The Coalition of Expensive Chaos

[blade1889]

Tbh I think the initial labour strife was more about whether the party would force his resignation the way some of them were going about...resigning themselves left right and center.

I'm not sure the same concerns about a party trying to remove a leader can be said of the Tories. Will be interesting once Cameron does go to see what happens though.

Very much doubt anything that's happening now will impact on the next GE. A lot still remains to be seen about whether Corbyn will have enough of whatever it is to prove hes a capable leader..or whether he'll be too easily painted as irresponsible and weak. Also 4 years is a long time for the Tories to remove the bad-will, be damaging early on and nicer towards the end and people will focus on the most recent.

 

[SUTSS]

It's a bit more than a minor pre- referendum scuffle. The whole policy of austerity has been shown up as not only morally reprehensible but also fiscally unworkable. The sums don't add up which is a bit of a shitter when you promote yourself as the party of fiscal responsibility.
Corbyn is taking the opportunity and holding the government to account which is what he is supposed to be doing.
There was a popular opinion that the internal strife that dogged Corbyn at the start of his leadership would impact on Labour's performance in the next election. Do the same rules not apply to the Conservative party?

The big difference is that Cameron won't be there at the next election unless he makes a u-turn. Therefore the Conservatives have the chance to elect someone who can bridge the gap. Although with the way the grassroots seem to be going there is a good chance they will vote someone completely nuts in.

 

[Aber gas]

The big difference is that Cameron won't be there at the next election unless he makes a u-turn. Therefore the Conservatives have the chance to elect someone who can bridge the gap. Although with the way the grassroots seem to be going there is a good chance they will vote someone completely nuts in.

That's true and the referendum is going to be a huge factor in who they elect next. Whichever way the result goes some careers and aspirations will be permanently halted.

 

[blade1889]

The big difference is that Cameron won't be there at the next election unless he makes a u-turn. Therefore the Conservatives have the chance to elect someone who can bridge the gap. Although with the way the grassroots seem to be going there is a good chance they will vote someone completely nuts in.

Grassroots would be ok...as opposed to Boris or Osbourne

 

[GodsGift]

I don't really understand Osborne's thinking behind the budget. Him and Cameron are supposedly trying to take control of the centre ground, and yet here they are cutting taxes for the most well off and once again, hitting the poor and the disabled the hardest, just because they don't vote for them. It just plays into the hands of those who see the Tories as the "nasty party".

Let's not pretend this was a result of pressure from Corbyn though, it was simply a balls up from Osborne. There's been little to no opposition from the Labour party at all since the election.

 

[Aber gas]

I'm not sure why anyone would be surprised by Tory cuts in terms of who they effect, austerity is after all an ideological policy rather than pragmatic. What's truly damaging to the Conservative party is that even after a continuous barrage of propaganda promoting austerity " in it together " as the only way back to fiscal stability it all turns out to be bollocks.

 

[mowgli]

I'm not sure why anyone would be surprised by Tory cuts in terms of who they effect, austerity is after all an ideological policy rather than pragmatic. What's truly damaging to the Conservative party is that even after a continuous barrage of propaganda promoting austerity " in it together " as the only way back to fiscal stability it all turns out to be bollocks.

Exactly! Osbourne said yesterday " We can absorb the 4 million hole in the budget " So why make the cuts to PIP in the first place? As you say Aber it's purely ideological,we should remember this when he tries to do it again in another budget. The biggest drain of the benefits bill is pensioners something that this government tries hard to conceal,my Disability benefit is means tested so why shouldn't rich pensioners be means tested for winter fuel allowance and t v licenses which would help plug the whole but the government know they are more likely to vote for them rather than someone like me so they get protected to an extent from austerity, i know not every pensioner is well off but people will be surprised just how many are.

 

[GodsGift]

Cameron's had his worst week since re-election and yet he still comes out on top in PMQs. That Labour list was a complete gift, mind.

 

[silkyman]

Who decides who comes out on top in PMQ? Is the winner the one who elicited the most moronic braying from the people stood behind them?

 

[blade1889]

Who decides who comes out on top in PMQ? Is the winner the one who elicited the most moronic braying from the people stood behind them?

Have you never seen the jeer-o-meter in the corner? Its an exact science you know.

 

[mowgli]

Who decides who comes out on top in PMQ? Is the winner the one who elicited the most moronic braying from the people stood behind them?

This is why the people of this country have as much respect for MP's as what they wipe off their arse after a liquid shit. Both sides do it but the Tories sound like they got pissed up in the subsidized bars paid for by us before midday something i can only dream of. They shout " More" like i used to shout at a rock band when i was pissed and stoned at a gig or a festival.

 

[Alty]

All this stuff counts for next to nowt in terms of the next GE. Osborne delivered an omnishambles budget halfway through the last Parliament, but the Tories still won in 2015 on the basis that the economy apparently was improving (ho ho - we're still going to have been running a deficit after a decade of the Tory government).

I'm genuinely intrigued by McDonnell's ongoing work on long term structural problems with our economy and am willing to give this left-wing leadership a chance. But Corbyn has been pretty underwhelming thus far.

 

[SALTIRE]

 

[smat]

No accountability, as the people fucking up local schools can no longer be voted out. Ending the national curriculum (dunno if that's good or bad tbh) and removing pay scales for schools (meaning teachers' wages are likely to stagnate, and god knows it's a shit enough job at the moment as it is). Those are some negatives, anyway. Suppose the real question is, are they better at educating children? And the answer, I'm afraid, is idk. Someone else?

Further to this academy thing:

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news...ewood-knowsley-11100105#ICID=sharebar_twitter

 

[The Paranoid Pineapple]

Interesting narrowing of the polls recently (I know we're all wary of polls these days but look out for trends and they'll give you a fairly good impression of the overall picture). The most recent polls conducted by a bunch of different pollsters are all showing roughly the same thing - notably that the Tory lead has collapsed post-budget and that Labour and the Conservatives are now pretty much neck-and-neck (also interesting that Corbyn can currently boast better satisfaction ratings than Cameron). Now, obviously at this stage of an election cycle all of this is largely meaningless but I think there are testing times ahead for the Tories. If IDS's departure from the front bench exposed Tory divisions then a bitter referendum campaign and a leadership election is likely is likely to test party unity to the max. I actually think the Conservatives could emerge from June quite scarred by the referendum campaign - one of the two factions will be unhappy with the outcome and I don't expect them to be especially magnanimous in defeat. As for the leadership question, I wonder whether, as often seems to happen in Tory leadership contests, an outsider might emerge to claim victory. At the moment Osborne's stock seems to be at an all-time low and question marks continue to hang over Boris. Indeed, if the weekend papers are anything to go by, the knives now appear to be out for the latter - Matthew Parris wrote a very scathing article in The Times on Saturday and, more curious still, The Mail on Sunday followed their lead the following day by dragging some old skeletons out of his closet. I'm not sure either are a safe bet as party leader. Time will tell I suppose...

 

[Womble98]

Reading how Boris reacted to the repealing of section 28 makes the fact that so many people adore him worrying.

 

[Alty]

Javid to be the outsider?

 

[silkyman]

Reading how Boris reacted to the repealing of section 28 makes the fact that so many people adore him worrying.

Accusations of homophobia, philandering, lying, racism and corruption are meaningless if your hair looks a bit funny.

 

[Pyeman]

Javid to be the outsider?

I don't know a great deal about him, other than he fact that he hasn't handled the Tata steel situation particularly well. Do you think he's leadership material?

 

[Alty]

I don't know a great deal about him, other than he fact that he hasn't handled the Tata steel situation particularly well. Do you think he's leadership material?

Not sure there's such a thing as leadership material anymore. Cameron was pretty wet behind the ears when he took over and his Government has made some gaffes, but he still won an unexpected outright majority last time. I think Javid becoming leader might be seen as the perfect coda to the Tory transformation project whereby they've gone from largely racist/homophobic old white guys to embracing of 'modern Britain'.

 

[BigDaveCUFC]

The steel industry may be more damaging to the tories than the disability cuts when looking to see the DailyMail is actually slagging them off today.............their most die hard newspaper is attacking them today.

They have just got too cocky of late, tried one too many pushes and the big killer for them isn't in-fighting, its losing the paper support.....only 4-5 months ago the lot were on full Labour attack apart from the Mirror and the Guardian. The disability cuts turned all of them to anti-Tory apart from the Sun/Mail and the steel industry collapse seems to be turning the Daily Mail.

Maybe this was the Labour play with Corbyn....put in someone which made the Tories get extremely over-confident and cocky and then allow them the rope to hang themselves......which they are currently doing.

 

[Benji]

Maybe this was the Labour play with Corbyn....put in someone which made the Tories get extremely over-confident and cocky and then allow them the rope to hang themselves......which they are currently doing.

You think 200,000 people joined the Labour party in support of Corbyn because it would make the Tories overconfident?

 

[mowgli]

The Sun becomes more anti Cameron by the day to be fair. Before you all have a pop at me i only buy it for the sport,tv and cryptic crossword and skip through the rest as i am lucky enough to be able to think for myself and not blindly believe in it's political bullshit views.

 

[Alty]

The steel industry may be more damaging to the tories than the disability cuts when looking to see the DailyMail is actually slagging them off today.............their most die hard newspaper is attacking them today.

They have just got too cocky of late, tried one too many pushes and the big killer for them isn't in-fighting, its losing the paper support.....only 4-5 months ago the lot were on full Labour attack apart from the Mirror and the Guardian. The disability cuts turned all of them to anti-Tory apart from the Sun/Mail and the steel industry collapse seems to be turning the Daily Mail.

Maybe this was the Labour play with Corbyn....put in someone which made the Tories get extremely over-confident and cocky and then allow them the rope to hang themselves......which they are currently doing.

It's not unusual for the Mail to attack the Tories Tbf. It regularly tries to influence the party's positions. It's not like it's going to support a different party in the run-up to a General Election.

 

[silkyman]

They played their part in helping them get into power, now Dacre, Murdoch and the Barclays want their pound of flesh.

 

[silkyman]

All.
In.
It.
Together.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/p...ion-aide-taxpayer-salary-530000-a6974181.html

 

[mowgli]

All.
In.
It.
Together.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/p...ion-aide-taxpayer-salary-530000-a6974181.html

Oh well at least my disability cuts are going to where it's needed most,that's a tough job she's got trying to polish a turd.

 

[Aber gas]

Every time one of these oddities opens their mouth another Tory MP revises their C.V. http://m.huffpost.com/uk/entry/sir-...x-row_uk_570bd729e4b0ae22c1e0307b?edition=uk& They are beyond parody

 

[mowgli]

Every time one of these oddities opens their mouth another Tory MP revises their C.V. http://m.huffpost.com/uk/entry/sir-...x-row_uk_570bd729e4b0ae22c1e0307b?edition=uk& They are beyond parody

I notice he didn't mention the expenses he was forced to pay back because he was found out to be claiming for things he shouldn't have, i think it was over £5,000.

 

[Aber gas]

I notice he didn't mention the expenses he was forced to pay back because he was found out to be claiming for things he shouldn't have, i think it was over £5,000.

Yeah, you'd like to think that a "high achiever " like Duncan would be able to afford his own fucking gardener without resorting to benefit scrounging.