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.

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

Manuel,

Post 48525

I generally pick my words carefully when I post. My father warned me a very long time “not to write in haste and as you may repent in leisure”. (Adding it is sometimes better to bite one’s tongue, and put the incident into memory.) In general I have followed that advice. (One or two regrets.)

I think the figures you are trying to point to, are those of your mate Lord knows what Ashcroft polls.

When you were holidaying recently you must have got some more sand in your brain box.

I would think the chances of Labour doing a deal with UKIP would be not feasible. They are poles apart in basic ideology. That is not so of Labour, Lib/Dems, SNP, Greens “moderate independents”.

Tories trying to do a deal with UKIP would be at the price of Cameron’s head and might appeal to reactionaries in the Con. party like Cash and Redwood (Wedgewood) and outdated reactionaries like yourself and Hazyone.

.

16% would take a nice little chunk out of tories.

The UKIP will certainly appeal to the racist tendencies in the extreme right of the tories but will have less appeal to labour and Lib.Dem voters, although Cameron and crew are trying to whip up the immigration problem, and are trying to beat Labour with it. Unless Labour and Lib/dems are more "inept" than I think, this attempt will backfire on the tories.

By James Titcomb, and James Quinn
11:10AM BST 25 Oct 2014
Twenty-five of 130 European banks have failed the ECB and EBA's comprehensive assessment of their financial health - but all British banks pass

Almost one in five of the eurozone’s biggest banks have failed the European Central Bank (ECB)’s comprehensive test of their financial safety.

Twenty-five - including Greece's Eurobank Ergasias and Italy's Banca Monte dei Paschi - of the 130 lenders being assessed by the ECB have failed the stress tests - the biggest-ever single review of the single currency’s major banks.

13 of the 25 need to raise €25bn (£20bn) of fresh capital. The remaining 12 have already covered their shortfalls, the ECB said of the tests, which covered the banks' positions at the end of last year.

Both the ECB and European Banking Authority (EBA) released the results of its stress tests at 11am on Sunday.

The two bodies’ assessments, which model scenarios such as downturns in the housing market, a new recession and a spike in borrowing costs, cover similar ground but have important differences.


The ECB conducted an additional review of eurozone banks’ assets ahead of it taking over as the primary regulator of banks that use the single currency; the EBA’s tests also cover European banks that are not part of the euro, including British ones.

Rather than acting as a black mark against failing lenders, the tests are designed to restore confidence in the sector by giving banks that pass a seal of approval.

The EBA has previously held two rounds of stress tests, the last one in 2011, but they were seen as too soft.

The current round is the first to be conducted by the ECB. To pass, banks must have had a Tier 1 Capital ratio – a measure of their safety – of 8pc last year.

Under the adverse scenarios the ECB is simulating, this can fall to no more than 5.5pc.

All four British banks involved in the EBA process - Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group and the Royal Bank of Scotland - passed the review, however, Lloyds suffered the biggest shock under the most extreme scenario.

All four plus another four banks and building societies are facing much sterner stress tests from the Bank of England. The Bank will release the results of its own tests in December.

Andrea Leadsom, economic secretary to the Treasury, welcomed the results. "A key part of our long term economic plan is to strengthen UK banks so that they can support the economy, help businesses, and serve customers," she said.

"I’m pleased to see that the UK banks have passed the EBA stress tests. This shows our robust reforms to build a more resilient banking sector are working," she went on.

“This unprecedented, in-depth review of the largest banks’ positions will boost public confidence in the banking sector,” said ECB Vice President Vitor Constancio.

“This should facilitate more lending in Europe, which will help economic growth," he continued.

Colin Brereton, economic crisis response lead partner at accouning giant PwC, said of the results: "Although this should restore some confidence and stability to the market, we are still far from a solution to the banking crisis and the challenges facing the banking sector.

"The Comprehensive Assessment was only a one-off test of solvency, not of ongoing viability. The test of long-term viability is whether banks can generate sufficient returns to cover all their costs, including capital costs."

Not everyone praised the results, however. Sven Ludwig, senior vice president of risk and analytics at risk firm SunGard said: "The stress test has been an extremely worthwhile process but is flawed because it focuses purely on capital strength and liquidity ratios."

“The regulator focusses on capital strength and liquidity and what is missing is the strategic element. Struggling banks can find themselves locked into a prison of liquidity and capital ratios."

"Capital, liquidity and profitability form a triangle which defines the health of a bank. Europe’s banks in aggregate have suffered seven years of low profitability. Without profits, banks cannot rebuild their capital base and will slowly fail," he concluded.

Telegraph finance

Is there an election due?




British towns being ‘swamped’ by immigrants, says Michael Fallon

Defence secretary’s use of word harks back to Thatcher, amid Ukip pressure and Tory calls for renegotiation of EU membership



Rajeev Syal


The Guardian, Sunday 26 October 2014 12.28 GMT



Michael Fallon, the defence secretary, has claimed British towns are being “swamped” by immigrants and their residents are “under siege”, in an escalation of the emotive language being used by Tory ministers calling for a renegotiation of the UK’s relationship with Europe.

In terms reminiscent of Margaret Thatcher in the 1970s, he said on Sunday that in some areas of the UK, large numbers of migrant workers and foreign people claiming benefits should be subject to some form of restraint – or risk dominating the local population.

Under pressure from Ukip in the polls and facing the possibility of losing the Rochester and Strood byelection to the party next month, David Cameron has indicated he would make changes to the principle of freedom of movement of workers within the union a “red line” in a mooted renegotiation of the UK’s membership terms.

Fallon made his comments after being forced to deny that Cameron’s efforts to renegotiate the UK’s relationship with Europe were foundering after Angela Merkel spelled out her opposition.

After the prime minister detailed his plan for Britain to regain control over its borders, Merkel told a Sunday newspaper she was opposed to fundamental change.

Fallon told Sky News: “The Germans haven’t seen our proposals yet and we haven’t seen our proposals yet, and that’s still being worked on at the moment to see what we can do to prevent whole towns and communities being swamped by huge numbers of migrants.

“In some areas of the UK, down the east coast, towns do feel under siege, [with] large numbers of migrant workers and people claiming benefits, and it’s quite right we look at that,” he said.

His comments were immediately condemned by his cabinet colleague Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat environment secretary, who said he disagreed with Fallon’s language on the same programme. “When we talk about immigration we need to be responsible in the words that we use,” he said.



More: http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/oct/26/british-towns-swamped-immigrants-michael-fallon-eu

Where does Ed stand on immigration? Depends who he is talking to: Labour leader accused of 'total cynicism' after giving two sharply contrasting speeches in just seven hours
Leader pledges to crack down immigration in UKIP stronghold of Rochester
But highlights problem of 'race inequality' in Croydon just hours later
Two contrasting speeches appeared completely tailored to his audience 
By SIMON WALTERS FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY

PUBLISHED: 22:44, 25 October 2014 | UPDATED: 10:13, 26 October 2014

Things going the Tory way at the moment but just wait until Reckless trashes them.

Thatl be it with other defectors.

Labour to win the GE easy with a majority.

By Telegraph View
7:00AM GMT 26 Oct 2014


The Scottish Labour Party is in turmoil, and the blame game has begun. After quitting as Scottish leader, Johann Lamont labelled her Westminster colleagues “dinosaurs” for failing to recognise the need for her local party to pursue its own identity. This follows a long brain-drain of Labour talent from the North to the South that has left behind a desiccated husk. After decades of domination, Labour was wounded gravely by the SNP’s triumph in the 2011 Holyrood elections. Current polling still puts the nationalists far ahead.

Pride prevents Ed Miliband from accepting any blame for his party’s fortunes in Scotland. After thousands of Labour voters defected to the nationalist cause in the referendum, he preferred to gripe about Mrs Lamont and her local organisation. But if Labour is losing out even in its historic heartlands, then responsibility ultimately lies with bad national leadership. Mr Miliband has failed to explain how Labour would manage the economy and failed to make as passionate a case for the Union as that made by, say, Jim Murphy, the shadow international development secretary.

The strategy of sticking to Left-wing rhetoric in the hope of sneaking into No 10 with the help of Ukip is sheer negligence. There is, however, the potential for poetic justice in all of this. While Mr Miliband is counting on Ukip to sap Tory votes south of the border, the SNP could do exactly the same to Labour votes in Scotland – maybe denying Labour a majority. But for all Britons who want to secure the economic recovery, relying on such good fortune is too high a risk to take. Better to ensure that no vote is wasted on the Ukip protest, and that the Tories triumph in 2015.

DB4 and MAX

Don't show it to Napoleon.

It will tire him to much.

Here is an interesting article for you!





It looks as if Dave has just seen Haze and Manuel!


http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/26/crude-assault-on-europe-strikes-at-enlightenment-values