I think today's PMQs will be the final one this session so David Cameron and Gordon Brown will both be aiming to go out on a high. Cameron is bound to raise the issue of the floods and the government's inadequate response.
Feel free to discuss anything on this open thread today. I arrive back at Heathrow at 7am tomorrow morning, so normal service will hopefully be resumed.
It may interest you to know that since I have been in Rwanda I have lost nearly a third of my daily readers. Gulp. Double gulp. Hopefully they will all come flocking back tomorrow. Hopefully!
Iain
ReplyDeleteI think Cameron is now damaged beyond repair. 'A week is a long time ......' On your return you will find a completly differant attitude to Cameron. He has lost it, the support for him has gone.
He has shown to be completly lacking in judgement, He dispises his party members and is now trying to go where the party will not. All he is is a green leftie with a guilt about his wealth and background and privileged upbringing. Despite his lack of tie and call me Dave I find him aloof and arrogant.
He has failed.
it does not surprise me that your readership levels have fallen since you have been in Rwanda. The whole reporting of the Rwanda trip, both in the national newspapers, TV, and you blog, has been incredibly dull as well as tedious. Don't go away again, Iain ....
ReplyDelete"It may interest you to know that since I have been in
ReplyDeleteRwanda I have lost nearly a third of my daily readers. Gulp.
Double gulp. Hopefully they will all come flocking back
tomorrow. Hopefully!"
Tories in 'couldn't give a sod about Rwanda' shock.
More like 'how boring are the threads' shock - without Iain offering up sensible things to discuss at the start of the day the nit-picking his 'regulars' settle on become very boring....but then maybe everyone is following his lead and going to do something practical and helpful rather than sitting on computers moaning. Oh there goes a pink pig....
ReplyDeletePrepare for the £8 billion pound man to throw in a few snide remarks about the Rwanda trip in response to whatever topic Cameron tries to run on today. (which, on past form, is unlikely to be anything that the majority of potential Tory voters would put anywhere near the top of the issues they want addressed)
ReplyDeletePerhaps just as well the summer recess is upon us, and hopefully Cameron can spend some time thinking about some form of strategy to win the next election Yep, pink animals flying past my window too.
And sadly, we will never know what impact your absence had on the number of anonymous comments in your favour.
ReplyDelete"It may interest you to know that since I have been in Rwanda I have lost nearly a third of my daily readers. Gulp. Double gulp. Hopefully they will all come flocking back tomorrow. Hopefully!"
ReplyDeleteErm, you may not have noticed, but by and large voters couldn't give a flying f--k about Rwanda. And increasingly we feel the same about Cameron and his entourage. Brown has substance, whether you agree with him or not. Cameron doesn't. End of story - and of the election.
Yesterday on here we found out that Britain had spent $112 billion on US Treasuries in 12 months.
ReplyDeleteIt came out last month that Spain has been selling off its gold reserves in an accelerated programme. The Treasurer said it was going to buy bonds.
Is there are a frantic international programme going on to buy US $ treasuries to stop the dollar collapse?
The Chinese are diversifying into other assets now like Barclays Bank and so on. The sub-prime woes are starting to threaten the financial credibility of other sectors.
As for Rwanda, there is one thing Brits hate more than any other - and that is folk who get away from our lousy weather. To add to the dullness of our climate, we now have the dullest Prime Minister in living memory. Even Ming Campbell is starting to sound interesting!
No wonder the anti's are so determined to try to kill off Cameron. Brown ain't got a hope, fellas!!!
I think this blog misses Iain - not surprisingly. It's still been interesting to visit, but there is more edge to it, when Dale is sniffing out the story closer to home. I'm glad he's had a bit of a break though. It must be so dull for him reading all thse rants. I wouldn't want to do it!
Just to reiterate
ReplyDeleteWe are the worst performing economy in the Anglosphere and Britain was already surging ahead at the end of the Major period. Without the administrative an tax burdens placed on the private sector (and the swollen public sector) it would have done as well as the other free economies . A historic missed opportunity. These gains are driven by the global markets that believe in the low tax and entrepreneurial societies that Brown despises. Those actually in this sector are aware of this and this is not the problem the Conservatives have ( Those involved almost universally support the Tories). The drag on business is in front of you everyday. The problems are these
1. They no longer appear in Scotland now a client Socialist state with double counted votes and massive ( Barnett Formula) subsidy. This is in effect taxing the English , who after all voted for Conservatives by a 50,000 majority even at the last election, to pay for another country to provide them with a shade of government they do not like . Gordon Brown is entirely aware of this sophistry hence “ British” Brown and the possibility of alliance with the Liberals ( now on the back burner)
2 In England the swing seats are loaded with the 6500,000 now living on benefits but of working age and those living on the state or subsidised by the state . Turkeys, and there are ,as Labour admits, far too many , will not vote for Christmas however much Cameron reassures them.
3 The Conservative Party have allowed themselves to become associated with backward looking and image related problems mostly by being the enemy of the state funded media for the very obvious reason that they want to break it up , now more than ever. Here Cameron has made good progress and it this balance in his opposition that makes him appear less fascistically bossy than Scotch broth Brown .This temporarily attracts the voter so sickened were they with Trifle and Cream Blair but strikes me as a shallow reaction.
Labour have been fabulously lucky to inherit both the prudent management and the Union reforms of the previous period which they have not undone and have frequently acknowledged The ERM fiasco is still the Albatross around the Conservatives neck and indeed as we are aware that Brown spending and borrowing is due to sink the boat there is a some trepidation about being there to hold the baby again. It is of course ironic that Europe should be our problem when the Labour Party are currently telling the electorate the greatest lie that has ever been perpetrated on the British people about the thinly disguised Constitution. 96 % of the text is identical and although it is currently only in French but the good people of “ Open Europe” have translated it
Image and luck are everything however . This administration despite a golden opportunity has fouled up every single thing it has touched
1Tax Credits
2 DEFRA
3 NHS Computers and Recruitment
4 Unreformed Welfare
5 Crime
6 Societal Breakdown
7 Pensions and tax dishonesty
8 Selling out the country to Europe
9 Ignoring Parliament
10 Selling Honours
11 Immigration ,melt down
12 Consequent housing crisis
13 Micro Management Surveillance and ID cards
And I could go on and on and on and in great detail ……. They are rightly detested in many areas and exactly for the things that Brown is responsible for as the Socialist to Blair`s ( supposed )centrist. When the honey moon is over we will see that the Conservative Party are a lot closer than they have been in along time and in such clement conditions that is quite something. This will,at least , provoke a constitutional crisis over Scottish and English votes.
The anti Blair shtick is misconceived. Not-Blair is a good thing true in that Brown is charm less unpleasant and bossy , but Brown is not Blair for the wrong reasons. He is the one who has driven the loathed centralisation , he is the one who has increased all our taxes , he is the one who has responsible for the various delivery foul ups above . Naturally he will not be allowed to call himself New Brown for long and whilst I can understand a certain preening arrogance on the left at the recent polls , especially after having despaired , there are contradictions and lies at the heart of “ New Centre Brown”
He is Old Incompetent Left Wing Scottish Brown and hide though he will try to do , this truth cannot go unnoticed for long. Brown is himself visibly astonished to have got away with the “ and this is me “ gig at the end of the impressionist act “ . he is himself intensely conscious of his core Union vote hiving off to the BNP or apathy as he has allowed their communities to be broken up by welfare bribes and newcomers . He has been busily adding a soupcon of Nationalism to his Socialism.
Today in a interview with the Sun ( Of course) he announced he will “Set a target” to kick out half the 8000 foreign prisoners clogging up the prisons . A problem hisown government caused. This is all nonsense, it is no easier to get the other country to take them back today than it was yesterday but taken with his “British Jobs for British People “ and heavy handed attitude to English votes , the licensed racism of Hodge Blears and others, this new “ National Government “ is becoming more National Socialist by the day .
With good reason ,the second choice of the labour voter is the BNP in 35%of cases. With “All the talents “(included in two meeting a year) Brown is quick to claim he represents ,,...Everyone . He is already calling on Cameron to support Flood measures and leave Party Politics behind ...as if it was not the oppositions job to draw to the counties attention to the fact that the River Authorities and Coucils did a much better job than this bloated Environmental Agency and once again administrative shake ups have beleaguered the system.
The one place where Brown cannot pull invisible levers where he can be seen for what he is, is in Parliament where David Cameron has duly run rings around him. It will be a good thermometer of his nascent fascism to see how long this promise to meet Parliament lasts . Not long if he gets a working majority and that must be stopped at all costs .
Conservatives stand to day against a fascistic National Socialism operating as did the Reich with big business controlled by the state the removal of personal Liberty and Flags waved at every opportunity. Whorish commentators like Lard Haw Haw Heffer are quick to purr about his “ strength “ and “ seriousness” but those who truly love this country must stand against the Brown Shirts and the brown Trousers .
Support David Cameron , this election can be won if we all stick together .Traitors sycophants and nostalgic old women are not required and have my permission to bugger off.
It may interest you to know that since I have been in
ReplyDeleteRwanda I have lost nearly a third of my daily readers.
Maybe they are with you in Rwanda...(meow!)
...or flooded out?
If Cameron does raise the floods he is a dead duck dorwning in his own chutzpah. Even his muppet of a shadow minister managed to be collegial and to affect reasonableness on it.
ReplyDeleteBut if he does I don't think Brown will attack on Rwanda. HE will be collegial. HE will try to LOVE UP the dying duck. HE will try to keep Cameron hanging on as dead duck leader through successive "snap election" rumours until June 2009. Hah hah hah.
Tories and Libs both cannot change horses while they believe in an early election. Hah hah.
Tapestry: What is the term and the effective rate on these US Treasury Bonds? It is a bit hard to judge whether this is a useful bit of investment without any numbers apart from the headline.
Iain: Could you introduce some kind of ration on length of comments? Don't really want to read Newmania's GCSE essays in full.
ReplyDelete"I will double the amount of deportations of foreign prisoners"
ReplyDelete"Immigrants should learn English"
Ah! Music to the ears, at last Dave has uttered something sensible.
Oooops these words (or something like them) were spoken by Mr Broon yesterday.
WTF is going on? Where is my party of the people with its finger on the pulse?
While Dave is lurching to the left Broon is nicking the natural position of the Tory Party!
I am not saying we need a hang em and flog em, but we cannot allow our core beleifs to be hijacked in this way!
Iain, Like the Lib Dems who keep telling us that people will pay more tax, then discover, at election time, that hardly anyone supports them, so too with Africa! I am afraid. People will agree with aid BUT and a hell of a BUT when there is a disaster at home Charity should begin at home. Hoever well intentioned the Rwanda exercise was, it has proved to be a PR disaster for Cameron and the Conservative Party. Photo shoots of him filling sandbags and helping out at Oxford United Football Club would have enhanced his image! I am afraid he has lost a tremendous amount of support from grass root conservatives.
ReplyDeleteHe can ignore it but this will not wash. He needs to apologise and show that he cares for 1. His Constituents. 2. The grass roots Tories and 3. His parliamentary colleagues. Slagging them off in the press only creates trouble for himself.
I would bring back, if he would only, Ken Clarke as Shadow Chancellor the old boy taking on the uncharasmatic Darling would prove a winner. BOY George is just that a BOY. Bring back Anne Widdecombe. You just do not realise how popular she is in the Country. Give her the Party Chairman job. STOP these PR appointments else the Tories are going to lose the next and the next elections.
'It may interest you to know that since I have been in Rwanda I have lost nearly a third of my daily readers'
ReplyDeletePerhaps Iain, like me, many are put off by the vast number of inane 'Cameron's finished' trolls you've had visiting since the by elections.
If they were witty, or novel I wouldn't mind but they repeat the same dross over and over and over and over again.
Iain, if you have lost readers then that is because this is terminally boring! Nobody (clearly) is interested in tales of you and your trusty camerawoman Alice. Or that David Cameron went to Africa. Wow. Sorry, are you Mary Ann Sieghart or Alice Thomson?
ReplyDeleteThe PMQ'S are now a waste of time they ask questions that are so stage managed nowadays no one throws in a grenade anymore
ReplyDeleteMing is ueless Bin Ming that's waht I say then ..replace Cameron with Gove
chris paul doesn't like Newmania's excellent piece, as he has the concentration span of a gnat.
ReplyDeletetreasury bonds are the same as british gilt edge stock. they fall if interest rates rise, and they lose value if the dollar falls. In other words Gordon Brown has probably lost about £10 billion on these investments already. This will probably be the biggest single bad investment of his career.
If the dollar falls to £2.50, we will ose around $30 billion or more.
Brown is not only the dullest Prime Minister we've ever had. He's wasted the largest sum of money in our country's history, and destroyed our society.
The charge sheet is so full, Newmania was as brief as it was humanly possible to be. There is far far more to come out yet about this great lumbering fiasco of a nose-picking apology for a human being.
GCSE essays in full
ReplyDeleteThis is a GSCE essay
" Moi nime IZ kris Poll "
This is the mark
A
This is the job you get
Public Service Consultant
This in short is you CP
Attack on Rwanda ? What are you talking about what difference does it make ? the oppositions duty is to point out Governmental responsibility ,. It was the cack handed reorganisation of the Environmental Agency that delayed flood protection and river maintenance as was warned by the all parliamentary committee both recently and in 2001 . So many cock ups you should pile them up to stop the water getting in.
Browns ...now lets act " Nationally " is of a piece with his new National Socialism which makes little power worshipers like you wriggle with unwholesome glee. Brown to kick out Foreign crims says the Sun Typical. Actually he set a silly target , actually he caused the prison over crowding , actually , he has quadrupled immigration and actually he has no intention of stopping that flood either .
If I `m GSCE you are potato printing for gimps Chris Paul so get back in your kennel and carry on rubbing your Brown picture on your genitals as usual .
Thanks tap .. ahem I may have got a bit carried away with the last bit.
ReplyDeleteAnyway filthy commerce urgently requires my attention.
Rail fares to soar as government slashes funding - todays headline in the Times
ReplyDeleteIf I were Cameron I would go with the railways at PMQs. This is classic Brown stealth - spinning a huge funding cut as a boost for rail travel while trying to micromanage a business they know nothing about. At least the Times exposes what's going on unlike the Brooun Broadcasting Corp. If Brown carries on like this (and he will) the proverbial will soon hit the fan. Cameron only needs to hold firm and should not worry about a few bad headlines.
BTW Iain the blogs are much quieter anyway. After Southall, there's been a lull.
ReplyDeleteBrown is so excruciatingly painfully dull that no one can stay awake, let alone feel like going online to hear even more mind-numbingly depressing garbage from the Nulab propaganda drones.
Our economy is ruined, our society broken and now we are the victims of the most boring lifeless political regime in Britain's 1000 year history. The great clunking fist is attached to a slowly rotating lumbering brain that is only capable of mutterings of the billions and squillions he has squandered, while propped up by a sycophantic narrative-drenched media. God it is boring here in Britain. It makes you want to screeeeeeaaaaaaaam
i want to live in rooander. they seem like they have human beings there, not narrative-programmed robots briefed to recite verbiage by hard-nosed focus group consultants. Blade-inflicted genocide would be preferable to this death by brain intoxication we are suffering in Britain.
When you come back iain you have to help us survive this onslaught of dullness. Flooding our houses is as nothing to having our brains flooded with NuLab's endless nauseating justifications for the inexcusable destruction of our once happy and tolerant land.
Tapestry & Newmania, well said.
ReplyDeleteI think the standard of comment since Iain had been away has been outstanding. I'm not suggesting a cause/effect relationship though. Maybe it would be an idea for the future to have an open day now and again. It would certainly give Iain an occasional break.
If you think your numbers are down - wait till you see the opinion polls.
ReplyDeleteJohnny Norfolk certainly encapsulates the message going out right now. David Cameron has got to respond to it.
Personally I think David Cameron's got much more in him than is being suggested - but he's got to play a blinder of a second half to avoid sniping from his own side.
Reason to be cheerful:
ReplyDeleteNo water in our taps, cold drizzle slowly descends on Gloucestershire, can't flush the lavatory very often.
But I'm not trapped in a bar with tapestry, newmania or any similar grade A bore...
Chris Paul said...
ReplyDeleteIain: Could you introduce some kind of ration on length of comments? Don't really want to read Newmania's GCSE essays in full.
Agreed, does this fellow really think folk want to read his comments for Gods' sake ? I would also add that the comments of "tapestry" are bordering on, or in my case have passed the tedious beyond belief level.These two need to move over to the Guardians Comment pages,and soon please.
What has become evident however, is that this and all blogs need the anonymous posters.You lot are so bloomin' boring,Labour anonymous bloggers are the best and that is why we are needed here.Thought our man Gordon was looking very assured on the BBC last night.Not sure where your man was,out of the country probably.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIain: Could you introduce some kind of ration on length of comments? Don't really want to read Newmania's GCSE essays in full.
ReplyDeleteI disagree. We need far longer essays in the self-evident righteousness of libertarian Conservative philosophy and the Satanic nature of Socialism from Mr. Newman, even if it is only to better enlighten that ill-educated and witless Socialist oaf Chris Paul
Throughout 2006 Cameron couldn't do anything wrong.A year later he apparantly can't do anything right.The chattering classes change their views as often as the British weather.anybody with an atom of commonsense knew that Gordon Brown would enjoy the same degree of curious support/interest which marked the arrival of John Major, replacing Mrs.T in 1990.When the silly season is over and the real impact of higher mortgage rates,higher taxes and higher violent crime across the country begin to hit home, people outside Westminster will have a reality check.
ReplyDeleteNewmania's analysis was spot on.Encore! Nulab apologist Chris Paul had nothing to say.... except to complain about its length.That speaks volumes
tapestry said...
ReplyDeleteBrown is so excruciatingly painfully dull.
You have got to be joking.You have the nerve to call Brown dull, when you post vast amounts of inane drivel that goes unread.
I'm sure your readers will come "flooding" back tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteCameron has to be spot on today or he could completely blow everything he's worked on for all these months.
Brown will be very well prepared for Cameron this week. I only hope the Cameron is more prepared!
Cameron is in a classic "Catch 22" situation over PMQs. He has to mention the floods but by doing so he leaves himself wide open to criticism and reminds the electorate of his absence from the country at a time of national emergency in large parts of Central England.
ReplyDeleteMichael Clarke said...Newmania's analysis was spot on.Encore! Nulab apologist Chris Paul had nothing to say.... except to complain about its length.That speaks volumes.
ReplyDeleteYou are in the minority Mike,it's the voters who find in Gordon a decent man who they trust.Your silly fellow, the "Tory Toff" comes across as a bit slimy.We don't care for him, and that is why Gordon will win the next General Election in October.
So Cameron is getting the same rating as Michael Howard did at the end of his leadership. Is the dream over? Yes.
ReplyDeleteNEEEXT! Oh. No-one there.
It's only a poll, I know, but, just for fun, let's suppose it is the state of affairs for the next election. The Libdems won't do as well with Campbell as they did with Kennedy, and the war is ever distant. Could the private grief of the Tory party continue, as they lose even more support within their rank and file? Is this a leadership without a party? Have you really chosen the next Prime Minister? I share your doubts too.
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/conservatives/story/0,,2134051,00.html
"Cameron is bound to raise the issue of the floods and the government's inadequate response."
ReplyDeleteHe wouldn't dare. Cameron would get eaten alive if he mentions it.
Terror and international development will be his questions today.
Floods will result in Brown saying "why weren't you in Witney?"..and Cameron sits in silence.
Well, interestingly Iain,you've lost a third of your readers, and "David Cameron's Conservatives (TM)" have lost a third of their support.
ReplyDeleteRwanda clearly remembers when the Conservative government abandoned them in 1994. Leave them alone, now, and come back and face the music. Probably a funeral march.
The former member for Witney is at the dispatch box, he hasn't mentioned floods yet. I wonder if the current member for Witney will dare to when it's his turn in half an hour...
ReplyDeleteI'd quite like to see some decent questioning around the floods, but I fear that any question that DC asks will be deflected with an answer about his going to Rwanda.
ReplyDeleteThere are a few other things which are legimitate questions for the PM to deal with which I fear are going to be subsumed into Punch and Judy.
In response to the very first post from Johnny Norfolk, it is precisely because a week is a long time in politics that Cameron is not finished. A few good hits over flooding, trains etc. and it could all look very different.
The thing is, he can't mention flooding because of the bad press around him for leaving Witney while it flooded.
ReplyDeleteIt's suicide if he mentions it.
Chances are, Brown will use it against him.
Floods will result in Brown saying "why weren't you in Witney?"..and Cameron sits in silence.
ReplyDeleteWhy ,is he required to foresee the future then ?Would a bucket have helped after the event ? There is actually a very good case for highlighting that this has been yet another example of a administrative shake up gone awry.
Cameron may miss it now but the All Parliamentray committee`s inditement of the Governments performance is there to be read.
If not now then soon...perhaps he might mentoin that the VAT collected by the government by virtue of the reconstitution of homes will be at its usual disgustingly high rate making another revenue source to be squandered on Browns serf droogs.
I would
Fortunately Brown isn't capable of eating Cameron alive at PMQs - Blair could (and would) have reduced him to ridicule with a quick turn of phrase. But Brown can't. He's probably got some prepared clunking phrase that he won't be able to deliver to any effect. In addition Cameron will probably say something statesmanlike about the floods and disable any punch and judyism.
ReplyDeleteSo Sturgess seriously believes Gordon Brown is "decent" and pure as the driven snow? Pull the other one. Reality check seriously needed. This is the man who ignored best advice in 1997 and has helped crucify millions of people in occupational pension schemes, draining £5 billion every year and drirectly contributing to the pensions crisis.This is the man who has consistently forced local authorities to raise Council Tax,by wishing the ends but never providing adequate means (revenue support grant)to prevent Councul Tax doubling since Labour came to office.This is the man who has created the most complicated tax system in the western world, while creating an incomprehensible system of tax credits, which 40% of those it is aimed athave given up on it.This is the man who was in charge of Labour's 2005 general election campaign and yet claims he knew nothing about Lord Levy's activities, the £14million raised - and never sought to enquire where the money had come from.Are you serious, Sturgess, in expecting people not to see through this wafer thin veneer of nice Mr.Brown? He shares the guilt with Blair for the massive deception, which led this country sleepwalking into the greatest foreign policy disaster in 50 years- Iraq.He will be exposed.His dismal past and track record, his Stalinist methods of dealing with colleagues and people who disagree with him (ask Frank Field) will all come home to haunt him.
ReplyDeleteThis fatally flawed,brooding man is enjoying his honeymoon. Let him do so.It wont last long.And when reality returns, he wont have any finger nails left to chew.
El Dave. said... it is precisely because a week is a long time in politics that Cameron is not finished.
ReplyDeleteSpot on,this government has gone for the long term, not this week is a long time bit.We have managed rather well,ten years and counting I believe.Yes and we are going for another ten years you know.You and yours can have a week, because that's all your going to get.The occasional our man was better than you man at PMQs' bit,that kind of thing.The important stuff,we'll leave that to Gordon,he knows best.
Good first question from Cameron!
ReplyDeleteAnyone else notice how Brown has two ladies on both sides of him wearing white suits?
ReplyDeleteIs this intended to make him look god like!?
Yes and we are going for another ten years you know.You and yours can have a week
ReplyDeleteYes yes fifteen years of uninterrupted growth.....eeerm hang on fifteen ...? That five under Major and as that is the fig leaf spread unconvinciingly over the entire farrago of mis management you might wipe the viscous creamy fluid away from your lips.
Anyone else notice how Brown has two ladies on both sides of him wearing white suits?
ReplyDeleteIs this intended to make him look god like!?
No, its symbolic of him raping virtuious virgins of England (ie taxpayers and libertarians)
Michael Clarke said...
ReplyDeleteSo Sturgess seriously believes Gordon Brown is "decent" . Yes I do.
Crucify millions of people in occupational pension schemes. No that was Maggie,and that is why my pension is not what it should have been.Maggie not Gordon,we remember even if you don't.
This is the man who has consistently forced local authorities to raise Council Tax.We still refer to it as The Poll Tax .Seem to remember riots in the streets on that one.Gordon actually uses the tax revenue for the good of the voters you know,it's not his to keep.
Claims he knew nothing about Lord Levy's activities. Bit like your man then ? Don't be a daft lad,they were all at it your lot included.
Blair for the massive deception, which led this country sleepwalking into the greatest foreign policy disaster in 50 years- Iraq.Your happy band were leading the bloody charge so don't come that one. How about your mob and Rwanda,don't forget that,at least our man would have done more than sit on his hands while thousands died..
Stalinist methods of dealing with colleagues. That bothers you,really ? I don't believe you. What about Maggie,have a peek at "Spitting Image" it's as we all saw her you know.
People who disagree with him (ask Frank Field). He's yesterdays man for Gods sake,the only folk who take any notice of that old fool are you lot,we don't.
This fatally flawed,brooding man is enjoying his honeymoon. The guy has been running the country for 10 years,bloody long honeymoon.
Newmania said... fig leaf spread unconvinciingly over the entire farrago of mis management you might wipe the viscous creamy fluid away from your lips.
ReplyDeleteStill in power friend,if it has been such a disaster why are you still "Her Majesty's loyal opposition"
Have just created one of those horrid Google account things - had to record my astonishment at sturgess' post. It would be nice to think it was written specifically to win people up but sadly the evidence suggests sturgess is utterly deluded; that long statement in defence of Gordon is one of the weakest and most illogical I have ever read (and in CP's company that's saying something).
ReplyDeleteThey'll come back - but some not until September.
ReplyDeleteA third is about par for the course.
I went away for a week and lost 75% in June. I reckon that only the earch engines were left.
I wouldn't worry about numbers Iain. As others have pointed out, the standard of debate has risen, so you have quality not quantity.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure that the kind of posts that start "You F"£$ing Tories" etc, etc, and continue with an anonymous rant. have any heuristic value. Do you?
If the blogosphere is to gain crediblility it needs to mature. I think that the people who matter will take this blog much more seriously if the loonies melt away.
I am all for keeping anonymous comments off in order to focus on proper dialog.
Anyone else notice how Brown has two ladies on both sides of him wearing white suits?
ReplyDeleteTwo harpies is what came to my mind.
How shocking of you fickle Tories to knock something that is good.
ReplyDeleteNobody was forced to go to Rwanda.
Maybe you will now begin to realise why this Country doesn't want negative Toryism.
You are negative about everything.
Those that were negative about Tony Blair within the Labour party lost each and every argument and vote.
Doom.
Were the two ladies in white coats about to section Gordon?
ReplyDeletetroymolloy said...
ReplyDeleteHave just created one of those horrid Google account things - had to record my astonishment at sturgess' post.
Appreciated,but fail to see why you would want to go through all that to post such a forgettable comment.
Sturgess – How on earth are you managing to blame Margaret Thatcher for the tax raid on Pensions ? This is pathetic stuff , why not blame Winston Churchill. This was theft under cover of complexity.
ReplyDeleteTax- tax has increased from 38% state managed expenditure to 45%. Mostly stealth tax. Pure Brown pure hatred is due to him.
they were all at it your lot included.
Look up the numbers ennobled . There has always been a connection between Party support and ennoblement but the rate and cynicism of it accelerate onto an entirely new level under Brown . The Conservative Party welcomed the support no doubt but never sold to bidders , they never needed the money that badly apart from anything else. Obviously Brown is culpable in all this and harking back ten years will remind you that Major was kicked out of office over cash for questions. Thousands versus millions but the thousands were used by the BBC and state left media non stop.
On Iraq the Conservative Party did support it , with or without WMDs but then that was Blair not Brown. Brown let him play abroad controlling domestic Policy . This does not mean it is acceptable to politicise expert advice in contempt of the separation of functions and have no exit strategy despite the many ignored experts available in the civil service . Very much the same sort of problems that lead to the Tax Credits fiasco.
(I don`t understand what you are saying about Rwanda )
Brown is enjoying a Honey moon in that he has escaped all connection with the failed domestic policy of the last ten years and is not Blair ,Major staggered the left by going on for seven years by not being Thatcher the phenomenon was not unexpected
( and the first five years of growth were under him). The support Gollum Brown receives from the Public sector parasites that are the ruling class of the labour Party and the Unions is because they know he is a Socialist.When everyone else remembers what they are likely to see under a Brown Reich they will soon get back to their corners.
He is old Scottish centralising high taxing England hating and EU fawning. As a person he is probably the most warped and terrifying human being we have ever had on the stage . His marriage is a sham not because he is gay , although he may be , but because he would rather boss everyone around than have sex , he has no personal life , no interests and nothing except the repetitiveness of an animated corpse.
I simply cannot believe,despite the paid up benefits and public sector vote and the Scottish imported foreign vote and the boundary commission bias and the endless bile of the BBC that we will be ruled by this ghastly blind cave creature .
On Frank Field , Gordon Brown did for him when he was charged to reform welfare. That is why welfare is unreformed and Mr. Field is a popular man across many shades of opinion.
As far as your regurgitation of the anti Maggie bleating of the 80s is concerned it was rather a different time when she took power . Three day week ,rampaging inflation , dead bodies on the street and the Unions trying to run the country.her determination to save the country was admirable and she was fighting the entrenched positioons of the left establishment . Gollum Brown just likes to hug power ..he wants iot , he needs it ...
........It is his precious.
In gods name protect the Princes
Matt Wardman said..
ReplyDeleteI went away for a week and lost 75% in June.
Mum stopped reading it then ?
The readership you have lost reflects about the same level of support that Cameron is haemorraghing Iain. You may feel you are doing good work in Rwanda, but it's gone down like a lead balloon back home - especially the timing of Cameron's visit which he clearly should have postponed.
ReplyDeleteThe trouble is, it all just smacks of the Blairite past: all style, all spin, all essentially done for the cameras. It's not real. If it were real you'd have all done it throughout your summer vacations without a single paparazzi present. The country has already moved on, and it's Brown not Cameron who is looking like the future now.
Sorry to be the bearer of some home truths.
Newmania
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your comments on GB, and if that was your GCSE essay you must be psychic.
Gordon Brown, he’s Scot to go.
The perception panel yielded interesting results on todays PMQs. It showed how well Cameron did on both floods and EU referendum and that cheap (and ineffectual) point scoring from Gordo didn't play well. People out there are a lot more sensible than the fevered Westminster village. There was also a noticeable 'before' mood on the DP when Ian Duncan was getting it in the neck about Cameron and an 'after' mood when Yvette Cooper was put on the spot, unable to defend reneging on a referendum that was promised in Labour's manifesto. I thought Cameron's performance swung negative perceptions against him, turning the momentum back against Labour. And as for Rwanda - the long term benefits far outweigh some silly short term sniping.
ReplyDeleteoops - I meant Alan Duncan.
ReplyDeleteNewmania's stream of consciousness rants are GCSE standard are they? Evidence of dumbing down, surely. You'd get less bile fuelled drivel from a pub drunk after 10 stellas.
ReplyDeleteOn a more serious note being in Rwanda actually makes the CP look a more responsible outfit. What would hanging around Gloucester in waders (like half the bbc newsreaders) actually do? Nothing. What would furrowed eyebrows and 'feeling our pain' expressions do? Nothing. These were serious floods yes, but hardly New Orleans. Or Bangladesh.
Last day of freedom before Sir returns to the classroom. All long comments should be banned except newmania's. He has got an excellent blog, by the way. Blog traffic has gone down because labour trolls are making them too tiresome to read. This is the way that they will control the blogosphere - not regulate it but make it very boring. Yvette has no shame. She would say black is white without a blush if Gordon told her to do so. Andrew Neill made his contempt of her clear.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, the drop off in readers is due both to the excruitiatingly party politics reporting of the Rwanda trip- which has been truly agonising to read, and your baning of anonymous comments; If you want a sanitised blog with just 'regulars' contributing then I'm afraid you take the rough with the smooth, I have no interest in being a contributor to a Tory mouthpiece;
ReplyDeleteand I write as twice daily reader turned non-reader (with this obvious exception)
Can anyone who posted today tell me what the Tory party's policy on immigration is ?
ReplyDeleteDoes it differ from NuLabour's present position ?
(only asking)
should add, my username is NOT a reflection of my political beliefs... it's actually a football thing!
ReplyDeleteI thought Yvette Cooper was bloody awful. An extremely poor performance. She was so spin spin spin I was getting dizzy listening to her.
ReplyDeleteMr Mania , where do you find the time?
ReplyDeleteMr Tapestry , loved your slap down of of New Labour gnat Chris Paul..
What we really need to see now is Cameron in a pair of wellies (green natch) saying "crisis what crisis?"
And furthermore , if he is like 99% of people who visit Africa he will have come back with something nasty in his digestive tract or blood stream, hopefuly some kind of intestine eating snail.
sturgess wrote -
ReplyDeleteYou have got to be joking.You have the nerve to call Brown dull, when you post vast amounts of inane drivel that goes unread.
err - if you haven't read it, how do you know? that's thr trouble with left-wingers. they know it all without confusing themselves with the evidence.
who said it was a quiet day on the blogs? How wrong they were. Oh dear. It was me. Well it was quiet til Newmania started up, and that got me going. Now all the moaners are back. Oh well. It was fun while it lasted.
Sturgess, I hate to point this out but I'm a Labour member. I hope that Gordon does trounce Cameron at every opportunity, but I think that counting him out because of a few days of bad press is premature.
ReplyDeleteMr Brown looked very ethereal (and slightly God-like) today at PMQs, accompanied as he was by alabaster skinned seraphs at his left and right hand, clad in celestial white with complementary amulets and hairdos.
ReplyDeleteRosemary McKenna (Lab) raised an important question about the trustworthyness of our broadcasters, but GB didn't really engage with that. It is one of the most pressing issues of our time, and he ducked it.
DC's point about the EU constitution was robust and spot on I thought, and Brown's reply was poor on the points raised and not really a reply at all. The fact remains, that Labour ran on a mandate for a referendum on the EU and they have backed out.
(It's also a great ploy to revivify the old guard and bring them back on side)
Read David Davis' comment in today's Telegraph on how to tackled the terror threat.
ReplyDeleteHe makes some very good points about intercept evidence and strengthening border controls as well as pointing out the dangers of increasing detention periods.
I find that DD is consistently impressive, being able to articulate well-thought out policies and ideas. I cannot help wondering how things would have played for Conservatives if DD had been elected leader. My guess is we would be seeing a government in waiting.
Of course I don't know him like our host knows him, but still, he has grown in stature, in my opinion since the leadership election.
>Ian
ReplyDeleteI come here for politics so have not read any Rwanda stuff.
It may be interesting to those who are interested but...if I am typical of your daily readership (I'm sure I'm not but..) it's irrelevant.
Please come back soon. The essays are too much to read.
I have read every word of these exciting comments and found it extremely interesting and enjoyable!!Thanks everyone for brightening up my day!
ReplyDeleteBrown's response to Cameron's (surprisingly good) question about the EU 'treaty' would have been laughable were it not so contemptible in its evasiveness. Pathetic. It cannot be that this 'vast intellect' does not comprehend the question or situation, surely? 'Old agenda' my foot!
ReplyDeleteOf course Cameron would have made no pratical difference in the floods. There are times however as any decent manager knows you have to be there. Could he not have sent someone else to Africa to represent him. If he could not then he is a bad manager.
ReplyDeleteCameron needs to come off his high horse. He needs to reflect the party not the other way round.
We need more people that have done something in their lives the hard way,. you then have a greater understanding of life that Cameron does not.
Hilarious banter boys. I know what US Treasury Stock is you muppets. I was interested in what price was paid for each $100 worth, what the nominal yield is, and when they mature.
ReplyDeleteWithout this information the point was and is meaningless and the reader cannot judge the sense or otherwise of the investments.
Over to you. Answers not evasions please.
johnny norfolk wrote - We need more people that have done something in their lives the hard way,. you then have a greater understanding of life that Cameron does not.
ReplyDeleteSo in your own terms Rwanda and genocide teach nothing about the harshness of human life? Do I detect a tinge of class jealousy poking out between your lines?
I guess going and seeing the results of the genocide of 1 million souls wouldn't touch you Johnny. Isn't that real enough for you? You must be a hard bastard.
Chris paul said -Hilarious banter boys. I know what US Treasury Stock is you muppets
ReplyDeleteOf course he does , they all read the Economist in the help-an-islamic-lesbian-become- carbon-neutral staff room .
Bugger all else to do.
Tapestry: Do not dare criticise Johnny Norfolk until you have worked at the coal face of logistics consultancy like him. Its tough in the real world.
ReplyDeleteMadasafish..
ReplyDelete"I come here for politics so have not read any Rwanda stuff"
What goes on in the rest of the world may not be directly relevant to our daily lives, but it has considerable spiritual value. I mean that in the sense of the development of the soul and that soul's journey to the fullness of humanity in all its aspects.
For example, "politics" is about governing. One aspect of governing is taxation and taxation is about economics and distribution of wealth. How are we to truly understand wealth if we do not also unsderstand poverty? How can we understand health if we do not understand sickness?
Whatever we feel about immigration it is right to see every human being on this planet as the same as ourselves, equal in humanity, equal in needs and equal in a right to enjoy safety and a full stomach.
To see first hand the extremes of life and death on this planet is above all a humanizing experience.
I suppose it depends on what you think we are all here for.
We can watch Rwanda on television and say, yeah, that's bad, and give a fiver to Comic Relief, or.. we can get out and smell it.
I cannot explain it much better than that on this platform, but I really hope that the sum total of my life is not about arguing over a parking space at Tesco.
Iain is right to go. Dave is right to go.
Iain
ReplyDeleteThe media have been reporting the floods non-stop. Not surprisingly view trip has had less coverage than expected.
The political story of the moment is the Brown bounce versus supposed decline in support for DC.
To put this in perspective - the Brown bounce is a 'Honeymoon' that should have been expected by all. David Cameron had his afterall.
Your blog is Conservative with a large C. Your commentators range between pro Conservative but anti Cameron to loonies to anti Conservative nutters.
The Conservative Party is nothing if it not a broad church. The problem of the last 3 elections is that it has seemed a narrow outdated Party - anti-immigrant, anti-gay, anti single parents, anti Europe - and dis-united.
David Cameron has done much to change the image of the Party - and we are now perceived as being in touch with the issues that bother the average elector.
He correctly identified that the image of the party needed changing.
That has happened, and the time for policy is about to happen this Autumn.
Those who criticise should remember that division and being out of touch with the electorate leads only to Opposition - what good is that.
The Party needs to remain united behind DC, and determined to win.
This awful government needs to be replaced as soon as possible - in the interest of the whole country.
Stand firm behind DC. Policy will come soon. Fortunes will soon change as Brown's disasterous economic policy comes home to roost.
logistics consultancy? buggered if I know what that is. moving big trucks around in small lorry parks? or fitting 6 pallets of soap powder in with four pallets of frozen lamb - ensuring the smell of the soap doesn't permeate the meat? damned tricky business, I'll be sure.
ReplyDeletechris paul too seems to know an awful lot more about the system of finance, than i do about logistics. 'what price? what rate of interest? etc etc.' he keeps baying.
It doesn't make much difference which US Treasuries you have, chris paul. If the dollars falling, you're losing money. Is that clear enough for you?
Brown's at his usual game, buying or disposing of multi-billion dollar assets at precisely the wrong moment as far as the market is concerned - all to please his masters in Brussels, while impoverishing the British nation.
All done in secret. We only find out what he's doing when the US government publishes its annual figures.
What would be the best term for these strange anti-investment actions Brown undertakes losing billions every time? Stealth Losses tO Please Your Masters Of Brussels? 'SLOPY MOB'.
Or ARSE - Actions Required To Save The Euro.
The problem with all these King Cnut attempts to stop markets, is that you ultimately drown in the waves. The Euro hasn't got a hope in hell of surviving. Why waste our billions Gordon on yet another lost cause - which is not even our responsibility?
The floods of economic disaster are far worse than liquid floods. The climate cannot be changed by erecting billion pound barriers. If the Euro's had it, then let it go.
Yeah Tapestry , fair dues JN`s seen tough action, his earnt his right to a hearing .
ReplyDeleteFirst action adventure book ,Take The Mothers Down (ergonomically), is coming out soon.
Who dares Wins (A super mouse mat)to follow.
Bravo !(Good power pointing) Two Zero ?
I had no idea the world of consultancy was so tough. I suppose when you see an imperfect logistical arrangement you don`t think you just act and hope the training kicks in......
( snicker ...thanks fr)
Ainsworth was interviewed on C4 last night on the floods. Didn't come over as a master of his brief in my view. If the Tories have talented shadow ministers, why do they appear to be so annoynous and inept? Broon cannot expect us to believe that global warning is the cause of the present problems in Gloucs, Oxon and Berks.
ReplyDeleteNuLab have created a more heavily centralised state, which doesn't work particularly well, think of transport, education, and flood defences, yet does DC appear to offer a clearly viable alternative to the high tax, centralism of McStalin Broon?
Broon claims that he has a government of all the talents, it doesn't take long to discover that the NuLab minsters have little or no background in profit or wealth creation. Nearly all of the cabinet have emerged from the morass of quangos, local government and the not for profit pressure groups. It does take long to expose McStalin's claim. Does DC appear to offer rational arguments for a party which is pro business and wealth creation, even green businesses need a champion.
State spending has returned to 43-455 of GDP - bear in mind that the Tories had reduced the nationalised sectors of water, oil, airways, gas and electricity supply, aircraft engineering and telephones - think Thames Water, BP, BAe, British Gas, National Grid, BT and C & W.
25 years ago Bacon and Elitis wrote of the UK's economic problem as being too few producers - now we seem to have too few wealth producers - why is it there is no successful software and computer hardware industry in the UK? Under NuLab the payroll vote has become bigger, the tax burden has become bigger, the state has become bigger. Where does DC stand on all this?
We have had a rotten, incompetent (if not corrupt) government for 10 years which is constantly let off the hook by the Opposition, and I do wonder if DC is able enough to bring them down. So far, I'm not sure that he has done enough to show that he could lead a government.
As a half-Scot, made very conscious indeed of that side of my background yesterday as a I took one of the chords at my uncle's funeral on the banks of Loch Lomond, I think that I have cracked the extraordinary, very obvious hatred between Gordon Brown and David Cameron.
ReplyDeleteAlthough, to the best of my knowledge, my cousins called Cameron are not related to Dave (but we are all distantly related to Alistair Darling, apparently), it is certainly a very Scottish name, like Lindsay.
David Cameron, I submit, is a posh Scot. Not a borderline case like Tony Blair or Iain Duncan Smith, but the real deal. His English public school, his Oxford degree, his marriage into the English baronetage, and (these days) his Southern English seat are all part and parcel of this.
Therefore, he simply cannot believe that a state school and Scottish university son of the manse from Kircaldy has the audacity to be Prime Minister instead of him. And Brown knows perfectly well that those are his views.
That is the real Scottish question in British politics today. It is certainly not the West Lothian Question, which does not in fact exist. If the Parliament of the United Kingdom were to enact legislation with effect in Scotland, then that legisaltion would simply prevail over any enactment of the Scottish Parliament. There is simply no doubt at all about this.
At present, it simply chooses not to do so. But it whould do so, not least to make the point.
After all, hasn't Brown any views about such matters in his constituency. Well, now he has the chance to give effect to those views. He should take that chance.
Yvette Cooper was clearly rattled and unable to answer after PMQs, so fairly successfully shouted down Duncan, but not entirely, as her fallback plan.
ReplyDeleteShe is horrid in the way that Mad Hazel is.
Alan Duncan should have been a bit more cutting and aggressive. Brillo was game for a fight and ready ta be aboot her.
Labour came off badly. The EU Referendum is something Broon looks very bad on, as he cannot properly
respond with the truth that he wants the Constitution and plans to break up England in exchange for EU support for the next head of the IMF or World Bank (total speculation).
This blog is a waste of time.
ReplyDeleteYou are all bad as each other.
Wide-ranging rants about politics and the Tory party.
Yet NONE of you have ONE IDEA about policy.
Margaret Thatcher succeeded because she advanced her policy to 'really-pissed-off-people' BEFORE a General Election. That takes GUTS. And it also means you need PRINCIPLES. (hello?)
The people listened to the fucking POLICY, understood it, and waited for the moment to vote.
Nothing has changed. You lot just believe it can all be done by spin and BLOG. Well it can't
Go round the houses and talk to the people. How many of you have EVER done that. I reckon NONE of you. The luxury of a political blog is adequate for you to rant-off time-wasters. It's pathetic.
Politics is NOT over the web. It's on the doorstep.
But that seems to be too much like hard work for most of you people. You let down Thatcher and her magnificent achievements 'IN SPADES'.
Quiet down Genghis, no one cares.
ReplyDeleteI'm not about to give you lot a stocks and shares, gilts and bonds lesson. But the answer to your impertinent point about "losing money" is very clearly "not necessarily".
ReplyDeleteIt's a bit like the Future market, like Cameron isn't.
Agree with Dr Spyn. Ainsworth was poor. Yet somehow better than Cameron on the same subject nonetheless.
ReplyDelete"The PMQ'S are now a waste of time they ask questions that are so stage managed nowadays no one throws in a grenade anymore"
ReplyDeletechrist don't say that.The Tories are counting on PMQs alone to win them the next election...
genghis: I have my own manifesto with my own policies. I usually blog about what I see as not right and usually offer up my own alternative solutions. The doorstep will fill your head with what OTHER people think. I blog about what I think. THAT is what I will vote on, not some equalized, focus-grouped, mediated pap to collect as many votes to "win". Before you have POLICY you have to have PRINCIPLE. Cameron appears to be about winning regardless of principle. No, I take that back. Winning is his principle. He will turn the Conservative Party into a washing powder if it got him in to No10.
ReplyDeleteBuy new improved "Daz" Cameron!
Chris Paul: I'm not about to give you lot a stocks and shares, gilts and bonds lesson.
First correct piece on supply and demand you have ever posted.
Chris Paul (5:55pm).
ReplyDeleteI'd appreciate clarification.
I'm no economist and am genuinely interested in your point of view. Is there a flaw in the argument that if the dollar goes down in value then the dollar bonds we've bought recently go down in value with it? Or am I being too simplistic?
it will come to me.
ReplyDeleteyou are 100% right. Chris Paul's trying to find a fig leaf for Gordon's disastrous error in joining in with this hair-brained scheme to protect the eurozone from the falling dollar.
If the dollar were to rise, the scheme would make money, but the dollar is falling and falling fast. That's why Gord bought Treasuries in such vast amounts to begin with - to try to stop the dollar's fall.
The attempt to stem the tide only works for so long before the simple arithmetic that the US deficit cannot rise for ever, comes into play.
The rise in US interest rates also drives down all Treasury prices. Inflation in the US , as here, is far higher than official statistsics suggest, and interest rates there too will no doubt keep rising for a while yet.
If Gordon hasn't lost $10 billion already by holding $112 billion of US Treasury, I'd be very surprised.
This story hasn't broken in the British media yet. It doesn't fit with the government's narrative. Don't you remember - Gordon Brown is some kind of financial genius.
That is the real Scottish question in British politics today. It is certainly not the West Lothian Question, which does not in fact exist.
ReplyDeleteDavid I have heard more sense from a gesticulating meths drinker at the tube station. There is no question for the UK but there is for the English . What the Parliament of the UK have to say is hardly the point England not being co-extensive with the uk.
I recall a certain pictish horde getting quite touchy about that assumption.
Tapestry and others: thank you for taking up the issue of US treasuries, the dollar, our bubble economies etc. I've been trying to get to grips with it all and set up a blog specifically for it, to teach myself as much as others. Your comments so far have prompted me to add a few of your own blogs to my list for further reading.
ReplyDeleteIf the story hasn't broken in the British media yet, it's not my fault. I emailed the Daily Mail newsdesk on Sunday, and George Osborne on Monday. Perhaps unsolicited contact from the public is routinely ignored by both, though I did also attach the evidence from the US Treasury's website. I'm glad that it's being discussed with some attention here, and hope that Iain Dale may possibly raise this in a way that gets further public scrutiny.
Finally, may I respectfully suggest that it would help newcomers to take us more seriously if people here could disagree without insult and profanity?
Don't thank us Sackerson. Thank Chris Paul for trying to dodge it. Otherwise we would have moved on to something else by now.
ReplyDeleteGlad you've reported back in here though. I was beginning to wonder if we'd been hoodwinked by a troll (excuse the insult but you were not here today while we battled on your behalf!). You do convince.
Anybody know if George Soros has expressed an opinion about the future of the dollar or if there is any indication which way he is 'jumping'.
ReplyDeleteI seem to remember he made a pile the last time the UK took on the Market.
It would be ironic if Gordon were to be caught in the same trap as the Major govt - Black Wednesday and all that.
Much as I'd like to see Gordon get his comeuppance over this it would seem to be potentially too serious a disaster for the Country for me to wish it upon him.
Judging by what I've read here Black Wednesday would be a 'little local difficulty' in comparison.
Newmania, all the UK Parliament has to do is enact legislation applicale in Scotland, and that would be that. There is no doubt that it would have effect, nor any that it would prevail over any enactment of the Scottish devolved body. It merely chooses not to, at the present time. But it could. Thus, there is in fact no West Lothian Question.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, the Westminster Parliament's non-enactment of legislation in Scotland always presupposed both a PM who did not sit for a Scottish seat, and a Labour or Labour-led Executive at Holyrood. Neither of these things any longer applies. Of course Gordon Brown is going to legislate for his constituents rather than leave such matters to Alex Salmond. How could he not? And then people will see that there never was a West Lothian Question.
Has everyone noticed that, since midday at least, William Hill has an open book on Cameron's successor?
ReplyDeleteCurrent betting: Hague 9/4; Davis 5/1; Osborne at 10/1.
Boris a 50/1 outsider.
The full runners and riders are at politicalbetting.com
The bias of the BBC is in not what they say but what they leave out.
ReplyDeleteIf "right-wing" IDS had been in America visiting "self-help" projects whilst Tory seats flooded wouldn't the BBC/Sky be leading with it?
As it happens we're lumbered with the MSM's "pet" Tory leader visiting a "pet" project in Africa. Are the MSM screaming for his blood? Are they B@@@@@ks.
The ordinary man on the street don't want a leader of the right jumping rainbows. They want a leader calling for action about illegal shed building projects for human habitation in the back gardens of houses in Slough.
If Chamberlain waits 10 years he'll be able to visit huge 3rd world projects IN ENGLAND.
He needs to go but the MSM won't put any pressure on him so we're lumbered and England is lost.
We need PR, we need another Dowding, we need our own Pym Fontein, we DO NOT need a f@@@ing Imitation Tone.
Low-rent tied accommodation for key workers? A more sensible number of universities, with a more sensible number of students at them? Less immigration? I'm just being silly. Aren't I?
ReplyDeleteAnd so to bed! I've kept out of this because I can usually only manage a couple of lines of quips. Despite the absence of Iain's useful chairmanship the quality of debate (apart from the usual nutters and NuLab interlopers) there have some interesting (possibly important) contributions.
ReplyDeleteThat's not to say that there have been some extended rants by folks who have adopted blogger identities but without giving us any indication of their affliations or viewpoints. For all we know they could be a certain Chris Paul or his cohort of serial muppets.
Overall Iain we need you back - shirt and all!
Last night's BBC Ten o' Clock News finally managed to include an item about China and its program of investment. Presumably it got notice because of Barclays Bank.
ReplyDeleteThis is all a consequence of long-running trade deficits remaining uncorrected because of an elasticated money supply.
Globalisation would work - with discomfort - if money was honest. Then we would have tackled the deficits earlier. Now, we're paying the price.
Now that the Far East is to become our masters, you need to know what you're dealing with. I have tried to summarise James Kynge's book "China shakes the world" here:
http://theylaughedatnoah.blogspot.com/search/label/Book%20review%3A%20CHINA%20SHAKES...
I have also attempted to sum up the economic-doomster arguments of Michael Panzner and Peter Schiff - please see my blog.
Best wishes.
PMQs is becoming a noisy farce, not far removed from football chants.
ReplyDeleteI blame the Speaker and, collectively, the members of the House of Commons, who should be asserting their authority over the government.
Ministers, including the prime minister, should be required to answer questions properly. If asked a question about their own policies they should not be permitted to launch a rant on opposition policies. Blair did it all the time and was allowed to get away with it.
Planted questions from government supporters should be outlawed and offenders suspended for one month. Better still, questions should be permitted only from the opposition.
It won't happen, of course. The whips are too powerful and the MPs are too eager to please them and secure promotion.
David (sigh) , if the UK Parliament ditched the Scottish Parliament and the special powers it has that are not devolved from Scotland to England there would not be a West Lothian Question. Or , if as you implausibly suggest , if it chose to ignore them and assert there subordination to the UK Parliament legislation , there would not be a West Lothian question
ReplyDeleteAs it has not , and will not ,there is .Simple really. Similarly if it was sunny outside it would be a nice day but it is not so it isn’t ?Again , one would have thought that was pretty clear. As for Gordon Brown doing such a thing , ...well hardly . The position of Scotland as semi devolved is the main strut of the Labour Plan to rule England even if it has only a minority as is likely .
We are heading towards a Constitutional crisis provoked by a cynical attack on the English by the Labour Party , a Party who have never cared for the Union and were quick to break it up when it suited them . This was to the horror of most grass roots Conservatives and this was expressed by the revolt of 200 Conservative MPs.
There is no gong back now and certainly not by topsy turvy supposing . The Majority of the English no longer want the Scots back. We want our votes to count as much as theirs and rightly resent the outrageous dispensation as now is .
newmania [7.23 AM] There's a neat Jewish expression for what you call topsy turvy supposing: "If my grandmother had balls she'd be my grandfather."
ReplyDeletewhat rotten luck and bad timing - your rwanda trip coincided with some of the biggest English floods in living memory.
ReplyDeletenot your fault of course, as these things are rearranged, but i would hazard a guess that your readership is down because we are elsewhere reading up on the latest flood updates.
what terrible bad luck - you missed out on what could turn out to be the story of the year.
JT and the week in which News Statesman have run with the Front Page "Game Over"
ReplyDeleteNice timing
Newmania wrote,
ReplyDeleteDavid (sigh) , if the UK Parliament ditched the Scottish Parliament and the special powers it has that are not devolved from Scotland to England there would not be a West Lothian Question. Or , if as you implausibly suggest , if it chose to ignore them and assert there subordination to the UK Parliament legislation , there would not be a West Lothian question
As it has not , and will not ,there is .Simple really. Similarly if it was sunny outside it would be a nice day but it is not so it isn’t ?
Heavens above Newmania! Usually, you are quite lucid, but I'm seriously having a problem getting my head around this.
5 out of 10 for grammar, spelling and punctuation. See Me.
Whoever said Newmania must be about 16 was spot on. Have we outed another Verity, who denied my allegation that "she" was "a pub bore" (tellingly claiming to have been in a pub only a few times in "her" life), but who never denied being "a pubescent boy"?
ReplyDeleteOnce more with feeling: so long as the Westminsiter Parliament *can* enact legislation with effect in Scotland and prevailing over any enactment of the Scottish devolved body, then there simply is no West Lothian Question, entirely regardless of whether or not any such legislation is enacted in practice. That is not a matter of opinion. It is a matter of fact.
I might add that the notion that Gordon Brown would not appeal to the English doesn't seem to have come to anything at all, and in any case cannot be pursued by David Cameron, who is in fact engaged in an intra-Scottish class battle with Brown; so intra-Scottish, in fact, that the English haven't even noticed that that is what it is.
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ReplyDeleteI Think Newmania is Adam Ricketts
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