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politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Harry Hayfield’s Local By-Elections preview

SystemSystem Posts: 11,002
edited July 2013 in General

politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Harry Hayfield’s Local By-Elections preview

Hanover and Elm Grove on Brighton and Hove (Green Defence)
Last Local Election (2011): Greens 23, Con 18, Lab 13 (No Overall Control, Greens short by 5)

Read the full story here


Comments

  • TomsToms Posts: 2,478
    It's the same the whole world over
    It's the poor what gets the blame
    It's the rich what gets the pleasure
    Ain't it all a bloomin' shame?
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,931
    MyVanilla88 - Neither, they get paid quite enough to make their own pension arrangements!
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,931
    MickPork - Personally, I would link their pay rise to that of average wages, it might give them an incentive to get the economy growing!
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,931
    Toms - Labour's next campaign song?
  • AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    Has it not occurred to MPs that the reason that the idea of a pay rise for MPs is so unpopular is because they don't deserve one?
  • TomsToms Posts: 2,478
    edited July 2013
    HYUFD - Heh Heh.
    Speaking of Labour, Yvette Cooper visited town today. She impressed & charmed my lady partner. I don't think women are capable of Bullingdon Etonian pomposity.
  • Stuart_DicksonStuart_Dickson Posts: 3,557
    antifrank said:

    Has it not occurred to MPs that the reason that the idea of a pay rise for MPs is so unpopular is because they don't deserve one?

    Spot on.

  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,931
    Toms - Indeed, Yvette is quite popular, could she be Hillary to Chuka's Obama if Ed loses in 2015?
  • Mick_PorkMick_Pork Posts: 6,530
    edited July 2013
    HYUFD said:

    MickPork - Personally, I would link their pay rise to that of average wages, it might give them an incentive to get the economy growing!

    Fair enough but that still leaves expenses, pensions and second homes etcetera.

    No matter the volume of bile directed at IPSA today it is still as nothing compared to the fury that has been directed at it by disgruntled MPs since it was set up. Primarily over daring to question their expenses.

  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,931
    antifrank - Indeed, the caricature of most MPs post expenses is of money grabbing charlatans, so rather than changing that image by acting like poor vicars and getting down to constituency work what do MPs do, accept a 10% pay rise at a time the average worker is seeing his pay frozen!
  • AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    tim said:

    antifrank said:

    Has it not occurred to MPs that the reason that the idea of a pay rise for MPs is so unpopular is because they don't deserve one?

    Are they getting a rise, I thought that a load of dubious expenses were being abolished and pension stuff lost while the overall package stayed the same?

    MPs are angry that the change might not go through. So that tells you the answer to that question.
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    edited July 2013
    tim said:

    Michael Gove on MPs pay.


    "It was a reminder of the extraordinarily close links that still exist between publishing tycoon and Tory politician. One of Murdoch's long-term projects is what he calls a "revolutionary and profitable" move by his media companies into online education. Gove would be a key figure in any attempt to penetrate the British schools market.

    The education secretary meets Murdoch frequently and is an enthusiastic backer of the ideas of Joel Klein, the head of Murdoch's new education division. Within a week of his promotion in 2010, the minister was at dinner with Murdoch, according to officially released details of meetings.

    The atmosphere could only have been warm. Gove once sang Murdoch's praises in a 1999 Times column as "the greatest godfather of mischief in print" who possesses "18th-century pamphleteering vigour". He wrote that Murdoch "encourages … free thinking. His newspapers … are driven by public demand and the creativity of chaotic, cock-snooking, individuals."

    Murdoch in turn was kind to his former employee. When Gove first arrived at Westminster in 2005 as a backbench MP, the Times topped up his salary with a £60,000-a-year column. His wife still works for the paper.

    Murdoch's publishing arm, HarperCollins, also gave Gove a book advance in 2004, when he was first selected for the safe Conservative seat of Surrey Heath. It was for a history of an obscure 18th-century politician, Viscount Bolingbroke.

    Puzzlingly, the book was never delivered. HarperCollins refuses to disclose the size of the advance and its size is not specified in Gove's register of financial interests. Asked if his advance should be returned eight years later, HarperCollins says Gove "is still committed to writing a book on Bolingbroke but obviously his ministerial duties come first for now". Gove will not comment."

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/feb/26/schools-crusade-gove-murdoch

    Bolingbroke is only obscure because he was a traitor. Had he not made the mortal error of judgement of being a Jacobite he may well have outshone Walpole.

    There's a need for a quality biography - I'm not aware of one - but it's probably not time critical. If you are keen, though, you could go and by the 5 volume set of his philosophical writings from Amazon
  • CharlesCharles Posts: 35,758
    tim said:

    antifrank said:

    Has it not occurred to MPs that the reason that the idea of a pay rise for MPs is so unpopular is because they don't deserve one?

    Are they getting a rise, I thought that a load of dubious expenses were being abolished and pension stuff lost while the overall package stayed the same?

    That's true, but not the way it'll be reported or heard by the voters.
  • CarolaCarola Posts: 1,805
    I don't suppose prp is an option? Sauce for the goose and all that.
  • Mick_PorkMick_Pork Posts: 6,530
    edited July 2013
    Oh, and lest we forget.
    BBC Breaking News ‏@BBCBreaking 9h

    Former UK Labour MP Denis MacShane to face charge of false accounting over expenses claims totalling £12,900 http://bbc.in/13PzFZv
    IPSA is there for a reason. MPs pay was hardly the main one.
    (though yes it is clearly tied up in all of the scandal because of how expenses were used)
  • AveryLPAveryLP Posts: 7,815
    Toms said:

    I don't think women are capable of Bullingdon Etonian pomposity.

    Women are more than capable of it, Toms.

    Their problem is that they are not eligible for it.

  • Hertsmere_PubgoerHertsmere_Pubgoer Posts: 3,476
    Have MP's ever been popular?
    I remember people complaining about MP's pay during the Major era.
    antifrank said:

    Has it not occurred to MPs that the reason that the idea of a pay rise for MPs is so unpopular is because they don't deserve one?

  • TomsToms Posts: 2,478
    AveryLP said:

    Toms said:

    I don't think women are capable of Bullingdon Etonian pomposity.

    Women are more than capable of it, Toms.
    Their problem is that they are not eligible for it.
    To the sound of creasing up: I was of course speaking generically.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,931
    AveryLP - I think Katie Hopkins may be an exception!
    http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/katie-hopkins-branded-an-insufferable-snob-after-this-morning-debate-on-childrens-names-8690468.html
  • AveryLPAveryLP Posts: 7,815
    edited July 2013
    Hertsmere_Pubgoer said:

    Have MP's ever been popular?
    I remember people complaining about MP's pay during the Major era.

    antifrank said:

    Has it not occurred to MPs that the reason that the idea of a pay rise for MPs is so unpopular is because they don't deserve one?

    MPs surrendered any chance of public sympathy when they rejected the boundary changes and reduction in overall numbers of MPs in the House of Commons.

    They should have a 10% enforced pay cut rather than a pay rise.

    We could then leave it to our newspaper proprietors to compensate the few that are truly worthy of above average recompense.

  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,931
    Hertsmere Pubgoer - True, but now they are hated even more, if tickets were sold for a public flogging of bankers' and MPs, tickets would be sold out within minutes!
  • Hertsmere_PubgoerHertsmere_Pubgoer Posts: 3,476
    I would set MPs pay at £x / person on the electoral roll in their constituency.
    If they want more money, vote for bigger constituencies.
    Is the IoW still a single constituency? That person would do quite well.
  • AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    HYUFD said:

    Hertsmere Pubgoer - True, but now they are hated even more, if tickets were sold for a public flogging of bankers' and MPs, tickets would be sold out within minutes!

    Given the predilections of Lib Dems, that could be a win-win scenario for some.

  • AveryLPAveryLP Posts: 7,815
    edited July 2013
    HYUFD said:

    AveryLP - I think Katie Hopkins may be an exception!
    http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/katie-hopkins-branded-an-insufferable-snob-after-this-morning-debate-on-childrens-names-8690468.html

    Wasn't it wonderful?

    tim posted it a couple of days ago hoping I would be shocked.

    I'm not sure he realised that the grand-daughter of Earl Mountbatten was named India in honour of grandad's time as Viceroy of the country which bears her name.

    I am sure that if we dig hard enough we will find a forebear of Katie Hopkins holding an office of similar political importance.
  • Mick_PorkMick_Pork Posts: 6,530
    edited July 2013
    AveryLP said:

    Hertsmere_Pubgoer said:

    Have MP's ever been popular?
    I remember people complaining about MP's pay during the Major era.

    antifrank said:

    Has it not occurred to MPs that the reason that the idea of a pay rise for MPs is so unpopular is because they don't deserve one?

    MPs surrendered any chance of public sympathy when they rejected the boundary changes and reduction in overall numbers of MPs in the House of Commons.

    They should have a 10% enforced pay cut rather than a pay rise.


    Shamefully I had somehow almost forgotten about the terrifying public backlash from boundary changes, Seth.

    Do you and Fitalass still expect near rioting in the streets when an outraged public learns the horrifying truth?

    On the bright side Cammie made up for a reduction in MP numbers by expanding god's waiting room to shamefully overcrowded levels.
    'Bloated' House of Lords will soon have 1,000 members, minister warns

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2106080/Bloated-House-Lords-soon-1-000-members-minister-warns.html

    How are they expected to have a nice nap with all that hubbub caused by a mass influx of johnny-come-latelies? At least Farage will be vigilant and make sure there are no Bulgarians trying to sneak in. ;)
  • Hertsmere_PubgoerHertsmere_Pubgoer Posts: 3,476
    Are MPs there to represent people or acres of land?
    As for the size of constituencies, are Kalgoorlie constituents under represented?
    tim said:

    Hertsmere_Pubgoer said:

    I would set MPs pay at £x / person on the electoral roll in their constituency.
    If they want more money, vote for bigger constituencies.
    Is the IoW still a single constituency? That person would do quite well.

    Good luck to the MPs for the Highlands and Islands who this govt decided should have gerrymandered seats due to geographical size
  • AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 23,752
    AveryLP said:

    HYUFD said:

    AveryLP - I think Katie Hopkins may be an exception!
    http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/katie-hopkins-branded-an-insufferable-snob-after-this-morning-debate-on-childrens-names-8690468.html

    Wasn't it wonderful.

    tim posted it a couple of days ago hoping I would be shocked.

    I'm not sure he realised that the grand-daughter of Earl Mountbatten was named India in honour of grandad's time as Viceroy of the country which bears her name.

    I am sure that if we dig hard enough we will find a forebear of Katie Hopkins holding an office of similar political importance.
    courtesan ?
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,931
    Antifrank - Indeed, a bit of S and M may not many LD compaints!
  • john_zimsjohn_zims Posts: 3,399
    'antifrank said:
    Has it not occurred to MPs that the reason that the idea of a pay rise for MPs is so unpopular is because they don't deserve one?'

    MP's had the chance to do what almost every other organisation has had to do,make some cuts to their bloated numbers & increase their productivity but they chose not to.
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,931
    Alanbrooke - excellent, apparently she failed to fitness test for Sandhurst as she was not fit enough, personally I would send her into battle against the Taliban unarmed, they would run a mile!
  • AveryLPAveryLP Posts: 7,815
    Alanbrooke said:

    AveryLP said:

    HYUFD said:

    AveryLP - I think Katie Hopkins may be an exception!
    http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/katie-hopkins-branded-an-insufferable-snob-after-this-morning-debate-on-childrens-names-8690468.html

    Wasn't it wonderful.

    tim posted it a couple of days ago hoping I would be shocked.

    I'm not sure he realised that the grand-daughter of Earl Mountbatten was named India in honour of grandad's time as Viceroy of the country which bears her name.

    I am sure that if we dig hard enough we will find a forebear of Katie Hopkins holding an office of similar political importance.
    courtesan ?
    Absolutely, Mr. Brooke.

    Her daughter's name should be changed forthwith to Venetia.

  • RobDRobD Posts: 58,954
    AveryLP said:




    As I explained to tim, now the hereditaries have been run out of town, political life peers have been relegated to a lower social division than MPs. Like Bulgarian and Romanian fruit pickers, they are paid piece-work for their contributions. No show, no pay.

    Would Gordon be submitted to the same strictures.

    The rise of the political peers, now making up a dominant portion of the upper chamber, is lamentable. The upper house should be stuffed full of technocrats, not political grandees.

  • JackWJackW Posts: 14,787
    @Charles

    "Bolingbroke is only obscure because he was a traitor. Had he not made the mortal error of judgement of being a Jacobite he may well have outshone Walpole."

    Your reservation for Auchentennach is confirmed ....

    Pietastic ....
  • Mick_PorkMick_Pork Posts: 6,530
    edited July 2013
    AveryLP said:

    Mick_Pork said:

    AveryLP said:

    Hertsmere_Pubgoer said:

    Have MP's ever been popular?
    I remember people complaining about MP's pay during the Major era.

    antifrank said:

    Has it not occurred to MPs that the reason that the idea of a pay rise for MPs is so unpopular is because they don't deserve one?

    MPs surrendered any chance of public sympathy when they rejected the boundary changes and reduction in overall numbers of MPs in the House of Commons.

    They should have a 10% enforced pay cut rather than a pay rise.


    Shamefully I had somehow almost forgotten about the terrifying public backlash from boundary changes, Seth.

    Do you and Fitalass still expect near rioting in the streets when an outraged public learns the horrifying truth?

    On the bright side Cammie made up for a reduction in MP numbers by expanding god's waiting room to shamefully overcrowded levels.
    'Bloated' House of Lords will soon have 1,000 members, minister warns

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2106080/Bloated-House-Lords-soon-1-000-members-minister-warns.html

    How are they expected to have a nice nap with all that hubbub caused by a mass influx of johnny-come-latelies? At least Farage will be vigilant and make sure there are no Bulgarians trying to sneak in. ;)
    You are recycling tim's ripostes, Pork.

    Which is about MODERATED.

    MODERATED
  • MonikerDiCanioMonikerDiCanio Posts: 5,792
    Salmond's belly . Triplets due , minimum.

    http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/golf/salmond-flies-the-flag-after-honing-long-game.21578242
  • foxinsoxukfoxinsoxuk Posts: 23,548
    I do not think that we need an upper house at all. Abolish the lot of them.

    We would not need a revising chamber if MPs passed laws that were written correctly in the first place. Not that I am convinced that we need new laws anyway. We have far too many already.

    Sack the Lords with all their ermine clothed idiocies. Make Mps work longer terms for their payrise. Job done.
    RobD said:

    AveryLP said:




    As I explained to tim, now the hereditaries have been run out of town, political life peers have been relegated to a lower social division than MPs. Like Bulgarian and Romanian fruit pickers, they are paid piece-work for their contributions. No show, no pay.

    Would Gordon be submitted to the same strictures.

    The rise of the political peers, now making up a dominant portion of the upper chamber, is lamentable. The upper house should be stuffed full of technocrats, not political grandees.

  • AveryLPAveryLP Posts: 7,815
    MonikerDiCanio said:

    Salmond's belly . Triplets due , minimum.

    http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/golf/salmond-flies-the-flag-after-honing-long-game.21578242

    Is there a market for their names?

  • Mick_PorkMick_Pork Posts: 6,530
    edited July 2013
    Speaking of public school twits, expenses and commodity brokers. :)
    Voice of Bramley ‏@voiceofbramley

    Nigel Farage admits he's claimed over £2.5million in expenses as an MEP! 5live
    http://cdn.spectator.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/167815101.jpg

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqObJtGrKaA
  • No_Offence_AlanNo_Offence_Alan Posts: 3,796
    Carola said:

    I don't suppose prp is an option? Sauce for the goose and all that.

    How about a zero-hours contract - they are all the rage now. A higher hourly rate for working on legislation and a lower rate for the super-social-worker stuff they do.

  • AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 23,752
    Mick_Pork said:

    Speaking of public school twits, expenses and commodity brokers. :)

    Voice of Bramley ‏@voiceofbramley

    Nigel Farage admits he's claimed over £2.5million in expenses as an MEP! 5live
    http://cdn.spectator.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/167815101.jpg

    and you think the rest have claimed less ? MEPs are kept hookers.
  • CarolaCarola Posts: 1,805
    'What benefit changes do we support and expect to save the most?'

    https://twitter.com/BobbyIpsosMORI/status/355420822950780928/photo/1
  • CarolaCarola Posts: 1,805
    No_Offence_Alan said:

    Carola said:

    I don't suppose prp is an option? Sauce for the goose and all that.

    How about a zero-hours contract - they are all the rage now. A higher hourly rate for working on legislation and a lower rate for the super-social-worker stuff they do.

    Yep good call. I'm for a prp/zero hour combo.
  • Mick_PorkMick_Pork Posts: 6,530
    Alanbrooke said:

    Mick_Pork said:

    Speaking of public school twits, expenses and commodity brokers. :)

    Voice of Bramley ‏@voiceofbramley

    Nigel Farage admits he's claimed over £2.5million in expenses as an MEP! 5live
    http://cdn.spectator.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/167815101.jpg
    and you think the rest have claimed less ? MEPs are kept hookers.

    You mean the system is to blame.

    That rings a bell. How well did that excuse work for MPs?

  • AlanbrookeAlanbrooke Posts: 23,752
    Mick_Pork said:

    Alanbrooke said:

    Mick_Pork said:

    Speaking of public school twits, expenses and commodity brokers. :)

    Voice of Bramley ‏@voiceofbramley

    Nigel Farage admits he's claimed over £2.5million in expenses as an MEP! 5live
    http://cdn.spectator.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/167815101.jpg
    and you think the rest have claimed less ? MEPs are kept hookers.
    You mean the system is to blame.

    That rings a bell. How well did that excuse work for MPs?



    No excuse for it at all. pretty strong argument for EU reform or departure.
  • foxinsoxukfoxinsoxuk Posts: 23,548
    Not sure that Nigel is a very good hooker, unless working the S and M market!

    The European parliament paying over the odds to have their president derided is quite amusing, and part of the reason that Nigel gives Rompuy an ear bashing from time to time.
    Alanbrooke said:

    Mick_Pork said:

    Speaking of public school twits, expenses and commodity brokers. :)

    Voice of Bramley ‏@voiceofbramley

    Nigel Farage admits he's claimed over £2.5million in expenses as an MEP! 5live
    http://cdn.spectator.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/167815101.jpg
    and you think the rest have claimed less ? MEPs are kept hookers.

  • RobDRobD Posts: 58,954
    Mick_Pork said:

    Alanbrooke said:

    Mick_Pork said:

    Speaking of public school twits, expenses and commodity brokers. :)

    Voice of Bramley ‏@voiceofbramley

    Nigel Farage admits he's claimed over £2.5million in expenses as an MEP! 5live
    http://cdn.spectator.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/167815101.jpg
    and you think the rest have claimed less ? MEPs are kept hookers.
    You mean the system is to blame.

    That rings a bell. How well did that excuse work for MPs?



    I suppose we should give Farage and his MEP chums a £10,000 payrise to prevent it from happening again.. titters.
  • AveryLPAveryLP Posts: 7,815
    edited July 2013
    RobD said:

    AveryLP said:




    As I explained to tim, now the hereditaries have been run out of town, political life peers have been relegated to a lower social division than MPs. Like Bulgarian and Romanian fruit pickers, they are paid piece-work for their contributions. No show, no pay.

    Would Gordon be submitted to the same strictures.

    The rise of the political peers, now making up a dominant portion of the upper chamber, is lamentable. The upper house should be stuffed full of technocrats, not political grandees.

    We need to signal our disapproval, Rob.

    Replacing ermine trim with ferret fur would be a suitable first step.
  • MonikerDiCanioMonikerDiCanio Posts: 5,792
    AveryLP said:

    MonikerDiCanio said:

    Salmond's belly . Triplets due , minimum.

    http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/golf/salmond-flies-the-flag-after-honing-long-game.21578242

    Is there a market for their names?

    The current betting is on Zhen Zhen, Yun Zi, and Xiao Liwu.
  • Mick_PorkMick_Pork Posts: 6,530
    RobD said:

    Mick_Pork said:

    Alanbrooke said:

    Mick_Pork said:

    Speaking of public school twits, expenses and commodity brokers. :)

    Voice of Bramley ‏@voiceofbramley

    Nigel Farage admits he's claimed over £2.5million in expenses as an MEP! 5live
    http://cdn.spectator.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/167815101.jpg
    and you think the rest have claimed less ? MEPs are kept hookers.
    You mean the system is to blame.

    That rings a bell. How well did that excuse work for MPs?

    I suppose we should give Farage and his MEP chums a £10,000 payrise to prevent it from happening again.. titters.


    It's the only language they understand. *chortle*

  • john_zimsjohn_zims Posts: 3,399
    @MonikerDiCanio

    'Salmond's belly . Triplets due , minimum.'

    Competing with Mr Blobby?
  • RobDRobD Posts: 58,954
    AveryLP said:


    We need to signal our disapproval, Rob.

    Replacing ermine trim with ferret fur would be a suitable first step.

    I'm all for cat fur ;) Don't forget the adornments inscribed "If found, please return to Emma Hamilton, Marine Parade, Portsmouth".
  • Mick_PorkMick_Pork Posts: 6,530
    tim said:

    @smashmore_PH: Osborne is wearing a Jawbone wrist monitor that measures how far you walk and sleep patterns, Gove has one too, he reveals

    Pair of w********s

    That's wristbands of course.

    The proper scientific measurement of chillaxing fops is no laughing matter.

  • RobDRobD Posts: 58,954
    edited July 2013
    tim said:

    @smashmore_PH: Osborne is wearing a Jawbone wrist monitor that measures how far you walk and sleep patterns, Gove has one too, he reveals

    Pair of w********s

    That's wristbands of course.

    That made me LOL!
    Mick_Pork said:



    The proper scientific measurement of chillaxing fops is no laughing matter.

    Perhaps this should be in 'mega-cams' or 'mega-fops' ;)
  • AndreaParma_82AndreaParma_82 Posts: 4,714
    Good evening. I just came back from a short holiday.

    Has anyone from Unite resigned yet for being too inept?
    Recap....
    - the majority of their backed candidates have failed to be selected so far. But in their defence, maybe it's just because their candidates were crap.
    - so, to get Falkirk for this Karie Murphy, they mysteriously sign up lots of new people hoping no-one would take note....
    - this ends with the selection being suspended, the candidate being suspended and their few backed candidates being witchhunted by the opponents all over the local press and online media.....which is not surprising and you can't even fault their opponents (even if one ConHome piece about Vicky Foxcroft souned really silly at first reading. It wasn't signed, maybe because even the writer realized it)

    Have anyone tried to put forwards the case that being an officer manager is more working class than being a SpAd?

    Meanwhile, Jon Ashworth joins the NEC to replace Tom Watson there.

    I also note the rumous of Unite pushing Jim Sheridan over Dougie. I guess we should applaud them for their support of unrepresented minorities: MPs who speak incomprehensible English

    Ah, and William Hague called Cathie Jamieson a stupid woman...Tories are anti Scottish and so now Mundell is at risk. All Scottish women will raise at this offence.

    Did I miss anything else relevant?
  • AveryLPAveryLP Posts: 7,815
    MonikerDiCanio said:

    AveryLP said:

    MonikerDiCanio said:

    Salmond's belly . Triplets due , minimum.

    http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/golf/salmond-flies-the-flag-after-honing-long-game.21578242

    Is there a market for their names?

    The current betting is on Zhen Zhen, Yun Zi, and Xiao Liwu.
    Brilliant. You, sir, are a Scolympian.

  • PBModeratorPBModerator Posts: 661
    edited July 2013
    @MICK PORK and AVERY LP

    DISCUSS THE THREAD ONLY AND CUT OUT THE DISGUSTING COMMENTS PLEASE
  • Mick_PorkMick_Pork Posts: 6,530
    tim said:

    Mick_Pork said:

    tim said:

    @smashmore_PH: Osborne is wearing a Jawbone wrist monitor that measures how far you walk and sleep patterns, Gove has one too, he reveals

    Pair of w********s

    That's wristbands of course.

    The proper scientific measurement of chillaxing fops is no laughing matter.

    It's in the Tories interest to put something round Osbornes wrist that monitors and limits his Master Strategising.
    If five years too late.
    If only it could measure how out of touch Osbrowne and Cammie look for refusing to match Clegg and little Ed and reject their bumper pay rise.

    We're all in this together.

    The comical PR master strategies of the incompetent fops will struggle to ever top that.

  • AndreaParma_82AndreaParma_82 Posts: 4,714
    Emily Benn has been selected for a safe ward in Croydon.

    @Mick_Pork

    why hasn't the SNP already selected a candidate in Falkirk for 2015 GE? And why hasn't Labour picked up a candidate for Dunfermline (Holyrood)?
    Isn't it better to be ready to benefit for every potential opportunity?
  • MonikerDiCanioMonikerDiCanio Posts: 5,792
    Andrea , " Emily Benn has been selected for a safe ward in Croydon ".

    Good to see Labour cleaning up its act after those false accusations of favouritism and nepotism.
  • MrJonesMrJones Posts: 3,523
    AndreaParma_82 said:

    Good evening. I just came back from a short holiday.

    Has anyone from Unite resigned yet for being too inept?
    Recap....
    - the majority of their backed candidates have failed to be selected so far. But in their defence, maybe it's just because their candidates were crap.
    - so, to get Falkirk for this Karie Murphy, they mysteriously sign up lots of new people hoping no-one would take note....
    - this ends with the selection being suspended, the candidate being suspended and their few backed candidates being witchhunted by the opponents all over the local press and online media.....which is not surprising and you can't even fault their opponents (even if one ConHome piece about Vicky Foxcroft souned really silly at first reading. It wasn't signed, maybe because even the writer realized it)

    Have anyone tried to put forwards the case that being an officer manager is more working class than being a SpAd?

    Meanwhile, Jon Ashworth joins the NEC to replace Tom Watson there.

    I also note the rumous of Unite pushing Jim Sheridan over Dougie. I guess we should applaud them for their support of unrepresented minorities: MPs who speak incomprehensible English

    Ah, and William Hague called Cathie Jamieson a stupid woman...Tories are anti Scottish and so now Mundell is at risk. All Scottish women will raise at this offence.

    Did I miss anything else relevant?

    I think that's the gist of it - unions nowhere near as devious as the parliamentary party.
  • AveryLPAveryLP Posts: 7,815
    AndreaParma_82 said:

    Emily Benn has been selected for a safe ward in Croydon.

    In which hospital, Andrea?

  • CarolaCarola Posts: 1,805
    Harris chain in the news:

    http://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/news/10474903.School_s__relentless__improvement_praised_after_academy_takeover/

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2013/jul/11/harris-academy-edexcel-inquiry-exam?CMP=twt_fd
  • MrJonesMrJones Posts: 3,523
    If public sector pay - including MPs - was somehow pegged to average private sector pay and went up and down in tandem that could work.
  • Mick_PorkMick_Pork Posts: 6,530
    edited July 2013
    AndreaParma_82 said:

    Emily Benn has been selected for a safe ward in Croydon.

    @Mick_Pork

    why hasn't the SNP already selected a candidate in Falkirk for 2015 GE?

    I don't actually have a direct line to SNP HQ Andrea. The 2010 candidate John McNally is a local councillor and I have no idea if he would be chosen again or someone different considered.

    As to the why, we are still talking about Eric Joyce. There has been absolutely no sign whatsoever of any amount of shame or pressure having the slightest effect on stopping him clinging on to that job for dear life.

    If unexpected things happen I doubt it would be particularly hard to get a campaign going whereas labour might just have one or two small problems with a united and smooth running campaign in Falkirk. Call it a hunch. ;)

  • AndreaParma_82AndreaParma_82 Posts: 4,714
    West Thornton is Benn's ward. 2 sitting Cllrs deselected there. One has already found a new safe ward which took him. The other is still searching around...

    Joe Dromey has been selected in New Cross (Lewisham). A sitting Cllr dumped there but it's not entirely Little Dromey's fault as another new female Cllr has been selected in this ward too along with the surviving male Cllr (the other male Cllr was retiring IIRC).
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 49,184
    Wot - no QT? Time to curtail MPs' holidays as well as their pay??
  • MrJonesMrJones Posts: 3,523
    Royal Mail privatization - given that the EU wants countries in the EU to be able to bid for work in the other countries how much of privatization over the years has been driven by EU directives that the public are never told about?
  • AndreaParma_82AndreaParma_82 Posts: 4,714
    @Mick_Pork

    I was more thinking about having a candidate in place, not becuase of the chance of Joyce resigning, but to have a local figure leading the attacks (especially in the local media) over him and the selection saga rather than an anonymous party spokeperson. In the end, it would have been the top target over Labour anyway along with Dundee West and Ochil.

    Labour decided for an AWS in Dunfermline last year. And then I didn't hear anything about them. They are going to use pairings again for 2016 but Dunfermline could have been exempted.
  • anotherDaveanotherDave Posts: 6,746
    AveryLP said:

    Hertsmere_Pubgoer said:

    Have MP's ever been popular?
    I remember people complaining about MP's pay during the Major era.

    antifrank said:

    Has it not occurred to MPs that the reason that the idea of a pay rise for MPs is so unpopular is because they don't deserve one?

    MPs surrendered any chance of public sympathy when they rejected the boundary changes and reduction in overall numbers of MPs in the House of Commons.

    They should have a 10% enforced pay cut rather than a pay rise.

    We could then leave it to our newspaper proprietors to compensate the few that are truly worthy of above average recompense.

    Peter Lilley suggested that MPs should have a pay cut, proportional to the amount of responsibility they had passed from parliament to other bodies, (EU, quangos etc)
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 26,391
    Trott shouldn't have been given out today.

    When it emerged that the crucial hot-spot footage wasn't available because the tape was being rewound for the entertainment of TV viewers, he should have been automatically given not out.
  • foxinsoxukfoxinsoxuk Posts: 23,548
    To be fair, Eric Joyce is not looking to be such bad choice for Falkirk at present!
    Mick_Pork said:

    AndreaParma_82 said:

    Emily Benn has been selected for a safe ward in Croydon.

    @Mick_Pork

    why hasn't the SNP already selected a candidate in Falkirk for 2015 GE?

    I don't actually have a direct line to SNP HQ Andrea. The 2010 candidate John McNally is a local councillor and I have no idea if he would be chosen again or someone different considered.

    As to the why, we are still talking about Eric Joyce. There has been absolutely no sign whatsoever of any amount of shame or pressure having the slightest effect on stopping him clinging on to that job for dear life.

    If unexpected things happen I doubt it would be particularly hard to get a campaign going whereas labour might just have one or two small problems with a united and smooth running campaign in Falkirk. Call it a hunch. ;)

  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 26,391
    edited July 2013
    Emily Benn was selected for the West Thornton ward:

    https://twitter.com/Stuart_King/status/355256784161746944
  • Mick_PorkMick_Pork Posts: 6,530
    edited July 2013
    AndreaParma_82 said:

    @Mick_Pork

    I was more thinking about having a candidate in place, not becuase of the chance of Joyce resigning, but to have a local figure leading the attacks (especially in the local media) over him and the selection saga

    McNally is speaking out as far as I know. Which is why I thought he may be a runner for 2015

    Just how much is getting through to the local press I'm not so sure.

    To be fair though the yawning chasm of silence from Lamont is pretty hard to top and it's not as if Falkirk is short of coverage now that it's a media byword for labour/union 'funny business'.

  • AndreaParma_82AndreaParma_82 Posts: 4,714
    Falkirk West Labour's recent usual choice at Holyrood level has not been particularly encouraging either...at least for me.

    Imposed or left on their own....they can never get it right. :-)

    Probably also because many members left in 1999 fiasco.
  • AveryLPAveryLP Posts: 7,815
    edited July 2013
    Dromey, Benn, Blair ...

    Why is EdM bothering with primaries and opt in membership?

    Surely the answer is reverting to hereditary succession of seats and office.
  • AndreaParma_82AndreaParma_82 Posts: 4,714
    edited July 2013
    Lamont finished her reshuffle.
    Looking at list MSPs elected in 2011 (many by surprise)....the ones left without a shadow position are Hanzala Malik, Margaret McDougall, Siobhan McMahon and Anne McTaggart.

    which may give an idea about who the party is not so keen to keep around.....I assume many list MSPs will try to get selected for target constituencies now that Labour have lifted the dual candidacy ban
  • Hertsmere_PubgoerHertsmere_Pubgoer Posts: 3,476
    O/T
    Happy birthday to Brian Cant who turns 80 tomorrow.
  • TwistedFireStopperTwistedFireStopper Posts: 2,538
    Pay MPs a hundred grand, no expenses, no second jobs, pool office resources, give 'em a free railcard, no following sodding school terms, and they have to show up at Westminster at least a few times a year!
  • Andy_JSAndy_JS Posts: 26,391
    Hertsmere_Pubgoer said:

    O/T
    Happy birthday to Brian Cant who turns 80 tomorrow.

    I remember Brian Cant from the BBC's 1980s children's music show.
  • fitalassfitalass Posts: 4,279
    edited July 2013
    Edit
  • AndreaParma_82AndreaParma_82 Posts: 4,714
    Sleaford Holdingham - North Kesteven

    Ind Jackson 140 37.6%
    Lab 79 21.2%
    Ind Fernandes 57 15.3%
    Con 48 12.9%
    UKIP 48 12.9%

  • RichardNabaviRichardNabavi Posts: 3,413
    edited July 2013
    An interesting comment from young George:

    Regarding Labour, he said: "I'm not sure whether they would do big tax increases [after 2015]. I suspect they would, but that is for them to explain."

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23269070
  • CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 59,563
    Has Snowden got away?

    The curious flight path of an Aeroflot jet:

    https://twitter.com/flightradar24/status/355452746717085698/photo/1
  • RichardNabaviRichardNabavi Posts: 3,413
    AndreaParma_82 said:

    Good evening. I just came back from a short holiday.

    Has anyone from Unite resigned yet for being too inept?

    I fear you've misunderstood slightly, Andrea. The complaint isn't they were too inept, but that they were too effective...
  • MarkSeniorMarkSenior Posts: 4,699
    Labour Gain Hanover/Elm Grove 1396 to 1358
  • MrJonesMrJones Posts: 3,523
    FPT

    "From what I saw on the news last night it seems that the government will dictate the price of stamps and the private provider will be obligated to deliver everywhere. Given rival private operators will not have the latter obligation I fail to see how this will resolve the problem of private competition."

    If it's an EU directive they don't care about competition within the business itself they just want firms in other EU countries to be able to buy it.
  • MrJonesMrJones Posts: 3,523
    FPT

    "Off topic: WTF is the IMF playing at in the Eurozone? The IMF is there to help countries, not to help currencies."

    The IMF is a debt-collector for the banks.
  • NickPalmerNickPalmer Posts: 21,312
    MarkSenior said:

    Labour Gain Hanover/Elm Grove 1396 to 1358

    That's a very good Labour result on a lowish poll (the Green vote halved) and must increase the probability of retaking Caroline Lucas's seat (and the other Brighton and Hove seats). (The recent turmoil on the council may exagerrate the trend, though.)
  • MrJonesMrJones Posts: 3,523
    FPT

    "I was struck by the number of cranes I saw last time I was in London, but when I ask my friends oop North how things are they say "grim".. "

    It's a logical consequence of the vampiric banking system that developed since 1997. All the spare capital in the country flows to London and gets used for 100 million type projects around the world which make a lot of money for the city while the rest of the country slowly decays for lack of 10 grand and 100 grand investment.

    There's a reason all these politicians get company directorships with banks.
  • fitalassfitalass Posts: 4,279
    This has to be one of Matt's best cartoon's in the Telegraph, it was a couple of days ago but was unable to link to it here for some reason.
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/matt/?cartoon=10168145&cc=10153794
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 49,184
    edited July 2013
    Andy_JS said:

    Hertsmere_Pubgoer said:

    O/T
    Happy birthday to Brian Cant who turns 80 tomorrow.

    I remember Brian Cant from the BBC's 1980s children's music show.
    Me too - "Playaway"!

    Happy Birthday, Brian!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjPprQd6HF8
  • QuincelQuincel Posts: 3,949
    Another Iowa poll has Paul leading by 2 points. Can we expect another thread on Mike's bet on him in the morning?

    Hell of a split field by the way. Paul leads but is only on 18%!
This discussion has been closed.