Sunday, June 07, 2009
BNP gain seat in Yorkshire and Humber from Labour
Well, that is Labour for you. What is interesting is that the Conservatives got almost 3 times the vote but only twice the seats.
Are the BNP about to gain an MEP in the Euro elections?
The BBC are reporting that the BNP may be about to gain a seat in the EURO elections as indeed is politicalbetting.
This is not great but it is democracy. That said it is what I expect at the tail end of a Labour government, along with massive public debt, and racist strikes.
This is not great but it is democracy. That said it is what I expect at the tail end of a Labour government, along with massive public debt, and racist strikes.
Saturday, June 06, 2009
D Day, Operation Overlord beach landings begin
156 thousand allied troops land on Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword beaches in Normandy.
A long bloody day is ahead of them. By the end of the day 10,000 will be killed or wounded.
We will remember them.
A long bloody day is ahead of them. By the end of the day 10,000 will be killed or wounded.
We will remember them.
Pegasus Bridge captured!
In 10 minutes, the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry have captured Pegasus bridge with only 2 fatalities, Lieutenant Den Brotheridge and Lance-Corporal Fred Greenhalgh
Today is the 65th aniversary of the longest day.
Today is the 65th aniversary of the longest day.
The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry land at Pegasus Bridge
The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry land at Pegasus Bridge, as part of an operation by the 5th parachute bigade to take bridges over the Caen canal and the Orne river.
Friday, June 05, 2009
On Conservative vote share
There is much cobblers being talked about the Conservative vote share in these elections.
We had, according to media expectations, to gain 220 seats. We gained 217 and 7 councils.
Now, lets make this clear. Local government is currently run mostly by Conservatives who started the night with a historically high number of councillors.
If Labour wanted to lose by a cataclysmic landslide (in terms of changes of seats not majority, as in lose 170 seats) as John Major did in 1997, then they would have had to have gained seats this time around, instead of which they have lost even more.
It was in a great night for the Conservative party, and we met the expectations placed upon us. Well done to all the hard working activists out there.
We had, according to media expectations, to gain 220 seats. We gained 217 and 7 councils.
Now, lets make this clear. Local government is currently run mostly by Conservatives who started the night with a historically high number of councillors.
If Labour wanted to lose by a cataclysmic landslide (in terms of changes of seats not majority, as in lose 170 seats) as John Major did in 1997, then they would have had to have gained seats this time around, instead of which they have lost even more.
It was in a great night for the Conservative party, and we met the expectations placed upon us. Well done to all the hard working activists out there.
Caroline Flint and Tony McNulty resign!
And Caroline Flint criticised Gordon Brown for treating her like female window dressing!
Ouch.
Labour are clearly melting down here.
The BBC has this.
Ouch.
Labour are clearly melting down here.
The BBC has this.
Trouble at the ballot!
I have heard a rumour that in one polling station the presiding officer had a bit of trouble with a full ballot box.
He broke the seal, and put some of the ballots in another box and then sealed both.
He could have reported the problem to the returning officer, who would have considered the options, and then have called party agents to see what they would be happy with, and had the above action observed by a number of opposing and independent people. Instead of which he just went ahead and did it.
Oh dear.
He broke the seal, and put some of the ballots in another box and then sealed both.
He could have reported the problem to the returning officer, who would have considered the options, and then have called party agents to see what they would be happy with, and had the above action observed by a number of opposing and independent people. Instead of which he just went ahead and did it.
Oh dear.
Conservatives gain Lincolnshire?
Well, so far, Lincolnshire County Council reports 13 Conservative gains with 11 Labour and one Independent and Liberal Democrat loss each.
More here.
More here.
How the voting went in Mid Sussex
Well,I don't think I could be more non committal. Our safe seats are safe. In fact the Liberal democrats did not even bother.
The situation is more complex in for Brian Hall, (Liberal Democrat) as he has had some issues over his allowances and lack of turning up for meetings. His division was very marginal, and we ought to win it and may well have done.
However we have an issue of a potentially collapsing Labour vote.
The reception on the doorstep has been mostly good and friendly. We have run across the occasional hostile voter, and under the circumstances that is what you would expect.
The underlying feeling I have though is that turnout is OK to good, but we may have a bit of churn in who is actually voting.
The situation is more complex in for Brian Hall, (Liberal Democrat) as he has had some issues over his allowances and lack of turning up for meetings. His division was very marginal, and we ought to win it and may well have done.
However we have an issue of a potentially collapsing Labour vote.
The reception on the doorstep has been mostly good and friendly. We have run across the occasional hostile voter, and under the circumstances that is what you would expect.
The underlying feeling I have though is that turnout is OK to good, but we may have a bit of churn in who is actually voting.
Thursday, June 04, 2009
How will the voting go today?
Well, first of all, I will be out and about. I will be telling in my area, specifically the Dolphin leisure (now called the Olympus leisure Center) center between 2 PM and 3 PM, after which I will be "knocking up" and such other duties as required until the polls close at 10 PM.
So how will it go? Political betting covers a poll by Yougov in today's Telegraph which has headline certainty to vote figures at Conservative 26% Labour 16% Liberal Democrats 15% UKIP 18% Green 10% BNP 5%, but if you include the less certain the Conservative vote jumps to 37% and Labour to 21%.
Curious. It is all about getting out the vote.
Curiouser still is this by Iain Dale, which suggests that 15% more myspace users are going to vote today because of the expenses scandal.
I don't have myspace users down as great voters, so that is interesting, and good that they are engaging. The only question is will they break the same way as the extra figures in the Yougov poll show.
We live in interesting times. Reports of the telling experience will be posted.
So how will it go? Political betting covers a poll by Yougov in today's Telegraph which has headline certainty to vote figures at Conservative 26% Labour 16% Liberal Democrats 15% UKIP 18% Green 10% BNP 5%, but if you include the less certain the Conservative vote jumps to 37% and Labour to 21%.
Curious. It is all about getting out the vote.
Curiouser still is this by Iain Dale, which suggests that 15% more myspace users are going to vote today because of the expenses scandal.
I don't have myspace users down as great voters, so that is interesting, and good that they are engaging. The only question is will they break the same way as the extra figures in the Yougov poll show.
We live in interesting times. Reports of the telling experience will be posted.
How to get rid of Gordon Brown now!
if you want to get rid of Gordon Brown, you could sign the Number 10 petition, which currently has 64,901 signatures. (I wrote about it here and here)
The only other way is to vote Conservative and show that the Labour party has lost so much ground. The differential in the vote will show those in Labour that they must develop the spine to get rid of him. Voting for a minor party will only show that all main parties have been hit and so Labour are safe. Giving Labour a battering compared to the Conservatives will drive the message home.
The only other way is to vote Conservative and show that the Labour party has lost so much ground. The differential in the vote will show those in Labour that they must develop the spine to get rid of him. Voting for a minor party will only show that all main parties have been hit and so Labour are safe. Giving Labour a battering compared to the Conservatives will drive the message home.
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Hazel Blears resigns from cabinet!
Hazel Blears resigned from the cabinet today, a couple of hours before Gordon Brown faces the House of Commons at Prime ministers questions.
After yesterday's resignations which led to headlines like this, things seem to have got worse for Labour. This looks like a co-ordinated attack on Brown.
The BBC has this, and politicalbetting has this.
After yesterday's resignations which led to headlines like this, things seem to have got worse for Labour. This looks like a co-ordinated attack on Brown.
The BBC has this, and politicalbetting has this.
Did accountants crash Air France flight 447?
There is much speculation about why Air France flight 447 crashed. Being near an international airport (Gatwick) you do meet and chat to a number of people experienced in flying and crewing international flights.
I have had a number of conversations which go like this:
We used to fly around these sorts of storms, which is easier now because of whether radar, but now because of the cost of delays crews are ordered to fly through them.
Make of that what you will.
I have had a number of conversations which go like this:
We used to fly around these sorts of storms, which is easier now because of whether radar, but now because of the cost of delays crews are ordered to fly through them.
Make of that what you will.
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Jacqui Smith to stand down as Home Secretary!
Apparently there are strong rumours that Jacqui Smith is to stand down as Home Secretary!
This is amazing news, if not that surprising. Downing Street dismissed the rumours as speculation, whilst not denying it.
Also Whitehall sources are confirming this.
Apparently she is standing down to spend more time in her constituency of Redditch as it is a bit of a marginal. I think she is nuts if that is the case as she has lost her seat anyway.
This is amazing news, if not that surprising. Downing Street dismissed the rumours as speculation, whilst not denying it.
Also Whitehall sources are confirming this.
Apparently she is standing down to spend more time in her constituency of Redditch as it is a bit of a marginal. I think she is nuts if that is the case as she has lost her seat anyway.
Ed Balls to be Chancellor of the Exchequer?
Speculation is rife in the press that Alistair Darling is history as Chancellor, over expenses, rather than failing to turn Gordon Brown's disastrous years as Chancellor into some kind of mild failure or even success.
Darling is to be replaced by Balls apparently!
Gordon Brown as Prime minister and Ed Balls as chancellor is a dream team. Well it is for the Conservative party. We have a PM who smiles whilst talking about Susan Boyle being treated at the Priory, and Ed Balls who makes Gordon Brown shine as a communicator.
What is better though is that will seal the deal. No one in Labour (who counts) will move against either because frankly they have not got the balls. (After all, Yvette, Ed's wife has him). So the dastardly duo can carry on to the election in June 2010. (There is no actual mechanism to get rid of a sitting Labour PM in a shorter time frame).
Of course they are also Labour's dream team, but that is a nightmare.
Darling is to be replaced by Balls apparently!
Gordon Brown as Prime minister and Ed Balls as chancellor is a dream team. Well it is for the Conservative party. We have a PM who smiles whilst talking about Susan Boyle being treated at the Priory, and Ed Balls who makes Gordon Brown shine as a communicator.
What is better though is that will seal the deal. No one in Labour (who counts) will move against either because frankly they have not got the balls. (After all, Yvette, Ed's wife has him). So the dastardly duo can carry on to the election in June 2010. (There is no actual mechanism to get rid of a sitting Labour PM in a shorter time frame).
Of course they are also Labour's dream team, but that is a nightmare.
US President to get our Queen to D Day celebrations?
I do not intend and unkind tone towards our American friends, or their President, Barack Obama. In fact well done the Americans for trying to do the right thing. The shame is that they have to.
However, why was there any question of us as a country not remembering D Day? Which historically ignorant tit decided we would not turn up?
Gordon Brown.
Then he decided after pressure he could go.
This is seriously dangerous as everything he touches goes horribly wrong. Besides which our Queen served during the war and was the only head of state alive at the time.
How can Labour be just so out of touch? Then they seem to want to blame it on the Palace.
However, why was there any question of us as a country not remembering D Day? Which historically ignorant tit decided we would not turn up?
Gordon Brown.
Then he decided after pressure he could go.
This is seriously dangerous as everything he touches goes horribly wrong. Besides which our Queen served during the war and was the only head of state alive at the time.
How can Labour be just so out of touch? Then they seem to want to blame it on the Palace.
Monday, June 01, 2009
Susan Boyle sectioned?
That is what they said on Radio 4's Today program this morning.
Fortunately it is not quite true, Susan Boyle has voluntarily gone to the priory suffering from exhaustion albeit escorted by police.
She has had a very tough 7 weeks, catapulted from zero to superstar in the blink of an eye. Who would not be exhausted after that.
I wish her well for a speedy recovery. With a bit of luck the tabloid press will lay off her, though I doubt it.
The BBC has this.
Fortunately it is not quite true, Susan Boyle has voluntarily gone to the priory suffering from exhaustion albeit escorted by police.
She has had a very tough 7 weeks, catapulted from zero to superstar in the blink of an eye. Who would not be exhausted after that.
I wish her well for a speedy recovery. With a bit of luck the tabloid press will lay off her, though I doubt it.
The BBC has this.
MP's expenses and Constitutional reform
It appears that the primary solution of Labour and the Liberal democrats, and to a lesser extent my own party to the expenses scandal is to offer some form of constitutional reform.
Your right, I don't get it either. As one letter writer* to Radio 4's PM put it, its a bit like scrapping the Route master bus because someone has been caught fair dodging. There is no obvious causal connection.
It has even gone as far as suggesting House of Lords reform and a reform of the first past the post voting system. No one seems to suggest more honest MP's.
The thing is though, that the transparency brought by publishing MP's expenses pre redaction has in the main solved the problem. No one will again apply for a mortgage that does not exist or an island for ducks. If they do, they will be unseated.
Most of the public think constitutional reform is a load of old cobblers as well, apart from possibly the ability to recall an MP.
Personally I think that the fact that this is even being considered shows how parliament has abrogated its responsibility to manage itself, because it could have thrown out people like Derek Conway. The reason why it did not was because members of parliament felt they and he were underpaid, and perhaps his offence was being caught. That is a disgrace, and also why we need a general election so we can get a house full of people who understand that MP's are actually very well paid. Then perhaps they will be prepared to sack those who break their own rules.
*It may have been an email or voice message.
Your right, I don't get it either. As one letter writer* to Radio 4's PM put it, its a bit like scrapping the Route master bus because someone has been caught fair dodging. There is no obvious causal connection.
It has even gone as far as suggesting House of Lords reform and a reform of the first past the post voting system. No one seems to suggest more honest MP's.
The thing is though, that the transparency brought by publishing MP's expenses pre redaction has in the main solved the problem. No one will again apply for a mortgage that does not exist or an island for ducks. If they do, they will be unseated.
Most of the public think constitutional reform is a load of old cobblers as well, apart from possibly the ability to recall an MP.
Personally I think that the fact that this is even being considered shows how parliament has abrogated its responsibility to manage itself, because it could have thrown out people like Derek Conway. The reason why it did not was because members of parliament felt they and he were underpaid, and perhaps his offence was being caught. That is a disgrace, and also why we need a general election so we can get a house full of people who understand that MP's are actually very well paid. Then perhaps they will be prepared to sack those who break their own rules.
*It may have been an email or voice message.
NHS targets killing people
There is an interesting article in the Sunday Telegraph, about ambulances being kept waiting as various accident and emergency departments keep their doors closed to meet targets.
According to ambulance chiefs this is putting patients at risk.
In part this is blamed on the change to GP's contracts in 2005 allowing them to stop providing out of hours services which has meant a 30% increase in 999 calls.
The other things that does not help is the massive reduction in NHS beds since 1997. Yes you read that right. By 2001 Labour had slashed 10,000 beds. Since 2005 according to the article, it has slashed another 20,000.
Just how does Labour manage to spend such a vast amount on the NHS whilst cutting it so brutally? And why does anyone take them seriously when they accuse the Conservative party of wanting cuts?
Just to illustrate my point, I will mention a friend of mine, who went into hospital (not the Princess Royal) with a heart complaint. He spent 3 very difficult days there, but he remembers a heated conversation in the middle of the night. Accident and Emergency had called demanding that the head nurse in charge of the ward discharge someone so they could send another patient up. In the middle of the night. In a ward full of very sick people with heart problems.
New Labour will come knocking in the night, even if you are seriously ill, just to get a headline.
How sick is Labour.
According to ambulance chiefs this is putting patients at risk.
In part this is blamed on the change to GP's contracts in 2005 allowing them to stop providing out of hours services which has meant a 30% increase in 999 calls.
The other things that does not help is the massive reduction in NHS beds since 1997. Yes you read that right. By 2001 Labour had slashed 10,000 beds. Since 2005 according to the article, it has slashed another 20,000.
Just how does Labour manage to spend such a vast amount on the NHS whilst cutting it so brutally? And why does anyone take them seriously when they accuse the Conservative party of wanting cuts?
Just to illustrate my point, I will mention a friend of mine, who went into hospital (not the Princess Royal) with a heart complaint. He spent 3 very difficult days there, but he remembers a heated conversation in the middle of the night. Accident and Emergency had called demanding that the head nurse in charge of the ward discharge someone so they could send another patient up. In the middle of the night. In a ward full of very sick people with heart problems.
New Labour will come knocking in the night, even if you are seriously ill, just to get a headline.
How sick is Labour.
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