And Another Thing…

Paul:

Alistair Campbell tends to somewhat exaggerate his influence on occasion.

Most famously re the “sexed up” dossier in which he added a few words for Tony Blair’s statement before the Second Iraq war.

If you compare the original with the statement made the changes are minimal, yet people have been deluded into thinking that the Evil Genius Campbell made all the difference. His claims to have “sexed” it “up” are gross.

Don’t believe all the PR a PR man spins you about his PR prowess.

The “Euro-sceptic” fallacy reminds me of the extreme Green position of the ’70s.

Adherents assume everyone wants to live on a hill with a goat.

@Chris Paul

Mrs. Kinnock (well, he was staunchly opposed to the House of Lords, and tghe EU for that matter, so I am sure they won’t mind) has just lost her job – whatever it was – dealing with EU matters, as she was crap at it. Indeed, both Mr. & Mrs. (I’m sure they won’t object. being people of the people, eh?) were happy to go against their principles for the sake of a flash of ermine and even better “expenses” that the House used to provide.

Puke

Funnily, Quietzapple, just there the acapella group in Scrubs was wanting to sing pretty much that to a ward full of children.

Well, if Children in Need can adopt as its theme a song about heroin abuse…

Well, Sergeant Plodder, you too are seated on the fence here. Would you say you’d rather not have GK then? Is that it? How about the others? How about the idea that there is not and should not be anything inevitable that this is a job for a man, or that Britain’s nominee ought to be Blair. I can’t help thinking that there is some very desperate gaming going on here. Blair is not really in for this job. They expect a Czech or the like to get it. And D Miliband may then be in with a shout for t’other job.

I’d prefer an AWS for both jobs. See what you’ve made me do? I’ve escalated.

Blair deserves better than EU Pres in my book. It will be thankless and usually pointless, because few presently want the kind of leadership the role will one day bring.

The Left in the EU will want to make some sort of leftie point re Iraq and etc so Blair won’t suit them.

The right will mostly look for advantage for their own, and Blair won’t suit them.

I spent 2 years telling the Dully Teles that Blair was unlikely to get it if he wanted it, which he shouldn’t.

Disappointing that it seems he does/did.

Hey Ho!

I had high hopes when Labour came into power in 2007 (in fact I had a party). Some of Labour’s policies – especially the minimum wage and working tax credit – have helped me out immensely.

However, I never liked Blair, he was too smarmy for my liking.

I used to work for the Forces, my job was privatised to save money. I worked at Kinloss where we ALL knew that cuts were affecting safety. Ten of my friends died when that Nimrod blew up. So good to know Labour introduced the Corporate Manslaughter Act, which will hopefully give the MOD and Government “Business Managers” a good kick up the a**e

Blair brought us into a phony war, lied about it and has the blood of the UK Forces on his hands. When I saw him last Remembrance Sunday bowing piously in church I nearly put my fist through th TV.

However, the Tories can’t crow about Blair. Even though I can’t stand the man, I remember the 80′s and 90′s and can’t help but imagine that under the Tories the country would be in an even worse state.

Old Labour Till I Die

Aye Always,

Safety Fairy1

Do you honestly believe any of these Tory PPC’s actually know where Scotland is?

Not very important, even more so at election time.

It must be two years ago that Chameleon and various other Tory MPs spent time in Africa, helping build a school there, albeit I think their leader wasn’t building the bricks.

Unfortunately for him he chose to put this credential ahead of being in Whitney when the great floods were in flow, and he was much criticised by the tory electorate, who must call the shots a little now and again.

I was struck by Chameleon’s naivite in not returning home sooner – everyone would have understood and his determination to appear to make a break with past tory image making.

I hope some african country recognises his good wishes for them (largely in response to the strand of the Blair-Brown project I fear) and engages him as some sort of representative for them after May, for his skills might help them mightily.

But, the Tories care hardly at all, as Tom suggests.

Indeed when Brown/Blair was persuading Bush to join us in paying for mozzie nets for Africa many Dully Tele tories howwwled with rage at the tens of thousands of pounds I recall it costing.

But ladies who are swinging to Brown, and other decent undecided folk do care, and Labour’s win will be the larger the less humane the Tories appear to be.

“You’d think Central Office would have briefed them on what the correct answers are to these surveys, wouldn’t you?”

No! You are confusing them with the Labour party which always ensures only the party line is spoken; they are free thinkers (a term not understood by Labour) and exercise the right of free speech (another term not understood by Labour.

You just copied that off a Central Office briefing, didn’t you?

And also whilst you have got me going:
I am a labour supporter (of the real labour party which only exists below Parliament level) and I think for what its worth that the billions that have been poured into overseas development have been totally wasted on their way to Swiss Bank accounts of tinpot dictators.

Except of course the money that was diverted from Overseas development budgets and then paid to the UK trades unions who could then donate it to the Labour party …..

A bit of sleight of hand corruption that Mugabe would have been proud of.

I think that you are quite right – the Tories can barely be bothered to maintain this cheap pretence that they care one jot about the poor.

The country is not best run by people who were placed at Eton to daydream on the playing fields before being parachuted into safe seats and spending their career playing musical chairs with various assorted cosy jobs before becoming a ‘Sir’ and dying peacefully in their sleep at 87.

This is great news Tom.
Its called the real world.

I suppose it’s thanks to people like Tim that Labour has a 30% rating in the polls.

No matter that the deputy leader of the party is one of the aristocracy, who went to a privileged independent school, who preaches and legislates for discrimination against white males – but supports her husband being parachuted into a safe seat as an MP- , who preaches equality but drives away from the scene of an accident whilst on her mobile, shouting “you know who I am”, STILL it is the Tory party alone that is full of toffs.

No matter that under Labour, violent crime has increased, inequality has risen, child poverty has increased in each of the last 3 years, fuel poverty has risen, no matter that Gordon Brown’s last act as Chancellor was to take money off the poorest people and give it to the rich, STILL Labour are the only party to care about the poor.

Never let a fact get in the way of an opinion.

Well it’s reassuring that, despite the Liberal takeover of the party, most prospective Conservative MPs still have their priorities right.

International development (as distinct from emergency aid) is hardly a vote winner and dealing with an increasingly detached Scotland is probably an even more thankless and pointless job than being a junior minister in the Home Office.

It’s almost enough to make me vote Conservative.

I rejoined the Labour Party recently, after 20 years non membership. Looking forward to contributing some shoe leather.

It remains encumbered with Steves, who always seem to hate the good which is done by MPs like Tom, and frequently ape the Tories.

I doubt my licence permits me to fully express my views on such.

The Tory lead now down to 6%, and Labour looks likely to take all 3 Brighton & Hove seats.

The latest scandal is the unscrupulous ToryBBC relaunch of the No 10 Bully story when Rawnsley’s had flopped yesterday afternoon.

And Clegg got in ahead of Chameleon in calling for an inquiry in tothe Allegations which are already discredited!

Oh Chameleon! Oh Calamity!

(Just, Tom, in view of the somewhat wide ranging and inaccurate nonsense above, a few facts)

To John – I didn’t say that Labour are much better.

Come the election, I will be choosing a bad party to keep a worse one out.

I’m not surprised if none of them wants the housing brief. Most of them are far too busy trying to court the Nimby vote.

In Toryland decent housing is only for them what already have and home building = concreting over England’s last remaining green swards. None of them, it seems, can ever have looked out of a plane’s window.

Tom,
That is NOT what the story says – there are 17 choices listed (16 government plus 1 CCHQ), presumably all NON-ZERO.
The Zeros include Chancellor of the Exchequer, Justice, Wales and Northern Ireland but not Scotland, Housing or International Development.
Please get it right next time.
On a purely technical point this was a poll of the 141 PPCs out of 250 in winnable seats who had replied to a previous poll, and therefore excluded virtually all the aspiring ministers who are seeking RE-election. Also Tim Montgomerie stated that ID would be his choice.

“You’d think Central Office would have briefed them on what the correct answers are to these surveys, wouldn’t you?”

I think they’re just weeding out the rogue tweets etc, not keeping them up to Chameleon’s marks.

Isn’t Pickles supposed to direct creative stuff? He says he is Tory No 2.

Even a blog which has long been a principal target of tories and other right wingers who imagined Tom would jump ship is likely to reflect the shift in public opinion, Jim.

As someone who votes Tory I am delighted by Scottish and Welsh devolution. I’m just waiting for some English devolution then we can cut the number of MPs by threequarters and close Westminster down for ten months of the year.