Government in waiting?

Looking forward to the other side of the picture in the coming week.

Fully agree with an earlier poster who is waiting to see what our Prime Minister will do during the Conservative conference that 'has been planned for months'.

Interesting responses? You have only to read this and other blogs to get the mood in the country.

I am very much looking forward to the programme. Many labour members keep telling me David Cameron is going to get found out soon. When I ask found our for what they reply with "you know". Well I expect this type of programme will put him on display as either someone ready to be leader or not. I expect there will be nothing exciting or dramatic about it, but it should certainly be interesting.

The fact is that the bounce in the polls over the last week is just a blip before the next disaster to happen for this incompetent government. Whether we like it or not Cameron better be ready for government because the British people are extremely angry with Labour for many many reasons. The tories need to produce policy this week and good policy at that. They need to get an economic plan - one that doesn't involve too much nationalisation of banks but allows the banks to set aside their bad debts to be repaid in years to come and also one that will free up liquidity.
Whether we like it or not there are going to be very tough years ahead to get us out of the mess that Brown has created. The books don't balance and for this reason alone we need radical action. It will be tough but worth it in the long run.

No doubt the Tory conference will be overshadowed by some wonderful announcement from Downing Street of an extra 10 billion to provide sattelite TV for single mothers and those on jobseekers allowance. Or, maybe a one off payment to all OAPs to help with their fuel bills, this will be paid for in a couple of months by a rise in green taxes to save the planet (or Africa), this however will be announced in the middle of a world cup qualifier when no one is listening. As for the green activist who wants us to pay more to fly, I hope David Cameron has the guts to tell him to get real, taxes on flying hit hardest on ordinary people who are trying to get a holiday, the people who do most flying can happily afford to pay the extra tax

Haven't seen the program as it hasn't been aired yet , but on the point of Mr . Cameron priviledge back ground and his shadow cabinet millioners I'd would like to say: wouldn't it better to have members of government whose well off to start with , so they could worry more about the country they serve than the one that still treat their position as a career job ? Having said that there are many of the well off who lost touch with the real life outside their circle , though I suppose that won't happen if you are in the thick of ruling the country no?

Let's face it Cameron couldn't do any worse than Crash Gordon after 11 years gradually wrecking rather than strengthening the economy. But that won't be enough to win handsomely.

What this country needs is CLEAR direction from a leader who knows his historical mission. The next 5 years will be about rescuing and rebuilding the economy after the high speed car crash it is going through with Crash Gordon at the wheel.............and he want's more time???? For what??? To go into reverse then go careering off at high speed again on a mega borrowing binge only to hit the buffers once more???

No! All this borrowing and wasteful spending needs to come to an end.....if not reduced.

The British people need their money back! The state needs to be reduced!

Cameron now needs to have the courage to put forward a true Thatcherite economic policy of reduced Go'vt spending, reduced borrowing and reduced taxes. He also needs to level with people about the Gov'ts "scorched earth policy" (to quote Alan Duncan) and the mess he will inherit and tell people it could be 5 years of hard Labour before there is any chance of a tax cut. Please just give us honesty.

The people of this country are crying out for new thrifty policies to get us through.

We will be watching and listening to find out if DC is going to be an agent for real change.

Labour will do anything to try at destroy David Cameron. However, that is highly unlikely to work.

People are facing massive rises in basic costs - food, energy etc - and while Labour cannot be held totally responsible they are seen as failures.

Then you have ID cards, immigration issues, two wars with no visible way out, continual loss of personal data, PFI debt out of control and an apparent lack of strong leadership.

Personal attacks on Cameron won't wash woth many. A "novice"? Tony Blair was a novice and with our "experienced" Government in charge then a novice can't really do any worse.

It doesn't matter if he's ready or not.

He has the one quality that Gordon Brown can never possess, he's not Gordon Brown.

That alone guarantees his party victory.

Your focus on individuals is misguided - as a supporter of parliamentry democracy I actually find it offensive and dangerous.

Even if it turned out that Cameron had a fatal flaw - the tories would select a new leader and be elected with a landslide.

Sure everyone hates brown, but they also hate the cabinet for not getting rid of him, and the party for the same reason.

Will the BBC be wheeling in Labour MP's to put their view of the Tories. The other party's were visible by their absence at Manchester.

No way are the Tories ready for power - they have no policies and their think tanks come up with lunatic ideas. (e.g. urging people to abandon northern cities.)

Nick; Will you be doing the same thing for Brown, or is he too scared to face real people?

Took a lot of political courage for Cameron to agree to that when he knows full well that it's very very unlikely that Brown would ever face the same risk himself of open debate with real people.

Should be an interesting program anyway; I look forward to seeing it.

Dear "John_from_Hendon",

You represent the Labour Party and thanks for illustratin so clearly why it must go.

The "think tank" which came up with the "lunatic idea" of "urging people to abandon northern cities" was, as I am sure you know perfectly well, nothing to do with the Conservative Party but is headed by a Liberal Democrat. I believe it was the Conservative Party which quite rightly described this policy proposal as lunatic.

Let's hold an election, shall we? After all, Gordon Brown doesn't look at the Polls

Does anyone still believe that the present incumbents are competent enough to run the country?

This is the most naive, amateurish and immoral Government in history!

The sooner we get rid of them the better.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

As a floating voter I have still not seen any thing that helps the majority of people in the country that Cameron or the Conservatives have put forward to date. It still seems to me that the Tories want to go back to the Thatcher era and help the better off but forget the poor. Perhaps this conference will change that, but I won't bet on it.

C_E_H

Me: I don't think it matters a good goddamn whether a politician looks or sounds good on TV. But I do like it if they manage our tax spend in a sensible manner.

You: "While you acknowledge difficulties this is the bit you don't get, ideas and sentiments, or talk, is cheap. There's a cognitive dissonce in there. If you pursue it you'll only end up getting angry and bitter."

I actually read all your stuff. I try to work out what you're attempting to get across.

But I simply don't understand this.

I'm very aware that ideas and sentiments, or talk, is cheap. That's why I like politicians (or businessmen and women) who do stuff well, even if they aren't the glossiest presenters. That's why I focus on getting stuff done - NOT the presentational flim-flam.

I've stood up and presented in around 20 countries, worrying all the time that the production guys could actually deliver what I was allowed to promise.

I've also run bits of business, where - encouraging and using other people's smarts plus a bit of technology - productivity rose by 40%, with minor cost increases and no loss of personnel.

(That's just to reassure derekb that I'm not a "slash and burn" type... And that was within a state-owned company.)

Have also helped cut huge chunks (millions) off IT project costs. Not because I could deliver the practical end-result, but by chopping through administrative overheads.

A little bit of anger can be useful. Plenty of people have been angry at me. Sometimes quite rightly. Sometimes because I challenged assumptions they didn't need to make, but were part of a "corporate expectation" and would simply add unneccesary cost and/or time.

I'd be happy to learn that Ministers jumped up and down, screamed and shouted, to get big chunks of loot (our tax money) lopped off projects.

Funny, isn't it derekb, that I actually like to keep costs under control. That should please you, as an awful lot of government spend goes to those terrible consultancy-led organisations. Kick 'em once, you get a little bit off. Kick 'em all the way through negotiations and costs disappear like a master-slimmers hips. (Been there, so I know how to do it...)

Patronising Pat H was one of the worst. She (with Brown's approval) permitted quite unneccesary hikes in GP and consultants' income. More than they expected. But then Brown claims a great breakthrough, by "forcing" GPs to do what they were already doing much more cheaply.

Just madness. But it doesn't matter, really, because it's just "Government" spending. Actually, it's not. It's our spending.

Bitterness isn't worth the effort.

Ideas are critical in private and public life. Just sloshing them about (as Blair and all the NL project team did) doesn't add an iota to anyone's life.

I don't need a "man with a vision" as PM. I need someone who will define a fairly simple, understandable, set of "next-steps" and then control their delivery.

It's the lack of control over delivery that makes this administration seem inept.

Does that make me sound bitter?

Oh, well.

I'm off to see my old Mum for a while, so probably won't enjoy the dog-fight for a few days. She, by the way, was a science teacher, but no child ever left her class year being unable to read! If she spotted someone with problems, she'd work with them to ensure they could cope and keep up...

Guess that's what education is really about. It certainly isn't about buildings or teaching-to-the-test...

So it was filmed on 8th September? 20 days is a long time in politics - well, this last 20 days has been!

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

rambo60 @15,

Congratulations!

You have won today's award for the most appallingly written post with special commendation for Most Spelling and Grammatical Mistakes Per Sentence.

You'll be happy to hear that your political opinions as stated also cause great mirth.

You are indeed representative of the PM you support.

Let's face it they can't do any worse than the present bunch of "no hopers"!

"Human interactions rather than the policy details" Profound words.

With Cameron's background he will always come across as the pivileged rich kid who might make the right noises but who you know can never share your troubles. It's the "white man can't truly sing the blues" syndrome. Even on the Conservatives' stronger points like law and order you know that come sundown their leader goes back to a nice family home in London or an affluent part of Oxfordshire; safe and sound while the rest of us have to run the yobbo gauntlet.

Nu-Labour has contained a fair selection of socio-economic pseuds and fakes but at least some of the Labour side of the house are a bit more like the people you meet down at the pub. As we go into a long lead-in to the next election most of the population is going to end up totally bamboozled by claims and counter-claims. This is compounded by current economic uncertainties. As when buying a used car, the punters eventually give up trying to make sense of it all and tend to go with the salesman with whom they identify.

Cameron may want to reach out but Davis, Hague, Fox, even Pickles all come over much better in the "bloke at the pub" stakes.

To be honest I don't think Cameron will make a particularly good PM although he will come across quite well on the programme.

However, what I also don't understand is this attitude that some members of the public seem to have which is to suggest that because the Tories are thin on alternative policies at the moment that we should just carry on as if nothing has happened.

If a government, after a decade in power, has nothing to show for itself other than incompetence, mismanagement and waste then they deserve to be kicked out. Regardless of the alternative.

Brown, throughout his time as Chancellor, saw tax and spend as the answer to everything. He has taxed us to the hilt, squandered billions of it and when our taxes weren't enough he robbed our pensions and sold our gold. Even fiddling the figures can't help him anymore (changing the definition of the economic cycle, re-defining what constituted borrowing, keeping hundreds of billions of pounds of debt off balance sheet). His mismanagement is plain for all to see.

And for all these things, regardless of whether Cameron can come up with eye-catching policies, Brown deserves to be removed from office.

David Cameron needs to be asked if the Conservative Party plans to stop the discrimination against 50% of the relatively small number of British state pensioners who live abroad (for many reasons - not always from choice). These pensioners find that the pensions they paid into the National Insurance Fund for, are frozen from the time they move or retire to Australia, Canada, etc (one list of countries).

The other 50% of British state pensioners, who are living in a second list of countries, and who also paid into the National Insurance Fund while working, receive annual indexing to their pensions, as if they lived in the UK. They have been lucky enough to move to Israel, the USA, Europe or one of the other countries in the indexed list.

Organising this unfairness and answering the questions of puzzled pensioners must take a great deal of admin time at the DWP!

This discrinination means that paying into the National Insurance while working in the UK is a lottery. Is this what the Conservatives want? I know that the National Lottery is very useful but should they be playing with pensioners in this way?

I have written to David Cameron several times as our local MP (a good local MP, by the way) but the replies are non-committal. I am told by the Labour Party that they "have no intention" of changing the frozen pensioners' plight. Are you able to find out what Cameron plans to do about it? Nothing?

www.pension-parity-uk.com clarifies the problem and shows that the excuses given not to "be fair" are spurious.

It is coming to a state who ever but not this lot.

We have all the problems here, without resolving Brown and Darling has gone to US. In my view other lot cannot be worse than this lot.

"Conventional wisdom" is marketing speak fo "manufactured inevitability", so I can't run with that. The economic dislocation and wasteland the Tories created just doesn't get erased by a spin job. They haven't changed, as their comments on corporate governance and attitudes on wealth distrubution continue to show.

I agree with most folks, the Tories are still stuck in their Thatcherite dream. Now, this isn't a get out of jail free pass for Labour so Labour need to keep developing a sound grip on policy, including people, and creating a general sense they get it. That means ME succeeding and YOU giving a shit NOW. Cuz without that there is no long-term.

I note, the Tories are saying multiculturalism is bad and Britain's Christian heritage is important. I agree, minorities gaming the system isn't great and ethos matters, and think this is just more Tory positioning. I'm not persuaded they understand it or give a damn because their ideology enshrines cheating and selfishness.

Perception is everything, etcetera.

The conference won't prove much either way. DC is a good performer and I'd be amazed if his speech is anything less than impressive. His ability at this sort of thing is why he got the job in the first place, isn't it?

I don't think I am alone in expressing complete dissatisfaction with not only the main parties (I used to be a lib dem until their moronic asylum seeker policy), but also with the British electorate. It feels like people in my position have already left the UK for better pastures. The parties are obsessed with political correctness, they are so desperate for votes that they will seemingly chastise no segment of society.

We need a crackdown on chavs and their bad parents, more civil rights, a secular constitution to protect us from religion, more respect given to a proper scientific education rather than handing out qualifications willy-nilly, a simplified online election process, proportional representation, less government spending on stupid schemes, lower taxes, abolishing council tax, controlled immigration, more freedoms for personal drug use, legalised prostitution, and tougher sentences for those committing real offences like murder, robbery and fraud.

Instead we have a pathetic population clamouring for more handouts at the expense of the tax-payer, a population eager to surrender their freedoms for a false sense of security, and a cynical parliament whose only interest is preserving the status quo.

They could be millionaires so they don't need to make money from public service. Also due to this they might not want to get two Jag's, couple of houses, etc on public money.

So this lot could workout to be cheaper to the public. Hopefully they will cut MPs salary, pension and expense as well.

Pope at 28

Why so keen on legalised prostitution?

Time for a load of Staff commenters to type in complaints of media left wing bias . When they know it isn't true. Trying to steer the BBC to the Conservatives?

The usual why are the prisons overcrowded? build more prisons but not in my backyard. Up north somewhere.

We will read pages of Why do I pay so much tax? Which is really saying 'I'm considerably richer than you' and be presented with load of dodgy figures. The conference will be presented by a load of dodgy figures.

Trying desperately to find ways to justify the scapegoating of the Government for the credit crunch and fuel prices. When they know it is an international issue. caused by greedy bankers. its funny because i don't usually get this cockney rhyming slang.

They claim to be against the class system. but cling to the class based stereotypes of Conservative and labour voters.
No I am not being paid and I am not a pseudonym. As some have been suggesting. Are you?

The trouble is with Brown looking detatched and deluded to many is all DC has to do is look sane, surely its not that difficult. Outside the Brown Ring I havent seen anybody of note other than a couple of millionaire businessmen come forward to endorse Gordon Brown. All DC has to do is say really how ordinary he is and not rabbit on about aspirations to be a global mover and groover. If DC gets up every morning and looks in the mirror and says I really am very very ordinary and not really that bright and I must remember that all the time, then he's there.

Chuck E Hogwash @26 lets the cat out of the bag by writing:

" ...[Tory] ideology enshrines cheating and selfishness".

Here we can see that all your many (too many?) 'impartial' and 'learned' zen-like-calm nonsensical utterances are neither impartial or learned, but flow from your ingrained hatred of the Conservatives.

All the rest is rationalisation.

Why else would one support the dissembling, incompetence and plain chicanery of Brown and his shambles of a government.

sagamix @30 asks:

"Pope at 28: Why so keen on legalised prostitution?"

Maybe so that most politicians can be legitimised?

Gerald Baker, writing in The Times newspaper yesterday, suggested that this forthcoming US Presidential Election is the one to lose. Perhaps the same can be said about our looming General Election in 2009/10?

Since 1979 it can be argued that no party is ever 'ready' for Government. Thatcher had some experience in the Heath Government but there were many whom were unsure about her leadership qualities. Indeed what is often forgotten about Thatcher is that her leadership was far from safe during 1979-1982 and it wasn't until the Falklands that she proved herself as a leader.

The same is arguable with Tony Blair. There had not been a Labour Government since 1979 and he had no ministerial experience himself (neither had most of his Cabinet) but in the end he proved himself and like Thatcher (rightly or wrongly) is seen as one of the 'better' PMs in recent times.

Now we are entering an interesting phase. I mentioned the comment from Baker deliberately as it seems as if events, particularly those of 1989-1992 are repeating themselves again. Many Conservatives argue that their fourth general election win in 1992 was in fact their greatest defeat - it split the party and led to a period of stagnant Government. Major's Government was dead on its feet even before Black Wednesday hit and things just got worse from there on until the landslide victory of New Labour in 1997.

Look at the situation now. The World Economy is in trouble and it seems as if the economic climate will be toxic for many years. The banking crisis looks set to increase as Bradford and Bingley need rescuing. As well as this, house prices are falling, unemployment is rising and the economy is stagnating. In reality, the credit crunch has done as much damage to Brown as Black Wednesday did to Major.

Now, it is estimated that things are set to get worse and people will feel more of a pinch. Would the Labour Party really want another term in Office? They may face a landslide in 2010 from Cameron but he too could be vulnerable in 2014/15. Brown is a loser and Labour cannot win with or without him. However, a fourth term could probably put the party out of office for a generation.

The Tories learnt that hard lesson in 1992. Perhaps Labour should duck the 2010 Election and focus on 2015...

Cameron and his team have been conspicuous by their absence recently as the financial world disappears up its own exhaust pipe. Although I consider myself to be a traditional conservative (small "c") voter, I have little confidence that the present Tory regime have the faintest idea how to dig us out of this one. "Sharing the proceeds of growth" is hardly going to work is it? And sticking with Labour's current spending plans will be about as useful for our near-bankrupt economy as an ashtray on a motorbike. Like the majority of our political class of this generation, the current Tory crew seem to be as insubstantial and clueless as the rest of them. Where's the likes of Churchill when we most need him?

Post 15 and 20.

Whilst I don't agree with Rambo60, MaxSceptic is just being mean, personal, elitist and superior.

Try again MaxSceptic on the basis of Rambo60's central point...not the way he expresses it.

Shame on you!

LOL @ Jonties, your having a laugh, "this blog represents the views of the country" you want to try telling that to the good people of Plumstead who returned a Labour candidate with a 5% + swing from the Tories to Labour in a by election this week :D
I can just imagine all those Tory party members with their laptops and Blackberries poised so they can get their propgander posted as soon as a Nick Robinson posts on his blog so shallow.
Lets face it same old Tories have taken personality politics to new lows, and have really said nothing new apart from mount personal attacks against Gordon Brown, oh sorry I forgot to mention the inheritance tax reforms, which the same old Tories forgot to mention benefits multi millionaires.
The public will see through you shallow lot.

This will be interesting, I remember Cameron doing this down on the beach at last year's conference and I think he struggles with the 'common touch' that Blair had.

Blair was hardly less privileged, but he wasn't an aristocrat descended from William IV, and it's very hard, especially for the Tories, to convince people they are on the side of regular people, when you naturally have this view of people like Cameron and Osbourne being groomed for state office from birth

when a regular politician says they 'feel your pain' it smacks of hypocrisy, on their safe well-paid jobs, when that politician is from the old upper classes, giving off an image of divine right, it's even worse - this does nothing for the tory image

it's really a shame that the tories will happily take power from labour's downfall, completely without merit, "we'll just shut up and they'll still vote for us anyway" - it's cynical, how is there any good government in that? i just hope the lib dems get around 8 million votes and seriously expose how flawed our electoral system is (their current 60 seats are based on over half of the votes for labour's 350+ seats)

Essential to see the Tories provide more detail this week. The argument that "Labour always pinch our policies" is cobblers.
The usual right wing rant goes something like:
Brown is responsible for everthing bad since 1997. He kicks the poor and has no belief in social justice. There is no global downturn and all Britain's problems are home grown. Grown specifically by GB!

What are the Conservatives going to do specifically to ease the burden on the middle man?
What are they going to do to reduce/stablilse road fuel and domestic energy costs?
What will they do to curb the excesses/incompetence of the financial markets?
Will they re-introduce the 10p tax band?
I am quite happy to vote Conservative if there are some sensible constructive policies that benefit the majority of the population. If Cameron is a "One-Naton" Tory who genuinely believes in social justice (and this type of Tory does exist) then this is the week to prove it.
The presentation will no doubt be excellent -DC is first class when it comes to communication. Time though for some substance!

Tony Blair always believed in what he said. He was a conviction politician. I disagreed with what he said. That's why I never voted for him. Hope Cameron won't fall into the same trap. I'll never vote Conservative but he stands a better chance if he doesn't ever reveal his hand. Might not get three terms but a third term has always been a disaster since the second world war!!

Here we can see that all your many (too many?) 'impartial' and 'learned' zen-like-calm nonsensical utterances are neither impartial or learned, but flow from your ingrained hatred of the Conservatives.

All the rest is rationalisation.

Why else would one support the dissembling, incompetence and plain chicanery of Brown and his shambles of a government.

I'm no big fan of smokstack Labour, spiv Tories, or dithering Liberals, but like the recession folks would be better off focusing on positive consensus for the long-term. The same goes for the media and electorate and, yes, I demand the same standards from myself before anyone mentions it.

You can turn policy direction on a dime but core ethos changes at a glacial pace. This isn't some bolt on extra, it's how people work. Labour has its issues but a better policy framework is doable. The Tories just haven't had long enough or been tested hard enough to have changed. That's just a scientific fact.

If I saw Tories supporting sound governance, and taking a slice out of their private incomes instead of gouging the poor, and getting over their Mugabe style mentality, I might start believing what they're trying to say. What they say is mere presentation. You do what you are. It's not going to be magically different this time.

Tories have no stones. Certainly, no heart.

Excellent and thought provoking post at #35. Hopefully by 2015, Obama or McCain will have restored some stability to world financial markets and reduced some of the US Government's debt. At this point an election would be worth winning. Assuming that we don't have 4 million people unemployed in the UK and riots in the inner cities.

NorthernThatcherite @37,

I was not being 'mean', I was being honest.

I was, of course, personal. Rambo60 wrote his post 'personally' (If one can call it writing)

If intolerance of appalling use of the English language is 'elitist', then so be it. Perhaps a few more 'elitist' teachers in our education system would result in better levels of literacy nationwide.

As for 'superior', I am no more or less superior than anyone else.

Additionally, I did respond to his central point (that Brown was in Washington "admonishioning a republican president" and that "boy camron and his eatonian bed wertters play at being primeminster next week the serious work of goverment is elsewere and thankfully in somebody else hands" as causing 'great mirth' (which means that they are 'laughable').

I remain, sir, without shame - or cause for shame.

Is Cameron ready? Well no, of course he isn't.

If people think that David "call me Dave" Cameron is going to solve our problems then those people are seriously deluded.

Max Sceptic.

A good use of words from wha I expect to be a legal mind..........but you failed to win me over................

You know exactly what I meant.........

Chuck @42

"That's just a scientific fact."

Is it? Please, then, supply the source of this assertion. When and where and by whom was this objective scientific experiment on the Tories conducted?

If you can, then the rest of your post may have more credence.

If, on the other hand, you cannot - or claim that the phrase is just a 'figure of speech' - then all the rest of your opinions and claims should be treated with the cynicism they deserve.

Now, it is obviously a 'scientific fact' that Brown is psychologically flawed:

The proof lies in

1) his appearance (nails bitten to the quick; obsessive/repetitive hand gestures; weird jaw movements)

2) his actions (documented statements of his temper tantrums and phone-throwing)

3) his word (dissembling and outrageous self-delusion ["no more boom and bust"]).

When Lamont was Chancellor and boy, or rather baby Dave was his financial advisor, he managed to destroy not only our economy, but nearly emptied all our reserves at the BOE.

That was a National problem and NOT a GLOBAL financial disaster that we are facing today.

Whatever boy Dave has to say, he will say it because it sounds nice or maybe palatable for some, but I for one would not vote for a Tory Government again, when it was the same person that destroyed families and people's lives and their jobs in the City and then had to go working as decorators cause boy Dave plunged us into the biggest recession in British history.

When we have 3.6 million unemployed, 13% inflation and 15% interest rates, + no doctors and nurses to care for patients at our then run down Hospitals, then yes, MAYBE I would reconsider!

THERE WERE NO GLOBAL FINANCIAL COLLAPS ON A BIBLICAL SCALE IN THEM DAYS, so who wants a proven incompetent, and pretentious Glossy Magazine model to ruin us again?

Will we see the whole interviews, NO.
Will the interviews be edited to create an interesting show, YES.


Not worth watching unless it is live.

NorthernThatcherite @46 wrote:

"A good use of words from wha I expect to be a legal mind.."

You consider me to be a barrister or a lawyer?

That, sir, is a cruel slur!

My attitude to most of the legal profession was be summed up in Henry VI, Part 2.

I'm not surprised DC has been keeping a low profile. Anything he wants to say is being said by Brown and co already.

I don't know who is advising Brown, if anybody, but it all seems a bit misguided to me. - This is no time for a novice, ie you need a man with a track record. First thing you do is look at the Brown experience, questionable for most, at least in part, just make people with things they are unhappy with look at those things more closely. It just gives emphasis to DC's lack of negative impact, turns being a novice into an advantage. Even the use of the word novice which can be read as 'no vice' is attractive. Labourwoman flounces on stage and says - Thats the sort of man my Mum warned me about - immediately gives the guy a bit more charisma. Kelly, kay ee double el y, says Labour doesnt want to move left, immediately warns everybody Labour is wanting to move left. Negates all of the Blair repositioning of Labour. The problem is with the bankers and the world, you're in your own bubble in a bubble world are you Gordon. Lets major on sorting the world out - just gives the message problems at home are not that important. Labour seem to be in self harm at the moment.

I don't know how anybody could accuse N Robinson of being anti Brown. I couldn't believe how friendly the 'Age of Irresponsibility' blog was, couldn't get less questioning if it tried. I came to the conclusion it was a satirical piece, gave it high marks for that.

40 - Labour blamed the former government for anything that went wrong for most of their first two terms - possibly why they seem to appear as the opposition now they've been in power 11 years - that's politics, they're both as guilty as each other

38 - it was a council by-election (just to clear that up) in a labour safe seat in east london, during conference week - really representative

30. At 12:00pm on 27 Sep 2008, sagamix wrote:
Pope at 28

Why so keen on legalised prostitution?


Perhaps Tesco are going to introduce the service into their stores. You know, savers.....buy one get one free..... :)

Onlywayup @48,

One could, of course, Fisk your post and prove that your points are completely erroneous - but this would take an effort that I'm too lazy to engage in on a Saturday morning, especially as I'm sure that you are not disposed to be convinced by mere truths.

The facts are, however, 'out there' if you care to check an impartial source.

I'll just comment on your sentence: "THERE WERE NO GLOBAL FINANCIAL COLLAPS ON A BIBLICAL SCALE IN THEM DAYS".

Sure, the Financial Situation is awful, but let's not get carried away: It's not 'Biblical' (where are the plague of locusts? The seven years of famine? The rivers of blood?

Let's put things in perspective: things are bad and short-terms prospects are not good and much suffering for individuals is, unfortunately on the cards. But the banking system is still working - you can cash a cheque or use an ATM; we are still using 'money' rather than barter, and - other than higher prices and much uncertainty - life goes on much as ever.

That doesn't mean, however, that we should not place the blame for our current domestic economic shambles squarely where it belongs: on the shoulders of the man who as Chancellor for 10 years presided over a financial regime of irresponsible extended credit and irresponsible borrowing and spending ("Alas, poor Prudence) while claiming to have abolished 'boom and bust.

Even if it was legal don't think Tesco would want to know, wouldnt fit in the Value, Free range or Organic categories

"That's just a scientific fact."

Is it? Please, then, supply the source of this assertion. When and where and by whom was this objective scientific experiment on the Tories conducted?

If you can, then the rest of your post may have more credence.

If, on the other hand, you cannot - or claim that the phrase is just a 'figure of speech' - then all the rest of your opinions and claims should be treated with the cynicism they deserve.

I've commented on and given sources before, and if someone can't absorb that at the time I'm not going to indulge their laziness or game playing. I'm not some dick who doesn't know Boris Johnson style trolling when he sees it, so pay attention or take the routine back to the circus.

Whatever boy Dave has to say, he will say it because it sounds nice or maybe palatable for some, but I for one would not vote for a Tory Government again, when it was the same person that destroyed families and people's lives and their jobs in the City and then had to go working as decorators cause boy Dave plunged us into the biggest recession in British history.

I note, it doesn't take much to floor the Tories around here even if they do put up a good front. Plus, I think, they're getting scared that their dumb and chummy approach is backfiring. Arguably, it's not this blog that has issues but individual Tories. They need to fix their national and personal politics. I won't hold my breath.

Rambo 60@15
This shows what Nu Labour has done to the education system in this country.

Thanks Onlywayup (48) - we do need to keep reminding people that the Tories were incompetent and nearly brought the country's economy to its knees. However smooth or anodyne Dave is, if elected, the party will resort to type. They deconstructed our inherent British sense of moral and social justice and identity ('no such thing as community' - Thatch) and replaced it with worship of self-gratification and the making and keeping of money. Nationally we haven't recovered from that. I admire Gordon Brown for attempting to set a moral standard (secular).
GB and Labour aren't perfect, but I prefer their mix of imperfections (it's watered down Thatcherism after all) to the Tory Boy unadulterated alternative.
I'll watch Panorama with interest. I'll also be watching Nick's coverage of the conference - will he be giving DC the same character assassination which he unerringly dishes out to viewers when 'commenting' on Gordon? I doubt it.

David Cameron recently held a public meeting at a local school in Devonport.This was advertised in the local paper and e-mail questions were invited from those who couldn't make it.Devonport's current M.P. is Alison Seabeck who was parachuted into a safe seat at the last election at the expense of a very popular and hard-working local council member.Since then she has been conspicuous by her absence,occasionally she'll appear at a local primary school to get her picture in the local paper but to say she's been a massive disappointment is an understatement.I doubt she'd be able to find her way around Devonport,she knows the area as well as her constituents know her.Mr Cameron's meeting largely got a cynical reaction when it was announced but when it was proved to be exactly what he said it would be with locals having their say and even getting into the building in the first place,as many suspected would not be the case,it did him no end of good in a staunchly Labour area.More locals spoke face to face with David Cameron in a few hours than have spoken to Ms Seabeck since she was elected and whatever his background he came across very well.
I'm the kind of person who used to be the lifeblood of Labour,the Labour Party that I've known and supported all my life is dead and the quicker it's buried as well the more I'll like it.
As previously stated Cameron doesn't need to say a lot,just sit back and watch the New Labour experiment implode,the biggest plus he has is that former Labour supporters want Brown and co out more than diehard Tories do.

Somene needs to rebut the tory bias on this blog so it may as well be me today.

First, the economic woes we are experiencing is not GBs fault it the fault of the captalist free marketers and sub-prime policies of the Bush Administration.

Second Cameron is just a load of wind in a bag, it is easy as chips to be popular admist the biggest economic downturn in generations. He has no policies and no clue as to how to cope with modern britain and at some point he will be found out as lacking strategic vision and practical policies.

One only has to look at their latest spin on racism with their attack on the multicultural society. Is anyone fooled by the code "long term residents" and "recent arrivals" as another other than white and black, I hope the public isnt that stupid.

They also have nothing to offer economically the silence is deafening from their side with only Vince Cable of the Lib Dems offering anything coherent in that arena other than the government that is.

I predict a Neil Kinnock moment for Cameron sometime prior to the next election when the public steps back from the brink realising who and what he is. A hung parliment remains the most likely election result in my view.

kaybraes@57 - I wonder when Rambo was educated???

Onlywayup #48

So, one (of many) of the advisors to Norman Lamont is personally, directly and solely responsible for the 'biggest recession in British history'. This despite only being an advisor, and being one of many advisors.

So clearly you have some proof that Cameron was the ONLY person giving whatever advice he gave, and that Lamont said something like 'OK Dave, whatever you say, I couldn't possibly argue with you, or use my own brain to think about your advice first'.

I would dearly love to see this proof. Perhaps you have the minutes of various meetings where Cameron insisted that only his advice was sound, and nobody else's was to be trusted because they were all wrong, and Lamont said, well I disagree with you Dave but we'll do it your way'.

Typical New Labour. Make a statement that is completely uncheckable and repeat it a lot in the hope that it sticks.

Whereas Brown bears no responsibility whatsoever for any of the economic troubles we've had over the past 18 months. Not even for the collapse of our pensions system, even though his advisors told him that it was possible (even likely) that his 5 billion per year raid on the pension funds would cause such a collapse (and yes, there have been actual written statements by advisors at the time detailing what was said).

But no, Gordon can't possibly be at fault, can he?

Dear straighttalking you say "It still seems to me that the Tories want to go back to the Thatcher era and help the better off but forget the poor. Perhaps this conference will change that, but I won't bet on it."


And your point is?

Why do we have to take it for granted that anybody who has a bit of cash has to give it up so that someone who never bothered at school, or can't get out of bed can have it?

Yes there will always be unfortunate people and they should have some help, I don't think the conservatives will "forget" the poor, but help should not include free computers / holidays / sky TV and cigarettes. It is basic clothes food and warmth. It would seem that for many of the poorer members of society this isn't good enough. They want the latest designer nonsense at somebody else's expense and the tax payer is fed up of it.

The Labour party dropped a bomb at their conference with "free this" and "free that". trying to bribe people is all they know but they are bribing the wrong people. The working classes are fed up of being soaked for layabouts and newcomers with no rights to be here (what the hell is hookyhand doing here?).

What ties to the UK does somalia, nigeria, sudan et al have to the UK when Nepalese soldiers and Zimbabwean farmers with British parents can't get in. I must dig out my atlas because my idea of "the next safe country" is obviously not the same as yours .

The backlash is coming, I would NEVER vote BNP as they go too far, but there is a point where you have to step up to the mark and look after your own before giving it all away.

I ask all of you left-wingers, probably with a bit of cash yourself. If you are well-ish off and have enough for a second car or one or two holidays a year, maybe you own your own home. So a group of poor people knock on YOUR door and say we have no Sky, no fags and no PC. would you give them what they want out of your cash. No I thought not. So why are you asking us to give it to them out of ours?

Champagne socialists (politicians?) are the worst of the breed. As they are fairly secure from the mayhem that their government is causing. Just like high court judges have no concept of what it means to actually live in the kind of areas where street thugs come from.

So yes, give some help but not until all of your own are taken care of first. How can you justify health tourism or people fresh into the UK getting any healthcare / housing for free whilst your mum or your gran is on a waiting list to get on the waiting list for the main surgery list.

Angry and squeezed and the pips are squeaking...

Charles

Every time you are asked to substantiate one of your more bizarre statements, your reply is always along the lines of "I've answered this before you lazy idiot, now leave me alone I've got more important things to do than bother with you".

Now why don't you humour us for once.

Surely a man such as you who, according to your own posts, is partly responsible for setting the agenda, has been noticing the 'spooky' way that words and phrases from your posts have started being heard from politicians, has personally foreseen every major development in computer gaming for the last several years, surely you are organised enough to have a couple of links saved that could direct us to this "SCIENTIFIC FACT" that "The Tories just haven't had long enough or been tested hard enough to have changed."

Now I could be wrong, but my opinion is that you will either not answer this at all, or you will just launch into another burst of flowery language in the hope of seeming enlightened and intelligent without actually answering the point, but please don't conform to type. Prove me wrong. Give us the evidence of this Scientific Fact and I promise if it stacks up I will apologise humbly and profusely.

Over to you.

60# SotonBlogger

I can sum your blog up in one word Desperation.

59# Devonportdave
Whilst I cannot comment on the situation in Devonport, I live in the NW, I identify with your later comment:

I'm the kind of person who used to be the lifeblood of Labour,the Labour Party that I've known and supported all my life is dead and the quicker it's buried as well the more I'll like it.
As previously stated Cameron doesn't need to say a lot,just sit back and watch the New Labour experiment implode,the biggest plus he has is that former Labour supporters want Brown and co out more than diehard Tories do.

Alison Seabeck, MP for Plymouth Devonport with a 19.29% majority. I presume a swing to the Tories of 10% would be your Portillo moment. My Portillo moment would be someone at the top. No prizes for guessing who!

Cameron can be very good at presentatation, credits to him.

However, when the election comes, I bet (yes, not believe, but bet), Brown will be triumph again.

I agree, its not smooth sailing, particularly in the last few months. But in the last 10 years, the economy had been stable, exept the last few months. The unemployment rate was pretty low, the housing market and affordablity was booming.

Now, the economy is going through a correction, which cannot be avoided. It can't keep going up forever!

You can discredit Brown, and say he had nothing to do with any of this economic stability. Its your wish.

About Cameron, talking about problems is one thing. If talking/complaining about something is the qualification, then I can come up with million Camerons!

But talking about solution? errrr.....not many can come up with plans and solutions!

I would like to see how Cameron will handle the economy, whats his solution for the problems rather than him posing nicely for an advert or cycling (through red signal) in London.

The show time is over Mr.Cameron. Its time for action.

How about talking about solutions, for a change ah?

Charles_E_Hardwidge @56 wrote:

All sound and fury signifying nothing.

Which one of us is right and which one wrong will be decided in the next General Election.

I say 'Bring it on!'.

#60 - SotonBlogger

I agree that it is a dangerous folly to blame the world economic downturn on GB. However, as I have said before, it would be equally foolish to allow the undoubted seriousness of the situation to become a smokescreen to conceal the manifest failings of this government over a whole range of policy.

As regards your comments about immigration policy, the distinction between long term residents and newly arrived has nothing to do with colour. It has everything to do with people who enjoy the privileges and responsibilities of citizenship by virtue of being native born and payment by way of NI contributions which gives them that entitlement. Many such people are ethnic afro-carribean and asian.

By suggesting otherwise, you fall into the trap of 'reverse racism' - creating a colour issue where there simply isn't one. That is not what the Tories mean and you know it. If you are worried about racial issues in the UK, you should be saving your criticism for BNP. Racism has moved on from mainstream politics to the lunatic fringe which is where it belongs. It would be a grave mistake to bring it back into play.

I agree that if the Conservatives win the next election, they will have any difficulties to face, particularly regarding the economy. Unlike Labour in 1997, the new Government will not find an economy in good shape. Difficult decisions will have to be taken, particularly in respect of Government expenditure, which is clearly out of control.
I hope David Cameron will not be afraid to take these decisions, even if, in the short term, it could make him unpopular.
Come what may, I hope the next Conservative Government will not make the same mistakes as Ted Heath's Government did during their time in power from 1970 to 1974!

Well Nick another year another curtain closure on the Brown bounce sale at the shopping mall.

This year the gloss and razzmatazz did not even last until the closing event. Next year will be the conference cruncher - NuLabour at the last chance saloon 2009.

In the meantime we still have a number of stocking fillers.

Glenrothes
The VED increases
The European Elections

And no doubt the BBC will be on full alert to spin, sneer and try and smear the Tories with what happened decades ago.

Face it, the 'project' has sunk without trace and, apart from those on benefit, we all want to see the back of Clown and the rest of NuLabour swept away.

to sotonblogger #60

Someone explained left-wing tactics elsewhere on this blog much better than I could but you are a perfect example.

Cries of racism...sexism... you name it lets stifle debate by chucking these words around. Anyone disagrees then we will smear them, rather like an 80 year old lady stuck in a corridor at a hospital, how dare she complain lets call her a racist. And don't even start me on Dr. David Kelly.

So whilst multiculturalism "seems" to be a failure with even Trevor Philips coming out against it. It still will not stop you or your ilk using it to your own ends.

Everything that you accuse the Conservatives of, the left wing would do in spades if the could.
Burying bad news ....that must have been a tory tactic. Cameron was somewhere around at the time of the ERM so it is a tory disaster waiting to happen. But GB with his hand firmly on the tiller of the titanic, well it's nothing to do with him (Gold, pensions etc) it is still someone else's (the tories?) fault.

Well Socialism is firmly kicked into the long grass, as it will at the next election, I will be more than happy to remove your rose coloured glasses and BOTH chips off your shoulder.

Personally I do hope GB "The Right man" is still in charge of Labour at the next election. As it will make labour unelectable for decades. Scotland is gone and England hates you and everything you stand for. But then you also hate England so all's fair.

#56 - Charles_E_Hardwidge

"Whatever boy Dave has to say, he will say it because it sounds nice or maybe palatable for some . . . "

Charles,

You promote yourself as the voice of sweet reason then insult people you don't agree with by giving them stupid monikers like "boy Dave". You really must make up your mind. You cannot be surprised at being christened Hogwash if you are going to do the same thing yourself, can you?

Dont think you should underestimate DC. He has so much to hit at and its not hard to be more connected to the voters than Gordon Brown. The conservatives are coming across as being confident, talking about repairwork.

To those few who keep popping up saying David Cameron has no policies I would point them in the direction of www.conservatives.com where they will find a very
long list.

Although I expect Brown et al have already got plans to copy them pdq.

I see David Cameron has announced a new initiative about greater regulatory powers for the BOE to be presented by George Osborne at the Tory conference on Monday. Doesn't Johnny-Come-Lately Cameron know that the government have already prepared a Banking Reform Bill, giving the BOE these extended powers. It is to be presented to Parliament in October. When are the Tories going to have an original idea instead of borrowing policy from Labour and presenting it as their own? Write 100 times, Must do better!

66 - I hope you got at least 6/1 then

#72

Gold ? Pensions ? Are you *really* trying to argue pension policy and/or selling a portion of our gold reserves has even the slighest bearing on our current economic issues ?

I see these two particular tory sacred cows raised on this blog time and time again, it may annoy the older amongst us but it isnt relevant to our overall economic plight.

I have never and will never fall into the trap of blaming thatcher et all for our current issues. As I stated in my post our current financial problems can be lain at the door of George-W and his neo-cons and their clumsy attempts to reenact thatchers home owning democracy concept in main street america.

I think I begin to realise why the right wingers on this blog bleat about pensions and gold and so forth, it is becuase they themselves and their glorious leader Dave have no solution to our economic problems and they are running scared, much easier to point and holler about nasty gordon and hope noone notices their own lack of ideas.

PS. I knew you would raise trevor phillips as your smokescreen on the race issue. He is a coconut plain and simple and should be ashamed of himself. Doesnt mean the tory policy isnt still racist at its core.

I love these blogs as they attract a well educated selection from all political parties. Usually the 'dead giveaway' as to their party is the spelling and grammar used in their post. I am looking forward to the interviews with DC which I too am sure Brown would not be prepared to do. I think the BBC and Sky should not show any Labour MP's during the tory conference week and only have pro tory pundits/paper reviewers as they totally barred any conservatives from participating in anything during Labours conference week; the public could then have a balanced comparison.

Looking forward to it.

I really don't think that Cameron's background can do him harm. Labour will concentrate on his lack of experience and any flaws in the Tories policies - including any successful policies they want to remind people of.

If anyone attacks Cameron's background, all he has to do is say something like "this is my background, this is who I am, these are the policies that I stand for" etc... I think that would be a reasonable reply and would work.

The lack of experience is more interesting as many of the bloggers have said "who cares, he can't be any worse". That's an answer if you think a new leader will not affect your current life. What if you believed that things would get worse with a new leader? You wouldn't vote for him then.

Things are reputedly going to get worse leading up to the election. So problems coming that both sides need to exploit could be:

1. Do govt support irresponsible banks and/or the homeowners at risk? What about the responsible employees at those banks?

2. Do govt support high-profit energy providers and/or the public paying high bills? If those high profits are to be used for building new power stations meaning cheaper future energy, how will that be shown?

3. Do govt increase transport costs and can they show return on those costs?

4. Do govt increase, decrease or do nothing with tax (direct and indirect) over next 2 years?

5. War or terrorism. A disastrous campaign or incident can turn people against the govt.

6. As yet unknown gaffs or scandals

Try not to read left/right leanings in this post as I've tried to be independant.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

#38 - redonthebed


Disagree with me by all means, but at least get the quote right!

You typed “this blog represents the views of the country”

I wrote: You have only to read this and other blogs to get the mood in the country.

#38 - redonthebed


Oh! and....

Plumstead was a local by-election. Rather different than the national issues under discussion here.

The economy was in a better state in 1997? ha ha ha ha!

We had a higher % of National Debt vis-a'-vis GDP. We had a run down Health Service. Run down train service, you name it, and it was crap. All this besides 3.5 unemployed + the least average pay in western Europe.

We also had the highest Company Tax regime and other business taxes that Labour brought down to a lower level then our EU counterparts.

A stronger economy my bum. How dare some of you say that we had a roof on our heads in 1997, when we had to wait a year for a by-pass operation, when we had to wait for 3 years for a cataract operation and when our schools were rotting and literally falling on our children's heads.

Lies and deceit is what we are now getting from the Tory Party, that is now posing as the Party of the poor. Ha ha ha!

90% of the present financial problems are due to the Tories deregulating the Financial Sector, but no independent BOE, because they want to manipulate the Interest Rates to their advantage 6 months before an election and throw the country into a recession after that same election. They managed to do that 3 times in 17 years.

Now who was/is boy Dave?

Career
2001 - MP for Witney
1994-2001 Director of Corporate Affairs, Carlton Communications Plc
1993-1994 Special Advisor to the Home Secretary
1992-1993 Special Advisor to the Chancellor of the Exchequer
1988-1992 Conservative Research Department, Head of the Political Section

Ooops, there it is: SPECIAL ADVISOR TO THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER 1992-1993. He wasn't just an advisor, but SPECIAL ADVISOR and if one recalls the video shown by Nick, one would see boy Dave running and hiding from the cameras as he was the culprit to what was happening at the time.

David Cameron also wanted to dispose of Sterling and join the Euro, but when the extreme right in the party realised what this man was up to, they gave him a big kick in the bum and placed him in limbo!
Now that limbo is no more, boy Dave is out to show us that he can teach the world how to get out of the present GLOBAL financial problem.

If boy Dave DITHERED to get Sterling out of the ERM in 1992, how can one trust this incompetent pretentious person?

The present GLOBAL FINANCIAL PROBLEMS were last seen in the 1930s and not in 1992.

As an ex Tory, I DO NOT WANT A PRETENSIOUS FINANCIAL ADVISOR AS MY PM! Did I vote Labour? - NO I did not - but if boy Dave is still at the helm, at he next election, I would make sure that he is not elected as my PM.

In 1998 Crash Gordon was unveiling his crisis plan

10 years on:

In 2008 Downing St. admitted they knew about the Housing Bubble but decided to run with it!

The above two items speak volumes. Pity he did not practice what he preached at home starting 10 years ago. Crash Gordon since he became PM has been led by events, many of them of his own making.

And you want this guy at the tiller!

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

So, on the day that Gordon Brown went Stalin-like to project the power of the Duma to another far-flung corner of his great Soviet David Cameron did the same.

And while Gordon Brown was gobbing off prepared reams of moonshine at hand-picked Labour faithful masquerading as 'ordinary people asking questions' David Cameron was actually answering ordinary people's questions.

Oooooh, but that's smooth. That comfortably over-trumps Gordon's rigged 'meet-the-people'. It trumps it in the minds of the politically interested folk who (like me) are becoming increasingly alarmed with the increasingly demented behaviour of the Maximum Leader but, more importantly, it will be noted by the journalists and broadcasters.

Next time (or indeed any time) there's the choice of a genuine Cameron interview or another rigged I-approve-the-questions-in-advance-and-then-ignore-them-anyway-to-give-you-my-latest-fictional-tractor-production-statistics 'interview' with Gordon 'Crash' Brown then who do you think will be on TV or filling the column inches.

Not Gordon that's for sure. He's going to be shunned. Wiped from the TV screen. His dissembling unreported.

Good.

82 - jonties

i don't know if anything on the internet can be representative of the country - i can't imagine there's a huge amount of old folks or the middle-aged 9-5ers commenting on BBC blogs - admittedly the BBC is one of the biggest places for right wingers i've seen and it's as mainstream as you get but the net is dominated by young trendy people, who have little impact on the electoral process

not saying the blog is on disagreement with the general feeling, but i wouldn't take that as an indicator

Post 20 maxsceptic

Post 57 kaybraes

Post 61 Minisouris

Joint winners of the intellectual snob award!

Forget all the statistical trading to prove your points. Figures can be manipulated to prove anything.

The fact is Crash Gordon claimed he alone had abolished boom and bust. He didn't. He created a boom which created a bust!

He claimed he was financial prudence personified. It was a complete con-trick. We shall all pay very dearly for years to come because of his prolifigacy.

He failed to match his actions with his words. He has been found out.

He has lost the trust of the people.

Like many hundreds of thousands of people he too will lose his job either sooner or later............but the difference is he will DESERVE to lose it................everyone else doesn't!

It is a scandal that he is still in power.

SotonBlogger @78 wrote:

"PS. I knew you would raise trevor phillips as your smokescreen on the race issue. He is a coconut plain and simple and should be ashamed of himself. Doesnt mean the tory policy isnt still racist at its core."

My original response @86 has been censored by the powers that be (the truth hurts, I guess).

I shall try again:

Obviously anyone who disagrees with the race-relations industry is by definition a 'racist'.

I find it amusing that one can call Phillips a 'coconut' (i.e. brown on the outside, white inside) - and yet make the absolutely racist assumption that blacks should vote 'en masse' for a party (i.e. for Nu Labour) due to the colour of their skin, rather than according to their individual beliefs and convictions.

NorthernThatcherite @89

Where and when can I pick it up?

(One does so hope that it is a black tie affair).

Energy Companies have tied the cost of energy to that of oil. Energy prices to the consumer are still increasing at an alarming rate, yet wholesale oil prices have dropped by nearly 40 per cent since July and the wholesale cost of the petrol and diesel is down 30 per cent.

Price reductions in the price of oil have not been reflected in the price of energy or oil at the pumps. I wonder could that malaise be in anyway connected with the current strength of the pound sterling.

We used our gold reserves to prop up the Euro. In hindsight, perhaps it would have been more beneficial to British people had we used that gold now, to prop up the current state of the pound.

Last year the energy Companies hiked their dividends by 19%.

Appears the banks and financial institutions are not the only groups that are creaming the British public.

61. MinnieSouris

kaybraes@57 - I wonder when Rambo was educated???

Correction, my dear MinnieSouris,

The word "when" should be replaced with "if"

Looking forward to a week of unquestioning coverage of the Tory Party conference by the BBC, with no oppositon politicians to be seen or heard anywhere, just like we suffered last week with the BBC love-in for Gordon.

Is that a whole squadron of pigs I see flying past. I expect Panorama to be an attempted hatchet job with very careful editing to accord with the BBC's political leanings.

I hope you did not use the Question Time team to chose the five uncommited electors. They never seem to get any balance in the audience!

Can you confirm whether their was an instruction not to mention the level of Tory lead in the "unimportant" polls which suddenly seem important with Gordon's post conference ,hopefully dead cat, bounce.

#91

When did I say anything about how black people should vote ?

I didnt and nor do I intend too. Black people should vote according to their circumstances and beliefs.

I am saying that the recently expressed views on multi-culturism from the tory home affairs spokesman are a disgrace although consistent with historical beliefs expressed both nationally and too me personally on the doorsteps by tory activists.

I'm looking forward to the conference. This is the only conference which will have a bearing on the future policy of the country. The Labour party wil be destroyed at the next general election and the Lib Dems will remain an irrelevance. I am interested at what they will say on the economy but also on social breakdown. I think that the governing party needs to get a grip on this country and I am hoping that they will use the fact that they are way ahead in the polls to outline some strategies that pull this country back into line and put an end to the benefit culture rather than pandering to the softies.

95# 60022Mallard

Good post.

A4 - 126mph takes me back 40+ years

As to the conference, after last year, I am sure that Duff Gordon will try to spike it, one way or another.

That is the way the NuLabour numpties operate.

More recollections from the Tory years of wealth and a solid roof on our head, and all the BILLIONS going into the Tory Government coffers, after privatising the north sea oil, the power generation etc.

BBC economics editor – Evan Davis says:

The painful parliaments are those where we have to reassess our whole view of the strength of the economy.
For example, the problem in 1992 derived not from a slowing economy. It derived from the fact that by 1992 we realised the late 1980s boom had been a temporary aberration, and not the permanent turnaround we had thought.
Once we sat down it became clear that the rise in government borrowing was not a blip caused by a recession; it was STRUCTURAL.
The economy was simply not as strong as we had been told for several years and consequently it would never generate as much tax as we needed.
So taxes had to be raised - and spending, cut back.

More later in the week.

89. NorthernThatcherite




Dam, Dam, Dam,

Another award missed because of a day off with the kids.


Hail to the victors valiant.