Clegg got into a govt when most of the other "stars" didn't.
By a quirk in electoral mathematics that happens once every few decades. What you actually mean is he made the choice to go into power that none of the previous lib dem leaders had available to them.
Clegg has better survival instincts than Dave or Ed and despite all the jibes he is still there
It's his possible replacements that have the better survival instincts because they certainly don't want to become the coalition sh*t magnet till the last possible minute.
and will potentially hold the balance of power in 2015.
The less lib dem MPs there are, the less chance of another coalition. It's pretty much that simple. Under Clegg they are hardly looking like those numbers will surge any time soon.
So the LDs have a route to the blues- Clegg -and one to the Reds - Cable. Nice place to be.
What makes you think the lib dems or the tory MPs members and grassroots would be prepared to stomach Clegg in charge of coalition negotiations again? For that matter Vince is no spring chicken so he's hardly a certainty.
The LDs are currently letting Labour and the Conservatives hack chunks out of each other whilst sitting quietly on the sidelines. Just by not getting involved in idiot fights they can carve out a position as the vaguely sane ones.
There's very little sane about having appallingly bad personal poll ratings while blithely watching your base get smashed year on year and hoping that everything will turn out nice come the election.
We'll just have to see if Farron's cockroach comments come true. You think the LDs are headed for history's dustbin, I think they'll hang on like limpets against the tidal rush. And if Ed or Dave can't convince the electorate in 2015 they'll both be heading to the same place wearing their best smile.
I've heard this rather ludicrous line before but usually from the lib dems. I'm not saying the lib dems are going to cease to be as a party (is anyone?) but they are absolutely heading for a severe hammering with nothing on the horizon to mitigate that while Clegg is leader.
Any slight economic uptick will be claimed by the tories during the election campaign. (and be of little consequence unless living standards and wages improve markedly too) The tories are hardly about to heap praise all over Cleggy and the lib dems when they are fighting against them in so many seats. It's every man for himself come the election.
I'd say the LDs are quite capable of claiming their own share in economic recovery. The Coalition will start to distance itself post Indyref imo and then it's every man for himself. The replace Clegg argument is too centred on a personality. Firstly his 2 opponents aren't exactly inspiring - neither is beloved of the electorate - and secondly who would replace him ? Huhne's gone, Vince is too old and anyone sensible would want to step into the shoes post election and start clean rather than take the risk of being blamed if the result is bad.
Oh, I'm pretty certain the voting public can't wait for little Danny and Osbrowne to tell them they've never had it so good.
Don't quite know how that squares with Danny repeatedly getting voted worst performer by his own lib dem members or Osbrowne's hilariously bad approval ratings, but it will be entertaining nonetheless.
You think the debates aren't going to make the election about personality? For that matter you'd best have a word with Crosby because he's absolutely going to make the election about personality.
For possible Clegg replacements have a look at the odds. Farron still looks fairly good and Cable might still have a run as caretaker for a while. Lamb is an invisible man these days TBH. Only in extremis and deadlock could I see him getting it as a compromise candidate.
The idea that there won't be ambitious MPs who want to be leader in any party is a curious one. That certainly hasn't been the lib dem way for a while now as Clegg knows all too well. He was quite happy to stick the knife into Ming when the time was ripe after all. There is guaranteed to be a high profile lib dem MP who thinks they could do a better job as leader at the election. Just not quite yet for obvious reasons.
Clegg got into a govt when most of the other "stars" didn't.
By a quirk in electoral mathematics that happens once every few decades. What you actually mean is he made the choice to go into power that none of the previous lib dem leaders had available to them.
Clegg has better survival instincts than Dave or Ed and despite all the jibes he is still there
It's his possible replacements that have the better survival instincts because they certainly don't want to become the coalition sh*t magnet till the last possible minute.
and will potentially hold the balance of power in 2015.
The less lib dem MPs there are, the less chance of another coalition. It's pretty much that simple. Under Clegg they are hardly looking like those numbers will surge any time soon.
So the LDs have a route to the blues- Clegg -and one to the Reds - Cable. Nice place to be.
What makes you think the lib dems or the tory MPs members and grassroots would be prepared to stomach Clegg in charge of coalition negotiations again? For that matter Vince is no spring chicken so he's hardly a certainty.
The LDs are currently letting Labour and the Conservatives hack chunks out of each other whilst sitting quietly on the sidelines. Just by not getting involved in idiot fights they can carve out a position as the vaguely sane ones.
There's very little sane about having appallingly bad personal poll ratings while blithely watching your base get smashed year on year and hoping that everything will turn out nice come the election.
We'll just have to see if Farron's cockroach comments come true. You think the LDs are headed for history's dustbin, I think they'll hang on like limpets against the tidal rush. And if Ed or Dave can't convince the electorate in 2015 they'll both be heading to the same place wearing their best smile.
I've heard this rather ludicrous line before but usually from the lib dems. I'm not saying the lib dems are going to cease to be as a party (is anyone?) but they are absolutely heading for a severe hammering with nothing on the horizon to mitigate that while Clegg is leader.
Any slight economic uptick will be claimed by the tories during the election campaign. (and be of little consequence unless living standards and wages improve markedly too) The tories are hardly about to heap praise all over Cleggy and the lib dems when they are fighting against them in so many seats. It's every man for himself come the election.
I'd say the LDs are quite capable of claiming their own share in economic recovery. The Coalition will start to distance itself post Indyref imo and then it's every man for himself. The replace Clegg argument is too centred on a personality. Firstly his 2 opponents aren't exactly inspiring - neither is beloved of the electorate - and secondly who would replace him ? Huhne's gone, Vince is too old and anyone sensible would want to step into the shoes post election and start clean rather than take the risk of being blamed if the result is bad.
Oh, I'm pretty certain the voting public can't wait for little Danny and Osbrowne to tell them they've never had it so good.
Don't quite know how that squares with Danny repeatedly getting voted worst performer by his own lib dem members or Osbrowne's hilariously bad approval ratings, but it will be entertaining nonetheless.
You think the debates aren't gong to make the election about personality? For that matter you'd best have a word with Crosby because he's absolutely going to make the election about personality.
For possible Clegg replacements have a look at the odds. Farron still looks fairly good and Cable might still have a run as caretaker for a while. Lamb is an invisible man these days TBH. Only in extremis and deadlock could I see him getting it as a compromise candidate.
The idea that there won't be ambitious MPs who want to be leader in any party is a curious one. That certainly hasn't been the lib dem way for a while now as Clegg knows all too well. He was quite happy to stick the knife into Ming when the time was ripe after all. There is guaranteed to be a high profile lib dem MP who thinks they could so a better job as leader at the election. Just not quite yet for obvious reasons.
This time round I'd expect the debates to lose some of their novelty and have less of an impact. Unless of course the TV channels manage to relax the rules or add Salmond or Farage to the mix which is fairly unlikely.
As for ambitious Mps they'll all want to be leader but the choice atm is let Clegg take the rap if it's a bad LD result and start afresh or get a cabinet seat if it isn't.
Labour leader building a mass movement is firing up Labour supporters. And putting Cameron on the rack over a donations cap.
But there's no review of the PB Tories attacking Mike Smithson for getting PMQs right before they'd realised why he was getting it right
tim
Miliband is not "building a mass movement". He is trying to divert public attention away from alleged electoral fraud.
We will discover on Monday whether he is serious about replacing 'opt-out' with 'opt-in'. If he doesn't take up Cameron's offer of legislation, then will he vote against the Coalition Government doing it for him?
Labour is at liberty to impose a donations cap on its own donors. Miliband doesn't need Cameron's support.
PMQs was an anarchic roar with neither Miliband nor Cameron landing a knockout blow. You can argue a case for either winning by a small margin but it won't persuade the neutral observer.
Labour leader building a mass movement is firing up Labour supporters. And putting Cameron on the rack over a donations cap.
But there's no review of the PB Tories attacking Mike Smithson for getting PMQs right before they'd realised why he was getting it right
Yeah tim, thing is I can't really see Ed getting anyone excited about anything let alone fired up.
I wouldn't expect you to. And the biggest story in that list is Universal Credit, reduced to 6 Job Centres, and even those can only handle single people without children.
Maybe we should build tiny job centres and put them in tiny Free Schools, to combine the two remaining flagship policies. One member of staff per claimant or child and success is assured.
I'd doubt that's the biggest story people are thinking of, cricket, royal baby, barbeque weather any of those will beat that.
As for the policies you're attacking, well they'll be yours too in a week or so, won't they ?
This time round I'd expect the debates to lose some of their novelty and have less of an impact. Unless of course the TV channels manage to relax the rules or add Salmond or Farage to the mix which is fairly unlikely.
As for ambitious Mps they'll all want to be leader but the choice atm is let Clegg take the rap if it's a bad LD result and start afresh or get a cabinet seat if it isn't.
The debates will still be a media bunfight this time around and even more so if Clegg is there. He's going to have a bit of task putting forward any policies without the inevitable "and would you ditch that like tuition fees?" dogging him every step of the way.
The leader is the frontman for the campaign. No way around that. Even though Blair did try to mitigate his own rapidly fading appeal with the amusing Blair Brown chuminess act in 2005, the cameras will still be following the leaders on the campaign trail as usual.
The lib dems can hardly afford another couple of years of their base getting hammered, never mind the carnage that will likely be visited on their MPs if Clegg is still there. To rebuild that base is already going to take many, many years. If you then add Clegg and the MPs to the mix they are in deep trouble for longer than just one more electoral cycle. It's a question of damage limitation. I just can't see the lib dems blithely sitting back and letting Clegg do his worst and then hoping it all changes in the blink of an eye afterwards when they know it won't.
Lib dem MPs will also be looking very carefully at the polls and their own seats. So if enough think they have a better chance of staying an MP without Clegg as leader then bye bye Clegg.
This time round I'd expect the debates to lose some of their novelty and have less of an impact. Unless of course the TV channels manage to relax the rules or add Salmond or Farage to the mix which is fairly unlikely.
As for ambitious Mps they'll all want to be leader but the choice atm is let Clegg take the rap if it's a bad LD result and start afresh or get a cabinet seat if it isn't.
The debates will still be a media bunfight this time around and even more so if Clegg is there. He's going to have a bit of task putting forward any policies without the inevitable "and would you ditch that like tuition fees?" dogging him every step of the way.
The leader is the frontman for the campaign. No way around that. Even though Blair did try to mitigate his own rapidly fading appeal with the amusing Blair Brown chuminess act in 2005, the cameras will still be following the leaders on the campaign trail as usual.
The lib dems can hardly afford another couple of years of their base getting hammered, never mind the carnage that will likely be visited on their MPs if Clegg is still there. To rebuild that base is already going to take many, many years. If you then add Clegg and the MPs to the mix they are in deep trouble for longer than just one more electoral cycle. It's a question of damage limitation. I just can't see the lib dems blithely sitting back and letting Clegg do his worst and then hoping it all changes in the blink of an eye afterwards when they know it won't.
Lib dem MPs will also be looking very carefully at the polls and their own seats. So if enough think they have a better chance of staying an MP without Clegg as leader then bye bye Clegg.
Mick I'm starting to get the impression you don't like Clegg
Labour leader building a mass movement is firing up Labour supporters. And putting Cameron on the rack over a donations cap.
But there's no review of the PB Tories attacking Mike Smithson for getting PMQs right before they'd realised why he was getting it right
tim
Miliband is not "building a mass movement". He is trying to divert public attention away from alleged electoral fraud.
We will discover on Monday whether he is serious about replacing 'opt-out' with 'opt-in'. If he doesn't take up Cameron's offer of legislation, then will he vote against the Coalition Government doing it for him?
Labour is at liberty to impose a donations cap on its own donors. Miliband doesn't need Cameron's support.
PMQs was an anarchic roar with neither Miliband nor Cameron landing a knockout blow. You can argue a case for either winning by a small margin but it won't persuade the neutral observer.
Legislation isn't needed to change the opt in, it's a stunt.
As for PMQs Dave the tennis fan airbrushing out Virginia Wade while reading a Pre prepped intro was the most amusing bit All those twit school boys preparing him and not one of them spotted it. Willie Hagues "Stupid woman" comment dragged him in as well.
Never mind, the misogynist chums are having a reshuffle to promote some women next week. Dave told people in India Sam Cam told him to, it's a shame it has to be pointed out to him so regularly isn't it, his problem.
Legislation would ensure the change. Empty promises won't.
Talking of Andy Murray being the first British Wimbledon Champion for 77 years implies a reference to the Gentleman's Singles Championship. In context, it does not need to be expressly stated. Only people who refer to Chairmen as "Chairs" would object. A masculine collective noun does not need to be gender specific in its inclusions.
Andy Jamieson made a stupid remark and is almost certainly a stupid woman. Hague was correct even if ill-mannered to mouth it.
You are right. Cameron will use the upcoming reshuffle to promote more women into government. It is all part of his goal to rebalance the country.
This time round I'd expect the debates to lose some of their novelty and have less of an impact. Unless of course the TV channels manage to relax the rules or add Salmond or Farage to the mix which is fairly unlikely.
As for ambitious Mps they'll all want to be leader but the choice atm is let Clegg take the rap if it's a bad LD result and start afresh or get a cabinet seat if it isn't.
The debates will still be a media bunfight this time around and even more so if Clegg is there. He's going to have a bit of task putting forward any policies without the inevitable "and would you ditch that like tuition fees?" dogging him every step of the way.
The leader is the frontman for the campaign. No way around that. Even though Blair did try to mitigate his own rapidly fading appeal with the amusing Blair Brown chuminess act in 2005, the cameras will still be following the leaders on the campaign trail as usual.
The lib dems can hardly afford another couple of years of their base getting hammered, never mind the carnage that will likely be visited on their MPs if Clegg is still there. To rebuild that base is already going to take many, many years. If you then add Clegg and the MPs to the mix they are in deep trouble for longer than just one more electoral cycle. It's a question of damage limitation. I just can't see the lib dems blithely sitting back and letting Clegg do his worst and then hoping it all changes in the blink of an eye afterwards when they know it won't.
Lib dem MPs will also be looking very carefully at the polls and their own seats. So if enough think they have a better chance of staying an MP without Clegg as leader then bye bye Clegg.
Mick I'm starting to get the impression you don't like Clegg
Many of the same arguments held for Ming Campbell. (though to a far lesser degree) For that matter most of the same arguments hold for any unpopular leader of a party. The polling shows us clearly that the public don't like Clegg. So why such a statement of the obvious should upset a tory I've no idea.
Unless you were looking forward to facing such a toxic liability in all those lib dem tory battlegrounds of course? And who could blame you. I'm sure little Ed is also relying on Clegg's 'popular appeal' to steal as many lib dems away as possible.
Clegg might well still be leader at the election, but to think that's a good idea flies in the face of the evidence.
"Mick I'm starting to get the impression you don't like Clegg "
Clegg is the man who removed Brown from power. Salmond wished to keep Brown in power via a " Rainbow coalitition ". It's hardly surprising that Mick Pork dislikes the man who frustrated his heroes's ambititions.
Labour leader building a mass movement is firing up Labour supporters. And putting Cameron on the rack over a donations cap.
But there's no review of the PB Tories attacking Mike Smithson for getting PMQs right before they'd realised why he was getting it right
tim
Miliband is not "building a mass movement". He is trying to divert public attention away from alleged electoral fraud.
We will discover on Monday whether he is serious about replacing 'opt-out' with 'opt-in'. If he doesn't take up Cameron's offer of legislation, then will he vote against the Coalition Government doing it for him?
Labour is at liberty to impose a donations cap on its own donors. Miliband doesn't need Cameron's support.
PMQs was an anarchic roar with neither Miliband nor Cameron landing a knockout blow. You can argue a case for either winning by a small margin but it won't persuade the neutral observer.
Legislation isn't needed to change the opt in, it's a stunt.
As for PMQs Dave the tennis fan airbrushing out Virginia Wade while reading a Pre prepped intro was the most amusing bit All those twit school boys preparing him and not one of them spotted it. Willie Hagues "Stupid woman" comment dragged him in as well.
Never mind, the misogynist chums are having a reshuffle to promote some women next week. Dave told people in India Sam Cam told him to, it's a shame it has to be pointed out to him so regularly isn't it, his problem.
The incompetent fops just can't help themselves can they? Comical twits blundering about while their own backbenches looked furious and bewildered. As clear an open goal as the chumocracy could hope for and they missed. Yet again.
This time round I'd expect the debates to lose some of their novelty and have less of an impact. Unless of course the TV channels manage to relax the rules or add Salmond or Farage to the mix which is fairly unlikely.
As for ambitious Mps they'll all want to be leader but the choice atm is let Clegg take the rap if it's a bad LD result and start afresh or get a cabinet seat if it isn't.
The debates will still be a media bunfight this time around and even more so if Clegg is there. He's going to have a bit of task putting forward any policies without the inevitable "and would you ditch that like tuition fees?" dogging him every step of the way.
The leader is the frontman for the campaign. No way around that. Even though Blair did try to mitigate his own rapidly fading appeal with the amusing Blair Brown chuminess act in 2005, the cameras will still be following the leaders on the campaign trail as usual.
The lib dems can hardly afford another couple of years of their base getting hammered, never mind the carnage that will likely be visited on their MPs if Clegg is still there. To rebuild that base is already going to take many, many years. If you then add Clegg and the MPs to the mix they are in deep trouble for longer than just one more electoral cycle. It's a question of damage limitation. I just can't see the lib dems blithely sitting back and letting Clegg do his worst and then hoping it all changes in the blink of an eye afterwards when they know it won't.
Lib dem MPs will also be looking very carefully at the polls and their own seats. So if enough think they have a better chance of staying an MP without Clegg as leader then bye bye Clegg.
Mick I'm starting to get the impression you don't like Clegg
Many of the same arguments held for Ming Campbell. (though to a far lesser degree) For that matter most of the same arguments hold for any unpopular leader of a party. The polling shows us clearly that the public don't like Clegg. So why such a statement of the obvious should upset a tory I've no idea.
Unless you were looking forward to facing such a toxic liability in all those lib dem tory battlegrounds of course? And who could blame you. I'm sure little Ed is also relying on Clegg's 'popular appeal' to steal as many lib dems away as possible.
Simply giving my observations Mick, none of the3 party leaders is popular and all of them are heading off for 2015.
Norway imposing duties of up to 400% on selected agricultural imports for the express purpose of maintaining "viable Norwegian agriculture for the future."
On the Piper Alpha documentary I hadn't realised until I watched it that I worked with one of the survivors a few years after the disaster. Needless to say he never spoke about it and it wasn't until I saw him in the film that I recognised him. He was the flight officer who was one of the last to get off the platform.
Norway imposing duties of up to 400% on selected agricultural imports for the express purpose of maintaining "viable Norwegian agriculture for the future."
And all the EU can do is 'deplore' the move.
Fine but it does mean suffering a diet of elk, ptarmigan and rakfish.
Norway imposing duties of up to 400% on selected agricultural imports for the express purpose of maintaining "viable Norwegian agriculture for the future."
And all the EU can do is 'deplore' the move.
If they need 400% duties on agricultural products to maintain those agricultural sectors how much are consumers paying in food bills to protect a petting museum? You could have Kent miners driving around in Bentleys paid for by energy tariffs while you're at it.
Well that is Norway for you. They pay an absolute fortune for almost everything as a matter of social policy. (Or so it seems when you live there).
The point is that contrary to what is always claimed by the Euro-fanatics, Norway does not have to do everything it is told by the EU and can make decisions like this - even if they are decisions which I personally would not agree with.
Norway imposing duties of up to 400% on selected agricultural imports for the express purpose of maintaining "viable Norwegian agriculture for the future."
And all the EU can do is 'deplore' the move.
Fine but it does mean suffering a diet of elk, ptarmigan and rakfish.
I love Norway but not as a gourmand.
Not my idea of a great diet either but as I said to Tim, the point is that if they want to protect their weird and wonderful foods then they can.
I think the vast majority of people just see politicians as only doing things that benefit their parties. Milliband isn't doing the union thing, or talking about MPs second jobs because he thinks it's the right thing to do- he's doing it because he thinks it'll be popular, and he wants to get elected. It's the same with Cameron, Clegg, and the rest of them. Fair play to them, it's what politicians do, but we've rumbled them.
Please tell me there's no wedding night stories in it.
She was helping put out chairs for a campaign meeting and these ladies there were saying: 'You don't come out all this way just to put out chairs, love!'
Quite quickly I got to the point where I thought: 'I can't imagine my life without Justine.'
I really feel so lucky. She's so much the rock of my life. It sounds a bit corny, but I wouldn't be doing this job and I wouldn't be happy without her.
Awwwwww!
Carola can sniff out a fake any day of the week, tim.
I haven't heard anything from any other source about income inequality being at its lowest since 1986 apart from LibDem voice. Do they give a reliable source?
Please tell me there's no wedding night stories in it.
She was helping put out chairs for a campaign meeting and these ladies there were saying: 'You don't come out all this way just to put out chairs, love!'
Quite quickly I got to the point where I thought: 'I can't imagine my life without Justine.'
I really feel so lucky. She's so much the rock of my life. It sounds a bit corny, but I wouldn't be doing this job and I wouldn't be happy without her.
Awwwwww!
Carola can sniff out a fake any day of the week, tim.
Clearly all those 'how to snare your man' advice columns are missing a trick. *plans business teaching single women how to put out chairs in a way that a man cannot imagine life without*
I haven't heard anything from any other source about income inequality being at its lowest since 1986 apart from LibDem voice. Do they give a reliable source?
I haven't heard anything from any other source about income inequality being at its lowest since 1986 apart from LibDem voice. Do they give a reliable source?
Please tell me there's no wedding night stories in it.
She was helping put out chairs for a campaign meeting and these ladies there were saying: 'You don't come out all this way just to put out chairs, love!'
Quite quickly I got to the point where I thought: 'I can't imagine my life without Justine.'
I really feel so lucky. She's so much the rock of my life. It sounds a bit corny, but I wouldn't be doing this job and I wouldn't be happy without her.
Awwwwww!
Carola can sniff out a fake any day of the week, tim.
Clearly all those 'how to snare your man' advice columns are missing a trick. *plans business teaching single women how to put out chairs in a way that a man cannot imagine life without*
Adopting the motif of the kissing chair, this is the way to do it.
Let's get this straight: you buy the island for £500K, go and live there for a bit, hold an independence referendum of yourself, and (assuming you remember to vote Yes) then you get the rights to the oil for miles around?
Anyone see any snag with this wheeze (well, other than having to live there for a bit)?
I haven't heard anything from any other source about income inequality being at its lowest since 1986 apart from LibDem voice. Do they give a reliable source?
Please tell me there's no wedding night stories in it.
She was helping put out chairs for a campaign meeting and these ladies there were saying: 'You don't come out all this way just to put out chairs, love!'
Quite quickly I got to the point where I thought: 'I can't imagine my life without Justine.'
I really feel so lucky. She's so much the rock of my life. It sounds a bit corny, but I wouldn't be doing this job and I wouldn't be happy without her.
Awwwwww!
Carola can sniff out a fake any day of the week, tim.
Clearly all those 'how to snare your man' advice columns are missing a trick. *plans business teaching single women how to put out chairs in a way that a man cannot imagine life without*
I think the moral of that "you dont come out all this way just to put out chairs love" story is that all govt enquiries or judicial reviews should be carried out by working class women from Doncaster Wigan or Stoke.
How long was the gap? While the second Ed was getting his trousers off? Apologies for the raucous nature but we are well into the lagershed and I'm probably about to be kicked out of the pub for posting this via their free wifi. :-)
How long was the gap? While the second Ed was getting his trousers off? Apologies for the raucous nature but we are well into the lagershed and I'm probably about to be kicked out of the pub for posting this via their free wifi. :-)
I put the Miliband interview at number 13 in nighthawks.
I also put a warning next to it.
It truly is a terrifying interview, I felt queasy throughout, and I speak as someone who was read and watched all the Twilight books and films.
The Gordon Gurn de nos jours?
Worse, much worse, it has Ed M discussing sharing a girlfriend with Ed Balls.
That's the sort of image, that leads people to writing on the wall with their feet
Well that was my first impression, but there was gap, so not concurrently.
But the image was loaded, and once seen, can never be unseen
Now Magazine: You and shadow chancellor Ed Balls have both dated BBC economics editor Stephanie Flanders - is it weird that you've shared a girlfriend?
Ed Miliband: We did both date her but there was a long time apart between me and Ed. Stephanie and I don't have any problems running into each other now.
Let's get this straight: you buy the island for £500K, go and live there for a bit, hold an independence referendum of yourself, and (assuming you remember to vote Yes) then you get the rights to the oil for miles around?
Anyone see any snag with this wheeze (well, other than having to live there for a bit)?
When you make your UDI the big bully next door may get upset?
Could we not have a politician that said "I'm not a man of the people, but I intend to be a man for the people"?
The public would respect that far more than all these tortured attempts to build a bond with ordinary people's lives.
That came up at the UNITE nomination interview - how could we get more working-class candidates? I said that we should try to encourage more working-class applicants and I obviously couldn't claim to be an example, but I thought that nobody could have personal experience of everything so the key thing was to have people who listened and understood people from other backgrounds. They seemed OK with that, though in the event they nominated another guy.
Incidentally, I thought their process was the best I've come across. Normally branches just invite applicants to give a speech and answer questions, but UNITE had two test cases and candidates had 20 minutes to write how they'd deal with them as an MP (one was how to handle a delegation coming to ask about trade union rights, the other was how to handle allegations that there was discrimination in managerial promotion in a public service). Both more subtle than this summary suggests - e.g. it would clearly have been a mistake just to launch into ideas to help trade unionists, since the first thing is to listen to what the delegation has to say...
Please tell me there's no wedding night stories in it.
She was helping put out chairs for a campaign meeting and these ladies there were saying: 'You don't come out all this way just to put out chairs, love!'
Quite quickly I got to the point where I thought: 'I can't imagine my life without Justine.'
I really feel so lucky. She's so much the rock of my life. It sounds a bit corny, but I wouldn't be doing this job and I wouldn't be happy without her.
Awwwwww!
Carola can sniff out a fake any day of the week, tim.
Clearly all those 'how to snare your man' advice columns are missing a trick. *plans business teaching single women how to put out chairs in a way that a man cannot imagine life without*
I think the moral of that "you dont come out all this way just to put out chairs love" story is that all govt enquiries or judicial reviews should be carried out by working class women from Doncaster Wigan or Stoke.
Save a bloody fortune in lawyers.
Tha raht tha knowst.
That's foreplay in Fenton.
They've obviously not experienced the tantalising allure of chair putting outing.
Please tell me there's no wedding night stories in it.
She was helping put out chairs for a campaign meeting and these ladies there were saying: 'You don't come out all this way just to put out chairs, love!'
Quite quickly I got to the point where I thought: 'I can't imagine my life without Justine.'
I really feel so lucky. She's so much the rock of my life. It sounds a bit corny, but I wouldn't be doing this job and I wouldn't be happy without her.
Awwwwww!
Carola can sniff out a fake any day of the week, tim.
Clearly all those 'how to snare your man' advice columns are missing a trick. *plans business teaching single women how to put out chairs in a way that a man cannot imagine life without*
I think the moral of that "you dont come out all this way just to put out chairs love" story is that all govt enquiries or judicial reviews should be carried out by working class women from Doncaster Wigan or Stoke.
If 2010 LDs were - hug a huskie core vote - too leftie for labour bloc - ukippy bod bloc
then the too leftie for labour bloc will prob still tactically vote LD in very clear-cut Con vs LD seats. So they should still do well in a certain kind of seat imo.
Their main loss will be the progress made in the more urban and northern areas.
If 2010 LDs were - hug a huskie core vote - too leftie for labour bloc - ukippy bod bloc
then the too leftie for labour bloc will prob still tactically vote LD in very clear-cut Con vs LD seats. So they should still do well in a certain kind of seat imo.
Their main loss will be the progress made in the more urban and northern areas.
The Islington set work to get their preferred candidates into their parachute fiefdoms. UNITE etc work to get their people in instead. So far so normal. It seems the union bods overstepped the mark in Falkirk and the Blairites have jumped at the chance to make some hay - again so far no big deal. The interesting question is will Cerise take this opportunity to change sides and complete the New Labour transformation.
Extraordinary scenes in the Dail as debate on the abortion Bill is extended to 5am. And in a pattern that is almost typical for abortion debates in Ireland down the years the extremes of the policy positions (pro choice and pro life) are both coming out against the Bill. It should still pass.
(Generally debates in the Dail are atrociously poor but this one is remarkable for issue under debate and the fact that it has already been going for 12 hours + and has another 4 hours left.)
If they need 400% duties on agricultural products to maintain those agricultural sectors how much are consumers paying in food bills to protect a petting museum? You could have Kent miners driving around in Bentleys paid for by energy tariffs while you're at it.
Are you such a "free market" fundamentalist, Tim? perhaps I'm a dinosaur, but I'm not sure its always the best position. I'm not altogether in favour of the forthcoming TPP for Japan, because I think rice agriculture here needs protection. Even with the prices supported as they are, I'm still seeing paddy fields concreted over year by year- Japan achieved self-sufficiency in rice produciton in the 80s I think, but removing that capacity seems to be a backward step to me- the only real benficiaries being alabama farmers, or whoever owns most of Thailand (and its not going to be poor farmers, I'm sure.
Comments
Oh, I'm pretty certain the voting public can't wait for little Danny and Osbrowne to tell them they've never had it so good.
Don't quite know how that squares with Danny repeatedly getting voted worst performer by his own lib dem members or Osbrowne's hilariously bad approval ratings, but it will be entertaining nonetheless.
You think the debates aren't going to make the election about personality? For that matter you'd best have a word with Crosby because he's absolutely going to make the election about personality.
For possible Clegg replacements have a look at the odds. Farron still looks fairly good and Cable might still have a run as caretaker for a while. Lamb is an invisible man these days TBH. Only in extremis and deadlock could I see him getting it as a compromise candidate.
The idea that there won't be ambitious MPs who want to be leader in any party is a curious one. That certainly hasn't been the lib dem way for a while now as Clegg knows all too well. He was quite happy to stick the knife into Ming when the time was ripe after all. There is guaranteed to be a high profile lib dem MP who thinks they could do a better job as leader at the election. Just not quite yet for obvious reasons.
Ed Miliband's gamble over party funding might work, it might not, but to the disenchanted majority of people, it doesn't matter
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jul/10/people-lost-interest-party-politics?CMP=twt_gu
As for ambitious Mps they'll all want to be leader but the choice atm is let Clegg take the rap if it's a bad LD result and start afresh or get a cabinet seat if it isn't.
Miliband is not "building a mass movement". He is trying to divert public attention away from alleged electoral fraud.
We will discover on Monday whether he is serious about replacing 'opt-out' with 'opt-in'. If he doesn't take up Cameron's offer of legislation, then will he vote against the Coalition Government doing it for him?
Labour is at liberty to impose a donations cap on its own donors. Miliband doesn't need Cameron's support.
PMQs was an anarchic roar with neither Miliband nor Cameron landing a knockout blow. You can argue a case for either winning by a small margin but it won't persuade the neutral observer.
As for the policies you're attacking, well they'll be yours too in a week or so, won't they ?
"You cheated with that post. You actually know stuff about …. that kind of stuff!
Ergo, you are not representative of the great British public.
Ergo, your knowing things disqualifies you from posting on a site devoted to studying the opinions of those who know sod all about anything."
http://nopenothope.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/standing-room-only-at-jewish-chronicle.html
You should have kidnapped and repatriated him, Mr. Brooke!
He's going to have a bit of task putting forward any policies without the inevitable "and would you ditch that like tuition fees?" dogging him every step of the way.
The leader is the frontman for the campaign. No way around that. Even though Blair did try to mitigate his own rapidly fading appeal with the amusing Blair Brown chuminess act in 2005, the cameras will still be following the leaders on the campaign trail as usual.
The lib dems can hardly afford another couple of years of their base getting hammered, never mind the carnage that will likely be visited on their MPs if Clegg is still there. To rebuild that base is already going to take many, many years. If you then add Clegg and the MPs to the mix they are in deep trouble for longer than just one more electoral cycle. It's a question of damage limitation. I just can't see the lib dems blithely sitting back and letting Clegg do his worst and then hoping it all changes in the blink of an eye afterwards when they know it won't.
Lib dem MPs will also be looking very carefully at the polls and their own seats. So if enough think they have a better chance of staying an MP without Clegg as leader then bye bye Clegg.
Talking of Andy Murray being the first British Wimbledon Champion for 77 years implies a reference to the Gentleman's Singles Championship. In context, it does not need to be expressly stated. Only people who refer to Chairmen as "Chairs" would object. A masculine collective noun does not need to be gender specific in its inclusions.
Andy Jamieson made a stupid remark and is almost certainly a stupid woman. Hague was correct even if ill-mannered to mouth it.
You are right. Cameron will use the upcoming reshuffle to promote more women into government. It is all part of his goal to rebalance the country.
Follow Smythson, not Smithson is wise advice.
Unless you were looking forward to facing such a toxic liability in all those lib dem tory battlegrounds of course? And who could blame you. I'm sure little Ed is also relying on Clegg's 'popular appeal' to steal as many lib dems away as possible.
Clegg might well still be leader at the election, but to think that's a good idea flies in the face of the evidence.
You mean, Alex Salmond wears x-fronts?
Truly Scotland is Another Country.
Clegg is the man who removed Brown from power. Salmond wished to keep Brown in power via a " Rainbow coalitition ". It's hardly surprising that Mick Pork dislikes the man who frustrated his heroes's ambititions.
The incompetent fops just can't help themselves can they?
Comical twits blundering about while their own backbenches looked furious and bewildered. As clear an open goal as the chumocracy could hope for and they missed. Yet again.
oldnat does spend long and unsocial hours online blogging. He, JohnLoony and fitalass were the core of PB's now abandoned night shift
http://www.norwaynews.com/en/~view.php?72S4354FO54835v285Zne844SJ2883RK76FDo353L8K8
Norway imposing duties of up to 400% on selected agricultural imports for the express purpose of maintaining "viable Norwegian agriculture for the future."
And all the EU can do is 'deplore' the move.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/10172530/The-wheels-are-coming-off-the-whole-of-southern-Europe.html
I love Norway but not as a gourmand.
Whitehall looking at plan to designate home of nuclear fleet as sovereign United Kingdom territory
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk-news/2013/jul/10/mod-trident-scotland-independence?CMP=twt_gu
The MPs' expenses watchdog will recommend a £7,500 pay rise for MPs but will say there should be cuts to other allowances, the BBC has learned.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-23262503#
http://www.nowmagazine.co.uk/celebrity-news/546114/ed-miliband-my-brother-david-is-hotter-that-s-not-what-my-wife-says
The point is that contrary to what is always claimed by the Euro-fanatics, Norway does not have to do everything it is told by the EU and can make decisions like this - even if they are decisions which I personally would not agree with.
Fair play to them, it's what politicians do, but we've rumbled them.
Michael gove as a actor,in the film a feast at midnight,he appears in this clip for the first time around 1.00,it's Quite something ;-)
http://liberalengland.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/michael-gove-appeared-in-film-with.html
She was helping put out chairs for a campaign meeting and these ladies there were saying: 'You don't come out all this way just to put out chairs, love!'
Quite quickly I got to the point where I thought: 'I can't imagine my life without Justine.'
I really feel so lucky. She's so much the rock of my life. It sounds a bit corny, but I wouldn't be doing this job and I wouldn't be happy without her.
Awwwwww!
Carola can sniff out a fake any day of the week, tim.
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/07/10/collin-brewer-resigns_n_3572588.html?icid=maing-grid7|ukt1|dl1|sec3_lnk2&pLid=193361&utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false
Until the site owner tells you to pack your bags and get out LOL!
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/07/10/english-parliament-veto_n_3571975.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003
I also put a warning next to it.
It truly is a terrifying interview, I felt queasy throughout, and I speak as someone who was read and watched all the Twilight books and films.
This is another article on it
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-2359326/Income-inequality-falls-crisis-squeezes-rich--majority-households-state-pay-tax.html
and this from the Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2013/jul/10/income-gap-poorest-richest-ons
That's the sort of image, that leads people to writing on the wall with their feet
The public would respect that far more than all these tortured attempts to build a bond with ordinary people's lives.
Steph must be quite a goer!
http://land.allears.net/blogs/jackspence/Boardwalk-Inn-And-Villas-029.jpg
But I think tim and Ed would prefer a more obvious approach:
http://www.pgmod.com/823-2534-thickbox/red-kiss-chair.jpg
But the image was loaded, and once seen, can never be unseen
Let's get this straight: you buy the island for £500K, go and live there for a bit, hold an independence referendum of yourself, and (assuming you remember to vote Yes) then you get the rights to the oil for miles around?
Anyone see any snag with this wheeze (well, other than having to live there for a bit)?
The source is the ONS "The Effects of Taxes and Benefits on Household Income, 2011/2012" bulletin which was published this morning.
Direct link to PDF: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171778_317365.pdf
Forsa:
CDU/CSU: 41%
FDP: 5%
SPD: 22%
Green: 15%
Linke: 9%
Pirates: 2%
Others: 6%
http://www.wahlrecht.de/umfragen/index.htm
http://www.borisbacker.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Balls-Ed.png
While the second Ed was getting his trousers off?
Apologies for the raucous nature but we are well into the lagershed and I'm probably about to be kicked out of the pub for posting this via their free wifi. :-)
Ed Miliband: We did both date her but there was a long time apart between me and Ed. Stephanie and I don't have any problems running into each other now.
Read more at http://www.nowmagazine.co.uk/celebrity-news/546114/ed-miliband-my-brother-david-is-hotter-that-s-not-what-my-wife-says#uT0bTIDWs4RJbIAi.99
Coalition: 43.0%
Labor: 38.0%
Green: 9.1%
Others: 9.7%
2PP:
Coalition: 50.5%
Labor: 49.5%
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_Australian_federal_election,_2013
Incidentally, I thought their process was the best I've come across. Normally branches just invite applicants to give a speech and answer questions, but UNITE had two test cases and candidates had 20 minutes to write how they'd deal with them as an MP (one was how to handle a delegation coming to ask about trade union rights, the other was how to handle allegations that there was discrimination in managerial promotion in a public service). Both more subtle than this summary suggests - e.g. it would clearly have been a mistake just to launch into ideas to help trade unionists, since the first thing is to listen to what the delegation has to say...
If 2010 LDs were
- hug a huskie core vote
- too leftie for labour bloc
- ukippy bod bloc
then the too leftie for labour bloc will prob still tactically vote LD in very clear-cut Con vs LD seats. So they should still do well in a certain kind of seat imo.
Their main loss will be the progress made in the more urban and northern areas.
RT @Sun_Politics: YouGov/Sun poll tonight: Labour lead down to 5 points. CON 32%, LAB 37%, LD 11%, UKIP 12%. Is Falkirk beginning to bite?
The Islington set work to get their preferred candidates into their parachute fiefdoms. UNITE etc work to get their people in instead. So far so normal. It seems the union bods overstepped the mark in Falkirk and the Blairites have jumped at the chance to make some hay - again so far no big deal. The interesting question is will Cerise take this opportunity to change sides and complete the New Labour transformation.
Did you have many girlfriends when you were young?
'Not really, I was a late developer'.
Must have been his chat up line about predators and predistrubtion that put them off.
Read more at http://www.nowmagazine.co.uk/celebrity-news/546114/ed-miliband-my-brother-david-is-hotter-that-s-not-what-my-wife-says#T6KjGlf5PJrvpXgU.99 '
'RT @Sun_Politics: YouGov/Sun poll tonight: Labour lead down to 5 points. CON 32%, LAB 37%, LD 11%, UKIP 12%. Is Falkirk beginning to bite?'
You must have missed it,Tim's only told us 23 times to-day:
'Labour leader building a mass movement is firing up Labour supporters.
Watch live: http://www.rte.ie/news/2013/0710/461615-live-abortion-legislation/
(Generally debates in the Dail are atrociously poor but this one is remarkable for issue under debate and the fact that it has already been going for 12 hours + and has another 4 hours left.)