Off Topic The QPR Not 606 Rolling Election Poll

cheaper than owning a home here sb

 

It's illegal to (directly) tax people twice on their earnings. VAT, Inheritance and Stamp Duty don't count as they are deemed 'indirect'. They will be in trouble if they evade the tax altogether, but it's just not possible for Laour to say 'you're no longer a non-dom, so we will tax you on your earnings' if they have already paid tax overseas.

In other words, another Milli-Balls up.

 

Ed Balls, talking in January. Quote: "... if you scrap (non-dom status) entirely, it'll end up costing the country money..."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2015-32218109

They really don't have a clue, do they?

 

**** me, they really make it difficult to take them at all seriously. I've just read the election propaganda of one Lynette Kelly, Labour candidate for Leamington Spa and Warwick. This is, I have just realised, a winnable seat for Labour, they held it from 1997 - 2010. The current incumbent, Chris White, is a Tory with the special talent of invisibility and a 7,000 majority. I've read Ms Kelly's leaflet 4 times and can only remember that she has 4 children and didn't like school. There is nothing about the local area, only cut and paste stuff from national policies. Mr White's leaflet is packed full of good local news (which I suspect he personally can take take absolutely no credit for, but there you go) and a commitment to the Living Wage (which I am not sure his party shares). In fact his personal commitments are almost entirely apolitical. My favourite pledge is his promise not to get another job. Ms Kelly has no pledges, and has not even bothered to reprint the 5 special (in every sense) soundbites. I think we threw the LibDem one away before reading.

I don't expect perfection, a choice between Aneurin Bevan and Winston Churchill, but this is pathetic. I'm pretty sure I could stand for either party with a straight face and make a better job of it.

 

I've met quite a few MPs over the years and my general opinion of them is 'how many arses have you licked to get where you are?'. The only one I was genuinely impressed by was Paddy Ashdown...

 

Labour are a bunch of ****s

Chaz, Rangercol, Uber_Hoop and Sooperhoop like this

 

You could add a few more to that first line Stroller...

 

But where are you going find the competent surgeon to straighten your face, Stan?

 

Our local Lib Dem councillor, Mr Dowden, is up for re-election this year, so was on the campaign trail on Easter Monday. I am given to believe that Mr Dowden has not had a proper job in over 30 years due to health issues, but instead has found the time to be both a county and parish councillor, working tirelessly to get his picture in the paper, either breaking the ground with a glistening spade before somebody else does the hard work of planting the spring bulbs, or leering at the local school kids as he judges their scribbles of the Queen or something. There's little this tart won't take the credit for.

Anyway, I had the misfortune of opening the door to him Monday. He started by assuming that he could rely on my vote next month because he'd personally given me the hanging baskets that dangle from the lampposts each summer, and without him they'd be no more, plus he'd kept the parish council precept flat each year. I did an Alan Partridge-style shrug.

He then recommended that I vote for the Lib Dem parliamentary candidate in the forthcoming election. Apparently he'd never endorsed the parliamentary candidate before, but he would this time because the chap was "just like me".

Über: In what way?
Dowden: Er, well, he works hard
U: I expect any elected representative to work hard. What else?
D: He set up a school
U: What sort of school?
D: Er, er...what do you call them?
U: An academy?
D: No...a higher education college!
U: Really? Teaching what?
D: You know, for school leavers
U: Yes, but what does it teach?
D: All sorts of things
U: Such as? Where is it?
D: I've taken up too much of your time, Mr Uber, enjoy the rest of Easter.

My 10-year old daughter tells me she saw him standing out on the pavement afterwards, talking to a colleague and presumably impersonating me as he told of his encounter, as he was adopting all sorts of strange and threatening poses.

The name of the parliamentary candidate?

No idea. But I think he looked like Jonah Hill.

 

The issue of the day appears to be nuclear deterrence/Trident. The Tories have opted for making this very personal with a frankly hysterical attack on Miliband by Michael Fallon, apparently Defence Secretary. Whatever your view on the topic this was a depressing listen, right in the gutter. Naughtie made the classic error of trying to interrupt when just letting this unhinged rant continue would have been much more telling.

Though the prospect of using nuclear weapons is a bit distasteful, it cannot be denied that deterrence has worked for 70 years, the longest period of peace between major nations since the idea of nations was regrettably implemented. The need for them at the moment is questionable, even if terrorists get their hands on them you can't use them in retaliation, but who knows what the future will bring. Whether spending £25bn on the UK having a tiny independent nuclear deterrent, when the Germans and Japanese do fine without one, is good value for money, is another discussion.

The only difference in policy between Labour and Tories is that Labour says it wil take advice on whether we need 4 submarines or could get away with 3, but if 4 are needed they will pay for them. Tories saying that the SNP will require disarmament to support Labour. This is one that would go to a vote in the Commons, get through due to support from Tories and most Labour, the SNP will huff and puff then decide it still worth giving tactical support to Labour.

Not of much interest to most voters hence why it's raised now, the last couple of weeks of the campaign will be economy, economy, economy from the Tories and NHS, NHS, NHS from Labour.

 

Most telling thing there is the comment re the SNP position. It is second only to their rabid desire for self government in their agenda, so if they do end up with their hands on the reins of power, this WILL be a big issue going forward. Best to make sure they can't push through with their plans, by making sure a Lab/SNP coalition doesn't happen.

 

Sorry, bit of context probably needed, lest my last post come across as negative...

IF Scotland get independence, then Trident basically needs to be moved - completely dismantled in Scotland and then reassembled in the UK somewhere else (most likely Portsmouth). They know that's a big thing for Scotland cost- and jobs-wise, and so they want it removed from the table before the next push for a referendum. This is why, if the SNP have any influence in Westminster - and if they are in coalition with a minority Labour party, they will have a HUGE amount of influence - they will be pushing for a full nuclear disarmament program. Our nation as a whole is regarded by many around the world as a target because of close ties with the Americans, and current relations with a Putin-led Russia are strained, to say the least, because he is so unpredictable. A show of weakness - which disarmament would send - is the wrong thing to do, and so for the sake of security for all of us, we really shouldn't be allowing this to happen. That's why we need to remove the SNP from the national equation, and that's why a strong Tory vote in the rest of the UK is so important.

 

Chaz, the Tories are UKIP-lite

 

Swords, I'm still working out what you're lite of....

 

Would it not be better to stop being a target in the first place?

The way you came to that conclusion made interesting reading

The more Conservative the administration in Whitehall, the more violent conflict, death and destruction we can expect...... historically speaking. The same with Washington.

(Thank's Tony Blair for making Labour almost as war-mongering )

 

Long term yes, but very few politicians think long term. And there's no magic policy that will do that. So we do with what we have, where we are.

Again, we are where we are - actually where New Labour put us. Tories don't have the monopoly on warmongering, not after Blair and Brown tried to suck up to the US for so long. We need an administration that can govern the world as it is - and for me, every single thing I see coming from Labour convinces me ever more that they are not the party for that role.

 

Govern the World? Bloody hell Chaz, I was only joking the other night about you old Empire types!

 

Must admit when I read your first post my response was a sigh and a 'can't be arsed', so thanks for the follow up. In current circumstances I am not sure that having a nuclear deterrent makes any difference at all, the biggest threat to us are terrorists who would use them if they got the chance. The world of nation states is now so joined up economically that war between major states is pretty unlikely, though you can never rule out a madman....but they wouldn't be deterred either. However, can never second guess the future..........

Re the SNP, there is only one way to reduce their influence south of the border - vote Labour in Scotland:
- highly likely that Lib Dem vote will collapse, and I think UKIP will do well to get more than 2 seats
- on English and Welsh votes looks like it will be close between Labour and the Tories, but unlikely either will have an absolute majority
- can't see enough natural allies for the Tories for them to form another coalition
- current predictions SNP will get 40-50 Scottish seats and hold the balance of power. Tories and probably Lib Dems cannot challenge in Scotland, the only real alternative is Labour and if they hold the fort up there
- may give Labour a small overall majority, minus SNP support.

But more likely that Labour will form a minority government with a deal or pact with the SNP, rather than a coalition, to prop them up. A minority Tory government would get in trouble very quickly, but that might not be bad for them, a quick return to the country, blaming the other parties, might get them a majority, particularly with Boris as leader.

Biggest problem for the Tories is that although the numbers on the economy look good, it doesn't feel good for a lot of people, who are now used to low inflation and interest rates that are kind to their mortgage and may not credit the Government for it (especially as they explicitly gave fiscal policy to the Bank of England).

Voters in say, Germany or Italy, know that what parties say in the run up to elections is mainly undeliverable promises because parties never get to govern alone. Looks like we are heading in that direction ourselves. Might not be a bad thing.

 

I'm more interested in why we wouldn't disarm.

Who can we possibly need to deter?

Biggest threats (Korea and maybe Iran if they keep plugging away) would have to develop long range technology.

We can't bomb caves in Afghanistan or hidden camps on the Syria and we'd face the wrath (albeit fairly impotent) of the international community by even threatening anyone.

Perhaps a token stockpile (enough for global coverage) held by the security council (at the expense of all nuclear powers' capabilities) would be adequate against any development by other countries.

Sorry, a bit of a tree hugging view.