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.

I think whoever Labour appoint as leader in Scotland isn't going to make any difference in the GE, the SNP are going to run rampant.

SPECULATION has begun over who will replace Johann Lamont after the Scottish Labour Party leader quit with an attack on Westminster colleagues who made her position "untenable".

Lamont accused some in the UK party of treating Scotland as a "branch office" and called for greater autonomy north of the border.

Labour former first minister Lord McConnell said UK party leader Ed Miliband had questions to answer, while his predecessor Henry McLeish said the party faced a problem of "historic, epic proportions".

First minister-in-waiting Nicola Sturgeon said the resignation revealed Labour to be in "complete meltdown" in Scotland.

Former prime minister Gordon Brown MP, Jim Murphy MP and interim leader Anas Sarwar MP have all been linked to the leadership role.

Michael Connarty, Labour MP for Linlithgow and East Falkirk, has backed Mr Brown for the job as "a towering figure" who was "speaking the language of the people of Scotland".

He told BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme: "We should be talking about Gordon and Gordon alone. I'll be seeking him out and so will other people."

Murphy had previously ruled himself out of mounting a challenge to Ms Lamont and urged the party to unite around her last weekend.

Sarwar praised the former leader's "selflessness" in standing down, adding: "The Scottish Labour Party will now consider and set out in due course the process for electing a new leader as we continue to work to return a Labour government at the general election in 2015 and in the Scottish Parliament elections in 2016."

Glasgow MSP Lamont had pledged to lead Labour into the 2016 Holyrood elections despite questions over her political future in the wake of last month's Scottish independence referendum, in which large numbers of Labour supporters voted to leave the UK.






Who would you like to see in charge of the Labour Party in Scotland?


Gordon Brown


Jim Murphy


Anas Sarwar


Someone else



Announcing her resignation exclusively in the Daily Record, Lamont said: "Just as the SNP must embrace that devolution is the settled will of the Scottish people, the Labour Party must recognise that the Scottish party has to be autonomous and not just a branch office of a party based in London.

"Scotland has chosen to remain in partnership with our neighbours in the UK. But Scotland is distinct and colleagues must recognise that.

"There is a danger of Scottish politics being between two sets of dinosaurs ... the Nationalists who can't accept they were rejected by the people, and some colleagues at Westminster who think nothing has changed."

She attacked those who had attempted to undermine her position as she sought to reform the party in Scotland.

Moves to replace Scottish Labour general secretary Ian Price without her consultation appear to have been the final straw.

"Any leader whose general secretary can be removed by London without any consultation is in an untenable position. That has to change.

"The Scottish Labour Party should work as equal partners with the UK party, just as Scotland is an equal partner in the United Kingdom. Scotland has chosen home rule - not London rule."

Lamont said some Westminster colleagues "do not understand the politics they are facing" in Scotland after the referendum.




Getty Images Ed Miliband in Edinburgh

Ed Miliband in Edinburgh


She was standing down "so that debate our country demands can take place".

Lamont said she was proud of what had been achieved under her leadership, particularly the No vote in the referendum.

She urged Westminster politicians not to hamper the Smith Commission process on devolving further powers for the Scottish Parliament.

"The new devolution settlement must start with what is best for Scotland and not what suits Westminster MPs. Colleagues need to realise that the focus of Scottish politics is now Holyrood, not Westminster."

Lamont pledged to back her successor, adding: "I believe the Scottish Labour Party is a family. It is my family. And I hope it is led by someone who knows how to treat family members properly."

Miliband praised her contribution to the referendum campaign.

He said: "She campaigned the length and breadth of Scotland making the case for social justice within the United Kingdom. She has led the Scottish Labour Party with determination. I know she will continue to serve her constituents."

Lord McConnell told Good Morning Scotland: "She (Ms Lamont) clearly blames today publicly Ed Miliband and those around him and that's a very serious accusation that requires answers, and it requires answers not just from him but from those closest to him."

McLeish told BBC Radio 4's Today programme Lamont had been unable to lead the party in Scotland amid "constant sniping" from MPs.

He said: "There has been a suffocating atmosphere of control that Westminster have been trying to put on Scotland. That's what led Johann, I think, finally to leave.




SNS Group Henry McLeish

Henry McLeish


"Labour in Westminster, Labour in London has not a clue about the realities of Scottish politics. Johann has been badly advised. The influences on Ed Miliband have not been helpful.

"Now what we've got is a situation after a decade that Labour is still in denial in the UK and ... if there's any hiccup in the number of MPs we send to Westminster in 2015 this could be catastrophic for Ed Miliband's effort to become prime minister."

Sturgeon highlighted polling analysis putting Labour at 26 per cent for next year's UK general election, compared with SNP support of 43 per cent.

She said: "Johann Lamont carries my personal best wishes, including in continuing to represent the people of Glasgow Pollok, but there is no question that her shock resignation reveals Labour to be in complete meltdown in Scotland.

"Labour were already a party in crisis, and Johann Lamont's resignation - caused by infighting and deep division - has plunged them to a new low."

First Minister Alex Salmond said: "It was always very clear that Johann Lamont was never able to be meaningfully in charge of Labour in Scotland, and that is laid bare in dramatic fashion in her resignation comments."

Cynic thankyou for your post 48444 this morning and DM, I have taken legal advice.

I will be in touch.

DB4,

I don't think that will do anything to help the con party.

Like Plaid, I doubt many SNP would shake hands with tories, unless both hands were immersed in disinfectant.

=========

I am sure that Miliband is prepared to lose Rochester with sad smiles on his face and a chuckle in the bellies of his advisors.

======

As far as Brown or Blair coming back into national politics, I would doubt that very much.

At least he is giving much of his private earnt "income" to charity.

Whereas, some in the nasty party would like to charge charities for their services.

======
But when you consider the the leadership for the Con party it is a one donkey race.

Unless, Boris has an "open" marriage I doubt that many would trust him far even if they had a signed contract validated by a court.

Mind Haze, you are entitled to you choice. So are the public.

The con party at the moment like a pack of over grown spoilt school boys fighting in their own playground.

Hazyone, hop along the central office they may offer you a job as advisor, or more probably, find you a more suitable job as a flunky!

Demand the minimum wage, and tell them you can make up stories.

I think we could do with another Fred cartoon.


altho, it might be cutting a bit close to the bone.

I think its cowardship that HAYS posts the Fred Cartoons on Fred but at the same time says he's filtered him.

It proves hes a coward and dare not take him on in debate.

Hays prove your a man and stand up to Fred rather than being a coward and slipping out silly childish cartoons aimed at him.

eu demand £1.7bn
i find it curious that labour seem not have uttered a peep - have the kippers?
so does labour think the demand is fair and reasonable and in the best interests of the country and should be paid without demur?

fred now says, "I thought the swing of public feeling would take it to a Labour or Lab coalition"

fred - you post so prolifically that assuredly i missed that ....... perhaps you could therefore remind us all when (an approx date will do) you abandoned your loud proclamations that labour would achieve a 20/40/60 seat overall majority and did a u-turn that they would only be the largest party and would enter into some sort of coalition

Manuel,

Do your own homework and go back 2+ years of the thread.

I think you capable of carrying you own bags.

The tories are in for a hammering at the next election and you know it.

Max is this the Cartoon you wanted!

Not quite sure whether the model for the cartoon were Hazyone or Napoleon's




========


If there is flu epidemic this year the gaping holes in the NHS will show.

.

UKIP on 17% should drive a nice little hole through the CON party numbers.

Perhaps, Cameron should have stuck to good old tory standards.

UKIP on 17% should drive a nice little hole through the CON party numbers.

Perhaps, Cameron should have stuck to good old tory standards.

By Auslan Cramb and Tim Ross
9:30PM BST 25 Oct 2014
Explosive departure of the Scottish Labour leader leaves Ed Miliband facing a struggle to convince Scotland to back his party in next year's general election

Ed Miliband has been warned that the sudden resignation of Labour’s Scottish leader has left the party in a state of crisis that could have a “catastrophic” impact on his chances of becoming prime minister next year.

Johann Lamont quit late on Friday night, saying that Labour’s leadership in Westminster had undermined her, thwarted her attempts to reform the party and treated the Scottish Labour Party like a “branch office”.

Her departure, after weeks of sniping by some MPs, prompted a furious reaction yesterday from senior Labour figures north of the border over Mr Miliband’s role in her decision.

Henry McLeish, a former Labour first minister of Scotland, said the party was now facing a problem of “historic, epic proportions”. “Labour in Westminster, Labour in London has not a clue about the realities of Scottish politics,” he said. “If there’s any hiccup in the number of MPs we send to Westminster in 2015 this could be catastrophic for Ed Miliband’s effort to become prime minister.”

Lord McConnell, another former first minister, added he was “very, very angry” at the situation, and claimed Mr Miliband had questions to answer about Ms Lamont’s departure.

The row intensifies the pressure on Mr Miliband, who has faced increasing speculation over his position. Recent months have seen Labour’s poll lead narrow to an average of just one or two points, with some surveys putting the Conservatives ahead.

The Labour leader’s credentials for office were also badly damaged when he forgot a key passage on tackling the budget deficit during his annual speech to the Labour Party conference last month.

On Saturday, The Telegraph disclosed that Tony Blair, the former Labour prime minister, had privately expressed doubts about Mr Miliband’s electoral chances. He apparently said that he believed David Cameron would win next year’s General Election.

However, Ms Lamont’s explosive resignation provoked an unprecedented wave of criticism from senior party figures in Scotland yesterday, where strong support for Labour is seen as essential for Mr Miliband’s Downing Street hopes

Mr McLeish said: “I think Johann is absolutely right to make the comments she has made. For a decade now the party have been in decline and the SNP have been in the ascendancy. There has been a failure to rise to the devolution challenge.

“Overall though there has been a suffocating atmosphere of control that Westminster have been trying to put on Scotland. That’s what led Johann, I think, finally to leave.

Lord McConnell added: “She clearly blames Ed Miliband and those around him and that’s a very serious accusation that requires answers, and it requires answers not just from him but from those closest to him.

“I have had my concerns for some time about the way in which the Scottish Labour Party was struggling to set out a vision for the 21st century and a positive vision that would take us from opposition back into power.”

He said the party’s problems in Scotland were shared among different people and he was sure Ms Lamont would take some responsibility, but added that it was entirely wrong to “undermine her position”.

Announcing her resignation through the Daily Record newspaper, Ms Lamont, 57, who took over in 2011 when the party was at its lowest ebb after a humiliating defeat by the SNP in the Scottish Parliament elections, said the final straw was the decision of Mr Miliband’s office to replace Ian Price, general secretary of Scottish Labour, without informing her or consulting her.

She said: “Any leader whose general secretary can be removed by London without any consultation is in an untenable position. That has to change.

“The Scottish Labour Party must be a more autonomous party which works in partnership with the UK party.”

She added: “There is a danger of Scottish politics being between two sets of dinosaurs ... the Nationalists who can’t accept they were rejected by the people, and some colleagues at Westminster who think nothing has changed.”

Although she was on the winning side in the independence referendum, there was widespread concern in the party that two of Labour’s former Scottish heartlands, Glasgow and North Lanarkshire, voted Yes on September 18.

Speculation over who will replace her has already linked Gordon Brown, the former prime minister, and Jim Murphy, the shadow international development secretary, to the role.

Recent polls also suggest that Labour is polling at just 26 per cent for next year’s general election while the SNP is on 43 per cent.

Ms Lamont will be replaced by her deputy Anas Sarwar - a likely leadership contender - on an interim basis.

The fight to replace her could also involve Mr Murphy, whose high profile, tub-thumping role in the Better Together campaign was widely acclaimed.

There is also support for Mr Brown after a series of barnstorming speeches during the referendum campaign. He said he was sorry she had resigned, adding: “She brought determination, compassion and a down-to-earth approach to the leadership and deserves great credit for taking on the challenge after 2011.”

Michael Connarty, Labour MP for Linlithgow and East Falkirk, told Good Morning Scotland that Mr Brown was a “towering figure”. He added: “People are talking about Gordon Brown as leader. I think he should lead us into this next election.

“I think that Gordon has shown he is a Scottish voice, he is a voice for Scotland.”

Nicola Sturgeon, who will replace Alex Salmond as First Minister next month, said Labour was in meltdown in Scotland.

On Saturday night, Mr Salmond accused Mr Miliband of being responsible for the “meltdown” of the Scottish Labour Party after the resignation of its leader Johann Lamont.

Mr Salmond called on the UK Labour leader to respond to Ms Lamont’s claims that Scottish Labour was treated like a “branch office” by London.

Mr Salmond said: “It is clear that the fundamental nature of Labour’s leadership crisis in Scotland is caused by Ed Miliband and his coterie at Westminster. Labour’s meltdown in Scotland has been created by Labour in London.

“We have the extraordinary situation that an outgoing leader has admitted that Scottish Labour is just a ‘branch office’ controlled by London - in other words the Scottish Labour Party is a fiction.

“The person responsible for that, and for making Johann Lamont’s position ‘untenable’, as she herself put it, is Ed Miliband.

“Mr Miliband should be answering questions about why Labour in Scotland is run as an extension of his Westminster office, and why he has effectively forced the resignation of a Labour leader in Scotland.

“He should be making a statement about his responsibility for the meltdown of Labour in Scotland.”

The Telegraph reported that Mr Blair had told long-standing allies that he believed the Conservatives would win the general election next year because “Labour has failed to make a good case for itself”, according to one source present during the discussion.

Mr Blair later insisted that the account of the conversation did not reflect his views, adding in a further statement: “Ed Miliband and the Labour Party can and will win the next election.”

The Telegraph

Just noticed this Manuel's favourite paper a short time ago about Dave's previous blusterings. (a bit like Manuel's.)

======
Three men in a boat (and a very powerful woman):
Cameron goes rowing in Sweden with Merkel and other EU leaders in latest bid to block Junker getting Brussels' top job
Cameron joins Merkel, Dutch PM Rutte and Sweden's Reinfeldt at summit
Four leaders holding talks over EU reform at Swedish PM's summer home
PM at odds with German Chancellor over appointment of next EU President
Cameron said he and other leaders should pick who gets top EU jobs

Summit comes after Boris Johnson mocked PM's attempt to veto favourite
Jean-Claude Juncker is the front runner, but UK thinks he is too pro-EU
Downing Street wants to protect plan to claw back powers from Brussels
Labour announced today that they backed the PM's bid to block Mr Junker
But Johnson says: 'You can put lipstick on a pig, but it is still a cochon'


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2652671/Cameron-interfering-Brussels-jobs-quintessence-turd-polishing-pointlessness-claims-Boris-Johnson.html#ixzz3HEpgxsag
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook



The Man who is going to stop everything and lie down for Britain!

Johann Lamont.

I must admit she used to send a shiver through me. Thought of her as the Doppelgänger for Theresa May.

How competent she was I don't know, but feel she did a lot for the SNP. A bit like May and Mcvey do for Labour!

=====

But you can see how dirty the cons are going to get in the lead up to the election through false media information.

fred
i'm sure it has been within the last few weeks that you have been raving that labour would have an overall majority or 20/30/40 or even 60 seats

now you are backing - voting would be entirely the wrong in the context of you - labour as the largest party but still (quite well?) short of the majority

in almost the same breath, you say the tories will take a whacking, presumably at the hands of ukip (you think).
slightly irrelevantly, you assume (probably wrongly) that ukip will only take a small number of labour votes

ukip most assuredly will not go anywhere near bedding labour, and that being so, who will hold this plethora of seats that labour will need to support them in coalition or even as a minority gov't?

Good morning doctor....
Good morning patient.....what's the problem ?.......
I've been coughing and sneezing for a day or so now...
Ahh...I see.....a clear case of dementia !.....
But...but doctor,,,,no buts please...
Next !...
Good morning doctor..
Good morning patient...what's the story ?...morning.. glory ?...(snigger)...only joking...
It's my back !....it's aching.....
hmmm....another case ..odd..sorry.. of dementia I mean..euhh.. I see...
But..doctor..
No butts....you must stop smoking...
Next !...

End of the day : one quack to another :
How many demons have you clocked up doctor ?
Loads !....never seen so many cases in my life....24 dementias and 2 measles....must be an epidemic !..
Seychelles this year ?...you're on !...

Might be a bit like this with the bonus scheme....