Grim news for DD over at PoliticsHome, under the rather unambiguous headline: “It’s official: David Davies’ campaign a total failure”. It reports: “If anything, (the level of opposition to 42 days) has dropped since his resignation.”
And James Forsyth of the Spectator blog muses that “Davis must be anxiously hoping for a decent turn-out tomorrow. If it is embarrassingly low, he could find himself turned into a figure of fun.”
* the cost of the Haltempriice and Howden by-election to the public purse
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Thursday 10 July 2008 at 11:11 am
I think that’s pushing it a bit, Tom, bearing in mind the £500m written off six weeks ago by the MOD after the Chinook Helipcopter Hokey-Cokey!
Not to mention the £20k a year or so sums questionably included in the expenses for the Ballses and the Wintertons. I know they are withing the letter of the rules, but imho it is simply unethical to claim unnecessary expenses even if you are allowed to do so – especially on that scale.
Thursday 10 July 2008 at 12:28 pm
When you said “What a waste of two hundred grand” I thought you were referring to your salary and expenses.
Thursday 10 July 2008 at 12:55 pm
Ba-boom! I’m here all week, try the veal…
Thursday 10 July 2008 at 1:53 pm
As is happens, one of my commenters has just pointed out that £200k is pretty much what the Speaker has spent so far on keeping the expenses data hidden…
http://tinyurl.com/6lemlu
“Our three-year-battle with the House of Commons for a breakdown has been met with obstruction and obfuscation at every turn. Michael Martin, the Speaker, has sanctioned the expenditure at least £200,000 of taxpayer’s money preventing the public from finding out how public money is spent. Even now, we must wait until the Autumn for a full breakdown of individual claims and receipts for all MPs’ allowances.”
Hmmm.
Thursday 10 July 2008 at 3:01 pm
Not as much of a waste of money as the intrusive ID card scheme.
Thursday 10 July 2008 at 6:50 pm
If that is the cost for each parliamentary seat, one could argue that over £130m was thrown down the pan in 2005 asking the electorate to vote on a manifesto then ignoring it with regards an EU referendum and a partial smoking ban.
Are Labour not standing today out of principle, orbecause the bank manager said they only had 26p, a used bus ticket and a half-eaten Curly Wurly in their account?
Perhaps the delay in naming the Labour candidate for Glasgow East was that the nominee was required to own their own ‘John Bull’ printing set to produce the leaflets.
Thursday 10 July 2008 at 6:53 pm
Martin – We didn’t stand in Haltemprice and Howden because we didn’t see the point in humouring DD’s silly little ego trip.
And it’s a Mars bar, not a Curly Wurly, okay?
Saturday 12 July 2008 at 12:21 am
Much money was raised by people like me sending him some dosh !! so stfu !! And much as I like you, if I thought for one millisecond that had he not stood for this by-election, Labour would have sent the £200k to buy a proper ve-hickle to protect our Army in Afghanistan, rather than that Snatch Land Rover bo!!ocks, or spent it on a new nurse or, radical concept alert, some actual POLICE MEN for our streets, I might have a bit more time for you.
But this is a cheap, asinine, fatuous remark from a party that has p!ssed away its chance to convince us that they are Tough on Crime, Tough on the Causes of Crime, or that they believe in EDUCATION EDUCATION EDUCATION !
You wouldn’t have the b@lls to do what DD did – so PUT UP or SHUT UP !!!
Saturday 12 July 2008 at 9:09 am
I’m in a calmer, early morning frame of mind now.
To adapt an old adage ‘If you think democracy is expensive, you should try the alternative’*
* Clearly, unless you are American, in which case they seem to have found a way to make Iraqi democracy even more expensive than any other alternative. But that is nowt to do with NuLabour. Oh no, sirree..
Saturday 12 July 2008 at 11:02 pm
I know this is late, Mr Harris, and as about as irrelevant as your snide blog on the H&H by-election, but it had already been widely reported by (Labour MPs among others) that the cost was going to be £80,000. So where does £200k come from? Is inflation going up that fast?
Monday 14 July 2008 at 11:54 am
Unbelievable. Well actually not. I would expect no more from a Labour MP.
Can you tell me precisely how long it takes your government to waste 200,000 pounds of our money? I’d be willing to bet you manage that several times EVERY DAY, probably every hour or even every minute.
So to moan at DD for ‘wasting’ this money when you could have fought him at the ballot box is just ridiculous, and surely if Brown trousers really believed in the 42 days then he would have put up someone to fight for that cause? He obviously doesn’t believe in it /that/ strongly now does he?
Is it new Labour party policy that Elections are a ‘waste of money’?
By not fighting this election Gordon ‘trousers’ Brown has proved once more he is afraid of elections. And I don’t blame him. In the coming General Election your party is going to get the spanking of it’s life. I for one cannot wait.