I didn't get home last night until about 1.45am so I missed the first hour of the by election programme, but one thing struck me was the performance of Liam Fox. He was superb. This follows another word-perfect interview he did with Andrew Marr a couple of weeks ago. One of my commenters, Trev, puts it like this...I am no great fan of Liam Fox but he has done well when I have seen him over the last few weeks. Indeed this culminated in an explosion of disgust with the unhappy Labour spokesman on BBC TV last night. He was trying to explain away the pathetic leaflet that Fox had produced and I think Fox threw out something like 'oh shut up' in exasperation. (maybe you can find the clip - about 1.30am).
I found it hilarious that Labour put up Chris Bryant on the BBC programme. Admittedly, he didn't do badly, but it comes to something when they put up a lowly PPS rather than a senior Minister. The MacAvity syndrome strikes again. I felt very sorry for Lynne Featherstone who made the best out of a bad job for the LibDems - I suppose you could say that about their candidate, Elizabeth Shenton too.
33 comments:
Where is MacAvity, where is MacAvity?
And Radio 5Live was going to cut into their programme to hear Gordon give a live interview/comment following his visit to St Thomas's Hospital but had to return to the programme as he refused to make any comments.
What courage!!
Harman trying to save her position/skin was a hoot this morning on the box.
UB40s anyone?
Best quote of the night from Liam Fox.....
"Gordon Brown has all the charisma of the digital man in a sat nav kit"....
I guess that at the next available exit, Brown will be performing a U turn then?
And as for Chris Bryant? Sorry, but whenever he's on, I just see him in his web page Y-Fronts pose.
You will have missed Portillo on the sofa earlier on in the evening. He seems to be becoming more embittered by the week - not a good thing to say about what was already shaping up to be a pretty good outcome. There was a lovely conversation about private schooling during which Diane Abbot went very, very quiet...
A faulty cable on my PC put it out of action yesterday evening, so I had to watch the result on TV, something I rarely do. Thanks to that, I saw Liam Fox's comments. I've never previously been impressed by Fox, but have to say he did an ace job of demolishing the nulab denials and spin.
oooh er, I'm famous.
BTW - Harry Rednapp has just won his high court case against the police. GOOD!
Oh yes I very much enjoyed Public school educated Bryant attempting to defend the Toff tactic against Coucil house born Comprehensive boy Liam Fox.
There was a wonderful moment on Question time when Hazel Blears was wriggling about having called Boris Johnson an upper class twit.
A man with a strong regional accent said
" That he may be but if you ask him a question he gives you an answer and I`d rather have that than a workingclass lad who never answers the question "
It was a punch the air and shout "YES !" moment for me. Whyen will Labour stop treating people like children.
Frances Maude was a limp as usual though , I do think the Conservatuive Party need a bit of ginger for these forums .Alan Duncan is always pathetic in a tired way.
Portillo misery betrays his treacherous soul....
Did he fool Iain on their recent dinner date?
I find it amusing that Liam Fox is still considered 'potential' material.
Is this the man who has an aid following six paces behind him wherever he goes carrying a bag?
I'm told, in confidence, that the bag contains a Nuclear Warhead operating device which requires six keys to verify the user.
Liam bought the bag from a local car boot sale and had the keys cut in a shopping centre.
Watch out Cuba and Hackney!
Gary
Newmania - even Duncan has improved in my opinion.
Never mind 'where's MacAvity' ... 'Where's Heffer!'
That was really very good Gary, do keep it up. We do so enjoy your posts.
Hi Newmania,
I saw that too and commented on Guido's about it.
I actually clapped :-)
I watched Boris' question time via the link on the Mayoral website, 2.5 hours but pretty good entertainment, I will definitely watch the next one.
Liam was very good indeed in fact a rising star. The "Voters sent a message" type comments were funny. The message was "XXXX off New Labour"
Can I repeat my "How to Win an Election Manifesto" ? Scrap the TV licence fee and the car excise duty (road tax) raise the tax bands, election won and the poorest helped the most. Two birds killed with one stone.
freedom to prosper
Ha ha ..glad its not just me
Graham Stringer ( who-he )has called for a challenge to G Brown.
Portillo was absolutely disgusting: when brillo put to him that the Conservatives could have a 5000 majority at C & N, his response was: 'that is one of a range of options'. This was said with a miserable expression on his face - brillo was patently shocked!
I have felt for a time, now, that there is a lack of balance on the show and this confirmed it.
Time for Portillo to be replaced...?
Well, i would have voted for Liam Fox as Leader of the Conservative Party-as he got knocked out during the 2005 leadership campaign- Cambo got my vote. I STILL have to accept DC as leader- but he has improved over the past year- but his decision over Darfur over his own bloody constituency during the floods STILL gives me a nagging doubt over his judgement. What we need is policy. In spades. He can certainly out trump LyingLabour, has he the political courage????
Portillo has been praying for further disasters to hit the Conservative Party so that the would call out COME BACK PORTILLO!
He does like pantomines.
Mind you we must be careful, He is Iain's buddy now!
Yes, Liam Fox was very good, and showing the positive side of the Tories. I didn't personally think that Chris Bryant was all that bad though, he was much, much more honest than the politicians usually are in these situations and that made a refreshing change, although I suppose that could be just a NuLab cult "latest method for dealing with the plebs" type thing.
I cannot believe the nonsense that Simon is saying. Cameron visited his constituency before he went to Darfur and again afterwards. whats going on in Darfur is a disgrace and we should be pleased that Cameron went. Govt inactivity on Darfur is shameful - and Milliband is talked of as a Brown alternative!
I think the Portillo thing is being overdone. Cameron is pushing the sort of agenda that Portillo was in favour of. He has no interest in coming back to politics - its amazing how people an misread things. He is just doing what he is paid for on the prog. being an objective rightist observer. Abbott is the one who should get the criticism, she is more self serving.
Note that as I write Frank Field is calling for bringing big hitters back! Fat chance. Oh and the link has gone down - BBC censorship again.
Liam Fox is, oh so very close to power, and is salivating at the prospect of being in control of our Nuclear arsenal.
he is the only Politician who sleeps all day long just so he can sit up in be all night S-T-A-R-I-N-G at the big red button on his alarm clock!
He starts to fidget at a few seconds (and counting...)before TIME!
He then leaps out and PRESSES!
He then calmly goes back to sleep and dreams all day long about how Japan and the Asian Continent used to be.
Gary
Gary Elsby - Living proof that it should be Class A.....
Elsby you buffoon
How about applying your vivid imagination to your CV, get a few plausible lies on there (Labour's made lying respectable y'see) and get off the dole and get a job?
Arbeit macht frei you dole sucking Scouse tapeworm.
Where is that twat Boothroyd these days with his "it is psephologically impossible for Labour to lose" schtick?
I agree Liam Fox was very good last night... but then I've always like his style.
He's one of those rare politicians that have a human quality about them, Duncan also. Contrast them to the automatons like that dreadful Blears woman (shudder - she even waves her arms around like a robot) or other non-entities on the Labour front bench.
And yes, Brown does have all the personality of a SatNav and apparently none of the direction.
I realise from reading your blog Iain that linguistic precision isn't one of your priorities, but can you (and some of your commenters) please get it into your heads that Macavity the cat is not MacAvity - much though you enjoy having a dig at the Scots as a proxy for your own frustration with England's election of three successive Labour governments (though thankfully not any more by the looks of things, either in England or Scotland!).
See here for full details of the Practical Cats story.
Liam Fox may come over OK when things are positive. But challenged or backed into a corner when things are even slightly tricky and he presents a nervous, tongue flicking, eyes averted persona that's snake-like to watch. Not a comfortable or capable advocate when the sh1t hits the fan.
I'm not a Conservative party sympathiser but...
" Pete said...
Portillo was absolutely disgusting: when brillo put to him that the Conservatives could have a 5000 majority at C & N, his response was: 'that is one of a range of options'. This was said with a miserable expression on his face - brillo was patently shocked!I have felt for a time, now, that there is a lack of balance on the show and this confirmed it. Time for Portillo to be replaced...?"
TRUE DAT. It's becoming an embarrassment to that programme to not have anyone anywhere the mainstream of Dave's Conservative party. They're going to be the next govt for god's sake! (maybe)
Liam Fox was superb. We were gathered in the Conservative Club in Nantwich and Liam's performance on the programme was greeted with cheers, as we awaited the result.
Definitely a first rate frontbencher and he will superb in a future Conservative Cabinet.
Gordon to the next conference "Make your way back to your seats and prepare for unemployment"
freedom to prospect
True Brit:
"England's election of three successive Labour governments"
Never forget that in 2005 Labour LOST in England.
Elizabeth Shenton's performance at the count was utterly foul. In true Lib Dem "Winning Here" fashion she lied all the way through her concession speech and turned her face away from Adam Boulton when he tried to interview her. The LibDems are such pathetic losers.
Anonymous: "Never forget that in 2005 Labour LOST in England."
Not true anonymous. At the 2005 General Election, the results (see link) in England alone were:
Liebour: 294
Conservative: 194
LibDim: 47
plus two others, including Gorgeous George Galloway, elected by his adoring, ahem, English constituents. This gave Liebour a majority, in England alone, of 43 MPs (contrast this majority with the fact that Scotland only has 59 MPs in total).
It's true that Liebour received 60,000 fewer votes than the Conservatives across the whole of England, but that's not the issue here - it's seats won that count (in just the same way that Al Gore didn't win the 2000 US election).
Whatever the rights and wrongs of our electoral system, its simply wrong for Little Englanders to blame the Scots/Welsh/anyone else other than their fellow Englanders for our current dreadful shower of a government. When the English stop voting Labour (as at last seems to be happening), we'll cease to have a Labour government.
Some little Englanders, indeed most, are just ignorant of the electoral facts. Others, by far the worst sort, ignore the facts that they know so well and happily spread division, prejudice and hatred amongst the first sort, regardless of the truth or consequences for the people of the UK.
And the irony is, of course, that the real threats to the people of the UK (and England in particular), are the EU and uncontrolled immigration, but hey, it's easier to be ignorant and hateful towards the Scots, isn't it.
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