Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

Even the UKIP spokesperson on BBC last night said the result was very disappointing. They didn't even manage the percentage gained in Eastleigh. Labour's share of the vote dropped. Not only did they not challenge for the seat, but getting a smaller percentage is very poor.

The Conservative result was excellent. It was the first time in 25 years that the Conservative have held a by-election seat while in government. That was very good bearing in mind the temporary rise of the protest vote for UKIP.

The Newark turnout was 52%, down from 71% at the last GE. As all the UKIP supporters probably came out to vote, that's not a good result for them. Grossing their vote up to the GE, they would likely only get 18%. This is in line with current polls and gets them no MPs.

as i wrote first thing .....

newark
tories will be chirpy because they still won with a comfortable majority
ukip will be cock-a-hoop, though of course anyone voting for them may just have been comfortable in the knowledge that it wouldn't make any difference
labour will just shrug shoulders and say they never expected anything much
lib/dems i'm afraid will just need to crawl under a stone and hope to die

Hazy One.

I see you are a subject of Gallow's humour!

Haystack - 06 Jun 2014 09:29 - 42007 of 42010

The Conservative result was excellent. It was the first time in 25 years that the Conservative have held a by-election seat while in government. That was very good bearing in mind the temporary rise of the protest vote for UKIP.............ends

Just hold on a second Hays whats this negative figure of over 9%!!!!!!!!!!!!

ahh In see they have dropped 9% points in their share of the vote. In fact their 16,000 majority was HALVED.

I wouldnt call that excelent or do you now have low expectations of the tories chances at the GE. !!!!!!!

For a by election of a government seat that's fantastic. How about Labours's poor showing at 4.6% down. Not much of a challenge.

The tories won, and by a decent margin, albeit well down to the last outing.

But didn't the Noo Labour vote do well, battered into third place.

As for the limp/dicks, lost their deposit...finis.


I don't know how this would translate into a general election, but these types of results will upset the applecart for sure, very few mp's know who is safe anymore.

"The trouble with quotes on the internet is that it's difficult to determine whether or not they are genuine".

Abraham Lincoln

"Place not your faith in the Princes of this world, for they will frig thee up" (para)


Nick Machiavelli

hays you and your lot keep forgetting theirs a new equation in the mix now its called UKIP.

Just because you think they wont win any seats (very debatable)at the GE dont think they arent a threat to the tories because they are.

The poll a week ago gave 85% of voters of UKIP in those elections to vote same in a GE.

That would give labour a 100 seat outright majority as pointed out on the News review on SKY news monday night. Tory Boy V Kevin Maguire.

Be very carefull of playing this average performance of last night up.

How many NooLab supporters would switch to ukip?

can labour win GE by default?
of course

will labour win GE by default?
that's much more questionable, for assuredly it does not look that they can do so on merit

i'll still stand by a hung parliament

Poll of polls remember how Hays put it up 2 weeks ago and labour were -1from an overal majority, this is the figure after most recent polls.........

LATEST UNS PROJECTION
42

From -1 to plus 42.

rather good news for the labour party i would say.

A year to go.

Now come on Tory boys lets stop this clap trap thats going on here now just because you won a certainty last night. And that wasnt very convincing and note the guy who won it another Etonian 32 years of age and lives in a country mannor and as 2 other houses in posh parts of london.

Obviously all been handed down to him spoon in the gob boy. he looked a little toff aswel.

Do you REALLY think working middle class Brits are going to vote vote for a party over run with POSH BOYS come GE day!!!!!!!!!

NOT A CHANCE.

Fact is if the torys had decent middle class ministers leading them they would be now easily 10% to 12% in front in the polls , instead they are led by Camoron and the posh boys from the Bullingdon Club and are on course for a GE defeat and then complete annihilation due to their ageing followers.

comprende.

An interesting comment in today's Guardian

Labour and Lib Dem sources said that some of their natural supporters voted tactically for the Tories to keep out Ukip.''

Will they do it again at the GE?

The Welfare Reform Committee in Holyrood has accused the UK Government of being “in denial” over the link between welfare reforms and increasing demand on food banks.

Committee members visited a number of food banks across Scotland and took written evidence from providers including Trussell Trust, Oxfam Scotland and the British Red Cross, as part of an inquiry into the supposed link between benefit changes and food bank usage.

The committee also commissioned research from the Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh.



According to the Trussell Trust, the demand for food banks has increased by 400% since the UK Government began their relentless attack on social security benefits.

The committee raised concerned that the increased use of benefit sanctions against some of the poorest sections of society is behind the startling rise in food bank usage.

In the year leading up to September 2013, official Government figures show that nearly 900,000 Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) claimants had their benefit payments cut or stopped completely – the highest figure since JSA was introduced.

22,840 sick and disabled people in receipt of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) were also sanctioned during this period.

This, in part, has led to MSPs arguing that it is “insulting to suggest” that there is “no robust evidence linking food bank usage to welfare reform”, as suggested by Tory employment minister Esther McVey in a letter to the Scottish Government.

McVey recently postponed a meeting with the committee to discuss the impact of welfare reform in Scotland. This resulted in Labour MSP Ken Macintosh accusing the UK Government of deliberately trying to “avoid answering questions” about the “significant and negative impact the welfare changes have had on some of our most vulnerable”.

Scottish Labour MSP and convener of the committee, Michael McMahon said:

“The UK Government can no longer ignore the evidence that their welfare reforms are having a real impact on people’s ability to feed themselves.

“There can be no place for this in a modern, prosperous nation, just as there should be no need for food banks.

“Our evidence showed some low paid workers need to access food banks.

“This makes it even more insulting for them to insist that people using food banks are anything other than in desperate need of help. Help the welfare system should be providing, not charities.

“Allowing this Dickensian model of welfare to take root is simply unacceptable. Ignoring the problem cannot be part of the solution.”

The committee’s Deputy convener and SNP MSP Jamie Hepburn, said:

“All our committee members visited food banks across Scotland.

“We were impressed by the professional and respectful way that the volunteers dealt with people who came to them, often in their hour of greatest need.”

Hepburn said that the UK Government needed to “own up to the role it is playing in causing the increase in demand and stop pretending this is simply all about people looking for something for nothing”, and that any such suggestion “insults the vulnerable members of our society using food banks and the volunteers that run them”.

Hepburn slammed the government’s welfare changes for “pushing people to the brink – and often beyond”.

A spokesperson for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) dismissed the report as not being “based on solid evidence, but on the opinions of those interviewed”, adding:

“The truth is that employment is going up, benefits are being paid to claimants more quickly and independent experts tell us that there are fewer people struggling with their food bills compared with a few years ago.

“The Trussell Trust and other foodbanks agree that increased awareness has helped to explain their recent growth.

“We spend £94bn a year on working age benefits and the welfare system provides a safety net that supports millions of people who are on low incomes or unemployed.

“Our reforms will improve the lives of some of the poorest families in our communities by promoting work and helping people to lift themselves out of poverty.”

hey sticky, why don't you go out in the lovely sunshine and catch some fish - or even a can of worms? ...... much better than spending your time posting more of the usual

George Osborne conceded this morning that a housing bubble remains a threat to the recovery following comments by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its annual appraisal of the UK economy.

The chancellor said on BBC Radio 4 he agreed with IMF head Christine Lagarde's conclusion that Britain must keep a close eye on rising house prices and indebtedness.

Cyners Bollos.