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.

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....

The fuhrer of the €U says nine!




Angela Merkel opposes Cameron EU renegotiation plan


German chancellor ‘will not tamper’ with principle of free movement of workers, which PM seems to want to alter



Press Association


theguardian.com, Sunday 26 October 2014 07.31 GMT





David Cameron’s hopes of an EU renegotiation over the free movement of workers have suffered a blow after Angela Merkel spelled out her opposition to fundamental change.


The prime minister has indicated he will make changes to the principle of freedom of movement within the union a “red line” in a mooted renegotiation of the UK’s membership terms.

He is thought to be preparing a manifesto pledge to bring in quotas for low-skilled migrants from the EU. Before the last general election Cameron promised to bring net annual immigration down to the “tens of thousands” but has failed to get anywhere near the target.

But, speaking to the Sunday Times, the German chancellor appeared to dismiss the prospect of radical change.

“Germany will not tamper with the fundamental principles of free movement in the EU,” Merkel said.


The setback comes after a difficult few days for the PM, in which he was presented at a Brussels summit with a demand to pay an extra £1.7bn into EU coffers.


Cameron responded furiously to the bill, insisting it would not be paid by the deadline of 1 December, and warning that the row risked pushing the UK closer to the exit door.



http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/26/angela-merkel-opposes-cameron-eu-renegotiation-plan

Fred this is just a molehill with the Scots compared to what Camoron faces after Reckless wins the bi election.

Just sit back with a cigar/glass of wine and relax and watch the feathers flying and developing.

It will be good TV.

Cynic you have e-mail.

Update - Labour and Conservative Tied
by YouGov in Politics
Sun October 26, 2014 6 a.m. GMT

Latest YouGov / Sunday Times results 24th Oct - Con 33%, Lab 33%, LD 7%, UKIP 16%

That is three polls in a row making them tied

The problem with the 1.9b payment is that it is fair. It is just one of the normal balancing payments. We get them all the time based on how well each economy in the EU is performing. This one is larger than normal because we have been doing so we'll. If we had a terrible economy then we wouldn't be complaining about a huge rebate. The principle is that the best performing countries support the worst. It is a sort of insurance policy. We will have to pay and we should.

It's a transfer union by another name.

The UK's annual deficit is around 6% of GDP, in Europe it is 2.9%, so how come we pay them? We are doing extremely well on borrowed money.
2517