You're on the ropes on inheritance tax. You need to take over the news agenda. What do you do? Get your bruiser of a spin doctor to phone up Nick Robinson and tell him some troops might, at some indeterminate time in the future, just possibly, be pulled out of Iraq. Sure enough, it becomes the lead item on the BBC News bulletins with copious use of the phrase "The BBC has learned". Strictly speaking that is true. But a more accurate way of putting it would be "The BBC has been spun a line and has fallen for it".
And strangely enough, Gordon Brown will be flying to Iraq today. Not that he's got any thought of upstaging David Cameron's speech tomorrow. No, not at all. Because we're in an era of new politics, you see. An era where we have a Prime Minister who would stoop to anything. Remind you of anyone?
They're a bit rattled, aren't they?
This is big boys' politics now.
ReplyDeleteYou lot had better stop whimpering about the BBC, stop pretending Brown is a pussy, stop pretending policies are a fashion accessory and just get used to it.
And the best of luck.
Because you are going to need it.
Blimey, Iain, the Labour Gestapo are watching this site very closely judging by the quick off the mark response from "when you're hard enough" at 1.33am.
ReplyDeleteThey are rattled, aren't they?
We all knew Brown would stage a cunning stunt about now. We guessed it would be something to do with Iraq - probably reducing troop numbers - and claiming to have ended the messy bits of Blair's era. I just hope this doesn't jeopardise our people who are putting their lives on the line. That really would be cynical.
"Big boys' politics" indeed. And doesn't this comment from "when you're hard enough" show how lacking these NuLabour people are in principles?
We all knew...
ReplyDeleteWe guessed it...
I just hope this...
Oh, it's all so cynical...
I just wet my knickers...
What's the betting that they use this story, shaped up on Sunday, which will break with a big headline arrest just a Cameron is about to speak.
ReplyDeleteUS airbase bomb plotter on run in UK
http://tinyurl.com/2zr7zp
or perhaps now that we all know about it, they wont use it.
And the Daily Torygraph has this story, too, complete with the phrase "The Daily Telegraph has learnt".
ReplyDeleteSo the Torygraph joins the anti-Tory conspracy. Obviously.
God you people are useless.
Listen to yourselves, you are so delusional. Do you honestly think IHT is going to win the election?
ReplyDeleteYou have something to sell on the door steps I hear you cry. I can just picture you in inner city Birmingham, Manchester, etc etc trying to convince them of this.
A new low in politics!
ReplyDeleteThis has become a common comment that all you Tory boys seem to have come up with…The “””There’re Rattled””” quote. You are all at it. I must say CHQ must have spent months coming up with that gem. If you think IHT will bag an election you are barmy.
ReplyDeleteOh yes for the record, all the trolls are on line because Iain took off the moderator. So sorry the volume of trolls commenting is up, because Iain has left the window open…Not because they are rattled.
Funny I read over two weeks ago that there was to be an announcement about troop reductions. Furthermore I also watched Nick Robinson speak about troop reduction timetable last week. IHT… is that it !!!
ReplyDeleteI was thinking of selling my house, its worth 250K. Now that SD is to be taken off by the Tories I will wait until Osborne is in No 11 and put it on the market for 250K + the Stamp duty it would have inccured, £252,000. Instant house price inflation.
I think GB just might call an election, either that or he is just spinning, troops out of Iraq, wants money up front from the pay masters the trade unions. He just might call an election, didnt think he would have the nerve, could be wrong but my gut is telling me election in early November.
ReplyDeleteBlimey, Iain, the Labour big boys are still up and talking top bojacks. They are really - really -rattled.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait for their reaction to Cameron's speech on Wednesday. Do they know about the next big announcement? They are going to have an even bigger problem with this one.
Listen labores, after 10 years, the ducks are in a row.
ReplyDeleteID cards, Iraq, turning the NHS upside down, GP contracts, violent crime, taxes blah blah
If Gay gordo runs for it, the Tories will offer a referendum on the EU treaty, neatly pulling the shattered right back into one lump.
And the EU meeting on the Treaty will effectively be in the middle of the election campaign.
I'd also bet on anybody earning under 12k being taken out of tax by the Tories.
Oh, and, flying to Iraq, just keeps that little mistake in the public eye.
This is about as low as Gordon can get.
ReplyDeleteNot only does he underfund the armed forces so they are literally begging for medical help he nows uses them to try and deflect the news agenda from David Cameron.
Its very very sick. The Labour bloggers who have commented should really look in the mirror and see if they have any morals left.
Some people will do anything for power.
Upstaging your opponents is not unknown but what's more incredible is the fact that a few vague promises(?) from Brown in his conference speech would apparently affect polls.
ReplyDeleteDo people really believe anything the Labour racaille Gauleiters say ?
Ian,
ReplyDeleteThe Today programme has just been on the case of Osbornes non Dom calculations.
Not only did he include Doctors,Nurses etc but some Agricultural seasonal workers.
Also claimed administrative nightmare with a range of income between £650m best guess) and £2bn.
Osborne has screwed this badly.
anon 2.28 “””There’re Rattled”””
ReplyDelete“””They’re Amused””” at your crap spelling though.....
Don't drink and post. You know it makes sense....
Spammer "I was thinking of selling my house, its worth 250K. Now that SD is to be taken off by the Tories I will wait until Osborne is in No 11 and put it on the market for 250K + the Stamp duty it would have inccured, £252,000. Instant house price inflation."
ReplyDeleteInnumerate troll pillock. If you are a penny over the limit, you won't then qualify to sell it to a first time buyer who gets the zero rate relief. That's how stamp duty works. So your house will languish on the market, and you will lose out by thousands on the loss of interest you would have rained by selling it at £250,000.
I think Labour are seriously pissed over this, you can tell. They started with an abuse of power by getting civil servants to prepare the rebuttal. When it failed to have any traction they went for the old fashioned tactic of bouncing the bad news off the agenda by leaking some good news elsewhere. Cynical and typical.
ReplyDeleteWhat I wonder is why the Labour government hasn't done anything about non-doms? I think someone needs to take a peek at Labours donor list and see how many non-doms are on there.
I seem to remember Gordon saying that in future announcements on policy or matters such as troop reduction would be made to Parliament first and not "leaked" to the media. Another broken promise then !
ReplyDeleteLabour seem to think the election, if Gordon ever summons up the courage to call one, will be a walkover - I wouldn't bet on it . The polls mean nothing - they are volatile - Brown's had a bounce because everyone was relieved Blair(who ?) had gone and Gordon got "lucky" with good coverage following the Glasgow Bombings;Floods etc whilst Cameron had a pretty dire time of it but the electorate will rumble Gordon during a campaign. This is the guy that has destroyed the best pension scheme in the world; produced 101 stealth taxes and has done his "MacCavity Act" on innumerable occasions when the proverbial "sh*t hits the fan". According to him he was responsible for nothing over the last decade apart from the economy - the recent debt crisis can be laid at the feet of his policies incidentally.
His slick trick of a non-existent tax cut and the latest wheeze of 2p on petrol, hidden in the small print of his last budget, could also backfire. Just imagine petrol blockades during an election campaign.
That 11% lead will dis-appear. It was "convention bounce". The Tories will benefit from the same effect.
Reminding the electorate about Iraq does not strike me as a vote winner.
ReplyDeleteGordon doesn't have the stones to call an election. Fact.
ReplyDeleteThese Labour trolls think that the Conservatives think that the new IHT regime will win the election? No, the Tories don't think that - they think that Gordon Brown's cynicism and unclean hands from Blair's government will lost the election.
Brown is widely hated. People will leave their armchairs to vote specifically against him in a way not seen in the last two elections.
There is only so much trampling voters can suffer.
So Gordon, 1st November is it? Is it b*ll*cks.
Gordon Brown stoops so low. He should be hung as a traitor to this country. Despicable use of the armed services of this country to "score" political points when they are serving in one of the most dangerous places in the world.
ReplyDeleteThis is beyond politics and should be roundly condemned by the whole country.
This is is the man who just told us he did not "spin".
I think you would be well advised to delete the so-called 'Fart Button'. It might fleetingly amuse a 7-year-old, but is hardly appropriate for a high profile politcal blog.
ReplyDeleteMartin W
As a recently retired Soldier I hope that our brave PM will visit Basra and address the Troops.....
ReplyDelete"You, who are paid less than the minimum wage for the hours you work are not really on my radar of essential voters. Indeed, many of you will not be able to vote but you must uphold the Iraqis right to vote. And while your at it, bin all this moaning about care and the Covenant. Wee Dougie doesnt moan and he has two jobs. So get back into your soft skinned Land Rovers and think yerselves lucky that there are enough Charities back hame who will look after you. Oh and if you think that we don't listen then you are spot on.
Wait for the troop reduction announcements. You are coming home... via Helmond."
Let's hope there's no friendly fire.
ReplyDeleteBrown is about to use our troops as props in a pubicity stunt and the army top brass are allowing him to do so. Don't let Sir Richard Dannatt ask for victory parades for soldiers whose main purpose is to provide pre-election footage for our dear leader.
ReplyDeleteNo, Iain, they aren't. Labour can have a week of fun showing how a tax cut for the 6% richest is being paid for by the 0.0001% richest, while 94% of us look on. Out of touch Tories doing favours for the rich, and ignoring the rest of us. Tebbit was right about Cameron.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you're very excited to be in Blackpool, but please take a deep breath. Have a read of Max Hastings this morning, put your head between your legs, and smell the coffee.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2181695,00.html
What's to "upstage"? Is Cameron going to announce the repacement of Osborne with a Shadow Chancellor who can add up, as the dodgy IHT and non-dom figures prove that Osborne can't? Is Cameron going to announce the expulsion of the Brown "advisers"? Or what, exactly?
ReplyDeleteBrown knows perfectly well that the Tories simply cannot win the next Election, as a psephological fact. So he's just getting on with government as usual a if they did not exist, because, politically and electorally, they might as well not exist.
You have to give it to Gordon -he's very good at putting his message across. 'I'm a stuntman and spinmeister extraordinaire. Nothing I say can be trusted. I'll trample on anyone to stay in power.' And just when he thought he'd buried Tony Blair what does he do? Go to Iraq ... hmm ... very clever.
ReplyDeleteDavid Lindsay I would love to see your "facts" that "prove" that Gordon Brown will win the election in 2009. Do you know something that we don't? Or have you got the postal ballots counted already?
ReplyDeleteOr are you basing your "opinion" on an opinion poll of 1000 individuals? Ask Neil Kinnock next time you see him what the relevance of opinion polls is.
Cunning stunt? Yes, that about sums up Gordon Brown.
ReplyDeleteIt is indeed disgraceful the way Gordon Brown is playing party politics with our troops in Iraq?
ReplyDeleteHe visits Iraq today in a blatant attempt to try to upstage the successful Tory conference and he is hinting that he will bring 2,000 troops home or perhaps all the troops home in another desperate attempt to upstage the Tories.
It is shameful that Brown is playing party politics with the lives of British soldiers and must not be allowed to get away with it.
The man is a disgrace and an insult to the British army.
A bit rattled? You are joking, right? Your proposal is that the party of government should stop announcing things during opposition conferences?
ReplyDeleteIs that it? With the general election you lot desperately want (ha ha ha) being feverishly plotted left right and centre you want to stop another party operating?
I'm still betting the house on June 2009. Not worth inheriting anyway is it? Might as well have some fun with it before they take it away.
And yes, as 'abandon' says, do enjoy your coffee enema.
CP he hasn't announced anything. The man who said that announcements will be made in Parliament has just spread a rumour to the BBC. No more no less.
ReplyDeleteBritain Britain Britain Britain Britain Britain Britain Britain Britain Britain Britain Britain Britain Britain Britain Britain Britain Britain Britain Britain Britain Britain Britain Britain Britain
If Brown has ACTUALLY announced something then your argument would stand, but he hasn't.
Brown doesn't have the stones for an early election. He knows he is hated. The Tories may not win an early election but Brown will certainly lose one.
Is it normal for a PM's visit to a warzone to be announced in advance?
ReplyDeleteThese things are often not mentioned until the PM or Minister is safely on the ground.
A terrible security risk surely?
Brown has just dug himself a great big hole in trying to use the lives of British soldiers for party advantage.
ReplyDeleteAs word of his cynical and nauseating opportunism spreads the British public will rightly come to despise him.
Didn't La Smith at the Lab Conference make some odd remarks about David Davis playing at soldiers by joining the TA? I'm not sure her comments impressed the troops.
ReplyDeleteBut then this is the man who has still not replaced worn out refueling and transport aircraft, this is the man who has cut the navy's fleet, and this is the man who didn't sanction fire suppresent foams in the Hercules fleet. This is the man who hasn't sorted out protection for Land Rovers. Moreover, this is the man who admires the forces so much that his Defence Secretary doubles up as Sec of State for Scotland.
I wonder what sort of reception he has had from the troops?
Oh bless - isn't no one taking notice of your little trip to the seaside? Best stamp your little feet and lie on the floor for a bit. Mummy will soon make it all better...
ReplyDeleteLabour intended to shut down the TA and RNR because they are just "Tory drinking clubs" according to The People's Deputies. That was until they suddenly needed all the troops they could lay their hands on to fight The People's Wars.
ReplyDeleteInteresting - when I made a similar comment on the BBC's Have Your Say website (merely suggesting that the BBC had had the wool pulled over its eyes...), it was up for about three minutes before being retrospectively pulled by the mods.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you're the one who is rattled
ReplyDeleteThis is sick, really, Iain. He's the Prime Minister for goodness sake. Do you really think he can't go to a country where thousands of British toops are in action, because the Tories, a small minority party, are having a conference? Oh dear...
ReplyDeleteThe public know these hints at troop withdrawals are just a cynical move by Brown to upstage the Tories.
ReplyDeleteThe man is already sinking to depths that even Blair knew to avoid.
But Brown has blown it big time. If there's one thing the public despise it's scumbag poiticians who blatantly play party politics with British soldier's lives.
Brown is going to get his arse whipped over this and doesn't the sly bastard deserve it.
Gordy is stealing the march on the others GOOD bet Tony is fuming..Gordon is getting all the cream cakes.
ReplyDeleteBBC Coverage TV and Radio is very bland despite there being hundreds of reporters
I am sticking with Sky News they are securing the best interviews.
HH
Ed, it is psephologically impossible for the Tories to win the next General Election. The swings required are off the chart, they would need an eleven point lead to secure an overall majority of one, and level pegging with Labour would deliver a Labour overall majority of ninety.
ReplyDeleteBut if the Tories actually cannot win (ever again, in fact), then what is the point of the Labour Party? That is the real question for Brown and his supporters, and I can see no possible answer to it.
If Brown has ACTUALLY announced something then your argument would stand, but he hasn't.
ReplyDeleteBrown HAS actually announced something - 1000 troops home by Christmas.
The argument stands.
Why did Gordy send them to Iraq in the first place?
ReplyDeleteWhy did Gordy treat their families and the the injured soldiers so badly?
Why didn't Gordy make sure the Armed Forces had enough money for the right equipment in the first place?
But Gordy thinks that he is doing the soldiers a favour now - welcoming them home - while he sends more out? He's just using the soldiers for his own political agenda - manipulation as usual.
Weird man.
Ummm...no, not rattled. Gordon Brown is the Prime Minister. That's his job. Yours is to carp from the sidelines and lose the next election.
ReplyDeleteCome on - can't you do any better than this?
No, they didn't "fall for it" They were gagging for this, and desperate for a pro labur story. They would lead on "Brown farts in bed" if the alternative was "Stunning policy annnouncement from Tories"
ReplyDeleteToday's announcement is of course to be welcomed. But since it is now entirely obvious that we are already embarked on a process of unconditional withdrawal, why is that process not simply changed to an event, and an immediate event at that? What are we waiting for?
ReplyDelete"The BBC has learnt" = "the BBC has been told - if they know what good for them".
ReplyDeleteIt used to be that each party would leave the others conference week alone - but that was before New Labour and the death of principles.
Just out of interest, haven't the Tories just been panicked into revealing their general election policies and sticking with DC ? My money's now on a May election, and let's watch what GB does re: IHT, et al.
ReplyDeleteAnd, as a neutral (I vote Lib Dem), I don't think Labour's rattled at all, I just think that's probably how it looks from inside the Blackpool hothouse.
"The BBC has been spun a line and has fallen for it".
ReplyDeleteFallen for it again! or just plain old, in-cahoots with the Labour spin machine again. You might have noticed they seem to have "fallen for it" manay many times, over the years.
Does anyone know whether it's true that:
ReplyDeletea) 270 of this 1000 have already come home;
b) 500 are not actually in Iraq; they're in Germany and were due to go to Iraq but now will not be going?
Meaning that there are not 1000 troops being removed from Iraq, but only 500, of whom only 230 are physically there at this moment. Did Mr Brown explain this to the soldiers out there?
I listened to Bob Ainsworth on Newsnight last night and again on the Today Programme this morning, and I can't make head nor tail of anything he says. I know politicians are constitutionally incapable of giving straight answers, but this guy's obfuscation and prevarication makes a corkscrew look like a straight line.
I think I heard Brown say that one of the reasons for being able to bring back the "1000" troops from Iraq was the success in training Iraqi security forces.
ReplyDeleteWho did security for his visit, Iraqi forces or British forces? I suspect that I know the answer.
MB