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.

Max,

Haze and Manuel don't have the attention span to read this article, but gives a fair assessment of the UK and consequence of right winged ideology,

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/dec/28/rightwing-ideology-lost-britiain-war-afghanistan-and-is-destroying-state-and-country


Will Hutton

Right-of-centre ideology has lost us the war in Afghanistan and much more besides
The ignominious retreat from Afghanistan is emblematic of a wider malaise that is afflicting Britain today

----

short excerpt

"In some respects, as James Meek writes in the current London Review of Books, the whole enterprise is worse than a defeat. To be defeated, he writes, “the army and its masters must understand the nature of the conflict they are fighting. Britain never did understand, and now we would rather not think about it”. David Cameron’s assertion at the end of 2013 that the troops could come home because their mission “was accomplished” completed the political and military’s establishment’s catalogue of wholesale mis-statements, dishonesty, betrayal and refusal to acknowledge reality that characterised the whole affair. It matches the then defence secretary John Reid in 2006 declaring that the Helmand mission could be achieved without a bullet being fired. It is left to a war poet such as James Milton, who speaks to us as eloquently as the war poets of the First World War, or other ex-soldiers and ex-diplomats in their books and essays to expose the waste, delusions, third-rate thinking and grand failure of military and geopolitical strategy that led to the whole disaster.

The Ministry of Defence and the military establishment are revealed as over-optimistic boneheads. Everything militated against success. The amount of money that was squandered beggars belief. The initial assessment – asking 1,200 brave paratroopers to pacify a province that later required 30,000 Nato soldiers – was a monumental miscalculation by any standards. Too much of what was planned was driven not by military need or political calculation – but by trying to impress the US.

But the US, although much more effective than the patronising British, was, at a meta strategic level, wrong. The war against terrorism, developed by George W Bush in the hours after 9/11 with little consultation with his own military or cabinet, let alone his allies, is one of the great failures of the rightwing mind. The reflex reaction to an act of mass terror was not to outsmart, out-think and marginalise the new enemy – it was to get even by being even more violent, lawless and vicious, leading Nato into the Afghan quagmire, and the coalition in Iraq. Two trillion dollars later and hundreds of thousand dead and displaced, the world is predictably much less safe for the west than it was – and jihadism is much more entrenched."

===========-
If UK is kicked out of the EU, then USA will deal with EU direct and the UK will be the flotsam and jetsam left on the beach.

You forget Fred, it was that raving lefty loon Bomber Blair who led the charge into Afghanland and G'Daffyland.

And it took a lot of conservative rebels to defeat Cameroon's idea of a wizard wheeze caper in Syria.


As for the UK getting kicked out of the €U? Why should we be worried about that? The whole thing is going to collapse anyway.

Some reading for you Fred:

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/World/WOR-02-231214.html

i assume a reasonable assumption that our resident red-bannerist won't like your stuff Max :-)

Max,

Follow Napoleon's banner and see where it gets you!

Read a balanced paper and not ones fit only for bad fish and chips.

If you read the article you may have a more informed opinion of thoughts about the Iraq affair and "success".

Napoleon's mind freezers over, if it the contents of an article are more than a sentence and are only half read when not in accord with his ill thought out position, or the latest Con party mantra.

Unfortunately, his brain, or the little he may have originally had, is now addled and reading time span and his concentration, from what he repeats is writes seems locked in his own meanderings.

He repeatedly states that those other than himself are stupid, or similar, but open appears to have the intelligence of a gnat and unable to concentrate for long enough to read any article to the end, which contradicts his indoctrinated previous views..

Mind some lucky "block" idiots last longer than one would expect!

I can see why his wife no longer wishes to entertain at home.



========

When are the Tory boys going to realise that the normal labour supporter doesnt mind who wins the election as long as its labour and another and perhaphs another.

WE JUST DONT WANT THE RICH BOYS IN POWER AGAIN.

GF.

Correct.

I think the majority of the UK want to see the back of this present elite cabal and hope for a more socially responsible government in its place.

By SCOTT MACNAB
Labour leader Ed Miliband has been branded an electoral 
“liability” after reports emerged that he was blocked from speaking in an eve-of-referendum rally earlier this year.


Pro-union chiefs in the Better Together Campaign in Scotland feared Mr Miliband’s presence could be detrimental to their campaign, it was claimed.

Labour last night insisted Mr Miliband played a “vital role” in the referendum campaign and was in Scotland more than any other Westminster leader.

But the reports placed fresh questions over the role Mr Miliband will play in the coming UK election campaign north of the Border, with Labour haemorrhaging support to the SNP.

It was also claimed Tories Philip Hammond and Iain Duncan Smith were banned from campaigning by members of their own campaign.

Nationalists last night seized on the reports, which also claimed Mr Miliband had a “hugely negative impact” on the campaign. SNP Glasgow Cathcart MSP James Dornan said: “These revelations prove that Ed Miliband was seen by his party as a liability during the referendum campaign – a Labour leader seen as so out of touch that he joined senior Tories Philip Hammond and Iain Duncan Smith in not being permitted to even speak to voters in Scotland.”

It was claimed that Mr 
Miliband was asked by then Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont “Why are you here? You are not winning any votes.”

Ms Lamont subsequently quit as Scottish leader after the referendum victory, accusing Mr Miliband of treating Scotland like a “branch office.” Another Labour source described Mr Miliband as a “total liability” who had a “hugely negative” impact on the referendum campaign and “didn’t win us one vote”.

But a Scottish Labour spokesman last night played down the reports. “The referendum was a decision taken in Scotland by people who live and work here,” he said. “Ed Miliband played a vital role in the campaign to keep the UK together and campaigned in Scotland more than any other UK party leader.”

A weekend poll forecast that Labour is facing heavy losses at the general election in May to the SNP, which is expected to take 45 of Scotland’s 59 seats. The collapse of Labour in Scotland would offset any gains the party makes in England and Wales and could put Downing Street beyond Mr Miliband’s reach.

Labour has slumped to 26 per cent in Westminster voting intentions, while the SNP is on track for 43 per cent, an ICM poll of 1,004 Scottish adults states. Labour’s previous hold on 41 seats could slip down to 10, while the SNP is set to increase from six seats to 45 of Scotland’s total 59 places in the Commons.

Spot on Fred.

Been up at my local Con Club quite a bit these hols had to get away from her indoors, driving me mad.

No kidding Camoron and Osbourne are detested now.

The older Tory voter now turning against them.

Say they are all going to UKIP mind, so TANKERS theory might have something to it.

TANKER,Fred,Stan and goldfinger , Labours dream team.

Hello... it's the holiday Troll.

DB4


"It was also claimed Tories Philip Hammond and Iain Duncan Smith were banned from campaigning by members of their own campaign."
>

I wonder how many times Osbourne, Cameron, IDS, Theresa and many others of the torrid party cabal will appear at the hustings outside London and SE.

I am sure there will have a welcome in the Welsh Valleys, Scotland, North East and West of England, The Midlands.

This current government has fragmented the UK economically and politically and in March this will be seen in the ballot box.

Interesting, to see the effect of "said" 3 million "new young voters" (18-24 year olds) facing up to the cost of the "charges" of "education" and broken "promises".

Also, the effects of the "LANSLEY NHS REFORMS" will be coming home to roost.

Interesting!

Just seen a poster outside a school used as a polling booth:

"Vote UKIP and get your medication here!"

There maybe a sense of realism by next March!

8-)

now that one is entertaining :-)

SCOTTISH Labour's brief period of unity has ended after the former spokesman for Jim Murphy's defeated rival accused the new leader of "abandoning truth" and "making stuff up" about Scottishness.

Stephen Low, who was the spin doctor for leadership candidate Neil Findlay, said Murphy's comments about an "ingrained" Scottish character amounted to him "buying into fantasies".

Murphy beat left-winger Findlay and Sarah Boyack MSP earlier this month to become Johann Lamont's successor as Scottish Labour leader.

Lamont had quit her post in acrimonious circumstances after blasting Westminster "dinosaurs" and accusing UK Labour of treating the Scottish party as a "branch office".

During the contest, Murphy addressed Lamont's claims by stressing his Scottishness and insisting he would take no orders from his MP colleagues.

He said he would hire Yes voters to his team and, 24 hours after winning, promised to rewrite the Scottish Labour constitution to reflect the country's perceived national identity.

Murphy explained: "We are a socialist party yes, but we recognise that our political faith grew out of something deeper which is ingrained in our Scottish character.

"It was there before our party in the ethics of Burns's poetry, the economic vision of New Lanark, the actions of the Highlanders who took on brutal landlords."

However, Low took to Facebook to criticise Murphy's comments, saying of the "ingrained" Scottishness remark: "This is fiction, not history.

"All I can suggest now is that peddling myths - either out of ignorance or calculation, will do us few favours."

He said it was not a "statement that bears any relation to either history - nor the sociology of nations", adding: "We do ourselves no favours by abandoning truth and reality nor buying into fantasies that nations have 'ingrained character'."

Low added: "Are we going to start discussing the ingrained nature of the German or Hungarian or African culture next ... The idea that the labour movement ... arose from a sense of national rather than class identity would get you a bad fail in any history class.

"Jim does, of course, have the right to say what he wants - but when he maintains things that aren't true, the party does have a duty to point these things out."

He accused Murphy of "making stuff up" and concluded with a warning: "We are making a rod for our own backs here."

The leadership contest was broadly good natured but Labour's biggest trade union affiliate, Unite, launched a personal attack against Murphy.

Union general secretary Len McCluskey said Murphy stood for "reheated Blairism", which would be a "sentence of political death for many Scottish Labour MPs" at next year's General Election.

Low was Findlay's press contact during the election and is a policy officer for another trade union, Unison.

SNP MSP Stewart Maxwell said: "The fact that there is a great deal of unease within the Labour party over the election of Jim Murphy will surprise nobody given he is an MP who backs Trident, voted for the Iraq war, campaigned with the Tories in the referendum and has a track record of voting for tuition fees.

"With a recent opinion poll showing that the SNP has actually increased our lead since the election of Jim Murphy, it is clearer than ever that it will take far more than the election of a new leader to address the fact that Labour is fundamentally out of step with people in Scotland."

Low said: "The campaign is over. These views are mine and no-one else's."

A Scottish Labour spokesperson said: "The new leadership team means it's a fresh start for Scottish Labour and Scotland. We will be working together in the new year to take our positive message of radical change all across our great nation."

The Herald Scotland

.

So which way will Lady Eck go, assuming the SNP win loads of seats?

complaints about student property operator Nigel Russell
i do hope this most unsavoury character is not your real self sticky, though i recollect that your empire did indeed include many student lets :-)

cynic.

Here is one for you

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/11315032/British-expat-exodus-feared-to-hit-Dubai-amid-oil-price-rout.html

Hays.

Here is one for you

The youth vote is important – meaning the Coalition is in trouble.29/12/2014


The results: The Observer published the results of the Opinium poll in graphic form, making it easier for all of us to digest. The rise of actress Emma Watson as an opinion-former after her speech on feminism to the United Nations shows the influence of high-profile celebrities who take an interest.

A BBC report today (December 27) suggests that the votes of people aged 18-25 are key to success in the general election next May.

This will be terrific news for the Labour Party, as an Opinium/Observer poll on the views of people aged 17 to 22 has given Labour a 15 per cent lead over its nearest rival – on 41 per cent, compared with the Conservatives on 26 per cent, the Greens on 19 per cent and the Liberal Democrats on just six per cent.

But these polls never compare like for like, and the poll quoted by the BBC, carried out by Populus for the thinktank Demos (who the BBC describes as left-leaning, although some may dispute that), suggests that 44 per cent of young people have not decided which way they’ll vote. The difference is that these are people aged 18 to 25.

Both polls show around three million young people will be eligible to vote in May, but present a spread of information about their preferences that suggests no British political party has entirely claimed their loyalties.

For example, the Opinium poll shows 62 per cent of young people said they believed the UK’s membership of the EU was a good thing, including 57 per cent of Conservative-inclined voters, with only 14 per cent disagreeing.

Asked how they would vote in an in/out referendum, as proposed by David Cameron, 67 per cent said they would vote to stay in, while only 19 per cent would opt to leave. Among all voters, the split is close to 50-50 (according to The Observer).

This suggests that a more strident anti-EU message from the Conservatives, to counter the threat of Ukip, would drive away more young first-time voters, the paper stated.

No party leader fared well in the Opinium poll. Only 13 per cent said they approved of Nigel Farage, against 64 per cent who said they disapproved, giving him a net approval rating of -51 per cent, worse than that of Liberal Democrat Nick Clegg, who scored -44 per cent. Ed Miliband scored -18 per cent and David Cameron -6 per cent.

The Populus poll, quoted by the BBC, asked young people to name the issues that most concerned them, and found that 69 per cent said the cost of living, 62 per cent affordable housing, 58 per cent unemployment and the same proportion said the NHS. These are all issues on which the Coalition government can be said to have made the situation worse.

Exactly 50 per cent were worried about online privacy, with 45 per cent concerned about the environment, and 43 per cent worried about immigration. Tax avoidance only bothered 37 per cent and Britain’s future in the EU concerned just 34 per cent (indicating that Opinium’s finding is more or less correct).

At first glance, it seems the BBC’s report was commissioned in response to The Observer’s, reinforcing suggestions of right-wing bias in the Corporation. The indication of the number of potential voters who are still undecided tends to support this.

But the findings about young voters’ concerns suggests that any such intention has been foiled, as both polls clearly show young voters are dissatisfied with the Coalition parties and want a change.

Perhaps the most striking information for Labour – and an indication of where it has gone wrong over the past two decades – is the suggestion in the Populus poll that more than half of young people would be more likely to vote if there were more working-class candidates.

The party’s continued insistence on marginalising such members in favour of people from the same background as every other party – university graduates who have gone on to work in politics or finance – is harming its appeal to voters, it seems.

Now, why would a party leader with such low ratings as Ed Miliband be ignoring this?