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.

Exposed: Ed Balls the cheque bouncer! He wants to run Britain's finances but just six months ago he couldn't even write a £150 cheque to his glazier - twice
by Glen Owen, Political Correspondent For The Mail On Sunday May 2, 2015

Ed Balls wrote £150 cheque to glazier for doing work on his £1million home
But his bank refused to honour it, sending cheque back to the tradesman
Mr Balls sent an apology and a second cheque but that was also refused
Conservative Party chairman Grant Shapps warned ‘the man who wants to be in charge of the nation’s finances can’t even look after his own’
Accounting error: Ed Balls wrote two cheques against a defunct account he shared with his wife Yvette Cooper
Accounting error: Ed Balls wrote two cheques against a defunct account he shared with his wife Yvette Cooper

Ed Balls faced ridicule last night after two cheques he sent to a tradesman bounced – at a time when he is campaigning to be put in charge of the country’s finances.

The Shadow Chancellor sent the cheques to a glazier who had carried out work at the £1million London home he shares with his wife, Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper.

Incredibly, the bank refused to honour the £150 cheques and sent them back to the outraged tradesman, Brian Ford, stamped with the words ‘NO ACCOUNT’.

After the first cheque was refused, Mr Balls sent Mr Ford a hurriedly scribbled six-word apology on House of Commons notepaper with a second cheque. His note read: ‘Here it is – sorry about that’.

But the second cheque was also turned down by the bank. Both cheques, sent within 15 days of each other, were from a joint account, marked ‘Mr Edward M Balls and Ms Yvette Cooper’.

Last night, Mr Ford dubbed the Shadow Chancellor ‘bouncing Balls’ and said he had been ‘incredibly stupid’, while Mr Balls’ political opponents leapt on the revelation.

Conservative Party chairman Grant Shapps warned that ‘the man who wants to be in charge of the nation’s finances can’t even look after his own’.

Mr Balls defended his actions by saying the chequebook was linked to a bank account which had been closed in 2012 after being hacked.

The fiasco started last October, when Mr Balls tried to settle Mr Ford’s £150 glazing bill with a cheque drawn on the NatWest joint account.

The cheque was rejected by the local manager of Mr Ford’s bank, who stamped ‘No Account’ on the cheque and sent Mr Ford a letter saying the Balls/Cooper cheque had been ‘returned unpaid’.

After Mr Ford contacted Mr Balls to say his first cheque had bounced, the Labour frontbencher sent him a second cheque, accompanied by the note on Commons paper. But exactly the same thing happened again.

The serial number on the second cheque indicates that two other cheques had been written in the meantime on an account without any funds.

Mr Balls finally succeeded in settling the invoice in November with a cheque which was drawn against another account.

Glazing job: The £1million home in Stoke Newington, North London, shared by Mr Balls and Ms Cooper
Glazing job: The £1million home in Stoke Newington, North London, shared by Mr Balls and Ms Cooper

Shop: Brian Ford's business A&B Glass in Stoke Newington, north London, which completed the work on Mr Balls' home
Shop: Brian Ford's business A&B Glass in Stoke Newington, north London, which completed the work on Mr Balls' home

WHAT DID 'BOUNCING BALLS' DO WHEN CHEQUE FAILED? WROTE 2ND DUD!
1) Ed Balls sends a cheque to glazier Brian Ford for £150, drawn on an account he shares with wife Yvette Cooper

2) Mr Ford’s bank sends him a letter saying Mr Balls’ cheque has bounced. He informs the Shadow Chancellor

3) Mr Balls tries again – writing another cheque from the same chequebook, 15 days after writing the initial cheque. And sends it along with a brief note of apology

4) But despite his patience, Mr Ford’s bank sends him another letter, this time informing him that Mr Balls’ second cheque has also bounced

Mr Balls’s six-word ‘sorry’ note to Mr Ford, written on House of Commons notepaper, has striking similarities to Labour Treasury Minister Liam Byrne’s now-infamous parting shot to the Conservatives in 2010: ‘I’m afraid there is no money.’

Ed Balls: 'We will cut the budget deficit every year'


Mr Ford, 69, whose business A&B Glass is close to Mr Balls’ home in Stoke Newington, North London, said the Shadow Chancellor was now a laughing stock in his social circle.

‘I was showing everyone and people did not believe it,’ said Mr Ford. ‘Everyone laughs. Everyone says “Bouncing Balls”.

‘If the first cheque was going to bounce so was the second. You and I would not do that,’ he said.

‘I contacted him about it and he apologised and he signed a second cheque which seemed incredibly stupid to me. The second did not make sense and I told him that. I told him “If the first one’s come back, the second one’s going to come back”.

THE MAIL ON SUNDAY COMMENT
Politicians often reveal the deepest truths about themselves by accident. Ed Balls trying to settle a domestic bill with not one but two bounced cheques falls into that category.

This is the man who stood at Gordon Brown’s shoulder while the last Labour Government ran up a terrifying national overdraft, one which we are struggling to clear.

This is also a man who dismisses as a ‘joke’ the departing letter by that administration’s Liam Byrne, which read: ‘I’m afraid there is no money. With kind regards – and good luck!’

His casual attitude enrages those of us who will be saddled with his bills for decades – as became clear on Thursday when a furious member of the Question Time audience called on Mr Miliband to sack Mr Balls.

That same cavalier tone could be detected in the note Mr Balls wrote to Brian Ford on his second attempt to settle his bill: ‘Here it is – sorry about that’.

We are all sorry, Ed. But if the voters let you back into the Treasury, it won’t just be your personal finances which are left in a mess.

‘The second cheque was written out of the same chequebook just a couple of numbers later.

‘The third cheque came from his office. Someone else must have sorted that one out. He probably told an assistant “Get another cheque out of another chequebook”.’

The glazier, who lives in Enfield, North London, added that he would be voting Conservative on Thursday.

‘A cheque bouncing is the last thing you would want if you are a politician,’ he said. ‘I would not trust any Labour politician with the country’s money. I have been through many generations of Labour spending too much.’

The disclosure comes days after Ed Miliband was urged to sack Mr Balls by a member of the BBC Question Time audience after Mr Balls described as a ‘joke’ the note left by Labour Treasury Minister Liam Byrne in 2010, saying: ‘I’m afraid there is no money.’

Mr Balls’ written apology to Mr Ford will bring back unfortunate memories of Mr Byrne’s note.

Mr Miliband, facing accusations that Labour overspent while in Government, tried to defend his Shadow Chancellor, saying: ‘Ed Balls takes incredibly seriously the need to get the deficit down.’

The incident comes just two months after Mr Balls was accused of ‘total hypocrisy’ after saying families had a duty to collect receipts from all workmen – only for his window cleaner to reveal that he had never asked for a receipt in 17 years.

Mr Shapps said: ‘You couldn’t make it up. The man who wants to be in charge of the nation’s finances can’t even look after his own. If Miliband and Balls get into power, it won’t just be the odd cheque that bounces, it will be your job, your livelihood and your security put at risk.’

A spokeman for Ed Balls said: ‘This was a chequebook for an old account, which had been closed following a hacking attempt, and was used in error.

‘The cheque didn’t bounce – it was returned as “account unknown”.

‘When Ed and the bank realised what had happened, Ed sent a cheque from the proper account.’

I think new babe should be called Nigella after Nige , be a nice touch that .

Lily Savage star Paul O'Grady to leave Britain if Conservatives win election

Paul O’Grady, best known for playing the stand up comedienne Lilly Savage, said he would move to Venice if the Conservatives win the general election.




Paul O'Grady's Working Class Britain. Photo: BBC



Christopher Hope
By Christopher Hope, Chief Political Correspondent

6:25PM BST 02 May 2015



One of Britain’s leading comedians will quit Britain if David Cameron wins Thursday’s election.


Paul O’Grady, best known for playing the stand up comedienne Lily Savage, said he would move to Venice if the Conservatives win the general election.


O’Grady made the claim at a Ed Miliband’s final election rally in central London, which was also attended by other celebrities including snooker star Ronnie O’Sullivan.




More lefty nancy boy drivel here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/labour/11579451/Lily-Savage-star-Paul-OGrady-to-leave-Britain-if-Conservatives-wins-election.html

Thanks for that ExecLine, nothing new though, Labour Chancellors' have always written cheques they have no intention of, or idea of how to pay, unfortunately it's the rest of the population that suffers.
2517

I can see Chris posting words to the tune, 'Like A Rubber Ball'
2517

Vote labour for a more equal society!



Senior Labour figures face backlash after segregating women from men at rally

FIVE senior Labour Party figures faced a furious backlash last night after giving a talk at a meeting where women appeared to be banned from sitting with men.



By Paul Daniel

PUBLISHED: 08:34, Sun, May 3, 2015 | UPDATED: 08:46, Sun, May 3, 2015



Men and women were segregated at the Labour rally in Birmingham



Parliamentary candidates Tom Watson, Liam Byrne, Khalid Mahmood and Jack Dromey, along with MEP Sion Simon, attended the political rally in Birmingham.

Pictures posted on Twitter showed Muslim women sitting in a small cluster on one side of what looked like an Islamic community centre with the men seated opposite.

The meeting took place yesterday morning in Hodge Hill, an inner city district with a large Muslim population.

When challenged by the Sunday Express Mr Mahmood, candidate for Perry Bar, admitted he attended but said: "And?"

When asked whether he thought it appropriate to address a segregated audience, he appeared flustered and said: "I didn't organise it. You'll have to speak to the organisers".

He made no further comment.

Mr Watson, Mr Dromey and Mr Byrne were unavailable for comment last night.




More: http://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/574616/Labour-Left-speakers-segregated-rally

Jack Dromey??? Surely not, I recall his dear wife Hypocrite Harman banging on about more women for MP's, that was until her dear hubby needed a constituency.

She was also going to 'bash the bookies' but she had a change of heart bless, I don't suppose her son getting a job with one had anything to do with it.
2517

The Daily Politics was interesting. All the commentators in the studio agreed that Cameron would be PM after the election.

or

Today's Guardian

Ed Miliband's carved pledges could sink like a stone

In several thousand years’ time, an archaeologist will uncover a 2.6 metre (8ft 6in) piece of stone that had been lying buried for hundreds of years. Scholars will spend just as long thereafter trying to interpret its meaning. Was it the epicentre of a hitherto unknown civilisation based around the Sun-God Ed? Will future transport ministers pledge billions of pounds of public money to build an underpass to protect this national monument?

Of all the stunts, in all the towns … In one of the tightest elections in 50 years that looks set to be won by the party leader whom the public mistrust the least, Ed Miliband has just raised the stupidity bar still higher. What possessed him to imagine that carving a series of election pledges into an enormous slab of limestone that would be placed in the Downing Street garden were he to become prime minister on 8 May was a good idea? There isn’t a single sentient being with connecting synapses anywhere in any planet in any universe who could think that was a good idea.

Even the title is a hostage to fortune. A Better Plan. A Better Future. This stone Ed, I’m sorry to say, is symbolic of a totally Crap Plan. Or worse, No Plan. Then there are the pledges. 1. A Strong Economic Foundation. When some future Arthur Evans sees this battered, broken foundation stone, his first thought will be: “Look on my works ye mighty and despair.”Shelley will last far longer than this. As for the rest … they read more like focus group findings than serious electoral promises. A country where the next generation do better than the last. Archaeologists will be snigger at that. How sweet! They all say that, don’t they?

There’s not a single part of this stone that doesn’t say brain-dead. If Miliband does become prime minister then it will stand unseen by anyone in the Rose Garden until the next prime minister knocks it down. And if he doesn’t, it’s history by Friday morning. The best hope is that he might be able to flog it off cheap to the Lib Dems to be recycled as a gravestone for their party.

Labour imploding and coming up with even more stupid ideas.

what has fred to say about the latest ashcroft poll giving the tories a 6 point lead?

IG betting is that the tories will have a 25 seat advantage over labour
really?