Snap General Election
- Jan Higgins
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,888
8 May 2017 22:42328092Definitely time to stock up on films, recordings and new computer games regardless of who is promoting their party with their various wish lists or in some cases their political bucket list.
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I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
------------------------------------------------------------------- - 8 May 2017 22:45328093Captain Haddock wrote:The UK is part of the Global Coalition, a body of 68 partners from across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa and the Americas which has committed to defeating IS using military action among other tactics.
'Bombs away' as far as I'm concerned.
See #379 re: coalitions.Just because you don't take an interest in politics doesn't mean that politics won't take an interest in you. PERICLES. - Captain Haddock
- Location: Marlinspike Hall
- Registered: 8 Oct 2012
- Posts: 8,138
8 May 2017 22:59328095Coalition - a temporary alliance for combined action, especially of political parties forming a government.
There is a huge difference between a coalition such as that between the 'allied powers' (which included Russia in WW2), where there is common purpose and objective; and political coalitions where groups which hate each other are willing to get into bed together to keep out of power a group they dislike even more.
It's a bit like the difference between Holy Matrimony and a Forced Marriage."We are living in very strange times, and they are likely to get a lot stranger before we bottom out"
Dr. Hunter S Thompson - 8 May 2017 23:05328096What would we do without the BBC? The licence fee is far too cheap and I would gladly pay upwards of a monkey for more of their political expertise.Captain Haddock likes this
- Captain Haddock
- Location: Marlinspike Hall
- Registered: 8 Oct 2012
- Posts: 8,138
8 May 2017 23:10328097howard mcsweeney1 wrote:What would we do without the BBC? The licence fee is far too cheap and I would gladly pay upwards of a monkey for more of their political expertise.
But without commercial channels Howard, how are we possibly going to know what we need to buy in a futile attempt to make us all feel better about ourselves?howard mcsweeney1 likes this"We are living in very strange times, and they are likely to get a lot stranger before we bottom out"
Dr. Hunter S Thompson - 9 May 2017 08:44328103We do not pay the licence anymore because of our age so that is a help we have the soaps on like a good film ,and the wildlife and drama some are very good, what I like most is seeing the parts of the world I will never get to go to.
- 9 May 2017 11:49328115The proposed cap on energy bills doesn't appear to be well thought through.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/energy-prices-theresa-may-price-cap-bills-rise-business-secretary-greg-clark-regulator-a7725551.html - Captain Haddock
- Location: Marlinspike Hall
- Registered: 8 Oct 2012
- Posts: 8,138
9 May 2017 13:35328118howard mcsweeney1 wrote:The proposed cap on energy bills doesn't appear to be well thought through.
A stupid, stupid, stupid proposal. Why not 'cap' house prices or petrol or beer?
Adam Smith Institute: “Freezing energy prices was a very bad idea when Ed Miliband proposed it. Yet two years after the electorate rejected it Theresa May is putting forward the same idea and rebranding it a ‘cap’. The facts on the ground haven’t changed, yet just like workers on boards and the living wage, Red Ed’s Zombie Policies are on the march.”
Institute of Economic Affairs: “Introducing a cap on household energy prices would be a clumsy and counterproductive government intervention that could have an adverse effect on the energy market. A cap would likely backfire with companies finding some way around them: either by pushing prices higher now in anticipation of the cap or by increasing their lower prices to offset the cap at the top”
Centre for Policy Studies: “The claim that an energy price cap will save households £100 a year is by no means a guarantee. In fact, an intervention of this kind could be detrimental to competition in the market, meaning that this reform could end up doing more harm than good.”
Taxpayers’ Alliance: “Crude diktats such as this suggest that the government simply doesn’t understand the consequences of these ill-thought-out policies.”
Social Market Foundation: “Energy companies will inevitably recoup the costs of this cap elsewhere, which may mean higher prices for people who have shopped around and switched tariff to get themselves a better deal.”
CBI: “A major market intervention, such as a price cap, could lead to unintended consequences, for example dampening consumers’ desire to find the best deal on the market and hitting investor confidence.”
Market analysts RBC Europe: “This decision by May is clearly as much a political as it is an economic one. This intervention could create a worse deal for customers on average.”"We are living in very strange times, and they are likely to get a lot stranger before we bottom out"
Dr. Hunter S Thompson - 9 May 2017 14:59328121There will be plenty more half baked ideas coming from the parties in the next few weeks, aimed at gabbing headlines more than anything. It says rather a lot that the PM gave this one exclusively to the "Sun" newspaper.Guest 1881 likes this
- 9 May 2017 15:04328122So much for a progressive alliance Labour definitely not interested and would rather the Tories get their landslide.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/south-west-surrey-labour-party-louise-irvine-steve-williams-kate-townsend-jeremy-hunt-general-a7725446.html - 9 May 2017 16:16328127Captain Haddock wrote:Coalition - a temporary alliance for combined action, especially of political parties forming a government.
There is a huge difference between a coalition such as that between the 'allied powers' (which included Russia in WW2), where there is common purpose and objective; and political coalitions where groups which hate each other are willing to get into bed together to keep out of power a group they dislike even more.
It's a bit like the difference between Holy Matrimony and a Forced Marriage.
And I thought oil pipelines were involved (Syria not marriage)...Just because you don't take an interest in politics doesn't mean that politics won't take an interest in you. PERICLES. - Captain Haddock
- Location: Marlinspike Hall
- Registered: 8 Oct 2012
- Posts: 8,138
9 May 2017 21:11328140FWIW there will be a hustings for the parliamentary candidates in Deal on 18/5 at Deal Town Hall and in Dover on 19/5 (can't remember the latter venue as wasn't really concentrating when I was told but organised by Christians in Dover or some such organisation - possibly in the hall opposite Wetherspoons next to the church?)"We are living in very strange times, and they are likely to get a lot stranger before we bottom out"
Dr. Hunter S Thompson - 9 May 2017 21:26328141Captain Haddock wrote:FWIW there will be a hustings for the parliamentary candidates in Deal on 18/5 at Deal Town Hall and in Dover on 19/5 (can't remember the latter venue as wasn't really concentrating when I was told but organised by Christians in Dover or some such organisation - possibly in the hall opposite Wetherspoons next to the church?)
Correct Bob I believe that the Salem Baptist Church normally play host but St Mary's church hall has the advantage of having an adjacent pub to visit before and after the debate.
Incidentally after making extensive enquiries I understand that Stacey is not to be underestimated by Charlie who is currently relieved that he is not going toe to toe with Gordon. - Captain Haddock
- Location: Marlinspike Hall
- Registered: 8 Oct 2012
- Posts: 8,138
9 May 2017 21:43328143howard mcsweeney1 wrote:Charlie who is currently relieved that he is not going toe to toe with Gordon.
In Gordon's dreams! Certainly not the impression I had from the boy.
Charlie is busy canvassing every day which gets him out of the office in Walmer leaving everyone to get on with the election campaign, plus he's finding parts of the constituency he didn't know existed! Unfortunately he hadn't realised that Sandwich is NOT in the constituency and had had a load of leaflets printed saying that the flood defences and quayside at Sandwich were all due to his hard work over the past years. He's had to have them all pulped but is hoping that Craig McKinley can put the cost of printing on the South Thanet expenses return.
Phil and Jamie's latest ruse is to send him out with a clipboard so he can pretend to write down stuff when people talk to him on the doorstep. In actual fact it is an aide memoire for Charlie, and written on it in large letters are the words - REMEMBER confident [U]NOT[/U] smug.
Meanwhile in Deal, Trevor Bond has ALREADY arranged for the road outside his house to be resurfaced (work finished today) and is in the middle of deciding exactly where to have the bus shelter erected opposite his house! Apparently anything good enough for Mike Eddy is good enough for him.howard mcsweeney1 likes this"We are living in very strange times, and they are likely to get a lot stranger before we bottom out"
Dr. Hunter S Thompson - 9 May 2017 22:48328145Courtesy of the Telegraph
Labour faces a historic split after the election with as many as 100 of the party's MPs set to walk out and form their own breakaway group in an attempt to force out Jeremy Corbyn, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.Moderate Labour candidates are already in talks with potential donors about a new “Progressives” group forming in Parliament if Mr Corbyn stays on as leader after a Tory landslide.
One potential scenario is for the MPs to resign the Labour whip and become independents grouped together in the Commons under the Progressives banner.They could then rejoin the Parliamentary Labour Party once Mr Corbyn had been replaced with a leader they supported.
Dan Jarvis, Yvette Cooper and Sir Keir Starmer could be asked to lead the group, although there is no suggestion they have been approached or been involved in the talks.
Corbyn’s claim earlier this week that he might stay on as leader even if the Conservatives win a landslide on June 8 has caused alarm among moderates, who are talking of a “blood-letting” when Parliament reconvenes.Although they do not intend to form a new party, a well-organised anti-Corbyn faction, who would sit together on the back benches, could make it difficult for Mr Corbyn to form a viable Opposition because of a shortage of MPs to take up shadow cabinet posts.
It came as Mr Corbyn caused total confusion over Labour’s Brexit policy by refusing seven times to confirm that Britain would leave the EU if he became Prime Minister.Labour also announced last night that they will increase corporation tax by more than a third if they win office to pay for a spending spree on education - money the Conservatives say Labour has also spent 12 times over in other pledges.
One senior Labour source said: “There will be a blood-letting in July – sensible people are going to walk away. There is talk of a realignment because we can’t allow this to continue.” talks are going on in private because Labour candidates are desperate to ensure that they are returned as MPs to the Commons and do not want to appear disloyal.
The source said “about 100” moderate Labour MPs were likely to sit in their own grouping in the Commons after the election.Latest polling suggests Labour could have as few as 160 seats after the election, meaning the majority of Labour MPs could be part of the new caucus.
The insider said: “The Labour party cannot be the same as it was in the last parliament after the election. There is no cohesion. They have got to bind together.
“The Labour party has got to appeal to moderate people who have got moderate views and that is the majority of the people in this country.” - Captain Haddock
- Location: Marlinspike Hall
- Registered: 8 Oct 2012
- Posts: 8,138
9 May 2017 23:38328147Not sure it's a vote winner but worth it just to annoy townies!
"We are living in very strange times, and they are likely to get a lot stranger before we bottom out"
Dr. Hunter S Thompson - Captain Haddock
- Location: Marlinspike Hall
- Registered: 8 Oct 2012
- Posts: 8,138
10 May 2017 14:17328164Oh dear. I've just returned from the Walmer Office (or CEHQ as Charlie insists of calling it ever since that meeting in London last week).
Charlie bounded into the office this morning saying that he was going to 'park his tanks on the enemy's lawn' and was planning to canvas in Aylesham today. Jamie and Phil both tried to explain that this was probably not a good idea.
Charlie said that he had been reading a book about Christian missionaries in darkest Africa such as David Livingstone and as a Christian, he too wished to take the good news to the savages. Phil thought if he tried it in Aylesham the most likely outcome was that he would end up in some communal cooking pot (which would save them going out today and shoplifting meat from the Co-op as they normally do).
Charlie said that the white working class are natural Conservatives and the people of Aylesham had had hundreds of thousands of pounds spent on them by Conservative run DDC over the past few years
In spite of the fact that we pointed out that they had set fire to anything DDC had provided recently (with the exception of the play equipment which disappeared overnight and was sold as scrap metal) Charlie went anyway.
Next thing is he 'phones the office. He's given up with Aylesham and is heading back for the safety of St Margarets.
Apparently he had only just parked the car up when he was approached by three kids on mountain bikes wearing hoodies.
They asked him if he'd like them to 'mind his car' so 'nothing happened to it' for an hour for £10.
Charlie pointed out that he had his dog in the car so he was sure it would be safe and one of the kids rather menacingly said 'I hope your dog is good at putting out fires'.
Meanwhile the office is looking for a new recruit. Charlie came back from London full of talk of big data, psychographic profiling and targeted content. Apparently if he can identify voters in the area who have 'liked' fox-hunting on Facebook but not 'liked' pictures of women in burkas, Tweeted in favour of Ukip or Le Pen, searched for public executions on YouTube or bought an expresso machine on Amazon, these are natural supporters and could be successfully targetted.
He's therefore trying to hire what he calls 'an Oxbridge Geek' (apparently they will' 'code for pizza') who can give him a digital presence (whatever that is) as he has some mad idea that 'this election will be won or lost in cyberspace'.
I don't think this will end well but I'll try to keep you all (the half dozen who read my missives) updated.howard mcsweeney1 likes this"We are living in very strange times, and they are likely to get a lot stranger before we bottom out"
Dr. Hunter S Thompson - Button
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 22 Jul 2016
- Posts: 3,061
10 May 2017 14:35328168Ah, Oxbridge geek; that'll be it then.
(Not my real name.) - 10 May 2017 15:51328176That Charlie gets around he was in Lydden this afternoon, must have a very reliable bicycle. Labour were campaigning in Aylesham yesterday.
- 10 May 2017 16:05328177The Lib Dems have put up a candidate that solicits, someone ought to tell the Mercury that Sandwich is in a different constituency.
http://www.kentonline.co.uk/deal/news/pro-european-solicitor-to-defend-party-125414/
