The Times tomorrow still has the Liberals ahead! Thought the Clegg effect would be wearing off by now but they have a poll showing:
Conservatives 31%
Liberals 30%
Labour 28%
So if you ever needed to be convinced (and I suppose I did) you surely don't now. As if this poll were reflected accross the country on polling day then this outcome would still leave Gordon Brown with the most seats! OK in a hung parliament but he would have first crack at forming the next government. We would then have the ridiculous situation of an unelected leader of the Labour party who 'inherited' the position of Prime Minister, loosing the election and getting the smallest share of the popular vote and still ending up as PM - this system is clearly now doomed whoever wins. That is despite the silence from the Tories on this.
Oh for some leadership (not that the current situation is easy) but we now have had about five different messages today. Ships milling about in the channel with ex navy shiefs saying that the RN is not a ferry service ok in an emergency but there is plenty of space anyway on the commercial ferries. Gordon saying coaches will bring people back from Madrid but only if they land there from outside the EU (?) and then the coaches haven't even left London yet. Warship brings troops back from Santander leaves behind loads of stranded passengers there as it was full!!!. This is after Gordon has told them that is they are stranded in the EU to head for the ports and then they get left behind. This is following the fact that it took EU travel ministers 5 days to organize a conference call to discuss the travel disrution - what didn't they spot it?
So what is Gordon doing while all this is going on travelling to Swindon with loads of the press to a social centre electionering. But gets there only to dicover that the officials there won't let the press inside and so he gets none of the photo shots anyway. When asked by BBC Five Live why isn't he sorting the travel mess out he says he is in touch with his office.
Tuesday, 20 April 2010
Monday, 19 April 2010
19apr10 Gordon foiled
Go Gordon's grandstand prime ministerial gesture has been foiled by Iceland - well done lads don't worry about the cash you owe us anymore, we will call it quits you have saved us from 5 years of Labour and bankruptcy. Especially when the international markets had finally got to grips with the realities of Labour's never ending increases in public expenditure. Iceland has saved us from the vision of Gordon on the quay with Ark Royal as the back drop and the waffle of how he has saved the world again.
The press conference this morning about Gordon's master plan for travel arrangements from Spain? What grandstanding rubbish, when Gordon was asked about whether money would be given to support the ailing airline industry (why should we) he gave the longest, most evasive, answer of the campaign just say we aren't going to. Telling us for the third time how he is saving everyone and bringing them home is not an answer.
Anyway why would we save the airlines? It is not as if that if one of them failed we would be without flights, the others would simply step in. The states role is not to spend our cash on services that the private sector is perfectly capable of doing on their own.
But watch out Dave Cameron is right the UK would be in the Euro if old man Vince (Liberal Treasury spokesperson) was in charge and then we would be in a state just like Greece but with crap weather - better restaurants though!
Footnote - how can we be green if we keep building runways at Heathrow just say no Labour out on their own again on this one as well
The press conference this morning about Gordon's master plan for travel arrangements from Spain? What grandstanding rubbish, when Gordon was asked about whether money would be given to support the ailing airline industry (why should we) he gave the longest, most evasive, answer of the campaign just say we aren't going to. Telling us for the third time how he is saving everyone and bringing them home is not an answer.
Anyway why would we save the airlines? It is not as if that if one of them failed we would be without flights, the others would simply step in. The states role is not to spend our cash on services that the private sector is perfectly capable of doing on their own.
But watch out Dave Cameron is right the UK would be in the Euro if old man Vince (Liberal Treasury spokesperson) was in charge and then we would be in a state just like Greece but with crap weather - better restaurants though!
Footnote - how can we be green if we keep building runways at Heathrow just say no Labour out on their own again on this one as well
Sunday, 18 April 2010
18apr10 local hustings
Local hustings in Cheltenham. another 2.5h hours of political debate with added experts. Found myself having my mind changed by the power of the whole panels argument on Afganistan - wow. Local GCC councillor Mark Hawthorne was a revelation brilliantly prepared especially on Afganistan I now find myself agreeing that we should stay there and immediate withdrawal is not an option.
Mark Coote (Con) strong (have to declare interest here as I know Mark personally) as was the Liberal incumbent Martin Horwood, sometimes! UKIP well what can I say, if anyone had ever considered voting UKIP they certainly couldn't entertain doing so now after seeing and hearing the candidates (Peter Bowman) performance in this local debate.
Very interesting reaction afterwards I'm in jeans etc. unlike almost everyone else who are suited up. Some very obvious judging book by it's cover going on which had to be back tracked when they finally chose to speak to me!
As has happened over the years the most heated interchange occurred around hunting which saw a strong rebuttal of the LD position by Mark and a clear message of repeal on a free vote.
NIMBYS won the day on the regional spacial strategies policy with clear statememt on a back to bottom up policy which should see house prices rise as supply fails to match demand - so not all bad :-)
Mark Coote (Con) strong (have to declare interest here as I know Mark personally) as was the Liberal incumbent Martin Horwood, sometimes! UKIP well what can I say, if anyone had ever considered voting UKIP they certainly couldn't entertain doing so now after seeing and hearing the candidates (Peter Bowman) performance in this local debate.
Very interesting reaction afterwards I'm in jeans etc. unlike almost everyone else who are suited up. Some very obvious judging book by it's cover going on which had to be back tracked when they finally chose to speak to me!
As has happened over the years the most heated interchange occurred around hunting which saw a strong rebuttal of the LD position by Mark and a clear message of repeal on a free vote.
NIMBYS won the day on the regional spacial strategies policy with clear statememt on a back to bottom up policy which should see house prices rise as supply fails to match demand - so not all bad :-)
Friday, 16 April 2010
16apr10 protection
So Brown will ring fence Education, Police, NHS and 'provide the armed forces with everything they need' - is there anything left to cut? Add in cost of financing all the debt & overseas aid and it looks like the social services budget will be down to nil if overall spending is going to fall - We don't believe you
10apr10 debate review
Friday after the first debate
Clegg - 65% overall - good start less nervous than the others, I thought he slightly concentrated a bit too much on what the others hadn't done rather than what he would do but maybe that's nit picking. Worried he could turn a few to LD in the marginals especially from the Tory vote. Weak on law & order compared to both the others mainly because we are yet to see whether community orders actually work.
Cameron - 55% overall - great finish which got him out of jail for me. By far the most vision and put some clear blue water between him and Brown with the vision of less government. Who in the UK who is watching this carefully doesn't think VAT will be 20% by the autumn? No-one surely and we don't care cut direct taxes and let us choose what we spend it on. It is a shame that none of them can say this and still get elected - still we all know.
Brown - 40% overall - and that was ok this is not where he was ever going to shine (actually hard to think of where that might be at all) so really got his forecast grade! Cut the hunched stance out and stop trying to get Cameron to say he will ring fence everything he isn't going to and nor are any of you.
Clegg - 65% overall - good start less nervous than the others, I thought he slightly concentrated a bit too much on what the others hadn't done rather than what he would do but maybe that's nit picking. Worried he could turn a few to LD in the marginals especially from the Tory vote. Weak on law & order compared to both the others mainly because we are yet to see whether community orders actually work.
Cameron - 55% overall - great finish which got him out of jail for me. By far the most vision and put some clear blue water between him and Brown with the vision of less government. Who in the UK who is watching this carefully doesn't think VAT will be 20% by the autumn? No-one surely and we don't care cut direct taxes and let us choose what we spend it on. It is a shame that none of them can say this and still get elected - still we all know.
Brown - 40% overall - and that was ok this is not where he was ever going to shine (actually hard to think of where that might be at all) so really got his forecast grade! Cut the hunched stance out and stop trying to get Cameron to say he will ring fence everything he isn't going to and nor are any of you.
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