The more we learn about the Tory campaign at GE2015 the more we realise that micro-targeting specific demographic group on Facebook played a big part and looks set to be ever more significant in future election. You tailor a special message to those who fit the criteria and don’t waste money on those who don’t.
Comments
It's hard to turn down £50k for turning up and trotting out a speech. (That you've already given 100 times before.)
Always disabled. Always..
Fatcats in tax havens taking all the money while the workers lose their jobs and pensions.
O/T - Just had my first council election canvassing session this cycle.
Middle class area, though we under strict instructions not to mention the referendum, was surprised by the number of voters who needed to be reassured that the referendum isn't next Thursday, just locals and police commissioner elections.
'We don't want to miss voting in the referendum' was their sentiment.
' Since May 2000, the Green family and other shareholders have taken £586m out of BHS '
' Over the past 16 years, the BHS pension fund has fallen from a £5m surplus into a £571m deficit '
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/apr/25/bhs-owner-retail-acquisitions-25m-administration
http://www.theguardian.com/business/nils-pratley-on-finance/2016/apr/25/sir-philip-green-must-do-more-to-sort-out-the-bhs-pension-mess
Now it doesn't matter how erroneous that conclusion they draw is but it fits into the meme of 'fatcats in tax havens, one law for the rich etc'.
And with the recent story about the Cameron family and tax avoidance ....
"Who denounced you?" said Winston.
"It was my little daughter," said Parsons with a sort of doleful pride. "She listened at the keyhole. Heard what I was saying, and nipped off to the patrols the very next day. Pretty smart for a nipper of seven, eh? I don't bear her any grudge for it. In fact I'm proud of her. It shows I brought her up in the right spirit, anyway."
Lawson taxed pension surpluses ( I think ) way back and of course Brown decided in 97 that taxing pension schemes was a great way of raising £5 billion as it was so complex nobody would notice and if they did the bill wouldn't crystallise for decades. Add that to discount rates for calculating liabilities totally spannered by interest rates at all time lows and rising longevity and you have the current mess.
Now try and put yourself in the place of an ordinary person and think how they might regard the BHS story.
You might lie to consider the recent thread header which showed what groups of people the Conservative party is associated with.
Nobody is going to think that BHS has made huge profits, after all Philip Green sold it for a quid.
So they'll all draw one conclusion as to where the money came from.
Whether that conclusion is right or wrong is irrelevant.
' More than £25m was paid from BHS to its owner, Retail Acquisitions, in the 13 months between the department store’s sale and it collapsing into administration, the Guardian understands.
Almost 11,000 jobs are at risk after BHS called in administrators on Monday, the UK’s biggest high street failure since the collapse of Woolworths in 2008.
Sources with knowledge of BHS’s finances say that the payments to Retail Acquisitions included £2.8m in management fees, £2.1m in salaries and wages, £11m in legal and professional fees and £10m in interest payments.
The man behind Retail Acquisitions is Dominic Chappell, a former racing driver who has been declared bankrupt twice. Chappell owns 90% of Retail Acquisitions, which bought BHS for £1 from Sir Philip Green in March 2015.
The payments include a £8.4m loan to Retail Acquisitions, taken out in March 2015, which has already been reported by the Guardian. This is part of the professional fees.
Some £7m of the £10m of interest payments is understood to have been passed on to the investment firm Grovepoint for a loan taken out to support BHS.
The payments will raise questions about the management of BHS over the last year. '
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/apr/25/bhs-owner-retail-acquisitions-25m-administration
And I doubt it will be the last time we hear similar.
It's times like that when I wish that we had something that can scare the crap out of people like the US DoJ over dodgy dealings.
For example:Company has pension deficit but paying agreed sums ( by Regulators) towards it and making good profits, pays well covered dividend then unexpectedly loses customer/exchange rate moves badly/ has genuine plant fire/extra completion/whatever and collapses two years later. Was that dividend "loot"? I think not and God help us all if we get to that point. Sadly many commenting in the Graun I suspect have an issue with any form of " profit " and would think it was "loot".
GOP
Trump 61
Kasich 23
Cruz 13
Dems
Clinton 45
Sanders 49
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/docs/2016/PPP_RI_GOP_April_2016.pdf
If the 'Ruth Davidson for third best' party is promoted to the 'Ruth Davidson for second best' party, does that mean they'll start voting against legislation they really, really oppose rather than just abstaining?
As far as I recall, Farepak, a profitable subsidiary supplying Xmas hampers, lent money to its parent which the parent didn't pay back, resulting in its customers being out of pocket.
Public Support Slips For Junior Docs
http://news.sky.com/story/1684979/public-support-slips-for-junior-docs-sky-data
Last 100days of Dodgy Dave.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/25/after-40-years-of-being-lied-to-its-time-to-leave-the-eu/
If a benefit claimant pulled a stunt like that, there would be jail time.
@ tig86
I was being more general. If we go around demonising business ( I am not commenting one way or the other on BHS) and nibble away at the concept of limited liability don't be surprised if the wheels start coming off job creation in the future. Make something too risky or onerous and people will stop doing it. We need to be careful we don't regulate our way out of business in our haste to criticise "fat cats/tax dodgers etc etc.
I doubt it. It simply lacks the resources and the split with rival camps impaired the preparation needed for this. Some of the advertising running at present has been paid for by us taxpayers.
Can't think of anything specific that the EU has done for my children.
In a way, I think the Tories may suffer a similar fate to the one Labour had in the last parliament, regarding austerity - they didn't benefit much even when public anger at the cuts grew, because people blamed Labour for the cuts happening in the first place due to the supposed "mess they left behind". Similarly, even if public frustration at the doctors' strikes is growing, it doesn't at all follow that that means people will be more supportive of Jeremy Hunt's position if they blame him for provoking the nice, respectable doctors into it.
Dodgy worked for him while climbing the greasy pole.
12 hours 12 minutes 12 seconds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQAwa7tYzeQ
"The clear message is that BHS is still open for business as usual. There are no plans for immediate redundancies or store closures," she told MPs.
" business as usual" - not the best phrase to use in the circumstances!
Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
Kasich just announced that he wants the people of Indiana to vote for him. Typical politician - can't make a deal work.
https://twitter.com/DanHannanMEP/status/724495258625687552
One of the front runners for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada says he'd put Britain at the front of the queue:
https://twitter.com/jkenney/status/723896023618347008
https://twitter.com/jkenney/status/723896356964831232
https://twitter.com/jkenney/status/723897042800656384
https://twitter.com/mmurraypolitics/status/724657036215070721
Who knew that socially liberal Kasich voters really don't like Ted Cruz ?
The alliance has simply damaged the credibility of Kasich to his own people, the backtracking is even worse.
And the only thing it tells us is that Cruz is so far behind in Indiana that he feels that he needs to strike a deal.
I remember visiting one of their stores in central London and was told they do not sell shirts slim enough for me. The trend in recent years has been towards more fitted clothing so not having a true slim fit is simply inexcusable.
I know someone who worked in Austin Reed's head office and left as it was obvious where they were heading.
Of course with Trump at 61 with 13% undecideds there is scope that he gets more than 2/3rds of the vote, but the max. is 12 delegates.
http://capx.co/niall-ferguson-and-bruce-anderson-are-both-wrong-to-oppose-brexit/
And it shows:
https://twitter.com/tonydokoupil/status/724677204823531524
1) Whatever name the center-right is using in Canada this week[1] it lost the 2015 election bigstyle and Trudeau jnr's Liberals has a majority govt, so it'll be in power for at least four years. Jason Kenney's ability to bring about a Canada-UK FTA is the same as mine: zero
2) "...There is no doubt...", "...would have...", "...should go...", "...might get done..."
NOTES
[1] The split history in Canada is impressive: imagine if the UK Conservatives split, then the new party became popular, then they recombined, then they got elected, then won big, then lost big.
https://mediarelations.gwu.edu/americans-overwhelmingly-engaged-2016-election-tone-race-affecting-voters-new-gw-battleground-poll
Within 3 of HRC sounds right, plenty of time to convert that into a lead. No one is undecided regarding HRC, so those are only potential Trump voters.