General Election 2015 - chat, predictions, results and post election discussion

[stupid kid]

What the effin eff



First reported 5 years ago in proper papers. And NO ONE CARES.

I care. My secret economics editor crush...

 

[butchersapron]

I care. My secret economics editor crush...

Loads of other posh gels on the BBC.

 

[elbows]

I'm going to quote from a partly laughable Peston piece which compares Miliband to Thatcher.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-32233887

Mostly because I wanted to quote two bits:

Until the great crash and recession of 2008, he (Blair) and his successor Gordon Brown could argue that their calibration of Labour's style of left-wing politics, as friendly to the City of London and to those accumulating vast fortunes here, had helped to generate prosperity which in turn could be used to fund a massive expansion of spending on schools and hospitals - and therefore went with the grain of Labour history.

Aha, another echo of the one ideological concession that I remember being offered in the press in the wake of the financial crisis. They conceded that trickle down was dead. Some have gone on to deny the death of that myth ever happened, but reading more of the piece than I could bear to quote, its clear that even the modern Labour party can bring itself to give up that shit. For now at least.

What is also important about Ed Miliband is that he appears to have more-or-less given up on reaching an accommodation with what would be seen as the right-wing media. In a total departure from the convictions of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown he seems to believe that he can win in the face of extreme hostility from the country's best-selling newspapers.

Should be obvious why I'm quoting that bit right now. A long time left for a lot more shit too.

 

[brogdale]

Looks like Croydon vermin have picked up on the campaign theme...

...the office of Sarah Jones, the Labour candidate for Croydon Central, is believed to be preparing a letter for sending to the election agent of her rival, gaffe-prone Gavin Barwell, to enquire whether they have accounted for the advertising hoarding in their official election expenses.

 

[Kaka Tim]

the mail - just wow.

Is it me or is the tory campaign becoming increasingly farcical?

They go with "Ed the fraticidal back stabber will sell us out to the Trident Trashing Tartan Terrors!" and this allows Milliband to play the statesman and wave it away as desperate nonsense, remind everyone how arrogant and nasty the tories are and present himself as A Noble Man of Moral Authority - an image further burnished by the Mail helpfully highlighting that he's been quite a hit with the (posh and smart) ladies.

Way to go Lynton.

It smacks of arrogance, complacency and a total failure to recognise that its not 1992 anymore.

 

[danny la rouge]

No, it is becoming increasingly farcical.

 

[newbie]

I agree it smacks of a degree of desperation and, perhaps, exasperation that the polling numbers are not going their way as they did in electoral campaigns before 1997. That said, there was more to today's nastiness than might at first meet the eye. As well as moving the narrative away from non-doms and sowing a little more doubt/fear into the 'middle England marginals, by pushing Labour into a stridently pro-trident mode the vermin have given a real helping hand to the SNP. Murphy's task just got a whole lot harder.

makes sense, eliminates the possibility of a clear Labour government and simultaneously drives a wedge which could prevent a Lab/SNP coalition, or wreck one if it forms.

 

[William of Walworth]

Is Lynton Crosby ridiculously overrated by his employers? I only ask.

 

[Kaka Tim]

Is Lynton Crosby ridiculously overrated by his employers? I only ask.

Oh contraire - However much labour are paying him, its not enough.

 

[William of Walworth]

 

[weltweit]

Mystery candidate 'Michael Green' standing against Grant Shapps
http://www.itv.com/news/2015-04-10/mystery-candidate-michael-green-standing-against-grant-shapps/

 

[DotCommunist]

Mystery candidate 'Michael Green' standing against Grant Shapps
http://www.itv.com/news/2015-04-10/mystery-candidate-michael-green-standing-against-grant-shapps/

its probably another of his myltiple identities whose as sick of the cunt as the rest of us

 

[teqniq]

 

[brogdale]

Crosby really does seem to have attained 'reverse Midas' capabilities with this campaign. To alienate the IoD is really going it....

21m ago10:37

IoD says Tory volunteering plan will increase business costs and 'hasn't been thought through'
The Institute of Directors has strongly criticised the Conservative plan to let people take three days paid leave for volunteering. (See 7.29am, 10.14am and 10.19am.) This is from its director general, Simon Walker.

Many, many businesses are already highly engaged in their local community and with charitable causes, and the IoD thoroughly supports them. However, the policy announced today does not appear to be have been thought through at all. Passing a law to compel firms to pay their staff to volunteer for charity is hardly in keeping with the spirit of philanthropy.

 

[DotCommunist]

I always call that the shitas touch

Your (and danny's) recent links and musings have me paranoid the vermin are going to try and rig it.

 

[brogdale]

Quality response!

4m ago11:18

Frances O’Grady, the TUC general secretary, claims the Tory volunteering plan will allow union members three days paid leave to get involved in union activities. She has put out this statement.

The TUC has long called for a Community Day Bank Holiday to encourage volunteering and community engagement. We therefore welcome any move that makes employers recognise the benefits of volunteering and social action.

Trade unions are the UK’s biggest voluntary groups. This new right will give every union member a guaranteed three days for time off to get involved with union activities.

Somehow, I don’t think this is what Eric Pickles intended.

 

[nino_savatte]

Remember, Lynton Crosby was Michael Howard's campaign strategist in 2005. Howard lost.

 

[nino_savatte]

the mail - just wow.

Is it me or is the tory campaign becoming increasingly farcical?

They go with "Ed the fraticidal back stabber will sell us out to the Trident Trashing Tartan Terrors!" and this allows Milliband to play the statesman and wave it away as desperate nonsense, remind everyone how arrogant and nasty the tories are and present himself as A Noble Man of Moral Authority - an image further burnished by the Mail helpfully highlighting that he's been quite a hit with the (posh and smart) ladies.

Way to go Lynton.

It smacks of arrogance, complacency and a total failure to recognise that its not 1992 anymore.

"The heavens declare the holiness of the bomb".


For Trident worshippers everywhere!

 

[treelover]

Quality response!

Pretty sharp that, pity the TUC have been asleep for years.

 

[nino_savatte]

What the effin eff



First reported 5 years ago in proper papers. And NO ONE CARES.

Quality comment beneath that article.

james01 • 34 minutes ago


One rich Socialist going out with another. Double hypocrisy. How many communist simpathisers work for the BBC? How many BNP supporters work for the BBC? Why is it that the Police will permit a communist to join up but not a member of the BNP? Communists murdered 20 millions of their opposition under Stalin but that appears to be OK by these leftie types.

Flanders is a socialist? That's news to me.

But how many Tankies are members of the police? Hilarious.

 

[brogdale]

Pretty sharp that, pity the TUC have been asleep for years.

Utter farce...

A Conservative Party spokesman is adamant: ‘It definitely won’t include trade unions’.

Sources claims they can exclude union activity (which is not charitable) at a legislation writing level.

O'Grady responds..

“Confusion is growing by the minute about the Conservatives’ time off for volunteering pledge. First Eric Pickles can’t make up his mind whether it is a right at all, and now the Conservatives say that there will be an approved state list of volunteering opportunities which will not include trade union activity. One wonders whether they will go on to ban help at food banks, giving advice to workers on zero-hours contracts or community wind power projects.”

 

[treelover]

Eric the Stalinist

Wasn't he a bit of a Commie for a short time in his youth?

 

[nino_savatte]

Whinging bastards.

“I don’t like what I see in Britain. I think it’s become a nanny state – when I went to school I played conkers. I got hit on the head by conkers and bits smashed into my face, but I’m here. Now, they’re either not allowed to play conkers or they’ve got to wear glasses. We’ve gone over the top. There are more personal freedoms here in Spain. So do I still want to be known as British, the answer is: I’m not sure.”

Mr Hill, wearing a very un-policeman like gold waistcoat and earring, says he considers himself integrated in Spain, after 14 years of living in a small village away from the housing developments here that over the years have attracted thousands of Brits.

Like most people in the club, he’s going to vote. Asked which party he plans to back, Mr Hill says he wants to answer in a vague way: “The left and the right are usually both wrong. Somewhere in the middle, which is where the Liberal [Democrat]s reside, usually lies the best solution.

“And I abhor Nigel Farage. I think he’s dire. God help us if he gets any form of power. I should be biased towards the Conservatives, as a former police officer, but I’m not. I’m anti-Labour. I think Miliband would be a disaster.”
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...ish-expats-enjoying-sunny-spain-10167638.html

 

[DJWrongspeed]

'Identity' politics have become most prominent ?

This election just feels weird , is it me or is it the same as usual ?

 

[teqniq]

Could it be seen as the kiss of death?

Labour and Tory top brass told to stay away by constituencies

 

[weepiper]

Expats also lose the right to vote in UK general elections after 15 years abroad, a point that angers everybody at the club

If you want to vote so much, come back and live with the results.

 

[DotCommunist]

If you want to vote so much, come back and live with the results.

I've never understood (or bothered to look up why~) expats get the vote. I assume in my head it dates back to empiah where britains vast and sprawling beuracratic and military bods would expect to be doing a few years in india or whatever then come home and so its fair to let them have a say in what they come home to. Today tho? vote where you live!

 

[bi0boy]

'Identity' politics have become most prominent ?

This election just feels weird , is it me or is it the same as usual ?

No manifestos yet, so there isn't much else to talk about.

 

[danny la rouge]

No manifestos yet, so there isn't much else to talk about.

I hear Miliband used to date ladies.

 

[Smangus]

I hear Miliband used to date ladies.

I wonder where he stabbed them.....