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.

Recently as a guest on Desert Island Discs Nicola Sturgeons choice of music was Sandie Shaws Puppet On A String!

Manuel.

It is because you are so old and doddery that you needed to be reminded about your party's successes.

I think Haze should spend more time on a prayer mat at the Con Party's Central Office.

But it seems Lynton Crosby has taken the tories for a ride. Check the coffers.

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But nice to see the party knives are already out and being sharpened in order to remove Wavy Dave and replace him with a buffoon called Boris, the new Berlusconi, hoping he can bed them down again for a win.

"The right man in the right job."

I wonder if we are seeing the end of the tory party.

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One can see the similarities!


Italy's former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's sudden U-turn over a vote of confidence shows he no longer has an iron grip on his party, but can the loyalty he inspires keep his influence alive?

so tell me fred, even supposing labour+snp get into downing street, do you think EM will be leading the labour party at the next election? .... it goes almost without saying that, should labour+snp fail in their quest, then EM will be obliged to fall on his sword before the long knives do the job for him

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i think DC may go anyway, even if he manages to stay in number 10
while boris may well be a popular and populist choice, i'm not convinced that he'll make a good party leader let pm, even though he certainly does not lack the brains for the job

sajid javid would be a good outsider bet, though at only 35/36, his time may not yet have come, regardless of his other qualities

Boris is only popular with the public. He has to get voted for by the MPs and he is much less popular in the House

Yes, but the denizens of the house would vote for old nick if it meant a further term.

Popularity? It's the economy stupid... and lets face it The "Con" Artists have been rumbled good and proper.

59171 - that is reminiscent of trades union leaders who tell their members to strike because they know best and are damned if they will hold a full ballot to test true wishes

The voting system is that the Conservative MPs vote to reduce the number of candidates to two. The Conservatives constituencies then vote to choose one of those.

not very democratic is it, but then i think that applies to all the other parties as well

It is why Ken Clarke lost out. He was too pro Europe and was eliminated on the second ballot by the MPs before Davis and Cameron were voted on by the constituents.

Manuel,

Post 59170.

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When Miliband is PM in May, he will be supported by SNP and probably Lib/Dems. The latter will be smaller 'number and won't risk supporting the tories again, as their membership has already been alienated and decimated by the previous choice of the association with the tories.

You may read the last government as a warning against future lib/dem association with the tory part.

I think Sturgeon is a bright intelligent, wee lass and Miliband is proving himself to be intelligent and thoughtful with sensible inclusive policies acceptable to SNP, Lib/dems, his own party and the minor left wing parties.

There is are more policies and values binding these parties together than separating them. Also, all these parties need to build up their coffers for another UK GE election and also for the Scottish election.

All these party will be on tip toe and prepared to delay, or avoid any policies which will split them.

(Trident and Scottish Independence bills will be kicked into the long grass for 4 + years. Other than the costing and review of Trident's efficacy.)


It may therefore produce a sensible form of government, while all these "alliance" parties substantiate themselves in "public" opinion and perhaps to future voting trends towards "alliance" or "coalition" governments.

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It will be interesting to watch the infighting in the tory party when Cameron loses.

A bit like watching rats in a sack!

HMRC collected £513.6bn in taxes in 2014-15, up from £492.5bn in 2013-14, VAT accounted for a fifth of revenue.
In March 2015 total HMRC receipts came to £37.58bn, up on the £35bn recorded in March 2014.

More jobs and wage increases are feeding through, the Tories are slowly but surely turning the country around.
2517

Manuel.

Another point on Lib/Dems, is that if they sit on the opposition benches with the tories again, they will be in danger of being tories in disguise at any following election their will have lost their credibility and will be further decimated. The largest portion of their votes I would think going to labour.

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Strategically and tactically, I think Miliband is playing his hands as the Eagle sisters play chess!

2.5,

But how long has it taken the present bunch of genies to get GDP to back 2009 levels?

Also, with level of employment as suggested why isn't productivity higher.


Another chart for Manuel to put in his pipe and smoke!

fred - it really is such a shame that you are totally incapable of putting forward a sensible and balanced view without adding a bunch stupidly predictable little snipes and barbs .... basically, it just pulls the rug from under



my own view is that we will end up with some kind of labour/snp alliance, formal or otherwise
for sure there will a variety of "envy and spite" taxes and measures which will raise comparatively little and achieve even less but will appease those with green eyes

to my mind, the interesting bit will be to see the lines and options that snp takes
sturgeon is certainly no fool, nor salmond for that matter, and of course reality and pre-election rhetoric will diverge significantly

despite all the scaremongering, i wonder if snp will indeed push labour further to the left

there is also the small matter of trident and i'm sure a number of other issues that are close to snp's heart (and manifesto) with which they will lambast any gov't and most assuredly use as potential ransom and blackmail issues

Clegg said today that he will only have an arrangement/coalition with the party with the most seats.

This week Lancashire Labour party advertised for nine vacancies on zero hour contracts

Good to see their clamping down on them.
2517

The latest Lord Ashcroft polling of marginal constituencies suggests UKIP will lose Rochester & Strood to the Conservatives.

The figures will be a blow for UKIP with Mark Reckless losing the seat he kept after defecting from the Conservatives last year.