increasingly convinced that 1st May 1997 saw the end of the Conservative Party as a single governing force for the United Kingdom. Actually, I should correct that by saying that 16th September 1992 was the date from which, quite simply, they have never recovered ... and never will.

    Don't forget they were out of power for most of the 19th century as well.

    They will recover, they always do. They may have different policies, different people and a different name, but the party will recover ;-)
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    CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758

    The reason I think 'never' is correct is that Conservatism is anathema. Most people no longer wish to conserve. The world is fast-changing. Now thrust those linguistics into politics: socially there's no desire for 'back to basics' - the sort of retro nonsense Michael Gove is spouting. But when Cammo attempts social liberal, he loses the ageing minority of hangers, floggers and xenophobes on the right. I re-watched Election night 1997 the other day and what struck me was the staggering arrogance of the then Nasty Party.

    The Conservative party have lost their raison d'etre. Their only hope is a socially liberal economically liberating agenda, which is fine, but it's not Conservative. Boris is probably the closest to it, and it's no accident he appeals across parties and as Mayor doesn't have to fly the true blue flag.

    Theyjustdontgeddit.

    Thatcher, by the way, was closer to being a Gladstonian Radical than a Conservative.

    You do make a reasonable point, though, that in controlling the language the left has created an in-built political advantage. The simplest examples: would you rather be progressive or not? liberal or not? fair or not?
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    MrJonesMrJones Posts: 3,523

    Moniker,

    The reason 16/9/92 matters is not Europe but that it removed the last reason for voting Conservative: economic competence. In one fell swoop, or a bad day at Lamont's office, they showed they hadn't a bloody clue what they were doing.

    It's amusing, but slightly sad, there are Tories still bleating on about Europe as if that was the issue.

    What were they polling around the time of the Crewe by-election?
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    Blue_rogBlue_rog Posts: 2,019
    I would say that the concerns that make the top 4 items issues, have the EU's sticky fingers all over them. That's why "Europe" as a single question has so little impact. The EU is so all pervading in our affairs that it can't be unpicked to a single involvement.
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    CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758

    If the Tories, or anyone else, appeared to be remotely serious about leaving the EU, I think that many UKIP voters would sit up and pay attention. The underlying problem for the Tories and to some extent all main parties with respect to UKIP voters is a lack of trust and identification - the UKIP voters are alienated from all of us, and we can put forward Bills proposing universal happiness and they'll still think we're just kidding them around. In the case of the referendum bill, they are of course precisely right.

    Indeed.

    For someone who has lost trust making ever more promises doesn't win back support it simply makes those lost supporters even angrier.

    Cameron needs to DO things not promise to do things.

    But Cameron is so in love with his own self-perceived cleverness he cannot see this.

    Whereas he's seen as a "at the correct juncture, in the fullness of time, no you failed to understand the exactititude of my commitment" phony.

    Just as Clegg's broken promises on tuition fees permanently damaged his credibility even though few people were directly affected Cameron's broken promises on the EU permanently damaged his credibility even though few people few people were interested in the issue itself.
    It's ironic, though. Cameron was undermined by a promise that he never made over a vote that would have been pointless. (Once Lisbon was ratified that pass was sold, and you needed to fall back to another position).

    Clegg just broke his word. And, as we see with pensioner benefits, Cameron wants to keep explicit promises. [cue tim posting endlessly about "no more pointless NHS reorganisations" without realising that Cameron clearly doesn't think this reorganisation is pointless]. Similarly, on Europe - as RichardN has posted - there is no way he can back track on the referendum pledge in 2017 without being defenestrated, while his other pledge on Europe was the formation of a new group in the EU parliament. This he has delivered. [can we have some Latvian homophobe posts for old times sake, tim]
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    RogerRoger Posts: 18,891
    edited June 2013
    Excellent post Ricardohos. When people were discussing how the Tories could turn things round after their third defeat in a row I said from a marketing point of view the most important thing was to change their name.

    Who other than the most fuddy duddy wants to be thought of as 'CONSERVATIVE'. Even worse 'A CONSERVATIVE'! My guess is that the name alone was losing them three or four points. Add in the connotations the name had acquired under Maggie and what chance did they have?
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    RicardohosRicardohos Posts: 258
    Charles said:



    Theyjustdontgeddit.

    Thatcher, by the way, was closer to being a Gladstonian Radical than a Conservative.

    ?
    Oh absolutely right. One of the reasons Thatcher was so successful, and reached out across social class is that she was far from being conservative. As you say, much closer to being a radical. She slew lots of bastions, and had little time for the old guard. At the beginning she was close to her roots as a down-to-earth grammar school girl. It's a lesson I'm afraid the current OE crowd don't get.

    Socially of course she wasn't radical, and that's where TB stepped in to make the link. As Thatcher gave people economic freedom, Blair matched that with social freedom: a heady and potent mix.
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    RicardohosRicardohos Posts: 258
    MrJones said:

    Moniker,
    .

    What were they polling around the time of the Crewe by-election?
    Two words: Gordon Brown. Discussion. End of.
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    NickPalmerNickPalmer Posts: 21,319
    Charles: To be pedantic, my recollection of Cameron's pledge was not to do another top-down NHS reorganisation. I don't think he said "unless it's a meaningful one"! So yes, I do think he broke that pledge. There are some others in the Tory "Contract" which went out days before the election that seem to have disappeared too - more police on the streets, a National Citizen Service. Or do they claim that they tried to do these things and the evil LibDems prevented it? There's also a promise to "Give teachers the power to restore discipline" - is there anything post-2010 that could reasonably be described as having done that?

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    Scott_PScott_P Posts: 51,453

    Blair matched that with social freedom: a heady and potent mix.

    ...by banning smoking, fox-hunting, ...
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    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 60,964
    Mr. Hos, you seem quite keen to attribute a 19% poll rating and historic by-election defeat to a single leader of a party, but determined to consider the party you would appear not to support mortally wounded despite being about 8pts behind in the mid-term, despite an extremely difficult economic situation.
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    david_kendrick1david_kendrick1 Posts: 325
    edited June 2013

    If the Tories, or anyone else, appeared to be remotely serious about leaving the EU, I think that many UKIP voters would sit up and pay attention. The underlying problem for the Tories and to some extent all main parties with respect to UKIP voters is a lack of trust and identification - the UKIP voters are alienated from all of us, and we can put forward Bills proposing universal happiness and they'll still think we're just kidding them around. In the case of the referendum bill, they are of course precisely right.

    NP's post is, quite properly, the most quoted on the thread. UKIP activists do feel a lack of trust and identification and...alienated: this is accurate. However, it is expressed in terms that make it sound as though it is UKIP members 'fault' that they feel unrepresented, ignored and impotent. On bad days, this frustration at being deliberately marginalised, and being sneeringly dismissed, boils over into anger. This is very unattractive and off-putting, and I wish it didn't happen. But I can understand why it does.

    Thinking members of UKIP do not believe that Cameron is the man to take Britain out of the EU. And nor do members of the tory party, inside or outside Westminster.

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    Edin_RokzEdin_Rokz Posts: 516
    tim said:

    GeoffM said:

    Good to know that the principal focus of Her Majesty's Government at the present time is grandstanding on Europe.

    Is that one of those irregular verbs?

    I do what is right,
    You work with situations
    He cynically exploits opportunities
    They shamelessly grandstand

    David Cameron relies on a private members bill because he's a man of conviction.
    It seems like that every time DC opens his mouth, he manages to convict himself :^)
    (Sorry Tim, couldn't resist)

    I have been struck recently, that apart from a few appearances on the Beeb news, there is a general ignoring of him in the rest of the media.

    It feels like every single one of his major "triumphs" and/or announcements has been met with a quick pat on the head and told to go away and do better.

    The recent G8 summit is a case in point. The last one in Scotland had a couple of hundred thousand out protesting. In Belfast, the police outnumbered the protestors. While the wrap up announcements showed a failure of agreement between the attendees.

    Gleneagles had a seemingly successful result, Belfast er!!!!!

    It looks like the work required before the summit was not just done, it wasn't even started. The faces of Obama and Putin showed that they both thought the summit a complete waste of time.

    Even Cameron's Syrian Iniative to arm the rebels has come of the rails in parliament let alone in public opinion as a high speed crash. Hague, who had thought he had got away with "obfuscation" in the Commons found that Members from all sides, were not prepared to be fobbed off and managed to nail him down.

    I hate to say this, but I am starting to wish we could get Blair back as PM. What ever his faults, he did seem to know where he wanted to go and do.
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    AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 23,754
    Charles said:

    If the Tories, or anyone else, appeared to be remotely serious about leaving the EU, I think that many UKIP voters would sit up and pay attention. The underlying problem for the Tories and to some extent all main parties with respect to UKIP voters is a lack of trust and identification - the UKIP voters are alienated from all of us, and we can put forward Bills proposing universal happiness and they'll still think we're just kidding them around. In the case of the referendum bill, they are of course precisely right.

    Indeed.

    For someone who has lost trust making ever more promises doesn't win back support it simply makes those lost supporters even angrier.

    Cameron needs to DO things not promise to do things.

    But Cameron is so in love with his own self-perceived cleverness he cannot see this.

    Whereas he's seen as a "at the correct juncture, in the fullness of time, no you failed to understand the exactititude of my commitment" phony.

    Just as Clegg's broken promises on tuition fees permanently damaged his credibility even though few people were directly affected Cameron's broken promises on the EU permanently damaged his credibility even though few people few people were interested in the issue itself.
    It's ironic, though. Cameron was undermined by a promise that he never made over a vote that would have been pointless. (Once Lisbon was ratified that pass was sold, and you needed to fall back to another position).

    Clegg just broke his word. And, as we see with pensioner benefits, Cameron wants to keep explicit promises. [cue tim posting endlessly about "no more pointless NHS reorganisations" without realising that Cameron clearly doesn't think this reorganisation is pointless]. Similarly, on Europe - as RichardN has posted - there is no way he can back track on the referendum pledge in 2017 without being defenestrated, while his other pledge on Europe was the formation of a new group in the EU parliament. This he has delivered. [can we have some Latvian homophobe posts for old times sake, tim]
    Charles, voters don't bring their lawyers with them to listen to what politicians say. Whether you like it or not he made a referendum promise and voters interpreted it as such and weaseling out of it cost him votes. If nothing else it gave the opposition a stick to beat him with and was just pure crap politics.
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    RicardohosRicardohos Posts: 258
    Scott_P said:

    Blair matched that with social freedom: a heady and potent mix.

    ...by banning smoking, fox-hunting, ...

    Mr. Hos, you seem quite keen to attribute a 19% poll rating and historic by-election defeat to a single leader of a party, but determined to consider the party you would appear not to support mortally wounded despite being about 8pts behind in the mid-term, despite an extremely difficult economic situation.

    Smoking 'in public places', not smoking. Both that and fox hunting were anti-social.

    Morris, it's not Labour's performance so much as the level of Conservative support which is the key. Particularly given the electoral advantages of Labour's vote I maintain the Conservatives will 'never' win again outright.
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    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 60,964
    Mr. Brooke, what serious alternative was there for Cameron regarding Lisbon?

    He could've refused to back a referendum in the manifesto. Given Labour and the Lib Dems apparently were backing one this was entirely out of the question.

    He could've refused to vote for a referendum in the Commons. Alone of the major parties the Conservatives actually voted they way they promised they would. That they're attacked for that is insane.

    He could've held a referendum when he became Prime Minister. Assuming this got past the Lib Dems (unlikely), it would've been an exercise in showcasing the impotence of such a position, as no other country would've agreed to revisit an agreed treaty at the height of the eurozone sovereign debt crisis.

    It's worth also mentioning that the media tried to drum up a 'Tory splits' story before the vote by attempting to get backbenchers to attack Cameron for refusing to promise a post-ratification referendum!
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    another_richardanother_richard Posts: 25,046
    Charles said:

    If the Tories, or anyone else, appeared to be remotely serious about leaving the EU, I think that many UKIP voters would sit up and pay attention. The underlying problem for the Tories and to some extent all main parties with respect to UKIP voters is a lack of trust and identification - the UKIP voters are alienated from all of us, and we can put forward Bills proposing universal happiness and they'll still think we're just kidding them around. In the case of the referendum bill, they are of course precisely right.

    Indeed.

    For someone who has lost trust making ever more promises doesn't win back support it simply makes those lost supporters even angrier.

    Cameron needs to DO things not promise to do things.

    But Cameron is so in love with his own self-perceived cleverness he cannot see this.

    Whereas he's seen as a "at the correct juncture, in the fullness of time, no you failed to understand the exactititude of my commitment" phony.

    Just as Clegg's broken promises on tuition fees permanently damaged his credibility even though few people were directly affected Cameron's broken promises on the EU permanently damaged his credibility even though few people few people were interested in the issue itself.
    It's ironic, though. Cameron was undermined by a promise that he never made over a vote that would have been pointless. (Once Lisbon was ratified that pass was sold, and you needed to fall back to another position).

    Clegg just broke his word. And, as we see with pensioner benefits, Cameron wants to keep explicit promises. [cue tim posting endlessly about "no more pointless NHS reorganisations" without realising that Cameron clearly doesn't think this reorganisation is pointless]. Similarly, on Europe - as RichardN has posted - there is no way he can back track on the referendum pledge in 2017 without being defenestrated, while his other pledge on Europe was the formation of a new group in the EU parliament. This he has delivered. [can we have some Latvian homophobe posts for old times sake, tim]
    Sorry Charles but you don't seem to get it.

    Once trust has been lost you can never get it back either with promises or with 2017 what-ifs.

    Cameron lost my trust on the EU in 2009 when he tried to replace his 'cast-iron' promise with a meaningless drivel of new promises consisting only of weasel words and legalese.

    Nothing I've seen since, in particular his midnight flounce followed by craven surrender, has encouraged me to change my mind.

    In fact I now KNOW that Cameron is a blatant liar - his "we're paying down Britain's debts" lie proved that.

    I do suspect that voters are particularly disgusted with politicians who lie to their own supporters. That politicians are widely regarded as a bunch of liars is one thing but a politician who lies to his own supporters is also a betrayer and who ever wants to trust a betrayer.

    This is why Clegg's betrayal on tuition fees and Cameron's betrayal on the EU are so damaging. not because of the salience of the issues but because of what they reveal of the man involved.

  • Options
    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 60,964
    "Morris, it's not Labour's performance so much as the level of Conservative support which is the key"

    ....

    What? The level of Labour support is irrelevant but the level of Conservative is critical? When Labour does badly it's because of the temporary effects of a leader, but when the Conservatives do badly it's because their whole party and ethos is rotten or, at least, outdated?

    You do appear to be judging the two parties in a rather partial way.

    You're entirely right about the current system being stacked in Labour's favour, but I suspect it will not always be so.
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    Mick_PorkMick_Pork Posts: 6,530
    edited June 2013

    Charles said:

    If the Tories, or anyone else, appeared to be remotely serious about leaving the EU, I think that many UKIP voters would sit up and pay attention. The underlying problem for the Tories and to some extent all main parties with respect to UKIP voters is a lack of trust and identification - the UKIP voters are alienated from all of us, and we can put forward Bills proposing universal happiness and they'll still think we're just kidding them around. In the case of the referendum bill, they are of course precisely right.

    Indeed.

    For someone who has lost trust making ever more promises doesn't win back support it simply makes those lost supporters even angrier.

    Cameron needs to DO things not promise to do things.

    But Cameron is so in love with his own self-perceived cleverness he cannot see this.

    Whereas he's seen as a "at the correct juncture, in the fullness of time, no you failed to understand the exactititude of my commitment" phony.

    Just as Clegg's broken promises on tuition fees permanently damaged his credibility even though few people were directly affected Cameron's broken promises on the EU permanently damaged his credibility even though few people few people were interested in the issue itself.
    It's ironic, though. Cameron was undermined by a promise that he never made over a vote that would have been pointless. (Once Lisbon was ratified that pass was sold, and you needed to fall back to another position).

    Clegg just broke his word. And, as we see with pensioner benefits, Cameron wants to keep explicit promises. [cue tim posting endlessly about "no more pointless NHS reorganisations" without realising that Cameron clearly doesn't think this reorganisation is pointless]. Similarly, on Europe - as RichardN has posted - there is no way he can back track on the referendum pledge in 2017 without being defenestrated, while his other pledge on Europe was the formation of a new group in the EU parliament. This he has delivered. [can we have some Latvian homophobe posts for old times sake, tim]
    Charles, voters don't bring their lawyers with them to listen to what politicians say. Whether you like it or not he made a referendum promise and voters interpreted it as such and weaseling out of it cost him votes. If nothing else it gave the opposition a stick to beat him with and was just pure crap politics.
    There's also the small matter of the cast iron excuses being complete bullsh*t.
    Conservatives could hold Lisbon Treaty referendum after ratification

    A Conservative government could hold a referendum on the European Union's Lisbon Treaty even if it has already been ratified, William Hague has said.

    The Shadow Foreign Secretary made the pledge as David Cameron promised to fight next year's European Parliament elections on a referendum pledge.

    The Lisbon Treaty, based on the old European Constitution, is currently in limbo having been rejected by Irish voters in a referendum in May. It must be endorsed by all 27 EU states to take effect.

    Another Irish vote has been suggested for next year, but Mr Hague said the treaty could remain unratified at the time of the next general election, and pledged a British vote if so.

    He said: "If the Lisbon treaty is unratified and on the table at the point we take office then, of course, we would hold a referendum."

    And even if the Treaty had been ratified when a Tory government took office, a referendum could still be possible. He said: "We haven't made the decision," he said. "I certainly haven't ruled that out."

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/conservative/3097376/Conservatives-could-hold-Lisbon-Treaty-referendum-after-ratification.html

    Cammie keeps promising jam tomorrow to gullible tory eurosceptics because it works.
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    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 60,964
    "In fact I now KNOW that Cameron is a blatant liar - his "we're paying down Britain's debts" lie proved that."

    Mr. Richard, that sort of language is what Cameron (and the whole political class) should be lambasted for. Indeed, journalists need to be thrashed around the head and neck with some sort of genetically engineered superfish until they can concisely summarise the difference between debt and deficit.
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    AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 23,754

    Mr. Brooke, what serious alternative was there for Cameron regarding Lisbon?

    He could've refused to back a referendum in the manifesto. Given Labour and the Lib Dems apparently were backing one this was entirely out of the question.

    He could've refused to vote for a referendum in the Commons. Alone of the major parties the Conservatives actually voted they way they promised they would. That they're attacked for that is insane.

    He could've held a referendum when he became Prime Minister. Assuming this got past the Lib Dems (unlikely), it would've been an exercise in showcasing the impotence of such a position, as no other country would've agreed to revisit an agreed treaty at the height of the eurozone sovereign debt crisis.

    It's worth also mentioning that the media tried to drum up a 'Tory splits' story before the vote by attempting to get backbenchers to attack Cameron for refusing to promise a post-ratification referendum!

    Two comments Mr D.

    1. he used the referendum as a gimmick and it back fired. If he didn't mean to hold it, he shouldn't have offered it, your average white van man expects you to say what you'll do and do what you say. Oxbridge casuistry just doesn't wash. Cameron was at that time seen as someone who might just be a diiferent type of politico, one who had some principles; backing out of the Ref. dented that image and cost him votes - probably his majority. He only needed to swing another dozen seats or so, hence your LD issue wouldn't exist.

    2. when negotiating with Europe you need some ammo. He could have held a consultative Ref. giving him a mandate to re-negotiate terms. That's not much different to where we are today but he would have had a mandate to negotiate which the EU couldn't ignore and he'd be in a stronger position with his party and with the Eurocrats. His current stance of I'm pretending to negotiate isn't that convincing.
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    AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 23,754

    Scott_P said:

    Blair matched that with social freedom: a heady and potent mix.

    ...by banning smoking, fox-hunting, ...

    Mr. Hos, you seem quite keen to attribute a 19% poll rating and historic by-election defeat to a single leader of a party, but determined to consider the party you would appear not to support mortally wounded despite being about 8pts behind in the mid-term, despite an extremely difficult economic situation.

    Smoking 'in public places', not smoking. Both that and fox hunting were anti-social.

    Morris, it's not Labour's performance so much as the level of Conservative support which is the key. Particularly given the electoral advantages of Labour's vote I maintain the Conservatives will 'never' win again outright.
    there are lots of things which are anti-social, is boorishness a crime ? And who decides what's "acceptable". Middleclass Victorian prudery.
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    MillsyMillsy Posts: 900
    Europe is an important issue for a certain type of voter and the Conservative policy will keep the right ones happy. Those wanting out right now will vote Ukip anyway.

    But for most other people it's no surprise that (in the YouGov survey) the economy, welfare and immigration come in at the top instead. They're in the top 4 issues for every group apart from current Lib Dems (welfare equal fifth).
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    john_zimsjohn_zims Posts: 3,399
    @Richardohos

    'Particularly given the electoral advantages of Labour's vote I maintain the Conservatives will 'never' win again outright.'

    We used to hear exactly the same comment about Labour in the 80's.
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    RogerRoger Posts: 18,891
    edited June 2013
    No 4 Welfare benefits.

    I was traveling yesterday by car and listening to a program on welfare benefits. Camden Council offered someone in their borough alternative accommodation in Dover or Birmingham which is illegal...

    On the program was the girl who had been offered it-'I've got bad legs so need somewhere on the ground floor and I've a three year old child so need two bedrooms' a housing officer from the council 'We just haven't got any houses that meet her requirements in Camden now that there is a £24,000 cap on benefits' and a lawyer who was representing the girl 'It's the council's obligation to supply accommodation in the same borough and if they can't we'll just take them to court.'

    The girl unfortunately wasn't a good advocate for benefits which led to those phoning in suggesting she might try taking responsibility for herself and not blaming everyone else (this seemed pretty unanimous)

    I'm afraid unless Labour can come up with a cunning plan this is going to be damaging. The Tories have set a mighty elephant trap (with their £24,000 benefit cap) and I can't see many easy ways out



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    hucks67hucks67 Posts: 758
    At the G8 Cameron was helping start a trade deal between EU and the US. Obama is visiting Merkel today and the briefing to the press is that Obama wants Germany to help the EU move towards a period of growth, by borrowing if necessary.

    If the EU does make a good recovery by 2017 and there is a EU/US trade deal which is benefiting the UK, why would any Conservative government want to hold an in/out referendum ? Cameron wants to hold a renegotiation of UK membership conditions, but this would no doubt mean another treaty negotiation, as other countries would also want to see changes. There is already a requirement for a referendum to be held if there is a new EU treaty, to accept or reject. If people accept then the UK will have voted to stay in the EU. If they reject, then it is open to government to offer an in/out vote. Personally I don't see the benefit of deciding in 2012 to hold a in/out referendum in 2017, when a lot can happen in 5 years. Cameron has just made the case for UKIP, as the party to represent the NO campaign and evey issue that people are worried about.
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    TGOHFTGOHF Posts: 21,633
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    TGOHFTGOHF Posts: 21,633
    edited June 2013
    Labour trend looks clear to me too - at the same time as Ukip dropping off..

    http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/voting-intention-2

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    TGOHFTGOHF Posts: 21,633
    edited June 2013
    Double post - delete.
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    BenMBenM Posts: 1,795
    tim said:

    The banking report is already making waves.

    @iainmartin1: Wonder if "reckless mismanagement" law will apply to Chancellors who launch blow up the housing market Help to Buy schemes. Thought not...

    Iain Martin read my tweet!
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    CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 59,572
    TGOHF said:

    Looks like we've hit peak Farage

    Looks like Farage & some of the noisier Scottish Nationalists aim to keep each other in the news:

    Nigel Farage's Scotland trip ends in chaos amid protests
    Nigel Farage was forced to cancel half his itinerary on a trip to Scotland yesterday due to threats of 'violent' protests less than a month after a visit to Edinburgh was hijacked by hard-Left independence supporters

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/ukip/10128953/Nigel-Farages-Scotland-trip-ends-in-chaos-amid-protests.html

    Though the Guardian's report was a lot less sympathetic:

    "Nigel Farage forced to cancel Aberdeen lunch due to protest fears, Ukip claims
    Party's claim that itinerary was changed due to fears that demonstrations would turn ugly are denied by hotel and police"

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2013/jun/18/nigel-farage-aberdeen-protest-fears
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    PlatoPlato Posts: 15,724
    edited June 2013
    OT Just watching BattleStar Galactica and after a slow start, S1 turned out to be quite watchable, but I'm finding S2 hard going re the God stuff and Gaius'/his blond friend dream story.

    Does it carry on like this for another 2 series? I can't see what anyone was raving about so far - I'd give it a solid 6.5/10.
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    TGOHFTGOHF Posts: 21,633
    BenM said:

    tim said:

    The banking report is already making waves.

    @iainmartin1: Wonder if "reckless mismanagement" law will apply to Chancellors who launch blow up the housing market Help to Buy schemes. Thought not...

    Iain Martin read my tweet!
    House prices rise at the shocking rate of 0.4% per annum ? Stock up on guns and bottled water lads - this sucker is going down.

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    CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758

    Charles: To be pedantic, my recollection of Cameron's pledge was not to do another top-down NHS reorganisation. I don't think he said "unless it's a meaningful one"! So yes, I do think he broke that pledge. There are some others in the Tory "Contract" which went out days before the election that seem to have disappeared too - more police on the streets, a National Citizen Service. Or do they claim that they tried to do these things and the evil LibDems prevented it? There's also a promise to "Give teachers the power to restore discipline" - is there anything post-2010 that could reasonably be described as having done that?

    in the last few weeks tim has been using a quote which talks about 'no more pointless NHS reorganisations'. That's my source ;-)

    I think there is a difference, though, between a standard manifesto promise and a Pledge. Sometimes politicians can drive that, other times the voters select the issue themselves.
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    BenMBenM Posts: 1,795
    TGOHF said:

    BenM said:

    tim said:

    The banking report is already making waves.

    @iainmartin1: Wonder if "reckless mismanagement" law will apply to Chancellors who launch blow up the housing market Help to Buy schemes. Thought not...

    Iain Martin read my tweet!
    House prices rise at the shocking rate of 0.4% per annum ? Stock up on guns and bottled water lads - this sucker is going down.

    It was more the thrust of also jailing useless Chancellors.
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    CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 59,572
    Polly will be choking on her organic muesli....

    Tom Newton Dunn tweets: YouGov/Sun spying poll: 'Bear in woods shock', 79% think it's normal for Govts to spy on each other at summits. 51% v 24% say ours should.
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    MikeKMikeK Posts: 9,053
    I see no apologies from the MSM for this stictch up.
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-22952950

    Also:
    Michael Heaver ‏@Michael_Heaver
    Farage has the guts to have a stand-up debate with a protestor. Protestor shows true colours by spraying coke. Moron. http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/4974836/Faragy-bargy-2-UKIP-pal-sprayed-with-coke.html
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    CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758

    Charles said:

    If the Tories, or anyone else, appeared to be remotely serious about leaving the EU, I think that many UKIP voters would sit up and pay attention. The underlying problem for the Tories and to some extent all main parties with respect to UKIP voters is a lack of trust and identification - the UKIP voters are alienated from all of us, and we can put forward Bills proposing universal happiness and they'll still think we're just kidding them around. In the case of the referendum bill, they are of course precisely right.

    Indeed.

    For someone who has lost trust making ever more promises doesn't win back support it simply makes those lost supporters even angrier.

    Cameron needs to DO things not promise to do things.

    But Cameron is so in love with his own self-perceived cleverness he cannot see this.

    Whereas he's seen as a "at the correct juncture, in the fullness of time, no you failed to understand the exactititude of my commitment" phony.

    Just as Clegg's broken promises on tuition fees permanently damaged his credibility even though few people were directly affected Cameron's broken promises on the EU permanently damaged his credibility even though few people few people were interested in the issue itself.
    It's ironic, though. Cameron was undermined by a promise that he never made over a vote that would have been pointless. (Once Lisbon was ratified that pass was sold, and you needed to fall back to another position).

    Clegg just broke his word. And, as we see with pensioner benefits, Cameron wants to keep explicit promises. [cue tim posting endlessly about "no more pointless NHS reorganisations" without realising that Cameron clearly doesn't think this reorganisation is pointless]. Similarly, on Europe - as RichardN has posted - there is no way he can back track on the referendum pledge in 2017 without being defenestrated, while his other pledge on Europe was the formation of a new group in the EU parliament. This he has delivered. [can we have some Latvian homophobe posts for old times sake, tim]
    Charles, voters don't bring their lawyers with them to listen to what politicians say. Whether you like it or not he made a referendum promise and voters interpreted it as such and weaseling out of it cost him votes. If nothing else it gave the opposition a stick to beat him with and was just pure crap politics.
    He explicitly said a vote on the Lisbon Treaty assuming it hadn't been ratified.

    It's harder to get any clearer than that, and you don't need a lawyer. If people only hear what they want to hear then it's difficult to communicate with them.

    I agree it's given his opponents a stick. I just wish they would beat him up some something he did (and there's plenty to complain about) rather than something he didn't do
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    TGOHFTGOHF Posts: 21,633
    BenM said:

    TGOHF said:

    BenM said:

    tim said:

    The banking report is already making waves.

    @iainmartin1: Wonder if "reckless mismanagement" law will apply to Chancellors who launch blow up the housing market Help to Buy schemes. Thought not...

    Iain Martin read my tweet!
    House prices rise at the shocking rate of 0.4% per annum ? Stock up on guns and bottled water lads - this sucker is going down.

    It was more the thrust of also jailing useless Chancellors.
    Perhaps that's why Cam signed up to the Euro arrest warrant - he wants to round up all those Euro Finance ministers who are still in recession and don't have our growth.
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    AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 23,754
    BenM said:

    TGOHF said:

    BenM said:

    tim said:

    The banking report is already making waves.

    @iainmartin1: Wonder if "reckless mismanagement" law will apply to Chancellors who launch blow up the housing market Help to Buy schemes. Thought not...

    Iain Martin read my tweet!
    House prices rise at the shocking rate of 0.4% per annum ? Stock up on guns and bottled water lads - this sucker is going down.

    It was more the thrust of also jailing useless Chancellors.
    I agree Ben, lock Brown up and throw away the key. Balls too.
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    TGOHFTGOHF Posts: 21,633
    Any update on when rEd's NHS flip flop is coming ? Or is he proposing another reorganisation ? Are they still planning to cut NHS spending like the had in their 2010 manifesto ?

    I suspect the answer is there is no policy.
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    PlatoPlato Posts: 15,724
    When reality confronts dogma

    "Former TV historian Tristram Hunt revealed he ‘teaches in schools’ including delivering a lesson on the Spanish Armada to primary-age pupils.

    But he faced charges of hypocrisy because the Labour party policy is for only qualified teachers to be allowed into the classroom.

    Mr Hunt, a respected academic who has presented history programmes for the BBC, used a newspaper interview to reveal he regularly takes charge of classes.

    ‘I teach in schools in Stoke when they allow me, to make sure I know what's going on,’ he told The Guardian.

    ‘I do a class at the FE college about Cape Town as a city of empire. And I do an industrial revolution class at the sixth form.

    ‘And I taught a class on the Spanish Armada to a primary school.’

    But the comments from the MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central appear to be at odds with the official Labour party line.

    Just yesterday his boss, shadow education secretary Stephen Twigg, condemned Michael Gove’s plans to allow more unqualified teachers into schools as the ‘wrong approach’. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2343918/Labour-frontbencher-opposed-unqualified-teachers-boasts-taking-lessons-TV-historian.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490
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    BenMBenM Posts: 1,795
    Richard Murphy at close quarters with David Cameron at the G8 yesterday:

    http://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2013/06/19/close-enough-for-comfort/
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    CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758

    Charles said:

    If the Tories, or anyone else, appeared to be remotely serious about leaving the EU, I think that many UKIP voters would sit up and pay attention. The underlying problem for the Tories and to some extent all main parties with respect to UKIP voters is a lack of trust and identification - the UKIP voters are alienated from all of us, and we can put forward Bills proposing universal happiness and they'll still think we're just kidding them around. In the case of the referendum bill, they are of course precisely right.

    Indeed.

    For someone who has lost trust making ever more promises doesn't win back support it simply makes those lost supporters even angrier.

    Cameron needs to DO things not promise to do things.

    But Cameron is so in love with his own self-perceived cleverness he cannot see this.

    Whereas he's seen as a "at the correct juncture, in the fullness of time, no you failed to understand the exactititude of my commitment" phony.

    Just as Clegg's broken promises on tuition fees permanently damaged his credibility even though few people were directly affected Cameron's broken promises on the EU permanently damaged his credibility even though few people few people were interested in the issue itself.
    It's ironic, though. Cameron was undermined by a promise that he never made over a vote that would have been pointless. (Once Lisbon was ratified that pass was sold, and you needed to fall back to another position).

    Clegg just broke his word. And, as we see with pensioner benefits, Cameron wants to keep explicit promises. [cue tim posting endlessly about "no more pointless NHS reorganisations" without realising that Cameron clearly doesn't think this reorganisation is pointless]. Similarly, on Europe - as RichardN has posted - there is no way he can back track on the referendum pledge in 2017 without being defenestrated, while his other pledge on Europe was the formation of a new group in the EU parliament. This he has delivered. [can we have some Latvian homophobe posts for old times sake, tim]
    Sorry Charles but you don't seem to get it.

    Once trust has been lost you can never get it back either with promises or with 2017 what-ifs.

    Cameron lost my trust on the EU in 2009 when he tried to replace his 'cast-iron' promise with a meaningless drivel of new promises consisting only of weasel words and legalese.

    Nothing I've seen since, in particular his midnight flounce followed by craven surrender, has encouraged me to change my mind.

    In fact I now KNOW that Cameron is a blatant liar - his "we're paying down Britain's debts" lie proved that.

    I do suspect that voters are particularly disgusted with politicians who lie to their own supporters. That politicians are widely regarded as a bunch of liars is one thing but a politician who lies to his own supporters is also a betrayer and who ever wants to trust a betrayer.

    This is why Clegg's betrayal on tuition fees and Cameron's betrayal on the EU are so damaging. not because of the salience of the issues but because of what they reveal of the man involved.

    I do get it: I work in a business where trust is paramount.

    I'd encourage you to reread Mr Dancer's post at 9:07 though. It sums up the situation very well.

    A post-ratifiction referendum on Lisbon would not only have been irrelevant, but it would have been actively damaging for the Eurosceptic cause. You are only going to get one shot at this and it's critical to get it right (witness the problems for electoral reform that the AV vote has caused).

    That may take patience, it may mean holding your noise and voting for a politician you despise. But the reality is that if the Tories do not win the next election there will not be a referendum on Europe in the foreseeable future.
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    CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 59,572
    OGH may be slightly missing the point about this bill - as Isabel Hardman writes:

    "And the party is also unveiling a clever trick tonight: members of the public will be allowed to become ‘co-sponsors’ of this Bill via the LetBritainDecide website. It will be on that site that Cameron and Hague will also pledge their support.

    This has been an impressive campaign from the party leadership both to present a united front on the bill and to market the legislation aggressively to voters. The website and the sheer volume of Tory MPs prepared to sell it in the media and online is part of an impressive effort from the party to make the very most of the bill at every stage. It is a strategy the Conservatives should replicate at every opportunity from now on."

    http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2013/06/exclusive-tories-go-public-with-eu-referendum-bill/

    http://letbritaindecide.com

    Fixing Tory unity (if it worked) would do more for their electoral prospects than any specific piece of legislation. As I say, if...
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    TGOHFTGOHF Posts: 21,633
    tim said:

    TGOHF said:

    BenM said:

    tim said:

    The banking report is already making waves.

    @iainmartin1: Wonder if "reckless mismanagement" law will apply to Chancellors who launch blow up the housing market Help to Buy schemes. Thought not...

    Iain Martin read my tweet!
    House prices rise at the shocking rate of 0.4% per annum ? Stock up on guns and bottled water lads - this sucker is going down.


    Given that Subprime George's programmes either not started yet or are only just kicking in would you like a bet on house price rises over the next two years compared to wages?

    So you are scared of a bubble that hasn't started yet - that might come - might not - can be stopped - impacts yet to be measured and with no idea how the economy might be functioning at the time.

    A lot of what ifs.

    Surprised you are ever brace enough to leave the house - oh wait...


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    CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758

    Polly will be choking on her organic muesli....

    Tom Newton Dunn tweets: YouGov/Sun spying poll: 'Bear in woods shock', 79% think it's normal for Govts to spy on each other at summits. 51% v 24% say ours should.

    I'm a bit worried about the 28% who say that everyone does it, but we shouldn't do it...

    Isn't that the same as the Labour core vote...
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    CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    tim said:

    TGOHF said:

    BenM said:

    tim said:

    The banking report is already making waves.

    @iainmartin1: Wonder if "reckless mismanagement" law will apply to Chancellors who launch blow up the housing market Help to Buy schemes. Thought not...

    Iain Martin read my tweet!
    House prices rise at the shocking rate of 0.4% per annum ? Stock up on guns and bottled water lads - this sucker is going down.


    Given that Subprime George's programmes have either not started yet or are only just kicking in would you like a bet on house price rises over the next two years compared to wages?

    Claiming that there's been no effect from a programme that hasn't begun yet just makes you look silly.

    How about a bet at evens that house prices in the year before the election are going up at double the annual wage rise.

    And another bet on rents rising at twice the wage rise in the same period.
    House prices going up at twice wages would be a good thing as the current value is 5x wages, so the multiple would be come down (albeit slowly)
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    isamisam Posts: 40,895
    Those coffin dodging, humbug smelling fuddy duddies seem to be very active on social media

    Golf clubs and residential homes must have free wifi!

    http://order-order.com/2013/06/19/cyber-wars-ukip-trumping-tories/
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    TGOHFTGOHF Posts: 21,633
    tim said:

    TGOHF said:

    tim said:

    TGOHF said:

    BenM said:

    tim said:

    The banking report is already making waves.

    @iainmartin1: Wonder if "reckless mismanagement" law will apply to Chancellors who launch blow up the housing market Help to Buy schemes. Thought not...

    Iain Martin read my tweet!
    House prices rise at the shocking rate of 0.4% per annum ? Stock up on guns and bottled water lads - this sucker is going down.


    Given that Subprime George's programmes either not started yet or are only just kicking in would you like a bet on house price rises over the next two years compared to wages?

    So you are scared of a bubble that hasn't started yet - that might come - might not - can be stopped - impacts yet to be measured and with no idea how the economy might be functioning at the time.

    A lot of what ifs.

    Surprised you are ever brace enough to leave the house - oh wait...


    Take the bets then, easy money for you if you have any confidence in your judgement.

    Like I'd bet with you after your backpeddling on Sir James Goldsmiths tax wager.

    Amusing line of attack on GO though - economy shaping up so you are blaming him for future crimes that have only happened in your mind.
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    PlatoPlato Posts: 15,724
    Holy Cow - the CQC are right in the clarts

    “...But we had to make a decision on Friday afternoon either to publish the report without the names or not to publish at all, as to publish it with the names would breach the Data Protection Act. We would have been open to being sued on that basis. We decided the overriding interest was to put this into the public domain, and that’s why we did that.”

    Police are now investigating the deaths of at least eight mothers and babies at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust...One senior manager stated in discussions over what to do with the internal report: “Are you kidding me? This can never be in a public domain nor subject to FOI [a Freedom of Information request]. Read my lips.” The official who wrote the internal report told the independent review that he had been asked to do something that was “clearly wrong”...

    Interviewed by BBC Radio 4 this morning, Mr Prior acknowledged that it was a senior CQC manager who ordered the destruction of the internal report into its own failings... http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/health/news/article3794816.ece
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    TGOHFTGOHF Posts: 21,633
    tim said:

    TGOHF said:

    tim said:

    TGOHF said:

    tim said:

    TGOHF said:

    BenM said:

    tim said:

    The banking report is already making waves.

    @iainmartin1: Wonder if "reckless mismanagement" law will apply to Chancellors who launch blow up the housing market Help to Buy schemes. Thought not...

    Iain Martin read my tweet!
    House prices rise at the shocking rate of 0.4% per annum ? Stock up on guns and bottled water lads - this sucker is going down.


    Given that Subprime George's programmes either not started yet or are only just kicking in would you like a bet on house price rises over the next two years compared to wages?

    So you are scared of a bubble that hasn't started yet - that might come - might not - can be stopped - impacts yet to be measured and with no idea how the economy might be functioning at the time.

    A lot of what ifs.

    Surprised you are ever brace enough to leave the house - oh wait...


    Take the bets then, easy money for you if you have any confidence in your judgement.

    Like I'd bet with you after your backpeddling on Sir James Goldsmiths tax wager.

    Amusing line of attack on GO though - economy shaping up so you are blaming him for future crimes that have only happened in your mind.

    Still whining about the referee, oh dear.

    Turning down a bet from a known payment avoider is an interesting definition of whining.
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    CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 59,572
    isam said:

    Those coffin dodging, humbug smelling fuddy duddies seem to be very active on social media

    Golf clubs and residential homes must have free wifi!

    http://order-order.com/2013/06/19/cyber-wars-ukip-trumping-tories/

    What Guido does not mention is the relative scale of the parties:

    http://ukgeneralelection2015.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/junes-party-political-cyber-warriors.html?m=1

    At UKIP's higher rate of growth of followers on Twitter (after a month of lots of publicity) it will take them over 3 years to match the Tories.....


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    JohnOJohnO Posts: 4,214
    @tim - what's the big deal in real world terms if wages rise by 2% and house prices by 4%?
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    NickPalmerNickPalmer Posts: 21,319

    If the Tories, or anyone else, appeared to be remotely serious about leaving the EU, I think that many UKIP voters would sit up and pay attention. The underlying problem for the Tories and to some extent all main parties with respect to UKIP voters is a lack of trust and identification - the UKIP voters are alienated from all of us, and we can put forward Bills proposing universal happiness and they'll still think we're just kidding them around. In the case of the referendum bill, they are of course precisely right.

    NP's post is, quite properly, the most quoted on the thread. UKIP activists do feel a lack of trust and identification and...alienated: this is accurate. However, it is expressed in terms that make it sound as though it is UKIP members 'fault' that they feel unrepresented, ignored and impotent. On bad days, this frustration at being deliberately marginalised, and being sneeringly dismissed, boils over into anger. This is very unattractive and off-putting, and I wish it didn't happen. But I can understand why it does.

    Thinking members of UKIP do not believe that Cameron is the man to take Britain out of the EU. And nor do members of the tory party, inside or outside Westminster.

    No slur was intended, David - I meant simply to state it as fact without attributing blame!

    Personally I think the "fault" lies with all the mainstream parties by pretending to agree with stuff that we don't. I support EU membership and think the idea of Britain successfully going it alone is seriously flawed; I think migration both ways is a natural and welcome trend in the modern world, with reasonable limits that are no stricter than now; I don't feel we have a uniquely wonderful yet fragile British culture which is really at risk; I try to be tactful about minorities in a way that could be called political correctness. Now here's the thing: in all these matters, if you talk to them privately, MPs in the mainstream parties largely agree. They feel it's the real world and Britain is best served by working with the grain. But the parties put on worried frowns, say we're concerned about the EU, worried about immigration, disturbed about cultural trends, etc. when actually we don't intend to do anything significant because we don't actually think we should.

    UKIP-leaning voters, by and large, disagree on these points, and are totally fed up with us pretending that we think the same way. In my experience they prefer it, and will sometimes even vote for us despite everything, if we're frank and explain why we think the way we do.
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    foxinsoxukfoxinsoxuk Posts: 23,548
    TGOHF said:

    Any update on when rEd's NHS flip flop is coming ? Or is he proposing another reorganisation ? Are they still planning to cut NHS spending like the had in their 2010 manifesto ?

    I suspect the answer is there is no policy.

    Andy Burnham promised to work within the new structures in his speech last week, but to increase democratic accountibility via councillor representatives.

    He also admitted there would be hospital closures and financial cuts to fund social care.


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    RandomRandom Posts: 107
    Charles said:


    He explicitly said a vote on the Lisbon Treaty assuming it hadn't been ratified.

    It's harder to get any clearer than that, and you don't need a lawyer. If people only hear what they want to hear then it's difficult to communicate with them.

    I agree it's given his opponents a stick. I just wish they would beat him up some something he did (and there's plenty to complain about) rather than something he didn't do

    He also said he wouldn't let things rest there - they look pretty well rested to me at the moment.

    In any case, I don't doubt for the moment that you are correct on the substance of the issue, but in these things the tone also matters. And to me at the time he sounded like someone who was relieved to have found a way out of an awkward promise he wasn't looking forward to implementing, not like someone who was outraged at the betrayal of the British people that Lisbon represented. I'm afraid to say that that was pretty much the point at which I decided I wasn't going to vote Conservative in the 2010 election, and IIRC the opinion polls certainly looks like I wasn't the only one.
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    AndreaParma_82AndreaParma_82 Posts: 4,714
    edited June 2013
    Trigger ballots to reselect Labour MPs have started/are starting all over the country.

    Each CLP branch (both wards and affiliates branches) vote Yes or No to reselect the sitting MP or to trigger a full scale open selection. The MP needs 50.1% of the branches in his favour.

    It's usually a formality because you are basically competing against yourself. And because affiliates (aka the unions branches) usually vote in favour of everybody.
    However, there have been few cases of trigger ballot losses since they were introduced. I recall at least 6 (Wareing 2001, Griffiths 2005, Clark 2005, Cox 2005, Cook 2010, Wareing 2010) since 1997. In 2 cases (Wareing 2001 and Helen Clark), the MP won the open selection. In one case (Cox), he decided to stand down without fighting the selection. In the other 3 cases, the MP was deselected.
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    john_zimsjohn_zims Posts: 3,399
    BenM said:

    » show previous quotes
    It was more the thrust of also jailing useless Chancellors.'

    Brown got off very lightly for trashing our economy.
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    NeilNeil Posts: 7,983
    @Andrea

    Some great names amongst that list of MPs facing trigger ballots! Our Jane and the venerable Helen. Good times.

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    williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 48,011
    tim said:

    Charles said:

    tim said:

    TGOHF said:

    BenM said:

    tim said:

    The banking report is already making waves.

    @iainmartin1: Wonder if "reckless mismanagement" law will apply to Chancellors who launch blow up the housing market Help to Buy schemes. Thought not...

    Iain Martin read my tweet!
    House prices rise at the shocking rate of 0.4% per annum ? Stock up on guns and bottled water lads - this sucker is going down.


    Given that Subprime George's programmes have either not started yet or are only just kicking in would you like a bet on house price rises over the next two years compared to wages?

    Claiming that there's been no effect from a programme that hasn't begun yet just makes you look silly.

    How about a bet at evens that house prices in the year before the election are going up at double the annual wage rise.

    And another bet on rents rising at twice the wage rise in the same period.
    House prices going up at twice wages would be a good thing as the current value is 5x wages, so the multiple would be come down (albeit slowly)
    Lets take an example

    Wage £20k Ave House Price 5*wages = £100k

    Wage £20k goes up 5% = 21k
    House Price goes up 10% = £110k

    New Multiple = 5.24 which is larger than 5
    Quite. House price inflation makes the population poorer in aggregate.
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    dr_spyndr_spyn Posts: 11,287
    edited June 2013
    Nigel Evans MP arrested on three further counts of indecent assault as he answers bail on earlier rape and indecent assault allegations

    BBC ticker
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    CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 59,572
    Anthony Wells on the polling today:

    http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/blog/archives/7674

    Assange should be left to rot in the Ecuadorian Embassy, (43) and if Brady wants to starve himself to death, let him (51:40)
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    TGOHFTGOHF Posts: 21,633
    tim said:

    TGOHF said:

    tim said:

    TGOHF said:

    tim said:

    TGOHF said:

    tim said:

    TGOHF said:

    BenM said:

    tim said:

    The banking report is already making waves.

    @iainmartin1: Wonder if "reckless mismanagement" law will apply to Chancellors who launch blow up the housing market Help to Buy schemes. Thought not...

    Iain Martin read my tweet!
    House prices rise at the shocking rate of 0.4% per annum ? Stock up on guns and bottled water lads - this sucker is going down.


    Given that Subprime George's programmes either not started yet or are only just kicking in would you like a bet on house price rises over the next two years compared to wages?

    So you are scared of a bubble that hasn't started yet - that might come - might not - can be stopped - impacts yet to be measured and with no idea how the economy might be functioning at the time.

    A lot of what ifs.

    Surprised you are ever brace enough to leave the house - oh wait...


    Take the bets then, easy money for you if you have any confidence in your judgement.

    Like I'd bet with you after your backpeddling on Sir James Goldsmiths tax wager.

    Amusing line of attack on GO though - economy shaping up so you are blaming him for future crimes that have only happened in your mind.

    Still whining about the referee, oh dear.

    Turning down a bet from a known payment avoider is an interesting definition of whining.
    Every bet I've taken on here has been settled as you well know and Mike and PtP will attest.
    Two went to PtP for a ruling and you refused to accept it and whined for three years.
    I accepted the ruling on Albion Till I Die's imaginary Mosque in the same circumstances, without resorting to your pathetic whinnying.

    No need to bleat tim - your credibility on anything trotted out the window during the fake farmer incident.


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    AndreaParma_82AndreaParma_82 Posts: 4,714
    @Neil

    You have to be a good name to face the trigger!

    Local selections have started in Southwark Labour as I see a chap tweeting he has won the Peckham nomination yesterday....he's not one of the sitting Cllrs there..but I don't know who is standing down or got the fall...
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    CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    tim said:

    Charles said:

    tim said:

    TGOHF said:

    BenM said:

    tim said:

    The banking report is already making waves.

    @iainmartin1: Wonder if "reckless mismanagement" law will apply to Chancellors who launch blow up the housing market Help to Buy schemes. Thought not...

    Iain Martin read my tweet!
    House prices rise at the shocking rate of 0.4% per annum ? Stock up on guns and bottled water lads - this sucker is going down.


    Given that Subprime George's programmes have either not started yet or are only just kicking in would you like a bet on house price rises over the next two years compared to wages?

    Claiming that there's been no effect from a programme that hasn't begun yet just makes you look silly.

    How about a bet at evens that house prices in the year before the election are going up at double the annual wage rise.

    And another bet on rents rising at twice the wage rise in the same period.
    House prices going up at twice wages would be a good thing as the current value is 5x wages, so the multiple would be come down (albeit slowly)
    Lets take an example

    Wage £20k Ave House Price 5*wages = £100k


    Wage £20k goes up 5% = 21k
    House Price goes up 10% = £110k

    New Multiple = 5.24 which is larger than 5

    You can put a second rate mind in a first rate school, but it doesn't prove much, just gives them the confidence to think they have a first rate mind.

    You're not factoring in the impact of tax - although I should have made clearer than it is take-home pay that matters
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    CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 59,572
    Ben Goldacre fretting that the BBC's reporting of the CQC mess is falling short:

    "eg Why are the BBC missing the killer quote "Are you kidding me? This can never be in a public domain nor subject to FOI. Read my lips."

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-22949211

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    JohnOJohnO Posts: 4,214
    tim said:

    JohnO said:

    @tim - what's the big deal in real world terms if wages rise by 2% and house prices by 4%?

    Young people fall further and further behind old people mainly.
    And the housing benefit bill keeps rising.

    There's a lot of stuff regarding the efficient use of economic resources in countries with high relative house prices as well if you want me to right a column for the Hersham Bugle

    House price inflation is a bigger deal than student fees if it rips again as Osborne is attempting to get it to do.

    Or even WRITE a piece for our super, sizzling, soaraway, Bugle (next edition due in the autumn)? Hmm, I'll give some thought to you as a guest columnist. I could call you Simon Heffer...no one would know the difference.
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    NeilNeil Posts: 7,983
    @Carlotta

    Assange was such a huge story in the silly season last year (when nothing else was happening) - I really hope we get through August without mentioning him this year.
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    CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    Random said:

    Charles said:


    He explicitly said a vote on the Lisbon Treaty assuming it hadn't been ratified.

    It's harder to get any clearer than that, and you don't need a lawyer. If people only hear what they want to hear then it's difficult to communicate with them.

    I agree it's given his opponents a stick. I just wish they would beat him up some something he did (and there's plenty to complain about) rather than something he didn't do

    He also said he wouldn't let things rest there - they look pretty well rested to me at the moment.

    In any case, I don't doubt for the moment that you are correct on the substance of the issue, but in these things the tone also matters. And to me at the time he sounded like someone who was relieved to have found a way out of an awkward promise he wasn't looking forward to implementing, not like someone who was outraged at the betrayal of the British people that Lisbon represented. I'm afraid to say that that was pretty much the point at which I decided I wasn't going to vote Conservative in the 2010 election, and IIRC the opinion polls certainly looks like I wasn't the only one.
    "they look pretty well rested" - when they have made a pledge of a vote in 2017 and have just introduced legislation (yes through a backdoor, but that's the problem with being in coalition).

    Lisbon didn't represent a betrayal of the British people. Brown was our Prime Minister, freely chosen by a majority of the elected House of Commons. You may disagree with him - I disagree with him - but he had the right to do what he did.
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    RandomRandom Posts: 107
    edited June 2013
    Charles said:


    I do get it: I work in a business where trust is paramount.

    I'd encourage you to reread Mr Dancer's post at 9:07 though. It sums up the situation very well.

    A post-ratifiction referendum on Lisbon would not only have been irrelevant, but it would have been actively damaging for the Eurosceptic cause. You are only going to get one shot at this and it's critical to get it right (witness the problems for electoral reform that the AV vote has caused).

    That may take patience, it may mean holding your noise and voting for a politician you despise. But the reality is that if the Tories do not win the next election there will not be a referendum on Europe in the foreseeable future.

    To paraphrase General Giap, that is true, but it is also irrelevant. It's true that we won't get a referendum if the Conservatives lose, and it's irrelevant because so many people (and certainly most of those flirting with UKIP I suspect) believe we won't get one if the Conservatives win either - and certainly not under Cameron. This is because the so called "referendum lock" is nothing of the sort, it's only a promise of a referendum if ministers think the changes agreed at the time are big enough to justify it. Do you seriously think you can promise, with absolute conviction, that Cameron will not do what pretty much every other British PM has done in the past and simply portray any future treaty as simply a minor tidying up exercise, evidence that Europe is moving in Britain's direction, etc. and therefore does not trigger the lock? Because this is exactly what many sceptics think will happen.

    One further peace of evidence that the referendum lock is worthless BTW - Ed Miliband, who has said he will never allow a referendum, sees no problem with keeping it -

    http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2013/01/miliband-promises-keep-camerons-eu-referendum-lock
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