I love what he's done but I actually feel like we've lost a little something because of Ashcroft's polling. Just imagine going into results night not knowing what we already know so far...

The Observer did something similar in 1997. Their polls in individual constituencies gave the first hint that Portillo could lose his seat.

 

I know what you mean though. Some "shock" results may not be as shocking as they might have been. Indeed, constituency polls might make those "shock" results more likely.

If it weren't for the Ashcroft polls we wouldn't have the same momentum in Hallam, so I'm bloody grateful.

The Telegraph is already sunk. Following the recent revelations in Private Eye about the Barclay Brothers and the recent resignation of Peter Oborne the paper has very quickly lost any respect it once had.

 

thanks for the link. The rich and powerful really DO need taking down several pegs, they think just cos they own the world they can do what they like with truth and freedom of speech.

So, after the nonsense of the memo about Nicola Sturgeon and the French ambassador, we now have another story where we have to try and decide who is telling the truth.

 

Danny Alexander has claimed that, in a Budget meeting in 2012, a minister said to him something along the lines of "You look after the workers, we'll look after the bosses". Naturally, I have no idea whether this is true or not. However, the Tories haven't helped themselves by getting Sajid Javid to deny the claim. Javid became a Treasury minister in September 2012, so we have to assume this was an early meeting on the 2013 Budget. He claimed today that the Tories were always in favour of increasing the personal allowance. This is a blatant lie. In the 2012 leaders' debate, Cameron denounced the Lib Dem proposal to do just that as "unworkable". So, if Javid is lying about that, can we trust him to be telling the truth about the alleged bosses / workers statement?

 

Meanwhile, Labour are in danger of allowing the Tories to get away with something which, if not an out-and-out lie, is a massive distortion. They have been claiming that the average household would be £3,000 per year worse off under Labour. Naturally, Labour disputes the way the figure has been calculated. However, they haven't challenged the biggest deceit. Labour have already proposed raising the top rate of income tax back to 50% and imposing the (Lib Dem) mansion tax. These would raise a significant sum, but most people would not pay a penny extra. For example, somebody on £2m p.a. would pay almost £100,000 extra in income tax. Even if they don't pay the mansion tax, you could add in 30 households who pay nothing extra and you still end up with an average of £3,000 per household.

Labour really not helping themselves there...

 

In terms of who I believe, well, I'm obviously biased, but I wouldnt trust anything the Tories say or do. It's part of human nature to conveniently rewrite recent history in the mind to suit one's current self-opinion. The problem for politicians is those annoying things called recorded facts which just will not go away, short of sending them all to the shredder (such as those unfortunate lost files relating to alleged paedophile politicians).

 

Me, I believe Danny Alexander's version of events, he's spent a large chunk of time as the Tory whipping boy for unpopular policies, to take the flack, and it sounds rather like the sort of statement an egotistical Tory might make. The Lib Dems did what they had to do for the good of the country, as voters chose, and haven't really complained about the hand they were dealt. The Tories were dragged kicking and screaming into policies they are now trying to take credit for, and let the Lib Dems take the flack for some of theirs.

Sajid Javid actually wants to make me throw my television out of the window, it is quite clear that the only reason that the personal allowance increased so much under this parliament was because of pressure from the Lib Dems. If the Conservatives had their way we'd have seen a pretty minimal increase compared with the massive cut for the 40% band they want to bring in (as well as the cut given to the new additional higher rate for >£150K) I tend to think that most things he says are a complete and utter lie, and generally block out anything he says.

 

His resemblance to a certain evil manipulative character from the Gerry Anderson TV show, The Hood, is uncanny. Difference is, one of them is a demonic puppet hellbent on getting his own way - the other is the Hood from Thunderbirds.

It looks like breaking Tony Blair out of the Home for Ex-Prime Ministers (population: 3) has spurred the Liberal Democrats into action. They just Tweeted a video of Tony Blair from 1995, claiming that he would put an end to Zero Hour contracts.

 

 

Haha I knew Blair popping up for Labour was going to lead to some awful PR.

To be fair, zero-hours contracts were much less of a problem twenty years ago than they are now. It's a shame the Lib Dems haven't reminded us of his promise of a referendum on the electoral system.

Hilariously, the last time there was polling on it, Blair rated lower than both Gordon Brown and Ed Miliband.

 

Unfortunately Blair himself doesn't have the self-awareness to just shut up.

Heaven forbid we should focus on the worth of what someone says rather than who's saying it.

Labour 2% ahead in two polls today.

 

Within the margin of error, but any Labour leads at all should not be in the script this late in the game if the Tories were to get close to a majority...

Edited April 7, 201510 yr by Danny

Let's bring back Craig anyway, I'm sure he'd find a theory to make it happen.

Heaven forbid we should focus on the worth of what someone says rather than who's saying it.

Judging by the report in today's Guardian ahead of the speech, I agree with most of what he said. No surprise that the (post-speech) Telegraph spin is that he has said people cannot be trusted with a vote on the EU.

The truth is that they can't. Years of Eurosceptic press has meant that the perverted views of the few are prevailing over what is best for the nation as a whole.

 

Until people start to see through the rhetoric of the Torygraph, Daily c**t, The Scum et al then they can't be trusted with a decision as important our nations future as part of the EU.

 

We were told categorically that the only way to remain a member of the European Union was to vote no. If the Tories somehow cling to power come May and there is a vote, the right-wing press will have it's way on Europe but have to stand by as the Union they printed lie after lie after lie to save disintegrates. It's so hypocritical I have a migraine from rolling my eyes so much.

In the Independent today David Cameron has accused the Liberal Democrats of leaking the memo alleging that Nicola Sturgeon wanted to see him remain prime minister.

 

In an interview with The Independent, Mr Cameron said: “There is a leak inquiry underway. It is a proper one and I hope we get the answer because I do deplore leaks of this kind. You have to have private diplomatic space in which to talk. I hope we get to the bottom of who did it.”

 

Asked if he suspected the hand of the Lib Dems, Mr Cameron replied: “I have heard very clearly David Mundell [the Tory Scotland Office Minister]saying it wasn't him, so one does wonder.”

Just watched yesterday's Scottish debate:

 

http://player.stv.tv/programmes/scotland-debates/

 

I knew Jim Murphy wasn't in Sturgeon's league, but he was outclassed even by the Scottish Tory leader. I still think Labour could pull back some ground against the SNP in this election as some people give into the scaremongering about how they risk letting the Tories back in, but God help them in next year's Scottish Parliament election.

In other news, it looks like the Green Party has given up before they've even started. This is their Party Political Broadcast -

 

In other news, it looks like the Green Party has given up before they've even started. This is their Party Political Broadcast -

Isn't this a week late? April Fool's Day was last week.

Also, I've been going through some of the smaller parties who are standing candidates in this election, and perhaps the most surprising is the return of the Whig Party, a progressive party which claims it will offer "a fresh choice to the British people", by reviving a party founded in the 17th century. It looks like their website dates from the same era as well.

 

Can't say I'm fond of them, I can't forgive the Whigs for their intellectually dishonest view of history.